Category: 2021

Report on the treatment of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan to be sent to international organizations

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 13 2021
The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has published an Ad Hoc report on the treatment of the Armenian prisoners (servicemen and civilians) in Azerbaijan.
 
The report places particular emphasis on their interrogation in Azerbaijan, concluding that the information provided by the Armenian prisoners can not serve as a basis for criminal prosecution against them, nor could it have any probative value in international organizations and venues.
 
In particular, the special report presents the atrocities of the Azerbaijani armed forces, which among other things, were accompanied by torture, indignation and humiliation of the Armenian prisoners.
 
These facts are based on the evidence and analysis provided in the report, which once again confirms the use of methods prohibited by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the Armenian prisoners in accordance with strict international standards. The report’s assessments are also based on the ombudsman’s own fact-finding work.
 
In addition, international requirements for the treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, their interrogation, legal standards, objective evidence and other materials were examined.
 
The ombudsman will send the special report to international organizations, including to the European Court of Human Rights.
 

UK Civil Aviation Authority to provide safety management assistance to Armenia

Arbi Tashjian
Public Radio of Armenia 

Jan 13 2021
CAA International (CAAi), the technical cooperation arm of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA), has been contracted by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) to develop a Safety Management Manual for the Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) of the Republic of Armenia. This project is funded by the British Embassy Yerevan at the request of the CAC.
 
Over the next three months, aviation regulators from the UK CAA will work with CAC to develop a Safety Management Manual to help manage Armenia’s ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Annex 19 and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) competent authority obligations. The manual will establish the steps for implementing and maintaining a Safety Management System and provide assurance that State aviation safety risks are managed effectively. The manual will also be critical in assessing the safety management systems of Armenian service providers, facilitating the collection and exchange of information on safety hazards and deficiencies. A workshop on the contents of the manual and new procedures will also be delivered.
 
The UK CAA’s assistance is part of a wider programme being conducted by CAC to improve the level of safety oversight capability in Armenia and improve international safety standards which will facilitate the growth of Armenia’s aviation industry and, in turn, Armenia’s economy.
 
The project was formally launched during a virtual kick-off meeting on Wednesday morning, attended by CAC, CAAi and FCDO officials, including Ms Helen Fazey, UK’s Chargé d’Affaires to the Republic of Armenia.
 
Speaking after the meeting, Rob Erskine, Head of Operations at CAAi commented:
 
“With more than 15,000 passengers from the UK alone flying to Armenia each year, we are delighted to be able to assist our Armenian counterparts with the experience and know-how of the UK CAA. Thanks to FCDO funding, we can build a stronger, more robust aviation regulator in Armenia. We are fully committed to supporting CAC on its journey to improve international safety standards and promote the sustainable development of Armenia’s aviation system.”
 
In her opening speech, UK’s Chargé d’Affaires in Armenia Helen Fazey mentioned: “The enhanced air connectivity will be key to unlocking Armenia’s significant economic growth potential and prosperity, in part because it will enable the country to attract more business investment, facilitate international trade and spur tourism. UK Civil Aviation Authority International is extremely well-placed to support Armenia’s aviation regulator: drawing on its experience of providing aviation safety, security and economic regulation in over 140 countries, and working hand-in-hand with the CAC in pursuit of the common goal of raising aviation standards in Armenia.”
 
Tatevik Revazyan, Director General at CAC concluded: “Armenia has one of the highest safety records at the International Civil Aviation Organisation with an implementation rate of 84.89% where the world average is 68.85 %. Despite this, safety gaps have been identified, leading to an institutional reform at our Civil Aviation Committee. The root-cause of these gaps are mainly related to the lack of an efficient Safety Management System. Therefore, we highly welcome the acknowledged expertise from the UK Civil Aviation Authority and are thankful to the UK Embassy and especially UK’s Charge D’affaires, Mrs Helen Fazey for enabling the implementation of this project.”
 
The project commenced on 8th January 2021 and is expected to last three months.
 

