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Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Primate of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as opposition MP Garnik Danielyan and political analyst Suren Petrosyan, founder of the For Armenian Statehood Coordination Center, on Friday were again banned from entering Kirants, a border village in Armenia’s Tavush Province.

“Suren, Garnik and I wanted to visit Kirants to greet villagers and learn how they were doing, however the police, the brilliant group remaining steadfast and defending the homeland, take pleasure in denying us entry to the village,” Fr. Bagrat sarcastically remarked.

Police officers have blocked access to Kirants since Thursday morning to facilitate mine clearance operations there before the surrender of border areas to Azerbaijan.

Only local residents are allowed to enter or exit the village, the epicenter of protests against the unilateral territorial concessions to Azerbaijan announced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government on April 19.