Two privates of the Armenian Armed Forces, identified as Vardan Karapet Ghrmajyan and Armen Pavel Ghazaryan were reported missing as a result of the floods caused by heavy rain and strong wind at about 00:30, June 8, the Investigative Committee informs.
The bodies of the two soldiers were later found in the nearby area.
Probe into the details of the incident is under way.
The Azerbaijani side resumed the ceasefire violations starting from midday, May 25, using artillery weapons of different calibers and HAN-17 grenade launchers, NKR Ministry of Defense reports.
The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army refrained from response actions and confidently continued with their military duty.
May 8 marks one of the most significant victories in the history of the Armenian nation. Shushi was liberated on this day 24 years ago.
During the Karabakh liberation war of early 1990s, Shushi became one of Azerbaijan’s main military strongholds in Nagorno-Karabakh. From this strategic location, the Azeri army would bombard Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert and adjacent Armenian village.
The liberation of Shushi in May, 1992, however, became a turning point.
About 3,800 volunteers participated in the operation of liberation of Shushi the night of May 8. The operation was led by Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, the Commander of the self-defense forces of Artsakh.
Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan declared early on May 9 that all groupings of the rival had left Shushi.
Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert
The future of relations with Azerbaijan is at the core of discussions in Artsakh. Politicians and analysts say the recent military actions come to prove the short-sightedness of the Madrid Principles and the negotiations on that basis.
Politics is never ‘black and white.” Negotiations are necessary, but what should they be about and what are the implications of every proposal? This is the question.
Arzik Mkhitaryan, Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NKR National Assembly, singles out two of the principles – non-use of force and the right of peoples to self-determination.
Leader of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun faction David Ishkhanyan excludes the “territories for status” formula. “We have managed to create our history by establishing and developing a state system. This is our status,” he said.
“The status of Nagorno Karabakh, the guarantees of the foreigners cannot substitute the NKR Armed Forces and cannot guarantee people’s security. The April war is an evidence of this,” David Ishkhanyan said.
He’s assured that surrender of territories will not ensure security. Moreover, he says there is a need to expand the security zones of the cities of Martuni and Martakert, the northern regions of Martakert – Talish, Mataghis and other frontline villages. “This should be in the focus of both the diplomacy and the military.”
MP Armen Sargsyan reminds about the events of 1920-1921. “Our grandfathers won. We managed to keep Zangezur, but lost Artsakh because of defeat on the diplomatic front.”
Arzik Mkhitaryan considers that no one will ever assume the responsibility to solve such issues alone. People must give their consent to ant proposal. “Our political elite considers that any proposal that can be discussed and considered acceptable, should be put on a referendum.”
The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia Edward Nalbandian and Sergey Lavrov discussed the settlement of the Karabakh conflict at a meeting in Yerevan today.
“The recent escalation in the Karabakh conflict zone comes to prove that there is no military solution to the Karabakh conflict. The issue can be solved exceptionally in a political and diplomatic,” Lavrov told a joint press conference with Minister Nalbandian in Yerevan.
According to him, the priority at this point is to ensure full commitment to the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, unequivocal respect for its provisions by all parties. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s willingness to provide every support to the parties both as an individual country and in its capacity as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair.
The Russian Foreign Minister stressed the importance of soonest implementation of confidence-building measures, the measures of investigation of border incidents agreed between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan with Russian mediation in 2011.
He said further delay in the implementation of the measures is unacceptable.
As for Turkey’s statements that followed the escalation along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact, the Russian Foreign Minister said they are completely unacceptable, for one reason.
“The statements were a call for war, not peace,” Lavrov said. Those were calls to solve the conflict in a military way. This contradicts the position of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the position of the international community.
President Serzh Sargsyan has left for the Nagorno Karabakh Republic for a working visit, President’s Press Office reports.
At Stepanakert Airport Serzh Sargsyan was welcomed by NKR President Bako Sahakyan, the Defense Ministers of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, other officials.
