Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Putin says ‘no problems’ in Russia’s ties with Armenia

Ekmekjian Janet
Al Arabiya, UAE
Sept 12 2023

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday dismissed that Russia’s ties with Armenia were strained, days after Moscow summoned its ambassador following Armenia’s decision to host US forces for peacekeeping drills.

Frustration has been mounting in Armenia recently over what officials say is Russia’s failure to act as a security guarantor amid mounting tensions with its historic rival Azerbaijan.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recently said Armenia’s historic security reliance on Russia was a “strategic mistake” and his country is current holding peacekeeping drills with US forces.

“We have no problems with Armenia or Prime Minister Pashinyan,” Putin said at an economic forum in Vladivostok.

He added that Armenia and Azerbaijan could reach a lasting peace agreement now that Armenian authorities had recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the mountainous territory and in 2020 Putin brokered a ceasefire that saw Armenia relinquish swathes of territory it had controlled for decades.

Moscow deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to police the Lachin corridor, the sole road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

Pashinyan however recently said Moscow was either “unable or unwilling” to control the route.

The peacekeepers’ “mandate is still in force, but humanitarian issues, and the prevention of some ethnic cleansing there, of course, have not gone anywhere, and I fully agree with this,” Putin said.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of spurring a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by closing the Lachin corridor.

On Tuesday, Russia delivered humanitarian aid to the region via Azerbaijani-controlled territory, which experienced shortages of food and medicine.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/09/12/Putin-says-no-problems-in-Russia-s-ties-with-Armenia





Armenia Seeks Mediation as Azerbaijan Standoff Stokes War Fears

Ekmekjian Janet
Bloomberg
Sept 9 2023
  • Tensions have been escalating over blocked aid deliveries
  • Cross-border shelling has left casualties on both sides
By Bloomberg News
September 9, 2023 at 5:25 PM GMT+3

Armenia appealed to the US, Europe and Iran to help defuse a standoff with neighboring Azerbaijan over blocked aid deliveries to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which have raised tensions to their highest point since a 2020 war.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held phone talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, his office said in a statement on Saturday. Pashinyan told Blinken he’s ready for urgent talks with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, according to the statement.

Azerbaijan faces mounting pressure from the US and Europe to reopen the Lachin corridor, a road link connecting Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia that it blocked in December. Humanitarian aid was last delivered along the route on June 15, Armenian officials say. In July, Pashinyan warned of the risk of a new war with Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan denies imposing a blockade, though dozens of trucks from Armenia loaded with aid have been held up at the border for weeks. The blockade has led to shortages of food and essential goods for the territory’s Armenian population, which local officials put at 120,000.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-09/armenia-seeks-mediation-as-azerbaijan-standoff-stokes-war-fears

Magic special out of Armenia features “mind-blowing” illusions and hypnotism

Ekmekjian Janet
 Guest Contributor Culture 0

Armenian American writer, filmmaker and illusionist Garin Hovannisian has made a surprise free release of his magic special City of Cards. Early reviews are hailing the 32-minute film as “the best magic special of the year” (LA Weekly) and its creator “a new kind of magician – philosophical, poetic, provocative – an emerging visionary for our time” (The Jerusalem Post).

Equal parts travel show, magic special and experimental film, City of Cards invites viewers to join a tour of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Yet this isn’t an ordinary tour. Hovannisian, who was born in Los Angeles but has lived in Yerevan since childhood, is in pursuit not of architecture and cuisine, but of secrets, symbols, superstitions and the mysterious idea of chakatagir – the Armenian word for “destiny,” which literally translates to “the writing on the forehead.”

As he uncovers the secrets of the city, Hovannisian creates and performs original illusions inspired by them. In the course of the film, he reads minds, finds fortunes in coffee cups and hypnotizes live audience members. You can watch City of Cards at hovannisian.com/cityofcards.

Hovannisian is a writer, filmmaker and illusionist who lives in Yerevan, Armenia. He is the author of Family of Shadows and has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic.

Hovannisian’s films include 1915 (2015), which won Armenia’s top film prize, I Am Not Alone (TIFF 2019), an official selection of the European Film Awards, IDA Award nominee and winner of AFI Fest and DOC NYC, Truth to Power (Tribeca 2020) and Invisible Republic (GAIFF 2022).He produces his films through Avalanche Entertainment, a production company he founded with Alec Mouhibian.

