The “There is no biodiversity protection without human rights and justice” civic initiative on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the UN office in Armenia.

The picketers demand that the countries participating in the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity being held in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, make efforts and ensure the safe return of forcibly displaced Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Armenians to Artsakh.

During the demonstration, Artsakh Public Council member Alvard Zakaryan briefly presented the content of their respective letter, and noted that they have sent letters on behalf of the aforesaid initiative to all embassies accredited in Armenia.

“Also, we are trying to convey all this in an envelope, and today's [protest] action will be at the entrance of all embassies,” she added.

Also, Zakaryan expressed hope that they will be able to have some meetings with embassy representatives, so that they can use and raise the right of return of the indigenous Armenian people of Artsakh at any international platforms, which is also an integral part of COP17.

“Also, we need to be very active, we need to constantly raise the issue, and whoever comes to Armenia should know that there are 150 thousand [displaced] Artsakh [Armenian] residents here [in Armenia] who survived the genocide [by Azerbaijan] and live here with only one goal: to return to Artsakh. We will try to raise this issue constantly,” Zakaryan added, in particular.