Author: Nyrie Kalashian

Asbarez: Artsakh Announces Series of Agreements Reached with Baku

Nyrie Kalashian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Main, Latest, News, Top Stories

Residents of Stepanakert cook on makeshift stoves on the streets


The Artsakh authorities on Saturday announced that during Thursday’s meeting in Yevlakh, the representatives of Stepanakert and Baku reached agreements around a series of issues that would be fulfilled immediately, based on the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended Azerbaijan’s large-scale military attack on Artsakh this week.

The Artsakh InfoCenter reported that one of the agreements was the “withdrawal of units of the Defense Army from combat positions and their transfer to places of permanent deployment in parallel with the process of disbanding the Army.”

The Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh announced on Friday that the process of disarming the Artsakh Defense Army had begun and its units had begun withdrawing from their positions, presumably to be replaced by Russian peacekeeping forces.

The other issue is the transport of the wounded, “who are in serious and extremely serious condition, as well as patients, to medical institutions in Armenia, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers.”

The ICRC announced on Saturday that the process of registering the names of the injured as well as reaching Artsakh residents in Mardakert and evacuating the wounded from there had already begun.

Another agreement involved the delivery of “humanitarian supplies, medicines, essential goods and fuel into Artsakh via the Goris-Stepanakert highway through the mediation of the Russian peacekeeping mission.”

A convoy of trucks belonging to the Russian peacekeeping forces entered Artsakh via Armenia on Friday, carrying was they said was 50 tons of humanitarian aid to Artsakh.

The Artsakh InfoCenter reported that per the agreement, the electricity supply to Artsakh would be restored on Sunday.
The power supply in Martakert has been restored, reporter Lusine Zakaryan told Armenpress by phone on Saturday.

However, the town of Askeran still has no power, according to the local regional administration’s spokesperson Anahit Petrosyan said. The power supply in Stepanakert has not been restored either.

Gayane Gevorgyan, a Stepanakert resident, told Armenpress that the residents have set up stoves in the streets to cook food. 

“We have been managing to somehow charge our phones using car batteries to be able to maintain contact with one another. We are waiting with hope,” Gevorgyan said.

As previously reported, Stepanakert and Baku also agreed to continue negotiations, the first of which was held Thursday in Yevlakh.

Artsakh’s presidential advisor Davit Babayan said Friday that issues regarding the security guarantees for the residents of Artsakh were not agreed to.

Baku is insisting on carryout a plan that it calls the “reintegration” of Artsakh Armenians within the Azerbaijani society and “under Artsakh laws.”

Fresno medical mission leaves to Armenia

Nyrie Kalashian
Your Central Valley, CA
Sept 22 2023

by: Stefani Booroojian



FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) – A medical mission including doctors from Fresno will make an annual trip to the country of Armenia to offer humanitarian care to people in need.  

The mission comes at a time of crisis as violence has escalated between Armenia and its neighbor to the east Azerbaijan.

The pictures tell the story of a region in crisis, the aftermath of this week’s deadly military assault on Nagorno Karabakh – a small region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

While the land is internationally considered part of Azerbaijan, it’s home to 120,000 Armenians. Azerbaijan shelling military and civilian targets killing dozens in violation of a 2020 peace agreement.

“Armenia and Armenians lived in that region for thousands of years,” said Fresno’s Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in Fresno, Berj Apkarian.

As Apkarian prepares to lead his eleventh medical mission of local doctors to Armenia, he watches with concern as the violence near Armenia’s border ramps up again.

Little can be done, as the only road linking Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh has been blocked for months by Azeri troops.

“The situation is very grave right now and unfortunately we are once again being subjected to a second genocide,” Apkarian said.

The international community is taking notice. The United Nations Security Council held a hearing on the crisis calling for a peace, and a bi-partisan as a U.S. congressional delegation may soon travel to Armenia.

“A delegation to Armenia would shed greater light on why this is important and so critical 1034 that Azerbaijan keep their word,” said Congressman Jim Costa.

Congressman Costa, a member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, is calling for hearings on the crisis and is urging President Biden and the UN to establish a peacekeeping mission to Armenia.

