The agricultural sector of Artsakh has suffered heavy losses as a result of the hostilities in autumn 2020. Most of the cultivated lands have fallen under the control of Azerbaijan, the Artsakh Public TV said on Tuesday.
Those in charge of the agriculture sector are also concerned about the future use of border lands. The registration of the arable lands has started in Askeran region, the Public TV added.
11:37,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has sent a congratulatory letter to President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping on the Chinese New Year – the Spring Festival, the Armenian President’s Office told Armenpress.
In his congratulatory letter President Sarkissian said Armenia highly values the stable and consistent development of the traditional friendly relations and cooperation with China. He wished good luck and success to the Chinese President, and peace and welfare to the good people of China.
On behalf of himself and his wife Nouneh Sarkissian, the Armenian President thanked Xi Jinping and his wife for their words of support directed to their recovery.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
“Turkey has always cited the so-called occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) as an excuse to keep the border closed. I believe it’s what the foreign minister meant," pro-government lawmaker Hovhannes Igityan told reporters at the National Assembly on Thursday, commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian’s statement said Turkey has no reason to keep its border with Armenia closed any longer since the status quo in Karabakh has changed as a result of the use of force.
According to the My Step MP, however, the closure of the Armenian-Turkish border is not linked exclusively with the Artsakh war and relations between Armenia and Turkey are “far from being friendly.”
"It will take a long time; there must be changes in Turkey so that we can treat it simply as a country. There is no appropriate atmosphere in Turkey today, as the statements made there are quite disturbing, I would say racist. As for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, it is a fact that has been acknowledged by many countries. We do not ask Turkey to recognize the Genocide, when the country comes to the realization and faces great pressure, Turkey will recognize it," Igityan noted.
YEREVAN. – It should be noted that the holding of early parliamentary elections by the parliamentary opposition did not receive a positive response. Lilit Makunts, the head of the majority My Step faction, said this Monday in the National Assembly of Armenia, in a conversation with reporters.
"We will continue the work for the implementation of the roadmap, and when summing up, we then will return to the need for early elections," Makunts said.
To the remark that there are opinions that the ruling force was afraid of these elections and therefore was backing away from that idea, the leader of My Step faction said that their statements were not made in the context of fear. "Because the proposal to hold snap [parliamentary] elections was voiced by us," Makunts said.
And to a reporter's question as to the veracity of the information that polls were conducted and as a result, the ruling force decided not to go for these elections, Lilit Makunts said: "There are various sociological polls at various stages; moreover, by many different organizations, which I am sure send their polls not only to us, but also to the opposition."
15:42, 3 February, 2021
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. Russia will resume regular flights with Armenia starting from February 15, the Russian government said, reports TASS.
There will be four flights a week between Moscow and Yerevan according to the respective decision.
In March 2020 Russia suspended all foreign commercial passenger transportations due to COVID-19.
“I Am Travelling Without COVID-19” pilot project has launched between Armenia and Russian from February 1, 2021, which allows the citizens of Armenia to travel to Russia if they have a COVID-19 negative test result passed 72 hours ago.
Russia also resumes air communication with Azerbaijan (two flights a week between Moscow and Baku).
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The Azerbaijani government has denied accounts, first published on January 8 in Haqqin.az but subsequently deleted, of three Turkish military bases allegedly being established in Azerbaijan as a consequence of Turkish military assistance to Baku during last year’s 44-day Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. The reports, if accurate, would represent a significant development in the geostrategic balance of power in the post-Soviet Caucasus (Lenta, January 8).
The official denials came swiftly: in response to the reports, the press service spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense, Vagif Dargahli, told journalists that the government adheres to its policy of not hosting any foreign military bases in Azerbaijan, except for cases envisaged in international agreements that Baku had signed (Minval.az, January 8). Further bolstering his case for dismissing the allegations, Dargahli added, “It should be noted that Azerbaijan is a member of the [120-nation] Non-Aligned Movement and is chairing this movement in 2019–2022” (RIA Novosti, January 8). Also on the same day that the media reports appeared, the Azerbaijani defense ministry issued an official disavowal on its Facebook page in Azerbaijani, Russian and English (Facebook.com/wwwmodgovaz, January 8).
