Leaders of Communities in Syunik and Gegharkunik Instructed to Remain Silent on Border Situation

According to the newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak," leaders of communities in the Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces have been instructed not to comment further on the border situation. It is noteworthy that when the Azerbaijani side advanced into the Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces on May 12 under the pretext of "border clarification," the only officials available for information were the community leaders, who provided consistent and accurate updates.

However, now they, particularly the mayors in Gegharkunik Province, have been ordered by the provincial governor’s office to respond to journalists by saying that everything is fine and that nothing has changed, without elaborating. It should be noted that this directive has been more directly imposed on the mayors of Gegharkunik Province, as they are less compliant compared to their counterparts in Syunik.

Many of them have stopped answering phone calls or, when they do respond, attempt to deny circulating information related to the border situation. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has started to make active statements, attempting to represent the situation at the border from its own perspective.