Friday,
U.S. Envoy Emphasizes Support For Armenia’s Sovereignty, Security On Trip To
Border Region
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien (R) traveled to Armenia’s Vayots Dzor
province “to observe the security situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.”
United States Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien has emphasized Washington’s
support for the sovereignty and security of Armenia on a trip to the South
Caucasus country’s region bordering on Azerbaijan.
The U.S. embassy in Yerevan said in a Facebook post on Friday that Kvien
traveled to Vayots Dzor “to meet with local officials and observe the security
situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.”
“The Ambassador met with the Governor of Vayots Dzor, the EU Monitoring Mission,
and local military representatives, joined by Armenian Ambassador to the U.S.
Lilit Makunts. Ambassador Kvien emphasized U.S. support for Armenia’s
sovereignty and security, as well as lasting peace in the South Caucasus,” it
said.
While in Vayots Dzor Ambassador Kvien also traveled to Jermuk “to learn about
the challenges and opportunities facing the city.” The embassy said that in
Jermuk the U.S. ambassador met with the town’s mayor and hosted a roundtable
with business owners “to discuss the local economy and tourism sector.”
“Ambassador Kvien was impressed with the beautiful natural landscape and outdoor
activities that make Jermuk a popular tourist destination,” the report said.
Jermuk, an Armenian resort town close to the border with Azerbaijan, was shelled
by Azerbaijani troops during last September’s deadly fighting. The escalation
during which Azerbaijani forces advanced their positions closer towards Jermuk
also affected the town’s businesses largely dependent on local and international
tourism.
Ambassador Kvien, joined by the mayor of Jermuk, also reportedly visited a major
mining project – Lydian’s Amulsar – to view their operations.
“The Amulsar project represents one of the biggest U.S. investments in Armenia
and we are proud that it is deploying western mining standards. The United
States supports Armenia’s economic development and opportunities for U.S.
companies and investors to do business in a range of sectors,” the U.S.
embassy’s said on Facebook.
Armenia Vows Continued Efforts To Unblock Lachin Corridor
The building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan
Armenia will continue to work on various platforms to unblock the Lachin
Corridor and resolve the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, its Foreign
Ministry said on Friday in a statement regarding the UN Security Council’s
urgent meeting on the matter held at Yerevan’s request earlier this week.
Armenia and ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accuse Azerbaijan of
violating the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement by closing
the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia,
which has led to severe shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other basic
products in the predominantly Armenian-populated region.
They also charge that Azerbaijan’s actions amount to a policy of ethnic
cleansings and urge the international community to prevent a “genocide” by
putting pressure on Baku to restore free movement of people, vehicles and goods
along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.
Baku denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh or carrying out any policy of ethnic
cleansings in relation to the region’s Armenian population.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, highly appreciating
the principled and fair positions of the UN Security Council members that remain
faithful to their mandate to advance international security and peace, will
continue to work on various platforms, including in the UN Security Council,
taking consistent steps to unblock the Lachin corridor and resolve the
humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
The statement said that the August 16 urgent meeting of the UN Security Council
“once again showed that, despite the false propaganda of Azerbaijan, the
international partners are clearly aware of the fact of the dire humanitarian
situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and realize the importance of addressing it.”
The UN Security Council discusses the humanitarian situation in Nagorno
Karabakh, New York, August 16, 2023.
“During this second discussion in the format of the UN Security Council, the
assessments and targeted appeals addressed to Azerbaijan, in essence,
complemented the clear positions expressed so far by various governments,
international structures, and human rights organizations,” the Armenian ministry
said.
“Noteworthy were the statements of the members of the UN Security Council and
the EU representative reiterating that Azerbaijan is obliged to lift the illegal
blockade of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the Trilateral statement of
November 9, 2020, and the legally binding Orders of the UN International Court
of Justice of February 22 and July 6. It was unequivocally emphasized that the
ongoing eight-month-long severe humanitarian situation created for the
population of Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blockade should be resolved,”
it added.
The statement said that “it is evident that Azerbaijan continues to distort the
appeals of the international community, to look for false pretexts, not
corresponding to reality, to avoid fulfilling its obligations and, by prolonging
the humanitarian crisis, including through starvation, to subject the indigenous
people of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing.”
“Moreover, Azerbaijan tries to manipulate any ‘balanced’ approach of
international actors, interpreting it as an explicit permission to continue its
adopted policy.
