20:08,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The number of forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh who’ve crossed into Armenia reached 74,400 as of 18:00, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasaryan said at a press conference Thursday.
11:19,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Authorities in Goris are providing accommodation to the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh willing to stay there after reaching Kornidzor, Goris Deputy Mayor Irina Yolyan told ARMENPRESS.
“We are assessing their needs here. Those requiring medical assistance or any other services are provided with the necessary help on spot before the needs assessment and provision of relevant assistance. Those who express desire to stay in Goris are being accommodated in hotels, while those who want to move to other towns, for example Sisian or Tatev, or to Vayots Dzor province, they continue traveling there. There are those who are being met by their relatives and accommodated in their homes,” Yolyan said, adding that most of the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are women, children and elderly people.
GORIS, Armenia, Sept 24 (Reuters) – After the village was bombed so hard there was no way to bury the truckloads of dead, he fled with his family and stuffed whatever possessions could be salvaged into two vans.
Petya Grigoryan is one of the first ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to make it to Armenia after a lightning 24-hour Azerbaijani military operation defeated the Karabakh Armenian forces.
The ethnic Armenians of Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, say they will not live as part of Azerbaijan and that almost all of the 120,000 Armenians there will leave for Armenia.
So far several hundred have reached Armenia.
Grigoryan, a 69-year-old driver, said his Kochoghot village in what the Armenians know as the Martakert district of Karabakh was pummelled by Azerbaijan armed forces. There were two KAMAZ-truckloads full of civilian dead in the village, he said.
"There was nowhere to bury them," Grigoryan told Reuters after making his way down the Lachin corridor and across the border into Armenia, where Reuters interviewed him and other refugees in the border town of Goris.
"We took what we could and left. We don’t know where we’re going. We have nowhere to go," he said.
Of the 500 villagers, he said 40 had got out.
Reuters was unable to independently verify his account but it chimed with the outline given by other ethnic Armenians fleeing Karabakh, which Azerbaijan says will be turned into a "paradise" and fully integrated.
Azerbaijan said it launched the operation against Karabakh forces after attacks on its own citizens. President Ilham Aliyev said his army had only targeted Karabakh fighters and that civilians had been protected.
"Before the operation, I once again gave a strict order to all our military units that the Armenian population living in the Karabakh region should not be affected by the anti-terrorist measures and that the civilian population be protected," he said in an address to the nation on Sept. 20.
"Civilians felt protected entirely thanks to the professionalism of our armed forces," he said.
Grigoryan and thousands of other Armenians made their way to the airport near the Karabakh capital, known as Stepanakert by Armenians and Khankendi by Azerbaijan, where some Russian peacekeepers are based.
"It was scary there," he said. Thousands slept on the ground without food and little water. "There was nothing to eat or drink; three days without food," he said.
Nairy, a builder from Leninakan, Armenia, said he had been trapped in Karabakh since December by the blockade. Then the Azerbaijan military shelled the Shosh village where he was staying.
"The kids were injured. We sat in the basements until the peacekeepers came in and took the people out," he said.
He too had made his way to the airport.
"We are extremely grateful to the lads for sharing their rations with the kids," he said. "The Russian peacekeepers went hungry to give the kids their rations."
At the airport, he said, there were thousands sleeping outside.
Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by David Holmes
https://www.reuters.com/world/fleeing-bombs-death-karabakh-armenians-recount-visceral-fear-hunger-2023-09-24/
Clock is ticking for Armenians in Karabakh
GWYNNE DYER
The Armenians are a people of great antiquity — the first Armenian kingdom was in the 8th century B.C. — but they grew up in a tough neighborhood, and they have been in retreat for a very long time.
They lost their independence to the Persians, then to Alexander the Great, then to the Romans and the Byzantine empire and the Seljuk Turks and the Ottoman empire and the Russians, bleeding territory at almost every step.
Armenia’s borders stabilized under the Russian empire and the Soviet Union, but after the Soviet collapse in 1991 the Armenians got their independence back and the border problems started again. They held their own against the neighbors for a while, but now they are making a bad mistake.
Armenia and Azerbaijan both got their independence from Russia in 1991. However, there was an enclave of 150,000 Armenians inside Azerbaijan called Nagorno-Karabakh and a similar-sized exclave of half a million Azeris on the far side of Armenia proper. So there was an immediate war, of course (1991-1994), and the Armenians won it.
