Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Both sides claim ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Nagorno-Karabakh

Emil Lazarian
RTE , Ireland
Sept 29 2023

Some 88,780 people have crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Armenian government figures, quoted by the RIA news agency.

The exodus of ethnic Armenians from the breakaway region began after the fall of its separatist government last week following a military operation by Azerbaijan.

The enclave is to become a full part of Azerbaijan by the end of the year.

The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Ireland said that his country offered the ethnic Armenian people an option to remain, but “we cannot force them to stay”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Elin Suleymanov claimed they are leaving because of “uncertainty which follows 30 years of occupation of Azerbaijan by Armenia”.

He asked: “Why is the formally diverse region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan now 100% Armenian?

“That is because everybody else has been ethnically cleansed.

“One million people in Karabakh and surrounding regions were ethnically cleansed in the 1990s.

“Now we don’t want to do what they’ve done to us and that’s why everybody, including the president and everybody in Azerbaijan, is offering them to stay.

“We understand that there is uncertainty. We understand that there is a fear of safety …. Those are understandable concerns given they are part of a conflict for a long time”.

Mr Suleymanov said the same standard should apply to Nagorno-Karabakh as it does in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

He said that Azerbaijan has restored its integrity and constitutional law in accordance with international law.

Yesterday, Armenia’s Ambassador to Ireland told the same programme that the “forced depopulation” of the indigenous Armenian people from Nagorno-Karabakh was “a tragic loss for the Armenian people and for civilisation”.

Varuzhan Nersesyan said that Azerbaijan made a “fake promise” of reintegration but it is “nothing but a policy of ethnic cleansing” and “nobody wants to stay … under Azerbaijani rule”.

Armenians were subjected to a nine-month blockade, he said, and the “mass exodus” from the region began once the corridor reopened.

“Most likely, we’re going to see the departure of most – the predominant part – of the population.

“There might be some who will decide to stay, but basically this population has the right to stay on its own indigenous land.”

It is unfortunate that the international community did not create “robust conditions” to prevent this from happening, Mr Nersesyan said.

Death toll from fuel depot blast in Karabakh rises to 170 – media

The death toll from an explosion and fire at a fuel depot in Nagorno-Karabakh has risen to 170, Armen press news agency has reported, citing local officials in the region.

The blast occurred as thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the area.

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

Rescue work at the site continues.

Congressman Adam Schiff introduces new resolution seeking suspension of U.S. aid to Azerbaijan

Emil Lazarian

 16:02,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. United States Congressman Adam Schiff on September 28 said he’s introducing a new resolution that seeks suspension of U.S. aid to Azerbaijan amid its ‘horrific aggression’ against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

“Amid Azerbaijan’s horrific aggression against Artsakh [NK] & Armenia, and the ethnic cleansing taking place, I’m introducing another resolution that I hope will lead to the suspension of U.S. aid to Baku. No matter what our diplomats say, if the money to the regime continues, so will its violence,” Schiff said on X.

Azerbaijan continues ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenians

Emil Lazarian
 Hoory Minoyan News 4

Fuel storage facility near Stepanakert explodes (NKR InfoCenter, September 25)

YEREVAN—Amidst the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh and Azerbaijan’s national policy of the ethnic cleansing of its Armenian population, forcing thousands to flee their homeland, a powerful explosion ripped through a fuel storage facility near Stepanakert on Monday.

Hundreds of people were lining up at the fuel facility where the blast occurred, because they had been promised fuel –  a scarcity during the over nine-month long blockade – for their cars in order to move to Armenia. 

As a result of the explosion, 290 patients were admitted to different hospitals with various degrees of burns. According to the Ministry of Health of Artsakh, at least seven patients have died in the hospital. Dozens are still in critical condition. 13 unrecognized bodies were transferred to the Bureau of Forensic Examination. Many people are considered missing, because they were burned as a result of the explosion. 

Former State Minister and Human Rights Ombudsman of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan reported that on Tuesday, 168 patients wounded in the fuel depot explosion were evacuated to Yerevan – 96 by Armenian and Russian helicopters and 72 by Armenian ambulances with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross. There are 68 confirmed deaths. Meanwhile, the bodies of 125 soldiers who gave their lives protecting Artsakh were transferred to Armenia on Wednesday. According to consolidated data from requests to information centers in Artsakh, the fate of 105 Armenians as a result of the explosion is unknown. 

