Category: 2023

Nagorno-Karabakh calls for negotiations to halt after four killed

Parkev Tvankchian
 

ByAni Avetisyan

Nagorno-Karabakh has demanded that Armenia halt ongoing negotiations with Azerbaijan in Washington after reporting that four soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani forces on Wednesday morning. 

This is the largest recent death toll amidst increasingly frequent mutual accusations of ceasefire violations, and reportedly the largest loss of life in a single incident in Nagorno-Karabakh since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. 

Nagorno-Karabakh accused Baku of using artillery and combat drones against military positions in the Martuni and Martakert regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, after spreading ‘false reports’ about Nagorno-Karabakh violating the ceasefire. 

‘On 27 June, [Azerbaijan spread] an untrue report about the wounding of a soldier of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces by fire from the Armenian side, creating an informational basis for another provocation’, the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army statement read. 

A Tuesday statement by Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry claimed that Azerbaijani military units ‘took retaliatory measures’ following ceasefire violations by Nagorno-Karabakh. 

On Wednesday, a statement signed by all political parties present in the Nagorno-Karabakh parliament urged the Armenian government to halt ongoing negotiations with Azerbaijan, currently underway in the United States, until a ‘full ceasefire on the line of contact with Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] and the borders of Armenia’ was established. 

‘Otherwise, the continuation of the negotiations will mean the encouragement of the aggressive behaviour of the Azerbaijani side and privilege at the international level’, the statement read. 

The parliament also called on international actors to take concrete action, and for Russia to stop Azerbaijan’s ‘anti-human, genocidal actions’ using ‘the harshest’ measures. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also reacted to the news, noting the high risk of destabilisation in the South Caucasus, and urging the international community to ensure the rights and security of people in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Tension has been notably high between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and within Nagorno-Karabakh in the past month, with almost daily reports of ceasefire violations. 

Armenia has additionally accused Azerbaijan of targeting a US-funded steel plant in Armenian territory near the border with Nakhchivan. Two Indian citizens were injured at the plant on 14 June, prompting an _expression_ of concern from US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

[Read more: Foreign nationals injured as US investment comes under fire in Armenia]

The United States has emerged as a key mediator between the sides, hosting another round of ongoing peace talks in Washington this week. The talks, attended by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, began on Tuesday and will finish on Thursday. 

In a Tuesday Twitter post, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US supports ‘Armenia and Azerbaijan working together toward a durable and dignified agreement. Dialogue is key to lasting peace’. 

Along with the tripartite meetings, Blinken has held bilateral meetings with Mirzoyan and Bayramov.

US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated on Tuesday that ‘sensitive diplomatic discussions will take place’, aimed at achieving a ‘durable and dignified’ peace. 

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.


Deadly clash erupts in Nagorno-Karabakh amid Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks

Garnik Tadevosian
Lilit Shahverdyan Jun 28, 2023

Early on June 28, the de facto government of Nagorno-Karabakh reported that four of its servicemen were killed overnight in a major Azerbaijani attack using artillery and drones.

The previous day, Baku claimed an Azerbaijani soldier had been wounded by firing from Karabakhi Armenian positions. Karabakh's armed forces, the Artsakh Defense Army, denied this assertion and called in an attempt to "lay the informational groundwork" for Azerbaijan's own attack.

The fatal incident followed two claims by Karabakh officials of ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan on June 27.

There have been numerous light escalations in the region recently, with both sides trading accusations that are recorded in the Russian peacekeepers' daily bulletins. In several cases, the Armenian side reported civilians getting shot by Azerbaijani combat units while performing agricultural work in bordering villages. Azerbaijan denied targeting farmers.

A day earlier, on June 26, Azerbaijan's defense minister talked tough on the Artsakh Defense Army, which is referred to in Baku as a collection of "illegal armed units". 