“We emphasize the urgency of using all available international tools to
eliminate the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and restore unimpeded
movement in both directions through the Lachin corridor and ensure unhindered
access of international humanitarian organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh,” the
Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
Summarizing the discussions in New York, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
said on Thursday that the very fact of the closure of the Lachin Corridor was
highlighted at the UN Security Council, which he called the highest
international instance.
Officials in Baku, meanwhile, claimed that the outcome of the meeting was more
in favor of Azerbaijan as many representatives mentioned the possibility of
Karabakh Armenians’ using alternative routes of supply.
Azerbaijan, in particular, suggests that a road via Agdam, an
Azerbaijani-controlled town situated to the east of Nagorno-Karabakh, be used
for supplies to the Armenian-populated region.
Authorities in Stepanakert reject this option, insisting that it is designed to
legitimize the Azerbaijani blockade and cut Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia.
Azerbaijan Accused Of Disrupting Internet Access In Nagorno-Karabakh
An Azerbaijani checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor from Armenia
(file photo).
Ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said internet access in the
region was disrupted late on Thursday after Azerbaijan cut off a fiber-optic
cable in the Lachin corridor.
Artak Beglarian, an advisor to Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto premier, said on
Friday that the incident happened at 5:55 p.m. on August 17 and that Karabakh
specialists tried to approach the area together with Russian peacekeepers to
restore the cable but were not allowed to proceed by Azerbaijani forces.
He said negotiations between the peacekeepers and the Azerbaijani side to allow
Karabakh specialists to access the site and repair the cable continued on Friday
morning.
Azerbaijani authorities did not comment on the reported incident immediately.
“I don’t find it to be a coincidence that this new crime took place after the UN
Security Council meeting and literally five minutes before the start of an
online press conference on the subject of the genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh,”
Beglarian said.
He said that because of the disruption Nagorno-Karabakh-based participants of
the press conference could join the two other speakers only with a 45-minute
delay and had to use an unstable connection line.
“Despite the Azerbaijani efforts, the press conference did take place and 130
people from 27 countries participated in the event,” Beglarian said.
The official said that only a very limited volume of internet was accessible in
Nagorno-Karabakh through an unstable radio connection as of Friday morning,
adding that it was “continuously under Azerbaijani jamming” too.
Nagorno-Karabakh has lived in conditions of an effective blockade imposed by
Azerbaijan since last December when traffic along the Lachin Corridor, the only
road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, was blocked by a group of
Azerbaijani protesters calling themselves environmental activists.
In April, claiming that Armenians were using the Lachin corridor for
transporting military cargoes, Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint at its entrance
from Armenia despite protests from Stepanakert and Yerevan that called the
roadblock illegal, citing a Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement under which
the vital road should remain under the control of Russian peacekeepers deployed
in the region.
Citing “various types of contraband”, Baku further tightened the effective
blockade in the middle of June by banning all humanitarian supplies through the
corridor. Shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other basic products in the
region became particularly severe after that.
Amid rationing of food in the region authorities in Stepanakert reported the
first death from hunger among Karabakh residents earlier this week.
The United Nations Security Council met in New York at Armenia’s request on
August 16 to discuss the current humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia charge that Azerbaijan’s blockade amounts to a
policy of ethnic cleansings and expect a resolution from the UN Security Council
to unblock the Lachin corridor.
Baku denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh or carrying out any policy of ethnic
cleansings in relation to the region’s Armenian population. It offers supplies
to Karabakh Armenians through an alternative route, but Stepanakert rejects the
offer.
Shots Fired From Azerbaijani Territory At Armenian Airport Hours After PM’s Visit
The runway of the airport near the Armenian town of Kapan is in close proximity
to the border with Azerbaijan (file photo).
Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said on Friday that an unidentified
person fired shots overnight from the territory of Azerbaijan at an Armenian
airport in the southeastern town of Kapan stretching along the border with that
country.
The NSS said the incident in which windows and the roof of the “Syunik” airport
were damaged occurred at 04:24 a.m., less than 24 hours after Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian visited the facility, arriving from Yerevan on board a
small passenger aircraft that is due to start regular flights to the Armenian
town next week.
According to the report, the unknown person who approached the territory of the
airport and fired three shots then left.
“We call on the authorities of Azerbaijan to conduct a proper investigation of
the incident and to take measures to exclude the repetition of such incidents,”
the NSS said in a statement.
