Thursday,
French FM Calls For Unblocking Of Karabakh Road On Visits To Baku, Yerevan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian receives France’s Minister for Europe
and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna in Yerevan. .
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna called on
Azerbaijan to unblock the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia as
she visited Baku and Yerevan as part of her regional tour on Thursday.
While on the second leg of her tour in Yerevan Colonna was received by Armenian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
According to an Armenian government report, during their meeting the two, in
particular, stressed the need for “the immediate implementation of the decision
of the International Court of Justice and the need for Azerbaijan to unblock the
Lachin Corridor.”
The Hague-based court ruled in February, two months after government-backed
Azerbaijani protesters blocked the road, that Azerbaijan must “take all measures
at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo
along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
Azerbaijan tightened the effective blockade of the Armenian-populated region on
April 23 when its border service set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the
corridor from Armenia.
The move came after Baku accused Armenia of shipping military cargoes into
Nagorno-Karabakh, a claim denied in both Yerevan and Stepanakert.
The French minister and the Armenian premier also said during their meeting that
“unilateral actions by Azerbaijan” were unacceptable, considering that
Azerbaijani’s establishment of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor contradicted
the Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement that put an end to a six-week
Armenian-Azerbaijani war in 2020.
Under that deal Moscow deployed around 2,000 peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh
and along a five-kilometer-wide strip of land connecting the region with Armenia
and known as the Lachin Corridor. Yerevan and Stepanakert insist that there
should be only Russian presence in the corridor under the terms of the ceasefire.
A press release by the Armenian premier’s office said that Pashinian and Colonna
“also exchanged thoughts on issues related to the normalization of relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan” and quoted the French minister as saying that
Paris supports Yerevan “in the search for a just and sustainable peace.”
Pashinian and Colonna also highlighted the importance of “the effective
activities of the EU observation mission in Armenia in the context of ensuring
security and stability in the region.”
While visiting the Azerbaijani capital first Colonna also reportedly stressed at
a joint press conference with her Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov that
Azerbaijan must comply with the order by the International Court of Justice
regarding the Lachin Corridor.
She said that Azerbaijan should also take into account the positions of the
United States and France regarding the matter.
In separate statements on April 23, when Azerbaijan began building its
checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, Washington and Paris voiced their concerns
that the development could fuel further tensions and undermine peace efforts
between Yerevan and Baku.
Bayramov, for his part, claimed that Azerbaijan installed the checkpoint on the
Lachin road after “Yerevan ignored Baku’s calls to stop illegal use of the road.”
“The Lachin road is open and will remain open,” he claimed, echoing his
ministry’s earlier pledge that all “necessary conditions” will be created for “a
transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan” in both directions.
While in Baku the French foreign minister was also received by Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev.
Armenia Confirms Arrangement For Russia-Hosted Talks With Azerbaijan
The Armenian Foreign Ministry building in Yerevan (file photo).
Yerevan confirmed on Thursday that there is an agreement on holding talks of the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan hosted by their Russian counterpart
in the time to come.
“As we reported earlier, there are proposals for meetings, and now there are
also agreements,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The ministry promised to inform about the specific date of such talks
additionally.
Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry,
said earlier on Thursday that there is already an agreement to hold a trilateral
ministerial meeting in Russia. She said the date of such a meeting would be
announced later.
The planned meeting comes amid heightened tensions between Armenia and
Azerbaijan over the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh
with Armenia.
Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor on April 23, drawing
accusations from Yerevan and Stepanakert that it violates the terms of the
Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement that ended a bloody six-week
Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The deal brought about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to the region to protect some
120,000 ethnic Armenians living there, including their free movement along a
five-kilometer-wide land strip that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and
is known as the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint, which also drew concerns from Western
powers, tightened what already was an effective blockade of the region by
government-backed Azerbaijani protesters since December.
Azerbaijan’s State Border Service raised the country’s national flag near a
newly installed checkpoint at the Hakari river bridge marking the entrance to
the Lachin Corridor leading to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his visiting French counterpart
Catherine Colonna in Baku today, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov
claimed that Azerbaijan installed the checkpoint on the Lachin road after
“Yerevan ignored Baku’s calls to stop illegal use of the road.”
“The Lachin road is open and will remain open,” he claimed, echoing his
ministry’s earlier pledge that all “necessary conditions” will be created for “a
transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan” in both directions.
Speaking in Baku, Colonna called for the re-opening of the Lachin Corridor and
urged Azerbaijan to comply with a relevant order by the International Court of
Justice that ruled in February that the Azerbaijani government must “take all
measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and
cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
She said Azerbaijan should also take into account the positions of the United
States and France regarding the matter.
In separate statements on April 23, when Azerbaijan began building its
checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, Washington and Paris voiced their concerns
that the development could fuel further tensions and undermine peace efforts
between Yerevan and Baku.
