A member of the Artsakh Public Council: COP17 was supposed to be a platform for raising the legal issues of Artsakh residents.

ArmInfo. The 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), currently underway in Yerevan, is precisely the platform where the legal issues of the people of Artsakh should have been raised. This was stated by Alvard Zakaryan, a member of the Artsakh Public Council, at a press conference in Yerevan on October 29 entitled "International Obligations and the National Agenda in the Context of COP17: Assessments and Conclusions."

She noted that the action plan underlying COP17 is fully applicable to Artsakh, as the people of Artsakh are the indigenous population of their homeland, and the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples is among the key topics of the conference. "Therefore, we were confident that we would be able to ensure the representation of the people of Artsakh at COP17." "However, we were not allowed to do this," Zakaryan noted.

As the NKR Public Council member recalled, they began holding protests on October 15, primarily by appealing to the Armenian government, even though they were convinced that it was the Armenian authorities who had obstructed Artsakh's representation at COP17. Furthermore, Zakaryan explained, they sent appeals to numerous embassies, urging them at least to act as mediators and help find a way to raise Artsakh's issues on an international stage. "Despite the lack of response, I believe there is one thing we are obligated to do: constantly appeal, demand, and not give in to disappointment. We intend to make progress on this issue, given that Armenia will chair the COP for two years. "That is, we still have a lot of work to do in this direction," Zakarian emphasized.

During the protests, as the Artsakh Public Council member noted, they sought to draw attention to the fact that the people of Artsakh have been deprived of the right to representation, which is guaranteed by international norms. Therefore, according to her, over the next two years, during which Armenia will chair the COP, they intend to consistently raise this issue and demand that the Armenian authorities not ignore it.

Commenting on the reaction of Joyti Khosagrakar, Deputy Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center at the Matenadaran, Zakarian noted that international organizations have their own interests, and such a position, in her opinion, plays into the hands of the Armenian authorities, who seek to silence the voice of the people of Artsakh. However, as Zakarian noted, this does not mean that public discussion of the issue should be abandoned. "This does not mean that we should not talk about it." "It is necessary to constantly create situations in which they will be unable to ignore the problem and will ultimately be forced to respond to it," noted the member of the NKR Public Council.

She cited the example of the cancellation of Artsakh ensembles' participation in a festival in Vienna. Zakarian noted that after this story received public attention, a new invitation was sent to the ensembles. In her opinion, this demonstrates that consistently drawing attention to the problem can produce results.

"At the same time, there are also negative examples: despite numerous appeals to international structures, more often than not, we never receive a response. For example, a corresponding letter was sent to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, but no response was received. Nevertheless, I believe that all these appeals are being recorded and are important. "Therefore, we are obliged to continue this work," the Artsakh Public Council member emphasized.

Zakaryan expressed her conviction that if all of Armenian society, including the Diaspora, unites around this issue and raises the issue of the rights of the Artsakh people at every opportunity, including the right to return and property rights, the international community will ultimately be forced to take these demands into account.

She emphasized the need to continue creating situations in which international structures cannot ignore the issue. "We know our rights, and today these rights are being violated. Therefore, we must continue to speak out about this, demand their respect, and ensure that we are heard," Zakaryan concluded.

It should be noted that the Artsakh people were denied a pavilion in the Green Zone of the COP17 international conference. In connection with this, they held a protest at the S. Gagarin Sports and Concert Complex. Karen Demirchyan, where the conference is taking place, and also sent letters of protest to the embassies of a number of European countries.