Category: 2023

Miscarriages and stillbirths rise at alarming rate in blockaded Nagorno Karabakh after public transport gets suspended

Mary Lazarian

 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.

Azerbaijan continues to block humanitarian aid convoy to Nagorno-Karabakh

Chakrian Hovsep

 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.

Forcibly displaced Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh call for UN peacekeepers to ensure return

Emil Lazarian

 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.

Red Cross evacuates 11 patients from blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh

Arbi Tashjian

 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.

Armenpress: Mr. Borrell, the Lachin Corridor is not blocked by some natural force, it is the authorities of Azerbaijan. MEP Weimers

Frangulian Shushan

 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.

Asbarez: EDITORIAL: Lessons of Selfless Sacrifice 40 Years Later

Hambik Zargarian
by Editor

 

 July 27, 2023

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Editorial, Featured Story, Latest, Op-Ed, Top Stories

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.

AMAA’s Artsakh Team Holds Day Camp for Children Under Blockade

Nahapetian Samvel
by Contributor

 

 July 27, 2023

 

in Artsakh, Latest, News, Top Stories

AMAA Artsakh Day Camp participants

The Armenian Missionary Association of America Artsakh team held its annual Summer Day Camp for children in Stepanakert, which is under a blockade. The camp was held from July 10 to 21 in two shifts with over 175 children participating in its activities.

The camp was unique this year in every way, because it was organized and held in times of distress and need, where even finding bread was difficult. A lack of food, fuel and other necessities confronted the team. With all of these challenges, they understood that it was important and necessary to hold the camp, because the children had great expectations and had no other joy this summer.

As for the team, it was necessary for them to run the Camp this summer as well, even though Artsakh was under blockade. The volunteers also faced a serious issue of not having another opportunity to speak about God to these children. With this approach, the volunteers conducted the Camp from their heart with the Lord’s guidance, and at the end they created a very successful Day Camp for the children.

The AMAA Artsakh team knew very well that, no matter what, the 2023 Day Camp will go down in the history of the AMAAs Artsakh branch, as it was organized and held under the most difficult circumstances and crisis.

“The children of Artsakh deserve to enjoy a childhood full of life, laughter, song and dance. And they deserve a loaf of bread and a cup of water like all the children of the world. LIFT THE BLOCKADE ON ARTSAKH,” said Zaven Khanjian, AMAA Executive Director/CEO.

Founded in 1918, the Armenian Missionary Association of America serves the spiritual, educational, and social needs of Armenian communities in 24 countries around the world including Armenia and Artsakh. For additional information, you may visit the AMAA website,

France Urges Baku to Open Lachin Corridor

Emil Lazarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 July 27, 2023

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Latest, News, Top Stories

France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna meets with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Apr. 27

France, once again, has called on Azerbaijan to “fulfill it international obligations” and lift the almost eight-month-old blockade of Artsakh, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

“France expresses its regret on the occasion of Azerbaijan’s persistent blocking of the Lachin Corridor, which contradicts the obligations undertaken under the ceasefire agreement and harms the negotiation process,” the statement said.

The French foreign ministry statement followed a more direct call from the European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrel, who on Thursday called on Baku to fulfill its obligation as mandated by the International Court of Justice, which in February ordered Azerbaijan to ensure the “unimpeded movement” along the Lachin Corridor.

Borrel also signaled to Baku at its latest scheme to offer Aghdam as an alternative route for transporting humanitarian assistance Artsakh was not viable.

“Aghdam should not be seen as an alternative to the reopening of the Lachin Corridor,” Borrel said. In its statement, France expressed its full support to the EU official’s remarks.

“France calls on Azerbaijan to fulfill its international obligations, in particular, to apply the provisional measures mentioned in the decision of the International Court of February 22, which are mandatory. France calls for the restoration of the free movement of cargo, people and goods in both directions through the Lachin Corridor and the continuous supply of gas and electricity to the population,” the French foreign ministry statement said.

Official Paris also reiterated remarks made by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who during her visit to Armenia in April said that her country “remains fully committed to the establishment of a stable and just peace in the region.”

AW: Exhibit featuring Saroyan artworks opens at Armenian Museum

Emil Lazarian
July 27, 2023 Armenian Museum of America Art, Diaspora, Announcements 0

Drawn on the back of a menu from “The Ararat” restaurant in New York City on February 21, 1969, this watercolor by William Saroyan was donated to the Armenian Museum of America by Joan Agajanian Quinn.

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Following the donation of Ruben Amirian’s “Homage to Mesrop Mashtots,” a 14-foot composite work celebrating the Armenian alphabet, art collector and museum trustee Joan Agajanian Quinn has gifted two watercolors by literary genius William Saroyan and two drawings from his son Aram Saroyan to the Armenian Museum of America. All five works are now on display in the new exhibit “My Name Is Saroyan,” inspired by Armenian literary culture both past and present.

