Giving or not giving territories contains certain criminal law phenomena. Armenia’s authorities are obliged by the law and the Constitution to protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, and any action against the territorial integrity of Armenia implies criminal prosecution against those authorities. The authorities of the Republic of Armenia cannot give any territory of the Republic of Armenia. Such a thing cannot happen at all. ‘Civil Contract’ faction deputy Vahagn Aleksanyan said this during a briefing, referring to the concerns regarding the giving of territories to Azerbaijan in the Tavush province.
“We need to understand exactly what we are talking about. Whenever we say that delimitation and demarcation should take place, even in that part of Tavush province and 4 Azerbaijani villages, it means that after the delimitation and demarcation, those combat positions, where the troops stand with the appropriate weapons, military equipment, weapons, with artillery means, should be replaced by the border guard service. The implementation of border protection should be transferred to the regime of the state border, which implies not a reduction in security, but an increase in security,” he said.
“In front of all of you, we are threatened with war on an almost daily basis. Azerbaijan's policy clearly leads to escalation,” said Aleksanyan, referring to the Prime Minister's statement about the threat of war.
He emphasized that starting the delimitation and demarcation and doing it is justified by legal documents, it is in the interests of the Republic of Armenia. And Armenia’s Government and the authorities are taking steps to manage the risks of possible military escalation.
Referring to the question of starting the border delimitation from Tavush, Aleksanyan said. “And do we see the readiness of Azerbaijan to start this process in general? In general, does Azerbaijan want to start the process or not? I don't have an answer to that question,” said the deputy.
Speaking about the negotiations with Azerbaijan, Vahagn Aleksanyan said.
“Negotiations are underway. Let me not speak publicly about the work of specific committees. Negotiations are negotiations, but there is also talk in the public domain, and one important thing must be understood here is that Azerbaijan's desire, perhaps at the instigation of some other force, is to reach escalation, and our task, as Armenia’s Government, is not to allow it, is to manage that risk.”
