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

Thousands Turn Out in Stepanakert for ‘No to Ethnic Cleansing’ Rally

Emil Lazarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 May 9, 2023

 

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

Thousands of Artsakh residents turned out for a rally in Stepanakert on May 9


Thousands of Artsakh residents turned out on Tuesday for a rally dubbed “No to Ethnic Cleansing” in Stepanakert, where ceremonies were held earlier to mark “Victory Day,” the holiday commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. May 9 also marked the 31st anniversary of the liberation of Shushi.

The rally kicked off at Stepanakert’s Renaissance Square with a prayer and a moment of silence observed honoring those who gave their lives for Artsakh’s freedom, as well as during what is called the Great Patriotic War, ArtsakhPress reported.

Photos by David Ghahramanyan

The text of a petition addressed to the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries—the United States, Russia and France—and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was read to overwhelming applause as a sign of popular approval for the message.

“We demand that all international mechanism are applied to ensure the implementation of the terms of the November 9, 2020 agreement as well as the UN International Court of Justice ruling,” the petition said, referencing the February ruling by the United Nations court, which ordered Azerbaijan to immediately ensure “unimpeded movement” along the Lachin Corridor. Azerbaijan has refused to comply with the court’s order.

Photos by David Ghahramnyan

Among the speakers at the rally was Artsakh former state minister Ruben Vardanyan who signaled that the people of Artsakh are ready to take part in negotiations with Azerbaijan “but not with a gun to our head.”

“On April 23, Azerbaijan violated the red lines and installed a checkpoint. The violation of these red lines makes us struggle, as honorable people, because we have no other option. No one should restrict our free access and egress to and from Armenia,” Vardanyan said.

Artsakh’s former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan and his predecessors Bako Sahakian and Arkady Ghukasian

“We have been under a blockade for 149 days already. We do not have gas and power, and you are aware of the situation in Sarsang reservoir,” Vardanyan added referring to the recently receding levels of the reservoir that is the main source of water for Artsakh residents.

“We have many problems, but we are not giving up. The situation is difficult, but one thing is certain, there can be no talk about any so-called reintegration,” emphasized Vardanyan in a direct retort to Baku’s demands that Artsakh resident accept Azerbaijani citizenship.

“We are defending our homes, our cities and villages, the graves of our ancestors, our right to live on our land. We do not want to attack anyone, we want a calm and happy life in our homeland. We are ready for negotiations, but these negotiations cannot take place with a gun to our head, but only in case of mutual respect,” Vardanyan said, calling on Armenians around the world to unite for Artsakh.

Also attending the rally was Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, together with his predecessors Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan.

After Nagorno-Karabakh, Iran may be next

Emil Lazarian
May 9, 2023 Yeghia Tashjian Tashjian's Take, Columns 1

Political relations between Azerbaijan and Iran are deteriorating amid signs of closer security and diplomatic cooperation between Baku and Tel Aviv. Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s comments to reporters in Jerusalem on March 29 about his “agreement” with his Azerbaijani counterpart to form a “united front against Iran” have raised eyebrows in Iran. This announcement was followed by the establishment of the “South Azerbaijan National Council of Statehood” (SANCS) backed by Baku and Tel Aviv. The following article will highlight and interconnect these developments and identify Iran’s choices to contain the Israeli-Azerbaijani axis in the South Caucasus. 

After the 2020 Artsakh war and the increase of Turkey’s influence in the South Caucasus at the expense of Russia and the territorial changes that followed, the balance of power in the region shifted, and Iran felt isolated on its northern border. Demands by Ankara and Baku for the establishment of the “Zangezur Corridor” as an extraterritorial corridor cutting the Armenia-Iran border have alarmed not only Yerevan, but also the leadership in Tehran. If such a corridor is established, Iran will be at the mercy of Turkey and Azerbaijan when it comes to trade relations with Europe and Russia. Such a factor will have geo-economic and geopolitical consequences with the increase of Turkish influence and the solidifying of pan-Turkic aspirations in Northern Iran. 

