Numerous forcibly displaced Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on Monday held a protest, simultaneously as the 8th European Political Community Summit in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

The participants of the protest demanded to ensure the protection of the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh and to release those Armenians detained in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The protest was staged in front of the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex, where the aforesaid summit is being held.

Former Artsakh residents, representatives of NGOs, and politicians participated in the protest.

According to former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Artak Beglaryan, while the current authorities of Armenia talk about democracy, its principles are being violated, as evidenced by the presence of political prisoners, hate speech, and attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church. “While they talk about peace and protecting the rights of Artsakh residents, the reality is that all our rights are being violated, and the [Armenian] authorities are the authors of this, or support Azerbaijani violations,” Beglaryan noted.

The protesters demanded that European leaders pay due attention to the above-mentioned issues.

According to Beglaryan, among their demands are the release of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, the protection of Armenian cultural heritage and private property in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the return of forcibly displaced Armenians to Artsakh. “We demand that these issues be kept under close attention. I do not expect that we will achieve any success with one action, but we must be consistent, using such opportunities as well,” he added.

In his opinion, this protest should also reduce the blind support shown by European leaders to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The leader of the Wings of Unity party, former Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan, also participated in the protest. “We must show what Armenia as a state expects from this summit,” the leader of the aforesaid opposition party stated.

He noted that if Armenia does not get any results from this summit, then it will be just a beautifully and expensively organized, but absolutely meaningless event for the Armenian people.

In Tatoyan’s opinion, the summit participants must show that the current authorities of Armenia have nothing to do with either human rights or democracy. “Pashinyan did not bring the issue of returning to Nagorno-Karabakh from his home. So, he is not the one who should decide anything here. It is an internationally recognized right," the opposition figure emphasized.