20:55,
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, together with his wife Anna Hakobyan, attended the funeral ceremony of Vigen Khachatryan, MP from the “Civil Contract” faction of the National Assembly, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
16:10,
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has said that Armenia’s criticism of the CSTO is justified.
Lukashenko made the remarks while addressing a foreign ministerial meeting of CSTO member states in Minsk, Belarus.
Lukashenko said that Armenia is making justifies claims, while another member Kyrgyzstan has been asking for a long time to support in solving the border dispute with Tajikistan.
“I’d say there are problems, very serious problems. If we don’t resolve these problems, we will constantly rebuke each other and express discontent regarding the activities of the entire organization. Problems exist to be resolved. Thus, regardless of anything, we must dive into these issues that CSTO member Armenia and CSTO members Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are solving today,” Lukashenko said.
“Let’s include these issues in the agenda and resolve them. If we help resolve the conflict on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border, if we start solving this issue, they will be grateful. People will stop dying, and these countries will always be grateful to us. The same goes for the most difficult problem of Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the Belarusian leader said.
17:01,
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani military units have again targeted the U.S.-affiliated company’s construction site in the Armenian village of Yeraskh in the latest cross-border shooting, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijani forces opened gunfire on June 20, at 4:30 p.m. at the construction site of the steelworks which is being built by joint Armenian and American investments.
The Azerbaijani armed forces used various caliber small arms in the shooting.
Two Indian citizens employed at a steel plant under construction with US investment in Armenia have been injured after the site came under fire.
Armenia’s Defence Ministry accused Azerbaijan of inventing a ceasefire violation on Wednesday afternoon as a pretext to open fire on the plant.
The plant is located in Yeraskh, south of Yerevan and near the border with the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan.
The injuries of the two wounded men are not life-threatening.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller reacted on Twitter, expressing ‘concerns that two civilian employees of a US-affiliated company in Armenia sustained injuries from gunfire from the direction of Azerbaijan’.
The plant is being constructed by GTB Steel, which according to Hetq is a joint venture between Armenian citizen Grigor Ter-Ghazaryan and Indian-American investor Bobby Kang.
Armenia had also accused Azerbaijan of targetting the factory on Tuesday, reporting that a civilian car and a building had been damaged as a result.
In a statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry accused Azerbaijan of ‘hindering Armenia’s economic development and foreign investments’.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry, however, denied the accusations.
‘Regarding the allegation that Azerbaijan aims to prevent the attraction of investments in Armenia by creating provocations, let us note that Armenia pursued a policy of self-isolation by making territorial claims against neighbouring countries and keeping the territories of Azerbaijan under occupation for nearly 30 years, thereby all excluded from international projects’, the Foreign Ministry said.
Members of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Armenia also visited the area following the news, with the EU special representative to the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, posting a mild statement saying that the ‘shooting in all areas needs to stop’.
Several foreign diplomats in Armenia also visited the area on Thursday at the initiative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
Deputy Armenian Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan posted a photo online with EU monitors at the site.
Baku has opposed the construction of the metallurgical plant. Earlier in June, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Environment accused Armenia of violating international norms with the factory, which would damage Azerbaijan’s environment.
The tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in Nagorno-Karabakh have continued to ratchet in recent weeks, with both sides accusing each other of ceasefire violations almost daily.
On Thursday morning, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of firing towards Azerbaijani border guards at the checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, injuring one.
A criminal case was opened at the General Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the incident.
The Armenian National Security Service said that Azerbaijani soldiers had attempted to advance into Armenian territory and erect an Azerbaijani flag, which was ‘prevented’ as a result of the ‘measures’ taken by the Armenian side.
Shortly after, the authorities in Stepanakert stated that Azerbaijan had halted all traffic to and from Nagorno-Karabakh, including humanitarian cargo brought in by the Russian peacekeepers and the Red Cross.
Later on Thursday afternoon, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of using mortars in the same area, injuring a border guard. Baku accused Yerevan of breaking the ceasefire.
