Author: Shushan Frangulian

Glendale Armenian Community Sending Support Back Home

Shushan Frangulian
Spectrum
Nov 9 2020
By Aziza Shuler Glendale
PUBLISHED 3:28 PM ET Nov. 09, 2020

GLENDALE, Calif. — There are only 700 BMW M4 GTS's around the world and Glendale resident, Levon Sargsyan owns one.

For a car enthusiast driving one of the rarest German cars on the roads, Levon says, is an untouchable feeling.

Coming from Armenia where he was born, a car is considered a luxury. When his family moved to Glendale, Levon was mesmerized by L.A.'s car culture.

Driving has become a stress reliever he’s turned to since his family is constantly concerned for their many relatives in Armenia where a 30-year-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan recently reignited.

Levon says hearing updates from family of the bombings and attacks gets depressing.

All of sudden, material things like getting a set of rare super sport tires to compliment his need for speed, lost value.

“So I decided to say you know what, I don’t need it. Let me just sell them because I knew they were popular wheels and they sold in literally two hours. The person came and picked them up the same day. I was able to donate that money the same night,” Levon said.

Of course, the 27-year-old posted on social media about donating the $3,500 to the Armenia Fund, and soon someone anonymously matched his donation.

Together they sent a total of $7,000 to help the people in Artsakh.

With Glendale being home to the largest Armenian population in the United States, Levon’s brother Haik Sargsyan hosted a donation drive at his local business.

In matter of days, truckloads of medical supplies, food and clothing were shipped to Armenian soldiers on the front line.

Haik said, “It does get emotional because when Armenians as a people get together it's amazing.”

That's exactly what Levon says is the true definition of of the movement 'Artsakh Strong'.

“Everyday we try to do everything we can on our part, it could be financially, it could be resources, it could be spreading the word on social media,” he said. 

So when you see an Armenian driving with the Armenian flag waving, it's a silent call for help from their second home, the U.S.

Glendale City Council recently passed a unanimous resolution to officially recognize the independence of Artsakh.

Given the Mayor of Glendale and two of the four city council-members are Armenian, this issue hits close to home for them and the thousands of Armenians in the city.

This resolution is basically Glendale taking a stand for the human rights of the people in Artsakh.

Also, calling on the U.S. and congress to do the same and intervene in the conflict and bring peace to the Armenian region.

​Azerbaijan says key Karabakh town captured, Armenia says it didn’t happen

Shushan Frangulian
France 24
Nov 8 2020
 
 
 
Azerbaijan says key Karabakh town captured, Armenia says it didn't happen
 
Issued on: 08/11/2020 – 18:09
 
A crater following recent shelling in the town of Shusha, in the course of a military conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, October 29, 2020. © Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolur, REUTERS
 
Azerbaijan said Sunday its forces had captured the key town of Shusha from Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia insisted that fighting for the strategically vital area was ongoing.
 
The capture of Shusha would be a major victory for Azerbaijan six weeks after new fighting erupted over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that broke away from Azerbaijan's control in the 1990s.
 
The fortress town sits on cliffs around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Nagorno-Karabakh's largest city Stepanakert and on the main road through the region to the territory of Armenia, which backs the separatists.
 
Both sides have reported fierce clashes around the town in recent days, after Azerbaijani forces swept across the southern flank of Nagorno-Karabakh and pushed through its mountain passes.
 
In a televised address to the nation on Sunday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that the town had been captured.
 
"With great pride and joy, I inform you that the town of Shusha has been liberated," said Aliyev, dressed in military fatigues and standing in front of an Azerbaijani flag.
 
"Our liberation march continues. We will go to the end, until the complete liberation of the occupied territories," Aliyev said.
 
Celebrations in Baku
 
Flag-waving Azerbaijanis celebrated in the capital Baku after Aliyev's announcement, with cars honking their horns as residents crowded along city streets despite coronavirus restrictions.
 
"I did not leave the house for a week, but today I came out to say that Shusha has been liberated. We are happy, congratulations to all my people," 32-year-old Baku resident Shargiya Dadashova said.
 
Armenian officials said the battle was far from over.
 
"The fighting continues in Shushi, wait and believe in our army," Armenian defence ministry official Artsrun Hovhannisyan said, using the Armenian name for the town.
 
Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan said there was "the most ferocious combat" for the town, while the Armenian government said taking Shusha was an "unattainable pipe dream for Azerbaijan".
 
"Despite heavy destruction, the fortress city withstands the blows of the adversary," it said.
 
In the streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan, residents said they did not believe the town had been taken.
 
"To know who controls Shushi we will listen to the commanders of our army, not Aliyev," 50-year-old Arman said on the city's central Abovyan Street.
 
"In any case I can assure you that the war will not be finished if the Azerbaijanis take Shushi."
 
Shusha had been a majority Azerbaijani city before the 1990s conflict and has been a rallying cry for authorities in Baku promising to retake Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
New clashes broke out in late September between Azerbaijan and the Armenia-backed separatists over control of Karabakh, which declared its independence nearly 30 years ago.
 
That declaration has not been recognised internationally, even by Armenia, and it remains a part of Azerbaijan under international law.
 
The recent flare-up has been the worst in decades, with more than 1,000 people confirmed dead including dozens of civilians, although the death toll is believed to be much higher.
 
Diplomatic efforts
 
Fighting has continued despite several attempts by Russia, France and the United States to help reach a ceasefire.
 
The three countries make up the "Minsk Group" of mediators that helped broker a truce between the ex-Soviet rivals in 1994 but have failed to find a lasting solution to the long-simmering conflict.
 
Diplomatic efforts appeared to intensify as the fighting raged around Shusha, with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday speaking by phone to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron.
 
Turkey is a key ally of Azerbaijan and on Sunday Erdogan congratulated Baku after its claim of retaking Shusha, saying it was "a sign that the liberation of the rest of the occupied territories is near".
 
Turkish involvement would be key in any agreement to halt the fighting and there were reports Sunday of a plan to agree a ceasefire and deploy Russian and Turkish peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh.
  
Ankara has been a fierce supporter of Azerbaijan, a fellow Muslim and Turkic country, while Moscow has a defence pact with Armenia and a military base on its territory.
 
Aliyev met Sunday with the Turkish foreign and defence ministers in Baku.
 
Dmitry Trenin, a political analyst and head of the Moscow Carnegie Center, said the conflict had reached a "decisive point".
 
"Russia and Turkey are finalising the modalities of (a) ceasefire, Armenian withdrawal, corridors and peacekeepers," he wrote on Twitter. "New regional order is being sealed."
 
(AFP)
  
 

Difficult to imagine diplomatic solution during military operations, Armenian PM says

Shushan Frangulian

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 16:59,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. In an interview to Al Arabiya, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan commented on the question what is his vision on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“Firstly, the military operations should stop because under the hostilities it’s difficult to imagine a diplomatic solution. After which substantive negotiations on solutions should take place, as envisaged in the October 10 statement in Moscow adopted by the foreign ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan”, the PM said.

Pashinyan stated that the Armenian side has always been ready to the negotiations, is always ready to talks and has always been ready to mutual concessions. “The problem is something else: at the moment when any mutual concession becomes acceptable for Armenia, that mutual concession becomes unacceptable  for Azerbaijan. I can bring you the example of Kazan of 2011. You know, the status of Nagorno Karabakh, in particular the issue of the recognition of its independence, right to self-determination is a priority issue for the Armenian side. But during the so-called Kazan process in 2011 the Armenian side has agreed with the interim status of Karabakh, which was not a final status, but just an interim status. In other words, it made a step back from its initial bar with the logic to achieve compromise. But at the last moment Azerbaijan refused to accept that compromise and proposed stricter conditions to the Armenian side. It is this process which has not allowed and till now does not allow to achieve a diplomatic solution”, the PM stated.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Situation in Artsakh’s cities relatively calm

Shushan Frangulian

Situation in Artsakh's cities relatively calm

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 19:16,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. The situation in the settlements of Artsakh is relatively calm, press service official of the State Service of the Emergency Situations of Artsakh Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS.

''At the moment the situation is relatively calm. Air raid siren was activated in Stepanakert, Martuni, Martakert and Shushi during the day hours, but later it ended'', he said.

Earlier today, Azerbaijan fired rockets against civilian settlements of Artsakh, including in Stepanakert, Martuni, Martakert and Shushi.




Iran Has a Proposal to Settle Karabakh Conflict

Shushan Frangulian

October 27,  2020



Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif

Iran has prepared a proposal for what it called a “permanent” settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the country’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif announced Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told state television that his deputy, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, will visit Baku and Yerevan in the coming days to present the plan to Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities.

