Author: Arpi Talalian

Death toll from fuel depot blast in Karabakh rises to 170, Armenpress reports Reuters

Arpi Talalian
Reuters
Sept 29 2023
Reuters

MOSCOW, Sept 29 (Reuters) – The death toll from an explosion and fire at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh has risen to 170, Armenpress news agency reported on Friday citing local officials in the breakaway region.

The blast occurred as thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the breakaway enclave after their fighters were defeated by Azerbaijan in a lightning military operation.

The authorities have not given any explanation of the cause of the blast.

The number of victims rose sharply from an earlier announcement by Karabakh authorities reporting 68 dead on Tuesday evening.

Rescue work at the blast site continues.

As of Friday morning, more than 84,700 of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who call Nagorno-Karabakh home had already crossed into Armenia.

Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

Armenia asks World Court to order Azerbaijan to withdraw troops from Nagorno-Karabakh

Arpi Talalian
Reuters
Sept 30 2023
Reuters

9:11 PM GMT+3Updated a day ago

AMSTERDAM, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Armenia has asked the World Court to order Azerbaijan to withdraw all its troops from civilian establishments in Nagorno-Karabakh and provide the United Nations access, the court said on Friday.

The World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, in February ordered Azerbaijan to ensure free movement through the Lachin corridor to and from the disputed region, in what then was an intermediate step in legal disputes with neighbouring Armenia.

More than three quarters of the 120,000-strong population of the ethnic Armenian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh had fled by Friday afternoon after defeat by Azerbaijan last week.

In a request for provisional measures submitted on Thursday, Armenia asked the court to reaffirm the orders it gave Azerbaijan in February and to order it to refrain from all actions directly or indirectly aimed at displacing the remaining ethnic Armenians from the region.

Some international experts have said the exodus of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh meets the conditions for the war crime of “deportation or forcible transfer”, or even a crime against humanity.

The United States and others have called on Baku to allow international monitors into Karabakh, amid concerns about possible human rights abuses. Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh, something Baku strongly denies.

Azerbaijan has invited a United Nations mission to visit Nagorno-Karabakh “in the coming days”, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

The World Court in The Hague is the UN court for resolving disputes between countries. Its rulings are binding, but it has no direct means of enforcing them.

Reporting by Bart Meijer Editing by Grant McCool

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/armenia-asks-world-court-order-azerbaijan-withdraw-troops-nagorno-karabakh-2023-09-29/

HRW: Azerbaijan: Ensure Civilians’ Rights in Nagorno Karabakh

Arpi Talalian
Sept 23 2023

Humanitarian Crisis Needs Urgent Response

(Berlin, ) – Thousands of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh have dire humanitarian needs following Azerbaijan’s military operation to regain control over the region, Human Rights Watch said today. The military intervention followed months of acute shortages of food, medications, hygiene products, and other essential supplies to the region, as Azerbaijan had disrupted vehicular and pedestrian traffic to the region for over 9 months.

Azerbaijani authorities should take immediate steps to ensure the safety and humanitarian needs of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population, allowing humanitarian access without delay. Azerbaijan should allow civilians who wish to evacuate temporarily to Armenia, as well as people in urgent need of medical care who wish to leave, while respecting their right to return. Transportation of food, medicines, and other humanitarian necessities into Nagorno-Karabakh should be permitted from multiple directions, including through Armenia. International monitoring is needed to ensure that Azerbaijan meets its human rights obligations, in particular, toward Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.

“Civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh are facing a dire humanitarian crisis and grave uncertainty about their future,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Azerbaijani authorities have said that everyone’s rights will be protected, but that is hard to take at face value after the months of severe hardships and decades of conflict.”

Unless Azerbaijani authorities take immediate steps to address humanitarian needs, including goods and services essential to people’s economic and social rights, it would be credible to conclude that it is deliberately trying to make ethnic Armenians’ lives so miserable they will have no choice but to leave, Human Rights Watch said.

Since September 19, 2023, when Azerbaijan started military attacks to regain full control over Nagorno-Karabakh, thousands of civilians have fled their homes. Many fled to Stepanakert/Khankendi. Ethnic Armenian civilians cannot evacuate the region because Azerbaijan has not opened the border, which runs through the Lachin Corridor, the sole road connecting the region to Armenia.

On September 22, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Russian peacekeeping force bases in Nagorno-Karabakh were “hosting 826 civilians,” and that “their accommodation, food supply, and medical care are provided.” Russian peacekeeping forces should ensure the humanitarian needs and protection of civilians who sought refuge on Russian military bases, Human Rights Watch said. On September 22, the Azerbaijani emergencies ministry announced that it had sent 40 tons of humanitarian assistance, including food and hygiene products, to Khankendi/Stepanakert for distribution to civilians.

For civilians who choose to evacuate, Azerbaijan is obligated to allow them to return to their homes under a fundamental precept of international human rights law, Human Rights Watch said.

On September 22, the European Court of Human Rights issued interim measures obligating Azerbaijan to “refrain from taking any measures which might entail breaches of their obligations under the [European Convention on Human Rights], notably regarding the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other degrading treatment or punishment.”

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan populated by ethnic Armenians who, together with Republic of Armenia forces, fought a war for independence in the early 1990s and remained defacto separate from Azerbaijan until 2020. Azerbaijan initiated hostilities in September 2020 to retake the area. A truce statement ending the 44-day war provided for Russian peacekeeping troops to have a presence in Nagorno-Karabakh and to control the Lachin Corridor until 2025.  

