Category: 2020

Russian Mi-24 Hind Gunship Shot Down In Armenia Near Border With Azerbaijan (Updated)

Baghdasarian Karlen
The Drive
Nov 9 2020

BYJOSEPH TREVITHICKNOVEMBER 9, 2020


Details are still limited, but the Russian Ministry of Defense says that one of its Mi-24 Hind gunship helicopters has been shot down over Armenia while operating close to the country’s western border with Azerbaijan’s geographically separated Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The Kremlin has not yet said who it believes to be responsible. Armenian forces have been fighting an increasingly grueling conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region since the end of September. 

Video purporting to show the moment a missile hit the Mi-24, as well as images from the crash site, first began to emerge on social media on Nov. 9, 2020. The Russian Ministry of Defense subsequently confirmed the shootdown, which it said was the result of a shoulder-fired man-portable surface-to-air missile system (MANPADS), adding that two individuals on board had died in the incident. A third person was seriously injured and medically evacuated from the crash site. The helicopter had been providing an aerial escort for a convoy of Russian troops from the country’s base in Armenia, known as the 102nd Russian Military Base in the city of Gyumri in northwestern Armenia. 

“On November 9, at about 17:30 Moscow time, a Russian Mi-24 helicopter came under fire from the ground from a man-portable air-defense system when accompanying a vehicle convoy of the 102nd Russian military base on the territory of the Republic of Armenia in the airspace close to the Armenian settlement of Yeraskh near the border with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (the Republic of Azerbaijan),” the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement said.

It’s not clear how many people were riding in the helicopter when it came down. The Hind is a unique design with its crew of two seated one behind the other at the front, as is the case with most gunships, but with a small passenger compartment also in the center of the fuselage.

The current fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out on Sept. 27, with Azerbaijani forces moving into the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The two countries, both former Soviet republics, have been fighting over the region since before the collapse of the Soviet Union. A ceasefire agreement brought an end to that initial fighting in 1994, with the self-declared, Armenian-backed Republic of Artsakh being the de facto authority in the territory ever since. There have been multiple significant skirmishes between the two sides since then. 

While the Kremlin has yet to publicly blame anyone for the shootdown and no party in the region has taken responsibility, there is already growing speculation that Azerbaijani forces in Nakhchivan may have been responsible. The incident appears to have taken place at night and Armenia also operates Mi-24s, raising the distinct possibility that troops in the Azerbaijani autonomous region may have believed the helicopter to have been Armenian. Yeraskh is less than five miles from the Armenian border with Nakhchivan.

Since the latest conflict over Nagoro-Karabakh first erupted in September, there have been concerns about a potential Russian intervention into the fighting. Armenia is notably a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) bloc, as is Russia, which includes collective security provisions. 

The Kremlin had previously said that it would not intervene unless Armenia proper came under attack. Azerbaijan has launched artillery and ballistic missile strikes into Armenian territory since then. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for unspecified security assistance on Oct. 31, but it’s unclear what support Russia may have provided since then. There were already unconfirmed reports before then that Russian personnel in the country had been assisting the Armenians, including with electronic warfare systems to counter Azerbaijan’s distinct advantage in armed drones and loitering munitions, also called “suicide drones,” which have been a major factor in the fighting so far.

For its part, Azerbaijan has been receiving significant support from Turkey, which publicly supports its current campaign to recapture Nagorno-Karabakh. A contingent of Turkish Air Force F-16 Vipers have also notably been in that country since July, though it remains unclear if they have taken a direct part in the conflict. Turkey has also facilitated the transport of Syrian militants to the region to fight on behalf of the government in Baku. There are other unconfirmed claims that Turkish special operations forces may be on the ground assisting Azerbaijani forces.

If Russia determines Azerbaijani forces were responsible for the shootdown and that the incident was not a case of mistaken identity or some other kind of accident, it could well change the Kremlin’s position on its role in the conflict. This, in turn, would increase the risks of further escalation, especially if Turkey were to become more directly involved.

In the meantime, the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan shows no signs of letting up despite international calls for the two sides to seek a non-violent resolution to the crisis. There have been three failed ceasefire attempts already, each of which has collapsed within 24 hours of the agreed start time.

Whatever happens next, the shootdown of the Russian Mi-24 is a dangerous new development in the conflict and underscores the continued risk of it becoming a broader, regional affair. 

