Rally participants criticized Washington agreements

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A rally of supporters of the "National Democratic Pole" was held in Yerevan, the participants of which criticized the declaration signed by Aliyev and Pashinyan in Washington and called for uniting to resist the actions of the authorities.

As "Caucasian Knot" wrote, at a meeting in Washington on August 8, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a declaration on the cessation of hostilities. The declaration recorded that the parties will not make territorial claims against each other. Most of the seven points of the declaration contain vague wording, analysts noted. On August 11, the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan published the text of the peace agreement initialed in Washington, it contains 17 articles. Karabakh MPs and public figures expressed their indignation in connection with the agreements.

On the evening of August 15, a rally was held on Freedom Square, organized by the political bloc "National Democratic Pole" (NDP), according to rough estimates of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, more than 500 supporters of the bloc took part in it. The action lasted almost two hours. The participants held Armenian flags and posters reading "Peace is impossible if Artsakh is under occupation", "The fate of the people is determined by the people, not the traitorous government", "Peace without dignity is a war in the future, with stricter rules."

Before the rally, the "National Democratic Pole" issued a statement regarding the meeting of the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington on August 8, 2025, in which it noted that the bloc "has always and consistently advocated and continues to advocate for deepening and expanding relations with the West, in particular, with the United States", that "this choice is conditioned not only by political, economic and military interests, but also by a combination of civilizational and value systems."

The statement further states that "the meeting in Washington confirms that the party representing Armenia is not the legitimate representative of the Armenian people and does not pursue Armenian interests." At the same time, a list of explanations for this position is provided. In short, it is stated that Azerbaijan does not want to return the Armenian prisoners, the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group has begun, the statement says nothing about restoring the rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to return and security guarantees, and so on.

The head of the Modus Vivendi center Ara Papyan, speaking at the rally, noted that "without Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Armenia is vulnerable in terms of security, economically and spiritually."

He stated that "the dissolution of the OSCE MG cannot be allowed," adding that "it was created by consensus of the OSCE Ministerial Council, that is, representatives of 57 countries who met in March 1992, and they voted to create this group for the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict."

We need to create a solid legal basis, a powerful national government and a strong army to give resistance to any aggression against Armenia

“I am sure that some of these countries will vote against the dissolution, and the MG will continue to operate, and the issue of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will be in the spotlight. We need to create a solid legal basis, a powerful national government and a strong army to repel any aggression against Armenia,” Papyan said.

He called the peace agreement signed in Washington “a fake, since “it has not been ratified by the parliament,” and noted that “no international treaty can be ratified if it contradicts the current Constitution, which is why Aliyev is forcing Armenia to change the Constitution, which contains a reference to the Declaration of Independence, which stipulates the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.”

Papyan called on society, all political and public figures to resist, noting that “at Aliyev’s behest, the Armenian government is feeding the people the idea of “peace” in order to maintain its power, while Azerbaijan will continue to arm itself for war with Armenia.”

In his speech, the chairman of the public organization “In the Name of Hadrut” Levon Hayryan stated that "it is necessary to carry out work to implement the right of the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to return, with international guarantees and international management, with the deployment of international forces in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)."

According to him, "collaborators have come to power in Armenia, who are trying with all their might to close the Artsakh issue, hiding behind the salvation of Armenia." "Today's Armenia was created on the basis of the Karabakh movement. However, everything is being done to eliminate this basis and abolish the republic. Therefore, the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue should always be on the agenda, think about the unification of Armenians, renew the Miatsum movement (Reunification with Armenia - the slogan of the Karabakh movement in 1988 - note of the "Caucasian Knot"), - said Hayriyan, adding that "those who are working to destroy the Third Armenian Republic must leave."

Recognition of the current borders of Armenia means that we, Armenians, recognize the Armenian Genocide

Chairman of the National Self-Determination Association Paruyr Hayrikyan noted in his speech that "recognition of the current borders of Armenia means that we, Armenians, recognize the Armenian Genocide." “The current borders of Armenia were formed by an illegal Russian-Turkish agreement, so recognizing these borders is political illiteracy,” Hayrikyan said.

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