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Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 642
May 22, 2012
ARMENIAN ALARM AT SPATE OF BORDER SHOOTINGS
Border villagers say life feels like the war never ended.
By Gayane Lazarian, Sara Khojoyan
A series of shooting incidents on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan and
around Nagorny Karabakh has heightened fears among local civilians,
even though they are well used to the sound of gunfire.
The border village of Dovegh in Armenia's northeastern Tavush region
came under sustained fire for 90 minutes on April 25. Two days later,
three Armenian solders were killed when their car was hit by shots
fired over the border as it was travelling between the villages of
Aygepar and Movses.
While sporadic gunfire is a constant danger to Tavush residents, they
say it has been particularly intense in the last two months.
Samvel Soghoyan, the mayor of Chinari, a village right on the border
with Azerbaijan said the 1,200 or so residents were effectively living
under wartime conditions.
`The village is constantly being shot at. From 1992 until now, we have
not had a ceasefire. They [Azerbaijanis] use heavy-calibre machine
guns, which present a danger to any house. Most of the agricultural
land is right on the border, so people don't farm it,' he said.
In nearby Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, villagers have similar complaints.
`All the roofs of the house are full of [bullet-] holes,' Hakob
Israelyan. `The residents live in permanent fear. It's been quiet for
several nights now, but ahead of the 20th anniversary of the
liberation of Shushi [town in Karabakh], there was sustained fire from
a heavy machine gun, and almost all the children had to be sent to
neighbouring villages.'
Around Nagorny Karabakh, numerous shootings were reported. According
to local Armenian forces, 650 separate violations of the ceasefire
were committed by Azerbaijani forces between April 29 and May 12,
amounting to 2,400 shooting incidents.
War in the early 1990s left an Armenian administration in control of
Nagorny Karabakh, which declared independence from Azerbaijan. It has
not won international recognition, and Azerbaijan continues to claim
sovereignty. Although the conflict ended in a ceasefire in 1994, no
peace deal was signed, and negotiations on conflict settlement and on
Karabakh's future status have made little progress.
Armenian and Azerbaijani troops face each other along the border
between the two states, as well as along the `line of control' that
separates them around Karabakh.
Exchanges of fire over the front lines are fairly frequent, and each
side tends to accuse the other of provoking violence by shooting
first.
`The Armenians strictly adhere to the ceasefire arrangements, and only
respond when the opposing side breach it,' Armenia defence ministry
Mushegh Aghekyan spokesman said with reference to recent events.
Political and defence analysts in Armenia suggested the upsurge in
incidents might be a deliberate attempt by Azerbaijan to disrupt
campaigning for their country's May 6 parliamentary election, and also
the May 9 celebrations for the anniversary of the Armenian capture of
Shushi, a town in Karabakh, in 1992.
On April 27, the day the three soldiers were killed in Tavush,
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan was out campaigning for his
Republican Party ahead of the election.
He assured voters that Armenia would retaliate for the killings.
`Let no one think they can exploit the political process going on in
our country and assume we are too busy with elections. We have a
strong army and we will take the steps that are required,' he said.
Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan stressed, however, that Armenia
favoured negotiations, not a resumption of conflict.
`They [Azerbaijanis] have shown yet again that the principles under
which we reached the [truce] agreement, specifically including the
principle of non-use of force, have been violated many times. But
these actions will not benefit them in any way, since our view is that
relationships are [framed] only through the negotiating process,' he
said.
Armenian defence expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan focused on the human cost
of the rising number of cross-border shooting incidents.
`In recent years, the reporting of ceasefire violations regime has
become more open and transparent, and this often upsets people. The
Azerbaijani side is aware of this. People are scared when they hear
about the increased frequency of shooting incidents,' he said. `To
reassure them, I should say that the shots fired from the Azerbaijani
side are ineffective; they achieve nothing. We can react to ceasefire
violations ten times more or less than we do now, but the key thing is
that there shouldn't be casualties - and that an impulsive reaction
could restart the war.'
In Tavush region, many villagers have become resigned to outbreaks of
shooting, even though the risks are real enough.
`They were shooting when my son was a year old, and now he's 21 and
they're still shooting,' Lena Andreasyan from the village of Movses
said. `It makes no difference - we aren't leaving the village, as it's
our home. There was some very heavy gunfire three days ago, but when
our lads started firing in response, they soon quietened down.
`The shots do damage house windows and doors. It's rare to see a house
that doesn't have bullet holes.'
Gayane Lazarian and Sara Khojoyan are reporters for ArmeniaNow.com.
