Month: December 2020

Evidence of widespread atrocities emerges following Karabakh war

Emil Lazarian
EurasiaNet.org
Dec 9 2020
Ulkar Natiqqizi, Joshua Kucera Dec 9, 2020

Russian peacekeepers search for unexploded ordinance in Nagorno-Karabakh (Russian military handout)

A steady stream of videos depicting shocking atrocities by Azerbaijani soldiers against Armenian civilians and prisoners of war has emerged on social media. 

The videos, shot by soldiers and distributed on various Telegram news channels, depict a wide variety of torture, humiliations and mutilations of corpses. There have been several executions of captives shown, and at least two live beheadings.

The authenticity of most of the videos has yet to be confirmed, and the Azerbaijani government has promised to prosecute all such crimes. In a November 21 statement, the state prosecutor’s office announced it was opening a criminal case to investigate reports of “insulting the bodies of Armenian servicemen killed during the fighting for the liberation of our lands, as well as inhumane treatment of captured Armenian servicemen.”

“The perpetrators of such illegal acts will be identified and brought to justice,” it continued. It added, however, that according to initial investigations “many videos were found to be fake.”

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, Kanan Zeynalov, told Eurasianet on December 8 that the investigations were continuing. “It is too early to say anything today,” Zeynalov said.

International human rights groups also are investigating. Human Rights Watch issued a report on December 2 on humiliations of captured Armenian soldiers, but it has not yet addressed the more serious atrocities. “Extrajudicial executions and despoiling dead are separate war crimes and we are still looking into it. It's complicated, as it's hard to verify the videos,” the organization’s associate director for Europe and Central Asia, Giorgi Gogia, told Eurasianet.

A smaller number of videos have emerged showing apparent Armenian atrocities against Azerbaijanis, including at least one execution. The Armenian authorities have not yet announced any criminal investigations into the reports. Gogia said Human Rights Watch also is investigating reports of Armenian atrocities against Azerbaijanis.

The steady drip of the videos has traumatized Armenians already reeling from their crushing loss in the 44-day war, in which Azerbaijan managed to take back a large part of the territories that it had lost in the last major war between the two sides in the 1990s.

“The videos of atrocities committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces against Armenian servicemen, as well as the mutilation of the bodies and photos circulating on social media, deepen the anxiety of family members [of current prisoners], the anxiety over the return of their relatives,” a group of Armenian civil society groups wrote in a December 3 letter to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

The issue is being hotly discussed in Azerbaijan, especially following the release of the second live beheading video on December 7.

A large number of Azerbaijanis refuse to believe the videos are real and believe they are part of a negative PR campaign.

One prominent political analyst, Arastun Orujlu, wrote on Facebook that “personally, I am convinced that these videos are fake,” part of a Russian-orchestrated campaign to discredit Azerbaijan. "It is an attempt to portray the victorious army of Azerbaijan to the world like a criminal gang. We must do our best to prevent this," he wrote.

Many other Azerbaijanis have been skeptical of the government’s sincerity in its promise to appropriately prosecute the crimes and have demanded accountability in the process.

A group of civil society activists issued a statement calling on Azerbaijani prosecutors “treat the images on social media as a violation of international humanitarian law” while also asking the international community to pressure Armenia to do the same.

“I have never said that the Interior Ministry or the State Security Service should arrest anyone. But this is already a red line,” wrote activist Ilkin Rustamzada on Facebook. “Anyone who films an Armenian being beheaded, or beheads him, should be severely punished. Anyone who puts an ISIS brand on the nation’s war has to be punished.” 

One local NGO, the Baku Human Rights Club, is collecting videos of atrocities from both sides and is working with international partners to help authenticate them. “If [a video] isn’t authentic then we need to know that it’s not authentic,” the group’s chairman, Rasul Jafarov, told Eurasianet. “But if it is real, the prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case, the videos need to be analyzed as part of that criminal case and those found guilty should be brought to justice.”

Given the large number of videos that have emerged, and the fact that soldiers apparently felt comfortable enough to show off the atrocities, some analysts have said that the behavior was at least implicitly condoned by the authorities.

“These are widespread, consistent and systematic war crimes, tolerated or even encouraged by commanders,” wrote Ryan O’Farrell, an independent military analyst who has closely followed open sources on this conflict, on Twitter.

