Category: 2022

ArmInfo.Armenia’s former Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan is concerned over the video prepared by Armenia’s Ministry of Defense, which justifies the Azerbaijani  criminal actions in Armenia’s territory.  

“The wording obviously proves political reasons behind that, to  preclude political discontent and conceal Azerbaijani incursion into  the village of Nerqin Hand, Kapan community, from our society.  This  statement by the Ministry of Defense is most reprehensible, as it is  a disregard for the security and fundamental rights of the residents  in the borderland.

“The facts prove that most of the pastures, cultivable lands,  residential areas and cemeteries are now easy targets for  Azerbaijan,” Mr Tatoyan’s statement reads. 

“According to the explanation by the Ministry of Defense, are  Azerbaijani troops expected to stand near each house for the village  to be considered under surveillance? What approach to security is it?  What else could legitimate Azerbaijani crimes and justify the  disregard for people’s security?

“However hard we insist, at the international level, that the  Azerbaijani armed forces must be forced out of our villages, the  Azerbaijani side will take advantage of the video released by the  Ministry of Defense of March 21 as well as of the previous statements  and claim that their troops are just deployed near Nerqin Hand and do  not cause any trouble or security problems to the people. Therefore,  the explanation by the Ministry of Defense is illegal and cannot  serve as a basis for ensuring the Armenian population’s security,  defense of Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the  statement reads.

ArmInfo.Gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh is an internal affair of Azerbaijan. Such an odious statement was made today by the head of the press service of the  Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Leyla Abdullayeva, who thus apparently  decided to justify the humanitarian terror perpetrated by the  Azerbaijani authorities against the civilian population of  Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The Armenian Foreign Ministry tried a few days ago to interfere in  the internal affairs of Azerbaijan regarding the participation of  international organizations in an event held in Azerbaijan (in the  Armenian Shushi, occupied by Azerbaijan, ed. note) a few days ago,  and now it is trying to interfere in the internal affairs of  Azerbaijan on a different topic,”  Abdullayeva noted, reacting to the  statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry regarding the need to  resume gas supply to Artsakh.

Considering this scandalous statement as insufficient, the Baku  diplomat decided, for reliability, to accuse Armenia of being  unconstructive and spreading unfounded allegations. As if it is not  Azerbaijan since March 8 that has been terrorizing the population of  Artsakh by opening and closing the gas pipeline valve, but Armenia.

And in conclusion, she also decided to make “recommendations” to  Armenia to ensure the implementation of its obligations under the  tripartite statements, “including the withdrawal of the remnants of  the armed forces located in the region”, and thereby contribute to  regional peace and security, and not act with unsubstantiated claims.

At the same time, Abdullayeva for some reason forgot that the only  one who does not fulfill the agreements under these conditions is  Baku, which not only, in violation of the 8th paragraph of these  statements, holds Armenian prisoners of war and civilians hostage,  but also prevents the assessment mission from arriving in the region  UNESCO, as well as the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. And in  parallel with this, the Azerbaijani military is invading the  sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia day by day,  capturing more and more new areas.  Moreover, taking into account  this statement of official Baku, one can assume what fate awaits the  Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh if they suddenly will be under the  jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. After all, the Karabakh liberation  movement was started in 1988 not from the good life of Armenians in  the NKAR.  And then, the Azerbaijani authorities humiliated and  terrorized the Armenian population in every possible way, did  everything so that they left their homes and left Nagorno-Karabakh.  This policy continues today.  And the entire civilized world turns a  blind eye to these egregious actions of the Azerbaijani authorities –  petrodollars and energy resources have eclipsed their brains and  clouded their eyes.

It should be noted that since March 21, the population of Artsakh has  been deprived of gas again. ” As a result of the direct intervention  of the Azerbaijani side, the gas supply to the Artsakh Republic was  again disrupted. We have sufficient grounds to claim that during the  repair works of the gas pipeline exploded on March 8, the Azerbaijani  side installed a valve, through which it disrupted the gas supply  hours ago.  Azerbaijan uses the unfavorable weather conditions to  create additional humanitarian problems for our population and makes  a criminal action.  The command of the Russian peacekeeping force  stationed in Artsakh was immediately informed about the situation,  together with which the Artsakh authorities are making appropriate  efforts to restore gas supply.  At the same time, we urge citizens to  use electricity as sparingly as possible to avoid possible power  outages,” the Artsakh Information Headquarters said in a statement.   The situation has not yet been resolved. More than 100,000 people  freeze in their homes in Artsakh amid the inaction of the  international community.

