The authorities of Azerbaijan had prepared in detail for the military aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on September 19-20. Arman Tatoyan, director of the Tatoyan Foundation Center for Law and Justice, and the former Human Rights Defender (ombudsman) of Armenia, stated this during a press conference Friday.
"The data are based on the results of monitoring and fact-finding. The Foundation's groups worked in Kornidzor [village] and Goris [city of Armenia], closely cooperated with experts, the Artsakh ombudsman, and monitored the public policy of the Azerbaijani leadership.
"One of the goals of the attack was to cut off the populated areas of Artsakh from each other: Martakert, Askeran, Martuni, and Stepanakert. At the same time, the civilian population was continuously shelled. At the same time, in order to increase the panic of the population, the connection between the military and the settlements was stopped. In many cases, the population did not know what was happening, and people fled with their clothes on.
"Besides, the attack started in the afternoon when children and students were in class. It was preceded by a nine-month blockade [of Artsakh]. Families were separated, parents did not know where their children were. This was also a deliberate act to cause additional suffering and increase the state of chaos," Tatoyan emphasized, showing the aforementioned on the map.
"The attack on Martakert was from four sides. Roads and communications were cut off," Tatoyan enumerated.
The maps clearly show the movement of the Azerbaijani forces and the movement routes of the fleeing Armenian population.
Tatoyan called Azerbaijan's assurances about the "voluntary migration" of Artsakh Armenians the height of cynicism.
"If someone did not manage to flee, was killed or captured; there are cases of killing of civilians in Getavan [village]," Tatoyan stressed.
According to him, the local Armenian population had only half an hour to an hour to flee, and the general picture shows that the Azerbaijani troops simply drove the population to a corner and pushed them to "depart" from the area.
"What kind of voluntary exodus can we talk about under such conditions?" Tatoyan asked.
He said the situation was similar in Martuni and Askeran, too.
"Everyone remembers the terrible images of the crowd of refugees at the [Artsakh capital Stepanakert] airport," recalled Tatoyan.
In Sarnaghbyur village of this region, five Armenian civilians were killed, three of them were children, and two of them were from the same family. The children were killed at school, Arman Tatoyan emphasized.
