09:55,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. 25 patients from the Mental Health Center of Nagorno-Karabakh have been evacuated to Armenia, the Armenian Health Ministry said in a statement Thursday.
The patients will continue receiving treatment in the relevant medical centers of Armenia.
13:06,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan on September 25 met with United States Senator Gary Peters, who is leading a Congressional delegation to Armenia on a visit.
Speaker Simonyan commended the introduction by U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the Supporting Armenians Against Azerbaijani Aggression Act bipartisan bill, and expressed hope that it would be adopted.
Speaking about the September 21 UN Security Council emergency meeting, Speaker Simonyan thanked the US for its supportive speech, emphasizing the importance of urgent, effective and clear steps by international partners, including imposing sanctions against Azerbaijan, in the current situation.
Details and consequences of the September 19-20 large-scale aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan were discussed. The Senator presented details about his visit to the Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces. The United States Senator condemned Azerbaijan for the current humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and expressed support to the Armenian people. Senator Peters reiterated the US support for Armenia’s territorial integrity.
11:24,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. A United States Congressional delegation led by Senator Gary Peters (Democrat, State of Michigan) has arrived in Armenia, the US Embassy announced in a press release.
During the September 22-25 visit, Senator Peters will have meetings with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan and others, to discuss the Armenian-American relations and the impact of Azerbaijan’s latest military operations on the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Senator Peters will also visit the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan to lay a wreath. He will also travel to Syunik Province to meet with local officials and discuss security and humanitarian challenges.
15:44, 7 September 2023
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani media have reported the release of the three Nagorno-Karabakh students who were kidnapped by Azeri border guards while traveling to Armenia through Lachin Corridor in late August.
The three men were kidnapped and subsequently jailed on August 28. Azeri authorities had announced that the men would be jailed for 10 days for allegedly “dishonoring” the Azeri flag.
The kidnapping was condemned by the Armenian Foreign Ministry as a gross violation by Azerbaijan of the “Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, legally binding Orders of the UN International Court of Justice and open contempt for the unequivocal and targeted calls of the international community, including voiced by members of the UN Security Council.”
12:45, 1 September 2023
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military opened small arms fire at Armenian border outposts near Norabak hours after shelling another outpost near Sotk, the Armenian Ministry of Defense has said.
“On September 1, at around 12:25 p.m., Azerbaijani armed forces units fired from fire arms towards the Armenian combat outposts nearby Norabak,” the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
19:07,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 25, ARMENPRESS. Yielding to Azerbaijan’s terms would further deepen and complicate the situation, Nagorno-Karabakh’s State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan warned Friday.
“The people of Artsakh have been facing a new challenge since 12 December 2022. Artsakh was first blockaded under a false environmental pretext, then the corridor link with Armenia was blockaded, and then the Hakari Bridge was closed. A device was installed there under the pretext of arms shipments from Armenia, then it was removed and a checkpoint was installed instead. Humanitarian shipments have been suspended since June 15, instead of free movement of persons we only have transfer of patients through the Red Cross, while the shipment of goods has been completely halted. After keeping the people of Artsakh in this condition for over two months, Azerbaijan presented new demands, the launch of the Aghdam-Askeran road and a meeting with representatives of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh on Azerbaijani territory. There will be endless demands like this as long as the Azerbaijani plan to subject the people of Artsakh to genocide, to give a final solution to the Karabakh conflict by way of depopulating Artsakh isn’t completed. Therefore, the claims that making concessions in response to Azerbaijan’s demands would allow us to recover are baseless illusions. Furthermore, it would only further deepen and complicate our situation,” Nersisyan said in a video address.
Nersisyan said that they must accept the reality that the international community, including the peacekeeping forces in Artsakh, are ensuring insufficient security in Artsakh and are unable to create the conditions necessary for the most basic livelihood, and are tacitly defending or encouraging the Azeri agenda which intends to eventually lead to genocide.
01:07,
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) has responded to a Russian newspaper article that cited an unnamed source in the Russian government as saying that Russia has proposed to first open the road through Aghdam and then resume the movement through the Lachin Corridor.
In response to media inquiries asking for comment, the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry issued the following statement:
“The Republic of Artsakh has consistently maintained a principled stance in addressing the acute humanitarian crisis stemming from the unlawful blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan. This stance is firmly grounded in both the provisions outlined in the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, specifically Article 6 of which clearly defines the operational parameters and regime of the Lachin Corridor, as well as the principles of international humanitarian law.
“It should be noted that any initiatives which seek to link the use of the Lachin Corridor, and that in a restricted manner, with unrelated matters or alternative routes, including through Aghdam, are essentially attempts to legitimise Azerbaijan’s breach of its international commitments concerning the Lachin Corridor and to call into question the Trilateral Statement signed by their country’s president on 9 November 2020. This approach, put forward by Azerbaijan, intentionally infringes upon the rights and dignity of the people of Artsakh and stands in contradiction to the norms of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
“We reiterate that the proposal regarding the use of alternative transportation routes is part of Azerbaijan’s policy aimed at exploiting the humanitarian catastrophe it has created and the threat of hunger as a weapon and a means to forcefully subjugate Artsakh and its people.
“It should be also noted that the proposal from the Azerbaijani side essentially aims to restrict the use of the Lachin Corridor solely for the evacuation of patients in need of medical treatment in Armenia, and possibly for extremely limited imports from Armenia into Artsakh, subject to approval from Baku. By refusing to fully ensure safe and unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions and proposing alternative routes, the Azerbaijani authorities consistently attempt to sever the deep-rooted ties between the people of Artsakh and Armenia, with the intention of depriving them of their identity, self-sufficiency, and developmental opportunities. This initiative also seeks to undermine the concept of the Lachin Corridor, a key element of a comprehensive, fair and dignified conflict resolution.
“It’s worth highlighting that neither the provisions of the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, nor the decisions of the International Court of Justice dated 22 February and 6 July 2023, envision any Azerbaijani presence in the Lachin Corridor or any limitations on the movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions. It is noteworthy that on 28 February 2023, while in Baku, the Russian Foreign Minister confirmed that the establishment of checkpoints in the Lachin Corridor was not envisaged by the Trilateral Statement.”
22:42,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces have opened gunfire at farmers and communication infrastructures in Nagorno-Karabakh and are generating fake news in an attempt to justify their actions, the Ministry of Defense of Nagorno-Karabakh said in a press release on August 12.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, Azerbaijani military units opened fire at communication infrastructure equipment in Nagorno-Karabakh, and around 14:15 shot at farmers working in the fields of Sarushen community. No one was hurt in the shooting, the ministry said.
The Defense Ministry added that Azerbaijan’s latest disinformation campaign, when it twice falsely accused Nagorno-Karabakh of opening fire on Saturday, is an attempt by Azerbaijan to try and justify its own ceasefire violations of August 12 and to divert international attention from the humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the blockade of Lachin Corridor.