What is not in dispute is the notable Turkish military assistance to Azerbaijan following the latter’s recent military confrontation with Armenia. According to FlightRadar-24, beginning last December, Turkish military aviation established an aerial logistical bridge to Gabala, Lankaran and Ganja, in Azerbaijan (Moskovsky Komsomolets, January 11). Moreover, on January 6, the Azerbaijani Telegram channel “Zamanaze” reported that up to seven Turkish military cargo aircraft arrived in Azerbaijan that day alone (T.me/zamanaze, January 6). On January 8, it published maps and details of the flights, documenting that, the previous day, five Turkish military cargo planes landed in Azerbaijan, several of them in Lankaran (T.me/zamanaze, January 8). Within hours, an Armenian Telegram channel, “Armenia_VVV,” alleged that after up to 13 Turkish military cargo planes arrived in Azerbaijan from Turkey during January 6–8, Turkish military bases were consequently to be established in Azerbaijan near its western town of Ganja, northern town of Qabala and the southern town of Lankaran (T.me/armenia_vvv/11564, T.me/nashasredaonline, January 8). Russian media outlets report that the Turkish military presence in Azerbaijan is currently made up of approximately 600 advisors and instructors, including around 120 Air Force specialists scattered among the Gabala airbase as well as airfields in Ganja, Yevlakh and Dallar, (Svobodnaya Pressa, January 18).
By 1993, after five years of war with its eastern neighbor, Armenia controlled approximately 3,088 square miles (8,000 square kilometers) of Azerbaijani territory, including the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and surrounding areas—roughly 20 percent of Azerbaijan (The Daily Sabah, August 21, 2020). Azerbaijani-Armenian relations subsequently sank into a post-Soviet “frozen conflict.” And for the last three decades, it has been one of the Azerbaijani government’s highest priorities to reclaim those lost territories under Armenian occupation even as Armenia was equally determined to retain its military gains. Baku finally achieved most of its objective during the September 29–November 9, 2020, Second Karabakh War—in no small part thanks to the support it received from its closest ally, Ankara.
The growing Turkish assistance to Azerbaijan can be seen in light of a phenomenon increasingly commented upon in both the Turkish and international press: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasing “neo-Ottoman” political inclinations toward Turkic nations in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This ostensible restoration of Ottoman-like influence is encapsulated in the title of an article, published at the height of the Armenian-Azerbaijani clash last year, by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency entitled, “Turkish Soldiers Are in Azerbaijan Again After 102 Years” (Anadolu Agency, November 19, 2020).
The Turkish military initiatives assisting Azerbaijan have produced a seemingly inevitable Russian pushback, as Armenia remains its closest ally in the South Caucasus. In the wake of the Karabakh war, not only is Russia sending peacekeepers to the region, but Armenian media reports that it is also preparing to reopen Stepanakert Airport (Public Radio of Armenia, December 28, 2020). The Karabakh region’s capital of Stepanakert (Khankendi in Azerbaijani) lies in a rump section of Karabakh that is still under de facto Armenian control, but safeguarded in its continued existence by Russian peacekeepers (see EDM, December 10, 2020).
In the wake of Azerbaijan’s recent battlefield successes, burgeoning Azerbaijani-Turkish military cooperation continues to deepen. On January 17, 2021, Turkey’s Ministry of Defense announced that the joint Turkish-Azerbaijani “Zima” (“Winter”) military exercise would be held on February 1–12, and that participating service members from the neighboring allied country have already left for Kars. The choice of this Turkish town as the venue for the exercise was seen as a provocative action in Yerevan and Moscow. Kars sits near the border with Armenia, and up until World War I, its population was heavily Armenian (Sputnik News— Azerbaijani service, January 17). The Zima drills will focus on the operational capabilities of the two countries’ weapons and military equipment in harsh winter weather conditions. Previous large-scale bilateral tactical and tactical flight exercises by Turkey and Azerbaijan were held in August 2020, about a month before the outbreak of the Second Karabakh War (Sputnik-georgia.ru, January 18).