Weekly contributor Siranush Sargsyan said that the situation in Artsakh’s hospitals following the explosion is “catastrophic.” “Shortages of medical staff, panic, people trying to find their loved ones from the blast,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The explosion took place hours after the second round of talks between Azerbaijani officials and Artsakh representatives was held Monday in the town of Ivanyan, just north of Stepanakert. The first round was held last week in Yevlakh, where an agreement was reached on the withdrawal of the remaining units and servicemen of the Armed Forces of Armenia from Artsakh, the disbandment and complete disarmament of the Artsakh Defense Army, and the removal of heavy equipment and weapons from the territory of Artsakh.

The agreement was reached 24 hours after Azerbaijan launched an assault on Artsakh on September 19, heavily shelling civilian settlements and infrastructure. Azerbaijan’s military offensive and bombardment of civilians claimed many lives, enabled mass displacement and triggered turmoil across the region. 

Another major humanitarian crisis is looming on the horizon. As of Wednesday afternoon, about 50,000 Armenians have been forced to flee their homes in Artsakh in the fear of living under Azerbaijani rule, among a population of 120,000. Although Azerbaijan has made numerous statements about the “peaceful integration” of ethnic Armenians into Azerbaijani society, decades of conflict and atrocities and recent events have proven otherwise. 

Multiple videos circulating on Telegram channels show inhumane acts carried out by Azerbaijani soldiers against ethnic Armenian civilians, soldiers and establishments. Two Azerbaijani soldiers fired at a 13th-century monastery in the village of Charektar in the Shahumyan region of Artsakh, Caucasus Heritage Watch reported on X on Wednesday. “Such attacks are a direct violation of the International Court of Justice’s provisional measure on Armenian cultural heritage and must be investigated and brought to justice,” the organization said in a statement.

Artsakh search and rescue operation searches for people’s remains (NKR InfoCenter, September 26)

While the ethnic cleansing policy of Azerbaijan continues to threaten the lives of the ethnic Armenians remaining in the region, thousands of families have been forced to flee their homes, only taking items of importance – leaving their family homes and their livelihood behind. In order to honor his memory and prevent its desecration by Azerbaijan, citizens have reportedly removed the monument of the national hero Monte Melkonyan in the Martuni region of Artsakh and plan to take it with them to Armenia.

The mass exodus of Armenians from Artsakh is only the start of another serious humanitarian crisis. As families flee to save their and their children’s lives from another genocide, traffic jams on the road to Kornidzor have already caused the death of an elderly man. 

Following long hours of travel, Armenians from Artsakh must go through the checkpoint illegally placed by Azerbaijan on the Hakari Bridge at the entrance to the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor to reach the registration and first aid centers that have been set up by the Red Cross and local organizations.

The small village of Kornidzor in Armenia’s southernmost Syunik region has become the first stop on the way of the forced migration of Armenians from Artsakh. Due to the shortage of fuel and buses, thousands of people arrive in Armenia sitting in the back of trucks. 

The first point of registration for the people of Artsakh was in the town of Goris until Tuesday night, when humanitarian organizations announced that due to the high volume of individuals coming from Artsakh, the resources in Goris have reached capacity, and the new point of registration will now be in Vayk. 

Volunteers on the ground in Syunik advise all Armenians to register their problems in detail at the registration points including medical, psychological and domestic. They also advise that all individuals request a medical examination and that those who are collecting aid send warm clothes that can be distributed to the people during registration ahead of the cold winter months. 

As this humanitarian crisis unfolds, the Armenian Weekly will continue to follow developments and provide firsthand reporting on families displaced from Artsakh.

House destroyed by Azerbaijani shelling in Berqadzor of Askeran region (Artsakh Ombudsman, September 24)

  •  Bio
  •  Latest Posts
Hoory Minoyan was an active member of the Armenian community in Los Angeles until she moved to Armenia prior to the 44-day war. She graduated with a master’s in International Affairs from Boston University, where she was also the recipient of the William R. Keylor Travel Grant. The research and interviews she conducted while in Armenia later became the foundation of her Master’s thesis, “Shaping Identity Through Conflict: The Armenian Experience.” Hoory continues to follow her passion for research and writing by contributing to the Armenian Weekly.