"We do not rate the capabilities of the illegal armed units in Azerbaijan's Karabakh Economic Zone particularly highly. We know their number, armaments, moral-psychological state, and we know what they can do,"  Zakir Hasanov told local CBC TV.

"If they resort to some kind of provocations or illegal actions, it will only take one corps of the Azerbaijani army – not even a whole one – to resolve the issue of these illegal armed formations."

Armenia pledged to withdraw all its troops from Karabakh by September 2022. The de facto administration of Nagorno-Karabakh retains its own armed force, the Artsakh Defense Army, which prior to the Armenian defeat in the 2020 war was largely integrated with the army of the Republic of Armenia. Before the war, conscripts from Armenia were sent to serve in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Azerbaijan has periodically justified its now 6.5-month-old blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by citing the need to thwart supplies of weapons from Armenia to Karabakh’s Defense Army. 

Things escalated on the ground just as the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan were convening in Washington for talks on a comprehensive peace agreement aimed at ending the neighboring states' decades-long rivalry. 

On June 27, US Secretary Anthony Blinken announced the start of the latest round of negotiations. "We support Armenia and Azerbaijan working together toward a durable and dignified agreement. Dialogue is key to lasting peace," he wrote. 

Two separate tracks of talks, one mediated by the U.S. and EU and the other by Russia, have seemed to achieve little progress in recent months. 

After an EU-mediated meeting in May, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the first time explicitly stated Armenia's readiness to recognize Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The biggest sticking point in the talks is the fate of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia and Western mediators seek "international guarantees" for Karabakhi Armenians once they are under Azerbaijani rule. Baku has flatly rejected this demand claiming the issue is an internal affair. Many Armenians fear the establishment of Azerbaijani sovereignty will be tantamount to "ethnic cleansing."

Baku has signaled recently that it is in no hurry to reach a permanent settlement with Armenia. 

Tigran Grigoryan, an analyst originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, said in a tweet that the timing of the latest incident held a clear message from Azerbaijan: "if you refuse to make concessions during the talks, we will force them on the ground."

"There is another obvious reason why Baku started this escalation amid the talks in DC: they will use it to promote their agenda of disarming NK's self-defense force," he added. 

Karabakh and Armenia were sharply at odds on how to respond to the latest incident. Karabakh's de facto parliament in a statement demanded that Yerevan "immediately stop the negotiations" until a full ceasefire can be put in place. Engaging in talks at such a time amounts to "encouragement of Azerbaijan's aggressive actions," it added.

Alen Simonyan, Armenia's parliament speaker, said in response that there was no alternative to the negotiations and advised against making "hasty statements."

Meanwhile, Nagorno-Karabakh has been totally cut off from the outside world for nearly two weeks, since Azerbaijan closed its checkpoint on the Armenian border to all traffic following a shooting incident. The region has effectively been under blockade since December 12, but until June 15 limited supplies could be brought in and emergency patients could be transported out through the Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross. 

Lilit Shahverdyan is a journalist based in Stepanakert. 

Deadly clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh as Armenia-Azerbaijan engage in US peace talks

Albert Nalbandian




Al Jazeera English published this video item, entitled “” – below is their description.

Four Armenian soldiers have been killed in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to separatist authorities.

This comes as Baku and Yerevan held peace talks mediated by the United States to end a decades-long conflict.

The Armenian Prime Minister has warned of a further risk of destabilisation if the issue is not resolved.

There has been frequent fighting on the border between the neighbours.

The situation is now relatively stable but the region remains at the centre of a decades-long territorial dispute.

Olesya Vartanyan is a Senior Analyst for the South Caucasus region at Crisis Group. She joins us live from Tbilisi, Georgia to discuss the latest news.

Al Jazeera English YouTube Channel


4 Armenian soldiers reported killed in Azerbaijani strikes amid talks in US

Emil Lazarian

By TZVI JOFFRE

 


Four ethnic Armenian soldiers from the defense force of the de-facto Artsakh Republic were killed in Azerbaijani artillery and drone strikes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Wednesday morning, the Artsakh Defense Forces stated on Wednesday.

