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Author: Maral Chavushian

Aliyev’s statements a testament to Azerbaijan’s destructive stance – Armenia MFA

Maral Chavushian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
, 12:23

 1 minute read

The statements made by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on May 27 once again testify to the destructiveness of the Azerbaijani side, the arbitrary, untrue comments on the agreements, and the continuation of the aggressive, belligerent policy, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The claims on the sovereign territory of the neighboring state, the use of force to achieve these goals are nothing but contempt for the norms of international law and seriously question the sincerity of Azerbaijan’s intentions to achieve peace in the region,” the Ministry said.

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed the principled position of the Armenian side that the talks on normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be held on the basis of proposals of both sides, which should address the whole agenda, including the final settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“With the speculations of the Azerbaijani side, an attempt is made to present the Nagorno Karabakh issue as a territorial dispute, while it is about realization of the rights of Artsakh Armenians and excluding the threat of ethnic cleansing,” the statement reads.

In this regard, the Ministry reminds that the international mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs given in 1995 to support the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict continues to exist.

It calls on the Azerbaijani leadership not to torpedo the discussions taking place in the existing formats with belligerent and fanatical rhetoric.

At the same time, the Foreign Ministry draws the attention of the international community to the statements made by official Baku, expects the unequivocal attitude of international partners, noting that only then will it be possible to achieve stability and peace in the South Caucasus.

The statement comes after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev once again claimed that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict had been solved and the Minsk Group had completed its activity.

Turkey recruits Afghans to fight on side of Ukraine

Maral Chavushian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
12:50, 27.05.2022

A diplomatic source told RIA Novosti that Turkey's foreign offices in Iran are recruiting Afghan citizens there to participate in hostilities on the side of Ukraine at the behest of Ankara.

"According to the available information, the Turkish foreign missions in Iran, at the direction of Ankara, are recruiting Afghan citizens in Iran to participate in hostilities on the side of the Kiev regime," he said. According to the interlocutor of the agency, "they are assisted in their departure to Turkey and then to Ukraine and the necessary documents are prepared.

https://news.am/eng/news/704227.html

Karabakh MPs issues statement amid Avetik Chalabyan’s arrest

Maral Chavushian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
Karabakh MPs issues statement amid Avetik Chalabyan's arrest
21:02, 27.05.2022

Deputies of the Karabakh National Assembly have issued a statement in connection with the arrest of opposition politican Avetik Chalabyan.

“Expressing concern over the choice of a measure of restraint in the form of detention, knowing about the activities, professional and personal qualities of Avetik Chalabyan, we assure that his release will in no way interfere with a fair trial.

We ask you to take measures to change the decision made against Avetik Chalabyan and release the latter from custody, as well as to continue an impartial investigation in accordance with the letter of the law.”

We only note that the said statement bears the signatures of 10 deputies of the Karabakh parliament.

Oppositionist: After Pashinyan’s ouster, Armenia won’t have to implement any agreements

Maral Chavushian
Panorama
Armenia –

No document was signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the meeting hosted by European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels on Sunday, opposition member Edgar Ghazaryan, a former chief of the Constitutional Court staff, said on Monday, referring to the statement following the talks between Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev.

“None of the documents signed by Nikol Pashinyan to date has undergone domestic ratification procedures,” he wrote on Facebook.

“The Republic of Armenia has made no commitments to Azerbaijan, any other country or international organization. All the anti-Armenian documents have been signed personally by Nikol Pashinyan. It also applies to the agreements reached.

“As long as Pashinyan stays in power, he can implement them. After his ouster, Armenia will have no obligation to implement the agreements,” Ghazaryan stated.

Azerbaijani president sets up state commission on demarcation with Armenia

Maral Chavushian

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 19:51,

YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. By the decision of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a state commission on demarcation with Armenia has been established, ARMENPRESS reports, TASS agency informs that the relevant order of the President of Azerbaijan is published on his official website.