Azerbaijan began blocking the Lachin Corridor on December 12, 2022, and in April established a checkpoint. Starting in mid-June, Azerbaijan blocked all humanitarian goods, which Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) had been delivering,  claiming unauthorized goods had been smuggled into Nagorno-Karabakh. It also periodically prevented the ICRC from transporting patients out of the enclave, Nagorno-Karabakh representatives told Human Rights Watch in August.

On September 19, Azerbaijani forces carried out military attacks aimed at re-establishing control over areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had remained under the control of the de facto local authorities after the 2020 truce. On September 20, a ceasefire was announced, followed the next day by initial talks between Azerbaijani authorities and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian community.

In August, Human Rights Watch spoke remotely with 16 people who described the nearly complete disruption of movement of people, goods, and services including electricity, gas, and petrol. This disruption resulted in acute shortages of food, medications, hygiene products, and other supplies essential to people’s economic and social rights. People described facing shortages of these essential items with almost no access to dairy products, eggs, or meat, and intermittently bread.

Civilians now face even greater shortages. Under added widespread power cuts, they are desperately trying to locate their loved ones.

Hikmet Hajiyev, an adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Azerbaijani officials had told the ICRC, “all necessary conditions are provided and will be provided for the delivery of medicine, food and other goods by ICRC” via Lachin and another road.

By establishing a border checkpoint at the Lachin road and forcing it closed for months when no other arrangements were in place to ensure residents’ rights to food and health, Azerbaijan effectively has been denying these rights, Human Rights Watch said.

For seven months, Azerbaijan has refused to carry out a binding order by the International Court of Justice to “take all measures […] to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.” In December, the European Court of Human Rights issued an earlier set of interim measures, saying Azerbaijan should “take all measures that are within their jurisdiction to ensure safe passage through the ‘Lachin Corridor’ of seriously ill persons in need of medical treatment in Armenia and others who were stranded on the road without shelter or means of subsistence.”

Hajiyev’s post also stated that Nagorno-Karabakh military personnel who voluntarily lay down their weapons are “free,” though there are serious grounds to fear that Azerbaijani authorities may treat all adult males without disabilities as presumptive combatants. On September 19, when hostilities started, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry messaged Nagorno-Karabakh civilians saying that shelter, food and water would be made available to women, children, older people, people with disabilities, and sick people. The statement implied that most adult males would not be treated as civilians, Human Rights Watch said.

“Thousands of ethnic Armenian people are displaced, and many separated from their families, fearing uncertainty and a bleak future,” Williamson said. “Urgent humanitarian access and monitoring are needed to ensure safety for Nagorno-Karabakh’s civilians.”

Center for Truth and Justice Welcomes Ocampo’s Congressional Testimony on Nagorno Karabakh Genocide by PRNewswire

Arpi Talalian
Benzinga
Sept 7 2023
byPRNewswire

 

  • Luis Moreno Ocampo, ex-prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, tells Congressional Human Rights Commission that Azerbaijan’s blockade of disputed enclave is a genocide and the US is at risk of complicity
  • US should compel Azerbaijan to end blockade immediately, Ocampo says

MONTROSE, Calif., Sept. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Center for Truth and Justice welcomed Luis Moreno Ocampo’s call on the United States to demand an end to Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ocampo, the first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said that the blockade is a genocide and cautioned that the United States risks complicity through inaction.

In a testimony Wednesday before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Ocampo said that “there is a reasonable basis to believe that Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor constitutes genocide under Article II c) of the Convention” – and that the US, as a convention signatory, must do what it can to end it.

“The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is desperate, with Azerbaijan trying to starve the population to force it to flee,” said Maggie Arutyunyan, a member of the leadership of the California-based Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ). “We hope Ocampo’s testimony finally compels the United States and other states to move decisively to end this atrocity.”

The disputed Armenian-populated enclave, known to Armenians as Artsakh, ended up in Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed, but has since then operated as a self-governing entity. Azerbaijan seized much of the territory in a 2020 war that killed thousands of Armenians, and what remains of it is connected to the outside world by an access road known as the Lachin Corridor. 

On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan started blocking that road, and since June 15 all passage has been impeded, cutting off food and other supplies. At least one resident has died of starvation, and witnesses say basic supplies including baby formula are running out.

In his testimony, Ocampo said that the US, as a party to the Genocide Convention, “undertook the duty ‘to prevent and to punish'” genocide, and “accepted that under Article III e) complicity in genocide is punishable.” Alluding to ongoing Western-sponsored peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said that “US involvement in a negotiation that includes a party, Azerbaijan, which is committing genocide could be characterized as complicity in genocide.”

“The duty to prevent does not require the US to intervene militarily in Azerbaijan but rather to use all available means as circumstances permit to have a deterrent effect on Azerbaijan,” he said. “The US should openly inform the Azerbaijan government that without the immediate and unconditional removal of the Lachin Corridor blockade, the US would consider Azerbaijan to be committing genocide.

Last month Ocampo issued a report finding that the blockade constitutes a case of genocide. Two weeks ago the first UN Advisor on Genocide, Juan Mendez, also affirmed in a report that Azerbaijan’s lack of compliance with a February order by the International Court of Justice to stop its blockade of food and humanitarian assistance to the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh is an “early warning” of genocide. The issue has also been recently discussed at the UN Security Council.

The CFTJ is a group of attorneys dedicated to collecting testimonial evidence of war crimes, is renewing its call on world powers to intervene to end the genocide facing Nagorno-Karabakh.

