Category: 2020

Armenia’s PM: Conflict with Azerbaijan becoming ‘a struggle against international terrorism’

Liana Toganian
SKY News
Oct 6 2020
 
 
Armenia’s PM: Conflict with Azerbaijan becoming ‘a struggle against international terrorism’
 
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, violence has continued to prevail, causing a growing number of civilian deaths.
 
Diana Magnay
 
Moscow correspondent @dimagnay
 
 
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the situation is becoming a “struggle against international terrorism” for Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
 
Faced with an intractable problem which long predates his time in office, and with rumours of Syrian mercenaries come to join the fighting, Mr Pashinyan is calling the latest explosion of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh a civilisational issue.
 
 
He told Sky News: “Firstly, Turkey has become fully engaged, encouraging and inciting the conflict.
 
“Turkey has also transported mercenaries and terrorists from the territory of Syria to the conflict zone which is changing the whole context.”
 
Play Video – Azerbaijani airstrikes on Armenian military
Azerbaijani airstrikes on Armenian military
 
He added: “This is becoming essentially Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia’s struggle against international terrorism.”
 
Azerbaijan and Turkey – which has promised unqualified support to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in his efforts to reverse the country’s defeat in the last war in the early 1990s – deny engaging mercenaries in the conflict.
 
Sky News has not been able to prove the presence of Syrian mercenaries in Azerbaijan, but the allegations continue to circulate in international media reports and the Armenian government has been quick to seize on them.
 
 
Mr Pashinyan also accuses Turkey of backing Azerbaijan to pursue a genocidal policy against Armenians and further the country’s expansionist ambitions.
 
He said: “Let us look at what Turkey is implementing in the Mediterranean in Libya in Syria, Iraq. To me there is no doubt that this is a policy of continuing the Armenian genocide and of reinstating the Turkish empire.”
 
 
Behind these historically loaded accusations, which will play well with the public at home and the diaspora abroad, the prime minister provided little in the way of fresh ideas to resolve a crisis which has rapidly flared into all-out war.
 
He repeated his negotiating stance that any peace settlement should be acceptable to the peoples of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, even though the Azerbaijani leadership has refused to negotiate with the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh leadership.
 
He also refused to acknowledge that Armenia had any obligation under international law to withdraw troops from territories conquered in the conflict in the early 1990s, saying that had applied to the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous forces and had nothing to do with Armenia.
 
 
Turkey’s stance has added a new dimension to the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh, but at heart it remains a territorial dispute which successive governments in Armenia and the Aliyev father and son dynasty in Azerbaijan have failed to resolve.
 
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, violence prevails at an already substantial cost militarily, with a growing civilian loss of life.
 
From his comments today, Mr Pashinyan gave no indication that he was in the mood for peace overtures any time soon.
 
 
 
 
 

Half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population displaced by fighting

Emil Lazarian
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Oct 7 2020

An official from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region said that 50% of the population has been forced to flee amid bombing and fighting. Armenia accused Azerbaijan of trying to instigate a genocide in the area.

Half of the population of the  Nagorno-Karabakh region have been displaced since fighting erupted last week between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan, rebel officials said on Wednesday.

“According to our preliminary estimates, some 50% of Karabakh’s population and 90% of women and children — some 70,000 to 75,000 people — have been displaced,” Karabakh rights ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told the AFP news agency.

The two sides have been in conflict for decades over the ethnically Armenian region of Azerbaijan, which broke away from Baku in the 1990s. The war then claimed at least 30,000 lives.

Shelling by Azerbaijan during the last week has reduced Karabakh’s main city into a ghost town, with many unexploded bombs in the streets.

Nearly 290 people have been killed since the most recent clashes erupted, including 47 civilians.

Fears are growing the conflict will develop into a full-blown war. Neighboring Iran warned against this on Wednesday, with President Hassan Rouhani saying, “We must be attentive that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan does not become a regional war.”

In the Bundestag parliament in Berlin, Heiko Maas called on Azerbaijan to agree to a ceasefire in the region, telling lawmakers that Armenia had signaled its willingness in theory. If not, the German foreign minister said the EU should increase pressure on Baku.

People hide in a dugout in Nagorno-Karabakh

Russian President Vladimir Putin also weighed in on Wednesday to call for fighting to stop. He described the conflict as a “tragedy.”

Putin, who holds major sway in the area, which was part of the USSR for much of the 20th century, also said he is in constant contact with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He also spoke to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian news agency TASS reported on Wednesday.

Armenian leader Pashinyanaccused Azerbaijan and ally Turkey of trying to recreate the Armenian genocide.

“What we are facing is an Azeri-Turkish international terrorist attack,” he told Sky News on Wednesday. “To me, there is no doubt that this is a policy of continuing the Armenian genocide and a policy of reinstating the Turkish empire.”

The Armenian genocide refers to the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, modern-day Turkey, from 1915 to 1923.

https://www.dw.com/en/half-of-nagorno-karabakhs-population-displaced-by-fighting/a-55183758?fbclid=IwAR0KNcPoFGmILvQ23_VkeRSnqBrbJDy0gwvXpAbE6o1Bypd6NVbMX6_9BqM

Nagorno Karabakh conflict boils up as Azerbaijan makes the advances

Mary Lazarian
The USA Tribune
Oct 5 2020

October 5, 2020

y Robert Horowitz The USA Tribune

Presidential elections in the United States and the Brexit saga in Europe continue to leave the world’s most pressing problems in the shadow. Among them are human rights abuses in Asia, host of viral diseases spreading in Africa and re-emerging conflicts in Eurasia.

While we in the US focused on the upcoming presidential debate, an armed conflict was brewing at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Hearing newscasts about the so-called Nagorno Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is nothing new. Every now and then, both parties have deliberately exchanged fire over the course of the last 26 years, capturing or re-capturing some territory, and in the process, pushing each other to the edge.

We’re well into the second week of a reignited armed conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, even as the world leaders are calling the parties to restraint. The hostilities resumed in the early hours of September 27, when the Azerbaijani armed forces shelled the positions of the Armenian army in Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding occupied districts of Azerbaijan. According to the Armenian authorities, this was a preplanned action from the Azeri side and the separatist authorities saw it coming. The Azerbaijani authorities, however, reject the claim, and state that the new war initiated by Armenian troops which began heavy shelling of Azerbaijani positions on the Line of Contact and some residential areas within the Tartar district of Azerbaijan. In the first hours of the clash, some five civilians, all members of the same family, died. Two of them were teenagers.

While it is not immediately clear who violated the ceasefire regime, it is definitely clear that the status quo was bound to be broken and the diplomatic confrontation with bellicose statements of both leaders would eventually culminate in armed action.

The bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan lasted for two years (1992-1994) while the conflict originated in 1988 when both countries were constituent republics of the Soviet Union. During the hot phase of the war, two independent nations clashed in what each of them consider a historic homeland. Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was part of the Azerbaijan SSR, and prior to that a part of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. In its July 5, 1921 ruling, Kavburo (Caucasian Bureau of the Communist Party) decided to retain the province within Azerbaijan but carve out the mountainous part with majority of Armenian villages to make it an enclave under Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction.

In the initial phase, the newly formed Azerbaijani army was able to deflect the attacks by Armenian units and in its largest offensive to date, recapture as close as half of Nagorno Karabakh. Yet, with Russia’s invisible hand, things began to change by the end of 1992, when Armenians with the help of the Russian army deployed to Armenia, reversed the tide. Throughout 1993, Armenians were able to gain control not only over Nagorno Karabakh itself but also 7 surrounding districts around it. Hundreds of thousands of Azeri civilians were expelled in the process.

Long story short, the cease-fire agreement brokered by Russia in May 1994, established a regime of non-use of force for many years, save some infrequent shootouts. With oil prices going up, Azerbaijan was able to rebuild its economy and heavily invest in its armed forces. Sophisticated weaponry was purchased from Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey and Pakistan, while Armenia was left out of regional energy projects and was forced to rely on Russia for its security. As the oil prices began to dwindle in 2014, the first major flare-up was witnessed in Nagorno Karabakh. In April 2016, the parties clashed once again bringing the sides to the brink of an all-out war. Azerbaijan, with its beefed-up military was able to secure some strategic gains in the northern and southern parts of the Line of Contact.

With the color revolution of 2018, the situation changed drastically. Azerbaijan on its part, was patient with the political transformation of Armenian government because the so-called Karabakh clan (Armenia was led by Karabakh natives Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan since later 1990s) was overthrown and a new promising populist leader Nikol Pashinyan claimed power.

At first, Prime Minister Pashinyan seemed to cooperate with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, but as the time passed, the peace talks were pretty much neglected.

Apart from that, he openly challenged the Azerbaijani president by calling names and ridiculing his style of government. All of this happened with Pashinyan himself imprisoning former president Kocharyan and many of his political opponents. This could not have been ignored by his counterpart in Baku and irritated the entire Azerbaijani elite.

Azerbaijani leadership’s patience exhausted when in July this year Armenia openly attacked Azerbaijani positions in Tovuz district of Azerbaijan, some 150 miles to the north of Karabakh but within 50 miles of energy pipelines and railways going to Europe. Baku claimed that Armenia attempted to take over strategic heights in Azerbaijan proper to be able to shell the areas where the pipelines passed. A short war with several deaths on each side brought the sides to what we’re witnessing today. Following the July clashes, Azerbaijan and Turkey held large-scale military drills while Russia held its own in Armenia. In August, Russia dispatched several cargo planes with as much as 400 tons of military equipment to Armenia. Since Georgia did not allow Russia to use its space, Russian airplanes flew over Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, landing in Yerevan. The Russian Minister of Defense who arrived in Baku to meet President Aliyev, had no other explanation but give a lame excuse about the cargo being construction materials for the Russian military base in Armenia. Baku decried this act and seemingly prepared for Armenian offensive.

This time around, Azerbaijan does not seem to be willing to stop until all of its internationally recognized territories are recaptured. Turkey provides strong political and diplomatic support to its brethren in Azerbaijan. President Erdogan of Turkey and President Putin of Russia have had a call to discuss the situation in Nagorno Karabakh and despite the fact that Russia and other world leaders called for ceasefire, Ankara relentlessly continues to support Azerbaijan in its campaign. For Turkey it also comes at a cost. Some Western media made unsubstantiated claims about Turkey allegedly transporting mercenaries from Syria, a claim immediately consumed and adopted by French President Emmanuel Macron who has his own problems to sort out with President Erdogan. Azerbaijan and Turkey issued statements decrying the claims. Baku stated that Azerbaijan uses sophisticated high-tech military equipment to fight the battles in Nagorno Karabakh and using some Middle Eastern mercenaries is illogical. Indeed, Azerbaijan has more active military personnel than Armenia and twice as more reserves which it partially began calling for duty last week.

Apart from claiming Azerbaijan might be using jihadists, Armenia also stated that Turkish F-16 downed an Armenian SU-25 in Vardenis region of Armenia, apparently in an effort to draw Russia into the conflict. Since Armenia is a party to Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), established by Moscow, Russia has a duty to protect its member. However, Azerbaijan has been extremely careful in this matter and avoided shelling Armenia proper, and is conducting its counter-offensive in Nagorno Karabakh only.

The separatist authorities also ordered striking Ganja, the second largest city of Azerbaijan. On October 4, several missiles hit Ganja, injuring dozens and killing one civilian. Baku said Armenians also conducted strikes against Mingechevir power generation station, largest in South Caucasus and Absheron peninsula where the capital of Azerbaijan is located. None were successful but it demonstrated the transformation of the armed conflict into the next phase, where both sides will use any force to inflict larger damage to the enemy.

So far, Azerbaijan has been extensively using Azerbaijan, Turkish- and Israeli-made drones eliminating the equipment of the Armenian armed forces and leaving the Armenian defense naked. The northern front of the Armenian army seems to have collapsed with the Azerbaijani army gaining momentum. Stepanakert (Azeris call it Khankendi) is claiming otherwise.

At any rate, Azerbaijan says that it is simply enforcing the four UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 which demand an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories. The Armenians say they are fighting for their homeland and will never relent, although with Azerbaijani advance things may change and may bring Armenians back to the negotiating table with willingness to agree to an autonomy within Azerbaijan. It is unclear what the future holds, but for now, Azerbaijan does not seem to want to lose momentum on the battleground.

———
©2020 The USA Tribune

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Rockets, Cluster Munitions And Missiles Rain Down On Armenian And Azerbaijani Civilians

Emil Lazarian
Forbes
Oct 7 2020
Sebastien RoblinContributor
Aerospace & Defense
Fighting remains fierce on the frontlines of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict pitting Azerbaijan against a de facto separatist Armenian republic, a week and a half after the conflict began. Armenian defenders entrenched in the mountains have wreaked havoc in deadly ambushes using artillery and anti-tank weapons. Nonetheless, Azerbaijani forces have captured several towns, backed up by a formidable fleet of Israeli- and Turkish-built drones that have been recorded destroying shocking numbers of Armenian tanks and artillery systems as well as resupply convoys.
But tens of miles beyond no-man’s land, a second war rages—a war targeting the civilian population in their home communities. Both belligerents are using powerful artillery systems designed to devastate large areas to target densely populated urban communities, as well launching ballistic missiles to target infrastructure far away from the fighting.

Most of these weapons are designed to have large areas of effect, and could not plausibly be used surgically against military areas of civilian communities. They are inflicting massive destruction of buildings and infrastructure, and killing at a minimum dozens of civilians.

Indeed, the International Committee of the Red Cross has condemned the “indiscriminate” bombardments, noting: “The use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area against military targets in populated areas may violate international humanitarian law, which prohibits indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks.”

It describes the bombardments as having killed “scores” of civilians, and damaged infrastructure including roads, electricity, gas and communications networks.

Rocket Artillery and Cluster Munitions

Stepanakert is the capital of the de facto breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, also known as Artsakh. The city of roughly 55,000 has been under artillery fire since day one of the conflict on September 27, when Azerbaijan launched a broad offensive directed at at the region.

Under nearly continuous bombardment, it has sustained tremendous damage.

On Monday, Armenia claimed a total of 21 Armenian civilians had died in the fighting.

One of the principal weapons in the bombardments appears to be Russian-built BM30 Smerch (“Tornado”) multiple-rocket launcher systems. A Smerch system consists of an eight-wheel truck mounting twelve tubes for 300-millimeter (12”) diameter rockets. Azerbaijan is believed to possess 30 or 40 BM-30 systems.

The Smerch uses several types of rocket. The 9M528 rocket has a single “unitary” 1,796-pound high explosive warhead. However, there is also a 9M55K cluster munition rocket stuffed with 72 small bomblet submunitions each weighing 3.8 pounds. The 7.6-meter-long rockets can strike targets up to 56 or 43 miles away, respectively.

