Armenia Foreign Minister, ICRC President discuss humanitarian crisis resulting from illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor

 20:56, 1 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. On August 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric Egger.

Mirzoyan and Mirjana Spoljaric Egger discussed the humanitarian crisis resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry said in a readout.

Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the imperative to immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor and the urgency of delivery of food, medicine and other basic necessities to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Minister Mirzoyan stressed the importance of ensuring under current circumstances the proper and continuous functioning of the ICRC, the only international humanitarian organization with access to Nagorno-Karabakh and described Azerbaijan's attempts to hinder the humanitarian activities of the ICRC and discredit it as condemnable. In this context, Minister Mirzoyan touched upon the abduction of Vagif Khachatryan by the Azerbaijani border service on July 29, who, having serious health issues, was being transported from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for medical treatment. The minister called this act perfidious and unacceptable, running counter to the norms of international humanitarian law and aimed at ethnic cleansing of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.




Architect: Baku vandalizing Karabakh monastery under the guise of renovating it

PanArmenian, Armenia
July 27 2023

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijanis have vandalized another Armenian monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) under the guise of renovating the building, according to Raffi Kortoshyian, deputy director of the Foundation for the Study of Armenian Architecture.

“When the Monastery of Kavak in the village of Hogher, Hadrut region of Artsakh Republic came under the control of the Azerbaijani army in 1992, the vandals destroyed the construction records from 1742 attached to the entrance to the church, and now, in 2023, when the monastery is again under the control of vandals, they are "renovating" the same porch by vandalizing it,” Kortoshyian captioned a photo on Facebook Wednesday, July 26. “In the photos, the record of the entrance of the monastery before its destruction, after its destruction and after the placement of an ugly stone in its place.”

Satellite images published by the Caucasus Heritage Watch in June revealed that Azerbaijanis has destroyed the Halevor Bridge, built in the 19th century, in Artsakh’s occupied Hadrut.

Concerns about the preservation of cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh are made all the more urgent by the Azerbaijani government’s history of systemically destroying indigenous Armenian heritage—acts of both warfare and historical revisionism. The Azerbaijani government has secretly destroyed a striking number of cultural and religious artifacts in the late 20th century. Within Nakhichevan alone, a historically Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani forces destroyed at least 89 medieval churches, 5,840 khachkars (Armenian cross stones) and 22,000 historical tombstones between 1997 and 2006.

Armenians in Yerevan and Stepanakert hold rally demanding to lift the blockade of Artsakh

 21:15,

YEREVAN, JULY 25, ARMENPRESS. With the national anthem of the Republic of Artsakh, a popular rally was launched on July 25 in Stepanakert Renaissance Square and parallel in Yerevan's Freedom Squares with the demand to lift the blockade of Artsakh and respect the right of its people to self-determination.

The correspondent of ARMENPRESS reports, Bishop Ter Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church addressed the participants of the rally from Yerevan's Freedom Square. "Today's reality comes to remind us once again that the Artsakh movement is not over and is still going on. It should become for us like daily bread, it should become a way of life, a mission, an idea and a struggle. During the Artsakh movement, thousands of Armenians became heroes and immortalized. We must make no mistakes under their spiritual look, but by becoming a united fist with the whole nation, we should bring that movement to its good end, a free, independent Artsakh," said the Bishop, conveying to the people of Artsakh the fatherly love and prayers of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians.

Then the video message of Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I was presented.

Artsakh Republic President Arayik Harutyunyan, National Assembly Speaker Artur Tovmasyan, State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan, and other officials are also participating in the rally in Stepanakert's Renaissance Square.

Yerevan Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan, U.S. embassy representatives discuss municipal police project

 15:17,

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Tigran Avinyan has met with U.S. Embassy staffers to discuss the idea of launching a municipal police in the Armenian capital.

“We discussed issues related to city reforms with representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia. The focus of the discussions was the launch of municipal police in Yerevan, as a continuation of the patrol police reforms,” Avinyan said in a statement on Friday.

