Our policy is that we must not allow war to start - Armenian premier
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In his speech in Voskepar, the Prime Minister said: "As we previously agreed, I said that when there are practical problems to be solved with your settlement, I will come and discuss and talk with you personally. What practical matter have I come to discuss with you? The problem is that the process of delimitation and demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan is entering the practical stage. What does delimitation and demarcation mean in general, and specifically in the case of the Republic of Armenia? It means to go and locate on the ground where the Republic of Armenia begins. We all know, you know better than me where it starts or where it ends, it's the same thing, no matter which way you look at the Republic of Armenia."
The Prime Minister showed the sketch of Armenia to the audience and noted that it is the Republic of Armenia which we all know. "The delimitation and demarcation process is as follows. the delimitation commissions should go and decide on the spot where the Republic of Armenia begins, and that should become the state border between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Why are we referring to this section and why have we come to discuss this issue with Voskepar specifically? Because there are some issues that we need to discuss. We note the following: we see that we can start a real process of delimitation and demarcation in this section from Baghanis to Berkaber.
What's special here? You know that Azerbaijan is talking about 4 villages, it's about the 4 non-enclave villages. You know we are talking about 31 villages. We raise this issue, they raise that issue. And when we want to move forward in these discussions, even if we rely on the logic that we have 31 settlements in a problematic situation, while Azerbaijan has less, Azerbaijan uses such an argument that the actual territory of none of the settlements of the Republic of Armenia is under the control of Azerbaijan. that is, the residential area of the village is not under the control of Azerbaijan. What do they say? They say: let's mutually free the territories of the settlements, then discuss and talk about the vital areas of the villages and settlements.
Of course, we bring counter arguments, we say that the village is not only the village administration, the village is also its vital areas, I mean, during those discussions, we bring all the arguments, and those 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 have decided to adjust the border of the Republic of Armenia in these areas and we are doing it not only for the sake of the Republic of Armenia, but also specifically for the village of Voskepar, the village of Kirants, in order to ensure the security of these villages," said the Prime Minister.
Earlier Baku announced 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 (Baganis Ayrim, Ashagi Eskipara, Kheyrimli and Gyzylgajili) occupied by Armenia, their belonging to Azerbaijan is indisputable, and they are subject to immediate release," the statement said. 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 Nakhichevan 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, the other as a result of Azerbaijani aggression in 2021-2022.
Despite this, Pashinyan said at the last press conference that there have never been villages with such names on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, not only in Soviet times, but also after it. At the same time, the prime minister did not rule out that delimitation could begin from the Tavush region. Regarding the possibility of exchanging territories, Pashinyan said that this could distort or lead to additional risks>. In this context, in his opinion, in order to avoid problems in the future, it is more correct to build new communications so that they pass through the de jure territory of the Republic of Armenia (the territories claimed by Azerbaijan are located in the Tavush region. There is an interstate highway connecting Armenia with Georgia - through Ijevan, Noyemberyan, Bagratashen - Ed.).