The Establishment of the “South Azerbaijan National Council of Statehood”

On April 22, an Azerbaijani propaganda channel quoted Genghis Goiturk, an Iranian-Azeri political activist in Finland, announcing the launch of SANCS. “Along with the geopolitical developments taking place in the region where our homeland Azerbaijan is located, the importance and decisive role of the national movement initiated by the Azerbaijani Turks living in South Azerbaijan (Northern Iran) for the restoration of their national statehood has once again been shown in the national, political and social processes that are intensifying in the country called Iran,” argued Goiturk. The announcement also mentioned its aim to exhibit an “independent will for the restoration” of Azerbaijani “national statehood.”

According to the report, the “objectives” of the “National Council of Statehood” (NCS) can be summarized as follows:

  • The “South Azerbaijan NCS” is based on the national political idea of establishing an Azerbaijani state in Northern Iran and the basic principles of the pan-Turkic national ideology. It operates in the direction of the establishment of a national statehood with the motto “freedom, justice and national government.”
  • SANCS considers Azerbaijan as its homeland and its territorial integrity as inviolable. The initiative aims to unite all of Azerbaijan along with the “Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Hamadan and Qazvin provinces of South Azerbaijan.”
  • SANCS believes in the necessity of independent decision-making of the “South Azerbaijan National Movement” and aims for the realization of a formation of unified national power. 
  • SANCS calls for equality between men and women and considers the struggle for women’s rights part of its national struggle. 
  • SANCS is open for political discussions and consultations with all groups that support and recognize the South Azerbaijan National Movement, except for “terrorist groups.”
  • SANCS believes that civil and cultural struggle are acceptable ways for self-defense. 
  • SANCS respects ethnic and religious minorities and calls for the creation of an equal civil society in “South Azerbaijan.”
  • SANCS rejects Iran and Iranianism and fights for the creation of a “modern, democratic and secular South Azerbaijan state.”

A constituent assembly was reportedly formed this week, coordinated by Goiturk; Saleh Ildyrim, the chairman of the Independence Party of South Azerbaijan; Ahmet Obali, the founder of the “Gunaz” satellite TV channel; Ajdar Tagizade, the chairman of the Democratic Turkic Party of South Azerbaijan; Sadik Isabeyli a member of the Board of the National Liberation Front of South Azerbaijan and others. The organization’s headquarters will be located in Finland. 

Israeli Fingerprints and Possible Future Coordinated Attack on Iran

Is there a coincidence between the announcement of the Israeli Foreign Minister and the establishment of SANCS? 

In response to the above-mentioned remarks made by the Israeli Foreign Minister in Jerusalem, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said that this is clear evidence of the “sinister intentions of the Zionist regime” to turn Azerbaijan into a platform to threaten Iran’s national security. The Iranian diplomat also asked for an explanation from Baku, which denied that its Foreign Minister made any remarks against Iran and accused Iran of working “towards causing crisis.” 

A few days after Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Iranian Shah, visited Israel, 32 Israeli Knesset (Parliament) members (most far-right politicians) sent a letter to their Foreign Minister urging Israel to put international pressure on Tehran to prevent “acts of violence against the Azeri minority that lives in the Southern Azeri province in north-western Iran.” This move also came shortly after Israeli FM Eli Cohen paid an official visit to Baku and met President Ilham Aliyev, aiming to deepen economic and security ties between both countries. The letter of the Knesset members mentioned that “[Azeris] are the largest ethnic group in Iran, numbering more than 20 million people. The [Iranian] regime implements a policy of cultural genocide by restricting the rights of the Azeri minority to study and pass on its heritage, to teach their language, and even to register their children with Azeri names.” The letter also added that “Garnering wide international support as much as possible for the national aspirations in Southern Azerbaijan will constitute a fatal blow to the Ayatollah regime, and there is no doubt that if the sovereign state of South Azerbaijan is established, Israel will merit another ally in the region alongside the Republic of Azerbaijan.” Israel’s diplomatic activities toward Azerbaijan intensified when Baku opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in March.

These announcements and steps should not come as a surprise, but they are a result of a coordinated action between Baku and Tel Aviv. The former wants to resolve the Artsakh issue by force and ethnically cleanse Armenians from their homeland so that later it concentrates on its southern neighbor perceiving it as an “existential threat.” As for Israel, by resolving the “Armenian issue” from Artsakh and having Russian forces removed, it could freely use the Azerbaijani military infrastructure in the bordering areas with Iran to launch future attacks against Tehran. Hence, the presence of Armenians in the region and the deployment of Russian troops are the only obstacles for Israel and its allies to launch coordinated attacks with Azerbaijan against Iran. 

