Author: Emil Karabekian

US Congress demands Azerbaijan to release all Armenian prisoners of war

Emil Karabekian

Sept 23 2021


    JAMnews, Yerevan

The House of Representatives of the US Congress demands Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian military and civilians who continue to remain in captivity after the end of the second Karabakh war. The House of Representatives approved an amendment to the law presented by Congressmen Adam Schiff, Tony Cardenas and Brad Sherman.

It says that all Armenian prisoners who continue to be held in Azerbaijan must be returned in accordance with the requirements of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

“Despite its obligations under the Geneva Conventions and the statement of November 9 [document on the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh, signed by the heads of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia – JAMnews], the Azerbaijani government continues to detain about 200 Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees, distorting the status of these people to justify their being in captivity”, says the document, published on the website of the House of Representatives.

The authors of the bill also demand that the Biden administration investigate the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020 during the war in Karabakh.

  • Experts on the meaning behind Biden’s statement on the Armenian genocide
  • Op-ed: How does Armenia approach its 30th anniversary of independence
  • Armenia files a lawsuit against Azerbaijan at International Court of Justice

The document says that on September 27, 2020, with the support of Turkey and foreign armed formations, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, thousands of people died, tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians became internally displaced persons.

The authors of the bill insist on the investigation of war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during 44 days, while the military actions were going on in Karabakh, including the use of prohibited weapons against civilians (white phosphorus, cluster bombs).

In addition, Congressmen are demanding an investigation into the use of American technology in Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles. This refers to the Turkish “Bayraktars”, which, as indicated in the document, were used to shell peaceful settlements.

The US Secretary of Defense must report the results of these investigations to the appropriate congressional committees within 180 days of the law’s entry into force.


The California Courier Online, September 16, 2021

Emil Karabekian

1-         Pashinyan Should not Follow Sargsyan’s
            Mistaken Policy on Relations with Turkey
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2-         Book Review: ‘Araksi and the German Consul’
3 –        Governor Newsom Appoints Judge Sosi Chitakian Vogt
4-         George Boujikian appointed Industry Minister of Lebanon
5-         Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19

************************************************************************************************************************************************

1-         Pashinyan Should not Follow Sargsyan’s
            Mistaken Policy on Relations with Turkey
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Here we go again. Back in 2009, Pres. Serzh Sargsyan engaged in a
misguided effort to sign an agreement with Turkey ostensibly to open
the mutual border. Even though Armenians around the world strongly
objected to the scheme, Pres. Sargsyan kept insisting that he was
right and everyone else was wrong.

Sargsyan could not see that Turkey had no intention to open the
border. Ankara used the border issue as a ploy to obtain maximum
concessions from Armenia, such as giving up on the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, accepting the territorial
integrity of Turkey, which meant that Armenians were to abandon their
demands for Western Armenia, and returning Artsakh to Azerbaijan.
These were the Turkish preconditions. Furthermore, even if Armenia
accepted these inadmissible conditions, Turkey would escalate its
demands, adding new ones.

Pres. Sargsyan did not understand that if Turkey really wanted to open
the border, it could have done so without signing any protocols and
without making any demands from Armenia. After all, Turkey was the one
that unilaterally closed the border, not Armenia, so it could have
reopened the border anytime it wanted. When Pres. Sargsyan toured
several Diaspora communities in 2009, supposedly to find out their
views on the border issue, he faced massive protests and
confrontations in Lebanon, France, the United States and Russia.

Finally, Azerbaijan succeeded in killing the Armenia-Turkey Protocols
by pressuring Turkey not to ratify them, in order to exert maximum
pressure on Armenia to return Artsakh. Ironically, Azerbaijan was the
one that ended up safeguarding Armenia’s interests, not Pres.
Sargsyan.

