Author: Christine Harutyunian

USAID delegation visits Armenia to assess needs of forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno- Karabakh

Christine Harutyunian

 14:39, 6 October 2023

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office Arayik Harutyunyan has met with USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator (DAA) in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia Alexander Sokolowski, USAID Armenia Mission Director John Allelo and USAID emergency response coordinator Mike Lambright.

The USAID delegation is visiting Armenia to assess the needs of the forcibly displaced Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“In this context, issues related to the strategic communication, reforms plan carried out by the government of the Republic of Armenia, and the needs for rapid response were discussed. Both sides attached importance to institutionalization of the communication system,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.

The USAID officials expressed readiness to provide continuous support to the government of Armenia for capacity building, exchange of experience, as well as in the area of rapid response in the current situation.

Armenia Urges EU to Sanction Azerbaijan, Warns of Further Attack

Christine Harutyunian
Oct 2 2023
By Reuters

By Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Armenia urged the European Union on Monday to sanction Azerbaijan for its military operation in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave and warned that Baku could soon attack Armenia itself unless the West takes firm action.

Tigran Balayan, Armenia’s envoy to the EU, listed possible measures such as a price cap on Azerbaijani oil and gas and the suspension of EU talks on closer relations with Baku. He also urged the West to deliver “bold” security assistance to Armenia.

“It’s not only the opinion of the Armenian government, but also of many experts – also some of the EU member states – that an attack on Armenia proper is imminent,” Balayan told Reuters in an interview in Brussels.

Azerbaijani forces took control of Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave on its territory populated by ethnic Armenians, in a lightning operation last month, triggering an exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians in less than a week.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing – a charge denied by Baku, which has insisted the enclave’s Armenians were welcome to remain in the territory. Baku has also insisted it has no intention of attacking Armenia itself.

But Balayan said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s assurances could not be trusted, noting European officials have declared he broke promises not to attack Nagorno-Karabakh.

He said the EU had many tools to pressure Aliyev – and Nagorno-Karabakh had paid a heavy price because it had not used any of them so far.

“The failure of … employing this toolbox resulted in the ethnic cleansing of 100,000 to 120,000 of the indigenous Armenian population, including my own family, from their ancestral lands,” said Balayan, Armenia’s ambassador-designate to the EU.

Senior EU officials, and leaders of many of the bloc’s member countries, have condemned Azerbaijan’s actions. But the EU has so far taken little in the way of concrete measures in response to the crisis, beyond allocating humanitarian aid.

Diplomats say EU members are struggling to find a consensus. Some, such as France and the Netherlands, want to at least consider tough measures, while others such as Hungary and Romania are reluctant, they say.

The EU’s search for a response is complicated by its moves to rely more on Azerbaijani oil and gas as it has pivoted away from Russian energy due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Aliyev in Baku last year to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy, and declared Azerbaijan to be a “crucial partner”.

But Balayan insisted the EU had real leverage on energy, as Baku relies heavily on European countries as customers.

GRANADA MEETING

He said a meeting expected this week at a summit in Granada, Spain, between Armenian Prime Minister Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Aliyev, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel would only yield results if the EU was tough with Aliyev.

“Unless there are certain red lines put in front of Aliyev personally for not keeping his word … it will be in vain again,” he said.

Balayan voiced fears that Azerbaijan would use force to establish a land corridor through Armenian territory to the exclave of Nakhchivan, which would also provide a link to Turkey, Baku’s ally.

Azerbaijan insisted last week it did not intend to take any such action.

But Balayan said Azerbaijan’s military goals could extend even beyond Nakhchivan, noting Aliyev had made comments that asserted Armenian territory was formerly part of Azerbaijan.

He said Armenia had been left exposed in security terms as its traditional ally Russia had not delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons orders.

“We are in a very vulnerable position,” he said.

Balayan declined to specify what kind of security assistance Aremenia wanted, saying that was a matter of technical experts.

