21:29, 9 February, 2021
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS. Another 5 Armenian POWs returned from Baku. Mane Gevorgyan, the press secretary to the Prime Minister of Armenia, told ARMENPRESS that they POWs returned by the mediation of the Russian side.
The airplane carrying the POWs has landed at Yerevan’s Erebuni airplane.
Congressmen Jackie Speier and Adam Schiff have called on US President Joe Biden to break the silence over Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and put an end to US military aid to Azerbaijan.
“Following years of tension, sporadic violence over the region’s status, and the Azerbaijani government’s frequent threats of military force and ethnic cleansing, Azerbaijan, with the assistance of Turkey, launched a full-scale assault with devastating consequences. Over the course of a brutal six-week war, sophisticated drones targeted Armenian soldiers from the air, mercenaries sent by Turkey fortified Azeri ground forces, and Azerbaijan overran Armenian defenses. After violating three internationally negotiated ceasefires, Azerbaijan’s forces advanced to within miles of the capital city of Stepanakert before a Russian-brokered agreement ended the fighting,” the Congressmen’s article in San Francisco Chronicle reads.
“Sadly, as this devastating outcome played out, the United States made only a half-hearted and ineffectual effort to end the fighting and ceded the primary leadership role to others. Russia stepped into the void. It will now be up to the Biden administration to unwind this disastrous outcome,” Speier and Schiff said.
“Biden has signaled he will focus on restoring the United States as a force for democracy and human rights around the world. This conflict and its aftermath represent an opportunity to do just that. It pits a democratic Armenia and Artsakh against autocratic regimes in Baku and Ankara who abuse human rights, imprison reporters and dissidents, and crush dissent. We must lead with our values instead of perpetuating a transactional foreign policy that looks the other way as Azerbaijan invades its neighbors and commits human-rights violations at home and abroad,” they added.
The two Congressmen have outlined the US government’s actions in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh and have referred to the urgent need for the US to make itself heard through diplomacy again.
“The OSCE Minsk Group, consisting of the United States, Russia, and France, was established in 1992 as the forum for diplomatic resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status. We must reinvigorate and reengage with the Minsk Group process and seize the opportunity to secure the release of over 150 Armenian prisoners of war still held by Azerbaijan, demand the protection of historic Christian churches and cultural landmarks throughout Nagorno-Karabakh, and seek accountability for apparent war crimes against Armenian civilians and soldiers. We must also provide additional humanitarian assistance to the tens of thousands of displaced people who have fled for fear of their lives.
Second, we must end our silence on Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s regional aggression and halt military aid to Azerbaijan, which has totaled over $100 million in the past two years. A country that shatters international norms to threaten and invade its neighbor is not one that U.S. taxpayers should be aiding and abetting.
We must also reassess our relationship with Turkey, which has always been complex, but has become increasingly untenable as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has amassed autocratic powers while undermining U.S. interests. In addition to encouraging, arming, and supplying Syrian mercenaries to wage war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey’s actions in Syria have set back U.S. interests and endangered our forces. Turkey even recently tested a new Russian anti-aircraft system that could weaken NATO’s military advantage over Russia, despite our strong objections and threat of sanctions,” they stated.
Speier and Schiff also recalled the adoption of the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the prevailing majority of Congress and declared that “President Biden can make a strong and early endorsement of human rights by recognizing the Armenian Genocide in April.”
“The Armenian Genocide’s wounds can never heal, but they are particularly painful at a time when Armenians once again face threats of ethnic cleansing, as both Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev echo the genocidal language of a century ago. Presidential recognition of the Armenian Genocide will reverberate across the world, making clear that America stands for human rights and against denial. As the values of human rights, democracy and freedom increasingly come under assault by autocrats, America’s leadership is needed more than ever. Our allies and adversaries are watching closely,” the Congressmen concluded.
YEREVAN. – One of the—now former—residents of Artsakh’s (Nagorno-Karabakh) Kashatagh region protesting in front of the main building of the government of Armenia tore the banner—quoting Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan’s statement about Artsakh’s Shushi—in the hands of reporter Lia Sargsyan.
Subsequently, this demonstrator started chanting, “Nikol, Nikol.”
To note, at Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan on Thursday, in response to this reporter’s remarks that, “You said that Shushi is an Azerbaijani city,” PM Pashinyan had countered by saying: “You personally shall bring my quote on paper that I said, ‘Shushi is Azerbaijani,’ and I will respond to you live.”
And the reporter on Friday brought Pashinyan’s respective quote in writing—and on a banner—to outside the aforesaid government building. “Among the citizens carrying out the [protest] action there were Nikol Pashinyan’s supporters, who forcibly snatched the banner from my hand and tore [it]. The situation is quite frightening, this situation is intolerable. Yes, I can ask that question to the Prime Minister again, at any occasion. I want the citizen of the Republic of Armenia to know whether our prime minister considers Shushi Armenian or Azerbaijani,” the reporter said.
10:35,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan visited on January 28 the Yerablur Military Pantheon on the occasion of the Army Day to pay tribute to the memory of soldiers fallen for the independence of the Homeland, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.
