YEREVAN, August 9. /ARKA/. Under the guise of “reconstruction and rehabilitation ” of the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is building a military-political bridgehead for pursuing an expansionist policy, Artsakh Foreign Minister David Babayan said in a comment on the construction of roads in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan.
“What is happening now in Karabakh must be viewed from different perspectives, but the most important thing is that everything that is happening has a geopolitical setting, aimed not only against Artsakh and Armenia, “the minister said to news.am
According to him, Azerbaijan is pursing geopolitical goals not only across the region, but also in adjacent geopolitical spaces.
In Babayan’s words, a kind of expansionist transport infrastructure is being created under the guise of the reconstruction of the “occupied lands” damaged from “Armenian barbarism.”
“In fact, it is clear that Azerbaijan together with Turkey is laying down the foundation for an offensive policy in the future. They are creating a very extensive network of roads, tunnels that will allow them to transport a very large number of troops to the border with Iran, as well as to encircle the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey’s largest presence in Azerbaijani is in Nakhichevan and Ganja. The goal is to connect these regions with Araks River,” Babayan said.
According to him, if a tunnel is built under the Mrav mountain ridge, Azerbaijan will be able to solve several problems.
“First, in parallel with the construction of a transport tunnel, a tunnel can be built to divert water from the Tartar River. The tunnel will allow deployment of a large contingent of troops from Ganja to the Iranian border and also encircling the Russian peacekeeping troops along with Artsakh itself. This will enable Azerbaijan and Turkey to completely blockade Armenia. Similar offensive projects implemented in other occupied territories of Artsakh, construction of an extensive network of roads have very far-reaching goals. Understanding what is happening will allow us to be prepared and react,” Babayan said.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the parties stopped at where they were at that time. The town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia. A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor.
On January 11, 2021, after protracted four-hour talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the signing of a joint statement aimed at reopening of all transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.-0-