Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan not only welcomes the “Europe’s Engagement in Artsakh” campaign, he has also joined it, since the idea and purpose of this initiative coincide with those goals and ideas that he has been trying to implement since the start of his office. “Campaign’s messages are clear and fair: we want not additional privileges, but equal conditions, and approaches like the citizens of other unrecognized states have. Artsakh is part of European civilization and European world, and it is not fair that Europe does not have sufficient representation in Artsakh”, said Ruben Melikyan at the presentation of the campaign. European civilization is the choice of Artsakh people, and our history is the proof, he added.
He thinks that Azerbaijan’s policy of isolating Artsakh does not bring to results. The witness was the growth of tourism in Artsakh, the referendum on recent constitutional amendments, where the number of European observers was more.
Regardless of anything, in his opinion, the campaign will have a positive impact, as it will bring recognition to Artsakh, increase of visits and so on. He reminds that since the ceasefire has been applied, Artsakh has not been involved in any programs in the region, in which many others have been involved, but at the same time, Artsakh managed to maintain a high level of human rights.
In response to the question, that there was a time when the opposition figure was elected as mayor in Stepanakert, and now we are changing the constitution to extend the terms of office of the incumbent president: whether this does not shade the level of human rights and democracy in Artsakh, Ruben Melikyan said, “That’s your approach. My mandate is the human rights, I am engaged and will continue to be engaged in human rights. If you bring examples where there can be any connections between these processes and human rights protection, I will answer”.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
