The text of the following joint statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America, the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan on .
"Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E. Biegun on and reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to implement and abide by the humanitarian ceasefire agreed in Moscow on October 10, which were reaffirmed in the statement issued from Paris on October 17, in accordance with the October 1, 2020 joint statement of United States President Donald J. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The humanitarian ceasefire will take effect at 08:00 a.m. local time (12:00 a.m. EDT) on . The United States facilitated intensive negotiations among the Foreign Ministers and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to move Armenia and Azerbaijan closer to a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
Additionally, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group co-chairs said they will meet with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Geneva on October 29 to "discuss, reach agreement on, and begin implementation, in accordance with a timeline to be agreed upon, of all steps necessary to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the basic principles accepted by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia."
Previous Russia-brokered ceasefires failed twice, on on October 10, and another on October 17.
WION Web TeamWashington Oct 19, 2020, 03.51 PM(IST)Written By: James M Dorsey
Fighting in the Caucasus between Azerbaijan and Armenia is about much more than deep-seated ethnic divisions and territorial disputes. It’s the latest clash designed, at least in part, to shape new world order.
The stakes for Azerbaijan, backed if not egged on by Turkey, are high as the Azeri capital’s Baku International Sea Trade Port seeks to solidify its head start in its competition with Russian, Iranian, Turkmen and Kazakh Caspian Sea harbours, to be a key node in competing Eurasian transport corridors. Baku is likely to emerge as the Caspian’s largest trading port.
An Azeri success in clawing back some Armenian-occupied areas of Azerbaijan, captured by Armenia in the early 1990s, would bolster Baku’s bid to be the Caspian’s premier port at the crossroads of Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The Caspian is at the intersection of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) from China to Europe via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that aims to connect India via Iran and Russia to Europe.
An Azeri military success would also cement Turkey’s claim to be a player in former Soviet lands that Russia views as its sphere of influence and bolster nationalist sentiment among Iranians of ethnic Azeri descent that account for up to 25 per cent of the Islamic republic’s population, many of whom have risen to prominence in the Iranian power structure.
In an indication of passions that the conflict in the Caucasus evokes, Iranians in areas bordering Azerbaijan often stand on hilltops to watch the fighting in the distance.
Iranian security forces have recently clashed with ethnic Azeri demonstrators in various cities chanting "Karabakh is ours. It will remain ours."
The demonstrators were referring to Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan that is at the core of the conflict in the Caucasus.
The demonstrations serve as a reminder of environmental protests in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan at the time of the 2011 popular Arab revolts that often turned into manifestations of Azeri nationalism.
Baku port’s competitive position was bolstered on the eve of the eruption of fighting in the Caucasus with the launch of new railway routes from China to Europe that transit Azerbaijan and Turkey.
China last month inaugurated a new railway route from Jinhua in eastern China to Baku, which would reduce transport time by a third.
In June, China dispatched its second train from the central Chinese city of Xi’an to Istanbul via Baku from where it connects to a rail line to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, the eastern Turkish city of Kars and onwards to Istanbul.
Azeri analysts charge that Armenian occupation of Azeri territory and demands for independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, threaten Baku’s position as a key node in Eurasian transport corridors.
“By continuing its occupation Armenia poses (a) threat not only to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity but also to the regional stability and cooperation,” said Orkhan Baghirov, a senior researcher at the Baku-based Center of Analysis of International Relations, a think tank with close ties to the government.
Mr Baghirov was referring to recent Russian, Iranian, Turkmen and Kazakh efforts to match Baku in upgrading their Caspian Sea ports in anticipation of the TITR and INSTC taking off.
Russia is redeveloping Lagan Port into the country’s first ice-free Caspian Sea harbour capable of handling transhipment of 12.5 million tonnes. The port is intended to boost trade with the Gulf as well as shipment from India via Iran.
Lagan would allow Russia to tap into the TITR that is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) via the Russian railway system as well as Kazakh, Turkmen, and Azeri ports.
It would also bolster Russian, Iranian and Indian efforts to get off the ground the INSTC that would hook up Caspian Sea ports to create a corridor from India to Russia via Iran, and in competition with the Suez Canal, to northern Europe.
The INSTC would initially link Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s largest container port east of Mumbai, through the Iranian deep-sea port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, funded by India to bypass Pakistan and its Caspian Sea port of Bandar-e-Anzali to Russia’s Volga River harbour of Astrakhan and onwards by rail to Europe.
