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Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan has expressed concerns over the Azerbaijani signboards installed close to several border towns and villages in Armenia's Syunik Province. A statement posted by Tatoyan on Facebook on Tuesday reads: 

"Yesterday, on December 28, on the road between the Armenian town of Goris to the village of Vorotan, the placement of a sign by Azerbaijanis featuring the map of that country caused deep concern in Goris, Vorotan and a number of other peaceful settlements. This, in addition to the installation of Azerbaijani flags on that section of the road, as well as near the village of Vorotan.

The residents of these settlements have submitted their concerns to the Human Rights Defender's Office of Armenia regarding their life, physical security and inviolability, property, and other vital rights. It was stated in the alerts that this is a gross violation of their rights.

The staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia immediately initiated a detailed investigation. Both the observations of the Syunik regional and central subdivisions of the Defender's Office and the alerts of the local community bodies and residents were analyzed.

It turned out that in the middle of the border settlements of Armenia, the Azerbaijani military placed a sign reading "Welcome to Azerbaijan." The map shown on that sign is made in such a way that a significant part of Syunik Province of Armenia and a number of other settlements of our country are represented as part of Azerbaijan. In any case, it is obvious that this was done to create such a perception. The sign was placed on the road connecting one residential community of Armenia to another.

The results of the study clearly confirm that the mentioned step of the Azerbaijani military was taken in a way that violates the rights of the residents of the RA border communities, by openly and notoriously intimidating them (foremost, children and women).

This is a step with a clear intention to intimidate and terrorize civilians, first of all taking into account the torture, inhumane treatment and other war crimes, and the ethnic cleansing that the Azerbaijani armed forces committed against our people, especially during and after the September-November 2020 war.

Such steps are especially reprehensible against the background of the Azerbaijani state policy of a propaganda against the Armenian Genocide and the anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan, as well as the open call for war against Armenia by the Azeris who have public recognition and visibility in that country and have declared themselves human rights defenders. (The staff of the Human Rights Defender’s Office has secured the requisite proof).

This announcement will be disseminated to international organizations today."