ABOUT THE CFTJ:
CFTJ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in November 2020 in response to the Nagorno-Karabakh war. We are a group of lawyers overseeing the collection of firsthand testimonial evidence from war survivors via in-depth, recorded interviews. We run two law clinics, one in Armenia and one in Nagorno-Karabakh, which are the first of their kind.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Maggie Arutyunyan at 1(818)749-8185
[email protected]

SOURCE Center for Truth & JusticeThe disputed Armenian-populated enclave, known to Armenians as Artsakh, ended up in Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed, but has since then operated as a self-governing entity. Azerbaijan seized much of the territory in a 2020 war that killed thousands of Armenians, and what remains of it is connected to the outside world by an access road known as the Lachin Corridor. 

On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan started blocking that road, and since June 15 all passage has been impeded, cutting off food and other supplies. At least one resident has died of starvation, and witnesses say basic supplies including baby formula are running out.

In his testimony, Ocampo said that the US, as a party to the Genocide Convention, “undertook the duty ‘to prevent and to punish'” genocide, and “accepted that under Article III e) complicity in genocide is punishable.” Alluding to ongoing Western-sponsored peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said that “US involvement in a negotiation that includes a party, Azerbaijan, which is committing genocide could be characterized as complicity in genocide.”

“The duty to prevent does not require the US to intervene militarily in Azerbaijan but rather to use all available means as circumstances permit to have a deterrent effect on Azerbaijan,” he said. “The US should openly inform the Azerbaijan government that without the immediate and unconditional removal of the Lachin Corridor blockade, the US would consider Azerbaijan to be committing genocide.

Last month Ocampo issued a report finding that the blockade constitutes a case of genocide. Two weeks ago the first UN Advisor on Genocide, Juan Mendez, also affirmed in a report that Azerbaijan’s lack of compliance with a February order by the International Court of Justice to stop its blockade of food and humanitarian assistance to the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh is an “early warning” of genocide. The issue has also been recently discussed at the UN Security Council.

The CFTJ is a group of attorneys dedicated to collecting testimonial evidence of war crimes, is renewing its call on world powers to intervene to end the genocide facing Nagorno-Karabakh.

ABOUT THE CFTJ:
CFTJ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in November 2020 in response to the Nagorno-Karabakh war. We are a group of lawyers overseeing the collection of firsthand testimonial evidence from war survivors via in-depth, recorded interviews. We run two law clinics, one in Armenia and one in Nagorno-Karabakh, which are the first of their kind.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Maggie Arutyunyan at 1(818)749-8185
[email protected]

SOURCE Center for Truth & Justice

https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/23/09/n34316798/center-for-truth-and-justice-welcomes-ocampos-congressional-testimony-on-nagorno-karabakh-genocide 

The UN Security Council Session on Armenia–Azerbaijan: A Struggle for Peace or Manipulation?

Arpi Talalian
 eureporter 
Aug 28 2023

The 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended the long-lasting occupation of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and opened new opportunities for the reintegration of Armenians living in Karabakh into Azerbaijan and durable peace in the region – writes Shahmar Hajiyev and Talya İşcan.

Unfortunately, during consultations and peace talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments, with the participation of mediators and in which post-conflict negotiations were based on mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty, a controversial event happened when, on August 16, the United Nations Security Council met at the initiative of Armenia.

It is worth noting that Armenia’s efforts at the UN Security Council to highlight alleged human rights violations and humanitarian issues caused by Azerbaijan’s checkpoint on the Lachin road were ultimately unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the recent UN Security Council session revealed an alarming weakness in terms of peace and security mechanisms, as well as political mediation, that jeopardizes post-conflict negotiations on normalization of relations between the two rivals and undermines Azerbaijan’s peace efforts, including establishing a period of reconstruction to remove the scars of war and eventually reach reconciliation.

The case presented by Armenia at the August session of the United Nations Security Council was based on the claim that Azerbaijan’s checkpoint on the Lachin road was “violating human rights.” These accusations were also put forward for consideration by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and rejected as recently as July 2023.

Furthermore, Armenia alleged a “humanitarian issue” as they claimed there were travel limitations, despite Azerbaijan’s denial and the fact that there were cases of Armenians crossing the border via the Lachin checkpoint during the period stated. At the same time, Azerbaijan’s sovereign rights should be acknowledged, as the Armenian side was apparently exploiting the Lachin road two years after the liberation war to infiltrate military personnel, alongside munitions, mines, and terrorist groups, and was also utilizing it to exploit resources illegally.

Despite the clear bias of countries such as France, accompanied by some others, the special session failed to yield any meaningful results. This situation notably inhibits the current peace discussions from advancing and creates new obstacles. For example, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan could be heard declaring full support for the separatists, concealed within a speech expressing humanitarian victimhood – despite clear evidence, including on social media, that proves there is no humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, separatist leaders in the Karabagh region declared, immediately after the Security Council session, that new volumes of meat products were being put onto the market. Another noteworthy element is that Armenia dispatched its Foreign Minister to deliver a speech, while Azerbaijan was confidently represented by its Permanent Representative at the United Nations. Instead of peace and full regional integration, Armenia still hopes for international intervention to pursue its aggressive politics and territorial claims, and such acts are blocking the reintegration of Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

It should be noted that nations that served as the main mediators during past conflicts, such as France, have shown unusually strong support for the Armenian position. The eyebrow-raising French position creates concern about impartiality in international conflict mediation. The actions of France have resulted in the definitive and total loss of credibility of this country as a possible mediator. Reportedly, France is teaming up with Armenia to organize an anti-Azerbaijan resolution in the UNSC, which might be considered a clear provocation and certainly undermines the peace talks.

