Author: Emil Lazarian

A team of Polish-Armenian archaeologists in Armenia discovered the tomb of a man and a woman, probably two, who were buried together more than 3,000 years ago with gold and coral necklaces.

The two skeletons were found in underground chambers built of large stones, on a wooden burial bed, in the Metsamor necropolis, one of the most famous archaeological sites in Armenia, about 40 kilometers west of the capital Yerevan.

“The death of these people is a mystery to us, we do not know the cause, but everything indicates that they died at the same time, because there are no traces of the retraction of the monument”, he declared. announcement Krzysztof Jakubiak, professor at the Faculty of Archeology at the University of Warsaw and co-director of the research with Armenian Professor Ashot Piliposiano.

According to Jakubiak, it is unique that the tomb is not despoiled and very decorated.

In good condition, both skeletons had slightly contracted legs. According to the first estimate, the couple was between 30 and 40 years old.

Excavations at Metsamor Joanna Pawlik

Archaeologists of this joint project of the Center for Mediterranean Archeology of the University of Warsaw and the Department of Antiquities and the National Heritage Protection of Armenia recently dated the Bronze Age to 1300-1200 BC when the great Pharaoh Ramses II reigned in Egypt.

Inside the tomb they found more than 100 gold beads and necklaces that “probably made three necklaces,” says Jakubiak. Some of the pendants look a bit like Celtic crosses. Carnelian necklaces were also just.

The burial also contained twelve intact ceramic vessels and a single clay vessel that was not produced locally. Tortors determined that it was taken from the border of Syria and Mesopotamia.

Of the hundreds of monuments that researchers have examined in the huge 100-hectare Naumachia Metsamor, only a few similar to this one have not been looted.

The inhabitants of Metsamor of the second millennium did not leave behind a half-written text “but it was a great settlement,” according to a Polish professor. Also, fortifications made of huge stones have survived to this day, surrounding the so-called ‘citadel’. At the end of the second millennium BC there was no habitation in the region that could compare with its dignity and size.

Castle Metsamor Simon Zdziebłowski

Its height from the 4th to the 2nd millennium BC, it covered more than 10 hectares and was surrounded by cyclopean walls. At the beginning of the Iron Age, from 11 BC to the 9th century, Metsamor grew to almost 100 hectares. The middle part was surrounded by seven chapels, fortified with temples. At that time it was one of the most important cultural and political centers in the Araks Valley. The place was continuously inhabited until the 17th century.

From the 8th century, a. C. Metsamor belonged to the kingdom of Urartu, the biblical kingdom of Ararat, conquered by King Argish I. During his reign, the borders of Transcaucasia were extended to the present-day area of Yerevan.

As a protected archaeological resource, Metsamor has been excavated since 1965. The last research seasons took place in September and October. 2022. Polish archaeologists have been excavating at Metsamor since 2013 under an agreement with the Institute of Archeology of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Culture of Armenia (PAP).

https://worldnationnews.com/they-find-a-mysterious-grave-in-armenia-of-a-couple-who-died-3000-years-ago/

Three Nagorno-Karabakh police officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers have died in an armed clash in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

The incident took place on Sunday morning on a dirt road close to the Lachin Corridor, in an area not under Azerbaijan’s control. It centred around a small minibus.

Azerbaijani authorities said the bus was transporting weapons from Armenia to Stepanakert, while the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said it was on a regular police patrol.

One Nagorno-Karabakh police officer remains in hospital. 

Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry issued a statement shortly after the incident, claiming that they had received information that military equipment, ammunition, and personnel were on board the minibus. Azerbaijan considers Nagorno-Karabakh to be territory of Azerbaijan temporarily under the control of Russian peacekeeping forces. 

‘An attempt was made to stop and check the vehicles carrying out illegal military transport’, reads the statement. ‘Shots were fired from the opposite side, and as a result of the shooting, there were casualties and injuries from both sides’.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry also alleged that the bus was travelling via a ‘dirt road’, bypassing the Lachin Corridor, which has been blocked since 12 December. 

Nagorno-Karabakh’s Foreign Ministry categorically denied the Azerbaijani allegations, alleging that a ‘sabotage group’ from Azerbaijan’s armed forces was responsible for the attack. 

It added that Azerbaijani forces had violated the ceasefire on 2 March and in the early hours of 3 March, and suggested that Azerbaijan was ‘seeking to initiate an escalation of tension’. 

‘It should be noted that these attacks were carried out immediately after the talks on unblocking the Lachin Corridor held between representatives of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] and Azerbaijan on 1 March. Through its actions, Baku openly demonstrates its rejection of negotiations as a means of finding solutions to any issues’, stated the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry. 

Both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh’s foreign ministries described the incident as part of an attempt by Azerbaijan to ‘ethnically cleanse’ Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry additionally stated that the minibus carried only four police officers and a service pistol, describing Azerbaijan’s version of events as ‘absurd’. 

‘The actions of the Azerbaijani forces cannot be described as anything other than terrorism’, the statement said. ‘The facts prove that this provocation was pre-planned and instructed by the highest leadership of Azerbaijan.’

