Month: May 2021

The United States believes that there is an urgent need for a comprehensive and long-term political settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. This view was conveyed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday and was echoed by U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Courtney Austrian during the OSCE Permanent Council on Friday.

“In our national capacity, the United States recalls the April 13 Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ statement underscoring their readiness to assist the sides in resolving remaining areas of concern through high-level negotiations. These include issues related to, inter alia: the return of all Prisoners of War and other detainees, the exchange of all data necessary to conduct effective de-mining of conflict regions; the lifting of restrictions on access to Nagorno Karabakh, including for representatives of international humanitarian organizations; the preservation and protection of religious and cultural heritage; and the fostering of direct contacts and co-operation between communities affected by the conflict as well as other people-to-people confidence building measures,” Austrian said.

“We urge the sides to return to substantive high-level negotiations, without preconditions, under the auspices of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs as soon as possible.  The continued and urgent need for a comprehensive and long-term political settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is clear.   We urge both sides to avoid fueling hatred through escalatory or dehumanizing rhetoric.  We also urge both sides to investigate alleged human rights violations or violations of international humanitarian law, and to hold accountable those found responsible,” she added.

“In light of recent developments, the United States also notes that movements in areas where borders are not fully demarcated at a time of tension are irresponsible and unnecessarily provocative.  We call on the sides to commit immediately to a process of discussion and negotiation to resolve their differences, and not to resort to unilateral and aggressive actions in the future,” the U.S. envoy said.

Azerbaijani forces continued to provoke violence against Armenians during three separate incidents on Thursday by firing shots at a civilian and a group of soldiers in Artsakh, discharging weapons in the Kut village in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province and instigating a brawl near the Sev Lidj region of Syunik.

Near the Sev Lidj (Black Lake) region of Armenia’s Syunik Province, which has become the epicenter of a more than a week-long standoff at the border, Azerbaijani forces instigated a brawl with local Armenian residents that resulted in 11 people being injured.

Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosyan said that about three dozen Azerbaijani soldiers advanced on Thursday toward the Armenian village of Khoznavar located just east of that Sev Lidj area.

Khoznavar residents confirmed the information to Azatutyun.am, adding that children and elderly persons living in the village were evacuated for security reasons.

Local shepherds said they were the first to notice the Azerbaijani servicemen while grazing cattle on nearby hills.

“We approached them, thinking that they are our guys,” one of them told Azatutyun’s Armenian Service. “We then saw that they are not wearing [Armenian] uniforms and not saying anything. One them signaled me to go away.”

The locals said that Khoznavar, which has about 400 inhabitants and is heavily dependent on animal husbandry, now risks losing most of its pastures.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee said on Friday that the Azerbaijani troops were forced to retreat from those pastures late on Thursday after brawling with Armenian soldiers guarding Khoznavar. Eleven Armenians were injured in that clash, the law-enforcement agency said, adding that it occurred on the Armenian side of the local border section.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the incidents, saying it was caused by videos circulating in Armenian and Azerbaijani news sites and social media platforms. The ministry also said on Friday that the situation in Syunik remains largely unchanged but “stable.”

Artsakh officials have launched a criminal case into the shooting incident where Azerbaijani forces fired their weapons at a civilian and a group of servicemen of the Artsakh Defense Army near the village of Shosh. The civilian and the Artsakh servicemen were working at a military position when they came under fire.

Artsakh prosecutor general’s advisor Gor Abrahamyan said that the Azerbaijani forces opened fire for seven minutes in Shosh “with intent to kill and destroy property motivated by ethnic hatred.”

The civilian who was operating a truck and the Artsakh soldiers survived by taking cover, while the truck was damaged.

In the Kut village in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province, Azerbaijani forces who had breached Armenia’s border began firing shots to provoke the local residents.

“At around 3 p.m., several dozens shots were fired, presumably in the air, after which Armenian forces fired warning shots,” reported Armenia’s Defense Ministry. “The commander of the Azerbaijani troops contacted the Armenian unit commander, asked to cease fire, apologized and claimed that the shooting was a result of an accident.”

“The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia warn that a repeat of such incidents will be viewed as a deliberate attempt to provoke clashes and will lead to relevant actions by the Armenian side,” added the defense ministry.

The delineation and demarcation of Armenia-Azerbaijan borders must be one part of a comprehensive settlement process, in which the issues of de-occupation of Artsakh’s territories and determining its final legal status of Artsakh must be prioritized, said Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan on Friday at a press briefing.

By using or threatening force to impose conditions is a gross violation of international law, said Naghdalyan regarding the week-long standoff at the Armenian border in Syunik, where Azerbaijani forces breached and advance into Armenia’s sovereign territory and are refusing to leave. “Armenia will not give in to such pressures,” she said.

“By not fulfilling its commitments assumed by the November 9 trilateral statement, in particular those relating to the repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives and other humanitarian issues, Azerbaijan is again demonstrating its behavior of deliberately rejecting the international commitments,” added Naghdalyan.

“In such a situation the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from Armenia’s sovereign territory to their initial positions of May 11 can create the necessary conditions to move forward with the political-diplomatic process,” explained Naghdalyan.

She also said that Armenia’s international partners are vested in the stability and security of the South Caucasus and have unequivocally expressed that “Azerbaijan must immediately and unconditionally pull back its troops from Armenia’s sovereign territory.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ara Aivazyan chided the Council of Europe, in remarks made at the body’s general assembly on Friday, saying that the council’s response to “Azerbaijan’s obvious violations of its statutory and conventional obligations has not been adequate.”

He emphasized that lack of a strong response to massive and grave human rights violations in Nagorno-Karabakh has emboldened Azerbaijan further to project the same policy toward the Republic of Armenia by making attempts to seize border territories and deprive the local population of their livelihood.

“The Council of Europe was established with the aim of achieving greater unity among its Member States. And the Council has been successful in bringing almost the entirety of Europe under one roof and in devising legal standards guiding many aspects of the cooperation between its Member States. Yet, there is a great divide between some of our Member States. And while the perpetrators of atrocious crimes are allowed to be on equal footing with those who still believe in the values of democracy and human rights, this divide is only going to widen. Unless we reinvigorate our efforts in ensuring democratic security throughout Europe, and particularly for those living in areas of conflicts and confrontations, our overarching goal of greater unity in Europe would remain illusive,” said Aivazyan.