Thursday,
Yerevan Announces Plans For Armenian, Azerbaijani Border Commissions To Meet At
Frontier Soon
The national flags of Armenia and Azerbaijan
The Armenian and Azerbaijani border delimitation and demarcation commissions
plan to meet at the state frontier between the two countries on November 30
after reaching a preliminary agreement on that, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said
on Thursday.
The announcement came after Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry called on November 21
for direct negotiations with Armenia in a “mutually acceptable” venue, including
at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Responding to that call, the Armenian side reaffirmed Yerevan’s readiness to
“re-engage in negotiations” with Baku to establish peace between the two South
Caucasus nations and mentioned a possible meeting at the state frontier of
Armenian and Azerbaijani members of commissions involved in border delimitation
and demarcation processes, something that it said Yerevan had already proposed
earlier.
The Armenian ministry stopped short, however, of mentioning the possibility of
direct Armenian-Azerbaijani talks at the highest level.
The commissions headed by the deputy prime ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Mher Grigorian and Shahin Mustafayev, already have the experience of negotiating
at the border. The first such meeting took place in May 2022 followed by another
in July of this year.
An ally of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in the Armenian parliament
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday that Yerevan was still “inclined” to
hold negotiations with Baku at the level of the two countries’ leaders through
the mediation of the European Union, in particular, of President of the European
Council Charles Michel.
Sargis Khandanian, who represents the pro-government Civil Contract faction and
heads the Armenian National Assembly’s Foreign Relations Commission, explained
that such negotiations would be based on the main principles for
Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization, including mutual recognition of territorial
integrity and borders based on a 1991 declaration signed by a dozen former
Soviet republics, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, after the collapse of the
USSR, and the sovereign jurisdictions of the states over transportation links
passing through their territories, that he said were agreed upon by the parties
in July when the latest round of EU-mediated talks was held between Pashinian
and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“Based on this logic, it is necessary to ensure the continuity of those
negotiations and continue meetings at the level of the countries’ leaders
through the mediation of the European Union, in particular, European Council
President Charles Michel,” Khandanian said.
Aliyev appears to have avoided Western platforms for negotiations with Armenia
after Azerbaijani forces recaptured the whole of Nagorno-Karabakh in a one-day
military operation in September, causing more than 100,000 people, virtually the
entire local Armenian population, to flee to Armenia.
Yerevan Says Rights Of Armenians Displaced From Nagorno-Karabakh ‘On Agenda’ Of
Talks With Baku
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenians fleeing from Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s military operation
were placed in temporary shelters in Armenia
The issue of the rights of the people who were forcibly displaced from
Nagorno-Karabakh is on the agenda of negotiations with Azerbaijan, Armenia’s
deputy foreign minister said on Thursday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safarian
“There was an official assessment of what happened, that is, that ethnic
cleansing was carried out as a result of Azerbaijan’s military operation against
Nagorno-Karabakh, and work is being done in this direction with international
partners. The issue is on the agenda and, naturally, it will be addressed in one
way or another during the negotiations,” Mnatsakan Safarian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry announced earlier on Thursday a preliminary
arrangement about holding a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijan commissions
dealing with issues of border delimitation and demarcation at an undisclosed
location of the state frontier between the two countries on November 30. The
Azerbaijani side confirmed this arrangement later during the day.
The announcement came after Azerbaijan offered to hold direct talks with Armenia
in a “mutually acceptable” venue, including along the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border.
Armenia said it agreed to a meeting of border commissions, but stopped short of
mentioning the possibility of direct Armenian-Azerbaijani talks at the highest
level.
Asked whether Armenia was against talks without mediators, the deputy foreign
minister said: “There are issues where the presence of mediators is mandatory
and plays a very important role. For example, issues related to the rights of
the population forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. The existence of
international mechanisms is important here. There are also other issues where
guarantees are important.”
The International Court of Justice issued a preliminary order last week obliging
Azerbaijan to ensure the safety of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who fled their
homes and crossed into Armenia following Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive on
September 19, but now wish to return to the region that Baku has established
full control of as a result of that one-day military operation.
Pashinian Says No Mass Migration Of Armenians Displaced From Karabakh Observed
Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh receive first aid as they cross into
Armenia. Kornidzor, September 26, 2023.
No mass outmigration of Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh is observed in
Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said during his cabinet’s weekly session
on Thursday.
Pashinian said that “there was a rather disturbing number” of Karabakh Armenians
leaving Armenia in the first days of their exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh in late
September.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
“We assumed then that in most cases people were just going abroad at the
invitation of their relatives and that they would later return,” said the
premier, stressing that the situation in this regard “has stabilized” now.
Pashinian described it as a major indicator that decisions made by his
government in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are “having a certain
effect.”
More than 100,000 Armenians, which is virtually the entire population of
Nagorno-Karabakh, fled their homes and crossed into Armenia following
Azerbaijan’s one-day military offensive in September.
The Armenian government responded by providing the displaced people with both
financial assistance and housing relief. Those of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who
did not have a place to stay in Armenia were provided with temporary shelters in
community housing. The government further allocated pecuniary aid to the
displaced people to help them pay for rent and utilities.
Still, Pashinian said then that of those Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who crossed
into Armenia more than 3,000 left the country.
