News - Armenia premier: We want to replace line contact with border with Azerbaijan

This is the first meeting, but not the last. Today there are many questions, the answer to which I will not give today, not because I cannot imagine, but because the answer to that question must be worded by agreements, and it does not depend on us alone. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this during a meeting with the residents of Kirants village of Tavush Province. One of the residents asked: "Kirants is attached to the border [with Azerbaijan]. Will there be a fence, an enclosure, will soldiers stand there? How will we maintain our security?" In response, Pashinyan said: "The only thing I can say is that we can go to solutions with having at least a certain level of confidence that we will provide that security. We want to replace the line of contact [with Azerbaijan] with a border. The border is a phenomenon that builds a legal enclosure. The most important result of [border] demarcation can be that the troops leave their positions and the border guards come in their place. Shooting at each other is not accepted at all where the border guards stand; that is, there is no dispute in that section. They shoot because there is a dispute. If there is no dispute, the meaning of shooting does not exist. If we draw, specify the border, ensure that there will be no clashes between the inhabitants of the villages, rule out the occasions, shooting becomes meaningless if a country does not declare war on a country. If you have a border, you have a legal enclosure which is up to the country to decide whether it wants to have also a physical enclosure there as well or not. The situation may be such that we decide together that it is necessary, or we decide that it is not necessary." Another resident stated that two months ago on Google maps, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was passing through his house, but now it has moved 50 meters. "If the Armenian or Azerbaijani troop came and stopped [there], how can I live in that house?" asked the villager. Pashinyan responded: "I said that we shall come and answer that question. Now, during this work and negotiations, we should put your question also on the table, say: ‘how will this person live in his house? What guarantees do we give [him]? And not only Armenia, but also Azerbaijan should answer that question. I have come now not to answer your question, but to take your question, take [it] with me, and put [it] on the table of the agenda of the whole [border] delimitation work, and to say: ‘answer this person's question.’ We will come and answer that question honestly. We will say, ‘dear Mr. Simonyan, today's situation is as follows that you will be able to live comfortably in your home because’... and we will note conditions. After that, we will listen to your reaction, whether it is convincing for you or not."