Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan has described the Azerbaijani military’s placement of a road sign reading “Welcome to Azerbaijan” along a stretch of the Goris-Vorotan highway as an attempt to “intimidate and terrorize” Armenians living in the southern Armenian province of Syunik.

Tatoyan, in a Facebook post today, says that the sign, which portrays the map of Azerbaijan, and the installation of Azerbaijani flags along that stretch of the highway, has caused great concern in many Syunik towns and villages and that area residents have submitted their concerns to Tatoyan’s office.

“The staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia immediately initiated a detailed investigation. Both the observations of the Syunik regional and central subdivisions of the Defender's Office and the alerts of the local community bodies and residents were analyzed,” Tatoyan writes, adding that such these steps taken by the Azerbaijani military “violate the rights of the residents of the RA border communities, by openly and notoriously intimidating them (foremost, children and women).”

“Such steps are especially reprehensible against the backdrop of the Azerbaijani state propaganda policy against the Armenian Genocide and anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan, as well as the open call for war against Armenia by Azerbaijanis who have public recognition and visibility in that country and have declared themselves human rights defenders,” Tatoyan concludes.

Tatoyan says he will disseminate his remarks on the matter to international organizations today.