Arman Tatoyan insists Artsakh Armenians' repatriation must remain on agenda

Former Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the Wings of Unity party, said on Monday that peace cannot be built on “forgetting people”, warning that the right of return for displaced Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is being pushed off the international agenda.

Tatoyan joined a protest outside the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex in Yerevan. His comments came as European leaders gathered in the Armenian capital for the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit.

“Right now, the issue of Artsakh Armenians’ right to return is being driven into oblivion. This is unacceptable – no one is raising it anymore,” Tatoyan told Panorama.

“Peace and policies cannot be built on forgetting people and their rights,” he added.

Tatoyan accused the Armenian government of neglecting the matter in order to win praise from Azerbaijan. “The current leadership is deliberately consigning the issue to oblivion in line with arrangements made with Azerbaijan, just so they can hear words of praise from Baku,” he said.