Author: Hambik Zargarian

Aliyev Tells EU He Wants to Invade 8 Villages in Armenia, Calls Granada Meeting ‘Anti-Azerbaijan’

Hambik Zargarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 October 9, 2023

 

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

A military post along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border


In a telephone conversation with the European Council President Charles Michel, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan essentially said he will invade eight villages in Armenia, which he believes are being “occupied.”

During the phone call of Saturday, Aliyev told Michel that those eight villages “still are being occupied by Armenia” and emphasized the importance of their “liberation.” He has not specified, which villages he is referencing.

Aliyev also voiced his grievance with Michel regarding an announcement that was publicized following a meeting on Thursday in Granada, Spain between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, President Emmanuel Macron of France, German Chancellor Olaf Shulz and Michel.

Aliyev said that including Azerbaijan in the text of the statement from a meeting that did not include his participation was “wrong” and “anti-Azerbaijan,” stressing that his decision to not attend the meeting was because of Macron’s participation.

According to Azernews.az, Aliyev told Michel that France’s announcement to provide military support to Armenia would not benefit peace in the region and accused Paris of further aggravating the situation and create a new conflict in the region.

“If any new conflicts occur in the region, France would be responsible for causing it,” Aliyev told Michel.

Aliyev also complained about a resolution adopted by the European Parliament last week urging the EU to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan has fully restored its sovereignty by using the right of self-defense in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, and neutralized illegal military units existing in its territory. In this regard, the steps taken by Azerbaijan were in full accordance with international law,” Aliyev told Michel, referring to its large-scale attack last month on Artsakh, which displaced more than 100,000 Artsakh Armenians and depopulated the region.

In a post on the social platform know as X, Michel expressed EU’s commitment to theArmenia-Azerbaijan normalization process.

Michel said he “reiterated the need for mutual respect of territorial integrity & sovereignty, and for advancing on border delimitation and stressed also need to ensure Karabakh Armenians’ security & rights, also over the long term.”

Azerbaijan arrests more ex Nagorno-Karabakh leaders

Hambik Zargarian
eurasianet
Oct 4 2023

Baku continues to arrest ex-officials of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), which is in the process of formally dissolving itself.

Azerbaijani security services detained three former presidents of the defunct entity during the course of October 3. 

Azerbaijani pro-government media reported that Arayik Harutyunyan, who served as de facto president of the NKR from May 2020 until September 1, had been detained by Azerbaijan's State Security Service (SSS) in Karabakh, and that he was being taken to Baku. 

Earlier the same day, media reported the arrest of the two previous NKR presidents – Bako Saakyan (2007-20) and Arkadi Ghukasyan (1997-2007) – and former chair of parliament David Ishkhanyan by the SSS. The SSS is yet to comment on these four reported arrests. 

The NKR exercised de facto control over Nagorno-Karabakh – an Armenian-majority region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan –  for more than 30 years. It was disbanded on September 28 by its last president, Samvel Shahramanyan, after Azerbaijan's lightning offensive to retake the territory on September 19-20. 

Harutyunyan was the commander-in-chief of the local armed force, the Artsakh Defense Army, during the 2020 Second Karabakh War which saw Azerbaijan retake most of the territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it had lost in the first war in the 1990s. (At the time the Artsakh Defense Force and the army of the Republic of Armenia were largely integrated with each other and fought together against Azerbaijan.)

On October 4, 2020, during the second war, Harutyunyan confirmed that he had ordered a missile strike earlier that day on Azerbaijan's second-largest city, Ganja. He said the missiles targeted military facilities, but dozens of civilians were killed. 

Four separate ballistic missile attacks on the city killed 23 people and wounded nearly 120. Civilians in other cities in western Azerbaijan including Barda, Tartar, Aghdam, Aghjabedi, and Naftalan also were subject to bombardment by Armenian/Karabakhi forces. Human Rights Watch described the attacks on populated areas as "unlawfully indiscriminate."

Several weeks later, Azerbaijan issued an international search warrant for Harutyunyan and other Karabakhi Armenian officials. 

On October 4, Azerbaijani media identified Alov Safaraliyev as Harutyunyan's state-appointed defense lawyer.

Harutyunyan and his two predecessors are not the first former Karabakhi officials to be arrested by Azerbaijan amid the surrender of NKR and mass exodus of Armenians from Karabakh. Ruben Vardanyan, the billionaire and former state minister of NKR, was arrested and placed in 4-month detention awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges. 