The Republic of Artsakh is a de facto republic internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. In 2020, the area where the republic is situated was recaptured by Azerbaijan.



After the incident, the Artsakh Defense Forces stated that the situation in the area was "relatively stable."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to the incident on Wednesday, tweeting that he was "Urging [the international] community to take practical steps to ensure rights and security of #NagornoKarabakh people. Meanwhile #LachinCorridor remains illegally blocked[.] Tonight as [a] result of Azerbaijani attack [with the] use of UAVs there are four casualties. High risk of destabilization in #SouthCaucasus."

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry had not commented on the reported strike as of Wednesday afternoon, although it did report on Tuesday that ethnic Armenian soldiers located in Nagorno-Karabakh fired at Azerbaijani forces in the Agdam region, wounding one Azerbaijani soldier.

The Artsakh Defense Forces denied that its forces had fired on Azerbaijani forces at the time, saying the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry was spreading disinformation.

The reported clashes come as the foreign ministers of both Azerbaijan and Armenia meet in the US to continue peace negotiations. The talks are expected to continue until Thursday.


The parliament of the de-facto Artsakh Republic called on Armenia to leave the talks after the clashes, stating on Wednesday that the Armenian delegation should not agree to talks until a full ceasefire is established on the line of contact in the region. The parliament warned that the continuation of talks would "encourage the aggressive behavior of the Azerbaijani side."

Additionally, on Wednesday, Pashinyan spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan concerning normalizing relations between the two countries and opening the land border between the two countries for holders of diplomatic passports and citizens of other countries.

Additionally, last week the European Union's External Action Service stated that the EU "has been closely following growing tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the past few weeks."

The EU additionally expressed concerns about the continued Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor, stressing that it "directly threatens the livelihoods of the local population and raises serious fears of a potential humanitarian crisis."

Azerbaijan has been blocking the Lachin corridor since December, with limited humanitarian aid let through.


Earlier this month, the Armenian Defense Ministry said two civilian employees of a US-affiliated metallurgical plant in the town of Yeraskh, close to the border with Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave, were wounded by Azerbaijani shelling.

At the time, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated "We are deeply concerned that two civilian employees of a US-affiliated company in Armenia sustained injuries from gunfire from the direction of Azerbaijan. We reiterate our call for restraint along the borders as the parties work toward a durable and balanced peace."

Shortly after that incident, Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other of launching attacks along the border between the two countries, with each side reporting service members were wounded in the attacks. Additional exchanges of fire have been reported between the two countries since as well.

In 2020, a war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby areas, ending just over a month later with a new line of contact drawn and Russian peacekeepers deployed along the line. Sporadic clashes have been reported along the line since the war.


4 Armenian soldiers killed in Nagorno Karabakh

Garnik Zakarian

It is reported that four Armenian soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh).

In a Twitter statement by Karabakh’s Ministry of Defence, it was announced that Azeri forces attacked Armenian positions in Martuni and Martakert districts with artillery and drones. The statement said: “As a result of another provocation by Azerbaijan, four soldiers lost their lives.”

The statement came at a time when Washington has been hosting new talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan since Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken first held separate meetings with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan, and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ceyhun Bayramov. The foreign ministers later held a separate meeting. The closed-door negotiations are expected to last until Thursday.

A US State Department spokesperson said on Monday: “We continue to believe that peace is achievable, and that direct dialogue is the key to resolving issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace.”

The US brought both ministers together in Washington at the beginning of May. In recent weeks, negotiations have also taken place in Brussels and Moscow.

Last week, Russia requested Azerbaijan to restore access to Nagorno-Karabakh via Armenia.

These two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus engaged in a short-lived war for control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Azerbaijan, which received direct support from the Turkish state, occupied many regions following this war. Although a ceasefire was achieved between the parties through the mediation of Russia, conflicts keep flaring frequently on the border line.

