Police bans clergyman`s access to Kirants village  

ArmInfo. The RA National Security Service has already notified the restriction of entry and exit of citizens to the village of Kirants, Tavush region. The head of the regional police department of the Republic of Armenia, Artur Mkrtchyan, told reporters about this on May 20, commenting on the accumulation of law enforcement forces around the village and the refusal to allow representatives of the "Tavush for the Motherland" 

movement into this locality.

According to Mkrtchyan, entry and exit from the village is 

temporarily prohibited due to work being carried out there related to 

the deployment of border guards in the border areas. He found it 

difficult to answer the question of how long the ban would be in 

effect, which, however, would not apply to village residents.

The police set up a three-row cordon in front of the entrance to the 

village, which caused bewilderment of the head of the "Tavush for the 

Motherland" movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan.

"Why are you lined up like that?" the archbishop asked, turning to 

the police. The latter replied that they served the Republic of 

Armenia. When asked by the archbishop why the road was blocked, the 

law enforcement officers replied that entry was prohibited due to 

ongoing actions. "I am a resident of the village, I am the primate of 

the diocese. Let us pass, we will calmly approach the residents, 

don't create problems. If the villagers can do it, then everyone 

can," Galstanyan said.

Addressing the RA Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan, the 

archbishop noted that by his actions he is preventing a peaceful 

march to the residents of the village of Kirants, which in itself is 

an illegal decision, like the entire process associated with the 

so-called delimitation of borders. "They prohibit the spiritual 

leader from meeting with representatives of his flock. Meanwhile, 

cars with Georgian license plates, as well as residents, quietly move 

around this so-called security zone. All this can be called in one 

word: lawlessness, since we are talking about a ban on movement for 

citizens. For whom and why did they bring the police troops here? 

These troops should go in a different direction, not this one. But 

since the authorities have destroyed all systems, including the 

security systems, what is happening can be called a manifestation of 

this. We will not leave here. , despite provocative actions on the 

part of the authorities.  There is one person named Hakobyan, who is 

sent by both the chief of police and the head of the regional police 

department to organize provocations," the archbishop said.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan celebrates his birthday, on which local 

residents congratulated him.