We demand: Protesters gathered in front of the Russian Embassy
The participants of the protest march reached the Russian Embassy in Yerevan where the police forces met them. After negotiations, the participants of the rally crossed the street and gathered in front of the Embassy.
Armenian screenwriter Tigran Khzmalyan presented the dates and the names of several agreements with Russian participation concluded for the last 100 years.
“March 16, 1921 - a disgraceful agreement was signed between Ataturk and Lenin, which authorized the transfer of the Western Armenia to Turkey. July 5, 1921 – the Caucasus Bureau of the Russian Communist (Bolshevik) Party with the consent of Stalin transferred Artsakh, Nakhijevan and Zangezur to Azerbaijan. Due to resistance organized by Nzhdeh, Zangezur remained Armenian and serves as a vital border with Iran.” Khzmalyan also recalled Sumagayit pogroms of 1988, “when the Soviet forces did not intervene into the slaughters of Armenians in Azerbaijan for three days.”
The protesters then read the statement calling on Russia “to fulfill its obligations toward the de jure strategic ally, to consider the interest and national security of its de jure ally in its future decisions, to immediately stop the arm sales to Azerbaijan. Alternatively, Armenian public will confirm that Russia is not an ally to Armenia, thus Armenia for its part will not feel allied to Russia with any obligations,”
Khzmalyan’s speech was followed by chants of the participants “We demand, we demand!” Later a statement was read: “Over the course of the last two decades an illusion was formed in the public of Armenia and Artsakh that Armenia has a mighty ally through Russia, which is the guarantor of its security […]. While in contrary to those claims Russia has in reality continued its arm sales to Azerbaijan for a total amount of 5 bln USD over the passed years - weapons of mass destruction, Smerch rocket launchers with cluster warheads, ТОС-1А heavy artillery systems among them.”
Russia’s justification that Azerbaijan would obtain the same weapons from other states in case it stopped the sale appears to be a total lie and an attempt to avoid responsibility for the committed crime, as the states, which produce similar weapons (the US, France, etc.) have refused to arm Azerbaijan, read the statement.
The statement next deems as anti-Armenian move the recent diplomatic developments with the most recent and vivid example of Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev’s laying a wrath at the so called pantheon of shehids in Baku – those killed in the assault against Armenian forces.
“During the passed years Russia by the mentioned and other steps has weakened the role of the OSCE Minsk group to manage the fragile peace in the region and prevent a new war,” the statement concludes.