Armenia returns four border villages to Azerbaijan

Yerevan, Armenia — AFP

Armenia has returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it seized decades ago in a key step toward normalizing ties between the rivals, the countries have confirmed.

The move marks an important breakthrough towards reaching a comprehensive peace agreement after years of fruitless talks mediated by Russia and Western countries.

The Caucasus countries- Azerbaijan being a Muslim majority state while Armenia being a Christian nation- both former Soviet republics, have fought two wars in the 1990s and in 2020 for control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan recaptured the region in a lightning offensive last year, ending three decades of Armenian separatist rule over the enclave and prompting more than 100,000 residents to flee into Armenia.

Armenia’s security service confirmed Friday that its border guards had taken up new positions in the east of the country, reflecting a recently brokered border demarcation deal that cedes the villages to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minister, Shahin Mustafayev, announced separately that his country’s border guards now had control of the four settlements.

People in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku, rejoiced as the news broke. In Yerevan many expressed frustration over what they call a ‘surrender’ of their ‘ancestral lands.’

“I am really happy,” said Baku resident Avaz Azkerov, 68. “When we were young, we read and heard how our villages … were burned by the enemy. Now we read the news about how they are liberated.”

In Yerevan, Gagik Voskanyan, a 59-year-old chemical engineer, said: “I am definitely against these land surrenders … This is a direct violation of the constitution of Armenia.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had agreed in March to return the four abandoned villages, which had been seized in the 1990s, as part of efforts to secure a peace deal.

In a televised statement, he said fixing the volatile border with Azerbaijan “is a sole guarantee for the very existence of the Armenian republic within its internationally recognised and legitimate frontier”.

– ‘Milestone’ –

The two countries agreed this month on the new demarcation of 12.7 kilometres (almost seven miles) of their border, returning the villages of Baghanis Ayrum, Ashaghi Askipara, Kheyrimli and Ghizilhajili to Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan has called the agreement “very important” for Armenia’s sovereignty and said it “brings our security and stability to a new level”.

The ceded territory is of strategic importance for landlocked Armenia because it controls sections of a vital highway to Georgia.

Armenian residents of nearby settlements say the move could cut them off from the rest of the country. They accuse Pashinyan of giving away territory without getting anything in return.

Pashinyan has said Armenia will build new roads in the area over the next few months.

His decision has sparked anti-government protests, with thousands of demonstrators led by the charismatic cleric Bagrat Galstanyan demanding Pashinyan’s resignation.