PanARMENIAN.Net – The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan has said that Yerevan has sent a 6-point response on the normalization of relations to the 5-point one proposed by Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan in mid-March disclosed the contents of its single-page proposal on normalization of relations with Armenia, which contains five “principles”, including “the mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of international borders and political independence of each other.”
“There was nothing unacceptable for Armenia in those 5 points. Armenia says with its 6 points that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved in order to have a comprehensive peace agreement,” Grigoryan said Thursday, May 5, Pastinfo reports.
“At the moment, our approach is that the two packages – the 5+6 – should be combined, negotiations on the peace agreement should start, so that we can find a long-term solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
Grigoryan also weighed in on a statement from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who said that “Armenia must officially recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as well as the fact that it does not have any territorial claims against Azerbaijan, and will not have any in the future either.” Otherwise, he threatened, “we will not recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia, we will announce it officially.”
According to the Armenian Security Council chief, such statements do not contribute to the formation of the peace agenda.
Protesters have demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and opposition lawmakers have walked out of parliament as pressure mounts against the embattled politician.
After blocking major roads in the capital Yerevan, demonstrators rallied outside parliament to voice their discontent while Pashinyan was speaking inside.
Protesters brandishing tricolour Armenian flags shouted “Armenia without Nikol!” and “Leave!,” according to video from the scene.
Police arrested some of the protesters and security officials warned them against trying to storm the parliament building.
The opposition walkout came as Pashinyan was delivering a fiery speech.
“You run like you always run,” he shouted at MPs leaving the session, while his supporters clapped.
Pashinyan has faced heavy criticism since Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan in a six-week war in 2020 and lost significant territory in and around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinyan said he had been compelled to accept a Russian-brokered peace deal, which prompted a wave of protests, to avoid greater human and territorial losses.
I was lucky enough to be in Armenia during the month of April and even luckier to be in Meghri, an Armenian town far from the glimmering lights of Northern Avenue and the raving nightlife of Yerevan. Meghri is one of the many cities in the region of Syunik that has hosted battles that shaped the current borders of the Republic of Armenia such as the 1727 Battle of Halidzor as well as the 1919 Battle of Zangezur and others.
Commemorating the Genocide in Meghri, April 2022
As the rest of Armenia was preparing to commemorate the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) “Arevig” Gomideh in Meghri, with the help of the AYF Netherlands “Karekin Nejdeh” Chapter, organized a commemorative event which included an opening prayer at a local church and a march to a local genocide memorial for a candlelight vigil. It was an odd sight for a town commemorating a genocide as it is currently under the threat of annexation. After the event, we went to “Khachats Doon” where some of the Gomideh members and I spent the night singing “Kini Lits” over glasses of wine. It wasn’t the typical April 24 I had experienced as a Diasporan in Lebanon and the Netherlands.
Candlelight vigil at the Genocide memorial in Meghri.
After the Artsakh War, there has been this chilling feeling that Syunik, which is in the southern region of the Republic of Armenia, was going to be the next piece of territory to be handed over to the enemy. Tactical advances by Azerbaijan and constant artillery fire have solidified the intentions of the Aliyev regime. A few weeks ago, the Iranian government released a video stating that the border of Syunik is a red line that the Republics of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia should refrain from shifting. Since the Iranian government maintains a firmer stance than the current government of Armenia on the matter, I can only see that it is up to us, individually, to make a change.
Syunik is not just a culmination of mountains and beautiful landscape. The region and its people are an integral part of Armenia. They too have ambitions. They too want security. And they most certainly do not want to live under the constant threat of attacks. They too mourn the losses of the Armenian Genocide. They too remember and demand.
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Alek Elbekian is a Lebanese Armenian and a graduate student in theoretical physics at Utrecht University, specializing in quantum field theory and condensed matter. He also works at the Yerevan Physics Institute researching cosmic rays and naturally occurring radiation.
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk in Moscow, the Armenian government’s press service said.
The sides discussed the relevant issues of the Armenian-Russian trade-economic cooperation.
