Popular Protests Against Transfer of Territories to Azerbaijan Continue in Armenia

Tens of thousands of people who arrived in the Armenian capital Yerevan protested from Thursday to Friday (May 9-10, 2023) against the decision of the government led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to “cede” some territories to neighbor Azerbaijan. Armenian authorities, seeking a peace deal to finally resolve decades-old territorial disputes with Baku, have in recent weeks approved – despite strong protests from Armenian public opinion – the return to Azerbaijan of some villages on the border between the two former Soviet Caucasus republics seized by the Armenian army in the 1990s.

The decision, which Armenian public opinion regards as a “completely unnecessary concession,” has sparked protests and demonstrations across Armenia. The demonstration in Yerevan, which was attended by thousands of participants, arrived on Thursday, May 9, from the Tavush region, where the returned territories are located. Villagers forced to return to Azerbaijan were joined by supporters of opposition political parties and refugee organizations from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The disputed territory was conquered by Azerbaijan after a lightning military offensive last September ended decades of separatism and forced almost the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to flee to Armenia.

In late April, the two states began the delicate process of “delimiting” their shared border. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has agreed to return four border villages to Azerbaijan that were occupied by Yerevan’s armed forces during the 1990s war, forcing Azerbaijani residents to flee. Azerbaijan’s military operation has also worsened relations between Armenia and Russia, which recently announced the withdrawal of its peacekeepers who have been in the conflict zone for years.