RFE/RL Armenian Service – 09/27/2023

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Wednesday, 
Exodus Continues From Karabakh
        • Susan Badalian
Armenia - Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh walk along the road from 
Nagorno-Karabakh to Kornidzor village, .
Tens of thousands more residents of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia on 
Wednesday in a continuing exodus of the region’s population triggered by last 
week’s Azerbaijani military offensive.
As of 6 p.m. local time, 53,629 people making up nearly half of Karabakh’s 
estimated population have crossed into Armenia through the Lachin corridor, 
Nazeli Baghdasarian, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, told 
reporters.
The road connecting Karabakh to Armenia remained jammed by hundreds of cars, 
buses and trucks carrying Karabakh Armenians unwilling to live under Azerbaijani 
rule.
“Poor people are left without any help as they hit the road to come here,” 
complained one of the refugees. “There is no escort, nothing. Neither the 
Russians nor anybody else gives directions.”
The middle-aged woman spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in the border town of 
Goris where an aid center set up by the Armenian government continued to offer 
them medicine, food, warm clothing and temporary housing. Local government 
officials working there were again joined by many volunteers from private 
charities also helping the refugees.
Armenia - Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh sit in the back of a truck upon their 
arrival in the border village of Kornidzor, .
Baghdasarian said earlier in the day that only about 8,000 refugees have 
accepted accommodation provided by the government in hotels, resorts and public 
buildings across Armenia. Most of them have been resettled in the Kotayk and 
Ararat provinces north and south of Yerevan.
The majority of the arriving refugees kept telling government officials and aid 
workers that they will live with relatives or have other places of residence in 
Armenia.
Visiting Goris on Tuesday, Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for 
International Development (USAID), said Washington will provide $11.5 million in 
humanitarian assistance to the refugees. The European Union announced, for its 
part, a relief aid package worth 5 million euros ($5.1 million) for both the 
forcibly displaced Karabakh Armenians and people remaining in Karabakh. Similar 
sums were separately promised by France and Germany.
A road jammed by vehciles carrying people fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, September 
27, 2023.
"I have decided to significantly increase our humanitarian aid once again and to 
increase our additional funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) from 2 to 5 million euros ($5.28 million)," German Foreign Minister 
Annalena Baerbock said on Wednesday.
The ICRC is the only international humanitarian organization allowed by 
Azerbaijan to operate in Karabakh. Power said Baku must also give other aid 
agencies “full and unimpeded access to the Lachin corridor and into villages and 
towns of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Washington also called for the dispatch of an international monitoring mission 
to Nagorno-Karabakh. Baerbock similarly urged Baku to allow international 
observers to enter the war-torn region.
West Accused Of Pressuring Armenia To Quit Russian-Led Bloc
RUSSIA – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks during the 
International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, June 15, 2022.
Russia on Wednesday accused Western powers of whipping up its tensions with 
longtime ally Armenia and pressuring the South Caucasus country to leave the 
Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
“According to incoming information, Washington and Brussels are telling Armenia 
to leave the CSTO, step up cooperation with NATO, reorient [military-technical 
cooperation] and sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan without taking into account 
the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians,” said Maria Zakharova, the 
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
She claimed that this was the main purpose of this week’s visits to Armenia by 
Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Yuri 
Kim, a senior State Department official, and Senator Gary Peters.
In that context, Zakharova also accused the United States and the European Union 
of turning a blind eye to what she described as a brutal police crackdown on 
participants of protests organized by the Armenian opposition in a bid to oust 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. She said the “beatings and arrests of 
demonstrators” in Yerevan are at odds with “democratic values” championed by the 
West.
The protest leaders blame Pashinian for Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 offensive 
in Nagorno-Karabakh which led to an ongoing exodus of the region’s ethnic 
Armenian population unwilling to live under Azerbaijani rule. Pashinian has put 
the blame on Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.
Armeni - Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan, September 22, 2023.
In a weekend addressed to the nation, the Armenian premier implicitly accused 
Moscow of fomenting the street protests. He also stated that the military 
alliance with Russia is not enough to ensure Armenia’s national security.
The U.S. Statement Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, echoed that statement 
late on Monday, saying that Russia is “not a security partner that can be relied 
on.” Miller’s remark was denounced by the Russian ambassador in Washington, 
Anatoly Antonov.
“We call on Washington to refrain from extremely dangerous statements and 
actions that help to strengthen artificial anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia,” 