“[B]etween the number of videos, their frequency and the number of participants, it's impossible to not assume that the Azerbaijani state has given its tacit approval to these war crimes. These aren't ‘bad apples.’ This is systematic,” O’Farrell added. “I'll believe otherwise when the Azerbaijani government arrests the hundreds of soldiers who proudly filmed their participation in executions, torture, beheadings and mutilations of civilians and POWs.”

Some Azerbaijani analysts disagree.

“In order to protect the positive image of the country, the perpetrators need to be found and punished,” Fuad Shahbaz, a political and military analyst, told Eurasianet. “Some foreign experts are skeptical, but I think that servicemen who took part in these videos will be punished. It may not be in two days, ten days, 20 days, but I think it will happen.”

Still other Azerbaijanis have cheered the abuse of Armenians. Elvin Basqalli, a news presenter at the Azerbaijani network Space TV, wrote on Facebook that Armenians deserved revenge after crimes against Azerbaijanis, citing the Khojaly massacre of the first Karabakh war and the bombing of civilian targets in Ganja and Barda in this war.

“I appreciate such treatment of Armenians,” Basqalli wrote. “If the Armenians had known at the time that they would be beheaded, they would not have committed such tragedies.” Other Azerbaijanis objected and called for him to be fired from his post, but as of the time this piece was posted he remained in his job.

 

With reporting by Ani Mejlumyan.

Joshua Kucera is the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet, and author of The Bug Pit.

Ulkar Natiqqizi is a reporter based in Baku.

Erdoğan’s atrocities against Christians: Turks chained to fanaticism

Emil Lazarian
Greek City Times
Dec 9 2020
By Guest Blogger


The protesting by the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regime against Greece’s so-called violations of religious freedoms because of the racist slogans written against Turks in the elevator of the apartment building where the Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) pseudo-mufti Ahmet Mete lives in Thrace, goes beyond that.

This is because in contrast to Greece, where the rights of Muslims are fully respected (the mosque that was recently built in Athens was funded by the Greek State), the rights of religious minorities in Turkey are a bad tasting anecdote.

The Turkish Constitution indeed proclaims religious freedom, allowing free conduct of religious ceremonies if they do not turn against the integrity of the State.

But the notion of respect for religious freedom in the Turkish conscience is, in practice, an interpretation of religious tolerance as their Ottoman ancestors once understood – the supremacy of Islam is taken for granted.

In their view, Muslims have primacy and can impose their conditions on non-Muslims, while the use of violence (physical or psychological, direct or indirect) is not excluded, which is why unspeakable savagery often occurs against religious minorities in Turkey.

It is an indisputable historical fact that the non-Muslim element in Turkey has always been under informal persecution, which is why non-Muslims are now only 0.4% of the total Turkish population!

A typical example is the Greek Orthodox community, which during the Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923 numbered 200,000 people, but today is only 1,800 because the Turkish state engaged in a systematic campaign of extermination and expulsion of Greeks for decades. They used heavy taxation, confiscated estates, and banned the teaching of the Greek language.

No one can and should not forget the barbaric and heinous pogrom of September 1955 committed by the Turks, which was the culmination of all the persecutions against the Greek minority.

Even today, however, not much seems to have changed in the Turks policy against religious minorities.

According to the 2019 US Report on Religious Freedom in Turkey, a report that collected data from various organizations (such as the Middle East Concern, International Christian Concern, World Watch Monitor and others), found that Ankara deported Christians, especially Protestants, as well as banned or refused to extend their residence permits in Turkey.

In addition, the Turkish government has serious restrictions on the education of Christian clergy in Turkey, especially since the Theological School of Halki closed in 1971. Instead of reopening the theological school, the government has announced the creation of an Islamic Training Center on the island.

The Turks deliberately ensure that the required legal framework for non-Muslim institutions is not adopted so that their committees cannot hold elections. This is so that over time they lose their ability to manage the property and then the Turkish state can acquire it.

The 2019 Report also includes a large number of reports of vandalism, graffiti and threatening messages against Christians and Jews, as well as posters of religious hatred sweeping the Turks consciousness, especially in the east.