Now, in 2021, we see the repetition of the 2009 scenario, except this
time, the situation is much worse, since Armenia is led by a defeated
leader who has no choice but to accept Turkey/Azerbaijan’s escalating
demands for concessions. All those who believe that Armenia and Turkey
cannot remain eternal enemies and see nothing wrong with talking with
“our opponents,” are forgetting one key point: Who is doing the
negotiating? On the one side, we have a shrewd politician — Pres.
Erdogan of Turkey, and on the other side, we have the inexperienced
and defeated leader of Armenia! This is like asking the sheep to
negotiate with the wolf. The outcome is obvious.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently said that “Turkey is
willing to work for the normalization of relations with Armenia
pending the neighboring country’s abandonment of single-sided
accusations and embrace of a realistic outlook.” Amazingly, Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan considered Erdogan’s statement a “positive
signal” and promised to respond in kind! Turkey’s 2009 preconditions
are still on the table, except that Azerbaijan recovered most of
Artsakh by force. However, Turkey continues to demand that Armenia
give up the pursuit of the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and accept the territorial integrity of Turkey. Since last
year’s war, Azerbaijan and Turkey have added a new condition: Armenia
should sign “a peace treaty” with Azerbaijan, which would mean
accepting the territorial integrity of the latter, thus permanently
giving up Artsakh. Furthermore, even if Pashinyan were to accept such
inadmissible demands, Turkey and Azerbaijan would certainly impose new
more troubling conditions. This is a red line that no Armenian leader
has the right to cross! How can one negotiate with a country that
almost destroyed the Armenian race in 1915, and killed thousands of
young Armenian soldiers as recently as last year?

Having mostly fulfilled the first Turkish precondition — the return
of Artsakh — Azerbaijan now wants to complete the job by occupying
the rest, this time not by war, but by forcing Armenia to give it up
voluntarily, by signing a deceptive “peace treaty.” Azerbaijan is
continuing to twist the knife in Armenia’s bleeding heart by
encroaching on the country’s border and illegally holding and
torturing Armenian POWs, even after Pashinyan needlessly turned over
to Azerbaijan maps of 200,000 land mines in the Azeri-occupied
territories. The Nov. 9, 2020 agreement had no such requirement.
However, it did include a demand to return the Armenian POWs.
Pashinyan should insist that nothing will be negotiated until the POWs
are released and the Azeri troops withdraw from inside Armenia’s
border. Under these circumstances, Armenia must counter Turkey’s
preconditions with its own preconditions.

Then there are those who think that opening the Armenia-Turkey border
will promote trade and bring financial benefits to Armenia. Just to
the contrary, cheap Turkish products will flood the Armenian market,
bankrupting the local producers. Armenian manufacturers cannot compete
with Turkish producers who benefit from economies of scale, based on
an 85-million population market.

Let us not sell Armenia cheap by acting like Turkey will be doing us a
big favor by offering to open the border. In fact, Turkey stands to
gain much more than Armenia by opening the border. The Turkish city of
Kars, only 30 miles from Armenia, suffered a “massive blow” to its
economy after the border was closed, according to EurasiaNet.org. As a
result, the population of Kars province “shrunk from 662,000 in 1990
to 285,000 in 2020.”

It is ironic that Pashinyan, who came to power opposing all of his
predecessors’ actions, is blindly repeating the previous president’s
failed policy on relations with Turkey. He is even using Sargsyan’s
own words: “establish relations with Turkey without any
preconditions.” It seems that Armenia’s leaders not only do not learn
from past mistakes, but blindly repeat them. It would have been
somewhat understandable if Pashinyan, as the leader of a defeated
nation, confessed that he had no choice but to accept the
Azeri/Turkish imposed conditions. But, that’s not what he has said.
Pashinyan repeatedly has stated that these imposed conditions, such as
the planned route linking Nakhichevan to Eastern Azerbaijan and
opening the border with Turkey, are in Armenia’s best interests! Such
measures are completely against Armenia’s national interests. They are
in fact, the age-old dreams of Pan-Turkists, to connect Turkey through
Armenia to Turkic Republics in the Far East.

To make matters worse, in recent days, Pashinyan has welcomed Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s announcement that Armenia should make
an effort to open its border with Turkey. This is not surprising as
such actions are in Russia’s interest in order to further distance
Turkey from NATO and the West. It is regrettable that while Russia,
Turkey, and Azerbaijan are diligently pursuing policies that are in
their national interest, Armenia’s leader has no conception about his
country’s national interest.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

2-         Book Review: ‘Araksi and the German Consul’

By Jorge Vartparonian

Many years ago my friend Carlos Saenz and I decided to write a
screenplay based on the life of Max Erwin von Scheubner Richter.