Antonov said on Tuesday.
Despite his strong criticism of Moscow, Pashinian has so far not signaled plans 
to pull Armenia out of the CSTO. Nor has he indicated any alternative 
geopolitical arrangements which he thinks could protect Armenia’s borders.
Zakharova expressed confidence that Russian-Armenian relations will eventually 
be mended, saying that most Armenians remain sympathetic to Russia.
“We shouldn’t pay attention to those who are making various types of extremist 
statements, casting doubt on our relations,” she told a news briefing. “This 
will pass. We have seen this in other countries.”
Former Karabakh Premier Arrested By Azerbaijan (UPDATED)
        • Karlen Aslanian
        • Artak Khulian
Nagorno-Karabakh - Ruben Vardanyan, the Karabakh premier, addresses a rally in 
Stepanakert, December 25, 2022.
Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian-born billionaire businessman who held the 
second-highest post in Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership until February, was 
arrested by Azerbaijani authorities on Wednesday while fleeing the region along 
with thousands of Karabakh Armenians.
Azerbaijan’s state security service said that he was detained in the Lachin 
corridor and taken to Baku. It gave no reason for the arrest.
“Vardanyan was handed over to relevant state bodies so that they make a decision 
regarding him,” the APA news agency quoted it as saying.
Baku also circulated a photograph of a handcuffed Vardanyan escorted by 
Azerbaijani officers at an unspecified airfield.
Vardanyan’s Russian wife, Veronika Zonabend, appealed for his immediate release 
shortly before the official confirmation of his arrest.
“Ruben stood with the Artsakh people during the 10-month blockade [by 
Azerbaijan] and suffered along with them in the struggle for survival,” she said 
in a statement. “I ask for your prayers and support to ensure my husband’s safe 
release.”
Azerbaijan -- Ruben Vardanyan is escorted by Azerbaijani security officials 
following his arrest.
Vardanyan was appointed as Karabakh’s state minister last November a few months 
after relocating to Karabakh and renouncing his Russian citizenship. The 
Azerbaijani government condemned his appointment, saying that it was engineered 
by Russia. Moscow denied that.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in February that he will be ready to 
negotiate over the “rights and security of Karabakh’s Armenian minority” only if 
Vardanyan resigns and leaves “our territory.” Although the latter was sacked a 
week later, Baku never lifted its blockade of the Lachin corridor.
Vardanyan, 55, is a former investment banker who made his fortune in Russia in 
the 1990s and 2000s. He is also known as a philanthropist who has financed many 
charity projects in Armenia and Karabakh.
Vardanyan has been increasingly critical of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in 
recent months, repeatedly denouncing his recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty 
over Karabakh. Just hours after his arrest, the Armenian government asked the 
European Court of Human Rights to order Baku to urgently provide information 
about his whereabouts and detention conditions.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said it will do its best to try to secure the 
prominent tycoon’s release and expects the support of Russia and “other 
international partners” in that endeavor.
“The Armenian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed the necessity of 
unimpeded movement of people from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia through the Lachin 
corridor,” it said in a statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Karabakh’s current leadership did not immediately react to the arrest that came 
during an ongoing exodus of Karabakh’s population resulting from Azerbaijan’s 
September 19-20 military offensive.
Vardanyan is the first Karabakh leader taken into Azerbaijani custody since 
then. It was not clear whether other current and former Karabakh officials could 
also be arrested in case of leaving Karabakh. Baku had issued arrest warrants 
for some of them.
Meanwhile, Moscow pointedly declined to comment on the arrest. “I don't have 
such information, so I can't say anything about that issue,” Kremlin spokesman 
Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
68 Confirmed Dead After Blast At Karabakh Fuel Depot
A handout photograph taken and released on September 25, 2023 by the 
Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Ombudsman shows a fire at a fuel depot outside 
Stepanakert.
At least 68 people died in Monday’s powerful explosion and fire at a fuel depot 
in Nagorno-Karabakh, an official in Stepanakert said late on Tuesday.
Gegham Stepanian, Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, said 105 other people went 
missing and remain unaccounted for.
The explosion, which destroyed the gasoline storage facility outside 
Stepanakert, also left 290 Karabakh Armenians wounded. In Stepanian’s words, 168 
of them were transported to hospitals in Armenia earlier in the day: 96 by 
helicopters from Armenia and belonging to Russian peacekeepers, and 72 patients 
by ambulances accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The blast occurred as tens of thousands of Karabakh residents fled to Armenia 
following an Azerbaijani offensive that paved the way for the restoration of 
Baku’s control over the region. Videos posted on social media showed hundreds of 
cars parked near the depot, waiting to fuel up and head to Armenia.
Another Karabakh official told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the blast was most 
probably an accident caused by “negligence.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Nagorno-Karabakh: crisis in the Caucasus could destabilise the whole of Eurasia