“Right now the Deputy Foreign Minister is near the border of Iran with Armenia, Azerbaijan, he is touring at the Khoda Afrin dam, after which he will leave for Baku, Moscow and Yerevan. Iran has developed an initiative for a lasting settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which will be presented today or tomorrow,’’ the state IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

Zarif added that Iran is concerned with the presence of takfiri terrorists and other terrorists in the region. ”In this regard we have clearly stated that this is inadmissible for the Islamic Republic of Iran,’’ he said.

The Commander of the Iranian Army Major-General Abdolrahim Mousavi has vowed “strict punishment” to the “takfir-terrorists” near Iran’s borders, local news media reported.

Mousavi made the comments after visiting the Iranian air defense troops and inspecting the readiness level of the units at the north-western borders.

Mousavi stressed the need to ensure the safety of residents in the border towns. He said the air defense units are on high alert in the north-western part of Iran and the units will be increased is required.

This announcement comes hours after Azerbaijani forces attacked Armenia’s border positions in the south on the border with Iran. For weeks, Azerbaijani forces have been attacking the Khoda Afrin Dam, which lies on the Artsakh-Iran border along the Arax River.

IDBank offers new accessible option for transfers from Russia to Armenia

Shushan Frangulian

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 13:46,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. IDBank together with “Universal payment technologies” (“UPT” LLC) announces the launch of IDpay initiative.

IDpay is a mobile application which allows to attach cards of any Russian bank of VISA, Mastercard, MIR systems and make instant replenishments of IDBank clients’ cards/accounts via phone number. At this moment transfers are made with rubles.

“To make instant money transfers to an IDBank client via IDpay mobile application it is necessary to choose from contacts or enter by hand the phone number of the recipient which is attached to IDBank card or account. Transfer is made in a few seconds: faster than you could call the recipient”, said Tatevik Hovhannisyan, the head of Marketing unit of IDBank.

As Tatevik Vardevanyan, the head of Communication unit of IDBank said, IDpay is one the most profitable options for transfers from Russia to Armenia. “Taking into consideration the martial law announced in Armenia and Artsakh and the special demand for the transfers from Russia with minimal commission fees, an agreement has been reached with the partners that in the frames of a special campaign, by the end of 2020, the transfers via IDpay application will be made with 0.5% commission.This makes the product not only very easy and convenient, but also beneficial”, mentioned Tatevik Vardevanyan.

“We are happy to provide the most technological and convenient means for our clients to receive money from Russia, with minimal commission. By receiving money directly on card or account, the client can manage is funds flexibly, including wide opportunities of IDBanking.am online platform and Idram application.Funds will be credited to the account in appropriate currency with automatic exchange, in accordance with the current exchange rate of the digital platform of the Bank, which is one of the most profitable in the banking system of Armenia”, commented Sergey Arakelyan, the director of Digital banking of IDBank. He also added that to receive money via phone number, IDBank clients can attach or change the card or account attached to their phone number any time, from “Accounts” department on IDBanking.am website.

“For now, in IDpay application only RF citizens can pass identification and consequently, make transfers, but soon the service will become available for RA citizens too. Besides developments mentioned, we are also working to expand the functionality of the app”, mentioned Felix Khachatryan, the chief operating officer of “Universal payment technologies” (“UPT” LLC).

The representatives of the companies also told that in the frames of the cooperation, transfers from RA to RF also will become available soon.

IDpay operates on the platform of “.

THE BANK IS CONTROLLED BY CBA

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1032891.html?fbclid=IwAR2h3b_06hrAMiVMLVC6ih2jgrvOqEqjSscO7oK1InhFtYh6zF9QOn7wuWQ

Russian MFA comments on possibility of CSTO engagement in NK conflict settlement process

Shushan Frangulian

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 15:15,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has assessed the possibility of the engagement of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to the settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reports.

Russian deputy foreign minister Aleksandr Pankin said as long as the conflict continues in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh and has not moved to the territory of Armenia, it’s inappropriate to talk about the CSTO engagement.

“The conflict has not moved to the territory [of Armenia], no official request has been received from Armenia. CSTO assists its member states in some situations where there is clear aggression. Now the talk is about Nagorno Karabakh which has not been recognized by Armenians themselves as part of their territory and probably may not be recognized. Talking about the engagement of the CSTO defense potential is in appropriate”, the Russian deputy FM said.

