Cleaning works were carried out on the territories of the Dashushen and Krkzhan monuments in Artsakh, Artsakh Public TV reported.
A group of young volunteers came up with a patriotic initiative – to clear the environment of garbage and trash.
Inviting people to join the initiative, the organizers assure that these works will be permanent.
“A ghost is wandering around Armenia: it is the ghost of indifference. And while a part of the Armenian people continues to wait for a miracle, staying in a lethargic dream, with the psychology of a man "boiling in the cauldron" of his own grief, the bastard, clinging to the prime minister's chair, continues to give his homeland to the Turks," he said.
"Three months after the surrender, when it seemed that there was nothing more to surrender, the enemy continued to freely occupy the heights of Syunik [province of Armenia – ed.], and the residents of Syunik was again left alone in front of the Azerbaijani military and their GPS."
"And it's even unnecessary to talk about Artsakh: it de facto does not exist – When free Artsakh is now controlled by Russian and Turkish military personnel. The rest is lyrics."
"I propose to honestly answer the question: do you know any other country whose capitulating prime minister, a few months after 5,000 victims, thousands of wounded and prisoners, lies and betrayal, is still trying to show signs of life, presenting on this path as a "major achievement" another sharp increase in public debt, or is it staging street shows to convince, first, itself, and then its ignorant circle that it enjoys "popular support"?," Minasyan added referring to the PM Nikol Pashinyan.
"Do you know what a normal government would do? First, it would not allow the disaster to reach such proportions, then it would fight for every centimeter of land and every life, break down the doors of international organizations, and haunt foreign diplomats and allies."
"What are they [the current authorities – ed.] doing? They cynically declare that one should forget about whose land it is, who started the war because for them the enemy and the issue of Armenia is not the Turks, but the opposition. They are ready to give up everything for the sake of their own chair, because they have neither past nor dignity, and after losing their chair they will also have no future," ex-envoy added.
The new government had a certain pathological fear of the army, Armenian ex-president Robert Kocharyan told Sputnik Armenia.
“There was probably such a program: confidence in the combat effectiveness of our army and confidence in our military superiority. What else has been added to it? Irresponsible statements of the head of the Armenian military department that the future is war, a new war, new territories. This is well known. Quite simply a silly statement. There is such a problem."
"We fortified the front line, the army was constantly replenished with military equipment. The new authorities have changed the approach to military development in general. So what's the problem? The new government had a certain pathological fear of the army."
According to him, the new authorities had a very serious mistrust towards the army.
"And the primary task was to put the army in its place, to belittle the role of the army in Armenian society," he added.
The Republic of Artsakh has been recognised by a second Australian state thanks to the efforts of Greek-Australian Tom Koutsantonis.
Koutsantonis, who represents West Torrens as a Member of the South Australian Parliament, called out the “policy of Pan-Turkish nationalism” endorsed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
Because of the motion pushed forward by Koutsantonis and his Labor Party colleague Jayne Stinson, South Australia became the second state in Australia to recognise the Republic of Artsakh.
The New South Wales Parliament’s Legislative Assembly recognised the Republic of Artsakh in October 2020.
In a powerful speech given to the South Australian Parliament, Koutsantonis said “Armenians, Mr. Speaker, deserve the right to self-determination. Sir, they have earned it.”
“They earned it through the blood and sacrifice of 1.5 million innocents, who were systematically murdered for one sole reason: they were Armenian,” he continued.
“Greece this year will celebrate its 200th year of independence. Independence from the same oppression, the same murderers, the same tyrants that occupied the lands of my mother and father – the Ottoman Empire,” the MP said.
Koutsantonis then made reference to the overall Turkish genocide against the Ottoman Empire’s Christian minority that led to the slaughter of 3 million people.
“Our two nations, along with the Assyrians, spilled blood because of our shared faith, our unique ethnicities, and because we stood in the face of tyranny, authoritarianism, expansionism and empire,” he said.