David Babayan, former de facto foreign minister, was arrested on September 29 and now faces 25 different charges – mostly related to separatism and terrorism, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office told media. Babayan was among those declared wanted by Azerbaijan over the Ganja bombings. 

In addition, former NKR Defense Minister Lyova Mnatsakanyan was arrested and accused of torturing Azerbaijanis during the NKR's de facto rule. 

And David Manukyan, a former commander in the Artsakh Defense Army was arrested by the SSS on September 27 and now faces charges of terrorism, creating illegal armed groups, and illegally crossing the border. 


Who can Armenia count on? Yerevan angers Moscow and looks West

Hambik Zargarian
France 24
Oct 3 2023

By:Josephine JOLY|Tom Burges WATSON|Charles WENTE
Video by:Josephine JOLY|Tom Burges WATSON

The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, is in Armenia today, to examine the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan which until 2 weeks ago had a sizeable ethnic Armenian population. But now the enclave is empty, as more than 100,000 of its former residents have crossed the border and now live in Armenia.

Colonna is the first Western minister to visit Armenia since the Azeri operation, and she says she's there "to reaffirm France's support to Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

The French Foreign Minister will also be assessing Armenia's needs as it faces this huge influx of refugees, as well as the threat that some fear of Azerbaijani military operations on its territory.

That fear is compounded by the sense that France – and the West more generally – did not take a strong position on Nagorno-Karabakh, which could serve to embolden the Azeris if they decide to venture beyond their borders.

So what is the purpose of this visit to Armenia by the French Foreign Minister? Can France offer Armenia any kind of security guarantees? Could the EU be poised to step in and SANCTION Baku? And what will become of the more than 100,000 Ethnic Armenians who've been forced to flee?

Produced by Charles Wente, Josephine Joly and Imen Mellaz.

OUR GUESTS
  • Richard GIRAGOSIAN, Director, Regional Studies Center
  • Laurent LEYLEKIAN, Political Analyst
  • Catherine NORRIS TRENT, FRANCE 24 Senior Correspondent
  • Kavus Abushov, Associate Professor of Political Science, ADA University

If Putin goes to Armenia he’d be arrested, as lawmakers back ICC entry

Hambik Zargarian
POLITICO
Oct 3 2023

Russian president faces one more travel headache after parliamentarians in Yerevan accept International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction.

BY GABRIEL GAVIN
OCTOBER 3, 2023 12:14 PM CET
2 

Armenia has accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court after lawmakers on Tuesday ratified its founding documents, effectively obliging the former Soviet republic to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he ever returns to the country.

Parliamentarians voted in favor of the Rome Statute on Tuesday, with 60 MPs backing its ratification and 20 opposition lawmakers voting against. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said last week he was confident there was sufficient support for the move, despite fierce objections from Moscow, traditionally an ally of Yerevan.

Last Thursday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that accepting the jurisdiction of the court in The Hague would be seen as “extremely hostile,” given it has issued an arrest warrant for Putin on war crimes charges over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“Armenia knows very well that we are not parties to the [Rome Statute], and Armenia is well aware of the difficult decision adopted on the basis of this statute,” Peskov said.

Pashinyan has insisted the decision is not aimed at Russia, but is necessary to ensure the country is protected by international law in its bitter dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan.

In March, the court published warrants for both Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of involvement in the abduction and forced deportation of children from Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion last year. Ukraine is not a signatory to the Rome Statute but has granted the court jurisdiction to investigate war crimes committed during the war.

Despite Russia’s outright rejection of the warrants, they have caused problems for Putin’s travel plans. In July, the Russian president was forced to pull out of a summit with the leaders of developing economies in South Africa, which has itself ratified the Rome Statute.

How Nagorno Karabakh’s Fall Could Help Armenia | Opinion

Hambik Zargarian
Newsweek
Oct 3 2023
OPINION
JOSEPH EPSTEIN , ANALYST

Azerbaijan's military conquest in late September of the tiny, self-proclaimed Armenian separatist republic of Nagorno Karabakh has provoked displays of grief and ragein Armenia's capital of Yerevan. Poignant images of thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing the mountainous enclave with possessions tied to their car roofs have captured global sympathy.

Yet in realpolitik terms, the dissolution of the Karabakh separatist government is a win for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In recent years, the three-decade-old breakaway government, representing an estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians, had become a political burden and a barrier to regional peace and integration.

