Border demarcation deprives residents of two Armenian villages of houses and pastures

After fixing the demarcation line between the two countries, some houses, pastures and fields in the villages of Vorotan and Shurnukh in the Syunik Region of Armenia have occurred in the territory of Azerbaijan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 24, Azerbaijani officials carried out the border demarcation works and demanded that a part of the Armenian village of Shurnukh be transferred to Azerbaijan, the village headman said. Shurnukh and Vorotan are problem border section, Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian Prime Minister, has admitted.

The situation in the Syunik Region is complicated because of the definition of the border positions, Srbui Grigoryan, an MP from the "Enlightened Armenia" faction elected from this region, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to her story, it is already unsafe in the Syunik Region. In particular, in Sisian, although the border does not pass in the immediate vicinity of the city, with the start of sowing works, people will face a serious problem. "Some fields and pastures have already passed [to Azerbaijan], and those that remain on the Armenian side are under Azerbaijanis' direct sight," Ms Grigoryan has stated.

She has noted that there is also the safety issue of Syunik residents, since part of the Goris-Kapan highway runs directly along the border with Azerbaijanis, and in three sections – across the territories that can become a target for shelling.

Suren Ogandjanyan, the head of the Vorotan community, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in the process of defining the border positions, it turned out that part of their village, along with buildings, including residential ones, was transferred to Azerbaijan, "despite the fact that this territory had always been part of the Vorotan community."

Mr Ogandjanyan has noted that border position definition is carried out by using the GPS system. "My brother's house is being transferred to Azerbaijanis. Now, he cannot come close to his house to collect his belongings. In the transferred territory, people were engaged in agriculture," he has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 26, 2020 at 11:28 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.