Category: 2022

Congressman Frank Pallone calls on the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Mission to the OSCE to condemn the recent Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh.

“This is the latest example of Aliyev threatening the people of Artsakh over absurd demands like the closing of the Lachin corridor,” he said in a tweet on Wednesday.

“I urge the State Department and the U.S. Mission to the OSCE to condemn these actions and use every diplomatic tool available to halt Aliyev's dangerous actions,” Pallone wrote.

Two Artsakh Armenian soldiers were killed and 19 others were injured in Azerbaijani attacks on Wednesday.

MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition Pativ Unem faction has reacted to the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s statement on the situation around the Lachin corridor.

“We consider unacceptable the statements of the Azerbaijani side attempting to unilaterally change the legal regime in the Lachin corridor defined by provision 6 of the trilateral statement, and reaffirm that the road passing through the Lachin corridor can be changed only according to the plan approved by the parties to the statement,” reads the statement.

Abrahamyan says the alternative route connecting Armenia to Artsakh which is under construction will be simply a road instead of a corridor.

“In the case of the corridor, a 5-kilometer-wide area was envisaged with 2.5 km sections on both sides of the road, which, in fact, also served as a buffer zone for security reasons,” the MP wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

“Demanding a shift to the new route, Azerbaijan is trying to get rid of the buffer zone, a layer of security, due to which, theoretically, Azerbaijani positions and personnel can be deployed at a distance of 5-10 meters from the road, which is excluded in case of the current corridor,” Abrahamyan said.

The real political ambitions of Azerbaijan and Turkey concerning the South Caucasus region are sometimes more vividly illustrated by maps that are widely shared both by decision-makers and ordinary people, Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan said.

“Here is one of the most famous maps, which shows how they imagine the expansion of Azerbaijan at the expense of Armenia, Iran and Georgia,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday, sharing a copy of the map.

“One of the first political rationales for this was given by one of the founders of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, back on April 8, 1920.

"Turkey has set itself the task of creating Southwest Azerbaijan, which would include some parts of Erivan (Iravan) and Tiflis (the Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki districts) provinces as well as the Republic of Azerbaijan after incorporating Southwest Azerbaijan, Adjara, Muslim-populated Terek, Dagestan, Karabakh, Persian Karadag, Tavriz and Marat into it. Thus, a great Azerbaijan should be created under the protectorate of Turkey.”

“We are now witnessing not only how it is becoming a reality, but also how it is being facilitated by the de facto pro-Turkish authorities of Armenia,” the expert said.

Two servicemen of the Artsakh Defense Army were killed and 19 others were injured in the latest fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, Nikol Pashinyan said at the start of a cabinet meeting on Thursday, commenting on the events of August 2 and 3, which everyone already knows about.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out a military operation named “Revenge” in the Artsakh Republic, a common practice for the aggressor, Azerbaijan. As a result of Azerbaijan’s terrorist operation, there are wounded and killed on the Armenian side. The situation was "defused" with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

Nikol Pashinyan said today that the latest developments are bringing about institutional issues. He says he has repeatedly stated that the presence and activities of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh are a key factor to ensure the security of the Artsakh Armenians, and Armenia highly appreciates Russia’s efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.

In Pashinyan’s words, a number of events in Nagorno-Karabakh since November 2020, including the latest developments, have raised questions among the Armenian public about the content and essence of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan, who yesterday was still on vacation and did not react in any way to the Azerbaijani aggression against the Artsakh Republic, today apparently decided to both praise and criticize the peacekeepers.

"The December 11, 2020 capture of the villages of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher and Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan in the presence and connivance of Russian peacekeepers, the March 24, 2022 seizure of the village of Parukh in Nagorno-Karabakh again in the presence of Russian peacekeepers, the constant and increasing ceasefire violations along the line of contact, the cases of physical and psychological terror against the Armenians of Artsakh in the presence of peacekeepers are simply unacceptable," Nikol Pashinyan says when it is already too late.

Pashinyan also stressed "the need to clarify the details of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh."