In this sense, it has been a blessing for the besieged Armenian leader that Russian President Vladimir Putin's attention has been elsewhere. Ever since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has ostensibly been Armenia's close ally and the separatists' protector, sending peacekeepers to the enclave in 2020 and guaranteeing transit on the single road connecting it to Armenia. But Russia has also used the separatist enclave to pressure both Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is a tried-and-true Russian technique used with breakaway territories throughout the former Soviet Union, including in Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova. In the Azerbaijan conflict, whenever Yerevan or Baku strayed too far from the Russian policy line, Moscow would threaten to step up or cut military support for the region. This dynamic made both countries dependent on Moscow.

The Karabakh separatists also exerted pressure on Pashinyan, who never managed to control the region, despite public perceptions. Karabakh officials maintained their own ties to Russia while pushing Pashinyan to take more aggressive policies towards Azerbaijan. The most influential separatist politician, Ruben Vardanyan, is a Russian-made billionaire oligarch and former advisor to Putin. He helped launder $4.5 billion for Russian elite through the Troika Dialog, a bank he founded that later became part of Russia's Sberbank. Last year, 46 members of the U.S. Congress proposed sanctions on Vardanyan and other "kleptocrats and senior political figures of the Russian Federation" in the Putin Accountability Act.

Karabakh officials, such as Arayik Harutunyan, often reached out to Russia for military help before seeking support from Armenia, and until this month, Putin was happy to oblige. The Artsakh Defense Forces, the military wing of the separatist government, was supplied with sophisticated Russian weaponry, including advanced Russian Kornet guided missiles.

Pashinyan understood the unsustainability and danger of such a regional dynamic. Earlier this year, he recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. And during the Azerbaijani offensive, he did everything he could to keep Armenia out of the conflict, saying that keeping the nation "conflict free" is crucial to maintaining its independence.

With the end of the three-decades-old Karabakh dispute, Armenia should now have no more conflicts with its four neighbors. Peace will also allow Yerevan to cooperate with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which could accomplish Pashinyan's goal to reorient Armenia to the west.

Since it became clear Karabakh would fall, both Armenian and Azerbaijani experts have begun touting the potential benefits of peace, including giving Yerevan the chance to integrate economically with neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey. This would put Armenia in a position to profit on the potentially lucrative Middle Corridor, an economic trade route from China to Europe, bypassing both Russia and Iran. It would also allow Armenian products to make their way to the European market and Yerevan would be able to economically pivot away economically from Russia and Iran.

Regional integration, however, will only be possible if Azerbaijan truly commits to a peaceful integration of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and other top officials have publicly promised to protect their cultural rights but many Karabakh Armenians—justifiably—do not trust Azerbaijani promises and have fled en masse to Armenia. According to Armenian officials, around 80 percent of the enclave's Armenians have taken part in the exodus. Following three decades of ethnic conflict that brewed deep hatred, it is important that the Azerbaijani government enact reconciliation measures that will win the trust of whatever Armenian population remains.

To be sure, reconciliation has powerful foes. The biggest are Russia and Iran, both of which have exploited the destabilization of Karabakh to keep Azerbaijan and Armenia in check. The Russian propaganda machine has run a fierce campaign against Pashinyan over the last two weeks, pushing a narrative that he lost Karabakh by turning his back on Russia. And former Karabakh leader Harutunyan recently accused the Russian media of conducting hybrid warfare against Armenia.

Russian politicians have also not stayed silent. Recently, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened Pashinyan saying that "we will see what kind of fate awaits him" for blaming Russia for his loss and "playing games with NATO" on Medvedev official Telegram channel. On Sept. 25, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the Armenian government of severing ties between the two countries and becoming a "hostage to Western geopolitical games." Three days later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that despite the desire of Armenian politicians to reorient to the West, "Russian geopolitical interests in the Caucasus cannot be ignored."

These statements may translate into action. Reports from both Azerbaijani and Armenian media mention the potential of a Kremlin-backed coup against Armenia. The Armenian government is currently investigating the presence of Wagner forces inside the country that are allegedly plotting a change of regime. The speaker of the Russian Duma, Evgeniy Fedorov, recently said Russia would "reestablish control over Armenia" and appoint a "governor or something." The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the statement.

Should Pashinyan survive the protesters and a Kremlin plot. Armenia could see a bright future ahead, aligned with the West. But should he fall, Armenia's independence and the prospect of regional peace will fall with him.

Joseph Epstein is a legislative fellow for the Endowment of Middle East Truth (EMET).

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

https://www.newsweek.com/how-nagorno-karabakhs-fall-could-help-armenia-opinion-1831816 

Almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh’s people have left, Armenia’s government says

Hambik Zargarian
Canada – Sept 30 2023
YEREVAN, ARMENIA – 

An ethnic Armenian exodus has nearly emptied Nagorno-Karabakh of residents since Azerbaijan attacked and ordered the breakaway region's militants to disarm, the Armenian government said Saturday.

    Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the press secretary to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, said 100,417 people had arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, which had a population of around 120,000 before Azerbaijan reclaimed the region in a lightning offensive last week.

    • Half of Nagorno-Karabakh's population flees as the separatist government says it will dissolve
    • Canada provides $2.5M in aid for humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh
    • More than 70 per cent of Nagorno-Karabakh's population has fled as separatist government plans to dissolve
    • The fall of an enclave in Azerbaijan stuns the Armenian diaspora, extinguishing a dream
    • Tragedy in real time: The Armenian exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh

    A total of 21,043 vehicles had crossed the Hakari Bridge, which links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, since last week, Baghdasaryan said. Some lined up for days because the winding mountain road that is the only route to Armenia became jammed.

    The departure of more than 80% of Nagorno-Karabakh's population raises questions about Azerbaijan's plans for the enclave that was internationally recognized as part of its territory. The region's separatist ethnic Armenian government said Thursday it would dissolve itself by the end of the year after a three-decade bid for independence.

    Pashinyan has alleged the ethnic Armenian exodus amounted to "a direct act of an ethnic cleansing and depriving people of their motherland." Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry strongly rejected the characterization, saying the mass migration by the region's residents was "their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation."

    In a related development, Azerbaijani authorities on Friday arrested the former foreign minister of Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist government, presidential advisor David Babayan, Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General's Office said Saturday.

    Babayan's arrest follows the Azerbaijani border guard's detention of the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist government, State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, as he tried to cross into Armenia on Wednesday.

    The arrests appear to reflect Azerbaijan's intention to quickly enforce its grip on the region after the military offensive.

    During three decades of conflict in the region, Azerbaijan and the separatists backed by Armenia have accused each other of targeted attacks, massacres and other atrocities, leaving people on both sides deeply suspicious and fearful.

    While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, most are fleeing because they don't trust Azerbaijani authorities to treat them humanely or to guarantee them their language, religion and culture.

    After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia. Then, during a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier.

    In December, Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, accusing the Armenian government or using it for illicit weapons shipments to the region's separatist forces.

    Weakened by the blockade and with Armenia's leadership distancing itself from the conflict, ethnic Armenian forces in the region agreed to lay down arms less than 24 hours after Azerbaijan began its offensive. Talks have begun between officials in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist authorities on "reintegrating" the region into Azerbaijan.

    ——

    Associated Press writers Aida Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Elise Morton in London contributed to this report.


    Inside the rush to help thousands of Armenian refugees

    Hambik Zargarian
    Fox 11 Los Angeles
    Oct 1 2023
    By Araksya Karapetyan

    Los Angeles' large Armenian-American community continues to monitor the situation in the region of Artsakh closely, with many locals traveling to Armenia to help the tens of thousands impacted by a humanitarian crisis there that's resulting in ethnic cleansing.

    More than 100,000 people who have fled the region of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) have made it to the city of Goris, Armenia. 

    Much like three years ago, during the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, mangy individuals and organizations from Los Angeles have gone to help.

    The non-profit Artsakh's Nvehr was inspired three years ago, by a picture of a 2-year-old boy with a torn show named Nvehr, whose family was seeking shelter. In 2020, through generous donations, funds were raised by the Armenian Diaspora around the world.

    Now, they're doing much of the same for the 120,000 indigenous Christian Armenians who have instantly become displaced. They have fled their homes afraid they will be killed or jailed, after a nearly 10-month blockade by Azerbaijan, which left them without food or medicine.

    "The trauma that they've endured in blockade has been so devastating," said Meline Elian, the founder of Artsakh's Nvehr. "I think it would take them a year to just get over it. Obviously it had affected them very much. They lost so much weight. I couldn't even recognize some of them."

    PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Artsakh gas station blast: At least 20 killed, 300 hurt as Nagorno-Karabakh residents flee to Armenia

    On Sept. 19, after Azerbaijan's military began to heavily shell civilians, it resulted in the forced surrender of their homeland. Now, there is a mass exodus of people who have been traveling for days to get to Armenia. The Armenian government is facing a sudden increase of its population by nearly 5%. Right now, the focus is to provide food and shelter to help bring them back to life.

    "One of the boys was so malnourished… He looked like an old man," said Elian. "It took us one day to get them back and by the evening they had rosy cheeks. They were talking. They were joking with us."

    In the last several days, the back room of a carpet weaving center has been turned into a shelter. 

    "It didn't have even a bathroom or a kitchen, so we bought a stove, plates and cups," said Elian.

    Up to 60 refugees are being housed at the makeshift shelter. 

    "They come and go. So it's a stopping place where they come. They stay the night for a night, a day or two," said Elian.

    Goris is the first point of entry into Armenia. It's where everyone is registered, then they essentially have to start from scratch.

    "There are homes taht are housing two, three families," Elian said. "Goris is packed."

    The people arriving are still in shock. Some said they "have nowhere to go," others said they'll "stay in the car and then see what happens."

    "It's like a bad dream," Elian said. "It cannot be real that we are here. These people work hard. They build a life, they're good people."

    AW: Armenian Americans Rally at the Reagan Library

    Hambik Zargarian
     Madeline Bogdjalian Diaspora 2

    SIMI VALLEY, Calif.—On the eve of the second GOP presidential debate, the Armenian Youth Federation Western US led a rally outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, calling on Republican presidential candidates to express their commitment to addressing Azerbaijan’s genocide of 120,000 Christian Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and urging the Biden administration to end its complicity in that crime.

    Rally participants came together to ask GOP leaders to demand the following actions from the Biden administration:

    1) Directly intervening to stop the Artsakh genocide
    2) Immediately ending all U.S. military aid to genocidal Azerbaijan
    3) Launching an emergency U.S. humanitarian airlift to Artsakh
    4) Enforcing U.S. and U.N. sanctions on Azerbaijan
    5) Opening the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor for secure and unobstructed travel between Armenia and Artsakh

    The protest was covered widely both on the local, national and international levels, including Fox11 News, ABC7, the Guardian, Politico, and the Los Angeles Times.

    Lar Tabakian, a member of the Armenian Youth Federation’s Pasadena “Nigol-Touman” Chapter, opened the rally by pointing out that President Biden has “failed his constituents” by sitting idly by as ethnic cleansing occurs in Artsakh, where the indigenous Armenian population has been “sent into a mass exodus, forcibly removed from their homes, from the land where their brave sons were buried.”

    Tabakian argued that, by sending military aid to Azerbaijan, the Biden administration is complicit in Azerbaijan’s genocide in Artsakh, and now the 120,000 Christian Armenians are being forced out of their ancestral homeland.

    She echoed the Armenian American community’s demands of the Biden administration to stop aiding Azerbaijan and to “enforce Sec. 907, sanction Azerbaijan, open the Berdzor Corridor and provide humanitarian airlifts to the people of Artsakh, who have suffered shelling, gas explosions and malnutrition.” The civilian population of Artsakh needs humanitarian aid now more than ever, and “empty words from the Biden administration” are not enough.

    Tabakian commented on USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s visit to Armenia this week, where she announced an $11 million dollar humanitarian aid package for displaced Artsakh Armenians. Noting that assistance comes to less than $100 a person, Tabakian responded “the Armenian people around the world will not accept this as a solution. The Armenian people demand action!”

    As protestors chanted “shame on Biden,” Arek Santikian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation gave powerful remarks calling on “all of the Republican candidates to expose Biden’s role in allowing another genocide to occur on his watch. […] his inability to sanction a terrorist country, Azerbaijan […] and his willingness to aid and abet Muslim extremists in the Caucasus.”

    The Biden administration has failed Armenians by continuing to send “weapons and money to an oil dictatorship like Azerbaijan while they use those same weapons to starve, torture and murder innocent civilians in Artsakh,” said Santikian.  “With a single call, President Biden could have sanctioned Azerbaijan for carrying out starvation and mass deportation,” but he didn’t and “made it clear that he has no intention of doing so.”

    Santikian emphasized, “countless government officials of this Democratic administration have been deeply concerned for years, but their concerns mean nothing without action.”

    He characterized Samantha Power’s visit to Armenia as nothing more than a “publicity stunt.” Referencing her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell, which documented America’s shortcomings in responding to genocides, including the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, Santikian noted when asked about the current Artsakh crisis, she “couldn’t even acknowledge that starvation, blockade, mass deportation and murder constitute ethnic cleansing.”

    Speaking on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of America, Joseph Kaskanian called upon “the Republican presidential candidates, as they prepare for their debate, to take a stand.” Kaskanian emphasized how critical it is that the “United States take action because we have a moral obligation to act. We cannot claim to champion human rights and democracy while turning a blind eye to genocide. We cannot preach about freedom and justice while allowing dictators to act with impunity.”