Add to this the desecration of Christian churches, the conversion of world-class Christian monuments into mosques like Hagia Sophia, and the establishment of a completely Islam-oriented education system.

Turks praying in Hagia Sophia.

In light of all the above, the recent invitation of Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül to representatives of non-Muslim religious minorities to meet in Dolmabahçe Palace to discuss their problems can only be considered as a pretext.

He is, after all, the same person who spoke in July about the legal need to change the status of Hagia Sophia and turn it into a mosque… so much respect, that is, to other religions!

With their country a global tail in respect for human rights and in view of the summit of European leaders later this month and the coming of the Democrats in the White House in January, the Turks once again put on their carnival mask.

The carnival marks are not for protection against COVID-19, but to pretend they are advanced and Europeanized in the eyes of the international community, skillfully hiding all their dark middle ages actions.

The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Greek City Times.

Vassilis Skoularakos is a regular contributor to News Bomb.

Elderly Armenian dies in Azerbaijani captivity

Rose Khoyetsian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 9 2020

An elderly Armenian died in Azerbaijani captivity, Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan informs.

The body was handed over to the Armenian side along with the three captives repatriated with mediation of the Russian peacekeepers.

The Ombudsman says the circumstances of the death are still unknown.

According to him, the three elderly people that returned to Armenia today were in their homes during the Azerbaijani invasion of Artsakh settlements.

They were handed over to the Armenian side on a priority basis due to serious health problems.

The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh coordinate their work to find out the circumstances related to the rights of the returned persons.

They also continue efforts towards collecting and analyzing data on prisoners of war and missing persons. The Ombudsmen raise the issues of concern at different international structures.


Watch groups: Christians in Turkey face suppression, exploitation

Ani Tigranian
Dec 8 2020

CNA Staff, Dec 8, 2020 / 04:58 pm MT (CNA).- Christians in Turkey are being systematically suppressed or exploited for political gains, warns a new report from two human rights watch groups, International Christian Concern and Middle East Concern.

The report examined challenges facing Christians between 2016 and 2020, finding that Christians in Turkey frequently experience suppression of their legal status as citizens, as well as the legal status of their religious sites and institutions. Furthermore, rather than being granted full rights because they are Turkish citizens, their religious and civil rights are exploited as international political “bargaining chips.”

“The institutionalized use of religious freedom as a political bargaining chip should prompt caution amongst human rights advocates,” the report states.

“Another point of caution is the cultural perception within Turkey of how these issues are discussed within the international community,” the report adds.

Christians are a small minority in the country of Turkey. They account for roughly 160,000 citizens, or roughly 0.2% of the total population. A strong majority of the country’s population – roughly 90% – is Muslim. According to the report, the prevalent “competing narratives” of Islam and Kemalism (a kind of Turkish nationalist secularism) in the country push Christians and their institutions and history to the margins.

“Unless this framework is reformed, religious freedom abuses will perpetuate regardless of political leadership,” the report states. “These problems have become more visible following the 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who responded by accelerating the implementation of an Islamic-nationalist agenda. This agenda appealed to both the religious and the Turkish nationalist sections of society, but increasingly isolated more moderate and democratic voices.” The report identified several key areas in which Christians experience repression or abuse of their religious freedom, including through a strong emphasis on the Turkish identity being an Islamic identity, through the suppression of the legal status of Christian citizens and their institutions, the neglecting of the place of Christians in the country’s heritage and even the telling of a revised history, the intimidation of acts of cultural or ethnic _expression_ of Christians, and the abuse of Christians for international and domestic political bargaining power, among others. In one example of the use of Christians for political bargaining power, the report notes that several international political leaders have called for the reopening of Halki Seminary in Istanbul. The seminary was founded in the 1800s by the Greek Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery, but closed in 1971 when the law prohibited privately owned houses of religious education. For the past 10 years, Erdoğan has said he will reopen the seminary once certain concessions are made for the ethnic Turks in Thrace, Greece. In that time, Greece has opened multiple mosques and increased benefits for ethnic Turks, and yet Halki Seminary has yet to be reopened. The fair treatment of ethnic Turks in Greece is a “laudable” goal, the report notes, but when it is tied to the conditional fair treatment of Christian citizens of Turkey, it is exploitation and a failure on the president’s part to “uphold the religious liberty of Turkish citizens.” Another act of disregard for Christians in Turkey came this year, the report noted, when the Hagia Sophia, a one-time cathedral that had been functioning as a UNESCO-recognized museum and symbol of peaceful coexistence, was converted into a mosque in July.

