Citizen Missing in Gorayk Village: 'We Fear He Was Abducted by Azerbaijanis'

Narek Sardarayan, a resident of the village of Nerkhin Khandzorosk in the Syunik region, went missing after leaving to tend to livestock at around 10:00 AM on July 8. Tehmine Grigoryan, a relative of Sardarayan, informed 24News that neither Sardarayan nor his horse has been found to this day.

“Sardarayan was tending to livestock along the Gorayk border near the pasture areas leading from Syunik to Yerevan, which are more commonly known as the Shaghati pastures. We know that there are Azerbaijani positions nearby the pasture area. The rescuers worked from 1:30 AM until 2:50 PM today but found nothing. We are aware that their efforts have been suspended, but no reason for the cessation has been provided. We do not know if he crossed the border or whom to contact,” explained Tehmine Grigoryan.

According to her, Sardarayan’s family is in a very bad state due to the incident. Narek Sardarayan was last seen by several shepherds in the morning, and there has been no further information; subsequently, his mobile phone has become unreachable. She noted that 30-year-old Narek Sardarayan had no health or family issues.

“We suspect that he was taken by Azerbaijanis and crossed the border without realizing it. We fear that he may have reached the Azerbaijani side and is in Nakhichevan. He and other herders had been tending to livestock in those areas for 10-15 days. All the villagers participated in the search efforts but found nothing, although they did manage to retrieve and secure the stray livestock before continuing the search. It turns out that a citizen of the Republic of Armenia cannot live peacefully on his own land,” said Sardarayan's relative.

Tehmine Grigoryan also mentioned that they have contacted the Red Cross, which responded that they are still discussing the situation and will establish contact later. The police informed that search operations are ongoing, but there are still no updates available.