CivilNet: Russia’s Kommersant Publishes Map of Armenia-Azerbaijan Transport Corridors

Arsine Chaltikian
CIVILNET.AM

13 January, 2021 20:28

Russia's Kommersant newspaper has published a map showing the transportation corridors and railways in the South Caucasus, the opening of which was agreed upon by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan during a meeting in Moscow on January 11.

According to Kommersant's map, Azerbaijan will get a transport corridor and a railway to its enclave Nakhichevan located west of Armenia (see black and orange lines). These links, which go through Armenia's southern Syunik region, will connect Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Armenia will be allowed to use that same railway, which goes from Yerevan to Syunik and passes through Nakhichevan (see black line).

Thus, the "transportation agreement" signed in Moscow will effectively open Azerbaijan's path to Nakhichevan and Turkey,  Russia's path to Turkey and Armenia, and Armenia's path to Russia and Iran.

The railway route from Armenia to Russia will pass through the following areas: Yerevan-Nakhichevan-Syunik-Horadiz-Baku-Dagestan.

These routes were actively used during the Soviet years, but have not been operating since the start of the Karabakh conflict. As a result, the Armenian railways were de facto reduced to a small section connecting Yerevan to Tbilisi. Goods from Russia are transported to Armenia via the Lars area, which is regularly closed due to weather conditions.

At the moment, the plans and strategies for ensuring the security of these roads and railways remain uncertain. Those who live near these roads and those who used them during the Soviet times are skeptical about safety guarantees. They tell CIVILNET that even before the start of the Karabakh conflict, during the USSR period, there were significant issues with the security of the roads. It is expected that Russian peacekeepers will play some role in their protection. 

"Kommersant" also notes that the result of the January 11 meeting were received differently in Baku and in Yerevan. In Azerbaijan, the meeting was considered successful because an agreement was reached to unblock economic and transport ties in the region. But in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was blamed for not prioritizing the public's most urgent issue, which is the return of the captives currently in Azerbaijan. Instead, he discussed an economic agenda during the trilateral negotiations.

CivilNet: Baku Pogroms in the Context of the Karabakh Conflict

Samvel Nahapetian
CIVILNET.AM

14 January, 2021 07:33

By Emil Sanamyan

Episodes of mass violence, such as the Armenian pogroms in Baku in January 1990 and subsequent introduction of Soviet forces resulting in additional loss of life, are often viewed as events in themselves. From the Armenian perspective, the Baku pogroms were just another manifestation of anti-Armenian hatred in Azerbaijan, from Azerbaijani – it is often described as a conspiracy to quash local nationalist aspirations.

Putting these events in the context of the developing logic of the Karabakh conflict and growing crisis throughout the Soviet Union helps explain the events’ timing and some of the motives involved.

Thus, the initial appeals from Nagorno Karabakh Autonomy for its reassignment from Azerbaijan to Armenia were immediately followed by a violent reaction against Armenians in Karabakh, Sumgait and elsewhere. Following the violence of 1988, 1989 was a mostly peaceful year with relatively few conflict-related deaths reported. But conflict began to heat up again, after Karabakh Armenian leaders refused Kremlin’s offers to drop demands for unification with Armenia in exchange for upgrading NKAO’s status to an autonomous republic within then still Soviet Azerbaijan.

Most significantly, 1988 saw a massive population exchange between the two republics triggered by violent attacks that slowed down but continued in 1989. This made continued existence of an Armenian autonomy, whether an oblast’ or a republic, within Azerbaijan increasingly unrealistic. Since prior to the conflict there were more Armenians in Azerbaijan than Azerbaijanis in Armenia, by the end of 1989 the flight of Azerbaijanis was nearly complete (one exception was the Nuvadi area near Meghri), whereas an estimated several tens of thousands of Armenians still remained in Baku and in villages to the immediate north of NKAO that, counting on Armenia’s support, prepared for self-defense.

