Stepanakert resident joins hunger strike against HPP construction

Activist Mher Pogosyan followed the example of Alexander Kananyan and declared a hunger strike with the demand to stop the construction of small hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) in two districts of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 21, political analyst Alexander Kananyan, a resident of the city of Karvachar, declared a hunger strike with the demand to stop the construction of small HPPs on the Trtu (Terter) River and check the environmental safety of all HPPs in the region.

Today, Mher Pogosyan, a resident of Stepanakert, has announced on his Facebook page that he had joined the Alexander Kananyan's hunger strike. "I demand: 1) to stop the construction of small HPPs in the Karvachar and Kashatag Districts and immediately remove construction vehicles and equipment from the construction sites; 2) to make public all information related to the HPP licensing and financing; 3) to create a special investigating commission with the participation of Armenian officials, [activists of] civil society, and independent experts to verify the legality of licensing, financing, and operation of [HPPs]," Mher Pogosyan wrote.

The protestor has informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he holds his hunger strike at the office of the "Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Revolutionary Party" in Stepanakert. "I will continue my hunger strike until the authorities respond to all our demands," Mher Pogosyan announced.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 27, 2020 at 01:45 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.