Author: Ani Tigranian

Azerbaijani forces open fire at combine harvester in Nagorno-Karabakh

Ani Tigranian

 14:55,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 17, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military has again opened gunfire at a combine harvester in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Ministry of Defense said in a statement Thursday.

The Azeri troops opened small arms fire around 11:30, on August 17, in the direction of a combine harvester working in the fields of Sarushen.

No one was hurt in the shooting.

Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said they’ve reported the incident to the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s command.

Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN Security Council Briefing on Armenia and Azerbaijan

Ani Tigranian
United States Mission to the United Nations
Aug 16 2023
Home | | 

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York

AS DELIVERED

Let me start by thanking you, Director Wosornu, for being here with us this afternoon.

Colleagues, the United States is concerned about the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. And we are deeply troubled by the closure of the Lachin Corridor, which has cut off access to essential goods and exacerbated the humanitarian situation. Access to food, medicine, baby formula, and energy should never be held hostage.

We urge the government of Azerbaijan to restore free movement through the corridor – so commercial, humanitarian, and private vehicles can reach the population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

We also note the possibility of compromise on additional routes for humanitarian supplies. And understand that, since last December, the ICRC has facilitated medical transfers for more than 700 people in need of medical care thanks to a critical lifeline for medically vulnerable individuals through the Lachin Corridor. Neutral, impartial, humane, and independent humanitarian access and assistance – including medical transfers – must not be hindered. Full stop.

Colleagues, I want to stress the need for the parties to continue talks aimed at a lasting, peaceful resolution to the conflict – and the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. These peace discussions require all parties to exercise creativity, flexibility, and compromise. And let me be clear: peace in the region must include protections for the rights and security of individuals in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The United States urges restraint and the immediate cessation of any activities that undermine the peace process. And we call on all sides to fully meet their obligations under international humanitarian law. The international community must continue to engage diplomatically to facilitate dialogue and a durable, dignified peace.

Negotiations are vital to a lasting peace. And we support any format that allows Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue dialogue toward a peaceful resolution to the conflict. We encourage all parties to engage in direct talks, including between officials in Baku and representatives of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The United States is committed to promoting a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for the South Caucasus region. And we will continue to engage bilaterally and multilaterally with all partners to help build this brighter future.

Thank you.

https://usun.usmission.gov/remarks-by-ambassador-linda-thomas-greenfield-at-a-un-security-council-briefing-on-armenia-and-azerbaijan/

Is Nagorno-Karabakh the New Darfur? By Michael Rubin

Ani Tigranian
Aug 10 2023

By Michael Rubin

AEIdeas

Speaking at the United Nations last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke out about famine, quoting President Biden’s declaration, “If parents cannot feed their children, nothing else matters.” It was unfortunate, but symptomatic of his cynicism, that Blinken ignored the famine underway in Nagorno-Karabakh caused exclusively by Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade.

Not everyone ignores the crisis. On August 7, 2023, Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, issued an opinion labeling the deliberate starvation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 Christians to be an act of genocide.

Rather than stand on principle, Biden and Blinken fund Azerbaijan as it perpetrates ethnic cleansing. Such funding is illegal. Azerbaijan neither meets the terms of a waiver on Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to allow American aid due to President Ilham Aliyev’s open calls for a military solution, nor does the Humanitarian Aid Corridors Act allow the United States to provide assistance to any country that interferes with the delivery of American assistance to any other territory or entity. Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor does just that. Unlike with Section 907, there is no waiver.

Aliyev argues Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory, and that its residents must subordinate to his rule, one of the world’s most authoritarian dictatorships. For too long, the State Department has deferred to Aliyev’s claim of sovereignty. US recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh upon Azerbaijan’s renewed independence was never cut-and-dry; rather, recognition of sovereignty over the region depended upon Azerbaijan’s agreement to peaceful resolution of the dispute and balancing principles of territorial integrity and self-determination. Even if Blinken bullies Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan into renouncing Armenian claims over the region, Pashinyan has neither the right nor the ability to forfeit residents’ legal rights to self-determination.

Aliyev believes that he is absolute sovereign over the territory; this exposes his sense of impunity. If Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians are Azerbaijani citizens as he insists, then his deliberate starvation of the community suggests parallels at play between Aliyev and Omar al-Bashir, the former dictator of Sudan, who targeted for genocide the inhabitants of Darfur. That they were Sudanese citizens did not mean open season for slaughter. Sudan, like Azerbaijan, is not party to the Rome Statute, and thus does not place itself under the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction. Still, the UN Security Council passed a resolution to extend ICC jurisdiction over Sudan for crimes in Darfur enabling Bashir’s indictment.