In contrast, countries such as Türkiye, Albania, and Brazil have adopted pacifist and constructive discourses. These countries recognize Azerbaijan’s solution, which is to use an alternative supply route via Aghdam city to alleviate the region’s humanitarian challenges. These countries are advocating for dialogue and the implementation of international law-based solutions.

During his speech, Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Yashar Aliyev, showed proof, including printed details of the Armenian population in the region, that proved the absence of any kind of humanitarian crisis in the Karabagh region. He emphasized once again that “What Armenia tries to present as a humanitarian matter, is indeed [a] provocative and irresponsible political campaign to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.”

There is a genuine likelihood that Armenia, through these actions, is preventing a smooth dialogue on peace with Azerbaijan, as well as between ethnic Armenians of the Karabakh region and Baku. This certainly appears to be a problem for reintegration and lasting peace, because Armenia is demonstrating continuous actions in contravention of the Security Council resolutions recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. In addition, such actions could hamper the peace dialogue because Armenia is still advancing territorial claims.

In response to the events involving the Security Council, Azerbaijan has reiterated that Armenia’s attempts to instrumentalize the UN have repeatedly failed. It has become clear that the path to a solution is based on constructive commitment, and implementing international law and commitments within that framework. Azerbaijan also emphasizes the need to recognize sovereignty and territorial integrity as the foundation for regional peace and stability.

Azerbaijan has clearly shown that official Baku will not make any compromise regarding territorial integrity and sovereignty. Moreover, Azerbaijan maintains its offer to utilize the Aghdam route for supplies to the Karabagh region. Azerbaijan has also proposed direct dialogue between official Baku and the Karabakh Armenians to start the reintegration process. As a follow-up to previous meetings between the parties, it had been agreed that a meeting between Karabakh Armenian representatives and Azerbaijan would be held in Yevlakh city of Azerbaijan. However, the representatives of the Karabakh Armenians refused to attend this meeting at the last moment. Moreover, their rejection of opening the Agdam route for supplies and insistence on intensification of passage via the Lachin road demonstrate that the main goal of the Armenian side is to use disinformation and political manipulation to put pressure on Azerbaijan.

Considering the abovementioned circumstances, the appropriate response of the world community to this issue must be a transparent attitude, respect for territorial integrity, and support of all routes for supplying humanitarian aid to the Karabakh region. As noted by Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmat Hajiyev, “the Azerbaijani government wants the goods to be delivered not only through the Lachin road from Armenia but also from the Azerbaijani city of Agdam, because it historically connects Karabakh with the mainland of Azerbaijan and is less costly and more convenient.”

In the end, the recent special session of the UN Security Council epitomizes the complexities and tensions inherent in Armenia–Azerbaijan relations. The principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty must prevail in the region, and the international community must take a constructive approach towards border control given that Azerbaijan established the checkpoint on its internationally recognized territory. In the South Caucasus, a region marked by decades of bloodshed and distrust, the ultimate goal is to build trust between the parties and support regional economic integration.

The authors are:

Shahmar Hajiyev, Senior Advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations

Talya İşcan, International Politics and Security Specialist and Professor at the  National Autonomous University of Mexico


Commentary: Armenians are starving at Azerbaijan’s hands. Why isn’t Biden doing more to help?

Arpi Talalian
The Brunswick News
Sept 1 2023

  • Stephan Pechdimaldji, Los Angeles Times

Last year on World Food Day, President Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to a world where “no child has to go to bed hungry, no parent has to worry about how to feed their family, and no one has to face food insecurity.” In that same speech, Biden highlighted how the United States had that year alone committed more than $9 billion in lifesaving humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities around the world.

Sadly, Biden’s pledge is not reaching the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, who have been locked in a conflict over their homeland with Azerbaijan since the fall of the Soviet Union.

In this latest chapter, since last December the government of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of its petro-dictator Ilham Aliyev, has implemented an illegal blockade of the only road linking more than 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children, in Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world. It is one of the world’s most overlooked and underreported humanitarian crises taking place today.

By limiting access to food, medicine, gas, electricity and other critical supplies to be delivered by the Lachin Corridor, Azerbaijan is on its way to making living conditions so unbearable that Armenians are forced to leave the region.

In August, a 40-year-old resident of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, died of starvation, becoming the region’s first reported victim of chronic malnutrition and protein deficiency. The lack of food has also contributed to the number of early-stage miscarriages, which reportedly have nearly tripled this summer.

Using food as a weapon has become a popular tool for autocrats to disrupt the lives of innocent people while trying to force concessions that benefit their interests. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has effectively held the global food supply hostage by attacking Ukraine’s ports and crippling grain exports via the Black Sea, as together the two countries export 30% of the world’s wheat, 60% of the world’s sunflower oil and 20% of the world’s corn.

Azerbaijan is turning to a similar playbook in trying to force its will on the Armenian people by attempting to break their spirit and resolve through food. Biden has steadfastly held Russia accountable for its egregious behavior, and the State Department has been working with European Union officials to attempt to reopen the Lachin Corridor. But those efforts have so far failed.

The lack of leadership from the White House has led other actors on the world stage to fill that void. In August, Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, released an explosive report stating that when assessing the Azerbaijani blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, “there is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed.” And, the report states, “Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks.”

