Friday, March 31 2023 16:58

ArmInfo. Armenia is at war with Azerbaijan. Seyran Ohanyan, the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, the head of the opposition "Hayastan" faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, said this in a conversation with journalists.

According to him, after the 44-day war in Artsakh and statements about the opening of an era of peace, everyone is witnessing constant provocations and offensive actions from Baku. "Azerbaijan is consistently squeezing the ring around Armenia and Artsakh, setting itself two goals: to get the so-called "corridor", which they plan to use to connect it with Nakhichevan, and to depopulate Artsakh," said the former minister of defense of the RA.

Ohanyan, recalling the statements of the Azerbaijani authorities about the alleged granting of rights and freedoms to the Armenian population of Artsakh, noted that in reality this was discussed both in Soviet times and during the first Artsakh war, and is now being put on the agenda again.

The former minister pointed out the importance of conducting research on every centimeter of the occupied territories in order to be able to organize the defense of the state's borders, in which the army should play the most important role. However, the country's authorities, Ohanyan continued, announced their intention to replace the servicemen with border guards. "But this can only happen if the warring states become neighbors and live in peace with each other.  Meanwhile, the behavior of Azerbaijan, its belligerent rhetoric and actions suggest that both states continue to be at war, despite the statements of the Armenian authorities about the opening of an era of peace. In this situation, the border guards with their capabilities cannot provide proper protection of the borders of the state>, the oppositionist emphasized. Ohanyan added that the current Armenian authorities live in isolation from reality, as if nothing had happened to Armenia and Artsakh. They either do not want or cannot correctly assess the military-political situation in the context of geopolitical developments in order to determine their priorities, the main of which should be the issue of security. Ohanyan does not understand how the Azerbaijani armed forces, having no populated territories in the rear, manage to gain a foothold on new frontiers, in this case, near the village of Tegh, and the Armenian forces, behind which there are settlements with the necessary infrastructure, cannot provide adequate protection for their positions.

Moreover, the former minister believes that the military leadership left the residents of the Armenian border villages alone with the Azerbaijani units. "We left our villagers to their fate, leaving them alone with the Azerbaijanis. First of all, we had to organize the protection of our villages and their inhabitants," Ohanyan stressed.  Yesterday, the Azerbaijani troop advanced in the direction of Tegh and Kornidzor villages of Syunik region.