    Kaskanian argued that the Biden administration has failed Armenians by not vowing to protect democracy and human rights in Artsakh. “How can we, as a nation that prides itself on being a beacon of hope and justice, stand by and watch? How can we allow our tax dollars to support a regime that is actively committing genocide? It is a stain on our conscience, a betrayal of our values.”

    Nyree Derderian, chairperson of the Central Executive Board of the Armenian Relief Society, classified the actions of the Biden administration as “unforgivable” and “passive.” She stated that Armenians “must rouse the global community and leaders to stop selectively ignoring their suffering…we must exert every effort to aid our fellow compatriots in Artsakh. They have made substantial sacrifices for the Armenian people and the nation, and we now must make sacrifices for their well-being and prosperity.” Derderian affirmed that the Armenian Relief Society is on the “frontlines” and committed to providing aid. “We are in Kornidzor, we are in Goris, we are in Syunik, we are in Yerevan—wherever the 120,000 Armenians of Artsakh require aid, be it food, shelter or medical attention,” concluded Derderian.

    AYF protesters held signs displaying “120,000 Reasons,” to show their support for the 120,000 Reasons coalition, which advocates for the 120,000 innocent Christian Armenians trapped within the Armenian territory of Artsakh due to the Azerbaijani blockade. The coalition targeted the GOP debate with a powerful 30-second ad, which aired on Fox Business Network and Fox News during the debate and on MSNBC and CNN during their post-debate coverage.

    •  Bio
    •  Latest Posts
    Madeline Bogdjalian is an undergraduate student at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, pursuing a degree in political science with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. Madeline's academic interests include law and policy. She is a fall 2023 Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway Intern in the ANCA's Washington, D.C. headquarters, a staff writer for the College Street Journal at Holy Cross, a member of the Moot Court team, as well as the treasurer of the Worcester "Aram" AYF Chapter.


    Sports: UEFA drops disciplinary case against HNS for Armenia-Croatia match

    Hambik Zargarian
    Croatia Week
    Sept 29 2023
    • by croatiaweek

    ZAGREB, – The UEFA Disciplinary Commission has made a decision to close the disciplinary proceedings against the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) regarding the behavior of fans during the European Qualifications match between Armenia and Croatia.

    Following the match in Yerevan, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the HNS based on the delegate’s report regarding the behaviour of fans.

    After a comprehensive response from the Croatian Football Federation, the UEFA Disciplinary Commission, during its meeting held on September 28, has closed the disciplinary proceedings.

    “We are naturally pleased with the decision of the UEFA Disciplinary Commission because we believe that through our detailed response, we have demonstrated that the Croatian Football Federation is not responsible for the disturbances at the stadium in Yerevan, and there is no evidence of Croatian fans being involved in these disturbances. I would like to thank our legal team for preparing an excellent response and our security department for thoroughly preparing the match and providing crucial evidence during this process,” stated Marijan Kustić, the President of the HNS told the federation’s website.

    The Croatian Football Federation is still awaiting the decision of the Disciplinary Commission regarding the Croatia vs. Latvia match played in Rijeka, for which the HNS was reported for racism and discrimination.

    https://www.croatiaweek.com/uefa-drops-disciplinary-case-against-hns-for-armenia-croatia-match/


    People of Armenia to stand firmly for sovereignty, democracy, independence and will overcome hybrid war – FM at UNGA

    Hambik Zargarian

     10:33,

    YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, addressing the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, warned that Azerbaijan could seek to open an extraterritorial corridor through Armenia by force.

    “The so-called “corridor” logic promoted by Baku and their hidden and open sponsors is aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia and justifying its territorial claims. The narrative generated by them along with the use of force by Azerbaijan both against the Republic of Armenia and the people of Nagorno-Karabakh shows that forcefully imposing on Armenia an extraterritorial corridor, a corridor that will pass through the territory of Armenia but will be out of our control can be the next target. This is unacceptable for us and should be unacceptable for the international community,” FM Mirzoyan said.

    Below is the full transcript of the Armenian Foreign Minister’s speech at the UNGA 78th session.

    “Honorable Mr. President, 

    Excellences,

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    First of all, let me congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on assuming the Presidency of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

    I will not be the first and definitely not the last speaker in this august body who will identify global threats for democracies, challenges for security, violations of the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, including non-use of force and peaceful resolution of conflicts, as a main source of instability and tension in the world.

    The devastating developments of the past years, which disrupted the security architecture in the world and especially in Europe, have significantly damaged multilateralism. If a couple of years ago we were contemplating the decline of multilateralism, today we see erosion of that very tenet and its foundation such as international law, human rights and cooperative security.

