Tuesday,
Baku Offers Direct Peace Talks To Yerevan
The national flags of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has offered to conduct direction negotiations with Armenia on a peace
treaty at a mutually acceptable venue, including along the state border between
the two countries.
“Azerbaijan is ready for direct bilateral negotiations with Armenia for the
early conclusion of a peace agreement,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said on
Tuesday.
“We believe that the two countries should decide the future of their relations
together. This stagnation in negotiations does not contribute to the stability
of the region,” it added.
The Azerbaijani ministry said that “the responsibility for the continuation of
the peace process, including the choice of a mutually acceptable venue or the
decision to meet at the state border, belongs to the two countries.” It urged
the Armenian side to “avoid new unnecessary delays.”
The statement from Baku follows the announcement by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry
that Yerevan has submitted its sixth proposal on a peace agreement to Azerbaijan
following Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s November 18 call for
“intensifying diplomatic efforts to achieve the signing of a peace treaty with
Azerbaijan.”
“Armenia remains committed to concluding and signing a document on normalization
of relations based on previously announced principles,” the Armenian ministry
said.
Official Yerevan did not immediately respond to Azerbaijan’s call for direct
negotiations that Baku has made after what appears to be its rejection of
Western mediation in the process.
During the past several days Azerbaijan indicated that it rejected France and
the United States as mediators because of their “pro-Armenian” bias.
During the weekend the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that while Baku
remained open to European Union-mediated negotiations with Armenia, above all,
it preferred “direct talks” with Yerevan.
In his recent public statements Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian urged
the Azerbaijani leadership to publicly commit to the three key principles for
achieving peace that he said were agreed upon by the parties during several
rounds of Western-mediated negotiations in 2022 and 2023.
Pashinian outlined those principles as follows: Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize
each other’s territorial integrity, the delimitation of the countries’ borders
is based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration by which former Soviet republics
recognized each other’s borders after the collapse of the USSR, and that
regional trade and transport links are opened while respecting sovereign
jurisdictions.
Pashinian made those statements as Aliyev appeared to be avoiding
Western-mediated meetings with the Armenian leader since Baku carried out in
September a one-day military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh that caused more
than100,000 people, virtually the entire Armenian population of the region, to
flee to Armenia.
Western leaders have urged Azerbaijan to respect the right of Armenians to
return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure the safety of those who
decide to go back to the region that is now fully controlled by Baku.
In a November 20 interview with RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service Toivo Klaar, the
EU’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia,
said that Brussels is looking for “rapid steps” towards the normalization of
relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Some people in Brussels, in member states are concerned that this is taking, in
our view, too long. We don’t see any reason why the process of normalization
cannot be quicker. The fact that there is no fighting, the fact that there are
no daily reports of shooting or selling on the border does not mean that the
things are normal. What is important is to move from this present situation of
absence of fighting to actual normalization, which means signing of the peace
treaty, which means opening of communications, which means delimitation of the
border and distancing of forces so that there is really a sense of security,” he
said.
“Frankly, I believe that it is really in Baku’s hands to demonstrate that this
process can be fast and can be substantial. And that is what we are looking for,
and that is what is creating some uncertainty in different quarters as to why it
is taking so long. We don’t see a reason why this process should be taking so
long. We believe that it could be faster,” Klaar underscored.
Yerevan Submits Another ‘Peace Agreement Proposal’ To Baku
The Armenian Foreign Ministry building in Yerevan (file photo)
Armenia has submitted its sixth proposal on a peace agreement to Azerbaijan, the
country’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
In an X post it said that the step followed Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s public statement on November 18, calling for “intensified diplomatic
efforts to achieve the signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.”
“Armenia remains committed to concluding and signing a document on normalization
of relations based on previously announced principles,” the ministry said.
Earlier this month Azerbaijan accused Armenia of stalling the peace process by
not responding to its latest proposal on a peace agreement for more than two
months.
Armenia’s announcement came amid a continuing diplomatic row between Azerbaijan
and two key Western stakeholders in the negotiation process – the United States
and France.
Azerbaijan claims that the two countries that, along with Russia, have
spearheaded international efforts to broker a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict for decades, can no longer play their role as mediators due to their
“pro-Armenian” bias.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly criticized France for its public statements as well as
a recent agreement with Armenia on the supply of weapons that it claims “only
bolsters Armenia’s military potential and its ability to carry out destructive
operations in the region.” Both Paris and Yerevan have rejected Baku’s criticism
as groundless.
The Azerbaijani parliament on Tuesday also condemned a bill adopted by the
United States Senate last week that would suspend all military aid to Azerbaijan
by repealing the Freedom Support Act Section 907 waiver authority for the
president with respect to assistance to Baku for fiscal years 2024 or 2025.
Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act passed along with the adoption of the
legislation in 1992 bans any kind of direct U.S. aid to the Azerbaijani
government. A decade later, however, U.S. lawmakers amended Section 907 to allow
presidents to repeal it annually to provide military assistance to Azerbaijan
such as for countering international terrorism and border security.
The bill whose short title is the “Armenian Protection Act of 2023” is due to be
introduced in the House of Representatives, then, if passed, presented to the
U.S. president for signing to become a law.