We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: 1:55pm EST

The Azerbaijni Foreign Ministry has now confirmed that its forces shot down the Russian Mi-24 with a MANPADS, but also say that it was case of mistaken identity. 

“The helicopter was flying in the close vicinity of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border at the time of active hostilities in the zone of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The flight was taking place after dark, at a low altitude, outside the air defense radar detection zone. Helicopters of the Russian Armed Forces had not been detected in said area previously,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “In the context of the aforementioned factors and in the light of the tense situation in the region and the high military alert due to possible provocations of the Armenian side, the on-duty operational crew made the decision to use deadly force.”

“The Azerbaijani side apologizes to the Russian side over this tragic incident, which was of an accidental nature and was not aimed against the Russian side,” the statement continued. “The Azerbaijani side sends its deepest condolences to the families of the crew members killed in the incident and wishes the soonest recovery to those injured. The Azerbaijani side is ready to pay the corresponding damages.”

Contact the author: [email protected]


It’s Time for Pro-Israel Groups to Divorce Azerbaijan

Ani Basmajian
The National Interest
Nov 9 2020
 
 
 
The Jewish community should demand every country promote and respect religious freedom, but it should never use religious freedom as an excuse to turn a blind eye to other abuses.
 
by Michael Rubin
 
Much of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic prestige in Washington and success in Congress rests on two pillars: first, its embrace by Israel activists who found in Azerbaijan a strategic ally in a difficult neighborhood, and second, energy companies for whom their Azeri business nets billions of dollars.
 
Oil windfalls often corrupt countries, as both politics and diplomacy become less about accountability and more about patronage. Azerbaijan is no exception. The latest Freedom House rankings put Azerbaijan even below the Gaza Strip, Cuba, and Venezuela. While the United States, France, and Russia have joined together to condemn Azerbaijan’s military offensive and gross violations of human rights such as summary execution of prisoners and deliberate destruction of Christian cultural sites, the United Kingdom and China have banded together to defend Azerbaijan in multilateral forums. British Petroleum has lobbied the Foreign Office to take an apologetic position toward the Aliyev dictatorship, while Azerbaijan’s increasing economic partnership with China has also led to Beijing’s willingness to protect its new Belt-and-Road Initiative proxy.
 
Israel, too, has bragged that the military equipment and drones it provided to Azerbaijan has given the oil-rich dictatorship a decisive advantage over more democratic Armenia. “Azerbaijan would not be able to continue its operation at this intensity without our support,” an Israeli defense ministry official told the Asia Times on the condition of anonymity. Israel’s bargain is clear: It receives 60 percent of its oil from Azerbaijan and, in exchange, it arms Aliyev’s government.
 
Pro-Israel groups and Jewish activists have long embraced the Israel-Azeri relationship for two reasons: First, Azerbaijan is generally religiously tolerant and protects its small Jewish community. Secondly, Azerbaijan has long positioned itself against the Islamic Republic of Iran, both in terms of its official approach to the role of Shi’ism in politics, and also against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Tehran’s export of revolution. Washington-Baku relations, meanwhile, developed against the backdrop of the two states’ counter-terror partnerships in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.
 
Jewish groups can applaud Azerbaijan’s willingness to allow its Jewish community to thrive, but that should not be a reason to turn a blind eye to its abuses against Armenia. Armenia, too, protects its Jewish community. Indeed, the Jewish community should demand every country promote and respect religious freedom, but it should never use religious freedom as an excuse to turn a blind eye to other abuses.
 
While many pro-Israel strategists continue to support Azerbaijan because they believe it is opposed to Iran, they may be blind to changes underway that alter reality. So, too, are those U.S. strategists who applaud Azerbaijan’s post-9/11 counter-terror posture.
 
Firstly, Iran is on the same side as Azerbaijan in the assault on Nagorno-Karabakh. Whereas President Ilham Aliyev once stood firmly against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and, for that matter, Russian president Vladimir Putin as well, his calculations began to change because of what he interpreted to be the disinterest shown him first by the Obama administration and then by Trump’s team. Whatever Aliyev’s true beliefs—if he has any beyond the pursuit of personal power—he is a realist and recognizes he needed to make an accommodation with his more powerful neighbors. Additionally, Azerbaijan’s full-throttled embrace of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime should also raise alarm bells. Aliyev has acquiesced in almost all sectors to Erdoğan’s diktats, even to the point where Azeri officials cannot talk to Jews who have criticized Erdoğan’s own excesses. While Azerbaijan may once have aided the Mossad’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, Hakan Fidan—Erdoğan’s intelligence chief—has also exposed Israel’s anti-nuclear intelligence operatives in Iran. Just as many Israel activists were in denial about Turkey’s changes a decade ago, a naivete which Erdoğan exploited to the strategic advantage of Hamas, Iran, Russia, Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State, so too does there now appear to be a growing gap between the reality of Aliyev now versus the positions he took a decade ago.
 