Having been victims of genocide in the 20th century, Armenians know all too well the horrors of such crimes against humanity and feel their voices and concerns are once again being ignored and sacrificed at the altar of realpolitik.

That type of international gamesmanship was evident at the United Nations last month when the Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the worsening humanitarian situation after Armenia urged the global community to help end the blockade. While France and other countries used the opportunity to highlight the principles of international law and humanitarianism as reasons to lift the blockade, other delegations — such as Great Britain, which has significant oil investments in the country — held back on condemning Azerbaijan.

And despite the evidence on the ground, Azerbaijan’s U.N. representative claimed that Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh were happy and well-fed by sharing printouts of Instagram posts that allegedly showed Armenians getting married and celebrating birthdays.

For Biden, as a president who took office claiming that human rights would be central to his foreign policy, this tragedy threatens to stain his legacy.

So, what can he do? For starters, he can begin by unequivocally calling for an immediate end to the blockade and apply pressure on Azerbaijan through sanctions, as Rep. Adam B. Schiff has called for. He can enforce Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act that bans U.S. aid to the Azerbaijani government — restrictions that he, like presidents before him, has waived each year since becoming president. And he can direct Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to allocate more resources and money toward helping Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The U.S. enabling of Azerbaijan’s authoritarianism is now costing lives and giving Azerbaijan cover to do what it wants with impunity. Time is running out for the Armenian people living in Nagorno-Karabakh. If Biden truly believes that no child should go to sleep hungry, then he’ll need to act with far greater urgency to break Azerbaijan’s blockade.

____

ABOUT THE WRITER

Stephan Pechdimaldji is a communications strategist living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a first-generation Armenian American and grandson of survivors of the Armenian genocide.

https://thebrunswicknews.com/news/world_news/commentary-armenians-are-starving-at-azerbaijan-s-hands-why-isn-t-biden-doing-more-to/article_87b0880e-1d3f-5e4a-88ee-ddf740a970f9.html


Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: History & Contemporary Geopolitics

Arpi Talalian
The New Indian
Aug 24 2023
 

TNI TEAM

In this interview, former Armenian diplomat, Vaner Harutyunyan delves into the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, exploring its historical origins and contemporary geopolitical intricacies. From territorial disputes to regional power dynamics, this conversation between TNI Editor Aarti Tikoo and Vaner offers a comprehensive understanding of this enduring conflict’s regional impact.

AARTI TIKOO: Armenia had a war with Azerbaijan in which Armenia lost territory. What is the status today following the war and where do you see Armenia going ahead geopolitically in the region, with such hostile neighbors?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: First of all, I would like to provide a larger picture of the conflict. Armenia was at war because it was attacked. Historically, the territory called Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) was populated with Armenians. This region was annexed by the Soviets in 1920 and the native population was forced to live under Azeri rule until the collapse of the USSR. Then, the people of Armenia voted for independence, at the same time as the Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed. But in the 90s, the first Karabakh war resulted in the de facto independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. During 30 years, the negotiations within different formats didn’t manage to ensure a lasting peace. After the Armenian revolution of 2018, there was a fear that the Azerbaijani dictatorship would attack us, because the military budget of this country was (and still is) equal to the whole budget of Armenia. Armenia alerted its partners to the increasing military rhetoric of Azerbaijan. The same family holds the country since the 60s, from father to son and from husband to wife (the vice president is the wife of the president).

In 2020, there was a 44-day attack on Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides suffered losses but Armenia lost many thousands of soldiers and many territories. in fact, the aggression hasn’t stopped yet : since December 2022, the only route connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the rest of Armenia, the Lachin corridor, is intentionally blocked by Azerbaijani forces despite two decisions of the International Court of Justice. The last decision taken on July 6 reiterated that this blockade was illegal. But Azerbaijan is ignoring it as well as the legally binding treaties. So the question not only concerns the political negotiations between the two countries, but also Azerbaijan’s will to abide by international law. Despite Armenian authorities declaring in 2020 that there was no alternative to a peaceful resolution, Azerbaijan attacked again in September 2021. Azerbaijani forces advanced into the sovereign territory of Armenia, where they are still occupying some areas and claiming more. Naturally, these claims are baseless, but this is a real threat to the territorial integrity of Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory in the eyes of the international community, but the invasion of its sovereign territory is a huge challenge for Armenia itself. Personally, I think the international reaction is insufficient. In comparison with other conflicts in which people are suffering and are killed, the reaction is slow.

AARTI TIKOO: You mean for example in Ukraine, there is a lot of support from the West.

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: Yes. I don’t want to say it, but being realistic, without support to Armenia, we are really close to having the same scenario as we had in the past. As we speak, 120 000 people are blocked without food, without any road access. There are systematic attacks in nearby cities and on civilians. The setup of a European Union monitoring group in Armenian territory should be welcomed. It will observe the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the mandate is insufficient to take any action.

AARTI TIKOO: Do you think that the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is primarily a territorial dispute, or is there something more to it ?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: This dispute has several factors. I would mention the expansionism of Azerbaijan in Armenian territories. They are trying to erase all traces of Armenian settlement in these regions. For example, the first Armenian monastery schools are located in Nagorno-Karabakh, so Azerbaijan by all means tries to erase the evidences of Armenian cultural heritage there. In the region of Nakhchivan, which was also given to Azerbaijan during the Soviet era, all Armenian cemeteries were destroyed. The same is happening now in the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh. There are proofs and the international community is aware that they are destroying the main cemeteries and churches. On the contrary, Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh kept the mosques and other religious places intact. Armenians over the world have been living peacefully in different Muslim countries. Actually, this is not a conflict of religions. There is a continuity with the genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. The Armenian identity is at stake here.

