YEREVAN. – The Istanbul Convention runs counter to the forms of our national existence. Artur Aramyan, member of the coordinating board of "Kamq" initiative of Armenia, told this Armenian News-NEWS.am. A protest action is being held in front of the National Assembly against ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

According to him, the Convention consists of 81 articles and is so interconnected that it is impossible to remove one paragraph and accept another.

“The Convention uses its term 'gender' when defining in its Article 3 what constitutes violence against women, that is, domestic violence. The convention describes how one understands the concept of gender, that is, social roles, types of behavior. That is, a man can also assume the social role of a woman, have a pattern of behavior, and the woman—of a man.

And the term ‘partner’ is used when defining domestic violence. Yes, we are legally stipulated that the partners are men and women, but we have Article 5 of the Constitution which states that in case of contradiction with the RA legislation and international treaties, the international norm prevails. By this convention, not only women and men are partners," Aramyan said.

According to him, a member state of the Convention is obliged to take legislative measures, that is, Armenian legislation must be adapted to the implementation of the Convention. “The convention also stipulates that Armenia should give asylum to victims of violence in other countries. This is a program to annihilate, assimilate small nations, a program to change the system of values," the demonstrator assured, adding that 50,000 signatures had already been collected against the Istanbul Convention.