Armenia’s Pashinyan says war with Azerbaijan ‘likely’ unless peace treaty signed – AFP

TBILISI, July 21 (Reuters) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with the French AFP news agency published on Friday that a new war with Azerbaijan was "very likely" if the two countries were unable to agree a peace treaty.

"So long as a peace treaty has not been signed and such a treaty has not been ratified by the parliaments of the two countries, of course, a (new) war (with Azerbaijan) is very likely," Pashinyan was quoted as saying.

Pashinyan presided over an Armenian defeat in 2020 in a war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, during which Armenian-backed separatists lost large amounts of territory in and around the enclave.

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but inhabited primarily by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan's control during an extended conflict in the 1990s.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy aimed at a lasting peace deal in recent months, but there have also been sporadic border clashes, and the talks have not yet yielded a major breakthrough.

Both Armenia and separatist authorities in Karabakh have said that Azerbaijan has blockaded the territory since December, placing a border post on the only road connecting the region to Armenia and blocking most traffic.

Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Azeri ‘aid’ is actually blackmail and attempt to subjugate us,Nagorno Karabakh demonstrators say after closing Akna road

 14:08,

STEPANAKERT, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. Citizens in Nagorno Karabakh have closed the Askeran-Akna (Aghdam) road with concrete barriers in a move to show that despite the harsh humanitarian situation Nagorno Karabakh is categorically against receiving any supplies of Azerbaijani goods, be it “humanitarian aid” or "very cheap products".

Demonstrators said that Azerbaijan, by claiming that it wants to send supplies to Artsakh, is actually blackmailing Nagorno Karabakh in an attempt to subjugate it.

Several high-ranking Azerbaijani government officials have been talking about “readiness” to send what they describe as “aid” to Artsakh via the Akna (Aghdam) road. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has spoken about this during a number of meetings. The President of the European Council Charles Michel also mentioned the possibility of using this road during a press briefing after his meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Brussels on July 15.

“We’ve clearly said that this is a red line for us,” Arshak Abrahamyan, a founding member of the Artsakh Security Development Front movement told ARMENPRESS. The Askeran-Akna road is closed by demonstrators from this movement’s youth wing and others.

“Artsakh should maintain its social and economic connections only with Armenia. The removal of the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint on Hakari Bridge remains a priority in our main demands,” he added, noting that they are calling for a humanitarian air corridor to be established as a short-term and urgent solution to the humanitarian disaster.

“Their statements claiming to be ready to send supplies are an attempt to blackmail and subjugate us,” Abrahamyan added.

 

Van Novikov

Armenpress: Azerbaijan ‘not ready’ to resolve Lachin Corridor issue within the framework of law – jurist

 08:45,

YEREVAN, 17 JULY, ARMENPRESS: The situation in Lachin Corridor has long been beyond any legal framework․ Two prominent courts, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have delivered judgments and rulings ordering Azerbaijan to unblock the corridor, simultaneously rejecting Azerbaijan's counterclaims, however Azerbaijan is disregarding the decisions and the situation remains the same, jurist Artak Asatryan told ARMENPRESS.

On July 12, ECHR, after examining the request of the Armenian government to apply interim measures against Azerbaijan regarding the unblocking of the Lachin Corridor, decided to reaffirm the decision made on December 21, 2022. The December 21 ruling ordered Azerbaijan to ‘take all measures’ 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. The European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed the need of implementing the decision made of December 21, 2022 in the current situation, and emphasized it must be implemented by Azerbaijan.

“The decision of the ECHR is already within the scope of the powers of the EU Committee of Ministers, because the control over the judgments or decisions of that court is carried out by the given structure. In January, the committee of ministers, referring to the implementation of the decision made on December 21, noted problems and called on Azerbaijan to ensure the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Shortly after that, the UN International Court of Justice in February made a decision on an interim measure referring to the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, after the complaints raised by Armenia, and ordered Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor," Asatryan, an Associate Professor and Acting Head of the European and International Law Chair of YSU Faculty of Law, told ARMENPRESS. 

In June, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also addressed this issue by adopting a corresponding resolution. But factually even the International Committee of the Red Cross has had problems due to the actions of the Azerbaijani authorities.

Asatryan isn’t too optimistic regarding the resolution of the situation in the Lachin Corridor. The decision of ECHR was another instrument which didn’t change the situation.

Referring to the legal consequences the decision may have in the case of further destructive behavior by Azerbaijan, Asatryan noted that although Article 46 of the statute of the court includes a mechanism for initiating proceedings or procedures for breach of obligations, which refers to the execution of final judgments, it may not be possible to link it with the final judgment on the Lachin Corridor situation. The issue we are discussing was about applying an interim measure, therefore, it is difficult to say whether it is possible that the EU Committee of Ministers will apply to the court to discuss the issue of Azerbaijan's obligations implementation.