The MP revealed that he was given an Armenian flag before the parliamentary session.
The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Artsakh in Australia, Kaylar Michaelian, said South Australia’s recognition has restored the Armenian people’s faith in humanity.
“On behalf of the indigenous Armenian people of the Republic of Artsakh, our office welcomes with deep gratitude the motion passed by the South Australian House of Assembly condemning the illegal and unprovoked military aggression by Azerbaijan, Turkey and their hired Jihadist mercenaries. We are encouraged by the support of the Parliament for the right to self-determination of our people in Artsakh,” Michaelian said.
“We continue to have our faith restored in humanity, when the good people of South Australia chose to stand for democratic values and human rights wherever in the world these may be under threat,” the representative continued.
“A clear signal has been sent from Adelaide to Baku and Ankara that, despite their best efforts at obfuscation and misinformation, righteous Australians will stand shoulder to shoulder with the peace-loving Armenians in Armenia and Artsakh,” he added.
The Motion in full reads as follows:
That this House:
(1) Notes the actions and belligerence of Azerbaijan towards the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh in commencing military action on 27 September 2020.
(2) Notes the serious concerns that have been raised from Armenian-Australians regarding the existential threat to the indigenous Armenian population of the Republic of Artsakh by this military action, and in any attempts by Azerbaijan to prevent the peaceful resettlement of the indigenous Armenian population following agreement to a provisional ceasefire on 9 November 2020.
(3) Notes the serious concerns raised by Armenian-Australians and independent international organisations regarding the risk of Azerbaijan destroying sites of global cultural and historical significance.
(4) Condemns the actions of President Erdogan of Turkey and President Aliyev of Azerbaijan in their pursuit of a policy of Pan-Turkish nationalism, which has previously led to genocide and which now threatens the Armenian population of Artsakh with ethnic cleansing.
(5) Calls on the Federal Government to condemn these attacks and advocate its support for the safety and security of the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh.
(6) Recognise the right to self-determination of all peoples including those of the Republic of Artsakh and calls on the Federal Government to also recognise the Republic of Artsakh as the only permanent solution to the conflict to avoid further attempts of such military aggression.
The video of the motion being passed in the parliament of South Australia:
The Azerbaijani government has denied accounts, first published on January 8 in Haqqin.az but subsequently deleted, of three Turkish military bases allegedly being established in Azerbaijan as a consequence of Turkish military assistance to Baku during last year’s 44-day Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. The reports, if accurate, would represent a significant development in the geostrategic balance of power in the post-Soviet Caucasus (Lenta, January 8).
The official denials came swiftly: in response to the reports, the press service spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense, Vagif Dargahli, told journalists that the government adheres to its policy of not hosting any foreign military bases in Azerbaijan, except for cases envisaged in international agreements that Baku had signed (Minval.az, January 8). Further bolstering his case for dismissing the allegations, Dargahli added, “It should be noted that Azerbaijan is a member of the [120-nation] Non-Aligned Movement and is chairing this movement in 2019–2022” (RIA Novosti, January 8). Also on the same day that the media reports appeared, the Azerbaijani defense ministry issued an official disavowal on its Facebook page in Azerbaijani, Russian and English (Facebook.com/wwwmodgovaz, January 8).
What is not in dispute is the notable Turkish military assistance to Azerbaijan following the latter’s recent military confrontation with Armenia. According to FlightRadar-24, beginning last December, Turkish military aviation established an aerial logistical bridge to Gabala, Lankaran and Ganja, in Azerbaijan (Moskovsky Komsomolets, January 11). Moreover, on January 6, the Azerbaijani Telegram channel “Zamanaze” reported that up to seven Turkish military cargo aircraft arrived in Azerbaijan that day alone (T.me/zamanaze, January 6). On January 8, it published maps and details of the flights, documenting that, the previous day, five Turkish military cargo planes landed in Azerbaijan, several of them in Lankaran (T.me/zamanaze, January 8). Within hours, an Armenian Telegram channel, “Armenia_VVV,” alleged that after up to 13 Turkish military cargo planes arrived in Azerbaijan from Turkey during January 6–8, Turkish military bases were consequently to be established in Azerbaijan near its western town of Ganja, northern town of Qabala and the southern town of Lankaran (T.me/armenia_vvv/11564, T.me/nashasredaonline, January 8). Russian media outlets report that the Turkish military presence in Azerbaijan is currently made up of approximately 600 advisors and instructors, including around 120 Air Force specialists scattered among the Gabala airbase as well as airfields in Ganja, Yevlakh and Dallar, (Svobodnaya Pressa, January 18).
