Saturday, December 19, 2020 Armenia Mourns Karabakh War Dead December 19, 2020 ARMENIA -- Relatives of soldiers killed during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh stand near graves at the Yerablur Military Cemetery in Yerevan, November 12, 2020 Armenia began on Saturday an official three-day mourning period for thousands of Armenian soldiers and several dozen civilians killed during the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire. All flags on public buildings across the country were lowered to half-mast and memorial services will be held in all Armenian churches on Sunday to pay tribute to victims of the six-week war during which the Armenian side suffered massive territorial losses in and around Karabakh. Thousands of people led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian marched to the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan where many of the Armenian soldiers killed during the hostilities were buried. In a televised address to the nation aired earlier in the day, Pashinian urged Armenians to join the procession and demonstrate that “we are going to live on” despite the “severe consequences” of the war. Thousands of other Armenians walked to Yerablur late on Friday. The march was organized by a coalition of opposition parties that blame Pashinian for Azerbaijan’s victory and demand his resignation. The precise number of Armenian and Karabakh Armenian soldiers killed in action remains unknown. The Armenian Ministry of Health confirmed earlier this month over 2,800 combat deaths. Hundreds of other Armenian soldiers remain unaccounted for more than one month after Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered the Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire agreement. Armenian and Karabakh rescue have been looking for them or their remains in various areas seized by the Azerbaijani army. Russian peacekeepers and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross are also involved in the effort. A Karabakh official said on Friday that the bodies of 969 Armenians have been recovered since November 13. According to the Ministry of Health, only about 300 of them have so far been identified through DNA tests conducted in Yerevan. Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian emerges from the main govenment building in Yerevan to lead a procession to the Yerablur Military Pantheon, December 19, 2020. In his televised remarks, Pashinian reiterated that he accepts, in his capacity as prime minister, “full responsibility” for the Armenian side’s defeat and resulting heavy casualties. At the same time, he sought to deflect blame at Armenia’s former leaders. “We need a more in-depth analysis of the reality because what happened could not have been the consequence of mistakes committed by one or several persons or over several years,” he said. “We need to … admit that we made mistakes for many years and our mistakes were of systemic, conceptual and substantive character.” All three former presidents who had ruled Armenia since independence have strongly condemned Pashinian’s handling of the war. One of them, Robert Kocharian, has said that Pashinian’s government made the hostilities inevitable with reckless diplomacy and miscalculations of Armenia’s military potential and needs. The Armenian opposition also blames Pashinian for the outcome of the war. Virtually all opposition groups want him to resign and hand over power to an interim government that would hold snap parliamentary elections within a year. The opposition demands have been backed by President Armen Sarkissian, the Armenian Apostolic Church and many prominent public figures. The prime minister again made clear on Saturday that he has no intention to step down and will not bow to the pressure from “elite circles.” There were chaotic scenes at Yerablur when the crowd led by Pashinian, his close political associates and security detail reached the military pantheon in the afternoon. It was confronted by several hundred angry protesters chanting “Nikol traitor!” and trying to stop Pashinian from laying flowers at soldiers’ graves. “Nikol prime minister!” shouted back some Pashinian loyalists. Riot police pushed back the protesters. They also intervened to stop scuffles that broke out between some protesters and Pashinian backers. Opposition leaders claimed ahead of the ceremony that the embattled premier will turn it into a pro-government rally as part of his efforts to hold on to power in the aftermath of the war. Pashinian denied any political motives behind the “mourning march” to Yerablur. Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Month: December 2020
Armenian protesters force PM to curtail mourning trip
Guardian, Nigeria
Dec 21 2020
Demonstrators in Armenia blocked roads on Monday and forced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to cut short an official visit, as anger in the country grows over a contentious peace deal with Azerbijan.
Pashinyan has come under pressure from the opposition to resign after agreeing to the peace accord with Azerbaijan that saw Armenia cede swathes of disputed territory after a brief conflict.