The PM was accompanied by Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan and members of the Security Council.
Pashinyan laid flowers at the tombs of the Artsakh War heroes, Commanders Vazgen Sargsyan and Andranik Ozanyan and a wreath at the memorial dedicated to the fallen war volunteers.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Under the November 9–10, 2020 armistice declaration, Russia’s “peacekeeping” mission in Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh is limited to 1,960 motor-rifle troops with light weapons and armored personnel carriers (see EDM, November 12, 13, 2020). According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his end-of-year Q&A session with the public, any further inputs into this Russian mission would have to be approved by both Azerbaijan and Armenia (Kremlin.ru, December 18, 2020).
Nevertheless, Russia has unilaterally augmented its military and quasi-military presence in Upper Karabakh, above and beyond the armistice agreement’s limitations. It looks like a case of mission creep, albeit of the planned variety rather than a spontaneous one.
Although the agreement mentions neither helicopters nor unmanned aerial vehicles, the Russian mission received eight helicopters (four transport and four strike helicopters) before the ink had dried on that agreement (Interfax, November 12, 2020); and shortly thereafter, the mission received Orlan-10 reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (TASS, December 2, 2020, ). Although such additions are reasonable in any peacekeeping mission (once the mission is accepted), they also illustrate Russia’s ways of ignoring or stretching agreements after signing them.
Some of the Russian troops take time off from their statutory peacekeeping duties in order to perform combat exercises with live fire (Armenpress, December 30, 2020), an activity not foreseen in the armistice agreement either. No information is available in the public domain about the Russian troops‘ rules of engagement in hypothetical combat situations.
Russian troops also escort search-and-rescue teams from Yerevan and Stepanakert looking for their soldiers killed or missing in action in Azerbaijani-controlled territory. Those casualty figures are high and still far from fully accounted. The Russians mediate between the Armenian and the Azerbaijani sides to facilitate those search operations.
Apart from the designated peacekeepers and beyond their number, Russian defense ministry personnel are engaged in de-mining and unexploded ordnance disposal. Russian military police personnel and representatives of Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office are also deployed (ARKA, January 13; Arminfo, January 15).
For the first time in the history of Russia‘s “peacekeeping” missions, its military personnel has taken charge of civil affairs in this theater of operation. The Interdepartmental Center for Humanitarian Response in “Nagorno” Karabakh, created by President Putin’s decree, operates the main camp in Stepanakert and branch extensions in other localities. It is engaged in post-conflict reconstruction, infrastructure maintenance, distribution of humanitarian assistance and provision of medical care to the local population (two field hospitals and ambulatory care). The Defense Ministry is in overall charge of the Center. The Center’s personnel come largely from Russia’s ministry for emergency situations, a fully militarized institution. Russia’s Federal Security Service and some civilian departments also contribute personnel to this Center. The Center is instructed to work closely with Russia’s “peacekeeping” troops (see EDM, December 8, December 10, 2020; Mil.ru, January 2021).
The personnel numbers of the Humanitarian Response Center and other Russian military and militarized personnel, other than the designated peacekeepers, have yet to be publicly disclosed. The aggregate numbers evidently exceed the 1,960 designated peacekeepers that the armistice agreement allows. It seems that Russia is digging in for a long time to come into this territory. Although Russia officially recognizes Azerbaijan’s legal sovereignty there, its representatives work with the unrecognized Karabakh “republic’s” de facto authorities, contributing both indirectly and directly to their consolidation.
The 44-day war caused a stampede of Karabakh Armenian refugees into Armenia. Their overwhelming majority came from Karabakh’s territory that remained under Armenian control throughout the war, whereas the territory that Azerbaijan succeeded in regaining had held a small share of pre-war “Nagorno” Karabakh’s population. Following the November 10 ceasefire, the government in Yerevan and Russia’s “peacekeeping” force have worked together to repatriate those refugees to Karabakh.
Between November 14, 2020, and January 21, Russian troops escorted—by their own count—50,390 refugees back to the Armenian-controlled territory in Karabakh (Mil.ru, January 22). This number represents slightly more than one-half the total number of war refugees from Karabakh to Armenia. The authorities in Yerevan and Stepanakert have assessed the total number of Karabakh refugees to Armenia at 93,300—an estimate with a 2–3 percent margin of error (News.am, January 18). That high number, however, may well have included Karabakh Armenians, who had moved to Armenia prior to the 44-day war.
Holding the Karabakh “republic’s“ population firmly in its place, attached as it were to the ground, is a top-priority political objective for Yerevan and Stepanakert, as well as a shared Russian interest. Yerevan and Stepanakert had tried hard over the years to discourage Karabakh Armenians from moving permanently to Armenia, let alone abroad to Russia or elsewhere. Notwithstanding Karabakh’s harsh living conditions, keeping a substantial Armenian population there—the demographic argument—is central to the Armenian case for a political solution based on ethnicity. From Russia’s standpoint, protection of the Karabakh Armenians has turned into a rationale or alibi for Russia’s military presence in the territory.
