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

Artsakh’s President appeals to the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan ahead of the tripartite meeting

Emil Lazarian

 18:20,

YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan made an appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan ahead of their next meeting in Moscow on July 25, 2023, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the President of Artsakh.

The appeal reads as follows:

“I am once again sounding the alarm about the urgent need to immediately end the 225-day blockade of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) by Azerbaijan, including the 40-day full siege, which is leading to a deepening humanitarian disaster in Artsakh.

It is highly condemnable that instead of pursuing a political settlement to the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict and creating an environment of mutual trust between the parties, Azerbaijan is resorting to encircling and completely blockading the Republic of Artsakh. Continuous disruption of vital infrastructures and undisguised genocidal policy are instrumental in promoting Azerbaijan’s political agenda regarding Artsakh.

I must emphasize that Azerbaijan’s actions in Artsakh amount to crimes against humanity, directly resulting from their gross violations of the Tripartite Declaration of November 9, 2020, and well-known international legal documents. After the war, the people of Artsakh had faith in the guarantees established by the Tripartite Declaration, particularly relying on the mission of the Russian peacekeeping troops, as they returned to their homes and started rebuilding their lives.

As the President of Artsakh Republic, empowered by the mandate given to me by my people, I demand that the parties involved in the Tripartite Declaration of November 9, 2020, take concrete steps to promptly restore the legal regime in the Lachin Corridor and ensure the security of the people of Artsakh, adhering to the obligations stipulated in the Tripartite Declaration. After providing the minimum conditions for the well-being of our people, it will be possible to address all aspects of the conflict and discuss potential solutions in a more favorable environment.

It is crucial that the parties involved in the Tripartite Declaration act immediately to resolve the catastrophic situation; otherwise, they will bear the main responsibility for any impending tragedies.

Prevent further ethnic cleansing!”

