Operation of Sotk Mine suspended

Today, the employees of the Sotk Mine were not allowed to go to work due to negotiations on the division of the mine territory between the Armenian and Azerbaijani parties. The interstate border line runs through the mine – part of it is located in the Armenian territory, while the other was earlier a part of Nagorno-Karabakh, and now it has come under Azerbaijan's control.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 25, after the withdrawal of Nagorno-Karabakh's military servicemen from the territory of the Kelbadjar District, units of the Azerbaijani Army have entered its territory.

Employees of the Sotk Gold Mine, which is located in the Gegarkunik Region of Armenia, which now borders on the Karvachar (the Azerbaijani name is Kelbadjar) District, transferred to Azerbaijan, held a protest action on the Sotk-Karvachar highway. People were not allowed to go to work – policemen and military servicemen did not allow them to go to the mine because of the ongoing negotiations on the placement of the border line. The mine workers have stated that they have no idea how they will continue working, if the mine is finally divided among Armenia and Azerbaijan, the AMI "News-Armenia" has reported.

On November 26, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces set up a post in the territory of the Sotsk Mine, said Tiran Khachatryan, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces. "Half of the territory of the Sotsk Gold Field is ours, the other half is located in the territory that passed under the control of Azerbaijan," the "Aysor.Am" quotes Mr Khachatryan as saying.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 27, 2020 at 08:52 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.