Author: Jhanna Virabian

Heavy reliance on Russia for security was a mistake: Armenian PM

Jhanna Virabian
tvp World
Sept 3 2023




Despite a defense pact and a Russian military base in Armenia, Pashinyan suggested that Moscow does not view his country as pro-Russian enough. “Our security was almost entirely tied to Russia, especially for arms,” Pashinyan stated. However, with Russia embroiled in the Ukrainian conflict, he believes Moscow may fall short in meeting Armenia’s security needs, showcasing the pitfalls of depending solely on one nation.

This sentiment resonates with a growing frustration in Armenia over Russia’s perceived inability to champion Armenian interests. In a direct rebuke, Pashinyan also criticized Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, accusing them of not fulfilling their duties.

Hinting at a possible shift in Armenia’s foreign policy, Pashinyan mentioned establishing closer ties with the European Union, the United States, and other regional powers, signaling a diversification of Armenia’s security partnerships.

While Moscow, having mediated between Yerevan and Baku in the past, remained silent on Pashinyan’s statements, it has previously defended its global actions and refuted claims of neglecting foreign allies due to the Ukraine situation.

Nagorno-Karabakh, largely populated by ethnic Armenians but internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, saw significant conflict in 2020 until a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
https://tvpworld.com/72461883/heavy-reliance-on-russia-for-security-was-a-mistake-armenian-pm

Azeri disinformation campaign targeting Armenia continues, more false accusations of border shooting

Jhanna Virabian

 15:27, 2 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani defense ministry has again falsely accused the Armenian military of opening gunfire at Azerbaijani outposts.

In a statement, the Armenian defense ministry said the Azeri accusations are disinformation.

“The release of Azerbaijani MoD as if on September 2, at around 12:58 p.m., the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire against the Azerbaijani combat outposts located in the southwestern part of the frontier zone, is another disinformation,” the Armenian defense ministry said on Facebook.

Christian communion, agency leaders in U.S. call on Biden to take urgent action to end blockade of Artsakh

Jhanna Virabian

 17:43,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. A number of leaders of Christian communions and agencies in the United States have written a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden to express grave concern over the continuing blockade of the people of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh.

The leaders of the Christian communions asked Biden to “take urgent action to end the blockade of Artsakh, to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance that is needed to sustain life and to ensure that such supplies can be delivered, and to end the suffering of the people of Artsakh so that the soft genocide we are witnessing is averted.”

Below is the full letter.

“We write as leaders of Christian communions and agencies in the United States with grave concerns over the continuing blockade of the people of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabagh. Through our ecumenical and global ecclesial partnerships and ties, we have long and deep connections with the Armenian people, especially through the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Evangelical (Protestant) Church. These relationships have intensified our awareness of the crisis in Artsakh over these past two years, and particularly the immediate crisis of recent days and weeks. We urge you to use the influence of your good offices to seek an immediate end to the devastating Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which is the only point of access to more than 120,000 Armenians who live there and whose families have resided there for centuries. Of the 120,000 Armenians at risk, 9,000 of them are people with disabilities, 20,000 of them are elderly, and 30,000 of them are children, particularly vulnerable to the effects of starvation. A report released on August 8 by Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, concluded that “There is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed.” The report continued, stating that “Starvation is the invisible genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic change, this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks.”

“The blockade prevents the delivery of food, water, medical supplies, fuel, and other essentials for the population there to survive. It also has cut off internet access for communications. Further, there is no access into or out of the area, including for international agencies like the Red Cross. Well-respected international figures and organizations such as UN Special Rapporteurs, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Freedom House, and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention have all spoken in support of the people of Artsakh, decrying their plight, and urging action.

“The National Council of Churches in the USA has spoken of the urgency of this issue as well. In a November 2020 statement lamenting the continuing military assault in Artsakh, US church leaders wrote, “Leaders of the nation of Armenia have appealed to regional and global powers to use their leverage to bring peace and relief. The militarization of the area has only served the interests of outside powers, and not the interest of the people who live there.” Paul writes in the first letter to the people of Corinth, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it.” We are acutely aware of the suffering of the Christian Armenian community in Artsakh. We must stand in solidarity with the people there, and it is our duty to advocate for their rights and their lives. We therefore implore you to take urgent action to end the blockade of Artsakh, to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance that is needed to sustain life and to ensure that such supplies can be delivered, and to end the suffering of the people of Artsakh so that the soft genocide we are witnessing is averted. We also urge you to do all that you can to seek an immediate diplomatic solution – including working with international partners and the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey – to find a resolution to this continuing political crisis and humanitarian disaster. We offer our prayers and our voices to prevent further harm, and for your strength and courage to dedicate the necessary efforts to work for peace with justice in the midst of this tragedy.”

