Author: Garo Vardanian

                                        Thursday, 


Armenia Mulls Opening Checkpoints At Azerbaijan Border

        • Astghik Bedevian

An Armenian checkpoint along the Vardenis-Sotk road set up after the 2020 war 
with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh (file photo).


Armenia considers the possibility of opening several checkpoints along its state 
border with Azerbaijan, according to a draft decision circulated by the 
country’s National Security Service.

Under the draft published on e-draft.am, a single website for the publication of 
legal acts, it is proposed that the number of checkpoints for the crossing of 
the border by car be increased.

In particular, it suggests opening border crossings at three points along the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani state border, in particular near the villages of Sotk and 
Karahunj in the Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces in the direction of the border 
with Azerbaijan in the east and near the village of Yeraskh in the direction of 
the border with Azerbaijan in the west.

As a justification for the decision the draft cites the need to fulfill the 
instructions given by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at a government meeting on 
August 4. Pashinian then, in particular, said that Armenia is ready to ensure a 
link between Azerbaijan and its western exclave of Nakhichevan through its 
territory provided it maintains sovereignty over the roads.

If the decision is adopted by the government, the director of the National 
Security Service will have to ensure the adoption of a corresponding legal act 
within two weeks to guarantee the safety of the movement of people, goods and 
vehicles through the new checkpoints. However, the draft does not specify what 
customs regulations will apply.

The tripartite Armenian-Azerbaijani-Russian commission for unblocking regional 
transport routes has not made any public announcement about any final agreement 
reached regarding the opening of the roads.

Neither the office of Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian, who is negotiating 
with the Azerbaijani side issues related to regional unblocking, nor the Foreign 
Ministry were available for comment immediately.

Representatives of Armenia’s opposition also refrained from commenting on the 
draft decision.

Areg Kochinian, an expert on military and political issues, said that he 
believes that with this step Armenia is trying to show some proactivity in order 
to neutralize Azerbaijan’s claims about opening what Baku calls the “Zangezur 
Corridor,” implying that the road to Nakhichevan should have some kind of 
extraterritorial status.

Yet, the Armenian expert cast doubt over the effectiveness of such a move.

“I don't think that this is a serious attempt to neutralize it, because this 
attempt itself does not in any way eliminate or solve the existing problems 
related to the positions of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia,” Kochinian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

“In fact, there is a demand from Russia in the form of a Russian corridor and a 
demand from Turkey and Azerbaijan in the form of a Turkish-Azerbaijani corridor. 
If this is Armenia’s attempt to avoid the corridor logic, then it is not a 
serious attempt to say the least,” he added.

The draft has been placed on e-draft.am for public discussions for the next two 
weeks until September 2. It is not clear when it may appear on the government’s 
agenda.



U.S. ‘Still Working’ With Armenia, Azerbaijan For ‘Comprehensive Long-Term’ Peace


U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price (file photo).


The United States continues to work with Armenia and Azerbaijan and still sees 
an opportunity of comprehensive long-term peace between the two nations, Ned 
Price, a spokesperson for the Department of State, said during a weekly press 
briefing in Washington on Wednesday.

Asked by a reporter about whether the U.S. remained optimistic about peace 
prospects in the region after the latest escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh in early 
August, Price said: “We are still working to do what we can to facilitate what 
we hope to see, and that is a comprehensive long-term peace between Armenia and 
Azerbaijan. You know that Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken recently had an 
opportunity to engage with the leaders of these countries. We did so, 
registering our deep concern about the recent fighting in and around 
Nagorno-Karabakh, including the casualties and the loss of life that had 
resulted from that.”

The spokesman for the Department of State said that Washington urged “immediate 
steps to reduce tensions and to avoid further escalations between the parties.”

“And the recent increase in tensions underscores, we believe, the need for a 
negotiated, comprehensive, and sustainable settlement of all remaining issues 
related to or resulting from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. So while we’ve seen 
an intensification of tensions resulting in some violence, we are going to 
remain committed to working with the parties. We will continue to do so 
bilaterally, but also with likeminded partners in the EU and through our role as 
an OSCE Minsk co-chair to help the countries find that long-term comprehensive 
peace,” Price added.

Asked by the reporter whether Washington still saw the same level of “historic 
opportunities” as three weeks ago and “how much it has faded away”, Price said: 
“We absolutely still see an opportunity here despite the setbacks. We always 
recognized this was never going to be a linear process. We believe that through 
continued dialogue, continued engagement, including at the senior levels, we 
will be in a position to do everything we can to help advance that long-term 
comprehensive peace.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for continued dialogue between 
Armenia and Azerbaijan as he phoned the leaders of the two states on August 5 to 
discuss the latest upsurge in violence in Nagorno-Karabakh in which at least two 
Armenian and one Azerbaijani soldiers were killed.

Days before that escalation, on July 25, Blinken also held phone calls with 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, of Armenia, and President Ilham Aliyev, of 
Azerbaijan, after which he said that he saw a “historic opportunity to achieve 
peace in the region.”



Armenian Authorities See No Evidence Of Terrorism In Yerevan Market Blast


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian chairs a weekly cabinet meeting, August 
18, 2022.


Armenian law-enforcement authorities say they have so far found no evidence to 
suggest that the recent deadly explosion and fire at a popular market in Yerevan 
was a result of a terrorist attack.

A total of 16 people were killed and 62 others were injured when a fireworks 
warehouse within the premises of the Surmalu shopping center exploded on August 
14.

The death toll in the incident may rise to 17 as rescuers continue to search for 
one missing person presumed to have been at the epicenter of the explosion.

