Category: 2022

The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Investigative Committee will investigate the criminal cases into the damaging of the houses of Karmir Shuka village residents Arev Gabrielyan and Sergey Gevorgyan as a result of the shots fired at this village, on February 11 and February 18, from the Azerbaijani military position located in Taghavard village of Martuni region of Artsakh.

The criminal investigation continues.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has thanked US President Joe Biden for congratulating him on the occasion of Nowruz, AzerTac reported.

In the respective letter, Aliyev listed all the achievements of three decades of US-Azerbaijan cooperation, and paid special attention to the energy sector.

Even in this letter, however, Aliyev could not resist the temptation to distort the facts and blackmail. First, Aliyev deliberately singled out one from the whole list of principles. In diplomatic interpretation, the Azerbaijani president reminded the US president of the Azerbaijani oil and natural gas reserves, linking it to Washington’s support to Baku’s position in the “peace agenda” with Armenia.

Given that the collective West ranks energy security issues far higher than the values of democracy and human rights proclaimed by it, Aliyev might have chosen the right emphasis. Otherwise, the same West would somehow react to the “natural gas blockade” which Azerbaijan has subjected the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to.

The steps of the Armenian authorities are bringing the war even closer. Tigran Abrahamyan, an MP from the opposition “With Honor” Faction in the National Assembly of Armenia and a security expert, stated about this during a discussion Tuesday.

According to him, what the Armenian authorities are talking about, and what Azerbaijan is harmoniously presenting, contains more threats of war rather than the possibility of peace.

Abrahamyan expressed a conviction that in reality there is a wrong opinion that there is a peace agenda for Armenia, and in the public perception there is an impression that there are forces that are for and against peace.

He reminded that after the proclamation of the “era of peace” the sovereign territory of Armenia was subjected to Azerbaijani military aggression, and a part was occupied. According to him, Azerbaijan demands more and will demand more.

Abrahamyan stressed that the Armenian authorities are now trying to fit into the agenda proposed by Azerbaijan and Turkey. He considered the absence of visits of Armenia’s high-ranking officials to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) a targeted policy of alienation of Artsakh, so that in the future there would be the lowest possible level of resistance in Armenia to solve their issues.

Tigran Abrahamyan noted that Artsakh is in serious danger, whereas Armenia’s authorities do not seek to eliminate it, or at least reduce the risks.

The MPs of the ruling majority “Civil Contract” Faction of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia blocked the adoption of the draft statement tabled the NA opposition, and which condemns Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions that have caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

The parliamentary majority faction abstained from the respective voting.

Solely the opposition “Armenia” and “With Honor” Factions—that is, only 30 of the 107 NA lawmakers—voted for this draft.

Almost 80 planes of Russian airlines have been detained abroad because of the anti-Russian sanctions, the head of the Russian Ministry of Transport Vitaly Savelyev said, Interfax reported.

“We had a total of 1,367,000 planes in the country (before the sanctions). We lost 78 machines, they were detained,” Savelyev said during a meeting of the Federation Council committee on economic policy. The planes were detained in the friendly countries of Russia – Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia, he said.

According to Savelyev, Russia is trying to negotiate with Western leasing companies to buy the planes back, but they are not negotiating. Under these conditions, Russia started transferring the aircraft fleet to the Russian registry. “We have already transferred (to the Russian registry) almost 800 machines, we insure them in Russian reinsurance companies, under the Central Bank. We are looking for legal ways to negotiate with lessors and resolve this issue, but so far we have not succeeded,” Savelyev said.

An event dedicated to the 44th anniversary of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) was held at the Lebanon peacekeeping mission headquarters on Tuesday.

Armenia Defense Ministry’s press service informed  that the event was attended by the Armenian military who are deployed as part of the peacekeeping mission.