Thursday,
U.S. ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Worsening Conditions In Karabakh
U.S. - State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller answers questions during a
news briefing at the State Department, Washington, July 18, 2023.
The United States on Thursday again expressed serious concern over the dire
humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and renewed its calls for the
immediate reopening of the only road connecting the region to Armenia.
“We are deeply concerned about deteriorating humanitarian conditions in
Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the continued blockage of food, medicine, and
other goods essential to a dignified existence,” Matthew Miller, the U.S. State
Department spokesman, said in a statement.
“The United States has worked continuously with the sides over the past several
weeks to allow humanitarian assistance to reach the population of
Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said. “We reiterate our call to immediately re-open the
Lachin corridor to humanitarian, commercial, and passenger traffic.
“Further, officials from Baku and representatives from Stepanakert should
convene without delay to agree on the means of transporting critical provisions
to the men, women, and children of Nagorno-Karabakh – including additional
supply routes – and resume discussions on all outstanding issues. Basic
humanitarian assistance should never be held hostage to political disagreements.”
Miller’s statement came as Karabakh residents struggled with worsening shortages
of food, medicine and other basic necessities nearly nine months after
Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin corridor. The Armenian-populated region was
reportedly running out of bread, which became its main staple food after Baku
tightened the blockade in mid-June. Nevertheless, the Karabakh Armenians remain
strongly opposed an alternative, Azerbaijani-controlled supply line for Karabakh
demanded by Baku.
Dozens of them continued to block on Thursday a road leading to the Azerbaijani
town of Aghdam to prevent two Azerbaijani trucks loaded with 40 tons of flour
from entering Karabakh. They as well as the authorities in Stepanakert believe
that the proposed aid is a publicity stunt aimed at legitimizing the blockade
and helping Azerbaijan regain full control over Karabakh.
Washington has repeatedly called for an end to the blockade. Baku has dismissed
such appeals. Azerbaijani officials say that renewed relief supplies through the
Lachin corridor are conditional on the Karabakh Armenians agreeing to the Aghdam
route.
Armenia, Greece Plan Joint Weapons Production
Armenia - Armenian and Greek military officials meet in Yerevan, June 2, 2022.
Armenia announced on Thursday plans to jointly develop and produce weapons with
Greece, one of its closest Western partners.
The Armenian government approved a draft Greek-Armenian agreement on bilateral
“military-technical cooperation” which is due to be signed soon.
A government statement said the agreement calls for mutual research on and
transfer of defense technology as well as the creation of Greek-Armenian joint
ventures that will manufacture military equipment and ammunition. It did not
specify what type of weapons will be produced and where.
According to the statement, the two sides will also train military personnel and
repair military hardware imported from “third countries.” These joint activities
will be coordinated by a commission to be set up by the Greek and Armenian
militaries.
Russia has long been Armenia’s principal supplier of weapons and ammunition. But
with Russian-Armenian relations worsening since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh
and Russia embroiled in a large-scale war with Ukraine, Yerevan has been looking
for other arms suppliers. It reportedly signed last year major contracts for the
purchase of Indian multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-tank rockets and
ammunition.
Greece has trained hundreds of Armenian officers at its military academies since
the 1990s but is not known to have supplied any heavy weaponry to the South
Caucasus country so far. Athens and Yerevan appear to have explored the
possibility of closer military ties in recent years.
A Greek delegation headed by Deputy Defense Minister Nikolaos Chardalias visited
Armenia in June 2022 for talks with Armenian military officials. The Armenian
Defense Ministry reported at the time that they discussed “developing
cooperation in the military-technical sphere” in line with the “warm, friendly
relations between the two countries.” It said regional security was also on the
agenda of the talks.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited Yerevan in September 2022 in the
wake of Azerbaijan’s offensive military operations at the border with Armenia.
“I am here to express our solidarity with the Armenian government and the
Armenian people,” Dendias said after talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat
Mirzoyan.
Greece and Armenia have also been seeking closer cooperation in a trilateral
format involving Cyprus. Armenian, Cypriot and Greek officials held “defense
consultations” in Cyprus in July this year.
Yerevan Hits Back At Moscow
Armenia - The building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan.
Armenia criticized Russia on Thursday for linking Azerbaijan’s blockade of the
Lachin corridor to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s decision to recognize
Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the Russian claims are “causing bewilderment
and disappointment” in Yerevan.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday
that the blockade and the resulting humanitarian crisis in the
Armenian-populated region are a “consequence of Armenia’s recognition of
Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan.” She pointed to joint
statements to that effect that were adopted by Pashinian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev at their talks organized by the European Union in October
2022 and May 2023.
