Author: Aram Torosian

HRW: Azerbaijan: Ensure Civilians’ Rights in Nagorno Karabakh

Aram Torosian
Sept 23 2023

Humanitarian Crisis Needs Urgent Response

(Berlin, ) – Thousands of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh have dire humanitarian needs following Azerbaijan’s military operation to regain control over the region, Human Rights Watch said today. The military intervention followed months of acute shortages of food, medications, hygiene products, and other essential supplies to the region, as Azerbaijan had disrupted vehicular and pedestrian traffic to the region for over 9 months.

Azerbaijani authorities should take immediate steps to ensure the safety and humanitarian needs of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population, allowing humanitarian access without delay. Azerbaijan should allow civilians who wish to evacuate temporarily to Armenia, as well as people in urgent need of medical care who wish to leave, while respecting their right to return. Transportation of food, medicines, and other humanitarian necessities into Nagorno-Karabakh should be permitted from multiple directions, including through Armenia. International monitoring is needed to ensure that Azerbaijan meets its human rights obligations, in particular, toward Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.

“Civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh are facing a dire humanitarian crisis and grave uncertainty about their future,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Azerbaijani authorities have said that everyone’s rights will be protected, but that is hard to take at face value after the months of severe hardships and decades of conflict.”

Unless Azerbaijani authorities take immediate steps to address humanitarian needs, including goods and services essential to people's economic and social rights, it would be credible to conclude that it is deliberately trying to make ethnic Armenians’ lives so miserable they will have no choice but to leave, Human Rights Watch said.

Since September 19, 2023, when Azerbaijan started military attacks to regain full control over Nagorno-Karabakh, thousands of civilians have fled their homes. Many fled to Stepanakert/Khankendi. Ethnic Armenian civilians cannot evacuate the region because Azerbaijan has not opened the border, which runs through the Lachin Corridor, the sole road connecting the region to Armenia.

On September 22, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Russian peacekeeping force bases in Nagorno-Karabakh were "hosting 826 civilians,” and that “their accommodation, food supply, and medical care are provided.” Russian peacekeeping forces should ensure the humanitarian needs and protection of civilians who sought refuge on Russian military bases, Human Rights Watch said. On September 22, the Azerbaijani emergencies ministry announced that it had sent 40 tons of humanitarian assistance, including food and hygiene products, to Khankendi/Stepanakert for distribution to civilians.

For civilians who choose to evacuate, Azerbaijan is obligated to allow them to return to their homes under a fundamental precept of international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said.

On September 22, the European Court of Human Rights issued interim measures obligating Azerbaijan to “refrain from taking any measures which might entail breaches of their obligations under the [European Convention on Human Rights], notably regarding the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other degrading treatment or punishment.”

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan populated by ethnic Armenians who, together with Republic of Armenia forces, fought a war for independence in the early 1990s and remained defacto separate from Azerbaijan until 2020. Azerbaijan initiated hostilities in September 2020 to retake the area. A truce statement ending the 44-day war provided for Russian peacekeeping troops to have a presence in Nagorno-Karabakh and to control the Lachin Corridor until 2025.  

Azerbaijan began blocking the Lachin Corridor on December 12, 2022, and in April established a checkpoint. Starting in mid-June, Azerbaijan blocked all humanitarian goods, which Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) had been delivering,  claiming unauthorized goods had been smuggled into Nagorno-Karabakh. It also periodically prevented the ICRC from transporting patients out of the enclave, Nagorno-Karabakh representatives told Human Rights Watch in August.

On September 19, Azerbaijani forces carried out military attacks aimed at re-establishing control over areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had remained under the control of the de facto local authorities after the 2020 truce. On September 20, a ceasefire was announced, followed the next day by initial talks between Azerbaijani authorities and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian community.

In August, Human Rights Watch spoke remotely with 16 people who described the nearly complete disruption of movement of people, goods, and services including electricity, gas, and petrol. This disruption resulted in acute shortages of food, medications, hygiene products, and other supplies essential to people’s economic and social rights. People described facing shortages of these essential items with almost no access to dairy products, eggs, or meat, and intermittently bread.

Civilians now face even greater shortages. Under added widespread power cuts, they are desperately trying to locate their loved ones.