"It was necessary from the very beginning, along with the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. But we must admit that this process was hindered by Azerbaijan, which refused to sign a mandate for the operation of peacekeeping forces in NK, while Armenia did so in November 2020, and we expect this mandate signed in the bilateral format to function fully," Pashinyan said.

It is worth recalling that the trilateral statement signed by Nikol Pashinyan secretly from the Armenian public has long been a useless document, and Pashinyan simply explains every new aggression by Azerbaijan by the fact that there was also a "verbal agreement".

Given Azerbaijan's increasing appetite, we can understand that Pashinyan and Aliyev never stopped "verbal contacts”.

Incidentally, the demobilization of soldiers drafted from Armenia to Artsakh was carried out ahead of schedule, followed by Azerbaijan’s terrorist operation "Revenge". Obviously, the last group of conscripted soldiers were withdrawn from the Republic of Artsakh early at the behest of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s special services are sending fake news and threats to e-mails and messenger accounts of Artsakh citizens and government agencies in an effort to create an atmosphere of fear and panic, the Artsakh National Security Service (NSS) warned on Thursday.

“We are taking necessary measures to prevent possible developments,” the NSS said in a statement.

“We urge everyone not to fall for fake news, not to respond to such messages and to follow only official statements. Those receiving suspicious messages or threats can contact the Artsakh NSS via its official website or at 047-94-41-26 and 41-26,” the statement added.

There are a number of institutional issues related to the Russian peacekeeping operation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), PM Nikol Pashinyan told a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“In particular, in the third point of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, it is clearly stated that there is a contact line in Nagorno Karabakh, along which the Russian peacekeeping forces are deployed. That area is called the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh. And we expect that any attempt to cross the contact line will be stopped by the Russian peacekeeping troops, and the Azerbaijani units inside the contact line will be withdrawn,” he said.

Speaking about the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan reiterated that the signatures of Armenia and Russia are sufficient for implementing that mandate in full force.

“And if not, then it is necessary to take measures to establish that mandate internationally, or to endow the peacekeeping mission with a wider international mandate. I don't want to reveal too many working details now, but these issues have been of our concern since November 2020, we have made efforts to reach concrete solutions, and now these efforts must be doubled and tripled,” he said.

Pashinyan claims no matter how much the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 is criticized, it envisages important security institutions for Artsakh.

“First, the entity of Nagorno-Karabakh was recorded, which Azerbaijan is still trying to deny, saying that Nagorno Karabakh does not exist. By the way, such statements from Azerbaijan are a gross violation of the trilateral declaration,” he said.

“Second, it was recorded, as I said, that there is a line of contact and thirdly, the Lachin corridor, which ensures the connection of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. In fact, today's struggle of Azerbaijan is against these three institutions, and it is our expectation that, as stipulated by the trilateral declaration, the Russian peacekeeping force will not give Azerbaijan the opportunity to undermine these three institutions recorded in the trilateral declaration.

“Today, Azerbaijan constantly talks about the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh, why they are stationed along the contact line. If the Russian peacekeeping troops and Azerbaijan guarantee the integrity of the contact line, I think the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army will not have the need to carry out combat duty.

“That necessity arose only after Azerbaijan refused to sign the mandate of the peacekeepers and continuously violates the provisions of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, including the cessation of all military operations, which is the core point of the above-mentioned document. Azerbaijan also continuously speculates about the presence of Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. I have to officially announce that there are no servicemen of the Republic of Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan noted.

Close contacts at various levels between Russia and Armenia will help to clear questions, which Yerevan has in regard to Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"There are trilateral agreements, which serve as the starting point," TASS quoted Peskov as saying at a news briefing. "The most important is to implement all obligations, which the parties assumed under these documents."

"If there are questions, they must be certainly answered," he continued. "At the same time, all close contacts, which we enjoy at various levels with the Armenian side, will help us to clear all persisting questions."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said speaking earlier in the day at a government meeting that recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh raised a number of questions regarding activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

Pashinyan said in particular that: "A number of events that have taken place in Nagorno-Karabakh since 2020, including those in recent days, evoke questions from the Armenian public about the content and nature of the peacekeeping operation in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this context, there is an urgent need to agree the details of the peacekeeping operation there."