While rejecting France and the United States as mediators, official Baku
indicated over the weekend that it remained open to EU-mediated negotiations
with Armenia. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, however, stressed that, above
all, Baku preferred “direct talks” with Yerevan.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday that his country was ready for
peace with Armenia that “will be based on mutual recognition of territorial
integrity and sovereignty, as well as on wisdom and historical justice.”
“Armenia should plan its future based on its own national interests and not on
the ambitions of states that are far from the region and have a bloody colonial
past,” he said in an apparent reference to France.
The same day Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticized the West for
“failing to understand” that “a new era has begun in the region after the
Karabakh war.”
“It would be more correct that the people and leaders of Armenia seek security
not thousands of kilometers away, but in peace and cooperation with their
neighbors,” he said.
In his recent public remarks Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian urged the
Azerbaijani leadership to publicly commit to the three key principles for
achieving peace that he said were agreed upon by the parties during several
rounds of Western-mediated negotiations in 2022 and 2023.
Pashinian outlined those principles as follows: Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize
each other’s territorial integrity, the delimitation of the countries’ borders
is based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration by which former Soviet republics
recognized each other’s borders after the collapse of the USSR, and that
regional trade and transport links are opened while respecting sovereign
jurisdictions.
Pashinian made those statements as Aliyev appeared to be avoiding
Western-mediated meetings with the Armenian leader since Baku carried out in
September a one-day military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh that caused more than
100,000 people, virtually the entire Armenian population of the region, to flee
to Armenia.
Western leaders have urged Azerbaijan to respect the right of Armenians to
return to their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure the safety of those who
decide to go back to the region that is now fully controlled by Baku.
U.S. ‘Would Welcome A Role’ In Facilitating Armenia-Azerbaijan Talks
US/Armenia/Azerbaijan - Trilateral talks of U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken
(C), Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov (L) and Armenian Foreign
Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Arlington, VA, May 4, 2023.
The United States “continues to engage the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan
and offer to facilitate a dignified and durable peace where the rights of all
are respected,” a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said in Washington
on Monday.
“It is important that Armenia and Azerbaijan discuss and resolve issues directly
to benefit the region. We would welcome a role in facilitating those talks.
We’ve seen other countries offer to facilitate those talks. We think it’s
important that the two countries talk face to face to reach a durable
agreement,” Matthew Miller said.
Miller declined to speak about Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations at the level of
foreign ministers that had reportedly been scheduled to take place in Washington
on November 20, but were not held due to Azerbaijan’s refusal.
Over the weekend Azerbaijan said it no longer saw a mediating role for the
United States, citing allegedly “one-sided and biased” remarks by U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien made during a
congressional hearing on Nagorno-Karabakh on November 15.
At the same time, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry indicated that Baku remained
open to the possibility of European Union-mediated talks as well as direct talks
with Armenia.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller (file photo)
Asked whether the U.S. still continues “offering Washington as a potential,”
Miller said: “As I just said, we would be willing to facilitate those talks, as
we have in the past, and we welcome other countries doing so as well.”
In October, Azerbaijan also refused to attend meetings with Armenia that were to
be mediated by EU and European leaders.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the EU’s October 5 summit in Granada,
Spain, for talks mediated by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz, and European Council President Charles Michel.
Pashinian had hoped that they would sign there a document laying out the main
parameters of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. However, Aliyev withdrew
from the talks at the last minute.
Baku cited France’s allegedly “biased position” against Azerbaijan as the reason
for skipping those talks in Spain.
The Azerbaijani leader also appears to have canceled another meeting which the
EU’s Michel planned to host in Brussels in late October.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at a military parade in Stepanakert,
Nagorno-Karabakh. November 8, 2023.
In his remarks during a joint press conference with the visiting president of
Iraq in Baku on Monday Aliyev said that “no international pressure can affect
the will of the government and the people of Azerbaijan.”
“Now Armenia is using its diaspora for attacks against Azerbaijan. All that,
however, will not give any result. We are ready for peace, which will be based
on mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as on
wisdom and historical justice,” Aliyev said, without elaborating.
The Azerbaijani leader further stressed that “Armenia should plan its future
based on its own national interests and not on the ambitions of states that are
far from the region and have a bloody colonial past.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday also criticized the West for
“failing to understand” that “a new era has begun in the region after the
Karabakh war.”
“Those who have been provoking Armenia for years, seeking benefit for themselves
from the sufferings of all people living in this geographic region, have
actually caused the greatest harm to Armenia. Using the Armenians, they
condemned them to distrust and gave them empty dreams that were impossible to
fulfill. Armenia should see and accept these realities,” the Turkish president
said, as quote by Azerbaijan’s AzerTac news agency.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November, 11, 2023.
“It would be more correct that the people and leaders of Armenia seek security
not thousands of kilometers away, but in peace and cooperation with their
neighbors. No amount of munitions sent by Western countries can replace the
stability that will bring lasting peace,” he added, calling on Armenia “to shake
the hand of peace extended by the Azerbaijanis.”