In an interview with the Armenian Weekly, Dr. Ehsan Movahedian, a professor of international relations at Tehran’s ATU University, argued that Iran is very skeptical about Baku’s cooperation with Israel in the South Caucasus. “Israel intends to be present in parts of Iran’s neighborhood in retaliation for Iran’s presence in many neighboring countries. For this purpose, Israel tried to be present in Iraqi Kurdistan but failed due to Iran’s missile attacks on this region,” Dr. Movahedian stated. “Considering the improvement of Iran’s relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, only Iran’s neighbors in South Caucasus and Central Asia are left for Israel to influence. The main goal of this cooperation is to strengthen the separatist tendencies in the northwest of Iran.” Dr. Movahedian argued that the support of 32 members of the Israeli Knesset for the separation of regions from Iran and the formation of the “fake government of South Azerbaijan” shows that Israelis, who are worried about the increase in Iran’s military and intelligence capabilities, are trying to counter this capability in any way possible. For this purpose, they use Azerbaijan as a proxy against Iran.

Will Iran retaliate?

Iran may reportedly take military action against Azerbaijan if the latter escalates. According to a March 2022 article by Amwaj, after Iran targeted the alleged “Israeli strategic center” in Iraqi Kurdistan with ballistic missiles, a closer collaboration between Baku and Tel Aviv could “trigger a targeted Iranian military operation against individual sites on Azerbaijani soil.” Of course, this can be a risky scenario as it would attract additional Turkish and Israeli intervention in favor of Azerbaijan and may jeopardize the North-South trade as Azerbaijan is the only bridge for now between Russia and Iran in the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor. However, if the development escalates despite Iran’s attempt to de-escalate and telephone conversations between the Iranian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers, Iran may go for a final resort with a limited military operation to put an end to President Aliyev’s expansionist aspirations.

Moreover, Dr. Movahedian mentioned that the recent military drills by Iranian forces were a direct message to Ankara, Baku and Tel Aviv, warning that if they attempt to change borders, then Iran will deal with the aggressor countries with force. This idea was also brought up by Iranian Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who spoke about the necessity of preserving the thousand-year-old border between Iran and Armenia during the Tehran Summit in front of the Russian and Turkish presidents. For this reason, Dr. Movahedian argues that President Aliyev, being aware that any attack on Syunik near the Armenian-Iranian border would trigger retaliation from the Iranian side, is seeking to occupy the Armenian populated parts of remaining Artsakh.

In addition to military pressure, Dr. Movahedian argues that Iran also can use levers of economic pressure against Azerbaijan. “The most important tool in this field is the diversification of North-South communication corridor paths. In addition to completing the Rasht-Astara railway (between Iran and Azerbaijan), Iran should connect to Russia through the Caspian Free Zone port near Anzali port and take steps to create a suitable corridor route from the Meghri border to the territory of Armenia and then Georgia,” added the Iranian expert. He concludes that Iran may even go further by supporting ethnic and religious minorities and religious or even secular groups in Azerbaijan. Finally, Iran, Armenia, India and Russia should strengthen their ties and increase their economic, military, cultural and informational cooperation.

 

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Yeghia Tashjian is a regional analyst and researcher. He has graduated from the American University of Beirut in Public Policy and International Affairs. He pursued his BA at Haigazian University in political science in 2013. In 2010, he founded the New Eastern Politics forum/blog. He was a research assistant at the Armenian Diaspora Research Center at Haigazian University. Currently, he is the regional officer of Women in War, a gender-based think tank. He has participated in international conferences in Frankfurt, Vienna, Uppsala, New Delhi and Yerevan. He has presented various topics from minority rights to regional security issues. His thesis topic was on China’s geopolitical and energy security interests in Iran and the Persian Gulf. He is a contributor to various local and regional newspapers and a presenter of the “Turkey Today” program for Radio Voice of Van. Recently he has been appointed as associate fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut and Middle East-South Caucasus expert in the European Geopolitical Forum.


No progress over most important issues in talks with Azerbaijan, says Armenia’s top security official

Emil Lazarian

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 11:52, 9 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Azerbaijan haven’t made progress around the most important issues in the negotiations, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said on Tuesday.