    This is not just a theoretical inference but a reality with which the Armenian people in the South Caucasus are coping for the last three years. The repetitive aggression of Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and military attacks against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh significantly disrupts peace and stability in our region, massively violates human rights and humanitarian law representing existential threat for Armenians.

    My government, having a sincere belief and aspiration to establish peace and stability in our region, has made significant and duly recorded efforts to this end. Alas, we do not have a partner for peace but a country who openly declares that “Might has Right” and constantly uses force to disrupt the peace process. Literally a year ago, from this very stage the PM of Armenia presented the fact of aggression and occupation of the Republic of Armenia’s sovereign territories by neighboring Azerbaijan. Since then, the situation has deteriorated even more and today I have to present yet another very recent act of large-scale offensive, this time against the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh, in blatant violation of the international law and Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020. 

    It happened this week and the timing was not accidental. It shows open disregard and defiance of Azerbaijan against the international community who gathered here in New York. The message is clear: “you can talk about peace and we can go to war and you will not be able to change anything.” The 120,000 people, whose sole aspiration is to live and create in peace and dignity in their ancestral homeland and who have already been suffering under the more than 9-month blockade and siege by Azerbaijan, were subjected to military attack by tens of thousands of troops. In the course of this inhumane attack, the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert and other towns and settlements came under intense and indiscriminate shelling with heavy weaponry such as rockets, artillery, combat UAVs, aviation, including prohibited cluster munition. 

    This atrocious large-scale offensive which claimed hundreds of lives, including of women and children, was cynically defined as a local counter terrorist operation. According to the recent information there are confirmed cases of more than 200 killed and 400 wounded, including among civilian population, women and children, also accepted by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fate of hundreds of people is uncertain.

    As I speak today, 30 percent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is displaced. The entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh remains without any means of subsistence, as just limited humanitarian assistance has been able to enter into Nagorno-Karabakh. There is no food, no medicine, no shelter, no place to go, separated from their families, terrorized and scared for their lives.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    The policy and actions of Azerbaijan for the last 10 months, evidently demonstrate the pre-planned and well-orchestrated nature of this mass atrocity. On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan blockaded the Lachin corridor – the only road, the lifeline connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outer world, in blatant violation of its obligations under the international humanitarian law and the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020. The blockade was further consolidated by the installation of illegal check-point since April 23, as well as with the complete cessation of any movement, even for humanitarian aid through the Corridor since June 15.

    More than 9 months-long blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh caused a severe shortage of food, medical supplies, fuel and other essential goods, almost depleting the resources necessary for the survival of the population. The blockade was accompanied by deliberate disruption of electricity and natural gas supplies, further exacerbating the situation into a full-fledged humanitarian crisis.

    I would like to emphasize that on 22 February, 2023 the International Court of Justice indicated a provisional measure, according to which “Azerbaijan shall take all measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both directions”. This order was later reconfirmed by the Court’s order of 6 July. 

    A number of partner states, international organizations, including UN Special Rapporteurs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, Transparency International had been continuously voicing an alarm about the deteriorating situation on the ground. Moreover, on August 16, during the emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council conveyed by the request of Armenia, the majority of UNSC member states expressed clear position regarding the need to unblock the Lachin corridor and halt the suffering of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure their fundamental human rights. Whereas, in response to these clear-cut calls, Azerbaijan has worsened its inhumane actions by launching this military attack against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

    On September 21, 2023, the United Nations Security Council gathered once again to discuss the devastating situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The majority of the UNSC members expressed their position regarding the imperative of cessation of hostilities by Azerbaijan, opening of the Lachin corridor, ensuring international humanitarian access and addressing the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

    Ladies and Gentlemen, 

    The chronology of truly devastating developments in our region come to prove that the issues cannot be addressed merely with statements and generic calls. Armenia has repeatedly warned the international community about the need for concrete and practical action, including the dispatching of a UN inter-agency needs assessment and fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh. But the international community, the United Nations failed to come to the rescue of people for the last 9 months, 285 days.

    The use of starvation as a method of warfare, depriving people of their means of subsistence, obstruction and denial of humanitarian access of UN agencies, hindering the ICRC humanitarian activities, constitute early warning signs of an atrocity crime. A number of international human rights organizations, lawyers, genocide scholars, reputable independent experts, including the former ICC Prosecutor and the former Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide have already characterized the situation on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh as a risk of genocide. Just yesterday, the Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu stressed and I quote: “Military action can only contribute to escalate what is already a tense situation and to put the civilian population in the area at risk of violence, including risk of genocide and related atrocity crimes. All efforts need to be made to prevent violence and sustain peace”, end of quote.