Still from City of Cards

His forthcoming films Nowhere and City of Cards – along with his series Magic Stories – reflect his new work as a magician, hypnotist and illusion artist. Learn more about his work and subscribe to Magic Stories at hovannisian.com

Hovannisian is also the founder of the arts foundation Creative Armenia and the incubator Artbox, through which he discovers, develops and champions emerging artists.

City of Cards is directed, written and edited by Garin Hovannisian, produced by Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian, and associate produced by Anush Ter-Khachatryan. The magic special features cinematography by Suren Tadevosyan, ACG, original score by Van Sarkissian, sound design by Lucien Palmer, CAS, production design by Tigran Asaturov, and visual effects by Vasil Shahbazyan.




Fly Arna becomes only Armenian carrier to attain IOSA Operator registration

Ekmekjian Janet

 11:55, 21 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. Fly Arna, Armenia’s national airline and a joint venture company between ANIF and Air Arabia Group, has announced a significant milestone in its commitment to ensuring safety and operational excellence. The airline has been successfully registered as an IOSA Operator under the IATA Operational Safety Audit program (IOSA), positioning it as the only Armenian carrier to attain this internationally recognized safety accreditation in Armenia.

This certification, valid for two years, was awarded to Fly Arna after a successful audit on its operational management and control systems. This comprehensive audit encompasses a rigorous evaluation of the airline’s policies, procedures, and practices, ensuring they meet and exceed global aviation standards.

Gayane Antonyan, Fly Arna spokesperson said:” We are proud to have been awarded the IOSA certificate, a recognition that underlines our unwavering commitment to adopt the world’s top aviation safety standards. This achievement is a testament to our continuous dedication to ensuring the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew.”

Fly Arna said it remains dedicated to upholding the highest standards of safety and service excellence. The IOSA certificate not only acknowledges the airline’s commitment to safety but also underscores its efforts to contribute positively to Armenia’s aviation industry and broader international air travel community.

Azerbaijan violates Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire in four regions

Ekmekjian Janet

 13:20,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan violated on August 21 the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire in four different locations, the Ministry of Defense of Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement.

The Azerbaijani forces opened small arms fire early Monday morning in Martakert, Askeran, Martuni and Shushi regions.

The Ministry of Defense of Nagorno-Karabakh said it has reported the shooting incidents to the Russian peacekeepers.

Turkish Press: Azerbaijan rejects French allegations over Lachin road

Ekmekjian Janet
DAILY SABAH
Turkey – Aug 16 2023

The French Foreign Ministry is under fire after it accused Azerbaijan of a “blockade” of the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to Karabakh. Azerbaijan on Wednesday rejected the allegations.

“We once again remind that it is absurd to portray as a ‘blockade’ the activity of the Lachin border checkpoint established in accordance with Azerbaijan’s obligation to guarantee the safety of citizens, vehicles and cargo on the Lachin road, as well as to prevent the misuse of the Lachin road by Armenia for military and illegal economic purposes,” a statement from the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said. Armenia claims the Lachin road is blockaded by Azerbaijan, a claim Baku denies.

In a statement on Tuesday following a phone conversation with the Armenian foreign minister, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna deplored the “blockade” of the road. She stressed that Azerbaijan must comply with its international obligations, in particular, “the provisional measures indicated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its order of February 22, which are binding.” Reacting to Paris, Azerbaijan regretted that France does not support Azerbaijan’s proposals to establish alternative routes into Karabakh, such as the Aghdam-Khankendi road, which it said is supported by the EU and the Red Cross.

At the same time, the French side did not react to the violation of the agreement by Armenia, which is using alternative roads to further aggravate the tension in the region, Baku said. It also said that the French side “did not pay attention” to the unanimous rejection of Armenia’s request to remove the checkpoint by the ICJ on July 6. Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between the neighboring countries rose in recent months over the Lachin road, where Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint in April on the grounds of preventing the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.

