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Skiran (Azerbaijan) (AFP)
An Armenian fighter, carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, looks over his shoulder with binoculars at an Azerbaijani forces camp across a rugged valley that separates Armenian fighters from Baku forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
And this valley has become the mysterious new border that separates the two parties under a peace agreement that ended weeks of violent fighting.
But the Varghese Harutyunyan grenade plantation is in this buffer zone between soldiers and he fears he will not be able to reap the benefits this year.
“Now there are Azerbaijani soldiers there,” Harutyunyan, 64, told AFP, looking up at the rows of trees that he has tended for more than a decade. “If that land is theirs, what can we do?”
In late September clashes broke out between the Armenian-backed separatists who had controlled the region for 30 years and the Azerbaijani army, which was determined to regain control of this mountainous region.
Thousands died and many families were displaced during the six weeks of fighting that ended a Russian-brokered peace deal that saw Armenians give up large swaths of Azerbaijan-controlled territory.
And now, overseeing the new geographic reality of Nagorno Karabakh and many surrounding areas that were controlled by separatists, a force of roughly two thousand Russian blue helmets, some of whom had previously served in Syria.
But while they await his arrival to demarcate the border in this valley near the town of Askeran, Harutyunyan and the future of fruit trees remain suspended.
– “We gave up half the country” –
Facing the remnants of a fire burning across rugged terrain, Harutyunyan, the former deputy district police chief, admits that the end of the war has created a new state of uncertainty. “We gave up half the country,” he said.
For clarification on the issue of access to his land, Harutyunyan is appealing to Arvid Golyan, Vice President of Agriculture for the region whose offices are in Askeran.
In Julian’s office, Harutyunyan scans his finger on a map hanging on a wall, the area to locate his farm.
The local official is understanding but cannot offer a solution.
“I wanted to know if the farm belongs to us or to Azerbaijan. But that is not clear,” he told AFP.
“The border has not yet been demarcated,” he said.
Nestled between steep slopes, this impoverished town is decorated with crosses, war memorials and flags from the province that declared itself autonomous in the 1990s but has not been recognized internationally.
Nagorny Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian region in Azerbaijan, was separated from Baku during a war in the early 1990s that left some 30,000 people dead.
As the agreement continues to be clarified and enters into force, the question of borders and many other issues remain unclear.
The decision of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to agree to cede the disputed territories has caused a political crisis as his career is at stake.
French President Emmanuel Macron also raised questions this week about the “ambiguity” in the deal, referring in particular to questions about refugees and Turkey’s role in the truce.
In Askeran, Golian told AFP that an unwarranted blackout had recently occurred and that the gas supply had become erratic.
“We don’t know what will happen next,” he concluded.
© 2020 AFP
