Author: Maral Takmazian

Asbarez: Artsakh Announces Series of Agreements Reached with Baku

Maral Takmazian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

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

Residents of Stepanakert cook on makeshift stoves on the streets


The Artsakh authorities on Saturday announced that during Thursday’s meeting in Yevlakh, the representatives of Stepanakert and Baku reached agreements around a series of issues that would be fulfilled immediately, based on the Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended Azerbaijan’s large-scale military attack on Artsakh this week.

The Artsakh InfoCenter reported that one of the agreements was the “withdrawal of units of the Defense Army from combat positions and their transfer to places of permanent deployment in parallel with the process of disbanding the Army.”

The Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh announced on Friday that the process of disarming the Artsakh Defense Army had begun and its units had begun withdrawing from their positions, presumably to be replaced by Russian peacekeeping forces.

The other issue is the transport of the wounded, “who are in serious and extremely serious condition, as well as patients, to medical institutions in Armenia, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers.”

The ICRC announced on Saturday that the process of registering the names of the injured as well as reaching Artsakh residents in Mardakert and evacuating the wounded from there had already begun.

Another agreement involved the delivery of “humanitarian supplies, medicines, essential goods and fuel into Artsakh via the Goris-Stepanakert highway through the mediation of the Russian peacekeeping mission.”

A convoy of trucks belonging to the Russian peacekeeping forces entered Artsakh via Armenia on Friday, carrying was they said was 50 tons of humanitarian aid to Artsakh.

The Artsakh InfoCenter reported that per the agreement, the electricity supply to Artsakh would be restored on Sunday.
The power supply in Martakert has been restored, reporter Lusine Zakaryan told Armenpress by phone on Saturday.

However, the town of Askeran still has no power, according to the local regional administration’s spokesperson Anahit Petrosyan said. The power supply in Stepanakert has not been restored either.

Gayane Gevorgyan, a Stepanakert resident, told Armenpress that the residents have set up stoves in the streets to cook food. 

“We have been managing to somehow charge our phones using car batteries to be able to maintain contact with one another. We are waiting with hope,” Gevorgyan said.

As previously reported, Stepanakert and Baku also agreed to continue negotiations, the first of which was held Thursday in Yevlakh.

Artsakh’s presidential advisor Davit Babayan said Friday that issues regarding the security guarantees for the residents of Artsakh were not agreed to.

Baku is insisting on carryout a plan that it calls the “reintegration” of Artsakh Armenians within the Azerbaijani society and “under Artsakh laws.”

Armenia, Iran leaders speak amid Yerevan-Baku tensions

Maral Takmazian
New Arab
Sept 10 2023
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a number of other calls to foreign leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz.

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi spoke Saturday, as tensions escalated on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan and Raisi discussed issues including the blockade of the Lachin corridor leading to the Nagorno-Karabakh region by Azerbaijan, and the buildup of the Azerbaijani military around the disputed region, read a statement from the Armenian prime minister’s office released Saturday.

The call was one of a series made by Pashinyan, who also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, among others, according to other statement from the prime minister’s office.

The flurry of calls comes as tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan increase following Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by cutting off the Lachin corridor, the only road that connects the enclave to Armenia.

The blockade, which has been ongoing since December 2022, has resulted in food and fuel shortages in the territory.

These tensions have further escalated following the election of Samvel Shahramanyan as the new leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, an act Azerbaijan labelled as “a clear violation of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

As well as tensions over the current situation with Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defence claimed that Armenian soldiers opened fire with small arms on its soldiers in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan – a claim denied by the Armenian defence ministry.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have had tense relations following both countries independence from the Soviet Union, fighting two wars over the ethnically Armenian territory of Nagorno-Karabakh which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. 

The most recent all-out war, fought in 2020, resulted in a Russian-backed ceasefire, with much of the Armenian held territory, some of which being outside Nagorno-Karabakh, was ceded to Azerbaijan.

However, the two countries have yet to sign a lasting peace settlement even with mediation efforts from international powers such as the EU, the US and Russia.

Iran has sought to present itself as a mediator in Baku and Yerevan’s longstanding dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, but Tehran has been accused of sending weapons to the Armenians to support its fight for the territory. Iran has denied such claims.