(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

The world is standing by as another Armenian genocide and forced deportation unfolds – Genocide Watch

Christine Harutyunian

 12:05, 2 October 2023

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 2, ARMENPRESS. Genocide Watch has published an article about the mass exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh titled Genocide and Forced Deportation: Nagorno-Karabakh.

“This is not the first time that the U.S. and Europe failed to act to stop an Armenian genocide, as they did during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The U.S. and E.U. were also bystanders in 1994 during the Rwandan Genocide,” the authors of the article wrote, adding that Azerbaijan is erasing Armenia’s ancient history.

 

Below is the full article:

Two years after President Biden formally recognized the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the world is standing by as another Armenian genocide and forced deportation unfolds. Genocide Watch , The Lemkin Institute, The Save Karabakh Coalition, former ICC Prosecutor Ocampo, and Armenian organizations warned that genocide has been underway in Nagorno-Karabakh since 2022. By January 1, 2024 the independent Armenian Republic of Artsakh will cease to exist.

The forced deportation and genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh, known to Armenians as Artsakh, is the culmination of a decades-long conflict. Artsakh is the homeland of 120,000 Armenians, who have lived there since the Fifth Century.

On September 19, Azerbaijan began bombardment of Nagorno-Karabakh. In Vanq the shelling killed 16-year-old Sergey Hovoyan. His critically injured 13-year-old brother, Mkrtich, recounts that as he and his mother begin packing their bags to leave, Azerbaijani forces shelled their house and backyard, killing Sergey and 67-year-old neighbor Melsik.

Azerbafijan intentionally shells civilian towns. This is a war crime (ICC Statute (Art.8 (2b(i). When the shelling began, a group of women and children were housed in Sarnaghbyur. Their house was bombed, killing five civilians including three children. Two children are missing, and their parents cannot find their bodies. Seven-year-old Ruzan Hayrapetyan and her brother and sister were wounded. Sarnaghbyur is a village surrounded by forest and is far from any military targets.

The EU’s policy chief Josep Borrell said, “This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population.” But forced deportation is exactly what is happening. Forced deportation is a crime against humanity (ICC Statute (Art.7 (1d). Over 100,000 people have already fled from Nagorno-Karabakh and the entire remaining Armenian population is trying to leave.

Azerbaijani propaganda dehumanizes Armenians. Azerbaijan schoolchildrens’ textbooks portray Armenians as evil, aggressive enemies. Tofig Veliyev, head of the department of History of Slavic Countries at Baku State University, claims that negative expressions are required to portray Armenians “accurately.”

Azerbaijan is erasing Armenia’s ancient history. Azerbaijani historians and state-run media falsely claim that Armenia and Artsakh are historically Turkic lands. Azerbaijan systematically destroys Armenian Christian churches and holy sites.

In a victory speech, Azerbaijani President Aliyev claimed that Armenians would be guaranteed rights in Azerbaijan. In reality, Azerbaijani military have already begun sharing videos of themselves shooting and killing Armenians.

Hundreds of documented Azerbaijani war crimes prove that Armenians will not be safe under an Azerbaijani government. Azerbaijani forces are detaining evacuees and have already arrested former Artsakh leader Ruben Vardanyan.

The U.S. and European Union cannot feign ignorance about Azerbaijan’s forced deportation and genocide in Artsakh.

This is not the first time that the U.S. and Europe failed to act to stop an Armenian genocide, as they did during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The U.S. and E.U. were also bystanders in 1994 during the Rwandan Genocide.

Unfortunately, Sergey is not the only child who died from the attacks this week. A fuel depot exploded and killed 68 people as they lined up to refuel their cars so they could flee from Artsakh.

The Armenians of Artsakh have endured ten months of blockade and starvation. USAID Administrator Samantha Power traveled to Armenia this week to show support for Armenia’s sovereignty. But she arrived too late to begin the airlift of supplies into Artsakh that Genocide Watch and The Save Karabakh Coalition have demanded since 2022.

The people of Artsakh now need emergency airlifts to transport Armenian refugees out of Artsakh. Armenia needs massive aid to cope with over 100,000 Artsakh refugees. Armenia needs a U.S., E.U., and Russian guarantee that they will be safe from more Azerbaijani aggression.

