Jirayr Sefilyan: The place of violence was chosen deliberately (video)
A year has passed since the so-called Berdzor incident that took place in Kashatagh region’s section of the Goris-Stepanakert highway. On January 31, 2015, scores of activists representing the Founding Parliament opposition movement, a successor of the Pre-parliament pressure group, organized an automobile march to Nagorno-Karabakh as part of their campaign seeking a regime change in Armenia. Near Berdzor, they were stopped by local police and a group of plainclothes men who forcefully blocked their access to the territory of Karabakh. A number of activists, including Jirayr Sefilyan, a Karabakh war veteran and a former commander of the Shushi special detachment, were beaten up during the incident. Also, some vehicles of the automobile march were damaged. “The hazard menacing these authorities, which could lead to a popular uprising in Artsakh, was prevented,” says Jirayr Sefilyan. He says before leaving for Artsakh he was sure that their access would be banned but the group did not and could not understand the brute force exercised by the police especially after their decision to return to Yerevan. The violent action was carried out in a territory which is not included in the internationally recognized territory of Armenia. This gave the authorities an opportunity to refrain from answering questions about the incident. “As Artsakh is an unrecognized state, it is difficult to appeal the case in relevant international instances. In those days, we contemplated a lot over the legal grounds to start proceedings but we saw that our nation would suffer more as a result. Mr Sefilyan does not blame the incident on the Armenians of Artsakh; he says the violence was carried out by the police. Moreover, he thinks the venue [Berdzor] was not chosen by chance. “They chose the place deliberately to deepen the gap between Armenians and Artsakh people; it was a shock to the Armenians.” Mr Sefilyan is sure that their struggle will produce results one day and the perpetrators of Berdzor and many other violent acts will not go unpunished.