Cluster munitions are many time more deadly than standard artillery shells against both vehicles and personnel targets. But they are problematic because a significant fraction of the sub-munitions tend not to exploded—and leave warzones littered with unexploded munitions that can kill civilians many years after the fighting has ended.

For that reason, over 100 countries have signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning their use, though Armenia and Azerbaijan are not amongst their number. Major military powers, including China, India, Israel, Russia and the United States have also abstained.

A recording of the bombardment of Stepanakert exhibit the characteristic flashes and popping sounds of cluster munitions exploding.

Furthermore, unexploded sub-munition have been recorded on video.

However, the Smerch may not have been the system used to deploy cluster munitions.

Instead, Amnesty International identified Israeli M095 DPICM (Dual-Purpose Improved Cluster Munition) bomblets in a residential area in Stepanakert.

It happens that after fighting in April 2016, a charity reported that in 2016 it had recovered and destroyed over 200 unexploded M095 cluster bomblets in northeastern Nagorno-Karabakh left behind by Israeli LAR-160 rockets fired by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan possesses around 30 LAR-160 medium-range (28 miles) rocket artillery systems, and fifty EXTRA 306-millimeter rocket systems designed to deliver longer range (93 miles) precision strikes. Both munitions are built by Israeli Military Industries, and are mounted on an IMI Lynx trucks.

Armenian sources claim two other type of systems have been used in long-range strikes on Armenian communities.

One is Belarus’s Polonez system, which mounts eight 300-millimeter artillery rockets with 120-mile range. The other is the Turkish-built T-300 Kasirga, which mounts four 302-millimeter rockets with a range of 62 to 74.5 miles on a 6×6 wheeled vehicle which uses a German diesel engine.

Belarus may have 10 Polonez and 21 T-300s, though the author has not yet seen visual evidence confirming their use.

At 9 a.m. on Sunday, Armenian artillery units began a series of retaliatory bombardments on as many as 10 population centers in Azerbaijan—most notably Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second most populous city with over 330,000 people. Other cities which appear to have been hard hit include Tartar (around 20,000 persons), Barda (41,000), Khizi, Mingachevir (around 105,000) and Yevlakh (59,000).

Though shorter-range Armenian artillery had struck Azerbaijani communities closer to the fighting early in the conflict—reportedly killing a family of five in one incident—these new attacks marked a significant escalation.

Armenia also fields an estimated half-dozen BM-30s, and munitions from the strikes seem to be of that type.

Armenia also earlier purchased four or eight Norinco WM-80 273-millimeter MRL systems from China with a range of 74.5 miles which could also have been used in the attacks.

On Tuesday, Azerbaijan claimed the Armenian bombardment had killed 27 civilians, led to the hospitalization of 141, and destroyed or damaged over 400 houses and civilian facilities.

While Armenia denied making the attacks, NKR leader Arayik Harutyunyan announced the artillery attacks on “permanent military locations in historical Gandzak, Ganja, Kirovaband.” He warned that he was willing to “continue to hit other cities, and if necessary bigger cities.”


Both sides also appear to have employed more powerful ballistic missiles, which arc high into the exosphere before plunging down at immense speeds.

Armenia has reported missile attacks from early in the conflict, but visual evidence has been sparse. However, that changed on October 2 when footage emerged of what appears to be an Israeli-built LORA ballistic missile plunging directly into a key bridge near the Armenian border.

Azerbaijan reportedly purchased up to 50 LORAs mounted on trucks with four-shot launch containers in 2017-2018. The missiles have a thousand-pound warhead, a range of 250 miles and use GPS and TV guidance to achieve accuracy within 10 meters of a designated target, making them suitable for attacking infrastructure targets that require precision.


The Armenian capital of Yerevan may also have come under attack by either missiles or drones (the former should have been distinguishable bey being much faster) on the evening of October 1-2. A Russian-built S-300 air defense missile battery opened fire, ostensibly destroying the aerial contacts. If true, this would represent the long-vaunted system’s combat debut.

Azerbaijan meanwhile claims Armenia has been using its arsenal of Soviet-era Tochka-U (SS-21 Scarab-B) ballistic missiles for long range attacks. The Tochka is only accurate within 90 meters—but it nonetheless has caused hundreds of deaths in recent conflicts.

Video footage below does appear to show an Armenian unit firing a Tochka apparently in combat conditions. Armenia is believed to posses eight Tochka-U launchers, while Azerbaijan has four.

Armenia possesses more precise and longer-range Iskandar ballistic missile purchased from Russsia, but so far is believed not to have employed the weapon. The Iskander could be used to target Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku or the oil industry, but that in turn might lead to a very dangerous counter-escalation and retaliation.

The role that weapons from Turkey and Israel have played in the current conflict has drawn increasing scrutiny abroad. There are unconfirmed claims that Israel may halt arms shipments to Azerbaijan, while Canada has banned the export of drone parts used in Turkish drone used by Azerbaijan.