ArmInfo.Hypothetical membership in the still hypothetical Union State will lead to the loss of not only Armenia’s sovereignty, but also new territories. Leader of the  “Republic” party, former Prime Minister of Armenia Aram Sargsyan,  expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

“We have already gone through all of this once, with all the relevant  consequences. Accordingly, today the Armenian people must first of  all rely on themselves, namely, on the combined potential of the  Armenians of the whole world. It is necessary to make every possible  effort towards achieving consolidation around common for all  Armenians’ goals and only then, of course, to harmonize Armenia’s  foreign and economic policy through its diversification towards  democratic, technologically advanced states,” he stressed.

Commenting on the current situation, the politician expressed the  opinion that Turkey, with the support of Russia, is today trying to  force Armenia to sign the peace agreement proposed by Azerbaijan.  While the US and the EU continue to consider the establishment of the  status of Artsakh within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group as a  means of achieving peace in the South Caucasus.

In the light of the latest “gas” games of Baku, Sargsyan recalled  that these and other problems caused by Azerbaijan, according to the  document dated November 9, 2020, will first of all have to be solved  by Russian peacekeepers. And the fact that for a whole week the  Russian military were unable to finally restore the gas supply to  Artsakh, were unable to approach the pipe on neutral territory, in  his opinion, speaks of their unwillingness to resolve this issue.

“One call from Foreign Minister Lavrov would be enough for Baku to  restore the gas supply to Artsakh.  Even in the current geopolitical  situation. But if Moscow wants to resolve this issue, but cannot,  then this becomes a reason for drawing completely different  conclusions in Armenia” , he emphasized.  Commenting on the reasons  for the current aggressive behavior of the Aliyev regime towards  Artsakh and on the borders with Armenia, Sargsyan conditioned it by  the desire of the dynastic ruler of Azerbaijan to keep the Armenian  people in a state of anxiety and tension in order to snatch as many  concessions from Armenia as possible during the upcoming  negotiations. In any case, the politician does not believe that at  this stage, Aliyev is able to transform the tension he is whipping up  into full-scale military operations. First of all, due to the fact  that by doing so he will deal a final, already mortal blow to the  reputation of the Russian Federation, with all the attendant  consequences. 

ArmInfo. The issues voiced by the residents of Tsovagyugh and Semenovka communities of Gegharkunik region are in the focus of attention of the Human Rights Defender (RA). This is stated in the statement of the office of the RA Human  Rights Defender.  

The message received by ArmInfo notes that the Human Rights Defender  and representatives of the Gegharkunik regional department of the HRD  were informed about the problems voiced by the residents of the  abovementioned communities at today’s protest action.

“Today, from the very first moment of blocking the road by residents  and until now, we are closely following the voiced demands and are in  direct contact with representatives of the Ministry of Territorial  Administration, Infrastructure and Gegharkunik region.  Representatives of the HRD are also in touch with individual  residents on the spot.  The Human Rights Defender will continue to  keep the issues raised by the residents in the field of his immediate  attention, will contribute to resolving the situation within his  competence,” the RA Human Rights Defender  said in a statement.  

It should be noted that today, March 23, residents of the villages of  Tsovagyugh and Semenovka of the enlarged community of Sevan blocked  the Yerevan-Sevan highway and demanded a meeting with the Minister of  Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia Gnel  Sanosyan.  The villagers are against the enlargement of the  communities. In this regard, they demand that Sanosyan come  personally and solve their problems. The protesters say that the road  will be closed until Sanosyan himself arrives. Residents of the  community also asked for forgiveness from all citizens who suffered  today as a result of the road closure. “Our war is not with the  government, our war is with Sanosyan. Let him come personally and we  will open the road,” the protesters said, noting that Sanosyan had  already deceived them earlier. Sanosyan has not yet responded to the  demand, the road continues to be blocked.  It should be noted that  the residents of Semyonovka and Tsovagyugh on December 5, 2021,  boycotted the elections to local governments. It is also worth noting  that the inhabitants of the Armenian villages in the majority opposed  the enlargement of communities, assuring that this would lead to a  new outflow of the population. However, the opinion of the villagers  was ignored. 

