Author: Arbi Tashjian

Turkish press: Azerbaijan criticizes Armenian premier’s comments on UN court’s Lachin road decision

Arbi Tashjian
Burç Eruygur   |25.02.2023

( Azerbaijani Defence Ministry – Anadolu Agency )

ISTANBUL 

Azerbaijan criticized comments by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the situation surrounding the Lachin road. 

“It is regrettable that the Prime Minister could not accept the rejection of Armenia's two main claims that demonstrations organized by a group of Azerbaijani environmental activists on the Khankendi-Lachin road were 'organized by the Azerbaijani government' and 'Azerbaijan's natural gas, electricity, internet, etc. in court,’” according to a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

It said Pashinyan's comments on the ICJ’s decision are inversely related to the court’s ruling and is Armenia's effort to present “its dreams as if they are real.”

“First of all, let's note that Prime Minister Pashinyan's comment that the Court registered the claim that the Lachin road was closed does not in any way coincide with the text of the Court's decision on temporary measures, and the decision does not mention that the road was closed,” it said.

The statement also said the ICJ’s request is not the same as Armenia's, which it said concluded Azerbaijan "must see to use all the measures at its disposal." It said the court did not accept Armenia's claim that movement along the road was "free" and provided for "all" persons, goods and vehicles.

“With this, the court gave additional support to Azerbaijan's position and rejected Armenia's request that movement through the Lachin road should be carried out ‘freely’, that is, without any control, as claimed by Armenia,” it said.

The statement added that Pashinyan's statement “distorting the court's decision regarding landmines shows that the Armenian side is still abdicating its responsibility in this matter.”

“The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly stated that the use of the Lachin road should be legal and transparent, and abuse of the road should not be allowed,” it said. “However, Armenia's rejection of this proposal without giving any reason is an indication of Armenia's lack of interest in transparency on the road to Lachin and its intention to continue abuses,” it said.

Since Dec. 12, Azerbaijani ecologists representing nongovernmental organizations had been protesting Armenia's illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Karabakh region, where Russian peacekeepers have been stationed since the end of the fall 2020 conflict and a January 2021 pact with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of fighting, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

‘The Annihilation of Christians’: Armenian Believers Are Being Cut Off from Humanitarian Aid

Arbi Tashjian

Feb 20 2023


Billy Hallowell


Armenian Christians who are cut off from the outside world are facing desperate conditions. An ongoing blockade is preventing much-needed food, medicine and other resources from reaching the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. One Christian group that's sounding the alarm, fears that time is running out.

Baroness Caroline Cox, a prominent member of the U.K.'s House of Lords warns, "The situation is now very, very serious. Indeed, it has been said by people, it may indeed be an impending genocide."
 
Those foreboding words summarize the state of affairs in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

It's been more than two months since Azerbaijani protestors blocked the only road into this small, landlocked region preventing the transport of food, medicine, and other essential needs.

"I'm afraid it's a continuity of aggression by Azerbaijan against the Armenians," Cox told CBN News. "The nether land of Nagorno-Karabakh was relocated by Stalin inside Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan has been trying to carry out ethnic cleansing of the Armenians from there for a long time."

As the blockade persists, the 120,000 predominantly Armenian Christians living there are suffering and pleading for assistance. 

"The shortage of food is now getting desperate," Cox said. "The shortage of medicines is very, very serious, especially medicines like insulin for people with diabetes, and the transfer of patients from Karabakh into Armenia needing urgent medical treatment, that has been very, very much stymied."

She continued, "One has already died, so it is a very dire situation indeed."

Gayane Beglarian's 4-year-old daughter, Monika, suffers from liver cancer. Gayane recently sounded the alarm about her child being trapped inside Nagorno-Karabakh and risked missing life-saving treatment. "We were frightened," she told CBN News. "And we were really worried about the situation because her life depends on this treatment."