Hikmet Hajiyev, an adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Azerbaijani officials had told the ICRC, “all necessary conditions are provided and will be provided for the delivery of medicine, food and other goods by ICRC” via Lachin and another road.

By establishing a border checkpoint at the Lachin road and forcing it closed for months when no other arrangements were in place to ensure residents’ rights to food and health, Azerbaijan effectively has been denying these rights, Human Rights Watch said.

For seven months, Azerbaijan has refused to carry out a binding order by the International Court of Justice to “take all measures […] to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.” In December, the European Court of Human Rights issued an earlier set of interim measures, saying Azerbaijan should “take all measures that are within their jurisdiction to ensure safe passage through the ‘Lachin Corridor’ of seriously ill persons in need of medical treatment in Armenia and others who were stranded on the road without shelter or means of subsistence.”

Hajiyev’s post also stated that Nagorno-Karabakh military personnel who voluntarily lay down their weapons are “free,” though there are serious grounds to fear that Azerbaijani authorities may treat all adult males without disabilities as presumptive combatants. On September 19, when hostilities started, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry messaged Nagorno-Karabakh civilians saying that shelter, food and water would be made available to women, children, older people, people with disabilities, and sick people. The statement implied that most adult males would not be treated as civilians, Human Rights Watch said.

“Thousands of ethnic Armenian people are displaced, and many separated from their families, fearing uncertainty and a bleak future,” Williamson said. “Urgent humanitarian access and monitoring are needed to ensure safety for Nagorno-Karabakh’s civilians.”

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 09/13/2023

Aram Torosian 
                                        Wednesday, 


Armenia To Ratify International Court Treaty Amid Tensions With Russia


Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian attends his government's 
question-and-answer session in parliament, Yerevan, .


Despite stern warnings from Russia, Armenia will unconditionally accept 
jurisdiction of an international court that issued an arrest warrant for Russian 
President Vladimir Putin early this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on 
Wednesday.

Pashinian made this clear amid unprecedented tensions between Moscow and 
Yerevan. They rose further after he declared early this month that Armenia’s 
reliance on Russia for defense and security has proved a “strategic mistake.” 
Russian officials condemned Pashinian’s remarks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry listed them among “a series of unfriendly steps” 
taken by Yerevan, in a note of protest handed to the Armenian ambassador on 
September 8. Those steps also include the Armenian parliament’s plans to ratify 
the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Moscow demanded last week “clarifications” over the Pashinian government’s 
decision to send the treaty, known as the Rome Statute, to the parliament for 
ratification. The decision was announced on September 1.

“The Rome Statute will be fully ratified in accordance with my position and with 
the backing of our parliamentary allies,” Pashinian told the National Assembly 
controlled by his Civil Contract party. “It has nothing to do with 
Russian-Armenian relations. It has to do with Armenia’s security issues.”

Pashinian’s political allies said earlier that Yerevan wants to submit to the 
ICC’s jurisdiction in order to bring Azerbaijan to justice for its “war crimes” 
and to prevent more Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia. Russian officials were 
unconvinced by these assurances, warning of serious damage to bilateral ties.

Independent legal experts believe that the ratification of the Rome Statute 
would commit the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and extradite him to The 
Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country. Pashinian did not 
comment on such a possibility on Wednesday.




Lachin Road Still Closed Despite Reported Deal On Aid Supplies

        • Artak Khulian

ARMENIA - Armenian lorries carriyng humanitarian aid for Nagorno-Karabakh are 
seen stranded near an Azerbaijani checkpoint set up at the entry of the Lachin 
corridor, July 30, 2023.


Humanitarian traffic through the Lachin corridor was not restored on Wednesday, 
with Azerbaijan accusing Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership of continuing to oppose 
an alternative Azerbaijani-controlled supply route.

The authorities in Stepanakert indicated at the weekend that they agreed to let 
a Russian Red Cross truck enter Karabakh from the Azerbaijani town of Aghdam in 
return for Baku’s pledge to unblock the corridor.

The truck delivered 15 tons of food and other humanitarian aid on Tuesday. The 
Russian Foreign Ministry reported later in the day an agreement on the “parallel 
unblocking of the Lachin and Aghdam routes.” The Azerbaijani side confirmed its 
readiness for such an arrangement, which is also favored by the United States 
and the European Union.