“This behavior of the Azerbaijani stops period, this is about good and evil,” said Congressman Costa.

There was a meeting between Azerbaijan and the Armenian lead government in Nagorno Karabakh, but no specific results have been reported.

The medical mission from Fresno leaves this week.

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/armenia/fresno-medical-mission-leaves-to-armenia/ 

EU monitoring mission opens operating base in Ijevan

Nyrie Kalashian

 13:33,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) has opened an operating base in the Armenian town of Ijevan in Tavush province.

“Today marks the opening of EUMA operating base in Ijevan. HoM Markus Ritter together with Head of EU Delegation in Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, Deputy Defence Minister Hrachya Sargsyan, & Governor of Tavush Province Hayk Ghalumyan cut the ribbon to the new EUMA offices in Tavush,” EUMA said in a post on X.

The Ijevan office is EUMA’s fifth operating base in Armenia.

The reduced Ucom roaming rate for several countries will remain at 9 AMD/MB

Nyrie Kalashian

 17:01,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Following the holiday season, as part of the Ucom summer offer, the reduced internet rate will remain unchanged on the networks of Yettel in Bulgaria, Cosmote in Greece, Orange in Spain, and Mtel in Montenegro, which will continue to offer the rate of 9 AMD/MB. Meanwhile, subscribers on the networks of Epic in Cyprus, WINDTRE and Vodafone in Italy, and Vodafone in Greece will continue to be charged the internet rate of 15 AMD/MB.

"Ucom mobile subscribers can always choose from a range of bundles, including 300MB, 1GB, 2GB, 3GB, and the largest “Internet in Roaming 8GB” through the Ucom mobile app to stay in touch with their close ones affordably while traveling," said Ralph Yirikian, Director General of Ucom.

The 9 AMD/MB tariff applies indefinitely when connecting to Orange in Egypt, Geocell/Magticom in Georgia, du in the UAE, and T-Mobile in the USA. It's important to note that the roaming service must be activated before departure from Armenia via the Ucom mobile application or by dialing *121# and following the instructions on the smartphone.

Armenpress: Azerbaijan plotting next major provocation, warns Nagorno-Karabakh

Nyrie Kalashian

 10:20,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS.  Nagorno-Karabakh authorities on Monday warned that Azerbaijan’s ongoing disinformation campaign seeks to create an information base for a ‘major provocation.’

In a statement, the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijan’s latest accusations are false.

“The statement released by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claiming that Defense Army units conducted fortification works around 01:00, September 11 in the Askeran region, which were allegedly thwarted by Azerbaijani military’s actions, is yet another disinformation. Evidently, the Azerbaijani side doesn’t abandon its plan on carrying out a major provocation and is implementing the information preparations for this,” the Defense Ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh said.

The U.S. and Russia Need to Cooperate to End This Conflict

Nyrie Kalashian
TIME
Sept 8 2023
BY SIMON MAGHAKYAN

 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 3:31 PM EDT
Maghakyan is a visiting scholar at Tufts University and a Ph.D. student in Heritage Crime at Cranfield University. He writes and speaks on post-Soviet memory politics and cultural erasure, and facilitates global conversations on protecting Armenian heritage

Toward the end of the Cold War, no corner of the Soviet Union was bloodier than the South Caucasus, and, today, it’s on the verge of exploding again. A starvation through siege campaign by Azerbaijan in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh amid a power vacuum in the wider region presents a dilemma for Washington: Should the U.S. cooperate with Vladimir Putin’s Russia to release a humanitarian chokehold and defuse a political powder keg?

That is the current reality in Nagorno-Karabakh, which thanks in part to Bolshevik Moscow’s skullduggery, ended up under Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized borders. In the aftermath of an early 1990s post-Soviet war, the disputed territory was locked behind defensive positions and only accessible through Armenia—until Azerbaijan launched a campaign in 2020 that saw it capture considerable territory. Then, authoritarian Azerbaijan began blockading the self-ruling enclave nine months ago, by closing the Lachin Corridor—the sole lifeline road to Armenia and the rest of the world—and shutting off energy supplies and internet infrastructure. 

