Category: 2023

 17:37,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Michael Rubin, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says that the Biden Administration ought to immediately cease all military and other non-humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan after it attacked the U.S.-affiliated company construction site in the village of Yeraskh.

Below is the full article written by Rubin.

“For most people, Yeraskh is just a rest stop on the road between Yerevan and southern Armenia. For those who look, however, the signs of conflict in the South Caucasus are evident. Less than 200 yards after the road ends is the border of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani military posts overlook the town. Mount Ararat, long part of Armenia until the Turkish-led Armenian Genocide ethnically cleansed the region, dominates the horizon to the West. The Turkish frontier is just four miles away. Just a mile or so further is Iran’s border. Just outside of town, a berm interspersed with bunkers built in the early 1990s rises between the road and the Azerbaijani border to protect drivers from Azerbaijani snipers. A Russian flag flaps in the wind at a memorial just a few hundred feet from the road where, just over two and a half years ago, an Azerbaijani soldier shot down a Russian helicopter on the last day of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

I drove through Yeraskh just hours after Azerbaijan fired upon a vehicle carrying two Indian employees of a US-funded metallurgy company in the town. The attack was unprovoked.

It also highlights two realities. The first is that, contrary to the State Department’s certification that Azerbaijan has foresworn military action to resolve its dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, it continues to use its military to terrorize.

The second is that Azerbaijan may use the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute as an excuse, but its target is Armenia proper. Yeraskh is Armenia proper, officially disputed by no other country. I continued along the road to Jermuk, an Armenian spa town dominated by a ski resort and natural spring, whose mineral-rich waters allegedly have healing properties. In September 2022, Azerbaijani forces launched a surprise attack on the town using drones, artillery, and sniper fire. The town is an economic hub, but has no military base nor is it in disputed territory. Despite this, Azerbaijan continues to occupy over 23 square miles on the town’s outskirts, putting most townsmen and visitors under imminent threat of sniper fire.

The State Department may tweet that it is “deeply concerned” but its words are meaningless and its actions increasingly in contravention of US law that prohibits allowing military assistance to Azerbaijan so long as Azerbaijan harbors military ambitions.

With Azerbaijan now attacking American interests within the sovereign territory of Armenia, it is now time for the Biden administration to revoke the waiver on Section 907 and immediately cease all military and other non-humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan. Anything less would be an affront to Congress and will suggest President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are uninterested in defending American interests, American lives, or abiding by American law. To respond with rhetoric alone would also set back peace by convincing Azerbaijan that it faces no real consequences for continued aggression.”

 17:25,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has held a meeting with the Ambassador of India to Armenia Nilakshi Saha Sinha.

The Prime Minister congratulated the ambassador on assuming office and expressed hope that as a result of her active work the Armenian-Indian relations will continue to develop in various directions, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

PM Pashinyan said that Armenia is eager to expand ties with India, including in the economy and culture.

At the same time, the Prime Minister also discussed the Azerbaijani border shooting targeting a metallurgical plant which is under construction involving foreign investments in the village of Yeraskh, which resulted in two Indian citizens involved in the construction works being wounded. The Prime Minister wished speedy recovery to the wounded construction workers.

Ambassador Nilakshi Saha Sinha thanked the Government of Armenia for the attention and care for the health condition of the two Indian nationals wounded in Yeraskh.

The PM and the Indian ambassador also discussed issues related to the expansion of business ties, IT, tourism, education and culture partnership. Organizing high-level mutual visits and strengthening of the close ties between the two countries was highlighted.

 18:14,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. The state system of Artsakh has completely switched to eco-mode, ARMENPRESS reports, Artsakh’s Minister of State Gurgen Nersisyan announced during a live broadcast on his Facebook page, referring to the closure of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, as a result of which even the supply of essential food was stopped, as well as the process of transferring patients to Armenia by the ICRC for medical treatment.

"I ask the leadership of the state administration system to apply for fuel and other similar issues only in case of extreme necessity. Stop or minimize the use of service vehicles. Territorial administration and local self-government bodies will ensure the organization of the process of supplying the population with necessary accessories, food, and bread. We will provide the Ministry of Health with the conditions necessary to organize emergency medical care.

We will try to support the implementation of agricultural works as much as possible in order to maintain their continuity. That process will be carried out under the direct coordination and management of the Minister of Agriculture.

Public transport will continue to operate, we will organize inter-regional routes," Nersisyan said.

Artsakh State Minister called on citizens to use resources economically.

"At the moment, the process of providing fuel to individuals has been stopped," said Nersisyan.

The Minister of State of Artsakh urged the business entities to be responsible when selling the remaining goods in the stores, and to organize it based on the assessment of their opportunities and the principle of equal distribution.

"I am not presenting all this to panic, especially recently we have been consistently preparing for such situations, our farms are able to mitigate the created problems to a certain extent and ensure self-sufficiency at least a little, but in all cases we must be organized, balanced and vigilant", concluded the State Minister.