Vahakn Dadrian’s book about German officers who in one way or another
had participated in Turkey at the time of the Armenian genocide, and
had helped to inspire Hitler’s decisions during the Holocaust and the
Final Solution had really impressed me.

Scheubner was definitely an exceptional person and had shown unusual
humanitarian beliefs, reflected in the help he gave the deportation
columns of Armenians from Erzerum and the telegrams he sent his bosses
in Constantinople and Berlin.

The orders for the massacres of Armenians ensued from the triumvirate
leading Turkey at the time, especially Talaat Pasha but also Enver and
Djemal.

Their German allies reacted with complete indifference, especially so
in the case of Emperor Wilhelm the Second.

In those days the word genocide didn’t exist, but the Western allies
coined the phrase “crimes against humanity” and promised a just
retribution for these crimes after the war. Raphael Lemkin would then
invent the word genocide to describe what had happened to his Polish
Jewish family during world war 2, but confessed that he was first
interested by what had happened to the Armenians in world war one,
when reading about the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian in Berlin in the
early twenties.

The movie never saw the light of day, but Carlos decided to write a
novel loosely based on Scheubner Richter’s activities during and after
the war, until his untimely death at the side of his leader, Adolf
Hitler in November 1923.

One hundred years later, both Germany and the United States have
recognized the genocide and Turkey continues the great lie, covering
up as much as they can the murders committed by their ancestors.

The mystery of how this erstwhile humanitarian could have become a
fanatic Nazi is something which is still unknown today, but its
binding material in this novel, and also involves two completely
fictional characters, Araksi and Diran, who epitomize a young
attractive Armenian girl who becomes a sex slave and an Armenian
freedom fighter, both caught in the maelstrom of the Armenian
genocide.

Carlos read an infinity of books about our Holocaust, described with
this very word by Winston Churchill in his post WW1 writings, and
learnt about the trials and tribulations of our folk from many
sources. He also read about the political struggles in post WW1
Germany and the surge of Nazism pitted against Bolshevism which
attempted to take over the whole of Europe. There were Soviet mini
states in Berlin, Bavaria and Hungary from 1918 until 1920, headed by
Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht in Berlin and Bels Kun in Hungary.
Many Bolsheviks were Jewish, just as Hitler Was trying out his
inflammatory anti-Semitic oratory, to try and achieve power. After the
failure of his Munich putsch in November 1923, Hitler tried to perfect
his ideas by writing Mein Kampf.

In the Landsberg prison, where he was often visited by Scheubner
Richter’s widow. Her husband had fallen during the putsch, and since
he was marching arm-locked with Hitler, dragged his Fuehrer down, thus
saving his life. Saenz also studied the events before the putsch and
described the participation of Max, Araksi and Diran in the occupation
of Riga by Latvian communists, the Kapp putsch in Berlin, Talaat
Pasha’s assassination in Berlin, and finally, an unexpected climax in
Munich.

He is currently writing a sequel to Araksi and the German consul,
which begins after the arrival of the young couple in Buenos Aires,
seeking peace in a Brave New World, far from the strife and bloodshed
of the old one.

It is absolutely incredible that at this point in time Israel and the
United Kingdom haven’t yet recognized the Armenian genocide, despite
knowing very well what happened. Israel, because it wants to have
exclusivity. Because it won’t recognize that the blueprint for its
tragedy came from the previous Armenian one. The UK, because it’s just
not convenient for it at the present.

Well, a TV series on Scheubner Richter might just help to change their
minds. Those seeking further information on the subject should consult
Wolfgang Gust’s edition of “The Armenian Genocide, Evidence from the
German Foreign Office Archive 1915/16,” published by Berghahn Books,
London and Oxford.

“Araksi and the German Consul” is available from Amazon.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

3-         Governor Newsom Appoints Judge Sosi Chitakian Vogt

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom announced his appointment of Sosi
Chitakian Vogt, 53, of Fresno, as a judge in the Madera County
Superior Court.

