Author: Toneyan Mark

Moth species unknown to science discovered in Armenia

Toneyan Mark

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 14:53,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Scientists have discovered a moth species unknown to science in Armenia, the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) said in a news release.

The scientists who discovered the specimen are experts from Germany’s Institute for Ecosystem Research, who were conducting research in CWR, Urtsadzor’s site, located in Ararat region.

“During their field trips, the scientists have implemented their research through scientific methods and have found a moth species, which was not known to inhabit Armenia before. The scientific article on this valuable finding was published recently. Initially the state of preservation of this specimen showed that it generally corresponded with external appearance of D. kondarella and D. gaalhaszlerae, however further differential diagnosis of organs, as well as DNA – barcoding showed this was a specimen unknown to science before”, the organization said.

“One female specimen was collected in year 2020 in Armenia. The moth has been collected end of May, from Armenia, Ararat Province, Vedi river valley, Urtsadzor, light trapped near CWR Eco Lodge, 1250m a s.l. by scientists H. Roweck & N.Savenkov. Depressaria urtsadzorensis – is the name given to the specimen that is derived from Urtsadzor, a village in Armenia, Ararat Province, Vedi river valley, where the type specimen was found. It is located in an area recognized as Prime Butterfly Area, so the choice of this name intends to underline its importance for biodiversity research and protection.”

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

Military lessons from Nagorno-Karabakh: Reason for Europe to worry

Toneyan Mark
Nov 24 2020

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war holds important lessons for European defence. European governments should study it urgently.

Gustav Gressel @GresselGustav on Twitter
Senior Policy Fellow

Commentary

FUZULI, AZERBAIJAN – NOVEMBER 18, 2020: An Azerbaijani soldier stands near the ruins of a destroyed military recruitment office.picture alliance/dpa/TASS | Gavriil Grigorov ©

Lesson 1: Strategy and politics matter

The course of every war is influenced by the specific political circumstances that trigger it – and this war was no exception. Azerbaijan and Turkey were confident in the success of their offensive action, as Russia had from the onset of the war indicated that it had no intention of assisting the Armenians outside of their recognised borders. Russia also saw Azeri military pressure as a tool to weaken the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, who headed the 2018 revolution that removed the old regime. Azeri action would, moreover, be likely to lead Armenia accept previously negotiated “peace plans” that would strengthen Moscow’s geopolitical position. This adverse political situation directly translated into military disadvantages on the battlefield for the Armenians.

Knowing Moscow’s tacit acceptance of a military intervention, Turkey based several F-16 fighters in Azerbaijan in October 2020 as a general deterrent. These were later used to sweep the sky of any Armenian ground-attack aircraft that tried to engage in combat. For its part, Armenia had just received eight Su-30 interceptors from Russia this summer, but did not even try to use them to contest the Azeri drones and F-16. The main reason for this was that Russia wanted Armenia not to enter into a direct confrontation with Turkey proper, and so it kept its aircraft on the ground. Russia effectively served air superiority on a diplomatic silver platter to Azerbaijan and Turkey. This proved decisive.

Lesson 2: Computers and networks matter

Like in Syria and Libya, Russian air-defence systems proved to be ineffective against small and slow drones. This has inspired a debate in the West about whether Russian air-defence systems are generally overrated. But this verdict would be premature.

Russia effectively served victory on a diplomatic silver platter to Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Armenia’s most ‘modern’ air-defence systems, the S-300PT and PS series and the 9K37M Buk-M1, were both developed in the 1980s. While the missiles are still potent, their sensors are designed to detect, identifiy and track fast-moving fighters, and their moving-target indicators disregard small, slow drones. Like many 1980s systems, a lot of computing is predetermined by hardware layout, and reprogramming requires an extensive refit of the entire system, which the Armenians had not done. These systems are also incapable of plot-fusion: accumulating and combining raw radar echoes from different radars into one aggregated situation report. Plot-fusion is essential to detecting small and low-observable targets such as advanced drones or stealth aircraft. None of the export versions of Russia’s air-defence systems that it has sold to Syria, Turkey, North Korea, and Iran are capable of plot-fusion. (In the latter two cases, these are disguised as ‘indigenous’ systems like the Raad or Bavar 373.) There is therefore a huge difference in performance between Russian air-defence systems protecting Russian bases in Armenia and Syria and those Russian air-defence systems exported to Armenia and Syria.

