MONTREAL -- Over 1,000 Montrealers gathered downtown on Sunday to call for peace in the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the site of a growing conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan.

The Republic of Artsakh is not recognized by the Azerbaijany government and has been the centre of a decades-old conflict. Much of the Republic of Artsakh, which is also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, is ethnically Armenian and is backed militarily by that country's government.

Dozens of people have died in the latest clashes, which began on Sept. 27.

The Armenian National Committee is calling on the Canadian government to condemn the violence and to "prohibit current and future export permits for arms to Turkey being used to kill innocent civilians by this authoritarian regime." 

The group wants the government to denounce Azerbaijani and Turkish attacks and for Turkey to withdraw equipment from the conflict zone. 

Among those present at Sunday's rally were Liberal MP Annie Koutrakis, who tweeted her support for the Republic of Artsakh.