Tatoyan criticizes Pashinyan: Armenian Armed Forces protect lives of  our people every minute and their actions are initially legitimate

ArmInfo. Former Armenian Ombudsman, head of the Tatoyan Foundation Arman Tatoyan sharply criticized today's statement by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a government meeting regarding the fact that any Armenian soldier who violates the order not to respond to the Azerbaijani provocation will be held legally accountable.

"What does the phrase "there will be legal consequences for the  servicemen? Is this a speech by the head of government?

And this is instead of saying that the armed soldiers of Azerbaijan  invaded the territory of our country, entered the village of Nerkin  Hand and surrounded it on three sides, constantly firing in the  direction of the villages, keeping the people in fear.

People were deliberately deprived of water, were not allowed near  water sources, were deprived of the opportunity to cultivate gardens  and land, earn a living, and visit the graves of relatives and  church. And here they say that our servicemen, who defended  themselves from the fire of the Azerbaijani armed forces, will be  held accountable.

Does the government not know that the Nerkin Hand school is under an  armed target of Azerbaijan, mines are placed there, the explosion of  which kills rare domestic animals?  It turns out that Azerbaijani  soldiers are sitting calmly on their territory, and suddenly the  Armenian side started shooting? That the incidents are happening in  some mountains, not in the territory of our country and inside our  village.?!" Tatoyan was indignant.

At the same time, he once again recalled that he had repeatedly noted  that any presence of Azerbaijani armed forces in the vicinity of our  settlements [not to mention incursions] is inherently illegal and  criminal.  "The Armed Forces of Armenia, including border troops and  police, protect the life and health of our people every minute. Their  actions are initially legitimate and aimed at protecting residents.  This should be the agenda and conviction of the Armenian side, and  not what Azerbaijan dictates,"  the human rights activist summarized.

On the morning of February 13, the Armenian Ministry of Defense  reported that the Azerbaijani military opened fire on Armenian  positions on the border in the Nerkin Hand (Syunik region). According  to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, four  servicemen were killed on the Armenian side and one more was wounded.  Later, it became known that all the victims were members of the  Yerkrapah volunteer union.

Azerbaijan not only does not deny the fact of aggression, but also  cynically stated that they carried out a "revenge operation" in  response to a "provocation" by the Armenian military. At the same  time, they added that as a result of these actions, the Armenian  combat post was destroyed. It is noteworthy that all this is  happening in the territories of Armenia, which were previously  captured by the enemy side amid  the international community's tacit  encouragement of Azerbaijani aggression.