Vogt has served as a Court Commissioner at the Madera County Superior
Court since 2020. She was Appointed Counsel at Madera Alternate
Defense in 2019 and an Associate at Wapner Jones PC from 2016 to 2018.
Vogt was an Associate at Sawl Law Group from 2009 to 2015 and a
Contract Attorney at the Fresno County Public Defender’s Office from
2003 to 2009. She was Corporate Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the
American Division at Anderson Clayton Queensland Cotton from 2001 to
2003, a Deputy District Attorney at the Fresno County District
Attorney’s Office from 1998 to 2001 and an Associate at Richard A.
Ciummo and Associates from 1996 to 1998. Vogt earned a Juris Doctor
degree from the San Joaquin College of Law. Vogt is a Republican.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

4-         George Boujikian appointed Industry Minister of Lebanon

(Public Radio of Armenia)—

Lebanese Armenian George Boujikian representing the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation has been appointed Lebanon’s Industry
Minister, The National reports.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister designate Najib Mikati formed a government of
24 ministers on Friday, exactly one year after his predecessor Hassan
Diab resigned in the wake of a deadly blast at Beirut port

The cabinet includes 12 Christians and 12 Muslims in line with
Lebanon’s sectarian politics.

The Prime Minister is always Sunni Muslim, the President Christian
Maronite, and the Parliament Speaker Shiite Muslim.

There is only one woman among the ministers.

Born in 1950, George Boujikian holds a bachelor’s degree in law and
political science from the Lebanese University, according to the NNA.

He worked as a journalist for MBC FM Radio in London and Lebanese
television channel LBC. He was awarded the title of Goodwill
Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Organisation.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

5-         Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19

Armenia is continuing the fight against the third wave of COVID-19
cases, as the country continues promoting the vaccination phase.

The U.S. State Department on July 26 warned American citizens to
reconsider travel to Armenia due to the increase in cases of the
Covid-19.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a
Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Armenia due to COVID-19, indicating a
high level of COVID-19 in the country,” said the State Department.

The State Department also urged U.S. citizens not to travel to the
Nagorno-Karabakh region due to armed conflict.

“The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S.
citizens in Nagorno-Karabakh as U.S. government employees are
restricted from traveling there,” the State Department added.

There were 11,832 active cases in Armenia as of September 8. Armenia
has recorded 251,323 coronavirus cases and 5,075 deaths; 234,416 have
recovered.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

************************************************************************************************************************************************

California Courier Online provides readers of the Armenian News News Service
with a few of the articles in this week’s issue of The California
Courier. Letters to the editor are encouraged through our e-mail
address, . Letters are published with
the author’s name and location; authors are required to disclose their
identity to the editorial staff (name, address, and/or telephone
numbers for verification purposes).
California Courier subscribers can change or modify mailing addresses
by emailing .

Armenia, Slovakia to implement joint programs in energy, IT industry

Emil Karabekian

Save

Share

 11:06, 14 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Slovakia are going to develop the cooperation in a number of areas, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at the joint press conference with his Slovak counterpart Ivan Korčok in Yerevan on September 14.

FM Mirzoyan said that he has discussed with his Slovak counterpart the bilateral relations, as well as the ways of utilizing the cooperation potential in different branches of economy.

“The relations between our countries have developed in all directions, and today we reaffirmed that that we need to make efforts to further intensify those ties. This, firstly, relates to the political dialogue. We have a high-level political dialogue, and that dialogue refers to both the bilateral and the multilateral relations. We also talked about the economic relations, especially about the existing potential which is not utilized yet. We need to make joint efforts for the development of energy, information technologies, as well as in the fields of culture and science. I would like to inform that we have outlined certain actions that we are going to implement soon with joint efforts”, the Armenian FM said.  

Ararat Mirzoyan expressed gratitude to Slovakia and its people for the support provided to Armenia both during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Artsakh War, and also for the position adopted by that country.

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Ivan Korčok arrived in Armenia on an official visit on September 13.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

The ruling party abstained from voting on including the word Artsakh in the name of NA Standing Committee

Emil Karabekian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 10 2021

Members of the ruling “Civil Contract” faction in parliament abstained from voting on renaming the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Foreign Relations to Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and Artsakh. The discussion and the follow-up vote was held on Friday at the parliamentary Committee on legal and state affairs. 

Lawmaker from opposition Armenia bloc Aghvan Vardanyan noted in his remarks that various developments are going on around Artsakh and as a parliamentary country they should be able to include issues concerning Artsakh in the work of the NA committees. 

