Author: Hambardsumian Paul

France inducts Resistance hero Manouchian into Panthéon

Hambardsumian Paul
Feb 21 2024

French President Emmanuel Macron led a ceremony Wednesday honouring Missak Manouchian, a stateless poet of Armenian origin who died fighting the Nazi occupation during World War II. Manouchian becomes the first foreign Resistance fighter to enter France's Panthéon mausoleum for national heroes.

The belated honour to Missak Manouchian has been seen as long overdue recognition of the bravery of foreign communists – many Jewish – who fought the Nazis alongside French Resistants.

"Jewish, Hungarian, Polish, Armenians, communists, they gave their lives for our country," President Emmanuel Macron said this weekend.

"It's a way of ensuring all forms of internal Resistance enter (the Panthéon), including some too long forgotten," he told communist newspaper L'Humanite.

The bodies of Manouchian and his wife Mélinée, also a member of the Resistance, will be transferred from the Parisian cemetery where they were buried together to the Panthéon.

The names of 23 of his communist comrades-in-arms – including Polish, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish and Romanian fighters – will be added to a commemorative plaque inside the monument.

Baker – the first black woman to receive the honour – had been awarded French nationality before the war.

Last year the president said Manouchian would receive the honour too, paying tribute to his "bravery" and "quiet heroism".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)


Armenian community of Jerusalem initiates legal action to protect the historic Cows’ Garden

Hambardsumian Paul
 Guest Contributor Diaspora 0

JERUSALEM—On February 18, the Armenian community of the historic Armenian Quarter officially filed a lawsuit to invalidate the lease between the Armenian Patriarchate and Xana Capital.

The community’s legal action asserts that the property is held in trust specifically for the benefit of the Armenian community pursuant to a waqf trust established more than 400 years ago. Under the waqf trust, which is legally enforceable, the property cannot be leased or sold by the Patriarchate if the transaction does not inure to the direct benefit of the Armenian community and if the transaction is not consented to by the Armenian community. Here, the transaction has neither been consented to by the Armenian community nor does it inure to the benefit of the Armenian community.

The Armenian community’s position aligns squarely with the stance of the Saint James Brotherhood. In 2021, 17 members of the Brotherhood, a majority of the members of the supreme body of the Patriarchate, issued a statement publicly opposing the deal and declaring that the Patriarch lacked the requisite authority and conditions to execute the purported agreement. As such, the Armenian community’s legal case underlines the Patriarchate’s lack of authority to enter into this specific deal.

The community’s lawsuit gives necessary legal voice and crucial legal strength to the objective of canceling the purported agreement and protecting the land – a goal the Armenian community, the Armenian Patriarchate and the global Armenian diaspora share. The Armenian community has specific rights that must be raised and protected by the Armenian community itself. This land holds immense historical and cultural significance, symbolizing the community’s and the Patriarchate’s enduring presence in the region, and the community is committed to preserving the integrity of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem and protecting itself from the existential threat posed by this purported deal with Xana Capital.

Since the community learned of the illegal lease, community members had weekly demonstrations to vocalize their stance against the deal. The community has remained on the ground for over 100 days, camping in tents 24/7 to defend against physical threats and attacks on the land. The community understands that its very survival hinges on protecting this land. It now presses forward to enforce its historic rights on the land itself and to confirm the invalidity of the lease in the District Court of Jerusalem. Importantly, the community’s lawsuit bolsters the Patriarchate’s existing lawsuit with crucial arguments that are within the community’s rights in order to halt this attack on the community’s historic presence, heritage and existence in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Armenian community of Jerusalem stands as one united voice. It stands together for the principle that only justice will suffice. It stands firmly on the belief that the lack of transparency and collaboration with the community is what has brought the Armenian Quarter to this existential moment – and that it is enough. The community will fight until the end to ensure that the Armenian Quarter remains untouched, that it remains Armenian and that it remains for the benefit of the Armenian people. These are the very principles that have united the global Armenian world – and our allies who understand the value of that unique mosaic that is the Old City of Jerusalem – to save the Armenian Quarter.