It is unlikely the UN Security Council treat Azerbaijan the same way. While the United States, France, and Russia might hold Aliyev to account, China is a wildcard and the United Kingdom would veto due to BP’s multibillion dollar partnership with Aliyev. Even if London stood on principle, Azerbaijan would buy the votes of non-permanent Security Council members to hamper any resolution.

There is another path to an Aliyev indictment, however, as Azerbaijan has ratified the Convention Against Genocide.

For too long, the State Department has believed balance the key to successful diplomacy. This is wrong, as Aliyev only stakes out more extreme positions figuring Blinken will simply meet him in the middle. The latest example are arguments Azerbaijan voiced yesterday that Armenia is to blame for starvation in Artsakh. This is akin to a judge privileging a child who murders his parents because he is an orphan.

It is time instead for USAID to send trucks flying the American flag to the Lachin corridor under the observation of US diplomats stationed in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. If Azerbaijan impedes diplomats’ movement, it is time to send its ambassador home. If it refuses to allow the flow of relief supplies or, worse, threatens to kill Western observers as Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Brussels recently did, then it is time for sanctions. There is no shortage of options. Biden can put an end to the Section 907 waiver, enforce of the Humanitarian Assistance Corridors Act, designate under the Magnitsky Act, and even support Aliyev’s indictment under the Genocide Convention.

Africans are right to argue that near exclusive indictment of Africans by international courts and tribunals is unseemly if not racist. Bashir is still a fugitive, but Liberia’s Charles Taylor could use a roommate. Aliyev could be just that man.

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 08/11/2023

Ani Tigranian 
                                        Friday, 


Armenian Government Allocates Money For Snoop Dogg Concert In Yerevan

        • Marine Khachatrian

U.S. singer Snoop Dogg


The Armenian government has allocated more than $5 million for the organization 
of a concert of American rapper Snoop Dogg in Yerevan.

The concert is scheduled to be held at the Hrazdan Stadium in the Armenian 
capital on September 23.

Up to 25,000 people are expected to attend the event that is also hoped to bring 
more tourists to the South Caucasus country.

The first announcement of a possible Snoop Dogg concert in Yerevan was made by 
chief of the prime minister’s office Arayik Harutiunian in late July. A document 
appeared on the Internet shortly according to which more than $23 million would 
be allocated from the state budget for concert programs.

The kind of state funding sparked a public debate in Armenia, with many 
challenging the wisdom of such government spending.

The government stopped short of denying that some money would be allocated to a 
private company for a rapper’s concert in Yerevan, but insisted that it would 
not be anywhere near the claimed amount.

Observers note that concerts and visits to Armenia in recent years by such world 
stars and celebrities as American rapper 50 Cent, Armenian American musician 
Serj Tankian, Armenian American reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her former 
rapper souse Kanye West have helped raise the country’s international visibility 
and attract a greater number of tourists immediately as well as in the longer 
run.

Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., a 51-year-old rapper and actor professionally known 
as Snoop Dogg, has sold 35 million albums worldwide since 1992, remaining one of 
the world’s most popular performers during the past three decades.




Moscow Paper Reveals Russian Offer On Access To Karabakh

        • Hrach Melkumian
        • Ruzanna Stepanian

An Azerbaijani checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor leading from 
Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh (file photo).


Citing an unnamed state official, Russia’s leading daily, Kommersant, wrote on 
Friday that Moscow had proposed ending the current situation with the blocked 
access to Nagorno-Karabakh by opening both the Agdam and Lachin roads.

The paper said the arrangement that both the Azerbaijani and Karabakh sides had 
almost agreed to eventually did not go through, however.

According to the official “familiar with the regional situation”, Russian 
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed opening the Agdam road first, through 
which Red Cross vehicles would deliver what was necessary to Nagorno-Karabakh, 
and a day later, according to Moscow’s proposal, the Lachin road would be opened.

“Such an option was brought to a high level of preparation,” said the unnamed 
official who spoke to Kommersant.

But, according to him, the Karabakh Armenians first set a condition that Lachin 
should be opened not one day later, but simultaneously and then demanded that 
Azerbaijani goods should not be delivered through Agdam. The paper writes that 
then a scandal related to Azerbaijan’s detention of a Karabakh resident at a 
checkpoint in the Lachin corridor on charges of war crimes allegedly committed 
during the early 1990s emerged and “the compromise did not happen.”

According to the official cited by Kommersant, Moscow assesses the situation as 
serious and believes that Baku is not inclined to make concessions.

