Armenian citizens condemn authorities’ plans for Independence Day

Armenian authorities have decided to hold a large-scale celebration of the 30th anniversary of the country's independence, but the public criticized these plans, and relatives of the dead militaries demanded to cancel the holiday. Armenian human rights defenders treat the lavish celebrations prior to the first anniversary of the 2020 autumn war as inappropriate.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Armenia lost 3773 persons who perished in the Karabakh war; 243 persons are still regarded as missing, Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister, has stated.

He has added that the celebrations on September 21 in Yerevan, first of all, will be dedicated to those who sacrificed their lives for the independence of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

The victims' relatives agree that life goes on, but they believe that it is necessary to wait for at least one anniversary of the tragedy and refrain from celebrations at the state level.

Elizaveta Ogandjanyan, the mother of a perished soldier treats any festive events as inappropriate, when "there are still missing persons and prisoners of war (POWs)."

Karin Tonoyan, who lost her son in the Karabakh war, called in her Facebook the government's decision "another manifestation of authorities' cynicism".

In the opinion of Djasmin Kirakosyan, the money that is planned to be spent on the holiday is better to spent on buying weapons and equipping the country's army.

Nina Karapetyants, a human rights defender and the head of the Helsinki Association of Armenia, has criticized the government's decision to hold a "colourful event".

Zhanna Aleksanyan, the head of the human rights organization "Journalists for Human Rights", believes that "if there are more than 4000 casualties in the country, and one year has not yet passed, everyone should reckon with this."