Emil Lazarian
Sept 27 2023
Nagorno-Karabakh: crisis in the Caucasus could destabilise the whole of Eurasia

In the past few days there has been a steady stream of ethnic Armenians fleeing the contested region of Narogno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan launched a 24-hour assault on the Armenian enclave, which is surrounded by Azerbaijani territory, on September 19 and, following a ceasefire brokered the following day, refugees have been allowed to leave via the narrow Lachin corridor, which connects the enclave with Armenia.

As of September 27, it was estimated that nearly 30,000 people had made the crossing since it was opened on September 24. It is expected that many of the estimated 120,000 Karabakhi Armenians will leave for Armenia. Meanwhile, at least 68 people were killed and about 350 injured in an explosion at a petrol station in the enclave’s main highway out of Stepanakert, its capital.

The Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing in the region – something denied by Azerbaijan which described the conflict as an “anti-terror” operation and said that the majority Armenian population would be integrated into Azerbaijan and their rights respected.

But it appears that the exodus of dispossessed Armenians will continue and they are an angry population. They are angry at Azerbaijan for the shelling which forced them to flee. They are angry at Turkey for supporting and arming Azerbaijan. Oddly, they are not angry at Russia whose lack of attention emboldened Azerbaijan to take action against them. In fact, some of the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are expected to make their way to Russia via Armenia.

Mainly they are angry at the Armenian government as are many of their compatriots in Armenia itself. But the mass protests have been more an _expression_ of hopelessness than of defiance. Nagorno-Karabakh – where there has been an ethnic Armenian population since 200BCE – is lost and many people blame their leader. Witnessing refugees arrive has upped the emotional ante.

The response from Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has been brutal. Up to 350 protesters were detained and some reportedly badly beaten by security forces. Pashinyan has implied that it is the Kremlin who instigated the riots. But, even if Russian media’s coverage is hostile towards Pashinyan, Armenians themselves have plenty of grievances against their prime minister.

The unrest follows riots in 2020 over the loss of territory and prestige after the second Karabakh war. During the conflict, Azeri forces reoccupied large tracts of territory previously occupied by Armenia.

So Pashinyan was already unpopular even before the most recent Azeri military action – his approval ratings as of June 2023 were very low – only 14% expressed trust in him and 72% gave his performance a negative rating. But there is little cohesion among opposition groups beyond a desire for Pashinyan’s resignation.

Russian relations with Armenia have been shaky for some time. After the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow pivoted towards Turkey, Azerbaijan’s sponsor, as it deemed the relationship more valuable in terms of mitigating the effects of western sanctions.

To a degree this was a rational calculation, but there’s a personal element as well. Vladimir Putin never warmed to Pashinyan, who gained power in 2018 after popular protests ousted the Kremlin-friendly leadership of Serzh Sargsyan. But Armenia’s close relationship with Russia goes back centuries, so the two leaders managed to get along.

Things began to really sour between Russia and Armenia in 2023, when Armenia, refused to host military exercises by the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), instead inviting the US military to train there. The highly symbolic visit by Armenian first lady, Anna Hakobyan, to Ukraine in early September seems to have been the last straw. Armenia, it seems, no longer counted Russia as a friend or a force to be reckoned with.

Azerbaijan has not achieved all of its goals yet. It aims to open direct ground links to its enclave embedded in Armenia, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, which has a population of just under 450,000. This would also give mainland Azerbaijan direct access to Turkey rather than transit routed through Iran.

Proposals for the “Zangezur corridor” are bitterly opposed by Armenia as it would effectively block the country’s border with Iran. The issue has rankled since the first Karabakh war in 1991, after which the two populations were only linked by air travel. Part of the agreement that halted the second Karabakh war in 2020 included allowing free transit through Zangezur, but this was never implemented. Now the idea is back on the table, raised by Azeri president Ilham Aliyev at a meeting with Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on September 25, when they met in Nakhichevan.

This will bring Iran into play as the route of any corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan would go along its border. Some sort of deal addressing Iran’s security concerns will need to be reached – and this is very likely to involve Moscow as one of Tehran’s close allies. So, Moscow appears to have taken a conscious decision to abandon Armenia for closer relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey and the opportunity to act as a power broker with Iran. In Putin’s eyes, no doubt, Pashinyan is disposable. He can wait until a different, more amenable leader, comes to power.

Armenia’s pivot to the west, meanwhile, appears almost inevitable. The country is likely to withdraw from the CSTO and apply to join Nato and request visa-free travel to the EU. But the manner in which Pashinyan is putting down protests will make many potential allies in the west uncomfortable.

The situation is only made more complex by Europe’s dependence on Azerbaijan for gas and its strategically important location in the Middle Corridor Eurasian trade route between China and Europe. The west can still play a valuable role in brokering peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But for any lasting settlement to stick, Russia and Turkey will have to be involved, instead of becoming its spoilers. This is a problem with many moving parts.

_Refugee figures have been updated as have the number of casualties from the fuel depot blast. _

Jo Adetunji

https://theconversation.com/nagorno-karabakh-crisis-in-the-caucasus-could-destabilise-the-whole-of-eurasia-214400

Dozens of Karabakh children reach safety in Armenia in back of a truck

Emil Lazarian
Channel News Asia
Sept 27 2023

KORNIDZOR, Armenia: Nearly 50 people, mostly children, scrambled from the back of a large truck in this Armenian border village on Tuesday (Sep 26) after two days on the road, part of a mass exodus of Armenians fleeing Azerbaijani forces in their native region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“It rained all night, there was no shelter. The nice driver took some of the children into his cabin to give at least some of them shelter,” said Maktar Talakyan, 54, who was travelling with her daughter Anna and her three grandchildren.