Armenian Prime Minister’s spouse donates over 1,200 gadgets to Ukrainian schoolchildren

Maral Takmazian

 19:22, 7 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s wife Anna Hakobyan has donated more than 1,200 gadgets to Ukrainian schoolchildren, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science and Armenian children, the Armenian Embassy in Ukraine said in a statement.

The President of the Armenian Youth Union of Ukraine, Arman Hakobyan, was present at the meeting with the First Lady. On behalf of the Armenian youth and the Union of Armenians of Ukraine, Arman Hakobyan expressed gratitude to the Spouse of the Armenian Prime Minister for her important visit to Ukraine.




EU ‘strongly believes’ Lachin Corridor must be unblocked, calls for swift dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert

Maral Takmazian

 14:40, 6 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The EU strongly believes the Lachin corridor must be unblocked in line with past agreements and the ICJ order, the EU said in a statement Wednesday.

The statement was made by the Delegation of the European Union to the Council of Europe at the 1473rd meeting of the Committee of Ministers on 6 September 2023.

The EU said it remained fully committed to facilitating dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and to supporting efforts to strengthen peace and security in the South Caucasus.

Below is the full statement.

“The European Union is following with great concern the continued restrictions on free movement along the Lachin corridor and the serious humanitarian and security consequences affecting the Karabakh Armenians.

“Movement through the Lachin corridor has been impaired for almost 9 months, and, since 15 June, the corridor has been almost completely blocked, with the exception of sporadic medical evacuations. As a result, medical supplies and essential goods are in critically short supply or have already run out, with dire consequences for the local population.

“The EU deplores that the activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the region have been heavily hampered and calls for their full and swift resumption, including transport of humanitarian supplies.

“The EU reiterates its call made by the HRVP on 26 July to ensure freedom and security of movement along the Lachin corridor in both directions and to guarantee that the crisis does not escalate further, in line with the Trilateral Statement of November 2020, the European Court of Human Rights interim measures of December 2022 and the ICJ order of February 2023.

“The EU has taken note of the readiness voiced by the Azerbaijani authorities to supply goods via the city of Aghdam. The EU strongly believes the Lachin corridor must be unblocked, in line with past agreements and the ICJ Order.

“The EU has been closely following the growing tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia along their international border over the past months, with shooting incidents reported almost on a daily basis. We call on all sides to avoid further incidents and recommit to dialogue.  

“In order to observe and report on the situation on the ground the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) is conducting patrols along the Armenian side of the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The objective of the mission is to contribute to conflict resolution and to build trust and confidence between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“The EU reiterates its calls for restraint and dialogue among all parties involved. Continuous efforts are necessary to rebuild confidence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in order to secure sustainable peace and stability in the region for the benefit of the local civilian population. Swift establishment of dialogue between Baku and representatives of Armenians living in the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast is crucial, in particular for solution of the humanitarian crisis in the area, but also concerning rights and security of Karabakh Armenians and other issues.

“The EU also notes that the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe stands ready to engage with all the relevant interlocutors to assist in overcoming the existing humanitarian challenges.

“The EU, and in particular the President of the European Council Charles Michel, has been heavily engaged to supporting the normalisation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“At the last trilateral meeting on 15 July 2023, hosted by President Michel with President Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia, the leaders of the two countries reiterated their strong commitment to the peace process. They notably reconfirmed their full respect for the other country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and their unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration as a political framework for border delimitation. The ultimate delimitation of the border should be agreed through negotiations. Further substantial progress on delimitation is an important factor in reducing tensions, avoiding misunderstandings and incidents at the international border. 

“Violence, threats, harsh rhetoric and the spread of misinformation must cease in order to create an environment conducive to peace and normalisation talks. The recommitment to dialogue in good faith remains as urgent as ever. This requires genuine commitment by all sides to work towards negotiated outcomes. Humanitarian issues must be resolved and concrete steps need to be taken urgently to rebuild trust.

“The EU remains fully committed to facilitating dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and to supporting efforts to strengthen peace and security in the South Caucasus, for the benefit of all people in the region. We should not lose the momentum built in recent months for settling the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is important to continue the negotiations.”