Azerbaijan’s drones roamed free because Armenia had no jammer able to interrupt the signals linking the drones to their guidance stations. Only in the last days of the war did Russia use the Krasukha electronic warfare system based at the Armenian city of Gyumri to interdict Azeri deep reconnaissance in Armenia proper. Still, the Azeris also used the Israeli Harop loitering munition, which was able to work under adverse conditions (although at reduced effectiveness) as it does not, unlike drones. require a guidance link. Hence among armies that are likely to prepare to fight wars in the future – not only the US, China, Russia but regional powers such as Turkey, Israel, and South Africa – this experience will certainly prompt further research into artificial intelligence and autonomous lethal weapons systems. Rather than banning this class of ammunition by a prohibitive arms control treaty, as envisioned by Europe, they will experiment with how to make use of the new technologies and best integrate autonomous lethal weapons systems into their combined-arms manoeuvre forces, thereby increasing their operational tempo and effectiveness.

Lesson 3: Fight ‘around’ the enemy’s strength

Before the war, on a tactical level the Armenian army was superior: it had better officers, more motivated soldiers, and a more agile leadership. In all previous wars with Azerbaijan, this proved to be decisive. But Azerbaijan found a way to work around it. This is where the drones came in: they allowed the Azeris to reconnoitre first the Armenian position and then the placement of reserves. Armenian positions then could be extensively shelled with conventional artillery, weakening their defences. Drones then guided the onslaught towards the Armenian reserves, bringing in artillery, multiple-rocket systems with cluster munitions, their own missiles, or using Israeli-made LORA ballistic missiles to destroy bridges or roads linking the reserves with the front. Once the Armenian side was incapable of sending reserves into battle, the Azeri army could move in any number it wished to overwhelm the isolated Armenian positions. This procedure was repeated day after day, chipping one Armenian position away each day and resupplying artillery during the night.

This tactic also worked well in mountainous territory the Armenians thought would be easy to defend. In the mountains, there is only one road connecting the front to the rear, which made it even easier for drones to spot targets. When the battle over Shusha demonstrated that the Armenians would not stand a chance even in this territory, the Armenian army started to disintegrate and Yerevan had no choice than to agree a ceasefire on adverse terms.

In the West, much of the drone discussion has focused on the technical side of drone warfare. But this aspect was less spectacular in this war. The numbers of vehicles claimed to be destroyed are most likely exaggerated – for example, this Azeri-language Sputnik report claims that more tanks were destroyed than the number of tanks Armenia has in active duty. The Azeri tactical use of drones was impressive, as was the way they embedded them in conventional armoured operations to work around the strength of the opponent’s armed forces. This intellectual creativity should probably be assigned to Turkish military advisers, who, by refining Azerbaijan’s way of fighting, contributed as much to Baku’s victory as the delivery of hardware.

Europe should look carefully at the military lessons of this conflict, and not dismiss it as a minor war between poor countries. Since the cold war, most European armies have phased out gun-based self-propelled air-defence systems. Man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS) like the Stinger and Igla – the primary short-range air-defence systems in Europe – have little chance of acquiring such small targets like loitering munitions or small drones invisible to the operator. In the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war more MANPADS were destroyed by drones than they could shoot down drones themselves. No European army has a high-resolution sensor-fusion- or plot-fusion-capable armoured air-defence system to protect its own armour. Only France and Germany have (short range) anti-drone jammers and base-protection assets. Most of the EU’s armies – especially those of small and medium-sized member states – would do as miserably as the Armenian army in a modern kinetic war. That should make them think – and worry.