BY SIMON MAGHAKYAN

 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 3:31 PM EDT
Maghakyan is a visiting scholar at Tufts University and a Ph.D. student in Heritage Crime at Cranfield University. He writes and speaks on post-Soviet memory politics and cultural erasure, and facilitates global conversations on protecting Armenian heritage

Toward the end of the Cold War, no corner of the Soviet Union was bloodier than the South Caucasus, and, today, it’s on the verge of exploding again. A starvation through siege campaign by Azerbaijan in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh amid a power vacuum in the wider region presents a dilemma for Washington: Should the U.S. cooperate with Vladimir Putin’s Russia to release a humanitarian chokehold and defuse a political powder keg?

That is the current reality in Nagorno-Karabakh, which thanks in part to Bolshevik Moscow’s skullduggery, ended up under Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized borders. In the aftermath of an early 1990s post-Soviet war, the disputed territory was locked behind defensive positions and only accessible through Armenia—until Azerbaijan launched a campaign in 2020 that saw it capture considerable territory. Then, authoritarian Azerbaijan began blockading the self-ruling enclave nine months ago, by closing the Lachin Corridor—the sole lifeline road to Armenia and the rest of the world—and shutting off energy supplies and internet infrastructure. 

Russia and the U.S., along with France, have co-chaired the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Minsk Group—tasked with mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh—for decades. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the group effectively stopped functioning. That changed in July, when the co-chairs met in Geneva, during an unpublicized gathering revealed in an interview by a well-informed Armenian analyst, to discuss the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

U.S. engagement with Russia is vital due to the latter’s importance and impotence alike. Following Azerbaijan’s 2020 war against Nagorno-Karabakh—which saw a combined 7,000 soldiers die, and nearly a third of the native Armenian population flee—Russia deployed troops to reinforce its own regional interests and to manage the Lachin Corridor. But today Russia seems unable, or unwilling, or both, to keep the corridor open. 

Given Russia’s Ukrainian preoccupation, Azerbaijan is using the blockade to finish off the lingering ethnoterritorial conflict by driving out the region’s Armenians for good. It’s a goal entirely within Azerbaijan’s reach as a distracted world is impassively looking away. Even the Azerbaijani parliament’s recent branding of Armenians as “a cancerous tumor of Europe” provoked little to no outrage.

The three actors trying to mediate the conflict are the U.S., Russia, and, to a lesser degree, the European Union. But the U.S. is the only one that has the tools—ranging from enforcing the statutory Section 907 to introducing executive sanctions—that could end the blockade. Azerbaijan’s belligerent dynasty worships the lavish lifestyle—including a real estate empire in London—that could be a prime target of such actions. 

But an enduring solution to the wider Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict that creates lasting security mechanisms can only come with the U.S. and Russia—and only if they cooperate. Overconfident Azerbaijan, which leverages its energy riches with Russia and the West alike, is less likely to successfully resist this unlikely union of geopolitical foes.

The need for such a solution is high not only for humanitarian reasons. Azerbaijan’s siege of Nagorno-Karabakh could morph into an unmanageable war, attracting powerful players. Azerbaijan’s ethnolinguistic patron Turkey eyes southern Armenia for an unrealized objective of the WWI-era Armenian Genocide: a sovereign Pan-Turkic connection. This troubles the Turks’ historical rival, Iran, which says it won’t tolerate losing its ancient border with Armenia. This alarming scenario nearly materialized last year, when Azerbaijan launched an invasion of southern Armenia in September 2022, occupying sovereign Armenian territory. The danger of war still looms.

The hopeful news is that Russia and the U.S. already agree on something—that Nagorno-Karabakh’s 2,500-year-old Armenian presence must endure. But words alone won’t deter Azerbaijan, which is deliberately inflicting conditions that are aimed at doing the opposite. It holds an airtight siege not only on food imports or civilian movement (the few allowed to leave are periodically abducted), but also through its border guards, who have reportedly shot at farmers and keep targeting them.

