Author: Karakhanian Suren

 16:20,

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is visiting Armenia in a difficult period of time when the country is facing serious challenges and threats to regional security, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with his French counterpart.

“Today during our meeting I expressed gratitude for France’s principled positions expressed on all levels in various formats. Including in the direction of eliminating the consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and in advancing the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing country,” FM Mirzoyan said.

FM Mirzoyan attached special importance to French President Emmanuel Macron’s involvement in establishing peace and stability in South Caucasus.

The Armenian FM said that Azerbaijan, disregarding the criticism by the international community and ignoring the February 22 ruling of the International Court of Justice, has now already officially blocked the Lachin Corridor in gross violation of the clause 6 of the 2020 trilateral statement, by installing a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor which is the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. “This is yet another, but perhaps with its consequences an extremely dangerous and explicit violation of the trilateral statement. It is impossible not to see the real threat of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh behind the explicit calls by the Azerbaijani authorities aimed at achieving exodus in Nagorno Karabakh, the hate speech and this violation. This must be clear for the international community as well.  In this context I once again emphasize the imperative of practical steps by UN member states having international security mandate, including by ensuring the deployment of an international mission to NK and Lachin Corridor and unimpeded access of international humanitarian organizations,” FM Mirzoyan said.

 12:38, 9 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. On April 9, President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan in the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God in Stepanakert partook in the Divine Liturgy, officiated by Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan on the occasion of the Holy Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Second and third presidents of the Republic Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, representatives of the legislative and executive bodies took part in the liturgy too.

 15:11, 5 April 2023

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) released a statement on April 5 on the obstruction by Azerbaijan of the pre-arranged return of Artsakh citizens.

Below is the full statement.

“On 4 April, another flagrant violation of the rights of the citizens of Artsakh took place that indicates the true goals pursued by Azerbaijan, which has been holding the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) under a complete blockade for more than 110 days. The Azerbaijani side refused to let through the Lachin Corridor vehicles of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent with citizens of Artsakh who remained in Armenia due to the blockade and were deprived of the opportunity to reunite with their families. The Azerbaijani side stopped the vehicles on the blocked section of the Lachin Corridor and for 5 hours subjected the people in the vehicles, mainly women, children and elderly persons, to psychological terror and intimidation. Subsequently, Azerbaijan made an attempt to turn the suffering of the people into a show of hypocritical pseudo-humanism. 

This egregious incident clearly demonstrates that the Azerbaijani authorities have embarked on the next level of practical implementation of their criminal plan to ethnically cleanse Artsakh and expel its people from their historical homeland. These intentions were publicly announced by the President of Azerbaijan on 10 January 2023, in an interview with the Azerbaijani media. Subsequently, the Azerbaijani political leadership repeatedly voiced the threat that the people of Artsakh should either obey the Armenophobic authorities of Azerbaijan or leave their homeland.

In an environment of complete impunity, the criminal actions committed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh are becoming increasingly threatening both in nature and scale. The inaction of the international community in the face of such serious violations of human rights is tantamount to tacit approval, if not complicity in the inhumane actions of official Baku. Immediate and decisive action by the United Nations Security Council, which has the appropriate mandate and tools, is an absolute necessity to immediately end the illegal blockade and stop the crimes of Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh, which continue before the eyes of the international community.”

 16:43, 3 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Romania supports the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and international justice, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said at a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan when asked on Romania’s position- as a country recognizing the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ – on Azerbaijan’s non-compliance with the ICJ ruling on opening the Lachin Corridor.

“Romania is a country that greatly supports the International Court of Justice and international justice. Respect for international law is outlined in the main concept of Romania’s foreign policy. The advantages of applying to the ICJ are clear to us. This is a practical conclusion because Romania has used the ICJ to resolve an important issue with one of our neighbors,” he said.

Aurescu said the ICJ is a very valuable instrument for resolving any dispute.

He added that Romania recognizes the ICJ’s compulsory jurisdiction.

The United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan on February 22 to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. The Lachin Corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijan since 12 December 2022.

 10:07, 22 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. An Israeli airstrike on March 22 targeted the international airport of the Syrian city of Aleppo, causing only material damages, the Syrian state media reported.

In a statement issued to SANA news agency, an unnamed military source said “the Israeli enemy launched an aerial act of aggression with a number of missiles” from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, “targeting the vicinity of Aleppo International Airport.”

“At about 03: 55 a.m. on Wednesday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial act of aggression with a number of missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Lattakia, targeting the vicinity of Aleppo International Airport,” SANA reported citing the military source. The source added “the attack caused some material damages to the airport.”

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations, according to the Associated Press.

Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets bases of Iran-allied groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

 11:59, 22 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. French senator Valérie Boyer has reiterated solidarity and deep friendship with the Armenian people amid the Azeri blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

“Azerbaijan has been blocking the Lachin corridor for 100 days, cutting off Nagorno-Karabakh and its 120,000 inhabitants from the rest of the world, in general indifference. I have a thought for all the Armenians and I want to show them once again my solidarity and my deep friendship,” the senator tweeted, along with a photo of herself at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan during an earlier visit.

 15:43, 23 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno Karabakh’s Foreign Minister on March 23 said he doesn’t rule out the possible deployment of international peacekeepers to Nagorno Karabakh, but stressed that such a matter would require difficult decisions.  

NK Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan was asked to comment on Armenian PM Pashinyan’s March 16 remarks about the Russian peacekeepers. 

Ghazaryan said that such agreements would require massive work in order to initiate such mechanisms.

“One thing is obvious, this security component is of top importance for Artsakh, and it is nearly impossible without the presence of peacekeeping forces. The more perfected that mechanism gets the better.”

He said that the circle of these issues would depend on the extent of the development of the mechanism. For example, he said, if the number of the Russian peacekeepers were to be ten times higher perhaps it would provide other possibilities.

“And you know that the issue of deploying international peacekeepers was always discussed within the OSCE Minsk Group process, and we don’t rule out such a format as well, perhaps by involving other countries, international organizations, but this is not a matter that can be solved with easy decisions,” Ghazaryan said.