The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of its individual authors.


NYT: Layers of Tragedy, in a Cemetery and in the Mountains

Toneyan Mark
New York Times
Nov 18 2020

Armenians flee what they consider their historical home, after the end of a six-week war with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

By Anton Troianovski

  • Nov. 18, 2020, 3:49 p.m. ET

KELBAJAR, Azerbaijan — It’s the little things that stick with you.

The men extracting the engine from a junked car on the side of the road. The passing truck filled with a living room’s worth of red upholstered furniture. The ruddy faces of the Russian peacekeeping troops, leaning forward out of the hatches of their armored personnel carriers, rumbling down into a desolate, hazy valley.

Perhaps focusing on the little things is the mind’s way of functioning when faced with tragedy.

This is Kelbajar, the scene this past week of the latest wrenching turn in the generations-long conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

The mountainous district is part of the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is legally part of Azerbaijan, but inhabited almost exclusively by ethnic Armenians. Armenian troops captured Kelbajar in 1993, driving out thousands of Azerbaijanis who were forced up a frigid mountain pass on foot to escape; last week, after thousands died in a six-week Azerbaijani offensive to regain Nagorno-Karabakh, it was the Armenians fleeing what they consider their historical lands, many of them burning their houses as they left.

Image

Evacuating a police station in Kelbajar, Azerbaijan.Credit…Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

Around you here is the specter of death: the whispers about the bodies of Armenians still scattered on roadsides to the south and the vacant eyes of the soldiers when they speak of Azerbaijan’s armed drones. There is also the wreckage of a Soviet-era Azerbaijani cemetery, a piece of a gravestone, engraved with minarets, abandoned in the tan grass.

I returned last week to Nagorno-Karabakh, with the photographer Mauricio Lima, to document the immediate aftermath of this century’s most vicious war in the long-volatile Caucasus Mountains. With Russia to the north, Turkey and Iran to the south, the energy-rich Caspian Sea to the east and the strategically pivotal Black Sea to the west, the Caucasus seems destined to suffer as regional powers compete for influence.

And it feels as if the violence is unending. The killings of Armenians by Azerbaijanis in the early 20th century; the tit-for-tat violence of the late 1980s, which escalated into riots, pogroms, war and Armenia’s violent expulsion of more than half a million Azerbaijanis from what became the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. And now, a six-week war that ended last week after the deaths of more than 2,000 Armenians and an unknown number of Azerbaijanis.

As we headed toward Nagorno-Karabakh last Friday, we passed a column of Russian forces in what seemed an absurd scene. Our bus squeezed between some cows on the roadside along Armenia’s graceful, blue, mountain-framed Lake Sevan to the left, and Russian armored personnel carriers, with backpacks, cases and cardboard boxes marked fragile piled haphazardly on top of these mechanized killing machines, held in place by green netting.

It turned out we were all heading to the same place — the Dadivank Monastery, a centuries-old Armenian holy site whose fate now concerns Armenians and historians around the world. It is part of the Kelbajar District, which was supposed to be transferred to Azerbaijani control on Sunday under the peace deal brokered by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia last week, a handover later delayed to Nov. 25.

The Russians set up an observation post next to the monastery, where Armenians had flocked to bid farewell and baptize their babies. As I spoke with the monastery’s abbot, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, the monastery’s guard’s house down below went up in flames. The monastery’s longtime guard had set it on fire, even though the abbot had asked him not to.

To explain the man’s mind-set, Abbot Hovhannisyan evoked the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

“The people always thought this way,” the abbot said, referring to Armenians, as tall licks of flame tore through the house roof below and thick yellowish smoke enveloped the monastery. “It is better to burn the house that he built, so as not to leave it to be defiled.”

We drove on deeper into Nagorno-Karabakh. After passing more burning, smoldering and charred houses, we entered areas that will remain under Armenian control. The question is: How many Armenians will return?