Hikmet Hajiyev, a senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, accused 
Karabakh’s “illegal regime” of obstructing the “simultaneous opening” of the two 
roads which he said was first agreed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in a September 1 phone call.

A Karabakh official, Davit Babayan, denied Hajiyev’s claims and said Baku itself 
is violating an agreement to reopen the Lachin road after the delivery of the 
Russian aid through Aghdam.

“Our people are in a situation where no issue can be politicized,” Babayan told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “We have never breached or distorted any agreements.”

Sources said that the conflicting sides as well as Russia and other 
international actors are continuing negotiations on the issue. Babayan confirmed 
the information but did not give any details.

The European Union effectively welcomed the shipment of the Russian aid to 
Karabakh. A spokeswoman for European Council President Charles Michel called it 
“an important step that should facilitate the reopening also of the Lachin 
corridor.”

“We call on all stakeholders to show responsibility and flexibility in ensuring 
that both the Lachin and the Aghdam-Askeran route will be used,” she added in a 
statement.




Snoop Dogg Concert In Armenia Raises Corruption Concerns

        • Nane Sahakian

U.S. -- US singer Snoop Dogg arrives on the red carpet for the 31st MTV Video 
Music Awards at The Forum in Inglewood, California, August 24, 2014


Armenia’s leading anti-corruption watchdog on Wednesday expressed concern over 
the choice of a company that will spend about $6 million allocated by the 
Armenian government for American rapper Snoop Dogg’s upcoming concert in Yerevan.

The government sparked controversy when it approved the funding, which covers 
the singer’s performance fee and logistics expenses, in early August 11. 
Government officials said the money is worth it because the concert slated for 
September 23 will raise Armenia’s international profile and attract thousands of 
foreign tourists.

Critics shrugged off the explanation, condemning the government decision as 
reckless extravagance aimed at distracting Armenians from grave national 
security problems facing their country. Some of them also pointed to drug 
references in Snoop Dogg’s songs. The rap star has had a history of using drugs.

The entire sum exceeding the annual budgets of most rural communities of Armenia 
will be handled by a little-known private company. Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s government chose the company called Doping Space and signed a 
contract with it on August 18 without a tender. The government did not explain 
why it avoided competitive bidding.

It emerged afterwards that the allocation took the form of a government grant, a 
highly unusual arrangement that prompted serious concern from the 
Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), the Armenian affiliated of Transparency 
International.

“We need to understand why they gave the grant to that company without a 
tender,” Varuzhan Hoktanian, the ACC’s programs director, told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service on Wednesday.

“I suppose that just like in the case of procurements there should have been a 
tender here,” said Hoktanian. “Especially in the case of such a large sum, a 
tender must be obligatory. We would consider it non-obligatory only if no other 
company had the capacity to organize such an event.”

Doping Space was set up as recently as in July this year and is not known to 
have organized any major entertainment events. One of its two-founders, Makar 
Petrosian, is a son of a wealthy businessman who used to have close ties to 
Armenia’s former governments. Incidentally, prosecutors accused Petrosian, his 
father Alik and other family members of illicit enrichment and moved to 
confiscate some of their assets late last month.

In addition to its share of the government funding, the Snoop Dogg concert 
organizer hopes to raise an equivalent of $1.5 million from ticket sales. The 
contract requires it to pay only $63,000 of the ticket revenue to the government.

Doping Space’s 7-page cost breakdown publicized by the government indicates that 
about $3 million will be paid to Snoop Dogg and his production team.

The other half of the government money is to be spent on promotional, logistical 
and other services to be provided by the company. Speaking on the condition of 
anonymity, some Armenian entertainment industry executives suggested that their 
costs are inflated.

“Most, if not all, of those services could have been provided at more affordable 
prices,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.




Iran Sees No War Between Armenia, Azerbaijan


Iran -- Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.


Iran’s defense minister ruled out a new war between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 
Wednesday while reaffirming his country’s strong opposition to any change in 
regional countries’ borders.

“We believe that no war will break out in the region,” Brigadier General 
Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying after a 
cabinet meeting in Tehran.

“We do not accept any change in the borders,” Ashtiani said, adding that the 
Iranian army’s General Staff also made this clear when it discussed increased 
tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone during a recent meeting.

