Road to Vardenis demanded by Karabakh residents before transferring it to Azerbaijan

Residents of Nagorno-Karabakh strive to leave for Armenia along the road through Karvachar (Kelbadjar), which will close on November 15 under the agreement on transferring the Kelbadjar District to Azerbaijan. Regular buses from Stepanakert to Yerevan are no longer en route.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 10, the statement of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh has come into force. In particular, it deals with the deployment of Russian peacemakers along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the corridor connecting it with Armenia.

After signing of the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone, one can get to Yerevan from Stepanakert (the Azerbaijani name of the city is Khankendi, – hereinafter, notes of the "Caucasian Knot") by minibus (fixed-route minivan-taxis), a local source told the "Caucasian Knot".

From November 15, the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia via the Armenian city of Vardenis will be closed, traffic will go only through Berdzor (the Azerbaijani name of the city is Lachin), Unan Tadevosyan, the press secretary of the State Emergency Service of Armenia, has stated today.

He has added that there are currently no regular routes of public transport from Stepanakert to Armenia; and so far people drive in private cars via Karvachar (the Azerbaijani name of the city is Kelbadjar).

From November 15 on, with the closure of the road to Karvachar, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh will find themselves in an enclave, Lika Zakharyan, a journalist from Stepanakert currently living in Germany, has concluded. "Now, between Armenia and Artsakh there is a corridor in the form of Karvachar. Men in suits decided that they would give it up on November 15. And the other road, which goes via Shushi, remains closed, and they must build another road to bypass Shushi. But this is not a matter of five days, I think. That is, on November 15, Karvachar will be given away, Lachin has not yet been opened, because it is via Shushi, but it's not possible to go via Shushi, and the new road has not yet been built. What happens? Since November 15, people in Artsakh will be in an enclave, won't they?" Lika Zakharyan wrote on November 10 in her Facebook page.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 11, 2020 at 11:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.