Six weeks of fighting between the ex-Soviet countries for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region erupted in late September and left more than 5,000 people dead.
Government critics say that new border demarcations in the south of the country are being drawn at the expense of Armenia’s national security — a claim Pashinyan has denied.
The prime minister on Monday was travelling to the south of Armenia on the final day of a three-day national mourning period.
He said he did not want to resort to force to continue his journey after protesters blocked roads to prevent him from travelling.
“I am returning to Yerevan,” he wrote on Facebook, referring to the Armenian capital.
Pashinyan, 45, met with residents of the southern town of Sisian but protesters barred him from travelling to Goris and other towns.
Goris mayor Arushan Arushanyan had called on protesters to bar Pashinyan from entering the southern Syunik region.
Arushanyan was later detained by police, a representative told AFP, in an incident the mayor’s lawyer described as “an abduction”.
A spokeswoman for the national Investigative Committee told AFP that investigators had opened several criminal probes.
Clashes over Karabakh ended in November with the Moscow-brokered peace agreement that saw Azerbaijan with Turkey’s military and political backing make decisive gains in the disputed territory.
The opposition has branded Pashinyan a traitor for agreeing to end the war on Azerbaijan’s terms and has insisted that he stand down.
Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan during a war over the mountainous province in the 1990s that left tens of thousands dead.
Pashinyan asked to leave church in Sisan (PHOTOS)
Vestnik Kavkaza
Dec 21 2020
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Sisian within the framework of his visit to Syunik Province, and he visited the Sisian municipal pantheon where he paid tribute to the victims.
After visiting the Sisian pantheon, the PM entered the town church to light a candle, and his bodyguards followed him.
After lighting a candle, Nikol Pashinyan approached the church clergyman, tried to shake his hand, but the clergyman demonstratively refused to shake his hand and asked him to leave. Pashinyan left the church without objection.
Ever since early Monday morning, many residents of Goris have tried to block the road entering Syunik at the Zanger section, but a large number of police forces have blocked their road and not allowed them to reach Zanger.
Pashinyan is accompanied by a large number of bodyguards in military uniform, and they are holding armored suitcases which the public saw for the first time during his recent march to Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan.
As reported earlier, from the night, 2,000 officers from the police troops moved to the Syunik gates near Zanger where the people of Syunik were to carry out their protest against Pashinyan’s visit to the province.
Confusion over border with Azerbaijan worries residents of southern Armenia
EurasiaNet.org
Dec 21 2020
Russia delivers new batch of humanitarian assistance to Artsakh
TASS, Russia
Dec 20 2020
The cargo has been delivered to Stepanakert, the de-facto capital of the unrecognized republic. Later the aid will be distributed among the neighborhoods
MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry delivered another batch of humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh by rail, the ministry’s press service told TASS on Sunday.
"On December 19, specialists of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s joint grouping unloaded 17 rail cars with Russia’s humanitarian assistance. This is 300 cubic meters of lumber and a platform with a truck-mounted crane," the press service said.
The cargo has been delivered to Stepanakert, the de-facto capital of the unrecognized republic. Later the aid will be distributed among the neighborhoods.
This is the second part of the humanitarian assistance delivered by the Russian Emergencies Ministry by rail. So far, nine out of 54 train cars have arrived.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed. The Russian rescuers arrived in the region on November 16.
Opportunity for durable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be seized
EurActiv
Dec 21 2020
DISCLAIMER: All opinions in this column reflect the views of the author(s), not of EURACTIV Media network.
There are already signs for the potential transformation of the conflictual environment around Nagorno-Karabakh into one of cooperation and joint projects, writes Vasif Huseynov.
Vasif Huseynov is a senior adviser at the Center of Analysis of International Relations of Azerbaijan.
The collapse of the Soviet Union restored the independent statehood of the three countries in the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, but it took away the largely peaceful relations between or within them.
