News - Armenia official: Those 4 villages in Tavush Province are not in our administrative territorial division

The purpose of border delimitation and demarcation is to clearly emphasize the border line, on this side of which is Armenia, on the other side of which is Azerbaijan. Gnel Sanosyan, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, mentioned this to reporters at the National Assembly Wednesday. "A legal map acceptable to both sides should be taken, and which will be the basis for that process," said Sanosyan. Reflecting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the infrastructures should be rebuilt so that they pass through the territory of Armenia, Sanosyan said: "At those sectors there are places where roads or other infrastructures are quite close to the border line; in some places, it may be found that they cross the border. This implies that that there may be a question of rebuilding in some sectors;  it's about today’s working road." Sanosyan added that the Tavush Province’s four villages which Azerbaijan demands from Armenia are not located in the administrative territory of Armenia. To the question as to whether only roads should be changed, or the route of the Russian natural gas pipeline entering Armenia via Georgia should also be changed, the minister responded: "Work should be done, from which it will be clear whether it is only a road, only a gas pipeline, or it may refer to other infrastructures as well. That work has not started yet, there are no dates yet." When asked if nothing is clear yet and the border delimitation commissions still have to work, why is the Armenian PM in a hurry to say that those four villages are not in the Armenian territory, Gnel Sanosyan said: "Although the work is not finished, some work has been done, there are certain maps in which something can be seen." And as for whether Armenia will give those four villages to Azerbaijan in exchange for nothing or will it demand that the Azerbaijani-occupied territories of 31 Armenian villages be returned to Armenia, Sanosyan responded: "It's nothing, it's part of the process, it can be part of the work of border delimitation commissions." The Armenian official dismissed the reports that they are already building alternative roads in those areas.