Karabakh human rights activists have deemed the attack on Azerbaijani security forces staged.

The incident involving Karen Avanesyan in Stepanakert was staged; the mentally ill man was well known in the city and did not display any aggression. Human rights activists noted that this incident could be used for propaganda purposes.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," an armed resident of Khankendi (Stepanakert is the Armenian name - ed. "Caucasian Knot") of Armenian descent, Karen Avanesyan, attempted to enter an event site in the city, but was stopped by police. He threw grenades at them, opened fire, was wounded and detained, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.

There are 13 Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh, mostly elderly or people with psychological problems, the Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsman's Office told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

"We have no reliable information about the condition of these people. And since we receive all our information from monitoring Azerbaijani sources, which do not inspire confidence, we cannot say whether the incident with Karen Avanesyan took place, and whether everything is really as the Azerbaijani side presents it. According to our information, all Armenians remaining in Stepanakert after the exodus are under constant surveillance by the Azerbaijani police and are deprived of the right to free movement. "And if the Azerbaijani authorities are preparing any kind of event in Stepanakert, they gather Armenians in one place and keep them under surveillance," Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan emphasized, adding that "therefore, it is strange that when Ilham Aliyev opened a clinic in Stepanakert, Karen Avanesyan was freely walking around the city at that time."

Stepanyan noted that "in this entire story, one thing can be said for sure: the Azerbaijani authorities' propaganda against Armenians continues, and the goal remains unchanged - to continue convincing the international community that Karabakh Armenians are dangerous, and everyone, even the elderly, children, women, and the mentally ill, are terrorists and separatists."

Stepanyan noted that his office staff interviewed people who knew Karen Avanesyan. "Each of them is certain that Avanesyan could not have committed such an act. I consider the story unreliable, and this is yet another staged act aimed at fueling Armenophobia. There are no active international humanitarian organizations in Azerbaijan that could provide accurate information. The official Armenian authorities are also silent. At the moment, we know nothing about the condition and whereabouts of Karen Avanesyan," Stepanyan noted. Artak Beglaryan, a public figure and former ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh, stated that "the story with Karen Avanesyan is clearly a staged act." "We cannot rule out the possibility that violent methods were used against Karen Avanesyan. The Azerbaijani authorities need a story like this to launch a new wave of anti-Armenian propaganda, which is their main mechanism for maintaining power," Beglaryan stated.

Karen Avanesyan is 58 years old, has never had any problems with the law, was registered as mentally ill, and Stepanakert patrol officers knew him as a calm citizen," a representative of the Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Internal Affairs told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to him, "Karen Albertovich Avanesyan, born in 1967, lived alone in Stepanakert and is a citizen of the NKR. No relatives of Avanesyan were found in Armenia."

Refugee from Stepanakert Laura Avagyan doubted the Azerbaijani security forces' version of events. "There's a moment when he's walking, and then a photo of him lying down with his face covered, surrounded by police. Where's the machine gun? Where's the video of the attack? I don't believe it. They're doing this to say you're saboteurs and will never return to your homeland," the woman said.

"Everyone in town knew Karen because he was always walking around town, feeding stray cats, and never showed any aggression. He couldn't have committed such acts because he's a peaceful resident, mentally ill. And the published video only shows the man walking. It's interesting that the camera is specifically following him, but for some reason there's no footage of him taking things out of his backpack, or any shooting or grenade throwing. I think he was used," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Artur Khachatryan from Stepanakert.

Hrayr Grigoryan from Stepanakert also believes that "the Azerbaijani authorities are doing everything possible to prevent Karabakh Armenians from thinking about returning, and to prevent the international community from supporting Armenians."

"I recently heard that there was a proposal that Karabakh Armenians could at least travel to Nagorno-Karabakh as tourists to visit the graves of their relatives. I don't rule out that Karen Avanesyan's story was fabricated to discourage the proposal to visit their native places. "And, of course, so that Armenians don't think about the right of return," Grigoryan said.

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.