The French minister was expected to arrive in Armenia later on April 27 for
meetings with the country’s leadership focused on the latest developments in the
region.
Before that, speaking at a cabinet session in Yerevan today, Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian urged Azerbaijan and Russia to abide by the terms of
the 2020 ceasefire that calls for only Russian presence and control in the
Lachin Corridor. He also called for a broader international presence in
Nagorno-Karabakh as “the only reliable way” of preventing “ethnic cleansings”
against the region’s Armenian population.
Ankara Slams Yerevan Over ‘Disgraceful’ Monument To Armenian Avengers
Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinian speaks at the unveiling ceremony for a
monument to Operation Nemesis participants, Yerevan, Armenia, April 25, 2023.
Turkey has strongly condemned the erection in Yerevan, Armenia, of a monument to
participants of Operation Nemesis, a 1920s program of assassinations of Ottoman
perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and Azerbaijani figures responsible for
massacres of Armenians.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
that the monument glorifies figures responsible for the murders of Ottoman
political and military figures, Azerbaijani officials and even some Ottoman
Armenians.
“The unveiling of this disgraceful monument glorifies a bloody operation that
paved the way for the horrendous terrorist attacks that killed 31 Turkish
diplomats and their families,” it said.
“Such provocative steps are incompatible with the spirit of the process of
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia and will in no way
contribute to efforts to establish peace and stability in the region. On the
contrary, they will have a negative impact on the normalization process,” the
Turkish ministry added.
Earlier, the installation of the monument dedicated to Operation Nemesis in
Yerevan was also condemned by Azerbaijan.
Officials in Armenia have not yet responded to statements from Turkey and
Azerbaijan regarding the monument to whom are known among Armenians as avengers.
The monument was ceremonially inaugurated in Yerevan’s Ring Park on April 25,
one day after Armenians in Armenia and around the world marked the 108th
anniversary of the Ottoman-era Genocide vehemently denied by Turkey.
Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinian attended the unveiling ceremony and made
remarks at the event.
According to the authors of this initiative, the monument perpetuates the memory
of the Armenians who took revenge on the Young Turk leaders who carried out the
Armenian Genocide in 1915 and the organizers of the massacres of Armenians in
Baku in 1918.
Between 1920 and 1922, a clandestine cell of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) carried out seven killings, the best-known of them
being the assassination of former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire Talaat
Pasha, the main orchestrator of the Armenian genocide, by Armenian Soghomon
Tehlirian in March 1921 in Berlin.
Tehlirian was arrested and tried by a jury in a German court and acquitted of
deliberately killing Talaat Pasha who had two years before been convicted by the
Ottoman Special Military Tribunal and sentenced to death in absentia for the
“massacre and annihilation of the Armenian population of the Empire.”
In early 2022, Armenia and Turkey embarked on their second attempt in the past
decade or so to normalize their historically strained relations. The governments
of the two countries appointed special envoys who held several rounds of
negotiations aimed at paving the way for establishing diplomatic relations and
opening the currently closed border.
Since then Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan exchanged messages and had a phone call to discuss prospects of
settling relations.
Also, Armenia sent rescuers and humanitarian aid to Turkey when a devastating
earthquake struck the country in February, with Ankara temporarily reopening a
crossing point at the border with Armenia for the humanitarian supply. Armenia
said then it expected Turkey to reopen the border permanently at least for third
countries’ citizens and diplomats in the near future.
Armenia Calls On Azerbaijan, Russia To Honor Karabakh Deal
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian chairs a cabinet session (file photo).
Armenia has urged Azerbaijan and Russia to abide by the terms of the ceasefire
in Nagorno-Karabakh, calling for a broader international presence in the region.
Speaking at a cabinet session in Yerevan on Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian again slammed Azerbaijan for fueling tensions in the region by
setting up a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor, the only road
connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
He stressed that the move made by Baku on April 23 was against the
Moscow-brokered agreement that put an end to a six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani war
in November 2020. Under the deal signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers were deployed in the region,
including along a five-kilometer-wide corridor linking it with Armenia.
Supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia were already severely restricted in
December when a group of government-backed Azerbaijani activists blocked the
road at a junction just off Stepanakert.
“If until recently the Lachin Corridor was closed under the pretext of a pseudo
environmental protest, it has now been officially closed by Azerbaijan,”
Pashinian said, claiming that Azerbaijan’s “provocative step” is aimed at
“aggravating the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Pashinian praised the international community for what he described as a “clear
assessment” of Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor,
but stressed that Azerbaijan’s ulterior motives included committing “ethnic
cleansing and genocide” of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians and that “this should be
in the center of our and international community’s attention.”