Recently Armenian deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in order to apply to the CSTO there must an aggression against Armenia. He said it’s still early to assess Azerbaijan’s some actions against Armenia as an aggression. “If there is an attack on Armenia, yes, we will apply”, he said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Fresno Community Steps Up To Send Needed Medical Supplies To Armenia

Shushan Frangulian
GVWire
Oct 20 2020

Jim Jakobs

An annual medical mission to Armenia was not possible this year due to COVID-19 restrictions and a major conflict. But, that’s not stopping a dedicated team from Fresno from doing their part to help.

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in Fresno Berj Apkarian found another way to help by collecting medical supplies that are set to arrive in the war torn region this week.

Armenia and Azerbaijan reported more fighting on Tuesday over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where clashes have continued for over three weeks despite attempts at establishing a cease-fire.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh officials, 773 of their troops have been killed since Sept. 27, along with over 30 civilians. Azerbaijan hasn’t disclosed its military losses, but says 61 civilians have died so far and 291 have been wounded.

“We’re sending items that are needed. I am in constant communication with the minister of Health in Armenia.”–Honorary Consul of the Republic of Armenia in Fresno Berj Apkarian

“We’re sending items that are needed,” explains Apkarian to GV Wire℠ by phone. “I am in constant communication with the minister of health in Armenia.”

Apkarian says he and others along with group of Fresno medical professionals packaged up over $50,000 worth of supplies. Among the items boxed up were first aid kits, surgical instruments, and coagulants to help stop bleeding.

According to Apkarian, there are 9 big boxes of just coagulants alone worth a wholesale price of $14,500.

“Based on requests, we will continue our efforts,” says Apkarian. “We have to do our part.”

The first shipment of humanitarian aid from Fresno is already on its way and should arrive in Armenia on either Thursday or Friday.

“They can use our help, and the problem with wounds and war is the use of equipment. Everything is used and used and used. And you run out so fast,” ENT Specialist Dr. Brien Tonkinson told KSEE24.

Apkarian tells GV Wire℠ he was so impressed with the outpouring of support from the whole community that he didn’t sleep last night.

“There are as many non-Armenian donors as there are Armenian donors,” he says.

He also says Community Medical Centers, a long time supporter of the cause, is also stepping up again this year.

“We will do this for any part of the world because we are blessed to live in the United States,” says Apkarian.

He says back in 2016, a team of 28 people from Fresno went to Jordan which had taken in the majority of Syrian refugees from the war there.

Community Medical Centers teamed up with the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation to donate and transport more than $200,000 in medical equipment and supplies.

Apkarian and the members of the Agricultural Leadership Class 46 delivered 28 suitcases and 14 backpacks filled with portable medical machines and equipment to the government-run Al Nadeem Hospital in Madaba, just 19 miles south of Jordan’s capital city Amman.

The group brought IV pumps, blood pressure cuffs, glucose monitors, dental instruments, surgical scalpels and scissors, pediatric scales /measures, four portable ultrasound machines, and six small electrocardiogram machines hooked to laptop computer monitors that can share results through secure intranet connections to cardiac specialists elsewhere.

If you would like to donate you can make your tax deductible donation to Advance Armenia Foundation.

2753 Quincy Ave., Clovis, CA 93619

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)


https://gvwire.com/2020/10/20/fresno-community-steps-up-to-send-needed-medical-supplies-to-armenia/







Stepanakert City, Shushi come under heavy Azeri rocket-artillery strikes

Shushan Frangulian

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 08:48,

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The “relatively stable tension” remained at the Artsakh-Azerbaijan conflict zone overnight October 16-17 and no significant changes in the tactical situation happened, the Ministry of Defense of Artsakh said.

The ministry said the Azerbaijani armed forces continue violating the humanitarian ceasefire and have launched rocket-artillery attacks at civilian settlements of Artsakh from early morning October 17, with civilian infrastructure of Stepanakert city and the town of Shushi getting shelled intensely.

