Samvel Lalayan: Goris-Tatev Alternative Road Will Be Impassable for Large Vehicles if Frozen

The alternative road from Goris to Kapan, which passes through the Tatev-Agvani section, is difficult to navigate with trailers, especially in cold weather conditions. This was stated by Samvel Lalayan, a candidate for the position of mayor from the "Shant" alliance nationalist party in Tatev community, in an interview with 24News regarding the issue of the new Tatev-Kapan road.

"In general, heavy trucks have difficulty moving along the new Tatev-Goris road. The roads need to be newly opened for them to pass, which will take a long time. It is hard to navigate the 2-3 hairpin turns leading to Tatev," noted Lalayan.

Regarding the villages utilizing that road, Lalayan mentioned that portions of the road have been recently asphalted and are in normal condition. "Now, the road up to Agvani and Tandzaver is asphalted, but there are difficulties, especially for trucks with trailers," he added.

According to him, the road is passable for small vehicles, and there are no issues. "They know the routes, but larger vehicles have difficulties, especially for those coming from Iran, as they are unfamiliar with the roads. Local farmers know how to bring down hay from the mountains, they have vehicles and are able to solve their problems," added the mayoral candidate from the "Shant Alliance".

Regarding safety, Lalayan noted that only the village of Khot has security issues, which is located at the top of the Vorotan valley. He stated that there are no gunfire incidents towards Tatev, the Azerbaijani troops are stationed far away, and the Tatev-Kapan road is not visible from the Azerbaijani side, but Tatev and Svarants villages are observable. "From a distance, they can also fire at Tatev with some artillery weapons," he concluded.

It is noteworthy that on the evening of November 10, during the Public Television’s broadcast, the Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, stated that on the same day, the Azerbaijani side informed the Armenian side about the placement of checkpoints starting from midnight on the Goris-Kapan road section (21 kilometers), and the implementation of border and customs control functions. The Secretary of the Security Council noted that Armenian citizens can alternatively use the Tatev-Kapan road. The following day, during a government meeting, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the Azerbaijani side has begun customs and passport control at the "Aivazli" section of the Goris-Kapan road concerning Armenian citizens and cargo, and that the Armenian side has received notifications from unofficial Azerbaijani sources.