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Panorama.am presents the interview conducted with Tigran Abrahamyan, Adviser to the Artsakh Republic President, regarding such issues as the situation on Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact, the possible developments, as well as frontline fortification works.

- Mr. Abrahamyan, what situation is on Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact in general? Is there a risk of a large-scale war?

- The situation is generally variable, with the possibility of escalating at any moment. Especially in the recent years, Azerbaijan has deployed significant amount of technics and human resources in an area not far from the borderline – in military units and bases – which can lead to changes in the situation in a short period. There is always a risk of war; at the current stage, the situation mostly fits into the logic of “border wars”. However, I repeat myself that the situation can drastically change in a short period. The mentioned does not refer to the current developments, but rather to the years-long frontline situation in general, especially when the talks are currently suspended.

- The talks go that the Armenian side significantly strengthened its positions and reequipped with new technical devices following the April war. At what stage is the process of replenishing the military equipment?

- The Defense Army launched the technical replenishment and modernization process on the frontline still in 2015, entering a more active stage following the April incidents. It is a continuous process, which is still going on intensively.

- The experts note that due to the replenishment of the technical devices the nature of Azerbaijani attacks have changed. The number of subversive attacks have dropped drastically, due to the fact that the Armenian servicemen manage to detect and prevent the infiltration attempts in time thanks to the surveillance cameras. Is it true?

  - The installation of video surveillance devices has almost zeroed the efficiency of infiltration attempts by Azerbaijani subversive groups. In case of conducting proper monitoring, all the operations of the adversary are doomed to failure. In the past one year, Azerbaijan had a large number of failed operations and recorded losses. And it is not arbitrary that such attacks have drastically decreased in the recent period.

- What is the share of public and private financing in carrying out the technical replenishment process?

- I would not like to note how much money is allocated to conduct those activities or which part of the financing is allocated from the state budget and which part by individuals. I can only say that the sum allocated from the state budget in this direction has increased. Individuals, who realize the seriousness of the situation and the importance of this work, also provide significant assistance, providing funds to ensure and upgrade the security component.

To remind, during the April war and the period following it, many people from both Armenia and Diaspora allocated significant funds to strengthening and technical re-equipment of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact. Earlier, in an interview with Aysor.am, Prime Minister of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan announced that enormous work has been carried out in all the aspects of the Army. As the PM informed, multifunctional surveillance devices have been installed along the entire contact line, allowing to monitor the entire territory in a great depth both during the daytime and at night hours.

Mr. Harutyunyan noted that Businessmen Gurgen and Artyom Khachatryans greatly contributed to acquiring the devices and providing professional consultation. The latter have implemented continuous programs aimed at border strengthening for a long time already.