Still, U.S.-Russian cooperation would not automatically guarantee a fair peace, especially if a deal is made behind closed doors. The two powers could be tempted by the prospects of a seemingly easy solution—pressuring Nagorno-Karabakh to agree to Azerbaijan’s every demand, including capitulating to a food-for-subjugation arrangement that would reward the siege and reinforce the region’s isolation. Yet a lack of U.S.-Russia cooperation would have a similar, if not worse, impact.

Washington has many problems, but on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict it really needs to do one thing: make up its mind. A “durable and dignified” regional peace, to borrow the U.S. State Department’s words, requires Washington to decide how to treat a tyrant. In this case, the U.S. must either sanction one or work with the other. If President Joe Biden won’t keep his promise of sanctioning the Azerbaijani tyranny that’s strangling 120,000 people, then he must cooperate with the Russian pariah.

U.S. inaction on Nagorno-Karabakh won’t punish Russia but, instead, handhold it in greenlighting a genocide.

Armenia seeking access to Arab markets, India through Iran

Nyrie Kalashian
 TEHRAN TIMES 
Sept 1 2023
  1. Economy
September 1, 2023 

TEHRAN – Armenia is seeking to export its goods through Iran to the Arab countries of the region and India, as the country is trying to also increase trade with the Islamic Republic, Fars News Agency reported citing ARMENPRESS.

“Armenia and Iran attach great importance to the prospect of carrying out shipments through the Persian Gulf-Black Sea logistic route, and the Armenian side is maximally seeking to support the implementation of this megaproject, attaching great importance to the use of its own territory. The option of exporting Armenian goods through Iranian territory to Arab countries and India is also under discussion, and in this context, the parties have decided to find solutions through joint efforts and simplify the procedures applied from both sides on that road,” Armenia’s commercial attaché to Iran Vardan Kostanyan told ARMENPRESS.

“We are now looking into the untapped potential and opportunities to utilize them in bilateral cooperation. On the other hand, our neighbor is still under sanctions, therefore while carrying out economic policy we are unconditionally taking into consideration this fact. Iran provides state support and protection to companies investing in its economy,” Kostanyan said, highlighting direct meetings between business representatives.

According to Kostanyan, both sides are seeking new opportunities to further develop trade. The two countries plan to increase bilateral trade to one billion dollars, and then to three billion dollars.

He further noted that Iran plans to open eight new free economic zones, bringing the number of its free zones to 15.

Armenia’s membership to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and its land border with Iran gives opportunities for establishing enterprises and carrying out broad joint projects, he said.

Iran and Armenia are working to significantly increase trade turnover. Last year bilateral trade stood at $714 million, while the data of this year’s first half shows a 13 percent increase, which in turn shows that the positive pace of dynamics is maintained.

On August 25, an exhibition showcasing the products offered by Iranian and Armenian companies in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism opened in Yerevan with the purpose of boosting bilateral trade between the two countries.

Hojatollah Abdolmaleki, the secretary of Iran's Free Zones High Council and presidential advisor was personally leading a delegation to Armenia and attended the event.

EF/MA

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/488569/Armenia-seeking-access-to-Arab-markets-India-through-Iran

BREAKING: Nagorno-Karabakh President to resign

Nyrie Kalashian

 12:57,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) President Arayik Harutyunyan has announced his intention to resign.

In a statement released on August 31, Harutyunyan said he will resign on Friday.

“I made this final decision two days ago, taking into account my contacts in the past weeks with all domestic and foreign actors and the public,” he added.

Harutyunyan said he will continue to live in Nagorno-Karabakh with his family and will support the authorities.

“This step is aimed, among others, at ensuring strong public order and domestic stability in Artsakh. Despite all difficulties, our domestic stability and public solidarity are preconditions for all successes, and any deviation or attempted deviation from this must be ruled out,” he added.

Harutyunyan also signed an executive order on dismissing State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan and replacing him with Secretary of the Security Council of Nagorno-Karabakh Samvel Shahramanyan.




US urges Azerbaijan to allow immediate aid to enclave Armenians

Nyrie Kalashian
Al-Aabiya, UAE
Aug 31 2023
AFP - The United States on Thursday urged Azerbaijan immediately to allow aid into the breakaway Armenian-dominated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh as international concern mounts over the humanitarian situation.