    Let me draw your attention to the fact that after failure of preventing Genocide in Rwanda, the United Nations managed to create mechanisms for prevention, thus making the “never again” a meaningful pledge. But today we are at the brink of another failure.

    The people of Nagorno-Karabakh, trapped in this inhumane blockade and hostilities inflicted by Azerbaijan and under the threat of their very existence, still hope that prevention will not remain a feature of language, but will become a line of actions.

    The claims that the United Nations is not present on the ground, so has no capacity to verify the situation cannot be an excuse for inaction. The United Nations is a universal body, which should stand with the victims of mass atrocity crimes all over the world regardless of the status of territory instead of delivering dismissive statements.

    We are hopeful that the international community, namely the UN will demonstrate a strong political will to condemn the resumption of hostilities and targeting of civilian settlements and infrastructure and demand full compliance with obligations under the international humanitarian law, including those related to the protection of civilians, in particular women and children, and critical civilian infrastructure․

    The international community should undertake all the efforts for an immediate deployment of an interagency mission by the UN to Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim to monitor and assess the human rights, humanitarian and security situation on the ground. The unimpeded access of the UN agencies and other international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh in line with the humanitarian principles is an imperative. In this regard we also stress the need to ensure full cooperation of the parties in good faith with the International Committee of the Red Cross to address the consequences of the military attack, including the removal and identification of the bodies, search and rescue of missing personnel and civilians, release of POWs, safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, in strict compliance with the international humanitarian law.

    Azerbaijan must finally adhere to its legally binding obligations and ensure freedom of movement of persons, vehicles and cargo, along the Lachin corridor, in line with the ICJ orders. 

    We firmly believe that relevant mechanisms must be introduced to ensure the return of persons displaced in the course of the recent military attack, as well as persons and refugees displaced as a result of 2020 war, to their homes in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions under the monitoring and control of the UN relevant agencies, as it was foreseen in the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020.

    A sustainable and viable international mechanism for preventing the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of Nagorno-Karabakh and for ensuring dialogue between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and official Baku to address the issues related to rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is an imperative. Furthermore, excluding punitive actions against NK political and military representatives and personnel should be guaranteed. 

    We also believe that the international community must demand the exit of any Azerbaijani military and law-enforcement bodies from all civilian settlements in NK to exclude panic, provocations and escalation, endangering civilian population and create a possibility for a United Nations-mandated Peacekeeping Force to keep stability and security in Nagorno-Karabakh.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    The ethnic cleansing policy against Nagorno-Karabakh is just a part of a bigger picture. In this regard we clearly see an intention to involve the Republic of Armenia in military actions thus widening the geography of hostilities into our sovereign territories. 

    The unwillingness of Azerbaijan to genuinely and constructively engage in the peace process with Armenia, including to recognize the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, withdraw its Armed forces from the occupied territories of Armenia, delimitate the Armenian-Azerbaijani interstate borders based on the latest available maps from 1975 corresponding with Almaty 1991 declaration, create a demilitarized zone along the interstate border, clearly illustrates the mentioned intentions.

    Likewise, Azerbaijan has a hidden agenda when it comes to unblocking regional transport and economic communications. As a landlocked country, Armenia is vitally interested in implementation of the agreement on the unblocking of all the regional communications on the basis of sovereignty, national jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity. Armenia is a long-standing advocate of the inclusive and equitable transport connectivity with the view to promote trade, cooperation and people-to-people contacts, whereas our neighbors continue to impose the three decades-long blockade of Armenia, as part of its well-established policy of economic coercion of my country. The so-called “corridor” logic promoted by Baku and their hidden and open sponsors is aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia and justifying its territorial claims. The narrative generated by them along with the use of force by Azerbaijan both against the Republic of Armenia and the people of Nagorno-Karabakh shows that forcefully imposing on Armenia an extraterritorial corridor, a corridor that will pass through the territory of Armenia but will be out of our control can be the next target. This is unacceptable for us and should be unacceptable for the international community. 

    Mr. President,

    Despite all the challenges Armenia continues to engage in the negotiations to achieve normalization of relations and establishment of lasting peace in the region and supports the efforts of the international partners to this end. Respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty within the internationally recognized borders, addressing the underlying causes of the conflict, namely the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are the foundation of a lasting peace. 

    In the end, let me state that the people of Armenia will firmly stand for our sovereignty, independence and democracy and will overcome the hybrid-war unleashed against us.

    I thank you.”