The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 has left doors open that are still the subject of bids between the two countries. The warlike confrontation imposed devastating effects on Armenia, such as the loss of more than 70% of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the eviction of 40,000 inhabitants, the death of around 5,000 soldiers and the captivity of hundreds of prisoners of war in Baku.
The agreement that ended this war, signed on November 9, 2020 by the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinian, and the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, under the mediation of Vladimir Putinraised dates for the handover of Armenian towns to the Azeri side and the access of a regiment of 2,000 peacekeeping soldiers from Russia, with the mission of ensuring the stability of the region.
Currently, its military posts intercept the route with a deployment of artillery, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft defense from the Armenian city of Goris to Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. In this section, the Berdzor-Lachin corridor, a 5-kilometer crossing guarded by Russian forces, is the only land connection with Armenia.
In the list of Armenian regions that were to be handed over to Azerbaijan under the tripartite agreement, Berdzor, a locality where the town of Aghavno is located, is mentioned. However, this village was not evicted: its inhabitants still remain there and since then they have resisted leaving the town. For a year and a half, the village has been a kind of enclave in the middle of territories that are no longer under Armenian control.
Aghavno it is the first town to enter the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is a deep valley where rows of houses with red tiles unfold. After the last war, the Azerbaijani military posts were installed on the high hills and the town was surrounded. Its indentation became a geographical handicap, as Azeri troops began to control everything that happens in the town from high positions.
The first inhabitants of Aghavno were repatriated in 1992, after the first Nagorno-Karabakh war. As a result of the battles, which culminated in a ceasefire signed in 1994, the territories were liberated by the Armenians.
Thus, it ended the arbitrary decision of Joseph Stalin to include this region in the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan in 1921. Starting with the Armenian repopulation, village development programs were implemented, such as the construction of houses and the promotion of economic activity.
Today, Aghavno has about 50 houses distributed among its 170 inhabitants. Even after the last war, the town has taken in families evicted from other taken towns.
Is the end near?
The cessation of hostilities agreement proposed the establishment of an alternative road to the current one that ensures a safe connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh within a period of three years from its signing.
In that framework, the Berdzor-Lachin corridor would be transferred to Azeri control. In its turn, Azerbaijan has already started to build this road “for the Armenians”. Your media reports on the continued progress on a 32-kilometre-long, two-lane engineering project that would start operating at the end of the year. This road would bypass Aghavno, which, as a consequence, would become part of the territory supervised by Azerbaijan.
The Government of Armenia did not issue a word on the subject until the end of June. At a press conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed the replacement of the Berdzor-Lachin highway and the eviction of the village of Aghavno.
“The territories that are not included within the border of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast will come under the control of Azerbaijan,” he said. In turn, he assured that the Government of Nagorno-Karabakh will solve the housing problems of the residents of the town.
Given these official statements, which confirmed the rumors of new land losses, Aghavno Mayor Antranik Chavushiananswered: “We will not go. The more we are persecuted, the more we become entrenched. The Azeris and the Russians tell us that this land is given and that we cannot live here. I ignore them.”
“I’d rather die than hand him over to the Azeri”
Many of the villagers recognize Chavushian as their leader and say that without his precise instructions it would not have been possible to maintain control of the village during the war period. For some time now, Chavushian has revealed his mistrust of the governments of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakhfundamentally because he considers that no one is clear about the destiny that awaits his people.
“I would rather die than hand him over to the Azeris. Conscious death is immortality. Why are we going to give it to him? How long will the spilled blood belong to the Armenians?” the mayor questioned.
In this context, The Armenian Government advances in the process of a peace agreement with Azerbaijanwhich would normalize relations by restoring communications and unblocking transportation.
So far, the Armenian authorities have not provided details of the negotiations. However, at each meeting of leaders (Sochi, November 26, 2021; Brussels, April 6 and May 22, 2022) or Foreign Ministers; mediated mainly by Russia or the European Council, the intentions of “continuing the process to establish peace in the region” are reaffirmed.
At the first of these trilateral meetings, lhe parties agreed to create a border demarcation and delimitation commissionwhich has already started this process at the end of April.
The Armenian Prime Minister maintained that “The alternative to the peace agenda is a new war” and has escaped the commitment to define the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. In a recent speech in the National Assembly he warned that the international community is asking to “lower the bar on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh”.
The meaning of this expression has not been clear to vast political and social sectors, who consider that any change in its status would imply a threat to its status as a self-proclaimed independent republic.
In response to this statement, opposition political forcesaccompanied by thousands of citizens, they have led demonstrations since April 23 to demand the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan, and demonstrate against the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and Turkeyin a context that they consider ruinous for the Armenian side.
In these circumstances, in which the points of negotiation between the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan are still not clear, nor the will of the mediating entities, the people of Aghavno find themselves plunged into an uncertain panorama where the future prospects of the population. In their daily lives, the residents prefer not to refer to the prevailing danger and continue resisting on their land.
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