Tuesday,
Azerbaijan Accused Of Another Cross-Border Attack On Armenia
ARMENIA -- Armenian soldiers take their position on the front line in Tavush
region, July 14, 2020
The Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces late on Tuesday of again
attacking one of its positions at a section of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan
where deadly fighting raged last week.
The Defense Ministry spokeswoman, Shushan Stepanian, said an Azerbaijani
commando unit suffered heavy losses while being repelled by Armenian troops
deployed in the Tavush province. Some of the unit’s soldiers were “left trapped”
as a result of the failed incursion, she said without elaborating.
“The Armenian side suffered no casualties,” Stepanian wrote on Facebook.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denied the claim. “There were no new attacks, let
alone casualties, from our side,” said its spokesman, Vagif Dargahli. “The
Armenian report is yet another disinformation.”
Dargahli said earlier in the day that the situation on the border between Tavush
and the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan remains “tense but stable.”
Fierce fighting at the volatile border section broke out on July 12, with each
side accusing the other of trying to seize its frontline positions in the
mountainous area. At least 12 Azerbaijani soldiers, including a general, and
four Armenian servicemen died before the clashes involving artillery fire and
drone attacks largely stopped on July 16.
The international community has expressed serious concern over the worst
escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in years.
According to Stepanian, Azerbaijani special forces targeted late in the evening
the same hilltop post of the Armenian army which they unsuccessfully stormed
early on July 16.
“Although there was no gunfire as of 00:47 a.m. [on Wednesday] I must
nonetheless note that the leadership of the Azerbaijani armed forces is not in
control of the situation,” the Armenian official wrote in another Facebook post
after midnight.
UN Chief Urges 'Maximum Restraint' By Azerbaijan, Armenia After Clashes
Pakistan -- U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks to The Associated
Press in Lahore, February 18, 2020
(Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Azerbaijan
and Armenia on Monday to exercise maximum restraint after border clashes between
the long-feuding former Soviet republics.
“The secretary-general is following with deep concern the current tensions
between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He calls for maximum restraint, as a full
conflict between these two countries would be disastrous,” U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric said.
The neighbors have long been in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. But the latest
flare-ups are around the Tavush region in northeastern Armenia, some 300
kilometers from the territory.
Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, has urged the two sides to cease
fire and show restraint. The Kremlin has said Moscow is ready to act as a
mediator.
International concern is heightened because of the threat to stability in a
region serving as a corridor for pipelines taking oil and gas from the Caspian
Sea to global markets.
Yerevan Insists On Armenian-Azeri Confidence-Building Measures
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Priest Ter Abel prays for peace outside the village of Movses on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, July 15, 2020
Armenia called on Azerbaijan on Tuesday to agree to confidence-building measures
that could prevent further ceasefire violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
zone.
“We hope that after the failure of its latest military adventure Azerbaijan will
demonstrate responsibility on the issue of maintaining and strengthening the
ceasefire,” Anna Naghdalian, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said,
referring to last week’sclashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which left at
least 16 soldiers from both sides dead.
“There are explicit proposals to strengthen security and confidence, including
an increase in the number of international monitors deployed on the ground,
direct communication [between the two sides] and introduction of a mechanism for
investigating ceasefire violations,” Naghdalian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
“Their implementation could help to avoid a renewed upsurge in tensions.”
Azerbaijani President Aliyev and his former Armenian counterpart President Serzh
Sarkisian agreed on such safeguards against ceasefire violations during
face-to-face meetings held after the April 2016 hostilities in Karabakh. Baku
subsequently refused to implement them, however, saying that they would cement
the status quo in the conflict.
Sarkisian’s political allies have always portrayed those confidence-building
agreements, strongly backed by the U.S., Russian and French mediators, as a
major Armenian diplomatic achievement. They claim that Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian abandoned them after coming to power in May 2018 and embarking on a
dialogue with Aliyev a few months later.
Pashinian called for an “international system of credible monitoring of the
ceasefire regime” when he met with Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and
top army generals over the weekend.
Pashinian’s office would not say on Tuesday whether he is now trying to revive
the agreements that were negotiated by Sarkisian.
“I think that commenting on the former authorities’ statements is an ungrateful
task,” Ruben Rubinian, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament
committee on foreign relations, said in this regard.
“We have always raised the issue of introducing a monitoring mechanism and will
continue doing so,” he added.
Armenia Demonstrates ‘Azeri Drones Shot Down In Border Clashes’
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Israeli-made military drones and their fragments are demosntrated by
the Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
Armenia’s Defense Ministry demonstrated on Tuesday what it described as
Israeli-made military drones of Azerbaijan shot down by its anti-aircraft units
in last week’s heavy fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The Armenian military claims to have destroyed or intercepted 13 such unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the clashes that broke out on July 12 and largely
stopped five days later. It says that 10 of them were attack drones that were
about to strike Armenian military and civilian targets in the northern Tavush
province bordering the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan.
Purported fragments of some of those UAVs were put on display at the Defense
Ministry’s Military Aviation Institute in Yerevan. Ministry officials also
showed journalists a largely intact ThunderB surveillance drone manufactured by
Israel’s BlueBird Aero Systems company.
The Armenian military publicized on July 14 what it described as amateur footage
of a sophisticated Hermes 900 drone of the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed by
an Armenian surface-to-air rocket. Hermes 900 is produced by another Israeli
company, Elbit Systems, and used for reconnaissance and communication relay. The
Azerbaijani military has denied losing such aircraft.
An Armenian defense news website posted at the weekend a photograph of two
Armenian soldiers holding a SkyStriker “suicide” drone also manufactured by
Elbit Systems. Israeli media revealed the sale of such UAVs to Azerbaijan in
January 2019.
Armenia -- An Israeli-made ThunderB military drone is demosntrated by the
Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
The Azerbaijani army used other types of Israeli-made “suicide” drones during
the April 2016 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh that nearly escalated into an
all-out Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Garik Movsisian, a senior officer of Armenia’s air-defense forces, said that a
total of about 40 Azerbaijani UAVs have been brought down since 2016. He claimed
that the Israeli drones lost by Azerbaijan in the Tavush-Tovuz fighting were
worth at least $150 million.
Armenia has long expressed concern over Israel’s large-scale arms deals with
Azerbaijan which have totaled at least $2 billion since 2012. The Foreign
Ministry in Yerevan reiterated those concerns following the latest flare-up
along the border between the two South Caucasus states.
For its part, the Azerbaijani military claims to have shot down two Armenian
drones last week. The Armenian side denies that.
At least 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, and four Armenian
soldiers died in the border clashes. A senior Armenian official said late last
week that the Armenian combat deaths were caused by Azerbaijani drone strikes.
The Armenian military says that during last week’s hostilities it used for the
first time attack drones designed and produced by Armenian companies. It says
that they destroyed at least one Azerbaijani tank. Baku has dismissed these
claims.
For the fifth consecutive day the conflicting parties did not report on Tuesday
serious ceasefire violations at the Tavush-Tovuz section of the border.
Armenia Demonstrates ‘Azeri Drones Shot Down In Border Clashes’
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Israeli-made military drones and their fragments are demosntrated by
the Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
Armenia’s Defense Ministry demonstrated on Tuesday what it described as
Israeli-made military drones of Azerbaijan shot down by its anti-aircraft units
in last week’s heavy fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The Armenian military claims to have destroyed or intercepted 13 such unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the clashes that broke out on July 12 and largely
stopped five days later. It says that 10 of them were attack drones that were
about to strike Armenian military and civilian targets in the northern Tavush
province bordering the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan.
Purported fragments of some of those UAVs were put on display at the Defense
Ministry’s Military Aviation Institute in Yerevan. Ministry officials also
showed journalists a largely intact ThunderB surveillance drone manufactured by
Israel’s BlueBird Aero Systems company.
The Armenian military publicized on July 14 what it described as amateur footage
of a sophisticated Hermes 900 drone of the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed by
an Armenian surface-to-air rocket. Hermes 900 is produced by another Israeli
company, Elbit Systems, and used for reconnaissance and communication relay. The
Azerbaijani military has denied losing such aircraft.
An Armenian defense news website posted at the weekend a photograph of two
Armenian soldiers holding a SkyStriker “suicide” drone also manufactured by
Elbit Systems. Israeli media revealed the sale of such UAVs to Azerbaijan in
January 2019.
