Caucasian scholars tell about problems of establishing border in Syunik Region

The maps created in the USSR fail to unambiguously fix the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Black Lake area in the Syunik Region, the experts on the Caucasus interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 12, Azerbaijani militaries advanced three kilometres deep into the Syunik Region of Armenia and, according to the administration of the city of Goris, tried to gain a foothold in the area of Black Lake. The next day, the Azerbaijani militaries again tried to advance deep into the Syunik Region, but were stopped, the Armenian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has informed.

Most of the Black Lake is in the Armenian territory, said Alexei Gunya, senior researcher at the Geography Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Doctor of Geography and Professor at Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Humanities University.

"This is a mountainous area with several lakes, located just on the border; therefore, it's difficult to clearly define the two countries' borders. This territory was not controlled by Azerbaijan until the recent war. On the maps of the USSR's General Staff with the millionth scale, the lake is in the territory of Azerbaijan. But this is a millionth scale; this is a rough map that cannot be taken as the basis. If we take topographic maps of a larger scale, for example, with the 100-thousandth scale, then, 80 percent of the lake is in the territory of Armenia," the Professor told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

There is no uniform Soviet map that would allow defining Armenian-Azerbaijani borders, says Alexander Skakov, a Caucasian expert and a deputy director of the RAS' Institute of Oriental Studies.

There are many Soviet maps, and the data in them varies, he has noted. "This is a rather serious problem ... Each party uses its advantageous Soviet map to prove the belonging of some territory. And there is no single recognized map that would allow resolving the issue without disputes," Mr Skakov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 15, 2021 at 03:40 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.