 “The Defense Army units took appropriate countermeasures to suppress the Azerbaijani fire. Currently the tactical situation is under the control of the Defense Army units,” the ministry said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/15/2020

Shushan Frangulian 
                                        Thursday, 

Russia, Turkey Hold More Talks On Karabakh De-Escalation


TURKEY -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Turkish Foreign 
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu meet in Antalya, March 29, 2019

The foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey again spoke by phone on Thursday as 
the two countries continued high-level consultations on ways of stopping 
hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The phone call came one day after a conversation between Russian President 
Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that also 
focused on the Karabakh conflict. The Kremlin said the two leaders “confirmed 
the importance” of the conflicting parties’ compliance with the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani humanitarian ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow on 
October 10.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a similar statement on Foreign Minister 
Sergei Lavrov’s talks with Turkey’s Mevlut Cavusoglu. It said Lavrov and 
Cavusoglu agreed on the need for an immediate halt to the ongoing hostilities 
and the launch of a “ceasefire verification mechanism.”

“We hope that such a mechanism will be launched soon,” Maria Zakharova, the 
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told reporters in Moscow. She said 
military officials should meet and discuss it “without delay.”

Lavrov’s talks with Cavusoglu came amid continued heavy fighting along the 
Karabakh “line of contact.” Armenia has accused Turkey of encouraging Azerbaijan 
to continue its military offensive.

For its part, the Turkish Foreign Ministry claimed on Thursday that Armenia 
“continues to disregard the humanitarian ceasefire declared on October 10.”

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry statement, Lavrov and Cavusoglu also 
stressed the importance of coordinating “efforts to resume the negotiating 
process” which would aim to achieve “real results.”

In his phone call with Erdogan, Putin also reiterated Russian concerns about the 
reported deployment of Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries in the Karabakh 
conflict zone. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu likewise raised the matter 
with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar when they spoke by phone on Monday.

Speaking in Ankara earlier on Wednesday, Erdogan denied reports that Turkey has 
recruited and sent allied Syrian fighters to fight in Karabakh on the 
Azerbaijani side.



Armenian Schools Again Closed Amid Coronavirus Spike

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia -- A teacher measures a first grader's temperature at the entrance to a 
school in Yerevan, September 14, 2020.

Schools and universities across Armenia were again temporarily shut down on 
Thursday due to a sharp rise in coronavirus infections in the country.
A resurgence in officially registered COVID-19 cases began in mid-September and 
accelerated after the outbreak on September 27 of a war in Nagorno-Karabakh 
which led the Armenian government to declare martial law.

The Armenian Ministry of Health has reported record-high higher numbers of new 
cases in recent days. It said on Thursday morning that as many as 1,371 people 
have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day alone, up from about 850 
single-day cases recorded during the previous peak of the epidemic in late June.

Gayane Sahakian, the deputy director of the ministry’s National Center for 
Disease Control and Prevention, said the health authorities now have to again 
increase Armenia’s hospital capacity to cope with the growing number of COVID-19 
patients.

Sahakian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that around 1,600 infected people are 
currently treated in hospitals. The total number of active coronavirus cases in 
the country of about 3 million surpassed 11,500 on Thursday.

The number of new cases averaged roughly 150 in early September. The government 
reopened schools, universities and other educational establishments on September 
15.

Commenting on the reasons for the drastic increase in cases, Sahakian singled 
out the war in Karabakh which she said has completely overshadowed the 
coronavirus pandemic. She said that many Armenians have stopped wearing masks 
and following other safety rules set by the government.

Education Minister Arayik Harutiunian said on Wednesday that the country’s 
secondary and high schools as well as kindergartens will be closed for what he 
described as a two-week autumn holiday. As for the universities and vocational 
training colleges, he said they will switch back to online courses on Thursday.

Sahakian said that over the past month there have been major outbreaks of 
COVID-19 in many schools. The official revealed that 72 of them were shut down 
and ordered to revert to distance learning even before the government’s decision 
announced by Harutiunian.



France Again Criticizes Turkey Over Karabakh Fighting

        • Armen Koloyan

France - French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L) and German 
Foreign Affairs Minister Heiko Maas adress a press conference at the Elysee 
presidential palace on June 19, 2019..

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian criticized Turkey’s role in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on Thursday, saying that Ankara is not trying to stop 
the ongoing fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.
“There will not be a military victory on this issue so the ceasefire must be 
implemented,” he said, according to Reuters. “What we can see today is the only 
country which isn’t calling for respect of the ceasefire is Turkey and that’s 
damaging.”