AARTI TIKOO: Why do you see a continuity ? Where is the connection ? This happened in the Ottoman Empire and today Azerbaijan is a separate state.

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: It’s an independent state but it’s backed by Turkey. In the 2020 war, Turkey provided weapons, training and military leadership to Azerbaijan. These countries have no diplomatic relations with Armenia. Nowadays the objective remains the same – to eliminate Armenians on their place of birth – but the approach is different. For example, it involves the blockade and the falsification of history with modern means. We have to recognize the advancements in Azerbaijani politics achieved through ‘caviar diplomacy’. Some members of the European Parliament or high ranking officials were implicated in corruption cases. Azerbaijan keeps trying to influence public or political opinions in different countries.

AARTI TIKOO: But Turkey on the other hand has a good relationship with Europe, it is part of NATO and in fact wants to be part of the European Union as well. So on one hand, it seems that Turkey has these allies in the West, but on the other hand it is backing Azerbaijani forces against Armenia. What is really going on here?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: To answer your question, one should have a look at the geography. The roots of the genocide were also related to expansionism. From Constantinople (today Istanbul) to Central Asia, the expansion movement under Turkish leadership in the Ottoman Empire (and currently as well) reflects the project of a Great Turan. But Armenia lies in the middle of the passage between the different regions of this project. Today the claims of Azerbaijan are very alarming : they are interested in the southern region of Armenia because they want a land access to the enclave of Nakhchivan, which would provide a direct passage to Turkey. The main part of Azerbaijan indeed doesn’t have a border with Turkey.

AARTI TIKOO: Let’s go back to the 1915 genocide. Do you think that it had anything to do with religion or do you think it was purely political ?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: It was a mixture. There was a religious component, it would be very naive to exclude it. We observe now that in the western part of Armenia, currently in Turkish territory, the heritage and the churches are being degraded. Turkey is renovating one church for public relations, but that’s not the real picture. Azerbaijan does the same by showcasing its tolerance and multicultural character. But thanks to satellite imagery, we can see the reality on the field which is very different. Azerbaijan is a country filled with hatred. In the schools, the children are taught to hate Armenians – it is a specific state policy.

AARTI TIKOO: Like Pakistan teaches its children to hate India.

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: There is a parallel, and Pakistan is one of the countries in line with Azerbaijan and Turkey. It doesn’t recognize Armenia.

AARTI TIKOO: So you are essentially saying that they do see themselves as Islamic nations and they do see that the surrounding non-muslim nations are targets.

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: Even if they are considered secular countries, the religious manipulation is at the core of their politics. For Armenians though it is not a religious issue.

AARTI TIKOO: But it is for Turkey and Azerbaijan ?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: It is ethnic and to some extent religious as well. For them these two aspects are not separated when they look at Armenians. Otherwise, why destroy all traces of Armenian culture ?

AARTI TIKOO: So if Armenia was completely Muslim, if Armenian Christians had converted to Islam, do you think there would have been any conflict ?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: I cannot say what would have happened. But during the genocide, some Armenians were forcibly converted. Now in 2023, the signature and the objectives are the same, but the means are different. Unfortunately the response of the International Community should be more impacting, more to the point. I understand that there are economic ties and interests at stake, but I suppose that human life is the highest value, be it Muslim, Christian or from other religions.

AARTI TIKOO: It took a lot of time for the West to recognize the Armenian genocide. Now the West hesitates to support Armenia through the conflict. Why do you think that is happening?

VANER HARUTYUNYAN: The recognition of the genocide was a long process, even with a diaspora of 2 million Armenians in the US, because it was countered by Turkish lobbies. But the US and many countries in Europe had the courage to do so even if there were sabotage and blackmail from the Turkish state. After the war in 2020, the reaction came late, I agree. But there are some important issue in the South Caucasus. Let’s be objective, Armenia is an ally of Russia since independence, so the Western world saw Russian influence behind the events. The 44-day war was also stopped following intimidations from the Russian leadership. So sometimes the West sees the matter as coming under the Russian influence sphere. Personally, I think it’s a question of seeing the region as a whole and to have an objective, a long lasting resolution. Since independence, Armenia has been suffering from repeated military aggressions by Azerbaijan. There will be a call for more engagement from the international community, be it from Asia or from Europe. I think that when there is a conflict, different actors should be involved to resolve it practically. It’s the same for the issue between India and Pakistan. We need more commitment by international actors and the members of the Security Council.

Watch at

https://www.newindian.in/armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-history-contemporary-geopolitics/

Nagorno-Karabakh blockade crisis: Choking of disputed region is a consequence of war and geopolitics

Arpi Talalian
The Conversation
Aug 18 2023
Nagorno-Karabakh blockade crisis: Choking of disputed region is a consequence of war and geopolitics

Wars have consequences – and they are drastically different for the winners and losers.

In the South Caucasus, a region far from most Americans’ attention, the democratic republic of Armenia lost a short but devastating war three years ago to Azerbaijan, its larger, richer neighbor.

That defeat is being felt hardest today by the increasingly desperate people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Known by Armenians as Artsakh, or “Black Garden,” the enclave – Armenian in population but within Azerbaijan territory – has been subjected to a devastating monthslong blockade that has prevented food and medical supplies reaching its 120,000 residents.

