19:18,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Israel will not allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza from the Israeli side of the border but will not block aid coming from Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday, Reuters informs.
"In light of President Joseph Biden's demand, Israel will not thwart humanitarian supplies from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population in the souther Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.
"Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid from its territory to the Gaza Strip as long as our hostages are not returned," it added.
Rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan clash Thursday at the UN's top court, with Yerevan asking judges to force Baku to withdraw troops from Nagorno-Karabakh and allow displaced ethnic Armenians to return safely to the breakaway region.
The hearings at the International Court of Justice come only weeks after Azerbaijan's lightning offensive to take control of the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh for the first time in three decades.
The one-day operation sparked a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians, with the vast majority of the estimated 120,000 who had been living in the territory fleeing into Armenia.
The separatist Karabakh authorities announced that the self-proclaimed republic will be dissolved on January 1, 2024.
Armenia has petitioned the ICJ to order Azerbaijan to "withdraw all military and law-enforcement personnel from all civilian establishments in Nagorno-Karabakh."
It also called on the court to ensure Azerbaijan "refrain from taking any actions… having the effect of displacing the remaining ethnic Armenians… or preventing the safe and expeditious return" of refugees.
The ICJ rules on disputes between states but while its decisions are legally binding, it has no power to enforce them.
Thursday's hearings at the iconic Peace Palace in The Hague are the latest in a long-running legal battle between the two rivals.
Each country has accused the other of breaching a UN treaty, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
After September's military operation, Yerevan accused Azerbaijan of conducting a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" to clear Nagorno-Karabakh of its Armenian population.
But Baku strongly denies the claim and has publicly called on Armenian residents of the territory to stay and "reintegrate" into Azerbaijan.
The mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh was populated mainly by Armenians and has been part of Azerbaijan since the fall of the Russian Empire.
It unilaterally proclaimed its independence with the support of Armenia when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
In the wake of the operation, Armenian lawmakers approved a key step in joining another international court based in The Hague — the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This infuriated its traditional ally Russia because the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on allegations of abducting Ukrainian children during Moscow's invasion.
(AFP)
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231012-armenia-and-azerbaijan-bring-fight-over-nagorno-karabakh-to-un-top-court
12:24,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that his administration is able to manage crises and ensure high economic growth.
“I am pleased to note that Armenia, despite all difficulties, continues to be in the high economic growth dimension. According to all projections, Armenia will again have high economic growth in 2023 as well, we are now sure that we will ensure at least the 7% growth projected in the state budget,” Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting, adding that this is a conservative figure and most likely the country will have even higher growth.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) hosted the Capitol Hill press conference, along with In Defense of Christians, For the Martyrs and the 120,000 Reasons Coalition, which includes the ANCA.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and a bi-partisan group of U.S. representatives, including Chris Smith (R-NJ), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Lou Correa (D-CA) and Haley Stevens (D-MI), as well as former Rep. Frank Wolfe, condemned the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s 120,000 Armenian Christians and demanded the Biden administration hold Azerbaijan accountable, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Members of Congress, along with human rights organizations and faith-based groups, raised concerns of renewed Azerbaijani aggression against the Republic of Armenia during the September 29 Capitol Hill press conference. Held in the Press Triangle at the foot of the U.S. Capitol Building, the press conference was organized in coordination with In Defense of Christians (IDC), For the Martyrs and the 120,000 Reasons Coalition, including the ANCA. The press conference coincided with IDC’s Capitol Hill advocacy days spotlighting the Artsakh genocide and persecution of Christians worldwide. The program featured remarks by the ANCA, Hellenic American Leadership Council, American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee, American Task Force on Lebanon, international religious freedom advocate Sara Salam, among others.
Rep. Brad Sherman warns Azerbaijan “has its eyes on conquering the Republic of Armenia.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee senior member Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), hosted the Capitol Hill press conference and called for concrete U.S. action holding President Aliyev for his ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh and warning of Azerbaijan’s plan to conquer sovereign Armenia. “Now Azerbaijan has its eyes on conquering the Republic of Armenia, whose independence we recognized in the early 1990s. Congressman Sherman noted that “the attempts by Azerbaijan to conquer Armenia, the Republic of Armenia or any portion of it is evil, and to say that America must provide aid to these people who have been ethnically cleansed.”
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Rep. Frank Pallone: “I have absolutely no doubt that the goal here is to wipe, not just Artsakh off the map, but to wipe Armenia off the map.”
Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-chair Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) noted, “Aliyev and Azerbaijan’s goal was to ethnically cleanse Artsakh. In other words, basically, get rid of all the Armenians, take their land and force them to flee, if not be killed in the process. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing unfold.”
Rep. Pallone noted, “I have absolutely no doubt that the goal here is to wipe, not just Artsakh off the map, but to wipe Armenia off the map. I mean, that’s the goal here. Anybody who thinks otherwise, in my opinion, is kidding themselves.” Rep. Pallone made it clear that Azerbaijan’s goals are “not just about Artsakh. There’s a much larger plan here that involves Armenia itself and that…we need to move full force and quickly towards protecting Armenia as well.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-CA)
Rep. Chris Smith: “Aliyev should be at the Criminal Court for crimes against humanity which he is committing again as we meet here today.”
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission co-chair Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) gave powerful remarks calling out Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev, who is “unfettered in his hate towards the Armenians and is committing, as we meet here today, the second Armenian genocide. Aliyev should be at the Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, which he is committing again as we meet here today.” Rep. Smith called for the “United States to take action” and “there are very serious sanctions that could be imposed now, today, on Aliyev and all of his gang so that they can’t do business with America and they cannot get a visa, two of the main parts of that sanctioning regime. Do it! Don’t wait!”
Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)
Rep. Jim Costa: “We support Armenia, the people of Armenia, and its territorial boundaries.”
Central Valley California’s Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) offered powerful remarks calling on the Biden administration to “do more to assert the leadership that needs to take place to ensure that these atrocities end and that we support Armenia, the people of Armenia, and its territorial boundaries. We’re supporting the people of Ukraine and its territorial boundaries for all the right reasons. And for the same reasons, we must support the territorial boundaries for the people of Armenia.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer: “It’s our duty to recognize that as we speak, Armenians are being killed and displaced in Artsakh, at the hands of Azerbaijan.”
Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) strongly emphasized that “it’s our duty to recognize that as we speak, Armenians are being killed and displaced in Artsakh, at the hands of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s horrific military offensive comes at the end of a nine-month blockade of Artsakh, which resulted in a humanitarian crisis. I know that it’s never the wrong time to bear witness and tell the truth. The United States should never be complicit in senseless murder.”
Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA)
Rep. Lou Correa: “History is being repeated today…we cannot let it happen.”
Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), spoke on the ethnic cleansing happening in Artsakh noting that “history is being repeated today. We cannot wait. We cannot let it happen. If there’s one thing I’m going to do today is ask you, do not let this happen. Do not let us in that building wait. Take action right now, human beings can’t let history repeat itself.”
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI)
Rep. Haley Stevens calls for “sanctions in particular against the Azerbaijani officials.”
Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) called out Azerbaijan’s threat on Armenian sovereignty: “We see a refugee crisis and we see an attack on Armenia’s sovereignty. And it is wholly unacceptable. I have joined in support in calling for sanctions in particular against the Azerbaijani officials; that needs to happen.”
Former Virginia Republican Congressman Frank Wolf
Former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf: “Not one more penny to the Azerbaijani government.”
Former U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA), who in 1998 authored the International Religious Freedom Act, spoke on the current “ethnic cleansing of Armenians by the Azerbaijan government.” He emphasized that the Biden administration must stop supporting Aliyev and that “there is no way that this administration ought to give one more penny beginning Monday to the Azeri government until this completely stops and there’s a reverse.”
Wolf then criticized Washington, D.C. lobby groups whitewashing Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing. “It is shocking. It is shocking that there are lobby firms in this city…that represent the Azerbaijan government. How do you represent a government that’s bringing about genocide and ethnic cleansing? Don’t you remember the history of 1915? I would say to those law firms, call the Azerbaijani government and tell them to get out and stop, or drop them as a client.”
ANCA’s Tereza Yerimyan: “The Biden administration has armed and abetted, aided and emboldened, Azerbaijan’s oil-rich Aliyev regime that is today committing real-time genocide against Artsakh’s 120,000 indigenous Armenian Christians.”
ANCA Government Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan stressed that the Biden administration enabled Azerbaijan’s genocide of Armenians in Artsakh. “The record shows that the administration did not lift a finger to break Azerbaijan’s blockade. No airlift, no cutting off of military aid to Baku, no sanctions on Aliyev. A shameful abandonment of our moral and legal duty. A dangerous signal to the authoritarians of this world. And a green light for the next genocide.”