Armenia -- An Israeli-made ThunderB military drone is demosntrated by the
Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
The Azerbaijani army used other types of Israeli-made “suicide” drones during
the April 2016 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh that nearly escalated into an
all-out Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Garik Movsisian, a senior officer of Armenia’s air-defense forces, said that a
total of about 40 Azerbaijani UAVs have been brought down since 2016. He claimed
that the Israeli drones lost by Azerbaijan in the Tavush-Tovuz fighting were
worth at least $150 million.
Armenia has long expressed concern over Israel’s large-scale arms deals with
Azerbaijan which have totaled at least $2 billion since 2012. The Foreign
Ministry in Yerevan reiterated those concerns following the latest flare-up
along the border between the two South Caucasus states.
For its part, the Azerbaijani military claims to have shot down two Armenian
drones last week. The Armenian side denies that.
At least 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, and four Armenian
soldiers died in the border clashes. A senior Armenian official said late last
week that the Armenian combat deaths were caused by Azerbaijani drone strikes.
The Armenian military says that during last week’s hostilities it used for the
first time attack drones designed and produced by Armenian companies. It says
that they destroyed at least one Azerbaijani tank. Baku has dismissed these
claims.
For the fifth consecutive day the conflicting parties did not report on Tuesday
serious ceasefire violations at the Tavush-Tovuz section of the border.
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.
Author: Ani Kharatian
Armenia has no intention of attacking Azerbaijan’s oil facilities: report
AMN Al-Masdar News
BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:10 A.M.) – Armenia has no intention of attacking oil and gas infrastructure on Azerbaijani soil, despite the ongoing clashes on the border, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the Armenian Defence Ministry’s spokesman, said on Sunday.
According to Hovhannisyan, claims that the Armenian armed forces are plotting to disrupt the international energy infrastructure passing through Azerbaijan are a “false thesis put forward by Baku”.
“Technically, the Armenian armed forces could have done this a long time ago, but we have not had and do not have such plans. We believe that the oil and gas communications passing through this region belong to international companies, and these companies should be confident that Armenia is a guarantor, not a consumer of security. Armenia can better ensure their security than anyone else in the region”, Hovhannisyan told reporters.
The armed confrontation escalated on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on 12 July, notably far from from the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where the two have waged war for decades. The clashes took place near the Movses village along the contact line between Armenia’s Tavush province and Azerbaijan’s Tovuz province. Yerevan and Baku blamed the initiation of the firing on each other.
Azerbaijan has so far reported 12 troops killed as a result of armed hostilities, while Armenia has reported four fatalities. According to Yerevan, another 10 servicemen and one civilian have sustained injuries.
Azerbaijan warns of risks to Caspian energy exports from conflict with Armenia
Reuters
Margarita Antidze
BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan warned on Saturday about security risks to the oil and gas it supplies to European markets due to the outbreak of hostilities at its border with Armenia.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of SOCAR is seen on a filling station in Bern, Switzerland May 10, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo
Elshad Nassirov, vice president of Azeri state energy company SOCAR, said on a conference call some of the energy infrastructure involved in shipping Caspian oil and gas to world markets is located in the vicinity of the current military operations.
Fifteen servicemen from Azerbaijan and Armenia and one Azeri civilian have died since Sunday in clashes between the two countries, who fought a war in the 1990s over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nassirov told the call that if they looked at a map they would see that clashes had taken place near some of its infrastructure. He said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum gas pipeline and some other facilities were located not far from the territory where clashes had taken place.
Nassirov also referred to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, the last stretch of the Southern Gas Corridor which also includes two other pipelines running via Georgia and Turkey – important because its completion means the whole corridor will be operational, reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas supplies.
“The pipeline will be ready and operational in time in October-November this year,” he said.
Armenia on Saturday also warned about security risks to the region coming from Azerbaijan after Baku said on Thursday it might strike the Metsamor nuclear power plant.
“This is a statement that should be unequivocally considered a crime against humanity … it should be given an appropriate international response and probe,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said.
Speaking on the conference call organised by U.S.-based think-tank the Caspian Policy Center, details of which were published on the group’s website, Nassirov called on the West to help protect its energy exports.
“I would use this opportunity to invite our colleagues in Washington and elsewhere to think about how fragile … this region is and to think how to provide … military and physical security to the corridor, which is providing energy security to Europe,” Nassirov said.
