Author: Antonian Lara

Armenia joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Saturday, adding to a growing list of countries where Russian President Vladimir Putin can't visit freely.

Armenian officials made it clear that their decision to join the ICC was not meant to be a jab at Russia, an ally to the country, claiming that Azerbaijan's aggression towards Armenia was the catalyst for its decision, the Associated Press reported.

Last month, Azerbaijan said it took full control over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an enclave that has been occupied by Armenian separatists for over 30 years. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that pro-Armenian forces surrendered after a two-day fight in the mountainous region. "Karabakh is Azerbaijan," he said in an address to his country at the time.

Armenia's parliament, meanwhile, voted to ratify the Rome Statute (60-22), which would in effect make it a member of the ICC, and on Saturday, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan approved the decision.

However, Armenia told Moscow last month that Putin would not be arrested if he entered the country after Russia called Yerevan's decision an "unfriendly step," according to the AP.

Over 100 countries have joined the ICC, since its creation over 20 years ago. Armenia, along with the other countries that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, are expected to arrest Putin upon entry after the Russian leader was charged with war crimes in Ukraine in March.

The ICC alleges that Putin is responsible for the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia during his invasion of the Eastern European country that began in February 2022. Moscow, however, has denied the ICC's allegations and called the warrant for the Russian leader's arrest "outrageous." Investigators in The Hague had gathered evidence against Putin over the past year, but an ICC prosecution remains a challenging task since the Kremlin does not recognize the court or its jurisdiction.

Other countries where Putin is not welcome includes every member of the European Union (EU), most African states, all Latin and South American states, besides Cuba and Nicaragua, and even Russian ally Tajikistan, according to the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Hungary, another ally to Russia, signed the Rome Statute and ratified it in 2001. However, Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said in March that there is no basis in his country's law for arresting Putin if he were to visit.

Newsweek has reached out to the Armenian parliament via email for comment.

Top officials from the United States and the EU met with their Russian counterparts for undisclosed emergency talks in Turkey designed to resolve the standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh, just days before Azerbaijan launched a military offensive last month to seize the breakaway territory from ethnic Armenian control.

The off-diary meeting marks a rare — if ultimately unsuccessful — contact between Moscow and the West on a major security concern, after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended regular diplomacy.

A senior diplomat with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO the meeting took place on September 17 in Istanbul as part of efforts to pressure Azerbaijan to end its nine-month blockade of the enclave and allow in humanitarian aid convoys from Armenia. According to the envoy, the meeting focused on “how to get the bloody trucks moving” and ensure supplies of food and fuel could reach its estimated 100,000 residents.

The U.S. was represented by Louis Bono, Washington’s senior adviser for Caucasus negotiations, while the EU dispatched Toivo Klaar, its representative for the region. Russia, meanwhile, sent Igor Khovaev, who serves as Putin’s special envoy on relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Such high-level diplomatic interaction is rare. In March, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came face to face on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in India — but Moscow insisted the exchange happened “on the move” and no negotiations were held.

In a statement provided to POLITICO, an EU official said “we believe it is important to maintain channels of communications with relevant interlocutors to avoid misunderstandings.” The official also observed Klaar had sought to keep lines open on numerous fronts over the “past years,” including in talks with Khovaev and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department declined to comment on the meeting, saying only that “we do not comment on private diplomatic discussions.”

However, a U.S. official familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters explained the discussions came out of an understanding that the Kremlin still holds sway in the region. “We need to be able to work with the Russians on this because they do have influence over the parties, especially as we’re at a precarious moment right now,” the American official said.

Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19, sending tanks and troops into the region under the cover of heavy artillery bombardment. Karabakh Armenian leaders were forced to surrender following 24 hours of fierce fighting that killed hundreds on both sides. Since then, the Armenian government says more than 100,000 people have fled their homes and crossed the border, fearing for their lives.

Azerbaijan insists it has the right to take action against “illegal armed formations” on its internationally recognized territory, and has pledged to “reintegrate” those who have stayed behind. European Council President Charles Michel described the military operation as “devastating,” while Blinken has joined calls for Azerbaijan “to refrain from further hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and provide unhindered humanitarian access.”

Thousands of ethnic-Armenian children who fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region after an assault by Azerbaijani forces on September 19 have begun attending classes at schools in Armenia, according to government and media reports.

On Wednesday, the Armenian prime minister’s press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, said more than 29,000 children were among 100,625 forcibly displaced people who had arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, and said their education was a priority for the government.

On Friday, Baghdasaryan told media that 7,904 children – roughly 38 percent of school-aged children who had arrived – had been enrolled in schools so far. The government was also looking to hire more teachers and advertised 1,035 vacant positions across the country.

This footage published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Friday shows students at a school in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, where they said around 20 evacuee children were enrolled. The video includes interviews with children from Nagorno-Karabakh, including a girl who becomes tearful while recounting how her family was forced to leave their home, and an interview with a teacher from Nagorno-Karabakh who said she was hired immediately after arriving in Armenia, according to translations provided by RFE/RL. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/refugee-children-nagorno-karabakh-begin-185308785.html

Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan initiative led by Representatives Frank Pallone, Jr (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA), addressed a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power, urging them to take a strong stance to support Armenia and prevent Azerbaijan from further attacking the Armenian people, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).
The letter details the use of sanctions on Azerbaijan, ending all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, providing humanitarian assistance to Armenia, releasing prisoners of war and Artsakh government officials, providing security assistance to Armenia, and protecting Armenia’s territorial sovereignty.
Highlighting the importance of promoting peace in the South Caucasus, the Members of Congress provide “concrete steps” to preserve Armenia’s territorial integrity and express that the “United States must take bold actions to help democratic Armenia to protect itself against destabilizing, autocratic regimes like Azerbaijan.”
Referring to the Administration’s announcement of $11.5 million in humanitarian aid to help communities impacted by the Azerbaijani military attack on Artsakh, the letter states that the U.S. “must continue providing additional humanitarian assistance to Armenia to aid refugees who fled to Armenia from Artsakh” and “further encourage continued U.S. diplomatic engagement” to prevent “an all-out war in the South Caucasus.”
“Signals from Azerbaijani President Aliyev indicate that his campaign of ethnic cleansing will not cease with his military attacks on Artsakh,” the letter continues, citing reports that Putin, Erdogan, and Aliyev have “recently agreed to a deal in principle to dismantle the current Armenian state by allowing Azerbaijan to invade southern Armenia with full impunity.”
“If these reports are accurate, this plan would trigger the full-scale invasion of a sovereign, democratic country whose foreign policy has made a sharp turn to the U.S. and the West.”
Among the strong actions the U.S. can take to deter Azerbaijan’s aggression, the letter underscores the use of the Global Magnitsky Act to “sanction President Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials for their role in the military attack on and dissolution of Artsakh and associated atrocities and human rights violations,” as well as ending all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan by enforcing Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act.
The importance of providing strong security assistance to Armenia will help maintain peace and stability in the region, in addition to creating an international monitoring and peacekeeping force in Armenia to prevent a potential invasion.
The letter concludes by stating that the U.S. should “continue demonstrating [its] global leadership by taking strong actions to deter threats to the free, sovereign, and democratic Republic of Armenia.”
“The Assembly applauds the Members of Congress for their relentless efforts to bring much-needed awareness and action to not only the Armenian people of Artsakh who have been forcibly displaced from their homes, but to prevent a potential attack onto sovereign Armenia,” stated Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan.
The letter was cosigned by Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and James McGovern (D-MA).

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

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