‘Under current circumstances, sending an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh becomes a vital necessity’, the statement concluded. 

The Azerbaijani authorities, however, laid the blame for the incident with Armenia’s government.

‘In order to prevent such military provocations, Azerbaijan demands the implementation of the Tripartite Declaration, an end to the transportation of illegal weapons and ammunition, personnel, and mines from Armenia, and the immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan’, the Foreign Ministry stated. 

On 22 February, the UN International Court of Justice rejected a request from Baku to order Armenia to stop planting landmines or sponsoring their planting in ‘areas to which Azerbaijani civilians will return in Azerbaijan’s territory’. 

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry added that the incident ‘proved the necessity’ of introducing border control mechanisms between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In recent weeks, Azerbaijan has been demanding the establishment of Azerbaijani checkpoints on the Lachin corridor. 

On Monday, the European Union External Action Service published a statement, announcing that it ‘deplores’ the outbreak of violence. 

‘The circumstances surrounding this deadly incident need to be fully investigated’, the statement continued. ‘We urge all stakeholders to show restraint in order to prevent any further actions which could further undermine regional stability and threaten the peace process.’

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

A disagreement over the Lachin Corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh turned deadly when parties on both sides of the border fired on each other.

At least five people were killed in a flare-up of violence along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Sunday.

Officials on both sides blamed each other for the exchange of fire.

Armenia said three police had been killed, while Azerbaijan said two of its soldiers "became martyrs."

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said a shootout occurred when soldiers went to check vehicles suspected of transporting weapons. Armenia said the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire on the car of a Passport and Visa Department of the police.

The two former Soviet nations have been locked in a conflict for decades over the mountainous region, which in 2020 boiled over into full-blown war.

A Russian-brokered peace deal was reached late in 2020 after more than 6,000 lives were lost.

There have been several flare-ups between the two sides since the agreement was signed.

The agreement to end the 2020 war left a winding road called the Lachin Corridor as the only authorized connection between Nagorno- Karabakh and Armenia, a lifeline for supplies to the region's approximately 120,000 people.

However, traffic on that road has been mostly blocked since December by Azerbaijani environmental activists to protest what they say is illegal mining.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of backing the protesters to create blockade.

"Sending an international fact-finding team to the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh is becoming a vital necessity,"  Armenia's foreign ministry said after the shooting.

Azerbaijan's ministry of defence said, "Today's incident once again shows that Azerbaijan needs to create an appropriate checkpoint on the Lachin-Khankendi road."

lo/jcg (AFP, AP)

Over 90 flights from the Azeri Silk Way Airlines cargo company have landed at the Israeli southern airport of Ovda in the past seven years, reports revealed on Monday.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Silk Way Airlines is one of the few foreign companies to land in Ovda and with authorization to carry explosives in Israel’s airspace.

The report notes that Ovda is the only Israeli air base authorized to receive and launch outgoing and incoming flights carrying explosives. Contrary to Ovda, located in the Negev Desert, Israel’s main gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, is located in a densely populated area in the center of the country, which is why cargo planes carrying explosives are not allowed to land there. Also, Ovda serves simultaneously as an air base for both civilian and military flights.

The Haaretz report notes, however, that three weekly Silk Way Airlines flights are operating between the airport in Baku and Ben Gurion.

The report comes as tensions heighten again between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. The area lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of Armenia since1994. In 2020, the two sides fought for six weeks, allowing Azerbaijan to reclaim part of the disputed territory. 

It is no secret that ties between Baku and Israel have deepened over the past three decades, though much of the scope of these relations has been kept discreet. Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran and is a major Shiite state, though the variant of Shiite Islam practiced there is significantly more moderate than the radical Shi'ism of Iran. As such, Jerusalem considers Baku an important security and strategic partner.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute revealed in 2021 that Israel has been selling Azerbaijan weapons, and in return Baku has been selling Israel fuel while either sharing or enabling the intelligence it collects on neighboring Iran. Foreign reports, such as the Times of London, have also claimed that Azerbaijan authorized the Mossad to set up shop in the country, though Israeli authorities never confirmed such reports. Israel didn't confirm either Azeri statements on selling Baku advanced weapon systems, including ballistic missiles and attack drones, with the latter allegedly used against Armenia in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Israel has an embassy in Baku, but Azerbaijan has no embassy in Israel. Last November, Baku announced it would open an embassy in Israel in what was considered a major diplomatic achievement for then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

Cooperation between the two countries continues under the Netanyahu government. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke on the phone with his Azeri counterpart, Zakir Hasanov, at the beginning of February. In the conversation, Hasanov expressed his belief that the military cooperation between the two countries would continue to expand. On Feb. 23, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter met in Jerusalem with a large Azeri delegation that came to Israel in order to expand agriculture cooperation between the countries.

Earlier this week, Israel announced that Azeri Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov is expected to visit Israel on March 29 in order to open his country’s first embassy. Azerbaijan will be the first Shiite-majority country to open an embassy in Israel.

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/03/israel-exporting-arms-azerbaijan-tensions-soar-armenia-report