NKR official labels Azerbaijan’s ‘protective wall’ as ‘Great Wall of Ilham’October 21, 2011 - 09:24 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Chairman of the Nagorno Karabakh standing parliamentary committee on external relations has labeled the ‘protective wall’ Azerbaijan is building at the Karabakh border as ‘Great Wall of Ilham’. “This construction is another propaganda move by Baku and should not be taken seriously,” Vahram Atanesyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “What is the meaning of this wall? Let’s have a real look. If we wanted we could easily hamper the construction of the wall allegedly meant to protect civilians. If Armenians wanted to kill civilians they would have shot dead the builders,” Atanesyan said. Asked whether the wall can change the balance of forces at the contact line, he said: “This wall will not safeguard Azerbaijanis from retaliatory measures we will take in case of ceasefire violations. The NKR army possesses equipment capable to destroy any construction.” Azerbaijan is constructing a ‘protective wall’ at the line of contact with NKR. According to Azeri media, a wall, 700 meters long and 3 meters tall, was already built near the village of Chyragly, bordering with Martakert province. Azerbaijan has been considering construction of a wall “to protect itself from Armenian snipers” since 2006. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |