Category: 2021

Comprehensive settlement of NK conflict is possible only under the mandate of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs – FM Mirzoyan

Eduard Nalbandian

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 18:02,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held a meeting in Paris with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Andrew Schofer (USA), Igor Khovaev (Russia), and Brice Roquefueil (France) on November 10.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Ararat Mirzoyan stressed that the comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be achieved only through peaceful means under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship on the basis of the principles and elements well-known to the sides.

The importance of the Co-Chairs’ visit to the region was underlined in the context of assessing the situation on the ground. During the meeting the sides emphasized the priority of implementing concrete steps towards the de-escalation of the situation in the region․ In this regard, Ararat Mirzoyan condemned the attacks on the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in casualties, as well as the consistent Armenophobic rhetoric.

Foreign Minister of Armenia and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs exchanged views on humanitarian issues that need to be urgently addressed. In this context, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the imperative for immediate and unconditional repatriation of the Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons, as well as clarification of the fate of missing persons and preservation of the Armenian historical-cultural heritage.

On the same day, with the mediation and participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan was hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian.

During the five-party meeting, the Foreign Minister of Armenia expressed the position of the Armenian side to fully resume the peace process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the position expressed during the meeting with the Co-Chairs, including on the need for de-escalation of the situation and addressing the humanitarian issues, as well as the inadmissibility of provocations and Armenophobic rhetoric.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 11/11/2021