On November 28, 1989, the Soviet government cancelled the direct administration in Nagorno Karabakh in effect since January 1989, returning the Oblast under Azerbaijan’s administration. In response, on December 1, 1989 the Supreme Council (Parliament) of Armenia issued a union declaration with NKAO.

The Soviet Azerbaijani leadership prepared for a crackdown in and around Nagorno Karabakh. In December 1989, the number of Soviet security forces in the area were increasing from nine to fifteen thousand further backed by the regular army units. On January 9, 1990 Karabakh Armenian activists rallied to stop Soviet Azerbaijani leader Abdurrahman Vezirov accompanied by Moscow officials from arriving in Stepanakert. Resulting clashes with Soviet security forces left three activists dead.

At the same time, armed volunteers began to arrive in Karabakh from Armenia, particularly to the village of Getashen in Khanlar district, north of NKAO. In parallel, Armenian militias from Yerevan attacked an Azerbaijani enclave of Kerki, which sat on Armenia’s main highway just north of Nakhichevan, and after a week-long siege expelled its population.

Starting on January 11, Azerbaijani militias associated with the Azerbaijani Popular Front attacked Armenian villages in Khanlar and Shaumyan districts, seeking to force their residents to flee to Armenia. The shooting in the area continued for days with some seven Azerbaijani attackers reportedly killed.

As in February 1988, when after the failure of the initial Azerbaijani show of force in Karabakh, the violence was redirected towards Armenians in Sumgait, this time the perceived setback in Karabakh was quickly followed by attacks on remaining Armenians in Baku, where Popular Front demanded that Azerbaijani refugees should be housed in “abandoned” Armenian homes. In the following days, more than 90 Armenians were killed in Baku in mob attacks. Others were protected by their Azerbaijani friends and neighbors, only to be evacuated by the Soviet military.

As pogroms escalated, on January 14 Kremlin officials led by Yevgeni Primakov were dispatched to Baku. Soviet Azerbaijani leaders refused to introduce emergency rule, even as such rule was introduced in NKAO, where violence was on the lesser scale. On January 16, Soviet defense and interior ministers arrived in Getashen and pledged to protect the Armenians in the area (they kept their pledge until the spring of 1991, when these villages were ethnically cleansed with the help of the Soviet forces).

As violence in Baku continued to spread, on the night of January 19-20 Soviet military was ordered into the city over objections from Vezirov, who was effectively removed. As Popular Front activists attempted to stop them, more than 100 Azerbaijani civilians and activists died in the clashes.

Baku pogroms thus became part of the Azerbaijani nationalist backlash to Armenia’s union declaration with Karabakh and the Armenian resistance in Karabakh. Three decades on, no official investigation into the pogroms has been conducted and no one was held responsible.

This piece was originally published in Focus on Karabakh. 

Turkish press: Putin informs Erdoğan about Nagorno-Karabakh meeting with Azerbaijan, Armenia

Garnik Zakarian
 ISTANBUL DIPLOMACY 
JAN 13, 2021 3:30 PM GMT+3
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Ankara, Turkey, April 3, 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin informed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Moscow's trilateral meeting held with Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh during a phone call Wednesday.

Kremlin reported after the call that Putin said one of the major outcomes of the meeting was the confirmation of the intention to normalize the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In a statement posted on his personal Bip account, Erdoğan said he touched upon several issues, including Russia-Turkey ties, developments in Nagorno-Karabakh and regional stability in his phone conversation with Putin.

He noted that he expressed Turkey’s determination to contribute and support all initiatives for regional peace and stability.

“We want to create the conditions that would ensure co-existence in Nagorno-Karabakh without a peace force or observation missions,” Erdoğan said, adding that once that goal is achieved, the two countries will be able to show the world the productive results of their cooperation.

The two leaders also discussed the situation of the joint Turkish-Russian center in the region.

The leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact Monday to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire Caucasus region.

Speaking in Moscow alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Putin hailed the talks as "extremely important and useful."