Talking about the positive effects of his government’s decisions, Pashinian at
the same time stressed that his words should not be interpreted “as if we have
completely solved the problems of these people.”
“At some point our policies towards our brothers and sisters who were forcibly
displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and citizens of the Republic of Armenia will
become identical,” Pashinian said.
In his remarks today Pashinian also said that Armenia has set a new record in
terms of registered jobs – 730,000 in a country of some 3 million people.
“Around 183,000 new jobs have been created in Armenia since May 2018. And our
economic dynamics show that jobs will continue to be created as a result of the
full involvement of our brothers and sisters forcibly displaced from
Nagorno-Karabakh in the labor market,” he said.
CSTO Leaders Meet In Belarus For Summit Skipped By Armenia
• Tatevik Lazarian
Leaders of CSTO member states meet in Minsk, Belarus, on for a
summit not attended by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Leaders from five former Soviet countries that are members of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) met in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on
Thursday for a summit that has been skipped by their formal ally, Armenia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan attended the events hosted by Belarus’s Alyaksandr Lukashenka, with
Armenia’s flag also flying at the Minsk airport and at the venue of the
gathering, the Independence Palace, even though neither Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian, nor other Armenian officials have participated in the workings of the
summit that was preceded by meetings of defense and foreign ministers and
security council secretaries of member states on Wednesday.
Lukashenka said Armenia’s absence from the summit was discussed by the other
leaders during their meeting held behind closed doors.
“We will not hide the fact that we also discussed the situation in the Caucasus
and certain dissatisfaction of one of the CSTO members. We have come to a joint
conclusion that there have always been problems, there are and there will be
problems. But if we are to solve these problems, we should do it at the
negotiation table and not through unreasonable demarches,” the Belarusian leader
said, implying Pashinian’s refusal to attend the summit.
In an apparent jibe at the Armenian leader Lukashenka said that “only
fly-by-night politicians” can create a situation of conflict “by making a gift
to those who are not interested in strengthening the security of the CSTO member
states.”
“This is irresponsible and short-sighted,” he said, as quoted by local media.
At the same time, the Belarusian leader expressed a hope to see “Armenian
friends” at upcoming economic events in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Armenia drew criticism from Russia earlier this month after Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian announced his decision not to attend the CSTO summit.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, chided Armenia
for what she described as veiled efforts by Yerevan to change its foreign-policy
vector in favor of the West. She said Yerevan’s decision not to attend CSTO
meetings was not in the “long-term interests of the Armenian people.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also lamented Armenia’s decision, but said that
Moscow expects Armenia to continue its work within the framework of the CSTO.
CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov said earlier this week that
official Yerevan had asked to remove the issue of providing military assistance
to Armenia from the summit agenda.
Armenia had appealed to the CSTO for military assistance in September 2022
following two-day deadly border clashes with Azerbaijan that Yerevan said
stemmed from Baku’s aggression against sovereign Armenian territory.
The Russia-led bloc stopped short of calling Azerbaijan the aggressor and
effectively refused to back Armenia militarily, while agreeing to consider only
sending an observation mission to the South Caucasus country.
At the CSTO summit held in Yerevan last November Armenia declined such a
mission, saying that before it could be carried out the CSTO needed to give a
clear political assessment of what Yerevan had described as Azerbaijan’s
aggression and occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.
Explaining his decision to skip the Minsk summit, the Armenian prime minister
told the parliament in Yerevan earlier this month that the “fundamental problem”
with the CSTO was that this organization had refused “to de-jure fixate its area
of responsibility in Armenia.”
Earlier, the Armenian leader and other Armenian officials had said that the
Russia-led defense alliance’s failure to respond to the security challenges
facing Armenia meant that “it is the CSTO that is quitting Armenia and not
Armenia that is quitting the CSTO.”
Talking to reporters in Yerevan on Thursday, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister
Mnatsakan Safarian said, however, that Armenia was not considering the
possibility of quitting Russia-led alliances, including the CSTO and the
Eurasian Economic Union, at the moment.
He also said that Armenia had no intention to raise the issue of the withdrawal
of Russia’s military base from Armenia.
“There are no such topics on our agenda at the moment,” Safarian said.
Armenia Signals No Intention To Quit Russia-Led Alliances
Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safarian (file photo)
Armenia is not considering the possibility of quitting Russia-led alliances,
including the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian
Economic Union (EEU), a senior official in Yerevan said on Thursday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safarian also told reporters that Armenia has
no intention to raise the issue of the withdrawal of Russia’s military base from
Gyumri either.
“At the moment, there are no such topics on our agenda,” the deputy minister
said.
Armenia drew criticism from Russia earlier this month after Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian refused to attend the CSTO’s summit hosted in Minsk, Belarus, on
November 23. Other Armenian officials have also declined to participate in
events held by the Russia-led defense alliance that also includes Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, chided Armenia
for what she described as veiled efforts by Yerevan to change its foreign-policy
vector in favor of the West. She said Yerevan’s decision not to attend CSTO
meetings was not in the “long-term interests of the Armenian people.”
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, also lamented
Armenia’s decision not to attend the CSTO summit, but said that the Kremlin
expects that “Armenia will continue its work within the framework of this
organization.”
CSTO Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov said earlier this week that
official Yerevan had asked to remove the issue of providing military assistance
to Armenia from the summit agenda.
