People in Voskepar Await Pashinyan's Visit, Expecting Him to Address Their Demands

“One should believe in a person; I think if Pashinyan has promised to come, then he will come. I expect him to come and say that he is meeting the demands of the people and has abandoned his previous thoughts.” This was stated by Colonel Mihran Makhsudyane in an interview with ‘Pastinfo’.

“In any case, the people have not backed down after his thoughts; right now, we have a calm situation, but if they decide to go against the people, the people will definitely rise again,” the colonel assured.

When asked about the government's statements regarding the Azerbaijani ownership of the contested areas, Makhsudyane replied that he could prove that these territories are Armenian. “During the Soviet Union, there was a period when it was handed over to Azerbaijan, but historically, it is Armenian land,” said the colonel from Tavush, noting that by relinquishing Nerk'in Voskepar, they would also lose the real Voskepar, as its boundaries do not end with the village but rise with the Voskepar village's peak, blocking the main gas pipeline. In that case, the adversary would sit on the village peak and go through ethnic cleansing of Voskepar.”

In response to the comment that the National Assembly President Alen Simonyan insists that if Azerbaijan recognizes the newly created borders, there will be no issue of protection, hence no ethnic cleansing, the colonel replied: “Wasn't the example of Artsakh a lesson for Alen Simonyan? Isn't it clear how the opponent will act? The enemy will be sitting just a few meters away from the gas pipeline; if they come and settle there, what will they do? Naturally, they will take control of it and the village. They will not let the people move, and the people will leave. If anyone thinks that when the enemy comes, the people will not be subjected to ethnic cleansing, they should be prepared to live with the residents of Voskepar. Maybe the residents of Voskepar will adapt to living with them, but they are not ready to live with Turks, because here the Voskeparcians and Azerbaijanis have paid many sacrifices; that blood has not yet frozen, and it will not in the next 50 years. The Voskeparcians are not ready to live with our enemy.”