Activists succeed in seeking withdrawal of armed guards from Amulsar mine in Armenia

In Armenia, residents of the resort town of Jermuk blocked a road in protest against a new security company in the territory of the Amulsar field. The protest ended with the withdrawal of armed guards from the territory of the mine.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that protests against the development of the Amulsar mine began back in 2014. In November 2019, the "Lydian Armenia" mining company requested the authorities to lift the ban on the use of the Darb and Arpa Rivers for gold mining. Residents of Jermuk voted against opening roads to the mine.

On June 30, dozens of armed people entered the Amulsar field. This fact caused indignation among the residents of Jermuk and nearby villages. They have been protesting against the operation of the mine for more than two years, notes activist Shirak Buniatyan.

"It turned out that a contract concluded by the 'Lydian Armenia' mining company with a former security company had expired and the arriving armed people were employees of the new security company," Shirak Buniatyan explained.

According to him, the local residents agreed with guards of the former security company not to create problems for each other. However, the new guards planned to set up a camp at the Amulsar field.

After negotiations, the administration of the new security company removed some of their people from the Amulsar field, and the rest began to serve without firearms.

Activist Teimine Yenokyan suggests that the "Lydian Armenia" mining company could change the security company servicing the mine with the aim of "provoking a conflict with local residents."

Human rights defender Nina Karapetyants, the head of the Helsinki Association of Armenia, also believes that the "Lydian Armenia" mining company could coordinate its actions with the authorities. According to human rights defender, "the government goes against public demand."