“All attempts to somehow calm the situation that are being made by us, Western 
and international organizations lead to nowhere. Baku is not backing down,” the 
official said, adding that the Karabakh authorities are also persistent, in 
particular, in rejecting the option of using the Agdam road.

According to the Russian official, though, the Agdam road will be opened in any 
case.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a meeting with the head of 
the Red Cross office in Baku on July 14 that Azerbaijan does not rule out the 
possibility of “providing assistance” to meet the needs of Karabakh Armenians by 
using the Agdam-Stepanakert road.

One day later, on July 15, after a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels, President of the 
European Council Charles Michel said that as well as urging Aliyev to reopen the 
Lachin corridor he “noted Azerbaijan’s willingness to equally provide 
humanitarian supplies via Agdam.”

“I see both options as important and encouraged the humanitarian deliveries from 
both sides to ensure the needs of the population are met,” he said.

Authorities in Stepanakert strongly rejected that option, insisting that the 
Agdam road cannot be an alternative to the Lachin corridor, which, they stressed 
should remain solely under the control of Russian peacekeepers in accordance 
with the terms of the 2020 Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Commenting on the publication in the Russian newspaper, Artur Harutiunian, a 
member of Nagorno-Karabakh’s parliament, stressed that alternative options could 
become a subject of discussion only after the Lachin road gets to be operated 
without interruption.

“We clearly say that we have a corridor under a signed document, the Lachin 
corridor, which should work without interruption. After it works without 
interruption, those alternative options are already issues to be discussed,” the 
region’s lawmaker told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.




Pashinian Warns Azerbaijan Against ‘Nullifying Historic Opportunity For Peace’


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a weekly cabinet meeting (file 
photo).


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday called for the lifting of 
Azerbaijan’s current blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, warning Baku against 
“nullifying a historic opportunity for establishing peace.”

Speaking about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh brought on 
by what Yerevan views as an illegal closure by Azerbaijan of the Lachin 
corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, Pashinian 
stressed that the Armenian-populated region haս been deprived of any commercial 
shipments since last December as well as any humanitarian supplies since the 
middle of June when Baku tightened its blockade at a checkpoint installed on the 
road in April.

Pashinian said that a convoy of about two dozen trucks with about 400 tons of 
humanitarian supplies, including flour, pasta, cooking oil, sugar, salt, 
medicines and some other basic products, that the Armenian government sent to 
Nagorno-Karabakh late last month still remains stranded in Armenia’s Syunik 
province not far from the Lachin corridor as Azerbaijan refuses to allow its 
passage.

He said there was no explanation to Azerbaijan’s banning humanitarian supplies 
to Nagorno-Karabakh “if we do not consider it within the context of Azerbaijan’s 
open policy of subjecting Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to a genocide.”

“To be more precise, the ban on the entry of humanitarian cargoes to 
Nagorno-Karabakh makes more trustworthy statements about the policy being 
carried out by Azerbaijan on subjecting Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to a 
genocide,” the Armenian prime minister charged.

Pashinian said that there is a growing opinion among international experts that 
“Azerbaijan’s policy on causing a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by its 
illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor can be regarded from the point of view 
of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime 
of Genocide of December 9, 1948.”

Pashinian said that the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh caused by 
Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor has deepened to the extent that 
“greater efforts need to be taken in the direction of providing an international 
legal assessment of the created situation.” He stressed that Azerbaijan 
continues to fail to comply with the order by the Criminal Court of Justice to 
restore “unimpeded” traffic through the Lachin corridor that was first issued in 
February and then reaffirmed in July.

“The best solution to the current situation is the removal of Azerbaijan’s 
illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor and the start of a dialogue between 
Stepanakert and Baku within the framework of an international mechanism,” 
Pashinian said.

“The Republic of Armenia, for its part, continues to reaffirm its commitment to 
the peace agenda and calls on official Baku to refrain from steps nullifying a 
historic opportunity for establishing peace,” the Armenian premier underscored.

Armenia and ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh view the Azerbaijani 
checkpoint in the Lachin corridor as illegal as they accuse Baku of violating a 
Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement that places the vital route under the 
control of Russian peacekeepers.

Azerbaijan’s de facto blockade has resulted in severe shortages of food, 
medicine, and energy supply in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is home to about 120,000 
ethnic Armenians.

Azerbaijan denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh and offers an alternative route 
for supplies via the town of Agdam, which is situated east of the region and is 
controlled by Baku.

Ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh reject that offer, fearing that 
it could be a prelude to the region’s absorption into Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for 
decades. Some 30,000 people were killed in a war in the early 1990s that left 
ethnic Armenians in control of the predominantly Armenian-populated region and 
seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan proper.