“After the success of our 2022 exhibition ‘On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection’ at the Armenian Museum, the Quinn family is happy to broaden the museum’s collection of contemporary artists with these donations,” explains Quinn. “We continue to be impressed with the way the museum displays Armenian art which spans the time frame from ancient to modern times. The contemporary exhibits on the third floor have been professionally and artistically compared to the top museums in the country.” 

Quinn is the co-host of “Beverly Hills View” and has been the producer and host of the “Joan Quinn Profiles” for more than 35 years. The Los Angeles native was west coast editor of Andy Warhol’s Interview, society editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the founding west coast editor of Condé Nast Traveler.

The Quinns have loaned art to museums all over the world, including the Louvre, MoMA, LACMA, Museum of Arts and Design, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Fresno Art Museum, Hammer Museum and the Huntington Art Museum. Part of the extensive Quinn family collection was loaned to the Armenian Museum for the exhibits “On the Edge” and “Discovering Takouhi: Portraits of Joan Agajanian Quinn,” which showcases contemporary Armenian artists.

“There’s a long tradition of contemporary exhibitions here at the Armenian Museum and the last few shows have taken things to new heights,” says executive director Jason Sohigian. “‘On the Edge’ was very well received, and we opened a new exhibition, ‘Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders,’ that fits perfectly with our permanent collection, from manuscripts to diaspora and cultural identity, and even Artsakh with the installation of the ‘Shushi Portraits’ series. On top of this, the new exhibition of four Saroyan works adds more excitement to the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries.”

One of the most prominent American-Armenian literary figures of the 20th century, William Saroyan also wrote music and painted throughout his life. Visual works from his later years, like the watercolors currently on display in “My Name Is Saroyan,” have been compared to the Abstract Expressionism made famous through figures like Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has artworks in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Weisman Art Museum of Minneapolis, among others. 

Earlier this month, the Armenian Museum’s Sound Archive released a rare and previously unknown recording of William Saroyan singing at the home of the writer Hamasdegh in 1939. The seven-minute recording, digitized and restored from a lacquer disc, is available on the museum’s website under “Virtual Resources.”

Succinct and provocative, Aram Saroyan’s brand of minimalism is reflected in a range of media, including his two Uchida marker drawings displayed in “My Name Is Saroyan.” The son of William Saroyan, Aram is an artist, poet, novelist, memoirist and playwright, having made his debut with six poems and a book review in the 1964 issue of Poetry. He became famous for his one-word or “minimal” poems, a form he developed in the 1960s that is often linked to Concrete poetry. Saroyan’s honors include the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He resides in Los Angeles.

Ruben Amirian’s “Homage to Mesrop Mashtots,” currently exhibited alongside William and Aram Saroyan at the Armenian Museum, contains 38 canvases representing the letters of the Armenian alphabet. Each canvas is 12 by 16 inches. Assembled altogether, the series extends to an impressive 14 feet wide by four feet high.

The Armenian Museum of America’s galleries are open Thursday through Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and is located at 65 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts.

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The Armenian Museum of America is the largest Armenian museum in the Diaspora. It has grown into a major repository for all forms of Armenian material culture that illustrate the creative endeavors of the Armenian people over the centuries. Today, the Museum’s collections hold more than 25,000 artifacts including 5,000 ancient and medieval Armenian coins, 1,000 stamps and maps, 30,000 books, 3,000 textiles and 180 Armenian inscribed rugs, and an extensive collection of Urartian and religious artifacts, ceramics, medieval illuminations and various other objects. The collection includes historically significant objects, including five of the Armenian Bibles printed in Amsterdam in 1666.


