Armenians fear another war with Azerbaijan | DW News

Armenia says it's willing to return several Villages it's controlled since the 1990s to azerbajan it's been hailed as a historic step towards achieving lasting peace between two arch Rivals but it's not pleasing everyone the enclaves are mostly uninhabited and only a few people will be directly affected but local Armenians who live close to the Border are angry and worried they could be next DW's fani FAA reports from tabush Province in Northern Armenia which is on the border with azaran barbed wire along the edges of tavush Province here in Northern Armenia marks where this country ends and aeran Begins for now hanum Taman was born here life is hard there are not enough jobs but the land is fertile she says her Garden is her Pride she fears the new border demarcation could put her house officially in aaban with the people many here dislike so much they call them Turks an insult we are told that this Road and Bridge belong to Turks but we're not giving them either the government has promised some form of compensation she says but that's not what she wants this is my Armenian land and I don't want to leave Armenia and azaran are neighbors with a bloody History Two Wars and many conflicts in the past three decades Armenia now wants to give these four former aani Villages back they are uninhabited but local geography and administrative borders mean several other nearby Armenian villages will be affected the landing question is only a few square kilometers but that's not the point for people living in this area Armenians here are afraid losing patches of land in the name of peace they say the new border will literally bring an old enemy aaban closer and they're worried aaban will want more armenia's prime minister niik pashinyan visited last month to tell locals like hanum there was no other option the border is a certain guarantee of Peace but we must always remember that something may not go as planned but if everything goes as we have planned we should stay in a dialogue with each other Armenia is at Crossroads prime minister pashinyan has been a strategic partner of Putin's Russia but he criticized Russia for recently failing to prevent its other Ally aeran taking over over nagorno kabak pashinyan has been looking for security guarantees with the West how dangerous and effective will it be for Armenia to expand relations with Western powers to help keep the peace with aeran without creating a problem with Russia we don't have choice in Armenia uh for decades it was a myth that Russia is a provider of security it's not so you should try to find it somewhere else from aani point of view uh their goal is not Peace So the goal is to use peace agreement as an instrument continuing to push on arm media that's what many Armenians even here in yavan fear po suggest the things that concern them the most are National Security and Border issues we don't want to war either we want peace but with azanis it's impossible to negotiate peace in tavush Province so close to the Border relics can still be found from hostilities in the 1990s the shell landed here and here is the shrapnel here here and here further fighting is seen as a real possibility leova costan is a veteran he says he fears Armenia wouldn't get much help against their neighbors if there's peace it will be good we cannot fight the Turks the whole world stands by them supports them the new border could put their grandchild school right next to aeran we are afraid we won't allow kids to go there the young people will leave this Village those who have small kids all will leave this is an illegal process opposition politicians made a trip from armenia's Capital yavan to these little Villages near the border to support Furious locals they are worried land that they make a living on may be returned to aeran and that their Farms might end up on the Frontline of a future conflict and we can speak now with DW's fan pcha who filed that report she joins us from Ria finny armenia's prime minister says there's no alternative but to return land to azaran why is that that's exactly what armenia's prime minister pashinyan said when visiting those very same Villages that we have been to during the past couple of days in tavush Province so close to the border with aaban he made clear if those uninhabited enclaves are not being handed over then basically Armenia is risking yet another war with its rival a Zan on the other side of those Barbed wires we've seen in the report see he basically makes clear there's no wiggle room he has to deliver Armenia has to deliver and aaban they made clear that this has to be a precondition in order to have some sort of a long-term peace between the two countries now I think it's really important however to see this entire new border or new demarcation line to be set on uh between the two countries on some parts of Armenia in the bigger context of the war in Ukraine ever since Russia has become quite busy obviously in Ukraine that means that in Armenia they're leaving some sort of a void because Russia has been seen as a key partner to provide security for Armenia now that picture and that sentiment definitely changed since last year especially when nagoro kabak has been sort of basically not not directly handed over by Armenia but aaban took control of nagaro kabak without Russia uh protecting ethic Armenians that was the expectation from Armenia because they're part of a security Alliance led by Russia so that did not happen so what does it mean for Armenia they have the perspective now that they need to deliver they need to hand over some land in order to avoid Another War yes so this is about trying to establish peace but the political geography of that region as we're hearing is hugely complex would a peace agreement ponnie with with aeran guarantee peace for Armenia ordinary citizens but also politicians who oppose this plan will tell you that this will actually portray Armenia as a very weak country because if you hand over