The meeting touched upon also the topic of restoring the transportation communications in the South Caucasus region, which is being discussed within the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral working group co-chaired by deputy prime ministers.
in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories
Artsakh Defense Army soldier
Azerbaijani forces again breached the ceasefire on Friday this time violating the line-of-contact in Artsakh’s Martakert region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, in cooperation with the representatives of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, is taking measures to resolve the incident,” the statement said.
On Saturday, Artsakh authorities reported that the Azerbaijani armed forces entirely have pulled back to their initial positions near Seysulan in Artsakh’s Martakert region.
The operative-tactical situation in other parts of the line of contact remain calm, according to Artsakh InfoCenter.
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. 13 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 422,594, the Ministry of Healthcare said.
2733 tests were conducted on April 4.
105 patients have recovered in one day (410,229 total recoveries).
2 death cases have been registered in the country, raising the death toll to 8619.
As of April 5, the number of active cases is 2067.
Russia welcomes the efforts for normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
Lavrov made the remarks during a news conference in Moscow following a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, Yeni Akit newspaper reported.
Reconciliation between Ankara and Yerevan will contribute to the region’s prosperity, it cited Lavrov as saying, adding that was Russia was “pleased” with recent efforts to thaw relations after decades of tension.
Turkey and Armenia last month agreed move forward with efforts to establish diplomatic relations “without conditions” and continue normalization efforts that could lead to the reopening of their shared borders.
The two countries have no diplomatic relations, a closed land border, and a deep-seated hostility stemming from the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, which many nations recognize as genocide.
In December, Ankara and Yerevan appointed special envoys to normalize relations, spurred by support from Russia and Azerbaijan.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 as a reaction to ethnic Armenian forces taking control of Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts.
Turkey threw its full support behind Azerbaijan in the six-weeks of clashes with Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in November of 2020. The conflict came to an end after a truce was brokered by Russia that allowed Azerbaijan to maintain swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh and deployed Russian peacekeepers to the region.
Trilateral talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were held in Brussels with the mediation of the head of the European Council. Before they began, Charles Michel discussed the EU-Armenia agenda separately with Nikol Pashinyan and the EU-Azerbaijani relations with Ilham Aliyev. On the evening of April 6, information was received from Brussels that Aliyev-Pashinyan would also hold bilateral talks.
EU to host talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan in its 2nd attempt to find common ground for rivals
Armenian PM: “Azerbaijan is trying to legitimize another war”
Bone of contention: Baku, Yerevan’s interpretations of the 4th paragraph of the tripartite statement differ
Little information was released after the talks. It is known that the trilateral meeting was held in the format of a working dinner. The negotiations lasted almost 5 hours.
It is reported that issues related to the implementation of the agreements reached earlier were discussed – these are the points of statements signed on November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021 and November 26, 2021, as well as the agreements reached at the previous trilateral meeting in Brussels on December 14.
In addition, as a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached to create a bilateral commission on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border by the end of April. It will also have the authority to ensure security and stability along the border.2
The official final report also says that the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan instructed the foreign ministers to begin preparations for peace.
Pashinyan-Aliyev-Michel talks in the format of a working dinner
It is noteworthy that the visit of the Prime Minister of Armenia to Moscow, where negotiations with the President of Russia are to be held, is also planned in early April. And on April 8, the meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia with his Russian counterpart has already been announced. In this regard, Armenian experts started talking about a possible attempt by the European Union to seize the initiative and get ahead of Moscow.
The previous negotiations between Aliyev and Pashinyan in Brussels, both in a trilateral and bilateral format, took place on December 14 last year. By their end, the head of the European Council made a statement on their results, emphasizing the importance of restoring communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the South Caucasus region as a whole. The statement also said that a decision had been made to restore the railway lines, and the European Council expressed its readiness to support the unblocking of communications.
It is known that the prime minister first met with the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, and then participated in a trilateral one.
These negotiations took place amid a rather tense situation in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and an escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh. After the end of the meeting, at about 2 a.m., the government press service reported that during the talks Nikol Pashinyan touched on the situation in NK and the humanitarian problems caused by the recent actions of the Azerbaijani units.