Ekmekjian Janet 
                                        Thursday, 
Four Killed In Yerevan Shootout
Armenia - Law-enforcement officers at the scene of deadly shootings in the 
Kanaker district of Yerevan, .
Four men, including a reputed crime figure, were killed and four others wounded 
in a shootout that erupted in Yerevan early on Thursday.
The Armenian police said it occurred in the courtyard of a house in the city’s 
northern Kanaker suburb. Police officers found two assault rifles and four 
pistols at the scene.
The Investigative Committee said later in the day that four people have been 
arrested in connection with what was one of the deadliest shootings in Armenia’s 
recent history. The law-enforcement agency did not identify them or comment on 
possible causes of the bloodshed.
Armenian media reports said the victims included Artur Ghazarian, a 42-year-old 
underworld figure nicknamed “Tuy,” and Artyush Simonian, a former parliament 
deputy and business executive.
Both men lived in Kanaker. Armlur.am reported that Simonian, 61, returned to 
Armenia from the Netherlands on Monday.
The publication also said investigators believe that the overnight killings were 
either the result of a bitter dispute between two groups of men gathered in the 
Kanaker house or an armed attack carried out by a third party.
Opposition Vice-Mayor Rearrested
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Menua Hovsepian, a deputy mayor of Goris.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals allowed investigators on Thursday to again arrest an 
opposition-linked deputy mayor of the southeastern town of Goris one month after 
he was set free on bail.
The official, Menua Hovsepian, was first taken into custody on August 17 
following the arrest of Goris Mayor Arush Arushanian. The two men affiliated 
with the main opposition Hayastan alliance are facing criminal charges which 
they both reject as politically motivated.
Arushanian remains behind bars despite his and his political allies’ landslide 
victory in a municipal election held in Goris on October 17. The election 
outcome is widely regarded as a serious setback for Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian and his Civil Contract party.
A local court granted Hovsepian bail and ordered his release three days before 
the vote. The Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in what the vice-mayor’s 
lawyer, Armen Melkonian, denounced as a “political decision” aimed at 
intimidating other opposition members.
Melkonian argued that his client posted bail worth 30 million drams ($63,000) 
and did not obstruct the investigation into the high-profile case after his 
release.
“Thirty million drams is not 30 cents; it’s a serious guarantee that a person 
won’t do anything wrong,” Melkonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Hovsepian is accused of misusing public funds and coercing local residents to 
campaign for Hayastan in the run-up to the June 20 parliamentary elections. His 
lawyer insisted that the charges are baseless.
Goris and surrounding villages make up a major community of Armenia’s Syunik 
province bordering districts southwest of Nagorno-Karabakh that were retaken by 
Azerbaijan during and shortly after last year’s war. The mayors of virtually all 
provincial towns and villages blamed Pashinian for Armenia’s defeat in the war 
and demanded his resignation.
Some of them, including Arushanian, encouraged supporters to disrupt Pashinian’s 
visits to the region. Four Syunik mayors were arrested shortly after the June 
elections. One of them was freed late last month.
Armenian, Azeri FMs Meet Again
Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan (left) of Armenia and Jeyhun Bayramov of 
Azerbaijan.
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met late on Wednesday for the 
third time in less than two months for talks hosted by their French counterpart 
Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov also met with Le Drian as well as the U.S., 
Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group separately before their 
face-to-face talks held in Paris.
Le Drian tweeted afterwards that he brought them together to “help reduce 
tensions” between Armenia and Azerbaijan one year after a Russian-brokered 
ceasefire stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“France remains fully engaged in in the Minsk Group,” he said. “We do not forget 
the victims of the war interrupted a year ago.”
The first meeting of Mirzoyan and Bayramov took place in New York on September 
24 in the presence of the group’s co-chairs. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei 
Lavrov organized and presided over their second encounter in Minsk on October 14.
The French Foreign Ministry said Le Drian sought to “keep up the momentum” in 
Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations.
“In these various exchanges, the Minister reiterated France's desire to 
contribute to the strengthening of dialogue between the parties,” a ministry 
spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, during his meetings in Paris 
Mirzoyan stuck to the official Armenian line that the Karabakh conflict remains 
unresolved and requires a “comprehensive” settlement based on the mediators’ 
peace proposals. He also condemned the recent killings by Azerbaijani forces of 
two Karabakh Armenian civilians and Baku’s reluctance to free dozens of Armenian 
prisoners.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, for its part, that Bayramov discussed 
with the Armenian foreign minister and the mediators ways of normalizing 
Azerbaijan’s relations with Armenia given the “new realities in the region.”
The co-chairs issued no joint statement on the Paris talks as of Thursday 