“Throughout this series of events, many asked Turkey to respect the country’s pluralistic heritage by protecting the secular nature of Hagia Sophia,” the report noted. “Concerns were raised about how changing the museum status of Hagia Sophia could impact its designation as an UNESCO World Heritage site. The calls were ignored.”

Other important Christian sites in the country have been vandalized, or neglected and then demolished. In the education system in Turkey, students are taught to perceive anything that is not Islamic as being anti-Turkish and a threat. Violent aggression against these perceived threats is not punished, and in some cases is celebrated, the report noted. “A pastor living in southern Turkey shared about his daughter’s experience: ‘My daughter was in a social studies class. (The instructor) was teaching that what the crusades couldn’t do, the missionaries are now trying to do. ‘They’re working on getting our land,’ she said. So then, there were three middle school students who during the break beat my daughter to the point of being unconscious and needing to be taken to the hospital. For the next year and a half, my daughter had weekly fainting spells.’” In another example of religious freedom violations included in the report, a small Protestant church serving Christian refugees from Iraq and Syria was raided and closed by Turkish police for not having a proper registration, even though the church’s leader had attempted to register the space as a church with the government and was told that there was no legal framework in which to do so. Furthermore, the report notes, people who are part of initiatives to preserve the history of Christian genocide in Turkey are charged, imprisoned, and otherwise silenced by the government for anti-government crimes.

“From 1914 to 1923, the Christian population of modern Turkey decreased from 20-25% to less than 2%. Millions of native Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christians were forcibly deported, massacred or displaced during the First World War (1914-1918) and the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923),” the report states.
“Civil activists who promote the protection of cultural heritage, encourage dialogue about the genocide, and promote diversity in Turkish society, are targeted by ultra-nationalist elements within the Turkish state and society,” the report notes.

The Turkish government specifically targets Protestants, the report noted, because it is more familiar and therefore more comfortable with the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. It views Protestantism – particularly missionaries from other countries – as a threat, and pastors or missionaries face forced expulsion from the country.

“The upheaval of deportation involves the trauma of enforced separation from family, friends and loved ones. The injustice and lack of any clear explanation for the termination of residency and issuance of the N-82 code is confusing,” the report noted. The code dictates that foreigners must seek permission prior to entering the country, which “is almost never given in practice”, and foreigners must therefore go to court to seek this permission. Effectively, the report said, the code is used to ban Protestant missionaries from the country. “Meanwhile, the financial burden of legal costs and the frustration of pursuing the case through the courts adds another layer of exhaustion. For every individual and family, the issuance of the N-82 code has been a painful experience.” Furthermore, the presence of Turkey’s military in Iraq, Syria, and other countries in the Middle East and northern Africa has come with frequently reported “human rights abuses against ethnic and religious communities committed by Turkish soldiers and mercenaries employed by Turkey, some of whom previously fought with extremist groups engaging in different regional conflicts,” the report notes. In October, Christian human rights leaders called on the Trump administration to issue sanctions on Turkey in response to its actions in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, and warned that Turkish actions were guided by "animus" against Christians.

“Turkey has an obligation under national and international law to uphold Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). The authorities must provide a legal framework to accommodate its religious minorities and develop a national narrative that promotes social cohesion,” the report stated. “Given the new executive powers of Turkey’s president, the position holds the necessary authority to make needed changes to the legal framework which protects religious minorities. This obligation for religious freedom extends to those territories under Turkish military control.” The report included multiple questions at the end of each section to prompt a “transparent dialogue” about religious freedom and the situation of Christians in Turkey. It called on the Turkish government as well as the international community to uphold the full rights of Christians in the country.

“Through this report, it is our earnest desire to encourage an open dialogue between the international community and Turkey, aimed at restoring trust and relationship. We hope a transparent dialogue will contribute to policies which recognize, uphold, protect, and promote the rights of Christians living in Turkey. It is through these small yet important steps of honoring the other that true reforms can ultimately be brought about.”