Indeed, pro-Israel activists should worry about where Aliyev’s subordination of himself and Azeri sovereignty to Erdoğan ambitions. Erdoğan’s Turkey may trade with Israel, but it holds Israel in contempt. It empowers Hamas—a terrorist group that now plans attacks on the Jewish state from Turkish territory—as well as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The logic some Turkish apologists make that Turkey is anti-Iran and so the United States should hold its nose and embrace Erdoğan both shows ignorance of the multidimensionality of relations in the Middle East and fails the logic test. Hamas is Iran’s chief Palestinian client. To embrace Turkey is to also empower Iranian proxies.
 
Nor is castigation of Armenia as somehow anti-Western because of its ties to Iran and Russia entirely fair. Certainly, as some Azeri and Armenian activists have pointed out, I have called out Armenia for these issues in Congressional testimony before but, just as Azerbaijan has pivoted away from its anti-Islamic Republic and counterterror position over time, so too has Armenia changed. The year 2020 is not 2010, and countries change: After its 2018 revolution, Armenia today is substantially more democratic and westward-leaning. While Yerevan maintains close relations with Tehran and Moscow—and even hosts a Russian military base in Gyumri, seventy-five miles northwest of the capital—those relations are more reactive than proactive. Armenia might not need a Russian military base if it could be ensured that Turkey and Azerbaijan did not intend to complete the genocide the Ottomans began just over a century ago.  
 
The blockade by both Turkey and Azerbaijan of Armenian products also shapes Armenian foreign policy. It decimates the Armenian economy by raising the cost of its goods and forcing it to rely more on Iran and Russia as its economic lifeline. There is a certain irony to the argument that Azerbaijan is a better ally for the United States or Israel than Armenia because of Armenia’s ties to Russia and Iran when, aside from the fact that this need not be a zero-sum game, it is Azerbaijan’s policy which forces Armenia into their embrace. The Baku to Ceyhan pipeline, which purposely bypasses Armenia, simply amplifies these dynamics. While again it is British Petroleum’s oil interest which leads the United Kingdom to protect Azerbaijan at the United Nations Security Council and elsewhere, Armenia—even at the height of tensions with Azerbaijan—has not attacked the pipeline. This reinforces that Armenia is more a partner than an impediment and that its inclusion in the region’s oil infrastructure might have far broader diplomatic ramifications. Simply put, should the United States pressure Turkey and Azerbaijan to open trade with Armenia or join its pipeline network, then it would allow Yerevan to wean itself away from any Russian or Iranian demands which run counter to broader Western interests.
 
For decades, Israel languished in isolation. It was willing to develop ties with any country that would have it, regardless of the baggage that the country carried. Hence it was with Apartheid-era South Africa, a country whose domestic politics were noxious to any Jewish value. Israel still pays the price for its ties to that racist regime today (perhaps unfairly given how South Africa was an Arab oil client). It is no longer 1970, however. Most of the world recognizes Israel; the Israeli government no longer needs relations at any price; it can afford to raise the bar. To supply Azerbaijan with weaponry at a time when Azerbaijan is both targeting Christian villages and churches and developing its relations with China is immoral and will have a long-term cost to which Israeli officials appear blind. Furthermore, as Israel has both normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates and developed its own resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, it need not feel that it is dependent upon Aliyev for energy. Simply put, it is time for any activist who seeks to enhance Israel’s security in the region to recognize that the reality of Azerbaijan is in dissonance with its propaganda. It’s time for both Israel and the U.S. Jewish community to step away from its former Caspian ally.
 
 
Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Azerbaijan confirms it shot down Russian Mi-24 military helicopter over Armenia BY ACCIDENT, apologizes & offers compensation

Maghakian Mike
RT – Russia Today
Nov 9 2020
9 Nov, 2020 17:30


Azerbaijan has officially apologized to Moscow for “accidentally” shooting down a Russian military helicopter, over Armenia, on Monday evening. The shock incident led to two of the crew members being killed, while one was injured.

