The families of the fallen Armenian servicemen have gathered at Republic Square in Yerevan to demand that the government cancel the Independence Day anniversary concert scheduled for September 21.

Opposition "Armenia" faction MP Gegham Nazaryan, whose son also died in the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war last fall, told reporters: "The parents of the hero boys called for the cancellation of this 'colorful' show. After that, the response was that some things were reviewed—for example, they [i.e., the authorities] removed the fireworks were, removed the happy performances.

The issue is that [this year’s] September 21st should not be celebrated with 'colorful' shows, no matter what music is played. It should not be celebrated with such large-scale events where they will spend more than $2 million.

There are only six days left from the first anniversary of the beginning of the war, when we have captives [in Azerbaijan], hundreds of missing boys whose remains are still being searched. In this situation, organizing such a large-scale show is unacceptable."

Nazaryan added, however, that no one says that the Independence Day anniversary should not be marked.