Category: 2021

 16:57,

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. A serviceman of the Artsakh Defense Army suffered a gunshot wound when Azerbaijani troops breached the ceasefire and opened gunfire at a military base of the Defense Army stationed in the central direction.

The Artsakh Defense Army said the victim is 20-year-old serviceman Vardan Kirakosyan. He was immediately taken to a military hospital and successfully underwent surgery for his wounds.

“His condition is assessed to be stable but serious. An investigation is underway to reveal details of the incident,” the Artsakh Defense Ministry said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:08,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin press service reports.

The Russian President presented the main results of the January 11 meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders held in Moscow during which they discussed the implementation process of the November 9 statement relating to Nagorno Karabakh.

“It was stated that one of the key outcomes of the recent talks was the confirmation by Azerbaijan and Armenia of the mood to normalize the relations, the readiness for establishing a peaceful life, unblocking the economic and transportation ties. Given the overall stabilization of the situation around Nagorno Karabakh, several key steps were agreed upon on that direction”, the statement says.

In turn Turkey’s Erdogan expressed support to Russia’s efforts on settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, to continue coordinating the actions of Russia and Turkey, including in favor of the regional economic development and promotion of mutually beneficial projects.

Putin and Erdogan also touched upon some areas of the creation of a Russian-Turkish center for monitoring the ceasefire.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:42,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy, which has been reflected by the Armenian massacres in Baku, Kirovabad and Sumgait over 30 years ago, continued also during the 2^nd Artsakh War, Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said in a statement on the occasion of the 31^st anniversary of the anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku.

“In January 1990 the Armenian population in Baku has been subjected to a systematic massacre.

The massacres in Kirovabad, Sumgait and Baku became a part of the Azerbaijani state policy of Armenophobia and ethnic cleansing. This anti-Armenian policy continued also during the 2^nd Artsakh War, accompanied by numerous terrible crimes committed against the peaceful civilians of Artsakh”, Mirzoyan said.

The Speaker stated that despite the current difficult situation, Armenians around the globe are determined to continue living and creating in their homeland and stopping all attempts of committing another genocide against the Armenian people.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 18:31,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutterres on January 12 comprehensively presenting the situation over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict following the large-scale military aggression launched by Azerbaijan on September 27, 2020, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia.

In his letter, the Minister notes that amid the unprecedented global health crisis, the violation of the decades-long ceasefire in the region has led to numerous casualties, large-scale ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of Artsakh, deliberate destruction, desecration and vandalism of the Armenian religious and cultural monuments.

In the letter, the Foreign Minister of Armenia touched upon the cases of violations of the November 9 trilateral statement`s provisions by Azerbaijan, noting that more than a month after the ceasefire was established, Azerbaijan carried out military operations in Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd villages in Hadrut region of Artsakh. It was noted that during the military attack, the Azerbaijani armed forces captured 64 Armenian servicemen, violating Azerbaijan's commitments to maintain the ceasefire established by the trilateral statement.

The incomplete implementation of the Article 8 of the trilateral statement by Azerbaijan was emphasized in the letter, which mandates the “exchange of prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained persons and dead bodies''. It was stressed that Azerbaijan, in fact, refuses to implement its commitment which is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.

Minister Aivazian drew the attention of the UN Secretary General to the reluctance of Azerbaijan regarding the cooperation with international organizations in cultural heritage protection. “Lasting and sustainable peace in the region could be achieved only through the comprehensive resolution of the conflict that will include the status of Nagorno-Karabakh based on the realization of the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh”,- concluded the Foreign Minister of Armenia.

 18:44,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian held a phone conversation with the Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov on January 13, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia.

In the context of the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow on January 11, the Ministers discussed issues of regional security and stability. Minister Aivazian emphasized the full and immediate implementation of the obligation on the repatriation of the prisoners of war, captives and other detained persons enshrined in the statement of November 9, 2020.

During the conversation the sides also touched upon the agenda of Armenian-Russian allied relations.

