Journalists asked Civil Contract deputy Eduard Aghanjanyan on September 14th about how when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used Azeri toponyms, Aghajanyan said that he did it to emphasize that they did not invade Armenian territory, and now the NSS has used Azeri toponyms in the message, is that what happened in this case as well? This was in reference to the NSS report on the situation in Vorotan.
Aghajanyan answered, “Is it about Chayzami? The lake in our territory is called Chayzami. They are located in the same territories where the problem occurred before. Nothing has changed in terms of their location. They just put those checkpoints there.” On the Goris-Kapan interstate road, Azerbaijani police are inspecting trucks with Iranian license plates. According to Aghajanyan, these are the starting positions where both the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides are located. ”
According to the relevant map of the Soviet Union, that part of the road where they are located is Soviet Azerbaijan. They are located there, not on the Armenian side according to that map, and the format is conditioned by that.” In response to the question about why they are guided by the Soviet map, Aghajanyan answered, “What map do you think there is? The demarcation process has not started, when it will start, the clarifications will be given.”
Aghajanyan is convinced that the use of Azeri toponyms can not have any impact on the demarcation and delimitation work. In response to the question about what steps are being taken to curb the encroachments of the Azerbaijani side in that part of Vorotan, Aghajanyan answered that he had met with the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and discussed all the issues.
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“Our position is that the Azerbaijani side, despite its statements that it is supposed to be part of a long-term peace process, aggravates and escalates the situation in practice. This is an issue that should always be in the focus of our international partners. I hope that they will use all the tools of pressure that will bring Azerbaijan to a constructive field.”
In response to the question of if the bases were the price we paid for when the enemy closed then opened the Goris interstate road and what negotiations took place, Aghajanyan assured that the road was opened “in exchange for nothing” and there was no agreement to place bases. “What is happening on the Azerbaijani side is just to devalue the peace agenda, first of all in the domestic Armenian reality and any related agenda in general.”
In response to the question of if Azerbaijan does not want peace, why are we advancing that agenda, Aghajanyan answered, “The RA Ministry of Defense is improving on a daily basis by reorganizing after the problems that arose after the war, and it will always carry out its functions at the appropriate time. But at the same time, Civil Contract, as a pre-election promise, stressed the importance of the peace agenda and stated its readiness to start a long-term peace process in the region. We are going in that direction and we are also not going to give in to provocations. This may be accompanied by losses, this may be accompanied by other unpleasant and undesirable phenomena, but this is the way our political force should lead this process, first of all taking into account that it has received a mandate from the people for that.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
