Tuesday, March 19 2024 20:58

ArmInfo. The process of partial delimitation and demarcation of borders, starting from the Tavush region, will lead to the destruction of the most durable and equipped part of the front line of the Armenian Armed Forces, will significantly weaken the defense capability in this area, and will create direct threats to the border population.

This is stated in the official statement of the Armenia bloc, published in connection with  the statement of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in the  Tavush region about the beginning of the demarcation and delimitation  process.

The opposition is confident that Pashinyan's government is  unilaterally fulfilling Azerbaijan's preconditions during the current  negotiation process.

The statement of the Armenia bloc states that without final agreement  and compliance with the principle of reciprocity, partial demarcation  and delimitation are entirely in the interests of Azerbaijan.   "Fulfilling Azerbaijan's demands through constant intimidation of its  own people with war will not only allow Azerbaijan to put forward new  demands, but will also create fertile ground for new aggressive  actions by them. Rejection of best practices of demarcation and  delimitation  in favor of Azerbaijan, ignoring international  experience are evidence of abandonment of vital national interests.  The actual loss of control over strategic roads will increase threats  to the security of Armenia," the source noted. The opposition also  stated that the actions of the authorities aimed at fully or  partially limiting the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia in  favor of another state, transferring territories, are the most  serious crimes against the state.

During a visit to the Tavush region, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashchinyan said that the real process of delimitation and  demarcation can begin from Tavush, namely from Baghanis to Berkaber.   "What features are there? You know that Azerbaijan raises the issue  of 4 villages, for now it is only about 4 non-enclave villages. You  know that we raise the issue of 31 villages. We raise this issue,  they raise that issue.  And when we want to move forward in these  discussions, even if we proceed from the logic that we have 31  settlements in a problematic situation, and they have fewer ones,  Azerbaijan uses the argument that the real territory of none of the  settlements of the Republic of Armenia is under the control of  Azerbaijan , that is, no residential part of the village is under the  control of Azerbaijan. What they're saying? They say: let's mutually  withdraw from the territories of the settlements themselves, then we  will discuss the vital territories of villages and settlements.

We, of course, respond and say that a village is not only a rural  administration, a village is also its vital territories, that is,  during these discussions we present all the arguments, and these  arguments are fair. Our policy is that we must not allow war; we must  not allow war to start. And this is also the reason why we decided to  clarify the border of the Republic of Armenia in these areas and we  are doing this not only for the sake of the Republic of Armenia, but  also specifically for the sake of the village of Voskepar, the  village of Kirants, to ensure the security of these villages," the  Prime Minister said at a meeting with residents.

Earlier, Baku announced that it demands the immediate "return of 4  villages" located on the border of the Tavush region of Armenia and  the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan. The statement followed a meeting of  the border delimitation commissions, headed by the vice-premiers of  the two countries, Mher Grigoryan and Shahin Mustafayev. "As for the  four non-exclave Azerbaijani villages (Baghanis Ayrim, Ashagi  Eskipara, Kheyrimli and Gyzylgajili) 'occupied' by Armenia, their  belonging to Azerbaijan is indisputable, and they are subject to  immediate return," they stated.

Baku is also confident that within the framework of the delimitation  process, "the issue of 'liberation' of four exclave villages (Yukhary  Askipara, Sofulu, Barkhudarlu in the Armenian Tavush, as well as  Kyarki (Armenian - Tigranashen) in the Ararat region, on the border  with Nakhijevan) will be resolved." At the same time, Baku denied the  statements of the Armenian authorities that Azerbaijan occupied the  territory of 31 Armenian settlements in five regions with a total  area of about 200 square kilometers, calling it "an unfounded  statement." Some of them came under the control of Azerbaijan back in  the 1990s during the first Karabakh war, others as a result of  Azerbaijani aggression in 2021-2022.