Category: 2023

 12:46, 27 July 2023

STEPANAKERT, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. Local authorities of the Askeran region of Nagorno-Karabakh have warned of imminent “disastrous and irreversible” consequences for the locals if the total blockade continues.

Askeran authorities reported on July 27 that the blockade has led to an increased number of stillbirths and miscarriages.

Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) suspended public transportation on July 25 because of severe fuel shortages resulting from the Azerbaijani blockade. Residents in Askeran, just like elsewhere across Nagorno-Karabakh, are unable to travel to Stepanakert city for healthcare or other purposes.

Askeran governor Hamlet Apresyan told ARMENPRESS that some of the residents resort to walking to Stepanakert in the heat.

“Askeran is completely paralyzed after public transport was suspended,” Apresyan told ARMENPRESS. “People’s right to freedom of movement has also been violated. These days, people often reach Stepanakert on foot for highly essential purposes. This situation can cause irreversible consequences if it continues.”

Farmers are also rationing fuel to be able to deliver their products to the capital, but the savings are about to end, Apresyan warned. “These days there are problems in all sectors in Artsakh, and the most important problem is related to the health of our people.”

“Just like elsewhere in the republic, we also don’t have any essential goods left, no sugar, no cooking oil, no baby food, no candy, and this list goes on and on. In terms of medication, it’s a matter of days for the reserves to be depleted,” the head of the Askeran administration said.

Stepanakert city healthcare authorities are providing support to local hospitals by dispatching medical personnel amid an increasing number of 911 calls.

 “The stress, malnutrition and uncertainty are causing irreversible consequences. Pregnant women have to go through indescribable difficulties to reach either the provincial capital or Stepanakert, which often leads to miscarriage or stillbirth. Our healthcare authorities have recently recorded a very high increase of such cases,” Apresyan said.

Furthermore, farmers have been unable to harvest grain in some parts because they’ve been targeted by Azerbaijani forces, and because of the shortages of diesel fuel.

Deprived of all basic necessities, residents of Askeran have been holding a rally in the territory of the Stepanakert airport since July 15, protesting against the “criminal indifference” displayed by the international community, Apresyan said.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.

 14:08, 27 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan continues to block a humanitarian aid convoy sent from Armenia from entering Nagorno-Karabakh through Lachin Corridor, which has been blockaded since December 2022.

The convoy carrying 360 tons of food and medication has reached the Kornidzor village of Syunik Province but is unable to enter Lachin Corridor.

An Armenian government official told reporters in Kornidzor that they have asked both the Russian peacekeepers and the Azeri authorities to allow the goods reach their destination, but there’s been no response yet.

“It’s been nearly twenty hours that we are here in Kornidzor village. As you can see, there is no movement. This process requires patience and a certain sequence of steps. As of this moment we haven’t received any response, we are waiting for a response,” said Vardan Sargsyan, a member of the government task force of Armenia in charge of managing the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sargsyan said the Armenian authorities have contacted the Russian peacekeepers and the Azerbaijani side for letting the goods through. “As I said, we have no response yet,” he added.

 15:33, 27 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. The forcibly displaced Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh who had to leave their homes as a result of the 2020 war have released a statement in response to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statements made after his meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs in Moscow.

“We, the NGOs representing the interests of several tens of thousands Armenians who were forcibly displaced from the Republic of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh’s Shushi, Martuni, Askeran, Hadrut, Martakert, Karvajar and Kashatagh regions and have become refugees, are perplexed and angered by the ideas voiced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after his meeting with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on July 26 in Moscow.  

“The Russian Foreign Minister is equalizing the Armenian refugees who escaped genocide in Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated regions and the Republic of Artsakh and the Azerbaijanis who left Armenia as a result of segregation of peoples.

“We once again remind the Russian authorities that the Azerbaijanis who left Armenia had the chance to exchange their homes, transport their property and receive compensation from the Republic of Armenia.

“Unlike the Azerbaijanis, the Armenian refugees barely survived genocide, while those who didn’t manage or didn’t want to leave their homes where gruesomely murdered in their homes or backyards,” reads the statement.

The forcibly displaced Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh emphasized that their right to return is enshrined under clause 7 of the 2020 trilateral statement between the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Russian President and the Azerbaijani President, which says ‘internally displaced persons and refugees shall return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.’

“Pursuant to the abovementioned, we call on the international community, the UN to create a proper format for discussions on ensuring our return, and include representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. UN Peacekeepers should ensure our return, otherwise we can’t have security guarantees. We are also convinced that in the current phase of the conflict, there is no alternative to direct negotiations between government officials of Artsakh and Azerbaijan republics, mediated by international guarantors. We call on the Russian Federation to stem its official stance from this starting point. We call on the Prime Minister of Armenia to raise our issue in all international formats. We call on the entire international community to support the protection of our legitimate rights,” the statement concludes.