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 07/24/2023

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Monday, 
Karabakh Halts Public Transport Due To Blockade
        • Susan Badalian
Nagorno-Karabakh - People walk past a closed gas station in Askeran, July 18, 
2023.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s public transport system will be brought to a complete halt on 
Tuesday because of severe shortages of fuel caused by Azerbaijan’s continuing 
blockade of the Armenian-populated region.
Karabakh authorities said on Monday that they have run out of scarce fuel 
reserved from buses and minibuses. They already suspended earlier this month 
public transport in Stepanakert and curtailed bus services with other Karabakh 
towns and villages for the same reason.
The vast majority of vehicles in Karabakh are powered by natural gas which was 
supplied from Armenia before being pressurized and sold at local gas stations. 
Azerbaijan disrupted a steady flow of the gas shortly after blocking commercial 
traffic through the Lachin corridor last December. A gas pipeline feeding 
Karabakh was most recently unblocked for just a few hours on July 8.
Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, banning emergency relief supplies that 
were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the 
Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside 
world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential 
items experienced by the region’s population.
The fuel crisis not only disrupted travel but also complicated food supplies 
inside Karabakh. Local farmers now have trouble taking their produce to markets, 
and there are growing problems with the delivery of flour to bakeries.
Nagorno-Karabakh -- A banner in Stepanakert in July 2023.
“It is very difficult to get the flour here,” Lyudmila Mezhlumian, a bakery 
worker in Stepanakert, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan warned last week that Karabakh is now 
“on the verge of starvation” as he urged stronger international pressure on 
Azerbaijan. The United States, the European Union and Russia have repeatedly 
called for an end to the Azerbaijani blockade. Baku has dismissed their appeals.
The humanitarian crisis is also affecting Karabakh’s struggling healthcare 
system. The head of an intensive care unit at Karabakh’s main children’s 
hospital said on Monday that it is increasingly hard for the parents of 
seriously ill children living outside Stepanakert to transport them to the 
facility.
Baku has frequently banned evacuations of Karabakh patients to hospitals in 
Armenia carried out by only the ICRC during the blockade. It most recently 
unblocked them last week after requiring those patients to be checked by 
Azerbaijani medical personnel while passing through its checkpoint in the Lachin 
corridor. The Karabakh premier, Gurgen Nersisian, said at the weekend that Red 
Cross officials “somehow managed to convince” the Azerbaijani side not to film 
“that process.”
Karabakh’s main security service said on Monday that local residents are 
receiving Russian-language phone calls offering to help them safely “go to 
Armenia via Baku.” It urged them to ignore the Azerbaijani “disinformation.”
Armenian FM Visits Iran
Iran - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi meets Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat 
Mirzoyan, Tehran, .
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan discussed with Iran’s leaders Armenia’s ongoing 
peace talks with Azerbaijan and described the Islamic Republic as his country’s 
“special partner” during a visit to Tehran on Monday.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said Mirzoyan briefed Iranian President Ebrahim 
Raisi on the “latest developments in the process of normalization of 
Armenia-Azerbaijan relations” and reaffirmed the Armenian government’s position 
on the “establishment of lasting peace in the South Caucasus.”
The issue also topped the agenda of his separate talks with Iranian Foreign 
Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held earlier in the day. Mirzoyan complained 
about Azerbaijan’s continuing blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh’s only land link with 
Armenia, saying that it is hampering a peace deal currently discussed by Baku 
and Yerevan.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that, Mohammad Jamshidi, a top aide to 
Raisi quoted him as warning against U.S. involvement in Armenian-Azerbaijani 
peace talks.
“These negotiations have to be carried out based on the interests of the [two] 
nations and without political conspiracies involving America and the Zionist 
regime [Israel,]” Raisi said, according to Jamshidi.
In recent months, the United States has been at the forefront of international 
efforts to broker a comprehensive peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan. 
Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov held two rounds of 
intensive U.S.-mediated talks in May and June.
They are scheduled to meet in Moscow on Tuesday for fresh talks that will be 
hosted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russia has been very critical 
of the U.S. peace efforts, saying that their main goal is to squeeze it out of 
the region, rather than end the Karabakh conflict.
Raisi was also reported to reaffirm Tehran’s strong opposition to any 
“geopolitical” border changes in the South Caucasus.
Iranian leaders have frequently made such statements in response to Azerbaijan’s 
demands for an extraterritorial corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave that would 
pass through Syunik, the sole Armenian province bordering Iran. They have warned 
that the Islamic Republic would not tolerate attempts to strip it of the common 
border and transport links with Armenia.
Mirzoyan praised Tehran’s stance on the “inviolability of our state borders” 
during a joint news briefing with Amir-Abdollahian.
“For us, Iran has always been and remains and will continue to be a special 
partner, including in overcoming the challenges in the current difficult 
conditions,” he said.
According to another Iranian news agency, Mehr, the Armenian minister assured 
Raisi that Armenia “will never become a platform for anti-Iranian actions” and 
remains committed to deepening Armenian-Iranian ties.
Armenia’s Ruling Party Accused Of Electoral Foul Play
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a congress of his Civil 
Contract party, Yerevan, October 29, 2022.
An Armenian civic group has accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil 
Contract party and local government officials affiliated with it of abusing 
their administrative resources to facilitate the party’s victory in forthcoming 
municipal elections in Yerevan.
In an extensive investigative report released late last week, the Union of 
Informed Citizens (UIC) said that the administration of a major local community 
comprising the town of Spitak and surrounding villages is drawing up lists of 
its Yerevan-based natives promising to vote for Civil Contract and its mayoral 
candidate, Tigran Avinian, in the elections slated for September. It said the 
process is overseen by Gevorg Papoyan, the ruling party’s deputy chairman.
The accusations are based on recorded phone calls between local officials and an 
UIC activist posing as an aide to Papoyan. The audio of those conversations was 
posted on the group’s fact-checking website.
Spitak’s deputy mayor, Hovik Hovhannisian, and six village chiefs can be heard 
saying that they already have or will soon have such lists. Hovannisian says 
that he personally spoke to 30 relatives and other Spitak-born residents of 
Yerevan and that 23 of them assured him that they will vote for Pashinian’s 
party.
In his words, Spitak officials explain to such voters “just how bad thing will 
be for them” if Civil Contract loses the polls. They hope to earn the party 
1,000 votes in this way, he says, adding that Spitak Mayor Kajayr Nikoghosian is 
“100 percent” involved in the effort.
Armenia - Gevorg Papoyan.
Papoyan rejected the UIC report as slanderous and said he will file a defamation 
suit against the Western-funded organization. Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service at the weekend, the Civil Contract vice-chairman denied issuing 
election-related instructions to the authorities in Spitak or any other 
community. He said at the same time that the local officials are affiliated with 
Pashinian’s party and have a right to campaign for its election victory.
The UIC leader, Daniel Ioannisian, countered that the officials admitted 
ordering their subordinates to participate in that campaign. “If this is not a 
case of abuse of administrative resources, then what is?” he said.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General on Monday pledged to look into the 
UIC allegations after being asked by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service to comment on it. 
It is not clear why the prosecutors did not do that right after the release of 
the report.
Ioannisian noted that such election-related practices were widespread under 
Armenia’s former governments and that Pashinian for years decried them.
Pashinian and his political team claim to have eliminated electoral fraud in the 
country after coming to power in 2018. The prime minister regularly states that 
power finally “belongs to the people.”
His political opponents dispute the claim. They expressed serious concern over 
the freedom and fairness of future Armenian elections after Pashinian installed 
last October a longtime ally, Vahagn Hovakimian, as chairman of the Central 
Election Commission. Hovakimian was a senior member of Civil Contract until the 
appointment.
Opposition Lawmaker Sues Over Loss Of Parliament Post
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia - Taguhi Tovmasian speaks druring a news conference in Yerevan, October 
10, 2022.
An opposition lawmaker has asked a court in Yerevan to reinstate her as 
chairwoman of the Armenian parliament’s standing committee on human rights.
The parliament’s pro-government majority voted to oust Taguhi Tovmasian on July 
11 on the grounds that she did not attend most meetings of the parliament’s 
leadership. It also claimed that Tovmasian did not stop “hate speech” when her 
committee discussed on April 4 candidacies for the then vacant post of Armenia’s 
human rights ombudsman.
Edgar Ghazarian, the opposition candidate for the post, enraged pro-government 
deputies with his claim that the 2018 “velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian 
to power was in fact a “Turkish-Azerbaijani revolution.” They shouted abuse and 
threats at Ghazarian during the meeting chaired by Tovmasian.
Tovmasian, who is affiliated with the opposition Pativ Unem bloc, maintains that 
that she did nothing wrong on April 4. She has also argued that the 
parliamentary statutes did not require her to attend meetings of the National 
Assembly’s Council consisting of speaker Alen Simonian, his deputies as well as 
the committee chairpersons.
Tovmasian told reporters on Monday that she wants the court to invalidate her 
ouster condemned by Pativ Unem and the other parliamentary opposition force, the 
Hayastan alliance. She said it was “illegal” also because the parliament debated 
it in her absence. Tovmasian said she had notified the parliament in advance 
that she cannot attend the session because of being on sick leave.
“They can’t silence me by removing me from the post of the committee 
chairperson,” added the former journalist and newspaper editor.
Prior to her dismissal, Tovmasian was the last remaining opposition head of a 
parliament committee. Hayastan’s Ishkhan Saghatelian and Vahe Hakobian were 
ousted as deputy speaker and chairman of the parliament committee on economic 
affairs respectively in July 2022 after weeks of anti-government protests 
organized by Hayastan and Pativ Unem. Another Hayastan deputy, Armen Gevorgian, 
immediately resigned as chairman of a committee on “Eurasian integration” in 
protest.
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.