In their reactions to the Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor the
United States, France and other Western powers have voiced their concerns that
it could fuel further tensions and undermine peace efforts between Yerevan and
Baku.
Russia also described Azerbaijan’s “unilateral step” as “unacceptable.” It
appointed a new commander of its peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh on April 26,
three days after Azerbaijan set up the checkpoint, but officially provided no
reason for the replacement.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said that the checkpoint was
set up in response to “safety concerns in light of Armenia’s continued misuse of
the road for the transport of weapons and other illegal activities.”
Authorities in Baku brush aside accusations from the Armenian side, insisting
that when installing the border checkpoint, they acted on its sovereign
territory.
“Any interference by the Armenian side in the issue of [Azerbaijan’s] opening a
border checkpoint on its sovereign territory, which is an internal affair of
Azerbaijan, is an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and is contrary to the obligations assumed by Armenia in Prague and
Sochi, as well as to all norms and principles of international law,”
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, reacting to
Pashinian’s remarks.
Earlier, Azerbaijan pledged that “necessary conditions” will be created for “a
transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan” in both directions and that the control mechanism will be
carried out in cooperation with Russian peacekeepers.
The Armenian leader, meanwhile, stressed today that under the terms of the
Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement it is only the Russian peacekeepers who must
control the Lachin Corridor and Azerbaijan must not obstruct free movement along
the corridor.
Speaking about the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians,
Pashinian stressed that they should become “a subject of negotiations between
Stepanakert and Baku in an international format.”
“As for a possible peace accord between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is clear that
it should have a precise and effective system of mechanisms of guarantees of
implementation and settling disputes,” Pashinian said.
“There should be a clear fixation of parameters for border delimitation, and
clear mechanisms of excluding any escalation should be put in place,” he added.
Pashinian pledged that Armenia will continue to make efforts to prevent a
further escalation of the situation and reach a comprehensive settlement, but
said that the need for a broader international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh and
the Lachin Corridor is becoming increasingly urgent.
“Azerbaijan’s efforts to turn Nagorno-Karabakh into a new scaffold for Armenians
must be stopped, and the only reliable way of doing that is the presence of
representatives having a broad international mandate in Nagorno-Karabakh. As the
first step it is necessary that an urgent international fact-finding mission be
sent to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor,” the Armenian leader concluded.
Russia Names New Chief Of Peacekeepers In Nagorno-Karabakh
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Aleksandr Lentsov (file photo)
Russia has appointed a new head of its peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh as
tensions remain high between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Lachin Corridor,
the only road connecting the mostly Armenian-populated region with Armenia.
The Russian Defense Ministry on April 26 announced the appointment of Aleksandr
Lentsov to replace Andrei Volkov, without providing a reason.
The announcement came hours after a telephone conversation between Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during
which the Lachin Corridor and the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh
were reportedly discussed.
A statement from the Kremlin said the discussion between Putin and Pashinian
focused on “resolving practical tasks to ensure stability and security in the
region.” It added that they confirmed the importance of observing previous
agreements reached by Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Armenia has voiced increasing frustration that the Russian peacekeeping force
deployed in 2020 as part of a Russian-brokered cease-fire to end a six-week war
has failed to keep open the Lachin Corridor. Tensions have flared in recent
months over blockades on the road by government-backed Azerbaijani protesters,
and the availability of food in Nagorno-Karabakh has become acute due to
irregular deliveries.
Lentsov is already in Nagorno-Karabakh, and on April 26 was to hold negotiations
with the Azerbaijani side regarding the removal of a checkpoint that Azerbaijan
set up on the Lachin Corridor on Sunday, according to Samvel Babayan, leader of
Nagorno-Karabakh’s United Motherland party and former commander of the region’s
defense army.
Babayan said it was time for the Russians to show their strength to make
Azerbaijan honor its obligations regarding the corridor.
“If they [Russians] are unable to unblock this road, they will have nothing else
to do but gather their things and leave [Nagorno-Karabakh],” the former Karabakh
defense army commander told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Lentsov has served as an adviser to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and
until 2020 was deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian military’s ground
forces. Lentsov in 2014-15 was active in Ukraine as the head of a so-called
joint center for cease-fire control, coordination, and stabilization in the
eastern Donbas region.
His appointment comes three days after Azerbaijan’s State Border Service set up
a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor on the border with Armenia.
Prior to that Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense accused the Armenian side of
shuttling “continuing military supplies from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.” The
claim has repeatedly been denied in both Yerevan and Stepanakert.
The Armenian side, for its part, accused Azerbaijan of seeking a pretext for
isolating Karabakh Armenians.