Decades of internationally mediated talks failed to result in a diplomatic 
solution and the simmering conflict led to another war in 2020 in which nearly 
7,000 soldiers were killed on both sides.

The 44-day war in which Azerbaijan regained all of the Armenian-controlled areas 
outside of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as chunks of territory inside the Soviet-era 
autonomous oblast proper ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire under which 
Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers.

Tensions along the restive Armenian-Azerbaijani border and around 
Nagorno-Karabakh leading to sporadic fighting and loss of life have persisted 
despite the ceasefire and publicly stated willingness of the leaders of both 
countries to work towards a negotiated peace.




Armenia To Raise Lachin Corridor Closure Issue At UN Security Council

        • Nane Sahakian

An Armenian truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh stranded 
near the Lachin corridor as Azerbaijan does not allow it to pass through its 
checkpoint. Armenia, Syunik Province, July 27, 2023.


Armenia will raise the issue of the closed Lachin corridor at the United Nations 
Security Council, the country’s Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukian said on 
August 10, adding that related work is “in progress.”

“No one can say when, on what day, but the Republic of Armenia will raise this 
issue at the UN Security Council. Why do I say that work is in progress? Because 
without preparatory work, at least to the extent that we can hope that we can 
expect a result for us, I think it is obvious that we cannot just fire this one 
shot with a blank cartridge,” Marukian said in an interview with CivilNet, a 
leading local news website.

In an August 8 urgent appeal to the international community on the situation in 
Nagorno-Karabakh caused by Azerbaijan’s effective blockade the region’s ethnic 
Armenian leader Arayik Harutiunian also asked Yerevan to immediately make the 
situation a subject of discussion at the UN Security Council.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry has not yet officially responded to the appeal.

Marukian said that Armenia is working to ensure that none of the members of the 
UN Security Council, especially its five permanent members -- the United States, 
Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom -- do not interfere with the 
process.

Edmon Marukian

“In this sense, I would not compare it with the previous times, because this 
time we are determined to go for a resolution. We have never been after a 
resolution. That is, in this sense, it is very important that thorough work be 
done, and we count on a UN Security Council resolution on the Lachin corridor. 
We need at least 9 “for” votes, and in this regard, I believe that serious work 
has been done, is being done and still needs to be done,” Armenia’s 
ambassador-at-large said.

Marukian said that Azerbaijan is taking countermeasures against Armenia’s move 
at the UN Security Council.

When asked which country unambiguously supports Armenia in this matter, Marukian 
said that it would be wrong to give the name of any country now. “There is a 
very important circumstance here that the process of adopting a resolution at 
the UN Security Council is open and public. Previous negotiations, for example, 
on an application, on the application of the chairman, were a different 
procedure, and they contained discussions that are not public, not visible. In 
this case, you will see which country will take which position,” he said.

Government critics in Armenia point out that Azerbaijan has further toughened 
its policy towards Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians after the statements of Armenian 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian following last year’s meeting in Prague where he 
recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Nagorno-Karabakh. 
However, according to Marukian, a signed document, which is the November 9, 2020 
ceasefire agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh signed by the leaders of Armenian, 
Azerbaijan and Russia, has a higher legal force than a political statement.

“There is a tripartite document dated November 9 [2020], the presence of which 
is recognized by us, Azerbaijan and Russia, that is, this document has not been 
canceled, it exists, it is in force, its architecture in relation to 
Nagorno-Karabakh has not been completely canceled, on its basis the 
International Court of Justice adopted its interim decision. If we read this 
decision, we’ll see that it is also built on the November 9 document, and thus 
the international community gives force to the November 9 document. While in 
previous discussions at the UN our international partners wanted to avoid 
references to the November 9 document, how are they going to avoid it now, when 
the court is building its interim decision on it? This document from November 9 
[2020] is a valid document, and statements are statements of a political nature. 
I repeat that a document has a higher legal force,” Marukian underscored.

Armenia and ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accuse Azerbaijan of 
violating the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement that places the Lachin 
corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, under the 
control of Russian peacekeepers. They insist, therefore, that the Azerbaijani 
checkpoint installed there earlier this year is illegal.

The de facto blockade imposed by Azerbaijan has resulted in severe shortages of 
food, medicine, and energy supply in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is home to about 
120,000 ethnic Armenians.

Azerbaijan denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh and offers an alternative route 
for supplies via the town of Agdam, which is situated east of the region and 
away from Armenia and is controlled by Baku. Ethnic Armenian authorities in 
Nagorno-Karabakh reject that offer, fearing that it could be a prelude to the 
absorption of what remains of the former autonomous oblast into Azerbaijan.


