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Armenia is facing major security challenges in the wake of the Azerbaijani invasion in mid-September, as well as the unlawful deployment of Azeri forces near Armenian border villages and on roads, claims former Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan, head of the Tatoyan Foundation for Law and Justice.

Summing up his team’s recent fact-finding mission in Syunik and Vayots Dzor Provinces at a news conference on Thursday, he states the Azerbaijani military has no intention to withdraw from the Armenian roads, the areas close to villages, as well as the sovereign Armenian territories they occupied during the September 13-14 attacks.

"Their actions testify to it. They are actively engaged in military fortification and construction, building roads, bunkers and various buildings, of course, to continue their criminal activity against our country and people," he said.

Tatoyan pointed to Azerbaijan’s construction of a wide road on occupied Armenian soil near the spa town of Jermuk.

“It's not only about the security of people, solely a matter of human rights, but also about bigger national security threats, since Azerbaijani forces are stationed in areas where the Tatev HPP, Jermuk HPP, Kapan tailing pond and other similar strategic facilities can be targeted,” he stated.

"Obviously, if something happens to these facilities, the consequences could be catastrophic even for Armenian settlements," Tatoyan added.

Arman Tatoyan said international lawyers, historians and cartographers were also involved in the fact-finding mission in the border regions. The YSU Faculty of Oriental Studies headed by Dean Ruben Melkonyan also helped his team with professional analyses and assessments.