IDC’s Richard Ghazal: “Azerbaijan has been conducting a genocide against 120,000 Armenian Christians.”
In Defense of Christians Executive Director Richard Ghazal gave powerful remarks noting, “Azerbaijan, a beneficiary of U.S. foreign aid, military assistance, has been conducting a genocide against 120,000 Armenian Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh.” He continued, “After a 10-month blockade aimed to starve Armenian civilians into submission, Azerbaijan bombed them into submission. Azerbaijan is now completing its mission to cleanse the area by expelling the 120,000 civilians.” Ghazal called for the United States to “discontinue this loophole, the presidential waiver to section 907 of the Freedom Support Act” and stop military assistance to “the brutal dictatorship” in Azerbaijan.
HALC’s Endy Zemenides: “Recognizing the Armenian Genocide means nothing if you don’t stop the next genocide.”
Endy Zemenides, executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) pointed out that the Biden administration recognizing the “Armenian Genocide means nothing” if they “don’t stop the next genocide.” He commented on USAID Administrator Samantha Power’s visit to Armenia, stating, “I’m sorry I can’t congratulate Samantha Power for being in the region, because she knew what she did wrong during the Obama administration; she left the Obama administration and apologized for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide.” Yet, today, continued Zemenides, Administrator Power “did no airlift and is now, as the ANCA has said, is ‘showing up for the funeral’ of the Christian Armenians of Artsakh.” Zemenides called for immediate sanctions on “the Aliyev family and Azerbaijan.”
For The Martyrs’ Gia Chacon: “Genocide is underway in Armenia.”
Founder of For the Martyrs Gia Chacon described the “genocide underway in Armenia,” where “120,000 Armenian Christians are facing starvation, gross human rights violations, and being forced out of their historic land in Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh.” She emphasized the absence and lack of action from President Biden. “Where is the United States now as a genocide is unfolding in front of our eyes and Christian persecution is skyrocketing like never before?” asked Chacon, who urged the U.S. to “uphold the standard for international religious freedom, to intervene, to stop the genocide happening right now in Nagorno- Karabakh or Artsakh, to sanction countries that are led by dictators and terrorists and to protect Christians around the world.”
MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will fly to Spain for talks with the European Union on Thursday despite reports that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has pulled out of the same event, Armenia's government reported on Wednesday.
Azerbaijani state media said earlier on Wednesday that Aliyev had decided against attending the EU-brokered event in Spain where he could have held talks with Pashinyan.
Russia's Interfax news agency Interfax cited Pashinyan as saying he regretted missing the opportunity to hold talks with Aliyev and saying he had been ready to sign what he called a "breakthrough" document related to the two countries' peace talks.
The five-way meeting with the leaders of France, Germany, Armenia, Azerbaijan and EU Council President Charles Michel was meant to take place in Granada, Spain, on Thursday.
Writing by Maxim Rodionov Editing by Andrew Osborn
18:57,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan on September 28 in Dublin met with President of the National Assembly of France Yaël Braun-Pivet.
During the meeting Simonyan said that the most pessimistic predictions over Azerbaijan’s policy and aggression have turned into reality.
The issues resulting from the forced displacement of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh were discussed. “Views were exchanged on the need to impose international sanctions against Azerbaijan,” the parliament’s press service said.
“Alen Simonyan emphasized that France is a true ally to the Armenian people and Armenia, and expressed certainty on the continuity of France’s efforts in the direction of ensuring Armenia’s security. He said he expects the French National Assembly and Senate to express their attitude regarding the ongoing tragic events.”
Yaël Braun-Pivet expressed her support to the people of NK and said she would invest all efforts for the stabilization of the situation.
Views were exchanged on the need for condemnation by the international community of Azerbaijan’s policy. Simonyan thanked for the announcement by the French foreign minister Catherine Colonna on opening a consulate in Syunik.
In the past few days there has been a steady stream of ethnic Armenians fleeing the contested region of Narogno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan launched a 24-hour assault on the Armenian enclave, which is surrounded by Azerbaijani territory, on September 19 and, following a ceasefire brokered the following day, refugees have been allowed to leave via the narrow Lachin corridor, which connects the enclave with Armenia.
As of September 27, it was estimated that nearly 30,000 people had made the crossing since it was opened on September 24. It is expected that many of the estimated 120,000 Karabakhi Armenians will leave for Armenia. Meanwhile, at least 68 people were killed and about 350 injured in an explosion at a petrol station in the enclave’s main highway out of Stepanakert, its capital.
The Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing in the region – something denied by Azerbaijan which described the conflict as an “anti-terror” operation and said that the majority Armenian population would be integrated into Azerbaijan and their rights respected.
But it appears that the exodus of dispossessed Armenians will continue and they are an angry population. They are angry at Azerbaijan for the shelling which forced them to flee. They are angry at Turkey for supporting and arming Azerbaijan. Oddly, they are not angry at Russia whose lack of attention emboldened Azerbaijan to take action against them. In fact, some of the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are expected to make their way to Russia via Armenia.
Mainly they are angry at the Armenian government as are many of their compatriots in Armenia itself. But the mass protests have been more an _expression_ of hopelessness than of defiance. Nagorno-Karabakh – where there has been an ethnic Armenian population since 200BCE – is lost and many people blame their leader. Witnessing refugees arrive has upped the emotional ante.
The response from Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has been brutal. Up to 350 protesters were detained and some reportedly badly beaten by security forces. Pashinyan has implied that it is the Kremlin who instigated the riots. But, even if Russian media’s coverage is hostile towards Pashinyan, Armenians themselves have plenty of grievances against their prime minister.
The unrest follows riots in 2020 over the loss of territory and prestige after the second Karabakh war. During the conflict, Azeri forces reoccupied large tracts of territory previously occupied by Armenia.
So Pashinyan was already unpopular even before the most recent Azeri military action – his approval ratings as of June 2023 were very low – only 14% expressed trust in him and 72% gave his performance a negative rating. But there is little cohesion among opposition groups beyond a desire for Pashinyan’s resignation.
Russian relations with Armenia have been shaky for some time. After the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow pivoted towards Turkey, Azerbaijan’s sponsor, as it deemed the relationship more valuable in terms of mitigating the effects of western sanctions.
To a degree this was a rational calculation, but there’s a personal element as well. Vladimir Putin never warmed to Pashinyan, who gained power in 2018 after popular protests ousted the Kremlin-friendly leadership of Serzh Sargsyan. But Armenia’s close relationship with Russia goes back centuries, so the two leaders managed to get along.
Things began to really sour between Russia and Armenia in 2023, when Armenia, refused to host military exercises by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), instead inviting the US military to train there. The highly symbolic visit by Armenian first lady, Anna Hakobyan, to Ukraine in early September seems to have been the last straw. Armenia, it seems, no longer counted Russia as a friend or a force to be reckoned with.
Azerbaijan has not achieved all of its goals yet. It aims to open direct ground links to its enclave embedded in Armenia, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, which has a population of just under 450,000. This would also give mainland Azerbaijan direct access to Turkey rather than transit routed through Iran.
Proposals for the “Zangezur corridor” are bitterly opposed by Armenia as it would effectively block the country’s border with Iran. The issue has rankled since the first Karabakh war in 1991, after which the two populations were only linked by air travel. Part of the agreement that halted the second Karabakh war in 2020 included allowing free transit through Zangezur, but this was never implemented. Now the idea is back on the table, raised by Azeri president Ilham Aliyev at a meeting with Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on September 25, when they met in Nakhichevan.
This will bring Iran into play as the route of any corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan would go along its border. Some sort of deal addressing Iran’s security concerns will need to be reached – and this is very likely to involve Moscow as one of Tehran’s close allies. So, Moscow appears to have taken a conscious decision to abandon Armenia for closer relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey and the opportunity to act as a power broker with Iran. In Putin’s eyes, no doubt, Pashinyan is disposable. He can wait until a different, more amenable leader, comes to power.
Armenia’s pivot to the west, meanwhile, appears almost inevitable. The country is likely to withdraw from the CSTO and apply to join Nato and request visa-free travel to the EU. But the manner in which Pashinyan is putting down protests will make many potential allies in the west uncomfortable.
The situation is only made more complex by Europe’s dependence on Azerbaijan for gas and its strategically important location in the Middle Corridor Eurasian trade route between China and Europe. The west can still play a valuable role in brokering peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But for any lasting settlement to stick, Russia and Turkey will have to be involved, instead of becoming its spoilers. This is a problem with many moving parts.
_Refugee figures have been updated as have the number of casualties from the fuel depot blast. _
Jo Adetunji
https://theconversation.com/nagorno-karabakh-crisis-in-the-caucasus-could-destabilise-the-whole-of-eurasia-214400