On April 28, a petition entitled "No to Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh" was launched in Artsakh. 

Hayk Harutyunyan is one of the young people who initiated the signature collection. After the war, he dropped out of university and started doing documentary photography. He says that they started this initiative to make the voice of Artsakh people heard.

"If we can collect 60,000 signatures or even more, it will signify that the people of Artsakh are personally expressing their will independent of their government. It will be the voice of every person living in Artsakh. We hope that all this will achieve results,” says Harutyunyan, adding that the last straw was when Azerbaijan recently installed a checkpoint along the Lachin Corridor at the Hakari Bridge.

Hayk Harutyunyan

“We will send the petition to various international tribunals. If the ambassador of the European Union in Armenia sees so many signatures on a website, it is perceived in a different way as opposed to when 100,000 signatures are placed in front of him in boxes. So far no one has been able to deliver anything to them. And why not try, maybe something will work. This is better than waving your hands and sitting at home," says Harutyunyan.

The petition, citing recent decisions by the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, demands the immediate reopening of the Lachin Corridor, the withdrawal of Azerbaijani armed forces from Armenian territories occupied after November 9, 2020, the dismantling of the Azerbaijani checkpoint, and the return of Armenian refugees to their homes in Artsakh.

The petition warns that if the international community (OSCE Minsk Group, UN Security Council) doesn’t take practical steps within seven days to achieve the above demands, the signatories “will have to resort to all necessary means and methods” as an alternative.

While Hayk Harutyunyan believes Artsakh does not have the resources to start a war now, he remains prepared for hostilities.

"When the time comes for another war, we will all take up arms and go to fight. If I organize and participate in this petition, it does not mean that my radio and helmet are not next to me at night. I've been sleeping like this for over a year now. Every morning I expect war to start again,” he says.

Four signature collection points have been set up in the city of Stepanakert. The collection of signatures is also carried out in the cities of Martuni and Askeran. The work will be completed on May 8. They plan to collect 8-10,000 signatures a day.

"We want to collect 80,000 signatures. Yesterday, people were not so aware, today they hardly ask what it is for, they already know and immediately sign. We will send the collected signatures to Yerevan, to embassies of different countries, and international organizations,” Harutyunyan says.

Valery Harutyunyan, 72 years-old. works as a surgeon in a Stepanakert hospital. He says he is not participating in the signature collection. 

"I don't sign because I signed a long time ago. Our generation should not be asked that question: do we want to be part of Azerbaijan or not? After all, 98 percent of us made that choice," says Valery Harutyunyan. He says today’s young people   should avoid making the mistakes of his generation and be tougher towards the authorities and not be silent about their mistakes.

Edik Balayan is 63 years old. Before the blockade, he worked in Ivanyan as a builder. Due to the lack of building materials, he’s not working now. He says that regardless of whether it will be useful or not, he’s signed the petition.

“It would be nice if this was of any use. It would be more beneficial if we changed our government. They waited so long that the Turks came and set up a checkpoint. But they haven't built the new road yet," says Balayan.