Armenia, Azerbaijan: Activist groups to protest in Yerevan and Stepanakert, July 25

Emil Lazarian

Activist groups are planning coordinated protests in Yerevan, Armenia, and Stepanakert in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) region of Azerbaijan, July 25. The demonstrations are demanding action against Azerbaijan for the alleged blockade of the road linking Armenia to the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) region. The following actions are confirmed to take place from 20:00:

  • Freedom Square in Yerevan

  • Renaissance Square in Stepanakert

The events will be linked by video conference. The demonstrations are likely to attract several thousand attendees, based on a related protest in Yerevan on July 22.

Heightened security and localized transport disruptions are likely near the protest sites. While the gatherings will probably pass peacefully, minor skirmishes between police and participants remain possible. Further related protests are likely in coming days.

Avoid the protests as a safety precaution. Allow additional time to reach destinations in central Yerevan and in Stepanakert. Heed instructions of authorities.

Azerbaijan happy with EU, unhappy with Russia

Emil Lazarian
Heydar Isayev Jul 24, 2023

Azerbaijan’s government is sounding more and more positive about the U.S.- and EU-brokered negotiations with Armenia and increasingly negative about Russia’s mediation efforts. 

Those talks are taking place on a separate track, not coordinated with the Western mediators. Russia maintains a 2,000-strong peacekeeping contingent in Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh.

The latest meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on July 15 in Brussels, mediated by European Council President Charles Michel, didn’t seem to advance the process too much, but it did introduce one new idea. 

Michel welcomed Azerbaijan’s “willingness to provide humanitarian supplies” to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, via the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam. 

The initiative was not received well by Armenians. Many interpreted it as a step toward normalizing and legitimizing Azerbaijan’s seven-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. Some residents of Askeran, an Armenian town close to Aghdam, reportedly vowed to install barriers on the Askeran-Aghdam road “in order to counter the so-called humanitarian aid predetermined by the Azerbaijani authorities.”

(Michel also “emphasized the need to open the Lachin road” connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Toivo Klaar, the EU’s special envoy to the South Caucasus, told Armenian media that the Aghdam offer is “not an alternative but a complement to the Lachin road”.)

Azerbaijanis largely welcomed the Aghdam proposal, seeing it as an opportunity to advance the integration of the Karabakh Armenians into the Azerbaijani state. 

“In case humanitarian aid will be accepted by the Armenian community, it could create a precedent (not massive) for them accepting the Azerbaijani citizenship in the near future,” political analyst Fuad Shahbaz tweeted in English. 

Vasif Huseynov, of the state-run Analysis of International Relations Center, wrote for the Jamestown Foundation that Michel’s support for the Aghdam proposal was “another affirmation of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity by the EU and Armenia – to the dismay of some ultra-nationalist groups in Armenia and on the Russian side.”