Armenia had appealed to the CSTO for military assistance in September 2022
following two-day deadly border clashes with Azerbaijan that Yerevan said
stemmed from Baku’s aggression against sovereign Armenian territory.
The Russia-led bloc stopped short of calling Azerbaijan the aggressor and
effectively refused to back Armenia militarily, while agreeing to consider
sending an observation mission to the South Caucasus country.
At the CSTO summit held in Yerevan in November 2022 Armenia declined such a
mission, saying that before it could be carried out it needed to give a clear
political assessment of what Yerevan had described as Azerbaijan’s aggression
and occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.
Explaining his decision to skip the Minsk summit, the Armenian prime minister
told the parliament in Yerevan earlier this month that the “fundamental problem”
with the CSTO was that this organization had refused “to de-jure fixate its area
of responsibility in Armenia.”
Earlier, the Armenian leader and other Armenian officials had said that the
Russia-led defense alliance’s failure to respond to the security challenges
facing Armenia meant that “it is the CSTO that is quitting Armenia and not
Armenia that is quitting the CSTO.”
Speaking in parliament on November 15, however, the Armenian leader refused to
be drawn into the discussion of whether Armenia planned to formally quit the
CSTO, nor would he speak about any security alternatives to membership in this
organization.
“We are not planning to announce a change in our policy in strategic terms as
long as we haven’t made a decision to quit the CSTO,” Pashinian said.
Armenian Mining Giant Denies Being Under Western Sanctions
A view of ore-processing facilities of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine in
Kajaran, Armenia (file photo)
Armenia’s largest mining enterprise has denied being under Western sanctions or
having any of its shareholders who are weeks after the United States put a
number of enterprises owned by a Russian businessman linked to it on its
sanctions list.
In a statement released on November 23 the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine
(ZCMC) insisted that the businessman in question is no longer its majority
shareholder and that no international sanctions were currently applicable to the
company.
Sanctions targeting Russian businessmen over Russia’s war in Ukraine that
Washington announced in early November also included those imposed on several
businesses of Gleb Trotsenko, a purported close associate of Russian President
Vladimir Putin. AEON Corporation owned by the Trotsenko family was also
mentioned in the sanctions list.
Both Trotsenko and AEON Corporation have links with Armenia. According to
Armenia’s State Register, Trotsenko is the largest shareholder in the ZCMC,
holding a 40-percent stake in the company, which is based in the country’s
southern Syunik province.
It was due to Trotsenko’s acquiring the largest stake in the ZCMC and donating
part of it to Armenia that the Armenian government also became a shareholder of
the company in 2021, currently holding a more than 20-percent stake in it.
The ZCMC explained, however, that Trotsenko, who formerly did hold a beneficial
ownership position in the company, no longer retained such status “due to the
alienation of all his indirect shares in the Company on October 27, 2023.”
“Currently, there is no relationship between Mr. Trotsenko and the Company,” the
ZCMC said.
In its press release the ZCMC provided a link to the official website of the
State Register of Legal Entities of Armenia’s Ministry of Justice, according to
which Trotsenko’s name is absent from the list of the company’s shareholders.
The biggest shareholder listed there is Svetlana Ershova, a Russian citizen with
a participation size of nearly 48 percent. Ershova is known to have had business
links with the company owned by Gleb Trotsenko’s father Roman Trotsenko.
“The ZCMC remains steadfast in its commitment to transparent corporate
governance, and periodic publication of ultimate beneficial owners’ declarations
according to the Armenian legislation underscores the Company’s continuous
efforts to uphold the highest standards of business conduct,” it said.
The ZCMC was Armenia’s number one tax payer in 2022 and remains one this year.
According to the data released by Armenia’s State Revenue Committee, the company
contributed 52,4 billion drams (nearly $130 million) to the state budget during
the first nine months of 2023.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Author: Meline Chalian
Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan Pan-Armenian Union welcomes the ICJ Order of November 17
19:33,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan Pan-Armenian Union has welcomed the Order of the International Court of Justice of November 17, which was adopted on the request filed by the Republic of Armenia within the case brought against the Republic of Azerbaijan under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The union attached great importance to the decision as its implementation could serve as a foundation for preventing similar situations in the future, noting that without such measures, ensuring peaceful and safe coexistence in the region would be impossible.
''In its Order, the Court has obliged Azerbaijan to ensure the safe, unimpeded and expeditious return of the persons who have left Nagorno-Karabakh after 19 September 2023 and who wish to return to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Moreover, according to the decision of the International Court, Azerbaijan is obliged to ensure that persons who have remained in Nagorno-Karabakh after 19 September 2023 and who wish to depart are able to do so in a safe, unimpeded and quick manner.
The Court has assigned Azerbaijan to ensure that persons who have remained in Nagorno-Karabakh after 19 September 2023 or returned to Nagorno-Karabakh and who wish to stay are free from the use of force or intimidation.
According to the decision, the Republic of Azerbaijan shall, in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, protect and preserve registration, identity and private property documents and records, to accept them as a basis in its administrative and legislative practice.
Within 8 weeks after the publication of the decision, Azerbaijan must submit a report to the Court on the steps to be taken to ensure the implementation of the temporary measures.
