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Political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan claims Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has effectively ceded four border villages to Azerbaijan.

Referring to Baku's renewed demands for Armenia to withdraw from four villages in Tavush Province, Pashinyan said at a news conference on Tuesday that “there have never been villages with such names in the territory of Armenia, not only in the Soviet era but also after it."

"On 2 January 2021, Azerbaijan invaded the village of Shurnukh in Syunik Province and demanded that local residents leave their homes. The enemy’s move was unexpected for Shurnukh residents, who were busy with their daily routine and could not even imagine that in the next moment they would be left without their homes and homeland,” the analyst said in a social media post.

“Nobody had told the villagers that their houses “were not in the territory of the Republic of Armenia", that according to some maps "Shurnukh is part of Azerbaijan" and, in general, that "the village is not called Shurnukh, but Eyvazli".

“Nobody in Armenia knew about it, except for the traitorous authorities, who, in fact, surrendered this part of the homeland together with its residents to the enemy. Fortunately, the people at least managed to leave the settlement, which was ceded to the enemy.

“The same fate awaits Tavush Province. Nikol has already ceded the so-called enclaves to Azerbaijan. He did it in a live broadcast on March 12, saying that there are no such settlements in Armenia. I won’t be surprised if it turns out that Armenian troops have also already been withdrawn from the border area.

“Consequently, not only this part of the country, but also many local residents are under threat. But if troops are still standing on the border, they are also in danger, because the enemy will link its advances to Nikol's statements, saying, "What is the Armenian military doing on the territory of Azerbaijan? After all, Nikol has already stated that these villages are not in Armenia’s territory,” reads the post.