Death toll in Nagorno-Karabakh fuel depot blast jumps to 170

Christine Harutyunian
BBC, UK
Sept 29 2023
By Michael Ertl
BBC News

At least 170 people are now known to have died in a huge explosion at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday.

The announcement marks a sharp rise from the authorities’ previous estimate of 68 deaths.

Remains found at the scene of the blast will now be sent to Armenia to identify the victims through DNA analysis.

Ethnic Armenians were queueing at overwhelmed petrol stations, desperate to leave the territory after it surrendered to Azerbaijan.

The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said rescue teams were continuing to search the area.

It is not yet clear what caused the explosion on the evening of September 25 near the main city of Khankendi, known as Stepanakert by Armenians.

Hospitals were struggling to treat the 290 people injured in the blast after an effective blockade since December 2022 left them with severe shortages of medical supplies. Some of the injured have now been evacuated by Armenian helicopters.

  • Explained: The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Nagorno-Karabakh will cease to exist, says leader

There has been a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians since its leaders signed a ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan last week.

Armenia says 88,780 of the territory’s estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians have fled so far.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned that the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh could leave.

“They’re full of anxiety, they’re scared, they’re frightened and they want answers,” UNHCR Armenia representative Kavita Belani said about the tens of thousands arriving in Armenia.

Western governments have been pressing Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh to monitor its treatment of the local population but access has not yet been given.

Azerbaijan said it would allow a group of UN experts into the territory in the coming days.

The Azerbaijani government has said he wants to integrate the region’s population as “equal citizens” and dismissed allegations of ethnic cleansing levelled by Armenia.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist leader said the breakaway republic and its institutions will “cease to exist” from next year.

Local forces in Karabakh agreed to be disarmed and disbanded after an Azerbaijani military offensive triggered intense fighting last Tuesday.

Azerbaijan’s military detained Levon Mnatsakanyan, a former commander of the ethnic-Armenian troops, at a border checkpoint on Friday, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

A former head of the separatist government, Ruben Vardanyan, had been arrested on Wednesday while trying to leave for Armenia.

The region is recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan but Armenians took control in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

First evacuees from Nagorno-Karabakh cross into Armenia

Christine Harutyunian
The Guardian, UK
Sept 24 2023

Officials plan to evacuate thousands of displaced people from region after Azerbaijani military offensive

Andrew Roth near Kornidzor, Armenia; pictures by Christopher Cherry

The first several hundred refugees from war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh have crossed into Armenian territory, as a historic evacuation begins that could lead to a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians while Azerbaijan appears on the brink of taking control of the breakaway region.

They are the first civilians to have crossed from Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia in nearly a year, reuniting families after a 10-month blockade and an intensive Azerbaijan military offensive this week that has left hundreds dead, wounded or missing.

Rima Elizbaryan and her two daughters crossed the border in the early afternoon and were met by her brother, waiting with chocolates and sweets.

It was the first they had seen each other in nearly a year, and the family embraced and cried as they prepared to travel to a relative’s home near the city of Goris, close to the border.

“I’m just so happy right now,” Elizbaryan said. Her brother said: “I always knew they would come, I knew they would be OK.”

Officials in the breakaway Armenian government in Nagorno-Karabakh have said they plan to evacuate thousands of displaced people from the region into Armenia.

Azerbaijan’s blockade of the territory has led to desperate shortages of food, fuel and water in the local capital, Stepanakert, and surrounding areas.

The local ethnic Armenian government has called for Azerbaijan to open up the road along the Lachin corridor into Armenia to allow humanitarian aid into and the local population out of Nagorno-Karabakh. Many fear a campaign of ethnic cleansing when Azerbaijani authorities take control.

The local government said evacuees would be accompanied across the border from the disputed region into Armenia by Russian peacekeepers.