Anna’s husband, a demobilised soldier who had fought for the now defeated separatist forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, remains in Karabakh, Talakyan said.

The 48 people and their driver were from the village of Aterk, some 170km away in Karabakh, the region of Azerbaijan populated mainly by ethnic Armenians which Baku’s forces retook last week in a lightning offensive that has prompted thousands to flee, provoking a major humanitarian crisis for Armenia.

At least one of the children had Down’s syndrome and others seemed to be have disabilities.

Like several other Armenians Reuters has spoken to in the past few days, Talakyan’s family members have become refugees for the second time in just three years, having had to flee an earlier Azerbaijani offensive in 2020 when Baku also retook some territory in Karabakh.

Talakyan said her group, which also included some women and about half a dozen elderly men, had begun their journey last week, travelling to the capital of Karabakh, known to Armenians as Stepanakert and to Azerbaijanis as Khankendi.

“There was no bombing, we just decided to get out,” she said, as the villagers waited by the roadside near a reception centre run by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

They lived in a hotel basement for a week, as fighting raged between Azerbaijani and separatist Karabakh forces, but were able to leave Stepanakert two days ago, when the Lachin corridor linking their region to Armenia reopened.

Theirs was one of many such large trucks rolling into Kornidzor all through Tuesday.

Talakyan said Azerbaijanis had taunted them as they fled, saying “you couldn’t save Artsakh, you’re alone, helpless”. Reuters could not independently verify her account.

Source: Reuters/ec

‘They bombed everywhere’: Survivors recount Karabakh attack

Emil Lazarian
BBC News
Sept 27 2023
By Grigor Atanesian and Tural Ahmedzade in London, Siranush Sargsyan in Stepanakert (Khankendi)
BBC Global Disinformation Team and BBC News

The BBC has been given eyewitness accounts of a bombing incident in a remote village in Nagorno-Karabakh that killed three children and two elderly people. Azerbaijan insists it only focused on “legitimate military targets”, but the BBC has spoken to one mother who lost two young sons and had another seriously injured, in what survivors describe as an “indiscriminate attack”.

Sarnaghbuyr (called Aghbulag by Azerbaijan) is a village in the Askeran region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is surrounded by forest and far from any significant military targets.

Zarine Ghazaryan was in the nearby town of Askeran when the attack started on 19 September. She was trying to find baby formula to feed her youngest son, Karen. Nine months of living under a de facto blockade had meant shortages of food, fuel and heating.

Hearing explosions, she tried to return home but says she was stopped by heavy incoming fire.

She was told her son Seyran had been badly wounded, and taken to hospital in Stepanakert (Khankendi), the territory’s main city. Her three other children were being evacuated by Russian peacekeepers. But when she reached the hospital she heard the bombs had killed two of her sons: Eight-year-old Mikayel and Nver, who was 10.

We spoke to her at the hospital. She says she was allowed to see the bodies of her two sons, who had extensive head injuries. “I have seen them, they are in a horrific state.’ she said. “It is horrible, I just want their father to come.”

Arman, a 15-year-old boy from the village, was with the children when they came under heavy fire. We spoke to him as he was being treated for wounds on his back, shoulders and hands.

“They started bombing everywhere. Some people got killed, some were wounded, I saw some people who had had their heads blown off. It was horrendous.” he said.

Arman said three shells exploded next to him.

“We huddled the kids together under some trees, to see if we could get them to safety, and that’s where they bombed,” he said.

Local authorities say three other people were killed that day. Garik Alexanyan, the village mayor, lost his son David, father Alexander and mother-in law Gohar. His description of his son’s injuries is too graphic to repeat.

According to the authorities, a further 15 villagers were wounded. Many others were forced to leave their homes.

They joined the exodus of thousands of other ethnic Armenians displaced from their homes by the attack. Most tried to reach Stepanakert or were taken by Russian peacekeepers to their base at a local airport. Many were hoping to be airlifted to Armenia, but instead remain stranded on the airstrip.

Zarine wants to take her son’s bodies to Armenia for burial, but space on planes out of Karabakh is being used to evacuate the wounded, and the queue to leave by road reaches for dozens of kilometres. So she and her family wait.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify details of the attack.

Ambassador Elchin Amirbekov, a special envoy of Azerbaijan’s president, told the BBC that the Azerbaijani army had orders “to neutralise only legitimate military targets.” He said: “It has never been our intention to harm any civilian. It is true that collateral damage happens, and we regret any loss of civilian life.”

