Armenia PM: Azerbaijan has blocked road to strike at peace agenda put forward by us

The main message of my presentation of the government program in the National Assembly was the agenda of opening an era of peaceful development for the region and Armenia, and after that the already well-known situation arose when Azerbaijan has closed off—at the sectors of Eyvazli and Chayzam—the main road leading to the southern parts of Syunik Province. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this at Friday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

According to him, this action contradicts the agreements reached in 2020.

"I hope the situation will be settled as soon as possible. Politically, it is unequivocal for me that this action was made to strike at the peace agenda put forward by us, to discredit that agenda. Azerbaijan's behavior proves that such incidents can happen again. Our services need to be vigilant and attentive. But on the other hand, we need strong nerves, and we shall develop, advance our strategic line, the agenda of peace.

The creation of the situation in connection with the roads of Syunik was not unpredictable for us, and during that time we have worked on the formation of new infrastructures and will continue to work. However, the reopening of the road in the sectors of Eyvazli and Chayzam can become a very good symbol of regional stability.

The Azerbaijani side claims that the situation is connected with the incident that took place the day before, when a serviceman of the Azerbaijani border troops was stabbed. Our preliminary inspections have shown that the Armenian side has nothing to do with the alleged incident. Also, we are ready for a joint investigation with the participation of representatives of Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan," he said.

Touching upon the repairing of Armenia’s interstate and national roads, Pashinyan said: "Our capital repair programs, in particular, in Syunik Province, the repairing of the Tatev-Aghvan road shall be completed by the end of the year. We shall complete also the road construction programs of the other outlined sections in order to make the uninterrupted connection of the communities with the provincial center, interstate, and national roads better quality.”