Armenia inferior to Azerbaijan its border villages. Locals consider this a betrayal of the authorities - and go to protests • Meduza • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive
Armenia inferior to Azerbaijan its border villages. Locals consider this a betrayal of the authorities - and go to protests
Photo report "Medusa"
In early March 2024, Azerbaijan demanded from Armenia to free eight villages on the border. To avoid a new war, the Armenian authorities compromise and began to carry out delimitation - in fact, four villages passed under the control of Azerbaijan. Local residents began to protest against the decision of Yerevan: they demand to abandon territorial concessions and ask for assistance to international human rights organizations. The photographer Yegor Kirillov visited the village of Kirantz on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, which so far remains the territory of Armenia, and shot a photo report on how local residents are trying to fight for their lands.
The road at the entrance to the village of Kirantz-its inhabitants from April 19 block the section of the M6 highway, which leads to the neighboring village of Wesecar, located closer to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border The M6 highway passes from the Armenian-Georgian border to the city of Vanadzor through the Lorian and Tavush regions of Armenia. This is the most important road in the country According to the headman Kiranz Kamo Shaginyan, from 50 to 500 people, depending on the time of day, in the action The inhabitants of the Kiranz are on duty on the road around the clock. If the military car is trying to drive along the bridge over the Kirantz River and enter the village, people go out onto the road and block the passage: they do not want to skip sappers who are engaged in the clearance of border territories. Only skilling cars of local and emergency services One of the streets of Kiranz In addition, protesters blocked the road next to the Bagratashen checkpoint on the Armenian-Georgian border for several hours. But soon the police arrived at the place and restored the movement to the fork in the direction of the cities of Nohemumber and Alaverdi On the evening of April 21, Yerevan sent a special forces detachment to Kirantz. But the protesters (in the foreground) still refused to disperse and began to argue with the police The truck driver tried to join the action and block the road, but after a conversation with the police he said goodbye to the protesters and continued to move along the highway On the blocked road, the inhabitants of the Kiranets installed a tent from the sun and rain and defeated the field kitchen 96-year-old resident of Kiranz Lena, despite her age, also protests with fellow villagers on the road A poster with the leader of the protests, political scientist Suren Petrosyan. On April 23, he was detained in Kiranz and delivered to the city of Noemiberean. Four days later, he went out and returned to the village. “The struggle is decisive, because it is not only the struggle for Tavush is the struggle for the state, for statehood, identity and dignity, it is a mission, but most importantly, it is a peaceful process within the framework of the law,” Petrosyan said Protesters are preparing for the next night on the road: they breed bonfires, put tents, bring food the next day The inhabitants of the Kiranz fight for their lands are not alone. On April 25, schoolchildren in the neighboring village of Baganis refused to go to classes in protest against the decision of the authorities. Armenians were blocked by other highways: Yerevan - Baurus, Yerevan - Gyumri and Yerevan - Goris
“We are losing his homeland, every Armenian must understand: our old enemy who arranged a genocide against us can knock on any door at any time,” a local resident Mariam Simonyan tells the Medusa photographer. Even if her protest is now not changing, she is sure that her descendants should know that she was against the transfer of her land to Azerbaijan, "which we kept our blood and
“How can we fight? We have nothing. In a word we can fight. In a word, that we are against what is happening, ”continues Mariam. And he adds that he will remain in his native village, no matter what.
I’d better live like that - next to my old enemy. And it will be better than living in Izhevan or Yerevan next to internal enemies. Next to those people who did not stand up for their homeland. They are more enemies than Azerbaijanis themselves.