afternoon. In their last statement released on October 8, they reiterated their 
“willingness to visit the region in the near future to discuss next steps in the 
process.”
The visit has still not taken place. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian suggested 
over the weekend that it is delayed by Azerbaijan, which claims to have ended 
the conflict with its victory in last year’s war.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the mediators should be able 
to resume their visits to Karabakh as part of their peace efforts.
Armenians Barred From Azeri-Controlled Road
        • Nane Sahakian
        • Artak Khulian
        • Anush Mkrtchian
An Azerbaijani checkpoint set up at on the main road conneting Armeia to Iran, 
September 14, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian faced fresh opposition allegations of a sellout 
on Thursday after Azerbaijan expanded border controls at a section of the main 
highway connecting Armenia to Iran, effectively making it off limits to Armenian 
vehicles.
The 21-kilometer section is part of contested border areas along Armenia’s 
Syunik province which were controversially handed over to Azerbaijan following 
last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijani forces set up a checkpoint there on September 12 to tax Iranian 
commercial trucks transporting cargo to and from Armenia. The move caused 
serious disruptions in Armenian-Iranian trade operations and raised tensions in 
Baku’s relations with Tehran.
Pashinian assured lawmakers on September 15 that the passport and customs checks 
will not apply to Armenian nationals in line with Armenian-Azerbaijani 
understandings reached last December.
Opening a weekly session of his cabinet on Thursday, Pashinian announced that 
Baku “unofficially” notified Yerevan on Wednesday that starting from midnight it 
will extend the border controls to Armenian vehicles. He said the Armenian 
government therefore decided to “redirect” Armenian travellers to an alternative 
road connecting Syunik’s administrative center Kapan to another provincial town, 
Goris, and bypassing the border area.
The 70-kilometer bypass road has been mostly rebuilt in recent months. Pashinian 
acknowledged that it is still not convenient enough for heavy trucks and needs 
further upgrades.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a cabinet meeting in 
Yerevan, .
Meanwhile, Armenian border guards deployed in Syunik banned trucks and cars with 
Armenian license plates from entering the Azerbaijani-controlled section of the 
old Goris-Kapan highway. An RFE/RL crew was also not allowed to drive along it 
and film the mountainous area.
The shutdown created serious logistical problems for several Armenian villages 
situated along the highway. They can now communicate with the rest of Syunik 
only through dirt roads that are impassable for ordinary cars. Pashinian said in 
this regard that “no village will be cut off” from other Armenian-controlled 
territory.
The prime minister suggested that Baku imposed the border checks because of 
Yerevan’s refusal to agree to a special transport corridor that would connect 
Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave via the portion of Syunik bordering Iran.
As he spoke hundreds of protesters led by several opposition parliamentarians 
clashed with riot police outside the main government building in Yerevan. The 
police detained dozens of protesters after refusing to let the lawmakers enter 
the building to demand further explanations from Pashinian.
One of them, Anna Grigorian, accused the government of ceding the Kapan-Goris 
road section to Azerbaijan “without any legal basis.” Gegham Manukian, another 
lawmaker representing the main opposition Hayastan alliance, suggested that the 
Azerbaijani border checks were the result of a secret deal with Pashinian.
Armenia - Riot police detain an opposition protester outside the main government 
building in Yerevan, .
In a statement, the alliance headed by former President Robert Kocharian charged 
that Pashinian’s administration allowed Baku to set up the checkpoints in 
“Armenia’s sovereign territory.” It reaffirmed its pledges to topple the 
government with a “nationwide resistance” campaign launched earlier this week.
“As long as this regime remains in power such disgraceful concessions can be 
expected every day,” said Hayastan. “The individual holding the post of prime 
minister does not decide anything anymore. It is Azerbaijan that makes decisions 
in his place.”
Pashinian insisted during the cabinet meeting that “the Azerbaijani checkpoint 
is not located on Armenian territory.”
Armenia - Riot police clash with opposition protesters outside the main 
government building in Yerevan, .
Syunik borders the Zangelan and Kubatli districts southwest of Karabakh which 
were mostly recaptured by Azerbaijan during the six-week war stopped by a 
Russian-brokered ceasefire last November. Pashinian ordered Armenian army units 
and local militias in December to withdraw from the rest of those districts as 
well as territory located along the Soviet-era Armenian-Azerbaijani border, 
which has never been demarcated due to the Karabakh conflict.
The troop withdrawal sparked angry protests from local government officials and 
ordinary residents of Syunik. Opposition leaders in Yerevan likewise accused 
Pashinian of hastily and illegally ceding those lands to Baku.
Pashinian said late last month that the withdrawal prevented an Azerbaijani 
attack on Syunik. Hayastan responded by demanding that prosecutors launch 
criminal proceedings against the prime minister.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Yerevan: Armenia and Azerbaijan to set up customs points on Goris-Kapan motorway