“I repeat that we, Turkey, are also ready to take necessary steps for the
success of the process in cooperation with Azerbaijan,” Erdogan said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian did not conceal his frustration with
what he said was Baku’s reluctance to publicly commit to the three key
principles for achieving peace when he addressed the opening meeting of a
three-day fall session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe in Yerevan on Saturday.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses delegates to the fall session
of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Yerevan. November 18, 2023.
Pashinian referred to the principles that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each
other’s territorial integrity, that the delimitation of the countries’ borders
should be based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, and that regional trade and
transport links should be opened while respecting sovereign jurisdictions. He
said those principles had been agreed upon in talks mediated by the West that
took place before Azerbaijan carried out in September a one-day military
operation in Nagorno-Karabakh that caused virtually the entire Armenian
population of the region to flee to Armenia.
Pashinian said the lack of commitment to the principles on the part of
Azerbaijan deepened the atmosphere of mistrust and that rhetoric from
Azerbaijani officials left open the prospect for renewed “military aggression”
against Armenia.
“Yerevan and Baku still speak different diplomatic languages, and we often do
not understand each other,” the Armenian leader said.
Despite this, Pashinian and other officials in Yerevan have voiced hopes that a
peace treaty with Azerbaijan can be signed “in the coming months.”
Brussels ‘Looking For Steps’ From Baku, EU Diplomat Says
• Shoghik Galstian
EU/Armenia/Azerbaijan - President of the European Council Charles Michel, Prime
Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinian and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
meet in Brussels, May 22, 2022.
Brussels is looking for steps rather than just statements from Baku to show that
Azerbaijan is ready for continuing negotiations with Armenia, a senior European
Union diplomat has said.
Toivo Klaar, the EU’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the
crisis in Georgia, talking to RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service on Monday, said that
after the meeting in Granada, Spain, that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
decided not to attend “we have lost momentum.”
Toivo Klaar
“We also hear statements from Baku. But to be frank, I think what we sense is
that there are these statements, but what we are really looking for is steps, is
the willingness to actually make the next steps,” Klaar said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the EU’s October 5 summit in Granada,
Spain, for talks mediated by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz, and European Council President Charles Michel.
Pashinian had hoped that they would sign there a document laying out the main
parameters of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. However, Aliyev withdrew
from the talks at the last minute.
Baku cited France’s allegedly “biased position” against Azerbaijan as the reason
for skipping those talks in Spain.
The Azerbaijani leader also appears to have canceled another meeting which the
EU’s Michel planned to host in Brussels in late October.
Most recently Azerbaijan refused to attend a meeting with Armenia at the level
of foreign ministers in Washington after allegedly “one-sided and biased”
remarks by a senior U.S. official made during a congressional hearing on
Nagorno-Karabakh. That meeting had reportedly been scheduled to take place on
November 20.
Over the weekend Azerbaijan said that it did not accept the mediation of the
United States, but was ready to continue negotiations in the Brussels format.
Brussels has said it is ready to organize a meeting as soon as possible, but
there is still no progress in this matter.
Arman Yeghoyan, a member of the pro-government Civil Contract faction in the
Armenian parliament, said he believed that in order to bring Azerbaijan to a
constructive field, the mediators should “make coherent assessments of the
parties’ steps and speak directly.”
Arman Yeghoyan
“It is about giving up a little bit of that political correctness to speak
directly and clearly. In my opinion, that’s what negotiations are all about, if
we mean real negotiations and not just protocol meetings. In real negotiations
there should be rhetoric expressing real intentions, including by mediators. If
the mediators try to always be in the field of some kind of political
correctness, it will make the negotiations more difficult and not easier,”
Yeghoyan, who heads the Armenian parliament’s standing commission on European
integration issues, said.
Along with skipping negotiations on Western platforms Baku declares that peace
and security must be ensured by regional actors. Azerbaijan, in particular,
suggests meeting in Tbilisi, Moscow, or negotiating directly, without mediators.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday also criticized the West for
“failing to understand” that “a new era has begun in the region after the
Karabakh war.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev attend a ceremony for the opening of a new international airport in
Zangilan, one of the districts that Azerbaijan regained control of during the
2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. October 20, 2022.
“Those who have been provoking Armenia for years, seeking benefit for themselves
from the sufferings of all people living in this geographic region, have
actually caused the greatest harm to Armenia. Using the Armenians, they
condemned them to distrust and gave them empty dreams that were impossible to
fulfill. Armenia should see and accept these realities,” said the Turkish
president, as quote by Azerbaijan’s AzerTac news agency.
“It would be more correct that the people and leaders of Armenia seek security
not thousands of kilometers away, but in peace and cooperation with their
neighbors. No amount of munitions sent by Western countries can replace the
stability that will bring lasting peace,” he added, calling on Armenia “to shake
the hand of peace extended by the Azerbaijanis.”
“I repeat that we, Turkey, are also ready to take necessary steps for the
success of the process in cooperation with Azerbaijan,” Erdogan said.
Political analyst Tigran Grigorian believes that this means that Azerbaijan has
a clear plan to move the negotiation process to the region, by which it tries to
bypass the principles already formed in the West.