“Dear compatriots, we would like to inform you that, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, the families who were left homeless as a result of the recent military operations and expressed their desire to leave will be transferred to Armenia,” a statement read. “The government will issue information about the relocation of other population groups in the near future.”

Local officials of the breakaway state, also known as Artsakh, earlier said they planned to evacuate an estimated population of more than 120,000 people to Armenia after Azerbaijan issued plans to “reintegrate” the territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region that many Armenians see as their ancestral homeland but is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory. It has been governed by a local Armenian government since the early 1990s after years of war. The government is now close to collapse after a ceasefire with Azerbaijan.

‘There is no way out’: residents of Nagorno-Karabakh fear worst as Azerbaijan’s troops take control
Read more

Local authorities have made preparations for the evacuation. A Guardian reporter was stopped by police at a new checkpoint near the border of Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh and was told that access to the road was now blocked because of plans for the evacuation.

The Armenian government said it was ready to welcome 120,000 ethnic Armenian compatriots and that it was likely they would leave soon. The first refugees came from the region near Shusha, where Armenian towns and villages were surrounded as Azerbaijani forces surged forward in an offensive this week.

Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, said in a live address on Sunday: “Our government will lovingly welcome our brothers and sisters from Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh still face the danger of ethnic cleansing. Humanitarian supplies have arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh in recent days but this does not change the situation.

“If real living conditions are not created for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in their homes, and effective mechanisms of protection against ethnic cleansing, then the likelihood is increasing that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will see expulsion from their homeland as the only way out.”

He criticised a Russian-dominated security bloc of which Armenia is a member, saying the Collective Security Treaty Organization had been ineffective in preventing further violence.

It is not yet clear how many people may be evacuated from Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days, but large hotels in the nearby city of Goris have been fully booked out by the government in order to accommodate the coming influx, hotel employees said.

Russian peacekeepers have said nearly 800 displaced people, many of whom fled small villages and towns attacked by Azerbaijan in its offensive this week, have been living at an airport used by the mission as its base.

Tens of thousands more people are reported to be trapped in Stepanakert, which has received thousands of displaced people who fled to the city after the new round of violence.

The refugees were bussed from Nagorno-Karabakh to a government tent camp near the border. There they were registered, offered housing in local hotels and given access to psychological help. One boy burst into tears as medical personnel spoke to him.

“If you’re going to Goris, please walk to the centre of the tent camp,” an official shouted through a megaphone, leading to a small scrum to board a minibus. Others drove out from Karabakh in private cars, some carrying sacks with all their possessions tied to the roofs.

Iran’s IRGC publishes warning to Azerbaijan of troop placement on border

Christine Harutyunian
i24, Israel
Sept 9 2023

As the conflict with Armenia escalates at the border, a separatist government in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh were holding elections

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps published a warning to Azerbaijan on Saturday, threatening Baku with the placement of troops on their shared border, amid elections held by a separatist government in the contested Nagorno-Karabakh.

The video indicated Iranian forces were concentrated on the shared border with Azerbaijan and Armenia. The IRGC then proclaimed readiness to support Yerevan.

Russian sources also claimed that the Iranians were ready to transfer military units to Armenia for support operation. A day earlier, the Kremlin summoned Yerevan’s envoy to Moscow over “unfriendly steps” amid joint military drills between the U.S. and Armenians.

The Russian foreign ministry also complained about a trip to Kyiv by the Armenian Prime Minister’s wife and Yerevan’s move to join the International Criminal Court, as well as the detention of a blogger for Russia’s sputnik media outlet.

The statement concluded that the Armenian envoy was given a “tough presentation,” but stressed that Russia and Armenia “remain allies and all agreements on developing the strengthening of the partnership will be fulfilled.”

In 2020, Azerbaijan fought Armenia in a continuing conflict around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, with the latest ceasefire being brokered by Moscow and included the presence of Russian peacekeepers.

Also on Saturday, a separatist government in Nagorno-Karabakh set out to elect a new leader after its previous president, Arayik Haratyunyan, resigned amid widespread food and fuel shortages.