“The Border Guard troops of the Republic of Armenia NSS are ready for a joint
investigation and/or a transfer of relevant videos to the Azerbaijani side,” it
added.
Azerbaijan did not comment on the incident immediately.
The Kapan airport is expected to host the first demonstration passenger flight
by a commuter aircraft from Yerevan on August 19, which is marked annually as
the town’s day.
Regular commercial flights between the Armenian capital and the town in
Armenia’s strategic Syunik province bordering on Iran and sandwiched between
Azerbaijan and its western exclave of Nakhichevan are expected to start next
week.
On his trip to Kapan on Thursday afternoon the Armenian prime minister was
accompanied by Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel
Sanosian.
Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasian, Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsian and other officials
reportedly welcomed the prime minister at Kapan’s recently renovated airport.
A video posted by the Prime Minister’s Office showed Pashinian touring the
airport and inspecting its conditions.
The first test flight from Yerevan to Kapan was operated in late April to become
the first such flight since the 1990s, barring one private flight made in 2017.
The Civil Aviation Committee said then that an Armenia-registered L-410
passenger plane (made in the Czech Republic) designed for 19 passengers
successfully landed at Kapan’s Syunik Airport after a 48-minute flight from
Yerevan’s International Zvartnots Airport. It described that flight as a “truly
historic” event.
Despite concerns raised in Armenia by the incident at the Kapan airport, the
Civil Aviation Committee said that the Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan flight will take
place on Saturday as scheduled. It said that Azerbaijan had been notified about
the planned flight in accordance with regulations concerning flights operated
near borders between two states.
Kapan is situated some 190 kilometers to the southeast of capital Yerevan not
far from the border with Azerbaijan. The runway of its airport stretches along
the border and at one point is situated less than a hundred meters from it.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for
decades. Tensions along their restive border have persisted despite a
Russia-brokered ceasefire that stopped a deadly six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani
war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.
Karabakh Official Says Opening Of ‘Alternative Road’ Will Legitimize Blockade
• Artak Khulian
• Anush Mkrtchian
Sergey Ghazarian
De facto ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh believe that agreeing
to the opening of an “alternative road” from Azerbaijan would legitimize the
current blockade of the Lachin Corridor and cut the region from Armenia.
During a video-conference discussion on Thursday Nagorno-Karabakh’s Foreign
Minister Sergey Ghazarian, in particular, explained why Stepanakert rejects
humanitarian aid through the Agdam road.
“Azerbaijan clearly wants that connection between Armenia and the Republic of
Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.] be cut by blocking the Lachin Corridor. And
secondly, no international aid should degrade human dignity, therefore, if
Azerbaijan created such a difficult situation itself, deliberately dooming more
than 120,000 of our compatriots to starvation, this is simply unacceptable,
these false attempts to present themselves with humanitarian approaches are
unacceptable,” Ghazarian said.
The Karabakh official emphasized that this was not only the position of the
Karabakh authorities, but also of the region’s ordinary residents.
Speaking about the results of the emergency meeting of the United Nations
Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh that was held
at Armenia’s request on August 16, Ghazarian stressed that it was only the
beginning of the process.
Summarizing the discussions in New York, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
said on Thursday that the very fact of the closure of the Lachin Corridor was
highlighted at the UN Security Council, which he called the highest
international instance.
Officials in Baku, meanwhile, claimed that the outcome of the meeting was more
in favor of Azerbaijan as many representatives mentioned the possibility of
Karabakh Armenians’ using alternative routes of supply.
Commenting on this, Ghazarian said: “We are concerned that a number of countries
have attempted to establish some kind of equality between the Lachin Corridor
and other roads, transport links, which is unacceptable and does not correspond
to the parameters of the Lachin Corridor established by the November 9, 2020
document.”
Ghazarian, however, expressed a hope that the emergency meeting of the UN
Security Council was “only the beginning” and that “this process will continue.”
Stepanakert and Yerevan accuse Azerbaijan of violating the terms of the
Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement by closing the Lachin Corridor, the
only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, which has led to severe
shortages of food, medicines and fuel in the predominantly Armenian-populated
region.
They also charge that Azerbaijan’s actions amount to a policy of ethnic
cleansings and expect a resolution from the UN Security Council to unblock the
Lachin Corridor.
Baku denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh or carrying out any policy of ethnic
cleansings in relation to the region’s Armenian population.
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.