The State Department said it was “deeply concerned about deteriorating humanitarian conditions” in Nagorno-Karabakh, months after Azerbaijan allegedly blocked the only road link into the enclave.

For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

“We reiterate our call to immediately reopen the Lachin corridor to humanitarian, commercial and passenger traffic,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

He called on Azerbaijani officials and representatives in the breakaway region to enter talks “without delay to agree on the means of transporting critical provisions” to civilians.

“Basic humanitarian assistance should never be held hostage to political disagreements,” he said.

Self-described environmental protesters in December began blocking the Lachin corridor, the only way into Nagorno-Karabakh, which remains internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and has triggered two wars between the former Soviet republics.

Azerbaijan, which made significant territorial gains in the second war in 2020, insists that the road remains open.

Criticism led by members of the Armenian diaspora has been mounting.

Azerbaijan on Thursday summoned France’s ambassador to protest after French politicians including the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, tried unsuccessfully to escort a 10-truck humanitarian convoy into the enclave.

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 08/29/2023

Nyrie Kalashian 
                                        Tuesday, 


Baku Promises Quick Release Of Karabakh Detainees

        • Susan Badalian

Armenia - Protesters picket the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, .


The three residents of Nagorno-Karabakh arrested on Monday at the Azerbaijani 
checkpoint in the Lachin corridor will be set free after serving out a 10-day 
“administrative arrest,” according to Azerbaijani authorities.

The young men were taken into Azerbaijani custody as they and dozens of other 
Karabakh Armenians travelled to Armenia in a convoy of vehicles escorted by 
Russian peacekeepers. Karabakh’s leadership and the Armenian government strongly 
condemned the arrests.

Azerbaijan’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said late on Monday that the three 
detainees are members of a Karabakh football team that had “disrespected” the 
Azerbaijani national flag in a 2021 video posted on social media.

In what it called an act of “humanism,” the office said that they will not be 
prosecuted on relevant criminal charges and will be placed instead under a 
ten-day administrative arrest. They will be freed and “deported from Azerbaijan” 
after completing the short jail term, it said.

Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, met with the detainees’ parents 
early on Tuesday. They said he assured them that their sons will be released and 
brought to Stepanakert very soon. Harutiunian’s office did not clarify who will 
repatriate Alen Sargsian, Vahe Hovsepian and Levon Grigorian and when.

In Yerevan, meanwhile, dozens of mostly Karabakh-born citizens demonstrated 
outside the Russian Embassy for the second consecutive day to demand that Moscow 
ensure the immediate release of the three men in line with its peacekeeping 
mandate. They were furious with the fact that Russian peacekeeping soldiers 
escorting the convoy did not stop Azerbaijani security officers from arresting 
the men.

“As we can see, such cases keep happening and we see no mechanisms for 
preventing them,” one of the protesters, Arega Hovsepian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.

Hovsepian pointed to the July arrest at the Lachin checkpoint of another 
Karabakh Armenian man, Vagif Khachatrian, who was being evacuated by the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Armenia for urgent medical 
treatment. The 68-year-old was taken Baku to stand trial on charges of killing 
and deporting Karabakh’s ethnic Azerbaijani residents in 1991. Karabakh’s 
leadership rejected the “false” accusations.

The ICRC has organized such medical evacuations on a regular basis since 
Azerbaijan halted last December commercial traffic through the only road 
connecting Karabakh to Armenia. Last week, Baku also allowed other categories of 
Karabakh’s population, notably university students and holders of Russian 
passports, to travel to Armenia.

No Karabakh residents were transported to Armenia through the Lachin corridor on 
Tuesday. Gegham Stepanian, Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, said that both the 
Russian peacekeepers and the ICRC must refrain from organizing more such trips 
in the absence of Azerbaijani “security guarantees.”




France Slams ‘Immoral’ Blockade Of Karabakh


Azerbaijan - French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna attends a joint news 
conference with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku, April 27, 
2023.


France stepped up on Tuesday criticism of Azerbaijan’s blockade of 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s only land link with the outside world, with Foreign Minister 
Catherine Colonna saying that it is aimed at forcing the Karabakh Armenians to 
leave their homeland.