The region succumbed to extraordinary violence and dangerous instability thanks to often externally-guided separatist initiatives and irredentist policies.
Although the bloodshed was curtailed in Georgia following its 2008 war with Russia, it persisted in the southern part of the region due to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over the occupied territories of the latter.
The conflict has been truly a handcuff for fully-fledged regional cooperation, dramatically increasing the costs of regional transportation and energy routes, and as such also alienating the two people increasingly more against each other.
The recent 44-day war (27 September- 10 November 2020) between Armenia and Azerbaijan has, in a certain sense, generated a unique chance for the restoration of peace between the two nations, who had lived peacefully in the past and continue to live so in other parts of the world where they are settled.
There are several reasons why the post-war situation in the region can be deemed as conducive to lasting peace and security.
First and foremost, the war did not end with a maximalist victory or total defeat of one side against the other. This was a potential scenario before the ceasefire as acknowledged by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan who declared that Armenia “would be in a worse situation”, if the war did not end on 10 November.
Notably, in contrast to the calls of some nationalist groups, the Azerbaijani government demonstrated restraint and stopped the war immediately after Armenia agreed to withdraw its armed forces, as President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan suggested from the very beginning of the war.
According to the ceasefire document signed on 10 November through the mediation of Russia, Armenians will continue to live in the territories of Karabakh and will be even provided with a corridor to maintain free communication with Armenia.
Azerbaijan has also agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the Karabakh region who safeguard the ceasefire regime.
In stark contrast to the fate of ethnic Azerbaijanis of the Karabakh region who were forcefully expelled by Armenian forces after the war in 1990s and never allowed to return, Armenians are living in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and Baku expressed the intention to accommodate them as citizens with rights and privileges just as all other minorities in the country such as Jews, Russians, Kurds and others.
Secondly, the Azerbaijani government has stated officially that it considers the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as resolved. “We have entered the process of the restoration of peaceful coexistence stage in the resolution of the conflict”, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayromov announced in late November.
The consideration of the conflict as resolved without a total victory is extremely important to reach a peace treaty as it leaves room for reconcilation between the governments, and also between the people of the two countries.
There are already signs for the potential transformation of the conflictual environment into one of cooperation and joint projects. This is noteworthy that such messages are given by both sides.
For example, Armenia’s newly appointed minister of economy, talking about the long-term possibilities for regional cooperation, did not rule out the establishment of trade relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
For the Azerbaijani government, there is a good opportunity to launch a larger cooperation platform including the countries of the South Caucasus and the countries neighbouring the region, namely Russia, Iran and Turkey.
Stating that he had already discussed the issue with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, President Aliyev said, in the press conference with his Turkish counterpart on 10 December in Baku, that “If the Armenian leadership draws the right conclusions from the war, renounces its unfounded claims and looks ahead, then they can also take a place on this platform. We are open to this… We must turn this page over, we must end the enmity.”
President Erdoğan did likewise support the initiative saying that this was supported also by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. He made clear that the platform would include infrastructure, political, diplomatic and many other issues.
Babken Tunyan, the head of an Armenian parliament committee on economic issues from the parliamentary majority My Step alliance, did not rule out Armenia’s participation in the platform, noting that “If participation in any platform corresponds to [Armenia’s] interests, then it should participate”.
The peace messages from the conflicting sides and external stakeholders raises a hope that it can be eventually possible for the “Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict” to become as a matter of the past, as President Aliyev stated.
This all creates a new situation that should not be taken granted by anyone who is interested in building peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and ending the longstanding hostilities often accompanied by violence.
Why It’s Time For Cool Heads In The Caucasus – OpEd
Eurasia Review
Dec 21 2020
By Arab News
By Yasar Yakis*
Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered a truce between Azerbaijan and Armenia last month after fierce fighting for 44 days that claimed the lives of about 5,600 civilians and troops on both sides.