The two former Soviet republics have been archrivals since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. It culminated in 44 days of war in 2020, when Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Azerbaijan said it detained a member of a sabotage group of the Armenian military as they attempted to infiltrate the country’s Kalbajar district in East Zangezur. “On Aug. 16, around 11:15 a.m. (7:15 a.m. GMT), the intelligence-sabotage group of the Armenian armed forces tried to infiltrate the territory of Azerbaijan using the gaps between the combat positions located in the direction of the settlement of Istisu, the Kalbajar district, in order to carry out terrorist-sabotage operations,” a statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said. The attempt of the Armenian military was prevented “as a result of the vigilance of our units,” the statement said, adding that a member of the sabotage group was detained by military personnel. The detained person was injured and other members of the sabotage group were forced to retreat, it also said. “Information about the detained member of the group is currently being clarified. Additional information will be provided to the public,” the statement concluded.

Armenia in diplomatic plea with Malta for action on Azerbaijan blockade crisis

Ekmekjian Janet
The Shift
Aug 14 2023
David Lindsay
15:41

Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Ararat Mirzoyan last Thursday made a phone call to Foreign Minister Ian Borg pleading for Malta’s support in its impasse with Azerbaijan, which has seen a humanitarian crisis unfold among the 120,000 population of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan has currently blockaded the Lachin corridor leading to Nagorno-Karabakh and Mirzoyan’s appeal to Borg comes just after a United Nations group of experts found the blockade “has left the population facing acute shortages of food staples, medication, and hygiene products”.

The UN also found Azerbaijan’s blockade has “impacted the functioning of medical and educational institutions, and placed the lives of the residents – especially children, persons with disabilities, older persons, pregnant women, and the sick – at significant risk”.

Malta enjoys a comfortable commercial and diplomatic relationship with Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, is a shareholder in Malta’s main power station,  the corruption-riddled ElectroGas plant in Delimara, and Malta is also still at the beginning of an 18-year LNG supply agreement with SOCAR for the power station.

Over and above that, former prime minister Joseph Muscat is a regular visitor to Baku, where he is a member of Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev’s Nizami Ganjavi International Centre (NGIC).

Muscat has been a member of the NGIC since 2020 joining after his protracted December 2019 resignation from the office of the prime minister.

The think tank was founded by Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and is funded by the Azerbaijani government, with which Muscat fostered a cosy relationship while in power.

Muscat was there last June for an event entitled ‘Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Integration: Energy, Economy, Environment and Equity’.

Its opening ceremony included a video about Azerbaijani lands that had been ‘liberated’ from occupation. Ostensibly, these lands are those contested as part of the protracted Armenia-Azerbaijan war which has seen tens of thousands killed.

Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor and the ensuing humanitarian crisis forms part of the latest hostilities that Aliyev claims to have liberated.

David Lindsay
15:41

Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Ararat Mirzoyan last Thursday made a phone call to Foreign Minister Ian Borg pleading for Malta’s support in its impasse with Azerbaijan, which has seen a humanitarian crisis unfold among the 120,000 population of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan has currently blockaded the Lachin corridor leading to Nagorno-Karabakh and Mirzoyan’s appeal to Borg comes just after a United Nations group of experts found the blockade “has left the population facing acute shortages of food staples, medication, and hygiene products”.

The UN also found Azerbaijan’s blockade has “impacted the functioning of medical and educational institutions, and placed the lives of the residents – especially children, persons with disabilities, older persons, pregnant women, and the sick – at significant risk”.

Malta enjoys a comfortable commercial and diplomatic relationship with Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, is a shareholder in Malta’s main power station,  the corruption-riddled ElectroGas plant in Delimara, and Malta is also still at the beginning of an 18-year LNG supply agreement with SOCAR for the power station.

Over and above that, former prime minister Joseph Muscat is a regular visitor to Baku, where he is a member of Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev’s Nizami Ganjavi International Centre (NGIC).

Muscat has been a member of the NGIC since 2020 joining after his protracted December 2019 resignation from the office of the prime minister.

The think tank was founded by Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and is funded by the Azerbaijani government, with which Muscat fostered a cosy relationship while in power.

Muscat was there last June for an event entitled ‘Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Integration: Energy, Economy, Environment and Equity’.

Its opening ceremony included a video about Azerbaijani lands that had been ‘liberated’ from occupation. Ostensibly, these lands are those contested as part of the protracted Armenia-Azerbaijan war which has seen tens of thousands killed.

Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor and the ensuing humanitarian crisis forms part of the latest hostilities that Aliyev claims to have liberated.

https://theshiftnews.com/2023/08/14/armenia-in-diplomatic-plea-with-malta-for-action-on-azerbaijan-blockade-crisis/

Opinion A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the Caucasus

Ekmekjian Janet
Washington Post
Aug 11 2023

By David Ignatius

Accept Azerbaijan’s political control or leave Nagorno-Karabakh. That’s essentially what Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is telling the Armenian population of this remote enclave that lies within Azerbaijan’s borders.

But leaders of the Armenian majority there argue that Aliyev’s tactics amount to genocide — and many residents appear ready to starve rather than submit.

Aliyev was emphatic in an Aug. 2 interview with Euronews: “People who live in Karabakh … they live in Azerbaijan. They should choose whether to live as citizens as [an] ethnic minority … or to leave. So this is their choice.”

In an apparent effort to enforce sovereignty, Azerbaijan has been blockading the road from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, known as the “Lachin Corridor” since June 15. Without this route, the Armenian population has lost access to food, fuel, medicine and other essential supplies. The Azerbaijanis say they are ready to ship food from Azerbaijan, but Armenians fear it might be a trap — a first step toward integration by force — and they have blocked the Azerbaijani entry routes with concrete barriers.

Arayik Harutyunyan, the president of “Artsakh,” as Armenians call this region, appealed for international support against what he called a “genocidal policy” in a statement this week: “The blockade of the Lachin Corridor is not an isolated incident. It should be regarded as part of a planned, large-scale and coordinated policy by Azerbaijan aimed at the destruction of the people of Artsakh as a whole.” He requested a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

State Department officials have been working with European partners and Russia to try to reopen the Lachin Corridor and end the humanitarian crisis. The plight of residents there has raised growing international concern for the welfare of Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 residents. Luis Moreno Ocampo, a former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, issued a report this week alleging that “there is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed.”

U.S. officials believe that Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh are managing to survive only because of backyard gardens and other home-produced food. They fear that within two months, as winter approaches, the population could face starvation. Armenians dread a repetition of the Ottoman genocide of 1915, an ever-present historical memory for Armenians around the world.

The blockade of fuel supplies is already having a crippling effect inside Nagorno-Karabakh. According to an Armenian official, “even ambulance vehicles are not able to operate within Nagorno-Karabakh because there is simply no fuel.”

The humanitarian crisis surrounding the Lachin Corridor is the latest chapter of a decades-old struggle over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Armenia won control in 1994, but skirmishes continued for the next 25 years. Azerbaijan regained power in a 2020 war that left Armenia dazed and defeated. Russia brokered the deal that ended that war and has a nominal peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh. But Moscow’s ability to maintain peace and stability has been severely weakened by the Ukraine conflict.

The Armenian government in Yerevan, headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has said it is ready for a broad peace agreement with Baku. The two sides have held repeated negotiating sessions, including three in the United States organized by the Biden administration. But this diplomatic process has been ruptured by the Lachin crisis.

An Armenian diplomat told me this week in an email message that her government continues to seek normalization with Baku. But she said Yerevan wants “international guarantees” that a peace deal will be “fully implemented,” and “guarantees of rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The Lachin crisis is a distillation of what has been the core issue from the beginning. Nagorno-Karabakh had long been recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan; but the Armenian majority there wants some form of political self-determination, rather than dictation from a hostile government in Baku. There’s abundant food waiting at various border crossings. But Azerbaijan needs to build some trust by ending the Lachin barricade that started this crisis.

When I visited Stepanakert, the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh capital, in April 2016, I saw a monument to the spirit of resistance there that Baku evidently wants to break. On the road to the airport stood an immense stone statue of an old man and woman, seemingly buried in the hillside. The name of the monument was “We Are Our Mountains.”

The message to the world was simple, as I wrote at the time: We aren’t moving. That’s still true. Nagorno-Karabakh may be part of Azerbaijan legally, but it’s going to be populated by ethnic Armenians who need protection of their human rights. It’s time for all parties to accept both sides of that equation.

David Ignatius writes a twice-a-week foreign affairs column for The Washington Post. His latest novel is “The Paladin.”  Twitter

Nagorno-Karabakh ruling party nominates ARF lawmaker Davit Ishkhanyan for Speaker

Ekmekjian Janet

 10:29, 7 August 2023

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS. The Nagorno-Karabakh Parliament convened an extraordinary session Monday morning to elect a new Speaker following Artur Tovmasyan’s resignation.

