Kapan, Chakaten, and 4-5 Villages Could Become Impassable: We Have No Alternative Route at This Time, Says Community Head

Just a moment ago, I saw a video, and there were no Russian border guards left. Azerbaijani soldiers were present with masks, and there was a tent as well. However, what will happen by morning? I can’t answer that. By morning, I believe things will be clearer. This was stated by Ara Harutyunyan, the head of Chakaten community, in an interview with 24News regarding the situation on the Kapan-Chakaten road.

According to him, Kapan city, Chakaten, and 4-5 villages could become impassable. “If a checkpoint is established, I don’t know how we will pass. I don’t know if they will set up a checkpoint or not, but that’s the direction it’s heading. Why are they putting up a tent? At this moment, we have no alternative route; it is underway, and the machinery has been brought in to work,” he added.

Harutyunyan emphasized that there can be no alternative route from Tatev, and the possible alternative route should be from another part of Chakaten. However, there is not even a dirt road leading to Kapan; it needs to be built from “scratch.” “But when will the road be built? You don’t create a road on a computer; machinery needs to work, and we don’t know when it will happen. I know that people have come, Suren Papikyan has visited, some of the machinery has been brought in, but the weather conditions are still an obstacle. They haven’t fully started working yet, and we don’t know when they will finish. You could wake up in the morning and find the road closed. By 7:30 am, it may become clearer. But the road was open; I went back and forth twice. It's not like it used to be, where one person is standing on the road; there were 4-5 people going and more than 20 returning. This is what worries me; they [Azerbaijanis] are very calm,” said the head of Chakaten.