Video: 'Did You Want to Present Yourself as the Don Corleones of Syunik?' - Nikol Pashinyan

Is it difficult to call and inquire before the meeting? Do you see that we are the source of information regarding Syunik? Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this from the podium of the National Assembly while responding to the statement made by the head of the 'Honorary' faction, Arthur Vanetsyan, that they do not know whether Syunik is cut off from other regions or not.

'Did you want to present yourself as the Don Corleones of Syunik? One has escaped to Antarctica, while the other, who tried to portray himself as a modern-day Muhammad Ali, I was expecting at least that he would come to the National Assembly today,' emphasized Nikol Pashinyan.

He noted that there is an attempt to present that the Armenian government has acted behind the people’s back. Pashinyan reminded again about the law on administrative-territorial division. The Prime Minister also mentioned that since 2010 there has been a project for the North-South road corridor.

'Now they say, “Oh, there’s a question about those enclaves.” Well, answer why when designing the North-South road, it was not extended through Eraskh, Tigranashen, and then Zangakatun. We did not bring those questions to the agenda. But when you were creating the project for the North-South corridor, why was that road not passing through the Vorotan-Shurnukh section, but designed in such a way that tunnels need to be built, which increases the cost of the project?' Pashinyan stated.

He also pointed out that in regions that were outside the Soviet Armenia territory on the Soviet maps, Azerbaijanis have come and blocked those areas, claiming that an incident occurred where Armenian individuals entered and stabbed Azerbaijani border guards. 'We officially say that this information does not correspond to reality. If the Azerbaijani side has justification that such an event occurred, we call for them to share it with us,' said Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister said that Syunik province is not cut off from Armenia, and they anticipated that such situations could arise and have arranged to ensure and regulate transportation traffic, and those efforts will continue. According to Nikol Pashinyan, strategically, the construction of the North-South road will address this issue, but not entirely. Work has also begun regarding improving the roads of the Shurnukh and Vorotan communities.