Contain Azerbaijan within its own Borders

Since the ceasefire of May 1994, the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Karabakh and Azerbaijan have never seen such escalation as they have in the past few days. The Azerbaijani army has engaged in new provocations and attacks, but has also suffered losses. According to official and unofficial sources, the Azerbaijani army has suffered around a dozen casualties including many wounded soldiers. This is the largest one-time loss by Azerbaijan during this 20-year war. It is difficult to predict whether this will serve as a lesson to Ilham Aliyev or whether Azerbaijan will continue its policy of keeping the situation at the border escalated and the Armenian villages and civilian population under fire.

One thing is clear and even Azerbaijani media can no longer hide it -- the gunfire on both sides, which resembles outright war, has had the effect of a cold shower on Azerbaijan. More than a dozen casualties within a few days is not a joking matter. And this is an army, according to Azerbaijani rhetoric of threat, which is supposed to “liberate Nagorno Karabakh and occupied lands.” The Azerbaijani army is only able to do one thing, to ensure incessant firing at Armenian villages. A well-known Russian band has already delayed its concerts in Baku as Azerbaijan is in a near-state of mourning. Azerbaijani ANS TV, which normally starts its news coverage with news about the Karabakh-Azerbaijan border, has taken all music programs off air. Ilham Aliyev’s oldest daughter Arzu wrote a Russian-language status on her Facebook page, which reads: “May the memory of those who died for homeland never fade away.”

At the end of July, together with my colleagues from CivilNet, I visited the most dangerous area of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border - the Berd region of Tavush Marz and its villages of Chinari, Movses, Aygebar and Nerqin Karmraghbyur. These settlements lie under the direct fire of the Azerbaijani army. They have not lived in peace for more than 20 years now. But what has taken place in the past few days only occurred during a period of heavy combat of the war. In reality, the Tavush region is witnessing a war. Luckily, the peaceful population of Armenia has not suffered any casualties from the heavy gunfire. This means that the population of these villages can easily relocate to shelters. The Armenian army, however, has had two casualties in Karabakh.

There is an ongoing discourse that border villages need to be armed. This line of thinking is very dangerous and has been rejected by Armenian authorities. Armenia has an army and must think about increasing the professionalism of the army and better protection and control of the border. The border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is also protected by contract soldiers, people who do not serve in the army on a mandatory basis, but serve in a professional capacity to protect the borders. What should be done is to increase the salaries of this military personnel and improve the livelihoods of their families. In addition, the number of these contract soldiers can be increased.

News coverage that is comprehensive and trustworthy is also very important during these days of war on the border. Villagers of Aygepar, Movses and especially Chinar were furious at the coverage by Armenian TV channels. They were complaining that state propaganda was skewing the reality.

What is the reality on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and in the Armenian villages? One has to indeed believe that Armenia and the Armenian army is able to completely control the situation. The large losses of the Azerbaijani army are evidence of this. The tactics of the Armenian army, which is to target only the army and not the civilian population of the adversary, is justified. It is also justified that the Armenian army responded with disproportionate force, that for each Armenian casualty, the adversary must suffer several casualties.

The borderline villages are not in a state of panic but there is a sense of anxiety. People are indeed concerned. How long this will continue? Are the borders well protected? Is there a real threat that Azerbaijani intelligence groups will infiltrate Armenian villages and kill the peaceful population? The situation of children is also worrisome. The pro-government TV channels and state propaganda does not speak about the issues of the children in these villages. In reality, after each round of gunfire the mental state of children is shattered.

Many children start crying and screaming after the gunfire, which lasted 3 to 5 hours last night in Dovegh, Barekamavan, Voskepar, Movses, Aygepar, Chinari and Nerqin Karmraghbyur. Dozens of parents were telling me that their children simply fall sick. This cannot be kept in silence, this must be voiced as loud as possible, for the world, for all of Armenia and the Diaspora to hear.

Another topic that is being intensively discussed these past several days is the evacuation of the population from these villages. Yes, children and the elderly should be temporarily evacuated when gunfire starts. The children should be sent to summer camps in safer areas of Armenia, they should be taken on trips and the government should cover these expenses. The government should also compensate these children and their parents who live on their land, cultivate it and keep Armenia’s border.

It is important to note also that these borderline villages are not able to cultivate their lands; the enemy simply does not allow them to do so. A few days ago, the staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross was there next to the villagers when they were trying to harvest their fields; they all had to leave due to the intensive gunfire. The vehicle of the ICRC and the agricultural machinery of the village was hit.  Dozens of hectares of wheat fields remain unharvested. The state is obliged to compensate these villagers, whose yield will not be harvested.

It is high time to stop “feeding” the Armenian villager, who lives on the border, with cheap propaganda and patriotic slogans. These people are the gatekeepers of Armenia. They must be assured that they have a state.