Armenia said on April 24 that it would appeal to the International Court of
Justice over Azerbaijan’s installation of the checkpoint, calling it a “flagrant
violation” of Baku’s obligation to ensure free movement.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said the checkpoint was set
up in response to “safety concerns in light of Armenia’s continued misuse of the
road for the transport of weapons and other illegal activities.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Category: 2023
Yale Armenian Network holds vigil in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide
NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The Yale Armenian Network (YAN) held a candlelight vigil on the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 outside Sterling Memorial Library.
Each year on the date recognized as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, YAN holds a commemoration ceremony to honor the memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government and to remember the survivors. YAN is an on-campus student-led association that fosters and promotes Armenian culture and heritage. Its mission is to connect all Armenians at Yale in friendship and support. YAN aims to foster awareness of Armenian culture and issues.
YAN co-presidents Mariam Alaverdian and Pateel Jivalagian organized the commemoration. Alaverdian is a graduating senior at Yale College pursuing a degree in applied mathematics. Jivalagian is a graduating master’s student at the Yale School of Public Health. The event was made possible with the help of the YAN Genocide Commemoration Committee.
“As descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors, we recognize our duty to arrange a commemorative event for the Yale community in honor of the 1.5 million lives tragically lost and to acknowledge the lasting trauma endured by numerous survivors. Our objective for this event was not only to pay tribute to those affected but also to educate the public by sharing the personal stories of our members and shedding light on the atrocities committed against our nation,” stated Alaverdian and Jivalagian.
Rev. Fr. Archpriest Untzag Nalbandian from the Armenian Church of the Holy Ascension in Trumbull began the commemoration with a prayer service, assisted by subdeacon Kit Kaolian of Milford. “I appreciate that you, the Armenian students at Yale University organized this important event to remember our victims and also to educate others about the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Unfortunately, 108 years later we see how Armenian Artsakh is under blockade by the Azeri government, and the 120,000 Armenians living there cannot even go to Armenia, let alone any part of the world. And this is happening today in front of the eyes of the civilized world. We must raise our voice to prevent future genocides,” said Fr. Untzag.
The current blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor, Artsakh’s only link to Armenia, began on December 11, 2022, threatening the very existence of 120,000 ethnic Armenians who are unable to access water, food, medicine and fuel.
A number of members of YAN commented on the meaning of the Genocide and the obligation to remember through musical and poetic renditions and heartfelt comments.
Harry and Janice Mazadoorian of Kensington, Connecticut also attended the event. He is an alumnus of Yale College and Yale Law School. They stated that they were moved to hear the penetrating comments of so many of the young people in attendance and enormously proud of their efforts to maintain the resilience of the Armenian spirit.
Dr. David J. Simon, assistant dean for graduate education at Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs and director of the Yale Genocide Studies program, was also in attendance. “Attending the event was a moving reminder of why commemoration matters. The Yale Armenian community expressed grief in the pain and loss endured by their ancestors, lamented the long legacy of pain and sorrow that later generations feel and demonstrated the resilience of Armenians in the world today,” said Dr. Simon. “The last point is especially poignant, given that genocide is essentially an effort to wipe out not just a large collection of individuals but the group to which they belong and the identity to which they subscribe. A moving _expression_ of community such as [this] event is a powerful way to show that for all of the pain it caused, those genocidal efforts ultimately failed to attain the worst of their goals,” he reflected.
Dr. Gregory Nikogosyan, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellow at the School of Medicine, stated, “The Armenian Genocide commemoration is our continued pledge to never forget the atrocities that occurred 108 years ago. To this day, the Armenian Genocide is not recognized by the Republic of Turkey. Not holding others accountable for crimes against humanity has consequences. We should reflect that today Armenians are continuing to face atrocities and denial of the right to life in their indigenous lands of Artsakh. Today, here at Yale, we do not forget.”
“As I was growing up, I often pondered why Armenians faced so much hatred and denied their right to exist leading to genocide. Although I do not have a definitive answer to this question, I strongly believe that it’s crucial to remember our past. Ignorance towards history can lead to the perpetuation of terrible atrocities, while knowledge and memory can help prevent such tragedies from happening again,” observed Karen Agaronyan, post-doctoral associate at Yale University/Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
, April 2023
Frontline Therapists offers mental health services in border villages of Armenia
Frontline Therapists, a nonprofit created in the wake of the 2020 Artsakh War, is providing sustainable emergency mental health services to areas of need in Armenia. In 2022 alone, Frontline Therapists treated 83 individuals and hosted 30 psychological training workshops across seven cities in Armenia, reaching a total of more than 700 individuals through various events. With ongoing continued aggression and acts of violence taking place against Armenia, these services continue to be of the utmost importance.
Frontline Therapists has established a newly-developed partnership with the Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation to launch its 2023 Armenian Border Population Mental Health Research Initiative. This project is focused on understanding the mental health and safety aspects of border villages as well as providing mental health treatment to these areas that are now impacted by conflict.
