Armenia not involved in attack on Azerbaijani border guard – Pashinyan says

YEREVAN, August 27. /ARKA/. Armenia is ready to jointly investigate the attack on an Azerbaijani border guard near a major road through southern Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government meeting today.

Armenia’s National Security Service said on August 26 that Azerbaijani troops blocked the Karmrakar-Shurnukh section of the Kapan-Goris interstate road in Syunik province. Later, the Azerbaijani armed forces blocked another section of the road leading from Goris to Vorotan.

The Azerbaijani side said it has blocked the road after an earlier incident, during which an Azerbaijani border guard was allegedly stabbed.

Pashinyan said an inquiry into the incident showed that the Armenian side had nothing to do with the alleged incident.

“I called on the Azerbaijani side from the rostrum of the National Assembly if they had concrete information about the incident, they should pass it to us. We are also ready for a joint investigation of the incident with representatives of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan," he said.

Pashinyan said the blocking of the road sections is contrary to the agreements reached in December 2020, and he hopes that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible.

"In political terms, it is clear to me that the Azerbaijani move was to damage the peace agenda we put forward, to discredit it. Azerbaijan's behavior indicates that such situations can happen again. Our services must be vigilant and attentive, but on the other hand, we must develop and advance our strategic focus - the peace agenda," he said.

According to the prime minister, the incident was not unexpected for the government, and during this period, work has been done to create new infrastructures. He stressed that the Tatev-Aghvani road should be repaired by the end of the year, and the planned road repair on other sections should also be completed.

"However, the unblocking of the road sections can become a very good symbol of  regional stability," Pashinyan said. 

After the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities in Artsakh on November 9, 2020 more than 190 settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent seven districts were placed under the control of Azerbaijan.  As a result, the borders of the Syunik region in the south of Armenia (including the administrative center Kapan) appeared to be in close proximity to the new borders of Azerbaijan, drawn during the Soviet time. -0-

 

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12:50 08/27/2021