RFE/Rl Armenian Service – 07/27/2023

Lilit Nahapetian 
                                        Thursday, July 27, 2023
Azerbaijan Blocks Armenian Aid Convoy To Karabakh
July 27, 2023
Armenia - Trucks carrying food aid to Nagorno-Karabakh approach the Lachin 
corridor, July 26, 2023.
Azerbaijan refused on Wednesday to allow a convoy of trucks to deliver emergency 
food aid provided by Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin corridor 
that has been blocked by Baku for more than seven months.
The Armenian government announced on Tuesday that it will try to send 360 tons 
of flour, cooking oil, sugar and other basic foodstuffs to Karabakh to alleviate 
severe food shortages there caused by the blockade. Government officials 
expressed hope that Russian peacekeepers will escort the relief supplies to the 
Armenian-populated region.
Nineteen Armenian trucks carrying them reached the entrance to the Lachin 
corridor late in the afternoon but remained stranded there in the following 
hours, with Baku refusing to let them though an Azerbaijani checkpoint 
controversially set up there in April.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry condemned the aid convoy as a “provocation” and 
“encroachment” on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. A senior aide to 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Yerevan should renounce “territorial 
claims” to his country and stop impeding the restoration of Azerbaijani control 
over Karabakh.
The official, Hikmet Hajyev, said Karabakh should be supplied with basic 
necessities from Azerbaijan proper and the town of Aghdam in particular. “There 
is no other way!” tweeted Hajiyev.
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership has rejected the proposed Azerbaijani 
supply line. It maintains that Baku should comply with a Russian-brokered 
ceasefire that mandates unfettered commercial traffic through the only road 
connecting Karabakh to Armenia.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended the attempted 
delivery of the humanitarian aid.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the situation that Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh 
are currently facing,” Pashinian wrote in a late-night tweet. “The 360 tons of 
vitally important foodstuff sent to Nagorno-Karabakh is exclusively for 
humanitarian purposes.”
The shortages of food, medicine, fuel and other essential items in Karabakh have 
worsened significantly since Baku completely blocked on June 15 relief supplies 
that were carried out by the Russian peacekeepers and the International 
Committee of the Red Cross.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said last week that Karabakh is “on 
the verge of starvation” and called for stronger international pressure on Baku.
Yerevan Disputes Lavrov’s Claim
July 27, 2023
        • Artak Khulian
Russia - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets his Armenian counterpart 
Ararat Mirzoyan, Moscow, July 25, 2023.
Official Yerevan has denied Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s implicit 
claim that he discussed with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts the 
possible return of ethnic Azerbaijanis who had fled Soviet Armenia in the late 
1980s.
Speaking after their trilateral meeting in Moscow held on Tuesday, Lavrov said 
they discussed “the problem of guaranteeing the rights and security of the 
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of ensuring the territorial 
integrity of Azerbaijan.” He said Yerevan “understands the need to convince the 
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh” to reach agreements with Baku stemming from 
international conventions on ethnic minorities.
“The Azerbaijani side is ready to provide such guarantees on a mutual basis to 
persons living on its territory. The Armenians are ready to do the same 
regarding the application of all conventions to citizens living in the Republic 
of Armenia,” added Lavrov.
Lavrov’s remarks were construed by Armenian observes as a linkage between the 
status of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population and the return of Armenia’s 
former Azerbaijani residents officially or unofficially demanded by Baku.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan rejected the linkage on Thursday. In written 
comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Mirzoyan said ensuring the rights and 
security of Karabakh’s “indigenous” residents is a “completely different” issue.
“It cannot in any way be related to the topic of the rights of ‘citizens living’ 
in the Republic of Armenia’ provided for by international obligations and fully 
protected by the Republic of Armenia,” he said.
Russia - The foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Moscow, 
July 25, 2023.
“At the last trilateral meeting in Moscow, there was no discussion, let alone 
agreement, beyond this logic,” added Mirzoyan.
An Armenian ambassador-at-large, Edmon Marukian, said late on Wednesday that 
Yerevan could discuss the sensitive issue only in conjunction with the fate of 
at least 100,000 ethnic Armenians who fled Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan in 
1988-1991.
Tigran Grigorian, a Yerevan-based analyst, was unconvinced by these assurances. 
He said the language used by Lavrov marked another diplomatic setback for 
Armenia.
“We are dealing with the incompetence of Armenian diplomacy,” Grigorian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Baku has been pushing its demands through some loyal natives of Armenia who 
describe themselves as the leaders of “the community of Western Azerbaijan.” 
They claimed last week that their return to Armenia was on the agenda of 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s July 15 meeting with Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian held in Brussels.
Pashinian said on Tuesday that the fate of these Azerbaijanis cannot be linked 
to the issue of the Karabakh Armenians’ “rights and security.” “It is 
proportionate instead to the topic of the security and rights of Armenians from 
Baku, Sumgait, Gyanja or Nakhichevan,” he told reporters.
EU Presses Azerbaijan To Lift Karabakh’s Blockade
July 27, 2023
Belgium - European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks with the 
media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in 
Brussels, June 29, 2023.
Azerbaijan must reopen the Lachin corridor, the European Union said on Wednesday 
