Dadivank under protection of Russian peacekeepers
22:00,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Dadivank is already under the protection of the Russian peacekeepers and it’s not under any danger, ARMENPRESS reports Father Vahram Melikyan, head of the press service of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, wrote on his Facebook page.
‘’Currently there are some clergymen in the Cathedral who will continue to worship at the sanctuary and perform the ordinances regularly’’, he wrote.
12:46,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Peter Steiniger, editor-columnist of the German newspaper Neues Deutschland, says the current tough situation of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh is also a result of the European Union’s policy.
In his article Peter Steiniger said the EU supported Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by keeping to sell weapons to him which was used by Azerbaijan.
“The difficult situation of Armenians of Karabakh is also a result of EU’s policy, which supported Erdogan, as its profitable villain, by keeping to sell weapons to him”, the German columnist wrote.
He said “Armenia lost the uneven battle for Nagorno Karabakh which was imposed on the country by Azerbaijan’s leader Aliyev through a war aggression”. Peter Steiniger added that now “Russia is trying to again freeze the conflict with altered geography”.
“Baku receives a large price of pie. Aliyev ventured to strike the tiny “Republic of Artsakh” as Moscow made it clear that its assistance to the Armenian allies will end in the borders of the mother country. Russians didn’t take the risk of getting involved in the war in the south wing with NATO representative Turkey. It’s not in vain that Turkish President Erdogan has been given a carte blanche by the US to set fire in the region”, the German editor says.
He states that “the war has been ideologically motivated for Azerbaijan and the Great Ottoman Empire”.
“The triumph of victory strengthens Aliyev’s positions. All sides helped him to succeed in the deal”, Peter Steiniger wrote.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
14:46, 8 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The Russian WarGonzo reports that the Azerbaijani armed forces are retreating in the direction of Artsakh’s town of Martuni.
The Telegram channel of WarGonzo informs that the Defense Army of Artsakh managed to shot down a warplane of the Azerbaijani side not far from the town of Martuni.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
12:18, 9 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. The Artsakh Defense Army is taking countermeasures to take out an Azerbaijani assault team in the direction of Karintak village.
Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Lt. Colonel Artsrun Hovhannisyan said the Azeri forces are being hit with artillery strikes.
“The enemy has major losses,” the Lt. Colonel said, adding that they will release a video soon.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
17:33, 7 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Ukraine’s National Police will take under protection all official representations of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Head of the National Police Ihor Klymenko has said.
“All official representations of Azerbaijan and Armenia will be taken under police protection soon. We call on everyone, especially representatives of the diaspora, citizens of both states on the territory of Ukraine, to show patience and tolerance towards each other”, Klymenko said as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.
Artsakh's army carries out successful operations south from Shushi – MoD
20:10, 7 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army of Artsakh has carried out successful operation in the south from Shushi, representative of the Defense Ministry of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan told on his Facebook page.
''Heavy clashes take place in the North and Martuni direction. Our troops have carried out successful operation south from Shushi'', Hovhannisyan wrote
The deadly fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia that reignited in Nagorno-Karabakh at the end of September is entering a decisive phase. On November 6, Azerbaijani troops reached the outskirts of the city of Shusha, a cornerstone of the entire Armenian defense. Now, if the Armenian side is unable to carry out a successful counteroffensive — clearing the road connecting the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to Armenia and removing the threat of Shusha being seized — then the war will surely take a strategic turn in favor of Azerbaijan. In this case, the very existence of independent Nagorno-Karabakh (officially named the Republic of Artsakh) could come under threat. Working with the limited information coming from battlefield, “Meduza” breaks down the most recent developments in the conflict.
Currently, the fighting is heavy for both sides. The Armenian forces defending Shusha and its surrounding area are helped by its location: the city is situated in the mountains and stands on a giant cliff overlooking the region. The Azerbaijani army is suffering heavy losses during ambushes, which the Armenian side arranges daily in the ravines leading towards the city.
However, the two parties are obviously unequal: for a month, the Armenian side has suffered much too heavy losses in terms of both manpower and equipment (both sides have lost thousands of combatants and several dozen civilians have been killed so far). The Armenians are clearly in no condition to defend the entire length of the approximately 40-kilometer road that connects Armenia to the municipal centers of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic — it’s capital Stepanakert (or Khankendi in Azerbaijani) is only about a dozen kilometers from Shusha. Azerbaijani special forces reached the road on October 4, and since then Nagorno-Karabakh’s armed forces have been unable to drive them out.
The Armenians are now tasked with trying to dislodge the Azerbaijani special forces from the Shuha—Lachin road and from the surrounding forests. They don’t have another choice. If Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh army do not launch a successful counteroffensive in the coming days, they will lose a critical supply line and a threat to the unrecognized republic’s capital will emerge (as previously mentioned, Stepanakert is located just a dozen kilometers from Shuha). It will be impossible to hold on to remaining territory and the hope for a compromise political solution to the conflict will be lost completely.