We welcome this decision of the International Court of the UN, which reflects the actual and objective assessment of the realities. The decision is very important, because its implementation could serve as a foundation for preventing similar situations in the future. Without such measures, ensuring peaceful and safe coexistence in our region would be impossible.
However, one cannot but state that the ethnic cleaning in Nagorno -Karabakh after September 19 was the result of the impunity of the previously committed crimes.
Vivid evidence of this is the violent resettlement and cultural genocide of more than half a million Armenians from the historical territories of Gardman, Shirvan and Nakhijevan.
The protection of the rights of forcibly displaced Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh may serve as the best precedent, which should be applied to ethnic Armenians forcibly displaced from the historical territories of Gardman, Shirvan, and Nakhijevan in 1988 -1992.
Gardman-Shirvan-Nakhijevan Pan- Armenian Union as an organization created to restore and protect the violated rights of displaced Armenians, calls upon international human rights organizations and international courts to study the mentioned issue, provide a fair assessment and propose relevant decisions," reads the statement.
Prime Minister Pashinyan says 2024 budget draft is ‘historic’
11:30, 16 November 2023
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The revenues in the 2024 budget will be doubled compared to 2018, increasing by 1 trillion 334 billion drams ($3 billion), Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in parliament during debates of his administration's 2024 budget request.
“We are discussing the 2024 state budget draft and I have to say that in my opinion this is a historic budget of historic times,” Pashinyan said.
“The revenue part of the budget, compared to 2018, is being more than doubled, increasing by 1 trillion 334 billion drams, or 3 billion dollars. The expenditures part is also doubled,” Pashinyan said.
He noted that healthcare spending will be doubled, which means that the accessibility to healthcare for citizens will be doubled as well.
‘We left everything’ Uprooted and jobless, Nagorno-Karabakh refugees start from scratch in Armenia
Meduza
Nov 17 2023
3:55 pm,
Source: Meduza
Story by Sona Hovsepyan for The Beet. Edited by Eilish Hart.
Two months ago this week, Azerbaijani forces carried out a 24-hour offensive that led to the fall of Artsakh, the erstwhile breakaway republic in Nagorno-Karabakh. After more than three decades of bloody conflict that included two full-scale wars, Azerbaijan’s blitz offensive on September 19–20 forced the surrender of the separatist government and its army. Following Stepanakert’s capitulation, Baku finally lifted the Lachin Corridor blockade, opening the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia after nine long months. Fearing reprisals at the hands of Azerbaijani forces, Karabakh’s predominantly ethnic Armenian population began fleeing the region en masse. By October 1, Armenia had taken in more than 100,000 displaced people — nearly the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
For many Karabakh Armenians, this was not their first evacuation from the region. But with Azerbaijan in full control of Nagorno-Karabakh, it seems unlikely that they will return. With this in mind, the Armenian government has rolled out financial assistance and is offering a “temporary protection status” for the displaced, as well as the prospect of full citizenship. In the meantime, many displaced families struggle to find adequate housing and make ends meet. For The Beet, Yerevan-based journalist Sona Hovsepyan reports on how Karabakh refugees grapple with the difficult task of rebuilding their lives from scratch.
This story first appeared in The Beet, a weekly email dispatch from Meduza covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Sign up here to get the next issue delivered directly to your inbox.
“My six-year-old grandson woke up in the middle of the night and cried, ‘Grandpa, I want our home,’” Areg Mirzoyan recalled, breaking down in tears.
Mirzoyan’s family is originally from Arajadzor, a village in Nagorno-Karabakh. They are among the more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians rendered homeless and unemployed after Azerbaijan’s lightning offensive drove them from the disputed enclave in late September. Mirzoyan’s family settled in Malishka, a village 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Locals provided them with temporary housing: a single bedroom for a family of six.
“I never imagined it would turn out like this. I thought we would go back to our homes,” Mirzoyan told The Beet.
But nearly two months after the exodus, finding permanent accommodations and employment are now top priorities for former Nagorno-Karabakh residents.
On October 17, during his speech to the European Parliament, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia had accepted 100,000 displaced people in the space of a week “without establishing refugee camps and tent settlements.” He also added that Armenia needs more international assistance, including financial support.
Earlier, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan reported that various governments and international organizations had donated more than 35 million euros ($37 million) in aid through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Mirzoyan’s family members are struggling to find jobs in the village, where farming is the only occupation. His son, Amran, was a soldier in the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, but he has yet to find work and does not plan to continue serving in the military. Mirzoyan and his wife, Sevil, are both retired but have yet to receive pensions from the Armenian government.
In late October, the Armenian government announced that displaced Karabakh Armenians would be granted “temporary protection status.” Labor Minister Narek Mkrtchyan later clarified that refugees registered at an address in Armenia may also be eligible for pensions and other government benefits. However, those who take Armenian citizenship would forfeit the social support provided to refugees.
During the interview, 63-year-old Mirzoyan pointed to the clothes on his back — the only things he could save while fleeing his home during the Azerbaijani attack.
The family left in a rush without taking additional clothing, money, or food with them. Mirzoyan’s three-year-old granddaughter, Alice, arrived in Armenia barefoot because her shoes were broken. Neighbors and volunteers in Malishka donated new clothes and other necessities for the children.
Mirzoyan recounted how his grandson, also named Areg, was astonished upon entering a grocery store in the Armenian border city of Goris, which was the first to receive displaced people from Nagorno-Karabakh.