The Armenian government said last week that Azerbaijan has been massing troops 
along the Karabakh “line of contact” and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in 
possible preparation for another large-scale military assault. Baku denied any 
military buildup there, saying that its troops are simply engaging in routine 
training.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian raised his concerns about the alleged buildup 
with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other foreign leaders in a series of 
phone calls made over the weekend. Raisi was reported to reiterate that the 
Islamic Republic continues to support the territorial integrity of Armenia.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said on Monday that Baku 
has assured Tehran that it has no plans to attack Armenia. Azerbaijani officials 
have alleged this month growing Armenian “military provocations” in the conflict 
zone.

IRAN - The Iranian army holds a military exercise in the northwest of Iran, 
close to the border with Azerbaijan, October 1, 2021.

Armenian officials and pundits believe that a key goal of an Azerbaijan attack 
would be to open an exterritorial land corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its 
Nakhichevan exclave through Syunik, the sole Armenian province bordering Iran. 
President Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani leaders regularly demand such a 
corridor, citing the terms of a Russian-brokered agreement that stopped the 2020 
war in Karabakh. Yerevan counters that the agreement calls for only conventional 
transport links for Nakhichevan.

Iran has repeatedly warned against attempts to strip it of the common border and 
transport links with Armenia. The Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah 
Ali Khamenei repeated these warnings when he met with Turkish President Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran last year.

Erdogan complained about Iran’s stance on the issue after visiting Baku in June. 
He claimed that unlike Tehran, Yerevan does not object to the idea of the 
“Zangezur corridor.”

Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu reportedly 
said on Wednesday that “in the coming months” Ankara will join in efforts to 
open the corridor. He did not elaborate.

“I believe that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia will implement this project in a 
short period of time,” Uraloglu said, according to the Azerbaijani APA news 
agency.



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.

U.S. repeats call for immediate and simultaneous opening of Lachin and Aghdam routes

Aram Torosian

 10:59,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at the September 11 press briefing.

“We are deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.  We repeat our call, as the Secretary did in a statement over the weekend, for the immediate and simultaneous opening of the Lachin and Aghdam routes to allow passage of desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the men and women and children in Nagorno-Karabakh.  We urge the leaders, as the Secretary did in his calls, against taking any actions that raise tensions or distract from this goal. And I will say, in addition, we have consistently stressed this need for open – to open routes in Nagorno-Karabakh and for a dialogue between the parties.  While it is important that Nagorno-Karabakh have credible representatives for this process, as we have said in the past, we do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state, and therefore we do not recognize the results of those so-called presidential elections that were announced over the last few days. So, I will say that the United States will continue to strongly support efforts by Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve outstanding issues through direct dialogue, and that’s why Secretary Blinken and Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Lou Bono have been consistently engaged, and we will stay consistently engaged on this question,” Miller said.

Azerbaijan pledges to reopen Lachin Corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh

Aram Torosian
POLITICO
Sept 10 2023

The move comes after almost two months of near-total blockade and warnings of ‘genocide.’

BY GABRIEL GAVIN
 
YEREVAN, Armenia — Azerbaijan has agreed to reopen the only highway linking Armenia to the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh provided local leaders accept aid from Azerbaijan as well, a senior Azerbaijani official told POLITICO on Saturday.

The news comes after authorities in the ethnic Armenian-controlled exclave — inside Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders — announced earlier in the day that it would accept humanitarian shipments from the Russian Red Cross via an alternative road from Aghdam, inside Azerbaijani government-held territory.

According to Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, “Azerbaijan expressed its consent as a goodwill gesture to ensure simultaneous opening” of the so-called Lachin Corridor for ICRC cargo. The road connects the mountainous territory to Armenia. The acceptance, he said, would pave the way for a separate deal to allow passage from Armenia. “In the Lachin checkpoint, Azerbaijan’s customs and border regime must be observed,” he said.

For close to two months, aid organizations including the Red Cross have said they have been unable to transport supplies of food and fuel into Nagorno-Karabakh, despite a 2020 ceasefire agreement between the two sides guaranteeing free use of the road under the supervision of Russian peacekeepers. With essential provisions running low, local Armenians say a humanitarian crisis is already unfolding and the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, last month issued a report warning that a “genocide” was under way.

