Author: Lara Chatinian

Armenia, Turkey leaders discuss normalization of ties

Lara Chatinian

Al Mayadeen
  • ByAl Mayadeen 

The Armenian PM and Turkish President exchange congratulations on Muslim and Christian holidays during a rare phone call.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone on Wednesday in an effort to repair their strained relations.

The common border between Armenia and Turkey has been closed since the 1990s, and the two countries have never had formal diplomatic ties.

In further detail, Pashinyan's office said that the two leaders have exchanged congratulations on Muslim and Christian holidays and "discussed the process of normalization of bilateral relations."

In early June, Pashinyan traveled to Ankara to attend Erdogan's inauguration. He was among the first world leaders to congratulate the Turkish President on his re-election.

In December 2021, the two countries appointed special envoys to help normalize relations. The first commercial flights between Turkey and Armenia in two years were restored last year.

It is noteworthy that Ankara and Yerevan agreed to normalize their relations and open their common border in 2009 when they signed the accord. However, Armenia never ratified the deal and in 2018 ditched the process.

The relationship between the two countries, who have never established diplomatic ties, has been strained over historical and political disputes and has further deteriorated due to the Nagorno-Karabakh war after Turkey supported Azerbaijan's claim to sovereignty over the region.

However, the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria last February has led to some firsts in many years as countries around the world have been raising efforts to send aid and resources to help with the disaster relief efforts.

One of such event was observed on February 11 at one of the Turkish-Aremnian border crossings where, for the first time in 35 years, the crossing was opened to allow aid to pass into quake-struck Turkey.

At the time, Turkey's special representative for dialogue with Armenia said five trucks holding aid, such as food and water, in addition to a team that will participate in the search-and-rescue efforts, crossed into Turkey through the Alican border crossing.

On February 7, Erdogan thanked Pashinyan for Armenia's assistance after the devastating earthquake, emphasizing how much the Turkish government values Yerevan's assistance, according to sources in the Armenian government. 

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/armenia-turkey-leaders-discuss-normalization-of-ties

U.S. ‘deeply disturbed’ by loss of life in Nagorno Karabakh – State Department spox on unprovoked Azeri attack

Lara Chatinian

 10:43,

YEREVAN,JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. The United States is ‘deeply disturbed’ by the loss of life in Nagorno Karabakh, U.S. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel has said regarding the June 28 unprovoked Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno Karabakh which killed 4 Nagorno Karabakh troops.

Patel said there’s been no change in the schedule of the Armenia-Azerbaijan ongoing foreign ministerial talks in Washington D.C.

“We are deeply disturbed by the loss of life in Nagorno-Karabakh, and we offer our condolences to the families of all of those who were killed. These latest incidents underscore the need to refrain from hostilities and for a durable and dignified peace. The U.S. is committed to assisting the parties in achieving this goal, and Secretary Blinken is directly engaged in the peace process. Direct dialogue is key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace. Yesterday’s meetings with the foreign ministers were constructive, and we continue to build on those discussions today and tomorrow as the peace talks continue. So there’s no change in the schedule,” Patel said, adding that the U.S. will continue to work on this.

The Azerbaijani military bombarded Nagorno Karabakh positions on June 28 with artillery and drone strikes, killing four troops.

At the meeting with Sullivan and Bayramov, Mirzoyan emphasized the imperative of Baku not to use force, threat of force

Lara Chatinian

 21:06,

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS. On June 28, Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan and United States national security advisor to President Joe Biden met in the US capital, Washington. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov was also present at the meeting.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia, in the context of achieving long-term peace and stability in the South Caucasus, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the importance of ensuring maximum certainty in the delimitation process based on the Alma-Ata Declaration and the 1975 map, as well as withdrawal of troops. The issue of unblocking regional infrastructures was also addressed, emphasizing the absence of an alternative to preserving the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan once again emphasized the importance of properly addressing the rights and security issues of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Referring to another aggressive operation of Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, as a result of which the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army suffered four casualties on June 28, Minister Mirzoyan stressed that such actions are aimed at disrupting the efforts aimed at the negotiation process, and emphasized the imperative of excluding the use of force or the threat of force. Minister Mirzoyan emphasized that this action takes place in parallel with the humanitarian crisis created in NK as a result of the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor, as well as the deliberate disruption of gas and electricity supply to NK by Azerbaijan, which is aimed at subjecting Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing.

