Azerbaijani and Nagorno-Karabakh Representatives Discuss Use of Water From Sarsang Reservoir

STEPANAKERT — Commenting on media reports about Azerbaijani Land Reclamation and Water Economy Company representatives visit to the Sarsang water reservoir in Nagorno-Karabakh and the concerns the visit has raised among the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Information Center confirmed that visit took place on 22nd of August.

It said also that after the 44-day war in 2020, in order to manage water resources and ensure the safety of drinking and irrigation water, representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Water Committee have been in contact with the Azerbaijani side since 2021 through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers and periodically visited Azerbaijani-controlled areas to reach mutual agreements on the use of drinking and irrigation water and solve the problems of a number of communities in Artsakh, including its capital Stepanakert.

“The latest meeting was to discuss the mutually beneficial use of Sarsang water. Opinions were exchanged on possible options for the rational use of water resources, taking into account Artsakh’s control over the Sarsang reservoir and Azerbaijan’s control over the irrigation system,” the Information Center said.

It said also that discussions will continue and the decisions will be made taking into account the interests of the Republic of Artsakh, based on its needs of power generation and irrigation, as well as the needs for drinking and irrigation water in other parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Information Center said also that the Artsakh authorities do not seek to hide anything from the people being guided exclusively by the interests of Artsakh and its people, taking in the current situation all possible measures to improve the level of state and public security, neutralize everything that creates tension.