The project goals are:
- To assess the mental health, social and physical needs of border villages that are now in conflict zones
- To understand what safety and security risks may have developed since the September 2020 attacks
- To provide various treatments including group therapy, psycho-education and psychological first aid training
- To develop sustainable programs and treatment models that will improve the overall mental state of bordering villages
This six-month project, focusing on four regions, will improve the livelihood of border villages that have been in conflict areas due to the Azeri aggression. The first phase of the project just concluded; the Frontline team conducted its initial mental health assessments in each village. The participants all expressed their gratitude and the need for such support and are eager to continue their collaboration with the organization as Frontline Therapists make repeated visits to conduct mental health interventions and psychoeducation.
The leader of the Yeraskh village shared his gratitude for Frontline’s support. As a village situated right on the border of Azerbaijan, Yerasskh sees a great need for mental health support. The village is often overlooked and is sorely lacking the resources necessary for the residents to thrive. By providing mental health services, the local government is hopeful that more attention is directed toward this area which will hopefully increase support, needed resources and overall improve the well-being of the citizens.
This project is allowing Frontline Therapists to understand how to effectively customize mental health support and modes of therapy to best meet their needs for physical safety and positive well-being. Frontline Therapists plan to use the project outcomes in powerful ways by partnering with other NGOs who are pursuing legal action against Azerbaijan for war crimes and human rights violations.
Asbarez: Beatrice Euljekjian, Mother of Lebanese-Armenian POW, Passes Away
Beatrice Euljekjian with her granddaughter
BY JASMINE SEYMOUR
Special to Asbarez
Beatrice Euljekjian, the mother Lebanese-Armenian prisoner of war Vicken Euljekjian, who has been held in an Azerbaijani prison in Baku since 2020, passed away on April 21 in Lebanon after suffering a heart attack.
On Thursday, April 21, at around 5:04 a.m. London time, I noticed a missed called from Vicken’s wife, Linda Euljekjian. At 5:18 a.m. there was a message: “Vicken’s mother passed away.”
Only hours before, on Thursday afternoon and evening, we had spoken on the phone, therefore this tragic news was totally unexpected. That morning a Red Cross official had visited their small family apartment outside Beirut, where Linda lives with her daughter Christine and her mother-in-law Beatrice.
The Red Cross staff usually deliver letters from Vicken and take back letters from family members back to him. This is the only permitted communication avenue with the external world for all Armenian captives being unlawfully held in Azerbaijan. No visitors, including foreign diplomats, lawyers, or clergy are allowed to visit them.
Armenian POW Vicken Euljekjian is seen in an Azerbaijani court in June, 2021 (Trend.az photo)
“We are all dead, we have stopped eating or sleeping or living, all we want is for Vicken to return home soon,” Linda, who has been married to Vicken since 2000, said.
The clearing process for each letter from the POWs takes up to several weeks if not months, to be translated from Armenian and scrutinized by the Azerbaijani authorities before being released to the families. While letters are left with families, the pre-recorded videos of the captives are shown only on Red Cross staff mobile devices. No photo or video is entrusted to the families.
On the morning of April 21, a Red Cross staff member showed a routine video recording from Vicken.
Beatrice Euljekjian and her husband, Apraham
“He looks like an 85-year-old man, he is unrecognizable,” a tearful Linda told me. “It breaks our hearts to see him in this state. His mom has been in complete shock to see that her son has changed so much.”
Hours later Vicken’s mother, Digin Beatrice, passed away.
After watching Vicken’s latest video from prison, Linda and Beatrice became extremely concerned about his health. Vicken’s 20-year-old daughter Christine was at work and missed the Red Cross visit. The only two letters brought by Red Cross from Vicken were addressed to his wife and his son.
“Why doesn’t he write to me anymore?” Beatrice kept asking anxiously. Yet what was even more upsetting for her, was to see Vicken look twice his age within two and half years in Azerbaijani captivity.
Beatrice Euljekjian died of heart attack hours after seeing her son’s video. She left this world in grief, in despair, unable to help her son who has been imprisoned unlawfully in an unknown country. All she knew was that Azerbaijan had attacked Artsakh and Armenia.
Her funeral took place in the Holy Savior Armenian Catholic Church in the Bourdj Hammoud neighborhood of Beirut, where she was married and where her children and grandchildren were baptized.
Christine Euljekjian at the Bourdj Hamoud cemetery after the death of her grandmother
In 2018, Vicken, her youngest son had decided to move to Armenia, where he had received his Armenian passport and was promised an apartment in Shushi by the Diaspora High Commission. He was eager to settle down and take his children to Armenia in hopes of providing them a better future in his homeland. But after the Azerbaijani military aggression on September 27, 2020, his dreams and plans were shattered forever.