The ruling Free Motherland (AHK) party has nominated Davit Ishkhanyan, a Member of Parliament representing the opposition ARF, for the position.

President Arayik Harutyunyan and former Speaker Arthur Tovmasyan are also participating in the session.

Van Novikov




Azerbaijan rejects US mediation in Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations to hide its threats of war

Ekmekjian Janet
July 31 2023

There’s information that in the coming days, representatives of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh will meet in a third country in order to negotiate, with the USA serving as an intermediary state. The Karabakh-Azerbaijani negotiations will probably take place in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

There’s a need for official confirmation of the information, but this may only happen if the negotiation process implies confidentiality. This is at least the second attempt to organise a Baku-Stepanakert meeting in Bulgaria. The previous one was months ago, in May-June, but it failed due to Azerbaijan’s maximalist position.

In particular, the international mediators conveyed Azerbaijan’s proposals to Stepanakert. It was a program to integrate the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan. The Karabakh side perceived it not as an invitation to negotiations but as a presentation of a request by Azerbaijan. Due to the maximalism of Azerbaijan, that meeting didn’t take place.

Azerbaijan has insisted that it pay the rent for the hotel space and hospitality for the Karabakh-Azerbaijani negotiations in Sofia. Formerly, Karabakh rejected Azerbaijan’s offer to go to Baku and negotiate. Now, Azerbaijan wants to feel like a host in that negotiation.

Baku objected to American mediators in the meeting room with Stepanakert representatives in Sofia. Baku suggested that they wait in the next room.

Why does Azerbaijan object to negotiations with Nagorno Karabakh being held in the presence of international observers? During the talks, Azerbaijan intends to present a plan for the integration of Nagorno Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan, not to discuss or accept any of Stepanakert’s proposals, and to threaten that if Stepanakert doesn’t get its demands, Baku will start a war.

In other words, Azerbaijan imagines the meeting as an ultimatum presentation ceremony, not a negotiation. And he doesn’t want the USA to see it.

On March 1, 2023, Azerbaijan met with representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in Ivanyan/Khojaly. The command of the Russian peacekeepers was present. Stepanakert offered to discuss technical issues at that meeting. However, the Azerbaijani deputy sent from Baku presented a plan for integrating Karabakh Armenians, intentionally disrupting the meeting.

The meeting failed. Five to six days after that meeting, Azerbaijan killed three Armenian police officers in Nagorno Karabakh. President Arayik Harutyunyan revealed after that meeting that Azerbaijan threatened the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh that if the Azerbaijani integration plan isn’t accepted, there would be harsh military actions.

Arresting a 68-year-old citizen of Karabakh in the Lachin Corridor and transferring him to Baku is Azerbaijan’s attempt to derail the upcoming negotiations with Stepanakert. It is the use of force and threat by Azerbaijan against the Armenians of Karabakh. It may seem that the meeting with the Armenians of Karabakh is beneficial for Azerbaijan because it’s a chance to present a request.

However, when Nagorno Karabakh participates in the negotiations with Azerbaijan, it deprives Baku of the opportunity to create false grounds for using military force. Azerbaijan prefers that Karabakh doesn’t participate in the meetings, which it will interpret as destructiveness, and start a military operation against Karabakh.

Baku likely fails this upcoming match as well. For example, in addition to arresting Vagif Khachatryan, Azerbaijan can organise new military provocations and prevent the Armenian side from attending the meeting. But if the meeting occurs, the official Stepanakert will present its program and agenda.

International mediators should be more deeply involved in the negotiations. The US should move from the role of a mere meeting organiser to the position of forcing solutions. The goal of Azerbaijan is to deport the Karabakh Armenians by starving them to death, creating inhuman conditions for living.

As long as there is no intense pressure on Azerbaijan to give up this maximalism, peace will not be established. On the contrary, the high risk of a new bloody conflict will remain.

By the way, today, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that he spoke with the President of Azerbaijan, Aliyev, yesterday.

In the conversation, he wrote: “I spoke to Azerbaijani President Aliyev yesterday to express our deep concern for the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh. The United States urges all sides to continue dialogue to reach a durable peace agreement.”

Robert Ananyan is a journalist for Factor TV.