Following the debate in the European Parliament, two members of Parliament (MEPs) from two different political groups – Salvatore Pogliese and Remo Sernagiotto – that could not participate in Tuesday’s debate on Nagorno-Karabakh, have tabled a written question to Federica Mogherini, EU High-Representative/Vice-President.
In the document, they underline that the Azerbaijani attacks “are accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.” They especially deplore civilian victims of the conflict, saying that “Civilian infrastructures and civilian population have been the main targets of the Azerbaijani offensive. In particular, among the first victims was a 12-year-old boy. In addition, cases of mutilation, execution and torture of civilians have been registered and documented.”
They conclude by asking Ms Mogherini if she is going “to propose sanctions to be taken against Azerbaijan, given the breaches of the above-mentioned international law and the very basis of the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement”. Lastly, they ask for EU’s support to “the OSCE Minsk Group proposal on the creation of a cease-fire violations monitoring mechanism, to avoid continuous breaches of this only self-regulated truce in Europe.”
European Friends of Armenia () welcomes this initiative. “Written questions are an important tool of oversight, including also EU’s foreign policy” comments EuFoA Director, Mr Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa. “More than 6 questions have been tabled on the different hostilities that Nagorno-Karabakh has suffered in the last 12 months, which shows the deep concern of the House on this matter”.
According to the European Parliament’s rules of procedure, written questions must be answered within 6 weeks of their submission.
MEP Pogliese is member of the EPP group, the largest group in the European Parliament. MEP Sernagiotto is member of the ECR group, the third biggest group in the Parliament.
President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Germany on official visit, met today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Noting that his visit to Germany is taking place in the period when Azerbaijan has seriously challenged security of Nagorno Karabakh as well as of Armenia, the President of Armenia spoke in detail about the existing tense situation, which resulted from the violation by Azerbaijan of the ceasefire and unprecedented escalation of the situation, and the latest developments.
“The very fact that at this difficult moment I am here is more than just a testimony to the importance which Armenia attaches to the bilateral relations as well as to Germany’s role as the country presiding in the OSCE,” said the President of Armenia. He underscored that since the OSCE Co-Chairs are entrusted with the resolution of the NK problem, expectations from the OSCE are great. The President said that steps aimed at the establishment of peace are anticipated, and after the re-establishment of the ceasefire regime of 1994 it will be necessary to implement mechanisms which are aimed at the strict adherence to its terms.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany reiterated his appeal to the parties of the conflict regarding the situation and underscored once again that the NK conflict has no military solution; the parties must manifest political will and return to the negotiations conducted in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Minister Steinmeier stressed the importance of the implementation in the area of the conflict of the confidence building measures as well as the resumption of the monitoring in the Line of Contact by the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman—in-Office.
At the meeting, the parties stressed also the importance of the establishment of the mechanisms for the investigation of the ceasefire violations. With this regard, President Sargsyan viewed as important the extension of the mandate of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman—in-Office and amplification of the capacities of his Office.
The President of Armenia and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany discussed the dynamically developing agenda of the interstate bilateral relations, and preset opportunities for developing cooperation in a number of areas.
The High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini spoke this morning with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, and with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian concerning the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The HR/VP urged the immediate de-escalation of violence, an end to the targeting of civilians and strict observance of the ceasefire by all parties. The High Representative reiterated that a large-scale conflict is in the interest of no-one. The conflict requires a comprehensive and peaceful solution, not a military one.
The HR/VP once again reiterated, as she did during her recent visits to Baku and Yerevan, the European Union’s full support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and the three Co-Chairs, urging both sides to resume the negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. In this context, the High Representative stressed that all parties must take the necessary steps to create an environment conducive to successful negotiations, including avoiding actions and statements which could further complicate the already complex environment.
The High Representative will personally remain in close contact with her Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts, as well as through EU Special Representative Herbert Salber.
Monday, March 14 (3/14) is Pi Day, the day when we celebrate the mathematical constant of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is approximately 3.14159.
According to the official Pi Day website, Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits. It is an irrational and transcendental number that will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern.
Pi Day was organized by Larry Shaw in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium when he and other physicists marched in a circle and then ate fruit pies.
Coincidentally, the day is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.