In the words of one former International Criminal Court prosecutor, what is occurring may amount to “genocide.” On Aug. 16, 2023, the U.N. Security Council held a special meeting after an appeal by the Armenian ambassador for the international community to act and help a region “on the verge of a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe.”

As a long-time analyst of the history and politics of the South Caucasus, I see the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh being tied not just to its warring neighbors but to the geopolitical concerns of the two powers – one regional, the other global – that could best intervene. With Russia and the United States preoccupied elsewhere, the choking in Nagorno-Karabakh is being largely ignored.

The current crisis has been decades in the making.

Nagorno-Karabakh was the consequence of Soviet nationality policy that recognized the autonomy of the region in the early 1920s.

In the late 1980s, as the Soviet empire began to crumble, Armenians demanded that Nagorno-Karabakh be joined to its republic. Outraged by the Armenian demands and demonstrations, Azerbaijani pogroms of Armenians erupted in an industrial Azerbaijani town, Sumgait, far from Nagorno-Karabakh, and the capital, Baku, and ethnic cleansing followed on both sides.

The violence escalated into the First Karabakh War. A 1994 armistice brokered by Russia settled the issue for 26 years, with Armenia controlling the region. By then, Nagorno-Karabakh had declared independence, though no country – not even Armenia – formally recognized it. To much of the international community, the principle of territorial integrity favored the claims of Azerbaijan. Armenians countered with appeals to the principle of national self-determination for the region.

In those decades, Armenians invaded and expanded their hold over other parts of Azerbaijan, with about a million Azerbaijanis made to leave their homes and becoming displaced persons in their own country. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Armenians fled from Azerbaijan to avoid more violence from angry, embittered Azerbaijanis.

And there the frozen conflict remained, with neither side willing to make the necessary compromises to resolve their disputes.

But time favored Azerbaijan, with its oil riches and loyal ally Turkey supplying ever more sophisticated weapons. In 2020, the autocratic Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev launched an attack on Armenian forces, prompting the Second Karabakh War. Aided by Turkish drones, Israeli weapons and Syrian mercenaries, Azerbaijani forces routed the Armenians. After 44 days of brutal bloodletting, the Armenian government of democratically elected Nikol Pashinyan was forced to agree to a cease-fire brokered by its powerful regional ally Russia.

But with Vladimir Putin’s Russia soon mired in its disastrous war in Ukraine, Azerbaijani forces repeatedly crossed the border into Armenia. And then in December 2022, Azerbaijanis blockaded the Lachin corridor, the only effective access road from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. Disguised as an ecological protest against Armenian mining in the region, the blockade was understood by Armenians to be aimed at obliterating Nagorno-Karabakh and driving the last Armenians out of Azerbaijan.

The blockade has now lasted eight months, trapping Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh with dwindling supplies of food and medicine.

The immediate concern is the welfare of the Karabakh Armenians, but there are larger matters at play as well. At the moment when the United States and NATO frame their support for Ukraine as a struggle to preserve a fledgling democracy against an autocratic, expansionist Russia, Western powers do not appear to be willing to press as forcefully to prevent the repressive Aliyev regime from brutal policies that appear to be aimed at driving Armenians out of Nagorno-Karabkh.

Having just returned from a stay in Armenia, I can testify that the mood among Armenians appears far from despair. Their civil society is strong and vocal, and from my observance the country is displaying resilience and determination to overcome the consequences of the war. Pashinyan, the former journalist who led the 2018 revolution that ended with his election as prime minister, was overwhelmingly reelected after he had led the country through its catastrophic failure in the 2020 war. Having rejected the oligarchic rule of the former government, it appears clear that the nation is continuing along a democratic path.

But given Azerbaijan’s apparent ambitions, Armenians desperately require support from other nations. They live in a dangerous and hostile neighborhood, and their only close-at-hand supporter at the moment is Iran.

Plans are underway to build a north-south highway that will increase the flow of traffic and goods from India and Iran to Armenia and on to the West while bypassing Azerbaijan. But the United States frowns on that relationship with Tehran, as well as Armenia’s continuing, fraught connection with Russia.

Moreover, with the world concerned with consequential conflicts and disputes in other places – Ukraine, the South China Sea and Syria – Armenia appears irrelevant in the larger geopolitical calculations.

Yet it remains oddly significant, not only as an endangered democracy. Armenia is a small country around which relations between Turkey and Russia, Iran and the United States, Azerbaijan, Iran and Israel turn. Its fate is tied to larger issues of the building of new understandings of how the future strategic blocs of states will be formed.

Two global strategic visions are currently at play that affect the South Caucasus. As the United States struggles to maintain its role as a global superpower from the Pacific Ocean to Latin America to the Middle East and Europe, other powers – including Russia, China, India, Brazil and much of Africa – seriously question the role of the unique hegemony of the United States.

The nine countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the five BRICS states – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are poised to reassess their positions in an international system that many hope will reflect a multipolar, and decidedly not unipolar, world.

Armenia is caught in the middle of all this, trying to stay afloat as greater powers compete for a place in the sun. The United States is far away and preoccupied with other problems. Russia is closer but bogged down in a wasteful war of its own choosing. And Azerbaijan and Turkey are on its borders.

Armenia’s fragile hope is that far away in New York, as the U.N. Security Council takes up its concerns, humane and democratic considerations will eclipse, at least for the near future, the greater tragic consequences of geopolitics.

https://theconversation.com/nagorno-karabakh-blockade-crisis-choking-of-disputed-region-is-a-consequence-of-war-and-geopolitics-211717

Bucharest Botanical Garden to host Armenian Street Festival August 26-27

Arpi Talalian
Romania Insider
Aug 16 2023

The 8th edition of the Armenian Street Festival will take place for the first time at the Bucharest Botanical Garden between August 26 and 27. 