“He said to me, ‘Grandpa, look at how many candies there are here.’ The stores in Artsakh were already empty, with literally nothing in any of them. The child was amazed,” said Mirzoyan.
In the nine months leading up to Azerbaijan’s September 19–20 attack, Nagorno-Karabakh was under a blockade. It began when Azerbaijani activists blocked the only road connecting Karabakh to the outside world: the Lachin Corridor, or “the road of life,” as Armenians call it. As access to food, medicines, and vital services dwindled, the region descended into a humanitarian crisis.
On the eve of the Azerbaijani offensive, Nagorno-Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, Gegham Stepanyan, told The Beet that the region was experiencing a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
“Nagorno-Karabakh residents had no access to basic necessities such as food and healthcare during the blockade, nor the right to free movement,” said Mariam Muradyan, the children’s rights officer for the Caucasus at Global Campus of Human Rights. The blockade and subsequent exodus have had a huge impact on children from Nagorno-Karabakh, she added.
“The government has to look at the individual demands of Karabakh refugees, which is a challenging process,” Muradyan said. The most important thing now, she continued, is that the Armenian government provides psychological help to displaced children and their families.
UNICEF-supported social workers reported in October that Nagorno-Karabakh’s displaced children — who number more than 30,000 — were showing “signs of severe psychological distress” and were at risk of deteriorating mental health unless they received immediate support.
Mirzoyan said his grandson Areg remembers the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh well; even weeks later, every loud noise makes the six-year-old jump out of his skin.
Despite everything they’ve been through, the Mirzoyan family still hopes to return to their homeland one day. However, they fear living under Azerbaijan’s control. “If we have the opportunity to go back, we will go back immediately, but we can’t live side by side with Azeris,” Mirzoyan said.
After taking control of Nagorno-Karabakh in September, Baku presented a plan for reintegrating the region’s ethnic Armenian population. However, Human Rights Watch warned that Baku’s assertions are “difficult to accept at face value” given the months-long blockade of the enclave, decades of conflict, impunity for apparent war crimes, and Azerbaijan’s poor human rights record.
Seda Avanesyan, 69, fled Nagorno-Karabakh with her family on September 25 after Azerbaijan opened the Lachin Corridor. Initially, they stayed with relatives, but now they rent a house in Malishka. Avanesyan’s family members are willing to undertake any work to earn a living, but her daughter has yet to find a job. Her son-in-law, a soldier, plans to continue serving in the Armenian army. And her grandchildren, eight-year-old Anahit and 11-year-old Nare, have already started attending a local school.
Avanesyan, who is from Askeran, recalled a time when Karabakh Armenians used to interact with Azerbaijanis from a neighboring town. But now, she said, people find it difficult to trust the reintegration process.
“We had a good relationship during the Soviet Union; we used to communicate and trade with Azerbaijanis from Akna, but now it is not possible to live alongside each other,” she told The Beet. (Akna is the Armenian name for the town of Aghdam, which was left completely destroyed and deserted after the first Nagorno-Karabakh war. Yerevan ceded Aghdam to Azerbaijan under the ceasefire that ended the 2020 war.)
“We were hungry and thirsty for 10 months, but in the end, we hoped everything would be fine,” Avanesyan continued. “The opposite happened. Everyone calls for peace, but nothing changes.”
The ICRC reported that only a small number of Karabakh Armenians had chosen to stay in their homes as of mid-October, while others had been unable to leave the region. According to Red Cross teams, some of these people required medical help, food and water, or assistance securing transportation out of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Earlier, a U.N. mission estimated that between 50 and 1,000 ethnic Armenians remained in the region.
Emma Baghdasaryan, a 20-year-old student living in the town of Armavir in the west of Armenia, assisted displaced families in the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s September offensive and throughout the 2020 war. She volunteers with the Armavir Development Center, a non-profit organization providing the displaced with food, blankets, and sanitary items.
“Volunteering is a form of patriotism for me. I don’t have extra money to help families. It’s the only thing I can do for Artsakh’s people,” Baghdasaryan explained. “I believe that families from Artsakh simply need warmth, understanding, and appreciation.”
According to Naira Arakelyan, executive director of the Armavir Development Center, there is still an urgent need for volunteers. Arakelyan also emphasized that many Karabakh refugees are living in poor conditions.
“Karabakh Armenians need social and psychological support; everyone is under immense stress right now. The living conditions in the temporary housing that people have rented are terrible,” Arakelyan told The Beet. “There are no beds, refrigerators, washing machines, or other necessary items in most of the apartments.”
Andranik Aloyan, 44, fled Nagorno-Karabakh along with his pregnant wife, two small children, and 71-year-old father. Their journey from the town of Martuni to Armenia took an exhausting three days; at night, the family slept in their car.
“We didn’t have bread after September 19. My children had nothing to eat for [a] few days. My wife was pregnant, and, in that condition, we left everything and fled to Armenia,” Aloyan said.
This marked the family’s second flight from Nagorno-Karabakh: they previously fled the region during the 2020 war. In the months before the exodus, the family experienced constant fear and anxiety due to the blockade, Aloyan recalled. His wife, Hasmik Antonyan, lacked access to vitamins and basic healthcare throughout her pregnancy, causing a delay in her childbirth. She was then hospitalized on September 19, during the Azerbaijani attack. She eventually gave birth to their son after the family reached Armenia.
