Author: Jhanna Virabian

                                        Wednesday, 


Armenia, Iran Extend Energy Swap Deal


Representatives of Iran and Armenia sign an agreement extending an energy swap 
scheme between the two countries until 2030. Yerevan, .


Armenia and Iran on Thursday signed an agreement to extend the term of the 
“natural gas for electricity” program by four years and increase its volumes.

The new agreement was signed at Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration 
and Infrastructure between Aram Ghazarian, Director General of Yerevan’s Thermal 
Power Plant, and Majid Chegeni, Deputy Minister of Oil of Iran and Director of 
the Islamic Republic’s National Gas Company.

Armenian Minister of Economic and Technological Development Gnel Sanosian 
congratulated the parties on the extension of the agreement, emphasizing that it 
is “one of the best manifestations of Armenian-Iranian friendly relations.”

“The extension of the agreement is a profitable deal for both countries. With 
the extension of this agreement it is possible to increase gas imports and 
electricity exports, which will definitely have a positive effect on the 
economic development of both countries,” he said, according to an official press 
release.

Chegeni, in his turn, reportedly stressed that the new agreement will “give a 
new impetus to the development of Armenian-Iranian relations.”

Since 2009, Armenia has been importing natural gas from Iran and turning it into 
electricity at a local thermal power plant, supplying it back to Iran. The 
surplus of electricity obtained from one cubic meter of natural gas has remained 
in Armenia.

Under this scheme, the term of the agreement was to expire in 2026. With the 
agreement signed today, the period has been extended until 2030. However, 
specific figures regarding the volumes of supplies are not mentioned in official 
reports.




Oskanian Urges Armenian PM To Renounce Prague Statement

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian (file photo).


Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian has called on Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian to withdraw from the statement made in Prague last year, by 
which Baku and Yerevan recognized each other’s territorial integrity and 
sovereignty based on the declaration signed in Almaty in 1991.

In a new video on Facebook Oskanian claimed that this statement is one of the 
main causes of the closure of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan that has put 
Karabakh Armenians “on the brink of starvation.”

“Pashinian made a big mistake. Pashinian must admit he made that mistake and 
correct it. Today he has the opportunity to retract that statement, just based 
on today’s situation. He can clearly say that ‘I’ve tried something, but I see 
that our opponent is abusing it, so I retract that statement, and today I have 
the right to do that’,” Oskanian said.

The former foreign minister said he believes that the Prague statement made 
following Pashinian’s quadrilateral meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham 
Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron and President of the European Council 
Charles Michel on October 6 last year “has become a serious obstacle, because no 
one can do anything to unblock the corridor.”

“Russia has already openly said it. Citing the Prague statement and Pashinian’s 
signature under it that has significantly changed the entire essence of the 
November 9, [2020 trilateral] statement, Russia says that today it cannot do 
anything and it says it openly. The West doesn’t say it openly, but it says the 
same in private meetings,” Oskanian said.

Without giving names Oskanian also claimed that “many people abroad are doing 
serious work, both at the governmental and legislative levels, trying to change 
the content of the negotiations, but they are facing the same wall.”

“They are told that the government of Armenia has a different approach… and that 
they should rather work with their own [Armenian] government,” the former 
Armenian diplomat said.

“Believe me, if there is a change in the attitude of the Armenian government 
today, the attitude of the international community will change dramatically, 
too,” Oskanian said.

Oskanian suggested that today it is still possible for Pashinian to go back on 
his statement without provoking a war, while today’s situation, in the former 
foreign minister’s view, only increases the possibility of war. “Because 
Pashinian has made a lot of promises to Azerbaijan, but the signing of the 
document stalls,” he said.

“I think that it will not be easy for Pashinian to sign such a document, because 
its content has nothing to do with the interests of the Armenian people. 
Naturally, this can be dragged out, and this is where the danger lies, and 
believe me, the mediators will not be able to do anything here, because all the 
time you promise something to your opponent, which you do not fulfill. That’s 
why I’m just asking, I’m begging, that we change the approach, the narrative of 
today’s negotiations as it contains a serious danger, and the possibility for 
doing that really exists today,” Oskanian concluded.

