STEPANAKERT, APRIL 7, ARTSAKHPRESS. The Artsakh Mothers Club organized a peaceful demonstration on April 7 in Stepanakert, where hundreds of women marched towards the blockaded section of the road leading to Shushi.
The demonstration called for respecting the right to self-determination and fundamental rights of the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), opening of the only road linking Artsakh with Armenia – which has been closed for already 117 days – and preventing Azerbaijan’s genocidal policy.
Participants of the demonstration first visited the Stepanakert Military Pantheon-Memorial, where they honored the fallen troops.
Mariam Abrahamyan, a woman from Nagorno Karabakh and a mother of three children, told ARMENPRESS that women in Nagorno Karabakh “wake up every day with the fear of war, becoming a widow or losing a child”.
“The absence of gas supply, the power outages and food shortages that our children are facing for a long time now aren’t as concerning as this uncertainty and the policy of Azerbaijan which is getting worse day by day,” she said. “We, women of Artsakh, will not be silent, we will struggle. We owe our sons, we won’t allow the depopulation of Armenians in Armenian land. Unfortunately this is the only way to raise our voice to the world.”
“…We will not surrender, our will is unbreakable. The people of Artsakh made their decision in 1988, by severing ties with aggressor Azerbaijan, and there is no turning back. As long as we stand here, as long as we speak Armenian and have our own national religion and symbols, Artsakh will not be part of Azerbaijan,” she said, adding that while women in other countries around the world are concerned about career and personal welfare, in a parallel reality women in Artsakh are concerned of their very existence.
Kristine Balayan, another participant of the demonstration, said the world must hear the voice of Artsakh. “We have the right to life and the world must hear us.”
“Our children have the right to freedom of movement, but aggressor Aliyev has closed the road of life and tries to decide who can pass. The world must stand by our side, the international community must extend a helping hand to one another because life is a boomerang, if this happens to someone else then no one will stand by them again,” Balayan added.
