Category: 2020

National Salvation Movement’s candidate for prime minister Vazgen Manukyan and coordinator of the movement Ishkhan Saghatelyan on Wednesday met with the chairman of Armenia’s Employees’ Union, Gagik Makaryan.

The current socio-economic crisis in Armenia and its main reasons, as well as the challenges facing the country were discussed.

The side exchanged views on ways to emerge from the current situation and agreed to continue talks about programs to emerge from the socio-economic crisis.

Earlier on Wednesday, Manukyan met with representatives of the arts and culture communities in Armenia.

Manukyan presented the priorities of the National Accord government, which he seeks to lead, among them modernizing the armed forces, the reestablishment of Karabakh talks under the OSCE Minsk Group banner, the recalibrating of relations with allies and the realization of financial and socio-economic program to lead Armenia out of the current crisis.

Manukyan said members of the arts, culture and academic communities will have an important role to play in addressing national concerns and said the cooperation with these communities was crucial.
The participants of the meeting expressed their concerns about the current domestic political situation in Armenia, and expressed their collective belief that the best way to emerge from the crisis and to not endanger the country’s future would be the resignation of the prime minister and government.

The culture and arts representatives also presented issues of concern to them and their community, adding that they are planning to start a movement to make the voices of the intelligentsia heard in Armenia’s civic life.

Border demarcations are successive bilateral international processes that require the existence of a joint commission and within the framework of which professional discussions and negotiations are held. A prerequisite for the above-mentioned processes is the existence of normal bilateral relations, including diplomatic relations, between the neighboring states, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said about the process, which has become a point of contention since the signing of the November 9 agreement.

The foreign ministry released its position in response to an inquiry from Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan, who published the statement on social media.

“Following my visit to the Syunik province of Armenia, I sent an official inquiry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the demarcation processes, taking into account the direct impact of these processes on human rights in the current situation,” Tatoyan explained.

Excerpts of the statement are presented below.

In international practice, a bilateral intergovernmental commission (chaired by representatives of the foreign ministries of the countries) is formed to carry out demarcation and demarcation processes between neighboring countries, consisting of representatives of state stakeholders (foreign policy, defense, security), experts (particularly in the field of geodesy cartography).

The first stage of the work of such commissions, as a rule, ends with a separate bilateral agreement on the legal basis of the demarcation, and later, after the demarcation, on the joint implementation of the demarcation process.

Upon successful completion of the bilateral process, the Commission concludes an agreement on the border between the two countries, which stipulates that all border issues have been resolved.

Prior to the commencement of the above-mentioned processes, “their successful completion, the deployment of armed forces or border troops to conduct combat duty along the state border is a purely defensive” security measure, in areas actually under the control of the parties, negotiated directly or indirectly between representatives of the armed forces.”

Therefore, the implementation of the current measures is not related to status issues, cannot be interpreted as a final agreement on demarcation, or mechanical approval of existing administrative boundaries”.

The Human Rights Defender of Armenia has established effective cooperation and reliable cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the mentioned issues, as well as on various other issues, especially with our country’s permanent representatives in international structures and our ambassadors to a number of countries.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov brushed off the urgency and seriousness of Azerbaijani attacks on two Armenian villages in Hadrut on December 13, simply saying that at the time Russian peacekeepers were not stationed at the line of contact. He then praised efforts of his country to establish peace in the region.

“The only noticeable violation in the line of contact on December 13 took place in a location where there were no Russian peacekeepers,” Lavrov said during an interview with TASS. “The steps initiated by the command of our peacekeeping contingent in contacts with our Azerbaijani and Armenian colleagues allowed us to avoid an escalation of the incident. We will further continue making all efforts to not allow ceasefire violations.”

Azerbaijani armed forces, using heavy military equipment and vehicles attempted an invasion of the Hin-Tagher and Khtsabert villages in the Hadrut region of Artsakh, which fall under Armenian control following the November 9 agreement.

