Author: Emil Lazarian

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that there was a pause in the Armenian-Turkish normalization process.

Speaking at a joint news conference with his Austrian counterpart in Vienna on July 18, Ararat Mirzoyan voiced opinion that this pause is due to the electoral campaign and elections in Turkey.  

“Now it is time to continue the talks on the normalization, and there are very concrete steps that already can be implemented by both sides to make sure that we are on the right track and the things are moving towards the final, comprehensive and holistic normalization of relations, opening the border between the two countries and establishing diplomatic relations. And here, of course, I primarily speak about opening the border between Armenia and Turkey for third country nationals, but also Armenian and Turkish nationals with diplomatic passports, and there are some other projects which are being discussed as well,” Mirzoyan said.

 16:25,

YEREVAN, 18 JULY, ARMENPRESS: For the first time in decades, a US Navy nuclear-armed submarine has arrived in the port of Busan, South Korea, Kurt Campbell, coordinator for the Indo-Pacific at the US National Security Council, told reporters at a briefing in Seoul․

He noted that the move was intended to demonstrate Washington’s commitment to agreements with Seoul regarding extended Korean deterrence.

Campbell participated in the first session of the Korea-US nuclear planning advisory group in Seoul. The parties discussed intelligence sharing on North Korea and the topic of nuclear deterrence.

The President of the United States Joe Biden and the President of Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, adopted the Washington Declaration in April, which listed a number of steps to upgrade extended deterrence. Within its framework, regular visits of American nuclear ballistic missile submarine, aircraft carriers to the Republic of Korea, as well as flights of American bomber aircrafts are planned.

On June 16, an American nuclear submarine armed with “Tomahawk” cruise missiles arrived at the port of Busan.

US and South Korean navies have conducted special operations training exercises.

 09:16,

YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. The Armenia-United States military cooperation has a history of many years and isn’t a new thing in principle, and taking into account Defense Minister Suren Papikyan’s recent visit to France, it is obvious that Yerevan seeks to obtain guarantees from its Western partners regarding both its security system and deepening the cooperation and finding alternative options in the defense area in order to withstand existing challenges, according to military-political analyst Davit Harutyunov.

Harutyunov spoke to ARMENPRESS on the cooperation between Armenia and the United States in the defense area.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, First Deputy Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan visited Washington D.C., on July 17-18 and participated in the conference dedicated to the U.S. National Guard State Partnership Program’s 30th Anniversary.
Throughout the event, meetings were held with the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Daniel R. Hokanson, the Director for Strategy, Plans and Policy, United States European Command, Major General Daniel Lasica, and the Adjutant General, Commander of Kansas National Guard, Brigadier General Michael T. Venerdi.
During the meetings, the current status and prospects for the development of the Armenia-Kansas partnership within the framework of the program and a number of issues related to bilateral cooperation with the United States were discussed.

“It’s clear what Armenia seeks, because our security system is experiencing a certain crisis in terms of external guarantees due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and Russia’s preoccupation with it. Nonetheless, cooperation with the United States is still limited due to objective reasons.  In general, it’s a difficult process, and thus far no guarantees that the West could provide are visible. This is more about a diversified cooperation and not a fundamental change of Armenia’s security system,” Harutyunov said.

According to the analyst, the cooperation basically relates to the modification of the security system, encompassing the working experience of the past 20-30 years. Despite the West’s increasing weight in the recent period, Armenia still doesn’t have the necessary resources for any fundamental changes, Harutyunov said.

“The United States clearly understands that Armenia is closely integrated with the CSTO and has more comprehensive ties with Russia in the security field, therefore changing something at once would be simply impossible. But on the other hand this is a secondary circumstance, because some of the other CSTO members are rather effectively cooperating with the United States itself, and being a member of the CSTO isn’t a disruptive factor at all. Nevertheless, South Caucasus isn’t a priority region for the United States, and Washington doesn’t view South Caucasian countries to be a constituent part of its security system,” he added.

Some believe that closer integration with the West could open a new front against Russia in our region, Harutyunov noted.

Furthermore, Harutyunov said that integration would require huge resources which are now scarce because of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and noted other factors such as East Asia and China. Moreover, closer cooperation with Armenia could cause Turkey’s discontent because Turkey is in a higher position than Armenia for the United States.

“In our case, changing the security system and the military arsenal would definitely imply rather serious resources and funds. In a best case scenario, we could speak about buying limited, individual elements of Western production and integrating them into our system, just like in the case of Indian-made armaments. Theoretically, the American side could provide us with a variety of armaments, but that equipment is very expensive. We don’t have the necessary resources for acquiring the kind of systems they have. And after all, the American military industrial complex is first of all supporting its allies,” Harutyunov said.

The analyst explained that the Armenian-American military cooperation is generally developing within the framework of the programs as part of NATO, as well as in the context of structural reforms in the Armenian Ministry of Defense, trainings of specialists, partnership between the two militaries, as well as involvement in peacekeeping missions.

Interview by Manvel Margaryan

 11:26,

YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. Crimean authorities have shut down a major highway and ordered the evacuation of four settlements in the immediate vicinity of an ammunition depot in the east of the peninsula, which “caught fire” on Wednesday morning, RT reports.

Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov announced the plan to “temporarily evacuate residents of four settlements” at around 7:15am local time, shortly after announcing that a segment of the Tavrida highway was closed due to major blaze at a nearby military range.

Later in the day he reported that the evacuation order affected some 2,200 people, who will be provided all necessary assistance. Nobody was hurt in the incident, the official added.

The cause of the incident has yet to be officially confirmed, but several popular Telegram channels have shared videos purportedly showing the fire.

The incident comes a day after the Russian military reportedly intercepted at least 28 Ukrainian drones targeting multiple locations across the peninsula.

On Monday, Kiev used two unmanned maritime surface drones to strike the Crimean Bridge.

 11:11,

YEREVAN, 17 JULY, ARMENPRESS: On July 12, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), after examining the request of the Armenian government to apply interim measures against Azerbaijan regarding the unblocking of the Lachin Corridor, decided to reaffirm the decision made on December 21, 2022, the Office of the Representative on International Legal Matters said in a statement on July 17.

The December 21 ruling ordered Azerbaijan to ‘take all measures’ to ensure safe passage through the “Lachin Corridor” of seriously ill persons in need of medical treatment in Armenia and others who were stranded on the road without shelter or means of subsistence.

With this decision, the European Court of Human Rights reaffirmed the need of implementing the decision made of December 21, 2022 in the current situation, and it must be implemented by Azerbaijan.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.