Tigran Grigorian
“After Azerbaijan’s September military operation [in Nagorno-Karabakh], there is
also some pressure against Baku. It cannot be said that this pressure is very
big, but still there is some pressure, and Baku does not like all this, and that
is also the reason why it is trying to bring the processes out of the Western
influence. In that matter, of course, the interests of Baku and Moscow
coincide,” Grigorian said.
Moscow regularly announces that it is ready to organize a new trilateral
meeting. Last week, Armenia’s ambassador to Russia told the Russian Interfax
news agency that Yerevan is considering the proposal to hold a meeting of
foreign ministers in Russia. So far, however, official Yerevan has not announced
whether there is a specific agreement on that. It also remains unclear whether
the Armenian side is ready to accept the offer to negotiate in Moscow against
the background of increasingly sour relations between Armenia and Russia.
At this moment, it is clear that Armenia has not yet replied to the latest
version of a draft peace treaty that Baku says it handed over to Yerevan in
September. Recently, Azerbaijan has criticized Armenia for “dragging out” the
process.
The pro-government lawmaker in Yerevan said “we are working” on it.
“It’s not a kind of work that can be done quickly. There were times that they
[Baku] also delayed their reply. It’s negotiations. It’s not a train that has to
be on time and that we can say is late. Discussions are going on, discussions
are going on also within the state, which may last a week longer or shorter,”
Yeghoyan said.
Despite what appears to be a stalled negotiation process, the Armenian official
said he still saw the possibility of signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan by
the end of the year.
“Processes are underway. Yes, they did refuse to participate in negotiations,
but that does not mean that the processes have stopped. Besides, they have
separate relations with different centers in the world, too, and these relations
also impact our relations. And their relations with these centers have not
ceased,” Yeghoyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
CSTO ‘Continues To Work’ On Sending Observation Mission to Armenia
• Nane Sahakian
• Shoghik Galstian
Flags of member states are being raised at the CSTO joint military exercises in
Tajikistan in 2021.
Despite the fact that Armenia will not participating in the November 23 summit
of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Minsk, the Russian-led
defense bloc “continues to work on sending an observation mission to Armenia.”
The CSTO Secretariat’s statement to this effect made on Tuesday follows a
statement by the organization’s Secretary-General Imangali Tasmagambetov made
the previous day during a meeting with Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka,
the formal host of the upcoming summit, that Yerevan had asked the CSTO to
remove the issue of providing military assistance to Armenia from the
organization’s agenda.
“Out of the 34 decisions made at the Collective Security Council meeting [in
Yerevan] in November last year, only two have not been implemented. One of them
was the re-editing of the Council’s decision on assistance to Armenia. Despite
the fact that all other allies supported this decision, the Armenian side did
not show any interest in that document. Moreover, at the final stage of the work
on the document the Armenian side asked for it to be removed from the agenda
altogether,” the Kazakh head of the CSTO said.
Armenia had appealed to the CSTO for military assistance in September 2022
following two-day deadly border clashes with Azerbaijan that Yerevan said
stemmed from Baku’s aggression against sovereign Armenian territory.
The Russia-led bloc that also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan never called out the aggressor, while agreeing to consider sending an
observation mission to Armenia.
At the CSTO summit held in Yerevan in November 2022 Armenia declined such a
mission unless it gave a clear political assessment of what Yerevan said was
Azerbaijan’s aggression and occupation of sovereign Armenian territory.
Explaining his decision to skip the Minsk summit, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian told the parliament in Yerevan earlier this month that the
“fundamental problem” with the CSTO was that this organization has refused “to
de-jure fixate its area of responsibility in Armenia.”
“In these conditions this could mean that by silently participating [in the
summit] we could join the logic that would question Armenia’s territorial
integrity and sovereignty. We can’t allow ourselves to do such a thing, and by
making such decisions [not to attend CSTO gatherings] we give the CSTO and
ourselves time to think over further actions,” Pashinian said.
During the November 15 question-and-answer session in parliament the Armenian
leader refused to be drawn into the discussion of whether Armenia planned to
formally quit the CSTO, nor would he speak about any security alternatives to
membership in this organization.
“We are not planning to announce a change in our policy in strategic terms as
long as we haven’t made a decision to quit the CSTO,” Pashinian said.
While official Yerevan has not yet confirmed that it had asked for the document
on assistance to Armenia to be removed from the CSTO agenda, Hakob Arshakian, a
deputy parliament speaker representing Pashinian’s ruling Civil Contract party,
implied that such a move would only be natural given that the CSTO has not
changed its attitude.
“That’s the problem that was openly discussed in the works related to the CSTO,
that is, these issues arose from there, and the reason is the same,” Arshakian
told reporters.
Last year, the then Secretary-General of the CSTO Stanislav Zas said that the
heads of member states had ordered him to finalize the document on sending an
observation mission to Armenia and submit it for signing. Official Yerevan has
not reported any efforts by the CSTO to amend that document over the past year.
It also became known on Tuesday that Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan
and Defense Minister Suren Papikian will not attend the meetings of their
counterparts from CSTO member states that are scheduled to be held in Minsk on
November 22.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Month: November 2023
Azerbaijan says France laying ground for new regional war by arming Armenia
MSN
Nov 20 2023
By Nailia Bagirova
BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev accused France on Tuesday of creating conditions for a new war in the South Caucasus by supplying arms to Armenia.
