A cognitive visit of the representatives of the International Union of Socialist Youth’s member organizations began today in Yerevan, Armenia, to be continued in Nagorno-Karabakh within the next three days, Gevorg Ghukasyan, a board member of ARFD Nikol Aghbalyan Student Union told a news conference on Friday.
“The International Union of Socialist Youth is the biggest political youth organization in the world, representing socialist and social democratic youth organizations. Today’s Yerevan visit has brought together delegations from Europe, U.S., the Middle East and New Zealand. This gives an opportunity to make the future leaders aware of the Karabakh conflict and to create a more favourable political arena to discuss the issue,” the speaker stressed.
Mr. Ghukasyan informed that the young politicians have already met today with Head of the ARFD Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Kiro Manoyan. Later on, they will be hosted by Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan.
In Artsakh, the European delegates will hold meetings with a number of political figures, Human Rights Defender, as well as representatives of Tumo Center for Creative Technologies. The agenda also features visits to historical monuments.
Board member of the Italian Socialist Party, Roselle Pera, in attendance of the meeting, said she is in Armenia for the first time. Attaching great importance to the perception of the Karabakh conflict’s essence and sharing their knowledge with the European youth, she expressed regret that many people are not aware of the Karabakh conflict and even the country’s existence.
Chairperson of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, Dimitar Mitev pays his second visit to Armenia. Touching upon the Artsakh conflict, he noted that putting side by side all the facts of the conflict, he realized that Artsakh is a free and independent state, which has been populated by Armenians throughout its entire existence.
“Kosovo has been an independent state for already 17 years, whereas Karabakh, having a richer historical background, unfortunately remains unrecognized. The country will be eventually recognized amid the pressure of the international community,” he stated.
Both politicians appeared to be aware of the possibility of appearing in Azerbaijan’s blacklist when visiting Artsakh.
“We see who are the aggressors are and who are the victims of that aggression. We support our Armenian friends. It is not important for us to be blacklisted by an aggressive state like Azerbaijan. A more important thing is that the people of Artsakh continue to live a safe life,” Mitev said.
The Italian delegate assured the possibility of ending up in Azerbaijan’s blacklist does not frighten them.