Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday held more meetings with concerned residents of two villages in Armenia’s northeastern Tavush province adjacent to border areas which he seems intent on handing over to Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan signaled last month his readiness to accept Baku’s demands for Armenian withdrawal from four villages which were controlled by Azerbaijan in Soviet times and occupied by the Armenian army in 1991-1992.
He did not make their handover conditional on the liberation of any Armenian territory occupied by Azerbaijani forces in the early 1990s and 2021-2022 when he met on March 18 with residents of the villages of Voskepar and Kirants that would be affected by the withdrawal.
Moreover, he warned that Baku would unleash another war if Yerevan refused to unilaterally and unconditionally hand over the four villages that were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet times.
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Pashinyan repeated his statements in the Armenian parliament afterwards, prompting strong condemnation from the opposition.
Different opposition politicians, activists as well as clergy traveled to border areas in Tavush in subsequent weeks to “support” the local residents in their fight against unilateral concessions, saying that if the four villages are ceded, Armenia will lose its well-equipped strategic military positions as well as control over chunks of a strategic interstate road to Georgia that stretches along the border with Azerbaijan.
Many villagers, meanwhile, said that they would lose access to their land, have trouble communicating with the rest of the country and be far more vulnerable from Azerbaijani armed attacks.
Pashinyan and members of his political team have downplayed the opposition protests in Tavush, pledging to address all the issues raised by residents of the villages to be affected by the possible land transfer to Azerbaijan.
After today’s meetings with villagers in Voskepar, Kirants and Berkaber that were held behind closed doors the Armenian premier declined to comment, saying that “I’ve already said so much that there is nothing else for me to say on the matter.”
Meanwhile, Pashinyan’s spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasarian issued a statement later on Wednesday, commenting on “various statements” attributed to the prime minister by “some sources” after his meetings in the border villages.
“Any statement that was not made or confirmed by the prime minister or an official or a state body authorized to represent him is officially denied,” Baghdasarian said without elaborating.
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service learned from the government that Pashinyan’s meeting with residents in Voskepar lasted for about an hour.
“In Voskepar, the prime minister presented to the local residents the current situation in the peace process with Azerbaijan, including the border delimitation and demarcation process. Next, the prime minister answered the questions of Voskepar residents,” a government official said.
On his trips today Pashinyan was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian, who conducts negotiations with the Azerbaijani side over border delimitation and demarcation issues, as well as by Minister of Territorial Administration Gnel Sanosian and Police Chief Vahe Ghazaryan.