I Don't Want to Comment on His Words: The Deputy Mayor of Goris on Kocharyan's Speech

As we reported yesterday, on May 12, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement that early in the morning, the Azerbaijani armed forces attempted to carry out certain activities in one of the border areas of Syunik under the pretext of "border clarification." Today, the Deputy Mayor of Goris, Menua Hovsepyan, presented the current situation during a press conference. Before detailing the situation, the deputy mayor wanted to remind that they responded and raised the issue only after noon yesterday.

“Some people tried to say that we are lying and making manipulations, but time has shown that this is not the case. We have never spread any lies or false information,” emphasized Hovsepyan.

The deputy mayor noted that he initially stated that there were no shots fired and no injuries on the Armenian side. “As for the process, negotiations continue today, as yesterday's negotiations did not yield tangible results. There has been a slight positional shift on the enemy's side, they have retreated. The negotiating party is the first army corps along with the border troops. We hope that this issue can be resolved through diplomatic means,” said Hovsepyan.

According to him, they have been raising the issue for six months now, and the authorities of the Goris community have pointed out that there are unprotected and open areas in that section. Despite this, the forefront army corps is currently addressing their issue.

In response to journalists' reminders that yesterday, the chairman of the defense committee, Andranik Kocharyan, stated, “It's just one position, an unprotected height; there's no advancement, and there are such heights everywhere,” the deputy mayor reacted, “I don't want to comment on his words. They are discussing a height in a dismissive way, in other words, as if it means nothing. Every height is important to us,” said Hovsepyan.

The deputy mayor also confirmed that Lake Sev is under the control of Azerbaijani armed forces.