Deputy PM Grigoryan's office: Azerbaijan does not accept fact of occupying Armenia settlements’ territories

The office of Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, who heads Armenia’s border delimitation commission with Azerbaijan, reports that Azerbaijan does not admit that it is occupying the territories of 31 non-enclave settlements of Armenia, essentially confirming that Baku is demanding four villages without the intention of withdrawing its troops from Armenian territories, reports the RFE/RL Armenian Service.

Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, who raised the topic after the events nearby Armenia’s Nerkin Hand village, which took the lives of four soldiers, had not specified whether Azerbaijan, which demands the return of four villages, refuses to withdraw from 31 Armenian villages of Armenia. The RFE/RL Armenian Service directed this question to Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan's office and also tried to find out what those four villages are.

"Azerbaijan raises the following place names: Baghanis, Ayrum, Aghash (Nerkin) Voskepar, Kheyrimli, Kizil Hajili, while refusing to accept that the vital territories of 31 non-enclave settlements of Armenia are under Azerbaijani occupation," Deputy PM Grigoryan's office stated.

These territories demanded by Azerbaijan are in Tavush Province of Armenia and are mostly uninhabited. For example, the interstate road to Georgia passes near Nerkin Voskepar village.

Referring to the four and 31 villages in question, the Armenian premier had not given any names. Mher Grigoryan's office also explained the 31 villages demanded by Armenia. A part of their territories came under the control of Azerbaijan during the first Karabakh war back in the 1990s, the other—as a result of the Azerbaijani invasions of 2021-2022. The territories of those non-enclave settlements, which Armenia considers vital, are in Tavush, Syunik, Ararat, Gegharkunik, and Vayots Dzor Provinces of Armenia.

At the end of last year, Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan had said that 200 square kilometers of Armenia are under Azerbaijani occupation.