France said last month it had agreed new contracts to supply military equipment to Armenia.
"France destabilises not only its past and present colonies but also our region, the South Caucasus, by supporting separatist tendencies and separatists," Aliyev told a conference on decolonisation in Azerbaijan's capital Baku.
"By arming Armenia, it implements a militaristic policy, encourages revanchist forces in Armenia, and prepares the ground for the start of new wars in our region."
There was no immediate reaction from Paris to his comments.
Baku and Yerevan have fought two wars in the past three decades but Aliyev scored a major victory in September by recapturing the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, where ethnic Armenians had enjoyed de facto independence since the early 1990s. More than 100,000 of them have since fled to Armenia.
Azerbaijan is now in a strong position to secure an advantageous peace deal with Armenia and has taken an increasingly tough line towards Western countries, especially France and the United States, which have large ethnic Armenian communities and have been sympathetic towards Yerevan.
A French diplomatic source said last week that France had asked Baku for clarification after its cyber defence unit uncovered a disinformation campaign emanating from Azerbaijan that aimed to undermine Paris’ capacity to hold next year's Olympic Games.
Highlighting the deterioration of relations, Aliyev said in Tuesday's speech that France was responsible for "most of the bloody crimes in the colonial history of humanity".
CONCERNS
A European diplomat voiced concern that Azerbaijan, after taking back the Karabakh region, might try to capture territory in southern Armenia with the aim of opening a corridor to its exclave of Nakhchivan, which borders Turkey, Iran and Armenia.
"We are really worried about Armenia's territorial integrity," the diplomat told Reuters.
Azerbaijan says such worries are unfounded, and that it is working with Iran on creating a transport corridor to Nakhchivan across Iranian territory.
Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev told Reuters that Baku wants bilateral peace talks with Armenia and believes they can reach an agreement quickly without the need for Western mediation.
"A peace agreement is not nuclear physics. If there is good will, the fundamental principles of a peace agreement can be worked out in a short time," he said.
On the question of Western involvement, he added: "We need peace in our region, not in Washington, Paris or Brussels."
Years of mediation by the European Union, the United States and Russia have failed to get Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace deal. They have yet to agree on the demarcation of their shared border, which remains closed and highly militarised. Border skirmishes, often fatal, remain a regular occurrence.
Azerbaijan, which has close ties to Turkey, has in recent months repeatedly backed out of peace talks brokered by the U.S. and the EU, both of which it has accused of pro-Armenian bias.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan this week credited the EU with helping to bring a peace deal closer, but said the two sides were still "speaking different diplomatic languages".
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova, writing by Felix Light and Mark Trevelyan; additional reporting by John Irish; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Hesitant Steps Towards a South Caucasus Peace Deal
Nov 21 2023
By Emil Avdaliani
Russia may yet benefit from the fallout of Azerbaijan’s successful military campaign in the doomed enclave of Nagorno Karabakh.
Azerbaijan might be signaling a major shift in its foreign policy. Its relations with the West have visibly deteriorated since its September blitzkrieg which caused the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to flee.
The fall of the enclave removed a major hurdle to a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Moreover, the Armenian leadership has chosen a pragmatic approach toward Azeri sovereignty, effectively signaling its willingness to recognize its neighbor’s territorial integrity within the borders established during the Soviet era.
Another significant hurdle has been the issue of the so-called Zangezur corridor via Armenia’s southernmost province of Syunik to the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan. Armenia has feared that this might provide the grounds for another war.
But for now, that seems to have diminished as Azerbaijan agreed in October to develop a transit route through northern Iran. This appeared designed to remove the threat to Armenia and to assuage Iranian concerns about Azeri intentions; Tehran remains Armenia’s most effective ally and has threatened military action if Azerbaijan pushes it too far.
In the past couple of weeks, Armenia and Azerbaijan have reportedly found consensus on three major principles. These include mutual recognition of territorial integrity, demarcation of the border, and the opening of communication channels. Far from being a comprehensive peace, it nevertheless might serve as the basis for a future normalization between the two rivals. Indeed, Armenia has submitted its sixth updated proposal on a peace agreement to Azerbaijan, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on November 21.
The barriers to a deal remain formidable. For example, despite a World Court ruling, it is unlikely Azerbaijan will allow the return of the 120,000 Armenians who left following its September victory.
That is only one of many continuing grievances, which include the question of exclaves in each other’s territory. Azerbaijan claims eight villages in Armenia, which claims at least one in Azerbaijan.
Along with this issue, there remains the significant question of where a peace deal should be signed. This is far more than symbolic.
There have been two separate negotiation tracks: one led by Russia and another by the West, mostly the European Union (EU.) And here there is a major shift underway. If before the September attack, the Azeris were fairly open to Western initiatives, after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh there are reasons to believe Azerbaijan favors Moscow.
Azerbaijan might be signaling a major shift in its foreign policy. Its relations with the West have visibly deteriorated since its September blitzkrieg which caused the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to flee.
