Artsakh state minister: we will overcome everything
YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. The people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will overcome every difficulty, Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan said in a live broadcast on his Facebook page.
"We have been under siege for 72 hours already. I am proud that I live here with you because we are going through this crisis in a very dignified way. I have complete confidence that we will get through it all. The strength and faith I see in you gives me tremendous energy," Vardanyan said.
He noted that there had never been anything like this: the road was not closed neither during the war of 90s, nor during the 44-day war in 2020 in Artsakh. Now Azerbaijan is trying to figure out how long Armenians can endure such a situation, he said.
"Unfortunately, there are well-to-do people who don't understand that they can't solve problems by personal calls. Such people will be punished. In some places, they tried to raise prices, to use resources for their own needs. A hotline has been created, such cases will be checked. We are all equal, only together we can cope," Vardanyan said.
He urged not to believe disinformation and gossip from the Azerbaijani side, in particular that they will let Armenian cars through.
"Who are they to allow or not to allow us? They have no right to be on this road, they have no right to make a decision. They have to get off this road. Until we understand that only we have the right to use this road, albeit accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, nothing will change. If they get such an opportunity, we won't be able to stop them," Vardanyan said.
He admitted that there are difficulties in many issues in the current situation and the task force was set up to respond as quickly as possible. Ruben Vardanyan assured that they will respond to everyone, although perhaps not immediately because of the heavy workload.
"I am sure that we will overcome everything," Vardanyan stressed, adding that they will fight and overcome all difficulties together.
Ruben Vardanyan 54, whose total assets, according to Forbes magazine, are estimated at $1.3 billion, renounced his Russian citizenship in September, 2022 and moved to Karabakh, because ‘its people who have survived two wars and lost their relatives and loved ones in the struggle for independence, are abandoned, forgotten and no one needs them.’
Later he was appointed as state minister, an equivalent of prime minister, by Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan.
Artsakh has appeared in a de facto blockade, with the rights of thousands of its citizens being violated after Azerbaijanis blocked the Stepanakert-Goris interstate highway, the only road linking Artsakh with Armenia.
The road has been closed for the fourth day already. On the evening of December 13 Azerbaijan also discontinued the supply of natural gas to Artsakh closing the valve on the pipeline that pumps natural gas to Artsakh from Armenia. -0- -0-