 17:27,

YEREVAN, 13 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 13 January, USD exchange rate up by 1.45 drams to 526.89 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 3.29 drams to 642.33 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.05 drams to 7.14 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 6.61 drams to 721.26 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 15.52 drams to 31190.6 drams. Silver price up by 9.72 drams to 432.39 drams. Platinum price up by 606.38 drams to 17769.96 drams.

Artsakh's Foreign Ministry strongly condemns ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan

 19:41,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh issued a statement over the violations of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan, as a result of which an Armenian serviceman was injured.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Artsakh, the statement runs as follows,

‘’On January 13, the Azerbaijani armed forces grossly violated the ceasefire regime in the central direction of the contact line. As a result of the incident, a soldier of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh received a gunshot wound.
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh strongly condemns the provocative steps of the Azerbaijani side and qualifies them as an action aimed at destabilizing the situation in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone and disrupting the peacekeeping efforts.
 
This kind of dangerous behavior is unacceptable and is a gross violation of the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan of November 9, 2020 on a complete cease-fire and cessation of all military operations in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone. We call on Azerbaijan to strictly follow the commitments taken under the trilateral statement and refrain from provocative actions that could undermine the current truce''.

Assuming responsibility for Armenian massacres by Baku is precondition for peace – MFA Artsakh

 20:52,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh issued a statement on the occasion of the 31th anniversary of the Armenian massacres in Baku.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of MFA ARtsakh, the statement runs as follows,

 ‘’January 13, 1990 is one of the most tragic dates in the history of the Armenian people. On this day, mass pogroms of Armenians began in the capital city of Azerbaijan, Baku, which became the apogee of the targeted policy of the Azerbaijani authorities on exterminating the Armenian population of the former Azerbaijan SSR and expelling it from its historical lands and places of permanent residence, which began with the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait in February 1988.

The Baku pogroms continued for more than a week, during which, under the slogans "Glory to the heroes of Sumgait!", "Long live Baku without Armenians!", large mobs of rioters broke into the homes of Armenians, robbing, maiming and killing people. There are numerous documented accounts of atrocities committed with exceptional brutality. Those who managed to escape death were subjected to forced deportation, which was organized and systematic.

The Baku pogroms became one of the bloodiest mass crimes against the Armenian population in a series of pogroms, deportations, ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity committed in Azerbaijan. In the period between 1988 and 1991, the Armenian population of the former Azerbaijan SSR was completely deported, and Northern Artsakh, Gandzak and some other territories lost their autochthonous population. As a result, about half a million Armenians became refugees, and thousands of them killed.

The man-hating and genocidal policy of Baku towards the Armenian people continued after the collapse of the USSR, in 1992-1994, in particular, during the occupation of Artsakh Republic’s Shahumyan and Martakert regions and in the village of Maragha, the majority of the inhabitants of which were brutally exterminated.

The long-term and consistent denial by the Azerbaijani authorities of the committed genocidal actions on the one hand, and the encouragement of such crimes through the glorification of their perpetrators on the other hand, have become the main driving force in the policy of Azerbaijan, aimed at the extermination of Armenians in their historical homeland and all the traces of the existence of the Armenian people in the ancestral territory of their residence.This policy ultimately predetermined the large-scale 44-day war against Artsakh unleashed on September 27, 2020 by Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey and with the participation of international terrorists. The armed aggression was accompanied by numerous and systematic war crimes, including targeted attacks on civilians and shelling of vital civilian infrastructure, with the employment of weapons prohibited by international conventions, cruel killing of prisoners of war and detained civilians and inhuman and derogatory treatment towards them. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side deliberately posts video materials of such atrocities at social networks.

It is difficult to imagine the path to peace as long as the misanthropic ideology and values, imposed by the authorities for many years, continue to dominate in the Azerbaijani society. An important step in the process of healing the wounds inflicted by the bloody conflict unleashed by Azerbaijan would be the recognition by the Baku authorities of their direct responsibility for the mass crimes committed against the Armenian population, including the January 1990 pogroms in Baku, which would make it possible to eradicate the negative phenomena caused by Armenophobia and create preconditions for establishing sustainable and lasting peace in the region''.