Author: Emma Nadirian

 18:23, 7 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. The high-level delegation of the Council of Europe visited the beginning of the Lachin Corridor, which has been blocked for 7 months, ARMENPRESS reports, the permanent representative of Armenia in the Council of Europe, Arman Khachatryan, wrote on his "Twitter" page.

“Council of Europe High-level delegation visited starting point of Lachin Corridor, blocked for 7 months.

The visit was an opportunity to have a better understanding of situation on the ground, with its serious human rights and humanitarian consequences for people of Nagorno Karabakh. It cannot be denied that Azerbaijan closed the only way of life connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia. Azerbaijan should ensure free and safe movement through the Lachin Corridor, fulfilling the judgments of the International Court of Justice and the ECHR and the recently adopted new resolution of the PACE," wrote Khachatryan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began the closed-door talks with the adversaries' foreign ministers at a State Department office just outside Washington, in the second such negotiations session he has led in as many months.

“We continue to believe that peace is within reach and direct dialogue is the key to resolving the remaining issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said before the talks, which would cover “very sensitive” areas.

Russia has historically been the mediator between the two former Soviet republics but the US and EU have been increasingly active as Moscow becomes bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine.

Armenia has repeatedly accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to live up to promises to protect ethnic Armenians in line with a 2020 ceasefire negotiated by Moscow after six weeks of fighting left thousands dead.

Russia last week pressed Azerbaijan to allow traffic through the Lachin corridor that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly ethnic Armenian area effectively controlled by Yerevan since war during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Azerbaijan had blocked access for convoys delivering aid to Karabakh, raising concerns of shortages of food and medicine.

Russia said that Azerbaijan was breaching its obligations to allow traffic to flow.

Azerbaijan has insisted that civilians and aid convoys can travel through, with the blockade since December nominally staged by Azerbaijani activists to protest against illegal mining.

 15:13,

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan seeks to achieve a complete depopulation of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) with its genocidal actions, the Artsakh Parliament said in a statement adopted on June 28.

The parliament said that the latest ceasefire violation – the unprovoked attack by Azeri forces in the early hours of June 28 – which left four Nagorno Karabakh troops dead, attests that Azerbaijan seeks to achieve a complete depopulation of Artsakh with its genocidal actions, with the use of military, political and economic levers, under fake agenda of peace and dialogue, and in complete disregard for calls by reputed international organizations.

The fact that this latest ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan took place amid ongoing U.S.-mediated foreign ministerial talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan is noteworthy, it added. “This certainly once again proves that these “peace treaty” talks are actually an imitation of the formation of an environment of lasting peace and stability in the region as part of so-called international efforts.”

The parliament of Artsakh expressed deep concern over the dangerous reality and made the following appeals to the UNSC, the leaders of U.S., France, Russia and Armenia.

“To the UN Security Council, the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries, to take concrete practical steps aside from statements of empathy, calls and advice, particularly, apply sanctions against Azerbaijan to suppress its aggressive aspirations. We are convinced that the double-standards style of conduct further emboldens Azerbaijan and makes it more uncontrollable and unleashed. To the Russian Federation, as part of the peacekeeping mission, to take stronger measures to stop Azerbaijan’s inhumane and genocidal actions. To the delegation of the Republic of Armenia in the Washington negotiations, to immediately halt the talks until a complete ceasefire is established in the line of contact with Artsakh and the borders of Armenia, and a provision of documented guarantees on preserving it, otherwise the continuation of the talks would mean to encourage Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior and giving it an international level privilege.”

“We bow before the memory of our four martyrs who sacrificed their lives for our homeland, and we are ready to continue their sacred mission,” reads the statement.

Azerbaijani forces bombarded Nagorno Karabakh military positions with artillery and drone strikes in the early hours of June 28.

Lachin Corridor, the only road linking Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since December 2022.

The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on February 22 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 so far ignored the order. Furthermore, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor.

 15:03,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke today with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Pashinyan and Raisi discussed topics related to regional developments, as well as the further development and agenda of the relations between Armenia and Iran, the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout. 

The leaders stressed the importance of high-level mutual visits and contacts.

 16:17,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Azerbaijan still have disagreements over the main issues around the possible peace treaty, Vice Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan told reporters on Monday.

“We expect progress,” he said when asked on the upcoming Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministerial meeting in Washington D.C.

“Armenia’s position is that we want to have the kind of a text of a peace treaty that would be in our interests and would be possible to sign. Naturally, this is a difficult process, there are issues around which we disagree. But there are also issues that we already agree upon. But there are disagreements on main issues,” Rubinyan said.