Azerbaijan has blocked Lachin Corridor even for humanitarian transportations

 18:37,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. The Government will soon submit the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to the National Assembly for ratification, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Court recognized the obligations laid down in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, signed on July 17, 1998, as conforming to the Constitution.

In 2022, the Government appealed to the Constitutional Court on this issue. The government has again returned to the issue of ratifying the Rome Statute, because, according to the substantiation of the bill, they see an opportunity to call Azerbaijan to account.

 20:03,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia on June 16, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin was presented with Armenia's strong dissatisfaction with the incident involving Russian peacekeepers near the Hakari Bridge. The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ani Badalyan, told ARMENPRESS, answering the question about the purpose of the visit of the Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopirkin, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"During the meeting with the Russian Ambassador at the Foreign Ministry today, Armenia's strong displeasure was presented with regard to the incident involving Russian peacekeepers near the Hakari bridge on June 15. It was called to take all the necessary steps to find out the circumstances of the incident and correct the situation," said Badalyan.

Earlier, the border guard service of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia reported that on June 15, around 08:40, a group of soldiers of the border guard service of Azerbaijan attempted to advance towards the Hakari bridge in order to raise a flag on the territory of the Republic of Armenia. It is noted that as a result of the measures taken by the Armenian side, the advance of Azerbaijani servicemen and the attempt to raise the flag on the territory of the Republic of Armenia was prevented.

In one of the videos spread on the Internet, it was seen how the Azerbaijani military, accompanied by the Russian peacekeepers, tried to raise the Azerbaijani flag on the Hakari bridge.

 19:31,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Due to the complete blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, it was not possible to organize the planned transfer of 102 medical patients and their relatives (52 from Artsakh to Armenia, 50 from Armenia to Artsakh) during the two days, ARMENPRESS reports, the Artsakh Ministry of Health said in a message.

"Due to the Azerbaijani provocation that took place on the Artsakh-Armenia border on June 15, near the Hakari bridge, at the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Kashatagh (Lachin) corridor, among all humanitarian transportation, the two-way movement of Artsakh medical patients under the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross has been banned since yesterday, as a result of which within two days, it was not possible to organize the planned transfer of 102 people (52 from Artsakh to Armenia, 50 from Armenia to Artsakh)," the message states.

The Artsakh Ministry of Health reminded that on June 15 ICRC vehicles were transporting 25 medical patients and their relatives to Armenia, but at the illegal checkpoint operating in the Kashatagh corridor, the Azerbaijani side prohibited their further movement, as a result of which the vehicles returned to Stepanakert, at the same time not being able to organize a trip from Goris to Stepanakert, preventing the return of 25 medical patients and their relatives to Artsakh. And on June 16, it was also planned to transfer 27 medical patients and their relatives to Armenian professional medical centers to receive immediate medical care, as well as the return of 25 medical patients and their relatives to Artsakh.

The Artsakh Ministry of Health also notes that due to the disruption of all humanitarian shipments, naturally, the limited supplies of medicine and other medical supplies to Artsakh, which were carried out exclusively by the Red Cross, have also completely stopped.

"As a result, the already scarce supplies in medical facilities are being reduced day by day, putting the proper medical care of citizens at additional risk," the message says.

 20:28,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS.  For the second day now, Azerbaijan has blocked all types of humanitarian transportation to Artsakh, which were carried out during the blockade accompanied by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeeping force, ARMENPRESS reports, Artsakh’s human rights defender Gegham Stepanyan wrote on his Facebook page.

"Blocking the transportation of humanitarian goods to Artsakh deepens the humanitarian crisis created in Artsakh as a result of the blockade. The already poor food situation caused by the six-month long blockade creates existential threats for the 120,000 people of Artsakh, including 30,000 children, 20,000 elderly and 9,000 people with disabilities, due to the blocking of humanitarian transportations.

As a result of the complete blocking of the corridor, the pre-planned transfer of 102 medical patients and their accompanying persons from Artsakh to Armenia and vice versa was not carried out. The supply of necessary medicines has also been completely stopped, causing serious problems for the citizens and the medical facilities of Artsakh," Stepanyan wrote.

According to him, the complete blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, the blocking of humanitarian transportation, the deliberate and long-term disruption of the normal functioning of vital infrastructures is an indicator of the fact that even humanitarian issues are used by Azerbaijan to put pressure on the people of Artsakh, terrorize them, and push forward various demands.

"Issues of a humanitarian nature are used by Azerbaijan as a tool to advance the policy of ethnic hatred and ethnic cleansing against the people of Artsakh," concluded Stepanyan.

 14:04,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. The United States seeks to achieve the signing of any document between Armenia and Azerbaijan, political analyst Tigran Grigoryan told ARMENPRESS when asked about expectations from the upcoming foreign ministerial in Washington D.C.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministerial in the U.S. capital was supposed to take place earlier but was postponed by Baku.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on June 16 that the meeting would take place “soon”.