land that means that basically you won't be able to defend that land so you will have a lot of skepticism from from ordinary citizens not just very close to the boorder with aaban but even in the capital as we have heard in yavan if you look at the bigger picture once again AR IA is at Crossroads because as it doesn't feel protected by Russia very much even though as a former Soviet state and once again being part of this security Alliance led by Russia that was the myth for decades in fact that they will be protected by Russia so now prime minister pinan is using the word diversify diversifying foreign politics but also economy meaning making sure that it this country doesn't depend wholly on Russia when it comes to the energy sector but also when it comes to the uh the security Factor here but as I'm seeing and you just pointed out the geopolitical complexity of the region of the neighboring countries there it's a very difficult place of maneuvering uh uh for Armenia being a landlock country small as small as Belgium but really surrounded by major regional Powers Russia turkey and obviously the Rival aaban towards the east so it is going to be difficult and people will tell you they do not believe that there's going to be long-term peace even if those few square kilometers are going to be handed back to aaban in your report uh we heard about the concerns of those locals living close to the Border are they facing an uncertain future fonnie the people we have been speaking to are really worried that it's not just about the fact that they will possibly have to leave their land that their cows won't be able to graze they won't be able to maintain the Agriculture and basically their way of living their income but also they wor they in order to stay possibly they would have to become aabani and this is exactly what they do not want it's a very emotional topic overall and the question just really is what's going to happen to Armenia once the new demarcation line between aaban and Armenia is completed Fannie thank you very much for your reporting your analysis our correspondent fny faar there in Reger let's get some analysis from Alissa de cabanel in London she is the deput deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia program of the international crisis group that's an independent organization working for peace welcome Alyssa to DW can I ask you can this agreement bring a lasting peace to two long standing foes well Armenia and aeran have heard held several rounds of bilateral talks um over the last couple of months and the agreement to return these four or abandoned Villages that have been controlled by Armenia since the 1990s as well as the beginning of border delimitation is the latest sort of tangible sign that they can come to really difficult agreements both sides have a reason to want a peace deal president anv wants to cement um gains over the last years um also to Curry International favor ahead of Buu's hosting of the cop 29 climate talks and pashan has made a number of unpopular concessions as your report showed you know and wants to deliver on his promise of peace to the people he really believes this will bring more security and just before this agreement to return the villages you know pinan had warned um that war could start by the end of the week if yavan refused baku's demands which tells you a little bit about the the imbalance of power in those negotiations okay so you're saying that it is a positive for both in our report we heard I iians there Express fear that aaban may want more land in the future is that a realistic scenario or do you think aaban is is happy with the current outcome so I mean Baku is definitely happy with a lot of uh concessions from The Armenian side in the last uh months and um it's it's in a strong position at the moment there remains a number of disagreements um on claims to territ notably on a transport Corridor between aeran and it's excl Nan so you know we're we're not there yet in terms of a peace agreement and it's hard to say but I think it's important to also say that any kind of peace deal um wouldn't we shouldn't expect too much for it from it it's likely to be thin on details and more of a set of general principles but after 30 Decades of conflict that's really quite significant and bilateral Pro process of peace talks now between yavan and Baku is the only game in town so if that doesn't work it could really spell more trouble okay but just to sort of get a sense of you know the the balance in all of this it does seem that Armenia has been quite isolated in this conflict I mean would you say that Moscow essentially turned its back on yavan on armenia's Capital in all of this and if if so why so that's certain how um people in yavan feel about it um and and uh you know the the political Elite are incredibly angry and disappointed at Moscow I mean I was there in December and and it's it's it's um it's very strong emotions um there's a number of reasons uh you know Russia is really bogged down in Ukraine at the moment they want to keep uh close relations with azerbajan there have been um tensions for months um you know before even aeran retook uh nagoro kabak in in its military offensive this fall between the Kremlin and um the and deavan and pashinyan's administration so it's not a surprise but we've seen most recently um Russian peacekeepers pull out um from negoro karabah ahead of the end of their mandate which is just a and they've never been popular with Baku buaku has always wanted them out so it's just a sign of um where Russia sees um its its its weight at the moment and it's not with the Aron all right Elissa cabanel from the international crisis group we'll have to leave it there but thanks so much for your analysis thank you

Channel: DW News

Views: 132,289

Keywords: DW News, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Putin, Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Agreement

Id: AmtmWb8ZKiY

Length: 14min 30sec (870 seconds)

Published: Thu May 02 2024