Vardanyan stressed that opposition “Armenia” bloc suggested to make amendments into the NA decision of setting up Standing Committees and debate the matter at the NA plenary session. Vardanayan said that the word Artsakh is not included in the names of any Standing Committee. 

“Since we have the Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs with its key function to deal with Artsakh issue the faction suggested to rename it,” said the opposition lawmaker. 

“With voting down the proposal the ruling majority expressed its attitude toward Artsakh,” Vardanyan told reporters after the Committee sitting.

Romanian PM congratulates Armenian counterpart on re-appointment

Emil Karabekian

Save

Share

 12:59, 1 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Romania Florin-Vasile Cîţu congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on re-appointment as Prime Minister of Armenia.

The congratulatory letter reads:

“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I am pleased to address my sincere congratulations and best wishes on your re-appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. It’s a position of high responsibility especially in the current regional and international context.

By using this chance, I would like to express my firm belief that the relations between Romania and Armenia, which are based on long-term friendship and mutual trust between our nations, will continue to develop in coming years.

The promotion of bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest must have a high place in our agenda. The implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between Armenia and the European Union, as well as many programs and tools provided by the EU will surely open new opportunities for cooperation.

Reaffirming my warmest wishes for success, please accept the assurances of my highest respect”.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Russian, Azerbaijani deputy FMs hold phone talk

Emil Karabekian

Save

Share

 17:13, 1 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Russian deputy minister of foreign affairs Andrei Rudenko and his Azerbaijani counterpart Khalaf Khalafov held a telephone conversation on September 1, the Russian foreign ministry reports.

The officials discussed a number of issues of the bilateral and regional agenda, including the implementation process of the 2020 November 9 and 2021 January 11 statements signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Asbarez: Sen. Menendez Meets Armenian Community Leaders in Greece

Emil Karabekian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 August 27, 2021

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) met with EAFJD and ANC-Greece leaders

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez and his wife, Nadine, met with the President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) Kaspar Karampetian and Greek Armenian community leaders during the his visit to Greece, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

Karampetian, who is a native of Greece, and the Armenian delegation thanked Senator Menendez for supporting expanded aid to Artsakh/Armenia, zeroing out military aid to Azerbaijan, and for his decades of proactive leadership that led to the 2019 unanimous U.S. Senate recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Karampetian also briefed Menendez on the efforts of the ANC of Greece and EAFJDu to bolster the security and safety of Artsakh and Armenia, as well as work to strengthen ties with Europe.

During his visit to Greece, Menendez is scheduled to meet with a series of Greek officials, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to review a broad range of shared U.S.-Greece policy priorities.

Why The US Accepts More Russian Troops In South Caucasus

Emil Karabekian
International Business Times
Aug 29 2021
By Taras Kuzio on  12:35 AA
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a vicious six-week war last year which claimed some 6,500 lives

If ever there was an oxymoron, it is Russian peacekeepers. As the last three decades in Eurasia demonstrates, Moscow does not resolve conflicts; it manufactures them to its own benefit. Yet last year’s conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Karabakh region ended with a Kremlin-brokered ceasefire placing 4,000 of these supposed peacekeepers in the middle of the South Caucasus. In reality, it is just one piece in Moscow’s grand revisionist strategy.

Now, a military arc extends throughout the post-Soviet space. In Europe, Ukraine’s Donbas region continues to be a victim of Russian military aggression, whilst further North the fate of Belarus seems to be that of creeping annexation.

In the Middle East, President Vladimir Putin continues to prop up the murderous Assad regime. Meanwhile, the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan hosts one of Russia’s most significant foreign bases, with reinforcements being sent to its border with Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal and the Taliban taking over.

In the South Caucasus, while supposedly protecting the peace, Russia finds itself in the middle of Europe’s energy diversification strategy. Europe is overly dependent on Kremlin fuel, which compromises its foreign policy. The recently completed Nord Stream II from Russia to Germany only deepens this dependence, despite many EU member states seeing it as a national security threat.

It is why Azerbaijan has become increasingly important as an alternative source of energy. Last December, a brand-new pipeline began delivering Baku’s natural gas to Southern Europe. Now, coincidentally, Russian troops sit at the very juncture that was supposed to diminish Moscow’s leverage in Europe. This should be of grave concern to both European and U.S. policymakers.

