Protestors from the greater region were joined by members of the small Armenian community in Luxembourg in calling for recognition of what they call Artsakh and demanding EU foreign ministers impose sanctions on Azerbaijan and Turkey over their role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Delano staff

Protestors from the greater region were joined by members of the small Armenian community in Luxembourg in calling for recognition of what they call Artsakh and demanding EU foreign ministers impose sanctions on Azerbaijan and Turkey over their role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Delano staff

The protestors were calling upon EU foreign ministers, meeting for an EU foreign affairs council, to officially recognise Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh in Armenian, which has been the subject of an escalating territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

The ministers were due to have an exchange of view with Russia, which has offered to act as a peace broker in the dispute. The conflict has claimed over 400 lives since violence flared again on 27 September.

The Armenians are angry that the EU has so far failed to act. “The world should wake up,” Tereza Kirakosyan, visiting from Belgium, told Delano at the protest on Monday morning. The current situation, Kirakosyan says, is “not only dangerous for Armenians but for the whole civilised world.” She claims that even after a recent ceasefire, civilians were being targeted “in their homeland.”

Members of the European Parliament have called for sanctions against Azerbaijan and Turkey. In a statement on Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that reports of continued military activity, “including against civilian targets” had been noted “with extreme concern”. But Borrel has previously said that he prefers diplomacy over sanctions.

“We are here to open their ears and eyes,” said Kirakosyan.

Before the foreign affairs council meeting, Luxembourg’s foreign minister Jean Asselborn (LSAP), cited by Reuters, said he was disappointed that Turkey had not called for a truce in the conflict. “I believe they are completely wrong with this position,” he said. “I think the message from Luxembourg will be a call on Turkey, a NATO member, to help arrange a ceasefire quickly.”