The community has been committed to carrying out this powerfully unifying mandate on the ground, and it is now establishing its legal rights in the courts. Hundreds of community members have signed in support of the legal fight to protect their historic rights and to protect this crucial property that has served the Armenian community for generations over the centuries, from a place for sustenance and social life to a refuge to house Armenian Genocide survivors, to providing access to the people to their schools, churches and community institutions. The Armenian community will stand in defense of its rights on the ground and in the courts.

The community insists that the parties to the lawsuit, and those under their direction, refrain from any and all retaliatory measures against community members. To this end, the people ask the international community to remain vigilant, to stand with the Armenian community against any such threats and to continue to voice their support for the Armenian community in its unwavering commitment to protect the Cows’ Garden, to protect the rights of the Armenian community and to protect the very future of the Armenian people in Jerusalem.




Bank of Georgia to acquire Armenia’s Ameriabank for $304 million

Hambardsumian Paul
Feb 20 2024
 

ByArshaluys Barseghyan

Bank of Georgia has reached an agreement to acquire Ameriabank, one of the largest banks in Armenia, for $303.6 million. 

Bank of Georgia Group, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced its proposed acquisition of 90% of the Armenian bank on Monday. The agreement would allow the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to retain its 10% share in the bank.

The acquisition still requires approval by regulators, including the Central Bank of Armenia.

Founded in 1992, Ameriabank is one of Armenia’s largest banks, ranking seventh on the list of highest tax-paying companies in the country in 2023, at around ֏26 billion ($64 million) annually. The bank is partially owned by the former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan.

In their announcement on Monday, Bank of Georgia Group said they intended to change their name to mark ‘a new chapter’ once they closed the Ameriabank deal.

On Monday, Ameriabank stated that it would operate as a standalone entity within the group ‘under its own brand name and current leadership in place, committed to Ameriabank’s adopted strategic goals, values, mission, and vision’. 

‘Ameriabank views this transaction with the group as one of the well-reasoned options for its long-term growth’, says the statement.

A controversial acquisition

The sale has raised eyebrows in Armenia, with some speculating it could be going ahead without the approval of shareholder Ruben Vardanyan. 

Amriabank’s website lists him as holding a significant stake in Imast Group, which owns 49% of the bank.

Vardanyan, an Armenian–Russian billionaire, served briefly as Nagorno-Karabakh’s State Minister in 2022 and 2023. He has been in prison in Azerbaijan since Nagorno-Karabakh’s surrender in September last year.

In a since-deleted Facebook post on Monday, Mesrop Arakelyan, a political ally of Vardanyan, claimed the billionaire had ‘nothing to do with the possible sale of the bank’.

Others even speculated that Azerbaijan could have influenced Vardanyan to sell his shares. Hetq’s editor-in-chief, Edik Baghdasaryan, questioned whether Vardanyan was aware of the deal or if Yerevan had looked into potential Azerbaijani involvement.

‘The largest shareholder of Ameriabank is Ruben Vardanyan. Since 27 September 2023, he has been in prison in Baku. Obviously, he is not aware of this deal. Has the government tried to find out whether Aliyev is forcing Vardanyan to sell the bank?’, he asked.

Neither Ameriabank nor Armenia’s Central Bank confirmed whether Vardanyan had consented to the sale of his shares in the bank when asked by the Armenian investigative outlet Hetq.

Others have expressed concern over what they said was a significant presence of Turkish and Azerbaijani capital in Georgia. Such concerns were dismissed by Armenian economist Haykaz Fanyan, who pointed out that as a listed company, Azerbaijani and Turkish citizens could own shares in the Bank of Georgia Group, but this would not pose a security risk and that such shareholders would not have access to personal data held by the company.


Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 19-02-24

Hambardsumian Paul

 17:16,

YEREVAN, 19 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 19 February, USD exchange rate down by 0.05 drams to 404.37 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.23 drams to 435.71 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 4.38 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.03 drams to 510.11 drams.

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

Gold price down by 83.18 drams to 25974.29 drams. Silver price up by 4.97 drams to 299.15 drams.

