“Armenia without Nikol, Armenia without Nikol,” the participants of the protest marched from the Sports and Concert Complex with a 40-meter flag of Artsakh to Freedom Square on April 27. The mother of Menua Hovhannisyan, who died in the 44-day war, and the co-founder of 5165 Movement party Karin Tonoyan said, “We have made the flag of Artsakh a symbol of our struggle, because our sons also fought for Artsakh. With this we want to show everyone that Artsakh is Armenia, and it is the duty of every Armenian to fight for Artsakh, thus ensuring the security of Armenia. Every conscious person realizes that after the loss of Artsakh, Zangezur, Vayots Dzor, maybe Gegharkunik will come, and finally the end of Armenia will come after all that. We have made the flag of Artsakh a symbol of the whole Republic of Armenia. It does not matter whose family members are at risk. If the family is strong and solid, the whole family must fight for each member.”
Karin Tonoyan said that with her image she wants to call on people to go out to fight. She announced, “If you do not feel anything for the homeland, Artsakh, at least go out to fulfill your duty to the boys. Come out to fight for Artsakh, because by keeping Artsakh Armenian and then uniting it to Armenia, we must avenge our boys and not leave their sacrifice meaningless. This is my sacred fight for my son and the homeland.”
Upon the observation that representatives of the government often say to the demonstrators in Yerevan, go to Artsakh and fight for Artsakh, Karin Tonoyan responded, “We have already given our children for Artsakh. If a war suddenly breaks out in Artsakh with their own hands, I will be there, in the front row. We have shown it with our lives. Who is shouting, ‘catch the thief?’ Let the government first show by its example. They are afraid to enter Artsakh, yet they tell us to go to Artsakh to fight. We are fed up with those authorities. They will be kind enough to leave our homeland, let us decide how, where we fight, and how we build victory.” Karin Tonoyan clarified that the mothers of the killed soldiers demand that Nikol Pashinyan be arrested as a traitor, a criminal. Hovhannes Ghazaryan, a founding member of the 5165 Movement and chair of the board of trustees of the Homeland Reconstruction and Development Foundation, said that they demand the resignation of the authorities. “We can not pretend that nothing happened, because they are trying to convince the public that everything is fine after the 2021 elections, they have received a mandate, which they package as a mandate to hand over Artsakh. We have come out to fight against that very policy, because as long as this government remains in power, the damage to our statehood and to the state deepens.” Hovhannes Ghazaryan responded to the criticism that ‘you should go to Artsakh and fight for Artsakh.’ “Politics is decided in Yerevan, and the struggle takes place in the streets of Yerevan.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