Azerbaijan’s reaction to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry on the same day, July 15, similarly highlighted its growing preference for the European track of talks.

The Russian statement opened by saying that “by recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijani territory,” Yerevan had “cardinally changed the fundamental conditions” under which the Russian-brokered cease-fire that ended the 2020 Second Karabakh War was signed.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry soon released its own statement objecting to this line: “Russian MFA commenting on and setting conditions for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in the context of the recognition of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, a country that occupied the territories of Azerbaijan for nearly 30 years, is unacceptable.”  

(Both the Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministries asserted that Armenia already recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan while in fact it has only stated its willingness to do so)

This sort of verbal sparring between Russia and Azerbaijan isn’t new since the 2020 Second Karabakh War. Azerbaijan has long accused Russia of failing to secure the withdrawal of what it calls “illegal armed Armenian groups” in Nagorno-Karabakh. (This refers to Karabakh’s armed force, the Artsakh Defense Army.)

In nearly every official utterance Azerbaijan is at pains to refer to the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh as “temporarily stationed there.” The peacekeepers’ 5-year term of deployment expires in 2025.

Russia’s war against Ukraine provided Baku with yet another platform to reproach Russia. Though Azerbaijan has never officially condemned Russia’s invasion, nor voted for UN resolutions against Russia (in accordance with a strategic partnership agreement signed two days before Russia’s invasion), Azerbaijani state media has clearly been taking the Ukrainian side. And Azerbaijan has regularly been providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. 

Baku has been taking advantage of Russia’s preoccupation with Ukraine, seizing additional territories in Nagorno-Karabakh and placing the region under blockade. 

This is widely seen as an attempt to change the situation on the ground in such a way to ensure that the peacekeepers leave Karabakh when their mandate expires. 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Azerbaijan’s strategic partner Turkey, recently threw his weight behind Azerbaijan’s demand for the Russian peacekeeper’s timely exit and expressed confidence that they would leave by 2025. 

The existing discourse and latest statements suggest that Azerbaijan is working to secure Russia’s exit from Karabakh, says Shujaat Ahmadzada, an analyst at the Topchubashov Center, a Baku-based think tank. He says Baku has two key levers it can use to make this happen. 

“First, there is a need for rapid integration into the non-Western economic space for Russia. In this direction, the intensification of trade contacts with India, the Middle East and other actors is more relevant than ever. The full realization of the North-South Corridor passing through Azerbaijan is more relevant than ever for Moscow. For Azerbaijan, the North-South Corridor is not only an economic project, but also a political lever.” Ahmadzada wrote on Facebook. 

“Second, it is important for Russia that states do not join the anti-Russian front. Azerbaijan supports Ukraine and provides humanitarian aid, but does not join the anti-Russian front. In this case, Azerbaijan’s ‘neutrality’ is more important than ever to Moscow.”

Both these things are more important to Russia than maintaining peacekeepers in Karabakh, Ahmadzada said.

Heydar Isayev is a journalist from Baku.

Azerbaijan-Armenia Peace Talks Lean West As Russia’s Role Declines

Emil Lazarian
By Eurasianet – Jul 24, 2023, 12:00 PM CDT

  • Azerbaijan is showing greater preference for EU and U.S. mediation in talks with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, and is increasingly critical of Russia’s mediation efforts.
  • The EU-brokered proposal of Azerbaijan providing humanitarian supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh was welcomed by Azerbaijanis but received negatively by Armenians who see it as normalizing Azerbaijan’s blockade of the region.
  • Analysts suggest Azerbaijan is working to secure Russia’s exit from Karabakh by leveraging its economic integration into the non-Western sphere and maintaining strategic ‘neutrality.’

Azerbaijan’s government is sounding more and more positive about the U.S.- and EU-brokered negotiations with Armenia and increasingly negative about Russia’s mediation efforts. 

Those talks are taking place on a separate track, not coordinated with the Western mediators. Russia maintains a 2,000-strong peacekeeping contingent in Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh.

The latest meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders on July 15 in Brussels, mediated by European Council President Charles Michel, didn’t seem to advance the process too much, but it did introduce one new idea. 

Michel welcomed Azerbaijan’s “willingness to provide humanitarian supplies” to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, via the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam. 

The initiative was not received well by Armenians. Many interpreted it as a step toward normalizing and legitimizing Azerbaijan’s seven-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. Some residents of Askeran, an Armenian town close to Aghdam, reportedly vowed to install barriers on the Askeran-Aghdam road “in order to counter the so-called humanitarian aid predetermined by the Azerbaijani authorities.”

(Michel also “emphasized the need to open the Lachin road” connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Toivo Klaar, the EU’s special envoy to the South Caucasus, told Armenian media that the Aghdam offer is “not an alternative but a complement to the Lachin road”.)

Azerbaijanis largely welcomed the Aghdam proposal, seeing it as an opportunity to advance the integration of the Karabakh Armenians into the Azerbaijani state. 