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.

‘As Nagorno-Karabakh is being starved, the international community cannot continue looking away,’ Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab

Ani Tigranian

 11:52,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS. Human rights advocate, lawyer Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab has reacted to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh after a former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned that Azerbaijan’s blockade of Lachin Corridor constitutes genocide.

Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab is a programme lawyer with the IBA's Human Rights Institute and co-founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response. Dr Ochab works on the topic of genocide, with specific focus on the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities around the world.

In an article titled ‘Lachin Corridor Blockade Starves Nagorno-Karabakh’ the lawyer said that the reports of the ‘dire situation in Nagorno-Karabakh must be taken seriously at last and acted upon.’

“As Nagorno-Karabakh is being starved, the international community cannot continue looking away as it has done for the last eight months. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh require urgent assistance without any further excuses,” she added, noting the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo’s expert opinion which determined that Azerbaijan is committing genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ochab cited the August 7, 2023 statement by a group of United Nations experts who raised the alarming situation in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the ongoing blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan.

The Medieval map of Armenian monasteries and sanctuaries from 1691 and stored in Bologna [Italy]

Ani Tigranian
Aug 6 2023
by LIANNA AGASYAN

The Medieval map of Armenian monasteries and sanctuaries created in 1691 is stored in Bologna, Italy. The map is unique in being one of the first handwritten maps in the Armenian language. It displays a comprehensive overview of the traditional worship sites of the historical Armenian territory from the 4th to the 17th centuries. It depicts hundreds of monasteries and the main ecclesiastical centres.

This map was created by two remarkable players in the political and cultural arena of the late 1600s: Eremia Chelebi Keomiwrchean, the Armenian intellectual, poet, and Italian Luigi Ferdinando Marsili, who was a scientist and cartographer as well as an Italian diplomat and military man.

The map is stored in Italy in the University Library of Bologna; like other historical libraries of Italy, it has many ancient documents in the Armenian language, both manuscripts and prints, demonstrating the well-established cultural relations between Italy and the Armenian people since the Early Middle Ages.

Three illuminated manuscripts and nine printed volumes stand out, each representing a particular moment in Italian-Armenian relations or, more generally, of the contacts between the Armenians, Italy and Europe through printing.

The Armenian Bible is also stored there and is considered one of Europe's most significant Bibles.

Written and illuminated in the sixteenth century, the manuscript features twenty-six lavishly illuminated full-page miniatures consistent with the Armenian rules of book painting, representing one of the few examples that survived time reaching modern days.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/08/06/medieval-map-armenian-1691/

Asbarez: Artsakh Blockade Focus of Talks Between Tehran and Yerevan

Ani Tigranian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan meets with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on Jul. 24


Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday visited Tehran, where he emphasized the dire situation facing the people of Artsakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s now more than seven-month-old blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

During a meeting with President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, Mirzoyan discussed the situation in Artsakh and stressed the need to immediately lift the blockade and prevent ethnic cleansing of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan.

According to Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, Mirzoyan and Raisi also focused on issues related to regional security. Mirzoyan briefed the Iranian leader about the latest developments in the process of settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, and also confirmed the vision of the Armenian side to establish a lasting peace in the South Caucasus. The two emphasized the need to reject resolving problems through the use of force or the threat of force, “as well as maximalist and hostile rhetoric.”

Raisi reiterated to Mirzoyan Iran’s opposition to any changes that would impact the region’s geopolitics, namely any changes to borders.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not support any geopolitical changes and altering of
the borders of the region’s countries, and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the countries of the region,” Raisi said on Monday.

Mirzoyan assured the Iranian leader that Armenia will never become a venue for anti-Iranian activities and emphasized the importance of regional security.

Regional security and the Artsakh crisis also focused heavily in Mirzoyan’s talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“As we have repeatedly stated, in the context of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we attach significant importance to reestablishment of clear borders based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, to ensure guarantees of delimitation and border security, as well as establishing a stable international mechanism of discussions between Stepanakert and Baku for addressing issues of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Mirzoyan said during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart.

“However, regrettably, instead of a dialogue with the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan today pursues a policy of ethnic cleansing, a clear manifestation of which is the seven-month-long illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with the outer world. Since June 15, the supply of food and medicine to Nagorno-Karabakh has completely halted, and the transfer of patients with serious health problems to Armenia is being hindered,” Mirzoyan said.

“Today we are bearing witness to the very scenario about which we warned seven months ago: there is already a significant and tangible humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. And this is happening in gross violation of international humanitarian norms, contrary to the provisions enshrined in the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, numerous appeals and resolutions of the international community and bodies, the legally binding Order of the International Court of Justice of February 22, which, by the way, was confirmed on July 6,” Mirzoyan said.

