Is Pashinyan Giving Up Karki?

The newspaper "Graparak" reports that Nikol Pashinyan, along with government representatives, visited the center of the Ararat region and toured various communities. Specifically, he visited the village of Sevakavan, which is located on the edge of the village of Tigranashen (Karki). Strangely, however, he did not visit this village, which has recently become a subject of public debate.

"...He visited many communities in the region but did not go there because Tigranashen is about to be surrendered," the publication suspects.

"This fact caused concern within Pashinyan's team because the prime minister visited the village of Sevakavan, located on the outskirts of Tigranashen, but avoided going to Tigranashen," writes Graparak.

The village of Karki was occupied by Armenians in 1990. The Armenian government renamed the village to "Tigranashen." Armenians who had left Baku and Ganja settled in Karki.

There is also the possibility that Karki could be exchanged with the village of Bashkend, which is considered an Armenian exclave on Azerbaijani territory.

Political commentator Oktay Gasimov discussed this issue on the program "Difficult Question." The expert believes that the village of Karki is Azerbaijani territory, and Armenia will have to return it. However, reports in the Armenian press about the imminent return of this village are inaccurate and are being used as a tool in the domestic political struggle.

Gasimov reminded that at the end of May, the office of Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev announced that as a result of demarcation work based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, a border line of about 13 km (12.7 km) was established in the direction of Gazakh. As a result, Azerbaijan regained control of four villages in the Gazakh district: Baganis Ayrim, Ashagy Askipara, Kheyrimli, and Gyzyly Hajyly (6.5 km²).

Regarding the fate of the four exclave villages, including Karki, Gasimov said that in March, Azerbaijan's Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev suggested addressing them within the process of delimitation of the Azerbaijan-Armenia border.

The expert also noted that Armenia has an exclave on Azerbaijani territory, Artsvashen (Bashkend), with an area of 40 km². In his opinion, this issue should be resolved "in a different way."

"Bashkend should be handed over to Azerbaijan as compensation for the immense damage inflicted by Armenia," the expert claims.