“In case humanitarian aid will be accepted by the Armenian community, it could create a precedent (not massive) for them accepting the Azerbaijani citizenship in the near future,” political analyst Fuad Shahbaz tweeted in English. 

Vasif Huseynov, of the state-run Analysis of International Relations Center, wrote for the Jamestown Foundation that Michel’s support for the Aghdam proposal was “another affirmation of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity by the EU and Armenia – to the dismay of some ultra-nationalist groups in Armenia and on the Russian side.”

Azerbaijan’s reaction to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry on the same day, July 15, similarly highlighted its growing preference for the European track of talks.

The Russian statement opened by saying that “by recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijani territory,” Yerevan had “cardinally changed the fundamental conditions” under which the Russian-brokered cease-fire that ended the 2020 Second Karabakh War was signed.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry soon released its own statement objecting to this line: “Russian MFA commenting on and setting conditions for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in the context of the recognition of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, a country that occupied the territories of Azerbaijan for nearly 30 years, is unacceptable.”  

(Both the Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministries asserted that Armenia already recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan while in fact it has only stated its willingness to do so)

This sort of verbal sparring between Russia and Azerbaijan isn’t new since the 2020 Second Karabakh War. Azerbaijan has long accused Russia of failing to secure the withdrawal of what it calls “illegal armed Armenian groups” in Nagorno-Karabakh. (This refers to Karabakh’s armed force, the Artsakh Defense Army.)

In nearly every official utterance Azerbaijan is at pains to refer to the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh as “temporarily stationed there.” The peacekeepers’ 5-year term of deployment expires in 2025.

Russia’s war against Ukraine provided Baku with yet another platform to reproach Russia. Though Azerbaijan has never officially condemned Russia’s invasion, nor voted for UN resolutions against Russia (in accordance with a strategic partnership agreement signed two days before Russia’s invasion), Azerbaijani state media has clearly been taking the Ukrainian side. And Azerbaijan has regularly been providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. 

Baku has been taking advantage of Russia’s preoccupation with Ukraine, seizing additional territories in Nagorno-Karabakh and placing the region under blockade. 

This is widely seen as an attempt to change the situation on the ground in such a way to ensure that the peacekeepers leave Karabakh when their mandate expires. 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Azerbaijan’s strategic partner Turkey, recently threw his weight behind Azerbaijan’s demand for the Russian peacekeeper’s timely exit and expressed confidence that they would leave by 2025. 

The existing discourse and latest statements suggest that Azerbaijan is working to secure Russia’s exit from Karabakh, says Shujaat Ahmadzada, an analyst at the Topchubashov Center, a Baku-based think tank. He says Baku has two key levers it can use to make this happen. 

“First, there is a need for rapid integration into the non-Western economic space for Russia. In this direction, the intensification of trade contacts with India, the Middle East and other actors is more relevant than ever. The full realization of the North-South Corridor passing through Azerbaijan is more relevant than ever for Moscow. For Azerbaijan, the North-South Corridor is not only an economic project, but also a political lever.” Ahmadzada wrote on Facebook. 

“Second, it is important for Russia that states do not join the anti-Russian front. Azerbaijan supports Ukraine and provides humanitarian aid, but does not join the anti-Russian front. In this case, Azerbaijan’s ‘neutrality’ is more important than ever to Moscow.”

Both these things are more important to Russia than maintaining peacekeepers in Karabakh, Ahmadzada said.

By Heydar Isayev via Eurasianet.org 

https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/Azerbaijan-Armenia-Peace-Talks-Lean-West-As-Russias-Role-Declines.html

Banks of Armenia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan stop cooperation with Russian Unistream due to US sanctions

Emil Lazarian

Ukrainska Pravda
Sat, at 5:08 PM GMT+3·1 min read

Banks of Armenia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan have stopped cooperating with the Russian Unistream payment system after the US imposed blocking sanctions against it.

Source: This is reported by Forbes.

Details: It is noted that Armenian banks, including Ardshinbank, Armeconombank and Evocabank, announced the termination of money transfers through Unistream. Bank of Georgia suspended transfers among Georgian banks.

The Russian payment system also stopped working among the Kyrgyz banks Kompanion Bank and DemirBank, Asia Alliance Bank and Aiyl Bank.

Quote: “FINCA Bank stated that it has suspended the issuance and sending of funds through Unistream in dollars and euros, while the restriction does not apply to the rouble,” the announcement reads.

It is added that on 20 July, the Unistream payment system came under US blocking sanctions.