Armenian PM says Azerbaijan gearing up for "full-scale war"

Hambardsumian Paul
eurasianet
Feb 16 2024
Ani Avetisyan Feb 16, 2024

Following the latest escalation on the border with Azerbaijan on February 12-13 that resulted in the deaths of four Armenian soldiers, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said he believes Baku is laying the groundwork for an invasion. 

Referring to Azerbaijan's rejection of Armenia's latest proposals on border delimitation/demarcation, he said:  "Our analysis shows that there can only be one reason for this, and the reasons could be their intentions to launch military operations in some areas of the border with the aim of turning it into a large-scale war against the Republic of Armenia."

"This intention can be read in all statements and actions by Baku," he added in his remarks to a cabinet meeting on February 15. 

The latest incident saw Azerbaijan claim that its troops had come under fire from an Armenian army position in the southern Syunik region on February 12, resulting in the wounding of one Azerbaijani soldier. Armenia denied the accusation.

The following day Azerbaijan launched what it called a "revenge operation," subjecting the same Armenian post to intensive fire for four hours and killing four soldiers and wounding another.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry was quick to respond to Pashinyan's remark. It reminded Pashinyan of "Armenia's territorial claims on Azerbaijan." This was a reference to Armenia's Constitution, which – through referring to other documents – calls for the unification of the formerly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia. The process of changing the Armenian constitution has become a heated topic in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.  

Azerbaijan's demand that Armenia change its constitution has complicated the years-long process aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace deal between the archrival neighboring states. 

A central issue in those talks is the delimitation and demarcation of the state border, particularly since Azerbaijan's full seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh last September took the fate of that region's Armenian population off the table. 

Azerbaijan demands the return of enclaves controlled by Armenia since the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s while Armenia demands the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the Armenian territories it occupied between May 2021 and September 2022. Azerbaijan justifies its troops' presence in the area due to the lack of demarcation and refuses to pull back. 

To deescalate the situation, Armenia proposed withdrawing troops from the border areas and establishing a demilitarized zone while the demarcation takes place. The West, including the European Union and the United States, supported Pashinyan's proposal for demilitarizing the borders. 

Unarmed EU monitors patrol the Armenian side of the border at Yerevan's invitation. Azerbaijan accuses them of pro-Armenian bias. 

In his speech on February 15th, Pashinyan suggested conducting the delimitation process province by province. He also stated that Baku opposed this idea and that Azerbaijan has not changed its policy of military coercion. It's a sharp contrast to two months ago, when the Armenian PM believed that Baku and Yerevan had agreed on the principles of a peace treaty and were close to signing it. 

Since then disagreements have continued regarding who should mediate. Armenia tends to prefer Western facilitation while Azerbaijan would rather see Russia and Turkey in that role. 

Despite the disagreements, Yerevan and Baku agreed – with no formal external mediation – on a prisoner exchange in January. 

Speaking on February 14 while being inaugurated to his fifth term as Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev said there should be no mediators in the peace talks

"I think that the process of normalisation of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations should be dropped from the international agenda. Because everyone seems to want to deal with this issue. Mind your own business!" Aliyev said.

In the same speech, he doubled down on his demand that Armenia change its constitution:

"Armenia and those supporting it militarily should understand that nothing can stop us. If territorial claims against us are not abandoned, if Armenia does not bring its legislation into order, of course, there will be no peace treaty. This once again suggests that building an army and strengthening military potential is the primary objective."

The border violence and the escalating Azerbaijani rhetoric have exacerbated existing fears in Armenia of an Azerbaijani invasion. Specifically, there is apprehension that Baku will seek to use force to realize its demand for an extraterritorial corridor connecting mainland Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan exclave.

Ani Avetisyan is a journalist based in Armenia

https://eurasianet.org/armenian-pm-says-azerbaijan-gearing-up-for-full-scale-war

AW: ARF Bureau Chairman meets with Canada’s Ambassador to Armenia

Hambardsumian Paul
 Guest Contributor From the Party 0

Ambassador to Armenia Andrew Turner (left) and ARF-Dashnaktsutyun Bureau Chairman and President of the Armenian National Committee International Hagop Der Khatchadourian

YEREVAN – On Friday, February 9, 2024, ARF-Dashnaktsutyun Bureau Chairman and President of the Armenian National Committee International Hagop Der Khatchadourian met with Ambassador Andrew Turner at the Canadian Embassy.

