“Then the units of the Azerbaijani armed forces fired at the ambulance carrying the wounded serviceman.
As a result of the fire opened by the adversary in the direction of the ambulance, the medical assistant received injuries,” the Ministry of Defense said in a news release.
15:20,
YEREVAN, MAY 14, ARMENPRESS. The tripartite meeting between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the European Council Charles Michel has started in Brussels.
ARMENPRESS reports, yesterday the Prime Minister of Armenia had a private meeting with the President of the European Council.
On May 14, prior to the tripartite meeting, Charles Michel had already held a meeting with Ilham Aliyev.
10:51,
STEPANAKERT, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has falsely accused the Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh military of breaching the ceasefire.
In a statement released on Friday, the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army said that the Azeri defense ministry’s statement accusing them of violating the ceasefire is disinformation.
“The statement released by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accusing the units of the Defense Army of opening fire overnight May 11-12 at Azerbaijani positions deployed in the occupied territories of the Martakert, Askeran, Shushi and Kashatagh regions of the Republic of Artsakh is yet another disinformation,” the Defense Army of Nagorno Karabakh said.
10:33, 8 May 2023
YEREVAN, MAY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Russian private military company Wagner Group, which is fighting Ukrainian troops in the Donbass city of Bakhmut – called Artyomovsk in Russia – has been promised enough ammunition to continue the battle, RT reported citing the company's head, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The statement comes after Prigozhin warned that his fighters would be forced to pull out of the city on May 10 unless ammunition shortages are addressed by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
In a voice message posted on his Telegram channel, Prigozhin said that Wagner received “a military instruction … in which we were promised as much ammunition and weapons as we need to continue our activities.”
“We were told that we can carry out activities in Artyomovsk as we deem necessary,” Prigozhin added.
He also said that Army General Sergey Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, was tasked with “making all decisions related to the military activities of Wagner PMC in coordination with the Defense Ministry.”
On Saturday, April 29th, Turkish officials closed Turkish airspace to select Armenian flights. The ban particularly applies to all Armenian flights heading to a third destination and comes in response to a monument erected in Yerevan last week.
The 'Nemesis Monument' commemorates the individuals involved in an assassination scheme of Ottoman and Azerbaijani leaders in the 1920s. The Turkish government has taken offense to the monument and will keep these air travel restrictions in place until the monument is removed.
Armenian air carriers found their operations suddenly restricted while operating within Turkish airspace on Saturday. According to Daily Sabah, the air carriers reported were informed by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey that they would no longer be able to operate to a third destination from Turkish airspace.
The airlines said they were given no prior notice and were forced to halt such operations immediately. The sudden stoppage of these operations forced the airlines to cancel such flights for the foreseeable future.
The carriers are understandably frustrated that forces beyond their control are hindering operations. To them, it seems unfair that they should be punished for actions and decisions made by politicians. A representative for the low-cost air carrier FlyOne Armenia stated the following concerning the airspace closure,
"For reasons incomprehensible to us and with no visible grounds, Turkish aviation authorities canceled the permission previously granted to the FlyOne Armenia airline to operate flights to Europe through Turkish airspace,"
In association with the country's aviation authority, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has shared the terms by which it will remove the airspace restriction. Representatives have stated that if Armenian officials were to have the 'Nemesis Monument' removed, the aviation authority would, in part, terminate the travel restriction.
As of now, no negotiations are known to have occurred between the two countries concerning the air travel restriction. However, even if talks begin, it is unlikely that Turkey will fold as it has made its stance very clear.
The new air travel restriction puts Armenian air carriers and the Armenian air travel economy in a pinch. While it may not seem like a big deal to restrict flights from one foreign country to another, it is, in this case, due to Turkey's geographic location. Turkey is effectively cutting off Armenia from much of Europe.
While other ways exist to reach parts of Europe, most will require operators to fly significantly further to travel around Turkish airspace. This will impede timely operations and force airlines to restructure many routes.
These longer flights will lead to higher operating costs which will be passed down to the paying customers. The higher airfare will likely slow the Armenian air travel economy. Suppose the Armenian air transit industry experiences a significant decline in ticket sales – in that case, it will begin to hamper the country's economic growth as the leisure and business travel markets will likely take a hit.
Source: Reuters, Daily Sabah
11:55, 4 May 2023
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The United States believes that there is no military solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and that direct dialogue through diplomacy is an integral path forward, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a press briefing.
“We believe that there is not a military solution to this; we believe that direct dialogue through diplomacy is an integral path forward. And that’s why we’re very pleased to host these two foreign ministers at the Foreign Service Institute to participate and take on these very important discussions,” Patel said.
“What I will reiterate again is that we remain committed to promoting a peaceful future for the South Caucasus region. We believe that direct dialogue is key to reaching a lasting peace, and we believe that that is possible between these two countries,” Patel added.
“It’s something that the Secretary has been deeply engaged on – is that we believe that peace between these two countries is possible,” he further said.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov during their last day of the talks in Washington D.C.
18:02,
YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan referred to the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, that Armenia refused the proposal to implement parallel control in the Lachin Corridor, ARMENPRESS reports during the press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, Ararat Mirzoyan said that a negotiation has already been held regarding the Lachin Corridor and an agreement has been reached, which is well-known: that agreement is reflected in the statement of November 9, 2020.
"Armenia has never planned and is not planning to be involved in the negotiations on a new regulation of the Lachin Corridor regime. We believe that all agreements, not only regarding the Lachin Corridor, should be implemented incessantly, so as to be able to achieve a more serious achievement in the process of the overall normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations," said Mirzoyan, repeating the previously voiced opinion that the installation of the checkpoint in Lachine Corridor by Azerbaijan is absolutely illegal.
"Demands or proposals (it is difficult to make a distinction) have been voiced from the Azerbaijani side regarding the establishment of border posts in the Lachin Corridor. I already said that we are not going to get involved in the discussion of those proposals. Everything else related to the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh can be discussed and regulated in the sidelines of the Stepanakert-Baku internationally visible and transparent mechanism", concluded Mirzoyan.
Azerbaijan has to stop its aggressive actions against Armenia’s sovereign territory, MEP Andrey Kovatchev, the European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Armenia, told Armenia’s Public TV Company in an interview on Friday.
He highlighted that the European Parliament recently expressed a clear position, according to which Baku must stop its aggression against the Armenian territory and the Lachin Corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh must be immediately unblocked.
"The EU is ready to contribute to the peace process through a monitoring mission that will help prevent further aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia," Kovatchev said.
Referring to the EU support for border delimitation and demarcation, he said the work should be carried out by the working groups of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
When asked to comment on the claiims that Azerbaijan is preparing for new military aggression against Armenia, Kovatchev noted that Baku has reiterated its commitment to the peace agenda and the delimitation process.
"This is the only peaceful and civilized way to resolve the situation," the MEP said.
17:22,
YEREVAN, APRIL 21, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of Armenia has denied the claims of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense that a military convoy of the Armed Forces of Armenia, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, has entered Nagorno Karabakh.
“All claims by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry regarding the transfer of personnel, weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Armenia are also false,” the Ministry of Defense of Armenia added in a statement.