Baku explained that the horrific mistake occurred due to the fact that the helicopter flew in close proximity to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where active military clashes between the two countries continue over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The flight was being conducted in the dark, at low altitude and outside the radar detection zone of air defense systems, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. In addition, Russian helicopters had not previously been seen in the area where the incident occurred, the report said.

With the overall tense situation in the area and increased combat readiness due to “possible provocations from the Armenian side,” Baku’s forces decided to shoot to kill, Baku claimed.

“The Azerbaijani side apologizes to the Russian side in connection with this tragic incident, which is an accident by nature and was not directed against the Russian side,” the ministry said in a statement.

Azerbaijan also mentioned that it’s ready to pay compensation in connection with the incident.

The Azerbaijani officials expressed condolences to the families and friends of the killed crew members.

Earlier on Monday, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported that its Mi-24 military helicopter had been shot down in the airspace over the territory of Armenia outside the combat zone. The helicopter was accompanying a motorcade belonging to the permanent Russian military base located nearby when it was hit by a portable air-defense system. As a result of the crash, two crew members were killed, while one survived with moderate injuries.


The incident took place amid the ongoing standoff between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in the long-disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where active hostilities resumed on September 27.


Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Turkey and Russia ‘turn blind eye’ as war rages on edge of Europe

Boris Nahapetian
Sky News
Nov 9 2020

By Lucia Binding, News reporter @luciabinding

 

Russia and Turkey are reportedly “turning a blind eye” to the ongoing military conflict in Armenia over breakaway territory Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the country’s forces have taken control of the strategically key city of Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of bloodshed.

“Shusha is ours – Karabakh is ours,” he said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday, sparking street celebrations.

Armenia reported heavy fighting around the city on Monday following the president’s declaration.

“The combat in the vicinity of Shusha goes on. The Nagorno-Karabakh army units are successfully carrying out their mission, depriving the enemy of the initiative,” said Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan.

As the war threatens to spill on to the edge of Europe, Russia and Turkey are limiting their involvement in the conflict, pledging to provide humanitarian assistance and some military aid.

According to private military contractors, Ankara and Moscow are largely turning a blind eye to the role of mercenaries – possibly fighting on both sides – to avoid fuelling tensions, Reuters reported.

While Ankara is backing Azerbaijan over fighting with ethnic Armenians in the mountain enclave as part of efforts to boost Turkey’s international clout, and Moscow is determined to defend its own interests in the South Caucasus, neither country wants to be sucked into an all-out war.

NATO member Turkey provided arms supplies to Azerbaijan in recent years and is likely to avoid deeper military involvement if its ally continues to advance in Nagorno-Karabakh, military and political analysts said.

Meanwhile, Russia, which has a defence pact with Armenia, also has good relations with Azerbaijan and is unlikely to get involved unless Azerbaijan launches a deliberate attack on Armenia.

Thousands are feared dead since fighting erupted on 27 September in the breakaway territory – internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Since the fighting broke out, Azerbaijan has retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in a war which killed an estimated 30,000 in the 1990s.

Armenian officials have denied Azerbaijani forces had seized Shusha – the second-largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated his “Azeri brothers” following Mr Aliyev’s announcement, saying the leader’s statement was “a sign” that Azerbaijan would regain control of more territory.

While Ankara denies its involvement, Mr Aliyev confirmed some Turkish F-16 fighter jets still remain in Azerbaijan after a military drill this summer, and there are also reports of Turkish and Russian drones being used by both sides.

Shusha is of significant military value because it is located around six miles south of the region’s capital of Stepanakert and lies along the main road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

Mr Aliyev has vowed that the fighting will continue until Armenia withdraws from the territory.


Do not let Artsakh become the Krajina of the Caucasus

Jhanna Virabian
Greek City Times
Nov 9 2020
by GUEST BLOGGER

August 1995 and the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm in the Krajina is underway.

In the face of NATO bombing, the numerical and qualitative superiority of the Croatian and Bosniak armies (and of course paramilitary units), the 31,500 Serb defenders of Krajina, with little means and betrayed by the Belgrade government, begin to retreat from this Serbian area.

Historical Serbian Krajina within Croatia.

