A resident of Kirants on Thursday tried to set fire to part of his agricultural land which Armenia’s government has decided to cede to Azerbaijan along with other areas in and outside the Armenian border village cordoned by off police.
A scuffle broke out moments later when police officers and firefighters intervened to extinguish the fire and prevent further damage to the plot of bushy land.
Kirants is one of four villages in the Tavush province adjacent to the border areas that are due to be transferred to Azerbaijan. It will be affected hardest by the planned handover.
Kirants residents say that their community will lose 54 agricultural plots owned by three dozen villagers in addition to two private houses, a cabin used as a shop and another structure. The shop owner began emptying it on Thursday morning, saying that authorities gave him 24 hours to leave the property. Officials clarified later in the day, however, that the affected villagers have one month to do so.
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The authorities also distributed application forms that have to be filled out by villagers agreeing to give up their property rights in exchange for government compensation. The amount of that compensation is not yet known.
These and other villagers remain seriously concerned about their security. They say that the land transfer, touted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian as a major achievement for Armenia, will leave their homes dangerously close to Azerbaijani troops. Also, the local school will move to within a few dozen meters away from the new border. Similar concerns have been voiced by many residents of the other affected Tavush communities.
Meanwhile, security forces continued to block all roads leading to Kirants for the fifth consecutive day. Only local residents were allowed to leave or enter the village 160 kilometers north of Yerevan.
Kirants was the epicenter of protests that broke out in Tavush following the announcement of the Armenian territorial concessions on April 19. The protest leader, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, and his supporters took their campaign to Yerevan on May 9 to demand Pashinian’s resignation. Their next major rally is scheduled for Sunday.
