Armenian Security Council chief admits there was agreement with Azerbaijan

Panorama, Armenia
Nov 12 2021

Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan said there was an agreement with Azerbaijan to use the Goris-Kapan highway section until the construction of the bypass road was completed.

“There was an agreement with Azerbaijan for Armenia to use the Goris-Kapan road section until the bypass road was ready,” he said in an interview to the Public TV Company host Petros Ghazaryan on Thursday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Grigoryan said that Azerbaijan would set up customs checkpoints along the Goris-Kapan road section from midnight.

According to the security chief, Armenian citizens used this road until yesterday.

"Starting from the midnight of November 11, we can also use it. However, we have an alternative road, which is renovated and fully passable," he said.

Referring to the opposition claims that the news on Azeri checkpoints came immediately after the Armenian authorities announced that the bypass road was ready, he said. "There was a preliminary agreement with Azerbaijan."

Asked why Azerbaijan was installing customs checkpoints when no border delimitation and demarcation work had been carried out, Grigoryan noted: "We acted within the logic of common sense. There are maps. The deviation will be just a few hundred meters.”