Tweet
AZERBAIJANI BORDER VILLAGES LIVING ON THE EDGE
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #736
May 29 2014
Residents were happy to get a new road linking them with the rest of
Azerbaijan, but they lost their water supply in the process.
By Afgan Mukhtarli - Caucasus
Residents of an Azerbaijani village close to the border with Armenia
say they feel neglected by their government, and have seen little
of the large sums of money earmarked for impoverished frontier areas
like theirs.
Gushchu Ayrim, in the Qazakh district in northeast Azerbaijan, was
once considered prosperous but is now barely surviving. It was badly
damaged by fighting during the Nagorny Karabakh war of the early
1990s. Worse was to come, as residents found themselves surrounded
on three sides by Armenian-held land, restricting their movement and
leaving them constantly at risk of cross-border gunfire.
A 1994 ceasefire brought the Karabakh war to an end, but there has been
no progress towards a political settlement, and shots are frequently
fired across the front lines, in both directions.
The Azerbaijani government is trying to throw villages like Gushchu
Ayrim a lifeline with millions of US dollars in infrastructure
spending. Last year, it replaced the rough track leading to the village
with 30 kilometres of asphalted road. The government's procurement
agency, say the government spent 11 million manats (14 million dollars)
on the project.
However, the villagers say they ended up worse off than before after
their water supply was accidentally cut off by the road-builders. The
mains pipe bringing spring water to the village was smashed to pieces.
"There's a spring on the edge of the village, right on the border
with Armenia. The water from this spring flowed to the centre of the
village, to the cafe," local resident Khanim Ismayilova told IWPR.
"When they were building the road, it ended up being bulldozered. They
gave us an asphalt road, but what are we supposed to do for drinking
water?"
Her neighbour Nuru Hajiyev said the loss of the water supply was
especially hard to take since getting the road had been such an
achievement. Before it was laid, it was often impossible to travel
out of the village in autumn and winter.
"We wrote and wrote everywhere, even to the president and the first
lady. Finally, they found the money and the road was repaired,"
he said. "But now we don't have any water, since no one thought to
repair the pipes."
Hajiyev said that when he asked the local authorities to carry out
the necessary repairs, "they promised to do it, but they haven't kept
their word".
The villagers have to get their water from sources in the surrounding
hills, sometimes several kilometres away. Many use donkeys to transport
the water, but Irada Iskanderova does not have one so she has to
carry it herself.
"If the water was just for drinking, we could carry as much as we need
on donkeys. But we need a lot of water to wash clothes and ourselves,"
she said. "How are we to irrigate our plants and water our animals?"
Her neighbour Emil Iskandarov described the particular risks of
keeping livestock over the dry season.
"Everyone has two or three animals, and it's hot in summer and we'll
have nothing to give them to drink," he said. "We'll have to take them
to the spring, right on the border, and it's dangerous there. There
are landmines, and the Armenians might open fire at any moment."
The mayor of Gushchu Ayrim, Elman Nasibov, said villagers were
overlooking all the good things the government had done for them.
"We have a new road and a new health centre. A new school building
is being built, and it will be opened by this September," he said.
"Damaged houses are being repaired. Problems are being solved all
the time, and the water problem is going to be solved, too."
The physical risks and underdevelopment characteristic of border
villages are forcing people to leave in search of work elsewhere,
mostly in the capital Baku.
"Villagers are leaving areas near the front line because of the social
problems," Natiq Jafarli of the opposition REAL movement told IWPR.
"As part of its regional development plan, the government has...
assigned two billion manats [to border areas]. But like many others
before it, this programme has not been completed, and many problems
remain."
Last month, Qanira Pashayeva, a non-aligned member of parliament,
proposed a package of benefits for frontier villages - free utilities,
free education, and incentives for businesses that created workplaces.
Her proposal was backed by Aydin Mirzazade from the ruling Yeni
Azerbaijan party.
Addressing parliament, Mirzazade added his own ideas - freeing farms
and businesses from taxes, and paying teachers and healthcare workers
higher salaries to encourage them to stay.
