Author: Mary Lazarian

Baku reports attacks by Armenia in two Azerbaijani districts

Mary Lazarian
TASS, Russia
Nov 8 2020
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reports that Armenian armed forces have been shelling settlements in the Tartar and Agdam districts

BAKU, November 8. /TASS/. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has reported attacks by the Armenian armed forces on several settlements in two districts of Azerbaijan.

"Starting 16:30 (15:30 Moscow time – TASS) November 8, the Armenian armed forces have been shelling settlements in the Tartar and Agdam districts. The Azerbaijani army is taking measures to suppress enemy fire," the message published on the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s Telegram channel informs.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians. Hostilities in the region continue despite the previously reached ceasefire agreements.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.

Azerbaijan’s military death toll reaches 7,405

Mary Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 6 2020

Azerbaijan has suffered 7,405 losses in manpower since the start of the hostilities on September 27, the Armenian Unified Infocenter informs.

According to the latest update, 257 Azerbaijani drones have been shot down; 16 helicopters and 25 planes have been destroyed.


A total of 736 units of armored vehicles and 6 TOS systems have also been struck by the Artsakh forces.

The Armenian Unified Infocenter provides updates on the Azerbaijani losses on daily basis.



Paris Mayor expresses support to Armenian people

Mary Lazarian

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 11:33, 6 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo received Co-Chairs of the Coordination Council of the Armenian Organizations of France Murad Papazian and Ara Toranian to discuss the situation in Nagorno Karabakh.

“Paris stands by the Armenian people during this trial”, the Paris Mayor said on Twitter.  

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia submits additional evidence to ECHR about gross violations of human rights by Azerbaijani forces

Mary Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia

Nov 2 2020

The Armenian Government has submitted additional evidence to the European Court of Human Rights about the gross violations of human rights by Azerbaijani forces, Representative of Armenia before the ECHR informs.

The Government has expressed its readiness to comply with the humanitarian ceasefire agreements reached by the parties of armed conflict earlier in October with the purpose to exchange POWs and corpses.

Bearing in mind the imminent risk and threat to the POWs’ lives the Government has asked the Court to indicate to the Government of Azerbaijan as a contracting party to the Convention:

1. To comply with its obligations under the Convention, as well as the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and all applicable rules of customary international humanitarian law, in particular, among other things, to refrain from;

  • a. degrading treatment, torture, arbitrary executions, as well as other prohibited conduct with respect to prisoners of war and civilian persons who find themselves under the authority of Azerbaijani agents,
  • b. mutilating corpses of Armenian soldiers;

2. To submit information on the number and names of the POWs and conditions under which POWs are currently held, details about their medical condition, and whether they have been examined by medical personnel.



TURKISH press: Russia vows to support Yerevan if fighting reaches Armenia as Pashinian seeks Putin’s help

Mary Lazarian
 MOSCOW POLITICS 
OCT 31, 2020 11:41 AM GMT+3
Reservists undergo a military training before leaving for the frontline in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, at a range in Armavir region, Armenia, Oct. 27, 2020. (AFP Photo)

Russia said on Saturday it would provide "necessary" assistance to Yerevan in its conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh if fighting reached Armenia's territory.

"Russia will render Yerevan all necessary assistance if clashes take place directly on the territory of Armenia," the Russian Foreign Ministry said, calling on the warring sides to immediately halt fire.

Earlier on Saturday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin "urgent" consultations on providing security amid a conflict with Azerbaijan after fresh talks failed to agree to a cease-fire.

Pashinian sent the letter to Putin after Armenia and Azerbaijan failed to agree to a fresh cease-fire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during talks in Geneva on Friday and as fighting continued overnight and Saturday morning.

The announcement, released by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, raised fears of an escalation in fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in fierce fighting for more than a month over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The flare-up of the conflict has left more than a thousand dead, with world powers so far unable to persuade either side to stop fighting.

Russia has a military base in Armenia and has a defense treaty with Yerevan.

"The prime minister of Armenia has asked the Russian president to begin urgent consultations with the aim of determining the kind and amount of aid which the Russian Federation can provide Armenia to ensure its security," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Russia has previously said that its defense pact with Armenia does not extend to the occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

But Pashinian in his letter to Putin said that hostilities were getting closer to Armenia's borders and reiterated that Azerbaijan's ally Turkey was backing Baku, according to the statement.

He requested Moscow's help, invoking the two countries' close ties and a 1997 treaty on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a bitter conflict over Karabakh since Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan occupied the mountainous province in a 1990s war that left 30,000 people dead.

The current clashes broke out on Sept. 27 and fighting has persisted despite the repeated international attempts to secure a cease-fire.

The warring sides have three times agreed to cease-fires during recent talks mediated by Russia, France and the United States but the truces have all quickly fallen apart.

