The fate of the Aghavno village in Berdzor (Lachin) is threatened
The construction of a road connecting Armenia with Artsakh, but bypassing the current road in Berdzor (Lachin) will begin in August, Armenia’s Territorial Administration Ministry announced on Friday.
The road known as M2 will go through Kornidzor, a village adjacent to Berdzor.
The new road is a stipulation of the November 9, 2020 agreement that ended the military actions in Artsakh and saw the hand over of Armenian lands to Azerbaijan, among them Berdzor, which for decades has been corridor that has connected Armenia with Artsakh.
The November 9 agreement stipulates that “…within the next three years, a plan will be outlined for the construction of a new route via the Lachin Corridor, to provide a connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, and the Russian peacemaking forces shall be subsequently relocated to protect the route.”
To this end, Azerbaijan, employing Turkish construction companies, announced that its road to Lachin in its final phase of completion.
The rerouting of the road to bypass Berdzor poses threats to two Armenian-populated villages in the area—Aghavno and Sus—that are viewed as the last Armenian bastions in the area.
Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, sounded a conciliatory note when addressing lawmakers in parliament in late June, saying that the likelihood of Armenians living in Berdzor was “very small.” https://asbarez.com/artsakh-president-says-likelihood-of-armenians-living-in-berdzor-lachin-is-very-small/
He said that Stepanakert has given its consent to an alternative route connecting Armenia to Artsakh, adding that the Artsakh authorities will continue to fight for the Aghavno village. He said there have been several options, but the Artsakh authorities have chosen an option, by which Berdzor will be bypassed.
“We have things to do in connection with Aghavno. Negotiations in that regard are continuing. We have not told anyone to ‘get out of Berdzor,’” Harutyunyan said in June.
Harutyunyan claimed last month that the Azerbaijani road being constructed has received the approval of his government.