Background:

The US State Department on Thursday announced sanctions against a number of senior Russian officials as part of an effort to hold accountable those Russians who are contributing to Russia’s illegal war.


https://news.yahoo.com/banks-armenia-georgia-kyrgyzstan-stop-140839716.html

Ilham Aliyev: "International law works selectively"

Emil Lazarian



  • JAMnews
  • Baku

Aliyev on the situation with Karabakh Armenians

The President of Azerbaijan commented on the situation between official Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh. “We still have not lost hope that the sensible part of society that lives in Khankendi and its environs will still understand the futility of such ignoring of Azerbaijan and common sense will prevail. Otherwise, I think that only the naive can count on the fact that someone will come and fight for them,” Ilham Aliyev said.

  • Azerbaijani journalists address Council of Europe on National Press Day
  • “Azerbaijan is creating a ghetto in NK” and other statements from Pashinyan interview
  • “Everyone should apologize, including members of the European Parliament” – Mayor of Tbilisi on Saakashvili

On July 21-22, the Shusha Global Media Forum was held on the topic “New Media in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution”. President Aliyev attended the opening ceremony and answered questions from journalists from different countries.

In response to a question from a Georgian journalist, the President of Azerbaijan commented on the situation in relations between official Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh:

“Unfortunately, the junta that seized power in Karabakh and which calls itself “presidents”, then “ministers”, then “deputies”, causing laughter from everyone, took hostage those who now live in the territory where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed.

We took the initiative, I appointed a special representative who was supposed to deal with representatives of the Armenians of Karabakh, and in order to establish these contacts, he was sent to Karabakh. The first meeting took place there, in the village of Khojaly, on the basis of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. After that, we invited representatives of the Armenians of Karabakh to come to Baku to continue the dialogue. But they refused, and defiantly. After some time, we invited them again, maybe there was some kind of mistake – it happens – a misfire, in order to make sure that they really either want or don’t want. And again there was a refusal. But then I said that there would be no third invitation. They don’t want to, so they don’t want to.

What happened next, you probably know well – the establishment of a border checkpoint on the state border of Azerbaijan and Armenia. If you trace the chronology of all our actions, even if you go to the beginning of the second Karabakh war, you will see the logic and very strong argumentation of your innocence. We didn’t do anything for which we would be ashamed or we would say: “Yes, we are wrong here.” We did everything right.

We gave them a chance, including to the Armenian leadership before the start of the second Karabakh war, for two years, but they did not take advantage of it. We gave them a chance at a time when the Lachin-Khankendi road was just a “passage yard” through which Armenia transported mines that were produced in Armenia in 2021. And we opened these mines, we found them. We invited representatives of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, as well as representatives of the Russian-Turkish monitoring center, which is located in Aghdam, and demonstrated and asked: “How did these mines get into Karabakh? Who brought them? And who watched? But it is impossible for us to die after the victory on our territory, because Armenia continues the terror!

So all our steps were logical, justified, legitimate, competent and sufficiently courageous. Therefore,the establishment of a border checkpoint on the border is an important stage in the post-conflict situation, which has largely changed the situation. And also the fact that these actions were fully accepted, although not immediately and not quite willingly by all the actors, but as a result were perceived as legitimate, was also a message. But how many times should we send messages, how many times can we hint? But was it not enough? And the Farrukh operation, and the situation on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in May 2021, and the situation on the border in September 2022, and the border checkpoint. Are they so clueless?

Now the issue of reintegration depends on when the Armenian residents of Karabakh will be able to get rid of these fetters, from this junta that took them hostage and exploited them as slaves. And now it is also exploiting, because when eco-activists came to the Lachin-Khankendi road, then the Armenian leadership, the so-called in Khankendi, did not allow ordinary citizens to use this road. They set up a roadblock, then accusing us of the blockade. Today they again put concrete slabs on the Aghdam-Askeran road. When we said: “Why should the products be delivered from another country? After all, Karabakh is Azerbaijan.” So right? So after all. Does everyone recognize this? Everyone recognizes. Does anyone say it’s not? No. And why should goods be delivered from another country? This is illogical. But instead of accepting this gesture, concrete blocks are placed there. So who is blocking whom? So that’s the whole point.

And today this comedy show, when they sit in a tent and protest against someone, it’s just a joke, you know. To protest against people who call themselves “presidents”, a sit-down strike – some journalists here joke: probably, the next stage will be a “lying” strike. Then I don’t know which one, but it won’t help the case. We are ready to follow the path of reintegration, respecting the rights and security of the Armenian minority in Karabakh, within the framework of our Constitution and within the framework of the good practice of how these issues are resolved in Azerbaijan as a whole.

Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state, and this is our strength. All representatives of ethnic groups who live in Azerbaijan have the same rights and obligations, the same level of security. And why some ethnic group should stand out against this background is also not entirely clear to me.

Here is our approach. We still have not lost hope that the sane part of society, which lives in Khankendi and its environs, will nevertheless understand the futility of such ignoring of Azerbaijan and common sense will prevail. Otherwise, I think that now only the naive can count on the fact that someone will come and fight for them. They had several stages when they had to understand and come to terms with the realities.

