Gagik Avanesyan, a member of the initiative group of the “Headquarters of the People’s Movement for Unblocking the Kashatagh Corridor” and a participant in the Artsakh movement, told “Aravot” that the people of Artsakh will not allow the authorities of Artsakh to defeat the motion formed in Artsakh and bring it to a dead end.
– Mr. Avanesyan, these days, the “Headquarters of the People’s Movement for the Unblocking of the Corridor” is carrying out protest actions in Artsakh with the call to unblock Artsakh. In parallel, Artsakh authorities called a rally on July 14. What developments are taking place is a popular movement starting in Artsakh?
– I consider the rally called by the authorities to be expected; it was also the result of our work. From the beginning, we put the principle that everyone should do their work as the basis of our activity. And this meeting of the authorities is a natural continuation of our actions; we do not feel jealous about it; on the contrary, we also participated. Our demands remain the same; if the authorities try to deviate from the main road, we will raise the alarm. One of our tasks is to make people understand that there will be results if everyone wakes up and stands up.
First, our government woke up what we talked about 1.5 months ago. But- better late than never. The authorities have also announced a movement; we do not see anything unusual in it, and we are ready to work together because the problem is everyone’s. When we started the movement, we declared that this was apolitical. Naturally, the action is political, but it concerns foreign policy.
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There have been discussions with the authorities; they accept many questions, and we are happy the movement gains momentum. And we hope that the leaders will not lead the move down the path of destruction; we will not allow it. When we see a danger that the authorities are leading the movement to a dead end, we will raise the alarm publicly and meet with them immediately.
– If the movement gains momentum, what will be the following steps? What opportunities will be created?
– When the public stands up, everything is possible. It also becomes visible to the whole world. The important thing is to bring the Artsakh issue into the legal field. That is our primary goal. And it is no coincidence that among today’s calls and speeches, it is clear that no one has the right to decide the fate of Artsakh instead of the people of Artsakh. That is the most important thing. They are playing a game: the corridor is open, but it is not.
We have set a primary goal: to open the corridor; the checkpoint must be removed from there. And that can only be done with a large number of people. It is based on the following: complying with any court decision is necessary. Now, whoever is assigned the task of doing it, if he does not, anyone can do it, and it will be legal. For example, let’s take the same story of Soghomon Tehlirian; why was he acquitted? Because Talaat was sentenced to death, and he carried it out. In the USA, some special people caught criminals who had fled. Any court decision must be implemented.
– In other words, if the society gathers and goes to the Berdzor Corridor to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice, that is, to force the opening of the corridor, is that a legal way? Is that what you mean?
– Yes. The UN Security Council should control this issue and implement the corridor’s opening, but it still needs to. We do and expect support from them. The main idea is that when we go, we eliminate that checkpoint; we open the road. The five-kilometer-wide corridor should work as stipulated in the November 9 document.
Roza HOVHANNISYAN
“Aravot” daily, 15.07.2023