The problem is how quickly Russia’s presence has been normalized. Broadly speaking, Russia was Armenia’s backer in last year’s war. Yerevan is already hugely dependent on Moscow both militarily and economically. Russia has a growing number of military bases in Armenia whilst also delivering most of its weaponry. It is also a member of every Russian-led integration project in Eurasia, such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Eurasian Economic Union. But the legitimization of Russian overreach has been the work of the large and active Armenian lobby.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor, once described it as one of the three most influential foreign lobbies in the U.S. In 2019, before the war, they helped secure Armenia $60 million in foreign assistance from Washington, a 40% increase on the previous year. For much of their life in U.S. politics, they have actively contributed to civic life, keeping the cause of Armenian liberty alive under the Soviet Union, like those in the Lithuanian diaspora did for their homeland.

Paradoxically, now they are making the case for Russian peacekeeping troops as a necessary guarantor of peace in Karabakh. Before last year’s conflict, neither the U.S. nor France – who together with Russia co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group tasked since the 90s with resolving the dispute– would have accepted unaccompanied Russian troops in Karabakh. Now, they have been accepted with few raised eyebrows.

Moreover, Armenia lobbies members of Congress toward unworkable positions that push a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia further into the future. A case in point is the entreaties of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the influential House Intelligence Committee. Schiff has led calls in Congress to recognize the independence of the so-called “Artsakh Republic” – the Armenian name for the Azerbaijani region of Karabakh it occupied from 1994-2020.

Not even Yerevan de jure recognized the so-called “Artsakh Republic,” as this would have flown in the face of international law. This would be and will remain unacceptable to Azerbaijan, stalling any efforts to finally end the conflict. But a frozen conflict suits Moscow and allows it to maintain its peacekeepers indefinitely on the ground.

That such uncompromising lobbying should come from the diaspora is perhaps unsurprising. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan stretches back to independence in the 1990s from the Soviet Union. With Armenia’s 1990s victory and occupation came isolation on two fronts: Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey closed their borders to Armenia, which account for over 80% of them. Meanwhile, the so-called “Artsakh” posed huge costs on the Armenian government’s budget; nobody else would invest in the region given its illegal status.

Alternatively, resolution of the conflict would vastly benefit the Armenian economy. It has already missed out on regional energy and logistics infrastructure because of the Karabakh issue. It is therefore telling that the Armenian lobby argues for unfeasible positions that would instead keep Armenia isolated: they have been untouched by the economic turmoil of the past 30 years and therefore able to make radical demands whilst bearing none of the costs.

Instead, any step forward to permanent peace must start from the reality that the lands retaken by Azerbaijan are its sovereign territory. And Armenia, by listening a little less to radicals in the U.S. diaspora and those they lobby, would more likely secure a more prosperous future.

Taras Kuzio is a professor at the Department of Political Science, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy

Armenia to request Russian military deployment on Azerbaijan border after fresh clashes

Emil Karabekian
The Indian Express
July 29 2021

Moscow, which has a military base in Armenia, has deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers in and around Karabakh to oversee the ceasefire.

Published: 29th July 2021 03:12 PM  |   Last Updated: 29th July 2021 03:12 PM   |  A+A A-

Armenian solders guard their position in the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. (Photo | AP)

By AFP

YEREVAN (ARMENIA): Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday he would request the deployment of Russian border guards along his country’s frontier with Azerbaijan to prevent further escalation after new clashes.

Last year Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-week war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The conflict claimed some 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede territories it had controlled for decades.

In recent months tensions have been running high over the two countries’ shared border.

On Wednesday, three Armenian soldiers were killed in fresh border clashes with Azerbaijani forces, in some of the heaviest fighting between the Caucasus rivals since last year’s war.

Addressing a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Pashinyan said he wanted to ask Moscow for more help.

“I think it makes sense to consider the question of stationing outposts of Russian border guards along the entire stretch of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” he said.

Pashinyan said the move will help the two countries “carry out  work on demarcation and delimitation of the border without the risk of military clashes.”

“We are planning to discuss the matter with our Russian colleagues.”

After the new clashes both countries traded accusations of initiating the fighting before a ceasefire was agreed upon with Russia’s help. 

