There is still no agreement, nor has there ever been one, regarding the Tigranashen settlement in Armenia’s Ararat Province, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a briefing after a government meeting.
Before addressing the issue itself, Pashinyan once again referred to Tigranashen by the Azerbaijani place name “Kyarki” and insisted that it is not part of Armenia and, together with the other enclaves, is not included within Armenia’s 29,743-square-kilometer territory, Sputnik Armenia reports.
“Those who say they will not allow it [Tigranashen to be handed over to Azerbaijan — ed.] are provoking war. How this issue will be resolved is another question. Establishing the fact is one thing, while solutions on the ground are another. At this moment, there is no agreement and there has never been one. Our task now is to remove the ‘tension’ created around this issue in order to reach normal solutions. I see that this is an issue around which escalation could develop, but I am speaking about it in advance so that they cannot do that,” Pashinyan said.
He ultimately emphasized that his government’s position is that there has been and will continue to be a settlement called Tigranashen in Ararat Province, but its exact location and boundaries are a separate question.
He stressed that the delimitation process has been very difficult and will remain difficult to complete. He asserted that Azerbaijan recognizes Armenia’s territory of 29,743 square kilometers, without clearly answering whether Ilham Aliyev personally recognizes that territory.
The “Strong Armenia” faction traveled to Tigranashen on September 10 to show Pashinyan why he should not hand it over. Faction leader Narek Karapetyan said from the village that they had spoken with residents and learned that they did not want to leave their homes. Residents also complained that the village had been neglected and that no projects had been implemented there. “Strong Armenia” proposed developing the village through tourism and winemaking.
Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly insisted that Tigranashen is not Armenian territory and has used the settlement’s non-Armenian name each time. Tigranashen is considered strategically important because the road connecting northern Armenia and Yerevan with Syunik and Vayots Dzor passes through this section. Numerous cargo shipments travel along this road annually, transporting goods from Iran to different regions of Armenia.