Reports that Turkey has transported Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan to support the latter’s military effort have also been supported by multiple sources.

Meanwhile, on October 6, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyany reportedly stated they would be “open to mutual concessions” with Azerbaijan, a move signaling he may be ready to concede some territory under the right circumstances.

Whether Azerbaijan is receptive of the peace feeler may depend on whether leader Ilham Aliyev is satisfied with his territorial gains or decides to press the offensive in a bid for greater ones.

Regardless of one’s sympathies in the conflict, the deliberate use of indiscriminate rocket artillery against civilian population centers by both sides can only deepen the trauma and devastation of a long-running conflict which has driven over a million Armenians and Azerbaijanis from their homes in the recent past.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sebastienroblin/2020/10/07/rockets-cluster-munitions-and-missiles-rain-down-on-armenian-and-azerbaijani-civilians/amp/?fbclid=IwAR2crLubf0xq_KEoiTNOBOfWReWWrInrfPmr3Mk1bJrerxfXI-PNZxGfTZQ



EU deals blow to Turkey’s membership bid, saying talks ‘effectively at standstill’

Emil Lazarian
RT – Russia Today
Oct 6 2020

The EU’s executive has said that Turkey’s inability to maintain democracy and safeguard human rights remain barriers to its membership of the 27-member bloc. Ankara criticized the report as ‘far from constructive.’

On Tuesday, the European Commission released its annual report on the country, and in a summary warned that “accession negotiations have effectively come to a standstill.”

The scathing 115-page “Turkey 2020 Report” was published on Tuesday amid Ankara’s tense standoff with Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean.

“Turkey has continued to move further away from the European Union with serious backsliding in the areas of democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary,” a summary statement of the report read.

The publication outlined serious criticisms of NATO ally Turkey, which began EU membership negotiations in 2005.

Ankara hit back at Brussels by saying the Commission’s report “reflects the EU’s biased, far from constructive, double-standard approach.”

“Our sincere wish is for the EU to look at candidate nation Turkey not through the narrow and selfish interests of some circles, but rather through our continent’s larger and common interests, common vision,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In its report, the Commission highlighted its “significant concerns” over Turkey’s crackdown on mayors in the majority-Kurdish southeast of the country over their alleged membership of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.

Brussels said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government had “seriously damaged local democracy” with the move, which saw “forceful dismissals of elected mayors in the southeast and their replacement by government-appointed trustees.”

The EU also cited Ankara’s handling of the failed military coup four years ago for its deteriorating relations with the country.


Amid its criticism, the report did acknowledge Turkey’s role in housing millions of refugees who have fled the Syrian Civil War, saying it “continued to provide substantial assistance to over four million refugees, out of which 3.6 million are Syrian.”

The EU, which is Turkey’s largest foreign investor, recently encouraged the country to engage in dialogue with Cyprus in a bid to ease tensions in the disputed areas of the Eastern Mediterranean.

It said Turkey had “continued illegal activities” in the area, describing its behavior as “provocative and aggressive.” Cyprus had been pushing for sanctions on Turkey if it did not cease oil and gas drilling in the resource-rich sea.

Speaking to Germany’s Angela Merkel, Erdogan “stated that the EU had succumbed to pressure and blackmail from Greek Cypriots and Greece despite Turkey’s well-intentioned approach,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported in a statement.


Armenpress: Large number of Azeri fighters amass along Araks River at Artsakh-Iran border

Hovik Karapetian

Large number of Azeri fighters amass along Araks River at Artsakh-Iran border

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 09:10, 7 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces are amassing in large number of groups directly along the length of the Artsakh-Iranian border from the Artsakhi side (along the Araks (Araxes) River) and are factually taking shelter with the border in an attempt to advance, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan said.

“The Azerbaijani armed forces units – not having sufficient capabilities of engaging in effective offensive operations, are resorting to obvious provocations for already the second day. Namely, in the southern direction of the Artsakh-Azerbaijan military operations, the Azerbaijani units are amassing in large groups directly at the length of the Artsakh-Iranian border (along the Araks River) and are trying to advance by factually taking cover with the border,” he said.

He said this is a clear provocation by the Azeris trying to incite the Artsakhi forces to open fire or deliver strikes along the border, factually in the direction of Iran. Hovhannisyan didn’t rule out the possibility of these Azeri fighters retreating or fleeing into Iranian territory.

“In order to avoid this all, we believe the Iranian side – which certainly is seeing this, must prevent or force the Azeris to refrain from such amassing,” he said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Azerbaijani forces again open fire at Artsakh civilian settlements

Nahapetian Zhanna

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 08:57, 7 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS.  The Azerbaijani military is again firing at Stepanakert City and other civilian settlements of Artsakh, the Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan said.

In turn, Artsakh’s presidential spokesperson Vahram Poghosyan said that “the terrorist army of the enemy” is being “mercilessly” neutralized by the Artsakh Defense Army.

The information on Azeri forces hiring mercenaries from Syrian jihadist terror organizations through Turkey has already been confirmed by intelligence agencies from France, Russia, the US and others.

