I Do Not Exclude That Azerbaijanis Have Intruded into Certain Areas of the RA Sovereign Territory: Hovik Agazaryan

I cannot say that Azerbaijanis have invaded Armenian territory, nor do I deny it because I do not possess complete information on the matter. This was stated by Hovik Agazaryan, a member of the NA My Step bloc, in an interview with NEWS.am.

“But the fact remains that there has been a delay concerning the changes to these routes. The Azerbaijanis have used this circumstance and positioned themselves. I do not exclude that they have intruded into certain areas of the RA sovereign territory,” he said.

Referring to the National Security Service's statement that there has been an improvement in that section of the border, while the residents of Tegh village deny that the Azerbaijanis have pulled back, Agazaryan stated: “Everything must be done without emotions; we should not fall for provocations. However, it should not be the case that while continuously saying ‘do not fall for provocations,’ we lose small pieces resulting in the loss of the same piece. Nevertheless, we are today in such geopolitical realities that every step needs to be cold and calculated. Even if at some point we experience a small loss, we must strive to recover that loss.”

When asked why the authorities did not ensure border protection in time and allowed the Azerbaijanis to advance, he responded: “I do not have the answer to that question regarding why it happened this way. It is bad; it was a failure of the authorities of Artsakh or the RA authorities—it's important. What matters to me is that it is bad. If we cannot solve the issue of returning our territories peacefully, then we must also look for other alternatives to resolve this issue.”