By allowing the transfer of people through the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Hakari bridge, the Artsakh authorities legitimize the operation of that bridge. Metakse Hakobyan, the secretary of the opposition "Justice" Faction of the National Assembly of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to Hakobyan, the uninterrupted land connection between Artsakh and Armenia is a “red line” which Azerbaijan crossed on December 12, then the authorities of Armenia, and it turns out that the Artsakh authorities are also doing it.

"The Artsakh authorities are not behaving correctly and, in fact, by saying the complete opposite, they are also crossing that ‘red line.’ We have repeatedly tried to clarify how the transfer of these persons is determined, especially that even the transfer of [medical] patients is not acceptable for a large number of people, and that even in this case no exceptions should be made, although in this case opinions are split purely on humanitarian grounds," Hakobyan noted.

According to her, the Artsakh authorities should maintain the decision of the Artsakh residents. The 120 thousand people of Artsakh had announced their “red line” on then matter, but now the opposite is happening.

"We [i.e. the Artsakh residents] have had many cold and hungry days during these months, even the [Lachin corridor] road was closed for Russian peacekeepers, but we were ready for hardships in order not to use the road which was illegally closed by Azerbaijan. This is the very first phase of ‘integration,’ which started in Artsakh when you show your passport to the Azerbaijani side, get permission from it because we have information that there are [Artsakh] citizens whose return was refused. It turns out that Azerbaijan decides who goes out of Artsakh and who comes in. The Artsakh authorities have no decisive role here, and in this case to use of that road means to agree to the rules of Azerbaijan's game," the Artsakh opposition MP emphasized.