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Scores of public, political and cultural figures as well as ordinary citizens gathered outside Yerevan’s Sports and Concerts Complex after Karen Demirchyan on Tuesday morning to protest against the arrival of two Azerbaijani MPs in Armenia to attend the meetings of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

Speaking to reporters at the protest, Armenia’s first Human Rights Defender and Chair of the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO Larisa Alaverdyan accused Azerbaijan and Turkey of pursuing genocidal policy, saying the incumbent Armenian authorities act in their interests.

“Aggression was unleashed against Artsakh [in 2020], while the current authorities cleared the way for it. The Armenian government continues to contribute to the Turkish-Azerbaijani genocidal policy with its steps every single day," Alaverdyan said.

In her words, the Armenian authorities can be considered a third party of the disgraceful Shushi Declaration signed between Turkey and Azerbaijan after MPs from the ruling Civil Contract party refused to endorse an opposition statement condemning the document.

“We have found ourselves in a situation where internal and external enemies threaten the Armenian people, the Armenian statehood in the Republic of Armenia and the Artsakh Republic,” she said.

“We must ceaselessly fight for our own homeland,” she added.