Author: Mary Lazarian

                                        Wednesday, 
Karabakh Leaders Again Hit Out At Pashinian
Nagorno-Karabakh - Karabakh Armenians demonstrate in Stepanakert against 
Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin corridor, December 25, 2022.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leading political factions on Wednesday denounced Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest comments on the conflict with Azerbaijan, 
saying that they are “consistent with the position of official Baku.”
Speaking in the Armenian parliament on Tuesday, Pashinian made clear that his 
administration unequivocally recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He 
also said he is ready to sign an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal that would 
commit the two South Caucasus states to recognizing each other’s Soviet-era 
borders.
Armenian opposition leaders portrayed this as further proof of their claims that 
Pashinian is helping Baku regain full control over Karabakh.
In a joint statement, the five political groups represented in the Karabakh 
parliament described Pashinian’s remarks as “unacceptable” and again accused him 
of undermining the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination which was for 
decades supported by international mediators.
“Thus, Armenia’s ruling circles separate the issue of the Artsakh people’s 
security from their right to self-determination, ignoring the decisive nature of 
the latter, something which is consistent with the position of official Baku,” 
they said.
They again urged Pashinian to comply with a 1992 parliamentary act that banned 
Armenia’s governments from signing any document that would recognize Azerbaijani 
sovereignty over Karabakh. Azerbaijani rule in Karabakh would have “devastating” 
consequences for Armenia as well, added their statement.
Karabakh leaders have repeatedly criticized Pashinian ever since he signaled in 
April 2022 his readiness to “lower the bar” on Karabakh’s status acceptable to 
Armenia. Pashinian and his entourage also stopped making references to 
Karabakh’s self-determination in their public statements.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded on Tuesday that Yerevan go farther 
and officially declare that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.” He also said that the 
Karabakh Armenians must accept Azerbaijani rule or leave their region.
The Karabakh factions said Aliyev’s threats show that Baku is carrying on with 
its “genocidal actions” against Karabakh. They called on the international 
community to take “concrete measures” to end the four-month Azerbaijani blockade 
of the Lachin corridor.
Families Keep Up Protests Over Soldiers’ Deaths
        • Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia - A makeshift military barracks in Gegharkunik region destroyed by fire, 
January 19, 2023.
The parents of Armenian soldiers found dead at their military barracks in 
January blocked a major highway late on Tuesday as they continued to accuse 
authorities of trying to cover up the shock deaths.
The charred bodies of 15 conscripts were recovered after a major fire destroyed 
their makeshift barracks located in Azat, a village in Armenia’s eastern 
Gegharkunik province. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Defense Minister Suren 
Papikian said hours later that the fire was sparked by an officer who poured 
gasoline into a woodstove in breach of the military’s fire-safety rules.
The officer, Captain Yeghishe Hakobian, suffered serious burns and was 
hospitalized before being indicted and placed under arrest last month. Two 
other, more high-ranking officers were also arrested. They are accused of 
failing to enforce the safety rules at the barracks.
The families of the vast majority of the victims distrust the criminal 
investigation into what was one of the deadliest ever non-combat incidents 
registered in the Armenian army ranks. They believe that their sons were either 
dead or unconscious when the fire erupted at the village house turned into 
barracks.
The parents blocked traffic through the Yerevan-Sevan highway for a few hours 
after attending more forensic actions carried out by investigators in Azat. They 
demanded a meeting with Pashinian and Papikian.
“For three months, the parents have been trying in vain to meet with the prime 
minister or the defense minister,” their lawyer, Norayr Norikian, said on 
Wednesday.
“What happened before the fire? We don’t have an answer to this question,” 
Norikian said.
Armenia -- Sedrak Gharibian speaks to RFE/RL, .
“Our desire is to find out the truth. We don’t want anything else from them,” 
said Sedrak Gharibian, whose son Taron died just three weeks before his planned 
demobilization.
“But they won’t tell us,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “This means that 
they have some secret.”
Pashinian has stood by the official version of the deaths, denying a cover-up. 
Gegharkunik Governor Karen Sargsian said later on Wednesday that the prime 
minister will not meet the soldiers’ parents until the ongoing investigation is 
complete.
Yerevan Blasts Aliyev’s ‘Hate Speech’
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - The building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
The Armenian government condemned Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on 
Wednesday for again telling Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population to 
accept Azerbaijani rule or leave the region.
In televised remarks aired on Tuesday, Aliyev reiterated that Baku will not hold 
any internationally mediated talks with the Karabakh Armenians. “The separatists 
must realize that they have two options: either they will live under Azerbaijani 
rule or leave,” he said.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the “hate speech” highlights Aliyev’s 
“intention to subject Nagorno-Karabakh’s population to ethnic cleansing.” It 
accused him of breaking a pledge to agree to an “international mechanism for 
addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s rights and security guarantees.”
“Instead of looking for sustainable and lasting solutions to problems that have 
accumulated in the region for years, Azerbaijan is trying to advance its 
maximalist ambitions through the use of force and threats of force,” the 
ministry said in a statement.
The statement referred to Aliyev’s latest threats of fresh military action 
against Armenia also voiced on Tuesday. But it did not react to his demands that 
Yerevan officially declare that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.”
Speaking in the Armenian parliament earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian made clear that his administration unequivocally recognizes 
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. Pashinian’s political opponents said this is 
tantamount to recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Armen Khachatrian, a senior lawmaker representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract 
party, denounced Aliyev’s “unbridled” statement on Wednesday.
“It’s not Aliyev who can tell us what to do and how to do,” he told reporters. 
“Aliyev needs to realize that he cannot solve any issue by force.”
But Khachatrian did not say whether or not Pashinian will agree to explicitly 
recognize Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan.
As recently as on March 30, Pashinian urged Karabakh’s leadership to negotiate 
with Azerbaijan while accusing Baku of planning to commit “genocide” in Karabakh 
amid its continuing blockade of the Lachin corridor.
Pashinian sparked angry opposition protests in Yerevan last year when he 
signaled readiness to “lower the bar” on Karabakh’s status acceptable to 
Armenia. He and other Armenian officials also stopped making references to the 
Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination in their public statements.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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