Pashinian has repeatedly supported mutual recognition of territorial integrity 
by Armenia and Azerbaijan as a way to move forward in hammering out a peace 
agreement between the two South Caucasus nations. In his several public remarks 
he said that Armenia was ready to recognize Azerbaijan’s Soviet-era borders if 
Baku does the same in respect with the Armenian borders that existed during the 
Soviet times. While this means also recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh within the 
borders of Azerbaijan, the Pashinian government has insisted that an 
internationally visible dialogue take place between Baku and Stepanakert on the 
rights and security of Karabakh Armenians.

Earlier, Pashinian and members of his political teams also dismissed Oskanian’s 
offer to lead diplomatic efforts on changing the course of the current 
negotiations with Azerbaijan. In a recent speech in parliament Pashinian, in 
particular, suggested that all of the steps publically proposed by the former 
foreign minister to be taken to raise the issue of at least an autonomous status 
for Nagorno-Karabakh have actually been taken by the current administration.




Azerbaijan Dismisses Opinion By Top International Lawyer On ‘Genocide Against 
Armenians’ In Karabakh


Hikmet Hajiyev, a foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
(file photo)


A senior official in Baku has rejected as biased a report by a leading expert on 
international criminal law who described the ongoing blockade of 
Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan as a genocide.

Hikmet Hajiyev, a foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, 
said on Thursday that the report released by the founding prosecutor of the 
International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, earlier this week “contains 
unsubstantiated allegations and accusations.”

In his 28-page expert opinion requested by Arayik Harutiunian, the ethnic 
Armenian leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ocampo, an Argentine lawyer who served at 
the Hague court in 2003-2012, assessed whether the current siege of 
Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan implemented by blocking the only road of supply 
from Armenia and resulting in a dramatically worsening humanitarian situation in 
the region amounts to the crime of genocide.

In the document that he released from New York on August 7 Ocampo gives a 
straightforward answer, stating that “there is an ongoing Genocide against 
120,000 Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Luis Moreno Ocampo

The 71-year-old lawyer who successfully prosecuted for crimes against humanity 
three heads of state, including the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, says 
that “the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by the Azerbaijani security forces 
impeding access to any food, medical supplies, and other essentials should be 
considered a Genocide under Article II, (c) of the Genocide Convention: 
‘Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring 
about its physical destruction.’”

“There are no crematories, and there are no machete attacks. Starvation is the 
invisible Genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic change, this group of 
Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks. Starvation as a method to destroy 
people was neglected by the entire international community when it was used 
against Armenians in 1915, Jews and Poles in 1939, Russians in Leningrad (now 
Saint Petersburg) in 1941, and Cambodians in 1975/1976. Starvation was also 
neglected when used in Srebrenica in the winter of 1993/1994,” Ocampo writes.

In his expert opinion Ocampo also refers to the analysis of the Lachin corridor 
blockade given by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at Armenia’s request.

Still in February the United Nations’ top court ordered Azerbaijan to restore 
“unimpeded” traffic through the sole road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to 
Armenia. It reaffirmed its position in July, a few weeks after Baku only 
tightened the de facto blockade by prohibiting all kinds of cargoes coming to 
the region.

Ocampo further maintains that “there is reasonable basis to believe that 
President Aliyev has Genocidal intentions.” “He has knowingly, willingly and 
voluntarily blockaded the Lachin Corridor even after having been placed on 
notice regarding the consequences of his actions by the ICJ’s provisional 
orders,” the founding prosecutor of the International Criminal Court concludes.

Meanwhile, in rejecting the Ocampo report, Hajiyev, according to Azerbaijani 
media, said: “It is biased and distorts the real situation on the ground and 
represents serious factual, legal and substantive errors.” Aliyev’s aide did not 
elaborate.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s leader Harutiunian on August 8 issued an urgent appeal to the 
international community, asking for immediate action to lift the blockade 
imposed by Azerbaijan and prevent what he called “the genocide of the people of 
Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Meanwhile, in a post on Twitter today Armenia’s Ambassador-at-Large Edmon 
Marukian wrote that Ocampo’s is “a solid report with facts and analyses, which 
may become a future indictment against the Azerbaijani leadership.”

Officials in Baku deny blockading Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that humanitarian 
supplies to the region could also be implemented through the Azeri-controlled 
town of Agdam, which is situated to the east of the region and is away from 
Armenia.

Despite severe shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other essentials in the 
region ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh reject that offer, 
fearing that it could be a prelude to the absorption of what remains of the 
former autonomous oblast into Azerbaijan.