No sooner was the cease-fire signed than quarrels started to break out in the former battlefields. The agreement was too general and did not elaborate on the subtleties, which are now surfacing slowly.
Armenians blame Russia for having placed Nagorno Karabakh as an autonomous region within the Azeri territory and cut its territorial link with Armenia. Azerbaijan blames Russia for having helped Armenians settle in the region, changed its ethnic composition.
After the cease-fire, individual breaches were only to be expected. One occurred two weeks ago in two contested villages, Kohne Taglar and Chalakkala, where four Azeri soldiers were killed. Each side accused the other.
Armenian authorities said last week that contact had been lost with a number of military posts, thought to have been captured by Azeri soldiers. The number of Armenian military personnel missing in action is estimated to be between 60 and 160.
Russian observers said there was one breah of the cease-fire, but did not put the blame on either side.
The most important issue by far is of course the ultimate status of Nagorno Karabakh. Armenia’s maximalist position is to proclaim it as an independent state. The strong Armenian diaspora in the EU is actively lobbying to raise this question in the European Parliament. Azerbaijan’s maximalist position is to entirely lift the autonomous status of Nagorno Karabakh and make it a fully integrated part of Azerbaijan. Russia is doing its best to find a fair middle ground between these two maximalist approaches.
Meanwhile the strengthening of Turkish-Azeri ties is a new phenomenon that has to be reckoned with. The practical results of the cooperation may yield other consequences beneficial to both.
Turkish-made armed and unarmed drones that were battle-tested in the Syrian province of Idlib against Assad (and partly against Russian) forces, and in Libya against Khalifa Haftar’s forces, proved to be successful in the latest Azeri-Armenian clashes as well.
This cooperation may need to be further consolidated because of new arms embargoes that may be imposed on Turkey by the EU and the US. Azerbaijan, an oil-rich country, may also be tempted to initiate its own defense industry. This common goal may lead these two friendly countries to cooperate more closely in the field.
An important item for Turkey in the cease-fire agreement was the construction of a road to link the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan proper. Armenia will probably drag its feet to kill the project, because it will also link Turkey to Azerbaijan and from there to the central Asian Turkic republics. This scenario irks many nations in the region except peoples of ethnic Turkic stock. Russia supports this project as a counter-weight for the Lachin corridor that links Karabakh to Armenia.
An agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan reciprocallys lift the obligation for Turks and Azeris to carry passport when they visit each other’s countries, in addition to the visa exemption that had entered into force on Sept 1, 2019. This mesure, coupled with the construction of the road, will boost Turkey’s relations with Azerbaijan.
Another outcome of the Turkish-Azeri cooperation is the prospective Turkish contribution to postwar reconstruction. Azeri president İlham Aliev said Azerbaijan agreed with the Turkish construction companies for the reconstruction of Karabagh. This is a job opportunity worth tens of billions of dollars.
To conclude, Armenia is surrounded by countries with whom it has problems. Despite several laudable merits of its people, it cannot indefinitely rely on other countries to solve them. No matter how supportive they may be, foreign countries will lend support only to the extent that their own national interests match those of Armenia.
Turkey, in turn, also has problems with many of its neighbors. Azerbaijan is luckier. It is doing nothing but trying to preserve sovereignty over its territories.
The wisest policy in these circumstances would be for these three countries to put aside the past that they cannot change and work out a forward-looking strategy to enjoy the advantages of a stable relationship.
- Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar
UNESCO is awaiting Azerbaijan’s Response regarding Nagorno-Karabakh mission
India Education Diary
Dec 21 2020
In its press release of 20 November, UNESCO reiterated countries’ obligation to protect cultural heritage in terms of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict to which both Armenia and Azerbaijan are parties. The Organization proposed to carry out an independent mission of experts to draw a preliminary inventory of significant cultural properties as a first step towards the effective safeguarding of the region’s heritage.