Additional reporting by Ismi Aghayev.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
13:46,
YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Ararat Governor Sedrak Tevonyan has assured foreign diplomats visiting the village of Yeraskh that the steelworks which is being built in the village doesn’t pose any environmental threats.
Tevonyan dismissed the Azerbaijani claims alleging that the plant’s construction poses environmental hazards and noted that Azerbaijani authorities actually want to disrupt the development of Armenia’s border towns.
“The Azerbaijani actions seek to disrupt the normal course of development of Armenia’s border towns. They make claims about environmental issues, but I assure you that no such issues exist,” the governor told foreign ambassadors who visited the village a day after the construction site came under Azeri cross-border gunfire, wounding two workers.
200 people are involving in the construction of the plant.
Approximately 1000 people will work at the plant when it gets launched.
Wednesday,
Erdogan Praises Pashinian, Chides Iran
Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands with the new cabinet
members during the inauguration ceremony at the presidential complex in Ankara,
June 3, 2023.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday praised Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian for attending his inauguration ceremony in Ankara and criticized Iran
for strongly opposing a “corridor” that would connect Azerbaijan to its
Nakhichevan exclave via Armenia.
“Pashinian’s acceptance of our invitation was an important step,” Erdogan was
reported to tell journalists after wrapping up his latest visit to Baku. “Mr.
Pashinian attended our ceremony, overcoming many obstacles emanating from his
country’s opposition.”
Armenian opposition leaders condemned Pashinian’s presence at the inauguration
ceremony held after Erdogan’s reelection and accused him of humiliating Armenia.
They argue that Ankara continues to fully support Azerbaijan and make the
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on Yerevan meeting
Baku’s key demands.
One of those demands is the opening of an exterritorial corridor passing through
Armenia’s Syunik province, which also borders Iran. Tehran is strongly opposed
to the corridor, having repeatedly warned against attempts to strip the Islamic
Republic of the common border and transport links with Armenia.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei emphasized this stance when he met
with Erdogan in Tehran last July.
“Iran’s approach to this issue disappoints us and Azerbaijan,” Erdogan said on
Wednesday. “I want us to overcome that problem soon.”
The Turkish leader claimed that unlike Tehran, Yerevan does not object to the
idea of the “Zangezur corridor” which he discussed with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev during his trip to Baku.
Pashinian’s government regularly rejects Azerbaijani demands for such a corridor
and says it can only agree to conventional transport links between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. It has specifically made clear that Azerbaijani citizens and cargo
passing through Syunik cannot be exempt from Armenian border controls.
Pashinian and Aliyev openly argued about the matter during a Eurasian Economic
Union (EEU) summit in Moscow on May 25. Nevertheless, the deputy prime ministers
of Armenia, Azerbaijan as well as Russia reportedly made major progress on
practical modalities of a rail link between Nakhichevan and the rest of
Azerbaijan during a subsequent meeting held in the Russian capital.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk met with Pashinian and his
Armenian opposite number, Mher Grigorian, in Yerevan on Wednesday for further
discussions on the thorny issue. An Armenian government statement said they
concentrated on the “restoration of railway communication” and “border and
customs controls based on the sovereignty and equal jurisdiction of the
parties.” It did not elaborate.
Probe Into Former Karabakh Army Chief Suspended
• Naira Bulghadarian
Nagorno-Karabakh - General Jalal Harutiunian (left) oversees a military exercise.
An Armenian law-enforcement agency has suspended its criminal investigation into
a former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh’s army prosecuted for serious military
setbacks suffered during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
The Investigative Committee indicted Lieutenant-General Jalal Harutiunian last
September on two counts of “careless attitude towards military service” One of
the accusations stems from an Armenian counteroffensive against advancing
Azerbaijani forces launched on October 7, 2020 ten days after the outbreak of
large-scale fighting. Its apparent failure facilitated Azerbaijan’s subsequent
victory in the six-week war.
The Investigative Committee said Harutiunian ordered two army units to launch an
attack southeast of Karabakh despite lacking intelligence and the fact that they
were outnumbered by the enemy and had no air cover. It also blamed the general
for poor coordination between the units which it said also contributed to the
failure of the operation. In addition, he was charged over the capture by
Azerbaijani troops of the frontline positions of a Karabakh Armenian artillery
unit on October 12, 2020.
