Category: 2021

YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd daily of Armenia writes: As a result of the one-day provocation that took place these days on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Armenia, sadly, had not only territorial losses, but also human losses. But three days later, it is still unclear how many of the position-holding boys are prisoners of war, how many [of them]—fallen.

If we rely on official information or figures provided by officials, we will not know anything; on the contrary, we will get more entangled.

(…) the Ministry of Defense [(MOD)] reported several captives and more than 20 missing persons whose fate, according to the MOD, is unknown.

Sadly, one can only guess what really happened to the 24 missing boys. But it is a fact that even the information provided by the officials is contradictory.

To answer the question of the possible exchange of territories, we must go through the whole process of [border] delimitation and demarcation. Eduard Aghajanyan, a member of the majority “Civil Contract” Faction in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia and Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, stated this Friday during the traditional press briefings at the NA.

The reporters were trying to get clarifications on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s recent statements. For example, he had stated that after May 12, about 41 square kilometers of Armenian territory had come under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces. Moreover, he noted that after the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s, approximately the same amount of territory of the former Azerbaijan SSR had come under the control of the Armenian side. In this context, the reporters asked whether there could be an exchange of territories.

And the representatives of the parliamentary majority, in fact, did not rule out the possibility of an “exchange of territories” as a result of the border delimitation and demarcation process.

Thus, according to Aghajanyan, we are talking about a rather considerable amount of work.

“I believe you can imagine how much work this process assumes. I believe that as a result of quite a long work, the committee that shall be formed [in this regard] shall give an answer to that question. At the moment, I do not imagine what maps will be used and what logic the parties will be guided by. It seems to me that at this stage this issue is premature,” said Aghajanyan.

Biden’s administration is planning to host a Summit for Democracy, the first of its kind which will gather partners of governments, civil society and the private sector ‘to support renewal of democracy around the world’.

The Summit for Democracy is set to be held on December 9-10 in the format of a teleconference.

According to the preliminary list of invitees, the event will gather not only well-established democratic countries, but also countries where, according to activists, democracy is at risk.

Asked if there is a final list of invitees or if there is still time for countries like Azerbaijan to be included in the list, U.S. Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzre Zea said the United States invites a regionally diverse collection of well-established and developing democracies, big and small, the progress and commitments of which, in their opinion, will contribute to the common goals.

It’s likely that oral promises were made to Azerbaijan, and now it is pursuing them through military escalation. This is what deputy of the opposition “Armenia” faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Artur Ghazinyan said during a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“Azerbaijan has received a legitimate right to demand what it was orally promised. I believe the promise was made in the presence of third parties. We need to understand what was promised to Azerbaijan. Judging from the response of the international community or the absence of that response in general, it is safe to assume that the international community was told about Azerbaijan’s demand, otherwise Azerbaijan would never dare to encroach on Armenia’s sovereign territory,” he said.

According to Ghazinyan, Azerbaijan wants to achieve delimitation and demarcation with the version that it wants and to have a road leading to Nakhchivan. Ghazinyan added that granting Azerbaijan a corridor through the territory of Armenia will be inadmissible.

“Granting a corridor to Azerbaijan through Syunik Province, even an attempt to do this will be perhaps the gravest crime against Armenia’s statehood in history. No extraterrestrial territory through the territory of Armenia can be granted to any country. It seems as though Iran and Russia are also resolute in this regard,” he said.

According to him, it will be possible to change the situation, if the main negotiator of Armenia changes.