The proposal received the full support of the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group and the agreement in principle of the representatives of both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Meeting at UNESCO on 10 and 11 December 2020, the members of the intergovernmental Committee of The Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Second Protocol (1999), welcomed this initiative and confirmed the need for a mission to take stock of the situation regarding cultural properties in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. The Committee requested each of the parties to render the mission possible.
Since 20 November, UNESCO made proposals and led in-depth consultations with a view to organizing the mission which, in the terms of the Convention, requires the agreement of both parties.
Ernesto Ottone, Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Cultural, said: “Only the response of Azerbaijan is still awaited for UNESCO to proceed with the sending of a mission to the field. The authorities of Azerbaijan have been approached several times without success so far. Every passing week makes the assessment of the situation concerning cultural property more difficult, not least due to the weather which is expected to become harsher in the coming weeks. The window of opportunity that was opened by the cease fire must not be closed again. The safeguarding of heritage is an important condition for the establishment of lasting peace. We are therefore expecting Baku to respond without delay so that the constructive discussions held over recent weeks can be turned into action.”
Azerbaijan hinders visit of UNESCO mission to Nagorno Karabakh
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 21 2020
UNESCO is awaiting Azerbaijan’s Response regarding Nagorno-Karabakh mission, says Ernesto Ottone, Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Culture.
In its press release of 20 November, UNESCO reiterated countries’ obligation to protect cultural heritage in terms of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict to which both Armenia and Azerbaijan are parties. The Organization proposed to carry out an independent mission of experts to draw a preliminary inventory of significant cultural properties as a first step towards the effective safeguarding of the region’s heritage.
The proposal received the full support of the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group and the agreement in principle of the representatives of both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Meeting at UNESCO on 10 and 11 December 2020, the members of the intergovernmental Committee of The Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Second Protocol (1999), welcomed this initiative and confirmed the need for a mission to take stock of the situation regarding cultural properties in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. The Committee requested each of the parties to render the mission possible.
Since 20 November, UNESCO made proposals and led in-depth consultations with a view to organizing the mission which, in the terms of the Convention, requires the agreement of both parties.
Ernesto Ottone, Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Culture, said: “Only the response of Azerbaijan is still awaited for UNESCO to proceed with the sending of a mission to the field. The authorities of Azerbaijan have been approached several times without success so far. Every passing week makes the assessment of the situation concerning cultural property more difficult, not least due to the weather which is expected to become harsher in the coming weeks. The window of opportunity that was opened by the cease fire must not be closed again. The safeguarding of heritage is an important condition for the establishment of lasting peace. We are therefore expecting Baku to respond without delay so that the constructive discussions held over recent weeks can be turned into action.”
Armenian opposition protests as PM Pashinyan’s mandate slips
Foreign Brief
Dec 22 2020
- In Daily Brief
- December 22, 2020
- Sinan Hanioglu
Armenian opposition groups will hold a protest today in Yerevan.
The demonstration will take place amid severe backlash against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s perceived mishandling of the 44-day conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan. Pashinyan’s signing of a Russian-brokered ceasefire last month returned significant territory to Azerbaijan, triggering mass protests that saw Armenians storm the nation’s parliament, presidential palace and Pashinyan’s private residence.
Despite the PM’s refusal to tender his resignation by the opposition’s Dec. 8 deadline, it is unlikely he will successfully retain his hold on power. Overwhelming public indignation and demands for his departure from all 17 opposition parties make Pashinyan’s political survival highly unlikely. Expect protests to grow in intensity until snap elections are called.
The government’s handling of the conflict’s fallout will also provide insights regarding the state of Armenia’s nascent democratic institutions. Public upheaval can only be overcome through meeting demands for fresh elections that would give the Armenian people the power to chart the country’s response to the national crisis. If the government refuses to hold early parliamentary elections, partisan actors, particularly on the right, could capitalise on mass discontent to threaten democratic rule.
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