Russia Bans Azeri Tomatoes After War With Moscow’s Ally Armenia

Emma Nadirian
Bloomberg
Dec 9 2020
                   

By Henry Meyer    
,
‎December‎ ‎9‎, ‎2020‎ ‎11‎:‎36‎ ‎AM
  • Measure hits biggest export for Azerbaijan after oil, gas
  • Russian tomato import ban also targets two Turkish regions

Russia’s agricultural-goods watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, also said it’s considering broadening an earlier ban on tomato and pepper imports from parts of Turkey, which backed Azerbaijan militarily in the offensive against the separatist majority-ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Russia, one of the world’s largest importers of tomatoes, on Wednesday also halted imports of tomatoes and peppers from an Armenian region bordering Turkey and a province in Uzbekistan. The regulator cited safety concerns for all the moves.

Azerbaijan sends almost all its tomato exports to Russia. The Russian ban, which also covers Azeri apples, threatens efforts by the government in Baku to diversify its economy away from oil and gas, which now account for 90% of exports.

There was no immediate public reaction from Baku, but Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news service cited an unnamed source in the Azerbaijani capital as saying the surprise move was likely a technical mistake and would soon be reversed.

Russia brokered a cease-fire last month under which Armenia lost control over the districts of Azerbaijan it captured in a 1990s war amid the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin had repeatedly and unsuccessfully urged a halt to hostilities since the conflict erupted Sept. 27. The Turkish involvement marked a setback for Russia, which has long regarded the region as its traditional backyard.

In 2015, Russia banned Turkish tomato imports following Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet on the border with Syria. The Russian authorities later lifted it but kept in place a quota system limiting the supplies. Turkish producers have since turned to other markets to sell their products.

— With assistance by Zulfugar Agayev, Anatoly Medetsky, Vladimir Kuznetsov, and Andrey Lemeshko

Armenian parliament besieged by protesters demanding PM’s resignation

Liana Toganian
The Harrow Times, UK
Dec 9 2020
By Press Association 2020

Thousands of protesters have converged on Armenia’s parliament building to push for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his handing of fighting with Azerbaijan.

They are angry about a peace deal that ended six weeks of fighting over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh but saw Azerbaijan take over wide areas that have been controlled by Armenian forces for more than a quarter of a century.

Armenia’s opposition parties gave Mr Pashinyan an ultimatum to resign by Tuesday, but he has ignored the demand, defending the peace deal as a bitter but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenian police try to block protesters (Aram Kirakosyan/PAN Photo via AP)

About 15,000 protesters marched through Yerevan to the parliament building, chanting “Nikol go away”.

The opposition has been pushing for Mr Pashinyan’s resignation since the Russia-brokered peace deal took effect on November 10. Protests have grown over the past days, with demonstrators blocking traffic in various sections of the capital, and also rallying in other cities.

The Armenian Apostolic Church and all three of the country’s former presidents have joined the demand for Mr Pashinyan to step down.

Undeterred, the prime minister told MPs in parliament that the nation needs consolidation in the current difficult period.

“Voices of different groups mustn’t be mistaken for the people’s voice,” he said.

Police detain a demonstrator during the protests (AP/Hrant Khachatryan)

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.

In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 people killed on both sides, the Azerbaijani army forged deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept the peace deal that saw Azerbaijan reclaim much of the separatist region along with surrounding areas.

Azerbaijanis have celebrated it as a major victory, and the country is set to hold a massive military parade on Thursday – to be attended by visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan during the conflict, which it used to expand its influence in the region.

Artsakh’s right to self determination cannot be removed from agenda, Armenian FM says

Yeghisabet Arthur
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 9 2020

The right to self-determination has been one of the cornerstones of the negotiation process, and cannot be removed from the agenda through the use of military force, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said at a joint press conference with his French counterpart  Jean-Yves Le Drian.

“By launching a military aggression against Artsakh’s self-determination, Azerbaijan and Turkey violated their international commitments, while Azerbaijan also violated its commitments in the peace process,” the Foreign Minister said.

“Since September 27, there has been a new watershed in the international community, as the international community has come to realize that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not just a territorial dispute,” he added.