The fall of the enclave removed a major hurdle to a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Moreover, the Armenian leadership has chosen a pragmatic approach toward Azeri sovereignty, effectively signaling its willingness to recognize its neighbor’s territorial integrity within the borders established during the Soviet era.
Another significant hurdle has been the issue of the so-called Zangezur corridor via Armenia’s southernmost province of Syunik to the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan. Armenia has feared that this might provide the grounds for another war.
But for now, that seems to have diminished as Azerbaijan agreed in October to develop a transit route through northern Iran. This appeared designed to remove the threat to Armenia and to assuage Iranian concerns about Azeri intentions; Tehran remains Armenia’s most effective ally and has threatened military action if Azerbaijan pushes it too far.
In the past couple of weeks, Armenia and Azerbaijan have reportedly found consensus on three major principles. These include mutual recognition of territorial integrity, demarcation of the border, and the opening of communication channels. Far from being a comprehensive peace, it nevertheless might serve as the basis for a future normalization between the two rivals. Indeed, Armenia has submitted its sixth updated proposal on a peace agreement to Azerbaijan, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on November 21.
The barriers to a deal remain formidable. For example, despite a World Court ruling, it is unlikely Azerbaijan will allow the return of the 120,000 Armenians who left following its September victory.
That is only one of many continuing grievances, which include the question of exclaves in each other’s territory. Azerbaijan claims eight villages in Armenia, which claims at least one in Azerbaijan.
Along with this issue, there remains the significant question of where a peace deal should be signed. This is far more than symbolic.
There have been two separate negotiation tracks: one led by Russia and another by the West, mostly the European Union (EU.) And here there is a major shift underway. If before the September attack, the Azeris were fairly open to Western initiatives, after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh there are reasons to believe Azerbaijan favors Moscow.
Azerbaijan sees French support for Armenia as a major hurdle in peace treaty negotiations. This includes Paris’s activism at the UN Security Council, where it is one of the five permanent members, and its recent decision to sell arms to Armenia, including air defense radars and missiles.
Furthermore, occasional calls within the EU for tough sanctions against Azerbaijan because of ethnic cleansing fuel hostility among President Ilham Aliyev and his entourage. These calls are based on allegations of ethnic cleansing. Additionally, the EU’s insistence on discussing the return of ethnic Armenians to Karabakh is opposed by Azerbaijan, which considers Karabakh’s displaced population an internal matter. A recent Azeri reproof of the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, is a good indication of the state of bilateral affairs.
There is a downward trajectory in the relations with the US too. Officials in Washington have expressed concerns over events and have suspended military aid to Azerbaijan. While this might not greatly impact its military capabilities, it signals that Azerbaijan should refrain from further potential military moves against Armenia. The Azeris have meanwhile pulled out of planned peace negotiations in Washington, and the country’s foreign ministry even stated that US officials were unwelcome in Azerbaijan.
More recently, on November 21, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan argued that “Armenia should understand that the roots of peace are not in Washington but in the region”. This follows what Azerbaijani officials signaled during the recent 3+3 summit in Tehran, (this is a grouping of the three big states of Russia, Turkey, and Iran, along with the three South Caucasus nations, although Georgia was absent), the need to solve regional conflicts without the involvement of outside powers.
Russia has also been overtly supportive of the Azerbaijani position. The trend has been strengthened by the Kremlin’s sharply worsening relations with its officially close ally, Armenia. Not only have the Armenians been outraged by the Kremlin’s refusal to make good on common defense treaties, but also by the implicit assumption that it simply matters less than Azerbaijan.
Armenia has effectively pulled out of the Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) but now appears to have gone much further, with unconfirmed reports that it plans to transfer up to 200 SS-21 ballistic missiles to Ukraine. The Kremlin has already been issuing hostile statements aimed at Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has suggested his country needed to “diversify” its security relationships.
So while there is increasing momentum for a peace agreement, significant tensions must still be resolved. For now that suggests that the dominant partner, Azerbaijan, is unwilling to engage in a Western-led settlement and would prefer an outcome led by the Kremlin.
Emil Avdaliani is a professor of international relations at European University in Tbilisi, Georgia, and a scholar of silk roads.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Jerusalem Christians Unite Behind Armenian Church Over Land Deal
Nov 21 2023
Jerusalem Christians have united in response to a disputed land deal that poses a threat to the longstanding Armenian presence in the Old City. The heads of various Christian Churches issued a joint appeal, expressing concern that the deal, involving the lease of approximately twenty-five percent of the Armenian district for a luxury hotel, could jeopardize the centuries-old Armenian community in the area.
The agreement was signed by the leader of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem in July 2021, Reuters reports. However, it came as a surprise to members of the community, who only became aware of it when surveyors began work this year. The head of the church informed his congregation that he was deceived and started legal proceedings to nullify the contract. The priest who brokered the accord on his behalf was reportedly defrocked by the Church Synod in May and has since departed from Jerusalem.
Despite legal challenges, construction activities, including the tearing up of a car park on the contested land, commenced last week. When protesters intervened, armed Israeli Jewish settlers reportedly attempted to disperse the demonstration unsuccessfully. Christian leaders, including those from the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, warned that such provocations could undermine the Christian presence in the Holy Land.