He said that these most important issues concern the acknowledgment of the 29,800 square kilometers of Armenia’s sovereign territory and creation of an international mechanism for Stepanakert-Baku talks and international guarantees.

“Today, we can’t even preserve elements of the 9 November trilateral statement, because, for example, Azerbaijan must not be present in the Lachin Corridor under this statement, but it is there at this moment. It’s highly important for us to have international guarantees or an institute of guarantors for resolving such issues. So that everyone adheres to all agreements,” Grigoryan said.

Speaking about the latest Armenia-Azerbaijan talks in Washington D.C., Grigoryan did not disclose details but said that some progress has been made, albeit not over the most fundamental issues.

Mentioning the upcoming talks in Brussels, he added that Armenia will try to bring the approaches closer to one another as much as possible and move forward.

Grigoryan also commented on Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s remarks on the Nemesis monument in Yerevan. He said that the Turkish FM’s comments are inappropriate. “This is Armenia’s internal affair, and no one has the right to interfere,” he said. Grigoryan reiterated that Armenia wants to normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions.

Nagorno Karabakh President, government officials visit Stepanakert Memorial to honor fallen troops on May 9

Emil Lazarian

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 11:27, 9 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. President of Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan visited the Stepanakert Memorial on May 9 to honor the fallen troops.

Harutyunyan, together with government officials and military commanders, ‘paid tribute to the memory of the martyred heroes of the Great Patriotic War and the wars for our homeland's freedom,’ the Nagorno Karabakh president’s office said in a press release.

AW: Armenian community of Detroit commemorates the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Emil Lazarian
May 7, 2023 Guest Contributor Diaspora 0

DEARBORN, Mich. — The Armenian community of Greater Detroit commemorated the 108th anniversary of the Armenian genocide on April 22nd, 2023 at Edsel Ford High School.

Haigan Tcholakian opened the program by welcoming community members and invited Homenetmen of Detroit scouts to present the flags and sing the US and Armenian national anthems. In her opening remarks, Tcholakian stressed the importance of the day and the need to continue demanding justice to prevent future genocides.

Haigan Tcholakian

Alex Kurkechian delivered a message on behalf of the AYF Detroit “Kopernik Tandourjian” Chapter, highlighting the many programs of the youth organization which aims to foster the dedication of the youth to their nation and the ultimate goal of seeing a free, united and independent Armenia.

Alex Kurkechian

Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Michigan chair Dzovinar Hamakorzian presented the work of the local chapter, which received nine proclamations from the cities of Detroit, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Hazel Park, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Warren, Birmingham and West Bloomfield to mark April 24th as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day and end the cycle of genocide against the Armenians. Governor Gretchen Whitmer also issued a proclamation, stating that “the failure to learn from the past allows history to repeat itself as the world saw during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabagh war” and that “Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing campaign continues to this day against the 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh through suppression of their freedom of movement and fundamental rights of life and liberty.” Hamakorzian also thanked the libraries of Farmington Hills and Livonia for having special displays dedicated to the Armenian Genocide during the month of April. She concluded her remarks with a call to unite and take action to stop the imminent threat of genocide in Artsakh.

Dzovinar Hamakorzian

The program’s first speaker was ANCA communications director Elizabeth Chouldjian, who drew a parallel between the actions that led to the 1915 genocide and today. She explained how Krikor Zohrab had a “friendship” with Talaat Pasha, but that did not stop the Turkish tyrant to order the death of his friend. She stressed how the situation is painfully similar today, but we have the benefit of history. She said we can draw on these lessons and prevent a second genocide against the Armenians of Artsakh. Time is not on our side, she underscored; we need to act now.

Elizabeth Chouldjian

ARF Azadamard Gomideh chair Sebouh Hamakorzian called on all countries to enforce sanctions on Baku and Ankara and demand that they stop persecuting Armenians for their pan-Turkic objectives.

Sebouh Hamakorzian

The second speaker of the event was ARF Central Committee member and genealogist George Aghjayan, who shared his experience discovering Western Armenia and lost Armenians through DNA matches. He stressed the importance of finding that part of our history that is not as explored as others. He shared pictures of family members that he found in Western Armenia and their desire to reconnect with a community that they thought was long gone. He concluded his remarks by asking attendees not to overlook that forgotten community in Western Armenia as they are also an integral part of our nation and history.