Since the beginning of March, gas supply problems began in NK due to an accident on the gas pipeline through which gas is supplied here from Armenia. At first, the Azerbaijani side did not allow Armenian specialists to restore the pipeline, then it repaired it itself, but problems with gas supply continued. This led to a humanitarian crisis, since bakeries could not work, houses, hospitals, kindergartens, and schools were not heated, despite the onset of cold weather.
In addition, on March 24, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces took a strategically important height on the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers, taking advantage of their inaction. The Armenian side unsuccessfully continues to demand the return of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to their original positions. Nikol Pashinyan announced the need to investigate the “actions or inaction” of the peacekeeping contingent.
Armenian experts expected that during the talks the parties would discuss the signing of a peace treaty. Azerbaijan has previously outlined 5 points on which a peace agreement with Armenia should be based. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Armenia stated that there was nothing unacceptable for Yerevan in these points, but they did not cover the entire agenda of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
As local political analysts point out, the problem is that Armenia insists on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh question and ensuring the security of NK Armenians, while the President of Azerbaijan declares that the Karabakh conflict has already been resolved by military means.
In this regard, the Armenian experts stated in advance that they do not expect serious results from the meeting. Even less optimistic are their forecasts regarding the signing of a peace agreement in the near future.
And the report on the results of the talks only says that “the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan instructed the foreign ministers to begin preparatory work for peace talks”.
eastern part of Karabakh
On the evening of May 5, the opposition parliamentary factions “Hayastan” (Armenia) and “I Have the Honor” organized a rally. The main demand of the protest was to prevent the flawed policy of the current authorities to abandon NK, surrender the territories of Armenia and “beg for peace”. Instead, the rally participants proposed to strengthen the army and the country’s defense capability.
Armenia reports tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh – statement of the Security Council of Armenia, position of the command of the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in NK, as well as a comment by a political scientist here
The demands stated there can be considered a message for the Armenian Prime Minister on the eve of the meeting in Brussels with the President of Azerbaijan:
exclude the entry of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan with any status,
guarantee the security of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
At the same time as the rally was taking place, the parliament of the unrecognized NKR adopted a statement stating the need to “form a nationwide unity around issues related to the fate of Artsakh at the all-Armenian level”.
It emphasizes the fact that, according to the constitution, Armenia is the guarantor of the security of NK. The authors of the statement believe that ensuring the security of Nagorno-Karabakh and the formation of unity can create sufficient conditions for confronting regional challenges and protecting national interests.
PM Pashinyan appealed to Putin amid escalation in Karabakh, as Yerevan continues questioning the efficency of the Russian peacekeepers stationed there
“In this difficult period of geopolitical realities, when Azerbaijan, trying to bring the activities of the Russian peacekeeping mission to failure, continues to periodically shell Armenian settlements, blows up a gas pipeline, tries to terrorize civilians living in its native land, continues to seize new territories, the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh confirms the will and determination of the people of Artsakh, the vision of the national liberation struggle that began in 1988, arising from the right to a free life in their historical homeland. […]
As a result of the war imposed on us on September 27, 2020 and lasting 44 days, we suffered human and territorial losses. However, nothing and no one can deprive us of the right to self-determination and the right to control our own destiny”, the statement says.
How can Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh be saved? Experts believe that it is necessary to carry out a fundamental political assessment of the current situation and form a new political agenda, but this will take time
On the evening of April 5, Armenian media reported on a telephone conversation between the US Secretary of State and the Prime Minister of Armenia, during which the upcoming meeting with Aliyev in Brussels was discussed. Nikol Pashinyan and Anthony Blinken also discussed the processes taking place in the South Caucasus as a whole, the growing tension around Nagorno-Karabakh and spoke about the need to establish stability and peace in the region.
State Department spokesman Ned Price also relayed details of the conversation. According to his report, the Secretary of State emphasized that “now is not the time for further escalation in the region”. Blinken “reaffirmed the US readiness to help countries by engaging bilaterally and with like-minded partners, including as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, to achieve a long-term comprehensive peace.”