One of these mercenaries had personally spoken about it to the BBC earlier.

Artsakh’s capital city Stepanakert and other towns have come under intense bombardment from Azerbaijan. 

The Azeri forces have used cluster munitions, which resulted in over 20 civilian casualties and heavy damages. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/06/2020

Garnik Tadevosian 
                                        Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Armenia Ready For Compromise Deal With Azerbaijan, Says Pashinian
ARMENIA -- A woman walks in front of a big screen displaying a footage with 
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan, October 5, 2020
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are ready to reach a compromise peace agreement 
with Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said late on Tuesday amid 
continuing hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone.
“Resolution of conflicts must be based on compromises. Nagorno-Karabakh and 
Armenia are ready for concessions as much as Azerbaijan is ready for 
concessions,” Pashinian said in comments to the AFP news agency released by his 
office.
Pashinian also expressed confidence that Russia will fulfill its “contractual 
obligations” and provide necessary assistance to his country “in case of a 
threat to Armenia’s security.”
The comments came on the tenth day of fierce fighting along the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” around Karabakh which has left hundreds 
of soldiers from both sides dead. The hostilities continued despite repeated 
calls for an immediate ceasefire made by Russia, the United States and France, 
the three nations co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group.
Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in the 
conflict zone on Monday during what was their fourth phone conversation since 
September 27. The Kremlin said Putin “again emphasized the urgent need for a 
ceasefire.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Moscow is now engaged in a 
flurry of diplomatic activity in an effort to “help the warring sides stop 
hostilities and start a politico-diplomatic process of settlement.”
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the top U.S., Russian and French 
diplomats also called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to “commit without delay to 
resuming substantive negotiations.” They said the talks should focus on 
“existing core principles and relevant international documents well-known by 
both parties.”
It was an apparent reference to the mediating powers’ Basic Principles of the 
conflict’s resolution which were first drafted in 2007 and have been repeatedly 
modified since then. Armenia and Azerbaijan have for years disagreed on some key 
elements of the proposed framework peace deal.
Tehran Threatens ‘Tough’ Action Against Accidental Shelling Of Iranian Territory
        • Heghine Buniatian
RUSSIA -- Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami attends the annual Moscow 
Conference on International Security (MCIS) in Moscow, Russia April 24, 2019
Iran reportedly threatened on Tuesday to take “tough measures” if Armenian and 
Azerbaijani forces continue to accidentally shell Iranian territory close to the 
scene of large-scale hostilities around Nagorno-Karabakh.
The southernmost section of the Karabakh “line of contact” adjacent to 
northwestern Iran is one of the epicenters of the fierce fighting that broke out 
on September 27. Several rockets and other projectiles from the fighting have 
mistakenly landed near Iranian villages over the past week, reportedly injuring 
at least one local resident and prompting stern warnings from Iran.
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the accidental shelling is 
continuing despite those warnings.
“The security of our borders is of vital significance to us,” Hatami was 
reported to say. “Any kind of attack is unacceptable to us, and if such actions 
are repeated we will switch from warnings to tougher measures.”
The Armenian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday fresh fighting near the 
Iranian border marked by the Arax River. “The enemy ignores also the security of 
the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said a ministry spokeswoman.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani discussed the issue with his Azerbaijani 
counterpart Ilham Aliyev in a phone call on Tuesday.
Like other foreign powers, Iran has called for an immediate end to the 
hostilities. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday 
that there can be no military solution to the Karabakh conflict.
Khatibzadeh also announced that Tehran has drawn up a plan to halt the fighting 
and ease tensions in the conflict zone. He did not elaborate.
Syria’s Assad Also Accuses Turkey Of Sending ‘Terrorists’ To Karabakh
SYRIA -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaking during an interview with 
Russia Today in Damascus, March 5, 2020
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday joined Armenia and France in 
accusing Turkey of sending Syrian rebel fighters to fight in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone on Azerbaijan’s side.
Assad also blamed Ankara and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 
particular for the war in Karabakh that erupted on September 27.
“They [the Turks] are the ones who started this conflict,” he told the Russian 
RIA Novosti news agency. “They encouraged this conflict.”
“We can say for sure that they have been using terrorists of Syrian and other 
nationalities in Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said.
In recent weeks Western media and Syrian opposition sources have quoted members 
of Islamist rebel groups in areas of northern Syria under Turkish control as 
saying that they are deploying to Azerbaijan in coordination with the Turkish 
government. Most of them have given financial reasons for agreeing to 
participate in hostilities in and around Karabakh.
Armenia has seized upon those reports and presented its own purported evidence 
of Syrian mercenaries recruited by Ankara.
France has also alleged such deployment, with President Emmanuel Macron saying 
that at least 300 “Syrian fighters from jihadist groups” were flown from Turkey 
to Azerbaijan ahead of the flare-up of violence in Karabakh.
Russia has similarly expressed serious concern over the reported presence of 
Middle Eastern “terrorists and mercenaries” in the Karabakh conflict zone and 
demanded their “immediate withdrawal from the region.”
Asked to comment on the reports, Assad said: “Definitely we can confirm it. Not 
because we have evidence. Sometimes if you don’t have evidence you have 
indications.”
“Turkey used those terrorists coming from different countries in Syria. They 
used the same method in Libya. They used Syrian terrorists in Libya, maybe with 
other nationalities,” he told RIA Novosti.
“So it’s self-evident and very much probable that they are using them in 
Nagorno-Karabakh,” added the Syrian leader.
Assad’s regime has been at odds with Ankara but strongly backed by Moscow 
throughout the Syrian civil war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Assad’s statements later in the 
day. “We attentively familiarize ourselves with all statements by heads of 
state,” he said.
Both Ankara and Baku deny using Turkey’s proxy fighters against Karabakh 
Armenian forces.
Visiting Baku on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reaffirmed 
Ankara’s strong support for Azerbaijani military operations along the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” around Karabakh.
“Turkey and the Turkish people are ready to provide any assistance to Azerbaijan 
in any sphere if need be,” Cavusoglu was reported to say at a meeting with 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Amnesty International Decries Use Of Cluster Bombs Against Karabakh Civilians
        • Naira Bulghadarian
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Smoke billows above buildings in Stepanakert, October 4, 2020
Amnesty International has condemned what it described as the apparent use by the 
Azerbaijani army of cluster bombs in the shelling of civilian areas in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Over the weekend, footage consistent with the use of cluster munitions in the 
city of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, was published by the 
