Author: Emil Lazarian

                                        Monday, March 6, 2023
Karabakh Leader Warns Of More ‘Azeri Provocations’
        • Astghik Bedevian
Nagorno-Karabakh - A Karabakh police vehicle riddled with bullets, March 5, 2023.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership on Monday warned local residents to brace 
themselves for more Azerbaijani “provocations” following Sunday’s armed incident 
near Stepanakert that left five people dead.
“The vast majority of our people agree that we will not deviate from our right 
to self-determination and independence, and that means we are going to deal with 
various developments and situations soon,” Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh 
president, told an emergency meeting with other officials in Stepanakert.
Three of the victims were Karabakh police officers. According to the authorities 
in Stepanakert, a car carrying them was ambushed by an Azerbaijani sabotage 
group that was then repelled by Karabakh soldiers deployed nearby.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry claimed that the shootout broke out after 
Azerbaijani troops tried to search the car allegedly smuggling weapons from 
Armenia. The Armenian side strongly denied that, releasing a video of the 
shooting and its aftermath.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday that the Azerbaijani forces 
were the first to open fire at the Karabakh police vehicle and that two of them 
were killed in the ensuing firefight which it said was stopped by Russian 
peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed “serious concern” at the incident but did 
not blame either party for it.
“We strongly urge the sides to show restraint and take steps to de-escalate the 
situation,” said Maria Zakharova, the ministry spokeswoman.
Nagorno-Karabakh - President Arayik Harutiunian chairs an emergency meeting in 
Stepanakert, March 6, 2023.
Echoing a weekend statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian condemned the shootings as an act of “terrorism” which is part 
of Baku’s efforts to drive the Karabakh Armenians out of their homeland.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov accused Armenia of continuing to 
resort to “provocations” in the conflict zone despite Azerbaijan’s “peace 
efforts.”
Speaking during the Stepanakert meeting, Harutiunian warned that Baku could 
provoke more such violence in a bird to force the Karabakh Armenians into 
submission.
“We must keep fighting for a long time and there will be such situations during 
that struggle,” he said. “We need to be conscious of that and take preventive 
steps.”
The Karabakh leader linked Sunday’s bloodshed to the March 1 meeting between 
Azerbaijani and Karabakh officials which was mediated by the commander of the 
Russian peacekeepers. He said during that meeting his representatives refused to 
discuss Karabakh’s “integration” into Azerbaijan.
In his words, the Azerbaijani side warned afterwards that if Stepanakert 
persists in opposing the restoration of Azerbaijani rule Baku will not only 
continue to block Karabakh’s land link with Armenia but also take “tougher and 
more drastic steps.”
It was not clear whether the Russian peacekeepers are planning more talks 
between the two sides.
Armenian Agriculture Stagnates Despite Robust GDP Growth
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia - A vineyard in Aragatsotn province, August 12, 2018.
Armenia’s agricultural sector remains in crisis despite double-digit economic 
growth recorded by the government last year.
Government data shows that agricultural output stagnated in 2022 in sharp 
contrast with other sectors of the Armenian economy that strongly benefited from 
soaring trade with and cash flows from Russia.
The government’s Statistical Committee reported a 5.7 percent increase in 
aggregate crop production despite significant decreases in the country’s 
vegetable and grape output.
Meat and dairy production shrunk by 5 percent. The country’s livestock 
population was down by about 10 percent, reflecting a widespread culling of 
cattle by struggling farmers.
They include Samvel Matevosian, a once affluent resident of Berkashat, a village 
in Armenia’s Armavir province bordering Turkey. Matevosian owns 60 hectares of 
pastures and farmland and a large cattle farm that used to have several dozen 
cows. Only four adult cows remain there now.
“In 2017, this and the adjacent barns were full [of cattle,]” Matevosian said 
grimly. “I’ve culled them because [animal husbandry] is not profitable anymore.”
For the same reason, he stopped cultivating his 8-hectare vineyard last year and 
is still no rush to grow other crops there.
Not surprisingly, Armenia’s imports of meat, dairy and even some vegetables rose 
in 2022.
Armenia - A cattle farm in Margahovit village, 23Oct2019
“We can say that Armenia further reduced its food self-sufficiency in 2022,” 
said Suren Parsian, an economist critical of the government.
Parsian acknowledged that “objective” factors such as fighting along Armenia’s 
border with Azerbaijan, which seriously disrupted agricultural activity in 
nearby communities, also contributed to this trend.
But he insisted that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government, which 
controversially abolished the Ministry of Agriculture in 2019, is primarily 
responsible for it. The official statistics testifies to the failure of limited 
loan subsidies and other agricultural support programs promoted by the 
authorities in recent years.
The Ministry of Economy, which is in charge of agriculture, declined to comment 
on the lack of growth in a sector that generated about one-fifth of Armenia’s 
Gross Domestic Product until recently. The sector’s share in GDP fell to below 
12 percent last year, according to the Statistical Committee.
Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian has repeatedly stated that rural residents 
unable to live off farming or cattle breeding should find other sources of 
income instead of clamoring for government support.
But for farmers like Matevosian agriculture is much more than a business. “If 
agriculture collapses we’ll all collapse too,” he warned.
Armenian, Indian Militaries Mull Closer Ties
India - Anil Chauhan (left), chief of India's Defense Staff, meets his Armenian 
counterpart, Eduard Asrian, New Delhi, March 4, 2023.
India’s and Armenia’s top generals discussed growing military ties between their 
countries during talks held in New Delhi over the weekend.
Major-General Eduard Asrian, the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, met 
with General Anil Chauhan, the chief of the Indian Defense Staff, as he and 
other senior Armenian officials visited India to attend an annual conference on 
global security.
In a Twitter post, the Indian military headquarters said Asrian and Chauhan 
discussed “identifying areas to augment defense cooperation, including 
opportunities to leverage indigenous defense manufacturing industry.”
The Armenian Defense Ministry said, for its part, that they looked at the 
“possibilities of expanding defense cooperation between India and Armenia.”
The two nations have stepped up that cooperation since the 2020 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh during which India’s arch-foe 
Pakistan strongly supported Azerbaijan. Last September, the Armenian military 
reportedly signed contracts for the purchase of $245 million worth of Indian 
multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-tank rockets and ammunition.
Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian explored more such deals during a 
subsequent visit to India. Indian media reported during Papikian’s trip that 
Yerevan is interested in acquiring air-defense systems and combat drones 
manufactured by Indian companies.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said Asrian presented “security challenges” facing 
Armenia during a roundtable discussion on Indian-Armenian relations organized by 
India’s National Security Council.
New Delhi has effectively sided Armenia with in its ongoing border disputes with 
Azerbaijan. It has also expressed serious concern over the Azerbaijani blockade 
of the Lachin corridor.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Indian counterpart 
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also met on Saturday on the sidelines of the Raisina 
Dialogue conference. Mirzoyan briefed Jaishankar on the humanitarian crisis in 
Karabakh caused by the blockade as well as recent Armenian-Azerbaijani peace 
talks.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the two ministers also reviewed 
growing Indian-Armenian trade and bilateral cooperation on education, culture 
and tourism.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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