STEPANAKERT (A.W.) — Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR) President Bako Sahakyan held a meeting on Feb. 3 regarding the police blockade and assault on members of an opposition group that took place near Berdzor in the Kashatagh region of the Goris-Stepanakert highway on Jan. 31.
On Jan. 31, police and unidentified men blocked and assaulted around 40 cars traveling from Armenia to NKR on the Goris-Stepanakert highway near Berdzor (photo: preparliament.am)
According to the report released by the President’s office, Sahakyan met with the Director of the National Security Service Arshavir Gharamyan, Police Chief Kamo Aghajanyan, National Assembly Chairman Ashot Ghoulyan, Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan and other officials, to discuss the incident between NKR police and members of the Armenia-based Founding Parliament (previously known as Pre-Parliament), an opposition group whose aim is regime change in Armenia.
After the meeting, Sahakyan’s office confirmed that the president has commissioned the police chief to conduct a detailed investigation of the incident. “Unfortunately the subsequent development of events had an undesirable outcome. Tragically, it was impossible to avoid the disturbances and confrontation, which received public resonance,” read the statement.
On Jan. 31, police and unidentified men blocked and assaulted around 40 cars traveling from Armenia to NKR on the Goris-Stepanakert highway near Berdzor, preventing them from crossing into Karabagh.
The Founding Parliament said in a statement that around a dozen participants of the car rally, under the banner of “100th Anniversary without this Regime,” suffered injuries in an ambush by NKR police—some in uniform, others in civilian clothing, and some masked. Police wielded bayonets at the cars and rally participants, in an incident that was caught on film by the protesters. Car windows were smashed, and the tricolor flags were snatched off the vehicles.
Police say they intended to “prevent mass disturbances,” after news of the planned rally gave rise to concern among a large segment of the population in Karabagh. NGOs based in Karabagh also reportedly joined calls against the planned initiative. The police acknowledge their units were stationed at various points on the Goris-Stepanakert Highway.
Speaking with reporters about the incident, ARF Supreme Council Representative Aghvan Vardanyan said the incident in Berdzor was unacceptable, and that it must be condemned. Vardanyan also stressed that “the approaches, modus operandi, and goals of Pre-Parliament, especially its slogan ‘100th Anniversary without the Regime,’ are unacceptable to [the ARF].”
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