YEREVAN, May 24. /TASS/. Starting from May 24, Armenia and Azerbaijan will withdraw troops from three villages in the Tavush Region and entrust border guards with protecting these areas, Armenia’s National Security Council said in a statement.
The statement says that Armenia’s border guards are taking charge of border stretches near the villages of Berkaber (1.9 km), Voskepar and Baganis (4.9 km) in the Tavush Region. A 5.8-km stretch of border near the settlements of Kirants will be carried out under the transition scheme until July 24.
"In accordance with the same logic, starting from May 24, adjacent border areas of Azerbaijan will be protected by units of Azerbaijan’s state border service," the statement says.
On April 19, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that the Armenian and Azerbaijani commissions that deal with the delimitation of the border between the countries had reached a tentative agreement for certain sections of the border between eight villages in order to bring these sections "in line with the legally justified inter-republican border that existed in the Soviet Union at the time of its breakup."
Shortly after, the country was hit by grass-roots protests against the delimitation and demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan and ceding the four villages to Baku. They are coordinated by the Tavush for the Homeland movement, led by archbishop Bagrat.