From: A. Papazian
IWPR CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 642
May 22, 2012
ARMENIAN ALARM AT SPATE OF BORDER SHOOTINGS
Border villagers say life feels like the war never ended.
By Gayane Lazarian, Sara Khojoyan
A series of shooting incidents on Armenia's border with Azerbaijan and
around Nagorny Karabakh has heightened fears among local civilians,
even though they are well used to the sound of gunfire.
The border village of Dovegh in Armenia's northeastern Tavush region
came under sustained fire for 90 minutes on April 25. Two days later,
three Armenian solders were killed when their car was hit by shots
fired over the border as it was travelling between the villages of
Aygepar and Movses.
While sporadic gunfire is a constant danger to Tavush residents, they
say it has been particularly intense in the last two months.
Samvel Soghoyan, the mayor of Chinari, a village right on the border
with Azerbaijan said the 1,200 or so residents were effectively living
under wartime conditions.
`The village is constantly being shot at. From 1992 until now, we have
not had a ceasefire. They [Azerbaijanis] use heavy-calibre machine
guns, which present a danger to any house. Most of the agricultural
land is right on the border, so people don't farm it,' he said.
In nearby Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, villagers have similar complaints.
`All the roofs of the house are full of [bullet-] holes,' Hakob
Israelyan. `The residents live in permanent fear. It's been quiet for
several nights now, but ahead of the 20th anniversary of the
liberation of Shushi [town in Karabakh], there was sustained fire from
a heavy machine gun, and almost all the children had to be sent to
neighbouring villages.'
Around Nagorny Karabakh, numerous shootings were reported. According
to local Armenian forces, 650 separate violations of the ceasefire
were committed by Azerbaijani forces between April 29 and May 12,
amounting to 2,400 shooting incidents.
War in the early 1990s left an Armenian administration in control of
Nagorny Karabakh, which declared independence from Azerbaijan. It has
not won international recognition, and Azerbaijan continues to claim
sovereignty. Although the conflict ended in a ceasefire in 1994, no
peace deal was signed, and negotiations on conflict settlement and on
Karabakh's future status have made little progress.
Armenian and Azerbaijani troops face each other along the border
between the two states, as well as along the `line of control' that
separates them around Karabakh.
Exchanges of fire over the front lines are fairly frequent, and each
side tends to accuse the other of provoking violence by shooting
first.
`The Armenians strictly adhere to the ceasefire arrangements, and only
respond when the opposing side breach it,' Armenia defence ministry
Mushegh Aghekyan spokesman said with reference to recent events.
Political and defence analysts in Armenia suggested the upsurge in
incidents might be a deliberate attempt by Azerbaijan to disrupt
campaigning for their country's May 6 parliamentary election, and also
the May 9 celebrations for the anniversary of the Armenian capture of
Shushi, a town in Karabakh, in 1992.
On April 27, the day the three soldiers were killed in Tavush,
Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan was out campaigning for his
Republican Party ahead of the election.
He assured voters that Armenia would retaliate for the killings.
`Let no one think they can exploit the political process going on in
our country and assume we are too busy with elections. We have a
strong army and we will take the steps that are required,' he said.
Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan stressed, however, that Armenia
favoured negotiations, not a resumption of conflict.
`They [Azerbaijanis] have shown yet again that the principles under
which we reached the [truce] agreement, specifically including the
principle of non-use of force, have been violated many times. But
these actions will not benefit them in any way, since our view is that
relationships are [framed] only through the negotiating process,' he
said.
Armenian defence expert Artsrun Hovhannisyan focused on the human cost
of the rising number of cross-border shooting incidents.
`In recent years, the reporting of ceasefire violations regime has
become more open and transparent, and this often upsets people. The
Azerbaijani side is aware of this. People are scared when they hear
about the increased frequency of shooting incidents,' he said. `To
reassure them, I should say that the shots fired from the Azerbaijani
side are ineffective; they achieve nothing. We can react to ceasefire
violations ten times more or less than we do now, but the key thing is
that there shouldn't be casualties - and that an impulsive reaction
could restart the war.'
In Tavush region, many villagers have become resigned to outbreaks of
shooting, even though the risks are real enough.
`They were shooting when my son was a year old, and now he's 21 and
they're still shooting,' Lena Andreasyan from the village of Movses
said. `It makes no difference - we aren't leaving the village, as it's
our home. There was some very heavy gunfire three days ago, but when
our lads started firing in response, they soon quietened down.
`The shots do damage house windows and doors. It's rare to see a house
that doesn't have bullet holes.'
Gayane Lazarian and Sara Khojoyan are reporters for ArmeniaNow.com.
From: A. Papazian