Armenia has submitted new proposals to form a demarcation commission with Azerbaijan. “We are convinced that unless precise mechanisms are put in place and steps are taken to increase stability and security at the border- mechanisms that will help prevent further clashes at the border- this commission will have difficulties in establishing and working,” said Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. He is referring to the mirror withdrawal of troops in the Sotk-Khoznavar section. Moreover, “the borders of Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan must be used as a basis,” Ararat Mirzoyan also said.
Karen Vrtanesyan, coordinator of the Razminfo specialized website, and Garnik Davtyan, an expert on Azerbaijan, discuss the issue of mirror withdrawal of troops across the Soviet border and the creation of additional security mechanisms during Aravot’s “Areresum (Confrontation)” program.
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A few quotes from the program.
Karen Vrtanesyan. Considering that we have already lost huge territories by the entry of Azerbaijani forces into our territory, the mirror retreat will, in fact, be at the expense of our territory, not the territory controlled by them. Understand that in such a landscape, everything is determined by heights. That is, if you control the altitude, you are technically at the top of the altitude, but the area 1 km below that altitude can hardly be entered by the enemy. What the Azerbaijanis did in May last year and after that was to gain control of several important heights.
Garnik Davtyan. Past experience has clearly shown us that in the face of a new situation, the authorities are constantly making both military and political decisions on a whim. In other words, Armenia is facing a crisis situation, and they are now deciding what mechanisms to use…
…There is a clear misunderstanding over the settlement of border issues with Azerbaijan. And they have their perception that if, for example, they go to the opening of the “era of peace,” maybe the Azerbaijanis will be a little kind and there will be no progress, or at least they will have some agreement on demarcation.
Karen Vrtanesyan. In fact, there is a well-founded problem here that they do not talk about and when you talk, as if you are talking to a wall, they do not listen to you. Who said that demarcation should be within the Soviet borders? The Soviet administrative borders have changed many times due to, for example, the relations between the two neighbors, the Armenian and Azerbaijani collective farms… Something was agreed upon and the borders changed… For example, in 2017, the OSCE published the detailed guide “Delimitation and Demarcation of State Boundaries: Challenges and Solutions.” And if we follow that guide, we will be understood in Europe and in the international arena in general… and we can come to an agreement with Russia, I’m sure, if this side talks about it at all. But it is not spoken about.
Garnik Davtyan. Nikol Pashinyan constantly emphasized that in the past, the former authorities negotiated behind closed doors and made decisions behind the people’s backs. I can ask them the same question now: do they not negotiate behind the people’s backs in this case? It is clear that there are some secret principles behind their agreements that are not published.