They are joined by 250,000 Serb civilians, who made up the vast majority of the Krajina. It happened… The Serbian population was uprooted from its homes, in which for centuries it was the vast majority.

Twenty-five years have passed since then and Croatia has never been blamed for the ethnic cleansing, and few Serbs have returned to their homes.

November 2020… In an even more incoherent period, the Armenian forces in Artsakh are waging an unequal battle against the Azeri armed forces, the Arab Islamo-fascists and, of course, Neo-Ottoman fascist Turkey.

Abandoned by all but with the motherland first and foremost, and of course the Russians, they are desperately fighting the invader but it is obvious that they have begun to bend.

In their capital Stepanakert, Armenians have already begun to leave as their is little escaping the bombings and of course the vengeful rage of the Azeris. The international public opinion, beyond sympathy, does nothing to help them.

Everyone just hopes that the Armenians of Artsakh will endure. But with wishes, nothing happens…

Why shouldn’t Artsakh fall?

The fall of Krajina in August 1995, in addition to its devastating humanitarian consequences, had equally devastating geopolitical consequences.

A country with a strong national and anti-imperialist identity, Serbia was humiliated and forced to lose the Krajina that historically belonged to it. Germanophile (with fascist tendencies) and pro-imperialist Croatia emerged as the most powerful country in the Western Balkans and a permanent bridgehead for the imperialists interests in the Balkans.

In the event that Artsakh falls, the consequences will be much more catastrophic and will have much worse consequences for Greece. Turkey will strengthen geopolitically in the region, increasing its influence in the Muslim Turkic countries of Central Asia.

Its influence will begin in Aegean and would end in Western China.

Ultra-nationalist Pan-Turkism.

This victory will result in a radicalization of Islam and of course an additional pressure on Greece not only from Turkey but also from its Central Asian satellites.

At the same time a traditionally anti-Turkish state in the region will disappear, leaving Greece with one less natural ally.

Unfortunately, as a people, we can not do much to help the Armenians.

But in addition to humanitarian aid, we must put pressure on the Greek government to take a clearer stance on this conflict by complaining to international organizations that this conflict is not so much the result of Armenia-Azerbaijan rivalry but also the involvement of Turkey as a permanent source of unrest and escalation in the region.

If neo-Ottoman revisionism is defeated in Artsakh, we may not have to face it at gunpoint.

Marios Mathios-Josefidis is a historian and Balkan researcher.

The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Greek City Times.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/11/09/artsakh-krajina-caucasus/


Armenia says signs deal with Azerbaijan and Russia to end conflict

Albert Nalbandian
Reuters
Nov 9 2020
 
 
 
By Nvard Hovhannisyan, Nailia Bagirova
 
 
YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he has signed a deal with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Russia to end the military conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday morning after more than a month of bloodshed.
 
A Kremlin spokesman confirmed the news, Russian agencies reported on Tuesday. There was no official immediate reaction from Baku.
 
Arayik Harutyunyan, the leader of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, said on Facebook that he gave agreement “to end the war as soon as possible”.
 
The declaration has followed six weeks of heavy fighting and advancement by the Azerbaijan’s forces. Baku said on Monday it had seized dozens more settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, a day after proclaiming victory in the battle for the enclave’s strategically positioned second-largest city.
 
“The decision is made basing on the deep analyses of the combat situation and in discussion with best experts of the field,” Pashinyan said on social media.
 
“This is not a victory but there is not defeat until you consider yourself defeated. We will never consider ourselves defeated and this shall become a new start of an era of our national unity and rebirth.”
 
The fighting had raised fears of a wider regional war, with Turkey supporting its ally Azerbaijan, while Russia has a defence pact with Armenia and a military base there.
 
Azerbaijan says it has since Sept. 27 retaken much of the land in and around Nagorno-Karabakh that it lost in a 1991-94 war which killed an estimated 30,000 people and forced many more from their homes. Armenia has denied the extent of Azerbaijan’s territorial gains.
 
Additional reporting by Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Jon Boyle, Nick Tattersall, Peter Graff and Sonya Hepinstall
 

Post-Soviet security bloc concerned over Russian helicopter downed in Armenia

Kajoyan Gevork
TASS, Russia
Nov 9 2020
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that a Russian Mi-24 helicopter had been downed over Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan from a man-portable air-defense system

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is deeply concerned over the incident with the Russian Mi-24 helicopter, which was downed in Armenia on Monday. The incident was brought upon by the recent escalation of tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, CSTO Spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov told reporters on Monday.