He said that there are many areas in the city that require regulation through municipal police, such as street trade, littering, illegal construction and advertisement, parking and public order.

Alexis Haftvani, the Head of the U.S. Embassy’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, attached importance to the ongoing reforms carried out by the Yerevan City Hall, emphasizing that the U.S. Embassy is ready to support the municipality in policy development and launching an effective system.

An agreement was reached on developing an action plan that would include specific sectors, functions of departments, a charter and also proposed legislative amendments if required.

Russia calls for ensuring rights and security of Artsakh Armenians

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Charles Michel and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (European Council)

Russian authorities have expressed their readiness to collaborate with international efforts to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians of Artsakh, in their latest disagreement with the government of Azerbaijan.

“The Russian Federation has always treated the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan with respect,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko insisted during a July 17 meeting with Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Russia, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. “At the same time, this does not cancel the task of comprehensively promoting the process of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization, resolving all issues on the agenda, including ensuring the rights and security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, exclusively by peaceful political and diplomatic methods.”

Rudenko’s statement is the latest in a back-and-forth between the Russian Foreign Ministry and its Azerbaijani counterpart regarding the unblocking of the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor. On July 15, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia released an unambiguous statement urging Azerbaijan to open the Berdzor Corridor and restore Artsakh’s gas and electricity supply. 

“It is a matter of concern that today the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh is developing according to a negative scenario. The humanitarian crisis in the area is deepening,” the statement reads. “This may entail the most dramatic consequences for the Karabakh Armenians, or ordinary residents of the region.”

Azerbaijan has placed Artsakh under blockade since December 2022, leading to critical shortages of food and medical supplies. Azerbaijan has also periodically disrupted Artsakh’s access to natural gas and electricity, which are supplied by Armenia through lines that cut across Azerbaijani-controlled territory. Since June 15, Azerbaijan has also blocked the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers from traveling along the Berdzor Corridor to deliver humanitarian supplies and transfer medical patients to Armenia for treatment. 

Government-sponsored Azerbaijani protesters posing as eco-activists had closed the Berdzor Corridor from December 12, 2022 to April 23, 2023. They ended their protest after Azerbaijan set up a military checkpoint at the entrance to the corridor from Armenia, placing movement along the corridor completely under the control of Azerbaijani border guards. 

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry criticized the statement from its Russian counterpart. It defended the border checkpoint as a measure to “prevent illegal activities and to ensure transparency.” The Foreign Ministry accused Russia of failing to prevent “illegal activities,” including the transportation of military equipment and landmines from Armenia to Artsakh. It also claimed that the Artsakh Defense Army is “supported under the supervision of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.” 

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Rudenko called the statement from Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister “incorrect.”

Azerbaijani leaders have repeatedly accused Armenia of transferring weapons to Artsakh, in order to justify the blockade of the Berdzor Corridor. They have not provided evidence for this claim. On February 22, the International Court of Justice rejected a request from Azerbaijan for provisional measures ordering Armenia to stop using the Berdzor Corridor for this purpose, citing insufficient evidence. 

The July 15 statement from Russia’s Foreign Minister also asserts Russia’s readiness to collaborate with international efforts to settle the Artsakh conflict. 

“The Russian side confirms its intention to actively contribute to the efforts of the international community to restore the normal life of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the statement reads. 

While Russia has been preoccupied by its war in Ukraine, Western actors, namely the United States and the EU, have emerged as key mediators in the Artsakh conflict and Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process. Russia has accused the West of attempting to seize Russia’s traditional position as the primary mediator in the South Caucasus. However, in the July 15 statement, Russian authorities signaled closer alignment with the West in the negotiation process.

On the same day that the Russian Foreign Minister released its statement, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and European Council President Charles Michel held their sixth trilateral meeting in Brussels. Michel did not report progress toward a peace treaty after the meeting.

We are going through one of the most comprehensive and vigorous stages of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Michel said. “And even though our meeting took place in the context of a worrying increase in tensions on the ground, I noted important momentum in the political discussions and efforts.”