They appealed to different authorities, to different countries, starting with neighboring ones, ending with some countries that are located further away. But no one is with us on the territory of Azerbaijan instead of them, I think that in their right mind they will not fight. Therefore, they must eventually understand and accept these realities. I have already said, I was told many times by mediators during the occupation, that “the first Karabakh war ended like this, you must accept the realities.” But I did not accept them and did not accept them. But now I say again: here, accept these realities, and already changing these realities will only and only – if it happens – not to the benefit of either Armenia or the Armenian minority in Karabakh. I hope that they will hear these words and draw the right conclusion.”

“We have been dealing with this for many years. We raised our voice, calling to take into account the four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from our lands. But these resolutions are not being implemented.

And now this trend is spreading. When international law does not work, when signatures mean little, the only guarantee of peace is force,” he stressed.

Answering a question from a Russian journalist, the Azerbaijani president noted that the declaration of alliance signed in February 2022 is a stage in the development of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.

“Those small rough edges that we see in the Russian media in relation to Azerbaijan, and in the Azerbaijani media in relation to Russia, they have no influence on the policy of Azerbaijan and Russia.”

“Today there are three international actors that provide their assistance – the United States, Russia and the European Union.

And in three areas, Azerbaijan is acting in good faith and with a focus on results. But so far there are no results, because Armenia needs to take one of the last steps.

They have already taken several steps after the war, I would say that these steps were not voluntary. Over the past two and a half years, there have been several episodes that clearly showed Armenia that if our territorial integrity is not recognized, we will not recognize their territorial integrity either. And what this will mean for them is more or less clear.

They have already publicly acknowledged that Karabakh is Azerbaijan. Now they need to put their signature under the document. This is one of the last steps, but more needs to be done,” Ilham Aliyev stressed.

In the course of answering one of the many questions, Aliyev said that a trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Russian Federation would be held in Moscow in the coming days.

According to him, a peace treaty between the two countries can be signed before the end of 2023:

“If Armenia agrees to a clause where it completely refrains from any territorial claims against Azerbaijan, I think it will be really possible to sign a peace treaty by the end of this year.

If not, well, I have said many times that if they do not want to have a peace treaty with us, we cannot force them. We could not force them to comply with international law for 28 years. We have achieved this only by force. But in this case there will be no peace. In general, this is not the best scenario for the region.”

https://jam-news.net/ilham-aliyev-international-law-works-selectively/

Erdogan’s Flip: How Turkiye and Azerbaijan Became Ukraine Allies

Emil Lazarian
OPINION – 
By Taras Kuzio

Western thinking of Turkish and Azerbaijani Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev has been very wrong. Both countries are Ukraine’s strongest allies in the Greater Middle East, where Arab countries and Israel are sitting on the fence and trying to play both sides or hiding their heads in the sand. This is not the case with Turkiye and Azerbaijan.

Turkiye and Azerbaijan have a close military and political alliance drawn up after the 2020 Second Karabakh War. Both countries are critically disposed toward Russia and align with the pro-Western camp: Turkiye as a NATO member and Azerbaijan as a non-aligned country that has stayed away from Russian-led Eurasian integration projects.

Turkiye is home to millions of Crimean Tatars who moved to the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century. Their Crimean homeland was occupied by the Russian Empire in 1783 which changed its ethnic balance. Crimean Tatars, who closely follow developments in Russian-occupied Crimea, where racism, Islamophobia, and political repression is endemic, are a powerful anti-Russian lobby in Turkiye.

Iran meanwhile has become Russia’s staunchest ally in the Kremlin’s fight against the US-dominated unipolar world and its replacement by an allegedly more ‘democratic’ multipolar world. Iran is constructing a facility to build Shaheed drones in Russia, while Turkiye is building a plant to build Bayraktar drones in Ukraine.

Western governments have wrongly portrayed President Erdogan as being in bed with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, and were therefore wrong-footed by his recent steps. In the space of a week, Erdogan released Ukrainian POWs from the Spring 2022 battle for the port of Mariupol, infuriating the Kremlin because they had been released from Russian captivity on the basis that they would spend the entirety of the war in Turkiye.

But Erdogan went even further. On the eve of the recent NATO summit, Erdogan extended strong support to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO. Turkiye’s support infuriated the Kremlin who has expressed strong opposition to Ukraine joining NATO and the EU because this would definitively end any possibility of bringing the country into the Russian World.

In addition to 35 Bayraktar TB2 and 24 Mini-Bayraktar reconnaissance drones, Turkiye is sending other types of military equipment to Ukraine. Before the US announcement, Turkiye said it would supply Ukraine with cluster munitions. Turkiye sent up to 200 TRLG-230 Rokestan missiles to Ukraine that can be fired from multiple rocket launchers and have a range of 20 to 70 kilometers. Turkiye also sent 200 Kirpi mine-resistant armoured personnel carriers and 20 COBRA II 4×4 Tactical Wheeled Armoured Vehicles.

