Arsen Torosyan: We are not going to give any territory or settlement  within borders of Soviet Armenia to any country

ArmInfo.We are not going to give any territory or settlement within the borders of Soviet Armenia to any country. Advisor to the Prime Minister of Armenia Arsen Torosyan told reporters on March 19, commenting at the request of the media representatives on the Prime Minister's statements about the start of the process of demarcation and delimitation from the Tavush region, despite the fact that there is no agreement between the  parties regarding the maps on the basis of which these works will be carried out.

He emphasized that the demarcation process is one of the main  components of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace settlement.

When asked why it was decided to start with the Tavush region,  Torosyan mentioned briefly "the main thing is to start." At the same  time, he noted that first of all it is necessary to reach an  agreement on the maps on which the demarcation and delimitation of  borders will be carried out.  "But everything should proceed from the  basic principle - the countries that joined the Alma-Ata Declaration  recognized the Soviet administrative borders as state borders, and on  the basis of this the process of demarcation and delimitation should  take place. This does not mean that new borders will be establidshed-  but only the legal consolidation of existing borders 'on the  ground'," he emphasized.  If the demarcation takes place over  territory that is under the control of one country or another, as the  Prime Minister's adviser noted, within the framework of a mutual  agreement it should be returned to one side or another.

At the same time, he attached importance to the meeting of the Prime  Minister with the residents of the Tavush region, which took place  yesterday, because people learned about everything directly from the  head of the state. "This means that we will not do anything secret or  hidden," Torosyan assured.  As he said, the state's concerns are  still associated with the destructive actions of the Azerbaijani  side.  "Consequently, we must go forward, make decisions, taking all  this into account," Pashinyan's advisor emphasized. 

During a visit to Tavush region, Prime Minister Nikol Pashchinyan  said that the real process of delimitation and demarcation can begin  from Baghanis to Berkaber. "What features are there? You know that  Azerbaijan raises the issue of 4 villages, for now it is only about 4  non-enclave villages. You know that we raise the issue of 31  villages. We raise this issue, they raise that issue. 

And when we want to move forward in these discussions, even if we  proceed from the logic that we have 31 settlements in a problematic  situation, and they have fewer ones, Azerbaijan uses the argument  that the real territory of none of the settlements of the Republic of  Armenia is under the control of Azerbaijan , that is, no residential  part of the village is under the control of Azerbaijan. What they're  saying? They say: let's mutually withdraw from the territories of the  settlements themselves, then we will discuss the vital territories of  villages and settlements.

We, of course, respond and say that a village is not only a rural  administration, a village is also its vital territories, that is,  during these discussions we present all the arguments, and these  arguments are fair. Our policy is that we must not allow war; we must  not allow war to start. And this is also the reason why we decided to  clarify the border of the Republic of Armenia in these areas and we  are doing this not only for the sake of the Republic of Armenia, but  also specifically for the sake of the village of Voskepar, the  village of Kirants, to ensure the security of these villages," the  Prime Minister said at a meeting with residents

Earlier, Baku announced that it demands the immediate "return of 4  villages" located on the border of the Tavush region of Armenia and  the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan. The statement followed a meeting of  the border delimitation commissions, headed by the vice-premiers of  the two countries, Mher Grigoryan and Shahin Mustafayev. "As for the  four non-exclave Azerbaijani villages (Baghanis Ayrim, Ashagi  Eskipara, Kheyrimli and Gyzylgajili) 'occupied' by Armenia, their  belonging to Azerbaijan is indisputable, and they are subject to  immediate return," they stated.

Baku is also confident that within the framework of the delimitation  process, "the issue of 'liberation' of four exclave villages (Yukhary  Askipara, Sofulu, Barkhudarlu in the Armenian Tavush, as well as  Kyarki (Armenian - Tigranashen) in the Ararat region, on the border  with Nakhijevan) will be resolved." At the same time, Baku denied the  statements of the Armenian authorities that Azerbaijan occupied the  territory of 31 Armenian settlements in five regions with a total  area of about 200 square kilometers, calling it "an unfounded  statement." Some of them came under the control of Azerbaijan back in  the 1990s during the first Karabakh war, others as a result of  Azerbaijani aggression in 2021-2022.