‘Residents of this region of Azerbaijan will have no irrigation water this year due to fake activists’ - Artak Beglaryan

Due to the blockade of Artsakh, 96,000 hectares of land in Azerbaijan will not receive sufficient water this year. This was stated by Artak Beglaryan, an advisor to the State Minister of Artsakh, on his Telegram channel.

“President of Artsakh Araik Harutyunyan opened several parentheses regarding the energy crisis prevailing in Artsakh and the water resources of the Sarsang reservoir in his address on February 23. Here are some facts and highlights regarding this matter:

1. Beginning January 9, the electricity supply from Armenia has been completely halted, and throughout the blockade, the gas supply has been periodically cut off. The Azerbaijani side deliberately incited an energy crisis as a primary means of pressure.
2. Since that time, we have resorted to crisis management of the energy system, using local hydropower plants to their full capacity and limiting consumption as much as possible, including through suspension of major economic enterprises and power outages.
3. During this period, the water resources of the Sarsang reservoir have been severely depleted, as we released much more water resources for the operation of our main hydropower plant—50 megawatts—than what flows into Sarsang.
4. The situation is now critical, meaning that we will soon have an extreme shortage of water resources necessary for electricity production, with all the resulting consequences.
5. The water resources of the Sarsang reservoir, which has a capacity of nearly 600 million cubic meters, have been significantly reduced, which will create a serious crisis in the spring and summer, primarily for Azerbaijani farmers, as water resources will not be sufficient to irrigate around 96,000 hectares in the Tartar, Aghdam, Barda, Goranboy, Yevlakh, and Akhalkalaki regions of Azerbaijan.
6. Therefore, residents of these regions in Azerbaijan should be aware that due to their authorities and self-proclaimed fake activists, they will have no irrigation water this year and will be deprived of the possibility of food and income.

Note: The press secretary of the President of Artsakh has reported that an agreement has been reached with the Azerbaijani side, with the mediation of the Russian side, to repair the damaged network and restore the electricity supply from Armenia in the coming days. The simple logic suggests that the sooner the power supply to Artsakh is restored, the sooner irrigation water will be available to Azerbaijani farmers,” he wrote.