Iranian and Indian officials suggest the route would significantly cut shipping time and costs from India to Europe. Senior Indian Commerce Ministry official BB Swain said the hook up would reduce travel distance by 40 and cost by 30 per cent.
Iran is further investing in increased capacity and connectivity at its Amirabad port while at the same time emphasizing its naval capabilities in the Caspian.
For their part, Turkmenistan inaugurated in 2018 its US$1.5 billion Turkmenbashi Sea Port while Kazakhstan that same year unveiled its Kuryk port.
The fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia with Turkey and Israel supporting the Azeris; Russia struggling to achieve a sustainable ceasefire; Iran seeking to walk a fine line in fighting just across its border; and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates attempting to stymie Iranian advances wherever they can, threatens to overlay port competition in the Caspian with aspects of the Middle East’s myriad conflicts.
Said Iran scholar Shireen T Hunter: “Largely because of the Iran factor, the Caucasus has become linked with Middle East issues. Israel and Saudi Arabia have tried to squeeze Iran through Azerbaijan… Thus, how the conflict evolves and ends could affect Middle East power calculations…. An expanded conflict would pose policy challenges for major international players.”
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan met with Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin, the ministry told Armenpress.
At the beginning of the meeting the minister thanked Russia for the multilateral support provided in the healthcare sector, in particular in the fight against COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS.
“One more mobile lab will be provided to Armenia soon by the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor)”, the minister said and once again thanked for the support.
Minister Torosyan presented the situation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone and thanked Russia for all the efforts aimed at the settlement of the conflict.
“The situation now is that our healthcare system is operating in 3 directions: the 1st direction – planned actions, the 2nd direction – coronavirus pandemic, which is gradually growing, and the 3rd direction – given the overload of Artsakh’s healthcare system due to the Azerbaijani military operations, Armenia’s healthcare system is also providing a respective assistance to mitigate the overload. Of course, this creates some difficulties, but we are managing to overcome it”, he said.
The sides expressed mutual readiness to continue and strengthen the cooperation in the healthcare field.
International community should use its toolkit to stop aggression against ARtsakh’s people – MFA
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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh issued a statement over the non-stop attacks of the Azerbaijani-Turkish forces against the civilian population of Artsakh. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Artsakh, the statement runs as follows,
‘’On October 16 and early in the morning of , the capital of the Republic of Artsakh Stepanakert, as well as the city of Shushi and other communities became targets of intense missile strikes by the Azerbaijani-Turkish forces. At least six civilians were wounded in this deliberate attack on civilian objects.
The continuing attacks of the Azerbaijani-Turkish forces against the peaceful population of the Republic of Artsakh as well as strikes on the territory of the Republic of Armenia testify about Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s intention to expand the scale and increase the intensity of the hostilities.
As the triple alliance of Turkey, Azerbaijan and international terrorists stubbornly refuses to implement the joint statement of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on a humanitarian truce adopted in Moscow on 10 October, and continues to ignore the calls of the civilized world to stop the bloodshed, it is necessary that the international community moves from words to action using all the available toolkit to stop the aggression against the people of Artsakh.
We once again emphasize that the international recognition of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh is the most effective non-military way for the restoration of regional peace''.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Heavy clashes continue is some of the sections of Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line, ARMENPRESS reports representative of the MoD Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a press conference on October 17.
‘’Today early in the morning the adversary continued its offensive activities in the same directions. Particularly fierce clashes took place in the southern direction. Today in the northern direction heavy clashes like the previous days did not take place. Large-scale offensive was launched in the southern direction. In one of the directions nearly 2-3 dozens of military vehicles tried to approach and develop an offensive, but our artillery targetted the convoy, forcing the adversary to retreat. Heavy clashes continued also in other directions, in some places the clashes still go on’’, Hovhannisyan said.
He noted that Azerbaijan no longer uses great numbers of armored vehicles. Today they used air force, UAVs and artillery.
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on “all sides” to find a “peaceful resolution” to the ongoing Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.
Trudeau said he spoke with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday morning, “to express our concern about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“I told him that Canada will continue to work extremely hard with all our allies to put an end to the violence. I encourage all sides to engage in dialogue to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” Trudeau said.