The predominantly Armenian mountainous region broke away from Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the first war in the early 1990s, 30 thousand people lost their lives, which led to an Armenian victory.

In the last war in the autumn of 2020, 6500 people lost their lives and Azerbaijan occupied many regions.

https://anfenglish.com/news/4-armenian-soldiers-killed-in-nagorno-karabakh-68035

Artsakh parliament calls on Armenian delegation to stop talks in the US

Lilit Nahapetian
Armenia –

The statement of the Artsakh parliament, in particular, reads:

 

“The incident of regular violations of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan was recorded at a time when the next round of talks of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan is underway in Washington, with the mediation of the US Secretary of State.

 

This once again confirms that in reality, the talks on the “peace treaty” are nothing but an imitation of the formation of an atmosphere of establishing lasting peace and stability in the region.

 

We appeal to the UN Security Council, the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries to take concrete practical steps and impose sanctions on Azerbaijan.

 

We also appeal to Russia to stop Azerbaijan’s anti-human, genocidal actions with the most severe measures within the scope of the peacekeeping mission.

 

We appeal on the Armenian delegation to immediately stop the talks in Washington until the establishment of a full ceasefire on the line of contact with Artsakh and on the borders of Armenia and providing documentary guarantees to observe it. Otherwise, the continuation of the talks will mean encouraging Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior and providing it with “international privileges.”

https://mediamax.am/en/news/karabakh/51789/

​Protecting Trans Rights in Armenia

Bedik Zaminian
G.M.F

Protecting Trans Rights in Armenia

The following is an excerpt from an address given on June 22, 2023 to GMF staff.

I am Lilit Martirosyan, a trans woman and activist from Armenia. I am the founder and president of Right Side, a nongovernmental organization working to protect the rights of trans LGBIQ people since 2016. Right Side is proud to be a Black Sea Trust grantee for the last five years.

I am here today to celebrate Pride Month with you. We celebrate the LGBT community and its fight for equality. We celebrate the progress that has been made, and we recommit ourselves to the work that still needs to be done in Armenian society.

For too long, LGBT people have been discriminated against and treated as diseased or ill in Armenia. Community members have been denied jobs, housing, and healthcare. For many years we have been subjected to violence and harassment, neglect and ridicule. But I want to say: We are not alone. There are many people in Armenia who are fighting for our rights. We have allies in the international organizations like GMF, in the media, and civil society. We have activists in the LGBT community who never give up, who fight for the rights of the community, and make great progress. I want to thank all of them, as we are growing stronger every day with their support.

In recent years, we have seen major advances for the LGBT community in Armenia as it has become easier to legally change names. Protection of rights and the wellbeing of the community have also improved. But there is still much work to be done, as LGBT people are still more likely to live in poverty, to experience homelessness, and to be victims of violence. That is why it is so important to celebrate Pride Month. It is a time to come together.

There are a number of things that we can still do to protect LGBT people in Armenia and around the world. We can:

  • Stand with every LGBT person who has faced violence and discrimination in their family and by society, and support them, especially morally
  • Advocate for laws and policies that prohibit discrimination and violence against LGBT people
  • Provide education and training to help people understand and accept LGBT people, starting from families and expanding to society writ large
  • Create safe spaces for LGBT people to gather and socialize, and access education and career opportunities
  • Support LGBT organizations that work to promote equality

I urge you to join us in working to protect LGBT people. Together, we can create a more just and inclusive society for each of us.

Let us celebrate Pride Month! Let us be proud of who we are and let us fight for the equality that we deserve.

US encouraged by peace efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Emma Nadirian
The National, UAE
Reuters - The US on Tuesday opened three days of peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in its latest attempt to quell a conflict that has flared repeatedly.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began the closed-door talks with the adversaries' foreign ministers at a State Department office just outside Washington, in the second such negotiations session he has led in as many months.

