Ombudsman releases evidence of Azerbaijani military’s reinforcement in Armenia in response to Defense Ministry’s denial

In response to the denial by the Defense Ministry of his previous statement that the Azerbaijani troops, that have invaded Gegharkunik are actively strengthening their positions, conducting other engineering works, Armenia’s Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan issued another statement on Modnay, insisting that Azeris have built large shelters, stocked up on firewood and concreted the roads leading to their positions. In addition, they continue to build new roads, and the number of troops and weapons at their positions has increased, he said.

In response, the Defense Ministry said there were a number of inaccuracies in the statement of the human rights defender, as well as allegations that did not correspond to reality. In particular, it called the claims about the construction of shelters, firewood stockpiles and new roads “clearly exaggerated”.

In a statement late on Thursday, Tatoyan said that after his public post a campaign to discredit the human rights defender launched, adding the secretary of the Security Council also joined it.

He explained that the reason for the ombudsman’s October 18 statement was that the actions of Azerbaijani forces grossly violate the rights of Armenian civilians. The ombudsman’s office continues to receive complaints from border residents. Moreover, he stated, such violations are usually followed by criminal actions of the Azerbaijani servicemen, including those of a terrorist nature, which target civilians and the Armenian military.

“Both this and any other statement of the ombudsman are based on reliable data collected during fact-finding activities,” Tatoyan said, adding the mentioned statement is based on the facts that the ombudsman’s office has consistently collected as a result of the daily monitoring and report studies of recent months.