ArmInfo.We are not going to give any territory or settlement within the borders of Soviet Armenia to any country. Advisor to the Prime Minister of Armenia Arsen Torosyan told reporters on March 19, commenting at the request of the media representatives on the Prime Minister's statements about the start of the process of demarcation and delimitation from the Tavush region, despite the fact that there is no agreement between the
parties regarding the maps on the basis of which these works will be carried out.
He emphasized that the demarcation process is one of the main
components of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace settlement.
When asked why it was decided to start with the Tavush region,
Torosyan mentioned briefly "the main thing is to start." At the same
time, he noted that first of all it is necessary to reach an
agreement on the maps on which the demarcation and delimitation of
borders will be carried out. "But everything should proceed from the
basic principle - the countries that joined the Alma-Ata Declaration
recognized the Soviet administrative borders as state borders, and on
the basis of this the process of demarcation and delimitation should
take place. This does not mean that new borders will be establidshed-
but only the legal consolidation of existing borders 'on the
ground'," he emphasized. If the demarcation takes place over
territory that is under the control of one country or another, as the
Prime Minister's adviser noted, within the framework of a mutual
agreement it should be returned to one side or another.
At the same time, he attached importance to the meeting of the Prime
Minister with the residents of the Tavush region, which took place
yesterday, because people learned about everything directly from the
head of the state. "This means that we will not do anything secret or
hidden," Torosyan assured. As he said, the state's concerns are
still associated with the destructive actions of the Azerbaijani
side. "Consequently, we must go forward, make decisions, taking all
this into account," Pashinyan's advisor emphasized.
During a visit to Tavush region, Prime Minister Nikol Pashchinyan
said that the real process of delimitation and demarcation can begin
from Baghanis to Berkaber. "What features are there? You know that
Azerbaijan raises the issue of 4 villages, for now it is only about 4
non-enclave villages. You know that we raise the issue of 31
villages. We raise this issue, they raise that issue.
And when we want to move forward in these discussions, even if we
proceed from the logic that we have 31 settlements in a problematic
situation, and they have fewer ones, Azerbaijan uses the argument
that the real territory of none of the settlements of the Republic of
Armenia is under the control of Azerbaijan , that is, no residential
part of the village is under the control of Azerbaijan. What they're
saying? They say: let's mutually withdraw from the territories of the
settlements themselves, then we will discuss the vital territories of
villages and settlements.
We, of course, respond and say that a village is not only a rural
administration, a village is also its vital territories, that is,
during these discussions we present all the arguments, and these
arguments are fair. Our policy is that we must not allow war; we must
not allow war to start. And this is also the reason why we decided to
clarify the border of the Republic of Armenia in these areas and we
are doing this not only for the sake of the Republic of Armenia, but
also specifically for the sake of the village of Voskepar, the
village of Kirants, to ensure the security of these villages," the
Prime Minister said at a meeting with residents
Earlier, Baku announced that it demands the immediate "return of 4
villages" located on the border of the Tavush region of Armenia and
the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan. The statement followed a meeting of
the border delimitation commissions, headed by the vice-premiers of
the two countries, Mher Grigoryan and Shahin Mustafayev. "As for the
four non-exclave Azerbaijani villages (Baghanis Ayrim, Ashagi
Eskipara, Kheyrimli and Gyzylgajili) 'occupied' by Armenia, their
belonging to Azerbaijan is indisputable, and they are subject to
immediate return," they stated.
Baku is also confident that within the framework of the delimitation
process, "the issue of 'liberation' of four exclave villages (Yukhary
Askipara, Sofulu, Barkhudarlu in the Armenian Tavush, as well as
Kyarki (Armenian - Tigranashen) in the Ararat region, on the border
with Nakhijevan) will be resolved." At the same time, Baku denied the
statements of the Armenian authorities that Azerbaijan occupied the
territory of 31 Armenian settlements in five regions with a total
area of about 200 square kilometers, calling it "an unfounded
statement." Some of them came under the control of Azerbaijan back in
the 1990s during the first Karabakh war, others as a result of
Azerbaijani aggression in 2021-2022.