Asbarez: Baku Blocks French Humanitarian Aid Convoy Led by Paris Mayor from Entering Artsakh

Jhanna Virabian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Main, Latest, News, Top Stories

Paris Mayor Warns of Genocide in Artsakh; Speaks with Artsakh President via Video Chat

Azerbaijan has blocked a convoy of 10 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance to Artsakh from several regions of France, which arrived in Kornidzor in Armenia’s Syunik Province at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor on Wednesday, from entering Artsakh. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is leading a delegation of French officials accompanying the humanitarian convoy.

Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Regional Council of the French region of Hauts-de-France who is also accompanying the aid delivery, said that their convoy was barred and condemned the move.

The Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF) organized this humanitarian effort, with Paris and other major French cities providing the cargo that arrived in Yerevan on Tuesday and headed for the border on Thursday,

The convoy of trucks arrived at the humanitarian aid headquarters established by the Armenian government in Kornidzor, where another convoy of trucks carrying assistance from Armenia has been stranded for over a month.

Vardan Sargsyan, a member of the Armenian government’s humanitarian crisis response group for Nagorno-Karabakh, told reporters that the increase in international awareness will boost the process and it will be possible to deliver crucial supplies and mitigate the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Like we said, our efforts are ongoing, and the only goal is to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible,” Sargsyan said, adding that the situation in Artsakh is deteriorating hour by hour.

Officials from a number of regions of France have arrived in Armenia to express support and alliance to the people of Artsakh, Hidalgo, the Paris mayor, said during a press conference in Goris.

“We are here today because the Armenian organizations in France told us it was time to act, time to address the people of France. And there was especially a need to bring together the French local authorities in order to be able to send humanitarian aid to Artsakh. It was possible to collect ten cargo trucks of humanitarian aid thanks to the unity of local self-governing bodies, and the aid consists of food, baby food, milk powder, generators and solar panels. This will allow Artsakh to withstand,” Hidalgo said.

She said that the aid is intended for six cities in Artsakh that have been under blockade since December 2022.

“Our message is clear and simple. First of all we are calling for respect of international law. The Armenians in Artsakh are under blockade involuntarily and this blockade is being perpetrated in violation of international law and the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement,” Hidalgo said,

“What is happening today in Artsakh is similar to genocide. The former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has described what’s happening in Artsakh as genocide, and four of the principles defining genocide have been acknowledged by the international community and experts. The advisor to the UN Secretary General responsible for genocide prevention is also using the same word to describe the situation in Artsakh,” added Hidalgo.

“Genocide, ethnic cleansing by an authoritarian regime against a people that is simply asking for its rights to be respected, rights that any person or nation has. This is why we’ve come here for a first-hand assessment and we condemn it. And we are also asking the French President to use his position at the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution with the purpose of respecting the rights of the people of Artsakh,” Hidalgo added.

The Paris mayor and other French officials accompanying the aid convoy held a video conversation with Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, who expressed gratitude on behalf of the people of Artsakh for the assistance.

“Last year, in December, I visited France and held meetings with our friends, and back then I warned about everything that’s happening today. Unfortunately, my predictions were right,” Harutyunyan said.

“Azerbaijan is expecting to bring Artsakh and its people down to their knees through humanitarian pressure, but they will not succeed. We know how to respect, but we will not bow to pressure and succumb. We will fight for as long as we can. Although we don’t have any expectations from the world, the major powers, international organizations, but we will continue. The dignity we inherited throughout millennia is far more important to us,” Harutyunyan said in his remarks to the French officials.

Hidalgo later met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who underscored that Azerbaijan’s blocking of the convoy “once again proves Baku’s policy of deteriorating the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,” a statement from his office said.


Nagorno-Karabakh expects consistency and principled stance from UNSC members to prevent further criminal actions by Baku

Jhanna Virabian

 15:34,

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh Republic) Foreign Ministry welcomes the meeting of the United Nations Security Council held on 16 August 2023, to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe that has emerged in the Republic of Artsakh as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan.

In a statement released Friday, the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry expressed gratitude to those countries that have remained faithful to the principles of international law and humanism.

Below is the full statement.

“We welcome the meeting of the United Nations Security Council held on 16 August 2023, to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe that has emerged in the Republic of Artsakh as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan. We express gratitude to those countries that have remained faithful to the principles of international law and humanism, and emphasized in their statements the urgent need to unblock the Lachin Corridor and ensure the delivery of vital supplies to the population in need in Artsakh.

“At the same time, it is disappointing that certain delegations attempted to find an illusory and highly risky balance between the aspirations of the people of Artsakh to live in their homeland in freedom, security and dignity, and Azerbaijan’s ambition to forcefully subjugate and annihilate them. There can be no compromise between universal values of freedom, human dignity, peace and justice on one hand, and the extreme manifestations of systematic and large-scale human rights violations, carried out with the intent of the physical destruction of a people, on the other.