Haratyunyan suggested in his resignation letter that his presidency was an obstacle to negotiations with Azerbaijan and that “difficulties in the country have significantly reduced the trust in the authorities.”

Azerbaijan called the latest election in Nagorno-Karabakh “yet another extremely provocative step” and “a clear violation of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” as quoted by AFP.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/iran-eastern-states/1694248822-iran-s-irgc-publishes-video-warning-azerbaijan-of-troop-placement-on-border

Pentagon releases details on joint exercise with Armenian troops

Christine Harutyunian

 17:18, 6 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The Pentagon has released details on the upcoming Eagle Partner 2023 joint Armenia-U.S. military exercise.

A U.S. military spokesperson told Reuters that 85 U.S. soldiers and 175 Armenians would take part. He said the Americans – including members of the Kansas National Guard which has a 20-year-old training partnership with Armenia – would be armed with rifles and would not be using heavy weaponry.

Armenia will host the Eagle Partner 2023 joint Armenian-U.S. military exercise from September 11-20, the Armenian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday.

“In the framework of preparation for participation in international peacekeeping missions the Armenia-U.S. joint exercise “EAGLE PARTNER 2023” will be held from 11 to 20 September in Armenia, particularly in “Zar” Training Center of the Peacekeeping Brigade and the N Training Center of the Ministry of Defense,” the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The exercise involves stabilization tasks between conflicting parties during peacekeeping missions.

“The purpose of the exercise is to increase the level of interoperability of the unit participating in international peacekeeping missions within the framework of peacekeeping operations, to exchange best practices in control and tactical communication, as well as to increase the readiness of the Armenian unit for the planned NATO/PfP “Operational Capabilities Concept” evaluation. Within the framework of preparation for peacekeeping missions, units preparing for international peacekeeping operations frequently participate in similar joint exercises and trainings in partner countries,” the Defense Ministry added.

AW: Arayik Harutyunyan resigns as president of Artsakh

Christine Harutyunian
 Lillian Avedian News 0

Arayik Harutyunyan

Arayik Harutyunyan has announced his decision to resign as the president of the Republic of Artsakh. 

Harutyunyan said the global “unstable geopolitical situation” and “Artsakh’s internal political and social environments” require flexibility and a change in approach in governance. “A change in the primary actors is needed in Artsakh, starting with me,” Harutyunyan said in a message posted on Facebook on August 31.

“My background and Azerbaijan’s attitude towards it are artificially creating a number of conditions generating significant problems with regard to our further steps and flexible policy. Besides, the defeat in the war and the resulting difficulties that emerged in the country reduced trust in the authorities and especially the president, which represents a very serious obstacle to further good governance,” Harutyunyan said.

Harutyunyan said he will present his official resignation to the Artsakh National Assembly on September 1. Artsakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan also resigned, and Secretary of the Security Council Samvel Sergey Shahramanyan has been appointed to replace him. 

Harutyunyan assumed the presidency in May of 2020. He served as president of Artsakh during the 44-day war waged by Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020, which resulted in Armenia’s defeat and the loss of the seven districts adjacent to Artsakh as well as a large part of Artsakh itself.

Rumors of Harutyunyan’s resignation had already been circulating in Armenian and Artsakh media. He recently enacted a constitutional amendment that would give the National Assembly the power to elect an interim president in case of his resignation. 

The former president has also faced pressure from other local politicians to step down. His decision comes days after former Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan demanded his resignation.

In a Facebook address on August 19, Vardanyan said that Harutyunyan had promised to resign by the start of that week and several times previously. “Some of the eight people present at that meeting did not believe your word. Another part said, ‘Maybe he is telling the truth this time,’” Vardanyan said. 

Vardanyan’s video address came days after members of a state-controlled volunteer militia entered the Artsakh parliament in a show of support for Harutyunyan on August 16. They demanded a meeting with the head of the Artsakh parliament Davit Ishkhanyan and other parliamentarians, which did not take place. 