Der Khatchadourian offered his congratulations on the recent inauguration of the Embassy of Canada in Yerevan in October 2023, which will deepen Canada-Armenia relations.

The ARF-D Bureau chairman discussed the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) through Azerbaijan’s genocidal acts and the ongoing negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, highlighting the threats and occupation of Armenian territory by Azerbaijan. He also raised concerns regarding Canada’s recent decision to lift its ban on military exports to Turkey. In early October 2020, Ottawa suspended export permits to Turkey for optical technology gear, with which Turkey equipped drones that were redirected to Azerbaijan and used to target Armenians during the 2020 Artsakh War.

Ambassador Turner reaffirmed his government’s support of the right of return of the people of Artsakh and the territorial integrity of Armenia. Canada will participate in the EU Monitoring Capacity (EUMCAP), which, in response to an official request by the Armenian authorities, has been deployed on the Armenian side of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border since October 2022. The mission aims to build confidence between the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan and, where possible, their authorities. So far, Canada is the only non-EU country to participate in the EU civilian mission on the ground. 

The Canadian ambassador also said that Canadian exporters have been notified that applications for new defense exports will require statements from Turkey indicating whether the goods will be re-exported to a third country or non-NATO member and whether they will be incorporated into a weapons system. Canada is obliged under domestic law and the global Arms Trade Treaty to detect and prevent the diversion of military goods to users other than intended customers.

The 90-minute meeting ended with both sides expressing readiness to continue such meetings in the future and, when possible, to cooperate on mutually beneficial initiatives to strengthen Canada-Armenia relations in different spheres.

Also attending the meeting were Giro Manoyan, ARF-D Bureau member and executive director of the ANC-International, and Aaron Coe, political counsellor at Canada’s Embassy.




Azerbaijan’s attacks on Armenian heritage aim to erase an entire culture

Hambardsumian Paul
EconoTimes
Feb 8 2024

By Fernando Camacho Padilla

Thursday, February 8, 2024 12:27 PM UTC

On 25 December 2023, the Azerbaijan parliament (the Milli Majlis) passed a declaration claiming that, in what is currently Armenia, there was previously an Azerbaijani community that was displaced by conflict. Though based on scant evidence and flimsy rhetoric, this document also states the right of Azerbaijanis to return to these lands.

Further aggression by Azerbaijan against Armenia can therefore not be ruled out, despite steps towards a possible truce in recent months. Several countries, including France and Iran, have already warned Azerbaijan against an occupying the southern Armenian province of Syunik to gain access to its Nakhchivan exclave via the Zangezur corridor, which runs along the Iran-Armenia border.

In addition to Azerbaijan’s strategic aims, there is a history of ethnic cleansing and genocide in the region. This has entailed massive cultural, as well as human, losses.

A city divided

Iran is the only Muslim-majority country in the region where the Armenian diaspora still coexists relatively peacefully. There, Armenian historical heritage is respected and visited by people of all faiths, and is even promoted to tourists.

In the Northern Iranian city of Jolfa, Armenian culture is treated with pride. The churches and monasteries are cared for, and visited by thousands of travellers a year, most of them Iranians (including those of Armenian heritage). Its architectural jewel is the Saint Stepanous monastery, built in the 9th century and renovated several times. Thanks to the efforts of the Iranian state, it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Saint Stepanous Monastery, an Armenian monastery near the Iranian city of Jolfa. Alireza Javaheri/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

However, this is only half the story, as today the city is divided into two halves by the Iran-Azerbaijan border, which runs through it. Until the 19th century the two halves formed a single urban unit, but after Persia’s defeat in the war with Russia between 1826 and 1828, the northern side of the city passed into Russian hands. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it was then integrated into Azerbaijan.

On the Azerbaijani side there are no traces of Armenian culture, following a systematic campaign to remove them in recent decades. This tragic loss is epitomised by Jolfa’s medieval cemetery, where over 3,000 Khachkars (Armenian stone crosses) have been destroyed, an event that British newspaper The Guardian has dubbed “the worst cultural genocide of the 21st century”.