“We deeply regret the fact that the escalation of the Karabakh conflict led to such tragic consequences. We express our deep concern over the incident, and we send our condolences to the families and loved ones of the crewmembers that were killed,” he said. “We will wait for the investigation to conclude to determine where the shot was coming from.”

Earlier on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that a Russian Mi-24 helicopter had been downed over Armenia near the border with Azerbaijan from a man-portable air-defense system. Two crewmembers were killed, one was injured. Azerbaijan later claimed responsibility for the crash, informing that it downed the Russian helicopter by mistake and offering to pay damages.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians. Hostilities in the region continue despite the previously reached ceasefire agreements.


Pashinyan says signed statement with Putin and Aliyev on ending war in Karabakh

Garnik Tadevosian
TASS, Russia

Nov 9 2020
Armenian Prime Minister noted that he made “a very and very hard decision”

YEREVAN, November 10. /TASS/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a statement on ending the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian leader wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

“I signed a statement with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan on ending the Karabakh war since 01:00 (00:00 Moscow Time). The text of the published statement is inexpressibly sensitive for me personally and for our people. I made the decision after a deep analysis of the military situation and the assessment by people who know it better than anyone,” Pashinyan said, noting that he made “a very and very hard decision”.

According to Pashinyan, “this step is based on a conviction that this is the best possible solution in the current situation.” “I will speak in detail about all this in the coming days. This is not victory, but there won’t be a defeat unless you recognize yourself as a loser. We will never recognize ourselves as losers and this should usher in our era of national unification and revival,” he said.

Russia and Azerbaijan have not yet reported about the statement.


Protesters in Yerevan break into government building

Badalian Vardan
TASS, Russia
Nov 9 2020
The aggressive protesters are breaking the doors in the cabinets

YEREVAN, November 10. /TASS/. The citizens of Yerevan, protesting against the decision on ending the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, have broken a cordon, bursting into the Armenian government’s building, a TASS correspondent reported.

The aggressive protesters are breaking the doors in the cabinets.

After Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared a ceasefire agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, hundreds of people started gathering on Republic Square in downtown Yerevan, where the government’s building is located.

Police did not use force and tried to calm down protesters. Some protesters are calling for heading towards a government residence where Pashinyan could be now.

Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: Israeli ‘kamikaze’ drones wreak havoc on Karabakh

Babken Chilingarian
Middle East Eye
Nov 9 2020
Israel and Turkey-made crafts are giving Baku the edge in the region’s latest war, leaving mounds of rubble in the city of Shusha
By Karlos Zurutuza in

Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh
Published date: 9 November 2020 08:41 UTC       

In a basement in Stepanakert (known as Khankendi in Azeri), the capital of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian fighter Bilad has what he believes to be the remains of an Israeli drone.

“It’s bits and pieces gathered by our soldiers. We have removed the camera and the electronics but we’re sure it’s a Harop, one of those kamikaze drones,” explains the soldier, whose carefully trimmed beard is offset by heavy bags under his eyes.

It’s been weeks since Bilad had a proper night’s rest. On the morning of 27 September, Baku launched a major offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, an unrecognised breakaway region that is officially part of Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians.

The conflict dates back to the middle of the Gorbachev era in 1988, and it’s the longest-running unresolved dispute in the former Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: How Israel and Turkey became strange bedfellows

Read More »

The ongoing fighting is the worst seen here in decades. Conventional Armenian forces can barely cope with Azerbaijan’s air power, an invisible enemy holding superiority in the skies, razing buildings to the ground.

After six weeks of heavy shelling, Azerbaijan is currently pummelling Shusha, a strategic location on the road used to bring supplies from Armenia.

Shusha (known as Shushi in Armenian) also overlooks Stepanakert: it is the perfect spot to shell the breakaway capital as well as a point to sever vital supply lines.

Stray dogs in the debris bark at the noise of explosions. Every day the piles of rubble grow.

The destruction of the historic church of Ghazanchetsots on 7 October seemingly paved the way for a chain of attacks that hit residential blocks and schools, as well as a cultural centre. Its solitary piano and red velvet seats are now covered in pieces of the ceiling, following an air strike last week.

