Opposition MP Artur Khachatryan blasts ‘step-by-step surrender’ of Armenian lands to Azerbaijan

Armenian MP Artur Khachatryan, who represents the opposition Hayastan faction, has rejected the “illegal” border delimitation and demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, accusing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government of a step-by-step handover of Armenian lands to Baku.

“The ongoing process, which is called “pilot delimitation”, actually amounts to the surrender of Armenian territories to the enemy piece by piece,” he told a parliament session on Tuesday, presenting an opposition-drafted statement on the border delimitation and demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had been rejected by the foreign affairs committee.

The lawmaker accused the authorities of backing away from their promise to introduce a draft law on the delimitation process.

A border delimitation deal announced on 19 April, which compels Armenia to hand over four border villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan, have prompted non-stop protests in Armenia.