"We were able to come to an agreement … on the development of the situation in the region," Putin told reporters four hours after the trilateral talks began.

The Russian leader also said the Nov. 10 agreement between the three countries, ending the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, had generally been fulfilled. He added that Russian military units, who are temporarily in the region, are carrying out their duties.

Clashes erupted on Sept. 27 and the Armenian Army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating cease-fire agreements. During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenian occupation.

The two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

A joint Turkish-Russian center with peacekeepers from both countries has been established to monitor the truce. The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have withdrawn in line with the agreement.

Turkish press: President Erdoğan urges party grassroots for hard work until 2023 – Turkey News

Emil Lazarian
  • January 13 2021 16:48:00

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 13 urged his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members to work hard as if “every day is an election day” until 2023 when the country is scheduled to run for presidential and parliamentary elections.

“My biggest expectation is for you to see each day as an election day and work until 2023,” he said, addressing the provincial congresses of the AKP in the provinces of Kırşehir, Kırıkkale, Yozgat, and Sivas via video link.

“It means that those who do not work day and night to win the hearts of the nation aspire to the wrong duty in the wrong place,” he stated.

The AKP will be victorious in the 2023 elections, “as it did” in every other election in the past 20 years, the president said.

“Hopefully, we will be represented in parliament with an overwhelming majority in the 2023 elections and we will win the presidential election again. As the People’s Alliance, both as the AK Party, as the MHP, and as the BBP, the People’s Alliance is getting stronger and marching to the future,” Erdoğan said.

Turkey will go to presidential and parliamentary polls in June 2023, both Erdoğan and his ally, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said many times despite the opposition parties’ suggestion that the government will call snap elections before 2023.

Expressing pride in the increasing number of members of the AKP, Erdoğan said in 2020 alone, the party increased its membership by one million despite the difficult circumstances due to the pandemic. He said this proves that people are putting their trust in the AKP.

His party is the one with the highest capacity to rejuvenate itself, the president added.

Calling on the AKP members to knock on the door of everyone, he said, “Media and social media channels are of course important. However, the main determinant in politics is face-to-face encounters.”

Erdoğan also slammed main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, recalling a recent statement of the latter which identified Erdoğan as “so-called president.”

The president said Kılıçdaroğlu was “not aware of the responsibilities granted to the president,” while the president assumes political identity at the same time.

He was referring to a constitutional change that paved the way for the presidents to keep the helm of their political parties.

Erdoğan said Kılıçdaroğlu “lost every election” and if he had “dignity and a little respect for himself,” he would quit the leadership of the CHP.

“I believe they will eliminate this mentality as soon as possible,” Erdoğan stated.

Kılıçdaroğlu on Jan.10 referred to Erdoğan as a “so-called president” while criticizing the president for targeting opposition newspaper daily Sözcü. Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against the CHP leader on Jan. 11 for his remarks.

Putin, Erdoğan discuss outcomes of trilateral summit on Karabakh

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Erdoğan on Jan. 13 had a phone conversation on the trilateral meeting held on Nagorno-Karabakh in Moscow.

According to a statement from the Turkey’s Communications Directorate, the two leaders discussed steps for strengthening relation between Turkey and Russia.

The formation of Turkey-Russia Ceasefire Monitoring Center and all military actions taken in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were evaluated during the conversation.

Turkey would provide the necessary support and contributions on behalf of peace in the new era, Erdoğan told his Russian counterpart.

Stating that they want to create the conditions that will enable Azerbaijanis and Armenians to live together in Nagorno-Karabakh without the need for peace forces or observation activities, President Erdoğan said that when this happens, they would once again show the world the constructive results of the Turkish-Russian partnership.

On Jan. 11, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan held their first meeting since a Russia-brokered deal ended hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint declaration after the meeting held in Moscow. They signed an agreement to create new transportation infrastructure aimed at “unblocking” the region’s many closed borders.

The agreement of Nov. 10 between the three countries ending the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have generally been fulfilled, Putin said, adding that Russian military units in the region were carrying out their duties temporarily.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.

