Speaking about Artsvashen during the pre-election campaign, Nikol Pashinyan said that one of the options to solve the Artsvashen problem is exchange, but with what, Pashinyan did not elaborate.

“One of the options to solve the problem of silver can be the exchange.

For the Armenian side, this topic is no longer a matter of tension. The principle is as follows. Do Armenia and Azerbaijan want to hurt each other with the border demarcation process, or do they want to solve the issues so that our children and their children no longer have these topics?” had said Nikol Pashinyan.

Artsvashen community leader Mamikon Khechoyan during the campaign, he approached Nikol Pashinyan and asked, “What are we going to do with Artsvashen now? What are the people talking about?”

“You see, the issue of Artsvashen was resolved by ANM members on August 8, 1992. In other words, when the Artsakh-Azerbaijani war was taking place, the people understood that if the Armenian side is liberating lands and took “enclaves” in Tavush, then the Azerbaijani side will also take Artsvashen. Our state provided buses for us to go out to avoid many further problems. At that time, we were not asked if we wanted to live in Artsvashen or if we wanted to leave, there was a state, and the state had decided.

Now the state, as well as Nikol Pashinyan, say that if there is any question of exchanging the sovereign territory of Armenia, they should hold a referendum. Let’s suppose that 2,700 people from Artsvashen want to return to Artsvashen, but the 1 million population of Armenia says no, there should not be an exchange, in that case what should the people of Artsvashen do? 168.amMamiko Khechoyan said in an interview with

He says that there is no one who asks the opinion of the people of Artsvashen, even if they ask, one thing: in the case of a referendum, the citizen of Armenia decides whether that territory should be exchanged or not. From time to time the people of Artsvashen are asked if they want to return to Artsvashen, to which they definitely give a positive answer.

“Who wouldn’t want to return to their home, but none of us take our opinion into account?” Since 1991, I have been the head of the village of Artsvashen, and I have never seen the state ask for our opinion. Now whether they ask or not, what will change? My parents are buried in Artsvashen, we have cemeteries there, but what can we do?

When we lived in Artsvashen, not a single Azerbaijani lived there, before reaching Artsvashen there were 2 Azerbaijani villages, but today no Armenians live in Artsvashen,” added our interlocutor.

To the question whether it will be safe for the people of Artsvashen to live there after the return of Artsvashen, Mamikon Khechoyan answered that there was a border demarcation in the Tavush section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and if, for example, an Armenian child studies in the Kirantsi school, but there is an Azerbaijani border guard standing in front of them, why shouldn’t the people of Artsvashen return to their homes?

“If the columnist feels safe, why shouldn’t we feel safe?” If we have an army and they say that the army is the guarantee of your security, then we have no problem living in Artsvashen.

In a straight line, Artsvashen is 5 km away from Chambarak, so that Armenia is a complete border, again. This is neither an emotional nor a heroic step. Now that we live in Chambarak, and they can even hit directly from Azerbaijani positions, why can’t we live in Artsvashen in the same way? We are neither heroes nor cowards, we are just realists,” said Mamiko Khechoyan.

It should be noted that according to Mamikon Khechoyan, approximately 2800 people were displaced from Artsvashen in 1992, very few of them have moved to Russia today, approximately 10-15 families. Today, almost 3,000 people from Artsavash live in Chambarak and neighboring villages, Drakhtik, Shorzha.

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