According to Grigoryan, now Armenia and Azerbaijan are returning to the negotiations agenda at the active mediation of the United States to negotiate around the text of the possible peace treaty.

The political analyst described Washington as a platform where rather intensive talks are proceeding with the purpose of bringing the stances of the parties closer to each other, especially around key issues.

“In case of Azerbaijan, their conduct on participating in the talks on one hand and exerting pressure, breaching the ceasefire and putting forward some ultimatums to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh on the other hand has become usual," the expert said, referring to the regular cross-border shootings by the Azerbaijani forces. 

Azerbaijan is attempting to use dividends gained through military pressure in the negotiations process. Naturally, in such conditions it is difficult to talk about comprehensive solutions or constructive processes, and as a result of this all there could be a situation when some solutions would simply be forced upon Armenia,” Grigoryan warned.

Mediators have an important role, although Brussels and Washington avoid assuming greater responsibility, he added.

Expecting comprehensive solutions that could be the basis for long-term peace in the region would be senseless without pressure by mediators on Azerbaijan, Grigoryan said.

Asked to comment on debates whether the possible peace treaty should be signed before or after the delimitation and demarcation process, Grigoryan said the current phase of talks is focused on the signing of a framework agreement. “A document with a general text will be signed, which will be followed by more concrete processes. It’s clear that delimitation and demarcation will be carried out later because these processes usually last very long. Even the signing of a framework agreement contains certain risks, because there is no guarantee that Azerbaijan won’t continue applying force against Armenia in an attempt to regularly coerce some concessions. If Azerbaijan isn’t pulling back its forces from the territory of Armenia now, then it will highly likely not do so after the signing of the treaty as well,” Grigoryan said.

Asked whether the U.S. could apply more efficient levers against Azerbaijan’s sponsor Turkey, in order to bring it back to the constructive arena, Grigoryan said that sometimes Azerbaijan has greater influence on Turkey than vice versa.

“The same goes for the U.S.-Turkey strategic partnership. Erdogan is engaged in a rather independent policy, he has left the NATO influence circle, is pragmatically cooperating with Russia, thus the U.S. influence factor shouldn’t be overestimated. The problem is more Baku than Ankara, and if pressure is to be applied than it should undoubtedly be done so upon Baku in order for it to abandon its maximalist positions and agree to compromised solutions,” Grigoryan concluded.

 00:45,

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia defeated Wales 4:2 in a stunning Euro 2024 qualifer match in Cardiff.

Wales' defeat at home was described by the BBC as a humiliation and embarrassment.

Wales’ Daniel James opened the score in the 10th minute but the Welsh fans’ excitement was silenced by a shot from Armenia’s Lucas Zelaryan 9 minutes later.

Armenia ‘s Grant-Leon Ranos brought the score to 2:1 in the 30th minute and the first half ended with Armenia in the lead. Armenia fans at the Cardiff stadium were euphoric when Ranos scored another goal in the 66th minute.

Harry Wilson hit a goal for Wales with some 20 minutes remaining, but Zelarayan’s stunning second restored Armenia's two-goal advantage.

Wales striker Kieffer Moore got a red card for an off-the-ball clash with Armenia’s goalkeeper. Armenia won 4:2.

 11:34,

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia should consider joining BRICS as an observer in the initial phase and get involved in regional mega projects, according to analyst Mher Sahakyan.

Speaking to ARMENPRESS, the analyst and expert on China said that although Armenia can’t be compared with BRICS countries in terms of its opportunities and size of the economy, it should nevertheless seek to gain an observer status in the organization in order to be present in multilateral relations, to be involved in the markets of the member states.

Four BRICS members have embassies in Armenia, and Russia – one of the main actors in BRICS – is Armenia’s main strategic ally, Sahakyan said.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov had said that nearly 20 countries are seeking to get BRICS membership.

BRICS is an association of five regional economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. All five states are members of the G20. The BRICS were originally identified for the purpose of highlighting investment opportunities and had not been a formal intergovernmental organization.

“We are now in a multipolar world order where BRICS is carrying out its important work. This platform was created for discussing geopolitical and global economic issues and finding mutually beneficial solutions, because it has brought together countries that don’t agree with the approaches of the West and are trying to have their independent policy. It’s no coincidence that countries which already have certain influence in their region such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt want to join the organization,” Sahakyan said.

Nonetheless, some of the BRICS countries continue to closely cooperate with the U.S., for example India, which is both a BRICS member and a Quad group member, with the latter being mostly comprised of China rivals – the U.S., Japan and Australia. Recently India also rejected the NATO+ platform, refusing to take anti-Russia steps.

“Nevertheless, BRICS is not an alliance, the members seek to be independent actors. These are no longer the countries against which the U.S. can use the carrot and stick policy. Particularly China has powerful levers capable of imposing corresponding sanctions against the American side in response to sanctions imposed against it. After all, BRICS is an arena enabling developed countries to counter the U.S. by bypassing the ban on cooperating with Russia and China. Several African countries who don’t want to get cut off from such a circle are also displaying such conduct,” he said.