 14:27, 27 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has facilitated the transfer of 11 patients from blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for treatment. The patients were accompanied by their attendants, the Ministry of Healthcare of Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement on Thursday.

The ICRC plans to transfer 13 other patients – with attendants – who’ve completed their treatment in Armenia back to Nagorno-Karabakh later today.

The Nagorno-Karabakh healthcare authorities warned that Azerbaijan is continuously banning the supply of essential medications and medical equipment by the ICRC to Nagorno-Karabakh.

23 children are hospitalized at the Arevik clinic in Nagorno Karabakh. 5 of them are in neonatal and intensive care. Meanwhile, 82 patients are hospitalized at the Republican Medical Center in Stepanakert. 7 of them are in intensive care (2 are critically ill).

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.

 18:43, 27 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. Member of the European Parliament Charlie Weimers calls on the EU to put pressure on Azerbaijan so that the latter allows humanitarian aid to enter Artsakh.

In a conversation with the Brussels-based correspondent of ARMENPRESS, Weimers referred to the statement of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, and asked, "And what is "obstructing" the passability of the Lachin Corridor, Mr. Borrell? It is neither a stone nor some force of nature, but the authorities of Azerbaijan themselves prevent the passage of humanitarian aid. It is not about "any actor" or "two sides", as we often heard in the past, but about Azerbaijan, which uses humanitarian access to meet its own goals", said Charlie Weimers and conveyed that his thoughts are with the people of Artsakh.

Remembering the Lisbon 5 (Harry Vorperian design)

“This is not suicide, nor an act committed by insane people. This is a sacrifice at the altar of freedom.” So read a statement issued by the Armenian Revolutionary Army on July 27, 1983, after five of its members—Setrag Adjemian, Sarkis Aprahamian, Vatche Daghlian, Ara Kerdjelian and Simon Yahneian—made the ultimate sacrifice for the Armenian Cause when they blew up the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, saying, “we have decided to blow up this building and remain under its rubble.”

There is no question that the selfless sacrifice of the Lisbon 5 40 years ago today changed the trajectory of the pursuit of the just aspirations of our Armenian Nation, with its aftereffects still impacting the Armenia psyche.

Perhaps, one of the most important manifestations of their heroism came mere five years after the 1983 incident, when the Artsakh Liberation Movement was sparked in February 1988 forever changing the course of the Armenian nation.

The Artsakh movement was based on the very ideals and principles for which Setrag, Sarkis, Vatche, Ara and Simon set out to martyr themselves. The people of Artsakh awakened a dormant Armenian nation by advancing principles of freedom and justice and stood up to decades of Soviet and Azerbaijani oppression, marshaling our nation closer to our ultimate goal of a free, united and independent Armenia.

And, more that 30 years ago we, as a Nation, won. Artsakh was liberated and we basked in the glory of that collective victory. It seems, however, that we lost sight that there were actual individuals who sacrificed themselves at the altar of freedom during that movement and the ensuing war — the people of Artsakh and the soldiers who continue to protect the borders of our homeland.

Today, once again, it is the very people who were the torchbearers that sparked the Artsakh Liberation Movement, who are making the ultimate sacrifice by committing to remain in Artsakh and fighting tooth and nail for their ancestral homeland.

Artsakh authorities have declared it a disaster zone and are comparing our ancestral homeland to a “modern-day concentration camp” as Azerbaijan’s eight-month-old blockade is advancing a humanitarian crisis the likes of which our nation has not seen in more than 100 years. The fate of the people of Artsakh — and also our Nation — is being decided by countries and individuals who have an agenda that does not necessarily include the well-being of Armenians, our homeland or our Nation.

The 44-Day Artsakh War in 2020 saw a revival of the Armenian national spirit. Perhaps, it was the Armenian government’s defeatist slogan “Haghtelou enk (we are going to win)” that drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets of Los Angeles and elsewhere to demand justice and express our solidarity. Yet the losses — the defeat — were so crushing that we became paralyzed as a nation.

July 30, 1983 issue of Asbarez reporting on the Lisbon 5

“The note from the ARA [Armenian Revolutionary Army] said it had resorted to ‘armed struggle’ because peaceful means for ‘the pursuit of our just cause’ had failed. ‘The wall of silence built around our cause was too thick to be pierced.’ The ARA said it carried out the attack because ‘Turkey and its allies refused to recognize the Genocide of Armenians,’” Asbarez wrote in its July 30, 1983 issue when covering the Lisbon 5 news.

Is the “wall of silence” around the cause of Artsakh — human rights, justice and self-determination — not thick enough yet for us to pick ourselves from our bootstraps and mobilize into action?

This is a clarion call for all of us to take stock of our lives and commit ourselves to the sacrifices that make a nation strong, viable and secure. As we honor and remember the valiant sacrifice of our national heroes, let us ensure that their selfless actions for our Nation was not in vain.

Let us take lessons.