According to a readout of the call from the Prime Minister’s Office, Trudeau “expressed his deep concern regarding the continued fighting and the resulting loss of life, as well as its destabilizing effect in the region,” and implored all parties to engage in mediation efforts.
Trudeau has plans to speak with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later in the day.
Canada has already halted military export permits to Turkey, and officials are investigating claims that the country was using Canadian technology in the ongoing military action, though Armenians in Canada have called on the government to go further and condemn Turkey’s actions.
Trudeau said he will “certainly” be discussing the export permit issue with Erdogan.
“I will express how important it is for Canada and for our allies around the world, that there be a de-escalation of the violence in the region. And, and impress upon Turkey how important it is to encourage people to get back to the table and not continue to participate in the violent conflict ongoing right now,” Trudeau said.
Capital Dispatch: Stay up to date on the latest news from Parliament Hill
"Canada continues to be concerned by the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting in shelling of communities and civilian casualties,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne in a statement at the time that the permits were suspended.
Trudeau said that Champagne, when speaking with allies during a trip to Europe this week, echoed the need for a ceasefire in this revived decades-old fight. The Nagorno-Karabakh region lies within the Azerbaijani border, but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.
As The Canadian Press has reported, Champagne also said that a negotiated settlement is the only way to end the shelling by warplanes, drones and artillery that both side alleged have attacked civilians.
“At a time when the world faces a rapidly changing political and security environment, Canada is more than ever committed to supporting transatlantic cooperation, security, and democratic values. Against a backdrop of regional security concerns… it is more important than ever for Canada to show leadership in supporting democracy, human rights and the rule of law, while promoting peace and stability for all,” said Champagne in a statement concluding his trip abroad.
Fresh explosions rocked the capital of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Saturday despite a ceasefire agreed between warring neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan that brought a brief lull in shelling and missile strikes earlier in the day.
The truce, which entered into force at noon on Saturday, had been agreed between both sides in marathon Russia-brokered talks in Moscow.
Azerbaijan and Armenia immediately accused each other of violations, but the agreement appeared to curb artillery fire during the afternoon, with some Stepanakert residents emerging from their homes after days of heavy bombardment.
The respite was short, however, with seven loud explosions rocking the badly damaged city at around 23:30 pm (1930 GMT) on Saturday evening, triggering fresh air raid sirens, an AFP journalist working in the city reported.
A senior Azerbaijani official said the truce was only meant to be "temporary".
"It's a humanitarian ceasefire to exchange bodies and prisoners. It's not a (proper) ceasefire," the official said, adding that Baku had "no intention to backtrack" on its effort to retake control of Karabakh.
The disputed territory is an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, home to about 150,000 people, which broke from Azerbaijan's control in a war in the 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.
Its separatist government is strongly backed by Armenia, which like Azerbaijan gained independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
The most recent fighting since September 27 has been the heaviest since the 1990s war, with more than 450 people reported dead, thousands forced to flee their homes and fears the fighting could escalate into a devastating all-out conflict.
Earlier in the day, the Armenian defence ministry had accused Azerbaijani forces of launching an attack on the frontline five minutes after the ceasefire came into force.
In return, Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Armenian forces had also carried out attacks on the frontline and shelled populated areas, accusing it of "blatantly violating the ceasefire."
In the evening, it said that Armenian armed forces had attempted to launch an offensive in several areas but were "forced to retreat."
– 'These people hate us' -
On Saturday afternoon in regional capital Stepanakert, air raid sirens that had sounded for days to warn of attacks had stopped, and some residents were emerging from shelters to get supplies.
But an AFP correspondent working in the city found few people with much hope of the ceasefire taking hold for long.
"I lived for nearly 20 years in Azerbaijan, these people hate us," Vladimir Barseghyan, 64, told AFP in a workshop making uniforms for fighters at the front. "We don't believe in a ceasefire, they just want to gain some time."
In Barda, an Azerbaijani town about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the conflict zone, many residents who spoke to AFP were against the ceasefire and in favour of Baku pressing on with its campaign to restore its control over Karabakh.
"We don't want a ceasefire. They should leave our lands," said Zemfira Mammadova, a 71-year-old retiree.
"They should get out and let our people live a normal life. We have nothing to do with them and they should stay away from us."
The ceasefire deal was announced after talks between the two countries' top diplomats mediated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He said the truce had been agreed "on humanitarian grounds" and would allow for exchanges of prisoners and bodies.