region’s de facto authorities,” the London-based human rights group said in a 
statement issued late on Monday.
“Amnesty International’s Crisis Response experts were able to trace the location 
of the footage to residential areas of Stepanakert, and identified Israeli-made 
M095 DPICM cluster munitions that appear to have been fired by Azerbaijani 
forces,” added the statement.
“Cluster bombs are inherently indiscriminate weapons, and their deployment in 
residential areas is absolutely appalling and unacceptable,” it quoted Denis 
Krivosheev, a senior Amnesty representative, as saying. “As fighting continues 
to escalate civilians must be protected, not deliberately targeted or recklessly 
endangered.”
Krivosheev stressed that the use of cluster munitions, which scatter many 
bomblets over a wide area, is “banned under international humanitarian law.”
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- An injured man receives medical treatment after shelling by 
Azerbaijani artillery, Stepanakert, October 4, 2020
Stepanakert and other Karabakh towns have been heavily shelled by Azerbaijani 
forces in recent days, forcing many of their residents to hide in bomb shelters 
or flee to Armenia. Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, Artak Beglarian, has 
accused Baku of deliberately targeting the disputed region’s civilian residents 
and infrastructure.
According to Beglarian, 19 Karabakh civilians have been killed and 80 others 
wounded since the September 27 outbreak of large-scale hostilities along the 
“line of contact” around Karabakh. The fighting has also left two residents of 
Armenian villages close to the Azerbaijani border dead.
AZERBAIJAN -- Firefighters battle the fire after a shelling in the city of 
Barda, October 5, 2020
For its part, Azerbaijan has reported extensive Armenian shelling of Azerbaijani 
cities and villages. Authorities in Baku said on Tuesday that 27 Azerbaijani 
civilians have died as a result.
“Azerbaijan reported that the Armenian forces attacked civilian areas in the 
country’s second largest city of Ganja, as well as other towns,” Amnesty 
International said in this regard.
“While Amnesty International experts have verified that 300mm Smerch rocket 
artillery systems do appear to have been used by Armenian forces, the 
photographic and video evidence available from the Azerbaijani side does not yet 
allow for conclusive analysis of its specific targets, nor whether the rocket 
warheads contained cluster munitions,” added the watchdog.
Armenia Hails Mediators’ Calls For Karabakh Ceasefire (UPDATED)
ARMENIA -- A man walks past a shop decorated with flags of Armenia and 
Nagorno-Karabakh in Yerevan, October 6, 2020
Armenia welcomed on Tuesday the latest calls for an “immediate and 
unconditional” halt to hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone made by 
France, Russia and the United States.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and 
Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Jean-Yves Le Drian of France 
condemned “in the strongest terms” the escalation of violence and, in 
particular, “disproportionate” shelling of civilian areas.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry hailed the statement, saying that the strong 
condemnation applies to Azerbaijan’s “unprecedented massive targeting of the 
civilian population and infrastructure” in Karabakh.
“We once again stress that there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement 
and the peace process, and any attempt to resolve the conflict by military means 
will be resolutely averted,” said the ministry.
ARMENIA -- Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh stay at a hotel, in the Armenian 
border city of Goris, October 5, 2020.
As of Tuesday morning, the Azerbaijani government did not react to the joint 
appeal by the top U.S., Russian and French diplomats. Baku has until now made 
the end of the hostilities conditional on Armenian withdrawal from Karabakh.
Meanwhile, fighting on the Karabakh frontlines appeared to have eased late on 
Monday. Shushan Stepanian, an Armenian Defense Ministry spokeswoman, said the 
following morning that the situation there was “relatively calm” on the night 
from Monday to Tuesday.
AZERBAIJAN -- People stand next to a destroyed car in a damaged area of the city 
of Ganja following a reportedly Armenian rocket strike, October 4, 2020
“In case of further escalations, the entire responsibility will be borne by the 
military-political leadership of Azerbaijan,” Stepanian wrote on Facebook.
Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army likewise described the situation as “relatively 
stable but tense.” It said its troops are ready for “any development of events.”
The Azerbaijani military also did not report major fighting overnight.
The hostilities reportedly resumed, however, in the afternoon. Azerbaijan’s 
Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said he has ordered his troops to continue their 
“counteroffensive.”
The Armenian side said Azerbaijani forces launched a “large-scale attack” at the 
southernmost section of the “line of contact” bordering Iran. Stepanian said 
that Karabakh Armenian forces are “methodically” destroying “enemy capabilities.”
Stepanian reported about an hour later that the Azerbaijani army resumed rocket 
strikes on the Karabakh capital Stepanakert. Earlier in the day she strongly 
denied Baku’s claims that the Armenians are again shelling civilian areas of 
Azerbaijan.
It also emerged that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visited Karabakh on 
Monday for the first time since the start of the war. A short video released by 
the Armenian government showed Pashinian meeting with Karabakh’s top political 
and military leaders and discussing the situation on the frontlines.
U.S., Russia, France Step Up Calls For Karabakh Ceasefire
FRANCE -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Russian counterpart 
Sergei Lavrov attend a joint news conference after a meeting at the Quai d'Orsay 
in Paris, November 27, 2018
The United States, Russia and France, stepped up late on Monday their calls for 
an immediate halt to the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that its growing 
impact on civilians poses an “unacceptable threat to the stability of the 
region.”
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of 
Russia and Jean-Yves Le Drian of France condemned “in the strongest terms” the 
escalation of violence in the Karabakh conflict zone.
“The Ministers stress unconditionally that recent attacks allegedly targeting 
civilian centers … and the disproportionate nature of such attacks constitute an 
unacceptable threat to the stability of the region,” they said in a joint 
statement.
They urged the conflicting parties to accept an “immediate and unconditional 
ceasefire.”
The presidents of the three countries co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group already 
called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in a joint statement issued 
on October 1. They also urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to “commit without delay to 
resuming substantive negotiations.”
Armenia welcomed the U.S., Russian and French presidents’ statement, saying it 
is willing to engage in peace talks mediated by the Minsk Group co-chairs.
But Azerbaijan effectively rejected the mediators’ appeal. Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev was reported to say on Monday that the mediators must first give 
Baku guarantees on the “withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan’s occupied 
territories.”
Pompeo, Lavrov and Le Drian stressed that their countries are “determined to 
exercise fully their mandate” to help find a peaceful solution to the Karabakh 
conflict. “As such, they will firmly continue to advance their engagement with 
the sides, and urge them to commit now to resuming the settlement process on the 
basis of existing core principles and relevant international documents 
well-known by both parties,” concluded their statement.
Speaking in Moscow earlier on Monday, Lavrov said the three mediating powers 
should not only issue joint statements butt also work out “concrete steps” that 
could stop the war in Karabakh. He said he has discussed that with Le Drian.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Parliament holds extraordinary session – LIVE