Elizabeth Jabejian
Vetsnik Kavkaza
Nov 11 2021
 11 Nov in 10:20

The Azerbaijani side has informed the Armenian side that it will perform the function of border and customs control on the Goris-Kapan motorway, meaning it will set up customs points, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said during an interview aired on Armenian Public Television.

He noted that the Armenian side will take appropriate actions, that is, it will set up customs and border control points on the motorway. “We had initially launched activities so that we can work in this direction, but since the Kapan-Tatev road is ready, as already announced, it is safe to say that Armenia has a safe road leading from the Kapan-Tatev road to Goris or Yerevan, and the alternative road is ready for the transfer of goods and any type of vehicle,” the Secretary of the Security Council said.

Grigoryan said works are being carried out for the communities located on the Goris-Kapan motorway in order to improve the roads, adding that even though they are not asphalted, they will be asphalted soon.

Armenian genocide recognition bill passes first reading in UK House of Commons

Chmshkian Vicken

Nov 11 2021


    JAMnews

    Yerevan

Armenian genocide recognition bill passes first reading in UK

On November 9, the House of Commons of the British Parliament unanimously adopted a bill on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This was the first reading of the document, the second will take place in March 2022. Armenian expert circles are discussing why the British parliament took such a step and how likely it is that the bill will be approved by the House of Lords.

The Armenian Genocide is a massacre that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. About two and a half million Armenians lived here. As a result of the killings and mass deportations, more than half of them died.

The tragic events of the beginning of the last century were recognized as genocide and condemned by influential international organizations, including the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, and the World Council of Churches. Among the countries that have recognized the Armenian genocide are Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Belgium, France, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Russia, Uruguay, Greece, Cyprus, Vatican, Germany, Lebanon.

Turkey categorically rejects such a formulation.

  • US President Biden uses word ‘genocide’ while talking about killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey
  • Experts on the meaning behind Biden’s statement on the Armenian genocide
  • Bundestag spoke the word “genocide”
  • Dutch parliament recognizes 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide despite opposition from government

The bill was presented by Conservative MP Tim Lawton, who heads the United Kingdom-Armenia inter-parliamentary group.

The project invites the British government to officially recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915-1923, establish a procedure for commemorating victims, and stimulate awareness of these tragic events.

If adopted in the second reading, the draft will be considered in the upper house of parliament – the House of Lords. After approval by the House of Lords, the bill will enter into force.

According to Kiro Manoyan, despite the fact that the bill was passed without a single objection, it is difficult to say whether it will be adopted in the second reading.

The politician recalls that quite recently a similar resolution was also submitted to the Knesset, the legislative body of Israel.

Kiro Manoyan believes that the position of the US President, who uttered the word “genocide” on April 24, the day of commemoration of the victims of these events, created favorable conditions for wider international recognition. However, both the UK and Israel still have a choice.

“It is possible that both countries will decide to use this as leverage over Turkey, and then do their best to make the bill [in the UK] and the resolution [in Israel] fail. It is important to see what steps will now be taken by the local Armenian communities and by Armenia itself in order to achieve progress”, Kiro Manoyan said.

The expert claims that the UK has historically played a very negative role and caused great damage to Armenia in the diplomatic arena. In his opinion, having passed the bill on the recognition of the Armenian genocide in the first reading, Great Britain set the task “to prove its adherence to democratic values”:

“On the one hand, Great Britain is one of the most important countries in the world, its position on this issue is, of course, important. On the other hand, we must state that the interests of this country often coincide with the interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan. It can be said that Great Britain is an informal ally of Azerbaijan. […]

Great Britain often opposed Armenia, the Armenian issue, Armenian demands, including after the Second World War”.

The expert says that there are no problems in Turkish-British relations, but there are problems in US-Turkish relations. And recent events speak of indirect pressure on Turkey from the United States, Suren Manukyan believes:

“The United States has already recognized the Armenian Genocide [the House of Representatives of the US Congress recognized the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, but the resolution did not reach the discussion in the Senate – JAMnews], they can no longer use this issue as a club against Turkey. They are trying to do this through their closest ally, who needs support”.

The expert believes that after leaving the European Union, Great Britain needs the United States, since it is now facing both economic and political problems. The only country the UK can count on is the United States, its traditional ally.

Suren Manukyan notices US pressure on Turkey and on the Kurdish issue. He recalls that the United States has excluded several Kurdish organizations from the list of terrorist groups that were included there because of Turkey.

The expert recalls another example of pressure on Turkey from the United States, which took place earlier, in 2005. Then Poland recognized the Armenian genocide, and this was unexpected, according to Makunyan, even for those who dealt with this issue, since there were no signs from Poland:

“However, Poland is the closest US ally in the European Union, and in particular in Eastern Europe. Therefore, when Poland recognized the Armenian genocide, it was seen as a way of US pressure on Turkey through its ally”.

As for the likelihood of the final adoption or rejection of the bill on the recognition of the Armenian genocide in Britain, Suren Manukyan said:

“This is a means of pressure, they use it, but at the last moment they may not accept it”.