The festival brings Armenian culture and traditions into the heart of nature. The Bucharest Botanical Garden will host ten live music concerts by artists from Armenia and Romania, two DJ sets, and a craft fair, according to Buletin de Bucuresti.

Participants will also enjoy international cuisines, sand coffee, two exhibitions, a library in nature organized by Ararat Publishing, and Armenian dance and traditional stone sculpture workshops. Children will have a dedicated area where they can play, and between 12:00-14:00 they can listen to Armenian stories and participate in workshops.

Dancing to the music of Mădălina Pavăl and her orchestra will take place on August 27 at the Armenian Street Festival.

Entry is free of charge. 

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Azerbaijani Press: The UN Security Council meeting fails miserably for Armenia

Arpi Talalian
Trend, Azerbaijan
Aug 17 2023
Tahmaz Asadov

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 16. It was obvious that the plan to “attack” Azerbaijan from different directions with the support of Armenia’s patrons would be unsuccessful, Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Yashar Aliyev said, Trend reports.

Despite the fact that trucks belonging to Armenia were waiting in positions at the beginning of the Lachin road, separatists in Karabakh transported military equipment from one point to another, dug trenches, held “protest actions” initiated by the Armenian diaspora in different countries, and distributed provocative statements and appeals from pro-Armenian congressmen. These provocations led to the fact that the discussions organized in the UN Security Council were aimed at forcing Baku to retreat.

The goal of Armenia and its patrons, who developed an action plan on the topic “how can we force Azerbaijan to take a step back”, was to incite the Armenians to another confrontation with Azerbaijan and suffer losses. But Azerbaijan once again, both on the battlefield and in the diplomatic sphere, managed to surpass the Armenians and Armenian protectors.

In addition, Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Yashar Aliyev, speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, managed to put all of Armenia and pro-Armenian Western diplomacy before the facts.

He responded with facts to the provocative speech and the unfounded claims of the Armenian foreign minister and showed the world community who was right. At the meeting, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated without any reason that “hunger is an invisible weapon of genocide, and if measures are not taken, the Armenians in Karabakh will be destroyed.” However, the facts announced by Yashar Aliyev put him in a helpless position.

In particular, Azerbaijan’s permanent representative to the UN proved to Mirzoyan with facts collected from the social network that Armenians in Karabakh do not suffer from hunger. Therefore, the political power of Armenia returned from a foreign trip having suffered another fiasco.

This event has gone down in history as the “night of proof of dishonesty” not only of Yerevan but also of France, Iran, and other anti-Turkic states. In fact, Armenia and France are used to failure these days. This is the second collapse in France and Armenia. There was an attempt to raise this issue in the UN Security Council in December last year. As a result, in both cases, these attempts were unsuccessful.

The “Lachin Evening” at the UN Security Council was not actually organized to show concern for the fate of the Armenian residents of Karabakh. Foreign forces, including countries that want to enter the region through Armenia, are trying to change the geopolitical order, using this issue to achieve their intentions faster. However, as Azerbaijan has stated from the first day, it will take the necessary steps against any step by any foreign force that will threaten the territorial integrity, security, and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan did so.

According to Yashar Aliyev, if Armenia really thought about the ordinary residents of the region, then it would never object to the delivery of goods to the Karabakh region along the Aghdam-Khankendi road. This road is connected to one of Azerbaijan’s main transport routes, the highway known as the Silk Road or M2, which provides reliable links to international markets. Compared to the 59-kilometer Lachin-Khankendi road, which runs through mountain serpentines, the length of this road between Aghdam and Khankendi is only 18 km. Today, as part of a trip to Aghdam, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan, including the office of the UN Resident Coordinator and other UN structures, witnessed the functioning of the road and its readiness for the transport of goods.

Yashar Aliyev responded to the accusations against Azerbaijan regarding the “famine” of the Armenian residents of Karabakh with photos and facts. At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Azerbaijan showed the opponents its fair position.

Yashar Aliyev presented photo facts to those who protected Armenians. Baku managed to win against the opponent at the table with patience and restraint at the UN Security Council meeting. Photos of weddings, birthdays, and concerts held in Khankendi by Armenian residents allegedly living under the conditions of the “blockade” presented as evidence in the meeting room revealed the lies of the opponents.

As a result, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council convened by Armenia on the situation in Karabakh with the issue of “famine” ended without a result.

Moreover, Baku used all its opportunities to present Armenia to the world community as a hypocritical, manipulative, and aggressive country. If the heavy defeat they faced in the Second Karabakh War did not make the Armenian army smarter, then the results of the meeting organized by Armenia’s own initiative in the UN Security Council should make them think. The Armenian authorities, lobbying organizations, and protectors, who are unwilling to accept today’s reality and think that they will achieve something by putting pressure on Azerbaijan, should realize that Yerevan may face an even greater fiasco.

“In addition, they should be responsible for the provocations committed, including attempts by separatist troops to dig new trenches and build positions on the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. Another heavy defeat for Armenia and its so-called regime may happen on the battlefield. Therefore, the surest way for Armenians is to agree to use the Aghdam-Khankendi road, as Azerbaijan suggests. The peace and reintegration of Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan depend on this,” said Yashar Aliyev.