The Russian foreign minister said that through his country’s efforts, the situation in the conflict zone is “on its way to a resolution.” He added that there have not been any provocations against Russian peacekeepers.

Lavrov also expressed readiness to organize a meeting between Armenia and Azerbaijan for discussing the unresolved political issues in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“As for the political issues which are still not resolved, I can reaffirm our readiness both at the national level and within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to assist in organizing such meetings when the sides are ready to that,” Lavrov told TASS.

The Russian foreign minister said that currently the agenda is focused on not allowing any ceasefire violation, as well as clearing the territory from explosive objects, exchanging the prisoners of war and the bodies of the dead, ensuring the security of the return of refugees and internally displaced people, solving humanitarian problems, preserving the historical monuments regardless of their religious affiliation, unblocking transportation and economic ties.

“There is something positive in all these directions, but problems are emerging which are inevitable given the complexities of the situation,” he said.

The Defense Army of the Artsakh Republic on Wednesday reaffirmed its earlier statement that neither on December 27, nor in the days preceding it, no unit of the Defense Army was involved in any military operation, not a single shot was fired. The ceasefire regime has been maintained along the entire length of the line of contact.

The comments come after footage was shared on Azerbaijani social networks, allegedly showing the bodies of six Armenian servicemen killed in the occupied Hadrut region of Artsakh.

“Azerbaijan is talking about a village in the depths of the territories controlled by them, far enough from the front line,” meaning that the Defense Army servicemen would have to cross the front line and fight behind enemy positions, which is impossible given the presence of the Azerbaijani forces and the Russian peacekeepers.

“No less important is the ‘coincidence’ that yesterday Azerbaijan violated the agreement reached earlier, did not allow search groups to enter the areas where, according to them, the “battles” took place. And this is in the case when the agreement on the work of the search groups in those areas was reached on December 27, that is, according to the Azerbaijani side, on the very day the so-celled ‘battles’ took place,” the Defense Army said.

The combination of the above facts suggests that the actions and statements of the Azerbaijani side are intended to cover up another war crime, and that was the purpose of refusing to allow search groups to enter the mentioned territories.

Active work is under way to find out the identities of the people depicted in the footage. The Defense Army does not rule out that we are dealing with the brutal murder of captives taken hostage earlier.

“We strongly condemn this policy of the Azerbaijani side, which contradicts the logic of the November 9 trilateral statement. The Artsakh Republic will be consistent in revealing the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan,” the Defense Army stated.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—The heads of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s main security services have met in Moscow to discuss the implementation of the Russian-brokered agreement to stop the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, it emerged on Wednesday.

Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) reported that the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, hosted a trilateral meeting with his Armenian and Azerbaijani opposite numbers on Monday.

An NSS statement said the three men discussed “a number of pressing issues, including the exchange of prisoners and the search for missing persons.”

The statement added that NSS Director Armen Abazian and the chief of Azerbaijan’s State Security Service, Ali Naghiyev, reached “understandings on works to be carried out in various directions.” It did not elaborate.

The FSB issued no statement on the meeting. Bortnikov visited Yerevan and Baku earlier in December.
The Moscow meeting took place amid Baku’s claims that Armenian troops attacked on Sunday an Azerbaijani army unit in Karabakh’s southern Hadrut district that was occupied by Azerbaijani forces during the six-week war. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said one Azerbaijani and six Armenian soldiers were killed in the firefight.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry strongly denied the allegations, saying that Karabakh’s Armenian-backed Defense Army did not conduct any military operations or violate the ceasefire otherwise.
The Defense Army likewise insisted on Wednesday that “not a single gunshot” was fired by its troops in recent days. In a statement, it also argued that the scene of the alleged incident is located dozens of kilometers from the nearest section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact.”

The Karabakh Armenian army said it is now examining videos posted on Azerbaijani social media accounts purportedly showing the six Armenians allegedly killed on Monday. It suggested that they may have been captured and executed earlier.