“I must emphasize that Armenia expects practical efforts from those interested in real peace in the South Caucasus and from the responsible actors to prevent a new humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before their own eyes in the 21st century,” added the Armenian foreign minister.

In discussing other regional issues, Mirzoyan said that inviolability of border between Armenia and Iran cannot be questioned, adding that Tehran and Yerevan have “identical” approaches on the matter.

On several occasions, Iran’s leaders, including the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has warned against efforts to alter the exiting borders, which will happen if Azerbaijan’s scheme to establish a corridor to Nakhichevan through Armenia come to fruition.

Iran and Armenia have opposed such a corridor, with Tehran throwing its support for Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"The negotiation process should be an internal affair of Khankendi and Baku." View from Baku

Ani Tigranian

  • JAMnews
  • Baku

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

“Despite Michel’s appreciation of the leaders’ commitment to the peace process and his call for further bold steps, little progress has been made since the Prague meeting last October.” This is how head of Turan news agency, Mehman Aliyev, assessed the latest Brussels meeting between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, mediated by the President of the European Council.

Commenting on the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry, he noted that “neither Moscow, nor Brussels, nor any other intermediary capitals are no longer responsible for the situation in the region, and the negotiation process should first of all be an internal affair of Khankendi and Baku”

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

The meeting between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan, mediated by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, took place in Brussels on July 15. At the end of the meeting, Michel made a statement following the talks.

“Our meeting was the latest in a series of intensive and productive high-level meetings involving the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, deputy prime ministers and foreign ministers, which have been held since early May in Brussels, Chisinau, Washington, Moscow and on the bilateral border.

We are going through one of the most complete and energetic stages of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Michel said after the meeting.

He “commended” the leaders for their “strong commitment to the peace process” and called on them to “take further bold steps to ensure decisive and irreversible progress towards normalization.”

“We agreed that our teams will remain in close contact to ensure concrete development of what was discussed today.

Real progress depends on the next steps to be taken in the near future. First of all, violence and harsh rhetoric must be stopped in order to create the proper environment for peace negotiations and normalization.

I also reaffirmed my intention to invite the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to another meeting in Brussels after the summer, as well as to another five-party meeting with the participation also of the leaders of France and Germany in Granada, within the framework of the next summit of the European Political Community (to be held in October),” he concluded.

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

Despite the optimism in Michel’s speech, Azerbaijani expert Mehman Aliyev believes that since the Prague meeting in October last year, nothing has been achieved in the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks.

“In Prague, Pashinyan agreed to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Armenian-populated territory of Karabakh (ANTK), on the basis of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, which recognized the existing borders.

However, no significant progress was made in Brussels on any of the six agenda items, and some parameters even worsened. These include increased border restrictions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, especially in the Lachin corridor, continued problems with prisoners of war, lack of progress in delimiting the border and concluding a peace treaty, as well as increasing military incidents in Karabakh.”

Aliyev believes that the facts point to a stalemate in the negotiation process, “when both sides are reluctant to promote peace based on their respective interests.”

“Azerbaijan refuses to grant a separate status to the part of Karabakh where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed, while Armenia hopes to separate this part from Azerbaijan. It seems that the EU, as demonstrated in Michel’s statement, is seeking to keep the part of Karabakh with an Armenian population as a potential time bomb by imposing the former status of the NKAR created by Stalin in 1923. This is evident from the mention of the term “NKAO” in Michel’s statement.

The President of Azerbaijan called the disarmament of the Armenian military formations in Karabakh one of the conditions for resolving the situation

On the contrary, the statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on the same day as the meeting in Brussels, does not mention NKAR. Instead, it highlights the importance of guaranteeing the rights and security of Armenians in Karabakh, based on the November 9, 2020 statement. Moscow highlights Armenia’s public recognition of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, which it claims changed the terms under which the statement was signed, as well as the status of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

The Russian Foreign Ministry states that the responsibility for the fate of the Armenian population in Karabakh should no longer be shifted to third parties. This suggests that neither Moscow, nor Brussels, nor any other intermediary capitals are anymore responsible for the situation in the region, and the negotiation process should first of all be an internal affair of Khankendi and Baku,” the expert says.

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

He also notes that in the light of these events, Russia expresses its intention to actively contribute to international efforts to restore normality in Nagorno-Karabakh:

“The Russian government proposes to hold a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow in the near future to discuss the implementation of agreements at a high level, including negotiations on a peace treaty. It proposes to convene a Russian-Azerbaijani-Armenian summit in Moscow to sign the aforementioned document.”