Today, Aloyan and his family live in the village of Getap in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor province, a two-hour drive from Yerevan. Their new house, which they are renting, is unsuitable for winter. Some of the windows are broken, and the gas and water supply lines need to be replaced before the colder weather comes, Aloyan said. “The house is in terrible condition; it’s very damp. We are cleaning it so that we can move in. Right now, we don’t have another option,” he explained.
On November 13, Aloyan told The Beet that, so far, only he had received a support payment from the Armenian government, which has promised to provide each displaced person with a one-time payment equal to $250 and an additional $125 per month to cover rent and utility costs (for a period of six months). His wife, father, and children were still waiting to receive their respective payments, he said.
Aloyan was a soldier in Nagorno-Karabakh and is still looking for a new job. His son and daughter have yet to start kindergarten in Armenia. For now, their parents’ priority is readying the rental house for winter, and afterward, they will send the children to nursery school.
Having fled Nagorno-Karabakh for the second time in three years, the family has decided not to return. “No, we don’t want to go back. I am scared for my children,” said Aloyan. “We can’t live there anymore.”
How Wine Will Put Armenia On The Map, According To Vahe Keushguerian And Jason Wise – Exclusive Story
MSN
Nov 7 2023
Story by Jenessa Abrams
When filmmaker Jason Wise sought to make a new film in his SOMM documentary series, he traveled throughout Europe and South America, visiting different wine regions and learning about the unique wines they produce. On a trip to Armenia, he met winemaker Vahe Keushguerian and quickly decided to scrap the project he was working on — instead dedicating a film to Keushguerian's pursuit of bringing Armenian wines into the contemporary wine scene and a larger mission to inspire the world to view Aremnia differently.
During an exclusive interview with Food Republic, Wise shared that he first learned about Armenia in grade school when he was studying ancient peoples. The memory of his teacher describing the Armenian genocide — but not elaborating on any other aspect of Armenian history or culture — stayed with him. Wise has a bigger vision for the country than one being known for a history of tragic violence. "If Armenia can be known for the wines that are being produced there … it could make people look at Armenia as a tourist destination, a place for food, a gastronomic, cultural depository of history," he told us. Keushguerian shares Wise's belief that bringing attention to the quality of Armenian grapes and the singular flavor of Armenian wine will transform the way people think about the country.
Historically, countries that produce quality food and wine tend to be better known for their gastronomy rather than their political history. That's the goal Jason Wise and Vahe Keushguerian share for using Armenian wine to bring renewed interest, tourism, and global positivity into the region. Keushguerian observed the transformation of Napa Valley in California after Mondavi constructed a now-famous winery and compared it to the transformation of Las Vegas.
"If I take [Napa and Vegas] as, let's say, an indication of how wine can be a catalyst for the changes that follow, Armenia is on the right track," he reflected. "Two hotels are being built, and my winery will be built next year. All of a sudden, there will be people going to the wine country … There is a cultural shift."
Wise envisions that shift as similar to the blossoming interest in Argentina after the success of Malbec. "Argentina has had as much political upheaval and tragedy as any other country, but you think of food and wine when you think of Argentina. Why is that? Argentina has wine and food, and they do it well," he said.
There is great beauty in transforming the narrative around a country from one embroiled in politics into one celebrating its cultural achievements and the culinary elements of its soil. According to Keushguerian, "Now, [Armenians] have their own places, their own cultures of wine … only positives will come out of it, because wine brings out the best in us."
For more about Armenian wine, check your local listings for a screening of "SOMM: Cups of Salvation."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/how-wine-will-put-armenia-on-the-map-according-to-vahe-keushguerian-and-jason-wise–exclusive/ar-AA1jtdmH?ocid=sapphireappshare&fbclid=IwAR0wgXz0jP8rxylcEm0oRdYxnZW7KdCbTUPF1b3yD6IxDoi4C-7lEx5oLtI
BTA. International Conference on Cyber Threats and Solutions Held in Sofia
15:44,
SOFIA, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS/BTA.An international conference on "Cyber Threats and Solutions: Safeguarding Europe's Digital Landscape" was held here on Tuesday. Attending were leading experts, politicians, and representatives of specialized units in the field of cybersecurity in the EU. The forum was organized by the Center for the Study of Democracy and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Following are sound bites from the conference.
Deputy Interior Minister Stoyan Temelakiev: The risk of computer crimes is a threat to both the public and the private sectors. Reporting cybercrimes is the path to a safer digital environment. It is important to report such crimes; otherwise, the real threat level remains hidden from the competent bodies and the criminals might evade justice.
Jan Kralik, Programme Manager at the Council of Europe Cybercrime Division: Cybercrime is a threat not only to organizations and institutions but also to human rights and rule of law. It can erode the foundations of democracy, for example through interference in elections. It is important to report cybercrimes to the competent institutions because a large part of them remain unsolved due to not being reported by the victims. Cyberattacks have increased in frequency after the the start of the war in Ukraine, and they are a challenge on a world scale that require work across the globe, not just in Europe.
(This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.)
Blinken calls for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza
19:33,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Blinken urged members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday to consider “humanitarian pauses” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in order to protect Palestinian civilians.
