After the arrest of three Armenians, no one in Artsakh wants to pass through that checkpoint; our interlocutor thinks they should stay and protect themselves.
Baku is preparing a show trial for the generations of two wars. Gagik Avanesyan, a participant in the Artsakh movement and a member of the initiative group of the “People’s Headquarters for Unblocking the Corridor“, made such an observation in a conversation with “Aravot,” referring to the case of the kidnapping of an Artsakh student from the Azerbaijani illegal checkpoint located at the Berdzor Corridor checkpoint.
Azerbaijani mass media reported on August 28 that three Armenian youths were arrested at the Lachin Corridor checkpoint on the same day. It was reported from Artsakh that Alen Nelson Sargsyan, born in 2001, was abducted from an illegal checkpoint, and another young man is being interrogated.
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According to the information spread by the Azerbaijani side, the young man from Artsakh was kidnapped for “disrespecting the Azerbaijani flag,” however; Gagik Avanesyan believes that it is a pretext in the future they can bring up an episode of participation in the war. He mentioned that after today’s incident, no one in Artsakh wants to pass through that checkpoint, and the flow of people leaving Artsakh will stop.
Turning to the question that the student from Artsakh was kidnapped in the presence of Russian peacekeepers, Avanesyan said: “What is happening? Why are they doing this? Let me tell you that this is “Koltso” operation-2. As many Armenians were captured in 1991, the Russians captured and gave them to the Turks from Stepanakert Hadrut and the villages. The Russians were doing it then and are doing the same thing now.”
Gagik Avanesyan, a participant in the Artsakh movement and a member of the initiative group of the “People’s Headquarters for Unblocking the Corridor”
Gagik Avanesyan mentioned that the Artsakh people should stay in their homeland and try to protect it in the current situation. “Going by road and leaving Artsakh is no longer dangerous in this state; the right thing is to devote you to defense. Our people must understand that this checkpoint is a filtration zone. We must try to find a way to restore the status of the Berdzor corridor; Azerbaijan should not be in that 5 km section from Stepanakert to Kornidzor. It must be achieved, and that is the work of Armenian diplomacy, which, in my opinion, is not weak but non-existent. It can even be said that the diplomatic corps of Armenia works for the benefit of Azerbaijan,” he said.
Referring to the information that the commander of the Russian peacekeeping force in Artsakh, Alexander Lentsov, is being replaced by another commander, Gagik Avanesyan said: “We cannot say for sure what scenario is being drawn in Moscow, and what will the next do, what plan is coming. Let me say that the same situation was in 1991; at that time, the guards were constantly changed in the regions; one was brought in, the Armenians were oppressed, and the other worked for the benefit of the Armenians. The same is the case now; dissatisfaction with Lentsov has increased so much that they want to bring in a new commander. They are showing that this one can be good, and they are doing it to restore the image of Russia a little. I don’t know what they think, but they want to change something.”
Rosa HOVHANNISYAN