The Armenian community alleges that the investor behind the land lease is Australian-Israeli businessman Danny Rubinstein, the owner of Xana Capital Group, a company registered in the United Arab Emirates.
The Armenians, with a historic presence dating back to the fourth century, fear the project would not only consume their car park but also threaten their community hall, Patriarch’s Garden, seminary, and five family homes. The Armenian Quarter, centered around the Cathedral of Saint James, which dates back to 420 AD, constitutes one-sixth of walled Jerusalem and accommodates a thousand people.
In speaking to Reuters, Israeli lawyer-activist Daniel Seidemann said he believes the project aims to expand the Jewish Quarter into half of the Old City as part of a broader plan to surround the area with settlement projects.
As recently reported, the 1,600-year-old Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrios in the Gaza Strip, which provided shelter to displaced Palestinians, was hit by Israeli aircraft. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem reported the incident, and Palestinian health officials confirmed sixteen casualties.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck a command and control center involved in the missile launch. The military acknowledged damage to the church and expressed awareness of casualties. There were about fifty people, mostly women and children, at the church, where refuge was being sought during the conflict and strike.
Witnesses believe the target was close to a place of worship where many Gazans had likewise sought refuge. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the Israeli airstrikes, calling the attack on churches providing shelter to displaced citizens a war crime.
https://greekreporter.com/2023/11/21/armenian-church-jerusalem-controversy-land-deal/
Armenia Strengthens Defence capabilities with India’s MArG 155mm howitzers
Financial Express
Nov 21 2023
Armenia is set to bolster its military capabilities through the acquisition of India-made MArG 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers from Pune-based Bharat Forge. Representing a cutting-edge artillery system, these howitzers embody power, precision, and mobility.
The MArG 155mm/39 calibre stands out for its exceptional all-terrain manoeuvrability, capable of negotiating gradients up to 30°. Its ‘shoot and scoot’ capability adds versatility, making it a formidable weapon in modern combat scenarios.
This move signifies a pivotal moment for India’s export of indigenous defence technology. The MArG 155mm/39 calibre – BR, with its exceptional mobility and precision, represents a significant leap in artillery systems.
Armenia’s decision to acquire these howitzers is deemed a ‘significant development for India’s defence industry.’ Recent visits by Armenian officials to India involved testing the artillery system and finalizing the deal with Bharat Forge. This acquisition builds upon the growing strategic partnership between the two nations, positioning India as a key supplier of defence equipment to Armenia.
In 2020, Armenia procured four Swathi mobile radar units from India, and in September 2022, a US$245 million contract was signed for Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, anti-tank rockets, and various types of ammunition.
This latest purchase adds to a series of acquisitions by Armenia from India since 2022, including the Akash Surface-to-air missile system, 155mm towed ATAGS howitzers, Zen Anti-Drone Systems, 30mm and 40mm grenades, PINAKA multi-barrel rocket launchers, anti-tank munitions, and ammunition. These acquisitions underscore the deepening collaboration in defence between the two nations, reinforcing Armenia’s defence capabilities.
Based on information in the public domain, since 1991, tensions have brewed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, sparked by the Armenian military’s occupation of Karabakh—an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan—along with seven neighboring regions.
It has been reported in a section of the media that in a decisive move during the autumn of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated a significant portion of this territory through a war that concluded with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, paving the way for diplomatic normalization.
However, in a recent development this September, the Azerbaijani army launched a counterterrorism operation in Karabakh, aiming to establish a constitutional order, resulting in the surrender of illegal separatist forces in the region.
According to Russia’s Tass News Agency, the two sides have been able to agree to basic principles for a peace treaty, but still are speaking different diplomatic languages.
https://www.financialexpress.com/business/defence-armenia-strengthens-defence-capabilities-with-indias-marg-155mm-howitzers-3312545/
Armenia bolsters defence capabilities with Indian MArG 155mm howitzers
Nov 21 2023
Armenia is planning to enhance its military capabilities by procuring MArG 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers manufactured by Pune-based Bharat Forge in India. These howitzers are a modern artillery system that offers power, precision, and mobility. With the ability to negotiate gradients up to 30°, the MArG 155mm/39 caliber stands out for its exceptional all-terrain maneuverability. Its ‘shoot and scoot’ capability adds versatility, making it a formidable weapon in modern combat scenarios.
India's export of indigenous defence technology has reached a pivotal moment with this recent move. The MArG 155mm/39 caliber – BR is an exceptional artillery system that offers mobility and precision. Its acquisition by Armenia is considered a significant development for India's defence industry. Armenian officials have visited India recently to test the howitzer and finalize the deal with Bharat Forge. This acquisition strengthens the strategic partnership between India and Armenia and positions India as a key supplier of defence equipment to Armenia.
In 2020, Armenia procured four Swathi mobile radar units from India, and in September 2022, a US$245 million contract was signed for Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, anti-tank rockets, and various types of ammunition. This latest purchase adds to a series of acquisitions by Armenia from India since 2022, including the Akash Surface-to-air missile system, 155mm towed ATAGS howitzers, Zen Anti-Drone Systems, 30mm and 40mm grenades, PINAKA multi-barrel rocket launchers, anti-tank munitions, and ammunition. These acquisitions underscore the deepening collaboration in defence between the two nations, reinforcing Armenia’s defence capabilities.
