Residents of Jermuk town of Armenia are heading to Yerevan to join the large march scheduled for September 14 in the capital in defense of Amulsar.

According to their statement: “It doesn’t matter who you are and where do you live, if we believe that Amulsar is our homeland, we must gather in Yerevan to protect it with a peaceful action. This struggle has no other purpose it is aimed only at saving Amulsar. As soon as the Cabinet legitimizes our decision to save Amulsar, we will no longer be on the streets protesting, we will not go against the Government. Yerevan, welcome us!”

As reported earlier, the march will kick off on Sunday at 6:30 pm in Yerevan and will end at 8 pm in the capital's Freedom Square.

The American-British Lydian Armenia company began construction of the Amulsar gold mine in 2016, announcing it will invest more than $400 million in this project.

Environmentalists and activists, however, have kept the roads to Amulsar closed for a long time. They oppose Amulsar’s operation, and argue that the exploitation of this gold mine will have a disastrous impact on the environment.

The opinions of experts and the public on the development of the Amulsar gold deposit were divided.

Some part led by the country's leadership argues that it is necessary to allow Lydian to develop the deposit in accordance with the license issued by the previous authorities of the country. The other part, and first of all Jermuk inhabitants oppose it. Environmentalists believe that the development of the mine poses a potential threat of contamination of all the rivers of Armenia and Lake Sevan, and will cause direct damage to Jermuk resort.