The Russian peacekeepers on Tuesday removed the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) flag placed on Amaras Monastery near Machkalashen village in the Martuni region of Artsakh. Lernik Avanesyan, the prefect of Machkalashen, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this Wednesday.
"I was called [by phone] and told that, ‘The Russians have come, removed the flag. What should we do?’ I said, 'I am not authorized to say what you should do. It's a matter for the top [authorities]. How would I know?’" stated the head of the aforesaid rural community.
According to Avanesyan, on Monday, the Azerbaijanis moved their position about 1 km forward, but then had gone back through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers. However, the Azerbaijanis had posited a respective condition that the flag of Artsakh placed on Amaras Monastery be taken down, and the Russian peacekeepers had proposed to hang the flag of Armenian there instead.
The mayor of Machkalashen village added that at the moment there is no flag on Amaras Monastery.