''It means food, water, medicine and other essential humanitarian assistance must be able to flow into Gaza and to the people who need it. It means civilians must be able to get out of harm’s way. It means humanitarian pauses must be considered for these purposes,’’ Blinken said during the ministerial Security Council gathering to discuss the Gaza war.
Meet the 2023 Young Armenian Poets Awards winners
“It’s hard not to think of the prompt for this year’s Young Armenian Poets Awards (YAPA) as a dark harbinger of things to come for the Armenian people of Artsakh and, indeed, all Armenians around the globe. This notion of visibility and how it relates to our identity and experience is now profoundly impacting us to our very core, as nearly all of Artsakh’s 120,000 residents have been forced to leave their homeland and have become refugees,” writes YAPA’s founder and director Alan Semerdjian in his introductory statement for h-pem, which has graciously collaborated with the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA) for the third year in a row.
In 2023, the theme of “Visibility” resonates deeply as the Armenian people face challenging times, particularly in Artsakh. The lack of media coverage and international support for the Armenian community is disheartening, leading many to feel as though it is disappearing before their own eyes. However, YAPA continues to shine a spotlight on these issues through the power of poetry. This year’s winning and honorable mention poems offer poignant reflections on identity, remembrance and resistance.
IALA congratulates winners Isabel Nargizian, Sofia Viana Ogulluk, Vladimir Mkrtchian and honorable mention Alessandra Agopian, and expresses its gratitude to judges Gregory Djanikian, Armine Iknadossian and Raffi Wartanian, whose insightful commentary on the winning works, along with Semerdjian’s full statement, can be read here.
Follow the links below to read the winning poems in h-pem magazine:
- Isabel Nargizian: “Mother my shadow” (Winner)
- Sofia Viana Ogulluk: “The Children of Armenia” (Winner)
- Vladimir Mkrtchian: “Anahit’s Legacy” (Winner)
- Alessandra Agopian: “Seen by Armenians” (Honorable Mention)
The young poets, along with IALA’s 2023 Mentorship Program cohort, will read their work at IALA’s third annual Emerging Writers Showcase — a virtual reading to highlight the work of rising Armenian writers — on Sunday, , at 9:00 a.m. Pacific | 12:00 p.m. Eastern | 8:00 p.m. a.m.t. The event, hosted by IALA Mentorship Program director Shahé Mankerian, will also help raise funds for four Artsakhtsi writers from IALA’s community who were forcibly displaced from their homes and found refuge in different regions of Armenia. Register here.
How the military escalation in Gaza could impact the South Caucasus
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas launched operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” aiming to destroy the Israeli army positions near Gaza and capture as many soldiers as possible, in order to exchange them with the almost 7,000 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. The operation created a shockwave in Israeli society, killing more than 1,000 soldiers and civilians. As a result, Israelis started indiscriminately bombing Gaza, killing civilians and threatening ethnic cleansing through a land invasion. The danger that the escalation will turn into a regional conflict involving Iran and Hezbollah is high. Such a step would surely have devastating consequences for the region and a domino effect beyond the Middle East. If Israel, which is Azerbaijan’s military partner and Iran’s regional enemy, was involved in a war of attrition in Gaza or a regional escalation, it would become isolated from the events in the South Caucasus. Given the tense situation in the South Caucasus, it is important to relate these events to the wider regional picture and assess future scenarios. In this article, I will briefly analyze the military escalation in Gaza, the position of key regional actors and how the war may shape developments in the South Caucasus.
Damage in the Gaza Strip following Israeli bombing, October 10, 2023 (Wikimedia Commons)
From Israel’s Security Failure to Regional Escalation
Lebanese journalist Hasan Illaik said that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were taken by surprise when they stumbled on security vacuums and poorly guarded military sites where dozens of Israeli soldiers and officers slept. Intelligence analysts argued that this reflected Israel’s intelligence failure. It is remarkable that the operation was highly secretive and disciplined. Even when Hamas militias conducted military exercises two weeks ago, Israel’s intelligence assessment was that “Hamas is training for what it does not dare to do.” Even some fighters from Hamas were not informed of the operation until a few minutes before the exact time.
In the meantime, clashes broke out in south Lebanon between Israeli soldiers and armed groups. On October 9, Lebanon’s Hezbollah announced that three of its fighters were killed. It is yet unclear whether Hezbollah intends to directly join the war, as Hezbollah’s Executive Council Chief Hashem Safi al-Din said that the party will “not remain neutral in this battle.” This was repeated by Habib Fayad, a pro-Hezbollah regional expert, on Al Jadeed TV, who argued that the party would not remain neutral, just as it intervened in Syria in 2013 to prevent the collapse of Bashar al Assad, the backbone of the “axis of resistance.” If Hezbollah realizes that there is an existential threat against Hamas during the Israeli land operation, it will be forced to open a two-front war against Israel, pushing the American aircraft carrier near Israel to also intervene and sparking a regional war, Fayad argued. The Times of Israel, citing Hamas official Ali Barakeh from Beirut, also confirmed that Iran and Hezbollah would join only if Gaza is subjected to a “war of annihilation.”