Photograph of Khachkars in the Armenian cemetery of Jolfa. Today there is no trace left of the cemetery. Wikimedia Commons

Erasing Nagorno Karabakh

After Armenia’s defeat in Nagorno Karabakh in September 2023, and the subsequent exit of both international journalists and NGOs – meaning the progressive withdrawal of media attention and humanitarian aid – it is not difficult to imagine that here too, efforts are already underway to wipe any traces of Armenian heritage off the map.

Importantly, Azerbaijan does not allow visits to verify that protections on Armenian cultural heritage sites are being respected. They can therefore only be monitored by satellite, and from such a distance it is all but impossible to document the events on the ground.

In Nagorno Karabakh there are around 500 historical sites, home to approximately 6,000 Armenian monuments that are now under the control of Azerbaijani armed forces. However, their destruction is not just the work of the military. The swift colonisation programme put in place by President Ilham Aliyev includes urban reorganisation and reoccupation of urban and rural areas.

This too has a historical precedent. During the first Nagorno Karabakh war in the 1990s, Azerbaijani authorities decided to eliminate all Armenian presence in the country, be it human or cultural, in what was known as the Baku pogrom.

This caused an exodus among Azerbaijan’s Armenian community, which had previously made up a substantial part of the population of cities like Baku. In the Nakhchivan exclave alone, a total of 5,849 stone crosses, 22,000 tombs and 89 medieval churches were destroyed, according to figures from the academic Nélida Elena Boulgourdjian.

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross, at Lake Van, Turkey. F. Camacho Padilla

The destruction is reminiscent of the fate of the Armenian architectural heritage across Turkey during the 20th century, where very little was done to preserve, recover or restore it. The few exceptions were the Cathedral of the Holy Cross at Lake Van, and the historic city of Ani, capital of the kingdom of Bagratid Armenia. The latter of these was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.

The international community’s muted response

In recent decades, the Armenian diaspora – along with a considerable number of other institutions and organisations including the European Parliament – have spoken out against the crimes committed against Armenia’s cultural heritage.

Until only recently, this had been met with silence from most of the international community, and even UNESCO’s response was lacklustre, as pointed out by the University of Cornell. Caucasus Heritage Watch, which forms part of Cornell, has been closely following Azerbaijan’s destructive trail, regularly publishing monitoring reports that include photos and detailed information of the crimes being committed against Armenian heritage sites. In doing so, it is calling for international mobilisation and condemnation of Baku’s actions, though with little impact to date.

The severity and the turmoil of other global conflicts – some of them relatively close to the Caucasus, such as the war in Ukraine and the Israeli invasion of Gaza – leave little room for reporting on this situation. This leaves the Armenian people, once again, to fend for themselves.

Armenian heritage is, in fact, currently under threat in Israel: over the last three years, an Israeli company has tried to buy up 25% of Jerusalem’s 1500 year old Armenian quarter to build luxury homes. Local Armenian resistance has stalled the project by occupying work sites, but not without violent repercussions. With the world’s eyes on the ongoing atrocities being committed in Palestine this is receiving little attention, despite clear parallels with events in Gaza.

The systematic destruction of cultural heritage – in addition to being a crime against the history of humanity itself – highlights the cruelty and lack of ethics of those responsible. As with the Buddhas of Bāmiyān in Afghanistan, which were dynamited in March 2001 by the Taliban, there is no way to bring back the legacy of an entire people once it has been destroyed.

https://www.econotimes.com/Azerbaijans-attacks-on-Armenian-heritage-aim-to-erase-an-entire-culture-1671075#google_vignette

Armenpress: Iranian Guards adviser killed in Israeli strike on Damascus

Hambardsumian Paul

 11:12, 3 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. A military advisor of the Islamic Republic of Iran was killed as a result of an Israeli missile attack on a residential neighborhood in the suburbs of Damascus, Mehr News Agency reports, citing Iran's Embassy in Syria.

“IRGC military advisor Saeed Alidadi was martyred during the Israeli regime's airstrikes on Syria on Friday,” reports the agency.