He completely rejected accusations this attack was carried out deliberately, and said that in the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis had been displaced by the Armenian forces and that war crimes had been committed against them.

Additional reporting by Kayleen Devlin



Armenian PM backs dialogue with Iran amid conflict in Karabagh

Emil Lazarian
Tehran Times
Sept 26 2023

TEHRAN- Under the current volatile situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday emphasized the importance of “active communication” between Yerevan and Tehran.

Pashinyan made the statement during a meeting with Iran’s new ambassador to Yerevan, Mehdi Sobhani.

According to a news statement from his office, Pashinyan noted that his “reliable dialogue” with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi lays the ground for the steady improvement of bilateral cooperation.

He also congratulated Sobhani on his new position, expressing optimism that bilateral ties will continue to flourish throughout his diplomatic tenure in Armenia.

Sobhani, for his part, reiterated Iran’s unambiguous support for Armenia’s territorial integrity.

He voiced worry over the humanitarian situation in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, stating that the safety and rights of Armenians residing there must be ensured.

The Iranian envoy went on to say that the Islamic Republic is eager to expand relations with Armenia in all areas.

In the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan, the majority of the population is of ethnic Armenian descent.

Following the most recent armed clashes with Azeri forces, Armenian authorities, who have been in charge of the region’s affairs without receiving international recognition since the early 1990s, declared on Wednesday that local “self-defense forces” had disbanded and laid down their weapons as part of a ceasefire mediated by Russia. 

The ceasefire put an end to Azerbaijan’s 24-hour war in the enclave.

On Thursday, representatives from Azerbaijan and Karabakh separatists began their first direct peace negotiations in the city of Yevlakh as Baku claimed complete authority over the region.

Iran has repeatedly urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a peaceful resolution to their conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.

On Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi underlined the need for the Republic of Azerbaijan to ensure the rights of ethnic Armenians in the Karabakh region. 

Speaking at a military parade in Tehran, President Raisi reiterated Iran’s position on the situation in the South Caucasus region. 

“The powerful Iranian armed forces are present in the region to prevent any change in the geopolitics of the region and changes in the borders, and they have been successful in this,” he asserted. 

Raisi added, “Regarding the developments in the [South Caucasus] region, we emphasize that preserving the rights of Armenians and observing the situation of Armenians is a necessity, in such a way that the security and rights of Armenians must be protected in the region and the state of the borders must be completely preserved.”

According to CNBC, thousands of ethnic Armenians on Tuesday fled their homes in the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The mass exodus comes after the lightning military operation by Azerbaijan  that saw it take full control of the region that has endured more than three decades of conflict.

The 24-hour offensive ratcheted up fears of major unrest throughout the Caucasus — the border region between southeast Europe and west Asia.

The landlocked territory of Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 and, with the support of Armenia, has fought two wars with Azerbaijan in the space of 30 years. The territory is currently home to an estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians.

Hundreds of cars, buses and open-top trucks were seen Tuesday snaking their way through the last Azerbaijani checkpoint to enter Armenia via the so-called Lachin Corridor, a mountain road that connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The first convoys of civilians leaving the region began on Sunday. As of Tuesday morning, at least 13,350 people were estimated to have entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the Armenian government.

Armenia said Azerbaijan’s military operation last week was an attempt to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh, a charge it denies.

Speaking on Sunday in an address to the nation, Armenia’s prime minister said the likelihood was rising that people would seek to flee the Nagorno-Karabakh region “as the only way to save their lives and identity,” Reuters reported.

“Responsibility for such a development of events will fall entirely on Azerbaijan, which adopted a policy of ethnic cleansing, and on the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan said. He added that the government’s strategic partnership with Moscow was not enough to protect the country’s external security.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/489441/Armenian-PM-backs-dialogue-with-Iran-amid-conflict-in-Karabagh

Over 13,300 refugees flee into Armenia after Azerbaijan retakes disputed enclave

Emil Lazarian
The Journal, Ireland
Sept 26 2023
Reporters saw the refugees crowding into a humanitarian hub set up in the city of Goris to register for transport and housing.

ROUGHLY 13,350 REFUGEES have arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh – a majority ethnic Armenian breakaway enclave that was retaken by Azerbaijan last week – as Armenia’s Prime Minister has warned that ethnic cleansing is “underway” in the disputed region. 

“As of September 26 8:00am, 13,350 forcibly displaced persons entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Armenian government said in a statement.

Karabakh separatists have said that 20 people were killed in a fuel blast at a warehouse. 

The explosion happened at a fuel storage facility as residents were queueing up to get fuel for their cars in order to leave the region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh human rights ombudsman said that over 200 people were injured in the blast. 