Michel “emphasized the need to open the Lachin road” during the meeting, according to a readout from the EU. He also “noted Azerbaijan’s willingness to provide humanitarian supplies via Aghdam.” “I see both options as important and encourage humanitarian deliveries from both sides to ensure the needs of the population are met,” Michel said

Azerbaijani leaders have recently proposed delivering humanitarian supplies to Artsakh from Azerbaijan through the Aghdam-Stepanakert road, rather than from Armenia through the Berdzor Corridor. 

Yerevan-based political analyst Tigran Grigoryan criticized this option, calling it “Azerbaijan’s blackmail” to justify the continued blockade of the Berdzor Corridor. 

So, they have now legitimized Azerbaijan’s blackmail by agreeing that providing supplies from Aghdam to NK is a workable option. Kudos to Michel and Pashinyan for giving Baku another excuse not to unblock the corridor,” Grigoryan tweeted

Some residents of Askeran, a town in Artsakh near Aghdam, have reportedly decided to install barriers along the Aghdam-Askeran highway, “in order to counter the so-called humanitarian aid to the Artsakh/Karabakh Armenians predetermined by the Azerbaijani authorities.”  

Before the trilateral meeting, Pashinyan hand-delivered a letter written by Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan to Michel, appealing to the international community to prevent a humanitarian and security disaster in Artsakh. On July 17, Harutyunyan announced that he is taking the “extreme measure” to join an indefinite sit-in protest in Artsakh’s capital Stepanakert to draw international attention to the blockade. 

“If the plight of the people of Artsakh does not return within a week to a more or less stable and normal state with international intervention, then we will resort to tougher actions both in Artsakh and outside of it,” Harutyunyan said.

Lillian Avedian is a staff writer for the Armenian Weekly. Her writing has also been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Hetq and the Daily Californian. She is pursuing master’s degrees in journalism and Near Eastern Studies at New York University. A human rights journalist and feminist poet, Lillian's first poetry collection Journey to Tatev was released with Girls on Key Press in spring of 2021.


Armenian Foreign Minister meets with Austrian counterpart in Vienna

 14:08,

YEREVAN, JULY 18, ARMENPRESS. The meeting between Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan and Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg is underway in Vienna, foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said on social media.

She said that the tête-à-tête meeting will be followed by an enlarged-format meeting and statements for the press.

“The Armenian Foreign Minister’s visit to Vienna has started with a tête-à-tête meeting with the Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, which will be followed by an enlarged-format meeting and statements for the press,” Badalyan said in a statement.

AW: Cheers to another successful weekend retreat with Hamazkayin ArtLinks!

Hamazkayin ArtLinks, June 2023

By Liana Bdewi, ArtLinks participant 2019-2023

This year’s Hamazkayin ArtLinks retreat was held in June at Camp Arev in sunny California, located in Frazier Park about an hour north of downtown Los Angeles. We had many attendees from the greater Los Angeles area, from the east coast of the U.S. and a few Canadians sprinkled in for good measure. There were quite a few returning members (including myself), but many new participants joined us this year from across North America.

Artist Masha Keryan (right) during her workshop

Our first workshop of the weekend was led by Masha Keryan, an artist from Yerevan who lives in Boston. Her workshop focused on how each person experiences art differently based on their state of being, lived experiences and perception. At the end of the lecture, we all received drawing pads, pencils and sharpeners and were instructed to go outside and fill every page of our 25-page drawing pads. Keryan encouraged us not only to use our pencils as drawing tools but also to find organic drawing materials in nature like clay, dirt or grass. This was a therapeutic exercise in perception, free artistic _expression_ and non-judgemental creativity. Later that evening, we gathered around the fire, and everyone showed off their work with detailed explanations behind each drawing.

As the evening progressed, we made our way back to the recreation room at the camp, where we played games and activities to get to know each other and did some karaoke and dancing. And just like that, we all became instant friends.

