Azerbaijani Villages, How Much More Should We Say for People to Understand? – MP from the Civil Contract on Four Tavush Villages

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not one to concede, nor is he handing over anything. He clearly states, we need to delineate our border with Azerbaijan. This was noted by the MP from the Civil Contract faction, Gagik Melikyan, in an interview with NEWS.am regarding the issue of leaving four areas of Tavush to Azerbaijan.

“Those villages are Azerbaijani villages, how much more should we say for people to understand? It is Azerbaijani territory. It is said that Pashinyan is giving away the Tavush villages. But these are not Tavush villages. Artsakh was also part of Azerbaijani territory during Soviet times. We were strong, we were powerful, we took it, we kept Artsakh independent. Now we have lost. Why did we flee and come from Artsakh? Because we didn't have the strength to keep it. Over the years, we have squandered our resources. Azerbaijan has been armed for 26 years, while we were just drinking toasts. Now, even from Yerevan, we are encouraging the people of Voskepar not to surrender. But when there was fighting there, no one from Yerevan would go. Therefore, the people of Voskepar should know that there is a state, there is an army, there are state interests, and there should be a state border that is never breached again, neither from this side nor that,” he stated.

Regarding the border demarcation process, Gagik Melikyan said, “There are many processes that need to be addressed before achieving border demarcation. It is not the case that tomorrow they will come and say, 'These are the lines, go.' We have communications there that pass through those territories without interruption. All of these issues need to be resolved.”