After the war Armenia has accused Azerbaijani forces of a series of border intrusions and of seizing pockets of territory including along a lake shared by the two countries.

The new border clashes have raised fears of a fresh flare-up in tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region of Azerbaijan that broke away from Baku’s control in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Moscow, which has a military base in Armenia, has deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers in and around Karabakh to oversee the ceasefire.

Pashinyan has earlier asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for military support, saying up to 600 Azerbaijani troops are stationed on Armenian territory, a claim denied by Baku. 

Russia has offered to help resolve the border disputes by working with the two sides to clearly define the borders. 

The United States and France have called on Azerbaijan to pull back its forces.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2021/jul/29/armenia-to-request-russian-military-deployment-on-azerbaijan-border-after-fresh-clashes-2337213.html
Read also:
https://www.dhakatribune.com/world/central-asia/2021/07/29/armenia-to-request-russian-troops-deployment-on-azerbaijan-border
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/armenia-wants-russian-army-outposts-on-azerbaijan-border-amid-tensions-289995
https://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/Pashinyan-suggest-Russia-to-guard-Azerbaijani-Armenian-border.html
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1670880-armenian-pm-proposes-russian-forces-be-stationed-on-border-with-azerbaijan—tass
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/armenia-to-seek-russian-military-deployment/article35615464.ece
https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/armenia-pm-suggests-russia-deploy-troops-on-border-with-azerbaijan-amid-rising-tensions.html
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/armenia-to-request-russian-military-deployment-on-azerbaijan-border
https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ts/news/world/europe/2021/07/29/armenia-wants-russian-forces-to-guard-border-with-azerbaijan.html?rf
https://www.latestly.com/socially/world/armenia-wants-russian-army-outposts-on-azerbaijan-border-amid-tensions-latest-tweet-by-reuters-2689321.html
https://texasnewstoday.com/armenia-wants-a-russian-outpost-on-the-azerbaijan-border-in-tension/387406/

Turkish press: Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Şentop slams Armenian destruction in Shusha

Emil Karabekian
 ISTANBUL DIPLOMACY 
JUL 29, 2021 3:02 PM GMT+3

Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop (L) visits Shusha, Azerbaijan, July 28,2 2021. (IHA Photo)

“Those who believe they own the city cannot do that. Only those who are here with an intention to occupy can destroy the city,” Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop said Thursday as he visited Shusha, which Azerbaijan recently liberated from the three-decade-long Armenian occupation.

Şentop stated that steps were taken to strengthen and institutionalize friendship and brotherhood between the Turkic republics, adding that the relationship between Azerbaijan and Turkey is special.

Noting that the words of Azerbaijan’s founding leader Heydar Aliyev, “One nation, two states” became popular during Azerbaijan’s victory in Karabakh, Şentop said that the Shusha Declaration strengthened the bond between the two countries.

Şentop noted that the declaration also revealed a roadmap to move relations forward.

Pointing out the destruction in Shusha, Şentop said: “Those who believe that they are the owners of the city cannot do this. However, those who are here with an intention to invade can destroy the city. Not only in Shusha, but in all the places we saw along the way, there was destruction everywhere.”

Şentop explained that construction is currently underway to restore the city and said that he hopes that Shusha will become the country’s cultural capital in a few months.

Shusha, which the Armenian military had invaded on May 8, 1992, was liberated by the Azerbaijani military on Nov. 8, 2020. Considered to be the “eye” of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenia had occupied until Azerbaijani forces’ two-month effort to liberate it, Shusha’s historical heritage includes many monuments, and it had been home to many intellectuals.

The town has significant military value since it is located on strategic high ground about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the region’s capital over Khankendi (Stepanakert), and it is on the road linking the city with Armenian territory. Besides its strategic significance, the town is known as a symbol of Azerbaijani history and culture with many historical sites, the restoration of which has started. Many prominent Azerbaijani musicians and scholars were born in the city.

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. Fresh clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in late September, rekindling the Caucasus neighbors’ decadeslong conflict over the region.

During the conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several towns and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation. Fierce fighting persisted for six weeks despite efforts by France, Russia and the United States to broker cease-fires, before Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Moscow-brokered peace deal on November 9. The agreement was signed after Baku’s army overwhelmed separatist forces and threatened to advance on Karabakh’s main city Stepanakert (Khankendi).