Both the U.S. and the EU have urged Azerbaijan to reopen the Lachin Corridor. The South Caucasus country denies it is orchestrating a blockade, and has insisted the Karabakh Armenians must accept humanitarian supplies from inside Azerbaijan.

Arayik Harutyunyan, the former de facto president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, told POLITICO in July that he would refuse to accept the supplies despite a deteriorating humanitarian situation because “Azerbaijan created this crisis and cannot be the solution to it.”

Harutyunyan, who resigned last month amid the ongoing crisis, was due to be replaced on Saturday in a presidential election. However, according to Hajiyev, the “sham elections” are a “serious setback and counterproductive” for the situation.

Instead, he reiterated a call from the Azerbaijani government for the Karabakh Armenians to lay down their arms and accept being governed as part of Azerbaijan. “It is the only way to a lasting peace where Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of Karabakh can live and coexist,” he said.

Hajiyev later clarified in a statement on social media that the Lachin Corridor would not be opened immediately, but under the terms of a deal allowing indefinite access for Azerbaijani aid from Aghdam.

As of Sunday, despite a statement from Karabakh Armenian authorities that the deal had been done to open the Lachin Corridor, access for aid organizations and Russian peacekeepers has reportedly not yet been restored.

https://www.politico.eu/article/azerbaijan-agrees-to-reopen-lachin-corridor-to-nagorno-karabakh/

Germany calls for opening Lachin Corridor and sending humanitarian aid to Nagorno- Karabakh

Aram Torosian

 19:16, 9 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz has called for a swift agreement to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and open the Lachin Corridor, according to the German government’s readout of Scholz’s phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“Today, Chancellor Scholz spoke by phone with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. The tense situation in the border regions between Armenia and Azerbaijan was in the focus. The Federal Chancellor expressed his deep concern over the growing tension of the past weeks, particularly over the movements of military formations. The federal government is strongly urging to refrain from any military escalation. Now it is necessary to swiftly achieve an agreement over providing humanitarian aid to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, including over the opening of Lachin Corridor. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan can only be resolved diplomatically. Now everyone should work constructively in the direction of this goal without delay,” Scholz’s office said in the readout.

In the September 9 phone call, the Armenian Prime Minister’s Office said that he briefed the German Chancellor on the Azeri military buildup and rising tensions.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials and experts warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing and genocide against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

AW: Artist panel at Armenian Museum to feature Harvard’s Christina Maranci and Hrag Vartanian of Hyperallergic

Aram Torosian
September 8, 2023 Armenian Museum of America Diaspora, Culture, Announcements 0

The Armenian Museum of America is offering a series of events on September 23-24, including a panel discussion on “The Image as Disruption and Identity” with artist Ara Oshagan, curator Ryann Casey, art critic Hrag Vartanian and Prof. Christina Maranci of Harvard University.

WATERTOWN, Mass.—The Armenian Museum of America will host a series of programs the weekend of September 23-24 highlighted by an artist panel discussing Ara Oshagan’s “Disrupted, Borders” exhibition currently showing in the museum’s contemporary galleries. 

The event will bring Oshagan together with curator Ryann Casey, art critic Hrag Vartanian and Professor Christina Maranci, all of whom touch upon contemporary art and politics in their respective work.

The panel, titled “The Image as Disruption and Identity,” is free and open to the public, and will take place in the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries on Saturday, September 23 at 2 p.m., followed by a light reception. The museum is also offering free admission for all visitors that weekend, along with free guided tours of “Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders” to its members.

“This show connects many of the diasporic and homeland entanglements that have occupied me over the past decade or more, from Los Angeles to Beirut to Artsakh,” states Oshagan. With more than 55 works on display, “Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders” combines photography, collage, installation and film.

“The panel will concentrate on the role that image-making plays in our understanding of diasporic identity, displacement and our collective history,” Oshagan explains. “Of particular interest is the use of historical objects and family archives in the conversation around dislocation, borders and (un)imagined futures.”

About the Panelists

Ara Oshagan is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator and cultural worker whose practice explores collective and personal histories of dispossession, legacies of violence and identity. He works in photography, film, collage, installation and public art. Oshagan is an artist-in-residence at 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica and curator at ReflectSpace Gallery in Glendale.

