Artsakh is facing a humanitarian crisis and a security catastrophe amid the disruption of gas supplies by Azerbaijan, MP Tigran Abrahamyan from Armenia’s opposition With Honor faction told a briefing on Thursday.
The MP said although talks on the resumption of gas delivery are underway with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, “unfortunately, this stage of the negotiations does not guarantee that there will not be new crisis situations in Artsakh in the future.”
"Azerbaijan has increased its instruments of pressure on Artsakh, and no solution is in sight in the long run," the lawmaker stressed.
Referring to the Armenian government's programs to alleviate the situation, which Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan spoke about on Wednesday, but which have not yet been implemented, Abrahamyan said that in the post-war period Armenia implemented certain programs in parallel with the interstate loan provided to Artsakh.
"At the moment I don't know about the measures stemming from this specific situation. The government website has a section on Artsakh, assistance programs are available, but as far as I understand it is not conditioned by the current situation in Artsakh. It has more to do with the problems that arose in Artsakh in the post-war period. I will try to get some clarifications on the matter in the near future," he said.
Abrahamyan admits the current situation is not a simple one, stating, however, there are some issues that require urgent solutions.
"In the long run, we need to understand what we are actually doing, not only in case of gas supply disruptions, but also in case of other threats, which are already visible now, it's clear what could happen,” he said.
“The government must develop comprehensive programs also taking into account the security component, because the failure to solve the mounting problems can lead to two major consequences: either a large-scale exodus of Armenians from Artsakh or a new war," Abrahamyan stressed.
