Protesters Unite Against Mining in Kajaran

KAJARAN, Nagorno-Karabagh—Recently, in Syujik, in the southern region of Armenia bordering Iran, the villagers of Kajaran, headed by their mayor, protested against the illegal government decision known as #627. Taken without consulting the villagers—as the law requires—and without informing the public, #627 effectively circumvented the law. It involves the allocation of 600 hectares of village land for molybdenum mining by a German company, with the governor of Syunik as a shareholder. As a result of the decision, the village, with its 131 families, must be evacuated and its church and cemetery lost to mining. This is even more of a tragedy as Kajaran is a border village and essential to Armenia’s national security.

On Dec. 29, 2011, environmental activists, other progressive groups, and hundreds of citizens, including Kajaran Mayor Raffik Ataian, joined together with banners, placards, drums, and bull horns in front of the government building chanting, singing, and yelling, “Free, green Armenia,” “Save Syunik,” “Courageous people unite,” “The villagers hold the border”!

Molybdenum mining is very dangerous and toxic. In Armenia, environmentalists have been raising the issue of mining for years, yet proper environmental guidelines continue to be ignored, while the air, water, and land become increasingly polluted. Indiscriminate mining in Armenia has caused major environmental and ecological damage, and villagers have been plagued with health problems; any profit to Armenia or to the local population has been minimal, at best.

On Dec. 29, 2011, environmental activists, other progressive groups, and hundreds of citizens, including Kajaran Mayor Raffik Ataian, joined together with banners, placards, drums, and bull horns in front of the government building chanting, singing, and yelling, “Free, green Armenia,” “Save Syunik,” “Courageous people unite,” “The villagers hold the border”! The activists and ordinary citizens were showing their support for the plight of the Kajaran villagers and the environmental predicament in Armenia.

Zaruhie Postanjian, a Heritage Party parliamentary member, also spoke out during the protest. “At a time when villages are being emptied in Armenia and the government pretends to be concerned about border villages for national security reasons, we see then the same government making the secret and illegal decision #627,” she said. “I ask, did the government ever build a village or are they only in the business of destroying them, as is the plan for Kajaran?”

Lawyer Meri Khachatrian confirmed that the government’s decision was in violation of the law. Villagers were not informed or consulted, she said, and the government is now trying to pressure village leaders and the local population to be able to take their lands for mining.

Mayor Ataian, on behalf of his villagers, said “they will not leave the village with nowhere to go, will not leave their lands, the grave of their parents, and the Armenian church in Kajaran.” They will not give up 600 hectares of land and their livelihood for any mine.

As a result of the protest, the government (mining company) removed the bulldozers and excavators from the area. The protesters then marched to the presidential building, where they asked to meet with President Bako Sahakyan, but were told “the president is busy and cannot meet” them. The protesters left a letter addressed to the president, demanding the dissolution of government decision #627.

The protest was organized by the Trchkan Civic Initiative, which was also recently successful in stopping the building of a hydropower plant that aimed to destroy the Trchkan waterfall, a natural preservation site in Armenia.

Other participants in the Dec. 29 protest represented the Heritage Party, the Sardarapat Movement, the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women, and the social movement We Are the Owners of Our City, and included members from the environmentalist-cyclists’ organization, a number of environmental and human rights organizations and social movements, and concerned citizens.

Original reporting in Armenian by Lusine Sargsyan for Organize-Now.am, additional reporting and translation by Maro Matosian.

photo by: Avet Baze Avetisyan