According to Aliyev, this indicates that the Kremlin does not want to wait for the results of two European meetings scheduled for autumn.

“However, given the global confrontation with the West, it is unclear whether Moscow will be able to achieve the signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Armenia may continue to drag out the process, relying on France’s recent assurances of solidarity with Armenians and the European Council President’s use of the term “NKAR”. Europe’s recent actions provide some justification for Armenia’s cautious approach,” Aliyev concluded.

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.

The statement notes that Armenia recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan during the summits under the auspices of the European Union in October 2022 and May 2023.

“While the Russian government respected the sovereign decision of Armenia, it emphasized that this recognition fundamentally changed the conditions under which the Statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020 was signed, as well as the status of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in the region.”

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the responsibility for the fate of the Armenian population in Karabakh should not be shifted to third parties. Instead, he called for immediate preparations for the signing of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan on the basis of previously agreed terms. The statement emphasized the importance of providing reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of Armenians in Karabakh as an integral part of the agreement. It also noted the need for strict implementation of comprehensive trilateral agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which include the unblocking of transport routes and the start of the process of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

All information from the United States about the negotiations between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the demand from Nagorno-Karabakh to stop them until a truce is established, as well as an expert’s comment

In light of this, Russia expressed its intention to contribute to international efforts aimed at restoring the normal situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Russian government has offered to organize a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in Moscow in the near future to discuss the implementation of agreements at a high level, including negotiations on a peace treaty. The statement suggested convening a Russian-Azerbaijani-Armenian summit in Moscow to sign the aforementioned document.

The Russian side expressed concern about the negative trajectory of the development of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. It highlighted the deepening humanitarian crisis in the region, with the local population facing severe shortages of food, medicine, basic necessities and basic services such as electricity and gas.

The leadership of Azerbaijan was urged to take immediate steps to unblock the Lachin corridor, which facilitates the unhindered movement of people, vehicles and goods in both directions. In addition, the restoration of energy supply to the region was emphasized as an important measure.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan expressed “perplexity” and “regret” about this statement by the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation.

“This statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry does not comply with the Declaration on Allied Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, as well as the speeches of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin on supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a comment.

The document points out the “unacceptability” of the attempts of the Russian Foreign Ministry to “comment on and condition the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the context of the recognition of Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan by the Prime Minister of Armenia, which for almost 30 years kept Azerbaijani territories under occupation” .

Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations

As further highlighted in the document, Baku also demonstrates commitment to the tripartite documents signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia.

The statement notes that in order to prevent the illegal activities of illegal Armenian armed groups in the country and ensure the transparency of transportation, the Azerbaijani side established the Lachin border checkpoint, which was established in accordance with the legislation of Azerbaijan and international standards.

“Over the past few months, hundreds of Armenian residents have been allowed to pass through this checkpoint in an organized and transparent manner. Despite this, Armenia, which did not abandon military provocations against Azerbaijan, fired at this point on June 15, and in July made attempts to smuggle it through the cars of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Despite this, the Azerbaijani side, through the ICRC, again created conditions for the passage of Armenian residents, and also announced the possibility of meeting the needs of Armenian residents using the Agdam-Khankendi route. In this context, the complete groundlessness of attempts to politicize the creation of the Lachin border checkpoint, which is the sovereign right of Azerbaijan, and to voice the thesis about the allegedly existing difficult humanitarian situation in the region, is obvious,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a comment.

https://jam-news.net/the-negotiation-process-should-be-an-internal-affair-of-khankendi-and-baku-view-from-baku/








Armenia demands humanitarian access for breakaway Karabakh

Ani Tigranian
July 12 2023

Armenia said Wednesday that international humanitarian organisations must be allowed to access Nagorno-Karabakh, after Azerbaijan shut the only road linking the breakaway region with Armenia.

Residents pointed to empty store shelves, while health authorities said that locals did not have access to health services and more than 180 people — including "two critically ill children" — needed to be moved to Armenia.

Karabakh has been at the centre of a decades-long territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have fought two wars over the mountainous territory, mainly populated by Armenians.

On Tuesday, Azerbaijan said it was shutting the only road linking the region to Armenia, accusing the Armenian branch of the Red Cross of smuggling.

On Wednesday, Armenia's foreign ministry said the move was "aimed at creating conditions incompatible with life for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"It is unfortunate that during these months the international community and international humanitarian organisations have been unable to gain humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh," said the ministry statement.

Such access was "crucial to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh", the statement added.