In Stepanakert, the capital of the enclave, the streets were desolate. There were munitions craters in the pavement, shrapnel pockmarks on building walls, burned-out stores, broken glass, broken windows, shattered soft-drink-cooler doors. There was no hot water and no heating, and the only mobile internet service was Azerbaijani, coming from the land that the Armenians had just lost.

RUSSIA

GEORGIA

Caspian

Sea

Area self-declared as the

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

ARMENIA

Baku

AZERBAIJAN

TURKEY

NAGORNO-KARABAKH

former Soviet region

NAKCHIVAN

Azerbaijan

IRAN

50 Miles

By The New York Times

One of the few people out on the streets was Mayor Danielyan, 58. He invited me to his house to look in the direction of the historic hilltop town of Shusha, six miles away — now controlled by Azerbaijan. It was now up to the Russian peacekeepers — almost 2,000 of them to be deployed along the line with imposing checkpoints and heavy armor — to keep the Armenians and Azerbaijanis apart.

“For now, unfortunately, we must live separately in order to exist,” Mr. Danielyan said. “One can only hope and dream of living together.”

We stopped at the military cemetery. I had been there a month earlier, during the third week of the war, and found a hillside scraped away for the recent dead. There were about 60 new graves now, with holes already dug out for more, across three stair-step rows bulldozed into the hill.

Standing down below, I was at eye level with the barren clay, tree roots poking out of it. I knew that within it were the remains of men who had just weeks ago been alive.

Looking up I saw the rows of fresh graves, bright artificial roses and chrysanthemums, framed pictures of soldiers, a nailed-together wooden cross scrawled with a last name, Beklaryan, in black marker. Looking higher I saw the jumble of gravestones from the 1990s war, the likenesses of stern Armenian fighters in uniforms and horizontal-stripe undershirts etched into them.

And looking higher still I saw an orange stela, memorializing the Nagorno-Karabakh residents who had died in World War II.

Layers of tragedy, I thought, form these sharp mountains and rolling hills.

And then it was time to go. It was 1 p.m. on Saturday, and at midnight, the only open road out of Nagorno-Karabakh was supposed to come under Azerbaijani control. Soldiers rerouted us onto a side road through the mountains, jammed with traffic for six miles, we were told. For hours, stuck in the town of Kelbajar, we barely moved, surrounded by fleeing Armenians. The truck behind us was carrying what seemed to be an entire house, intact.

As night fell, the scene became increasingly apocalyptic. Houses around us went up in flames, and columns of white smoke rose into the dark sky. At one point, a brawl broke out, and, with barely any cellphone service, no one knew where to go.

Eventually, we turned around and left by the main road, passing power lines that had been knocked down. But before we did, a man came out of the truck in front, lit a cigarette and unleashed a monumental tirade of profanity.

The man, Arsen Nalbanzyan, told me that in the district of Armenia where he lives, 31 of the 36 villages were Azerbaijani during Soviet times. “We lived normally,” he said of Azerbaijanis and Armenians, describing shared weddings and being godfathers to each others’ children. Even in recent years, he said, he would get drunk with Azerbaijani friends in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

It was the country’s elites, he said, who fomented hatred among people for their own ends.

“This was all done for money, for cash,” Mr. Nalbanzyan said, his face lit up by car headlights, the air around us thick with smoke from burning houses in the frigid night. “They didn’t think about the people — people like us.”

“And now” — expletive — “who knows what will happen?”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/world/europe/layers-of-tragedy-in-a-cemetery-and-in-the-mountains.html


Putin comments on domestic political situation in Armenia

Toneyan Mark

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 22:55,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the domestic political situation in Armenia. ARMENPRESS reports in an interview with Russia-24, President Vladimir Putin said that Armenia is in rather complicated situation and cannot afford organizing domestic political life with the help of the street.

”It does not lead to something good. The division of the public does not result in anything good. It’s necessary to consolidate the public, not to divide”, Putin said.