The expectation is that it will be possible to bring positions closer.

Rubinyan said he hopes that the agreement on sovereignty and jurisdiction of parties in context of unblocking will be stipulated on paper.

He said Armenia wants to have a peace treaty in line with its interests as soon as possible and pointed out three most important issues. “First, to place a specific map in the basis of mutual recognition of territorial integrity. Second, address the rights and security of the people of NK, which we believe must take place through Baku-Stepanakert dialogue under an international mechanism. Third, the institute of guarantors,” he said, highlighting the need for guarantors because Azerbaijan has violated every clause of the 9 November 2020 agreement.

 15:53,

YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, works in the Kremlin, ARMENPRESS reports, citing "RIA Novosti", the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said.

"The President is working in the Kremlin," Peskov said.

Earlier, a number of Telegram channels wrote that Putin has left Moscow for another region.

 19:54,

YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS/WAM. The UAE has launched the Andalusia: History and Civilisation initiative, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court.

The initiative is organised by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre and the National Library and Archives.

The launch of the six-month initiative, in partnership with the Kingdom of Spain, reflects the UAE’s unwavering belief in the necessity of openness with civilisations and convergence among cultures and religions.

The UAE, through the initiative, aims to shed light on the Andalusian civilisation through an array of cultural and artistic activities aimed at developing the strong existing ties between the two countries, and highlighting the Arab civilisation that Andalusia witnessed, and the culture of dialogue, tolerance, and the values of openness and coexistence, which are the same values that the UAE seeks, through various efforts, to spread them.

Mohammed Al Murr, Chairman of the “Andalusia: History and Civilisation” Initiative Committee, said, “The launch of the initiative comes within the official interest of the UAE in the human heritage wherever it is, which comes through this serious participation that aims at preserving and restoring, introducing, and disseminating it globally, in addition to the fact that the initiative, in its essence, is an invitation to the general public to get acquainted with the components of one of the greatest Arab historical eras, and to educate new generations with the Andalusian civilisation in its human, cultural and scientific heritage, as well as to highlight and uphold the culture of coexistence and tolerance.”

The initiative comprises various cultural and artistic events including, an exhibition of Andalusian art holdings which will be hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in November 2023 for a period of six months, and two cultural seminars in which specialists and scholars will participate in Andalusian studies in all its cultural, literary and scientific disciplines.

Spain will host the first forum in September 2023, while the UAE will host the second forum in February 2024, in addition to a number of artistic and musical performances, including Andalusian stanzas (Muwashshahas), symphony orchestras, flamenco, and Arabic and Spanish melodies.

[see video]

The initiative, through its various activities, enhances the role of the UAE that seeks to establish the values of tolerance and coexistence, by inviting local and international communities who are interested in the Andalusian art, history and architecture, as well as researchers and academics, to discover one of the greatest historical eras shared between the Arabs and Spain.

The initiative is also a global cultural mission led by the UAE to highlight the Andalusian heritage and its cultural, artistic and intellectual legacy that prevailed in Andalusia, and to emphasise the shared history between Arabs and Spaniards over the past centuries, as well as the depth of Arab-Spanish relations today at the level of cultural work.

The initiative seeks to strengthen knowledge of the unique Andalusian civilisation by translating the most important sources of Andalusian heritage in all arts and knowledge field, and republishing them in the Arabic language, to bring to mind a prosperous era in human history, and allow the Arab and international world to explore stages of continuous cultural and civilisational exchange.

 12:19,

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Foreign ambassadors visited on Thursday the village of Yeraskh to get acquainted with the border situation following the June 14 Azeri cross-border shooting which left two civilians wounded in a construction site.

Colonel Sasun Badasyan, the Commander of the 5^th Army Corps of the Armenian Armed Forces, told the representatives of the diplomatic corps that the two foreign nationals wounded in the June 14 shooting were immediately taken to a hospital. The aftermath of the shooting can be seen in the construction site of the steel plant, which was the target of the gunfire.

“This is where the two citizens of India working on the construction site of the factory were wounded,” Colonel Badasyan told the ambassadors, emphasizing that military personnel are not involved in the construction of the plant.

“The adversary is constantly violating the ceasefire, and we continue our service in protecting the state border,” the military official added.

The steelworks construction site targeted by the Azeri forces is a $70 million Armenian-American project in Yeraskh. The steelworks, often referred to as a “metallurgical plant”, is expected to produce 180,000 tons output annually after being launched.

On June 14, two workers at the construction site of the plant were shot and wounded by Azerbaijani forces. The victims are nationals of India. Both were successfully operated on and are in moderate condition.