Russia asks Armenia to explain Rome Statute move

Maral Takmazian

 16:49, 5 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Russia has asked Armenia to explain its intention to ratify the Rome Statute after the government sent the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) to parliament for ratification.

“We’ve already asked explanations from the Armenian side over this issue, and we will decide our next steps based on the content of Yerevan’s response,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on September 5.

The Armenian government on September 1 sent the Rome Statute to parliament for ratification.

In 2022, the Pashinyan Administration explained that it seeks to join the Rome Statute because it would allow to hold the government of Azerbaijan to account for its aggressions against Armenia.

On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, after an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine.

The ICC arrest warrant for Putin accuses the Russian leader of unlawfully deporting thousands of Ukrainian children, a war crime. This has been denied by the Russian government.

Countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute would have to enforce the arrest warrant once Putin travels into their territory.

Armenia reassigns CSTO envoy as new ambassador to Netherlands and representative to OPCW

Maral Takmazian

 16:56, 5 September 2023

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. At the advice of Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Vahagn Khachaturyan has formalized the appointment of Viktor Biyagov as Armenia’s new Ambassador to the Netherlands, the presidency reported Tuesday.

Biyagov was relieved from his post as Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the CSTO.

He will also serve as Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Turkish Press: Azerbaijani authorities warn Armenia over Lachin: Sources

Maral Takmazian
Sept 2 2023
World  

2023-09-02 14:27:26 | Son Güncelleme : 2023-09-02 17:41:37

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian allows his country to provoke provocations despite its heavy defeat in the Second Karabakh War in 2020, Azerbaijani National Assembly Speaker Adil Aliyev said.

“Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is playing with fire, on the one hand declaring that he recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Karabakh, and on the other hand delaying the formalization of his words. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Nikol Pashinian’s signing the peace agreement,” Aliyev added.

“Armenia’s refusal to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is at the root of the current problems. If this does not happen, the demarcation of borders will be protracted. In fact, Armenia should be more concerned about the lack of normalization of relations with its neighboring country,” he stated.

In addition, Aliyev stressed that some international circles still prefer to express the whims of Armenians.

“For 30 years, these groups preferred to keep silent, turning a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and refraining from telling the truth. However, as soon as the occupation of Karabakh ended, they began to openly hide their anti-Azerbaijani policies,” he said.

“This was nothing but a double standard. France’s policy is obvious. In the past years, this state did not hide its sympathies for the occupying Armenia and at least tried to create a certain image of balance. With the election of Emmanuel Macron as President, they completely forgot about the balance,” Aliyev emphasized.

“France completely sided with Armenia during and after the Second Karabakh War. Macron’s unilateral statements, provocative statements by a group of mayors of French cities at the beginning of the Lachin road are steps to promote separatism in Azerbaijan,” he added.

Adil Aliyev also drew attention to the food problems of Armenians in Karabakh. He reminded that two trucks carrying 40 tonnes of flour sent to the region by the Azerbaijani Red Crescent were prevented from entering the region via the Agdam-Kankendi road.

“Armenian authorities and separatists demand the opening of the Lachin road. This is impossible. During the occupation, they used the Lachin road as they knew how, transporting weapons, and laying mines on the roads. The Azerbaijani army put an end to this and a border crossing point was established at the beginning of the Lachin road,” Aliyev said.

“Currently, Karabakh Armenians are using this road and are getting used to being controlled by Azerbaijani border guards at the border crossing point. Now Karabakh Armenians have to make a choice. Either they will live according to Azerbaijani laws or they will leave Azerbaijan,” he stressed.

Tensions in the region increased after the Armenian armed forces opened fire from their positions in the village of Zod in the Basarkecher region on August 31-September 4 on the positions of the Azerbaijani army in Kalbajar.

After Azerbaijan responded to the attack, 4 Armenian soldiers were killed and 1 Armenian soldier was wounded. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defence announced that 3 soldiers were wounded in Armenia’s provocation.