In addition, Armenia (and it’s sympathizers among politicians from Russia, France, and the United States) doesn’t have any “material” left to offer when it comes to brokering a compromise.
On October 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the following as a possible “plan that will suit both parties”:
In the same vein of “reaching a compromise that will suit all parties,” Iran presented a plan to Moscow, Yerevan, and Baku last week — the details of which have yet to be disclosed.
However, Azerbaijan has already occupied almost all of the territory that Putin planned to “give up” in exchange for both a postponed decision on Nagorno-Karabakh’s status and a ceasefire. The only remaining territories are the Lachin District and the Kalbajar District in the North — along which runs the only remaining road connecting Stepanakert to Armenia that hasn’t been cut off by the Azerbaijani army. That said, this road is of little use as a supply line (the journey takes many hours and appears to be under fire from Azerbaijani forces in several locations). But, in the event of a military disaster, Nagorno-Karabakh’s military and civilian authorities could use it for evacuations.
There’s little hope that Nagorno-Karabakh’s forces will avoid defeat in this situation. Apparently, the Nagorno-Karabakh army has tapped all of its reserves, as has Armenia, which formally isn’t involved in the conflict, but is almost officially supplying Stepanakert with entire units of reservists and volunteers, as well as equipment. So far, the Armenian forces have yet to launch a successful counter offensive and all of them have resulted in heavy losses. This is due in part to the Azerbaijani sides’ rapid advance on Shusha.
So long as they still hold Shusha, however, the Armenians can use the terrain to their advantage: it’s difficult to advance in the mountains, especially for an army like Azerbaijan’s, which relies on the advantage of possessing heavy equipment. However, despite the fact that the Azerbaijani forces were apparently unable to transport equipment through the ravines south of Shusha until November 5, their special forces reached the Shusha-Lachin road all the same.
In recent days, Azerbaijan has refrained from using its main trump card — Turkish and Israeli-made armed drones, which previously cost the Nagorno-Karabakh army huge losses, especially in terms of tanks, artillery, and other heavy equipment. The reason behind the absence of drones over the battlefield remains unclear. The Armenian military hinted that they have some kind of “military secret,” which would allow them to prevent the use of drones (nothing has been said about the nature of this “secret” officially; it’s possible that it refers to some Russian technology — on the eve of the present conflict, Armenia conducted joint military exercises with the Russian army on countering drones). However, it’s more likely that this isn’t a matter of “military secrets” but rather of bad weather — in particular, low lying clouds and fog. The weather is forecast to improve for several days by Sunday, November 8.
Nevertheless, the Armenians do indeed appear to have “secrets” linked to the Russian military. They’ve been using drones in recent days — not armed ones, but reconnaissance drones that operate at a low altitude (where clouds don’t interfere with them) and provide target designations for Armenian artillery. Video footage from one of these drones revealed that the Armenian side is using a Russian drone model, the Orlan-10. The delivery of these drones to Armenia wasn’t reported before the conflict broke out, but they are definitely in use at Russia’s military base in Gyumri, Armenia. That said, this technology is unlikely to radically change the balance of power at the front.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Armenian PM Calls Nagorno-Karabakh ‘Anti-Terrorist Frontline’
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
Expressing his sympathies to Austria over the latest terrorist attacks in
Vienna, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday argued that a new,
“hybrid” world war has begun, with Nagorno-Karabakh being its “anti-terrorist
frontline.”
“The more the world ignores it, the more noticeable this war will become,”
Pashinian wrote on Facebook, stressing that this new global war is being waged
equally against Christians, Muslims and Jews.
“Nagorno-Karabakh today is the frontline of anti-terrorist fight. Without any
exaggeration it is here that the fate of civilization is being decided,” the
Armenian leader wrote.
Pashinian’s remarks likely refer to Yerevan’s claims that various jihadist
fighters recruited by Turkey from Syria are fighting on Azerbaijan’s side
against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Such claims have been supported by
leading world powers, including Russia and France, as well as a number of
leading international media conducting journalistic investigations into the
matter.
Both Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, deny the involvement of mercenaries in the
hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Civilization must win. We are with you, Vienna,” Pashinian concluded his
Facebook post, thus offering his sympathies to the Austrian capital where at
least several people have been killed and over a dozen injured in a series of
terror attacks on November 2.
The attacks have been linked to Islamic terrorists.
In a number of recent interviews with European media, including the German Bild
newspaper, Pashinian urged European leaders to put pressure on Turkey, which is
accused by Armenia of deploying terrorist fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh, warning
that if Europe misjudges the situation in the South Caucasus, it “should wait
for Turkey near Vienna.”
