The key objective of the Azerbaijani troops in Syunik Province was to incite military operations, and, as President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had announced earlier, to seize the corridor leading to Nakhchivan which passes through Syunik Province. This is what acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said in response to MPs’ questions in parliament today.

According to Pashinyan, this is exactly why Armenia petitioned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). “People criticize the Armenian authorities, and many consider the decision to petition to the CSTO a wrong decision. However, it is necessary to emphasize that the partners of the CSTO were the ones that urged Armenia to solve the issue by force,” he said, adding that the CSTO still hasn’t clearly expressed its position on the need to remove the Azerbaijani forces and send them back to their starting positions.

“This is discussed during the working discussions, but the CSTO hasn’t expressed its position publicly. When there are talks about Syunik Province, the member states always say that there is no demarcation and delimitation in this sector of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but I would like to state that there is no demarcation and delimitation of the border between Russia and Azerbaijan. So, what does this mean?” Pashinyan said.