The return of the bodies and remains of those missing during the years of the first Karabakh war is one of the main topics in the negotiations with the participation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides.
According to the State Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens of Azerbaijan, 3,890 people went missing during the first Karabakh war, and six during the second.
“Over the past year, Armenia handed over to Azerbaijan the remains of 108 people who went missing during the first Karabakh war”, said Eldar Samedov, deputy head of the working group of the state commission.
According to him, the Armenian side handed over to Azerbaijan the remains of the bodies in a mixed form. “The remains were recovered mainly from places where groundwater flows. Therefore, obtaining DNA samples from these remains is very difficult. At the final stage, accurate information on the number of remains of the bodies will be provided”, he added.
Tensions in Karabakh – Azerbaijan’s attempt to force Armenia to comply with the terms of the trilateral agreement? Azerbaijani experts assess the situation
The other day, while carrying out road works near the village of Farrukh, Khojaly region – in the eastern part of the territory of Karabakh, where Russian peacekeepers are stationed, Azerbaijani servicemen discovered a mass grave. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces occupied this village and the nearby height of Dashbashi on March 24, 2022.
The remains of dozens of people were found in a mass grave.
In this regard, the State Commission for the Affairs of Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Citizens of Azerbaijan has published a list of missing servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the battles near the village of Farrukh during the first Karabakh war. There are 62 names on the list.
The press service of the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan stated that a significant number of remains were exhumed from the discovered mass graves, presumably belonging to persons who went missing during the first Karabakh war.
Azerbaijani political scientist comments on the the difference between the second Karabakh and Russian-Ukrainian wars which are often compared in Armenian media
Forensic and molecular genetic examinations were appointed.
“The Military Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan continues investigative and operational activities in a criminal case being investigated under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code in connection with the facts of war, terrorism, premeditated murder and other crimes against peace and humanity committed by the armed forces of Armenia and illegal Armenian armed groups against our people ”, military prosecutor’s office stated.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan attacked several Artsakh villages and reportedly cut off gas from inhabitants in below-freezing temperatures.
byYelena Ambartsumian
On March 10, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that “strongly condemns” Azerbaijan’s intentional destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh (or Artsakh in Armenian).
The resolution was adopted with 635 votes to two, with 42 abstentions, and with sponsorship by six of the seven groups of the European Parliament, except for the Identity and Democracy Party, a nationalist far-right group that ironically purports to “protect Christian heritage.” It read:
“The erasure of Armenian cultural heritage is part of a wider pattern of a systematic, state-level policy of Armenophobia, historical revisionism and hatred towards Armenians promoted by the Azerbaijani authorities, including dehumanisation, the glorification of violence and territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia which threaten peace and security in the South Caucasus.”
Azerbaijan’s “continued policy of erasing and denying the Armenian cultural heritage” in the area of Nagorno-Karabakh, the resolution added, violates international law and a 2021 decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Azerbaijan to “prevent and punish” the vandalism and desecration of Armenian churches, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries, and artifacts.
The resolution came several weeks after Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture, Anar Karimov, announced a working group of specialists to “remove the fictitious traces written by Armenians,” in reference to Azerbaijan’s debunked claims that the founding inscriptions on Armenian medieval churches and monuments, written in the Armenian language, are recent additions. (The minister later tamed his statement, saying the group will “study ancient Albanian heritage” in Nagorno-Karabakh and examine “alterations on the historical and cultural heritage.”)
Azerbaijani forces bombed the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi twice in 2020, causing damage to its crosses, pointed domes (a staple of Armenian church architecture), and angel reliefs. (via Wikimedia Commons)
The concern for Nagorno-Karabakh’s cultural heritage is grave, since Azerbaijan, with the help of its ally Turkey, launched a war of conquest in late 2020, which saw attacks on civilian infrastructures, such as schools, homes, and a maternity hospital, in addition to religious and cultural heritage, such as churches and archaeological sites. Since the November 2020 ceasefire, which resulted in the handover of much of the Armenian-populated Republic of Artsakh’s territory to Azerbaijan’s control, Azerbaijan has reportedly continued to destroy and vandalize Armenian cultural heritage, while also refusing access to religious sites to Armenians seeking to worship there. After the Russian-brokered ceasefire, Azerbaijan and Turkey held a joint military “victory” parade in the capital city of Baku, during which they set their sights beyond Nagorno-Karabakh and laid claim to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, while also blessing the souls of the architects of the Armenian Genocide. Azerbaijan’s president then inaugurated a military “victory” museum, with wax mannequins depicting chained and injured Armenian prisoners of war (that Azerbaijan claims it does not have).
Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh is not unprecedented. In Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan that has been ethnically cleansed of its Armenian population, there have been no consequences for Azerbaijan’s destruction in the early 2000s of 89 medieval Armenian churches, 5,840 intricate cross-stone monuments, and 22,000 tombstones, as revealed by Simon Maghakyan and Sarah Pickman on Hyperallergic.
As was the case with Nakhichevan, UNESCO has failed to send an independent fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh to survey the status of cultural heritage properties because of Azerbaijan’s refusal. The European Parliament’s resolution references this refusal and “[s]trongly insists that Azerbaijan enable UNESCO to have access to the heritage sites in the territories under its control.”
Unfortunately, for both the people and the cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, it appears that their fate is intertwined with the national and regional interests of other players, namely the EU and its pressing need for an alternative to Russian oil and natural gas.
In February, news emerged that the EU allocated a €2 billion aid package to Azerbaijan, as it seeks to increase the latter’s export capabilities of its oil and natural gas.
Shortly after securing the aid package from the EU, petrol-rich Azerbaijan then signed an alliance with Russiaon February 22. Paragraph 40 of Azerbaijan and Russia’s “Declaration on Allied Interaction” references the duty to protect and preserve the cultural and religious heritage of “national minorities living in the territories of the Parties,” though it is unclear whether these protections would apply to Armenian heritage. A few days earlier, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, increased its stake to 19.99% in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz natural gas project. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline, through which the EU seeks to increase its gas imports from non-Russian sources, originates in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field.
Thus, it is telling that the European Parliament’s resolution rejected the proposal by the Socialists & Democrats Group to “strictly condition” the €2 billion aid package on “Azerbaijan’s respect for its international commitments on human rights, including regarding the preservation and protection of the cultural and historical heritage on the territories under its control.”
The resolution did, however, call out Azerbaijan as the aggressor. That is a notable departure from numerous false equivalencies and “bothsidesism” rhetoric from other governmental and intergovernmental players, whose statements would have one think that the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi (a city recently ethnically cleansed of Armenians for the second time in a century) somehow bombed itself. Twice.
At the time of the European Parliament’s resolution, Azerbaijan had cut off gas (needed for heat, cooking, and hot water) to the remaining 120,000 inhabitants of the Republic of Artsakh, by tampering with a pipeline originating from Armenia but part of which now passes through territory occupied by Azerbaijan. According to the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh, Azerbaijani armed forces also opened fire on several Armenian-populated villages on the very day of the resolution’s announcement.
On March 9-10, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces regularly violated the ceasefire w/ the use of firearms of various calibers, incl. 60mm mortar shells.
Civilian population of the villages of Khnushinak & Khramort, #NagornoKarabakh were under fire. A resident of Khramort was wounded.
— Gegham Stepanyan (@Gegham_Artsakh) March 10, 2022
Days later, the gas supply was briefly restored, as United Nations representatives participated in an event in Shushi. It appears that while the UN cannot send an independent mission from UNESCO to assess the cultural heritage in Shushi, its representatives, including Resident Coordinator Vladanka Andreeva can attend an event there to celebrate Azerbaijan under the UN flag.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mher Margaryan said of the March 18 ceremony: “We have made it abundantly clear that any visit by the UN representatives to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone must be fully in line with and in support of the mediation efforts towards the peaceful settlement, and that such visits should not serve as an instrument of propaganda that seeks to legitimize attempts to resolve conflict by force.”