Russia, as the former imperial power, helped negotiate the ceasefire and guaranteed it. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh kept all the land they had in Soviet times plus about as much again around it, and a road corridor to Armenia proper guarded by Russian troops.
There were several opportunities in the following years to make a peace deal that left all the existing borders in place, but turbulent Armenian domestic politics sabotaged them. By 2020 Azerbaijan had used its oil wealth to build up its army and buy attack drones from Turkey, and it reopened the war.
The drones carried the day. The Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was effectively being run by Armenia, were decimated, and by the time of the ceasefire (mediated by Vladimir Putin) even much of the core territory of the enclave had been captured. So had the road leading west to Armenia proper, but Russian troops kept it open.
It might have stayed like that for many more years, but last year Putin invaded Ukraine. By December, the Azerbaijanis had figured out that the Russians were too distracted by that war to worry about Armenia, so they imposed a blockade on that single road to Nagorno-Karabakh — and the Russian troops did nothing.
There are now dire food shortages in Nagorno-Karabakh, and in desperation, Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has turned to the United States for help. There are still Russian military bases in Armenia, but the first joint exercise between Armenian and American troops recently got underway.
Armenia has also sent its first humanitarian aid to Ukraine, in a deliberate snub to the Russians, and it has moved to ratify the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (which has indicted Putin as a war criminal).
The Armenians’ anger is understandable, as the Russians have been their only useful ally for decades, but they should remember that Russia has no strategic or economic interests in Armenia. It only supports the country out of imperial nostalgia and Christian solidarity. Both are quite fragile motivations.
It is therefore foolish for Pashinyan to imagine that the United States can or would take Russia’s place. Seen from Washington, Armenia is an opportunity to embarrass the Russians, but it’s too far away, too inaccessible, too poor and too unimportant to waste much American time or money on, let alone American lives.
Azerbaijan is not looking for another war, and it’s certainly not planning a genocide. The “blockade” is illegal, but it is only on the road from Armenia proper. People in Nagorno-Karabakh can bring in food any time they want by the roads that connect it to the rest of Azerbaijan. They won’t, but that’s just a matter of principle.
If there was ever a chance to make Nagorno-Karabakh part of Armenia, it was lost many years ago. Cutting a good deal for the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan is still possible — and if the Armenian government doesn’t believe that, then all the more it needs the Russians.
Putin was always awful and now he’s abandoned them, but for Armenians Russia is still the only game in town. Before they bet the farm on the Americans, they should have a chat with the Kurds.
Moscow summons Armenian envoy, gives him a 'tough presentation'
ByAl Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Russia protested a number of issues to the Armenian ambassador, including Yerevan's announcement of hosting joint military drills with the US next week.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Armenia's ambassador to Moscow on Friday to protest Yerevan's recent "unfriendly steps," including its announcement of joint exercises with the United States.
Armenia announced this week that it would be hosting joint war games with US forces, dubbed "Eagle Partner 2023," between September 11-20, alleging that this step is part of the country's preparation to partake in international peacekeeping missions.
"The Armenian leadership had in recent days taken a series of unfriendly steps," the Russian ministry said in a statement.
Russia also conveyed its objection to a trip made to Kiev recently by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's wife.
Yerevan recently increased its criticism of Russia's peacekeeping role in Nagorno Karabakh, a region disputed between the country and Azerbaijan, claiming that the mission has failed to fulfill its task of protecting civilians and ensuring their freedom of passage through the key corridor in Azerbaijani-controlled areas in Karabakh.
A clash between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020, which lasted for six weeks and saw the death of over 6,500 troops from both sides, ended with a ceasefire accord sponsored by Russia. Moscow sent 2,000 peacekeepers to monitor the truce, but tensions remain despite a ceasefire deal.
Read more: Azerbaijan re-blocks crucial road into Nagorno-Karabakh
Precarious situation at border
Armenia's envoy received a "tough presentation," said the Russian ministry, but stressed that both countries "remain allies and all agreements on developing the strengthening of the partnership will be fulfilled."
