Thursday,
French FM Calls For Unblocking Of Karabakh Road On Visits To Baku, Yerevan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian receives France’s Minister for Europe
and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna in Yerevan. .
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna called on
Azerbaijan to unblock the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia as
she visited Baku and Yerevan as part of her regional tour on Thursday.
While on the second leg of her tour in Yerevan Colonna was received by Armenian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
According to an Armenian government report, during their meeting the two, in
particular, stressed the need for “the immediate implementation of the decision
of the International Court of Justice and the need for Azerbaijan to unblock the
Lachin Corridor.”
The Hague-based court ruled in February, two months after government-backed
Azerbaijani protesters blocked the road, that Azerbaijan must “take all measures
at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo
along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
Azerbaijan tightened the effective blockade of the Armenian-populated region on
April 23 when its border service set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the
corridor from Armenia.
The move came after Baku accused Armenia of shipping military cargoes into
Nagorno-Karabakh, a claim denied in both Yerevan and Stepanakert.
The French minister and the Armenian premier also said during their meeting that
“unilateral actions by Azerbaijan” were unacceptable, considering that
Azerbaijani’s establishment of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor contradicted
the Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement that put an end to a six-week
Armenian-Azerbaijani war in 2020.
Under that deal Moscow deployed around 2,000 peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh
and along a five-kilometer-wide strip of land connecting the region with Armenia
and known as the Lachin Corridor. Yerevan and Stepanakert insist that there
should be only Russian presence in the corridor under the terms of the ceasefire.
A press release by the Armenian premier’s office said that Pashinian and Colonna
“also exchanged thoughts on issues related to the normalization of relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and quoted the French minister as saying that
Paris supports Yerevan “in the search for a just and sustainable peace.”
Pashinian and Colonna also highlighted the importance of “the effective
activities of the EU observation mission in Armenia in the context of ensuring
security and stability in the region.”
While visiting the Azerbaijani capital first Colonna also reportedly stressed at
a joint press conference with her Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov that
Azerbaijan must comply with the order by the International Court of Justice
regarding the Lachin Corridor.
She said that Azerbaijan should also take into account the positions of the
United States and France regarding the matter.
In separate statements on April 23, when Azerbaijan began building its
checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, Washington and Paris voiced their concerns
that the development could fuel further tensions and undermine peace efforts
between Yerevan and Baku.
Bayramov, for his part, claimed that Azerbaijan installed the checkpoint on the
Lachin road after “Yerevan ignored Baku’s calls to stop illegal use of the road.”
“The Lachin road is open and will remain open,” he claimed, echoing his
ministry’s earlier pledge that all “necessary conditions” will be created for “a
transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan” in both directions.
While in Baku the French foreign minister was also received by Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev.
Armenia Confirms Arrangement For Russia-Hosted Talks With Azerbaijan
The Armenian Foreign Ministry building in Yerevan (file photo).
Yerevan confirmed on Thursday that there is an agreement on holding talks of the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan hosted by their Russian counterpart
in the time to come.
“As we reported earlier, there are proposals for meetings, and now there are
also agreements,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The ministry promised to inform about the specific date of such talks
additionally.
Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry,
said earlier on Thursday that there is already an agreement to hold a trilateral
ministerial meeting in Russia. She said the date of such a meeting would be
announced later.
The planned meeting comes amid heightened tensions between Armenia and
Azerbaijan over the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh
with Armenia.
Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor on April 23, drawing
accusations from Yerevan and Stepanakert that it violates the terms of the
Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement that ended a bloody six-week
Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The deal brought about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to the region to protect some
120,000 ethnic Armenians living there, including their free movement along a
five-kilometer-wide land strip that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and
is known as the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint, which also drew concerns from Western
powers, tightened what already was an effective blockade of the region by
government-backed Azerbaijani protesters since December.
Azerbaijan’s State Border Service raised the country’s national flag near a
newly installed checkpoint at the Hakari river bridge marking the entrance to
the Lachin Corridor leading to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his visiting French counterpart
Catherine Colonna in Baku today, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov
claimed that Azerbaijan installed the checkpoint on the Lachin road after
“Yerevan ignored Baku’s calls to stop illegal use of the road.”
“The Lachin road is open and will remain open,” he claimed, echoing his
ministry’s earlier pledge that all “necessary conditions” will be created for “a
transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan” in both directions.
Speaking in Baku, Colonna called for the re-opening of the Lachin Corridor and
urged Azerbaijan to comply with a relevant order by the International Court of
Justice that ruled in February that the Azerbaijani government must “take all
measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and
cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
She said Azerbaijan should also take into account the positions of the United
States and France regarding the matter.
In separate statements on April 23, when Azerbaijan began building its
checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, Washington and Paris voiced their concerns
that the development could fuel further tensions and undermine peace efforts
between Yerevan and Baku.