Minister Aivazian said ethnic cleansing and war crimes were committed in all parts of Artsakh that came under the control of Azerbaijan, which once again proves the need to address the recognition of Artsakh’s right to self-determination.

Only in that case, he said, “will it be possible to achieve a just and lasting peace, and only then can we think of a new era of peaceful existence in the South Caucasus.”


​Artsakh’s unnoticed humanitarian crisis

Maral Chavushian
Albuquerque Journal
Dec 9 2020
 
Artsakh’s unnoticed humanitarian crisis
 
By: Barlow Der Mugrdechian / Berberian Coordinator, Armenian Studies Program, California State University-fresno
 
A humanitarian disaster has occurred in a part of the world little-known to most Americans. Artsakh, a small republic bordering Armenia, was attacked on Sept. 27 by invading forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The ensuing 44-day war caused thousands of Armenians to flee their homes and resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and soldiers. For Armenians throughout the world, this human tragedy was a bitter reminder of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, which caused the deaths of more than 1,500,000 Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. The Sept. 27 invasion, considered by Armenians as a planned second genocide, would fulfill the long-held pan-Turkic dreams of Turkey, in the process ethnically cleansing Artsakh first and then Armenia.
 
Where was the international attention and why was there no action by the United States, the United Nations, or other major powers to influence Azerbaijan and Turkey to stop this aggression? The answer lies in Azerbaijan’s production of oil, which is viewed as a valuable resource by the West, and in Turkey’s influence in NATO. Azerbaijan has used its oil money to both arm itself and to also influence public opinion in its favor. Turkey has found a ready ally in Azerbaijan.
 
Artsakh, formerly Nagorno-Karabagh, is a self-declared republic of less than 150,000 people, which emerged from the breakup of the former Soviet Union in 1991. It was illegally placed in the jurisdiction of Soviet Azerbaijan by Stalin in 1921. However, in accordance with the constitution of the Soviet Union, and in accordance with international agreements, the people of Artsakh held a referendum on Dec. 10, 1991, overwhelmingly affirming their right to self-determination.
 
An ensuing war in 1991-1994 between Nagorno-Karabagh and Azerbaijan resulted in an Armenian victory on the battlefield, but the ultimate resolution on the question of the status of Karabagh was left to the Minsk sub-group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Co-chairs from the United States, Russia and France were tasked with finding a permanent resolution to the conflict, and yet 26 years had passed with no permanent diplomatic resolution.
 
Azerbaijan found the opportune time to unleash its attack as the United States was pre-occupied with presidential elections and the rest of the world was coping with a pandemic. Aided by the Republic of Turkey and Syrian mercenaries hired by Turkey, Azerbaijan initiated the invasion. Artsakh was therefore fighting not only against Azerbaijan, but also facing the military capability of Turkey, with a population of over 80,000,000. Azerbaijan utilized weapons that have been banned by the international community, including cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs. In contravention of international law, Armenian churches, including the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in the city of Shushi, were targeted.
 
On Nov. 9, the Russian Federation brokered a statement between Armenia and Azerbaijan halting hostilities, which called for Azerbaijan to have jurisdiction over a large swath of Artsakh’s territory. This far exceeded any previous maximalist demands by Azerbaijan. A Russian peace-keeping force entered into the region to guarantee that hostilities would not erupt again.
 
For Armenians, the war has become a cause of great pain, and of betrayal and loss, as they await negotiations that are certain to follow the agreement. Appeals to Europe and the United States have been left unanswered, and Armenians now feel isolated and alone.
 
The human cost of the crisis now facing the Armenians of Artsakh is overwhelming. Cities and towns have been almost completely devastated by war, and the population is facing the onset of winter without adequate provisions or shelter. It is incumbent on the United States to provide assistance to Artsakh and to sanction both Azerbaijan and Turkey.
 
The international community was for the most part silent in condemning the use of force by Azerbaijan. Today, Armenian churches are endangered in the territory taken over and any traces of an ancient Christian civilization will be destroyed.
 
It is a telling commentary on the state of the world today.
 
