VIDEO: The Meeting Between the Prime Minister and Residents of Kiran is Held in a Tense Atmosphere

Nikol Pashinyan is in Kiran. The meeting with the residents and the Prime Minister is taking place in a tense atmosphere. Present with the Prime Minister are also Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan.

“Mr. Prime Minister, some people are against compensation; they are against all of this,” the Kiran residents told Pashinyan during the meeting. “I want to sleep peacefully and wake up peacefully. Who am I now, an Azerbaijani citizen?” they said to him, to which Pashinyan replied, “Well, that’s good.”

Pashinyan again showed a map and stated that this demarcation is being carried out on legal grounds. One of the residents pointed out that they only needed to secure 5 hectares of land. “Negotiate and secure that 5 hectares; you haven’t been able to do that,” the resident said.

The residents then told Pashinyan that the map he presented has no legal basis, to which Pashinyan countered that they were mistaken, asserting that it does. “Lawyers have discussed it and concluded that this is a basis,” he said, adding that he would organize a meeting with those lawyers to prove their argument.

The residents initially stated that they do not trust any lawyer and then remarked that the school is only 30 meters away from the border. “Would you come to live here with your family under these conditions? I will come live in your home,” one resident said.

Pashinyan mentioned that they have a 16 million-dram program for Kiran, Baghanis, and Voskepar villages, and an additional 5 million drams will be allocated so that people can not only build homes but also acquire furniture. The residents countered that they do not want houses; they want their homeland. “Give me my homeland; will you give me my father’s grave? You are giving away my homeland,” said one resident, to which Pashinyan responded, “Homeland starts where the border is; I’m sorry to say.”

He then stated that he has not given away any part of the sovereign territory of Armenia and told the residents to go to Yerevan and meet with the lawyers. “You say you’ve given away enough of my homeland and are telling me to come to Yerevan? He who gives away even a centimeter of my homeland will answer with his life, I promise,” said a resident. Pashinyan replied, “I agree; whoever has given something away should answer for it.”

Video sourced from journalist Ani Gevorgyan's page.