Federal Lezghi
National and Cultural Autonomy

Arif Kerimov: problem of Russian enclave in Azerbaijan remains unsolved

 

Problem of residents of the village of Khrakh-Uba, one of the two dwelling settlements, which remained in the territory of Azerbaijan after the revision of the borders of the former Soviet Union, is not solved. This was reported by Arif Kerimov, the head of the Federal Lezgin National and Cultural Autonomy. According to Evgeny Kozmin, Consul of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan, residents of the village Uryan-Uba accepted Azerbaijani citizenship and continue to live in the village as citizens of Azerbaijan, and problems of residents of the village of Khrakh-Uba arose from the fact that almost all residents left the village.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent wrote about the problem of the residents of the villages of Khrakh-Uba and Uryan-Uba. The residents of those two villages repeatedly held meetings, at which they tried to draw attention to their problem. One such rally was held on May 23, 2011, in Makhachkala and gathered about 100 persons. At that rally, the protesters expressed their discontent with the fact that the federal government and the leadership of Dagestan failed to take any steps to resolve the status of the villagers.

Arif Kerimov: residents of Khrakh-Uba complain about violations of their rights

According to Arif Kerimov, every day he learns about new incidents occurring in the territory of Azerbaijan with the residents of the former Russian enclave. So, two days ago he received a phone call from a school teacher from the village of Khrakh-Uba, who complained that the Azerbaijani authorities did not allow him entering the village.

"As far as I know, unidentified persons, allegedly staff members of the Azerbaijani police, break the locks in the houses of local residents and take property of the residents of the village of Khrakh-Uba," Arif Kerimov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Earlier, the resident of the villages of Khrakh-Uba and Uryan-Uba, natives of Dagestan, also complained about pressure from the Azerbaijani authorities, which forced them either to leave Azerbaijan or to accept its citizenship. The pressure was also expressed by the fact that Azerbaijani border guards did not allow the residents of the village of Khrakh-Uba, who travelled to Russia, returning back to their homes. The treaty on the state border, ratified by the State Duma on July 17, 2011, has aggravated the situation even more. According to Arif Kerimov, the treaty does not comply with the national interest of Lezgin people.

After the signing of the treaty, two Russian enclaves went to the Azerbaijani side; "however, no one thought about people, who lived in the territory before ratification of the treaty on the state border," Arif Kerimov states.

In 2011, the villagers hold in the territory of Dagestan, where many of them were forced to move, three protest actions. According to the representative of the Lezgin autonomy, despite the fact that the conversation between the President of the Republic of Dagestan and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan resulted in the agreement on non-use of force methods by the Azerbaijani side to deport residents of the village of Khrakh-Uba till the adoption of the federal target programme for their relocation to the territory of Dagestan, "force methods of eviction of local residents continued to take place."

Interagency Working Group on Ethnic Relations engaged in solving problems of residents of villages of Khrakh-Uba and Uryan-Uba

On August 25, 2011, the first meeting of the Expert and Advisory Council of the Interagency Working Group on Ethnic Relations, chaired by Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, was held. Among other issues, the meeting discussed the problem of enclave villages of Khrakh-Uba and Uryan-Uba.

"Dmitry Kozak told me that he knows very well the problem of enclave villages and that he considered that problem, when he was the Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President to the Southern Federal District (SFD). He said that he would help solve the problem, and, in my turn, at his request, I presented him a complete package of documents on the issues; however, since then, nothing was done," Arif Kerimov stated.

Officials from the Department of Press Service and Information of the Government of the Russian Federation told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the results of work of the Expert and Advisory Council of the Interagency Working Group on Ethnic Relations would be announced at the next meeting of the Council. The time of the event was not reported.

"The target programme, which could solve the problem of relocation has not been finally adopted (on August 19, 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the federal target programme for relocation of the enclave residents to Dagestan would be prepared in the nearest time, note of the "Caucasian Knot"). People, forced to leave their houses, continue to live with their relatives. There are reports that the houses, belonging to people, who left for Dagestan, were sold for a pittance. The residents, who had not sold their property, being on the other side of the border, cannot return back Azerbaijani border guards simply do not allow them passing the border," Arif Kerimov states.

According to him, on September 1, 2011, Azerbaijani officials hindered opening of a school in the village of Khrakh-Uba. "Thus, the situation is far from being solved," Arif Kerimov emphasizes.

Evgeny Kozmin: Azerbaijan has right to take steps to prevent entering its territory by persons, who violated terms of migration regime

In his turn, Evgeny Kozmin, Consul of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "Residents of the village of Uryan-Uba accepted Azerbaijani citizenship and continue to live in the village as citizens of Azerbaijan. Residents of the other village, Khrakh-Uba, practically left the village. Each state has its own sovereign rights, including the right to prevent entering its territory by persons, who have violated the terms of the migration regime. The Azerbaijani side has taken such measures with regard to a number of residents of the village of Khrakh-Uba."

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Caucasian Knot

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