LACHIN RESIDENTS ARE IN A PANIC

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[05:29 pm] 28 September, 2006

Today Armen Eghyan, Gevorg Mirzoyan and Gagik Petrosyan, members of the initiating group "Protection of the Occupied Territories", announced that Hamlet Khachatryan, head of the Kashatagh administration hinders the resettlement of the territories and must resign from his post.

"It turns out that this high-rank official is used to bribe taking and hasn't got the slightest notion of his post. He realises neither its meaning nor its military significance", claims Armen Eghyan and adds, "He treats the local residents as criminals caught red-handed. He demands bribes from all the citizens who turn to him with any request. And in case any of the citizens dares to complain of Mr. Mirzoyan, he merely advises them to leave Kashatagh".

Jirayr Sefilyan, commander of special regiment of Shoushi, and a member of the above-mentioned group, informed the participants of today's press conference about the current state of Kashatagh. He claims that the number of inhabitants has significantly decreased in the past two years reaching 7.5 thousand.

52 villages of Katashagh are deprived of electricity and water. The roads are in an awful state. The villages counter certain problems connected with education, health care and realization of agricultural goods. Recently, the authorities of Katashagh have fined a 12-year-old girl for picking up wood to heat their hearth.

Mr.Sefilyan maintains that administrative obstacles and fining bodies have greatly increased in Kashatagh.

As a result of this, residents began to abandon the territory and the villages became deserted. All is done on purpose, claim the members of the group.