Filmmaker Eric Nazarian

On day two, we started the day with an information-packed lecture by Eric Nazarian, award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer based in Los Angeles. Nazarian spoke about the history of photography and cinema in relation to Armenian narratives. He seamlessly moved from one point in history to another, and we were wholeheartedly captivated for the entire two-hour lecture. Discussion points included early photographs of Armenians, Hollywood’s involvement in the tragic story of Aurora Mardiganian, and how we can use film as a storytelling medium to showcase new narratives around Armenian identity.

After lunch, we attended Dr. Hagop Gulludjian’s workshop about the Armenian language. Following the lecture, we took turns reading various Armenian haikus written by Gulludjian’s students. For the last hour, he challenged each of us to write up to 10 haikus in Armenian. His one request was that we avoid using themes around the Genocide, war or victimhood. We arranged the chairs in the room in a circle and took turns reading our haikus to one another. The pieces were profound and heartfelt and addressed nature, love and the Armenian language.

Our final workshop leader was Natalie Kamajian, a doctoral student in culture and performance at the World Arts and Cultures/Dance department at UCLA. She is also the co-founder and dance director at Lernazang, a non-profit cultural collective and performance ensemble whose mission is to strengthen Armenian cultural heritage in Los Angeles. She discussed her research around decolonizing Armenian dance and aesthetics by comparing formal Armenian dance (as seen on stage) to more traditional dances that differ from village to village across Armenia. After the lecture, we went outside and learned a handful of traditional shurchbar dances. We laughed, sweat and danced until dinner time!

Before we knew it, the weekend concluded and we all went back to our respective cities. Despite only meeting for 72 hours, the participants formed bonds over this retreat that will undoubtedly last a lifetime. What I love most about ArtLinks, and what keeps me coming back, is the extremely welcoming and forward-thinking environment. Attendees are encouraged to explore their Armenian identity in a non-judgmental space, which leads to provocative conversations, relatability and immediate friendships. If you’re interested in joining the Hamazkayin ArtLinks family for next summer’s retreat, follow along on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date and connected.




Azerbaijan says Armenia fired at troops near border, one wounded

July 11 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Armenia fired at Azeri troops near the Armenian border, wounding one Azeri soldier.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the defence ministry's account.

The defence ministry said its troops were in Lachin district, the site of a road linking Armenia to the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Reporting by Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/azerbaijan-says-armenia-fired-troops-near-border-one-wounded-2023-07-11/

Armenian PM ends working visit to Georgia

 AGENDA.GE 
Georgia – July 9 2023

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ended his working visit to Georgia later on Saturday, with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili escorting him to the Batumi International Airport for the official departure ceremony.

Within the framework of the visit, Garibashvili and Pashinyan held meetings both in face-to-face and extended formats, the Government Administration said.

The dynamics of cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields as well as trade and economic issues between Georgia and Armenia were discussed at the meeting of the PMs, with them reviewing the security environment and challenges globally and in the South Caucasus region.

Nagorno Karabakh to publish evidence debunking Azerbaijan’s allegations on presence of Armenia troops

 12:29, 1 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 1, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) Gegham Stepanyan has said that he has collected the necessary facts and documents once again debunking Azerbaijan’s allegations that two of the four Defense Army servicemen who were killed in the latest Azeri attack were members of the Armed Forces of Armenia.

The four Nagorno Karabakh troops were killed in an unprovoked Azeri artillery and drone strike on June 28.

“In response to media inquires, I am hereby informing that the bodies of the two servicemen who were killed in action during the June 28 Azerbaijani attack – Yervand Tadevosyan and Samvel Torosyan – were transported today by the International Committee of the Red Cross to Armenia, to be buried in Yerablur as requested by their families. Azerbaijan, preparing ground for new attacks, continues false allegations that the fallen troops were members of the Armed Forces of Armenia. The Artsakh Human Rights Defender’s Office has already collected the required facts and documents which will be published soon to once again prove that Azerbaijan’s claims are fake and made up,” Stepanyan said in a statement.

Armenia does not maintain any military presence in Nagorno Karabakh but Azerbaijan is falsely accusing it of having troops there.