“The road must be taken back from Azerbaijan. If there is a peace agreement now, we are lost,” he said.
“There are two more documents. If Pashinyan did not sign them, he probably understood that he has surrendered enough․․․ if he has signed them and then has to publish them later, those documents will refer to Tigranashen and the enclaves of Ijevan and the Noyemberyan region in Tavush,” former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan told reporters at the Hayeli Press Club on September 23.
He noted, “Azerbaijan has spoken about that. They constantly write that we’ll see, he will surrender them soon. Here, Iran is seriously concerned, and it may forcibly send troops to Armenia, asking us why we are surrendering. Iran has already accumulated serious forces at the border. They are very indignant in Iran. They may spit on the Armenian government and say that they do not allow Armenia to give one of its routes to Azerbaijan. In fact, now we are deprived of economic ties with Iran. And trucks will not be able to cross that alternative road that they are building. The situation is difficult. Officials, do not stand up and say “Azerbaijani SSR.” In my opinion, no one has explained this to Pashinyan, and it is difficult for him to understand why Azerbaijan closed that road in the Goris-Kapan-Front section. Azerbaijan occupied the road on Armenian soil, then closed it,” Bagratyan said, referring to the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the RA interstate road.
“There is a big political game here, and first of all, it is directed against Iran. When they attack us, Iran can try to defend. And that part of the road is about 70-80 km, and we gave more than half of it to the Azerbaijanis. It was mentioned that we did it by GPS, and it really is so. For some reason, that route appears outside our borders. Then it turned out that Azerbaijan gave a $20 million grant to Google Maps, which drew that GPS a few years ago,” he said.
Bagratyan continued, “The Prime Minister also said that the road was surrendered according to the maps of the General Staff. There is no such thing. Why? First of all, there is no Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I say this especially for the part of the people who have put themselves in the place of those who do not understand. There was a border, but now we are an independent state, and in addition to that line, there must be a buffer zone. This does not mean that there is no border now. It is obvious that in Vardenis and Syunik, the enemy violated the border. In order for the road from Goris to Kapan to be built in time, the land allotment should have been made either by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, or, if it belongs to Azerbaijan (ask the Dandurov Institute), then Azerbaijan has allotted land. I place great importance on this road because there will be a big peace agreement with Azerbaijan, and we must bring it back. If we do not, we will not have a route. We are talking about the Vorotan section of the Goris-Kapan road, which we ceded to Azerbaijan, as well as the Kapan-Chakaten section.”
Hrant Bagratyan again advised all those who claim that the mentioned sections of the interstate road are Azerbaijani to open and read the land allocation documents. “Do you think that they would let us build a route through the territory of Azerbaijan? Why didn’t Azerbaijan say that part of the road was theirs during the war? They must return it to Armenia. They may even say let the Armenians return to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has stated this several times. Twice as many Armenians lived in Azerbaijan, not counting Artsakh. 300,000 Armenians lived in Baku and 80,000 in Gandzak.
If we sign a peace treaty now, we are lost. Upon signing, it should be stipulated that Azerbaijan will clear the interstate road. Armenia must announce that the road must be returned and the Azerbaijani posters must be removed. What is the head of the country for? Let him solve this problem. There is no connection with Iran because of that road.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
