No Legal Document on Enclaves, Azerbaijan Trying to Extract New Concessions: Director of the Institute of History at the National Academy of Sciences

There is no legal document created regarding the so-called enclaves, attributed to the rationale that neighboring collective farms of the two Soviet republics could utilize each other's pastures and lakes (specifically referring to Azerbaijanis). This irresponsible attitude led to the emergence of the 'enclaves'. This was stated by Ashot Melkonyan, the director of the Institute of History at the National Academy of Sciences, in an interview with 'Factinfo'.

“During our institute’s research on border reconfigurations, no document was discovered in the archives concerning the so-called enclaves, meaning there is no documentary basis. The issue of 'enclaves' has been self-resolved, as there are no practical opportunities to maintain them on either side. Imagine if an enclave is reinstated as part of a given state, there would be a requirement to provide a corridor or road to connect it to the territory of that republic, which is practically impossible. To avoid such serious issues, the Armenian side must do everything necessary for this matter to be closed,” said the historian.

According to Melkonyan, in the 1990s, a mutual agreement was reached between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to leave the enclaves in unchanged status; however, now Azerbaijan, taking advantage of the favorable situation created after the war, is attempting to force the Armenian side into further concessions from a position of strength. “The territorial units of the mutual enclaves are almost the same; the area represented by Artsvashen is about 4,400 sq. km, and the same applies to the seven villages of the former Noyemberyan region and Tigranashen,” the historian noted.

Melkonyan reminds us that in the 1920s and 30s, when Armenia was entering the Transcaucasian federation and border changes were taking place under the decision of the federation's central executive committee, the interests of the Armenian side were not at all taken into consideration, resulting in the loss of the lakes in the Vardenis region, as well as more than 20 villages in the Kapan region.