“It’s rifles against drones,” says Gevor, a 25-year old Armenian currently hiding in a basement in Shusha.

“How could I possibly defend myself against such an enemy?” he adds, pointing at his Kalashnikov rifle lying next to the mattress where he spends every night.


Gevor’s wife and his two-year-old daughter fled to the Armenian capital Yerevan last week, just when the air strikes started to get too heavy here. In fact, only men can be found in Shusha today, and one has to look for them underground.


Samvel, 51, is also among those who refuse to leave. He admits he misses the Soviet times and fought in the early 1990s war that led to the Armenian administration controlling Nagorno-Karabakh.

This conflict, however, is “something else”.

“It was man-to-man combat back then, everything was on the ground and you always knew where the enemy was,” he recalls.

Today, he stresses, the enemy is not just Azerbaijan but also Turkey, “and Israel is joining hands”.

Azerbaijan’s defence ministry releases daily footage of Armenian forces being destroyed by high-precision weapons.

A majority of the images are taken by drones – both Turkish-made Bayraktar ones and Israel’s “kamikaze” Hagops. The use of both has not only been proved by footage, but consistently acknowledged by top Azerbaijani officials.


When presented with images of the alleged Hagop remnants in Stepanakert, Wim Zwijnenburg, a weapons expert and the coordinator of the European Forum on Armed Drones, concluded it was “likely” the aircraft was of Israeli origin.

The Harop can find targets based on radar or radio wave emissions before destroying a target by ramming into it.

According to Zwijnenburg, these type of “kamikaze” drones – also known as loitering munitions – have become popular with armed forces because they are cheap to produce, easy to use and can hit targets with high precision without exposing your own military personnel to enemy fire.

In addition, adds the expert, some of these drones create a disturbing sound when approaching their targets, which can be psychologically unsettling.

The Harop’s use, however, is far from new. The Israeli drone was spotted in the 2016 clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Four years later, they have become a thorny issue, putting Armenian-Israeli relations in a very difficult position. Just a few days after the beginning of the offensive, Yerevan recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv over arms sales to Azerbaijan.

Data gathered by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that Israel has been the top supplier of arms to Azerbaijan over the past five years, with some $825m sales in weapons between 2006 and 2019. It is Azerbaijan’s second-largest supplier of weapons after Russia.


Azerbaijani officials deny they are targeting civilians, while claiming Armenians are building military sites next to schools and markets, and among other civilian infrastructures.

Some go even further by accusing the Armenians of destroying civilian structures themselves.

“We don’t target civilians and we actually have footage that proves that the church in Shusha was bombed by Armenians for propaganda purposes,” Samir Mammadov at the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno Karabakh political body told MEE over the phone. 

‘We know that many of these war crimes are committed by those Israeli drones’

– Artak Beglaryan, Nagorno-Karabakh ombudsman

Mammadov, himself displaced from Karabakh back in the 90s war, also wanted to highlight Armenian attacks against residential areas in Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second city, as well as some villages located in the vicinity of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Nagorno-Karabakh defence ministry has acknowledged over 1,000 Armenian military casualties since 27 September, but Baku has not disclosed similar information from its side.

When it comes to civilians among the dead, figures are also disputed: Armenians claim 46 casualties while Azerbaijan talks about 91 among their own. Russia has estimated a total death toll of around 5,000 people.

Senior officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Geneva on 30 October and agreed to avoid targeting civilians in the conflict. Three previous ceasefires had failed, and the fourth one was no exception: the conflict still rages on.

MEE revealed on Sunday a fresh ceasefire was being negotiated via Turkey and Russia.

Over recent days, residents in Stepanakert have rushed to catch a last ride out to Armenia before the road was cut by fighting – this eventually happened on Wednesday.

“I’m worried about Shushi,” admitted Artak Beglaryan, the ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh, from an underground location in Stepanakert.

The 32-year-old, who lost his sight to a landmine at the age of six, talks of an “asymmetric war which is opening the door to a humanitarian catastrophe”.

“They’re clearly targeting civilians by destroying schools, hospitals, churches… We know that many of these war crimes are committed by those Israeli drones,” said Beglaryan, as the sound of explosions outside punctuated the conversation.

On Sunday, the Armenian administration in Nagorno-Karabkah called for the immediate evacuation of civilians and journalists still remaining in Stepanakert. Fears of a final crackdown on the battered city loom large.