During a session of government on Thursday, Nikol Pashinyan announced that delimitation and demarcation activities will be taking place in the Shurnukh and Vorotan villages of the Syunik province, as a result of which painful situations may arise. According to Nikol Pashinyan, “We are improving the security guarantees of Syunik and all of Armenia with these activities.”
The head of the Shurnukh community, Hakob Arshakyan, did not hear Nikol Pashinyan’s announcement, nor does he wish to provide any commentary. He is not interested in what those sitting in Yerevan have to say. He is thinking about how to resolve his problems. The main problem is to hold onto some of the neighborhoods in the village.
Delimitation and demarcation activities took place on Thursday. Representatives of the Turkish side, Russian peacekeepers, and the Armenian National Security Service participated in these activities. Hakob Arshakyan warned several days ago that 12 homes in the village are part of the village’s territory according to the Cadastre map, but the Azerbaijani GPS shows that the area south of the road were part of the Azerbaijani SSR.
“They came, marked the borders, and left. They did not tell us anything,” Hakob Arshakyan told Aravot Daily. He assured that the people in the village have a fighting spirit. “They haven’t disarmed us yet. The detachment from Goris is also with us. We’re calling upon all the men in Armenia to come here so we can resolve the issues surrounding the southern neighborhood.” The villagers consider themselves to be the only guarantors of security of the southern border of Armenia and their village.
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Women and children who were evacuated from the village a few days ago returned, according to the village leader. “The situation is uncertain. How long can people stay elsewhere? We’ll see what happens.”
The head of the Vorotan community, Surik Ohanyan, said that the situation in the village is calm. People are going about their daily lives, but they are worried deep down. They learned a few days ago that a part of the village, the part where all the two-story homes are, will be handed over to Azerbaijan. “They made this decision a few days ago, but our leaders need to prove that those territories belong to us,” Surik Ohanyan said.
They had heard the Prime Minister’s announcement. His comment was short, “We do not agree with it. We are now trying to find maps that prove that this territory is ours, that it’s a part of Syunik, and that we didn’t capture it.” None of the state bodies are helping them with this; they are doing it all on their own. “I hold speeches every day. I say, ‘let anyone who can come here and help us.’ No one has come yet. But we will fight.” When asked how they will fight and if they have weapons, he responded, “Thank God, we have everything. We are weapons ourselves. The people of Syunik are weapons themselves.”
Nelly Grigoryan