More than 1,200 people from both sides have been reported dead since the fighting began, but the actual death toll is believed to be substantially higher.

CivilNet: Day 29, Diary of War, Nagorno-Karabakh

Mary Lazarian
CIVILNET.AM

06:50

The war does not end. The death toll keeps growing, mothers keep living without news from their sons, nurses and doctors don't sleep day and night…. The only thing I can do amid this chaos is to feed the fish. Unfortunately, I only have enough strength and energy to keep them from starving.

When I bought these fish, I was told in the store that I had to feed them 6 days a week. That is, every day, except for one. But I feed them every day, because I'm afraid that tomorrow something may happen and I won't be able to feed them. Let that day be their fasting day, so that they don't stay unfed two days in a row.

The worst thing we go through right now is normalization. We have been getting used to the war. This is utterly unfair. I remember when the elders talked about the first Artsakh (Karabakh) war, they used to say, “You know? We got used to living in war. It's as if our heart had turned into stone. We heard new names of the fallen each day, it was sad, but it seemed that there were no tears left. We had wept them all out." I'm afraid that soon we'll turn into the same stones. Or maybe partially, we have already become.

I've already told you about my friends – children from the shelter. Once when I was there with them, we heard some sounds. Someone said it might have been a tornado. And little Marat (he is maybe five or six) said, "No, this is not a tornado, this is a drone." I don't know if he was right or not, but that upset me. Children should not be able to distinguish between the sounds of weapons. They just shouldn't. They should go to school, play hide-and-seek, ride a bike, fall off it sometimes. Not to distinguish the sounds of bombs. It feels infinitely sad.

Do you know how many children are deprived of the right to study in Artsakh? More than 20,000. That's how many kids miss school every day. Not because they are lazy, but because of the war. This injustice makes me want to shout out loud from the top of the Hunot Canyon (Jdyrdyuz) in Shushi.

Flashbacks from the first war are constantly in my head. I'll tell you one story about my father. My father is a veteran of the first war. When he was about to leave for his last battle, my mom was pregnant with me. His good friends, who were several years older than him, approached my crying grandmother and said, “Mrs. Angela, don't worry, he'll return safe and sound. We promise! Even if we have to pay with our lives, we will bring him back. " (By the way, I was named after my grandmother – Angelica. For those who don’t know, this is my full name).  

On January 30, there was their battle. They stood side by side – so faithful, so real. A shell exploded…  When my father regained consciousness he saw his friends near him, or shall I say he saw parts of their bodies… They had covered him and saved him, at the cost of their own lives. My father became disabled. The fragments hit his face, his eye. He was taken to Yerevan for surgery. One eye was lost forever, but the other was fine, and doctors could not understand how. Amid this, I was born, on February 19.

I also had some vision problems. I don’t remember exactly when it started, but I realized it at school, when I was moved from the 4th row to the first. When I was 10, I went to Russia with my family for a wedding. There were some gypsies next to the church. One gypsy woman approached me and asked, "Would you like me to read your fortune?" I shook my head and walked away. "Do you have problems with your eyesight?" I think it was obvious since I squinted all the time. I stopped. She came closer.  “When you were born, you gave half of your vision to a very close person. That’s the reason,” she said and left.

A few years later, my dad and I went to the doctor together to test our eyesight and get new  glasses. When we had our eyes checked, it turned out that I don't see exactly the same percentage as him.

I told my family and we were stunned. I don't know what to think, but to be honest, I believe in magic. Therefore, it was possible in our case! These are the stories of the first war.

‘Armenians are being slaughtered by Trump pal Erdogan’ – US actor Sean Penn

Mary Lazarian

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 14:58,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS. American actor, filmmaker and producer Sean Penn commented on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy on Armenians.

“As too many of us sit on our butts, Armenians are being slaughtered by Trump pal Erdogan with weapons WE provided. THIS is NOT America!  Biden for America’s new birth!” Sean Penn said on Twitter.

On September 27 Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey, launched a massive attack against the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), by using all its ammunition, targeting also the civilian infrastructures both in Artsakh and Armenia. There are confirmed reports that there are mercenaries in the Azerbaijani army brought from Syria by Turkey for fighting against the Armenian side.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Another drone from NK conflict zone crashes into Iranian territory – IRNA

Mary Lazarian

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 16:34,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. A drone from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has crashed in Khoda Afarin town, East Azarbaijan Province, northwestern Iran on Tuesday, IRNA quoted Khoda Afarin governor Ali Amiri as saying.

Amiri told IRNA that the drone crashed in Gara Goch village, Minjavan District. It didn’t cause casualties.

According to IRNA, Iranian military experts are now investigating to which side of the conflict the drone belongs.

Over 60 stray rockets have hit Khoda Afarin since the Azeri attacks on Artsakh began on September 27, according to IRNA.