Head of Armenian village reports shelling of tractor from Azerbaijani side

Lilit Nahapetian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Nov 11 2021

A tractor with a local resident inside was shelled by Azerbaijani militaries, the head of the Khachik village of the Areni community said on November 10.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on November 9, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of shelling some engineering equipment on the border of the two countries in the Black Lake region. Workers who fell under fire were laying the road. Units of the Azerbaijani army took immediate adequate response measures, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reported.

On November 9, at 2:30 p.m. local time, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces shelled the tractor near the village of Khachik in the Areni community of the Vayots Dzor Region of Armenia; at the moment of shelling a local resident was in the tractor busy with some agrarian works, Ovik Smbatyan, the village head, told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

“The tractor driver was not wounded, but he miraculously escaped by hiding. Only the tractor was damaged,” Mr Smbatyan has added.

It was a targeted shelling of civilians in the village of Khachik by Azerbaijani militaries, Arman Tatoyan, the Armenian Ombudsperson, has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 10:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of a military provocation at Black Lake, Stepanakert and Baku blame each other over shelling of workers near Shushi, Stepanakert demands to punish Azerbaijani militaries.

Author: Armine Martirosyan; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of a military provocation at Black Lake

Chalian Meline
Caucasian Knot, EU
Nov 11 2021

About 60 Armenian soldiers tried to cut the lines of communication between the posts of the Azerbaijani army in the border area, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan claimed.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on November 9, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of a shelling attack on engineering vehicles in the area of the border between the two countries. Workers who fell under fire were paving the road.

Today, the Azerbaijan’s MoD has announced that on November 9, about 60 servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces moved in two military trucks towards Lake Garagol (Black Lake) in the Lachin District and occupied the road leading to the positions of the Azerbaijani army.

“In order to deliberately create a military confrontation, the Armenian side tried to fortify itself on the territory by blocking the road between the positions of the Azerbaijani army on the given section of the border, using baskets of metal structures,” the Azerbaijan’s MoD announced in its press release as translated from the Azerbaijani language by the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

In response, the military commanders quickly concentrated additional personnel and military vehicles in the area, the Azerbaijan’s MoD reported. “As a result of the measures taken, about 60 Armenian servicemen were cordoned off, all their actions were limited, and in the morning [of November 10], taking into account a request of the Russian side, the Azerbaijani armed forces let them return,” the Azerbaijan’s MoD announced in its press release. According to the Azerbaijani military officials, there are no losses on the Azerbaijani side.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 05:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Stepanakert and Baku blame each other over shelling of workers near Shushi, Stepanakert demands to punish Azerbaijani militaries, A resident of Nagorno-Karabakh dies after a shelling attack.

Author: Faik Medzhid; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Armenian opposition tries to prevent Azerbaijan’s customs checkpoint on road from Goris to Kapan

Emil Lazarian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Nov 11 2021

At a protest action in Yerevan, about 200 oppositionists demanded to prevent installation of an Azerbaijani customs checkpoint on the road from Goris to Kapan. After the protesters tried to break into the government building, 16 of them were detained, the police reported.

On November 10, it became known that Azerbaijan notified Armenia about the installation of a customs checkpoint on the section of the road from Goris to Kapan. Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan announced that the Armenian side would install its own checkpoint there.

Today, activists from among the supporters of the opposition “Armenia” bloc have held a protest action in front of the government building in Yerevan. The protesters have accused the country’s authorities of concluding a deal with the Azerbaijani authorities, which damaged national interests of Armenia, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent reports.

According to the organizers of the protest, about 200 people took part in the action.

During the protest action, Gegam Manukyan, a member of the “Armenia” faction, has claimed that as a result of a secret conspiracy between the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities, the latter got control over the road from Goris to Kapan. The oppositionist suggests that Azerbaijan is acting with the tacit consent of the Armenian authorities.

