We Stand at the Border So That Shepherds Can Let Their Livestock Graze: Head of Aravus Administration

The men of Aravus village in the Vayots Dzor region have appealed to the relevant authorities to include them in the territorial defense forces and allow them to monitor the section of the border that passes near their village along with border guards. "Right now, the soldiers are standing here, but it’s not the same as if we stand with them. After all, we are people who have gone through three wars; it would be safer, too. In front of us, the Turks have 13 posts, with 30-40 people at each post. Moreover, the brigade is just 2 kilometers behind our village," said Argam Hovsepyan, the head of the Aravus community, in an interview with NEWS.am.

Since the border demarcation, the village of Aravus has been deprived of grazing grounds. The border is only 100 meters away from the last house in the village. Due to the lack of grazing lands, the villagers have sold about 75% of their livestock. Just a few days ago, an incident occurred involving a shepherd in Aravus; Azerbaijanis threatened the shepherd with weapons at the border and attempted to take him away to their trench. Hearing the voices of approaching villagers, they struck the shepherd in the eye and left.

"Right now, we are standing there, while they are grazing their livestock. We have asked the corps commander to enlist us so that we can stand 10 meters from their post, so they can't do anything. After the incident, we are also warning the soldiers and going to stand with the village boys until they register us," Hovsepyan said.

According to the head of the Aravus community, they have been promised that a commission will be created shortly for demarcation and delimitation, after which they hope to regain the grazing lands lost due to border adjustments. "Now they have taken 62 hectares of our agricultural lands using GPS, which they documented as our lands with certificates and maps. We are waiting, they said a commission should come, probably from Moscow, to carry out delimitation and demarcation with our government. We are also waiting; we should start the harvest in July. What should we do? Our hope lies in those cultivated, sown lands. I inquire every day, I tell the higher authorities, I have spoken to the regional administration and our corps commander; they said that a commission will come," Argam Hovsepyan noted.

There are about 40 households in the Aravus community, and more than half of them earn their living through livestock farming.