09:36,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. 65,036 forcibly displaced persons crossed into Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh as of 08:00, September 28, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasaryan said in a statement Thursday.
09:55,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. 25 patients from the Mental Health Center of Nagorno-Karabakh have been evacuated to Armenia, the Armenian Health Ministry said in a statement Thursday.
The patients will continue receiving treatment in the relevant medical centers of Armenia.
10:11,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh presidential advisor Davit Babayan said on Thursday that he has decided to turn himself in to the Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies.
He announced his decision in a statement posted on Facebook.
“As you know, I am included in Azerbaijan’s black list, and the Azerbaijani side has requested my arrival to Baku for a relevant investigation. I decided to travel to Shushi from Stepanakert today. This decision will naturally cause great pain, worry and stress first of all to my family members, but I am sure they will understand. Not turning myself in, or moreover fleeing, would seriously harm our [anguished] people, many, many people, and I, as an honest man, a working, patriotic Christian, cannot allow it. God bless our people, may the Almighty reduce our people’s suffering and heal its wounds,” Babayan said.
10:37,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh President Samvel Shahramanyan has signed an order on dissolving all state agencies and organizations on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Nagorno-Karabakh official InfoCenter reported.
The order was signed given the “grave military-political situation and pursuant to ensuring the physical security and essential interests of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh as a priority, taking into consideration the agreement reached with Azerbaijan mediated by the Russian peacekeeping forces command that the free, voluntary and unimpeded passage of the NK residents with their property and vehicles through Lachin Corridor will be taken into consideration.”
All ministries and other state agencies and organizations will be disbanded by January 1, 2024 and the “NK (Artsakh) Republic ceases to exist,” reads the order.
“The population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the population now outside the republic, after this order takes effect, becomes acquainted with the terms of reintegration presented by Azerbaijan with the purpose of making an individual decision in the future on the opportunity to stay (return) in/to NK,” reads the order.
The order is effectively immediately.
10:16,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Azerbaijan will welcome an international monitoring mission and the US will work with partners and allies in this direction, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing on September 27.
“So, I would say a few things. Number one… Samantha Power, the USAID administrator, and Acting Assistant Secretary Yuri Kim are in Azerbaijan today, where they stressed a number of things, the same things that the Secretary stressed in his conversation with President Aliyev yesterday and that I reiterated at the podium, which is that, number one, we want to see the ceasefire maintained; number two, we want to see humanitarian needs addressed; that means keeping the Lachin corridor open, it means ensuring that humanitarian supplies can come in, and that it means an international monitoring mission to ensure that humanitarian needs are addressed. And I will say that we did welcome the comments by the Government of Azerbaijan just a little while ago before I came out to this podium, that they would welcome such an international monitoring mission. That’s something that the Secretary had directly pushed the president for, and we’re glad to see his having agreed to it, and we will work with our allies and partners in the coming days to flesh out exactly what that mission will look like. But then ultimately what we do want to see is a return to the negotiating table, where they can ultimately reach a dignified, lasting peace,” Miller said.
Miller said the US wants to see Armenia and Azerbaijan return to the negotiations table.
“We have been pursuing negotiations. The Secretary has been having direct conversations with the president of Azerbaijan, the prime minister of Armenia. We’ve had a number of officials travel to the region – not just in the past week or 10 days since hostilities broke out but going back months and months and months.
“We have done everything we can to pursue diplomacy, but ultimately, remember, it’s up to the two parties here who are the parties that have direct disagreements. We can do everything we can to push them but ultimately they have to agree to talk and they have to agree to ultimately come to some resolution. That’s what we’re going to do, is continue to play our part to facilitate that,” Miller said.
The US State Department spokesperson also commented on Russia’s role over the past days.
“I certainly do not think Russia has played a productive role here in the past week. We have seen them at times – there have been times where they facilitated negotiations, and that was something that we welcomed; but certainly in the last week their role has not been productive in this situation.”
Matthew Miller was also asked to comment on former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan’s arrest by the Azeri authorities.
