No Mistake Could Have Happened: Expert on Land Ownership Documents in Kiranzi Region

The authorities of the Armenian SSR, and later the Republic of Armenia, could not have issued erroneous land ownership documents in the Kiranzi region. This was stated by Sergey Harutyunyan, the former head of the state project institute "Haypethogshinhajk" ("Армгипрозем") associated with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Armenian SSR, in an interview with Sputnik Armenia.

Harutyunyan led the project institute during Soviet times and in the post-independence period and also served as the head of the land construction and land cadastre department of the Ministry of Agriculture. In the early 1980s, he personally participated in the delineation of borders between the Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs.

The media asked Harutyunyan to comment on whether "Haypethogshinhajk" could have created erroneous maps, and whether the cadastre committee provided incorrect documents for the Kiranzi region. The issue is that the Soviet-era maps created by "Haypethogshinhajk" depict areas that are now being handed over to Azerbaijan according to the 1976 map from the Soviet Armed Forces General Staff, yet these areas were part of the Armenian SSR. Residents of these areas possess ownership documents issued by the cadastre committee.

Moreover, the current authorities of Armenia claim that cadastral certificates for real estate were mistakenly issued to some residents of Kiranzi village in Tavush. However, they do not comment on whether there has ever been a boundary passing through the village in reality.

Harutyunyan explained that during the Soviet years, the boundary maps created by "Haypethogshinhajk" were agreed upon with the authorities of the Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs and Moscow.

“The territories for which we issued ownership certificates are our territory. No mistake could have been made. Azerbaijan fought for every piece of land; they would not have allowed documents to be issued for their territory,” emphasized Harutyunyan.

According to him, there existed a similar institute in Azerbaijan called "Azgiprozem", and the boundary maps coincided with the data from "Haypethogshinhajk". Overall, the maps prepared by various SSRs’ "Giprozem" institutes matched the maps from Moscow and served as a basis throughout the entire USSR. Differences in maps, according to Harutyunyan, were excluded.

As for the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces, they used the same topographic maps but marked the borders within the framework of their existing challenges. “Our maps are foundational. Maps prepared by "Giprozem" cannot be erroneous; it was a state institution. The geodesy institute also created maps, but our maps coincide. We used their maps and added our elements on them,” said Harutyunyan, drawing attention to the fact that the current cadastre committee of Armenia uses maps from both institutes.

He also emphasized that any modifications to the maps could not have been made at the initiative of the heads of the village councils in those border areas. They could only lease land; they did not have the right or capability to transfer it as private property.

Harutyunyan himself, as the head of "Haypethogshinhajk", personally participated in the boundary delineation with the Azerbaijani SSR under the leadership of Vladimir Movsisyan, the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR, during the 1980s.

“We started from a pivotal point on the border between Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. We clarified the entire border, and Azerbaijan has not made any claims since then,” stated Harutyunyan.

According to the expert, at that time, they were not drawing a border but were clarifying the already existing one. “We were restoring the boundaries of land users (kolkhozes, sovkhozes). The process was so precise that decades later, we discovered coal preserved under boundary pillars, which was used as a more durable material for marking. If Armenia has issued ownership certificates based on cadastral maps, then that area cannot belong to Azerbaijan. That’s excluded,” stressed Harutyunyan.

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