George Aghjayan

Congresswoman Haley Stevens shared her sentiments of solidarity and thanked the community for allowing her to learn about the Armenian nation and the struggles they are still trying to overcome for more than 100 years. She assured her constituents that she will fight for them in Congress and be the voice of the Armenian American community.

Congresswoman Haley Stevens

The program concluded with performances by Hamazkayin Armenian Educational & Cultural Society of Detroit’s dance group.

Kazakh president and Armenian prime minister to join Putin for Victory Day celebrations in Moscow

Emil Lazarian
May 8 2023
2:22 pm, May 8, 2023
Source: Meduza

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will make an official visit to Russia on May 8–9 to mark Victory Day, his spokesperson Ruslan Zheldibai said on Monday.

According to Zheldibai, Tokayev will join Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to take part in Moscow’s parade celebrating the 78th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Second World War. The Kazakh leader will also reportedly visit the Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier in Russia’s Tver region as well as a mass grave in the Moscow region where one of his uncles was buried after serving in the war.

Earlier on Monday, Russian state media reported that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accepted Putin’s invitation to go to Moscow for the holiday. Previously, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov was the only foreign leader reported to be planning to spend May 9 in Russia.

Armenia to elaborate new Europe-India-Iran transport corridor

Emil Lazarian
MEHR NEWS AGENCY
Iran – May 8 2023

TEHRAN, May 08 (MNA) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a decree on Monday on setting up an inter-agency task force for launching a new international cargo transportation route and becoming an operator at Iran's Chabahar port.

According to the decree, posted on the government’s website, the task force will deal with organizing a multimodal high-speed route of international cargo transportation via Armenia, ARKA News Agency reported. 

The task force’s goals include discussions and development of a new corridor for cargo transportation with the participation of Armenia, which will connect the countries of East Asia, India and Iran with Europe through Georgia and the Black Sea and in the opposite direction as an alternative to the North-South international transport corridor.

The new route is to connect Europe with India and East Asian countries through the Indian Ocean.

The task force will be headed by the Armenian Minister of Economy. The minister will have to report to the Prime Minister the progress on a quarterly basis, with final results to be submitted before November 1, 2023. The task force must establish contacts and discuss technical and other issues with relevant departments of India, Georgia and Iran.

On April 20, Yerevan hosted the first political consultations in a trilateral format between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia, Iran and India. The issues discussed at that meeting included new economic, regional and communication channels, as well as the prospects for deepening trilateral cooperation in various areas.

An agreement was reached to continue the consultations in the trilateral format. 

SKH/PR

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/200471/Armenia-to-elaborate-new-Europe-India-Iran-transport-corridor

Russia – main obstacle in negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Emil Lazarian
May 8 2023
 May 8, 2023  Igor Chalenko 

In autumn 2020, as soon as the military actions between Armenia and Azerbaijan were over, Russia deployed 2000 troops there, supposedly for “peacekeeping”.

This allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to demonstrate that he had influence in the South Caucasus and to manipulate Armenian separatists to a greater extent for his own purposes.

The Kremlin has projected itself as the major mediator in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict since 1994 when the first Karabakh war was over.

In fact, Russia had initially been interested in freezing the conflict – that is the only way it could maintain influence in the South Caucasus and its military bases in Armenia.

Moreover, calling itself “the only guarantor of security in Karabakh”, Moscow was the largest exporter of weapons into both countries in 2011-2020.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia accounted for 94 per cent of arms imported into Armenia and 60 per cent into Azerbaijan.

It is the freezing of the negotiation process for 30 years and Russia’s massive deliveries of weaponry into the region that created the preconditions for the resumption of full-scale hostilities in autumn 2020.

For the last three years, Moscow has been carrying on with the same tactic of delaying the negotiation process.

Besides maintaining the influence and military bases in South Caucasus, having leverage in Baku is now becoming especially important for the Kremlin. The reason is that in 2021-2023 Azerbaijan became one of the major suppliers of energy resources into the EU and could act as an alternative to Russia in this capacity. Together with Tehran, Moscow is seeking to prevent Yerevan’s ultimate reorientation toward the West, which happened to Georgia.