France To Ban Turkish Ultranationalist Gray Wolves After Anti-Armenian Activities
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin
(RFE/RL) France will ban the Turkish ultranationalist Gray Wolves group, the
interior minister said, days after its members were linked to anti-Armenian
demonstrations and vandalism.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described the Gray Wolves on November 2 as a
“particularly aggressive group.”
He said the move to ban the Gray Wolves, also known as the Idealist Hearths,
will be put to the French cabinet on November 4.
In Turkey, the Gray Wolves are linked to the far-right Nationalist Movement
Party (MHP) of Devlet Bahceli. The party has a political alliance with President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The plan to ban the Gray Wolves comes after two anti-Armenian demonstrations by
people carrying Turkish flags in the Lyon and Grenoble areas. The demonstrations
are believed to be tied to the Gray Wolves.
French media also reported that a monument in Lyon dedicated to the victims of
the 1915 massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was defaced with pro-Turkish
Gray Wolves slogans and "RTE" in reference to Erdogan.
The Gray Wolves are considered the militant wing of the MHP, known for their
pan-Turkish and far-right ideology.
In the past, they are believed to have had ties to the Turkish “deep state” and
mafia, having been involved in street violence against leftists in Turkey during
the 1970s and 1980s. Its members have also been involved in attacks on Kurdish
activists and aided the state's fight against Kurdish nationalist militants.
There have been tensions in France between its large ethnic Armenian population
and Turkish communities over the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which
Turkey has strongly backed its ally Azerbaijan.
There have also been weeks of tensions between France and Turkey in the Eastern
Mediterranean, Syria, and Libya.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera on November 1, President Emmanuel Macron accused
Turkey of adopting a "bellicose" stance towards its NATO allies.
Tensions have risen further after the beheading of a French schoolteacher who
showed his pupils cartoons mocking Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
In the wake of the killing, Macron has defended free speech, including the right
to mock religion, triggering sharp rhetoric from Erdogan and a call to boycott
French goods in Turkey.
France has also been taking steps to ban radical Islamist groups.
Armenia Snubs Israel Over Arms Sales To Azerbaijan
• Karlen Aslanian
ISRAEL - Israeli Armenians are holding a rally in Jerusalem demanding that the
Jewish state recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, October 24, 2020
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian used unusually strong terms in
commenting on Israel’s supplies of weapons to Azerbaijan that are being applied
against ethnic Armenians in the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Last month Israel offered humanitarian aid to both Azerbaijan and Armenia, but
unlike Baku, Yerevan ignored that offer.
On October 1, four days after the start of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and
only two weeks after opening its embassy in Tel Aviv, Armenia recalled its
ambassador from Israel in protest against continuing supplies of Israeli weapons
to Azerbaijan.
Answering the question of The Jerusalem Post on whether Armenia is interested in
the humanitarian aid offered by Israel, Pashinian queried rhetorically:
“Humanitarian aid from a country selling weapons to mercenaries who target
civilians?”
“I suggest that Israel send this aid to mercenaries and terrorists as a logical
continuation of its activities,” the Armenian prime minister said.
In an exclusive interview with the Israeli newspaper published on November 3,
Pashinian accused Israel of lining up with Turkey, terrorists and Syrian
mercenaries in backing Azerbaijan in the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh,
stressing that it will eventually suffer the consequence of what he described as
an “unholy alliance.”
Pashinian also said that Azerbaijan is intent on “carrying out genocide against
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” according to the newspaper.
Armenia opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in September, one year after deciding to
upgrade diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Those relations have long been frosty, reflecting differing geopolitical
priorities of the two states. Also, Yerevan has for years expressed concern over
billions of dollars’ worth of advanced weapons, including sophisticated drones
and missiles, which Israeli defense companies have sold, with the Israeli
government’s blessing, to Azerbaijan over the past decade.
On October 5, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin expressed hope that Armenia will
send its ambassador back to Israel.
“We welcome the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Israel and hope that the
Armenian ambassador will return soon,” Rivlin said in a reported phone call with
Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian.
Putin Discusses Karabakh With Pashinian, Aliyev
RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting of the Valdai
Discussion Club via a video conference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence
outside Moscow, October 22, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin had telephone conversations with Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on November 1
and November 2, respectively, according to the Kremlin.
“Issues of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were thoroughly
discussed,” a short statement released by the Russian president’s office said.
On October 31, Pashinian sent a letter to Putin in which, invoking a 1997 treaty
with Russia, he formally asked Moscow “to define types and amount of assistance”
that it can provide to Armenia. Pashinian said that the fighting between ethnic
Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan that broke out in late
September was approaching the country’s borders and that some encroachments on
the territory of the Republic of Armenia have already taken place.
