Opposition lashes out at prime minister Pashinyan for ‘surrendering’ control over strategic road to Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, November 11. /ARKA/. The parliamentary opposition alliance Hayastan (Armenia), led by ex-president Robert Kocharyan, lashed out today at prime minister Nikol Pashinyan for ‘surrendering’ control over part of a major highway that connects Armenia with Iran, to Azerbaijan.
On November 10 the secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said Azerbaijan has set up a border and customs checkpoints on a 21-km long section of the highway stretching between the towns of Goris and Kapan in southern Armenian region of Syunik.
"The government, which is a symbol of defeat, made another negotiated concession. Azerbaijan has taken full control of the Goris-Kapan road. The capitulator (Pashinyan) would say that Armenian citizens would always move freely along that road. He again deceives the public by announcing that they must use an alternative route," the alliance said in a statement.
Pashinyan told a government meeting earlier today that Armenian citizens and goods going from the town of Goris to Kapan, the capital of the southern Armenian province of Syunik, will use an alternative road which bypasses a section of the highway that connects north of Armenia with its south as well as with Iran and which is now controlled by Azerbaijan.
He said the alternative road that has undergone a major repair runs from Kapan to Goris through the villages of Aghavni, Tatev, Halidzor and Shinuayr.
"The person holding the post of prime minister does not decide anything else. Azerbaijan makes decisions instead. The enemy is not only physically present on the sovereign territory of Armenia, but also creates customs and border checkpoints. This government is unable to resist Azerbaijan," the opposition’s statement says.
It says that the ‘opening of an era of peace in the region’ advocated by Pashinyan, means actually the loss of Armenia's sovereignty.
‘What happened is a direct threat to the security of out fellow citizens in the Syunik region and the defense capability of Armenia. It also carries serious uncontrollable economic risks,’ the statement says.
"The alternative to this catastrophic situation is not war, as the authorities are saying. The alternative is a dignified peace, the formation of a new government that protects national and state interests. We initiated a nationwide resistance to the destructive policy of the government. Today's task is to strengthen resistance with daily work and constant actions. We will not be suppressed by the violence of law enforcement agencies and we will go to the end. Syunik will not give up, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will not be left without Armenians, Armenia will not be Turkified," the statement says.
Speaking at the government meeting today, Pashinyan specified that the Azerbaijani checkpoint is not located on the territory of Armenia.
‘Now, a question may arise: was not it possible to hold negotiations with Azerbaijan and convince it against setting up checkpoints with respect to the citizens and goods of Armenia. It was possible, but the price would be providing Azerbaijan with a "corridor" to its exclave Nakhichevan through Armenia, which is unacceptable to us," he said. -0-