Up until a few years ago, Turkey did not possess military bases outside its territory beyond those in the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), established in 1974. Any potential future facilities on Azerbaijani soil, accordingly, would join Turkey’s recent overseas military base acquisitions in Somalia, Qatar, Iraq and Syria. Nor has Azerbaijan limited its potential for foreign military contacts to the alliance with Turkey: on January 22, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Baku, James Sharp, declared that his country was greatly interested in developing military contacts with Azerbaijan, stressing, as an initial step, British assistance in de-mining the liberated Azerbaijani territories (Trend, January 22). Much to the Kremlin’s chagrin, not one but two members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are now vying for closer military-military relations with a strategically important South Caucasus country.
The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commented on the resolution adopted by the Australian State of South Australia. The comment reads as follows:
“The process of international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh at the level of administrative-territorial units of different foreign countries continues. The latest achievement in this process has been the adoption of a resolution recognizing the Republic of Artsakh and supporting the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination by the legislature of the Australian State of South Australia.
We consider it important that the resolution condemns the Turkish-Azerbaijani armed aggression launched against the Republic of Artsakh on September 27, 2020, the policy of hatred against Armenians pursued by the Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities and the consistent destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage in the occupied territories of Artsakh, as well as calls upon the federal authorities of Australia to recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh.
We are convinced that the international recognition of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh is of key importance towards creating the necessary conditions for its people to live freely, safely, and decently in its homeland. It will also be an additional impetus for a just and lasting settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict, which should be based on the recognition of the right to self-determination exercised by the people of Artsakh and the cessation of the occupation of the territories of the Republic of Artsakh.
We express our gratitude to all those who made a decisive contribution to the adoption of this resolution and appreciate the resolute stance of the legislature of the State of South Australia, which affirms its commitment to the ideas of human rights, freedom and justice.”
17:35, 2 February, 2021
YEREVAN, 2 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 2 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.32 drams to 519.20 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.96 drams to 626.52 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.03 drams to 6.84 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.64 drams to 710.63 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 4.98 drams to 31097.6 drams. Silver price up by 36.50 drams to 493.85 drams. Platinum price up by 144.96 drams to 18662.4 drams.
MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has no information on the return of militants from the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Syria, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas said at a TASS-hosted press conference on Tuesday.
"We have information that militants from Syria were active in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. We viewed it as a threat to our countries and our bloc. It’s hard for me to say where the militants are now and if they are still there," Zas pointed out.
According to him, Russian peacekeepers, Armenia and Azerbaijani forces are in control of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. "We believe that all mercenaries and Syrian militants should leave the region because the presence of militant groups in close proximity to our borders poses a threat to our collective security," the CSTO secretary general emphasized.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif has arrived in Yerevan for political talks with the Armenian officials.
Foreign Minister Zarif travelled to Armenia on Wednesday in the third leg of a tour of the Caucasus that took him earlier to the Republic of Azerbaijan and Russia.
Speaking to reporters upon arrival in Yerevan, the top Iranian diplomat hailed Armenia as “an old neighbour and friend of the Islamic Republic”.
Foreign Minister Zarif said he has held negotiations about “multilateral cooperation” during his stays in Baku and Moscow, considering the significance of the issue after a January 11 summit among Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
“The ground is prepared for cooperation among the regional countries, particularly in the economic sphere. Such cooperation could entail long-term peace and stability,” he added.
On his schedule in Yerevan, Foreign Minister Zarif said he is going to hold talks with Prime Minister Pashinyan and with his Armenian counterpart about “the bilateral relations between Iran and Armenia, and the multilateral cooperation in the region.”