ArmInfo. Syunik region took an active part in the war in Artsakh. We took part in hostilities and provided support in the rear. Mayor of Kapan city Gevorg Parsyan stated this during the parliamentary hearings on the situation in the country, organized by the Prosperous Armenia Party.
Parsyan noted that on October 18, the Prime Minister in Goris convened a meeting and suggested that the residents of Syunik organize self-defense. "General Artak Davtyan was appointed coordinator for the defense of Syunik. We very quickly organized ourselves and switched to self-defense. At that time we were completely alone, no one from the government helped us. General Davtyan very quickly assessed the situation and suggested that we take advantageous positions both in Armenia and beyond its borders as soon as possible. This was very important for the protection of our settlements. We took up positions away from our settlements to create a line of defense. There were very difficult and stubborn battles, including near the village of David Bek. We have had victims, however, we have not moved a millimeter away from our positions, "Parsyan stressed.
The Mayor of Kapan noted that on November 9, a trilateral agreement was concluded, according to which the Armed Forces remain in place. And the people of Syunik did not leave their positions. <However, on December 17, the Ministry of Defense received an order to leave positions and return to the territory of Armenia. This is a huge problem for the residents of Kapan. Having taken positions in Armenia, we had a situation in which the enemy was located 1 kilometer from the city of Kapan. Now Kapan has become a target for the enemy forces, since they have crossed the heights significant for the area. There was also a road safety problem. In particular, we are talking about the Goris-Kapan, Kapan- Chakaten and Kapan-Agarak roads. The Kapan-Agarak road is not used, since it is completely under the control of the enemy and there are no decisions on this issue. Fortunately, there is an alternative road, but it is quite long and practically impassable in winter conditions. Thus, the villages located on this section of the road were practically surrounded, "Parsyan noted.
He stressed that the situation in the city is tense, but there is no panic. "I am sure that we must do everything possible to protect Syunik," Parsyan said. The mayor of Kapan also said that after the war, the Azerbaijanis did not make any attempts to take new positions. Moreover, Parsyan said that the residents of Syunik were promised that if an agreement was concluded, their position would be taken into account, but this did not happen.
"We met with the Minister of Defense, asked why they were making us leave the line of defense that we had created. To our surprise, the minister said that there had been an agreement on this from the first day. Vagharshak Harutyunyan also noted that there can be no talk of any negotiations on maintaining the defense line, "the mayor of Kapan stressed.
He also noted that Russian border guards have already been deployed on the territory of the Karmrakar village near Kapan, they also serve in Goris. But he had not heard of any Russian military base in the region.