The majority of the victims were in “severe or extremely severe” condition, Mr Stepanyan said yesterday, adding that the victims would need to be airlifted out of the region for medical treatment to save their lives.

Separatist authorities lay down weapons

The Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces in a 24-hour blitz last week, forcing the separatist authorities to agree to lay down weapons and start talks on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “reintegration” into Azerbaijan after three decades of separatist rule.

While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies after a 10-month blockade, many local residents feared reprisals and decided to leave for Armenia.

The leaders of Azerbaijan and ally Turkey hailed Baku’s victory over the rebel enclave at a summit yesterday. 

While Azerbaijan showcased its regional alliances, Russia hit back at embattled Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan after he blamed Moscow for the swift defeat of the breakaway territory.

Several days after the fighting, the first refugees arrived in Armenia yesterday and 6,650 people have so far entered, Yerevan said.

AFP reporters saw the refugees crowding into a humanitarian hub set up in a local theatre in the city of Goris to register for transport and housing.

“We lived through terrible days,” said Anabel Ghulasyan, 41, from the village of Rev, known as Shalva in Azeri.

She arrived in Goris with her family by minibus, carrying her belongings in bags.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian enclave within the internationally recognised border of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan launched a military operation on 19 September to seize control of the territory, forcing the separatists to lay down their arms under the terms of a ceasefire agreed the following day.

It followed ten-month blockade of the region by Baku that caused shortages of key supplies.

The separatists have said 200 people were killed in last week’s fighting.

Baku announced two of its soldiers also died when a mine hit their vehicle on Sunday.

Azerbaijan’s state media said officials held a second round of peace talks with Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian community aimed at “reintegrating” them.

But on the road heading to Armenia, more and more residents from the region appeared to be trying to get out as the witnesses said cars were getting stuck in traffic.

At the refugee centre in Goris, Valentina Asryan, a 54-year-old from the village of Vank who fled with her grandchildren, said her brother-in-law was killed and several other people were injured by Azerbaijani fire.

“Who would have thought that the ‘Turks’ would come to this historic Armenian village? It’s incredible,” she said, referring to the Azerbaijani forces.

She was being housed temporarily in a hotel in Goris and had “nowhere to go”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lauded Baku’s “historic success” at a meeting with Azerbaijan’s leader Ilham Aliyev in the country’s western exclave of Nakhichevan.

“The window of opportunity has opened to settle the situation in the region. This opportunity must not be missed,” Erdogan said.

Aliyev vowed that the rights of ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region would be “guaranteed”.

“Karabakh’s residents – regardless their ethnicity – are citizens of Azerbaijan,” he said.

Yesterday Armenia’s premier sought to deflect blame for the outcome on long-standing ally Russia, signalling a breakdown in the countries’ security pact.

In nationally televised comments, the Armenian leader said the security agreements between the two countries had proved “insufficient”, suggesting he would seek new alliances.

Moscow slammed Pashinyan’s comments today in an angry broadside.

“The leadership in Yerevan is making a huge mistake by deliberately trying to destroy Armenia’s multifaceted and centuries-old ties with Russia,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

“It is an attempt to absolve himself of the responsibility for the failures in domestic and foreign policy.”

Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) – a Russian-dominated group comprising six post-Soviet states that had pledged to protect each other if attacked.

Russia, bogged down in its own war in Ukraine, refused to come to Armenia’s aid, arguing that Yerevan had recognised the disputed region as part of Azerbaijan.

Now, Russian peacekeepers – six of whom died in the recent fighting – are helping Azerbaijan disarm the Karabakh rebels.

The European Union and the United States – which have been mediating between Azerbaijan and Armenia in recent months – have struggled to have an impact.

Top US aid official Samantha Power arrived in Yerevan today to stress Washington’s “strong support and partnership with Armenia”.

Brussels said it will play host to senior envoys from Azerbaijan and Armenia tomorrow, along with France and Germany.

Pashinyan is under pressure at home from thousands of Nagorno-Karabakh supporters who have been rallying and blocking roads in Yerevan since Wednesday’s ceasefire deal.

They plan more disruptions over three days starting today.

Meanwhile in Azerbaijan’s second city Ganja locals revelled in their government’s victory.

“If Armenians leave Karabakh, it’s okay, if they stay it’s very beautiful for them, if they accept our citizenship,” Shemil Valiyev, a 40-year-old merchant, told AFP.

He stood at a bus stop with posters of a young Azerbaijani soldier killed in the 2020 war.

Ramin Najafov, 44, echoed his view.

“It will be good if they all leave Karabakh, it’s also good if they stay and take the citizenship,” he said.

“Otherwise we’ll have again the problems.”

– © AFP 2023