Residents of the Hadrut region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) today gathered in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and transferred a letter stating that they would like to meet with the foreign minister to understand the issue of the people displaced from Hadrut and what security measures are being taken for the residents of Artsakh.

“Now I’m thinking about the people living in Stepanakert more than the people living in Armenia. We haven’t been citizens of any country for thirty years. The Azerbaijanis still have our passport data. They can give our passport data to Russian law-enforcement authorities, tell them that I’m a citizen of Azerbaijan, and when I go to Russia, I’ll be extradited to Azerbaijan. How much longer can we live with this status? Why isn’t the government of Armenia recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence? The authorities are afraid of Russia, but we’re here to say that the issue needs to be solved,” member of the For Hadrut NGO Levon Hayelyan told reporters.

The gathered residents of Hadrut said they want to return to Hadrut and don’t want to live in any other region of Artsakh.

According to Levon Hayelyan, he and the other residents can’t expect anything from the authorities of Artsakh now since they have fulfilled the will of the authorities of Armenia for 30 years.

The residents of Hadrut said the fact that Artsakh ensures Armenia’s security is indisputable.

“If we Armenians don’t learn the lessons from what happened to Hadrut, I don’t know what will happen to the Armenian nation. There is no Karabakh, and Azerbaijan will attack Yerevan next,” he said.

The residents of Hadrut stated that they have come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia with the hope to see Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Asked if they have tried to meet with President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, they said Harutyunyan avoids holding meetings with the people.