The Syrian air defense systems managed to down several Israeli missiles, the sources added.

Eurasian Economic Union: Armenian PM calls for compromise in common energy market initiative

Hambardsumian Paul

 16:26, 2 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reiterated his call for a common energy market within the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Speaking at the EEU Intergovernmental Council meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Pashinyan said that a common energy market would give a number of advantages to all member states.

“Although the common gas, oil and petroleum markets are planned to be launched in 2025, it is obvious that at this moment the member states don’t have a clear common approach in terms of the prospects of building and developing a common energy market,” Pashinyan said.

He said that a common energy market would be conducive to economic development, improvement of the welfare of peoples and strengthening of energy security in all EEU countries.  “Taking this into account, we believe that our dialogue must be aimed at seeking compromise agreements.”

Armenia joining ICC signals a growing schism with Russia

Hambardsumian Paul
rfi
France – Feb 2 2024

Armenia formally joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday – signalling that it wants to move against Azerbaijan, which it accuses of "ethnic cleansing" in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. ICC membership also means a growing gap with Yerevan's traditional ally, Moscow.

By:Jan van der Made

The ICC's Rome Statute officially entered into force for Armenia on 1 February.

"Joining the ICC gives Armenia serious tools to prevent war crimes and crimes against humanity on its territory," according to Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's Foreign Minister.

He said that Armenia's integration into the court "first of all concerns Azerbaijan", referring to two wars with the neighbouring country over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region – where Russia deploys peacekeepers.

Neither Azerbaijan nor Russia recognise the ICC, along with other countries including the United States, China and Israel.

How does the ICC relate to the Rome Statute?

The International Criminal Court was established by the Rome Statute, a treaty adopted at a diplomatic conference in the Italian capital on 17 July 1998 and that came into force on 1 July 2002. It outlines the court's functions, jurisdiction and structure.

The statute identifies four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. No statute of limitations applies to these offences. According to the Rome Statute, the ICC is authorised to investigate and prosecute these crimes only in situations where states are unable or unwilling to do so themselves.

The court's jurisdiction is complementary to that of domestic courts and extends to crimes committed within the territory of a state party or by a national of a state party. An exception is made for cases where the ICC's jurisdiction is authorised by the United Nations Security Council.

As of November 2023, 124 states were parties to the statute.

Armenia becoming a full-fledged member of the court risks further complicating Yerevan's relationship with Moscow.

Last March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine and the alleged illegal deportation of children to Russia.

Yerevan is now obligated to arrest the Russian leader if he sets foot on Armenian territory.

But Armenia is also home to a permanent Russian military base and part of a Moscow-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, which also counts other ex-Soviet republics Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as members.

Moscow called Armenia's accession to the ICC an "absolutely unfriendly step".

Russia's state-owned Tass News Agency quotes Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin as saying that the ICC "has nothing to do with justice; rather, it is a highly politicised pro-Western structure that executes orders to prosecute figures who are undesirable to the West".

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has tried to reassure Russia that his country is only addressing what it says are war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in their long-running conflict, and is not aiming at Moscow.

But Western countries hailed the ratification, which marks the expansion of the court's jurisdiction into what was long seen as Russia's backyard.

"The world is getting smaller for the autocrat in the Kremlin," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after Armenia ratified the ICC statute in October, referring to Putin.

France also strongly backed Armenia's membership of the ICC.

In November, when Armenia officially applied to join the court, France's Foreign Ministry said it welcomed the move as an "important step towards fighting impunity".

Observers say Armenia could use its membership as a form of deterrent against possible Azerbaijani aggression.

The threat of the court investigating crimes committed as part of any attack on Armenia would "serve as a sword of Damocles of sorts, making Azerbaijan more reluctant to perpetrate acts of aggression against Armenia", legal researcher Mischa Gureghian Hall of the US-based Centre for Truth and Justice told JusticeInfo.net.

To give itself the option of pursuing Azerbaijani soldiers for war crimes allegedly committed during fighting along the border between the two countries in September 2022, the portal noted, Armenia backdated the ICC's jurisdiction to May 2021.