“The strategy of stifling, which aims to provoke a mass exodus of Armenians from 
Nagorno-Karabakh, is illegal, as was established by the [International Court of 
Justice,] and it is also immoral,” Colonna declared during an annual conference 
of French ambassadors held in Paris.

She said that France is seeking a “just and lasting peace” between Armenia and 
Azerbaijan that would allow Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population to continue 
living there and guarantee “respect for their rights, culture and history.”

Speaking at the conference on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said 
Paris will try to drum up stronger international pressure on Azerbaijan to end 
the blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, medicine and other basic 
necessities in Karabakh. He said he will hold further discussions with Armenian 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Baku denounced Macron’s remarks, saying that they run counter to Azerbaijan’s 
territorial integrity. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was also quick to hit 
out Colonna. It accused Paris of obstructing Baku’s efforts to “integrate the 
Karabakh Armenians” into Azerbaijan.

“We are once again calling on the French side to put an end to such subversive 
and provocative statements,” added a ministry spokesman.

Macron spoke with Pashinian by phone on Tuesday. According to an Armenian 
readout of the call, Pashinian told him that the humanitarian crisis in Karabakh 
is “worsening by the day” and requiring urgent international intervention.

France, which is home to a sizable Armenian community, has been the most vocal 
international critic of the Azerbaijani blockade. Azerbaijan has repeatedly 
accused Macron and other French officials of siding with Armenia in the Karabakh 
conflict.




Karabakh Rejects Azeri Aid Offer

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Nagorno-Karabakh - Activists block a road from Stepanakert to Aghdam offered by 
Azerbaijan as an alternative supply line to Karabakh and demand the reopening of 
the Lachin corridor, July 18, 2023.


Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership on Tuesday dismissed an Azerbaijani proposal to 
provide the Armenian-populated region with food that has been in short supply 
due to Baku’s eight-month blockade of the Lachin corridor.

The government-linked Azerbaijan Red Crescent announced in the morning that it 
is sending two trucks loaded with 40 tons flour to the town of Aghdam adjacent 
to Karabakh and hopes that the Karabakh Armenian will accept the shipment. It 
also expressed readiness to deliver other basic foodstuffs.

The Azerbaijani offer came as Karabakh struggled with a worsening shortage of 
bread that has become the main staple food in Stepanakert and other Karabakh 
towns since Baku tightened the blockade in mid-June.

A spokeswoman for Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, rejected the offer 
as a ploy designed to deflect international attention from the blockade and a 
serious humanitarian crisis caused by it. Lusine Avanesian said Baku should 
instead allow renewed traffic through the only road connecting Karabakh to 
Armenia in line with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.

“If the Azerbaijani authorities are really interested in ending the worst 
humanitarian disaster of the people of Artsakh and stopping their genocide, then 
instead of playing false philanthropy they should stop blocking the restoration 
of supplies to Artsakh through the Lachin Corridor envisaged by the tripartite 
declaration of November 9, 2020 and the orders of the International Court of 
Justice,” Avanesian told the Artsakhpress news agency.

Harutiunian likewise ruled out accepting any aid through the Aghdam route when 
he addressed hundreds of people who rallied in Stepanakert’s central square on 
Monday night.

“Only one road will be functioning: the Lachin road. We’re not going bring in 
food from any other places,” Harutiunian told the angry crowd in a speech 
repeatedly interrupted by jeers and heckling. This was the only part of his 
speech that drew applause.

The spontaneous rally was triggered by the arrests at an Azerbaijani checkpoint 
in the Lachin corridor of three Karabakh men who traveled to Armenia in a convoy 
escorted by Russian peacekeepers. The Azerbaijani authorities accused them of 
desecrating an Azerbaijani flag in 2021.

The protesters demanded that the authorities in Stepanakert take urgent measures 
to secure the release of the young men. Harutiunian addressed them after 
midnight following an emergency meeting with his top aides as well as other 
leading Karabakh politicians.

The Karabakh leader said the question of his resignation, which has repeatedly 
come to the fore during the Azerbaijani blockade, was also on the agenda. He 
said he will decide in the coming days whether or not to step down.



Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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