Artsakh NA Chair: There is a clear decision to keep the Akna-Stepanakert road closed and not use it

Chair of the Artsakh Parliament Davit Ishkhanyan has said at today’s press conference that there is a clear decision to keep the Akna-Stepanakert road closed and not use it.

“There is a checkpoint of Russian peacekeepers on the Akna-Stepanakert road, there is also a patrol control point of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The relevant state structures have given instructions, and I can say publicly that there is a clear decision: keep the Akna-Stepanakert road closed and not use it, and our society should not have tendencies to distrust and give various comments,” Davit Ishkhanyan said.

It should be recalled that yesterday, on August 29, Azerbaijani sources spread information that a “humanitarian” cargo was being sent from Baku under the auspices of the Red Crescent to Stepanakert. Press secretary of the President of Artsakh Lusine Avanesyan stated there was no agreement on this issue with the Artsakh side The Chair of the Artsakh National Assembly called Azerbaijan’s sending aid to Artsakh along the Akna road an unacceptable and provocative step.

“Azerbaijan is taking another provocative political step and is trying to show the world that they are taking all possible steps to meet the needs of the people of Artsakh. There is another subtlety that Azerbaijan is trying to push out the Stepanakert office of the Red Cross through its Red Crescent. The presence of that international structure is an advantage and an opportunity for us. It is no secret that Azerbaijan, after the 44-day war, made every effort to withdraw this office from the Republic of Artsakh. It is no coincidence that this cargo was not sent by Red Cross vehicles, they could have done the same with Red Cross vehicles and tried to establish a connection with the Stepanakert office. I’m not saying that our approaches would have changed in this case, but there would have been something else,” Davit Ishkhanyan said.

He added that the opening of the Akna-Stepanakert road is unacceptable for the official Stepanakert.

“We have one road in terms of a corridor, and we should not accept the concept of a second corridor for ourselves,” Davit Ishkhanyan stressed.