The militia was created during the 2020 war. It is made up of civilian volunteers and is under the control of the Artsakh Defense Ministry. The head of the militia Karen Matevosyan said that the militia was created to save Artsakh from “elimination” and did not intervene in domestic politics.

At the time, Ishkhanyan called for “vigilance and restraint.” “Steps taken by some people who have appeared on public platforms under the guise of false unification calls aimed at destroying the foundations of our statehood are unacceptable,” Ishkhanyan said in a statement, without specifying who he was referring to. 

Ishkhanyan, a member of the ARF Bureau and opposition parliamentarian, was elected the speaker of the Artsakh National Assembly in a secret ballot on August 7. He was nominated by the “Free Motherland-United Civic Alliance” ruling coalition led by Harutyunyan. 

Harutyunyan’s resignation comes nearly nine months into a devastating blockade imposed on Artsakh by Azerbaijan. Supplies of food, medicine and other basic necessities have dwindled, and international organizations and human rights groups have warned of a humanitarian crisis. 

Political analyst Tigran Grigoryan said that intense internal political developments have been unfolding in Artsakh over the past months against the backdrop of the blockade. He argued that different groups have emerged with diverging approaches to how to end the blockade and pursue negotiations with Azerbaijan, each of which have been vying for power. In an op-ed for CivilNet, Grigoryan argued that Vardanyan has united the opposition factions in the Artsakh parliament and the former presidents of Artsakh under one of these poles, with a differing stance on how to end the blockade than Harutyunyan.

Both the ruling leadership and opposition in Artsakh have been increasingly critical of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration since the 2020 Artsakh War, especially PM Pashinyan’s announcement that he is ready to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan.

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Lillian Avedian is the assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly. She reports on international women’s rights, South Caucasus politics, and diasporic identity. Her writing has also been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Democracy in Exile, and Girls on Key Press. She holds master’s degrees in journalism and Near Eastern studies from New York University.


Trapped Armenian Christians Deserve Global Attention

Christine Harutyunian
Aug 30 2023

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER: In addition to the immediate humanitarian concern caused by an inhumane blockade, important historical, cultural and religious-freedom issues are at stake.

Michael Warsaw Publisher’s Note

There aren’t many humanitarian crises in the world that can be solved in five minutes, but the desperate situation unfolding in Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the world’s oldest Christian enclaves, may be one of them.

Few Americans have ever heard of Nagorno-Karabakh, called Artsakh by the Armenians, a landlocked territory set in the rugged Caucasus Mountains that separate Eastern Europe from Western Asia, but that may change soon. That’s because the suffering caused by an inhumane blockade that’s preventing food, fuel, medicine and other necessities from reaching its 120,000 inhabitants — a population roughly the size of Hartford, Connecticut — is becoming difficult for world leaders and the international media to ignore.

As is often the case in the Caucasus region, this latest crisis has a long history, stemming from a bitter rivalry between predominantly Christian Armenia and predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan, and complex geopolitical factors in play. Azerbaijan, for example, has close ties to Turkey, which as a member of NATO is an important if not always reliable U.S. ally. Another sensitive issue is the presence on the scene of thousands of peacekeeping troops from Russia, which brokered a cease-fire between the two former Soviet republics after a war broke out in the enclave in 2020.

Setting those complications aside for the moment, the present situation boils down to three points: First, Nagorno-Karabakh, though internationally recognized to be part of Azerbaijan, is populated by ethnic Armenian Christians and is heavily dependent on Armenia for all sorts of vital goods. Second, those goods flow from Armenia into Nagorno-Karabakh along a single trade route, called the Lachin Corridor. And, third, Azerbaijan has shut down that road, preventing anything or anyone from going in or out.

The solution is simple: Azerbaijan needs to open the road. Unfortunately, there is no indication it will do that anytime soon.

Azerbaijan set up its blockade in December, on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe to be exact, citing security and environmental concerns. For a while, Red Cross vehicles were allowed to pass through, but since July the road has been sealed tight. This means that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are effectively under siege.