The Armenian Defense Ministry issued a statement on Friday, underscoring the precarious situation prevailing at the border with Azerbaijan due to the apparent buildup of Azerbaijani military forces, which in response prompted the Armenian Armed Forces to take measures aimed at maintaining stability and deterring potential provocations.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on the same day that Yerevan was using combat drones to target Azerbaijani positions within the Kalbajar District, which led to the injury of two of the country's soldiers. Correspondingly, Armenia accused Baku of launching artillery attacks on Armenian positions along the border, resulting in the killing of three Armenian soldiers and the injury of two more.
The Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict has been largely centered around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan populated mostly by ethnic Armenians that has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbors dating back to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Read more: EU plans to tap into Azerbaijani gas to replace Russian might end soon
This recent escalation follows a recurring pattern of periodic exchanges of fire along the border between the two neighboring rivals. The most significant flare-up in hostilities took place on September 12, 2022, leaving regional observers wary of a possible repeat of such confrontations.
Despite occasional talks on a peace agreement to resolve disputes and normalize relations, tensions remain high and border clashes are common. In two days of fighting in September of last year, around 300 soldiers were killed on both sides.
14:41, 8 September 2023
On July 24, 2023, IDBank issued a USD tranche of registered coupon bonds under the abbreviation AMANLBB2LER8, which were already placed.
Financial Director of IDBank Arman Asatryan notes: “Interest in IDBank bonds is growing. And since demand significantly exceeds supply, we will continue issuing bonds," Arman Asatryan said, adding that income from bonds is not taxable, which makes the instrument more attractive.
The total volume of the bonds of the first tranche of 2023 is $5 million, the annual interest rate is 4.25%, the maturity of the bonds is 27 months, the bonds will be paid quarterly.
The bonds will be listed in the “Armenian Stock Exchange” and will be quoted by the Marketmaker.
The funds attracted by means of nominal bonds are considered to be guaranteed bank deposits and are guaranteed by the Deposit Guarantee Fund of Armenia.
The bond prospectus was registered by the CBA, resolution № 1/392А of the Chairman of the CBA from July 23, 2021. Resolution № 1/392А.The electronic version of the prospectus and the final terms of issue are available .
THE BANK IS CONTROLLED BY CBA
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1119056.html?fbclid=IwAR3-7W7QvK12iTAnaMXlhnRnOJy7neb-aeYNJ0Htjkgw1FVlrTzDnNmcsNs
14:01, 5 September 2023
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. United States Congressmen Frank Pallone, Gus Bilirakis, Adam Schiff and David Valadao have congratulated the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Speaker of Parliament David Ishkhanyan on his appointment and the 32nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of Artsakh Republic.
In the letter, the U.S. Congressmen said they continue to push the Biden Administration to use every diplomatic tool available to halt the Aliyev regime’s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We write to congratulate you and the people of the Republic of Artsakh on the 32nd Anniversary of your independence. The United States Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues offers our support and commitment to Artsakh on this celebration of over three decades of independence. We continue to stand with your people as they show incredible resilience in the face of widespread shortages of food, medical supply, and other essentials caused by Azerbaijan’s blockade of Lachin Corridor. To that end, we continue urging the United States to commit meaningful aid to the displaced families from Artsakh currently in Armenia and to those who bravely remain in your country. We also continue to push the Administration to use every diplomatic tool available to halt the Aliyev regime’s illegal actions that clearly fit the definition of ethnic cleansing. This ongoing humanitarian crisis has demonstrated the dire need for international actors to act and put pressure on Aliyev to return to direct negotiations with the democratically elected officials of Artsakh. Artsakh must be able to directly participate in negotiations regarding its future status and secure a durable and lasting peace. We remain committed to advocating for official engagement between the United States government and your administration, and we look forward to working with you to build on Artsakh’s transformation over the last three decades in the face of so many challenges. Please accept our sincerest congratulations on this important occasion. Please also accept our congratulations on your recent election as President of the National Assembly of the Republic. We wish you and colleagues in the Artsakh Parliament every success as your nation continues to strive for a safe, prosperous, and democratic future. We offer our full support to your country,” the congressmen said in the letter.
ISTANBUL
Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that comments made by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna about the situation in Karabakh a day earlier were "unacceptable."
