Category: 2022

ArmInfo.Despite the current involvement in Ukrainian affairs, Russia, without a doubt, is not going to and will not easily cede its own positions in the South  Caucasus to the West. International expert Suren Sargsyan expressed a  similar opinion to ArmInfo.

“Even a possible tactical retreat of Moscow does not mean its final  withdrawal from the region. I think that this is well understood in  the West as well. Brussels and Washington realize that the current  Moscow’s concessions as a result of their consolidated pressure will  be accompanied by attempts to increase involvement in Caucasian  affairs in the future,” the expert forecasts.

According to Sargsyan, the activation of the processes of settlement  of the Armenian-Azerbaijani developments in Brussels, takes place in  the conditions of the active assistance of Washington. And Brussels,  in fact, is a process to circumvent the Minsk process, due to its  current incapacity. The main reason for this is the lack of consensus  between the United States and France on the one hand and the Russian  Federation on the other. The latter, in his opinion, gives rise to  the need to oust the Russian Federation from the negotiations by  creating a new negotiating format, and not ousting the Russian  Federation from the existing format.

According to the expert, the abovementioned geopolitical processes  are unfolding at an amazing speed, in which, according to his  estimates, many of their direct participants are interested. First of  all, Baku’s interests require it. The collective West is striving to  minimise Russian influence in the region as soon as possible, using  the opportunities that are available so far for this, in particular,  Ukraine.

“This is the strategy of Brussels and Washington, through which they  are trying, if not to completely oust Russia from the South Caucasus,  then at least minimise its presence, using Moscow’s involvement in  Ukrainian affairs. And it seems that Armenia is also showing urgency  in all these processes and the whole question is whether Yerevan does  it on its own or under pressure. And given the serious pressure on  Armenia by almost all the players, I do not rule out the second  version at all,” the international specialist summed up.

ArmInfo.Very soon, Moscow will try to return its dominant role in the big game in the South Caucasus. Political strategist Vigen Hakobyan expressed a similar opinion to  ArmInfo.

“I don’t think that the Russia will try to fit itself and its own  interests into a negotiating format supervised by others, in  particular, in Brussels. I expect that there will be some turns that  will allow Moscow to return to the great game of the Caucasus,” he  said.

According to the political strategist, at this stage, Moscow is  trying to stay in the processes supervised by the West, with the  participation of Armenia and Azerbaijan, perfectly understanding and  seeing the attempts of Yerevan and Baku to finally fit into the  Brussels format. Hakobyan explains the current passivity of the  Russia by the Turkish factor. In his opinion, in this way Moscow is  trying to avoid the prospect of confrontation now with Ankara.

The political strategist explains the current activity of the EU and  the US in the Caucasian direction by the desire to form a new front  for Russia, now in the South Caucasus, using for this purpose the  Armenian- Azerbaijani contradictions in general and the issue of  Artsakh in particular. That is why, first of all, they are trying to  deprive Russia of the moderation of the negotiation process

“In reality, either Russia or Turkey can be the moderator of the  region. Accordingly, the West is actually, rather hastily, trying to  lead processes in the Turkish direction. This is due to their  awareness of the prospect of lowering their capabilities in the  Caucasus after the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine,” he  summed up. 

ArmInfo.As a pan-European civil society grassroots organization the EAFJD and its committees, representing a significant part of the European citizens of Armenian  origin, express their profound discontent with the recent statement  of the President of the European Council Charles Michel following the  trilateral meeting with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on 22 May, 2022, reads a  statement by the Hay Dat Europe office.  

Mediating for peace is necessary and welcome. Nevertheless, it is  essential to ensure that peace is negotiated based on justice and not  by cornering the side that has been a victim of vicious aggression of  the tandem of two authoritarian regimes, such as Azerbaijan and  Turkey which i.a. deployed jihadist fighters against the native  Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh. It is unacceptable for an EU  leader to mediate for peace by sacrificing the fundamental rights and  needs of the oppressed side.

Unfortunately, the recent statement of president Michel disregards  key principles of EU’s documented approach towards the resolution of  the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and overall endorses the Azerbaijani  stance on the conflict resolution in some crucial aspects.

Deviating from the EU’s decade-long approach as well as that of all  the relevant international documents, Charles Michel uses the vague  wording “Karabakh” instead of “Nagorno Karabakh” which is a political  entity with a defined territory. Thus, the President of the European  Council repeats the narrative of the Azerbaijani President,  insinuating that Nagorno Karabakh as an entity does not exist and is  genocidal in its essence. 

In March 2022, the European Parliament adopted a resolution by  overwhelming majority on the ongoing destruction of the Armenian  religious and cultural heritage in Nagorno Karabakh, acknowledging  that “the erasure of the Armenian cultural heritage is part of a  wider pattern of a systematic, state-level policy of Armenophobia,  historical revisionism and hatred towards Armenians promoted by the  Azerbaijani authorities”. Using the term Karabakh is clearly a part  of the ongoing Azerbaijani policy of ethnic cleansing against the  indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh and is genocidal  in its essence.

We herewith remind Mr. Charles Michel that in his capacity as the  President of the European Council he should base the mediation on the  following facts and aspects:   

The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the EU  and Armenia (CEPA), which entered into force in March 2021,  “recognizes the need to achieve that settlement of the Nagorno  Karabakh conflict on the basis of the purposes and principles  enshrined in the UN Charter and the OSCE Helsinki Final Act,  including the equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as one  of the three Basic principles.”

Any direct control of Baku over the Nagorno Karabakh inevitably means  ethnic cleansing of its millennia- old native Armenian population.  Hence the question of the status of Nagorno Karabakh which must  reflects the democratic _expression_ of will of the Armenian population  of Nagorno Karabakh is primordial in ensuring the long-term,  sustainable security of the population and guarantee their right to  live in their homeland. 

Unblocking transportation/communication links must be carried out in  full respect of sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia. Any potential  risk of creating a new ground for conflict must be excluded.

Border delimitation and demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan  cannot be a consequence of the use of force and must not be carried  out hastily without taking into consideration all the details of its  consequences.

Azerbaijan must immediately stop its state policy of Armenophobia in  all its manifestations

Following inter alia by the European Parliament as well as that of a  number of parliaments of the EU Member states, Azerbaijan must  immediately and unconditionally release all the Armenian prisoners of  war and captives.

The EAFJD also expects from the Armenian Government to insist on all  the above-mentioned aspects during the negotiations.

European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy

According to the statement by President of the European Council   Charles Michel following his meeting with the Armenian and   Azerbaijani leaders, “the leaders agreed on the need to proceed with   unblocking the transport links. They agreed on the principles   governing transit between western Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan, and   between different parts of Armenia via Azerbaijan, as well as   international transport through communications infrastructure of both   countries. Notably they agreed on principles of border  administration, security, land fees but also customs in the context   of international transport. The Deputy Prime Ministers will take this   work forward in the coming days.”

The statement does not contain a single word about Nagorno-Karabakh’s   status. In his statement, Mr Michel used the term “Karabakh” instead   of “Nagorno-Karabakh”. The statement does not mention either the   trilateral agreements between the Armenian, Azerbaijan and Russian   leaders or other settlement principles. 

Moreover, after Mr Michel issued his statement, Google maps showed   the Armenian settlements and government agencies in Nagorno-Karabakh   under Azerbaijani names.