Does Tigranashen Fall Under the Azerbaijani Territories Declared Under Armenian Control by Pashinyan? The Governor Responds

Is the village of Tigranashen in the Ararat region part of the territories that, according to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, belong to Azerbaijan but are under the control of Armenia? 24News inquired with the Ararat governor, Sedrak Tevonyan, about which areas in the region are considered to belong to Azerbaijan. "I cannot speak right now, I am in a consultation," the governor responded.

When asked for clarification whether Tigranashen, also known by its Azerbaijani name 'Kyarki', is one of those territories, Sedrak Tevonyan curtly replied, "No."

The state-run "Public Television" broadcast a report titled "The Legal and Political Aspects of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Enclaves" on May 30, 2021, noting that during the Soviet era, the village was referred to as 'Kyarki' instead of Tigranashen, and that the current village of Tigranashen was included in Soviet Azerbaijan.

The report prepared by H1 sparked public dissatisfaction. The then human rights defender, Arman Tatoyan, addressed the report the following day, stating that its emphasis directly contradicts the rights of border residents in an already complex situation. "It turns out that on a state level in Armenia, it is accepted that said villages belong to Azerbaijan. Is there an intention in the report to present Tigranashen as an 'Azerbaijani enclave' or otherwise 'Azerbaijani territory', and is this a planned policy in conditions where Tigranashen has never even had enclave status, as it is a historical Armenian village?" the defender's statement said.

On April 7, during a government meeting, Pashinyan addressed the trilateral negotiations initiated by the President of the European Council Charles Michel with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev the day before, regarding the establishment of a bilateral commission on border demarcation before the end of April. "This commission will have a dual mandate; the first is the actual demarcation of borders, i.e. boundary definition works, and the second is ensuring security and stability along the border," he stated. Pashinyan also mentioned that there are territories in Armenia that are under Azerbaijani control, and 'there are Azerbaijani territories that are under Armenian control.' "These issues must be resolved based on the outcomes of negotiations, naturally based on legally justified records and legally significant facts," he noted.