"Armenia showed that it took all legal action, applied to all the international institutes and courts to legally resolve the issue of the unblocking of Lachin Corridor, but Azerbaijan was simply not ready and is still not ready to settle the issue. However, Armenia taking all these actions, avoided criticism for not applying to international courts in advance. On the other hand, the decisions of the ECHR and the UN may serve as opportunities to be used against Azerbaijan in politics. The decisions can serve as a basis for negotiations or for preparation of documents made during them, stressing that Azerbaijan has not shown good will, so it is not excluded that there will be some political intervention to achieve the desired result, but this is a future matter," the expert of international law added. 

Manvel Margaryan

UAE Vice President invites Armenian Defense Minister to attend Dubai Air Show

 13:11,

YEREVAN, JULY 17, ARMENPRESS. The United Arab Emirates Vice President, Prime Minister, Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has invited Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan to attend the 2023 Dubai Air Show in November.

The invitation was conveyed to Papikyan by the newly appointed UAE Ambassador to Armenia Nariman Mohammed Sharif Abdulla AlMulla during a meeting on July 17.

Minister Papikyan and Ambassador Nariman Mohammed Sharif Abdulla AlMulla also discussed “issues related to the Armenian-Emirati defense cooperation”, the ministry said in a readout.

The Minister of Defense congratulated the Ambassador on taking office and wished her productive activity.

PM Pashinyan pays working visit to Brussels, will meet with Azerbaijani president

 19:40,

YEREVAN, 14 JULY, ARMENPRESS․ Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan left for Brussels this evening on a working visit, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

On July 15, Nikol Pashinyan will first have a meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, then a tripartite meeting of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of the European Council and the President of Azerbaijan is planned.

Azerbaijani Press: International Court of Justice rejects Armenia’s motion over Lachin checkpoint

Azerbaijan – July 7 2023
International Court of Justice rejects Armenia’s motion over Lachin checkpoint

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. Azerbaijan welcomes the fair dismissal by the International Court of Justice of Armenia’s motion, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elnur Mammadov tweeted, Trend reports.

"Azerbaijan welcomes today's fair refusal of the International Court of Justice in Armenia's petition to amend the court's decision of February 22, 2022. It was a unanimous decision of the court," he said.

Meanwhile, the UN International Court of Justice has rejected Armenia's petition dated May 12, 2023, regarding the alleged "illegality" of the Lachin border checkpoint and the requirement to "withdraw all Azerbaijani Armed Forces from the Lachin road".

In order to prevent the transportation of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia for illegal Armenian armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan (which weren't withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 Second Karabakh War), and as an adequate response to the unilateral establishment of a checkpoint by Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan on April 22 at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, on April 23 at 12:00 (GMT+4), the units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan set up a border checkpoint in its sovereign territories, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.

https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/3770181.html

The Hidden Place of Artsakh

Srbuhi Vanyan in her living room in Stepanakert with her working sketches and some completed works

“Your whole life, you set goals, work hard, create, and then there’s a war and now the blockade, which create monumental challenges that require doing the near-impossible to overcome them,” explains radio host-turned aspiring guesthouse manager Srbuhi Vanyan in her living room in Stepanakert. “It’s like trying to wring wood from a stone,” she repeats a folk saying in Artsakh.

Vanyan, 43, is a trained journalist who had been working in local radio for many years until she and her husband decided to launch Min Taqun Tegh (A Hidden Place), hoping to turn their old house into a guest house for rental income. The Vanyans’ vision was to create an authentic experience for Artsakh visitors, a cozy place where visitors can discover for themselves the beauty of Artsakh and gems hidden from most of the world. It would also be a place where visitors experience the Vanyans’ artwork.

Srbuhi Vanyan at her unfinished guest house in Stepanakert

But the war of 2020 left the guest house unfinished.

Vanyan compares the beauty of Artsakh with a panoramic picture. After the war, Vanyan took up painting and created handmade and applied art in the form of eco bags, tablecloths and decorative pillows that feature the local dialect and folklore motifs, in an effort to preserve elements of national identity. “I like to paint everything that is related to Artsakh,” she says. Since tourists can’t visit Artsakh now, she wants her buyers, who may never have the chance to visit, to have a piece of hidden Artsakh with them, in their homes.

However, the ongoing six-month blockade of Artsakh has hindered the growth of her small business. Due to the closure of the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia and to the rest of the world, she cannot bring raw materials from Armenia, and the items sold online cannot be delivered to the buyers.

The endless queues are challenging for Vanyan as for almost everyone, but not only for getting necessary products. “We seem to have found ourselves at the lowest level of human needs. My customers are mostly women, who have higher needs such as being in the proximity of art, but today they have to think mainly about satisfying those basic needs,’’ says Vanyan.

