Month: April 2016

The main objective of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs is to ensure the prevention of reoccurrence of military actions, Russian Co-Chair Igor Popov told a press conference in Yerevan. According to him, they have no mandate to investigate who started the recent hostilities.

Popov said one of the most important issues today is the return of the bodies of the killed soldiers, and the ICRC, as well as Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk’s team are engaged in the search works.

Referring to the issue on the negotiating table and the so called “Lavrov initiatives,” Popov said “it has been mentioned on many occasions that there is no new document on the table.” “There are proposal of the Co-Chairs, which have been discussed over the past few years. They are based on three principles and six elements,” Popov said.

“These principles include non-use of force, the right of peoples to self-determination and territorial integrity. As for the elements, the two most important ones are related to the determination of the status of Nagorno Karabakh and the return of territories. Other elements are related to return of refugees, determination of the width of the corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh and peacekeeping mission,” the Russian Co-Chair said.

Popov added, however, that the issue of peacekeepers should be discussed at the final stage, after the conclusion of a peace deal.

Asked about the atrocities committed by the Azerbaijani side against the civilian population, the brutal killings and even beheadings, US Co-Chair James Warlick said: “We’re deeply distressed by the reports of human right violations, with the photos and videos we’ve seen. We’ve asked our partners at the ICRC to investigate what happened exactly. We’re deeply troubled by any human right violation.”

As for the perspectives of Nagorno Karabakh’s return to the negotiating table, Popov said “we’ve said on many occasions that Karabakh should return to talks at a certain stage. “Conclusion of a framework agreement preceding the preparation of a peace deal could be a starting point,” he added.

French Co-Chair Pierre Andrieu said they’re not authorized to investigate who’s responsible for the resumption of military actions. “What’s important for us is to ensure that the agreement on ceasefire reached in Moscow is maintained as long as possible, and to resume the political negotiations,” he added.

As for Turkey’s biased attitude, its support for Azerbaijan, and the possibility of the country’s exclusion from the Minsk Group, Warlick said “no changes in the Minsk Group are expected.” “As you know we met in Vienna for the first time in years and adopted a strong statement. Turkey joined this statement and endorsed it. We’re looking forward to working with all Minsk Group members, including Turkey,” he concluded.

On April 9, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian received OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick, Pierre Andrieu and Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

The Co-Chairs informed Foreign Minister of Armenia about the meetings they had with the authorities of Artsakh in Stepanakert and the leadership of Azerbaijan in Baku.

Regarding yet another aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan which resulted in numerous human losses, Edward Nalbandian said, “It is clear to everyone that this offensive was pre-planned and prepared well in advance. Baku used against Nagorno-Karabakh its entire offensive military arsenal, acquired over recent years. We had on numerous occasions warned the international community, the Co-Chair countries on what happened. We had alerted that the absence of reaction to the threat of use of force by Baku would result in what we have witnessed these days.”

Edward Nalbandian stressed, that the large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan have seriously damaged the negotiation process of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. According to the Minister, urgent steps are required for the stabilization of the situation. The interlocutors exchanged thoughts on the efforts exerted in this direction.

President Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan at the initiative of the latter.

Th hour-long meeting was dedicated to the recent development along the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, the expected developments in the negotiation process on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the need for national unity against that challenge.

The meeting took place at Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s home.

All hostilities will be ceased along the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan between 3 to 8 p.m. Yerevan time, Spokesman for the NKR Defense Army Senor Hasratyan told Public Radio of Armenia.

The silence will allow the parties to recover the bodies of the killed soldiers.

The search for the bodies will be carried out with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Russia will continue delivering weapons to Azerbaijan as its strategic partner under existing contracts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday, TASS.

The Russian vice-premier thus commented on a journalists’ request to comment on a statement by the Armenian President that Russia had supplied a large amount of weapons to Azerbaijan and specify if Russia planned to continue these deliveries.

“Everything is done in compliance with the contracts. Both countries [Armenia and Azerbaijan] are our strategic partners,” Rogozin said.

Henrikh Mkhitrayan wore an Armenian armband during Borussia Dortmund’s Europa League match against Liverpool.

“Played plenty of thoughts for my motherland tonight ‪#‎Armenia,” Henrikh wrote on social media after the match.

Liverpool held Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinal as Jurgen Klopp made an emotional return to Signal Iduna Park.

Divock Origi opened the scoring for Liverpool. The hosts’ equalizer came within three minutes of the restart when Mats Hummels was allowed a free run at Mkhitaryan’s right-wing cross to power a header past Mignolet.

Another Azerbaijani attacking drone was shot down in Artsakh at about 23:00 yesterday, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) Board Tigran Sarkissian.

The President expressed concern with the destructive approaches of the some of the EEU partners and underscored that Armenia’s approaches have not changed and that our country will continue to undertake constructive steps emanating from our economic interests and aimed at the development of the Union.

The interlocutors discussed also issues related to the priorities of the EEU development, exchanged views on the economic relations with third countries and integration unions.

It’s impossible to demand solutions from the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia’s Permanent Represnetative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich has said, RIA Novosti reports.

According to him, it’s up to Yerevan and Baku to make decisions on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

“It’s necessary to understand that the Minsk Group was created as a mechanism to help the parties reach agreements. It’s impossible to demand solutions from the Minsk Group without the conflicting parties reaching agreements,” Lukashevich said.

“Ultimately, everything should be decided by Yerevan and Baku, and everyone, including the OSCE, is trying to help the parties,” he said.

Iran hopes that ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh will allow to start negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusma.

“We are very happy to see an end to hostilities right now and cessation of hostilities or a ceasefire,” Zarif said. “We hope this would be the prelude to serious negotiations in order to resolve this issue. Our region requires cooperation between everybody,” he added.

“We believe Armenia as a neighbor and Azerbaijan as a close friend of Iran need to have good relations and we hope, we support all efforts aimed at resolving this problem,” the foreign minister noted.

He reminded that after the most recent outbreak of hostilities Iranian President Hassan Rouhani “called both presidents calling for an end to hostilities.”