Friday, October 20 2023 15:41

ArmInfo. Former Armenian Ombudsman, head of the Center for Law and Justice of the Tatoyan Foundation, Arman Tatoyan, presented the strategic goals of the September 19 aggression of the Azerbaijani authorities against Nagorno Karabakh and its inhabitants during a press conference on October 20.

Having prepared maps of 4 regions of Artsakh - Martakert, Martuni,  Askeran and Stepanakert , the Foundation team presented the  concentration points of the Azerbaijani armed forces, movements,  directions of their attack on civilians, etc. "All the facts studied  indicate that the aggression of September 19 was carefully thought  out by the Azerbaijani state," said Arman Tatoyan.  As the main goals  of the current policy, he noted the isolation of settlements from  each other, the disruption of communications, including between the  Artsakh military and civilians.

"The shelling began during the daytime, around 12:00 p.m. to 12:30  p.m., when students were in educational institutions. That is,  families were separated and had no opportunity to find out anything  about their relatives. This was not an accident, but a deliberate  policy of Azerbaijan to create panic and make the situation  uncontrollable," the former Ombudsman noted.

According to Tatoyan, in certain settlements, people had about half  an hour to escape, and many did not even have time to put on their  shoes and dress. "There can be no question here that people  voluntarily left their homeland," he added.

Presenting the situation in Stepanakert, Tatoyan emphasized that  isolation was of key importance here.  Since the enemy side wanted to  deprive the control center of the opportunity to contact other  populated areas to manage the situation, ensure the protection of  citizens, evacuate, etc.

He mentioned the damage and blockade of infrastructure of vital  importance as the peculiarities of the behavior of the Azerbaijani  Armed Forces. In this regard, the head of the Foundation spoke about  cases of the enemy's seizure of 2 reservoirs in Stepanakert, which  provided the population with drinking water. By blocking these areas,  water filtration became impossible. Tatoyan noted that, at his  request, forcibly displaced citizens brought water from Artsakh to  Armenia to submit it for examination, the results of which will be  used as evidence of Azerbaijan's crimes.

As Tatoyan noted, the Azerbaijani side also uses a similar policy in  relation to the occupied territories of Armenia, in particular in  Syunik and Gegharkunik.

As a result of the Azerbaijani aggression on September 19 against  Artsakh, which was preceded by a total blockade, more than 100.6  thousand citizens of Artsakh were forcibly displaced to Armenia.