YEREVAN—During a press conference on March 12, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan denied that Armenia will surrender villages from the Tavush region to Azerbaijan. He asserted that discussions about such transfers have never occurred and will not take place in the future. He reiterated the delineation of borders established during the Soviet era, emphasizing Armenia’s distinct sovereignty from Azerbaijan.
“The villages with such names mentioned in Azerbaijani media have never existed within the territory of Armenia, neither in Soviet nor post-Soviet times,” Pashinyan said.
While stating that there have been no discussions about surrendering the four villages in Tavush, Pashinyan indicated his openness to initiating the process of delimiting the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in Tavush.
Pashinyan acknowledged debate over the starting point for delimitation, emphasizing the importance of considering security challenges and ensuring stability. Pashinyan expressed caution regarding territorial exchanges post-delimitation, citing potential risks and complexities that may arise.
However, concerns linger over Pashinyan’s contradictory remarks. Previously, Pashinyan discussed the possibility of handing over the villages in Tavush during an interview with Azatutyun in May 2023. This declaration stirred debate over implications of such decisions for Armenia’s security and territorial integrity.
Some have speculated whether his statements imply a denial of Armenian claims to the villages in question, thereby suggesting they are Azerbaijani territory. A deeper apprehension is the potential concession of strategically significant roads to Azerbaijan. The villages are located along a main highway connecting Armenia to Georgia and the pipeline that supplies Armenia with natural gas from Russia. As Armenia’s formidable defensive line in the Tavush region faces dismantlement, there are fears of losing advantageous positions to Azerbaijani forces.
The press conference convened against the backdrop of two consequential developments: the convocation of the seventh session of the State Border Demarcation and Border Security Committee, followed by Baku’s demand for the return of four villages located in Tavush.
The seventh meeting of the State Border Demarcation and Border Security Commission between the republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, along with the State Commission for the Demarcation of the State Border between the two nations, convened on March 7 at the border between the two countries. Chaired by Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, the gathering aimed to address crucial issues surrounding border demarcation and security.
According to statements from the Armenian Foreign Ministry, discussions centered on exchanging proposals regarding border demarcation. Additionally, the MFA says that progress was made towards finalizing a draft regulation outlining the collaborative efforts of the state commissions. An agreement was reached to expedite the coordination process for the draft regulation governing the joint activities of the commissions.
However, following the meeting, Baku issued a direct ultimatum to Yerevan, demanding the prompt return of four villages positioned on the Tavush border.
The Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister’s office emphasized the “unequivocal ownership of the villages” claiming they rightfully belong to Azerbaijan and must be promptly relinquished. While the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to officially respond to Baku’s demand, Deputy PM Grigoryan’s office has confirmed that Azerbaijan has insisted during meetings on reclaiming the villages without withdrawing its troops from Armenian territories.
Currently, 31 settlements spanning across five regions of Armenia, totaling approximately 200 square kilometers, are under Azerbaijani occupation, with some falling under Azerbaijani control during the first Artsakh war in the 1990s and others seized during the Azerbaijani incursions of 2021-22.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has previously stated his intentions to maintain control over these territories, affirming, “We will not take a single step back from our positions in May 2021 and September 2022, because that border must be established.”
Pashinyan’s remarks have sparked strong condemnation from opposition voices, who say that he is prepared to make new concessions to Azerbaijan.
MP Garnik Danielyan of the Armenia faction in the National Assembly issued a stark warning about the potential consequences of surrendering villages in the Tavush region, highlighting a range of dangers associated with such a decision.
Danielyan stressed that Armenia’s entire defense system would be compromised, allowing the enemy to penetrate deep into the country’s rear. He pointed out that Azerbaijan could seize control of Armenia’s main gas pipeline, posing a serious threat to the nation’s energy security. Additionally, he raised concerns about Azerbaijan demanding access to communication routes leading to these villages, further eroding Armenia’s sovereignty.
Danielyan also expressed apprehension about the proximity of Azerbaijani military units to Armenian settlements, heightening the risk of conflict escalation. He warned that Azerbaijani forces might occupy strategic points along the Armenia-Georgia road, disrupting vital interstate transportation. Danielyan cautioned that surrendering the villages would effectively transform the Lori region into a border area, emphasizing the significant geopolitical implications for Armenia.
In a scathing critique posted on his Facebook page, Avetik Chalabyan, coordinator of the HayaQve initiative, condemned the Prime Minister’s recent actions, accusing him of attempting to deceive the Armenian people and pave the way for further concessions. Chalabyan highlighted the Prime Minister’s purported plans to hand over a crucial section of the Tavush border, which currently hosts the Yerevan-Ijevan-Noyemberyan-Tbilisi interstate road, under the guise of promoting a false “peace agenda.”
Asserting that the true aim behind such actions is not peace but the gradual surrender of Armenia’s sovereignty, Chalabyan warned of the perilous implications of such moves. He underscored the need for unity and vigilance among Armenians to safeguard their homeland against external threats.
The government’s apparent shift in stance regarding territorial negotiations has sparked controversy, as it moves towards unilateral concessions. Tigran Abrahamyan, secretary of the I Have Honor faction, raised concerns about this development on his Facebook page.
Abrahamyan highlighted the government’s recent actions, juxtaposing its previous insistence on the return of Azerbaijani-occupied territories as a precondition for negotiations with its current preparation for territorial concessions. He pointed out the contradiction between the lack of positive developments in negotiations with Azerbaijan and the government’s willingness to hand over four villages with plans for additional concessions in the future.
Characterizing these moves as unilateral concessions, Abrahamyan warned of the potential consequences both domestically and internationally. He expressed apprehension that such actions could lead to further territorial losses for Armenia and called for a reconsideration of the government’s approach to negotiations with Azerbaijan.
Hoory Minoyan
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All testament to how weak Armenia is
Not at all. Don’t confuse all the double-talk and weakness displayed by this unpatriotic and treasonous sorry excuse for prime minister with the iron will of the Armenian people held hostage by this psychopath.
There are cartographers and other Armenian experts on these issues who know exactly where Armenian borders are but this dysfunctional government has its own agenda dealing with this without consulting with these experts. There are also unclassified maps kept by the Russians from the 1920s Soviet era, ratified and signed by both sides, as to where our borders are and none of the regions claimed by the 106-year old artificial Azerbaijan are or have ever been part of their fabricated state.
Instead of wasting their time with what Azerbaijani criminal leadership claims and wants they should turn the table on the enemy and demand the return of Armenian territories occupied by them and demand the withdraws of their terrorist troops from within the sovereign borders of Armenia. The enemy has found a sheep in office and is and will continue milking it dry. This sheep and his herd are the real threat to Armenia’s sovereignty because by their unpatriotic behavior and inabilities to run a country they are enabling the enemy to conduct itself like they do with impunity.
That picture tells you all you need to know about this incompetent leader. He wants Armenians to forget their past and focus on what little we have left while the belligerent and unrepentant enemies united together continue to make false demands to suck the life out of Armenia piece by piece. He wants Armenians to forget the Turkish-occupied Western Armenia which constitutes 90% of the Armenian homeland, the premeditated and state-sponsored 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Turkish state to depopulate Western Armenia by mass murder, and to wash our hands off Artsakh altogether for the first time in Armenian history, not a word about enemy-occupied Armenian Nakhijevan today turned into a Turkish-Azerbaijani military base and and much more. He has got to go ASAP!
Pashinyan is a traitor and a coward who’ll betray Armenia to please the Americans and the Diaporans.
But what does that say about the Armenian people who voted him into power?
There is no hope for Armenia if the Armenian people continue to refuse to be Men.
Can you return to reality and speak in real terms. You are just spewing nonsense.
I think your remarks are way out of context. No doubt Pashinyan is a traitor and a coward but to say that by his actions he is pleasing the Armenian Diaspora makes no sense at all when he wants Armenians to forget their past which Diaspora Armenians have fought for decades to keep alive.
That says nothing about the Armenian people who voted him in when he lied to them and has flip-flopped just about on every important and critical issue. Besides, the Armenian people did not really vote him in. They voted out the former regime by way of electing this traitor. Those who did so, mostly uninformed politically-ignorant and gullible population, knew very little or nothing about geopolitics and did it for all the wrong and selfish reasons.
If Armenians refused to be men they would not have been able to destroy the enemy and bring them to their knees, despite their massive oil-wealth and manpower, and liberate from the enemy territory nearly twice the size in area of the state of Lebanon. It is just that for the time being their hands are tied by this unpatriotic junta in office. But I’m sure once push comes to shove these jackals in office will fold like a lawn chair!
Pashinyan is infamous for his doublespeak. Politicians are by definition untrustworthy, but when it comes to untrustworthiness, Pashinyan is a league on his own. If he denies something, there is a very good chance that he will do precisely the opposite, as he has done so many times before. Nobody should be surprised anymore if the Appeaser-in-Chief Pashinyan hands the highly strategic four villages to Azerbaijan, without any firm guarantees for Armenia’s territorial integrity and security, let alone any quid pro quo, since Azerbaijan continues to occupy 200 square kilometers of Armenia’s territory since 2021 and the Armenian enclave of Artsvashen since 1992. That he would give up the occupied Armenian enclave of Artsvashen, the occupied 200 square kilometer strips on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and even give a land corridor by ceding Armenian territory to Azerbaijan in order to connect Nakhichevan with Azerbaijan proper, also cannot be ruled out, as long as a weak and appeasing leader like him is at the helm.
Armenians are systematically being led to the slaughter once again because Armenians refuse to understand the nature of the political world they live in. With a people this politically illiterate and out of touch with reality, it could not have been any other way. The only way to save Armenia from Armenians is to go back to mother Russia. All other “solutions” will only prolong the misery and put the country’s very existence in danger. I hope all you champions of “independence”, “democracy” and “westernization” are enjoying the show…
Pashinyan is a traitor and should be removed from office at all costs.
Pashinyan is clinically insane or a traitor or both. His wife, Imelda Marcos – I mean Anna Hakobyan – is another shining example of an Armenian patriot. (Whatever happened to her fatigues!) Just as guilty are the hundreds of those thugs in his security detail. If they even happen to be Armenians (so sad if they really are) with the slightest notion of preserving a nation, they would step away. Then we’ll see which hole the rat would slip in.
This is unbelievable. I haven’t seen this even in 3rd.world countries.
Get rid of this imposter. Get rid of him now before there is nothing left of our beautiful Homeland. No one will come to the rescue. The world is too preoccupied
with other atrocities. Get back with Russia, going West will take too long with no
guarantees of success.
The title of this article is highly misleading. It’s a lie, double-speak, equivocation, whatever, but it’s hardly a denial. His Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, some clown named Gnel Sanosyan, just said: “Those 4 villages in Tavush Province are not in our administrative territorial division…” https://news.am/eng/news/812129.html
“ARTSAKH IS ARMENIA!” said Pashinyan before handing over Artsakh to Azerbaijan.
“NO ARMENIAN VILLAGES WILL BE GIVEN TO AZERBAIJAN!” said Pashinyan before planning to hand over Armenian villages to Azerbaijan.
This is what “independence from Russia” looks like, and it will only get worst. The only way to save Armenia is to go back to mother Russia. I hope all you champions of “independence”, “democracy” and “westernization” are enjoying the show…
GURGEN! INDEPENDENCE FROM RUSSIAN DOES NOT HAVE TO LOOK LIKE THIS! OUR PEOPLE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GOVERNING OURSELVES. WE CAN’T DO IT. WE CAN’T HANDLE IT. WE THINK WE ARE BETTER THAN OTHER ARMENIANS. WE DON’T FOLLOW LAWS OR RULES OF CONDUCT. ARMENIA NEEDS TYRANTS LIKE SADDAM HUSSEIN, GADAFI, ERDOGAN, KIM JON GUN TO RULE ARMENIA AND TO FORCE ARMENIANS TO DO WHAT THEY ARE TOLD. EVERY MAN WOMAN AND CHILD IN THE MILITARY. ARMENIA TURNED INTO A MILITARY STATE OVERNIGHT. LAW BREAKERS PUT TO DEATH. IN A YEAR OR TWO, WITH ARMENIA’S INTELLECT AND GROWING ECONOMIC INCOME, IT WILL BE A SMALL BUT VERY MIGHT NATION WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS DARING THE TURKS AND AZERIS TO CROSS THEIR BORDER. IF THEY DO, THEY WILL GET WIPED OUT. THIS IS WHAT ARMENIA NEEDS. I AM SICK OF SEEING RALLIES AND PROTESTS IN YEREVAN AND CALLS FOR CHANGING LEADERS AND GOVERNMENT. SICK AND TIRED OF IT! IRON RULE OF ARMENIA. DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
I think what he is holding in his hands, he should shove it somewhere else. This tetoom khlough must be taught to keep his mouth shut. Whatever he says, is recorded by our enemies. They now ask Armenia to remove Mount Ararat from our State emblem. Keep your mouth shut.
@Ararat , whether you like it or not Armenia is in a weak position. Perhaps how weak Armenia was could be conjecture until 2020 the minor territory loss in 2016 could be brushed aside as not every day is in ones favour. The general international position is the boundaries should follow the 1975 Soviet borders something which was proclaimed at the Alma Alta declaration. As for enclaves the west position is Armenia and Azerbaijan should mutually renounce their enclaves within the other as they are a nuisance. Russia favour leaving such matters to “some day in the future”
As for western Armenia signed away by the Soviets for no reward there is the element of spilt milk as for the genocide everyone who was directly victim is dead now . Germany lost extensive land in WW2 aftermath but apart from fringe pressure groups there’s a sense of needing to move on. As for genocide for Israel and the Jewish people within the next 15 years everyone who survived the Nazi programmes will be dead, indeed despite intense efforts such as propoganda tours to Poland and lobbying it’s ability to unify Israel and serve as a foil has had its time Europeans are fed up being guit tripped over something decades ago where they weren’t the only people to perish in. The newcomers to Europe often in response to what happened then are certainly not going to be guilt tripped over it. What happened to Israel on 7 October 2023 and the aftermath, such as a genocide case being served against it by South Africa shows a seismic change quite unthinkable a few years ago. After all for them it is become evermore difficult to justify it’s actions against the Palestinians on the grounds of the Nazis were killing our people in Europe decades ago! In addition about loosing strength to imagine what happened in Israel on 7 October and the fact that it’s still battling away six months later gone in the concept of invulnerability and the period of short sharp wars it seems for them. Hence for Armenia, it had slipped up over the years but only recently did this become impossible to purport otherwise. Also the propoganda by Russia and the pro Russian Armenians has become harder to rationalise after it’s struggling campaign in Ukraine and loosing assets to the same type of weapons that Armenia was so helpless before namely TB2 drones the notion that had Armenia been in lockstep with Russia, Russia would have been able to fend off such weapons with complete ease as insinuated by the pro Russian Armenians
It’s not up to him to surrender or not surrender. This is President’s prerogative.
ULTIMATUM TO ALL ARMENIANS, in Armenia, Russia and the Diaspora west:
The Armenian homeland and nation is in clear and present danger of total collapse and annihilation; STOP writing indignant criticisms and self-degrading comments about the miserable state of affairs in Armenia.
HAVE YOU EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT TAKING ACTION??
The turks in the aftermath of WWI, in 1919, were facing a similar capitulation of Ottoman Turkey. But hey had one visionary, courageous General by the name of Mustafa Kemal who, against all odds, regrouped all turks and led his nation to emerge vicorious after such a humiliation in WWI.
STOP TALKING and think WHAT ACTION CAN BE TAKEN immediately. ARF, ANCA, AGBU, AYF all of you STOP BICKERING and try to UNITE and make one National Salvation Front to save the Armenian Homeland. I am so fed up with this total lack of patriotism of Armenians in general, and the Armenian diaspora organisations in particular. Stop barking and TAKE ACTION!!!!!!!
Thanks to US regime change and constant meddling, along with a pliant and easily manipulated Armenian public that is not accustomed to such foreign interference in what is a rather irrelevant country, we are seeing Armenia being subsumed by the Azeris in real time. Big brother hasn’t even gotten in on the action yet, but just wait. On the current course the nation of Armenia is headed for a fate even worse than that which awaits Ukraine. In another 10 years there will be no Armenia. Thank you USA!
There is no bickering among organizations, each is doing what they can.
It does not change the politics/actions of the geography there…sadly, we have no control.
Unfortunately, with world wide apathy, the political non controllables will continue, week by week. The lead in all this is in Washington.
The only practical “take action” is to fly to Armenia and take up arms.
Who’s first ?