The battle can be lost, but it is inadmissible to lose as a nation – President Sarkissian addresses

Toneyan Mark

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 23:20,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian addressed the nation, noting that only through unity we will be able to straighten our backs that have bent under the burden of defeat. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, the address runs as follows,

‘’Dear compatriots in Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora,

The world-spread Armenian nation is now living one of the most decisive periods of our millennia-old history.

The goals we were striving for all together after the long-awaited independence of the motherland have been shaken.

We lost the war that was imposed on us, both on the battlefield and in the diplomatic and international arenas.

I once again extend my condolences to the families and relatives of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

We are the offspring of the people who survived the Genocide and overcame it.

The battle can be lost, but it is inadmissible to lose as a nation.

The house burned down with one’s own hands, the lost homeland can be restored in only one way, rediscovering our victory, building a state of which we will all be truly proud.

And we can definitely do it, soberly assessing the situation, learning from the mistakes made, and being consolidated for a national revival.

No matter how different our assessments can be for the past, the fact is that we are all facing unprecedented problems.

Artsakh is seriously injured.

We have a turbulent society.

The vulnerable economy is overwhelmed by huge social problems.

There is a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the large flow of people from Artsakh to Armenia.

The situation is extremely complicated also considering the pandemic.

Finally, the Armenian spirit is pierced in any corner of the world.

Our country today is no longer the country we had on September 26, it is not even what we had on November 8.

We cannot ignore this reality and continue living our normal lives.

During the last few days, in line with the imperative of the moment, I held dozens of political consultations, meetings with parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forces, various non-governmental organizations and individuals. I have had telephone conversations with our compatriots from different structures of the Diaspora.

The absolute majority of the participants of the meetings share the same opinion – the resignation or termination of powers of the Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution – early parliamentary elections.

It is obvious that despite the cessation of the war, the Republic of Artsakh, the Republic of Armenia and the entire Armenian people are entering a period of new challenges where every mistake can have catastrophic consequences.

In this situation, there is no alternative for the Armenian people than to be united.

These days, each of us, especially politicians, government officials, must demonstrate high sense of responsibility and restraint, focusing our efforts exclusively on finding ways to overcome the crisis.

In this situation, I want to address the law enforcement bodies.

You have a great responsibility today, first of all to ensure discipline in our country, to be strong, determined, but at the same time, every time, on every occasion, remembering that in front of you is your sister or brother.

Any deviation, any violation of the law, is unacceptable and unforgivable. I call on you to uphold and protect the law and legality.

My observations based on meetings and consultations are as follows:

Given the current situation and the imperative to overcome it with dignity, listening to the public demand, it is obvious that in order to keep the country from shaking, early elections to the National Assembly will be inevitable.

In this context, in my opinion, the only responsible approach may be the objective assessment of the potential of the government and the ruling political force, to present a roadmap in a short period of time, which will provide deadlines for initiating relevant constitutional processes, as a result of which it will be possible to hold extraordinary parliamentary elections, and the state administration will be handed over to a highly qualified National Accord government during that period.

My above-mentioned observations aimed at overcoming the crisis for the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh and the whole Armenian people living in different countries of the world in these difficult days are based exclusively on national interests.

I hope that all the political forces will realize the responsibility of the moment, will fulfill their part of the historical mission with dignity.

I would like to remind you that today everyone is carefully watching Armenia, both our friends and our enemies.

We have no other duty but to strengthen our country.

We have no choice but to unite the people, ignoring any step or speech that threatens to divide the society.

Only through unity we will be able to straighten our backs that have bent under the burden of defeat, to present ourselves and future generations and the world community as the children of a nation that is impossible to defeat.

I am confident that the Armenian people will overcome the difficult situation with honor and victory.

God bless us all’’.

Armenians torch their own homes outside Nagorno-Karabakh

Toneyan Mark
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Nov 14 2020

Armenians have been setting their homes on fire as they flee the district of Kalbajar. Azerbaijan is set to take control of the area as of November 15 under the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire brokered earlier this week.