Le Drian referred to an Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire agreement that was 
brokered by Russia on October 10. Hostilities in the conflict zone have 
continued since then, with the warring sides accusing each other of violating 
the agreement.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian charged on Tuesday that Azerbaijan is 
continuing military operations along the Karabakh “line of contact” under 
Turkish pressure. He again accused Turkey of instigating the war and deploying 
Turkish military personnel and Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan for that purpose.

The Turkish government has strongly backed Azerbaijan’s military operations in 
Karabakh. But both Ankara and Baku deny Turkish involvement in them.

In a phone call on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged his Turkish 
counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “make a constructive contribution to the 
de-escalation of the conflict.”

Russia has long led international efforts to end the Karabakh conflict together 
with France and the United States. The three countries co-chair the OSCE Minsk 
Group.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Karabakh war on September 27 President 
Emmanuel Macron accused Turkey of recruiting jihadist fighters in Syria and 
sending them to Azerbaijan.

"A red line has been crossed, which is unacceptable," Macron said on October 1. 
"I urge all NATO partners to face up to the behavior of a NATO member.”

The Turkish and Azerbaijani governments rejected the French accusations backed 
by Armenia. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has accused Macron of 
pro-Armenian bias.

Le Drian criticized the Turkish role in the Karabakh conflict after talks held 
in Paris with the German and Polish foreign ministers. Speaking at a joint news 
conference, Le Drian and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas accused Ankara of 
continuing to provoke the European Union with its actions in the eastern 
Mediterranean and gave it a week to clarify its positions.



Karabakh Truce Still Not Holding, Says Yerevan


Nagorno-Karabakh - An ethnic Armenian soldier fires an artillery piece, October 
5, 2020.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of continuing offensive military 
operations in Nagorno-Karabakh in breach of a Russian-mediated ceasefire 
agreement reached by the two countries on October 10.

“Five days into the Moscow Joint Statement of October 10 on cessation of fire, 
and Azerbaijan continues to torpedo its implementation,” tweeted Foreign 
Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian. “With the support and direct involvement of Turkey 
and terrorist fighters they continue large-scale war against 
Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Azerbaijani forces resumed in the morning 
“intense artillery fire” at sections of the “line of contact” in northeastern 
and southeastern Karabakh. “Heavy fighting is now underway at the same 
sections,” a ministry spokesman wrote on Facebook at 11 a.m. local time.


NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Paramedics and volunteers work in the basement of a medical 
center outside the city of Stepanakert, 

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian forces “attempted to attack 
Azerbaijani army positions at some sections of the frontline” overnight. It 
accused them of again shelling Azerbaijani districts north and east of Karabakh 
in the following hours.

The ministry insisted that the Azerbaijani side is observing the “humanitarian 
ceasefire” agreed by the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian foreign ministers on 
October 10.

In an interview with the Turkish NTV channel aired later in the day, Azerbaijani 
President Ilham Aliyev acknowledged that his army is continuing its offensive 
but blamed the Armenian side for it.

“We will keep advancing,” Aliyev said in remarks cited by the TASS news agency. 
They [the Armenians] must observe the ceasefire because they violated it.”

“We are now in the process of a military resolution of the problem,” he said. 
“We want to finish this process as soon as possible so that it is followed by a 
diplomatic process.”

Russia and the two other mediating powers, the United States and France, have 
repeatedly urged the conflicting parties to honor the agreement.

Russia has also called on Turkey, Azerbaijan’s staunch ally, to help stop the 
hostilities. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan discussed the issue by phone on Wednesday.


AZERBAIJAN --- People stand in front of a house destroyed by shellings in the 
village of Bakharly, near Agdam, .

Ankara continues to strongly support Azerbaijani military operations in and 
around Karabakh. Yerevan claims that the Turks are encouraging Baku to continue 
the hostilities.

Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army says that 604 of its soldiers have been killed 
since the start of the war on September 27. Authorities in Stepanakert have also 
reported the deaths of 32 civilian residents of Karabakh caused by shelling and 
drone attacks.

RFE/RL correspondent Susan Badalian reported from Stepanakert on Thursday 
morning that the Karabakh capital was not shelled for a third consecutive night.

Baku has so far refused to disclose the number of Azerbaijani soldiers killed in 
action. It has only reported 43 civilian deaths.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.