Closing Artsakh border tantamount to loss of sense of existence -  Gegham Stepanyan 

ArmInfo. For the collective return of the Artsakh people to their homeland, it is first necessary to create an appropriate platform. This was stated to journalists by  former Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan during a  rally for the rights of the Artsakh people on March 29 at Freedom  Square in Yerevan.

He recalled that these demands are also set out in the resolution  adopted by the Swiss Parliament.

"We see that until there is a platform where we can speak and present  our demands, there is no point in raising the issue of return,"  Stepanyan said. He stated that the physical existence of the Artsakh  people in the territory controlled by the Azerbaijani side, under its  dictatorial regime, is impossible.

"This explains why 120,000 Artsakh residents, like one person, left  their homeland and cemeteries in one day. Therefore, it is impossible  to talk about return without international security guarantees. A  platform is needed to talk about this, and we expect that this  platform should be provided first and foremost by the Armenian  authorities," Stepanyan said.

Speaking about the ongoing rally, the former ombudsman noted that it  is distinguished by the fact that it has gathered all layers of  Artsakh society, from ordinary people to government officials.  Stepanyan noted that the last straw for organizing such a large-scale  meeting for the people of Artsakh was the termination of the  socio-economic assistance program, which will have dire consequences  for the people. "Do not consider this as an exclusively material  demand. This assistance is really important for people to stay in  Armenia, have a decent life and preserve the right to return. I hope,  or want to hope, that the Armenian government will hear the demand of  thousands of people and resolve this important issue," he said.   Otherwise, according to the former human rights defender, the people  of Artsakh will be forced to migrate, or lose their homes, etc.

At the same time, he complained that the Artsakh issue was decided to  be closed without taking into account the will and desire of the  Artsakh people themselves. "The Artsakh people have the right to  return, have the right to a dignified and safe life and are not going  to give up this right. Let anyone give up what they want, but we  cannot give up ourselves. Here we must understand that closing the  Artsakh page for us is tantamount to depriving us of the meaning of  our existence. As long as we exist and have support from our  compatriots from Armenia, we will fight to ensure that the Artsakh  issue is not closed," Stepanyan said.  Let us recall that on March  26, during the government hour in the National Assembly of the  Republic of Armenia, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of the  Republic of Armenia Narek Mkrtchyan stated that the Armenian  authorities would refuse to implement short-term assistance programs  for internally displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh. He noted that  short-term projects related to providing refugees with assistance in  the amount of 40+10 thousand drams will be suspended from April 1 in  relation to able- bodied persons. The exception will be children  under 18, persons over 63, disabled persons of the 1st and 2nd  groups, as well as families that have lost a breadwinner. However, as  the minister noted, for this category of citizens the amount of  assistance will be reduced to 40 thousand drams, and from July to  December of this year - to 30 thousand drams. Mkrtchyan named the  desire of the authorities to see Karabakh people in jobs as the main  reason for this step. He also said that a family of four is offered  certificates in the amount of up to 20 million drams for the purchase  of housing in 400 communities of the country.