Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Russia Blames Azerbaijan For Karabakh Fighting
A Russian peacekeeper stands guard on a road in the Lachin corridor to
Nagorno-Karabakh on December 1, 2020.
Russia’s Defense Ministry accused the Azerbaijani army of violating the
ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh after deadly fighting that broke out there on
Wednesday morning.
A statement posted on the ministry’s website noted the “escalation of the
situation in the zone of responsibility” of Russian peacekeepers stationed in
Karabakh.
“In the area of the Sarybaba hill, the ceasefire regime was violated by the
armed forces of Azerbaijan,” read the statement. “The command of the Russian
peacekeeping contingent, together with representatives of the Azerbaijani and
Armenian sides, is taking measures to stabilize the situation.”
The Russian peacekeepers reported three instances of ceasefire violation by
Azerbaijan on Monday. The report was followed by a phone call between Russia’s
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov.
The Azerbaijani military claimed to have captured on Wednesday several hills in
Karabakh in retaliation for the alleged killing of an Azerbaijani soldier by
Karabakh Armenian forces. It released video of drone attacks on a Karabakh
Armenian military base and frontline position.
The authorities in Stepanakert did not immediately acknowledge any territorial
losses as a result of the fighting that led Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh
president, to order a “partial mobilization” of army reservists.
In televised remarks aired on Wednesday evening, Harutiunian praised the
Karabakh army’s response to the Azerbaijani attacks. He urged the territory’s
ethnic Armenian population to “maintain restraint and calm.”
“In order to deescalate and peacefully resolve the situation, necessary steps
are being taken through the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent
stationed in Artsakh,” Harutiunian said, adding that some progress has already
been made in that endeavor.
At the same time, he hinted at Karabakh Armenians’ growing discontent with the
Russian peacekeepers.
Meanwhile, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Azerbaijan’s actions as an
“aggression” and gross violation of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped
the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Karabakh. It called on the international
community to counter “Azerbaijan’s aggressive stance and actions.”
Earlier in the day, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry blamed Armenia for the
fighting, saying that Yerevan has not withdrawn its troops from Karabakh in
breach of the truce accord.
Armenian Oppositionist Arrested Again
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Opposition politician Avetik Chalabian stands trial in Yerevan, August
1, 2022.
An Armenian opposition figure prosecuted on what he sees as politically
motivated charges was arrested again on Wednesday one week after his release
from custody.
Avetik Chalabian went on trial on July 26 and walked free from a prison about 50
kilometers west of Yerevan the following day because of the expiry of his
detention period sanctioned by a court.
During the trial a prosecutor did not ask the presiding judge, Mnatsakan
Martirosian, to extend the detention and proposed that Chalabian be granted bail
instead. Nevertheless, Martirosian decided to send him back to the prison.
The veteran judge is notorious for having rarely made decisions going against
the current and former Armenian authorities’ wishes.
Chalabian and his lawyers condemned his latest decision as illegal. The
49-year-old oppositionist claimed that it was ordered by Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian.
Armenia - Judge Mnatsakan Martirosian presides over the trial of opposition
figure Avetik Chalabian, Yerevan, August 1, 2022.
“You should ask Nikol Pashinian why the holder of the post of the country’s
prime minister is going after a particular individual,” he told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service in the courtroom.
“As soon as there emerges a political alternative that has no connection with
the former authorities … these people [in power] immediately shatter the main
rationale for their rule,” he said.
Chalabian was first arrested on May 13 on charges of trying to pay university
students to participate in anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan.
The charges are based on leaked audio of short fragments of his conversation
with the head of the student council of the Armenian National Agrarian
University. Law-enforcement authorities say it shows that Chalabian offered 2
million drams ($4,800) for the presence of 2,000 students at daily opposition
rallies in Yerevan that began on May 1.
Chalabian’s lawyers say that the recording was doctored by the authorities. They
have repeatedly demanded the release of full audio of the conversation.
Chalabian, who leads a small opposition party, has also accused the authorities
of forcing his younger brother Ara to resign from Armenia’s Central Bank because
of his political activities.
Ara Chalabian headed the bank’s Department of Corporate Services and Development
until announcing last week that he is “no longer working at the Central Bank.”
He gave no reason for his exit.
Armenian news websites claimed earlier in July that the bank chairman, Martin
Galstian, told Chalabian to quit, citing an order from Pashinian. The Central
Bank and Pashinian’s office did not confirm or refute those reports.
Fighting Resumes In Karabakh
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Ethnic Armenian soldiers stand at a checkpoint near village
of Charektar, November 25, 2020
One Azerbaijani and two Armenian soldiers were reportedly killed in fighting in
Nagorno-Karabakh that resumed on Wednesday.
Karabakh’s Defense Army said that its soldiers died as a result of Azerbaijani
drone attacks which also left 14 other Karabakh servicemen wounded.
In a statement, the army said that Azerbaijani forces also used mortars and
grenade launchers to strike its frontline positions as well as one of its bases
two days after trying unsuccessfully to advance into western Karabakh.
Russian peacekeeping forces are “taking measures to stabilize the situation,”
added the statement.
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, ordered, meanwhile, a “partial
mobilization” of army reservists.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said earlier in the day that one of its
soldiers was killed when its positions in the Lachin district west of Karabakh
came under “intensive” fire in the morning. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry
afterwards blamed Armenia for the fighting, saying that Yerevan has not
withdrawn its troops from Karabakh in breach of the Russian-brokered ceasefire
that stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan put the blame on the Azerbaijani side
during a meeting with Andrzej Kasprzyk, head of a small OSCE mission monitoring
the ceasefire regime in the Karabakh conflict zone. Mirzoyan accused Baku of
“arbitrary interpretation” of the truce accord and attempts to “destabilize the
situation.”
The Karabakh foreign ministry likewise condemned the “new wave of Azerbaijan’s
aggressive actions against Artsakh.” It also said: “The Armenians of Artsakh are
steadfast and determined to live freely and independently in their land and
overcome all difficulties in a dignified manner.”
Karabakh’s leadership reported on Tuesday that Azerbaijan has demanded the
closure of the Lachin corridor serving as the sole overland link between Armenia
and Karabakh and said traffic between them must be “organized along a new route
in the near future.” Baku did not comment on that information as of Wednesday
afternoon.
The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Amen Grigorian, dismissed the
reported Azerbaijani demand as “not legitimate.” He argued that under the terms
of the 2020 truce accord Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia must work out before
2024 a plan for the construction of a new Armenia-Karabakh road.
“There is no agreed plan at the moment,” Grigorian told the Armenpress news
agency.
The Karabakh police said late in the afternoon that the existing highway
connecting Armenia and Karabakh remains open. “Free and safe passage is ensured
by the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” it said in a statement.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with his Azerbaijani counterpart
Zakir Hasanov by phone late on Tuesday.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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