After meeting president, Karabakh activists stage rally

The activists, dissatisfied with the transfer of the Lachin Corridor to Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, have demanded resignation of high-ranking officials. After meeting with the president, they gathered a mass rally in Stepanakert.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 26, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev announced that the Azerbaijani troops had taken control of Lachin (Armenian name is Berdzor, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) and the villages of Zabukh (Armenian name is Akhavno, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) and Sous, from which local residents left at the insistence of the Karabakh authorities.

The participants of the rally held in Stepanakert on August 29, demanded the resignation of the state minister (who heads the cabinet of ministers of Nagorno-Karabakh) and the heads of the Ministry of Finance and the Security Council of Nagorno-Karabakh, accusing them of incompetence and corruption. More than a thousand people gathered for a rally in Renaissance Square in front of the residence of the president of Nagorno-Karabakh.

On the eve of the rally, in the evening on August 27, in the Renaissance Square, more than 30 men demanded a meeting with President Araik Arutyunyan to present to him their demands for the resignation of the above officials. On that day, a source from the presidential office told them that Arutyunyan would be able to meet them on August 29.

Tigran Petrosyan, one of the activists, wrote in his social media page that the meeting with the president took place on August 29. "We are extremely dissatisfied with the meeting, since Arutyunyan failed to hear us and tried to talk us into some forthcoming fair elections," the activist has stated.

He invited citizens to come out at 7:00 p.m. local time to Renaissance Square "in order to start the fight against authorities' arbitrariness." After his appeal, people began gathering in the square; the rally began at 8:00 p.m. local time.

"Up to 1500 people have gathered. This is a lot, but not enough, since the issue is the life and future of our children," said Christine Balayan, a public figure and a former candidate for the presidency of Nagorno-Karabakh. She has stated that "it is necessary to ensure that people come out, fight and wouldn't let traitors and traders continue remaining in power."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 29, 2022 at 08:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.