“Azerbaijan continues to resort to various forms of violent acts and provocations that seek to disrupt normalcy of life in Nagorno-Karabakh, such as the deliberate disruption of the supply of natural gas amidst severe weather conditions,” Margaryan continued. “Equally disturbing are the attempts to instrumentalize the issue of POWs and detainees, whose captivity Azerbaijan continues to deny, as well as the lack of goodwill to commit to the preservation of cultural heritage and to effectively address anti-Armenian rhetoric — all in defiance of the Provisional Measures issued by the International Court of Justice against Azerbaijan as a matter of urgency on 7 December 2021.”
After the visit, which was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s UN membership, the country reportedly stopped gas to Nagorno-Karabakh, once again, as temperatures dipped below freezing. In the days that followed, the United States Department of State said it was “deeply concerned about the movement of Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh.” France also expressed its concerns and Russia urged Azerbaijan to pull back its troops and observe the ceasefire.On March 10, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that “strongly condemns” Azerbaijan’s intentional destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh (or Artsakh in Armenian).
The resolution was adopted with 635 votes to two, with 42 abstentions, and with sponsorship by six of the seven groups of the European Parliament, except for the Identity and Democracy Party, a nationalist far-right group that ironically purports to “protect Christian heritage.” It read:
“The erasure of Armenian cultural heritage is part of a wider pattern of a systematic, state-level policy of Armenophobia, historical revisionism and hatred towards Armenians promoted by the Azerbaijani authorities, including dehumanisation, the glorification of violence and territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia which threaten peace and security in the South Caucasus.”
Azerbaijan’s “continued policy of erasing and denying the Armenian cultural heritage” in the area of Nagorno-Karabakh, the resolution added, violates international law and a 2021 decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Azerbaijan to “prevent and punish” the vandalism and desecration of Armenian churches, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries, and artifacts.
The resolution came several weeks after Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture, Anar Karimov, announced a working group of specialists to “remove the fictitious traces written by Armenians,” in reference to Azerbaijan’s debunked claims that the founding inscriptions on Armenian medieval churches and monuments, written in the Armenian language, are recent additions. (The minister later tamed his statement, saying the group will “study ancient Albanian heritage” in Nagorno-Karabakh and examine “alterations on the historical and cultural heritage.”)
Azerbaijani forces bombed the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi twice in 2020, causing damage to its crosses, pointed domes (a staple of Armenian church architecture), and angel reliefs. (via Wikimedia Commons)
The concern for Nagorno-Karabakh’s cultural heritage is grave, since Azerbaijan, with the help of its ally Turkey, launched a war of conquest in late 2020, which saw attacks on civilian infrastructures, such as schools, homes, and a maternity hospital, in addition to religious and cultural heritage, such as churches and archaeological sites. Since the November 2020 ceasefire, which resulted in the handover of much of the Armenian-populated Republic of Artsakh’s territory to Azerbaijan’s control, Azerbaijan has reportedly continued to destroy and vandalize Armenian cultural heritage, while also refusing access to religious sites to Armenians seeking to worship there. After the Russian-brokered ceasefire, Azerbaijan and Turkey held a joint military “victory” parade in the capital city of Baku, during which they set their sights beyond Nagorno-Karabakh and laid claim to Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, while also blessing the souls of the architects of the Armenian Genocide. Azerbaijan’s president then inaugurated a military “victory” museum, with wax mannequins depicting chained and injured Armenian prisoners of war (that Azerbaijan claims it does not have).
Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh is not unprecedented. In Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan that has been ethnically cleansed of its Armenian population, there have been no consequences for Azerbaijan’s destruction in the early 2000s of 89 medieval Armenian churches, 5,840 intricate cross-stone monuments, and 22,000 tombstones, as revealed by Simon Maghakyan and Sarah Pickman on Hyperallergic.
As was the case with Nakhichevan, UNESCO has failed to send an independent fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh to survey the status of cultural heritage properties because of Azerbaijan’s refusal. The European Parliament’s resolution references this refusal and “[s]trongly insists that Azerbaijan enable UNESCO to have access to the heritage sites in the territories under its control.”
