International Courant
Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan has known as the deal a “milestone” on the highway to peace between the rivals, however protesters accuse him of betrayal.
Armenia has returned 4 border villages to Azerbaijan, a serious step towards normalizing ties between the historic rivals who’ve fought two wars because the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Armenia’s safety service stated on Friday that its border guards had “formally” taken up new positions to replicate a border demarcation settlement between the 2 international locations, returning the villages of Baghanis, Voskepar, Kirants and Berkaber.
In the meantime, confirming the handover, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev introduced that his nation’s border guards had taken management of the 4 settlements, which Azeris know as Baghanis Ayrum, Asagi Eskipara, Heyrimli and Kizilhacili.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had agreed to this transfer in March as a part of efforts to safe an enduring peace settlement between the international locations. On Might 16, Yerevan and Baku redrew 12.7 km of border territory, reflecting the return of the 4 uninhabited villages captured by Armenia within the Nineteen Nineties.
Pashinyan described the deal final week as a “crucial milestone for additional strengthening Armenia’s sovereignty and independence.”
Nonetheless, Armenian residents of close by settlements say the switch might lower them off from the remainder of the nation and accuse Pashinyan of unilaterally making a gift of territory with none assure in return.
The prime minister’s choice has set off weeks of anti-government protests in Armenia, with hundreds of demonstrators led by charismatic Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan accusing him of treason and demanding his resignation.
Though the settlements are deserted, they’re thought of strategically essential as a result of they’re near Armenia’s major freeway north to the border with Georgia. A lot of Armenia’s commerce passes by this highway and goes to the pipeline by which it receives fuel from Russia.
Peace settlement
Azerbaijan demanded the return of the villages as a situation for a peace deal after greater than three a long time of battle, which was primarily concentrated within the Nagorno-Karabakh area.
The momentum shifted dramatically in Azerbaijan’s favor final September, when its forces waged a lightning offensive to regain management of Nagorno-Karabakh, the place ethnic Armenians have loved de facto independence because the mid-Nineteen Nineties.
Nearly your entire inhabitants of 100,000 individuals fled to Armenia inside a number of days.
The occasion was a serious blow to Yerevan, but it surely additionally eliminated a longstanding supply of rivalry from the desk, paving the best way for a deal that has till now been elusive.
Nonetheless, Azerbaijan and Armenia nonetheless produce other unresolved territorial disputes, primarily centered on enclaves, with either side demanding that the opposite facet quit management or grant entry to them.
Armenia returns 4 border villages to Azerbaijan as a part of deal | Border Disputes Information
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