Aliyev privately acknowledged Armenia’s territorial integrity with area size, says Speaker of Parliament

Lara Chatinian

 13:33,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has acknowledged Armenia’s territorial integrity with a numerical wording, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan said on Monday.

“The wording of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is a bit different. He says he doesn’t have any territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia. I have to say that during a closed meeting he has accepted and is accepting the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia with a numerical wording, this is an important nuance,” Simonyan said.

Armenia has numerously said that it expects the Azerbaijani leadership to publicly confirm that it recognizes Armenia’s territorial integrity with a 29,800 square kilometer area.

Russia not against int’l players mediating settlement between Baku, Yerevan — Lavrov

Lara Chatinian
 TASS  
Russia – June 20 2023
"The most important thing is to ensure that this mediation is geared toward agreements reflecting the balance of interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples, the Armenian and Azerbaijani states," the Russian Foreign Minister said

MINSK, June 20. /TASS/. Russia has no objections against mediatory efforts of international players in the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"We are not against other international players trying themselves as mediators," he said after a meeting of top diplomats from the member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

"The most important thing is to ensure that this mediation is geared toward agreements reflecting the balance of interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples, the Armenian and Azerbaijani states," he added.

https://tass.com/politics/1635503

Deputy PM lauds ‘huge and significant’ capacity increase at Upper Lars checkpoint on Russia-Georgia border

Lara Chatinian

 13:25,

YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan has lauded the technical improvements at the Upper Lars checkpoint at the Russian-Georgian border, where 28 new clearance lanes were opened to increase capacity. The Upper Lars checkpoint now has 39 lanes compared to its original 11.

“This is a huge and significant change,” Grigoryan said at the Cabinet meeting.

“The record clearance capacity in 2020-2021 was 300 trucks per day. Today, 1500 vehicles pass [every day], and this is very significant. Moreover, yesterday there were 409 vacant spots at the checkpoint,” Grigoryan said, pointing to the increased capacity.

“It’s also very important that the number of lanes will be increased from nine to fifteen in Georgia by the end of 2024,” he added.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 16-06-23

Lara Chatinian

 17:24,

YEREVAN, 16 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 16 June, USD exchange rate stood at 386.54 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 4.17 drams to 423.30 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 4.62 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 4.79 drams to 494.46 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 42.88 drams to 24262.92 drams. Silver price down by 5.22 drams to 290.87 drams.

Azerbaijan violates Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire in three directions

Lara Chatinian

 09:33,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh on June 13, the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) authorities said on Wednesday.

Azerbaijani troops used small arms in the shootings in the northern, eastern and south-western directions of the line of contact, the Ministry of Defense of Nagorno Karabakh said. The shootings happened throughout the day, during the afternoon and in the evening.

Nagorno Karabakh did not suffer casualties.

The Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh said it reported the ceasefire breach to the Russian peacekeeping command.

As of 09:30, June 14, the situation in the line of contact was relatively stable.

Criminal investigation of former Artsakh army commander suspended

Lara Chatinian

 16:01,

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. The criminal proceedings against the former commander of the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Defense Army Lt. Gen. Jalal Harutyunyan has been temporarily suspended, the Investigative Committee said on Monday.

Investigative Committee spokesperson Gor Abrahamyan told ARMENPRESS that the proceedings were temporarily suspended after a military-science commission expertise was carried out to ensure comprehensive investigation.

The prosecution made the decision to suspend the case at the mediation of the investigator.

Harutyunyan is charged with negligence.

European Parliament to discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor

Lara Chatinian

 16:50,

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. The European Parliament will discuss the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, the situation in Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor during the June 13 plenary session.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission will hold a Question Time session with MEPs on “Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and at the Lachin Corridor”, according to the agenda of the session posted on the European Parliament website.

The Lachin Corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022. 

The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on February 22, 2023 to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has so far ignored the order. Furthermore, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor in violation of the terms of the 2020 ceasefire declaration.