Putin is taking advantage of Armenian puppet-separatists in Karabakh. And he has done the same before with Ossetians and Abkhazians in Georgia as well as the supporters of “the Russian World” in Crimea and Donbas. This allows Moscow to maintain the military presence in South Caucasus in the same way as in the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia or in the Eastern region of Moldova, that is, Transnistria. Prior to the full-scale aggression of 2022 the same had been happening in the pro-Russian enclave in the east of Ukraine.

Ousting Russia from the relations settlement process

Given Russia’s destructive role, the West became more involved in the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia after the 2020 Karabakh war.

For the past three years, the EU in the form of European Council President Charles Michel, and the US represented by the US secretary of State Antony Blinken, have been the initiators of most meetings between the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The most recent meeting was that of Blinken with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington DC on May 1.

While in the past the representative of Washington, Blinken, only used to encourage the parties’ direct communication, he now admits that without the active engagement of the USA the peace process will be undermined by Russia, Iran and Armenia in every possible way. According to the US news outlet The Wall Street Journal “the influential friends of the Armenian-American community such as Senator Menendez and member of the House of Representatives, Schiff, are eager to punish any American officials who cover the cooperation between Armenia, Russia and Iran.”

In this context, according to EUreporter and the major media sources of Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria andLithuania,Armenia serves as virtually the largest hub for supplies of sanctioned goods, including military equipment for Russia, and it is also the largest logistic link between Russia and Iran. Using Armenia for delivery of Iranian attack drones and missiles for attacks on Ukrainian cities is also reported. 

https://sofiaglobe.com/2023/05/08/russia-main-obstacle-in-negotiations-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan/

Russia temporarily halts gas supply to Armenia for planned maintenance

Emil Lazarian
May 1 2023
Reuters

May 1 (Reuters) – Russia temporarily halted gas supplies to Armenia on Monday for four days to conduct planned maintenance on a major gas pipeline, Gazprom Armenia said in a statement.

Russia is Armenia's main gas supplier, shipping 2.6 billion cubic metres to the country last year.

In a statement, Gazprom Armenia – a subsidiary of Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) - said it was temporarily suspending gas exports from 8 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) on Monday May 1 until 8 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Thursday May 4.

It said maintenance work was being carried out on a section of the 'North Caucasus-Transcaucasia' gas pipeline in Russia's southern Stavropol region and that it would use reserves to continue supplying gas to consumers in Armenia.

Reporting by Jake Cordell; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-temporarily-halts-gas-supply-armenia-planned-maintenance-2023-05-01/


Armenia and the Kremlin’s playbook: Myths about national minorities in Ukraine and Azerbaijan

Emil Lazarian
May 1 2023

Taras Kuzio

Russia and Armenia have both promoted a discourse about threatened national minorities without any proof to back up their exaggerated claims.

Russia and Armenia are the only two of the 15 former Soviet republics with irredentist claims to their neighbours. Their exaggerated claims about alleged threats to national minorities merely camouflage these irredentist claims.

Since the early 1990s, long before Vladimir Putin became Russia’s president, Moscow claimed it had a right to ‘protect’ ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in the former USSR. This has been a constant element in Russian security policy through to the present day.

Russia intervened to allegedly ‘protect’ Russian speakers in Moldova’s Transnistria region and in Ukraine’s Donbas in 2014. In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with the goal of ending a mythical ‘genocide’ against Russian speakers.

Another strategy used by Russia has been the distribution of Russian passports in frozen conflicts which it has purposefully manufactured or in regions it is occupying. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 to defend Russian passport holders in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and then recognised their fake ‘declarations of independence’. The Kremlin has distributed Russian passports in Crimea, the Donbas and in occupied southern Ukraine.

It should not be surprising Armenia has copied Russia’s policies to allegedly ‘protect’ national minorities; after all, Armenia is a member of all Russian-led Eurasian integration projects. Armenia uses similar exaggerated threats to the Armenian minority in Karabakh as Russia has used in Ukraine, Moldova and elsewhere in Eurasia. In all these cases the alleged threats to Russian speakers and Armenians have nothing to do with reality.