ArmInfo. On March 23, the RA NA Vice President Ishkhan Saghatelyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France to the  Republic of Armenia Anne Louyot and the First Counselor of the  Embassy of France to Armenia Christophe Katsahian.

As the press service of the RA Nareports, welcoming the guests,  Ishkhan Saghatelyan highly appreciated the Armenian-French friendly  relations. “France is one of the most important and friendly  countries of Armenia in Europe. We have permanently seen the support  of France to the Republic of Armenia, and we are concerned about  developing the bilateral relations,” the NA Vice President  underlined.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan has presented the situation created in Armenia  and in Artsakh in the post-war period, noting that both Armenia and  Artsakh have the most serious security problems at this moment. After  the ceasefire Azerbaijan continues its threatening rhetoric,  aggression and the policy of evictions of Armenians from Artsakh. In  this context the NA Vice President noted that the Azerbaijani armed  forces invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia in two directions  on the previous year and continue remaining there.

Touching upon the Artsakh problem and the processes going on around  it, Ishkhan Saghatelyan informed that a few days ago they exploded  the pipeline from the Azerbaijani side in Artsakh, putting about  100.000 Artsakh residents before the humanitarian disaster. And plus  to this there are various threats also directed to the residents to  leave the villages. “We greatly highlight the response of the  international community and the distinct assessment to what is  happening. The problem of Artsakh should be resolved within the  framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship,” the NA Vice  President stressed, adding that this format should be able to be kept  despite the wish of Azerbaijan. “Our position is that Artsakh can  never be part of Azerbaijan,” the opposition deputy underlined.

The Ambassador was interested in the relations of the opposition with  the authorities, not nominating candidate for the President of the  Republic by the opposition, the issues of signing a peace treaty with  Azerbaijan, the Armenian-Turkish relations, etc. In her turn,  Ambassador Anne Louyot underscored the Armenian-French high level  relations, emphasized the meetings with the parliamentary opposition.  The Ambassador has informed that France attentively follows the  actions happening on the Armenian- Azerbaijani border.

Regarding the issue of the NK conflict settlement, Anne Louyot has  assured that France maintains its positions within the framework of  the OSCE Minsk Group Co- Chairmanship in order to be able to help  both sides to establish peace and stability in the region. 

ArmInfo.The 5 principles presented by Azerbaijan on the peace treaty with Armenia do not contain anything unacceptable for Armenia. Minister of Foreign  Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan stated, answering the questions of  the parliamentarians from the rostrum of the National Assembly.

In this regard, he stressed that these proposals were supplemented by  Armenia, since the provisions of the Azerbaijani side did not affect  all important issues on the bilateral agenda, and were submitted to  the OSCE Minsk Group. According to Ararat Mirzoyan, the OSCE Minsk  Group has already sent an amended version of the proposals to  Azerbaijan. Speaking about the announced conditions of the Armenian  side, Mirzoyan stressed that the guarantee of the rights and status  of Artsakh is fundamental.

At the same time, the minister drew attention to the fact that  military operations in Ukraine complicated the work of the OSCE Minsk  Group. However, he considered it encouraging that the international  community continues to see the solution of the Artsakh issue within  the framework of the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“We continue to make efforts to organize discussions, including on  the principles proposed by Armenia for signing a peace treaty with  Azerbaijan,” he said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry published proposals of 5 points sent  to Yerevan, which are the principles of a peace treaty with Armenia.  This includes, in particular, the following proposals:

– mutual recognition by states of sovereignty, territorial integrity,  inviolability of state borders and political independence of each  other;

– mutual confirmation by states of the absence of territorial claims  to each other and their acceptance of a legal obligation not to make  such claims in the future;

– refrain from threatening each other’s security in international  relations, using threats and force against political independence and  territorial integrity, as well as other circumstances that do not  correspond to the purposes of the UN Charter;

– delimitation and demarcation of the state border, establishment of  diplomatic relations;

– opening transport links and communications, establishing other  relevant communications and cooperation in other areas of mutual  interest.” The opposition criticized these actions of the Armenian  Foreign Ministry, recalling that the OSCE Minsk Group does not have a  mandate to negotiate the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani  bilateral relations.