The blockade has also been a personal challenge for Vanyan, because her family has been divided. Her husband is left without a job in Yerevan. Her elder daughter, who is studying in Yerevan, can’t return home either. 

Vanyan tries to take care of the family on both sides of the road. She is not afraid of these difficulties or the deprivation, because since the first war, they have survived many hardships.

“On the one hand, war hinders the opportunity to develop. On the other hand, it inspires creativity and resourcefulness,” she bitterly notes. “When I was a child, I cut my mother’s wedding dress and sewed a suit for myself. I sewed my brother’s torn shoes from an old school bag.”

After the war, Vanyan didn’t hesitate to return to Artsakh, a risky decision she admits may have been irrational: “Maybe we love this land too much.” But she also says that her dream and the collective desire of local Armenians is not something unusual—to continue one’s way of life, to simply exist. “I just want to have the opportunity to live together with my family, to create and move freely, but also to preserve our identity in our homeland, in our hidden place.” She wishes that this was not as seemingly impossible a task as wringing wood from a stone.

The blockade has had enormous consequences for Artsakh’s economy, which has not yet recovered from the 2020 war, putting it on the brink of a new crisis. 

In particular, the activity of the mining sector and large-scale agricultural activities have been  completely suspended. The construction of roads, tens of kilometers of water lines, irrigation systems for thousands of hectares of land and housing for displaced people from the occupied territories have all come to a halt.

During the blockade, foreign trade turnover was disrupted as well. Only humanitarian cargo has been imported through the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeeping force, mainly food and medicine, which is only eight-percent of the volume of goods imported into Artsakh before the blockade. An average of more than 200 tons of commodities used to be exported from Artsakh per day (mainly mining, food and textile industry products, alcoholic beverages), but now exports have completely halted.

According to the economic forecast, if the current situation remains unchanged, in 2023 the gross domestic product of Artsakh will decrease by more than 45-percent compared to the previous year.

As a result of all this, workers in all affected sectors face the threat of unemployment and many others have already lost their jobs. About 11,000 people have become unemployed, more than half of the employees in the private sector of the economy.

Siranush Sargsyan is a freelance journalist based in Stepanakert.


RI Road Race to honor Kerrie Dolbashian

Kerrie Dolbashian

SMITHFIELD, R.I.—Gary Menissian of Ocean State Multisport has organized a road race in memory of Kerrie Dolbashian, whose life was tragically cut short last May.

Born in Providence, Kerrie was the daughter of Paul and Lisa M. (Read) Dolbashian, parishioners at Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church. She was also the sister of Michelle Dolbashian and Anthony Arakel Dolbashian and his wife Chelsea. Dolbashian worked as a CNA at Miriam Hospital in Providence and was to start the nursing program at CCRI in the fall of 2022. She was honored by the hospital as a Jet Blue Covid Warrior.

A childhood friend of Dolbashian’s father Paul, Menissian decided to name the race in Kerrie’s honor.  

The Kerri “D” Sour Apple Running Festival – Half Marathon / 5k will start and finish at Deerfield Park in Smithfield on Sunday, July 9. The half marathon course is set in the countryside with limited traffic and is certified by the USATF. 

According to the race information, the half marathon is a little hilly with the last two miles being downhill or flat. The 5k is also a little hilly with a downhill finish. The race will be chip timed, and all online registrants will receive a t-shirt and a finishers medal. There will be a four-hour time limit for the half marathon.

During the race, there will be seven water stations on the half marathon course and one water stop on the 5k. Two porta-potties will be available on the half marathon course.

All participants will receive a medal with trophies for the overall male/female in the half marathon and the 5k.

Packet pickup is Saturday, July 8, from 8-10 a.m. at the Seekonk YMCA and on race day starting at 6 a.m. In order to receive a race day t-shirt, participants must register online before June 29. Race day registration will be available from 6:30-7:45 a.m. with a start time of 8 a.m.

At the request of Dolbashian’s parents, a portion of the proceeds from the race will be distributed evenly between AYF Camp Haiastan and the Armenian National Committee of RI.




Armenpress: Azerbaijan again falsely accuses Nagorno Karabakh of breaching ceasefire

 10:19,

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani authorities have again spread disinformation, the Nagorno Karabakh military warned Wednesday.

In a statement, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense has again falsely accused the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Defense Army of opening gunfire.

“The statement released by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense accusing the Defense Army units of opening gunfire around 20:10 on June 20 at Azerbaijani positions deployed in the occupied territories of the Shushi region of Artsakh Republic is usual disinformation,” the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh Republic) Ministry of Defense said in a statement.