As protests against Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression in Arstakh continue all over the world, we asked Iren Bagdasarian, one of the participants of the demonstrations in Milanorganized and held by the Unione degli Armeni d'Italia, to tell how it is going.
“Our expectations are rising proportionally to our success. We have gone from hoping to get a permission to protest the first time – to Milan recognizing Artsakh’s independence on October 16. We see the results of our work and get more and more ambitious.
The locals have been quite nice to us. They come up often to ask a question. A few times they even asked for the microphone to give a short speech. For example, in Bolzano we had a professor of the local university who happened to be passing by, saw the protest and wanted to express his support. This helps to show the locals our claims are just. They see Italians supporting us and start to believe more.
The demonstrations are totally planned and held by the Armenian communities of Italy. However, we do inform our compatriots about the events we plan, invite journalists of national TV channels and stay in touch to send materials. After all, we are one global Armenian nation and we are connected to our relatives in Armenia and Artsakh.”
The City Council of Milan, Italy, has recognized the independence of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and condemned the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression, according to City Council member Matteo Forte. The urgent motion on recognizing Artsakh has been passed in the City Council unanimously. According to the motion, the City Council tasked the Milan Mayor and the city’s executive authorities to ask Italy’s national authorities to recognize the Republic of Artsakh. “The recognition can lead not only to the restoration of justice, but also to the end of silence which has long becoming an accomplice to crime”, the City Council said.