Category: 2022

Azerbaijani lawmakers have already arrived in Yerevan to attend the meetings of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly slated for 21 and 22 February, Maria Karapetyan, an MP from Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party and head of the Armenian delegation to Euronest, told reporters on Monday.

“Two MPs and one accompanying official have come. If I’m not mistaken, one of the lawmakers is non-partisan, while the other represents the ruling New Azerbaijan Party,” she said.

Armenian MPs have had no contacts with them so far, Karapetyan said.

“Naturally, given the institutional formats in which Armenian MPs communicate with parliamentarians of all countries, including Azerbaijani MPs, when they go on business trips, such meetings are expected this time as well,” the MP added.

Volunteer fighters of the 2020 Artsakh war on Monday blocked the road leading to Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport to protest against the launch of flights between Yerevan and Istanbul and Armenian-Turkish normalization process.

The protest came shortly after two Azerbaijani lawmakers arrived in Yerevan to attend the meetings of the Bureau and the Committees of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (PA) slated for 21 and 22 February.

“We have gathered here to announce that we are against friendship with the Turks. Our soldiers are standing guard at combat positions to prevent the enemy from advancing, whereas the Turks are allowed to come here freely and drink coffee,” said one of the protesters in military uniform.

“Why on earth should the Turks come here? If I come across a Turk, I’ll shoot him, are you setting me up? Wasn’t it the Turks who slaughtered our children?” another angry protester said.

Police officers tried to force protesters out of the road, and a scuffle ensued. After several unsuccessful attempts, the police managed to restore traffic on the road.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spread disinformation yet again, accusing the Artsakh military of opening fire at Azerbaijani combat positions deployed near the villages of Shosh and Taghavard on 20 and 21 February.

The Artsakh Defense Ministry denied the Azerbaijani allegations as “entirely false” in a statement on Monday, adding the Azeri troops themselves violated the ceasefire in the area.

“The ceasefire was actually violated by the Azerbaijani army units that fired indiscriminately on the Defense Army positions. There are no casualties or material damages as a result of the ceasefire violation,” the ministry said.

The Russian peacekeeping command has been alerted about the ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan.

Opposition Hayastan (Armenia) faction MP and Deputy National Assembly Speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan on Monday denounced the pro-government MPs for refusing to join an opposition-drafted statement condemning the Shushi Declaration ratified by the Turkish and Azerbaijani parliaments earlier in February.

“On 15 June, 2021, in occupied Shushi, the Turkish and Azerbaijani presidents signed a declaration, which poses serious threats to the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, the exercise of the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination, as well as the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The declaration has recently been ratified by the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Turkey,” the MP wrote on Facebook.

“The Hayastan faction tabled a draft statement, by which the Armenian parliament, as a state structure with a primary mandate, should have given its assessment to the ratification of the declaration, thus highlighting that the Shushi Declaration is unacceptable to Armenia.

“As it was expected, the ruling Civil Contract faction MPs turned down the draft statement condemning the ratification of the Shushi Declaration at a meeting of the parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations. Rejecting the statement, the Civil Contract party reaffirmed its commitment to serve the interests of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, once again confirming that they have taken the path of Turkification.

“Under the guise of peacekeeping efforts, the current authorities are leading the Armenian people to new concessions, new losses and a new war,” Saghatelyan noted.