Outraged Kalbajar residents set their houses alight and fled to Armenia Saturday on the eve of a deadline that will see the disputed area just outside of Nagorno-Karabakh handed over to Azerbaijan.

The town of Kalbajar and its surrounding district are to be returned to Azerbaijani control on Sunday under the ceasefire which was signed on 9 November by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After the ceasefire agreement was signed thousands of people poured out onto the streets of the Armenian capital of Yerevan to protest. Some demonstrators managed to force their way into a government building, occupying rooms and smashing furniture in the prime minister’s office.

In Charektar, a mountainous village on Kalbajar border, at least six houses were on fire Saturday morning with thick smoke rising up over the valley.

In addition to Kalbajar, Armenians are set to cede control of two other regions to Azerbaijan by December 1.  

Fighting between the separatists backed by Armenian troops and the Azerbaijan army erupted over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in late September.

Armenia said on Saturday that 2,317 of its troops had been killed in the fighting, an increase of almost 1,000 on the last confirmed death toll.

Azerbaijan has not revealed its military casualties.

Earlier this week Vladimir Putin said the combined death toll was higher than 4,000 and that tens of thousands of people had been forced to flee their homes.


Iran-Azerbaijan relations in the post- Karabakh war period

Toneyan Mark
Tehran Times, Iran
Nov 14 2020
  1. International
– 17:46

TEHRAN – Despite ups and downs in Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan relations, the two countries’ relations have entered a new, dynamic, and promising stage of development in recent years.

Azerbaijani-Iranian relations have deep historical roots. These peoples have lived side by side for centuries. The peoples of Iran and Azerbaijan belong to the Islamic world. Scientific, spiritual, and cultural ties have united these peoples throughout history. During the period from 2003 to 2018, Azerbaijani-Iranian relations in the course of their development went through several stages, in each of which bilateral relations have experienced ups and downs. However, since 2013, a new page has been opened in interstate relations, and Azerbaijani-Iranian relations have entered a new, dynamic, and promising stage of their development.

However, the participation of Azerbaijan Republic and Iran in the project of the international transport corridor “North-South”, trilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia, as well as between Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey, close ties between the political elites of our countries, as well as frequent meetings of representatives of Azerbaijan and Iran ensured a general improvement in Azerbaijani-Iranian relations at the present stage.

The transport corridor “North-South” plays an increasing role in bringing Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran closer together, which contributes to the preservation of peace and security in the region. It is expected that a significant reduction in transport costs and transportation time from South Asia to Northern Europe will strengthen the geopolitical alliance and attract other countries to it, which will play an important role in the formation of a regional trade center and increase the non-oil revenues of Azerbaijan and Iran. The transport projects “North-South” and “East-West” create a favorable transport network for the countries of Central Asia and form the transit potential of Azerbaijan and Iran, the joint development of which is a priority for both countries.

After signing the Caspian Convention in 2018, new opportunities for cooperation have emerged, primarily in the Caspian. The International Baku Port, today, is making every effort to become a regional transport and logistics center of Eurasia. The construction of new sea gates continues in the Alat settlement. Azerbaijan has already fully commissioned the first phase of the seaport in Alat. Iran has also fortified its ports in the Caspian. Given the existing infrastructure, it can be argued that the delivery of goods will be cheaper compared to other means of maritime transport, and the Caspian Sea will become an important platform for freight and passenger traffic between the two countries.

However, soon new opportunities for deeper cooperation will open between Iran and Azerbaijan. The liberation of the cities of Zangilan and Jebrail, as well as the historic Khudaferin Bridge as a result of the Second Karabakh War, and most importantly, the restoration of full control over the 132-kilometer section of the Azerbaijani-Iranian border will strengthen economic ties between Azerbaijan and Iran.