The chairman of the Commission is deputy PM of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev.

PM Pashinyan meets with representatives of extra-parliamentary political forces

Maral Chavushian

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 14:15, 19 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting today with the participants of the Consultative Assembly on Cooperation with Extra-Parliamentary Political Forces, the PM’s office said.

In addition to monthly sessions, these kind of meetings will be held regularly.

The meeting was attended by leader of the Republic party Aram Sargsyan, leader of the European Party of Armenia Tigran Khzmalyan, Christian-Democratic party chairman Levon Shirinyan, United Motherland party chairman Mher Terteryan, Sovereign Armenia party chairman Davit Sanasaryan and Head of Armenia Office of the Social Democrat Hunchakian party Sedrak Achemian.

Armenia-Azerbaijan delimitation, border security commissions to hold meeting next week

Maral Chavushian

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 17:36,

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. The first session of the commissions on border delimitation and border security between Armenia and Azerbaijan is planned to take place next week in Moscow, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Tajikistan.

“I’d like to inform you that we’ve had contacts with Azerbaijani colleagues on the matter of creating the commissions for delimitation and border security issues. And it seems that there is an agreement with Deputy Prime Minister Overchuk that on May 16-17 a meeting will take place in Moscow on the matter of unblocking of connections, and there is also an agreement that a bilateral meeting on the issues of delimitation and border security will be organized again in Moscow during the same days,” Mirzoyan said.

Armenian weightlifter Garnik Cholakyan crowned world champion

Maral Chavushian
Panorama
Armenia – May 3 2022

SPORT 16:18 03/05/2022 ARMENIA

20-year-old Armenian weightlifter Garnik Cholakyan made six from six to win gold at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Junior World Championships that began in Heraklion, Crete, on May 2.

A European youth and junior champion, Cholakyan lifted a total of 240kg (108-132) in the men's 55kg category to become world champion.

Jose Manuel Poox of Mexico was second on 234kg and the bronze went to Mustafa Erdogan of Turkey on 228kg.

Azerbaijani press: Infamous anti-Azerbaijani U.S. document turns 30

Maral Chavushian
4 May 2022 10:00 (UTC+04:00)
654

By Vafa Ismayilova

This year marks the 30th anniversary of notorious U.S. Section 907 against Azerbaijan, Consul-General to Western United States Nasimi Aghayev has said on his official Twitter page.  

“2022 marks the 30th anniversary of infamous Section 907 that was passed against Azerbaijan by Congress at the behest of the Armenian lobby. In 1993, Strobe Talbott of the State Department argued against it saying that it undercut U.S. ability to be an honest broker between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Aghayev tweeted on May 4.

In late September 2021, President Ilham Aliyev explained very clearly and concisely the principles standing behind Section 907 passed by the U.S. Congress.

“After all… the decisions that were made by some countries, they simply defy any logic. While it was Azerbaijani territory that was occupied, the U.S. Congress passed the notorious amendment to the Freedom Support Act, Section No. 907, which deprived Azerbaijan of direct military assistance, direct U.S. assistance, not only military. And we, the affected country, we were essentially discriminated against,” Aliyev said in an interview with Russia’s Natsionalnaya Oborona magazine.

He said that “the rationale behind it was that Azerbaijan was blocking Armenia. Just imagine – Zangilan, Gubadli, Lachin and Kalbajar districts are occupied. And this is described as a blockade of Armenia”.

He stressed that Armenia’s diaspora organizations and also the media controlled by the Armenian lobby distorted the essence of the then conflict.

“The fact that Armenia is an aggressor, an occupier which committed ethnic cleansing and an act of genocide in Khojaly, destroyed all historical and cultural buildings – all this was concealed,” Aliyev said.

In April 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a telephone conversation with Aliyev in 2021 too the waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act was extended.

On October 24, 2001, the Senate adopted an amendment to the Act that would provide the President with the ability to waiver Section 907.

Well-known expert Svante Cornell described the term “blockade” as unjustified since it ignored the fact that Armenia itself had imposed an embargo on Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave, and the closure of the border with Armenia took place due to the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands. Moreover, the use of the term "blockade" in itself is misleading, as Armenia has close economic ties with Georgia and Iran.

To recap, Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to join the global anti-terror coalition assembled by the U.S. government. Azerbaijan opened its airspace to the allied forces and assured its agencies would cooperate and provide information that would assist in American-led efforts.

Azerbaijan’s contributions to the U.S-led anti-terror campaign also included deploying a peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan. Azerbaijani peacekeepers began serving there in November 2002, and by 2021 the contingent consisted of 120 servicemen. They left the country more than a week after the Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021.

Opinion from Baku: "Armenia’s 6 responses to 5 proposals of Azerbaijan – what to expect next?"

Maral Chavushian

May 5 2022


  • JAMnews
  • Baku

Armenia adds six principles for peace talks

Yerevan responded to the five principles proposed by Baku for the start of peace negotiations with six of its own. Armenia agrees with the principles put forward by Azerbaijan, but considered it necessary to add to them the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was not mentioned in the proposals from Baku. What to expect in such a scenario? According to political observer Agshin Kerimov, Armenia’s response is not fundamentally directed against the interests of Azerbaijan.

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Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan stated that Armenia added a six more principles to the five that have already been put forward by Azerbaijan for the start of peace negotiations and adopted by official Yerevan. One of the points concerns the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliyev’s remarks on peace negotiations with Armenia : “If Yerevan does not accept the five principles proposed by Baku, Azerbaijan will not recognize territorial integrity of Armenia”

According to Azerbaijani political observer Agshin Kerimov, Armenia’s response is not fundamentally directed against the interests of Azerbaijan.

“Apparently, the maps referred to by Azerbaijan in connection with the start of the process of delimitation and demarcation of the borders between the two states were accepted by Yerevan. Because Grigoryan noted in his speech that all the maps and historical facts are known and Azerbaijan can also get acquainted with them.

Of course, Grigoryan may be referring to distorted maps that are a product of the Armenian propaganda, but the fact that he used the word “everything” gives Azerbaijan great room for maneuvering during the negotiations.

Armenia announces that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Armen Grigoryan himself refers to the mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries within the framework of the CIS in 1992”, Kerimov says.

The political observer notes that one cannot but notice the efforts of Yerevan to put the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh on the agenda, but “this time this issue is presented in a slightly different form”:

“Grigoryan speaks about the need to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians living in Karabakh, and sort of takes the issue of status to the background. But such a setting gives reason to say that Yerevan is still trying to catch fish in troubled waters. In fact, these statements can also be regarded as a method of playing on the internal audience. Under the current conditions, reassuring the people in the country is also on the agenda of the Armenian government.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that it recognizes all the rights of the Karabakh Armenians under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan, and Grigoryan’s statement can in no way be reclassified as a thesis directed against the interests of Baku.

A possible signing, or at least the start of negotiations on the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agreement is actively discussed both in Yerevan and Baku

Despite all this, the Armenian proposal seems more like a question in the context of rights and security than a question of territorial conflict. This clearly shows that the authorities in Armenia began to adequately assess the existing realities.

Everyone, including Armenia, is well aware that Azerbaijan will not return to discussing the issue of status. Moreover, the entire territory of Karabakh has already found its reflection in the legal system of the country – it is divided into East Zangezur and Karabakh economic regions.

This, by the way, is based on international law, which recognizes the territorial-administrative system under the jurisdiction of the country that owns the same territory. In other words, such a territorial division does not contradict the principles of international law.

On the other hand, the balance of power in the region is far from parity, and any manifestation of revanchism is inappropriate.

There remains the issue of enclaves between the countries, which will become relevant in the course of peace negotiations, and will be resolved on the basis of their principles”.