Thursday,
Baku Still Reluctant To Lift Karabakh Blockade Despite Court Order
Nagorno-Karabakh - Azerbaijani servicemen stand guard at a checkpoint at the
Lachin corridor blocked by Azerbaijani protesters, December 26, 2022.
Azerbaijan remained in no rush to restore traffic through the sole road
connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia on Friday two days after a relevant order
issued by the United Nations’ top court.
In a “provisional measure” requested by Yerevan, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) acknowledged that the land link was “disrupted” by Azerbaijani
protesters more than two months ago. It said Baku should “take all measures at
its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along
the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
The court based in The Hague pointed out that a Russian-brokered agreement that
stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh commits Azerbaijan to guaranteeing safe
passage through the corridor.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday described the injunction as
“extremely important.” He said that the ICJ “obligated Azerbaijan to open the
corridor” and that Baku must at least tell the Azerbaijani government-backed
protesters to stop blocking the road. Failure to do so “could and should lead to
concrete international consequences,” added Pashinian.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responded by accusing Pashinian of
misrepresenting the ICJ decision. It said the court did not conclude that the
blockade was organized by Azerbaijan’s government.
A ministry statement said that Baku is interested in a “transparent” functioning
of the Lachin corridor and wants to set up a permanent Azerbaijani checkpoint
there for this reason.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan rejected on Wednesday the idea of such
a checkpoint which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed with Pashinian
at their February 18 meeting in Munich. He said it runs counter to the terms of
the 2020 truce accord.
The ICJ issued the order during its ongoing hearings on lawsuits filed by
Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other. Analysts believe that the court lacks
real means of enforcing its decisions.
Turkish-Armenian Air Cargo Traffic Yet To Start
• Nane Sahakian
TURKEY -- A general view over of Istanbul airrport, April 5, 2019
Commercial cargo shipments by air between Armenia and Turkey appear to have not
begun yet nearly two months after the lifting of a long-standing Turkish ban.
The two neighboring states agreed to allow mutual air freight traffic last July
after a series of normalization talks held by their senior representatives.
Ankara notified Yerevan in early January that it has formally allowed such
shipments.
Garik Minasian, the head of a customs terminal at Yerevan’s Zvartnots
international airport, said on Friday that no cargo planes from Turkey have
landed there since then. He insisted that no Turkish imports to Armenia are
banned at the moment.
So far there have also been no indications of Armenian exporters airlifting
cargo to Turkey. According to Gagik Musheghian, an Armenian businessman based in
Istanbul, Ankara has still not lifted a ban on imports of Armenian goods which
has been in place since the early 1990s.
“You can’t [legally] bring anything from Armenia to Turkey,” Musheghian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The ban had been imposed in conjunction with the closure of Turkey’s border with
Armenia. Ankara has since made its opening as well as the establishment of
diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace
deal acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed this
precondition since the start of the normalization talks with Yerevan in January
2022.
After visiting Ankara last week, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that he
and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu agreed to speed up the
normalization process. Speaking at a joint news conference with Mirzoyan,
Cavusoglu appeared to link that process to the outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks.
Armenia banned most Turkish imports during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, citing
Ankara’s “inflammatory calls,” arms supplies to Azerbaijan and “deployment of
terrorist mercenaries to the conflict zone.” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
government lifted the ban a year later.
Armenia Again Abstains From UN Vote On Ukraine
USA – The results of the UN General Assembly's vote on a resolution demanding
that Russia "immediately" and "unconditionally" withdraw its troops from
Ukraine. New York,
Armenia abstained late on Thursday from voting on a UN General Assembly
resolution demanding that Russia immediately and unconditionally withdraw its
troops from Ukraine.
The resolution adopted on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Russia's
invasion reaffirmed support for Ukraine's "sovereignty" and "territorial
integrity" and called "for a cessation of hostilities." It was backed by 141 of
the 193 UN member states.
"Russia is just as isolated with its war as it was a year ago," German Foreign
Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also expressed satisfaction, saying
Russia has failed to "undermine the international order" and that the coalition
in support of Ukraine remains broad and strong.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia called Ukraine "neo-Nazi" during
the debate preceding the vote. He accused the Western powers of sacrificing the
country and the developing world in their desire to beat Russia.
Russia and six other countries -- Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali,
Nicaragua, and Syria -- voted against the resolution.
Armenia was among 32 nations that abstained. They included China, India, Iran,
and South Africa.
UKRAINE - A Ukrainian serviceman walks an empty street in the front line city of
Bakhmut, February 21, 2023.
Armenia also abstained when the UN General Assembly condemned the Russian
invasion in March and October 2022. Its government has not publicly condemned
the Russian military campaign, let alone joined the Western sanctions against
Moscow.
Prior to the invasion, Armenia had voted against General Assembly resolutions
condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and upholding Ukrainian sovereignty
over the Black Sea peninsula. For their part, Ukraine’s current and former
governments have repeatedly voiced support for Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russia has long been Armenia’s main military and political ally. Relations
between Yerevan and Moscow have soured in recent months because of what Armenian
leaders see as a lack of Russian support in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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