After a tense meeting with residents of the Tavush Province earlier this week, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sought to clarify his recent insistence that Armenia must cede more territory to Azerbaijan to avoid a war.
During an appearance in parliament on Wednesday, Pashinyan assured lawmakers that no territory within the “internationally recognized” borders of Armenia will be handed over to Azerbaijan, perhaps adding more confusion to an already fraught situation, given the fact that there is a process underway to delimit Armenia’s current borders.
Pashinyan chose to respond to questions from opposition lawmakers, who have accusing him of caving in to Azerbaijan’s demands.
At the center of the recent discussions are the village of Baghanis, Voskepar, Kirants, Berkaber, with some of whose residents Pashinyan met earlier this week. He, once again, waived a map of Armenia to drive home his insistence that the villages he is referencing are outside of Armenia’s sovereign territory.
On Wednesday, he explained that these four villages will not be the ones that will be ceded to Azerbaijan.
“On the Armenian side there is Baghanis, on Azerbaijani side there is Baghanis-Ayrum. These are not the same villages. On Armenian side there is Voskepar, on the Azerbaijanis is a portion of the Ashaghi-Askipara settlement. From the Armenian side, Kirants, from the Azerbaijani side, the village of Kheremli. On the Armenian side, there is Berkaber and the border section in front of it with the village of Kzyl-Hajili in Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan said.
He explained that that the area from which the border demarcation should begin is not part of the village but the border adjacent of it. The Prime Minister noted that Armenia is ready for the delimitation of the borders from these points.
Pashinyan again pointed to a map of Armenia to illustrate that the four villages, with whose residents he met, are located on the Armenia side of the border and claimed that the others are in Azerbaijan.
He insisted that Armenia’s territory has been determined by the 1991 Alma-Ata declaration, a document on which he wants the border talks to advance. Azerbaijan has not fully supported this option.
“The agreement that was recorded at the international level specifies that Armenia and Azerbaijan must recognize each other’s territorial integrity. The territorial outline of the Republic of Armenia is based on the Alma Ata Declaration of 1991,” said Pashinyan.
“This is the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia, and Armenia is not going to cede any of its internationally recognized territory. I believe this should be clear to everyone,” said Pashinyan, adding that there are territories of the Republic of Armenia that are currently under occupation.
“There is no agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the maps. There is an agreement that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity on the basis of the Alma Ata Declaration,” explained Pashinyan.