night, expressing serious concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The European Union is deeply concerned about the serious humanitarian situation 
affecting the local population in the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous 
Oblast,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in a statement. “The 
movement through the Lachin corridor remains obstructed for more than seven 
months, despite Orders by the International Court of Justice to reopen it.”
“Medical supplies and essential goods are in short supply or have already run 
out, with dire consequences for the local population. It is incumbent on the 
Azerbaijani authorities to guarantee safety and freedom of movement along the 
Lachin corridor imminently and not to permit the crisis to escalate further,” 
added Borrell.
Like the United States and Russia, the EU has repeatedly called for an end to 
the crippling blockade of Karabakh’s only land link with Armenia and the outside 
world. Borrell’s statement is the most strongly-worded of its appeals made to 
date.
Azerbaijan rejected the statement on Thursday, saying that it is based on “the 
Armenian side’s false propaganda.” “Presenting legitimate actions of Azerbaijan 
as a closure of the Lachin road is fundamentally wrong,” said Aykhan Hajizade, 
the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Nagorno-Karabakh - Empty shelves at a supermarket in Stepanakert, July 20, 2023.
Hajizade insisted on a different, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route for 
Karabakh proposed by Baku and rejected by Karabakh’s leadership as a cynical 
ploy designed to facilitate the restoration of Azerbaijani control over the 
Armenian-populated region.
Borrell stressed in this regard that while the EU “took note” of the Azerbaijani 
proposal it “should not be seen as an alternative to the reopening of the Lachin 
corridor.”
The EU official made the appeal shortly after the Azerbaijani side refused to 
allow a convoy of 19 Armenian trucks carrying 360 tons of food aid for Karabakh 
residents to pass through a checkpoint which it controversially set up in the 
Lachin corridor in April.
The trucks sent by the Armenian government remained stuck near the checkpoint on 
Thursday. EU monitors deployed along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan visited 
the area on Wednesday.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian condemned Baku’s refusal to let the aid 
convoy through. He said Yerevan still hopes it will be allowed to proceed to 
Stepanakert. The Azerbaijani authorities’ failure to do so would lend credence 
to “concerns about Baku's intention to commit genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh,” 
Pashinian added during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Armenia Reports Surge In Tax Revenue From Re-Exporters
July 27, 2023
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- The entrance to the State Revenue Committee headquarters in Yerevan, 
November 29, 2018.
Taxes paid by Armenian companies importing cars, mobile phones and other 
consumer electronics increased drastically in the first half of this year, a 
further sign that they are taking advantage of Western economic sanctions 
against Russia.
They are believed to be among local firms that have been re-exporting 
Western-manufactured goods to Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. 
Such trade operations explain why Armenia’s overall exports to Russia tripled 
last year and January-May 2023, translating into double-digit economic growth in 
the South Caucasus country.
According to the State Revenue Committee (SRC), the largest network of mobile 
phone shops in Armenia paid 15.8 billion drams ($40 million) in taxes in the 
first half of 2023, or nearly as much as it did in the whole of 2022. As a 
result, the company running the network, Mobile Center, became the country’s 
sixth largest corporate taxpayer. Its tax contributions totaled only 4.4 billion 
drams in 2021.
Vesta, a major electronics chain, is seventh in the first-half tax rankings 
released by the SRC this week. The tax and customs services collected 15.7 
billion drams from it, or twice as much as in 2022.
Suren Parsian, an economic analyst, said on Thursday that their extra revenue 
was generated not only by re-exports but also Russian consumers buying such 
goods during trips to Armenia.
Armenian firms importing Western cars posted similarly sharp gains in their 
revenue. Avangard Motors, the local dealer of Germany’s Mercedes-Benz, paid 3.7 
billion drams in first-half taxes, up from just 900 million drams in 2021. The 
tax contributions of the Toyota Yerevan car dealership likewise rose from 2.3 
billion drams in 2021 to about 5 billion drams ($13 million) in January-June 
2023.
Both Mercedes-Benz and Toyota stopped directly supplying their cars to Russia 
following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Armenia - Car carrier trailers line up near a customs terminal outside Gyumri, 
March 13, 2023
The SRC recorded last year a nearly six-fold increase in the number of mostly 
second-hand cars imported to Armenia. Its customs division struggled to cope 
with the rapid growth which has continued this year.
The Armenian government has faced in recent months strong pressure from the 
United States and the European Union to curb the re-export of hi-tech goods and 
components which the Western powers say could be used by the Russian defense 
industry. The government announced in late May that Armenian exporters will now 
need government permission to deliver microchips, transformers, video cameras, 
antennas and other electronic equipment to Russia.
James O’Brien, the sanctions coordinator at the U.S. State Department, visited 
Yerevan late last month to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
and other Armenian officials.
Pashinian said in May that despite its “strategic” relations with Russia, 
Armenia “cannot afford to be placed under Western sanctions.” “Therefore, in our 
relations with Russia we will act on a scale that allows us to avoid Western 
sanctions,” he said.
So far Washington has blacklisted only on one functioning Armenian company for 
allegedly helping Russia evade the sanctions. The Yerevan-based company, 
Medisar, imported chemicals and laboratory equipment from the U.S. as well as 
the EU.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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