The Red Cross offered to act as a "neutral intermediary" to facilitate the handover of bodies and detainees.
The Russian ministry said Saturday evening that Lavrov had spoken to his counterparts in Armenia and Azerbaijan who "confirmed their commitment" to the deal and "stressed the need for its strict observance on the ground."
– Call for 'substantive negotiations' -
Lavrov said that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed at the Moscow talks to "substantive negotiations" on resolving the dispute over Karabakh, with France, Russia and the United States continuing as longtime mediators.
France called for the ceasefire to be strictly respected "in order to create the conditions for a permanent cessation of hostilities."
Karabakh's declaration of independence has not been recognised by any country — even Armenia — and the international community regards it as part of Azerbaijan.
The return of fighting has stoked fears of a full-blown war embroiling Turkey, which strongly backs Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a military treaty with Armenia.
Turkey said the ceasefire agreement was an important first step but that Armenia had a "last chance" to withdraw from Karabakh.
Since the conflict restarted both sides have accused the other of shelling areas populated by civilians and thousands of people have been displaced by the clashes.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will stand with Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh, calling on Baku to continue its assault and re-take control of the region.
Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s “full support” for its ally during his Friday speech at the inauguration of a city hospital in the central Turkish province of Konya.
“The brotherly state of Azerbaijan has started a great operation both to defend its own territories and to liberate the occupied Karabakh,” he said. “Turkey stands with and will continue to stand with friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan with all our means and all our heart.”
Erdogan’s statement comes hours after the violence intensified in Nagorno-Karabakh with the region’s capital, Stepanakert enduring artillery strikes which left scores of people wounded, according to Armenian sources.
An intense military confrontation between Yerevan and Baku broke out on September 27. The two sides clashed over territory which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is populated by ethnic Armenians who have been de-facto independent from Baku, with support from Yerevan, for three decades.
The conflict had been in a semi-frozen state since the early 1990s. While it saw several major flare-ups – occurring in 2014, 2016, and in July of this year – the current escalation marked with casualties on both sides is the most serious for over twenty-five years.
Ankara declared its unwavering support for the “brotherly” nation of Azerbaijan at the beginning of the standoff, offering both military and diplomatic assistance. It also dismissed calls for peace by Moscow, Washington, and Paris on Thursday, reiterating that the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh is a precondition for a ceasefire.
Armenia has repeatedly accused the Turkish military of aiding the Azeri army and even directly engaging and shooting down Armenian military aircraft – something that Ankara has denied.
Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned about the humanitarian impact of the conflict escalation along the line of contact, which started in the morning of . There are civilians among the casualties reported on both sides.
The ICRC calls on the sides to take all measures necessary to ensure that civilian life and infrastructure is respected and protected, in line with their obligation to respect basic rules of international humanitarian law.
“We reiterate our commitment to assist and support those affected by this escalation as well as to act as a neutral intermediary”, said regional director Martin Schüepp. “We urge the sides to exercise all the efforts possible at all times to abide by the principles of the international humanitarian law”.
The ICRC has been present in the region since 1992 carrying out humanitarian work in the region in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Through the delegations in Baku and Yerevan and the mission in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ICRC supports communities living along the line of contact and international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The ICRC also works to clarify the fate of missing persons and help their families, visits detainees and acts as a neutral intermediary to facilitate transfer and repatriation of released persons.
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Wine consumption and exports suffered a 60% and 20% drop respectively amid the coronaivrus pandemic from March until July, the Armenian Vine and Wine Foundation Director Zaruhi Muradyan said.
“Wine isn’t an essential product so people aren’t in a hurry to buy extra wine in crisis conditions,” she said. “Wine drinking is a type of leisure, but all restaurants, bars, entertainment venues were shut down, the domestic market consumption and export volumes dropped abruptly,” she said, referring to the springtime lockdown measures when eateries and cafes were closed as a precaution.
However, Muradyan says wine sales are somewhat rising since July, and she hopes that consumption will increase by yearend.
“12 million 670 thousand liters of wine was produced in 2019, usually 30% was being exported and 60% was being sold domestically, and around 10% was being kept as reserve wine in cellars. Since cellars are full of wine, winemakers will organize their [grape procurement] according to consumption levels,” she said, adding that the wine businesses will nevertheless try to buy more in order to support farmers.
Muradyan said their fund will spare no effort to support the wine business get back on track.