Beatrice Euljekjian (Jamkochian), was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1950, to a family of Armenian Genocide survivors who miraculously escaped the massacres in their hometown of Aintab, once part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
At the age of 19, Beatrice had married Abraham Euljekjian from Beirut with whom she had four sons, Vicken being the youngest.
“Vicken had a special place in our mother’s heart,” said Sako, Vicken’s older brother. “Not only because he was the youngest, but he was a miracle baby, the only survivor of the twins that my mother gave birth to.”
The tragedy of the situation of the Armenian POWs is equally tragic for their families, who suffer every day waiting for their loved ones return.
Vicken’s daughter, 20-year-old Christine, had been forced to abandon her education to work 14-hour shifts every day to pay the rent and support her family Lebanese economic collapse and crisis persist. Now, she has also lost her biggest support—her Nene— her rock, who always made her laugh.
“I have always lived with her. She was a mountain of strength, I have always dreaded this moment, but now it has come at the worst time of our lives,” Christine told me.
Christine was only 17 when she started campaigning for her father’s release over two and a half year ago. With the unlawful capture of her father by Azerbaijani soldiers near Shushi on November 10, 2020, Christine suddenly lost her childhood and prematurely became an adult.
It is hard to find any words to ease the pain of this family caught in this lamentable hostage crisis, however, I am reminding them that they are among the “lucky ones.” Thousands of young Armenian servicemen have lost their lives, that hundreds of Armenian captives were brutally murdered in captivity, while 300 more are still missing since the 2020 Artsakh War.
For centuries Armenian mothers, like Beatrice Euljekjian, have been the paragons of fortitude, raising their children with the Armenian language, cultural identity and patriotism in Lebanon and across Armenian diaspora communities. Therefore, the fight of this resilient mother must be continued until her son, a civilian hostage captured after the November 9, 2020 ceasefire agreement, is released from the Azerbaijani hell. Vicken continues to claim his innocence and denies all charges brought against him during a sham trial in a Baku court that has sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment in one of the most notorious prisons in the world.
Who is the brave leader or the valiant knight to bring back innocent Armenian hostages to their grieving families? I am calling on ALL leaders of international organizations, religious leaders and progressive countries: PLEASE SAVE THE LIVES OF INNOCENT ARMENIAN CAPTIVES AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Jasmine Seymour is an activist who established the British Armenian Group, which focuses on campaigning for the release of Armenian prisoners of war currently being held captive in Azerbaijan. The organization has been circulating a petition on change.org and is urging the public to sign the plea to release Armenian POWs.
RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/26/2023
Wednesday,
Armenia Tests Passenger Flight To Syunik
Armenia - An L-410 aircraft operating a test flight successfully lands at Syunik
Airport in Kapan, .
The first passenger flight in decades from the Armenian capital of Yerevan to
the town of Kapan in the country’s southern Syunik province was operated on
Wednesday, Armenia’s civil aviation authorities said.
The Civil Aviation Committee said an Armenia-registered L-410 passenger plane
(made in the Czech Republic) successfully landed at Kapan’s Syunik Airport at
10:58 am local time after a 48-minute flight from Yerevan’s International
Zvartnots Airport.
The flight on the plane designed for 19 passengers took place in a test mode, it
added.
“This is a truly historic flight – the first passenger flight to the Kapan
airport since the 1990s, barring one private flight made in 2017,” the Civil
Aviation Committee said.
The body did not say when regular commercial passenger flights between Yerevan
and Kapan will become available.
Kapan’s Syunik Airport has been renovated in accordance with international
standards and certified by the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia in 2020.
Kapan is situated some 190 kilometers to the southeast of capital Yerevan not
far from the border with Azerbaijan. The runway of its airport stretches along
the border and at one point is situated less than a hundred meters from it.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for
decades. Tensions along their restive border have persisted despite a
Russia-brokered ceasefire that stopped a deadly six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani
war in 2020.
Pashinian, Putin Discuss Situation In Nagorno-Karabakh
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, December 27, 2022.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the situation in
Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin reported
by his office on Wednesday.
The phone call came three days after Azerbaijan installed a checkpoint at the
entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Armenia with
Nagorno-Karabakh, thus tightening an effective blockade around the mostly
Armenian-populated region where Russia deployed its peacekeepers after brokering
a ceasefire in a 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
According to an official statement released by the Armenian prime minister’s
office, issues “related to the Lachin corridor and the humanitarian situation in
Nagorno-Karabakh” were discussed during the phone call.
The Kremlin also reported the phone call, saying that the two leaders discussed
“the developments around Nagorno-Karabakh with an emphasis on solving practical
tasks to ensure stability and security in the region.”