In response to the letter the same day, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to Armenia under the 1997 Treaty on Friendship,
Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, saying that “Russia will render all necessary
assistance to Yerevan if military operations take place directly on the
territory of Armenia.”
At the same time, the Russian ministry again called on the parties to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to halt military operations immediately, deescalate
the situation and return to “substantive negotiations” to achieve a peaceful
settlement.
Earlier, the Armenian prime minister also signaled Yerevan’s agreement to the
deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, but
said that such a move would require the consent of all parties to the conflict.
Meanwhile, President Aliyev on Monday called on Russia to maintain neutrality in
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh given its status as an
international mediator.
According to Interfax-Azerbaijan, while receiving in Baku Secretary-General of
the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States Baghdad Amreyev, Aliyev said:
“The prime minister of Armenia has sent a letter to the president of the Russian
Federation, asking for military support. This is completely unacceptable. And
there are absolutely no grounds for that, because we are conducting actions in
our territory, we are defeating the enemy in our lands, freeing them from the
Armenian occupation, while we do not attack the territory of Armenia.”
Aliyev went on to say that as a co-chair of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group Russia is supposed to maintain a
neutral position on this issue, which he said is stipulated by the mandate of
the OSCE, whose Minsk Group co-chairmanship also includes the United States and
France.
The war in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out on September 27, with the Armenian and
Azerbaijani sides accusing each other of unleashing the hostilities.
Diplomatic efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries to stop the
bloodshed have failed so far. Three humanitarian ceasefire agreements brokered
separately by Moscow, Paris and Washington on October 10, 17 and 26 collapsed
within hours, with both sides blaming the other for not respecting the deals.
Armenia Upbeat On 2021 Economic Growth Despite Pandemic, War
Armenia -- A textile factory in Berd
Despite the coronavirus pandemic and continuing war in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia
expects its economy to grow by 4.8 percent in 2021, the government in Yerevan
said in unveiling next year’s budget this week.
The document submitted to the National Assembly on November 2 calls for 1.5
trillion drams (about $3 billion) in taxes and duties, which is higher than this
year’s revenue pattern.
Under a revised budget for this year the Armenian government expects to raise
only 1.32 trillion drams ($2.65 billion) in taxes and duties.
The total revenues of the state budget next year are expected to amount to 1
trillion 569 billion drams (over $3.1 billion) and the spending pattern is
projected at 1 trillion 843 billion drams (over $3.7 billion). The budget
deficit is estimated at 274 billion drams or more than $551 million according to
the current exchange rate.
In presenting the budget in parliament Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian
expressed confidence that due to efficient work the government will be able to
achieve success despite challenges posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and
war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Deputy Prime Minister or Armenia Mher Grigorian
“Obviously, 2021 will be a tough year for all of us. But I am sure that as a
result of our joint work we will be able to have a budget that will consider all
possible risks and challenges, generate sufficient resources for their effective
neutralization and counteraction, and also ensure the socio-economic stability
and security of our country,” the vice-premier said.
According to the same document, Armenia will close 2020 with an economic decline
at 6 percent.
“Of course, we cannot say that martial law has not affected the economy and
budget in any way. Of course, it has and will continue to affect the revenue
pattern of the budget, and we should think about the debt threshold accordingly.
But I believe that we will find the balance that will allow us to get out of
this situation,” Grigorian said.
For his part Finance Minister Atom Janjugazian did not exclude that this year’s
economic decline may be even steeper – at 6.8 percent. “After making this
6-percent decline forecast we once again revised our budget estimations,
concluding that because of the hostilities [in Nagorno-Karabakh] we may expect
an additional negative development of 0.8 percentage points this year,” he said.
According to the draft state budget for 2021, by the end of this year Armenia’s
state debt will stand at $8 billion 850 million, and by the end of next year it
will amount to $9 billion 215 million.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
22:28, 3 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces, reinforced with mercenaries, launched attacks in almost all directions of the front line, but suffering great losses of military equipment and manpower, retreated, ARMENPRESS reports representative of the MoD Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a press conference.
He added that Azerbaijan continued subversive penetration attempts in the direction of different villages, but with no success.
''Early in the morning, south of Martuni city the Azerbaijani armed forces tried to attack with the assistance of armored vehicles, air force, and artillery, but losing armored vehicles and a significant number of manpower, retreated to their initial positions. During the entire day our armed forces continued the elimination of hostile forces particularly with artillery fire.
In the northern direction, near Karvachar, the adversary attempted a subversive penetration attempt under smoke cover under the pretext of taking out the bodies of their victims, but they were detected and eliminated by long-range fire'', Hovhannisyan said.
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