The residents of the Tavush province’s border villages heard that there are rumors spreading in Yerevan that three enclaves in this province- Barkhudarly, Sofulu, and Verin Voskepar- will be handed over to the Azeris.
People heard this and were surprised; no one asked them whether these enclaves should be handed over or not, do the people of Tavush want these enclaves to be handed over, if they will not listen and they do hand over these enclaves, do the residents of these border villages want to live in such close proximity to Azeris? The Azatamut community and Sofulu, which is considered to be an enclave, are separated by a railway. The railway does not exist now, so to speak, and the districts are only a few steps away from each other. The other enclave is Barkhudarly. It is adjacent to Azatamut in the west and Aygehovit in the southeast. Barkhudarly, where Azeris lived during the Soviet era, is located between two Armenian villages.
The residents of Azatamut had heard from the elderly that a Turkish border guard came to Barkhudarly and built a home. Then, the Soviet authorities included that village within Soviet Azerbaijan. The residents of Azatamut cannot believe that the authorities will give their territory to the Azeris. “At that time, the Turks were near that building, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and our flag was on it. They were in between us, which was Kazakh already. If they hand over that area, we will look out our windows and see the Turks in front of us. But we do not know who is spreading that news or why. They talk and put us in a bad situation. We were living peacefully. Now that they talk so much, don’t they realize that some people can leave the village? What is this? Are we each other’s enemies?” several residents of Azatamut told Aravot Daily.
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The residents cultivate vineyards in the area adjacent to the Sofulu enclave. Two young women, despite the rumors, were going to work in the garden. They did not want to introduce themselves or take photos, but they spoke to us. They said, “The geolocation shows this place where we are standing as part of Azerbaijan. Here, most of the womens’ husbands are contract soldiers. We are in fear every day, they call every second. We used to come to work on the land very peacefully. What should we do now when they say they will give it to the Turks and the Turks can come? Is there anyone who can imagine our mental state?”
A man from Aygehovit who has been cultivating vineyards for many years told Aravot Daily, “Two days ago, I went to tend to my garden. The soldiers didn’t let me because my garden is on the border. The Turks said that this is their land, but it was ours at that time. On the contrary, they took a lot of our land. They made a lake for themselves, Kazakh Lake, or as they call it, Dirdavan.” Another man from Verin Voskepar said that Hrant Bagratyan visited a while ago. “He said that we should send our cows to the pasture on that side. But that person does not know where the border is. He does not know that “that side” is where the Turks are; it is Sofulu. There were no Turks here. As far as who benefits from confusing these people… who doesn’t want Nikol, who wants Kocharyan, that is of no interest to these people. These people want to live peacefully without hearing stupid rumors. When the time comes where it will be confirmed that they are giving these lands away, we will have a different discussion.
When asked how they can wait for such confirmation, the man responded with a question. “What should we do now, gather our children and leave? If we listen to everything that is being said, there won’t be any Armenians left here.” Then, he expressed concern about the border situation and asked a rhetorical question. “They came into our territory and captured our soldiers. What is that? In other words, we don’t have an army or anyone who’s thinking about this? They’re taking our children to the fields and saying this is your fate, whatever happens, happens. What is happening?” He said that even if they lived near Azeris during the Soviet era, it would be impossible to do so now. “That is impossible. They killed five thousand of our children. How can I live among them? One day I will drink too much and kill someone. I don’t know. They built so many churches, but did that save us? Did it help us during the war? If they bought anti-aircraft instead of building those churches, ten people would have been saved.”
Nelly Babayan