Authorities in both Yerevan and Stepanakert consider the Azerbaijani checkpoint 
at the Lachin corridor illegal as they insist its violates a Moscow-brokered 
2020 ceasefire agreement that places the vital route under the control of 
Russian peacekeepers.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for 
decades. Some 30,000 people were killed in a war in the early 1990s that left 
ethnic Armenians in control of the predominantly Armenian-populated region and 
seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan proper.

Decades of internationally mediated talks failed to result in a diplomatic 
solution and the simmering conflict led to another war in 2020 in which nearly 
7,000 soldiers were killed on both sides.

The 44-day war in which Azerbaijan regained all of the Armenian-controlled areas 
outside of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as chunks of territory inside the Soviet-era 
autonomous oblast proper ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire under which 
Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers.

Tensions along the restive Armenian-Azerbaijani border and around 
Nagorno-Karabakh leading to sporadic fighting and loss of life have persisted 
despite the ceasefire and publicly stated willingness of the leaders of both 
countries to work towards a negotiated peace.





Heat Wave Hits Armenian Capital, Ararat Valley

        • Robert Zargarian

A view of Mount Ararat and the Ararat Plain from the center of Yerevan (file 
photo).


Armenians are coping with a heat wave coming from the south as air temperatures 
in parts of the country are rising to extremely high levels this week.

According to a weather forecast, lower areas of Yerevan and the rest of the 
Ararat Valley in which they are situated as well as foothills of Armenia’s 
southern Syunik province will see air temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius 
in the period from August 10 to 14.

Meteorologists say the heat wave is coming from the Arabian Peninsula and along 
with sweltering weather bring in its wake higher-than-normal levels of 
ultraviolet radiation.

Health experts, meanwhile, advise staying hydrated and avoiding being in the sun 
during the day.

“We recommend reducing caffeine-containing drinks and beverages, both hot and 
cold, as much as possible, because even though they have a short-term refreshing 
effect, they exhaust the body, and sugar-containing drinks make them heavier and 
dehydrated,” said Nune Bakunts, deputy director of the National Disease 
Prevention Center.

She also recommends that people stay in the shade as much as possible whenever 
it is absolutely necessary to be outside during the day and that they wear a hat 
and sunglasses. According to the specialist, oily and hard-to-digest foods 
should also be avoided or at least consumed during the coolest hours of the day, 
while preference should be given to vegetables and easy-to-digest food taken in 
small portions.

Emergency services, meanwhile, warn that risks of fires also increase due to 
high air temperatures and a prolonged period of dry weather. They caution 
against starting fires in forests or throwing away burning matches or cigarettes.

According to weather forecasts, air temperatures in Yerevan and the rest of 
Armenia will go down a little after August 14 but are likely to stay relatively 
high for the rest of the month.


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.

 

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Demonstrators in support of Karabakh demanding the reopening of a blockaded
road linking the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia, and to decry crisis
conditions in the region, in Yerevan: July 25, 2023. Karabakh has been at
the centre of a decades-long dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which
have fought two wars. (Karen Minasyan/AFP via Getty Images)

By Brig Gen (ret) Blaine Holt Thursday, 27 July 2023 06:47 AM EDT ET Current
| Bio | Archive


Perceiving a threat to his power (1932-1933), then-Russian leader Joseph
Vissarionovich Stalin implemented policies in motion to bring agrarian
satellite state, Ukraine, to heel.

The Holodomor (Ukrainian: "Death by Hunger") was a man-made famine killing
millions of Ukrainians.

Stalin's message to the rest of the Soviet States and Russians was
chillingly clear.

Looking the other way is a key ingredient in mass murders.

As the peasants in the world's former breadbasket resorted to suicides and
cannibalism, as a result of the Russian Army enforced famine, Moscow-based
correspondents (mostly American) denied the horrors, refusing to consider
reporting on the genocide until it was far too late.

When pressed by fellow denier, Ralph Barnes of the Herald Tribune, The New
York Times' Walter Duranty would say, "What are a few million dead Russians
in a situation like this? Quite unimportant.

"This is just an incident in the sweeping historical changes here. I think
the entire matter is exaggerated."

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there has been some form of war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In 2020, the Russians brokered a ceasefire with Armenia ceding five of seven
districts in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Russians have deployed so-called "peacekeepers" to the region since
then.

An uneasy ceasefire ensued for the Armenian population, that is, until
December of 2022.