Ryann Casey curated “Disrupted, Borders” and is a New Jersey based artist and educator. She is an adjunct professor of photography, art history and critical theory at Stockton University, and her current photographic and curatorial projects focus on themes of loss, trauma and memory. Casey has curated a number of exhibitions surrounding Armenian artists and history.

Dr. Christina Maranci is one of the world’s foremost experts on Armenian architecture. The first woman and first person of Armenian descent to serve as Harvard University’s Mashtots Chair of Armenian Studies, Dr. Maranci’s research focuses on at-risk Armenian churches and monasteries. She is also one of the Armenian Museum’s esteemed academic advisors.

An artist, curator and critic, Hrag Vartanian has written widely on Armenian artists and cultural production for over two decades. After co-founding Hyperallergic in 2009, Vartanian has served as the arts magazine’s editor-in-chief ever since. His writings have appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera and NPR.

More Weekend Offerings

Museum admission will be free for all visitors on September 23-24, sponsored by the Alan K. and Isabelle DerKazarian Foundation. “We’ve participated in Smithsonian’s free Museum Day program the past few years,” says Executive Director Jason Sohigian. “So when it was canceled this year, we decided in partnership with the Alan K. and Isabelle DerKazarian Foundation to offer free admission on the same weekend as Watertown’s Faire on the Square celebration, and show the Museum’s connection to the community.”

“In addition to the panel discussion and free admission, we are offering a special benefit to members of the Armenian Museum. The artist Ara Oshagan and curator Ryann Casey will offer free tours of the exhibition exclusively for members on September 23 at 11 a.m. and on September 24 at noon,” adds Sohigian. “We hope everyone will take advantage of these offerings as we kick off our fall programming.” 

To RSVP for the artist panel and artist tours for members, please visit the “Events” tab of the museum’s website.

This artist panel and “Disrupted, Borders” have been generously sponsored by Michele M. Kolligian in memory of Haig Der Manuelian for his dedication and foresight in sharing Armenia’s rich history and culture with the world, including an impressive collection of manuscripts that he gifted to the Armenian Museum.

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The Armenian Museum of America is the largest Armenian museum in the Diaspora. It has grown into a major repository for all forms of Armenian material culture that illustrate the creative endeavors of the Armenian people over the centuries. Today, the Museum’s collections hold more than 25,000 artifacts including 5,000 ancient and medieval Armenian coins, 1,000 stamps and maps, 30,000 books, 3,000 textiles and 180 Armenian inscribed rugs, and an extensive collection of Urartian and religious artifacts, ceramics, medieval illuminations and various other objects. The collection includes historically significant objects, including five of the Armenian Bibles printed in Amsterdam in 1666.


Azerbaijan will allow aid into Karabakh from Armenia if aid from its side is let in, official says

Aram Torosian
Sept 8 2023
Reuters

Azerbaijan is ready to allow Red Cross aid from Armenia into the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave if Red Crescent aid from Azerbaijan is let in at the same time, Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to President Ilham Aliyev, told Reuters. Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but run by ethnic Armenian authorities, is at the centre of a rancorous stand-off, with Azerbaijan restricting movement along the only road to it from Armenia to thwart what it says is arms smuggling.

Armenia says what it calls a blockade of the "Lachin corridor", known as "the road of life" by ethnic Armenians in Karabakh, has caused acute shortages of food, medicines and other essentials. Baku says it has let the Red Cross evacuate people to Armenia for medical treatment and that its own information shows there is no shortage of basic food staples, but it has not allowed food and other supplies in for some time.

Hajiyev said in an interview on Thursday that Azerbaijan was now ready to let the Red Cross bring in humanitarian aid on condition that the Red Crescent also be allowed to bring in aid, on a different road from Azerbaijan. He said the two roads – the Lachin corridor and the Aghdam road – could be opened to aid simultaneously as part of a pilot scheme that could defuse tensions and spur long-running peace talks between Baku and Yerevan.

The idea had been discussed in a phone call between President Aliyev and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sept. 1, he said. "There was a suggestion for the simultaneous opening of the roads and Azerbaijan agreed and immediately agreed," said Hajiyev, saying that part of the Aghdam road had been obstructed with concrete blocks by Karabakh's ethnic Armenian authorities.

