Berdzor (Lachin), Kashatagh Region (Armenian-controlled Republic of Azerbaijan) © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2001-2003

In addition to work on the Specialized Children’s Home in Nor Kharberd, one of the largest photographic projects I’ve spent many years on has been settlement in the disputed territory sandwiched between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Although recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan, the area is under Armenian control and serves as part of the buffer zone around the disputed mainly Armenian inhabited territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

In particular, the area around Lachin, now renamed Berdzor, is considered to be strategically vital for linking Armenia with Karabakh. Interestingly, the town used to be capital of the short-lived Autonomous Oblast of Red Kurdistan in the 1920s, but is now the administrative center of territory that stretches from the New Shahumian (Kelbajar) region in the north through Zangelan to the Iranian border.

In 2001 I wrote an article on settlement in the Kashatagh region for Transitions Online, the Gemini News Service, and The Armenian Weekly.

The daily van that departs for Lachin from Yerevan should make the trip in five hours, but, driving at a snail’s pace, it takes seven. The landscape is scenic but the journey arduous, and the road itself says much about the region’s recent history. After passing the border where Armenia theoretically ends, the road is immaculately asphalted, but rubble from the war still lies strewn across the landscape. Further on, wires strung across the valley, originally intended to prevent low-flying helicopters from evading radar detection, still remain.

On the outskirts of Lachin, a recently constructed church belies the fact that this town, now renamed Berdzor, was once inhabited by at least 20,000 Azeris and Kurds. During the war, both sides pursued tactics designed to prevent inhabitants from returning to their homes, and the destruction unleashed on Lachin was considerable. Houses are being rebuilt however, but this time for approximately 3,000 Armenians relocated in an effort to repopulate the region.

The aim is to increase the population of the unrecognized republic from under 150,000 in 1994 to 300,000 by 2010. Given the size of Karabakh, it is hard to imagine that the plan does not also include towns such as Lachin that lie outside Karabakh proper, in the buffer zone connecting the enclave to Armenia. Moreover, while the official line suggests that those relocating to Karabakh and elsewhere are Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, the reality on the ground suggests otherwise.

[…]

Zoric Irkoyan, for one, is not a refugee. Arriving six years ago from Yerevan, he openly admits that most of those inhabiting the disputed territory are from Armenia and that few refugees have joined the resettlement program. “Not many came because they were used to their life in Baku and Sumgait [in Azerbaijan],” explains Irkoyan. “Many now feel safer in Armenia, and like a million other Armenians, some have left for Russia.”

Not surprising, perhaps. What Irkoyan, his wife and two young daughters have come to is a simple, virtually unfurnished shack. Chickens run free in the yard outside, while a hole in the ground serves as the toilet for the entire family. Cooking is on a simple electric stove that just about manages to boil oriental coffee in 15 minutes, and water collects every morning in the makeshift sink assembled outside.

[…]

And for some, the conditions are too hard. Another family invites us in. Their living conditions are the worst I have seen anywhere. They have decided enough is enough and have since moved their seven children to Lachin as the winter set in. Another family from the 13 who originally came here has also left.

Anyway, back then it became obvious that conditions were less than favourable for many of the socially vulnerable families enticed to the area around Lachin with promises of land, livestock, property and work. Since then, I’ve encountered so many families that I met there, but who have since moved back to former homes in Sisian, Jermuk, Yerevan and Gyumri. I’m now hearing that the exodus, especially in the north and south of Kashatagh, is becoming catastrophic.

Because of this, I hope to return to Lachin in the very near future to update my work there, and also hope to have some other related news regarding this. Until then, however, I recently told Edik Baghdasarian, Editor-in-Chief of Hetq Online, about the reported problems in Lachin and he went down to see for himself a few weeks ago.

In 1994, a policy of repopulating the Lachin Corridor with refugees and families from throughout Armenia was instituted. But now, many of the families who moved to the area are leaving. The current head of the regional administration in Kashatagh, as the area is now known, is Hamlet Khachatryan, appointed through a decision by the NKR government in November 2004.

Khachatryan had served as public prosecutor in the region for seven years before this appointment. He also holds the rank of general within the Kharabakh justice system. He is a member of two political parties – the Artsakh Democratic Party and the Republican Party in Armenia. Why are these details so significant? Over the last few years, the population of Kashatagh has declined by a few thousand people.

Our visits to dozens of villages in the Kashatagh region and conversations with many people who were relocated to this area suggest that the actions, as well as the inaction, of the administrative head have been instrumental in the current exodus.

Rumours abound as to the reason for the current exodus. There are some that say people are moving back to Armenia now the economy is improving in some parts of the country, while others accuse the Armenian, Kashatagh and Karabakh officials of mishandling the settlement program. Allegations of incompetence and corruption are not uncommon, and some point to the fact that Kocharian and Aliyev were believed to have recently spoken about the “width” of the Lachin corridor in recent — but failed — talks to resolve the Karabakh conflict once and for all.

When I go back to update my work in Lachin and the surrounding region I’ll post more on what I discover. Certainly, my experience to date has been that for people are leaving Lachin. Recent comments from people with experience of the region seem to confirm this. Anyway, in the meantime some photographs from Lachin taken in 2001-3 are available for viewing here.

Berdzor (Lachin), Kashatagh Region (Armenian-controlled Republic of Azerbaijan) © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2001-2003

Border Checkpoint, Berdzor (Lachin), Kashatagh Region (Armenian-controlled Republic of Azerbaijan) © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2001-2003

Berdzor (Lachin), Kashatagh Region (Armenian-controlled Republic of Azerbaijan) © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2001-2003