The French minister was expected to arrive in Armenia later on April 27 for
meetings with the country’s leadership focused on the latest developments in the
region.
Before that, speaking at a cabinet session in Yerevan today, Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian urged Azerbaijan and Russia to abide by the terms of
the 2020 ceasefire that calls for only Russian presence and control in the
Lachin Corridor. He also called for a broader international presence in
Nagorno-Karabakh as “the only reliable way” of preventing “ethnic cleansings”
against the region’s Armenian population.
Ankara Slams Yerevan Over ‘Disgraceful’ Monument To Armenian Avengers
Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinian speaks at the unveiling ceremony for a
monument to Operation Nemesis participants, Yerevan, Armenia, April 25, 2023.
Turkey has strongly condemned the erection in Yerevan, Armenia, of a monument to
participants of Operation Nemesis, a 1920s program of assassinations of Ottoman
perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and Azerbaijani figures responsible for
massacres of Armenians.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
that the monument glorifies figures responsible for the murders of Ottoman
political and military figures, Azerbaijani officials and even some Ottoman
Armenians.
“The unveiling of this disgraceful monument glorifies a bloody operation that
paved the way for the horrendous terrorist attacks that killed 31 Turkish
diplomats and their families,” it said.
“Such provocative steps are incompatible with the spirit of the process of
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia and will in no way
contribute to efforts to establish peace and stability in the region. On the
contrary, they will have a negative impact on the normalization process,” the
Turkish ministry added.
Earlier, the installation of the monument dedicated to Operation Nemesis in
Yerevan was also condemned by Azerbaijan.
Officials in Armenia have not yet responded to statements from Turkey and
Azerbaijan regarding the monument to whom are known among Armenians as avengers.
The monument was ceremonially inaugurated in Yerevan’s Ring Park on April 25,
one day after Armenians in Armenia and around the world marked the 108th
anniversary of the Ottoman-era Genocide vehemently denied by Turkey.
Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinian attended the unveiling ceremony and made
remarks at the event.
According to the authors of this initiative, the monument perpetuates the memory
of the Armenians who took revenge on the Young Turk leaders who carried out the
Armenian Genocide in 1915 and the organizers of the massacres of Armenians in
Baku in 1918.
Between 1920 and 1922, a clandestine cell of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) carried out seven killings, the best-known of them
being the assassination of former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire Talaat
Pasha, the main orchestrator of the Armenian genocide, by Armenian Soghomon
Tehlirian in March 1921 in Berlin.
Tehlirian was arrested and tried by a jury in a German court and acquitted of
deliberately killing Talaat Pasha who had two years before been convicted by the
Ottoman Special Military Tribunal and sentenced to death in absentia for the
“massacre and annihilation of the Armenian population of the Empire.”
In early 2022, Armenia and Turkey embarked on their second attempt in the past
decade or so to normalize their historically strained relations. The governments
of the two countries appointed special envoys who held several rounds of
negotiations aimed at paving the way for establishing diplomatic relations and
opening the currently closed border.
Since then Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan exchanged messages and had a phone call to discuss prospects of
settling relations.
Also, Armenia sent rescuers and humanitarian aid to Turkey when a devastating
earthquake struck the country in February, with Ankara temporarily reopening a
crossing point at the border with Armenia for the humanitarian supply. Armenia
said then it expected Turkey to reopen the border permanently at least for third
countries’ citizens and diplomats in the near future.
Armenia Calls On Azerbaijan, Russia To Honor Karabakh Deal
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian chairs a cabinet session (file photo).
Armenia has urged Azerbaijan and Russia to abide by the terms of the ceasefire
in Nagorno-Karabakh, calling for a broader international presence in the region.
Speaking at a cabinet session in Yerevan on Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian again slammed Azerbaijan for fueling tensions in the region by
setting up a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor, the only road
connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
He stressed that the move made by Baku on April 23 was against the
Moscow-brokered agreement that put an end to a six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani war
in November 2020. Under the deal signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers were deployed in the region,
including along a five-kilometer-wide corridor linking it with Armenia.
Supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia were already severely restricted in
December when a group of government-backed Azerbaijani activists blocked the
road at a junction just off Stepanakert.
“If until recently the Lachin Corridor was closed under the pretext of a pseudo
environmental protest, it has now been officially closed by Azerbaijan,”
Pashinian said, claiming that Azerbaijan’s “provocative step” is aimed at
“aggravating the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Pashinian praised the international community for what he described as a “clear
assessment” of Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor,
but stressed that Azerbaijan’s ulterior motives included committing “ethnic
cleansing and genocide” of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians and that “this should be
in the center of our and international community’s attention.”
In their reactions to the Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor the
United States, France and other Western powers have voiced their concerns that
it could fuel further tensions and undermine peace efforts between Yerevan and
Baku.
