Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan has described ongoing process to clarify Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan as “illegitimate”.

Tatoyan, in a statement released today, says the process is rife with legal and human rights violations and must be immediately halted and reviewed.

Tatoyan writes that Armenia is being pressured by Azerbaijan, under the threat of war, to engage in the process.

The statement, in part, reads:

1) The process of determining the state borders of the Republic of Armenia takes place under the obvious threats of war against the entire population of Armenia

2) The President of Azerbaijan speaks about the entire Armenian people and the population of Armenia in the language of open threats of ethnic cleansing and genocide, as does the President of Turkey (e.g., He praised the organizers and perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, the massacres of Armenians in Baku, including praising the members of the Caucasus Islamic Army, declaring Armenia a worthless artificial state, and publicly calling Armenians dogs, etc.

3) The President of Azerbaijan, and other public figures following his example, openly insult the dignity of the Armenian people, incite hostility on the basis of ethnicity, and do it to humiliate the personal dignity of every person living in Armenia (comparing Armenians to dogs, calling Armenians evil, issuing calls to kill Armenian children, women and the elderly.)

4) Only unacceptable mechanical approaches are used in the demarcation process, including using a GPS or Google Map of a private company application. There are no professional approaches at all, no commission work is carried out, no preliminary inventory and assessment of people's needs is carried out, there are no proper legal bases,

5) As a result, the socio-economic rights of the residents of Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces of Armenia were grossly violated, including the deprivation of land and houses, the rights to which [as well as the right to property] were registered by Soviet or independent Armenian state bodies. Human rights, physical and mental inviolability and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Armenia have been seriously endangered.