The Strong Armenia party plans to create a tourist center in Tigranashen — MP

Arminfo.  The “Strong Armenia” party, led by Samvel Karapetyan, and the eponymous National Assembly faction headed by Narek Karapetyan plan to create a tourist center in Tigranashen. This was stated on September 16 by Anush Mirzoyan, an MP from the “Strong Armenia” faction, speaking from the NA rostrum.

According to her, the creation of a tourist center will breathe new life into the village. “This program will provide Tigranashen with new and well-paid jobs, creating for you and your children, dear residents of Tigranashen, the opportunity to build your future right in your native village,” Anush Mirzoyan stated, adding that  the party  is ready to develop the infrastructure: improve roads and create new services and stores.

“In essence, we believe in Tigranashen’s potential and are ready to turn this potential into real development and prosperity. Dear residents of Tigranashen, you are the guardians of the southern gates, and, naturally, not with weapons like soldiers, but through your work, developing Tigranashen. We want the village to remain in history as an Armenian settlement that developed and became one of the important centers in Armenia’s southern direction,” the parliamentarian stated.

Against the backdrop of discussions about handing Tigranashen over to Azerbaijan, Anush Mirzoyan recalled the events in Shurnukh, in Syunik. “During Pashinyan’s rule, half of Shurnukh became Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani flag was hoisted on the roofs of more than 10 houses. We are at the top of the village, while below

- there is an Azerbaijani sign bearing the inscription “Shurnukh” in the Azerbaijani language. I remember how the residents of Shurnukh vacated their homes ahead of schedule,” the parliamentarian noted.

Talks and heated political discussions surrounding the village of Tigranashen (Ararat Province) in Armenia have intensified in connection with the border delimitation process with Azerbaijan. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan states that the territory of the village (which Azerbaijan calls Kyarki) was historically an enclave and is not part of the internationally recognized 29,743 sq. km of the Republic of Armenia, delineated by the borders of the former Armenian SSR. According to the authorities’ position, recognizing this territory as Armenian would mean claiming an area exceeding the country’s official borders, which, in the prime minister’s view, creates the threat of a new escalation.  Official Yerevan, meanwhile, emphasizes that the practical mechanism for resolving the issue of the enclaves (whether this will involve a physical exchange or maintaining the status quo) has still not been finally determined in the negotiations.

The Armenian opposition (in particular, the “Strong Armenia” bloc and the “Armenia” faction) and independent researchers are categorically opposed to surrendering the village. Their arguments are divided into legal and strategic ones. Experts and opposition MPs refer to Soviet maps from the 1920s-1930s, pointing out that Tigranashen originally did not have the status of an enclave and was part of Soviet Armenia. They claim that under the current law “On the Administrative-Territorial Division of the Republic of Armenia,” Tigranashen is officially established as an Armenian settlement, and there are no legal grounds for recognizing it as Azerbaijani territory.

The key interstate M-2 highway, connecting Yerevan with the country’s southern regions (Vayots Dzor, Syunik) and Iran, passes through Tigranashen.  Transferring control over this point to Azerbaijan could block or critically complicate Armenia’s strategic logistics.