“It’s a dangerous process; you have to keep a watchful eye on everything, so that if something happens, it should be written to Google, by what right you changed it,” said cartographer Ruben Galichyan in an interview with Aravot.am.
Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan warned that Azerbaijanis are trying to change the names of Armenian settlements in Google and Yandex maps. He noted: “It is based on the fact that a vast number of identical proposals lead to the change of the name of a specific location or the appearance of a new place. For this reason, fountains named after Aliyev, gardens, etc., have appeared in Yerevan.
Ruben Galichyan said he had come in contact with such a phenomenon before. “I have seen something similar before when they tried to change the names of different cities in Syunik. Then they put it on Facebook, and I opened the real Google map but didn’t see anything like that. But if Azerbaijan changes the names of the Artsakh territory, unfortunately, it has the right to that today because it considers it its territory. But such a thing is unacceptable about the territory of Armenia.
Ruben Galichyan said that he is in the Cadastre renaming committee, and in the past years, they also worked to change the Azerbaijani names of Armenian cities. He mentioned that, for example, Alaverdi is an Azerbaijani name translated as Gods given. The cartographer said that they suggested putting an Armenian name, but the local population was not in favor. According to the law, the local people should hold a referendum on whether to accept a new name.
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We confirmed that Azerbaijan is constantly referring to the so-called enclaves, and there is concern among the public that these enclaves will be ceded to Azerbaijan next; Ruben Galichyan responded: “They do not have the right to want an enclave from the point of view of their Constitution. Article 2 of their constitutional act says: we are the heirs of the first republic of Azerbaijan in 1918-1920. During the First Republic, there was no enclave. Then they say that they do not accept Soviet Azerbaijan. Moscow gave the enclaves to Soviet Azerbaijan in 1936, 16 years after their independence and becoming a socialist country. Therefore, according to their Constitution, they have no right to demand it.
When it was 1918 to 1920, 1,240 square kilometers of different territories of the Armenian region, including territories in Tavush, which were given to Azerbaijan in the 30s, were all the territories of the Republic of Armenia. So, according to their Constitution, they should return it to us. But we know that they will give it back when someone forces them. Today, they are standing at the border; they entered and occupied the territory of Armenia; they say this is the border. Meanwhile, they signed another border in 1991. They trample on what they signed, express their desire; they say: this is it, you don’t want it, drive us away. You can’t do anything until you have military power to resist.”
The cartographer answered our question: can’t we solve problems with maps? “Issues with maps can be solved to some extent from a diplomatic point of view; they solve them from a court point of view, but when it is drawn on the map, Azerbaijan stands on the land of Armenia, they say, no, the map you drew was old, now I changed it, that’s what they did. They redrawn maps and left the maps they certified aside, including the territory of Armenia, and said that this is the border of our country. But no one has ratified that border, while we and they ratified the previous one.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