Based on information in the public domain, since 1991, tensions have brewed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, sparked by the Armenian military’s occupation of Karabakh an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan along with seven neighboring regions. It has been reported in a section of the media that in a decisive move during the autumn of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated a significant portion of this territory through a war that concluded with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, paving the way for diplomatic normalization.
In a recent development in September, the Azerbaijani army launched a counter-terrorism operation in Karabakh with the aim of establishing constitutional order. This resulted in the surrender of illegal separatist forces in the region. Both sides have agreed to basic principles for a peace treaty, according to Russia's Tass News Agency. However, there are still differences in their diplomatic language.
https://www.siliconindia.com/news/general/armenia-bolsters-defence-capabilities-with-indian-marg-155mm-howitzers-nid-226570-cid-1.html
Azerbaijan arrests two journalists investigating political corruption
Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Nov 21 2023
The arrests of the director and editor in chief of Abzas Media come after a series of reports looking into officials’ wealth.
Two journalists have been arrested in Azerbaijan, according to their lawyers, after their media outlet recently published a series of reports looking into the wealth of high-ranking government officials and the family of President Ilham Aliyev.
Sevinj Vagifgyzy, the editor in chief of privately owned Abzas Media, was arrested and her home was searched on Tuesday, her lawyer and Abzas Media said.
A day earlier, police also arrested Ulvi Hasanli, the director of the same media outlet, on charges of “smuggling foreign currency”.
Hasanli pleaded not guilty to the charges, for which he could face 12 years in prison, his lawyer Zibeyda Sadygova said.
Abzas Media reported that Hasanli faced “inhumane treatment” while in custody, including being punched and kicked by officers who asked him about his corruption investigations.
Meanwhile, police also raided the media outlet’s office in Baku and kicked out journalists attempting to document the search from outside, footage from Abvas Media shows.
Abzas Media is one of the few independent media outlets left in Azerbaijan following a near decade-long campaign against independent media and press rights groups, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Natalia Nozadze, a South Caucasus researcher with rights group Amnesty International, said Hasanli’s arrest “fits into a pattern of critics being arrested by the authorities to stifle their dissent”.
She said Hasanli “has bravely exposed allegations of high-level corruption in Azerbaijan and covered critical issues of public interest” and that he has in the past “faced repeated harassment from the government”.
Signs of dissent are often met with a tough government response in Azerbaijan, an energy-rich nation long ruled by the Aliyev dynasty.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
US to provide over $4 million in aid for those affected by Nagorno-Karabakh crisis
The Straits Times, Singapore
Nov 21 2023
WASHINGTON – The United States will provide over $4.1 million in aid for people affected by the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the United States Agency for International Development said in a statement, after Azerbaijan's recapture of the region prompted a mass exodus of Armenians.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at odds for decades, most notably over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Baku's forces recaptured in September, prompting a mass exodus of most of the region's 120,000 ethnic Armenians to neighboring Armenia.
USAID said the additional aid, which has not been previously reported, will support efforts to provide assistance for almost 74,000 refugees and displaced people from the region who are sheltering in Armenia.
The aid will increase food assistance and provide humanitarian protection and emergency shelter, according to the statement.
The additional aid will bring the total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the Nagorno-Karabakh response to nearly $28 million since 2020, according to the statement.
"The U.S. stands with civilians affected by Azerbaijan’s military operation and supports the Armenian government’s efforts to help those in need," the statement read.
The two Caucasian countries have been in conflict most notably over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians with Yerevan's support until Baku recaptured it in September.
USAID chief Samantha Power traveled to Armenia and Azerbaijan in September following Azerbaijan's defeat of the breakaway region's fighters in the conflict dating from the Soviet era.
"We are incredibly grateful to the Armenian government and the Armenian people for opening their homes and their hearts to the displaced. We will continue to stand with them throughout this crisis," Power said.
The Armenians of Karabakh – part of Azerbaijan that had been beyond Baku's control since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union – began fleeing after their forces were routed in the operation by Azerbaijan's military. REUTERS
Armenian Prime Minister meets with Canadian parliamentary delegation
15:43,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a parliamentary delegation from Canada led by Senator Leo Housakos.
Prime Minister Pashinyan attached importance to the development of cooperation between Armenia and Canada in various directions and added that bilateral relations have been of dynamic nature in the recent period, the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout.
The Armenian Prime Minister highlighted Canadian support to the Armenian government in implementing democratic reforms. At the same time, PM Pashinyan stressed the importance of Canada’s decision to join the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA).
The members of the Canadian parliamentary delegation expressed concern on the situation resulting from the policy of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this context, the humanitarian issues of over 100,000 forcibly displaced persons and the Armenian government’s measures to overcome these issues were discussed. Views were exchanged around the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 20-11-23
17:09,
YEREVAN, 20 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 20 November, USD exchange rate down by 0.21 drams to 402.20 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.94 drams to 439.44 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 4.55 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.34 drams to 501.62 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 1.09 drams to 25617.01 drams. Silver price up by 4.04 drams to 310.28 drams.