Head of the Ayrum community (which includes the Bagratashen village) Arayik Paranyan was asked about the situation at the Bagratashen customs point. He said that right now it is peaceful. Two days ago, people bringing in imported Turkish goods had closed off the roads, which caused a lot of traffic. That caused truck drivers to get angry, because there were a lot of large trucks caught up in the traffic. The Lars highway had also recently opened, so there were a lot of vehicles trying to enter Armenia. Therefore, closing the roads made the situation more difficult.
The head of the Ayrum community said that workers at the Bagratashen customs point allow for drivers coming from Turkey to bring in up to 25 kilograms of goods to Armenia without paying a customs fee. In the past, people bringing in goods would use tricks to accumulate goods at the customs terminal, and then they’d use other people’s passports to be allowed to take the goods out. Now, only those people who have a Turkish stamp in their passports are allowed to bring in up to 25 kilograms of goods without having to pay the customs fee.
Voskan Sargsyan