That is why the Russian “passportization” of Karabakh Armenians (on the tried-and-tested model of Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or Donbas) poses a unique dilemma in the case of Karabakh. While such “passportization” could provide Russia with the pretext for a permanent military presence, and even for using force to “protect Russian citizens,” it could also open the doors for Karabakh Armenians to migrate to Russia. This is something that Moscow, Yerevan and Stepanakert would all want to avoid. Moreover, for now and some time to come, Moscow will have to take Baku’s interests seriously into account.
The Prosecutor General’s Office did not participate in the discussions on returning second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s passport, his legal team said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement reads:
“After hearing the motions of second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s attorneys, the prosecutors expressed their position, not agreeing with them and bringing their arguments.
During the speech of prosecutor Gevorg Baghdasaryan, an incident took place at the court between the lawyers of second President Robert Kocharyan and Baghdasaryan. The tensions grew when Robert Kocharyan hinted that one of the people who handed over Shushi was Gevorg Baghdasaryan. A break was announced to stop the dispute, after which the judge reprimanded the participants in the dispute.
Robert Kocharyan clarified what he meant by hinting at handing over Shushi. “When they have been attempting for 2.5 years to try the liberators of Shushi, Kelbajar and others, it has directly contributed to all that happened two months ago, it has directly contributed by discrediting the army, discrediting 3 colonel-generals. And in general, there is a saying that if a nation does not honor its heroes, it is left without heroes. That’s all I meant.
“And if people helped the officials who were directly responsible for all of it – land losses, casualties, missing people – willy-nilly, deliberately or not thinking about the consequences, they factually contribute to it. This is my conviction, which I will express everywhere, including at this court hearing,” Kocharyan said.
“I am accused of declaring a state of emergency for 20 days and imposing certain restrictions. We have been living in a state of emergency or martial law for nearly a year. It has been 2.5 months since the war ended, but the martial law remains in force. Do prosecutors have anything to do here or not? Do you consider this normal?
“For whom is the martial law being maintained? With the martial law in place, the Azeris come to Shurnukh and force people out of their homes, and only the village head and a handful of his fellow villagers are defending the border. The main function of the state is to defend the state borders and to ensure the security of its citizens. But who does this? Was the constitutional order overthrown then or on 1 March 2008?” Kocharyan announced.
Following Prosecutor Baghdasaryan’s position, defense lawyer Hovhannes Khudoyan partially withdrew his motion for recusal, as the prosecutor stated that he did not know how Kocharyan’s passport had been returned to him.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has not participated in the discussions on it and has no information to object or not to object to it,” Baghdasaryan said.
The court finished hearing the motions and went to the deliberation room. The ruling will be issued on January 22, at 1pm.”
Specialists of the International Mine Action Center of the Russian Defense Ministry continue to work on demining the territory of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
In the course of demining and clearing of the outskirts of the town of Martakert, Russian peacekeepers are using modern robotic systems “Uran-6” and dog mine detection services that ensure the safety of military personnel while performing hazardous works and to maintain a high pace cleaning of terrain in all weather conditions, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Since November 23, 2020, during the operation, engineering units of the Russian peacekeeping forces have cleared about 551 hectares of territory, 205.3 km of roads, 783 houses, including 25 socially significant objects, and detected and neutralized more than 23.7 thousand explosive objects.
Discovered explosive objects and unexploded ammunition are removed and destroyed at a specially equipped landfill. Ammunition that cannot be evacuated is destroyed on the spot with all necessary safety measures provided during blasting operations.
With the assistance of Russian peacekeepers, the restoration of vital engineering communications continues in the areas affected by the war.
10:56,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. 90 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 164,676, the ministry of healthcare said today.
292 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 153,064.
6 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 2998.
842 tests were conducted in the past one day.
The number of active cases is 7885.
The number of patients who had coronavirus but died from other disease has reached 729.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
11:09,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has released a new report, stating that “information derived from interrogation of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan can neither be used as evidence, nor can serve against them as a basis for their criminal prosecution”.
“A new very valuable report!!! With concrete examples!
The report places particular emphasis on the Armenian POWs’ interrogation in Azerbaijan, concluding that the information provided by the Armenian prisoners can not serve as a basis for criminal prosecution against them, nor could it have any probative value in international organizations and venues.
In particular, the special report presents the atrocities of the Azerbaijani armed forces, which among other things, were accompanied by torture, indignation and humiliation of the Armenian prisoners.
These facts are based on the evidence and analysis provided in the report, which once again confirms the use of methods prohibited by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the Armenian prisoners in accordance with strict international standards. The report’s assessments are also based on the ombudsman’s own fact-finding work.
In addition, international requirements for the treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, their interrogation, legal standards, objective evidence and other materials were examined.
The ombudsman will send the special report to international organizations, including to the European Court of Human Rights.
I express sincere appreciation to Ms. Siranush Sahakyan for her important assistance and valuable contribution to composition of the report and analysis of evidence.
Here is the link of the report: ”, Ombudsman Tatoyan said in a statement on Facebook.