Azerbaijani press: Mexican lawmaker strongly condemns Armenia’s military provocations against Azerbaijan
- 18 Jul 2020 12:39
- 105
- POLITICS
President of the Mexico-Azerbaijan Friendship Group of the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union of Mexico, MP Agustín García Rubio has made a statement strongly condemning Armenia’s recent military attacks in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district.
The statement emphasized that in the wake of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that has been lasting since 1994, the Armenian armed forces had occupied the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan.
The Mexican lawmaker called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to avoid any military escalation and give impetus to substantive negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group.
Agustín García also expressed Mexico’s support for the conflict resolution in accordance with international law, as well as the well-known four UN Security Council resolutions demanding respect for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
In conclusion, the Mexican MP expressed his condolences to the people and government of Azerbaijan over the death of military servicemen and wish the wounded the swiftest possible recovery.
Sports: Denis Djorkaeff appointed adviser to Armenia’s football chief
Public Radio of Armenia
July 9 2020
Artsakh reports no new case of COVID-19 in past 24 hours
11:22,
YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS. No new case of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Artsakh in the past 24 hours, the ministry of healthcare said.
The total number of confirmed cases in Artsakh stands at 146.
3 more patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 119.
The number of active cases is 27.
So far, 2,639 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the Republic.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Bomb threat at Yerevan shopping center was false
16:03, 6 July, 2020
YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Nothing dangerous was found in the territory of Megamall Armenia trade center in Yerevan after search operations: the bomb alarm appeared to be false, head of the City department for firefighting and rescue operations at the ministry of emergency situations Gevorg Mnatsakanyan told reporters.
“Three groups have operated, nothing dangerous was found as a result of the operations. The works have been completed. Megamall will return to a normal operation”, he said.
The National Center for Crisis Management received a call today, at 13:30, that a statement has been spread on internet according to which bombs are placed at the 1st and 2nd floors of Megamall Armenia shopping center in Yerevan which are going to explode at 13:50.
Rescuers and operative groups left for the scene.
Nearly 350 citizens have been evacuated by rescuers and police officers from the shopping center.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Nikol Pashinyan: Mortality rate in Armenia increased by 30%
Arminfo, Armenia
July 1 2020
ArmInfo.Our main strategic task is to learn how to live with coronavirus. On June 1, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this during a briefing. Pashinyan noted that every citizen should do everything possible so as not to become infected with coronavirus and not to infect others. , the prime minister emphasized.
The head of the Cabinet also spoke about how people suffer from the disease. , – said Pashinyan.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister emphasized that according to statistics, in the first 5 months of 2020, fewer people died in Armenia than in 2019.
Asbarez: L.A.-Yerevan Charter Flights to Begin July 11
L.A.-Yerevan charter flights will begin on July 11
Taking into consideration the impact the global COVID-19 crisis has had on the airline industry and given the large number of Armenians living in the United States, especially in California, a decision has been made to begin flights from Los Angeles to Yerevan starting on July 11.
Citizens and permanent residents of Armenia, as well as non-Armenia citizens who have relatives living in Armenia may use this opportunity.
The charter flights are being made possible by Iceland Air, which will deploy its Boeing 767 aircraft that has economy and business class seating. The flight will stop in Reykjavik, Iceland to refuel for one hour and the same aircraft will then take off to Yerevan. The entire trip will last 15 hours.
Interested individuals are being asked to complete an online application at lax2evn.com. Representatives will contact the prospective passengers within 48 hours to arrange reservation, purchase and payment options. Tickets also be purchased through travel agencies. Levon Travel has been granted representation in the U.S.
The current economy class fares are $1,350, while business class fares have been set at $2,350.
This arrangement has made possible through the efforts of Armenia’s Territorial Administration Ministry, Iceland’s Honorary Representation in Armenia, lawmaker and member of the Armenia-Iceland Friendship Council in Parliament, Narek Mkrtchyan and the Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles.
Opposition Bright Armenia faction to vote against 2019 state budget performance annual report
12:04,
YEREVAN, JUNE 25, ARMENPRESS. The opposition Bright Armenian faction of the Parliament will vote against the annual report of the 2019 state budget performance, faction head Edmon Marukyan said today.
“The Bright Armenia faction, of course, will vote against the performance of under-fulfilled budget, it is out of discussion”, Marukyan said.
The Armenian Parliament is debating the issue on approving the 2019 state budget performance annual report. Cabinet members led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are also attending the Parliament session.
Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan