Category: 2023

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 09/27/2023

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Wednesday, 
Exodus Continues From Karabakh
        • Susan Badalian
Armenia - Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh walk along the road from 
Nagorno-Karabakh to Kornidzor village, .
Tens of thousands more residents of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia on 
Wednesday in a continuing exodus of the region’s population triggered by last 
week’s Azerbaijani military offensive.
As of 6 p.m. local time, 53,629 people making up nearly half of Karabakh’s 
estimated population have crossed into Armenia through the Lachin corridor, 
Nazeli Baghdasarian, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, told 
reporters.
The road connecting Karabakh to Armenia remained jammed by hundreds of cars, 
buses and trucks carrying Karabakh Armenians unwilling to live under Azerbaijani 
rule.
“Poor people are left without any help as they hit the road to come here,” 
complained one of the refugees. “There is no escort, nothing. Neither the 
Russians nor anybody else gives directions.”
The middle-aged woman spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in the border town of 
Goris where an aid center set up by the Armenian government continued to offer 
them medicine, food, warm clothing and temporary housing. Local government 
officials working there were again joined by many volunteers from private 
charities also helping the refugees.
Armenia - Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh sit in the back of a truck upon their 
arrival in the border village of Kornidzor, .
Baghdasarian said earlier in the day that only about 8,000 refugees have 
accepted accommodation provided by the government in hotels, resorts and public 
buildings across Armenia. Most of them have been resettled in the Kotayk and 
Ararat provinces north and south of Yerevan.
The majority of the arriving refugees kept telling government officials and aid 
workers that they will live with relatives or have other places of residence in 
Armenia.
Visiting Goris on Tuesday, Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for 
International Development (USAID), said Washington will provide $11.5 million in 
humanitarian assistance to the refugees. The European Union announced, for its 
part, a relief aid package worth 5 million euros ($5.1 million) for both the 
forcibly displaced Karabakh Armenians and people remaining in Karabakh. Similar 
sums were separately promised by France and Germany.
A road jammed by vehciles carrying people fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, September 
27, 2023.
"I have decided to significantly increase our humanitarian aid once again and to 
increase our additional funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) from 2 to 5 million euros ($5.28 million)," German Foreign Minister 
Annalena Baerbock said on Wednesday.
The ICRC is the only international humanitarian organization allowed by 
Azerbaijan to operate in Karabakh. Power said Baku must also give other aid 
agencies “full and unimpeded access to the Lachin corridor and into villages and 
towns of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Washington also called for the dispatch of an international monitoring mission 
to Nagorno-Karabakh. Baerbock similarly urged Baku to allow international 
observers to enter the war-torn region.
West Accused Of Pressuring Armenia To Quit Russian-Led Bloc
RUSSIA – Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks during the 
International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, June 15, 2022.
Russia on Wednesday accused Western powers of whipping up its tensions with 
longtime ally Armenia and pressuring the South Caucasus country to leave the 
Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
“According to incoming information, Washington and Brussels are telling Armenia 
to leave the CSTO, step up cooperation with NATO, reorient [military-technical 
cooperation] and sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan without taking into account 
the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians,” said Maria Zakharova, the 
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
She claimed that this was the main purpose of this week’s visits to Armenia by 
Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Yuri 
Kim, a senior State Department official, and Senator Gary Peters.
In that context, Zakharova also accused the United States and the European Union 
of turning a blind eye to what she described as a brutal police crackdown on 
participants of protests organized by the Armenian opposition in a bid to oust 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. She said the “beatings and arrests of 
demonstrators” in Yerevan are at odds with “democratic values” championed by the 
West.
The protest leaders blame Pashinian for Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 offensive 
in Nagorno-Karabakh which led to an ongoing exodus of the region’s ethnic 
Armenian population unwilling to live under Azerbaijani rule. Pashinian has put 
the blame on Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.
Armeni - Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan, September 22, 2023.
In a weekend addressed to the nation, the Armenian premier implicitly accused 
Moscow of fomenting the street protests. He also stated that the military 
alliance with Russia is not enough to ensure Armenia’s national security.
The U.S. Statement Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, echoed that statement 
late on Monday, saying that Russia is “not a security partner that can be relied 
on.” Miller’s remark was denounced by the Russian ambassador in Washington, 
Anatoly Antonov.
“We call on Washington to refrain from extremely dangerous statements and 
actions that help to strengthen artificial anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia,” 
Antonov said on Tuesday.
Despite his strong criticism of Moscow, Pashinian has so far not signaled plans 
to pull Armenia out of the CSTO. Nor has he indicated any alternative 
geopolitical arrangements which he thinks could protect Armenia’s borders.
Zakharova expressed confidence that Russian-Armenian relations will eventually 
be mended, saying that most Armenians remain sympathetic to Russia.
“We shouldn’t pay attention to those who are making various types of extremist 
statements, casting doubt on our relations,” she told a news briefing. “This 
will pass. We have seen this in other countries.”
Former Karabakh Premier Arrested By Azerbaijan (UPDATED)
        • Karlen Aslanian
        • Artak Khulian
Nagorno-Karabakh - Ruben Vardanyan, the Karabakh premier, addresses a rally in 
Stepanakert, December 25, 2022.
Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian-born billionaire businessman who held the 
second-highest post in Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership until February, was 
arrested by Azerbaijani authorities on Wednesday while fleeing the region along 
with thousands of Karabakh Armenians.
Azerbaijan’s state security service said that he was detained in the Lachin 
corridor and taken to Baku. It gave no reason for the arrest.
“Vardanyan was handed over to relevant state bodies so that they make a decision 
regarding him,” the APA news agency quoted it as saying.
Baku also circulated a photograph of a handcuffed Vardanyan escorted by 
Azerbaijani officers at an unspecified airfield.
Vardanyan’s Russian wife, Veronika Zonabend, appealed for his immediate release 
shortly before the official confirmation of his arrest.
“Ruben stood with the Artsakh people during the 10-month blockade [by 
Azerbaijan] and suffered along with them in the struggle for survival,” she said 
in a statement. “I ask for your prayers and support to ensure my husband’s safe 
release.”
Azerbaijan -- Ruben Vardanyan is escorted by Azerbaijani security officials 
following his arrest.
Vardanyan was appointed as Karabakh’s state minister last November a few months 
after relocating to Karabakh and renouncing his Russian citizenship. The 
Azerbaijani government condemned his appointment, saying that it was engineered 
by Russia. Moscow denied that.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in February that he will be ready to 
negotiate over the “rights and security of Karabakh’s Armenian minority” only if 
Vardanyan resigns and leaves “our territory.” Although the latter was sacked a 
week later, Baku never lifted its blockade of the Lachin corridor.
Vardanyan, 55, is a former investment banker who made his fortune in Russia in 
the 1990s and 2000s. He is also known as a philanthropist who has financed many 
charity projects in Armenia and Karabakh.
Vardanyan has been increasingly critical of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in 
recent months, repeatedly denouncing his recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty 
over Karabakh. Just hours after his arrest, the Armenian government asked the 
European Court of Human Rights to order Baku to urgently provide information 
about his whereabouts and detention conditions.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said it will do its best to try to secure the 
prominent tycoon’s release and expects the support of Russia and “other 
international partners” in that endeavor.
“The Armenian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed the necessity of 
unimpeded movement of people from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia through the Lachin 
corridor,” it said in a statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Karabakh’s current leadership did not immediately react to the arrest that came 
during an ongoing exodus of Karabakh’s population resulting from Azerbaijan’s 
September 19-20 military offensive.
Vardanyan is the first Karabakh leader taken into Azerbaijani custody since 
then. It was not clear whether other current and former Karabakh officials could 
also be arrested in case of leaving Karabakh. Baku had issued arrest warrants 
for some of them.
Meanwhile, Moscow pointedly declined to comment on the arrest. “I don't have 
such information, so I can't say anything about that issue,” Kremlin spokesman 
Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
68 Confirmed Dead After Blast At Karabakh Fuel Depot
A handout photograph taken and released on September 25, 2023 by the 
Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Ombudsman shows a fire at a fuel depot outside 
Stepanakert.
At least 68 people died in Monday’s powerful explosion and fire at a fuel depot 
in Nagorno-Karabakh, an official in Stepanakert said late on Tuesday.
Gegham Stepanian, Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman, said 105 other people went 
missing and remain unaccounted for.
The explosion, which destroyed the gasoline storage facility outside 
Stepanakert, also left 290 Karabakh Armenians wounded. In Stepanian’s words, 168 
of them were transported to hospitals in Armenia earlier in the day: 96 by 
helicopters from Armenia and belonging to Russian peacekeepers, and 72 patients 
by ambulances accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The blast occurred as tens of thousands of Karabakh residents fled to Armenia 
following an Azerbaijani offensive that paved the way for the restoration of 
Baku’s control over the region. Videos posted on social media showed hundreds of 
cars parked near the depot, waiting to fuel up and head to Armenia.
Another Karabakh official told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the blast was most 
probably an accident caused by “negligence.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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Nagorno-Karabakh presidential advisor David Babayan turns himself in to Azeri authorities

Kanayan Tamar

 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.

BREAKING: Nagorno-Karabakh government disbands

Kanayan Tamar

 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.

US to take steps in the coming days regarding sending international monitoring mission to Nagorno-Karabakh

Tatoyan Vazgen

 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.

5-year-old child and elderly man missing in Stepanakert

Hovik Karapetian

 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.

96 US Senate and House lawmakers call on Biden Administration to sanction Azerbaijani leaders for BK blockade, attacks

Alex Jidarian

 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 .

No Armenian will be left in Nagorno-Karabakh in coming days amid exodus – Pashinyan on Azeri ethnic cleansing campaign

Emil Karabekian

 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.

Number of forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh reaches 60,600

Nahapetian Zhanna

 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.