InternationalVisiting the Debed River’s fertile valley
It is also home to the disappearing Udi nation
Published: Friday July 10, 2009
The fertile Debed valley, where Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia intersect, as seen from Odzun. Tatul Hakobyan / Armenian Reporter
Debedavan, Tavush Province, Armenia - 73-year-old Misha Gevorgyan moved to Debedavan two decades ago after being forced from his village in the region of Vartashen in Azerbaijan (now renamed Oghuz).
Despite his advanced age, he continues to work hard. Every morning he wakes up at dawn to tend to his fields.
"The soil here is sandy, loose, and requires a lot of water. This soil here is more fertile than in Vartashen. Every year we plant barley; this year we planted watermelons," explains Mr. Gevorgyan as he points out the growing watermelons with his cane.
His property, like the property of most of his fellow villagers, lies along the banks of the Debed River. These are the most fertile lands in Armenia, where even subtropical fruits grow - olives, oriental persimmons, pomegranates, and every other kind of fruit that grows in other regions of the country. However, this fertile valley was once famous for its peach orchards, which in the early 1990s perished from a lack of irrigation. The orchards were irrigated through pumping stations, which were no longer operational because of the energy crisis at the time.
Vanik Movsisyan came to Debedavan from the village of Jalet in Vartashen. "A villager's problems are always with him, wherever he resides. Fertilizers are expensive, energy is expensive; sometimes we have difficulty selling our harvest. This year, we had a good cherry harvest, but we couldn't sell it and some of it simply perished," said Mr. Movsisyan sadly, but admitted that only the person who doesn't work will live poorly in the Debed valley.
Debedavan is one of the lowest points in Armenia at 350 meters above sea level. It is adjacent to ethnic Azerbaijani villages found in Georgian territory. During the Soviet era, the overriding majority of residents in Debedavan were Azerbaijanis; only 4-5 Armenian families lived here - diaspora Armenians who had come to Armenia during the Great Repatriation of the 1940s.
The Udi nation
Along with those Armenians who fled Azerbaijan and today live in Debedavan and the adjacent villages of Ptghavan, Hakhtanak, and Bagratashen in the Debed River basin, are the Udi people, who are considered to be ancient habitants of historical Aghvank. Their language is neither close to the Indo-European Armenian nor the Turkic Azerbaijani language. The Udis have their own language, which they have retained until modern times. Their language belongs to the Caucasian family of languages. There is the position among some historians that one of the provinces of historic Armenia, Utikim comes directly from the Udis.
Having lived for centuries in their homeland, which is today found near the Kura River basin in central Azerbaijan, the Udis have preserved their traditions and language. In the 5th century, the Udis accepted Armenia's Apostolic Church, which for their subsequent history had a decisive significance. The Udis, along with their own language, began using Armenian words, and following certain Armenian traditions. Globally, there are about 8-10 thousand Udis and they are considered to be a nation on the brink of extinction.
In Azerbaijan, the Udis were considered so close with the Armenians that they too were forced to flee along with the Armenians during the ethnic cleansing at the end of the 1980s. Some of them migrated to Armenia. In Debedavan today, there are 11 Udi families. One of those Udis is Seda Kumisyan, some of whose relatives stayed behind in Vartashen. "I'm a pure Udi, but because my husband is Armenian, and as all Armenian-Udi mixed-marriage families were forced to leave Azerbaijan, we too left," she said.
According to the last Armenian census, there are only 22 Udis in the republic. This figure is obviously wrong, as in the villages of the Debed valley alone, their numbers hover at about 30. Udis living in Armenia have presented themselves as Armenian when filling out the category of nationality on the census.
Ethnographer Hranush Kharatian, who is the author of several studies on the Udis of Armenia, says that their numbers reach up to 200 but because they are not an organized community, they are not considered to be a national minority in Armenia.
The village head of Debedavan, Salavat Papayan, says that they do not differentiate between Armenians and Udis and they continue to live in harmony as they have done for centuries in Vartashen and neighboring Kutkashen (today's Gabala).
Mr. Papayan explains with gratification that in the winter Debedavan and the Debed Valley hardly get any snow and by mid-January the temperatures rise above zero. Today, there are about 850 people who live in Debedavan. The villagers' main complaints are the absence of natural gas and the high cost of wood for fuel.
"In general, the villagers cultivate 250 hectares of land. This is the third year that they have planted watermelons; the first year they harvested 200 tons of watermelon and the second year they were able to harvest 400 tons. This year we anticipate about 1,000 tons of watermelon. Some continue to cultivate grapes. During the Soviet era we had 150 hectares of vineyards, half of which we have been able to save. In the village, we have a factory that collects the grapes from the villagers. But the prices are low. Last year they gave 130 AMD per kilo of grapes and of that, the villager really makes only 40 AMD per kilo. During the last several years, we have started planting sunflowers, because they sell well," said the village head.
Mr. Papayan vividly remembers the peach orchards in 1988, which they were able to harvest for another two years. "Those orchards dried up because of a lack of water. Now we have planted another 20 hectares of peach trees," he said.
Armenia's peach region
The region of Noyemberian, part of which is in the Debed Valley, was also known for its peach orchards. The Ayrum Preserve factory, which had been built on the shores of the Debed, used to buy the entire harvest from the region and also provided employment to several thousand villagers. Today, the factory is in dilapidated condition and operates at a bare minimum.