By 1993, after five years of war with its eastern neighbor, Armenia controlled approximately 3,088 square miles (8,000 square kilometers) of Azerbaijani territory, including the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and surrounding areas—roughly 20 percent of Azerbaijan (The Daily Sabah, August 21, 2020). Azerbaijani-Armenian relations subsequently sank into a post-Soviet “frozen conflict.” And for the last three decades, it has been one of the Azerbaijani government’s highest priorities to reclaim those lost territories under Armenian occupation even as Armenia was equally determined to retain its military gains. Baku finally achieved most of its objective during the September 29–November 9, 2020, Second Karabakh War—in no small part thanks to the support it received from its closest ally, Ankara.
The growing Turkish assistance to Azerbaijan can be seen in light of a phenomenon increasingly commented upon in both the Turkish and international press: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasing “neo-Ottoman” political inclinations toward Turkic nations in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This ostensible restoration of Ottoman-like influence is encapsulated in the title of an article, published at the height of the Armenian-Azerbaijani clash last year, by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency entitled, “Turkish Soldiers Are in Azerbaijan Again After 102 Years” (Anadolu Agency, November 19, 2020).
The Turkish military initiatives assisting Azerbaijan have produced a seemingly inevitable Russian pushback, as Armenia remains its closest ally in the South Caucasus. In the wake of the Karabakh war, not only is Russia sending peacekeepers to the region, but Armenian media reports that it is also preparing to reopen Stepanakert Airport (Public Radio of Armenia, December 28, 2020). The Karabakh region’s capital of Stepanakert (Khankendi in Azerbaijani) lies in a rump section of Karabakh that is still under de facto Armenian control, but safeguarded in its continued existence by Russian peacekeepers (see EDM, December 10, 2020).
In the wake of Azerbaijan’s recent battlefield successes, burgeoning Azerbaijani-Turkish military cooperation continues to deepen. On January 17, 2021, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense announced that the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani “Zima” (“Winter”) military exercise would be held on February 1–12, and that participating service members from the neighboring allied country have already left for Kars. The choice of this Turkish town as the venue for the exercise was seen as a provocative action in Yerevan and Moscow. Kars sits near the border with Armenia, and up until World War I, its population was heavily Armenian (Sputnik News— Azerbaijani service, January 17). The Zima drills will focus on the operational capabilities of the two countries’ weapons and military equipment in harsh winter weather conditions. Previous large-scale bilateral tactical and tactical flight exercises by Turkey and Azerbaijan were held in August 2020, about a month before the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War (Sputnik-georgia.ru, January 18).
Up until a few years ago, Turkey did not possess military bases outside its territory beyond those in the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), established in 1974. Any potential future facilities on Azerbaijani soil, accordingly, would join Turkey’s recent overseas military base acquisitions in Somalia, Qatar, Iraq and Syria. Nor has Azerbaijan limited its potential for foreign military contacts to the alliance with Turkey: on January 22, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Baku, James Sharp, declared that his country was greatly interested in developing military contacts with Azerbaijan, stressing, as an initial step, British assistance in de-mining the liberated Azerbaijani territories (Trend, January 22). Much to the Kremlin’s chagrin, not one but two members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are now vying for closer military-military relations with a strategically important South Caucasus country.