The 48-year-old general, who was seriously wounded in an Azerbaijani missile
strike on October 26, 2020, denies the accusations carrying between four and
eight years in prison. He was not arrested pending investigation, unlike his
successor Mikael Arzumanian, who is facing separate charges in Armenia stemming
from the disastrous war.
The Investigative Committee announced on Tuesday that it has “temporarily”
suspended the probe in order not to exceed a legal time limit set for pre-trial
investigations. It said it has asked a team of unnamed military experts to pass
judgment on Harutiunian’s wartime actions. Their findings are thus expected to
determine whether he will go on trial or be cleared of the accusations.
Harutiunian’s lawyer, Arsen Sardarian, said on Wednesday that the investigators
made the decision because they have trouble substantiating the charges. He
claimed that the counteroffensive in question was not necessarily a failure
because the Karabakh and Armenian forces killed some 300 Azerbaijani soldiers
and suffered only 20 casualties.
Sardarian also argued that the counteroffensive was authorized by Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian and the then chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff,
Lieutenant-General Onik Gasparian. He said that if his client is indeed guilty
of mishandling that operation then so are Pashinian and Gasparian as well.
Pashinian has denied Armenian opposition allegations that he is the one who
ordered the operation in October 2020. He has blamed Armenia’s former leaders
for the outcome of the 2020 war.
Opposition leaders maintain that Pashinian is primarily to blame for Armenia’s
defeat in the war which left at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers dead. They claim
that he ordered the criminal charges against Harutiunian, Arzumanian and other
senior military officers to try to dodge responsibility.
U.S. Downplays Cancellation Of Armenian-Azeri Talks
U.S. - The State Department building in Washington, January 26, 2017.
The United States has insisted that an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace accord is
“within reach” while again warning American citizens in Armenia to “avoid travel
near the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.”
The U.S. State Department also downplayed the cancellation of a new round of
negotiations which the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers were due to
start in Washington on Monday.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said last week that the talks were postponed “at
the request of the Azerbaijani side.” Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian
on Tuesday linked the delay to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest
visit to Baku.
The State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said, however, that it was “100
percent due to scheduling issues.” He said Washington hopes to reschedule the
talks “as soon as we can” but declined to speculate about possible dates.
“We look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington as the parties
continue to pursue a peaceful dialogue for the South Caucasus region … We
believe an agreement is within reach,” Miller told a daily news briefing.
U.S. - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts talks between the Armenian
and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Arlington, May 4, 2023.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov
reported major progress towards an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty after
holding four-day talks outside Washington last month. Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met together with
European Union chief Charles Michel later in May. They held two more meetings in
the following weeks and are due to meet again in July.
The two sides say that despite Pashinian’s pledge to recognize Azerbaijani
sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh through the peace treaty, they still disagree
on other sticking points.
Tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and “the line of contact” around
Karabakh have steadily increased over the last few weeks, with the sides
accusing each other of violating the ceasefire on a virtually daily basis.
Armenian officials and pundits claim that Baku is ratcheting up the tensions in
a bid to clinch more Armenian concessions.
Armenia - U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien visits Syunik province, June
8, 2023.
“U.S. citizens should continue to exercise caution near all international
borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan and avoid travel near the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and line of contact,” the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan
said in a “security alert” posted on its website late on Tuesday.
The embassy also said that American diplomats and their families are still
“prohibited from any non-essential travel” to areas close to the Azerbaijani
border. It listed Armenia’s entire Syunik province and the resort town of Jermuk
among those locations.
U.S. Ambassador Kristina Kvien visited Syunik last week. Kvien said she “saw
first hand the tense situation along the border” and “heard about pervasive
security concerns from local officials, civil society.”
Another Armenian Plant Hit By Cross-Border Fire
• Artak Khulian
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - A road sign at the entrance to the border village of Yeraskh, July 20,
2021. (Photo by Armenia's Office of the Human Rights Defender)
Two workers building a new metallurgical plant in an Armenian border village
were seriously wounded on Wednesday in what the Armenian military described as
cross-border fire from nearby Azerbaijani army positions.