(Additional/comparative background may be found here and here.)

That is when the Azeri's enacted an illegal blockade of the enclave,
inhibiting the flow of goods and people along the Lachin corridor, the
lifeline to greater Armenia.

Russia ignored the blockade along with most of Europe, while Azerbaijan
helped both, in re-labeling Russian gas as Azeri so Europe could skirt its
own sanctions on Russia.

In mid-June, the Azeri's did the unimaginable, tightening the noose,
blocking all food, energy and medical supplies from reaching the enclave.

Using the Russia-Ukraine War as convenient camouflage, Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev is taking a chapter from the Stalin playbook.

Where Stalin killed millions, Aliyev only need "eliminate" 120,000 (30,000
children) and potentially the enclave becomes Azerbaijan's.

The weakest are dropping.

Over this past weekend, a woman living in Nagorno-Karabakh we will call
"Anna," gave this writer a very dark account of the fate now befalling her
community.

Perhaps the state employed priest knew what was ahead when the blockade
began.

He announced to the people that he would pray for them to be blessed in
their next life.

How's that for an optimist? Anna's parents are diabetic.

If no medical resupply arrives, their medication will be exhausted in less
than 30 days.

Anna and her family are subsisting on some carrots, dandelions, and nettles.
One of her relatives walked 13 kilometers carting pounds of potatoes
delivering them to Anna and her parents.

Additionally, clean water is getting harder to come by.


Since there is no gas, getting out to the countryside to forage is near
impossible.

There are phases to a man-made famine. Anna and her folks are in the early
days of this.

Domestic animals are dying and left in the streets while the vulnerable,
elderly and children, are falling weak and ill.

When asked whether her people know what is going on between the, she
sorrowfully says, through malnourished, sunken eyes, "We can't think beyond
getting another piece of food or another cup of water; the one hour of TV
news we see every day repeats the message that we must hope for the best."

It is almost merciful that Anna and her people are spared the truth.

She might be broken were she to understand the palpable indifference to this
intentional genocide.

Even the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia had to recently walk back her tone deaf
comments in a July 3 interview where she said "the U.S. believes it is
possible to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh as part of
Azerbaijan."

Meanwhile at the edge of the sealed transit route, just kilometers from
those dying, the Armenian people continue to collect and stockpile, food and
medicine, hoping for diplomats to engage.

There was a day when we were better than this.

Does anyone remember how we turned the other cheek on a vanquished enemy and
saved 300,000 Germans in Berlin from starvation with our airlifters?

Where is U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken? Where is the mainstream
press? Where are the non-profit aid agencies?

Where is our compassion and care for humanity?

On Tuesday, President Aliyev went to Moscow to consult with Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov; at the same time the phones are ringing across
Nagorno-Karabakh telling residents they will have safe passage if they leave
now and walk to Armenia.

Is the grand compromise an ethnic cleansing versus a genocide?

If the global community doesn't care here, will it care when millions in
Africa have died due to a collapsed grain deal and missile strikes on over
60,000 tons of life-saving food?

Has human life become so cheap?

At the time of this writing, a deal was brokered in Brussels to move a
delivery of 400 tons of life saving food and medicine to the enclave only to
have the Azeris renege on the deal, stopping the aid at the border
checkpoint.

The siege continues - unabated. Meanwhile, medicines and food sit in the
backs of trucks as summer temperatures soar.

Before the State Department writes this off as another unsolvable problem,
let's remember how spread thin we are with wars and potential wars.

Turning our back's diplomatically to 120,000 being murdered in plain view
will come with significant consequences.

Their screams won't be silent. Think the Bosnian war of the 1990s.

Soon we may well be forced to listen to those screams, and get at their root
cause, whether we choose to or not.

Will we be prepared?

As long as the left holds sway over the rank swamp that is Washington, D.C.
don't count on it.

Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt (retired) is a co-founder of Restore Liberty, a
former deputy representative to NATO, a lifetime member on the Council on
Foreign Relations, and a Newsmax contributor. The views presented are those
of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. government,
U.S.Department of Defense, or its components. Read Gen. Holt's reports -
More Here.

Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt (retired) is a co-founder of Restore Liberty, a
former deputy representative to NATO, a lifetime member on the Council on
Foreign Relations, and a Newsmax contributor. The views presented are those
of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. government,
U.S.Department of Defense, or its components. Read Gen. Holt's reports -
More Here.

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