Four years ago – during the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Iran on February 23, 2016, an agreement was signed on cooperation between the governments of Azerbaijan and Iran in the field of continuing the construction of hydropower facilities and hydropower plants “Khudaferin” and “Giz Galaxy” on the Aras river, their operation and use of energy and water resources “. This agreement proclaims the principles of respect for Azerbaijan and Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the same rights to water and energy resources of the «Khudaferin» and «Gyz Galasy» hydropower facilities. It also emphasizes the need to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with UN resolutions. In addition, the agreement reflects that the completion of the construction of hydropower plants and hydroelectric power plants, as well as the protection of water and energy resources at hydropower plants and hydroelectric power stations until the restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, will be provided by Iran. This agreement provides Azerbaijan’s access to the occupied territories and makes it possible to carry out economic activities there. The agreement once again emphasized the belonging of these territories to Azerbaijan and completely excluded Armenia’s rights to them.

At that time, some political forces argued that the hydroelectric power plants on the Aras River, the construction of which was provided for by the agreement, would allegedly serve to strengthen the communication link between Iran and Armenia. The political forces, who understood absolutely nothing about this agreement’s essence and strategic significance, presented it as if this document created conditions for the development of Armenian-Iranian cooperation.

Today, when Azerbaijan managed to fully restore the international border with Iran, it became clear once again that the political forces that criticized this agreement did not understand not only its political significance but also the processes of regional and global significance, including the growing authority, the military and political power of Azerbaijan. They were completely unable to analyze these processes and did not take into account the reality that the occupied Azerbaijani regions adjacent to the Iranian border would be liberated from the armed forces of Armenia. Here you can clearly see that in 2016 Iran and Azerbaijan agreed on the implementation of a very important agreement, which in the post-war period will give a great impetus to the socio-economic development of the region and will open up new opportunities between Iran and Azerbaijan in the implementation of infrastructure projects. An analysis of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Iran allows us to draw a general conclusion that at the present stage, Azerbaijani-Iranian relations are experiencing a new, dynamic, and promising stage in their development, which contributes to the strengthening of peace and good-neighborly cooperation in the region, the search for constructive answers to the challenges of the rapidly changing international situation. Now there is every reason to assert that after the end of the war in Karabakh, another new page will open in the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan in the post-war period. There is a lot of work ahead of both countries – Tehran and Baku have to fulfill their obligations to fulfill the agreement signed on February 23, 2016, in Iran.

Seymur Mammadov is the director of the international expert club EurAsiaAz and editor-in-chief of Azerbaijan news agency Vzglyad.az.

‘Artsakh’s right to self-determination must be preserved’ – US Congressman

Toneyan Mark

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 10:38,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Congressman Brad Sherman has asked the US Department of State and the US Co-Chair to the OSCE – the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to work with the partners to achieve a fair and balanced long-term settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“The terms of the Russia and Turkey-backed ceasefire ending Azerbaijan’s unprovoked violence against Artsakh and Armenia are unfair. The Trump Administration’s absence was glaring and led to disastrous results for the people of Armenia. Who drafted this ceasefire agreement? None other than Putin and Erdoğan. This is the result of a lack of US leadership. We must not stand for this disastrous deal forced on Armenia. We must not view it as a final settlement.

Artsakh’s right to self-determination must be preserved”, the Congressman said on Facebook.

 

Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan

CivilNet: Pashinyan explains fall of Shushi and the decision to sign ceasefire

Toneyan Mark
CIVILNET.AM

08:09

In a LIVE Facebook video, entitled “My greatest sin”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the fall of Shushi and the conspiracy theories that have surrounded the event.

“The biggest sin attributed to me is the well-known document, which says that I agreed to hand over three territories – Aghdam, Lachin, Kelbajar – to Azerbaijan. In fact, it may not seem obvious, but that document was not about handing over [land], but about keeping it.

“The document was signed at a time when Shushi had already fallen, when Armenia’s Armed Forces General Staff Office was reporting to that resources were in a problematic state, and the political leadership of Artsakh shared that opinion,” said Pashinyan.