In Ukraine no opinion poll has ever shown large numbers of Russians and Russian speakers who feel discriminated against by Kyiv’s policies. Volodymyr Zelensky is after all the third Ukrainian president who is a Russian speaker. Four out of six Ukrainian presidents were from Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, including Zelensky.

Russia’s invasion of Crimea had nothing to do with ‘protecting’ Russian speakers as they were never under any repression and had their own autonomous republic since 1990. In the Donbas there was also no discrimination against Russian speakers as the region was run by the pro-Russian Party of Regions. Only three per cent of Ukrainians believed Russia’s claim that its so-called ‘special military operation’ was launched to end the ‘genocide’ of Russian speakers.

Armenia won the First Karabakh War which lasted from 1988-1994. Although both sides committed atrocities, the bulk of the crimes were committed by Armenia, the militarily victorious side. Armenia ethnically cleansed one million Azerbaijanis from Armenia and the seven provinces of Azerbaijan that it occupied. In 1992, 600 civilians were murdered in Khojaly and another 4,000 civilians and prisoners of war went missing and are presumed to be murdered.

Looting on an industrial scale took place throughout the seven Azerbaijani occupied provinces. Gold teeth and wedding rings were stolen from skeletons dug up in cemeteries. Cultural institutions, such as museums and libraries, mosques, and official buildings were purposefully destroyed. The seven provinces look like Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the US dropped nuclear bombs on them in 1945.

In the Second Karabakh War there were few war crimes committed by either side. Nevertheless, the few that did happen were by Armenia which fired large missiles at civilian targets. Human Rights Watch, ‘documented 11 incidents in which Armenian forces used ballistic missiles, unguided artillery rockets, and large-calibre artillery projectiles that hit populated areas in apparent indiscriminate attacks. In at least four other cases, munitions struck civilians or civilian objects in areas where there were no apparent military targets’.

Despite the many examples of Armenian war crimes committed in the first and second Karabakh wars, Armenian discourse continues to claim the status of victimhood and accuse Azerbaijan of planning ‘genocide’.

This discourse is taken straight out of the Kremlin’s playbook.

Robert Kocharyan, a discredited Armenian opposition leader, and member of the ‘Karabakh clan’, claimed that if a peace treaty is signed with Azerbaijan it would lead to ‘the end of Karabakh’. Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, always one for making outlandish statements, said that Azerbaijan’s goal in closing the Lachin Corridor was to surround Karabakh and ‘subject them to genocide and expatriation, under the pretext of Armenia not fulfilling its obligations’.

The reality is that Russians and Russian speakers had nothing to worry about in Ukraine and Armenians have nothing to be concerned about living in Azerbaijan. Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine led an autonomous republic in Crimea, were part of Ukraine’s ruling elites, and transmitted and published Russian-language electronic and print media. Practically all Ukrainian oligarchs, who were primarily from the Donbas, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa, were Russian speakers.

Armenians in Karabakh have schools and media in their own language which would remain after a peace treaty was signed that recognised Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. These and other minority rights for a very small Armenian population of 25,000 (Azerbaijani estimate) to 100,000 (Armenian claim) could be guaranteed by both the Azerbaijani government and backed up by international organisations, such as the EU and OSCE.

Being a citizen of a country is always a two-way process. In return for the state providing services to citizens and guarantees for the personal security of minorities, citizens should refrain from supporting separatism. Russia has hundreds of thousands of troops fighting its war in Ukraine while Armenia has 10,000 illegal forces in Karabakh. In both Ukraine and Azerbaijan, Russian and Armenian security forces need to be withdrawn before a meaningful peace treaty can be signed.

Peaceful coexistence between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Turkey would be especially beneficial to Armenia. A peace treaty would reduce the Armenian economy’s reliance upon Russia, increase its trade with Europe, and spur Armenia’s integration into regional energy projects.

Ukraine never planned to conduct ‘genocide’ against its Russian and Russian speaking populations. Azerbaijan has no intention to commit ‘genocide’ against the small Armenian minority remaining in Karabakh.

Armenians should not be concerned about the plight of their brethren in Karabakh. It is time for Armenian politicians to no longer play by the Kremlin’s playbook, put past wars and crimes in the past and move on in the interests of both countries.

https://emerging-europe.com/voices/armenia-and-the-kremlins-playbook-myths-about-national-minorities-in-ukraine-and-azerbaijan%EF%BF%BC/