Source: Ihlas News Agency

https://www.turkiyenewspaper.com/world/16249

Nagorno-Karabakh’s leader resigns

Maral Takmazian
EurasiaNet
Sept 1 2023
Lilit Shahverdyan Sep 1, 2023

Arayik Harutyunyan has resigned as de facto president of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, effective on September 1.

He made the announcement on Facebook on August 31, posting: “I made this final decision two days ago, taking into account my contacts in the past weeks with all domestic and foreign actors and the public.”

There had been speculation for weeks about his possible resignation and he openly mused about it amid demonstrations this week in the region’s de facto capital, Stepanakert. 

Harutyunyan took office in May 2020. Together with leaders of the Republic of Armenia, he oversaw the Armenian side’s defeat in the Second Karabakh War in fall of that year which saw the de facto statelet lose most of the territory it claimed. 

The remaining area controlled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (usually referred to as Artsakh by Armenians) has been under Azerbaijani blockade since December 2022, and that blockade has been total or near-total since June 2023.

The resulting shortages of foodstuffs and essential supplies contributed to growing frustration with Harutyunyan’s rule. 

In his resignation announcement, Harutyunyan wrote that the “unstable geopolitical situation” and “Artsakh’s internal political and social environment” required a more flexible approach to the region’s future that could start with his departure.

“My biography and Azerbaijan’s attitude towards it artificially create a number of conditions that cause significant problems from the point of view of building our next steps and conducting a flexible policy. In addition, the defeat in the war and the subsequent difficulties in the country have significantly reduced the trust in the authorities, especially the president, which has seriously hindered the further course of proper governance,” said the former president.

Azerbaijan declared Harutyunyan a “terrorist” during the 2020 war for allegedly ordering the shelling of civilians. Baku initiated a criminal case against him and placed him on an international wanted list.

Before stepping down, Harutyunyan pushed through a constitutional amendment that enabled Karabakh’s legislature to elect an interim president in case of the incumbent’s early resignation. 

Hence, the National Assembly will elect an interim president within ten days to serve out the rest of Harutyunyan’s term ending 2025.

Along with his resignation, Harutyunyan also dismissed Gurgen Nersisyan as state minister, which is the second-highest-ranking executive position in the territory. Shortly afterward, Artak Beglaryan announced he was stepping down as advisor to the state minister. 

Harutyunyan named Samvel Shahramanyan, the former Security Council secretary who also headed the team negotiating with Azerbaijan earlier in March, as the new state minister.

The Ruben Vardanyan factor

The former president’s loudest and most influential critic was Ruben Vardanyan, a Russian-Armenian billionaire who moved to Nagorno-Karabakh last September in order to take on a leadership role. 

Harutyunyan appointed him to the newly empowered position of state minister but sacked him from that post in February, after just four months in the job.

In a Facebook video address on August 19, Vardanyan, who has remained in Karabakh, demanded Harutyunyan’s resignation, claiming that he had reneged on several previous promises to step down. 

The address came after a group of civilian militia supportive of Harutyunyan entered the parliament building in an apparent show of force against opponents calling for his resignation.  

That event in turn took place two weeks after the de facto parliament had elected MP Davit Ishkhanyan, an opponent of Harutyunyan’s and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun, as its new speaker. 

Tigran Grigoryan, a Karabakh native and the president of the Regional Center of Democracy and Security in Yerevan, told RFE/RL that Harutyunyan’s resignation resulted from pressure from Vardanyan and the region’s still-influential former presidents. 

“Vardanyan consolidated the former presidents and their supporters, as well as the opposition parties in Karabakh, and their collective demand compelled Harutyunyan to resign,” he said. 

He was referring to former de facto presidents Bako Sahakyan (in office 2007-20) and Arkadi Ghukasyan (1997-2007), who are broadly considered to be allied with the former presidents of the Republic of Armenia (Robert Kocharyan and Serj Sargsyan) that are now in opposition there. 

Grigoryan noted rumors that Samvel Shahramanyan, the newly appointed state minister, would be chosen by MPs as the new president. 

“They’re transitioning to create a collective body, consisting of the former leaders and security forces, as the new decision-maker. Shahramanyan is not an independent political figure but rather a representative of the group,” he said, adding that it’s still unclear what effect the change in leadership will have on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lilit Shahverdyan is a journalist based in Stepanakert. 