After weeks of anxiously awaiting transport, the Red Cross helped the family exit. Still, Gayane warns that other ailing residents need help.

"We have no necessary equipment; we have no doctors," she said. "We don't have doctors who can come there and have necessary treatment."

Cox also warned about another element of the crisis — the potential destruction of Christian churches, historic landmarks, and entire cultures.

"This could be another stage of genocide, destruction of Christian people, destruction of Christian heritage," she said. "And we need to pray."

Cox continued, "The annihilation of Christians is very much part of the agenda or getting rid of the Christians. And that's one of the things that the Armenians are really worried about because they will lose part of their unique Christian heritage."

As the chaos continues, prayers for peace, eased tensions, and resolution are desperately needed.

Watch Baroness Cox's statement at 

The Region in Brief

Arbi Tashjian
February 22, 2023 Lillian Avedian Briefs 0

Armenia

The Armenian government has revived the Amulsar gold mining project, which was shut down by protesters in 2018. Armenia granted Lydian Canada Ventures a license to develop a massive gold deposit in the Vayots Dzor province in 2016. The project was halted after environmental activists shut down roads leading to Amulsar in June 2018 shortly after the Velvet Revolution. Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan said on Wednesday that the Armenian government, in partnership with Lydian and the Kazakhstan-based Eurasian Development Bank, would raise $250 million to finish construction of the gold mine. Kerobyan said Lydian would pay between 30 and 40 billion AMD ($75-100 million) in taxes each year. He also said the mine would raise Armenia’s GDP by one percent. 

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has blamed Iran for the attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran on January 27. The chief of security was killed and two security guards injured after a gunman broke into the embassy. “Those who sent the terrorist, those representatives of the Iranian establishment who did this brutal act against Azerbaijan, must be brought to justice,” Aliyev said on February 17. Azerbaijani officials had previously linked the attack to a “recent anti-Azerbaijan campaign against our country in Iran.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded on February 19 to avoid “politicization” of the attack. Azerbaijan-Iran relations have been deteriorating recently, in part due to Iran’s support for Armenia in its ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan. 

Azerbaijani police arrested five activists who held a protest on Monday calling for the release of political prisoner Bakhtiyar Hajiyev. Hajiyev has been imprisoned since December 9 on charges of hooliganism. Two members of the Democracy 1918 movement have been placed in custody for 30 days, while three independent activists were released shortly after their detention. Hajiyev escalated his ongoing hunger strike on February 16 and stopped drinking water for five days. The US-based Helsinki Commission has called Hajiyev’s imprisonment a “gross injustice and sharp violation of basic human rights obligations.”

Georgia

The ruling Georgian Dream party announced its support on Tuesday for the controversial foreign agent bill. The proposed legislation would require non-governmental organizations and media outlets that receive more than 20-percent of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence,” or pay a penalty of up to $9,400. Critics have compared the bill to Russia’s foreign agent law. Over 280 civil society and media groups released a joint statement on Tuesday condemning “the attempt to adopt this Russian law” as an attack on free civil society organizations and critical media. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has also opposed the bill, stating it would take Georgia further away from its “European future” and “closer to the vicious model of Russia.”

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Lillian Avedian is a staff writer for the Armenian Weekly. Her writing has also been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Hetq and the Daily Californian. She is pursuing master’s degrees in journalism and Near Eastern Studies at New York University. A human rights journalist and feminist poet, Lillian's first poetry collection Journey to Tatev was released with Girls on Key Press in spring of 2021.


Decisions of the Hague Court are binding. UN Secretary General on the decision on Lachin Corridor

Arbi Tashjian

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 12:10,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2ջ, ARMENPRESS. The Secretary-General takes note of the Orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued on 22 February, in the proceedings between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said.

The Secretary-General welcomes the trust that the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have placed in the ICJ by asking it to resolve their differences.  

