The news about Azerbaijanis entering the villages of Syunik region shocked Armenia. The Azerbaijani soldiers entered the settlements of Bnunis and Ashotavan, which are part of the Sisian region of Armenia, from the side of Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan. Residents warn that in Bnunis, the soldiers of the hostile state knocked on the residents’ doors and directly confronted the Armenians, which caused concern among the residents. The alarm deepens even more when it was officially announced that one of the Azerbaijanis has been arrested, the second one is wanted, and about the existence of the third one is announced unofficially.
In a conversation with Forrights.am, the administrative head of Ashotavan community Armen Beglaryan presented details of how the enemy who crossed the border was neutralized in the village under his leadership.
“He is an Azerbaijani; we caught him and handed him over. It was 12:30 at night, on the outskirts of the village. We found out by chance that the residents saw a stranger walking along the street,” said the administrative head.
According to Beglaryan, before the arrival of the law enforcement officers, the Azerbaijani serviceman was moved to such a place that he could not escape.
“He was held in someone’s backyard until the police arrived. The police came, the military police came and immediately took him away. Probably, he had no documents, no phone,” said Armen Beglaryan, noting that the Azerbaijani was not armed and he was 19 years old. Other details could not be established since he could not speak Armenian and the Ashotavan residents did not speak Azerbaijani.
According to the administrative head, the soldier of the army of the hostile state was forced to cross the border of Armenia driven by hunger and bad attitude of the command.
“He was 19 years old. We didn’t understand where he and the other one lost each other: we didn’t know Azerbaijani to communicate with him. He did not enter the village armed: he had hidden his weapon. He was hungry, asked for food. We had caught a hungry man, so we gave him a something to eat. It is worrying, but, according to them, they ran away, they were persecuted there,” said Armen Beglaryan.
Armen Beglaryan had no information about how the Azerbaijani servicemen managed to reach the Ashotavan community, which is 17 km from the border of Nakhichevan. Up to now, the Ministry of Defense and the National Security Service of Armenia have not provided any details. The Ministry of Defense only informed that a soldier of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan was found and arrested in the territory of Armenia between 1-2 am. According to the department, the arrested Azerbaijani said that there was another soldier with him, whose search is ongoing.
While the security bodies of Armenia are silent and do not report information about the discovery and neutralization of the second enemy soldier, the residents of the villages of Sisian remain in an uneasy state.
The administrative head of Ashotavan notes that the village has 500 inhabitants, but no one had witnessed such a situation. He considers the situation when the enemy is able to penetrate into the depths of Armenia to be worrying, but he notes that the people of Ashotavan are not alarmed. “Everything is normal, there is nothing to worry about. There is no panic, no alarm, there is surveillance in the village,” he said.
The Ministry of Defense still does not specify how they will deal with the arrested soldier. It should be noted that, according to official information only, 33 Armenian war prisoners are kept in prisons of Baku in inhumane conditions.
Narek Kirakosyan