Over 100 other people accumulated in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, on Sunday challenging their nation go away the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).
The organisation is a Russian-led army alliance that incorporates a number of former Soviet international locations, together with Armenia.
Azerbaijan, Armenia’s neighbour, isn’t a part of the organisation.
The demonstrators argued the alliance didn’t do sufficient to offer protection to their nation all the way through contemporary preventing with Azerbaijan. And they referred to as for Yerevan to transport nearer to Western powers.
“The US and Europe are our last hope,” said a woman at the protest. “I am here today because I want us to get out of the CSTO.
“The CSTO has become a useless organisation for our state. It does not do anything. It does not help it.”
Another protester mentioned: “this thing called the CSTO is only there to defend Russia’s interests.
“This organisation had to help Armenia during the war, and it did not help.”
The calls come after fighting broke out along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border last week.
Shortly after midnight on September 13, Yerevan claimed that Baku shelled six Armenian settlements within its borders and that that aggression was unprovoked.
Baku denies the claims and has said that its military was responding to Armenian attempts to mine Azeri positions. Yerevan has also denied the accusation.
The CSTO said it is sending a monitoring mission to the region in response to the fighting that, it is claimed, has killed more than 200 soldiers on both sides.
The two countries have fought two previous wars over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 2020, a six-weeks war resulted in the deaths of over 6,500 troops. And more than 91,000 people were forced to flee the territory into Armenia.
The recent protest comes after the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited the country for a three-day trip. Pelosi is the highest-ranking US official to visit Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
‘Illegal attack on Armenia’
During her historic visit, she described the fighting as an illegal attack on Armenian territory by its neighbour.
“We strongly condemn the ones assaults — on behalf of Congress — which threaten (the) potentialities of the much-needed peace settlement,” Pelosi said during a news conference.
“Armenia has explicit significance to us on account of the point of interest on safety following an unlawful and fatal assault via Azerbaijan at the Armenian territory.”
Azerbaijan responded to the accusation by calling it ‘unfair’ and ‘unacceptable’
“The unsubstantiated and unfair accusations levelled via Pelosi in opposition to Azerbaijan are unacceptable,” the country’s foreign ministry said.
“This is a major blow to the efforts to normalize family members between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
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