 

​Protesters in Armenia besiege parliament

Adrine Hakobian
Deniliquin Pastoral Times, Australia
Dec 9 2020
 
 
Protesters in Armenia besiege parliament
By AAP Newswire
 
 
Thousands of protesters have converged on the parliament building in Armenia's capital to push for the resignation of the country's prime minister over his handling of the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
Nikol Pashinyan's opponents are angry at a peace deal that ended six weeks of fighting over the separatist region but allowed Azerbaijan to take over wide areas that have been controlled by Armenian forces for more than 25 years.
 
Armenia's opposition parties gave Pashinyan an ultimatum to resign by Tuesday but he has ignored the demand, defending the peace deal as a bitter but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.
 
About 15,000 protesters marched through downtown Yerevan to the parliament building, chanting "Nikol go away!".
 
The opposition has been pushing for Pashinyan's resignation since the Russia-brokered peace deal took effect on November 10.
 
Protests have grown over the past days, with demonstrators blocking traffic in various sections of the capital and also rallying in other cities.
 
The Armenian Apostolic Church and all three of the country's former presidents have joined the demand for Pashinyan to step down.
 
Undeterred, the prime minister told MPs in parliament on Wednesday that the country needs consolidation in the current difficult period.
 
"Voices of different groups mustn't be mistaken for the people's voice," he said.
 
Speaking outside parliament on Wednesday, Artur Vanetsyan, the former head of the National Security Service who leads the Homeland opposition party, argued that Pashinyan should step down to allow opposition forces to "normalise the situation" in the country.
 
"Each day he stays on the job raises a new threat to the nation," Vanetsyan said.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.
 
That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.
 
In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5600 people killed on both sides, the Azerbaijani army forged deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept the peace deal which lets Azerbaijan reclaim much of the separatist region along with surrounding areas.
 
Azerbaijanis have celebrated it as a major victory and the country is set to hold a massive military parade on Thursday – to be attended by visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
 
 
 

Azerbaijan accused of ethnic cleansing as horrifying footage appears to show elderly Armenian man being beheaded by soldiers

Vicken Chmshkian
RT – Russia Today
Dec 9 2020
9 Dec, 2020 11:31


Shocking video purporting to show Azerbaijani troops executing a civilian has gone viral online, with Armenia alleging that it’s just one of a series of war crimes committed during the recent Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In the unauthenticated footage, shared widely by social media users, a man reported to be an elderly ethnic Armenian living in the contested province is seen pinned down by a man in army fatigues, before his throat is cut.

The incident comes as Armenia’s foreign minister used a meeting with his French counterpart in the capital, Yerevan, to allege that “ethnic cleansing” was taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to reports by Russian news agency Sputnik. He also warned that the terms of the current ceasefire may not hold, saying that “by launching military aggression against the self-determination of [the province], Azerbaijan and Turkey have violated their international obligations. Azerbaijan has also violated its obligations in the peace process.”

In October, another viral video sparked fears that war crimes were being committed in the conflict. The footage showed two Armenian men being captured before being shot with their hands tied behind their backs. Armenian authorities identified them as Benik Hakobyan, 73, and Yuri Adamyan, 25. The Council of Europe, the continent’s top legal watchdog, confirmed that it would look into the video as an alleged abuse of human rights. However, the following day, Azerbaijan’s top legal official announced that an investigation into the videos had concluded that they were fake.

At the time, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters that deep-seated ethnic tensions underpinned the conflict. He claimed that “Turkey [which provided support to Azerbaijan] has returned to the South Caucasus a hundred years later to continue its policy of genocide against Armenians.”

Baku has also accused Yerevan of committing similar violations of the laws governing warfare. In November, the Azeris announced that they would open an inquiry into potential crimes committed by both sides during the fierce fighting over the disputed province. Another clip shared on social media was said to show Armenian troops executing and beheading an Azeri prisoner of war.

In November, both sides announced a ceasefire agreement after talks brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. As part of the deal, Moscow announced that it would deploy troops to the region, in order to act as a barrier between the two sides, as well as to protect civilians.

Fact checkers have issued warnings over a number of shocking videos arising from the fighting in Nagorno-Karbakh, which they claim are part of an ongoing “information war.” One video, which attracted more than a quarter of a million views on Twitter, purported to show Iranians watching Azerbaijani and Armenian troops clash, as though it were a sporting event. However, it has since emerged that the video was taken from a military re-enactment in Russia in 2019.