“In the context of the current tensions in the Lachin corridor, the importance
of strict compliance with the entire range of fundamental agreements between the
leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan was reaffirmed,” the Russian
president’s office said, adding that the two leaders agreed that
Russian-Armenian contacts would continue “at various levels.”
The phone call between Pashinian and Putin came amid reports about the
replacement by Moscow of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping force in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to sources in Stepanakert, Colonel-General Alexander Lentsov, who has
served as an advisor to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, had already
arrived in the region to replace Major-General Andrey Volkov as the commander of
the peacekeeping contingent.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the appointment of Lentsov later on
Wednesday.
Representatives of ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh do not
conceal in their public remarks that they expect Russia to take more active
steps in unblocking the road to relieve the humanitarian situation in the region
that has already seen restricted supplies since December when a group of
Azerbaijanis calling themselves environmental activists blocked the road at a
junction not far from Stepanakert.
According to Stepanakert, Russian peacekeepers managed to bring some
humanitarian goods to the region late on Tuesday for the first time in nearly
three days of a complete blockade.
Yerevan and Stepanakert insist that the installation by Azerbaijan of a
checkpoint on the Lachin corridor contradicts the terms of the Moscow-brokered
ceasefire agreement that designates the five-kilometer-wide strip of land
connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia as an area of Russian peacekeepers’
responsibility and control.
Official Moscow has also described “unilateral steps” in the Lachin corridor as
“unacceptable.”
The United States and France, which along with Russia have spearheaded
decades-long efforts to broker a solution to the protracted conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh, have voiced their concerns about the developments in the
Lachin corridor, saying that an Azerbaijani checkpoint there undermines efforts
to establish confidence and damages the peace process between Baku and Yerevan.
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep
Borrell also assessed Azerbaijan’s installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin
corridor as an act “contrary to the EU’s call to reduce tensions.”
Incidentally, Prime Minister Pashinian on Wednesday also held a phone call with
President of the European Council Charles Michel.
His office said that “the sides exchanged thoughts on the military-political and
humanitarian situation in the region.”
Pashinian reportedly charged that Azerbaijan’s steps in the Lachin corridor are
aimed “at the consistent implementation of its policy of ethnic cleansing in
Nagorno-Karabakh and complete eviction of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.”
An official statement by the Armenian premier’s office said that “the sides also
exchanged thoughts on the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation process” and
“highlighted the importance of consistent efforts aimed at ensuring stability
and peace in the region.”
Azerbaijan brushes aside accusations from the Armenian side, insisting that when
installing the border checkpoint, it acted on its sovereign territory. Baku has
also pledged that “necessary conditions” would be created for “a transparent and
orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan” in both directions.
Karabakh Expects ‘Active Steps’ From Russia Over Azeri Checkpoint
• Lusine Musayelian
Colonel-General Alexander Lentsov is said to have been appointed new commander
of the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh (file photo).
De facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh expect Russia to take “active steps” in
settling the latest tensions with Azerbaijan over its checkpoint in the Lachin
corridor amid Moscow’s plans to replace the commander of its peacekeeping force
deployed in the mostly Armenian-populated region.
Citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, media in Armenia and Russia
suggested on April 25 that Colonel-General Alexander Lentsov, an advisor to
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, is a new replacement for Major-General Andrey
Volkov, who had reportedly left his post in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazarian did not deny the
reports when he talked to Armenia’s public television on Tuesday evening.
The reported change is taking place amid increased tensions along the only road
linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, known as the Lachin corridor, after
Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint at its entrance on the border with Armenia.
The move tightened the already existing effective Azerbaijani blockade of the
region where Russia deployed its peacekeepers after brokering a ceasefire to
stop a deadly six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani war in November 2020.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s official would not speculate on whether the replacement of
Volkov, who was appointed to the position just over a year ago, was due to the
situation in the Lachin corridor, but instead laid out Stepanakert’s
expectations from the Russian side.
“I still don’t know whether the new appointment is official or not, but the
Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh - ed.] side expects active steps from the Russian
side,” Ghazarian said.
He said that Stepanakert first of all wanted to find out what were the “red
lines” of the Russian side in its relations with Baku.
So far, the Russian peacekeeping force has not given any official explanations
as to why it did not prevent Azerbaijan from deploying military vehicles and
construction machinery to close the Hakari river bridge, which is considered to
be a zone of Russian peacekeepers’ control under the terms of the 2020 ceasefire.
“We see that the Azerbaijani side is pushing the so-called red lines [in its
relations] with the Russian peacekeepers. At the same time, representatives of
various circles on the Russian side say that their attention is focused on
another direction [Ukraine], and the Azerbaijani side is taking advantage of it.
Now we want to understand if there is any boundary to, let’s say, the Russian
side’s patience in this regard,” Nagorno-Karabakh’s diplomat said.
