Azerbaijan and Armenia announced on Friday that four border villages were returned to Azerbaijan by the latter, a key step towards normalizing ties between the historic rivals.

The move, which has sparked protracted protests in Armenia, represents an important move toward reaching a comprehensive peace agreement after years of fruitless talks mediated by Russia and Western countries.

The Caucasus countries, both former Soviet republics, fought two wars in the 1990s and 2020 for control of the region of Karabakh. Azerbaijan recaptured it last year in a lightning offensive, ending three decades of Armenian separatist rule over the enclave.

Armenia's security service confirmed on Friday that its border guards had taken up new positions in the east of the country, reflecting a recently brokered border demarcation deal that cedes the villages to Azerbaijani control.

Azerbaijan's deputy prime minister, Shahin Mustafayev, announced separately that his country's border guards had taken over control of the four settlements. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed in March to return the four abandoned villages, which were seized in the 1990s, as part of efforts to secure a lasting peace deal. The two countries agreed earlier this month on the new demarcation of 12.7 kilometers (almost seven miles) of their border, returning the villages of Baghanis Ayrum, Ashaghi Askipara, Kheyrimli and Ghizilhajili to Azerbaijan. Pashinyan has hailed the agreement as "very important" for Armenia's sovereignty and said it "brings our security and stability to a new level."

The territory ceded by Yerevan is of strategic importance for landlocked Armenia because it controls sections of a vital highway to Georgia.

Armenian residents of nearby settlements say the move could cut them off from the rest of the country and accuse Pashinyan of unilaterally giving away territory without getting anything in return. Pashinyan has said Armenia will build new roads in the area over the next few months. The premier's decision has sparked weeks of anti-government protests in Armenia, with thousands of demonstrators led by cleric Bagrat Galstanyan demanding Pashinyan's resignation. A fresh anti-government protest is scheduled for Sunday.

A 5.8-kilometer section of the border near the Armenian village of Kirants will be guarded "according to a transitional scheme until July 24," Armenia's national security service said on Friday. The village mayor has said locals will be allowed to use a section of the road, which will be transferred to Azerbaijani control until new roads are built. Local media reported that some Kirants residents had dismantled their houses and fled the village, which is located just meters (yards) from the redrawn border.

Azerbaijan and Armenia still have other unresolved territorial disputes, though. These are mostly focused on enclaves that the two sides want the other party to relinquish control of or provide access to.

On Wednesday, Pashinyan urged his fellow citizens to stop seeking the restoration of "historic Armenia," saying the path the country has been following has led to its present state, the Republic of Armenia. "The path we are following has led us to a specific state with specific borders. This is not a defeat, but a great victory of our consciousness over our feelings," Pashinyan said while speaking at the Armenian Parliament in the nation's capital, Yerevan, in response to calls urging him to retake the Karabakh region.

Many Armenians viewed the surrender of separatist forces as a defeat for their country. "A state ideology is being formed in Armenia, the core of which is the state, sovereignty and independence. This is a historic achievement for the citizens of Armenia," Pashinyan said, referring to those who want further confrontation on the issue.

Pashinyan described a road being built in Armenia's Tavush region near the border with Azerbaijan as "a path from historic Armenia to real," implying that Yerevan has abandoned any further claims over Karabakh to pursue rapprochement with Azerbaijan.