Thursday, U.S. ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Worsening Conditions In Karabakh U.S. - State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller answers questions during a news briefing at the State Department, Washington, July 18, 2023. The United States on Thursday again expressed serious concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and renewed its calls for the immediate reopening of the only road connecting the region to Armenia. “We are deeply concerned about deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the continued blockage of food, medicine, and other goods essential to a dignified existence,” Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman, said in a statement. “The United States has worked continuously with the sides over the past several weeks to allow humanitarian assistance to reach the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said. “We reiterate our call to immediately re-open the Lachin corridor to humanitarian, commercial, and passenger traffic. “Further, officials from Baku and representatives from Stepanakert should convene without delay to agree on the means of transporting critical provisions to the men, women, and children of Nagorno-Karabakh – including additional supply routes – and resume discussions on all outstanding issues. Basic humanitarian assistance should never be held hostage to political disagreements.” Miller’s statement came as Karabakh residents struggled with worsening shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities nearly nine months after Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin corridor. The Armenian-populated region was reportedly running out of bread, which became its main staple food after Baku tightened the blockade in mid-June. Nevertheless, the Karabakh Armenians remain strongly opposed an alternative, Azerbaijani-controlled supply line for Karabakh demanded by Baku. Dozens of them continued to block on Thursday a road leading to the Azerbaijani town of Aghdam to prevent two Azerbaijani trucks loaded with 40 tons of flour from entering Karabakh. They as well as the authorities in Stepanakert believe that the proposed aid is a publicity stunt aimed at legitimizing the blockade and helping Azerbaijan regain full control over Karabakh. Washington has repeatedly called for an end to the blockade. Baku has dismissed such appeals. Azerbaijani officials say that renewed relief supplies through the Lachin corridor are conditional on the Karabakh Armenians agreeing to the Aghdam route. Armenia, Greece Plan Joint Weapons Production Armenia - Armenian and Greek military officials meet in Yerevan, June 2, 2022. Armenia announced on Thursday plans to jointly develop and produce weapons with Greece, one of its closest Western partners. The Armenian government approved a draft Greek-Armenian agreement on bilateral “military-technical cooperation” which is due to be signed soon. A government statement said the agreement calls for mutual research on and transfer of defense technology as well as the creation of Greek-Armenian joint ventures that will manufacture military equipment and ammunition. It did not specify what type of weapons will be produced and where. According to the statement, the two sides will also train military personnel and repair military hardware imported from “third countries.” These joint activities will be coordinated by a commission to be set up by the Greek and Armenian militaries. Russia has long been Armenia’s principal supplier of weapons and ammunition. But with Russian-Armenian relations worsening since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia embroiled in a large-scale war with Ukraine, Yerevan has been looking for other arms suppliers. It reportedly signed last year major contracts for the purchase of Indian multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-tank rockets and ammunition. Greece has trained hundreds of Armenian officers at its military academies since the 1990s but is not known to have supplied any heavy weaponry to the South Caucasus country so far. Athens and Yerevan appear to have explored the possibility of closer military ties in recent years. A Greek delegation headed by Deputy Defense Minister Nikolaos Chardalias visited Armenia in June 2022 for talks with Armenian military officials. The Armenian Defense Ministry reported at the time that they discussed “developing cooperation in the military-technical sphere” in line with the “warm, friendly relations between the two countries.” It said regional security was also on the agenda of the talks. Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited Yerevan in September 2022 in the wake of Azerbaijan’s offensive military operations at the border with Armenia. “I am here to express our solidarity with the Armenian government and the Armenian people,” Dendias said after talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan. Greece and Armenia have also been seeking closer cooperation in a trilateral format involving Cyprus. Armenian, Cypriot and Greek officials held “defense consultations” in Cyprus in July this year. Yerevan Hits Back At Moscow Armenia - The building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan. Armenia criticized Russia on Thursday for linking Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s decision to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the Russian claims are “causing bewilderment and disappointment” in Yerevan. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday that the blockade and the resulting humanitarian crisis in the Armenian-populated region are a “consequence of Armenia’s recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan.” She pointed to joint statements to that effect that were adopted by Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at their talks organized by the European Union in October 2022 and May 2023. The statement issued as a result of the 2022 summit in Prague upheld a December 1991 declaration in which Armenia, Azerbaijan and other newly independent Soviet republics recognized each other’s Soviet-era borders. In an extensive written response to Moscow, Zakharova’s Armenian opposite number, Ani Badalian, insisted that “nothing new was decided at Prague” as Aliyev and Pashinian simply reaffirmed their countries’ compliance with the Almaty Declaration. Pashinian has repeatedly made a similar point. His political opponents and other critics argue, however, that the Armenian parliament ratified the declaration in February 1992 with serious reservations relating to Karabakh. Badalian said Russia itself has “repeatedly recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” She also repeated Yerevan’s complains about the Russian peacekeepers’ failure to stop Azerbaijan from blocking traffic through the Lachin corridor Pashinian likewise hit out at the peacekeepers as he opened a weekly session of his cabinet in Yerevan on Thursday. He said that Azerbaijan is continuing its “genocidal policy” against Karabakh’s population “in the presence of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.” The bitter recriminations underscore Russia’s deepening rift with Armenia resulting in large measure from what Yerevan sees as a lack of Russian support in the conflict with Azerbaijan. Badalian pointed out that Moscow ignored an Armenian request for military assistance made when Azerbaijan launched offensive military operations along Armenia’s borders last September. The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the Azerbaijani “aggression” began just days after Baku rejected a Russian peace plan that would indefinitely delay agreement on Karabakh’s status. Yerevan backed that plan in August 2022, according to her. Karabakh Leader To Resign • Astghik Bedevian Nagorno-Karabakh - President Arayik Harutiunian is puctured during an interview, August 6, 2023. Ending months of speculation, Arayik Harutiunian, Nagorno-Karabakh’s president, announced on Thursday his decision to resign amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Karabakh caused by Azerbaijan’s eight-month blockade of the Lachin corridor. In a written statement, Harutiunian said the Armenian-populated region needs a new leadership in order to better cope with grave challenges facing it almost three years after the disastrous war with Azerbaijan. “My background and Azerbaijan’s attitude towards it are artificially creating a number of conditions generating significant problems with regard to our further steps and flexible policy,” he said. “Besides, the defeat in the war and the resulting difficulties that emerged in the country reduced trust in the authorities and especially the president, which represents a very serious obstacle to further good governance.” Harutiunian said that he made a final decision to step down two days ago after analyzing his “contacts with all internal and external actors and the public.” He added that he will formally submit his resignation to the Karabakh parliament on Friday. Harutiunian has periodically fueled speculation about his impending resignation since Azerbaijan blocked last December traffic through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia. In March, he helped to enact a constitutional amendment that empowered the local parliament to elect an interim president in case of his resignation. The latter would serve for the rest of Harutiunian’s five-year term in office which was due to expire in May 2025. The Karabakh leader did not reveal the name of his preferred successor. Some Armenian media outlets reported that the secretary of his security council, Samvel Shahramanian, is the favorite for the job. Shahramanian was appointed by Harutiunian as state minister on Thursday. He was among Karabakh representatives who negotiated with Azerbaijani officials at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh early this year. Harutiunian’s party controls the largest number of parliament seats but does not have an overall majority in the legislature. It helped to install an opposition figure, Davit Ishkhanian, as parliament speaker earlier in August. Ishkhanian will perform the presidential duties pending the election of Harutiunian’s successor. Harutiunian’s resignation appears to have been precipitated by the tightening in mid-June of the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor which further aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential times in Karabakh. The authorities in Stepanakert admitted on Tuesday that the region is running out of flour. They said that from now on each family in Karabakh’s capital and other towns will be allowed to buy only one loaf of bread a day. Despite the severe crisis, the Karabakh Armenian continue to resist Baku’s attempts to put in place an alternative, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route for Karabakh in place of the Lachin corridor. They remain strongly opposed to the restoration of Azerbaijani rule in Karabakh. Karabakh’s main political factions, including Harutiunian’s party, have repeatedly denounced Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s readiness to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over the region. Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.