The prime minister spoke about what would have happened if the document had not been signed at that moment.

“In fact, that document gave [to Azerbaijan] what, according to the military assessment, we could not keep in that situation. And, in a situation when Stepanakert was left defenseless, if the hostilities continued, there was a very high probability that Stepanakert would also be captured, as well as Martuni and Askeran. If this happened, our third, fourth, fifth, sixth defense lines would be under siege, and thousands of our soldiers would be surrounded. This would result in a total collapse. It was on the basis of this assessment that the decision was made. And, it is not by accidental that these days there are already dozens of soldiers sending video messages from the frontlines in defense of the decision made. And why? It’s because they saw and understood the situation, no matter how bitter it is.”

Pashinyan also referred to the rumors and conspiracies about the fall of Shushi.

“Attempts were made to take back Shushi twice after it fell. One of these attempts failed completely. During another attempt, one of our detachments managed to enter Shushi. And much of the controversy in the media about Shushi was connected with this event.

“I was also told that yesterday the chairman of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan stated that allegedly on October 28, while Shushi was still standing, Russia was ready to deploy peacekeepers to Karabakh, but I did not agree then, and I only agreed when Shushi was already lost. Of course, this is absolute nonsense,” Pashinyan said.

In his address, Pashinyan noted that in an October 22 interview with the Russian Ria Novosti, he had said that he was in favor of the deployment of Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh.”

A Letter to My People

Toneyan Mark

November 10,  2020



Artsakh Defense Army units

BY TAMAR KEVONIAN

It’s been 44 days since the war for Artsakh began. 44 days of anxiety. 44 days of pride. 44 days of heartbreak. 44 days of loneliness. 44 of fighting. 44 days of sounding the trumpet. 44 days of solidarity.

As the wrenching shock of the end settles in, the tears come uncontrollably. Tears of anger. Tears for the loss. Tears for the heartbreak. Tears for the lives lost. Tears for a land lost.

But now, more than ever we must stand united. Take a hard look at the missed opportunities and plan for a better outcome in the future. This is not the end. It is the beginning: The beginning of a fight in the 21st century.

I have no party affiliations or children on the front lines or people who died in this war. I have never lived in Armenia or participated in its government. I am a child of the Diaspora, born and raised outside of the borders of Armenia. Perhaps I am the least qualified person to comment on this situation. My only qualification is my love and dedication for my people: Armenia and all Armenians everywhere.

We were given a chance almost 30 years ago to build a nation. For better or worse we have the Armenia we deserve. The outcome of the war is the result of a long line of decisions by all Armenians. We loved our country but allowed it to be looted over and over by those we entrusted it to. We loved our freedom but chose not to ensure its longevity by ignoring the threats, by relying on a superpower to save us, by not planning ahead, by not investing in our army; by playing by the rules and hoping someone noticed and rewarded us.

During this time, our enemy planned, strategized, leveraged its advantages and then took by force what it had always dreamed of.

We have no one to blame for the outcome but ourselves. Nikol Pashinyan, was democratically elected by the citizens of the country to right the wrongs of 30 years of mismanagement and graft. A herculean task impossible to accomplish in the 2 ½ years he has been allotted. He is our leader regardless of the party or group we belong to. Instead of a coup, we must stand by him for making an impossible decision in an impossible situation. No one stood up for us on the world stage; must we now abandon each other?

We accomplished much in these 44 days. We raised awareness, affected the course of many corporations, and rallied our allies on the ground even when their governments ignored us. We now definitely know who our friends are. Our united voice was heard from UEFA to Beringer Aero. We cannot falter now. We must stay vigilant. We must continue to protest and demand change. We must push for prosecution of the war crimes committed by our enemies. We must stand  together always: tall and proud and loud.

Now through our tears, anger and disappointment we must still stay united and plan for the future. The Turks are not done with us. They will return to take the rest of Artsakh. Then they will return to take Armenia. Will we be prepared next time?

With love and Armenian pride.