The statement issued as a result of the 2022 summit in Prague upheld a December
1991 declaration in which Armenia, Azerbaijan and other newly independent Soviet
republics recognized each other’s Soviet-era borders.
In an extensive written response to Moscow, Zakharova’s Armenian opposite
number, Ani Badalian, insisted that “nothing new was decided at Prague” as
Aliyev and Pashinian simply reaffirmed their countries’ compliance with the
Almaty Declaration.
Pashinian has repeatedly made a similar point. His political opponents and other
critics argue, however, that the Armenian parliament ratified the declaration in
February 1992 with serious reservations relating to Karabakh.
Badalian said Russia itself has “repeatedly recognized Karabakh as part of
Azerbaijan.” She also repeated Yerevan’s complains about the Russian
peacekeepers’ failure to stop Azerbaijan from blocking traffic through the
Lachin corridor
Pashinian likewise hit out at the peacekeepers as he opened a weekly session of
his cabinet in Yerevan on Thursday. He said that Azerbaijan is continuing its
“genocidal policy” against Karabakh’s population “in the presence of the Russian
peacekeeping contingent.”
The bitter recriminations underscore Russia’s deepening rift with Armenia
resulting in large measure from what Yerevan sees as a lack of Russian support
in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Badalian pointed out that Moscow ignored an Armenian request for military
assistance made when Azerbaijan launched offensive military operations along
Armenia’s borders last September. The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said
the Azerbaijani “aggression” began just days after Baku rejected a Russian peace
plan that would indefinitely delay agreement on Karabakh’s status. Yerevan
backed that plan in August 2022, according to her.
Karabakh Leader To Resign
• Astghik Bedevian
Nagorno-Karabakh - President Arayik Harutiunian is puctured during an interview,
August 6, 2023.
Ending months of speculation, Arayik Harutiunian, Nagorno-Karabakh’s president,
announced on Thursday his decision to resign amid a deepening humanitarian
crisis in Karabakh caused by Azerbaijan’s eight-month blockade of the Lachin
corridor.
In a written statement, Harutiunian said the Armenian-populated region needs a
new leadership in order to better cope with grave challenges facing it almost
three years after the disastrous war with Azerbaijan.
“My background and Azerbaijan’s attitude towards it are artificially creating a
number of conditions generating significant problems with regard to our further
steps and flexible policy,” he said. “Besides, the defeat in the war and the
resulting difficulties that emerged in the country reduced trust in the
authorities and especially the president, which represents a very serious
obstacle to further good governance.”
Harutiunian said that he made a final decision to step down two days ago after
analyzing his “contacts with all internal and external actors and the public.”
He added that he will formally submit his resignation to the Karabakh parliament
on Friday.
Harutiunian has periodically fueled speculation about his impending resignation
since Azerbaijan blocked last December traffic through the sole road connecting
Karabakh to Armenia. In March, he helped to enact a constitutional amendment
that empowered the local parliament to elect an interim president in case of his
resignation. The latter would serve for the rest of Harutiunian’s five-year term
in office which was due to expire in May 2025.
The Karabakh leader did not reveal the name of his preferred successor. Some
Armenian media outlets reported that the secretary of his security council,
Samvel Shahramanian, is the favorite for the job.
Shahramanian was appointed by Harutiunian as state minister on Thursday. He was
among Karabakh representatives who negotiated with Azerbaijani officials at the
headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Karabakh early this year.
Harutiunian’s party controls the largest number of parliament seats but does not
have an overall majority in the legislature. It helped to install an opposition
figure, Davit Ishkhanian, as parliament speaker earlier in August. Ishkhanian
will perform the presidential duties pending the election of Harutiunian’s
successor.
Harutiunian’s resignation appears to have been precipitated by the tightening in
mid-June of the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor which further
aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential times in Karabakh.
The authorities in Stepanakert admitted on Tuesday that the region is running
out of flour. They said that from now on each family in Karabakh’s capital and
other towns will be allowed to buy only one loaf of bread a day.
Despite the severe crisis, the Karabakh Armenian continue to resist Baku’s
attempts to put in place an alternative, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route for
Karabakh in place of the Lachin corridor. They remain strongly opposed to the
restoration of Azerbaijani rule in Karabakh.
Karabakh’s main political factions, including Harutiunian’s party, have
repeatedly denounced Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s readiness to
recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over the region.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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