KIRANTS (Armenia), April 27. /TASS/. People from across Armenia have blocked a highway near the Kirants village as they are protesting against the transfer of four villages in the area to Azerbaijan.
The protesters put their cars across the highway, which leads to Georgia, set up tents and are stopping vehicles from going through. The villages that are planned to be ceded were part of Azerbaijan during Soviet times.
One police car is stationed at the scene to monitor the situation. Police are not interfering as things are quiet so far. Armenian television is broadcasting the event.
On April 19, the Armenian and Azerbaijani commissions that deal with the delimitation of the border between the countries issued a joint statement saying that a tentative agreement had been reached for several sections of the border. Under the agreement Armenia cedes to Azerbaijan four villages, which were part of the Azerbaijan in Soviet times, but have been controlled by Armenia since the 1990s.
Baku insisted on regaining control of the villages and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to start the border delimitation process from this section. The Armenian opposition is accusing him of making unilateral concessions to Azerbaijan, criticizing the decision as unacceptable. As the delimitation started, protests erupted near these villages and in the Armenian capital city of Yerevan.