Another Azerbaijani Crosses Into Armenia. This Time, the Explanation Is “He Got Lost.”

Another Azerbaijani citizen has crossed into Armenia, and authorities say he simply lost his way. Less than three weeks after an armed Azerbaijani soldier entered a family’s home and seriously injured a mother protecting her children, that explanation offers remarkably little comfort.

But apparently, arrangements for his return are already underway. If only the public had as much clarity about how he entered.

Armenia’s National Security Service announced October 22 that Yashar Ali oghlu Gasimov, 58, a resident of Chatakh village in Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district, had been found on Armenian territory in Tavush province at approximately 5:50 p.m. on October 19.

That is a three-day gap between finding him and informing the public. An efficient timetable, perhaps, if public reassurance is considered optional.

The NSS said preliminary checks established that Gasimov had crossed the border after losing his way. Authorities said they were arranging his return to Azerbaijan.

That explanation may be entirely accurate. A civilian can get lost. But whether someone crosses accidentally and whether Armenia’s border protections are adequate are two different questions. Answering the first does not settle the second.

Reports of an Azerbaijani shepherd crossing into Armenia had circulated before the announcement. Armenia’s Defense Ministry, NSS and other law enforcement agencies had not publicly addressed those reports the previous day.

For border communities, this is hardly an abstract discussion about navigation.

On October 1, Azerbaijani serviceman Nasimi Musayev allegedly entered the home of Ani Avetisyan in Shaki, a village in Armenia’s southern Syunik province.

Avetisyan said the armed soldier pointed his weapon at her children. She confronted him and suffered severe injuries while trying to protect them.

A mother defending her children inside her own home should never have to become the final line of border security.

Musayev was arrested and ordered held in pretrial detention for two months. He faces charges including illegal border crossing, weapons smuggling, causing serious bodily harm with a firearm, illegal possession of weapons and unlawful entry into a home.

The two incidents are different. Authorities have described the latest crossing as accidental, and the information released does not establish that Gasimov posed a threat. Treating him humanely and returning him is compatible with demanding answers from Armenia’s government.

Where did he cross? How was he found? What measures were taken after the Shaki attack? What should residents do when someone crosses into their community, and how quickly can they expect protection?

The government should answer those questions without waiting for another frightened family to make them impossible to ignore.

“He got lost” may explain an Azerbaijani citizen’s movements. It is not an explanation of how Armenia’s border security failed to detect his crossing, why the public learned about it three days later or what authorities are doing to prevent the next incident.

Until those questions are answered, the phrase sounds less like reassurance than an invitation to stop asking questions.

—

Support independent reporting from the region by subscribing to The Armenian Report. Our team is funded solely by readers like you.