Most of the Cattle Purchased with an 8 Million Dram Loan Seized by Azerbaijani Soldiers in Vayots Dzor and Not Returned

In the "Gogi Mount" pasture of the village of Sers in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, 80 out of 110 large cattle approached an Azerbaijani position, of which 75 were seized by soldiers and have not been returned. The incident occurred on August 16, around 10:30 AM. This was reported to the Human Rights Defender by two affected individuals.

They informed that they observed Azerbaijani soldiers coming out of their trench and approaching the cattle from approximately 800-900 meters away. During this time, they continued to monitor the actions of the Azerbaijani soldiers from a distance, during which one soldier moved about 300 meters forward, gathered the cattle, and then the three soldiers took them away.

The Azerbaijani soldiers were armed, but the citizens did not approach them due to the threat and were unable to retrieve the cattle. According to the affected citizens, they have contacted the Vayots Dzor Regional Administration, the community leader, the Armenian border guards, and the army corps. Representatives from the regional administration visited the site, recorded the incident, and noted that it is necessary to submit documents regarding the cattle from the bank and the community.

The affected citizens claim that the large cattle were purchased with agricultural loan money amounting to about 8 million AMD and they do not know how they will continue to pay off the loans. They believe that our state should initiate processes in international platforms that use these facts to compel the Azerbaijani authorities to compensate people for putting them in such situations.

We are prepared to address any issues in joint cooperation, as provided by the established procedures, with the government in order to understand their position regarding the immediate resolution of these citizens' problems before initiating such processes in international platforms.

As a side note, to recover the 80 cattle, the citizens have devised an interesting step: they brought newborn calves closer to the border, and the sounds they made instinctively led 5 large cattle to return.