Russia also described Azerbaijan’s “unilateral step” as “unacceptable.” It
appointed a new commander of its peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh on April 26,
three days after Azerbaijan set up the checkpoint, but officially provided no
reason for the replacement.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said that the checkpoint was
set up in response to “safety concerns in light of Armenia’s continued misuse of
the road for the transport of weapons and other illegal activities.”
Authorities in Baku brush aside accusations from the Armenian side, insisting
that when installing the border checkpoint, they acted on its sovereign
territory.
“Any interference by the Armenian side in the issue of [Azerbaijan’s] opening a
border checkpoint on its sovereign territory, which is an internal affair of
Azerbaijan, is an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and is contrary to the obligations assumed by Armenia in Prague and
Sochi, as well as to all norms and principles of international law,”
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, reacting to
Pashinian’s remarks.
Earlier, Azerbaijan pledged that “necessary conditions” will be created for “a
transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan” in both directions and that the control mechanism will be
carried out in cooperation with Russian peacekeepers.
The Armenian leader, meanwhile, stressed today that under the terms of the
Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement it is only the Russian peacekeepers who must
control the Lachin Corridor and Azerbaijan must not obstruct free movement along
the corridor.
Speaking about the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians,
Pashinian stressed that they should become “a subject of negotiations between
Stepanakert and Baku in an international format.”
“As for a possible peace accord between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is clear that
it should have a precise and effective system of mechanisms of guarantees of
implementation and settling disputes,” Pashinian said.
“There should be a clear fixation of parameters for border delimitation, and
clear mechanisms of excluding any escalation should be put in place,” he added.
Pashinian pledged that Armenia will continue to make efforts to prevent a
further escalation of the situation and reach a comprehensive settlement, but
said that the need for a broader international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh and
the Lachin Corridor is becoming increasingly urgent.
“Azerbaijan’s efforts to turn Nagorno-Karabakh into a new scaffold for Armenians
must be stopped, and the only reliable way of doing that is the presence of
representatives having a broad international mandate in Nagorno-Karabakh. As the
first step it is necessary that an urgent international fact-finding mission be
sent to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor,” the Armenian leader concluded.
Russia Names New Chief Of Peacekeepers In Nagorno-Karabakh
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Aleksandr Lentsov (file photo)
Russia has appointed a new head of its peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh as
tensions remain high between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Lachin Corridor,
the only road connecting the mostly Armenian-populated region with Armenia.
The Russian Defense Ministry on April 26 announced the appointment of Aleksandr
Lentsov to replace Andrei Volkov, without providing a reason.
The announcement came hours after a telephone conversation between Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during
which the Lachin Corridor and the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh
were reportedly discussed.
A statement from the Kremlin said the discussion between Putin and Pashinian
focused on “resolving practical tasks to ensure stability and security in the
region.” It added that they confirmed the importance of observing previous
agreements reached by Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Armenia has voiced increasing frustration that the Russian peacekeeping force
deployed in 2020 as part of a Russian-brokered cease-fire to end a six-week war
has failed to keep open the Lachin Corridor. Tensions have flared in recent
months over blockades on the road by government-backed Azerbaijani protesters,
and the availability of food in Nagorno-Karabakh has become acute due to
irregular deliveries.
Lentsov is already in Nagorno-Karabakh, and on April 26 was to hold negotiations
with the Azerbaijani side regarding the removal of a checkpoint that Azerbaijan
set up on the Lachin Corridor on Sunday, according to Samvel Babayan, leader of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s United Motherland party and former commander of the region’s
defense army.
Babayan said it was time for the Russians to show their strength to make
Azerbaijan honor its obligations regarding the corridor.
“If they [Russians] are unable to unblock this road, they will have nothing else
to do but gather their things and leave [Nagorno-Karabakh],” the former Karabakh
defense army commander told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Lentsov has served as an adviser to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and
until 2020 was deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian military’s ground
forces. Lentsov in 2014-15 was active in Ukraine as the head of a so-called
joint center for cease-fire control, coordination, and stabilization in the
eastern Donbas region.
His appointment comes three days after Azerbaijan’s State Border Service set up
a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor on the border with Armenia.
Prior to that Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense accused the Armenian side of
shuttling “continuing military supplies from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.” The
claim has repeatedly been denied in both Yerevan and Stepanakert.
The Armenian side, for its part, accused Azerbaijan of seeking a pretext for
isolating Karabakh Armenians.
Armenia said on April 24 that it would appeal to the International Court of
Justice over Azerbaijan’s installation of the checkpoint, calling it a “flagrant
violation” of Baku’s obligation to ensure free movement.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said the checkpoint was set
up in response to “safety concerns in light of Armenia’s continued misuse of the
road for the transport of weapons and other illegal activities.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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