Is Security Determined This Way? Tatoyan on the Legitimacy of the Ministry of Defense's Clarification

The former Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, writes:

“It was extremely concerning to hear how the RA Ministry of Defense (MoD) detailed the criminal acts of Azerbaijani incursion into Armenian territory in an official video with justifying phrases yesterday. It was unbelievable to see how the MoD was trying to justify that the territory of the Nerk’in Hand village in Kapan is not under the Azerbaijani survey and, therefore, there are no security issues. The wording clearly indicates that this was done for political motives - to avoid political discontent and to conceal the fact of Azerbaijani incursion into the community of Kapan’s Nerk’in Hand village from our society and to justify the inaction in preventing this incursion.

This statement from the MoD is highly condemnable, as it ignores the security and basic rights of the border residents of Armenia. Objective facts confirm that a significant portion of the people’s pastures [covering several dozen hectares], arable lands, gardens, cemeteries, and other civilian areas have come under direct Azerbaijan’s targeting. People are facing serious difficulties in earning their family income through farming and livestock, and some have been entirely deprived of the opportunity to use these lands.

And how is the monitoring done? From the MoD's clarification and video, it appears that Azerbaijani soldiers must be positioned near every house in the village for it to be deemed monitored? Furthermore, a comparative study of the locations of old and new villages is being conducted. Is security determined this way? What kind of approach is this?

What other form is there to legitimize Azerbaijani criminal actions and ignore the security of people? The MoD's clarification regarding Nerk’in Hand is one of the condemnable statements from the state bodies of Armenia that will be used against the interests of the Republic of Armenia. No matter how much we assert internationally that Azerbaijani armed servicemen must be removed from near our villages because they have violated the security of people and turned their normal lives into impossibilities, the Azerbaijani side will use the MoD's video from yesterday and previous clarifications against Armenia, justifying that “their soldiers are simply ‘innocently’ stationed near Nerk’in Hand and have not caused any problems for people or security issues. So what if they have encroached on Armenian territory?”

Therefore, the MoD's clarification from yesterday lacks legitimacy and cannot be used as a basis for ensuring or determining the security of the Armenian population, or for questions of protecting Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, especially in international arenas. In actuality, if the RA Ministry of Defense was going to make a statement, it should have shown that Azerbaijani armed servicemen violated Armenia’s territorial integrity with criminal actions and have invaded sovereign Armenian territory, particularly Nerk’in Hand. It should have presented what steps are being taken towards removing those armed forces from Armenian territory or at least asserted that Azerbaijani armed servicemen should not be positioned near peaceful Armenian settlements, rather than being guided by political motives and justifying its own acts while hiding Azerbaijani incursions from society and presenting the actions of Azerbaijani soldiers as ‘innocent’ placements.”