Earlier in October, an Israeli made Harop loitering munition operated by the Azeri military had similarly into Iranian territory.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1032212.html?fbclid=IwAR3UHiAbjd-28ECLOJ-oSs87GgpslPSDy-MAbpFtOvI3vYFi0mDm6HHnbb0

Tulsi Gabbard Calls For Turkey To Be Removed From NATO For Threatening Armenia

Mary Lazarian
Greek City Times
Oct 20 2020
by Paul Antonopoulos

U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, Tulsi Gabbard, has called for the U.S. to work with NATO members to have Turkey removed from the alliance, the Armenian National Council of America announced in a Facebook post.

A part of Tulsi Gabbarad‘s announcement to ANCA goes as following:

— Whereas Turkey has escalated its involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh [(Artsakh)], previously offering political support for Azerbaijan’s position, but now providing direct military support;

— Whereas Turkey maintains a closed border with the Republic of Armenia, a country with friendly relations with the United States, and has repeatedly issued threats against the Republic of Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, and Armenian communities in other parts of the world, at times thinly veiling its threats with references to the genocide of Armenians in Turkey that took place in the early 20th century;

— Whereas reports indicate that Turkey has sent Syrian fighters, many of whom have been associated with Al Qaeda and ISIS, to fight against the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh;

— Whereas it has been reported that Turkey has participated in or taken outright control of Azerbaijan’s air command and military offensive against Nagorno Karabakh and that its F-16 fighters have been engaged in attacks against both Nagorno Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia;

— Whereas NATO has called for the immediate cease-fire to hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh in response to Azerbaijan’s military attack on Nagorno Karabakh while Turkey has contradicted NATO’s position by publicly supporting and assisting with Azerbaijan’s continued military aggression;

— Whereas in response to Canada’s decision to suspend arms exports to Turkey in response to its involvement in Azerbaijan’s military offensive, Turkey cited the NATO relationship as the reason for its disappointment in Canada’s decision, associating NATO with its actions in the Caucasus.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/10/21/tulsi-gabbard-nato-turkey/

Russia rejects bid to include Turkey in Nagorno-Karabakh mediation

Mary Lazarian
The National< UAE
Oct 12 2020

Ankara has sent Syrian mercenaries to bolster Azerbaijan in breakaway Caucasus region

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday said no changes were envisaged to the format for peace talks over Nagorno-Karabakh, after Azerbaijan proposed that its ally Turkey should be involved.

Mr Lavrov was in Moscow after talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.

Mr Mnatsakanyan said effective peace talks over Nagorno-Karabakh, a largely ethnic Armenian-populated enclave within Azerbaijan, would only be possible after a full ceasefire between Azeri and ethnic-Armenian forces.

Russia on Monday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately start observing a ceasefire agreed to over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region as intense fighting between the two Caucasus rivals cast doubt over the accord.

After 11 hours of talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Moscow, the two sides agreed on Saturday to a humanitarian truce.

But repeated clashes have made the truce deal seem shaky, with both sides on Monday accusing the other of repeated violations.

"We expect that the decisions that have been adopted will be rigorously observed by both parties," Mr Lavrov said.

He said the truce, the immediate aim of which was to exchange prisoners and bodies, had to be implemented and work was under way to ensure a means of verification was in place.

Mr Lavrov said he believed the "all-night vigil" that clinched the ceasefire would "not be in vain" and that the issue could be resolved soon.

Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces on Monday accused each other of launching attacks in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, in the heaviest fighting over the enclave for more than 25 years.

Analysts have long warned that Nagorno-Karabakh was the most combustible of the conflicts left over from the fall of the Soviet Union, with Azerbaijan vowing to regain control of the territory and Armenians insisting they would never cede ground.

Nagorno-Karabakh, which is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians, said its forces repelled Azeri army attacks overnight.

Armenian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said Azerbaijan was "intensively shelling the southern front".

Armenia said that "the adversary suffered great losses of manpower and military equipment" but provided no details.

The Azerbaijan Defence Ministry claimed: "Armenian armed forces, which did not comply with the humanitarian truce, repeatedly tried to attack the positions of the Azerbaijan army."

The ceasefire was already badly frayed on Sunday, when Azerbaijan said it launched air strikes against an Armenian regiment.

Armenia denied the claim.

The talks were the first diplomatic contact between the two former Soviet republics since fighting over the mountain enclave broke out on September 27.

About 500 people have been reported killed since.

The conflict has raised fears of a wider war drawing in Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a defence pact with Armenia.

Turkey has sent in Syrian mercenaries to fight alongside Azerbaijan, as it did for the Government of National Accord in Libya to widespread condemnation from the international community.

The renewed fighting is the worst since a 1994 ceasefire ended a war over Nagorno-Karabakh, which killed at least 30,000.

It has also raised concerns about the security of pipelines in Azerbaijan that carry Azeri natural gas and oil to Europe.