During the same week of NATO’s summit in Vilnius, Turkiye said it’s navy would escort Ukrainian grain ships through the Black Sea. Turkiye’s offer will be tested later this month after Russia refused to extend the UN-Turkish brokered grain deal beyond July 17. Turkiye’s battle of wills with Russia will impact the Kremlin’s arrogant view of the Black Sea constituting a ‘Russian lake.’

Azerbaijan’s strategic importance to Ukraine is six-fold. Firstly, Azerbaijan is the only south Caucasian state that has successfully resisted Russian control over its affairs. With three Russian military bases, Armenia is a long-time ally of Russia since the early 1990s and is a member of all Russian-led integration projects in Eurasia. Georgia has been captured by Georgian-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili who has put former President Mikhail Saakashvili, a long-time opponent of Putin, in jail on trumped up charges.

Secondly, Azerbaijan is alone in the south Caucasus in not breaking Western sanctions against Russia. Armenia and Georgia are actively involved in sanctions busting both due to high-level corruption and because the Kremlin has influence over the ruling elites of both countries.

Thirdly, Armenia and Georgia, but not Azerbaijan, are disseminating the Kremlin’s talking points justifying Russia’s so-called ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine. Georgian leaders have parroted the Kremlin’s disinformation by blaming the West for the war in Ukraine. Speaking at the GLOBSEC Bratislava security forum in May, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said ‘one of the main reasons’ behind the war in Ukraine ‘was NATO expansion … the desire of Ukraine to become a member of NATO.’ The Georgian Orthodox Church has taken the side of the Russian Orthodox Church over Ukraine receiving Orthodox autocephaly (independence). The Georgian Orthodox Church joined the Kremlin in protesting against Ukraine’s clamp down on subversion and Russian Orthodox clergy collaboration with Russian occupying forces.

Fourthly, Azerbaijan and Ukraine uphold the territorial integrity of states, which is not true of irridentist powers such as Russia and Armenia. Ukraine has given unqualified support to Karabakh constituting Azerbaijani sovereign territory. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has not supported Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory during votes on critical resolutions at the United Nations.

Fifthly, Azerbaijan’s supply of energy to the European Union, together with other countries such as the US and Norway, removes Russia’s stranglehold over energy supplies. Azerbaijan is one of the strategically important countries assisting Europe to become energy independent of revanchist Russia.

Finally, Azerbaijan provides free energy to Ukraine for humanitarian work. Since Russia’s invasion, the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR has been providing free gas and petrol to vehicles used for humanitarian missions, such as delivering aid to internally displaced people, ambulances and fire trucks. In June Azerbaijan supplied twenty tons of fuel to Ukraine free of charge as humanitarian aid, as well as water pipes, water pumps, and life jackets, in response to Russia’s terrorist destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted how Turkiye and Azerbaijan are close allies of Ukraine over a wide range of areas. As the second biggest military power in NATO, Russia is forced to take Turkiye seriously when it supplies military equipment to Ukraine and protects grain convoys sailing through the Black Sea.

Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine oppose Russian irridentism in Eurasia and Russian-led Eurasian integration projects; uphold the territorial integrity of states and Karabakh as Azerbaijani sovereign territory; and recognize the importance of European energy independence from Russia. Turkiye and Azerbaijan stand with Ukraine during votes at the UN condemning Russia’s invasion and occupation. Unlike Georgia and Armenia, Turkiye and Azerbaijan do not fan Russian disinformation about the causes of the Russian invasion.

 

Taras Kuzio is a professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. His latest book is Fascism and Genocide. Russia’s War Against Ukrainians

The views expressed in this article belong to the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/erdogans-flip-how-turkiye-and-azerbaijan-became-ukraine-allies/ 

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 21-07-23

Emil Lazarian

 17:08,

YEREVAN, 21 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 21 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.19 drams to 386.48 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.76 drams to 430.00 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 4.29 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.65 drams to 496.51 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 21.39 drams to 24554.27 drams. Silver price up by 2.14 drams to 312.81 drams.

Mirzoyan, Khovaev emphasized the need to immediately lift the blockade of Lachin Corridor

Emil Lazarian

 19:12,

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. On July 21, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received Igor Khovaev, the Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the special representative of the Russian Foreign Minister for supporting the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia, during the meeting, issues related to regional security and stability were discussed.

Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the approaches of the Armenian side regarding the establishment of comprehensive stability in the South Caucasus and key issues in the process of regulating relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The imperative to address the rights and security issues of the people of Nagorno Karabakh under the international mechanism was emphasized.

The interlocutors thoroughly discussed the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted by the illegal blocking of the Lachin Corridor. The need for Azerbaijan to immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, according to the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020 and the rulings of the UN International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6.