“French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna’s statements such as this, which do not serve peace and stability in the region and show a one-sided pro-Armenian position, are unacceptable,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said in a statement released by the ministry.
Hajizada accused Colonna of “turning a blind eye” to matters such as the occupation of the Karabakh region by Armenia for nearly 30 years, the displacement of nearly one million Azerbaijanis as refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), and provocations by Yerevan since the end of the 2nd Karabakh War, calling it an “example of an illegal and unethical approach.”
He also denied the top French diplomat's claims that a policy is being implemented to stymie efforts to reintegrate Armenian residents of Karabakh and expel them from the region.
Hajizada said “Once again, we call on the French side to put an end to such provocative and provocative ideas.”
Colonna claimed during a speech at a conference in Paris on Monday that efforts are being made to "give the people of Nagorno-Karabakh the opportunity to live there, as well as to respect their rights, culture and history."
She also claimed that efforts have been made to “incite” a mass exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.
Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between the neighboring countries rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region, where Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint in April on the grounds of preventing the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.
Friday, September 1, 2023 EU Calls For Compromise On Karabakh Blockade Moldova - European Council President Charles Michel visits Chisinau, March 28, 2023. The European Union’s top official on Friday called for “courageous compromise solutions” to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh that would include a new supply route controlled by Azerbaijan. “European Council President Charles Michel has proposed a step-by-step approach which would reflect a sequencing in the full-fledged operation of the Lachin corridor and the opening of the Aghdam route,” read a statement released by his spokeswoman, Ecaterina Casinge. “The EU strongly believes the Lachin corridor must be unblocked, in line with past agreements and the [International Court of Justice] Order, and notes that the use of the Aghdam road to provide supplies can also be part of a concrete and sustainable solution to the provision of urgent and daily basic needs,” it said. Despite struggling with worsening shortages of food and medicine, most residents of Karabakh appear to remain strongly opposed to the alternative supply line which Baku has set as a precondition for allowing renewed relief supplies through Karabakh’s land link with Armenia. Scores of Karabakh Armenians have been blocking a road leading to the Azerbaijani town of Aghdam to prevent two Azerbaijani trucks loaded with 40 tons of flour from entering Karabakh. They as well as the authorities in Stepanakert believe that the proposed aid is a publicity stunt aimed at legitimizing the nearly nine-month blockade of the Lachin corridor and helping Azerbaijan regain full control over Karabakh. Casinge said Michel and other EU officials have been “in frequent contact” with Baku, Yerevan and Karabakh representatives in recent weeks to advance the arrangement proposed by the EU chief. “It is now time for courageous compromise solutions, also in light of today's escalation,” added Michel’s spokeswoman. Reacting to Casinge’s statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reached an agreement on the simultaneous reopening of the Lachin and Aghdam roads during their July 15 meeting in Brussels hosted by Michel. It claimed that the Armenian side did not honor the deal. Baku already made such claims shortly after the Brussels summit. They were denied by Pashinian. The dire humanitarian situation in Karabakh was on the agenda of a meeting of the foreign ministers of EU member states held in Spain on Thursday. Speaking after the meeting, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell renewed the 27-nation bloc’s calls for Azerbaijan to restore “safe and unhindered traffic” through the Lachin corridor. The U.S. State Department also reiterated that Baku should “immediately reopen the Lachin corridor to humanitarian, commercial, and passenger traffic.” The department spokesman, Matthew Miller, at the same time backed “additional supply routes” for Karabakh. International Court Treaty Sent To Armenian Parliament For Ratification Netherlands -- The new building of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on November 23, 2015. Ignoring stern warnings from Russia, the Armenian government has formally asked the country’s parliament to ratify the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Armenian Constitutional Court gave the green light for parliamentary ratification of the treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, in March one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in Ukraine. Moscow said shortly afterwards that Yerevan’s recognition of The Hague tribunal’s jurisdiction would have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian relations. Yury Vorobyov, a deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, brought up the issue during a meeting of Armenian and Russian lawmakers held in the Siberian city of Irkutsk in July. He warned of “significant damage” to bilateral ties. Vorobyov’s Armenian counterpart, Hakob Arshakian, insisted during the meeting that Yerevan’s plans to submit to the ICC’s jurisdiction are “in no way