Three more Armenians detained at Azerbaijan’s Lachin checkpoint

Maral Takmazian
Aug 29 2023
Lilit Shahverdyan Aug 29, 2023

On August 28, Azerbaijani border guards detained three young Karabakh Armenian men during their passage through the Lachin corridor en route to Armenia. 

They had been among the roughly 170 Karabakh residents being transported from Karabakh to Armenia that day under Russian peacekeeper escort.

The Azerbaijani General Prosecutor’s Office released a statement saying the men were arrested for insulting state symbols and “inciting national, racial, social or religious hatred and enmity.”

Azerbaijani media reported that they were members of a football team in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Martuni that are seen stepping on an Azerbaijan flag in a video released in 2021.

It was later reported that the criminal charges against the three men were dropped “considering the age of the accused individuals, their sincere remorse, and compliance with the requirements of procedural legislation.” The three will serve 10 days in administrative detention and then be expelled from Azerbaijan, according to APA news agency.

The Office of Human Rights Ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh named the three men as Alen Sargsyan, Vahe Hovsepyan, and Levon Grigoryan and said that all of them were students of educational institutions in Armenia.

The arrests recalled the July 29 detention of Vagif Khachatryan, a 68-year-old veteran of the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s who Azerbaijan accused of committing “war crimes.” Khachatryan remains in custody in Baku.

“The abduction of Vagif Khachatryan and Alen Sargsyan irrefutably proves that the so-called checkpoint has turned into a tool for serving the Azerbaijani criminal arbitrariness, through which Azerbaijanis arbitrarily kidnap and deprive civilians of their freedom,” the Karabakh Ombudsman’s statement read.

The arrests of the three young men will boost apprehensions among Karabakh Armenians that their entire male population could be vulnerable to prosecution by Azerbaijan, which is intent on establishing sovereignty over the entire region.

The majority of the adult male population of Nagorno-Karabakh have links to the local army – they either fought in the first or second war (in 2020) or fulfilled mandatory military service at the age of 18.

Protests in Stepanakert

Following the news of the three young men’s arrest, spontaneous demonstrations erupted in the de facto capital city of Stepanakert and in Martuni demanding explanations. 

Karabakh’s de facto president Arayik Harutyunyan held a 6-hour Security Council session at the National Assembly in the evening of August 28 while thousands protested outside the building. 

The issues discussed included the fate of the arrested men, as well as possible solutions to the humanitarian issues the population has been experiencing particularly acutely since mid-June.

Responding to demands by some of the protesters for his resignation, Harutyunyan reportedly said: “Today, the question was also discussed: Should I be President? Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow we will decide everything in a narrow group, and if necessary, I will resign.”

Discontent with the current de facto government in Nagorno-Karabakh has been growing steadily over the past 8.5 months of Azerbaijani blockade, which was made near-total in mid-June though loosened somewhat in mid-August. 

Karabakh refuses aid from Azerbaijan

There is no end in sight for the blockade, which has resulted in shortages of foodstuffs and other necessities that in turn have caused an increase in the miscarriage rate, as well as deaths from malnutrition. 

In late July Baku refused to allow an Armenian government convoy carrying 360 tons of humanitarian goods over the border and into Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan has offered to supply the population through its own territory, a proposal backed by the EU and Russia but strongly opposed by the local population, which views it as an effort to legitimize the blockade and subjugate them.

On August 29, Baku unilaterally sent a convoy of Red Crescent vehicles to Nagorno-Karabakh reportedly carrying 40 tons of humanitarian goods. 

The Karabakh authorities are refusing to accept it.

“If the Azerbaijani authorities are really interested in eliminating the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the people of Artsakh and stopping the genocide, then they should not play false philanthropy, but simply not prohibit the restoration of supplies to Artsakh through the Lachin corridor, as planned in the statement of November 9, 2020 and the decisions of the International Court,” said Lusine Avanesyan, press officer of Karabakh’s president.

Lilit Shahverdyan is a journalist based in Stepanakert. 

https://eurasianet.org/three-more-armenians-detained-at-azerbaijans-lachin-checkpoint