The protesters tried to break into the government building, but the police set up a cordon. The police officers detained 16 activists, the Police of Armenia reported.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 03:19 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Armenian and Azerbaijani analysts agree on assessment of détente between Baku and Tehran, Analysts note subsiding tension in relations between Baku and Tehran, Azerbaijan hands two detained drivers over to Iran.

Author: Tigran Petrosyan; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Armenia-Cyprus Friendship Park inaugurated in Nicosia

Boshkezenian Garik
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 11 2021
, 13:29

 

Th Armenia-Cyprus Friendship Park was inaugurated on Armenia’s Street in Nicosia on Wednesday, Gibrahayer e-magazine reports.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou opened the statue symbolizing the Armenian-Cypriot friendship.

Attending the event were representatives of the Armenian community, high-ranking officials representing the Cypriot government.

After the national anthems of the two countries were played and prayers were uttered, speeches were offered by Representative of Archbishop Chrysostomos II, Head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus, Pontifical Vicar of Cyprus Arhbishop Khoren Toghramadjian, Mayor of Strovolos Andreas Papacharalambous, Armenian Representative in the House of Representatives Vartkes Mahdessian, Armenia’s Ambassador to Cyprus and Greece Tigran Mkrtchyan and Parliament Speaker Annita Demetriou, who represented President Nicos Anastasiades.

The solemn ceremony was followed by reception.

Azerbaijan’s customs checkpoint not in the territory of Armenia – PM Pashinyan

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 11 2021
, 11:22

 1 minute read

Azerbaijan’s customs checkpoint is not in the territory of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the government sitting today.

The comments come after the Azerbaijani side said it would set up customs checkpoint on Goris-Kapan road.

“As you know, since August Azerbaijan has been charging customs duties from Iranian trucks driving along Goris-Kapan road, namely the Eyvazli-Chaizami section under their control. Yesterday, we received an informal notification on the plans to carry out passport and customs control for Armenian citizens and cargoes, as well,” the Prime Minister said.

He added that after the notification was received, the Armenian side made a decision to  advise people traveling along that road to use Kapan-Aghvani-Halidzor-Shinuhayr road instead.

“The Tatev-Aghvani section of this road, which had been impassable for decades, has been asphalted and commissioned this month,” the Prime Minister said.

He said the situation for Iranian drivers traveling along Goris-Kapan highways remains unchanged, but they can now chose to use the alternative road without any additional customs duties.

Pashinyan stressed that the customs checkpoint is not in Armenia’s territory, and the question is about the “Eyvazli section.” He added that it would still be possible to negotiate the decision, but the cost would be the “corridor logic, which is unacceptable to us.”

The Prime Minister noted that the Armenian side has always said the reopening of regional communications should take place without and “context of exterritoriality.”

Armenian FM meets with Azerbaijani counterpart, Minsk Group Co-Chairs in Paris

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 11 2021
, 16:16

 1 minute read

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Andrew Schofer r (USA), Igor Khovayev (Russia) and Brice Roquefueil (France).

The interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Ararat Mirzoyan stressed that a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is possible only through peaceful means, under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, based on the principles and elements known to the parties.

The interlocutors attached importance to the Co-Chairs’ visit to the region with a view to getting acquainted with the situation on the ground. They prioritized the implementation of clear steps aimed at de-escalation of the situation in the region.

In this regard, Ararat Mirzoyan condemned the attacks on the civilian population in Nagorno Karabakh, which resulted in casualties, and stressed the unacceptability of the continuous anti-Armenian rhetoric.

The Armenian Foreign Minister and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs exchanged views on humanitarian issues requiring urgent solution. In this context, Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the need for immediate, unconditional repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees, as well as clarification of the fate of the missing and preservation of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage.

On the same day, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan was hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian and mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

During the five-party meeting, the Armenian Foreign Minister expressed the position of the Armenian side, noting that the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship should be fully restored.

Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the positions expressed at the meeting with the Co-Chairs, including the need for de-escalation, the settlement of humanitarian issues, as well as the inadmissibility of provocations and anti-Armenian rhetoric.