“They tried to kidnap me four times. They started shoving me around. Two days ago, eight of them came and shoved me around, but I didn’t obey them. They punched me in the eye, and that’s when our boys got here with the Russians. They were holding a weapon to my head and saying ‘Baku, Baku…’ I said, ‘What Baku, what are you saying? I’m a stupid man, you’re taking me to Baku for what?’” the pastor of the Aravus settlement of Goris, Felix Avagyan, told Aravot Daily in a phone call.
The residents of Aravus had called the Human Rights Defender, Arman Tatoyan, to inform him of the incident that happened with Felix Avagyan. According to Tatoyan, Avagyan was thrown around and attacked, and the Human Rights Defender appealed to international agencies about this incident.
The governor of Syunik, Melikset Poghosyan, believes that our residents can be careless and inattentive sometimes. He knows the pastor of Aravus personally.
Read also
“Felo sleeps in the pastures, and his cows cross the border with the enemy. They’ve said that he goes there with weapons or he goes there drunk sometimes, and they will take him away one day. They told us to keep an eye on him,” the governor said.
Despite the small incidents that take place from time to time, the situation at the borders of Syunik is calm and under control.
We also asked Melikset Poghosyan why the residents of the border communities were ordered to gather their weapons. According to the governor, when the defense of Syunik was dire, people provided their weapons from bases and other places. “Now, what is my request? They should hand over those weapons, including the ones that they found during military operations from different places. It seems that people are not carrying out their combat duties and they are not on combat duty, but their weapons are sitting at home. What is the purpose? One day, they might have too much to drink, shoot, and say that the Turks are shooting,” the governor said, adding that a young person in Goris shot himself with his weapon. “Tell me, were we not supposed to confiscate his weapon?” Melikset Poghosyan asked.
In the border communities, the necessary ammunition is regulated and available in the arsenals. The problem is the illegal weapons kept in people’s houses. According to the governor, those weapons do not solve the security problem when people keep them in their homes. “I must reiterate, the security of the people living in the border communities of the region is upheld. All structures are doing their job. Now, we must not allow unnecessary things and we must collect illegally-stored weapons as soon as possible,” Melikset Poghosyan said.
Armen Davtyan