During a weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian asked Argishti Kyaramian, the head of the Investigation Committee, to 
comment on whether the explosion could be a terrorist attack.

“Various theories are being considered with the framework of the criminal case,” 
Kyaramian said. “But at the moment there is no factual evidence in the case that 
would testify to a terrorist attack or other intentional crimes.”

Kyaramian added that the evidence gained so far suggested that the explosion was 
a result of negligence.

Armenia - Moments of the powerful explosion and fire at the Surmalu shopping 
center in Yerevan. August 14, 2022.

Pashinian, in his turn, said that the footage of the explosion and what 
proceeded it also suggested that there was smoke and fire before the powerful 
explosion that triggered a massive blaze in the sprawling shopping center.

The premier also reminded about his instructions after a powerful explosion at 
an ammonium nitrate warehouse in the port of Beirut in Lebanon two years ago to 
inspect all facilities in Armenia where explosive materials were stored and 
where there was a risk of similar explosions.

He said that the inspection conducted at the Surmalu shopping center in the 
spring of 2021 was part of the fulfilment of his instruction and asked the head 
of the State Supervision Service to submit a report on how his instruction was 
fulfilled in general.

Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Pambukhchian reported that the search 
operation for one missing person continued at the scene of the tragedy. He said 
that rescue workers were looking for one missing person feared to be dead, since 
that person was near the very epicenter of the explosion.

Health Minister Anahit Avanesian, meanwhile, said that most of the 62 people who 
were injured in the explosion and fire had already been discharged from 
hospitals and the few remaining patients were on their way to recovery. She 
confirmed that all current and future costs for the treatment of all injured 
persons were covered from the state budget.



Russian Diplomat Reassures Armenians Over Corridor In Karabakh

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Men interact with a Russian peacekeeper in the town of Lachin situated along the 
corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia (file photo).


Russian peacekeepers “will not move a single centimeter” from the existing 
Lachin corridor until a new road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia is put into 
operation, according to a senior Russian diplomat in Yerevan.

Talking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday, Maxim Seleznyov, a 
counsellor-envoy at the Russian embassy in Armenia, stressed that there are 
agreements in this regard and the parties are in direct contact over this issue. 
He did not elaborate.

Maxim Seleznyov

“Russian peacekeepers will move only at the moment when the new Lachin corridor 
is opened. The tripartite statement [from November 9, 2020] spells out the 
steps, the sequence of steps. First, the corridor is completed, and as it comes 
into operation, Russian peacekeepers take control of a five-kilometer corridor 
around this road,” Seleznyov said.

Amid fresh fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh earlier this month ethnic Armenian 
authorities in Stepanakert said that the Azerbaijani side, through Russian 
peacekeepers, demanded that a new connection be organized between 
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia along a new route.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s authorities informed the few remaining Armenian residents of 
the town of Berdzor and the villages of Aghavno and Sus that are situated along 
the current Lachin corridor that no Russian peacekeepers will be left in the 
territory after August 25 and, therefore, they needed to leave their homes 
before the end of the month.

Hayk Khanumian, a member of Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto government in charge of 
territorial administration and infrastructure, in particular, said to people: 
“As you know, the existing corridor has been moved to the south, and in the 
southern direction the road in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is already 
ready, and in the territory of Armenia the road will be ready next year. The 
corridor will move south, so the Russian contingent will not be here after 
August 25. In this view, a necessity emerged, according to our civil defense 
plans, to discuss the issues of moving people.”

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat stressed on Wednesday that the Russian 
peacekeepers will be redeployed only when the new road is ready.

“The Russian peacekeepers will not be deployed along the new corridor until it 
is put into operation, and there are agreements in this regard. The parties are 
in direct contact, and I assure you that the peacekeepers will not move a single 
centimeter until there is a new corridor,” Seleznyov said.

RFE/RL’s Armenian Service made inquiries from Nagorno-Karabakh’s authorities 
regarding this question and the answer received from them in fact confirms that 
the Russian peacekeepers will be redeployed to the new road “after its 
construction is completed.”

Earlier, official Yerevan said that the Armenian side would complete the 
construction of its section of the new road by next May.

During a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan on August 4, Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian said that it was necessary to sign a document in a trilateral 
format regarding both the redeployment of peacekeepers and the infrastructures 
that feed Nagorno-Karabakh. It is still unclear whether Baku has agreed to sign 
such a document.

In his remarks Pashinian also criticized the Russian peacekeeping operation in 
Nagorno-Karabakh following the most serious fighting along the line of contact 
that left two Armenian and one Azerbaijani soldiers dead.

The Armenian leader urged Russia to do more to prevent further ceasefire 
violations, charging that Baku has been stepping up such violations despite the 
presence of Russian peacekeeping troops in the region.

During a news briefing in Moscow on August 11, Ivan Nechayev, a spokesperson for 
the Russian Foreign Ministry, rejected what he described as “separate criticism” 
of Russia’s peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing that “the 
Russian peacekeepers continue to be engaged in active work, taking necessary 
efforts for stabilization on the ground.”

Seleznyov also said that the Russian peacekeepers “are doing the maximum that 
their mandate allows.”

“One would like to see restraint on all sides: on the part of the Azerbaijani 
troops, and most importantly on the part of the Armenian public. Here in Yerevan 
and in Stepanakert everyone should know and understand that the Russian 
peacekeeping contingent is doing the maximum it can, that it is there to try to 
protect the civilian population from the horrors of war as far as possible,” the 
Russian diplomat stressed.

At the same time, Seleznyov said that Russia is ready to expand the powers of 
its peacekeeping mission in Karabakh if Yerevan and Baku agree on this issue.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.