Category: 2022

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday discussed the recent escalation of tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in a phone call with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, TASS reported, citing the Azerbaijani presidential office. The phone talk took place at the initiative of the French side.

"Emmanuel Macron expressed concern over the recent escalation of tensions in the region, stressing the importance of maintaining dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the implementation of the provisions of the November 10, 2020 trilateral statement. He said that France is ready to support the continuation of the dialogue between the two countries," the statement said.

In his turn, Aliyev provided Macron with false information about the August 3 ceasefire violation, concealing the large-scale attack on the Artsakh military positions by the Azerbaijani troops. The Defense Army of the Artsakh Republic inflicted losses on the enemy while defending the line of contact. Aliyev falsely claimed that the offensive had been launched by the Artsakh defense forces.

Aliyev also assured Macron that Armenia had not withdrawn its troops from Artsakh, whereas the last conscripted soldiers had been demobilized from Artsakh before the Azerbaijani attack on August 3.

The Azerbaijani readout of the phone call makes it clear that the two discussed the implementation of the clauses of the November 9 trilateral statement which Azerbaijan is interested in, whereas it makes no mention of the return of prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons envisaged by the statement. Judging by the Azerbaijani statement, Macron probably forgot to address the matter as well.

The Azerbaijani leader also stated that according to an agreement reached with the Russian Defense Ministry in accordance with the trilateral statement of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, the alternative route to the Lachin corridor has been determined and Azerbaijan is completing the road construction.

However, the November 9 trilateral statement says nothing of the sort. Clause 6 of the statement reads: “The Lachin corridor (5 km wide), which will provide a link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and at the same time will not affect the city of Shushi, shall remain under the control of the peacekeeping troops of the Russian Federation. The parties have agreed that a plan for the construction of a new route along the Lachin corridor shall be determined within the next three years, providing communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, with the subsequent redeployment of Russian peacekeeping troops to protect this route.”

Some statements suggest that in addition to the signed documents there were also verbal agreements, but in international relations, especially when it comes to such sensitive issues, they cannot serve as a basis for conflict settlement.

MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition Pativ Unem faction has hailed Armenian soldiers for successfully performing their combat tasks in a difficult post-war situation despite the “authorities’ failures and conspiracies against the homeland”.

“It is very hard for soldiers standing guard on the frontline to realize that there is no state and no politically responsible leader having their back and, at the same time, to focus on the service and the country's defense with excessive strain. We have no right to leave our troops alone and wash our hands of them,” the deputy wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“In such situations, our servicemen should know that no matter what happens, a large part of society will always support the homeland defenders.

“I myself know many servicemen who are tirelessly fulfilling their service amid heightened tensions and are ready to do anything to protect the homeland and all of us.

“Eternal glory to those who fell for the defense of the homeland! Wishing patience and fortitude to our military!” Abrahamyan said.

The Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) on Friday released a statement on the latest Azerbaijani attack on Artsakh, again rejecting the Armenian authorities’ “peace agenda” as “empty manipulation”.

The party denounced the ruling team’s foreign policy as “adventurous and treacherous”.

“It is reprehensible that all the mediation efforts made by the Russian Federation, the European Union and other international actors have failed to stabilize the situation in Artsakh and Armenia, prevent hostilities and neutralize threats to civilians as a result of the incompetence of the current leadership. It is doubly reprehensible that the Armenian people are not well informed about the behind-the-scenes agreements made behind their backs by the capitulant head of the Armenian government and his team,” the RPA said.

“International actors praising Armenia's "democratic reforms" have no desire to contain Azerbaijan’s aggression, while the unclear relationship with the strategic ally that began after the 2018 seizure of power has contributed and is contributing to the situation.

“The issue of the Berdzor corridor, which the latest Azerbaijani violence is attributed to, is yet another evidence of the Armenian authorities' reckless and treacherous policy. Under the trilateral statement of November 9, the sides agreed to design a new road passing through the Berdzor corridor within 3 years, and did not undertake to build a route outside this corridor,” the statement said.

The RPA states the “criminal inaction” to restore the combat readiness of the Armenian army, the rejection of Armenia’s status as a guarantor of Artsakh's security and the steps to disarm Artsakh amid the bellicose actions and rhetoric of Azerbaijan are an “obvious manifestation of a defeatist policy.”

“The insidious view "let's surrender Artsakh in order to live well" has led to a new series of losses, once again confirming that the "by surrendering Artsakh, we won't live" approach is, in fact, a guarantee for the Armenian people's security.

“The Republican Party of Armenia expresses its condolences to the families and friends of the deceased soldiers and wishes speedy recovery to those injured in the recent fighting.

“The only way out of the current situation is the immediate resignation of the current government, which would make it possible to negate all the promises made behind the back of the Armenian people and to restart the negotiation process, confirming the foreign policy agenda of Armenia with its strategic ally and partners,” the statement added.

Azerbaijani lawmaker Gudrat Hasanguliyev has confessed about Azerbaijan’s state policy aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Armenian Human Rights Defender Kristine Grigoryan said in a statement posted on social media on Friday.

In particular, he stated that “Armenia should put an end to its territorial ambitions towards Azerbaijan and stop supporting the bloody separatism of Karabakh. Until this is not done, we should not recognize their (the population of Nagorno-Karabakh) right to life in peace”. The deputy added that under the current situation, it is not possible for Armenians to live in Azerbaijan.

Another Azeri deputy, Fazil Mustafaev, echoing his colleague, also has directly threatened the physical existence of the Artsakh people, the ombudsperson said.

“In reality, the examples and proves of the Azerbaijani policy of ethnic hatred and ethnic cleansing of Armenians are numerous, however, it is striking that the high-level officials representing the Azerbaijani leadership are making these announcements in the context of the provocations carried out by their armed forces in recent days, as a result of which two Armenian servicemen were killed and 19 others were injured,” Grigoryan stressed.

“It is a fact the right to life of the peaceful population of Nagorno-Karabakh is not guaranteed, and the Azerbaijani official is directly confirming that.

“I have shared this information with my international interlocutors as well as with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which in the coming days will review Azerbaijan's periodic report on the implementation of the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,” reads the statement.

Former MP Sofia Hovsepyan has reacted to Nikol Pashinyan’s statements at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“Have you noticed that Armenian government meetings are held exclusively for Azerbaijan?” she wrote on Facebook on Friday.

“The next steps are outlined or planned, the actions taken are reported," she said.

Hovsepyan pointed to Pashinyan’s statement on the road link between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan through Armenian territory. 

"I officially declare that there are no servicemen of the Republic of Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh," she quoted the premier as saying.

"And we silently record it," Hovsepyan added.