Armenian human rights defender reiterates his idea of creating security zone in Syunik
YEREVAN, August 23. /ARKA/. When travelling in Armenia’s south-eastern province of Syunik Armenia’s human rights defender Arman Tatoyan and several members of his staff stopped on purpose for 1-2 minutes at a section of the M2 interstate highway, where Azerbaijani troops are stationed. According to Tatoyan, the idea was to prove that the latter’s presence on the inter-communal roads in Syunik poses a real threat to the locals’ right to life and free movement.
Tatoyan said in a Facebook post that they tried to understand what would happen if, for some objective reason, a civilian car with Armenian license plate stops on that section, for example, due to a malfunction of the car or if a passenger feels unwell.
According to him, as soon as their car stopped, an Azerbaijani serviceman immediately grabbed a machine gun and pointed it in their direction. The photo attached to the post shows a section of the road between the villages of Shurnukh in Goris and David Bek in Kapan districts, indicating the location of the Azerbaijani military.
On another section of the road, the car that was transporting the ombudsman and his team also stopped for 1-2 minutes causing the concern of the Azerbaijani servicemen, who watched them through the binocular, then began to whistle and shout something.
“We have learned from our own experience that the very presence of Azerbaijani servicemen on the roads between the communities of Syunik is a violation of the right to life, free movement and other vital rights of the civilian population of Armenia," Tatoyan said.
He said this evidence, together with other facts will be included in the concept of the security zone and sent to the relevant international structures..
In early April, 2021, citing a string of reports that Azerbaijani soldiers deployed along the border with Armenia are hurling stones on civilian cars with Armenian license plates riding along a section of the road between the Armenian towns of Goris and Kapan which is controlled by Azerbaijan, Tatoyan called for creation of a security zone in the southern Armenian province of Syunik. -0-