Garnik Tadevosian

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 10:00, 7 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament continues holding an extraordinary session on October 7.

3 issues are on the session agenda.

The MPs will debate a number of bills, such as on making changes and amendments to the Tax Code, the Law on Remuneration of State Officials and Public Servants and the Law on the 2020 State Budget.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Azeri forces used “relative calm” to regroup and launch new attack – says Artsakh

Emil Lazarian

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 10:06, 7 October, 2020

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces used the “relative calm” on October 6, that occurred following the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries’ foreign ministerial statement, in order to regroup and launch a new attack from the northern and southern directions of the frontline, the Artsakh Defense Ministry said.

“The adversary’s actions also posed dangers to the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Defense Army troops have neutralized the Azerbaijani military’s all advancement attempts with powerful counterstrikes. Large numbers of Azerbaijani manpower, military hardware, artillery and other military equipment and ammunitions have been destroyed during the battles. The Defense Army units succeeded to significantly improve their own battle orders,” the Artsakh Defense Ministry said.

“The Defense Army is confidently in control of the tactical-strategic situation and is ready for any kind of developments.”

Azerbaijani forces attempted to advance and reinforce overnight October 6-7 in the south-eastern direction (off Jebrayil), but Artsakhi forces delivered precision artillery strikes at the adversary attacking units.

The Azerbaijani forces are amassing in large numbers directly along the length of the Artsakh-Iranian border from the Artsakhi side (along the Araks (Araxes) River) in an attempt to take cover by the border and advance. The Azeris seek to provoke Artsakh to open fire in the direction of Iran, the Armenian Defense Ministry warned earlier. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan