Questions for NSS: What Will Happen Next? They Say They Don't Know, the Azerbaijani Has Blocked It

The installation of an Azerbaijani checkpoint-customs post has resulted in teachers from Jrakaten not being able to go to school today. A bread delivery was made to all residents of surrounded villages by a vehicle from the village of Tsav. This information was shared in an interview with Sputnik Armenia by the administrative head of Jrakaten, Ara Harutyunyan.

He noted that neither yesterday nor this morning have the border guards of the NSS allowed him to pass through the Kapan-Jrakaten road, where Azerbaijani military personnel set up a customs checkpoint overnight. “Jrakaten is not only in a bad situation, but also 5-6 other villages. We do not know what will happen to us in the end. We are in collapse. I ask the NSS what is going to happen, and they say they don’t know either. The Azerbaijani side has closed things off,” he recounted.

Initially, there was a checkpoint, and then a customs post, and at some point, Harutyunyan even heard whispers that the Azerbaijani side has no intention of reopening the Kapan-Jrakaten road at all. He mentioned that heavy machinery is currently operating in that area, with Azerbaijanis rapidly conducting construction work.

“The Azerbaijani side speaks however it wishes, and the Russian border guards say they know nothing,” said Harutyunyan. While awaiting answers to the mounting questions, the administrative head of Jrakaten is attempting to reach Jrakaten via a very old path, but he is unsure if the off-road vehicle will manage to navigate the rocky highland.

“There is one road left, from which only the letter 'J' remains; we are trying to overcome it. There is no alternative road; they have just started constructing one, and it is in the initial phase,” he stated. If they fail to reach their destination via that route, Harutyunyan will have to return and take the only other alternative route available, the Kapan-Meghri route, which is 145 km away from the village.

Harutyunyan assures that there is no panic among the residents of Jrakaten and other nearby villages, but people are anxious and are constantly calling to ask what will happen, especially those with young and underage children. If there is a need to call for an ambulance, it is unlikely that the medical personnel will be able to arrive on time.

“The ambulance should arrive not from Kapan, but from Meghri, and the distance from Meghri to the village is 170-180 km. I don’t know if that ambulance will arrive, and whether it will produce any results,” lamented the head of the Jrakaten administrative district.

It should be noted that yesterday the NSS issued a statement that starting from midnight local time on November 15, Azerbaijan will establish border and customs control in the section of the Kapan-Jrakaten road under its control. After the meeting of the Armenian government on November 11, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan commented in a briefing with journalists regarding the existence of the Azerbaijani customs post on the Goris-Kapan road, stating that Azerbaijan is demanding a corridor towards Nakhchivan in exchange.