Unfortunately, for both the people and the cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, it appears that their fate is intertwined with the national and regional interests of other players, namely the EU and its pressing need for an alternative to Russian oil and natural gas.
In February, news emerged that the EU allocated a €2 billion aid package to Azerbaijan, as it seeks to increase the latter’s export capabilities of its oil and natural gas.
Shortly after securing the aid package from the EU, petrol-rich Azerbaijan then signed an alliance with Russiaon February 22. Paragraph 40 of Azerbaijan and Russia’s “Declaration on Allied Interaction” references the duty to protect and preserve the cultural and religious heritage of “national minorities living in the territories of the Parties,” though it is unclear whether these protections would apply to Armenian heritage. A few days earlier, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, increased its stake to 19.99% in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz natural gas project. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline, through which the EU seeks to increase its gas imports from non-Russian sources, originates in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field.
Thus, it is telling that the European Parliament’s resolution rejected the proposal by the Socialists & Democrats Group to “strictly condition” the €2 billion aid package on “Azerbaijan’s respect for its international commitments on human rights, including regarding the preservation and protection of the cultural and historical heritage on the territories under its control.”
The resolution did, however, call out Azerbaijan as the aggressor. That is a notable departure from numerous false equivalencies and “bothsidesism” rhetoric from other governmental and intergovernmental players, whose statements would have one think that the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi (a city recently ethnically cleansed of Armenians for the second time in a century) somehow bombed itself. Twice.
At the time of the European Parliament’s resolution, Azerbaijan had cut off gas (needed for heat, cooking, and hot water) to the remaining 120,000 inhabitants of the Republic of Artsakh, by tampering with a pipeline originating from Armenia but part of which now passes through territory occupied by Azerbaijan. According to the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Artsakh, Azerbaijani armed forces also opened fire on several Armenian-populated villages on the very day of the resolution’s announcement.
On March 9-10, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces regularly violated the ceasefire w/ the use of firearms of various calibers, incl. 60mm mortar shells.
Civilian population of the villages of Khnushinak & Khramort, #NagornoKarabakh were under fire. A resident of Khramort was wounded.
— Gegham Stepanyan (@Gegham_Artsakh) March 10, 2022
Days later, the gas supply was briefly restored, as United Nations representatives participated in an event in Shushi. It appears that while the UN cannot send an independent mission from UNESCO to assess the cultural heritage in Shushi, its representatives, including Resident Coordinator Vladanka Andreeva can attend an event there to celebrate Azerbaijan under the UN flag.
In a statement to Hyperallergic, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mher Margaryan said of the March 18 ceremony: “We have made it abundantly clear that any visit by the UN representatives to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone must be fully in line with and in support of the mediation efforts towards the peaceful settlement, and that such visits should not serve as an instrument of propaganda that seeks to legitimize attempts to resolve conflict by force.”
“Azerbaijan continues to resort to various forms of violent acts and provocations that seek to disrupt normalcy of life in Nagorno-Karabakh, such as the deliberate disruption of the supply of natural gas amidst severe weather conditions,” Margaryan continued. “Equally disturbing are the attempts to instrumentalize the issue of POWs and detainees, whose captivity Azerbaijan continues to deny, as well as the lack of goodwill to commit to the preservation of cultural heritage and to effectively address anti-Armenian rhetoric — all in defiance of the Provisional Measures issued by the International Court of Justice against Azerbaijan as a matter of urgency on 7 December 2021.”
After the visit, which was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Azerbaijan’s UN membership, the country reportedly stopped gas to Nagorno-Karabakh, once again, as temperatures dipped below freezing. In the days that followed, the United States Department of State said it was “deeply concerned about the movement of Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh.” France also expressed its concerns and Russia urged Azerbaijan to pull back its troops and observe the ceasefire.
Armenia captain Varazdat Haroyan underwent a successful operation in Cadiz, the Football Federation of Armenia informs. The timing of the recovery will be known later.
Haroyan was subbed out of Armenia’s friendly defeat against Norway on Tuesday in the 69th minute after suffering a forearm injury.