Asbarez: After Moscow Meeting, Armenia Will be Forced to Make More Concessions

Lena Karagyozian

January 13,  2020



From left: Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a joint press briefing in Moscow on Jan. 11

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

The leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in Moscow on Monday to hammer out the details of the November 9 agreement, which has already wreaked havoc on the lives of lay citizens in Armenia and Artsakh who have had to come face-to-face with Azerbaijani soldiers because of the uncertainties of the document.

After four hours, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev announced the signing of another agreement, this time regarding the steps to be taken to “unblock” transport routes in order to “normalize” economic and trade. In layman’s terms this means opening the border to Azerbaijan and allow Baku unimpeded access to Nakhichevan and Turkey.

Aliyev hailed Monday’s agreement, saying that after more than 30 years, Azerbaijan will have a transport connection through the territory of Armenia with its Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, and Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan will have a railway connection to Russia and Iran.

“We will also have access to the Turkish market through the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, the Turkish and Russian railway arteries will be connected,” Aliyev said, adding that this can create a huge momentum for the development of the region and strengthen its security.

Pashinyan also hailed the agreement, saying that opening transport routes will increase investment and economic prosperity.

“I will not hide the fact that its [the agreement’s] implementation may simply change the economic image and appearance of our region,” said Pashinyan, expressing hope that economic reforms will become another “reliable guarantor of security” and will increase the investment attractiveness of the region.

The agreement signed on Monday gives the sides a little less than two months to consult “experts” and come up with a blueprint how this “unblocking” process is going to take place.

It seems Pashinyan will have to come up with more elaborate excuses to back up what he said before the Moscow meeting, which was that the words “Meghri” and “Nakhichevan corridor” were not included in the November 9 agreement. The words “Sotk,” “Kapan,” “Shurnukh” and “Hintagher” were also not included in the November 9 agreement, but the fact of the matter is residents of those areas in Armenia’s Syunik Province and Artsakh woke up one day to find Azerbaijani soldiers either violently attacking them or forcing them out of their houses and places of employment.

What officials are not talking about are the verbal agreements that were made during the Moscow meeting. A dangerous precedent was set during the implementation of the November 9 agreement that provisions—or concessions—not overtly listed in the document were forced upon Armenia, while Aliyev and Putin boasted that the “Karabakh conflict” is over and that discussion on Karabakh’s status are tabled until further notice.

Pashinyan lamented that during the four hours in Moscow, the issue of captives and prisoners of war was not discussed, with Putin and Aliyev alluding to their conviction that this critical matter had already been resolved.

Hundreds of people are still believed to be held captive by Azerbaijan and neither Moscow nor Baku have lifted a finger to properly resolve the fate of those military and civilian Armenians that are currently held captive and are probably enduring unimaginable atrocities and violations against them.

Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Aliyev called the Armenian POWs still in captivity in Azerbaijan “terrorists” and threatened to prosecute them to the fullest extent of Azerbaijan’s laws—not a comforting prospect for the relatives of captive Armenians who have been holding vigil at the government building only to get the runaround by Pashinyan and his government.

The most egregious threat from the Monday agreement is that Turkey will have free reign in the region and what Ankara wasn’t able to achieve through the failed Protocols process, it can do so without having to make one single concession.

As Lilit Galstyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia, aptly stated: Pashinyan green-lighted Ankara’s pan-Turkic agenda.

What is clear is that by March 1, the deadline set for finalizing the “unblocking” process, Pashinyan will make more concessions as we have seen during the past two months. Because, apparently, what’s not in the agreement is what actually matters.

Azerbaijan Must Assume Responsibility for Baku Pogroms, Says Artsakh Foreign Ministry

Babken Chilingarian

January 13,  2020



The survivors of the brutal Baku pogroms in 1990

The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh issued a statement on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the massacres of Armenians in Baku.

Below is the text of the statement.

