Yesterday I visited Sarushen community of Askeran region, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) where on April 7 the Azerbaijanis fired at the community residents carrying out agricultural work in the fields. Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan wrote about it on his Facebook page.
“It is clear from the study of the area that the field, where the residents of the community were carrying out agricultural work is under direct observation by the Azerbaijanis. Thus, the hypothesis that the Azerbaijani guards fired in the direction of the tractor carrying out engineering works is imaginary and illogical, because from the positions they occupy, without the possibility of making mistakes or being confused, both the agricultural equipment of our citizen and the nature of the work are visible.
The Azerbaijani armed forces, by their actions, clearly violating the highest political agreements, not only hindered the agricultural activities of the community, but also violated their right to life.
All this raises the need for additional security measures along the entire Shosh-Sarushen-Karmir Shuka highway. In this way, in order to ensure the safety of the population of the surrounding communities during the transit of Azerbaijani columns, it is very important to organize the transits according to a well-defined schedule, which will allow state and local authorities to regulate and manage all situations that may endanger citizens’ lives, health or property. Schedule is also an additional and necessary condition for citizens to determine their own behavior in terms of being informed in advance about current security threats.
The presence of the Artsakh Armed Forces and Russian peacekeepers in the fields cultivated by the residents of the border communities during the active period of agricultural work is simply obligatory in order to avoid possible provocations by Azerbaijan,” the Defender wrote.