“We expect that the member states of the United Nations Security Council will demonstrate consistency and а principled stance in preventing further criminal actions against the people of Artsakh, and will consolidate their position by adopting a resolution compelling Azerbaijan to lift the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor without any preconditions or linkages to alternative routes, in strict accordance with the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020 and the decisions of the International Court of Justice. Given Azerbaijan’s evident genocidal intent, any attempts to hinder the efforts of the UN Security Council to end the inhumane siege and humanitarian catastrophe in Artsakh will be tantamount to silent approval, if not complicity in the crimes committed by Baku.”

UN: Letter from the Permanent Representative of Armenia…

Jhanna Virabian
UN Web TV
The United Nations
Aug 16 2023

Letter from the Permanent Representative of Armenia – Security Council, 9397th meeting
Categories
Meetings & Events / Security Council
Production Date
16 Aug 2023
Video Length
00:15:07
Asset Language
Arabic
Chinese
English
French
Russian
Spanish
Original
Broadcasting UN Entity
DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS – DGC
Geographic Subject
ARMENIA
Corporate Name
SECURITY COUNCIL

Summary
Letter dated 13 September 2022 from the Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council.
Related Sites and Documents

S/2022/688

Listen to the UN discussion on Artsakh at 

Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh claims first starvation victim – distressing images

Jhanna Virabian
Aug 15 2023

Azerbaijan’s 8-month-long blockade of the historically and ethnically Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh has sadly claimed its first starvation victim.

According to the Human Rights Defender’s Office and the research conducted by its Staff, a resident of Stepanakert, K. Hovhannisyan, born in 1983, died due to chronic malnutrition, protein and energy deficiency.

“The catastrophic consequences of the ongoing 8-month-long blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan are more than noticeable in the public health sector, which primarily affects the health situation of the most vulnerable groups of the society – children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, people with disabilities and older persons,” the Artsakh / Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Ombudsman wrote in a social media post.

“The catastrophic food situation caused by the blockade and especially the 2-month-long complete siege, leading to the malnutrition of people and the threat of hunger, the lack of necessary medicines and the inability of the full functioning of the healthcare system create direct and undeniable threats to 120,000 population of Artsakh,” the Ombudsman statement added.

Warning: Distressing images

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Wednesday in response to a call from Armenia saying the mainly Armenian-populated region is blockaded and 120,000 people are facing hunger and “a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe,” AP reported.

Armenia’s U.N. Ambassador Mher Margaryan asked for the meeting on the dire situation in Nagorno-Karabakh in a letter to the ambassador of the United States, which holds the Security Council presidency this month.

The U.S. Mission to the U.N. said Monday the emergency open meeting will take place on Wednesday afternoon.

In his letter to Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Margaryan said Azerbaijan’s complete blockade since July 15 of the Lachin Corridor – the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia – has created severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

“The deliberate creation of unbearable life conditions for the population is nothing but an act of mass atrocity targeting the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh and forcing them to leave their homeland,” he said, stressing that this constitutes “an existential threat to them.”

Margaryan asked the Security Council, which is charged with ensuring international peace and security, “to prevent mass atrocities including war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide.”

He accused Azerbaijan of violating the Russian-brokered armistice and international humanitarian law as well as orders by the International Court of Justice in February and July. The U.N.’s highest court said in its orders that Azerbaijan should “take all measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directors,” the Armenian ambassador said.

Last week, the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warned that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against ethnic Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region and called for the Security Council to bring the matter before the international tribunal.

Luis Moreno Ocampo said in a report requested by a group of Armenians, including the country’s president, that as a result of the blockade “there is a reasonable basis to believe that a genocide is being committed.”

He said the U.N. convention defines genocide as including “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction.”

https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/08/16/azerbaijans-blockade-starvation/

Cypriot FM briefed on humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh

Jhanna Virabian

 18:43,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. On August 11, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus Constantinos Kombos.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia briefed his counterpart on the details of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor and the severe conditions created for the local population. Minister Mirzoyan noted that Azerbaijan, violating the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and the Order of the International Court of Justice of February 22, not only continues the blockade of the Lachin corridor but also, by the installation of the illegal checkpoint in April, disrupts even the transportation of people with serious health issues by the International Committee of Red Cross.

Highly appreciating the statements of international partners, including Cyprus, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the urgency of joint efforts on different platforms aimed at lifting the blockade of the Lachin corridor. The Foreign Minister of Cyprus reaffirmed his country’s approach on this issue. Both sides emphasized the need to implement the Orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6.




Armenpress: Russian peacekeepers record ceasefire violation in Nagorno-Karabakh’s Askeran

Jhanna Virabian

 21:21, 8 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, ARMENPRESS. Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh have recorded a ceasefire violation in the Askeran region, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its August 8 bulletin.

No one was hurt in the incident, it added. 

“The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is carrying out a joint investigation into the incident together with the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides,” the Russian Defense Ministry added.