Some intelligence sources claimed that this operation was planned by Iran and Hezbollah, and Hamas fighters received logistic training. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran and Hezbollah plotted the attack on Israel, as Hamas officials met with Hezbollah and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Beirut several weeks earlier. The Iranian side was represented by Ismail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Brigades of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Today mentioned that the “idea of infiltrating Israeli settlements had been brewing in the minds of Hezbollah leaders for years,” according to an anonymous source. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has often considered sending fighters to northern Israel to capture settlements and kidnap Israeli soldiers.
During these trilateral meetings, officials reviewed the outcome of the Megiddo operation, when a Hezbollah fighter infiltrated northern Israel from Lebanon in March 2023. They allegedly drafted a plan to launch a cyberattack against Israeli ground and air defense systems and attacks by paratroopers and drones. More than 1,000 Hamas fighters would participate in this plan. Interestingly, this operation is very close to Hezbollah’s public military exercises in Aaramta, Lebanon, which also included motorcycles and undercover infiltration to overcome Israeli security barriers.
Regionally, the Arab League condemned the war and called for a cessation of hostilities. Turkey and Russia warned Israel against engaging in land invasion. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin even warned Israel that a ground invasion of Gaza would “seriously harm the relationship between our countries.” Iran openly supported Hamas and its Foreign Minister visited Beirut, Damascus and Doha for consultations. Meanwhile, the U.S. and some Western allies are concerned that Israel will lose its deterrence power against Iran if the war is prolonged. Many fear that Gaza will turn into another lengthy war like in Ukraine and consume the West’s arms storage. Moreover, U.S. weapons shipments to Israel will shift Western attention from Ukraine, which is also in need of Western weapons to fight Russia. If the violence in Gaza spreads to the West Bank and within Israel, a weakened Israel mired in a “civil war” would weaken the U.S. position in Syria and the Persian Gulf. This serves Russian interests, which may wage a counteroffensive to retake key areas in Eastern Ukraine. The escalation also served Turkey, as the Turkish army started bombing Kurdish-populated areas in northeastern Syria amid the distraction of the U.S.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that his response to the attack from Gaza “will change the Middle East,” arguing that the outcome of the war will change the balance of power in the region by destroying a key Iranian ally in Palestine. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) called for Palestinian civilians to evacuate Gaza to Egypt prior to Netanyahu’s plan to invade. Amid Israel’s preparation for land invasion, many military experts argue that this can turn into a long war, as Hamas has established a network of tunnels in Gaza and is prepared to engage in a guerrilla war against the IDF.
Impact on the South Caucasus
In early September 2023, the U.S. backed the Indian-Middle Eastern-European corridor (IMEEC) in an open challenge against China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Russia and Iran’s International North-South Transport Corridor. (Even though India is part of the INSTC, the U.S. is doing its best to detach New Delhi from this grand project connecting Russia to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.) The IMEEC is more feasible compared to other economic corridors, as it passes via relatively stable countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel. However, instability in Israel will jeopardize the project. Russia and Iran have expressed silent concern over the project, as it bypasses them, while Turkey’s president announced during the G20 summit held in New Delhi that “there is no corridor without Turkey.” This is one of the key reasons why Russia is eyeing the opening of communication channels in the South Caucasus – not only to control the North-South but also the West-East routes (via Syunik) connecting Europe to China. The developments in Gaza, Iran’s distraction and a possible regional war may push the necessity for the realization of the “Zangezur Corridor” through Syunik.
Meanwhile, the prolongation of war in Gaza could create new challenges or opportunities in the South Caucasus. If Israel is sidelined from the South Caucasus due to its internal distraction, this may push Azerbaijan to be more dependent on Russia, Turkey and Iran. It may also be restrained from launching a new escalation against Armenia, as new arms supplies from Tel Aviv to Baku would be halted to arm Israel’s war.
Yet Azerbaijan may take advantage of the global distraction with the escalation in Gaza and Iran’s involvement in this war to launch a limited incursion in the bordering territories of Armenia, under the pretext of capturing the so-called Soviet-era enclaves. Two weeks ago, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, during his phone conversation with the head of the European Council Charles Michel, said that “eight villages of Azerbaijan are still under occupation of Armenia,” stressing the need to “liberate” them. This was refuted by Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who in an interview argued that there should be a trade-off between the Armenian and Azerbaijani “enclaves” to keep the status quo as it is. However, given Aliyev’s anti-Armenian rhetoric and his insistence on establishing a corridor through Syunik, he may engage in another escalation. Such a warning was even stated by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as he warned that “Azerbaijan may invade Armenia in the coming weeks” (though the U.S. State Department later denied this).
Argentina offers to send White Helmets mission to Armenia
16:19, 9 October 2023
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Argentina has offered to send humanitarian aid to Armenia to support the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh who’ve arrived to Armenia as a result of Azerbaijan’s attack and ethnic cleansing, Diario Armenia reports.
The assistance was extended through the Argentine foreign ministry to the Armenian embassy in Argentina.
The assistance includes logistics and other experts, as well as essential items such as food, medication and other medical supplies.
On October 6 the President of Argentina Alberto Fernández held a meeting with a delegation of the Armenian Organizations of Argentina (IARA). The IARA leadership welcomed Argentina’s decision to send a mission of White Helmets to Armenia to provide humanitarian support to the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Fernández said he would contact French President Emmanuel Macron to coordinate the requests of the Armenian community to protect the leadership of NK who’ve been unlawfully arrested by Azerbaijan and to prevent the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.