Residents of Artsakh’s Taghavard village have the right to honor the memory of their relatives, and should have the opportunity to visit their graves in the cemetery currently under Azerbaijani control, says Artsakh’s Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan.
Over the past year, the residents of the Taghavard community have repeatedly raised the issue of access to the community cemetery, which came under Azerbaijani control after the 2020 war.
The cemetery is located in the occupied part of the community, which is only a few kilometers away from where the residents of Taghavard live today.
“Azerbaijani side does not show any understanding and does not provide opportunity to the residents of the community,” Stepanyan says.
He draws the attention of state bodies, Russian peacekeepers, as well as international human rights organizations and organizations carrying out humanitarian missions to this humanitarian issue.
“This important issue concerns not only the residents of Taghavard but all the residents of the occupied territories of Artsakh,” he said.
