Syunik Province in Armenia is a focal point of reconciliation efforts between the country and its longtime opponent, Azerbaijan. A proposed trade corridor named after US President Donald Trump, the centerpiece of the provisional peace deal signed in Washington last August, is expected to soon cut through the province.

For decades, however, SyunikProvince has been unsettled by conflict. The experience of Nerkin Hand, a village close to the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier, is illustrative of the damage done by the absence of peace.

Only about 20 families remain in Nerkin Hand. From the village, Azerbaijani military outposts are visible in the surrounding hills, closing off the village on three sides. A single shoddy road is the only way in and out of town. Water supplies are limited. Sporadic gunfire can often be heard, mostly at night. Farmland that once sustained families now lies unused or lost to the new border with Azerbaijan. Residents must be wary of landmines in the nearby woods.

“We can’t really farm anymore,” says Andranik, 55. “The land is just sitting there.”

Hasmik, 67, lost a son during the First Karabakh War in the 1990s: she hasn’t visited her son’s grave in three years. The cemetery lies below a military post now occupied by Azerbaijani troops, just a few hundred meters from her home. Concern about security “affects me deeply, my spirit, my soul,” she says.

“They shoot during the night, sometimes in the day,” adds Hasmik’s husband, Rafik, 72. “Sometimes just in the air, sometimes at us.”

While residents live between war and peace, the planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which is projected to traverse Syunik to connect Azerbaijan proper with its exclave of Nakhchivan, has left some Armenians apprehensive. Key details about TRIPP have yet to be finalized, and many worry that the corridor, which will bisect Syunik from east to west, may end up impeding north-south trade between Armenia and Iran, viewed by locals as critical for the area’s economy.

Despite the hazards, those still living in the area seem determined to endure. In the neighboring village of Tsav, Margarit, 45, and her family opened Basuta Guesthouse in 2020, just across from an Armenian military post. It has evolved into an oasis for visitors.

“You can’t live in fear,” Margarit said. “Loving your country is not just about taking up arms, it’s also about caring for your village.”