directed against Russia” and are aimed instead at “preventing Azerbaijani attacks on the sovereign territory of Armenia.” Moscow was clearly unconvinced by similar assurances made by other Armenian officials earlier this year. The government’s press office told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Friday that the Rome Statute has been submitted to the National Assembly for ratification. A spokesperson for parliament speaker Alen Simonian confirmed the information. The parliament committee on legal affairs has to discuss the treaty within a month. The document will then be debated by the full assembly controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. Armenia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a CSTO summit in Yerevan, November 23, 2022. Independent legal experts believe that recognition of the ICC’s jurisdiction would require the Armenian authorities to arrest Putin and extradite him to The Hague tribunal if he visits the South Caucasus country. Armenian opposition lawmakers have expressed serious concern over such a possibility, saying that it would ruin Armenia’s relationship with its key ally. Russian-Armenian relations had already soured in the months leading up to the Constitutional Court’s March ruling due to what Pashinian’s administration sees as a lack of Russian support for Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan. Arshakian said in Irkutsk that Armenian and Russian diplomats are holding “active discussions” on the matter. He expressed confidence that a “legal solution acceptable to Armenia and Russia” will be found. It was not immediately clear whether Pashinian’s government wants lawmakers to ratify the Rome Statute unconditionally or with reservations relating to Russia. The full text of the relevant decision sent to the parliament was due to be publicized later in the day. Three Armenian Soldiers Killed In Fresh Border Clashes (UPDATED) Azerbaijani (L) and Armenian army posts near the Sotk gold mine in Armenia's Gegharkunik province, June 18, 2021 Three Armenian soldiers were killed and two others wounded on Friday in what the Defense Ministry in Yerevan called fresh Azerbaijani truce violations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The ministry reported the first two casualties in the morning when it said its troops deployed near the border village of Sotk in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik province came under “intensive” cross-border fire. The Azerbaijani side is also using mortars to strike the Armenian army positions there, it said, adding that “the intensity of the gunfire” eased by 11:20 a.m. local time. The ministry reported renewed Azerbaijani mortar and automatic fire early in the afternoon. Azerbaijani troops are also targeting Armenian positions near Norabak, another Gegharkunik close to Sotk, it said. “Armenian army units are taking necessary defensive measures,” read a fresh ministry statement. The Azerbaijani military said, meanwhile, that it is taking “retaliatory actions” after three of its soldiers were wounded by Armenian forces. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Yerevan of heightening tensions along the border to mislead the international community. Baku repeatedly accused the Armenian side of violating the ceasefire in the same area on Thursday. The Armenian Defense Ministry dismissed the “disinformation,” saying that it is aimed at justifying “yet another provocation.” The Sotk area has been one of the most volatile sections of the long Armenian-Azerbaijani border since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Deadly fighting raged there for several consecutive days in early May. Armenia’s largest gold mine located near Sotk halted production operations in April due to systematic cross-border gunfire targeting its workers and production facilities. The village was shelled by the Azerbaijani army and sustained heavy damage during more large-scale clashes that broke out at this and other border sections in September 2022. Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
18:35,
TSAGHKADZOR, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Economic Union is developing well despite all challenges and the difficult international situation, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session.
He said that the sustainable growth in trade turnover within the union is one of the achievements.
“I believe that the economy is indeed very important. We are now focused on implementing the EEU 2020-2025 development strategy. We are now working on a project, the St. Petersburg Declaration proposed by Russia. Of course, this is a very interesting project, and many provisions are acceptable. I think there is a positive approach regarding the project but there are nuances that need to be discussed,” Pashinyan said.
The Armenian PM added that the positions of EEU members somewhat differ in terms of the further integration.
“Overall, there is a chance to find a concrete solution and it is very positive that all our colleagues have a positive approach. There are nuances regarding the further development of the Eurasian Economic Union, the creation of a single gas and energy market and coordination of our governments’ credit and financial policy are of highly principled significance. We too are very closely working around this issue. Our main goal is to develop the economies of our countries, to increase the level of welfare of our citizens. I think that in this area the Eurasian Economic Union has great interest. We see certain signals that show other countries are also interested in further developing relations with the Eurasian Economic Union,” Pashinyan added.