– 'Getting worse' by the day –

Residents in the rebel region's main city, Stepanakert, reported food shortages and critical problems with access to medical services.

"Citizens are dying because they don't have access to health services," Metakse Iakobyan, 51, told AFP.

"In my opinion, this is the biggest problem."

Lucine Gasparyan, 37, said she was worried about the future.

"Store shelves are empty, we can only buy bread, I can't imagine what our conditions are going to be in the future," Gasparyan added.

Zhanna Krikorova, 61, said people were running out of food.

"The scariest thing is, what do we give our children for breakfast?" she said.

"How do we treat the sick who need help that cannot be provided here?"

The separatist government's health minister, Vardan Tadevosyan, said that more than 180 people including "two critically ill children" needed to be brought to Armenia for treatment.

Karabakh's rights ombudsman Ghegham Stepanyan said that the humanitarian situation was steadily deteriorating.

"For patients and medicine, the situation is getting worse day the day," he said, warning that the local residents were now living under the threat of "starvation."

He called for a "very strong" reaction from the international community.

– 'Crucial role' of Red Cross –

The Red Cross insists that no unauthorised material has been found in its vehicles.

The European Union said on Wednesday it "strongly supports the crucial role of the ICRC in the region, and reiterates its call for Azerbaijan to ensure the unrestricted movement of people and goods via the Lachin corridor".

The latest developments followed a months-long blockade of the road by Azerbaijani activists, which Yerevan says sparked a humanitarian crisis.

In February, the International Court of Justice, the UN's top judicial body, ordered Azerbaijan to ensure free movement on the road.

The two former Soviet republics have fought two wars for control of Karabakh, in the 1990s and again in 2020.

Six weeks of fighting in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-sponsored ceasefire agreement that saw Armenia cede swathes of territories it had controlled for decades.

Under the deal, the five-kilometre-wide Lachin Corridor was to be manned by Russian peacekeepers to ensure free passage between Armenia and Karabakh.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has complained about "problems" with Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.

mkh-im/as/jj

https://uk.style.yahoo.com/armenia-demands-humanitarian-access-breakaway-173825037.html

30,000 Artsakh Children Can’t Become Victims of Russia-West Conflict

Ani Tigranian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Main, Latest, News, Top Stories

A child took part in a protest on Dec. 25, 2022, demanding an end to Azerbaijan's blockade


Artsakh Announces Popular Movement Against Blockade

The people of Artsakh, 30,000 children cannot become victims of the protracted Russia-West conflict and Artsakh cannot become a bargaining base, Artsakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan said Thursday as he announced the beginning of a popular movement.

In a pointed appeal to the international community, the Armenian government and Armenians around the world, Nersisyan said the only way to resolve the current crisis is to recognize the Artsakh’s people’s right to security and to self-determination.

The State Minister called on all the players to “wake up” and not allow more “destruction of human lives” to become the impetus for intervention.

“Stop this scourge before it’s too late,” Nersisyan demanded.

“As a result of Azerbaijan taking the people of Artsakh hostage and blocking the road connecting it with Armenia, the humanitarian situation in Artsakh is getting worse day by day, and if this continues, we will have severe and irreversible consequences, which we cannot allow, so we are starting an indefinite popular movement from tomorrow,” the State Minister said in a statement.

“Now the situation is more dire than ever. The people of Artsakh are facing serious problems and it is necessary to stop the course of this catastrophe as soon as possible. Artsakh is of exceptional importance to the Armenian people and Armenia’s statehood. Artsakh does not belong only to the people of Artsakh. Therefore, all of us should join this sacred mission of protecting Artsakh,” Nersisyan explained.

He urged the citizens of Armenia to not remain silent and “join the popular movement that is starting in Artsakh and speak out about the disaster that has befallen the people of Artsakh.

“The people of Artsakh are under the threat of genocide, in just a few days our people will face serious existential problems. All this is also the result of your silence and indifference, wake up and shout, open all the doors and raise alarm about the genocide of the 21st century. Today, many countries of the world justify their passivity by your behavior. Prove that your brothers and sisters from Artsakh are not alone, they are not defenseless,” Nersisyan called on all Armenians around the world.
He said the people of Artsakh are grateful to the Russian people for stopping the 44-day bloody war and for the peacekeeping mission carried out to this day, but called on Moscow to ensure the unhindered traffic, transportation of people and cargo through the corridor connecting Artsakh to Armenia, as stipulated in the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020.

“Living in Artsakh is not a right but a duty,” Nersisyan said and called on residents of Artsakh join this movement, which will start on Saturday at a rally in Stepanakert’s Revival Square.