“We are aware of the arrest. We’re closely monitoring the situation. I don’t have any further comment today,” Miller said.
10:55,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. A 5-year-old girl and an 83-year-old man are missing in Stepanakert, local authorities announced Thursday.
The child, Manika Vanyan, was last seen wearing a red coat. She has health conditions affecting her arm and eye. Anyone having information about her whereabouts is urged to contact her mother at 097-74-80-89 or accompany the child to the government building upon seeing her.
The elderly man was last seen midday September 27, when he left the school building wearing grey trousers and a checked shirt. Anyone having information on the whereabouts of the man is urged to call 097-24-14-60.
11:18,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. A bi-partisan group of ninety-six U.S. Senate and House members have called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to apply their discretionary authority under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to sanction Azerbaijani leaders responsible for the brutal blockade and attacks on Nagorno Karabakh’s 120,000 indigenous Armenian population
POLITICO’s National Security Daily was the first to report on the powerful letter led by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Representatives Seth Magaziner (D-RI), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
The 96 lawmakers stress, “in order to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions in blockading and assaulting Nagorno-Karabakh, we respectfully request that your departments exercise existing authorities under the Global Magnitsky Act to impose targeted sanctions on the individuals in the Aliyev government that are responsible for or participated in the violation of human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Armenian National Committee of America reported.
The Senate and House members stated, “These actions represent a gross violation of human rights and the perpetration of violent conflict, which both pose a direct assault on American values and interests. The perpetrators of these human rights violations must be held to account by the United States.”
Joining Senators Whitehouse and Cassidy and Representatives Magaziner, Bilirakis, and Pallone in cosigning the letter to Secretaries Blinken and Yellen are:
Senators: Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Robert Casey (D-PA), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Representatives: Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Cori Bush (D-MO), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Joaquín Castro (D-TX), Jim Costa (D-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Charles Fleischmann (R-TN), Jesus Garcia (D-IL), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Val Hoyle (D-OR), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Tom McClintock (R-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Rob Menendez (D-NJ), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Katie Porter (D-CA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Deborah Ross (D-NC), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Norma Torres (D-CA), Lori Trahan (D-MA), David Trone (D-MD), David Valadao (R-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Susan Wild (D-PA), and Nikema Williams (D-GA).
The full text of the bi-cameral congressional letter is provided below and .
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1120707.html?fbclid=IwAR0nTxl4je5u60lCj7I3w_wB9AwP1NV1pZCyISL4JUQbLYYk1lz_vC7hSNM
11:34,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. 60,600 forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh crossed into Armenia as of 10:00, September 28, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan said at the Cabinet meeting.
He said that the intensity of the influx is not decreasing.
“Most of these persons were displaced into Armenia especially yesterday and the day before. The number continued to grow overnight,” he said, adding that 26,600 of the forcibly displaced crossed into Armenia on September 26 alone.
11:26,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Analysis shows that no Armenian will be left in Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned Thursday.
“The exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh continues as a result of the policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan. Analysis shows that no Armenian will be left in NK in the coming days. This is a direct act of ethnic cleansing and [dispossession], and what we’ve been warning about the international community for a long time. The statements made by various international actors condemning ongoing ethnic cleansings in NK are important, but if no concrete actions follow these statements will be viewed only for creating a moral statistics for history,” PM Pashinyan said.
He warned that various countries, by simply making statements and not taking action, are trying to have an opportunity to separate themselves from this crime, in order to then be able to say ‘well, we had condemned it.’
“If no relevant political and legal decisions follow the statements on condemning it, the condemnations become acts of giving consent to what’s happening. Regarding the Government of Armenia, our primary duty today is to receive our brothers and sisters forcibly displaced from NK with the utmost care and ensure their urgent needs are met,” Pashinyan said.
11:59,
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The Parliamentary Committee on State-Legal Affairs approved on September 28 the bill on ratifying the Rome Statute.
The ratification will now be debated during the next plenary session.