'Vardanyan-Harutyunyan gang is holding Khankandi residents as virtual hostages' - OPINION

The bandit group led by the Vardanyan-Harutyunyan couple holds Khankandi residents as virtual hostages and tries to carry out its insidious intentions, Vugar Iskandarov, a member of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan, told Report.

“The Armenian authorities, including the leaders of the separatist group in Khankandi, do not give up their traditional qualities. In fact, it can be called a traditional Armenian trait. So, on the one hand, the Pashinyan regime is delaying the signing of the peace agreement with Azerbaijan under various pretexts and continues to keep its armed groups in our territories. On the other hand, although the Lachin-Khankandi road is open, the bandits do not allow ordinary people to use that road to create a false image of crisis,” the deputy said.

Vugar Iskandarov noted that some pro-Armenian forces abroad make such an absurd claim that the Armenians in Khankandi are under blockade:

“The reason for this is the protests held by Azerbaijani eco-activists and public representatives near the post of (Russian) peacekeepers since December 12. The main demands of the protestors are the arrival of Russian peacekeeper commander Andrey Volkov to the area (where the protests are held), the creation of necessary conditions for monitoring by Azerbaijani experts, an end to the environmental terrorism of Armenians on the lands of Azerbaijan, the establishment of separate border and customs control posts on the border with Armenia in the direction of Lachin, and the prevention of the illegal transportation of weapons to the territory of Azerbaijan. In itself, this is an utterly peaceful action. The participants of the protest action create all kinds of conditions for humanitarian goods and cars to pass through the area, which ultimately destroys the claims of Armenians and their foreign patrons.”

The MP emphasized that also on the 14th day of the protests, conditions were created for the movement of civilian vehicles on the Khankandi-Lachin road passing through Shusha:

“Three more vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) moved unhindered on Lachin road. Everything is clear. This fact itself confirms that the information of the separatists, Armenian authorities and foreign patrons that the Azerbaijanis allegedly blocked the road to Lachin and cars were not allowed to pass is false.”