Syunik Province

By Michael Stelzl Newly built roads cut through the ancient forest; some five to six meters wide. The Shikahogh Reserve in Armenia’s south-east had been an untouched jewel of nature for hundreds of thousands of years. Leopards live there, bears, and vipers and more than a thousand different plant species grow in Armenia’s second largest forest reserve. They all were unharmed by human interference, until the Azerbaijani military came.

By Karen Harutyunyan Armenia would violate the principles of its COP17 presidency if it used the conference’s multilateral negotiating platform to raise environmental damage linked to Azerbaijan’s military presence in Shikahogh reserve, Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan told CivilNet. Speaking in an interview recorded on Friday, Matevosyan said such issues were addressed in bilateral discussions. The full Armenian-language interview will be published on Monday.

New details have emerged about the Azerbaijani soldier who went AWOL, crossed into Armenia and caused a shooting incident in Syunik, including that he held two local children at gunpoint. The children were saved by their mother, who engaged the attacker and attempted to cover his firearm with her hand, sustaining serious injuries, but her condition is stable and there is no danger to her life. What happened in Shaki: The accounts of residents (video report in Armenian).