Pashinyan on stopping Iranian goods: this was done, possibly in  response to refusal to provide a corridor through the territory of  Armenia

ArmInfo. On September 15, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during the government hour in parliament, tried to explain the reason for the stop of Iranian  trucks, not far from the Armenian village of Vorotan, on the  Goris-Kapan highway.

According to the Prime Minister, the events taking place along the  length of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border are "multi-layered and have  many subtexts, and it is very important to correctly perceive and  evaluate these subtexts." As Pashinyan noted, in December 2020,  Armenia carried out work to bring the positions of the RA Armed  Forces in line with the borders that the republic inherited from the  Soviet Union. "This process was carried out in order to avoid a new  military escalation," he said.

Pashinyan once again referred to the 2010 law "On the  administrative-territorial division of the RA", which, as he pointed  out, "clearly states that, in particular, the administrative borders  of the villages of Shurnukh and Vorotan correspond to the  Armenian-Azerbaijani border." "In this case, this reality and the  fact that the administrative border between Soviet Armenia and Soviet  Azerbaijan later became the state border between the Republic of  Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan of the Soviet Union period was  taken as a basis. Today, within the framework of this logic, the  Goris-Kapan road in this section in two places goes beyond the  administrative border of Soviet Armenia and the Republic of Armenia.  It is in connection with this circumstance that famous plaques  ("Welcome to Azerbaijan" - ed. note) and strong points (Armed Forces  of Azerbaijan - ed. note) appeared in those places, " head of the  Armenian government said.

He recalled his message of December 19, 2020, during which he spoke  about the problems at the Goris-Kapan section and that a political  decision had been made in this regard, then the RA Ministry of  Defense issued a corresponding statement. Let us remind that the  Ministry of Defense noted that "the security of the 21 km section of  the Goris-Kapan highway, which falls on the disputed territory, will  be ensured by Russian border guards." As the Prime Minister of  Armenia pointed out, at one time - in December last year, an  agreement was reached that this road should be freely used for the  transit of Armenian vehicles and cargo. "I suppose that since within  the framework of this agreement, a circumstance regarding foreign  goods was not recorded, in this situation Azerbaijan applies this  method, possibly in response to those statements by the Armenian side  that in the trilateral statements of November 9 and January 11 there  is no mention of providing a corridor through the territory of  Armenia. The Republic of Armenia, realizing that regional  communications should be open, nevertheless fixes that foreign goods,  when crossing the territory of the Republic of Armenia, including  from the western regions of Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, will have to  cross customs, passport and other points, as required by the legal  framework of the CIS, providing transport communications of the  commonwealth, "he said.

Nikol Pashinyan also referred to his statement during a government  meeting on August 27 (Pashinyan, speaking about the blocked sections  of the Goris-Kapan road, used the Azerbaijani toponyms Eyvazli and  Chaizami - ed.  note). "This was done for the simple reason that it  was clear to the citizens of Armenia that the points in question are  not located on the territory of the Republic of Armenia or the Soviet  Socialist Republic of Armenia, but outside this territory, which the  Republic of Armenia de jure recognized in the law, which I mentioned"  On Administrative - territorial division of the Republic of Armenia  "2010", - he explained.

To recall, on September 12, the National Security Service of Armenia  reported that "from 12:00 on September 12, the Azerbaijani police  began stop trucks with Iranian numbers on the section Eyvazli (near  the Armenian village Vorotan) of the route Goris-Kapan. "In  connection with the situation the day before, the" Hayastan "("  Armenia "- ed. note) parliamentary faction demanded to find a format  for organizing a discussion of the situation. "It is toothless and  about nothing," moreover, "the report of the RA NSS fully uses  Azerbaijani terminology." trucks, and drivers, in order to be allowed  further travel to Yerevan, are forced to pay a kind of customs duty.  " On September 13, the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Azerbaijan  announced that Baku had established control on the section of the  Goris-Kapan road passing through the Syunik region of Armenia "in  accordance with the Azerbaijani tax code." "According to the code,  vehicles are subject to road tax, as well as a state duty for  obtaining a permit regulating international road transport in the  territory of Azerbaijan," the ministry said in a statement.