“The blockade of the Lachin Corridor is a humanitarian emergency that has created severe shortages of essential food staples including sunflower oil, fish, chicken, dairy products, cereal, sugar and baby formula,” United Nations experts recently warned. Hospitals are running short on medicine and supplies and there’s not enough fuel for ambulances to transport people needing medical care.

The former International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has described the blockade as a potential “genocide” of Karabakh Armenians, a description that evokes the bitter legacy of the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century at the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Azerbaijan vehemently disputes that characterization and says it’s ready to transport aid through a nearby Azerbaijani town. But the Armenian Christians in the enclave are so distrustful of Azerbaijan that they say they won’t accept it. Meanwhile, a convoy of trucks loaded with tons of food and supplies waits on the Armenia side of the blockaded road. That’s where things stand for the moment.

Why should Catholics care about this?

Besides the obvious humanitarian concerns, there are important historical, cultural and religious-freedom issues at stake.

Many Catholics aren’t aware that Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in A.D. 301, a little over a decade before Constantine’s Edict of Milan. The “Apostle to the Armenians” was St. Gregory. Known as “the Illuminator,” Gregory was a member of the royal court of Armenia’s ruler, Tiridates, and was imprisoned and tortured for refusing the royal command to worship idols.

In a story reminiscent of the biblical account of Daniel, Gregory wound up becoming the one who ultimately convinced the king to convert from Zoroastrianism to Christianity. The entire kingdom, which included Nagorno-Karabakh at the time, quickly followed suit.

Today, more than 1,700 years later, most Armenians are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the world’s oldest Christian churches. It was the antiquity of the Christian faith in the Caucasus and a desire to promote peace and interreligious dialogue that prompted Pope Francis in 2016 to visit all three nations in the region — Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Upon his return, the Pope emphasized the need for the Church to accompany these nations in their current difficulties “in communion with the other Churches and Christian communities, and in dialogue with other religious communities, in the certainty that God is the Father of all and that we are all brothers and sisters.”

It’s even more urgent now, for the sake of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, that leaders in the region and around the world heed the Holy Father’s words. While it will surely take intensive diplomatic efforts to fully resolve the status of the enclave, which broke away from Azerbaijan to create the so-called Republic of Artsakh in the early 1990s, ending the blockade would be a critical and sensible first step.

Members of the Armenian diaspora, especially here in the United States, recognize the need to quickly raise awareness about what’s happening in this little-known place, using unorthodox means, if necessary.

On Aug. 10, several hundred protesters blocked one side of the 134 Freeway in Glendale, California, using a tractor-trailer, to call attention to the crisis. They unfurled signs calling for U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, whose district includes Glendale, to do more to help, and the Democratic congressman promptly issued a statement pledging to do just that. There may be more peaceful but high-profile demonstrations in the days to come.

Time is of the essence. Schiff and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle need to act, as does the Biden administration. So, too, does Russia, which is so absorbed by its calamitous invasion of Ukraine that it seems to have forgotten that its peacekeepers are supposed to make sure the corridor into Nagorno-Karabakh remains open, under the terms of the cease-fire it brokered.

The Holy See, also, should speak out forcefully in defense of the Armenian Christians. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin deserves praise for quietly visiting with leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan in July, a peace mission that drew little attention and no mention by the Vatican or its in-house media outlet.

In the meantime, all people of goodwill can add their voices to a growing grassroots campaign to end this injustice. I ask you to please keep the people of this beautiful but beleaguered region of the world in your prayers.

May God bless you!

https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/trapped-armenian-christians-deserve-global-attention

Armenian foreign ministry releases details of Belgian FM’s upcoming visit

Christine Harutyunian

 15:09,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Foreign Ministry has released details about the upcoming visit of Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Federal Cultural Institutions Hadja Lahbib.

“On August 22, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Federal Cultural Institutions of the Kingdom of Belgium Hadja Lahbib will pay an official visit to Armenia. The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Belgium will take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and it will be followed by a joint press conference. In the framework of the visit the Foreign Minister of Belgium will also have meetings with the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly of Armenia,” foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said in a statement on social media.