He recalls that decisions of the ICJ are binding and trusts that the Parties will implement its Orders, including the Order related to measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

The Secretary-General expresses the hope that Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue working to improve their bilateral relations and strongly encourages a constructive dialogue.

PMs of Armenia and Iraq agree to organize Armenian-Iraqi intergovernmental commission meeting in the near future

Arbi Tashjian

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 18:35, 17 February 2023

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The interlocutors attached importance the development of Armenian-Iraqi relations in various directions, including political and economic. In that regard, the parties emphasized the need to deepen trade and economic ties between the two countries, expand and strengthen cooperation of businessmen.

An agreement was reached to organize a meeting of the Armenian-Iraqi intergovernmental commission in the near future, during which further steps and joint programs will be outlined.

The sides also highlighted mutually beneficial cooperation on international platforms.

Azerbaijan again cuts off gas supply from Armenia to Artsakh

Arbi Tashjian
NEWS.am
Armenia – Feb 15 2023
21:55, 15.02.2023

Azerbaijan has again cut off the gas supply through the only gas pipeline from Armenia to Artsakh, the Artsakh Information Center reports.

"In the near future the gas filling stations will be provided with an extremely limited amount of gas, after which their work will stop. By such a behavior Azerbaijan, including and shutting off gas supply in cold winter weather and at night, aims to create problems and emergencies. Please be vigilant and follow safety rules," the statement says.

Amirabdollahian meets Armenian FM in New York

Arbi Tashjian
IRNA – Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Sept 25 2022

In the meeting that took place on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Amirabdollahian emphasized following up the agreements made between Iran and Armenia.

The Iranian foreign minister said that Iran’s stance on the latest developments in the Southern Caucasus was no change to political borders.

The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly believes that the disputes between countries should be settled through negotiations and intraregional political dialogue.

Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan highlighted Iran’s historical position in the Caucasus developments and said that Tehran-Yerevan ties would help cooperation and solidarity between the two countries and in the region be strengthened.

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Blinken Urges Aliyev to Adhere to Ceasefire Agreement

Arbi Tashjian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

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

Secretary of State Antony Blinken


U.S., Armenia, Azerbaijan Top Diplomats will Meet in New York

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to adhere to the ceasefire agreement reached last week after Azerbaijani forces launched a large scale attack on Armenia’s sovereign territory.

“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Secretary Blinken welcomed a halt to recent hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He urged President Aliyev to adhere to the ceasefire, disengage military forces, and work to resolve all outstanding issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan through peaceful negotiations,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Armenia’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that Blinken will host a meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, In New York when the top diplomat will attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Traffic between Republic of Artsakh and Armenia now carried out through alternative route bypassing Berdzor

Arbi Tashjian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia – Aug 31 2022
August 31, 2022, 14:20

 Less than a minute

Traffic between the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia is now carried out through an alternative route, bypassing the city of Berdzor.

The new Stepanakert-Goris route, which starts from the intersection of Berdadzor sub-district of Shushi region, is in operation from 20:00, August 30.

Russian peacekeepers have been deployed along the road. The traffic police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and rescuers of the State Emergency Service of the Republic of Artsakh also perform an enhanced service here, monitoring the safe entry and exit of citizens.

Establishment of peace in region is necessity and people’s desire – PM Pashinyan

Arbi Tashjian

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 12:55, 1 September 2022

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. PM Nikol Pashinyan presented details from his recent Brussels trilateral meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Council Charles Michel.

He said they had a comprehensive discussion.

“The discussion isn’t easy, but I’d like to record that our goals remain the same and must continue remaining the way I had announced,” he said.

Pashinyan added that the government adopted the peace agenda and it requires determination to realize this agenda.

“We all must understand that this isn’t easy and simple, and the possible solutions aren’t obvious,” Pashinyan said.

“It is a necessity and the people’s desire for lasting and comprehensive peace to be established in our region as soon as possible. And we must focus more and more on solving this issue,” Pashinyan said.