Ghanaian Vice-Chancellors Alprecht and Tevis Koch Urge the Ghanaian Government to Protect Artsakh’s Right to Self-Determination

Ghanaian
Vice-Chancellors Alprecht and Tevis Koch to the Ghanaian Government to Protect Artsakh
The Right of Self-Determination

Arzakhian
on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the movement, on May 23 and 24, the parliament of Ghana sounded
a series of unprecedented statements, by which the two opposition parties, the Conservative Party
and New Democratic representatives called on the Government of Ghana to defend it
and to recognize the right of self-determination of Artsakh.

Tuesday
On May 23, Member of the New Democratic Party of Ghana, Member of Parliament, Tan Davis
In his statement from the parliament, he mentioned that the Artsakh liberation movement
The thirtieth anniversary is an event with a national resonance for the Armenian people.
He will briefly present the freedom and full rights of the people of Artsakh
details of the political and legal struggle related to security, appeal
to the Government of Ghana to act as a defender of human rights
wait for the peaceful settlement of the issue, always based on international law and Artsakh
the indisputability of the right to self-determination.

Tavis’ statement was followed by the statement of Conservative Party member and vice-chairman of the Ghana-Armenia Parliamentary Group, Rep. Harold Alprecht, which took place the next day, May 24. Alprekht, after presenting the century-long struggle led by the Armenian people for the liberation and independence of Artsakh, noted that it is unfortunate that Azerbaijan continues to ignore the rights acquired by the law of the Artsakh people and continuously obstructs the peaceful resolution of the issue. He also called on the government to stand up for Artsakh’s right to self-determination and bring its active participation to the peaceful resolution of the issue by the international community. efforts towards settlement.

ARF of Ghana
The Armenian National Committee loudly welcomed the statements of the two representatives
appreciated their noble and principled attitude and confirmed that the collective efforts
will continue pending further pro-Armenian progress on the Artsakh issue
in order to ensure and keep Ghana’s position always fair. The committee
In its own way, it is also a call to follow the call of the community and a couple of hypocrites.

See below the original English text of the statements.

Harold Albrecht – May 24,
2018

Mr. Speaker, last evening, along with
colleagues of the Canada–Armenia Friendship Group, I was honoured to attend a
celebration of the centennial of independence of the Republic of Armenia.

While we celebrate great strides taken by
Armenia, concerns remain surrounding the conflict in the Artsakh region. With
over 80% of Artsakh’s population voting in a referendum and 99% of those
supporting independence, it was unfortunate that Azerbaijan ignored the results
and responded aggressively. The conflict resulted in tens of thousands of
victims and hundreds of thousands of refugees. In 1994, the conflict ended with
a ceasefire agreement.

In a 2006 referendum, the region approved a new
constitution. While there have been signs of progress in peace negotiations,
there have been several instances of ceasefire violations, most notably in
2016, when dozens of soldiers lost their lives, and since then deaths of
innocent civilians have happened far too often.

I call on the Government of Canada to stand up
for the right to self-determination of the people of the Republic of Artsakh
and to work alongside the global community in seeking peace for this region.

Don Davies – May 23, 2018

Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 30th
anniversary of the Karabakh movement, a monumental event for the global Armenian
community.

In 1991, the people of Artsakh declared
independence from the Soviet Union and their aspiration for a Nagorno-Karabakh
republic. The region’s residents, primarily ethnically Armenian, then held a
referendum in which 82% of all voters participated, and 99% voted for
independence. Unfortunately, war then broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Despite a 1994 ceasefire, long-term peace and a durable political solution have
been absent. Since 2016, innocent lives have been lost on an almost daily
basis.

This House must affirm our commitment to the
protection and human rights of civilians and call on all parties to strictly
adhere to the terms of the ceasefire. More fundamentally, we call on the
Canadian government to work for a just solution to this conflict, one that
conforms with international law and is built on the inalienable right of the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination.