Pashinian signaled last month his readiness to accept Baku’s demands for Armenian withdrawal from four villages which were controlled by Azerbaijan in Soviet times and occupied by the Armenian army in 1991-1992.
The border area in the Armenian province of Tavush
He did not make their handover conditional on the liberation of any Armenian territory occupied by Azerbaijani forces in the early 1990s and 2021-2022 when he met on March 18 with residents of the villages of Voskepar and Kirants that would be affected by the withdrawal.
Moreover, he warned that Baku would unleash another war if Yerevan refused to unilaterally and unconditionally hand over the four villages that were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet times.
Pashinian repeated his statements in the Armenian parliament afterwards, prompting strong condemnation from the opposition.
Different opposition politicians, activists as well as clergy traveled to border areas in Tavush in subsequent weeks to “support” the local residents in their fight against unilateral concessions, saying that if the four villages are ceded, Armenia will lose its well-equipped strategic military positions as well as control over chunks of a strategic interstate road to Georgia that stretches along the border with Azerbaijan.
Many villagers, meanwhile, said that they would lose access to their land, have trouble communicating with the rest of the country and be far more vulnerable from Azerbaijani armed attacks.
Government officials (in the first row) and residents of the village of Voskepar in the Tavush Province of Armenia, during a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, April 17, 2024
Pashinian and members of his political team have downplayed the opposition protests in Tavush, pledging to address all the issues raised by residents of the villages to be affected by the possible land transfer to Azerbaijan.
After today’s meetings with villagers in Voskepar, Kirants and Berkaber that were held behind closed doors the Armenian premier declined to comment, saying that “I've already spoken so much [on the matter], I've said whatever is possible to say.”
A resident of Voskepar who participated in the meeting told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the prime minister gave them his assurances that “the authorities are doing everything to have results in favor of Armenia” during negotiations with Azerbaijan.
Later Pashinian posted on his official Facebook account a video from one of his meetings in Tavush, in which, in the context of apparent tough decisions to be made during the border demarcation process locally, he says that “a moment comes when you have to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your Motherland, for the sake of your country.”
“You have to sacrifice your respect, sacrifice your name, sacrifice the mental state of your child, sacrifice the peace of your family, sacrifice the good memory of your parents, sacrifice the good memory of your grandfather... But you should know what you are doing it for. I know what I’m doing it for. I am doing it for this Republic of Armenia to be an independent state,” the prime minister said.
Meanwhile, Pashinian’s spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasarian issued a statement later on Wednesday, commenting on “various statements” attributed to the prime minister by “some sources” after his meetings in the border villages.
“Any statement that was not made or confirmed by the prime minister or an official or a state body authorized to represent him is officially denied,” Baghdasarian said without elaborating.
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service learned from the government that Pashinian’s meeting with residents in Voskepar lasted for about an hour.
“In Voskepar, the prime minister presented to the local residents the current situation in the peace process with Azerbaijan, including the border delimitation and demarcation process. Next, the prime minister answered the questions of Voskepar residents,” a government official said.
On his trips today Pashinian was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian, who conducts negotiations with the Azerbaijani side over border delimitation and demarcation issues, as well as by Minister of Territorial Administration Gnel Sanosian and Police Chief Vahe Ghazarian.