Residents of Voskepar Greet Nikol Pashinyan Coldly Amid War Fears

Residents of Voskepar welcomed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with a cold reception, expressing their fears of war. Journalist Voskang Sarkisyan shared insights on his Facebook page.

In his post, he mentioned, “On March 18, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting at the Voskepar culture house with the residents of Voskepar, Baghanis, and Voskavan. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, Tavush Governor Haik Galumyan, and other local officials.”

Previously, Pashinyan was warmly welcomed in Voskepar, but this time the atmosphere was notably chilly and unfriendly. When Pashinyan entered the hall, half of the attendees did not stand up. Participants indicated that when Pashinyan displayed a small model of the Republic of Armenia's map, one resident complained, stating that he had already shown this 'piece of land' before.

Pashinyan stated that the territories of four villages previously inhabited by Azerbaijanis in the Tavush border area should be surrendered to Azerbaijan, otherwise, Azerbaijan would start a war. When asked what guarantees there were that Azerbaijan wouldn't advance again or start a war after handing over these four villages, Pashinyan said there were no guarantees, but there was hope that Azerbaijan would not act this way.

Participants pointed out that 31 territories in Armenia are currently occupied by Azerbaijani forces, questioning why demarcation hasn't begun with those areas. Pashinyan did not provide a logical answer to this query. He further stated that there are three options regarding these four villages: to hand them over, not to hand them over, or to go to war with Azerbaijan; if the last option were taken, Turkey would enter the war on Azerbaijan's side. The attendees believed that by mentioning Turkey, Pashinyan aimed to instill fear in the Voskepar residents, convincing them that the four villages must be surrendered.

Residents expressed concerns that after handing over these four villages, the Armenia-Georgia and Ijevan-Novemberyan routes would be disrupted. The Prime Minister responded that if necessary, an automotive tunnel would be dug in Voskepar, and a road stretching through the Yenokavan-Jujevan mountains would be constructed.

Local resident Robert Melikyan mentioned that he met with Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan last week, who told him that they would not surrender the territories of those four villages as long as Azerbaijan held more than 700 hectares of land from Berkaber village. In response, Pashinyan stated that Suren Papikyan should focus on his own issues.