Afgan Mukhtarli is a journalist in Azerbaijan writing for
www.civil-forum.az.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/azerbaijani-border-villages-living-edge
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #736
May 29 2014
Residents were happy to get a new road linking them with the rest of
Azerbaijan, but they lost their water supply in the process.
By Afgan Mukhtarli - Caucasus
Residents of an Azerbaijani village close to the border with Armenia
say they feel neglected by their government, and have seen little
of the large sums of money earmarked for impoverished frontier areas
like theirs.
Gushchu Ayrim, in the Qazakh district in northeast Azerbaijan, was
once considered prosperous but is now barely surviving. It was badly
damaged by fighting during the Nagorny Karabakh war of the early
1990s. Worse was to come, as residents found themselves surrounded
on three sides by Armenian-held land, restricting their movement and
leaving them constantly at risk of cross-border gunfire.
A 1994 ceasefire brought the Karabakh war to an end, but there has been
no progress towards a political settlement, and shots are frequently
fired across the front lines, in both directions.
The Azerbaijani government is trying to throw villages like Gushchu
Ayrim a lifeline with millions of US dollars in infrastructure
spending. Last year, it replaced the rough track leading to the village
with 30 kilometres of asphalted road. The government's procurement
agency, say the government spent 11 million manats (14 million dollars)
on the project.
However, the villagers say they ended up worse off than before after
their water supply was accidentally cut off by the road-builders. The
mains pipe bringing spring water to the village was smashed to pieces.
"There's a spring on the edge of the village, right on the border
with Armenia. The water from this spring flowed to the centre of the
village, to the cafe," local resident Khanim Ismayilova told IWPR.
"When they were building the road, it ended up being bulldozered. They
gave us an asphalt road, but what are we supposed to do for drinking
water?"
Her neighbour Nuru Hajiyev said the loss of the water supply was
especially hard to take since getting the road had been such an
achievement. Before it was laid, it was often impossible to travel
out of the village in autumn and winter.
"We wrote and wrote everywhere, even to the president and the first
lady. Finally, they found the money and the road was repaired,"
he said. "But now we don't have any water, since no one thought to
repair the pipes."
Hajiyev said that when he asked the local authorities to carry out
the necessary repairs, "they promised to do it, but they haven't kept
their word".
The villagers have to get their water from sources in the surrounding
hills, sometimes several kilometres away. Many use donkeys to transport
the water, but Irada Iskanderova does not have one so she has to
carry it herself.
"If the water was just for drinking, we could carry as much as we need
on donkeys. But we need a lot of water to wash clothes and ourselves,"
she said. "How are we to irrigate our plants and water our animals?"
Her neighbour Emil Iskandarov described the particular risks of
keeping livestock over the dry season.
"Everyone has two or three animals, and it's hot in summer and we'll
have nothing to give them to drink," he said. "We'll have to take them
to the spring, right on the border, and it's dangerous there. There
are landmines, and the Armenians might open fire at any moment."
The mayor of Gushchu Ayrim, Elman Nasibov, said villagers were
overlooking all the good things the government had done for them.
"We have a new road and a new health centre. A new school building
is being built, and it will be opened by this September," he said.
"Damaged houses are being repaired. Problems are being solved all
the time, and the water problem is going to be solved, too."
The physical risks and underdevelopment characteristic of border
villages are forcing people to leave in search of work elsewhere,
mostly in the capital Baku.
"Villagers are leaving areas near the front line because of the social
problems," Natiq Jafarli of the opposition REAL movement told IWPR.
"As part of its regional development plan, the government has...
assigned two billion manats [to border areas]. But like many others
before it, this programme has not been completed, and many problems
remain."
Last month, Qanira Pashayeva, a non-aligned member of parliament,
proposed a package of benefits for frontier villages - free utilities,
free education, and incentives for businesses that created workplaces.
Her proposal was backed by Aydin Mirzazade from the ruling Yeni
Azerbaijan party.
Addressing parliament, Mirzazade added his own ideas - freeing farms
and businesses from taxes, and paying teachers and healthcare workers
higher salaries to encourage them to stay.
Afgan Mukhtarli is a journalist in Azerbaijan writing for
www.civil-forum.az.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/azerbaijani-border-villages-living-edge