Azerbaijani protesters lined up in front of the Armenian participants of the rally in the course of the action.
Police officers in charge of public peace told BNS that the rally involved about 100 Armenians and a few dozen Azerbaijani supporters.
The Armenians waived their national flag and held banners which said: “We Will Never Forget Armenian Massacres in Sumgaite, Baku, Maragh," "Lithuanians Aren't The Nation Who Can Be Bought for Caviar and Oil," "Shame on you Azeri." They also held photos of people killed during mass killings of Armenians over 20 years ago.
Robert Khachyaturov, a representative of the Armenian community in Vilnius, told BNS the protest was held to commemorate victims of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Precisely at this time over 20 years ago, the massacre of Armenians took place in Sumgaite.
"It is taking place in Vilnius because Lithuanians were the first from the times of the Soviet Unions to launch a democratic movement, and this action was aimed not only to honor the memory of Armenian victims but also to remind Lithuania that Lithuania and Armenia were together 25 years ago and we want to be together now," he told BNS.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's supporters held slogans, saying "Karabakh Is Our Land" and "I Want to Go Home to Karabakh."
"On February 26-27, 1992, the Armenian army with the help of the Russian army targeted Azerbaijan in Karabakh zone and they occupied this, they did genocide to us. (...) We want all the world to know this and we want our land back," Rustam Azimov, a student of the International School of Law and Business in Vilnius, told BNS.
The protests were held at the crossing of Gedimino Avenue and Tumo-Vaižganto Street close to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.
Inhabited by Christian Armenians, Nagorno Karabakh is part of the Muslim Azerbaijan, according to the international law. However, it declared independence back in 1991, thus triggering a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that ended in fragile truce in 1994.
Although Armenia and the rest of the world haven't recognized Nagorno Karabakh's independence, the republic uses the Armenian currency and Yerevan has been providing financial support to the republic.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly threatened to get back the control over Nagorno Karabakh by force.
