On September 16, Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan, accompanied by the newly appointed Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, Shirak Governor Hovhannes Harutyunyan, and officials of the Armenia International Airport, participated in the opening ceremony of the new arrival hall of Gyumri’s Shirak Airport.
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Then Suren Papikyan answered journalists’ questions. He was also asked about the tense situation on the Vorotan section of the Goris-Kapan road, where Azeris, by setting up police checkpoints, prevent trucks from entering Armenia. They arrested two Iranian drivers who were transporting cement to Stepanakert and Yerevan. He said that the diplomatic channels of the Islamic Republic of Iran are working, negotiations are underway, and they will be released within three days.
According to him, the solution to this problem is not in our field. Papikyan also assured that the number of cargo transports has not decreased and that cargo transportation from Iran to Armenia will not stop. We also have alternative ways to transfer all cargo to any part of Armenia. “Obviously, what happened is a difficult problem, but any problem can be solved,” said Suren Papikyan.
He also said that there is a police crew accompanying the trucks. “We have three stationary and two mobile police crews that accompany the trucks. If necessary, the trucks that want to travel in the direction of Kapan-Tatev can be accompanied by the police. Construction works are underway there, and problems can arise without being escorted by the police. Many people avoid it because the cars are overloaded, taking into account the fact that even a small stone can cause unwanted events. But we also have people moving in that direction; in particular, medium-sized cars can go in the direction of Tatev-Kapan. By and large, after asphalting, we will be able to move cars in this direction. The only problem may arise in a place called ‘Devil’s Bridge’ in the Tatev area, but alternatively, we have already started building the Tatev-Ltsen road.” He said that two companies from both sides will start the construction works in the near future. The goal is to have the ground version of this road by the end of the year. “This means that we will have two new, beautiful, passable roads from Kapan to Tatev and from Tatev to Ltsen for new cars,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
He mentioned that they are working on building new roads in Syunik to the village of Bardzravan, the village of Shurnukh, the village of Khot-Vorotan, and to Chakaten. These alternative roads will be built for security reasons. One of the journalists asked Suren Papikyan whether the Azeri police stations would remain in the Vorotan community section of the Goris-Kapan road, to which the Deputy Prime Minister replied, “The police stations operating in the territory of Azerbaijan are Azerbaijan’s business, we can not make decisions here. I can not decide today that it will not happen because that section of road between Armenia and Azerbaijan was not delimited or demarcated, but the existing road between the former Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan has already been outlined,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Nune Arevshatyan