Ghazarian stressed that ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh during the
44-day war in 2020 returned to the region after seeing the deployment of Russian
peacekeepers there. “But now they have found themselves in the status of a
hostage,” he said.
If appointed, Colonel-General Lentsov, who served as deputy commander-in-chief
of Russia’s Ground Forces until 2020 and has an experience of participating in
Russia’s military operation in Syria, will become the fourth commander of the
Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh appointed in the last two and a
half years.
Samvel Babayan, a former Karabakh army commander, confirmed to RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service that Lentsov was already in the region. He said the 66-year-old general
was expected to start negotiations over the Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin
corridor later on Wednesday.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Azerbaijani checkpoint in Lachin Corridor is gross violation of 2020 statement – Pashinyan
11:19,
YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani checkpoint installed in the Lachin Corridor is a gross violation of clause 6 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the April 27 Cabinet meeting.
“Azerbaijan is continuously escalating the situation in the region, this time by installing a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor linking Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia. And if so far the Lachin Corridor was closed under the pretext of an environmental campaign, now it is already officially closed by Azerbaijan. This provocative step is aimed at not only increasing the tension in the region but also worsening the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh,” Pashinyan said.
The Armenian Prime Minister noted that this time the international community has given a clear assessment to Azerbaijan’s actions.
PM Pashinyan said the true and far-reaching goal of these actions, as well as preceding actions, is to perpetrate ethnic cleansing and genocide of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh.
“The next issue which gets worse with the installation of the checkpoint in Lachin Corridor is the following, to what extent does Azerbaijan feel obliged to fulfill its internationally assumed obligations? The installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor is a gross violation of clause 6 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement. Azerbaijan has been violating basically every single clause of the statement ever since it was signed,” Pashinyan said.
Armenpress: PACE co-rapporteurs call for restoration of freedom of movement along Lachin corridor
10:17,
YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Ian Liddell-Granger (United Kingdom, EC/DA) and Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC), and the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland, SOC) and Boriana Åberg (Sweden, EPP/CD), have made the following statement:
“We renew our call for the restoration of freedom of movement along the Lachin corridor issued on 16 December 2022, and we recall the decision of the European Court of Human Rights of 21 December 2022 under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, and the order made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 22 February 2023; the latter indicating that “Azerbaijan shall […] take all measures at its disposal to ensure the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both directions. We take note that Armenia has indicated that it will appeal to the ICJ concerning the installation, on 23 April, of a checkpoint along the Lachin corridor. We urge Azerbaijan and Armenia to refrain from any unilateral steps that could further complicate the negotiation efforts supported by the EU at the highest level and through the presence of the EU Mission in Armenia. We call for an intensification of negotiations on border issues and the settlement of all disputes by peaceful means.”
PACE rapporteur Paul Gavan (Ireland, UEL) has also sought access to the Lachin corridor to see at first hand the situation on the ground.
No one other than Russia should have control in Lachin Corridor – PM Pashinyan
11:27,
YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. Russia must keep control of Lachin Corridor and ensure normal functioning of the corridor, PM Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting, speaking about the illegal installation of a checkpoint by Azerbaijan.
Presenting Armenia’s vision for a general resolution of the situation, the PM said: “The Russian peacekeeping contingent must keep the Lachin Corridor under control and thus ensure its normal functioning. Meaning, no one other than Russia should carry out control in the Lachin Corridor. And Azerbaijan must not impede free traffic along the corridor. This is precisely what is enshrined in the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement.
He added that the rights and security of the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh must become subject of negotiations between Stepanakert and Baku in an international format.
Possible peace treaty with Azerbaijan must include mechanisms ruling out escalations, says Armenian Prime Minister
11:36,
YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. A possible peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan must clearly stipulate the terms of the delimitation and also clear mechanisms for ruling out any escalation, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on April 27.
“The possible peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan must obviously have guarantees for implementation and a clear and functioning system for mechanisms of resolving disputes. The terms of border delimitation must be clearly stipulated, and clear mechanisms for ruling out any escalation must be introduced,” PM Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting.
He added that not allowing a further escalation and achieving comprehensive settlement requires concrete and sincere efforts by the Armenian side and the international community. Pashinyan said that Armenia will continue all possible efforts in this direction.
PM Pashinyan again calls for urgent international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor
11:29,
YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has again called for an urgent deployment of an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh amid the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor.
Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, PM Pashinyan said that the need for a broader international presence in Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor is becoming more pressing every day.
“Azerbaijan’s efforts for turning Nagorno Karabakh into a new [execution site] of Armenians must be stopped. And the only reliable way for doing so is the presence of representatives with broad international mandate in Nagorno Karabakh. As a first step, it is necessary to deploy an urgent international fact-finding mission to Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh,” Pashinyan said.