January 13, 1990 is one of the most tragic dates in the history of the Armenian people. On this day, mass pogroms of Armenians began in the capital city of Azerbaijan, Baku, which became the apogee of the targeted policy of the Azerbaijani authorities on exterminating the Armenian population of the former Azerbaijan SSR and expelling it from its historical lands and places of permanent residence, which began with the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait in February 1988.

The Baku pogroms continued for more than a week, during which, under the slogans “Glory to the heroes of Sumgait!,” “Long live Baku without Armenians!” large mobs of rioters broke into the homes of Armenians, robbing, maiming and killing people. There are numerous documented accounts of atrocities committed with exceptional brutality. Those who managed to escape death were subjected to forced deportation, which was organized and systematic.
The Baku pogroms became one of the bloodiest mass crimes against the Armenian population in a series of pogroms, deportations, ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity committed in Azerbaijan. In the period between 1988 and 1991, the Armenian population of the former Azerbaijan SSR was completely deported, and Northern Artsakh, Gandzak and some other territories lost their autochthonous population. As a result, about half a million Armenians became refugees, and thousands of them killed.

The man-hating and genocidal policy of Baku towards the Armenian people continued after the collapse of the USSR, in 1992-1994, in particular, during the occupation of Artsakh Republic’s Shahumyan and Martakert regions and in the village of Maragha, the majority of the inhabitants of which were brutally exterminated.

The long-term and consistent denial by the Azerbaijani authorities of the committed genocidal actions on the one hand, and the encouragement of such crimes through the glorification of their perpetrators on the other hand, have become the main driving force in the policy of Azerbaijan, aimed at the extermination of Armenians in their historical homeland and all the traces of the existence of the Armenian people in the ancestral territory of their residence.This policy ultimately predetermined the large-scale 44-day war against Artsakh unleashed on September 27, 2020 by Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey and with the participation of international terrorists. The armed aggression was accompanied by numerous and systematic war crimes, including targeted attacks on civilians and shelling of vital civilian infrastructure, with the employment of weapons prohibited by international conventions, cruel killing of prisoners of war and detained civilians and inhuman and derogatory treatment towards them. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side deliberately posts video materials of such atrocities at social networks.

It is difficult to imagine the path to peace as long as the misanthropic ideology and values, imposed by the authorities for many years, continue to dominate in the Azerbaijani society. An important step in the process of healing the wounds inflicted by the bloody conflict unleashed by Azerbaijan would be the recognition by the Baku authorities of their direct responsibility for the mass crimes committed against the Armenian population, including the January 1990 pogroms in Baku, which would make it possible to eradicate the negative phenomena caused by Armenophobia and create preconditions for establishing sustainable and lasting peace in the region.

Artsakh Soldier Injured as Azerbaijan Violates Ceasefire

Garo Vardanian

January 13,  2020



A soldier on the frontline

The Artsakh Armed Forces reported that one of its soldiers was injured when Azerbaijani forces opened fire from Shushi on Artsakh military positions on Wednesday.

The Defense Army said that the 20-year-old soldier, Vartan Kirakosyan was in “serious but stable” condition after undergoing surgery in an Artsakh hospital

The Artsakh Army said that is has launched an investigation into the “blatant violation” of the Russian-brokered November 9 ceasefire agreement.

Azerbaijan did not immediately comment on the reported incident.

The Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh said they have no information on the Azeri ceasefire breach.

“We do not have such information,” Russian peacekeeping contingent representative Nikolay Kruchinin told Armenpress.

Artsakh’s foreign ministry was quick to strongly condemn the ceasefire violation and characterized it “as an effort aimed at destabilizing the situation in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone and disrupting the peacekeeping efforts.”

“This kind of dangerous behavior is unacceptable and is a gross violation of the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan of November 9, 2020 on a complete cease-fire and cessation of all military operations in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone. We call on Azerbaijan to strictly follow the commitments taken under the trilateral statement and refrain from provocative actions that could undermine the current truce,” said the foreign ministry.