Author: Mary Lazarian

 12:13, 28 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 28, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia is pleased to note that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries gave a clear assessment to the latest escalation in Nagorno Karabakh, stating that it is a consequence of the Azerbaijani troops movements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said that it called on the Azerbaijani side to pull back its army units. And on March 27 the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation released a statement saying that the Azerbaijani side has withdrawn its units from the Parukh settlement of Nagorno Karabakh. Nevertheless, we have to note that the Azerbaijani units’ invasion into the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh still continues, which is reflected in the attached maps. We expect the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation in Nagorno Karabakh to take concrete measures to stop the invasion of the Azerbaijani units into the area of responsibility of the peacekeepers and to withdraw the Azerbaijani armed forces. We emphasize the importance of a proper investigation into the actions of the peacekeeping contingent during the entire period of the Azerbaijani military invasion and for answers to a number of questions to be given,” the foreign ministry added.

The deployment locations of the Russian peacekeepers shown in the maps is taken from the Russian Defense Ministry website.

The map describing the situation as of March 24, 2022 clearly shows that there are no Azerbaijani posts in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. However, the map as of March 28 shows Azerbaijani posts in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers.

 12:49, 29 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. An unknown person called in a bomb threat to Moscow airport regarding the Yerevan-Moscow flight, TASS reported citing its sources.

The unknown person told Sheremetyevo airport that there is a bomb on board an aircraft operating the Yerevan-Moscow flight, which is currently en route.

The plane will be searched after landing.

 11:15, 31 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. 21 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 422,519, the ministry of health said.

2024 tests were conducted on March 30.

The recoveries rose by 108 in a day, bringing the total number to 409,987.

2 death cases have been registered. The death toll has risen to 8613.

As of March 31, the number of active cases is 2243.

 12:24, 31 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. In addition to invading the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh, the Azerbaijani troops continue to terrorize the population of several villages in Nagorno Karabakh on a daily basis by using loudspeakers to make threats, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting.

“This too is happening before the eyes of the peacekeepers. [The Azerbaijani side] is telling the villagers through loudspeakers to abandon their homes or else they will be taken out by force,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan said that the Azerbaijani troops are even playing the Islamic Adhan on the loundspeakers at nights in the direction of the villages, whose population is Armenian Apostolic Christian.

“We certainly have great respect for the Islamic religion and civilization, but Azerbaijan’s actions against the people is violence against the freedom of conscience and religion, a means of inciting religious hatred, and after all it is offending the religious emotions of our compatriots,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan also addressed the Azerbaijani policy of eradicating anything Armenian from Nagorno Karabakh.

Pashinyan mentioned the infamous February 23 statement by Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture, who set up a task force to deal with the removal of Armenian traces from spiritual monuments, which the Azeri minister falsely described as “Caucasian Albanian”. Pashinyan described this statement as Azerbaijan’s public and official launch of destruction and distortion of Armenian cultural heritage.

“And the statement of the Azerbaijani minister of culture isn’t a coincidence. On March 16, 2021, during a visit to Hadrut, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking about the Surp Astvatsatsin Armenian Church of Tsakuri, said: ‘Just like the Armenians desecrated our mosques, they desecretated the Caucasian-Albanian temples. But we will restore. All these writings are fake, these are made afterwards’”. These actions of Azerbaijan are an overt challenge to the UN’s International Court of Justice 2021 December 7 decision on provisional measures, which clearly obliges Azerbaijan to “take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts.”

PM Pashinyan emphasized that all these situations must receive a proper international probe and assessment.

“We expect from the international community a targeted assessment to Azerbaijan’s actions in Nagorno Karabakh because the Armenian population in Nagorno Karabakh is being terrorized every day, literally every single day, including the gas supply cut-off terror, and its goal is to displace them from their homes and their homeland,” Pashinyan said.

 16:53, 1 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. The Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transportation Ali Hamieh and the Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Vahagn Atabekyan held a meeting and discussed steps for strengthening relations in various sectors, especially in civil aviation, Lebanese media reported.

The sides emphasized the importance for increasing the flights connecting the capital cities of the two countries.

The Ministry of Public Works and Transport has given the green light to the Armenian Civil Aviation Authority for FLYONE ARMENIA to operate regular flights to and from Lebanon, at an average of three flights per week between Yerevan and Beirut, and vice versa. The sides stated that the flights will bolster relations.

 11:30,

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to United States Lilit Makunts briefed the US State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Dereck Hogan on the recent Azerbaijani ceasefire violations.

“On March 25, H.E. Lilit Makunts, Ambassador of Armenia to the USA, met with Dereck Hogan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Ambassador briefed on the recent Azerbaijani provocative actions, ceasefire violations that continue till today, as well as Azerbaijani deliberate actions aimed at disrupting the normal operation of vital infrastructures of Artsakh,” the Armenian Embassy in the United States said in a statement.

 15:43,

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. Despite the high-level negotiations, the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Artsakh managed at this stage to stop only the advancement of the Azerbaijani armed forces in the section of the village of Parukh in Askeran region and the Azerbaijani shots fired from various caliber weapons, the Artsakh Information Center said in a statement.

“At the same time, however, we note that the Russian peacekeeping forces didn’t manage to solve the main issue within their mission as the Azerbaijani troops, who infiltrated into Parukh village and adjacent territories in Askeran region on March 24, are still there.

The authorities of Artsakh, however, hope that with the decisive efforts of the Russian side, the Azerbaijani troops will return back to their initial positions, and the peaceful population of Artsakh to their homes, otherwise the security guarantees given to the peaceful population living in Artsakh are seriously questioned”, the statement says.

The Center reminded that the Armenian side had wounded and 2 losses as Azerbaijan applied Bayraktar drones on March 25. “Therefore, Azerbaijan is grossly violating the provisions of the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement in the form of both incursion and violations of the ceasefire regime”, the Center said.