Yesterday, Azerbaijani servicemen threatened residents of the village of Tegh in the Syunik Province with firearms on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and did not allow them to gather the mown hay. A statement to this effect was issued by the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan.
“Yesterday, Azerbaijani servicemen threatened residents of the village of Tegh in the Syunik Province with firearms on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and did not allow them to gather the mown hay.
In particular, on 26 June 2021, the residents of the village of Tegh went to the land plot belonging to them by right of ownership, in order to gather the hay they themselves had mown on 23 and 24 June.
When they were at a distance of about 300 metres from the Azerbaijani position, within the administrative territory of the Tegh community, they noticed that 5 armed Azerbaijani servicemen, with an aggressive (offensive) demeanour and shouting, were approaching them.
Approaching to about 150 metres, they pointed their weapons at the villagers and began to threaten them, shout, and did not allow them to gather the hay. Two of them were of a more aggressive demeanour and demanded of the villagers that they no longer come to those areas at all and not try to make use of the lands.
The incident took place at a place called Andrun Karer, which is located at the junction point of the villages of Tegh, Aravus and Khnatsakh. The residents of the aforementioned three villages make use of the land plots of that place.
There are both plots of land in private ownership of individuals and plots belonging to the communities. There are also pastures here, which the residents of the aforementioned three villages use to graze their cattle.
The villagers were able to gather the hay only today, on 27 June, when the commanding staff of the 1st Army Corps of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and the heads of the local self-government bodies of Tegh went to that place.
This information was presented to the Human Rights Defender by the residents of the villages, including the villagers who had gone to gather hay, as well as the head of the enlarged administrative district of Tegh. All the information was verified by the staff of the Defender.
This criminal act of the Azerbaijani servicemen against the citizens of the Republic of Armenia took place on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.
It is obvious that such blatant criminal acts by Azerbaijani servicemen are aimed at depriving the civilian residents of the Republic of Armenia of life and other vital rights, of the opportunity to engage in livestock breeding and to earn the family income. All this must be viewed in the context of ongoing deliberate action, since they regularly commit similar acts (threats to shepherds, theft of animals, and so on) against the residents of both the Gegharkunik and Syunik villages.
This incident once again confirms that the protection of the population of the Republic of Armenia from the criminal acts of the Azerbaijani armed forces absolutely urgently requires the existence of a security zone,” the statement said.