The workers, identified by the Defense Ministry in Yerevan as Indian nationals
Muhammad Asif and Mirhasan Sahajan, were reportedly hospitalized as a result.
The ministry accused Azerbaijani forces of firing at its border posts as well as
the construction site in the village of Yeraskh for the second consecutive day.
It released a photograph of a civilian vehicle in the village bordering
Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave riddled with bullet holes.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed that its troops returned fire after
being targeted by the Armenian side.
Several Yeraskh residents interviewed by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service confirmed
that the under-construction plant repeatedly came under fire. RFE/RL reporters
were not allowed to approach the site for security reasons.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a statement following the first truce
violation reported from Yeraskh late on Tuesday. It said Baku is demonstrating
“overt disregard for Armenia’s internationally recognized borders” and
underlining its desire to “impose solutions on Armenia through the illegal use
of force.”
“Either we negotiate in good faith to find mutually acceptable solutions, or, if
there is a use of force, then such a policy is unacceptable to us and, we hope,
the international community as well,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told the
Armenian parliament on Wednesday.
For his part, Defense Minister Suren Papikian said Armenia is not planning any
“aggressive actions” against Azerbaijan and will continue to advance its “peace
agenda” despite the Azerbaijani attacks. Papikian also assured lawmakers that
the Armenian armed forces will defend “our country’s sovereign territory.”
The truce violations came one week after the Azerbaijani government protested
against the construction of the Yeraskh plant located just 800 meters from the
Nakhichevan border. It claimed that building the industrial facility without
Baku’s permission is a violation of international environmental norms.
Yerevan brushed aside that claim. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday
that Baku’s “false concerns” are a smokescreen for impeding economic growth and
foreign investment in Armenia.
Armenia’s largest gold mine also located on the border with Azerbaijan was
likewise targeted by systematic Azerbaijani gunfire this spring. The Russian
owner of the Sotk gold mine announced last week that it has no choice but to end
open-pit mining operations there and put many of its 700 workers on unpaid leave.
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.
21:39,
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. On June 12, 8 patients from the “Republican Medical Center” of the Artsakh Ministry of Health, along with their companions, were transported to specialized medical centers of Armenia, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers and sanitary vehicles.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from Artsakh’s information headquarters, 6 medical patients who were referred to Armenia for treatment within the framework of the state order, returned to Artsakh with their companions.
“During the entire siege, a total of 562 medical patients were transported to Armenia by the Red Cross and peacekeepers, of which 492 were transported through the ICRC, and 70 through peacekeepers.
12 children are in the neonatal and resuscitation department in the “Arevik” medical unit,” the message says.
According to the source, 9 patients are in the intensive care unit at the “Republican Medical Center”, 4 of them are in critical condition.
10:16,
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. The new batch of trolleybuses bought by the city of Yerevan has already been delivered, a city official in charge of electric transport said Monday.
“The entire batch of fifteen trolleybuses has arrived in Yerevan,” Yerevan Electric Transport CJSC Director Sargis Bejanyan said at a meeting in City Hall.
Authorities are planning to buy another batch of 15 trolleybuses.
11:56,
YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian national has been taken into custody by law enforcement officials shortly after arriving at Zvartnots airport in Yerevan from Rome for allegedly trying to smuggle over 120 packages of hashish in his gastrointestinal tract.
After conducting an x-ray screening at the airport, authorities determined that the suspect needs medical examination at a hospital. The suspect was taken to a hospital where a tomography exam showed packages in the stomach and colon. The substances were removed by medical personnel.
The State Revenue Committee said the drug mule was carrying 110 packages containing hashish and another 16 ruptured packages with the same substance. The total weight of the substance was 652 grams.
A criminal investigation is underway.
16:31, 9 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 9, ARMENPRESS. Catholicos Karekin II sent greetings to Pope Francis, wishing him speedy recovery after his surgery, the Armenian Church said in a statement.
Karekin II wished Pope Francis God-given robust health and long years of Pontifical service.