"Now one week has passed since the telephone call with Secretary Blinken and there is no movement." Yuri Kim, acting assistant secretary of state for the United States, spoke on Thursday of "progress toward immediately & simultaneously opening Lachin and other routes to get humanitarian supplies into Nagorno-Karabakh".

"Opening routes and direct talks are key to resolving outstanding issues," Kim said on X. Ruben Vardanyan, a billionaire banker who was a top official in Karabakh's ethnic Armenian administration until February, said Azerbaijan was wrong to try to attach preconditions to allowing aid to pass through the Lachin corridor.

Vardanyan, who has accused Baku of trying to "ethnically cleanse" the enclave by choking off supplies to it – something it denies – said a Russian-brokered 2020 ceasefire deal signed by Azerbaijan after a short war was meant to ensure that the Lachin corridor remained open to Armenia. "Their President signed a trilateral ceasefire statement on November 9th (2020) and took responsibility for providing a corridor for uninterrupted connection," Vardanyan said on X on Wednesday.

"However, they now refuse to implement that commitment and are attempting to impose new preconditions for opening the Lachin Corridor."

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/2586636-azerbaijan-will-allow-aid-into-karabakh-from-armenia-if-aid-from-its-side-is-let-in-official-says

Armenia to Host Military Drills with U.S.; Russia Voices Concern

Aram Torosian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 September 6, 2023

 

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U.S. and Armenian troops interact during military drills in Europe


Armenia announced on Wednesday that it will host joint military exercises with the United States next week and the Kremlin was quick to voice concerns.

Armenia will host what is known as the Eagle Partner 2023 joint Armenia-U.S. military exercises from September 11 to 20, the defense ministry announced on Wednesday, saying that the drills will take place in the “‘Zar’ Training Center of the Peacekeeping Brigade and the N Training Center of the Ministry of Defense.”

“The purpose of the exercise is to increase the level of interoperability of the unit participating in international peacekeeping missions within the framework of peacekeeping operations, to exchange best practices in control and tactical communication, as well as to increase the readiness of the Armenian unit for the planned NATO/PfP [Partnership for Peace] ‘Operational Capabilities Concept’ evaluation,” Armenia’s defense ministry added.

Armenia has been part of the NATO-led peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and the Balkans.

“Within the framework of preparation for peacekeeping missions, units preparing for international peacekeeping operations frequently participate in similar joint exercises and trainings in partner countries,” the defense ministry added.

A Pentagon spokesperson said Wednesday that the 85 American soldiers and 175 Armenians would take part, Reuters reported. The source said the Americans – including members of the Kansas National Guard which has a 20-year-old training partnership with Armenia – would be armed with rifles and would not be using heavy weaponry.

This announcement about the exercises has raised concerns in the Kremlin, whose spokesperson on Tuesday hit back at Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for claiming that Armenia’s decades-long alliance with Russia could be deemed a “strategic mistake” and saying that Russia had failed to protect Armenia against attacks from Azerbaijan.

“Of course, such news causes concern, especially in the current situation. Therefore, we will deeply analyse this news and monitor the situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Reuters.

Peskov commented on Tuesday about Pashinyan’s assertions, made during an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica, that because of the Ukraine war Russia was unable to fulfill its security obligations to Armenia and the South Caucasus.

“Russia is an absolutely integral part of this region,” Peskov told reporters Tuesday. “Russia plays a consistent, very important role in stabilizing the situation in this region … and we will continue to play this role.”

It was also telling that the state-sponsored RT news site framed the news as “Russia’s Treaty Partner to Hold Joint Drills with U.S.”

URGENT: Azerbaijan amasses troops and additional equipment near Armenian border

Aram Torosian

 13:05, 1 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan is amassing military equipment and troops near the Armenian border in the direction of Sotk, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Friday.

“As a result of the monitoring of the relevant units of the Armenian Armed Forces, measures of concentration of military equipment and additional personnel of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are recorded in the direction of Sotk,” reads a statement released by the defense ministry.

‘Time to sanction Azerbaijan,’ MEP Nathalie Loiseau

Aram Torosian

 18:12,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 30, ARMENPRESS. Member of the European Parliament Nathalie Loiseau has called for sanctions against the government of Azerbaijan for its actions in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“There’s a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Nathalie Loiseau, the Chair of the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Subcommittee said in a post on X. “It is time to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan,” she added, sharing a BBC article on the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.