“We continue to believe that peace is within reach and direct dialogue is the key to resolving the remaining issues and reaching a durable and dignified peace,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said before the talks, which would cover “very sensitive” areas.

Russia has historically been the mediator between the two former Soviet republics but the US and EU have been increasingly active as Moscow becomes bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine.

READ MORE
Azerbaijan arrests group accused of Iran-backed coup plot
Why are Armenia and Azerbaijan fighting and where is Nagorno-Karabakh?

Armenia has repeatedly accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to live up to promises to protect ethnic Armenians in line with a 2020 ceasefire negotiated by Moscow after six weeks of fighting left thousands dead.

Russia last week pressed Azerbaijan to allow traffic through the Lachin corridor that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly ethnic Armenian area effectively controlled by Yerevan since war during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Azerbaijan had blocked access for convoys delivering aid to Karabakh, raising concerns of shortages of food and medicine.

Russia said that Azerbaijan was breaching its obligations to allow traffic to flow.

Azerbaijan has insisted that civilians and aid convoys can travel through, with the blockade since December nominally staged by Azerbaijani activists to protest against illegal mining.

Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs meet US counterpart in Washington

Hambik Zargarian
MEHR News Agency, Iran

TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) – The meeting of Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken was held in Washington.

"Meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia [Ararat Mirzoyan], the US Secretary of State [Antony Blinken] took place in Washington D.C. Issues of regional security & stability, normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan were discussed," the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter.

According to the ministry, the delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the Alma-Ata Declaration and 1975 map, as well as the "withdrawal of troops from the border", and "appropriately addressing rights and security issues of people of Nagorno Karabakh" were highlighted as important factors for "lasting peace in the region."

MNA/PR

News Code 202561

Why does Russia need a consulate in the south of Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan? Opinions

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
  • Tigranuhi Martirosyan
  • Yerevan

Russian consulate in Syunik

Russia has decided to open a consulate in the Syunik region of Armenia, bordering Azerbaijan. Armenian analysts believe that it only at first glance seems to be an important step that can bring relations between the two countries to a new level. They explain that the functions of the consulate are the provision of visas to this country and the solution of the problems of citizens of their country. In Syunik, there is no need for either the first or the second. You do not need visas to travel to Russia, there are no Russian citizens in this area.

Experts believe that the decision to increase the diplomatic presence in the south of Armenia is not at all diplomatic, but political and dangerous for Armenia.

  • Armenia at a crossroads: will the country leave Russia’s sphere of influence
  • Pashinyan speaks before parliamentary commission on the Karabakh War
  • “There will be no pro-Armenian decisions”: Armenian analysts on Mirzoyan-Bayramov meeting

Russia became interested in the Syunik region after the 44-day war in 2020, when negotiations began on unblocking transport and providing Azerbaijan with a road through the territory of Armenia to connect with Nakhichevan. We are talking about the so-called “Zangezur corridor”, which Armenia declares unacceptable both in terms of terminology and the mechanisms proposed for its activation. The term “corridor” is considered unacceptable here, since it implies the loss of sovereignty in this territory.

Once again, a protest about this was heard when Pashinyan and Aliyev in Moscow began to publicly discuss this term in the presence of Putin.

Yerevan is discussing the visit of the Armenian Prime Minister to Moscow, in particular, the moment when the Armenian Prime Minister interrupted the Russian President to react to Aliyev’s speech

The Prime Minister of Armenia once again stated that the corridor will not be provided, but the country is ready to provide roads while maintaining its sovereign control. The President of Azerbaijan declared his right to take the initiative on the issue of the Zangezur corridor. And he added that Russia also supports it.

Armenian political scientists believe that the interests of the Azerbaijani and Russian sides in this matter coincide: Azerbaijan wants to get a corridor, and Russia wants to control it under the pretext of ensuring security.

Moreover, before Russia announced its intention to open a consulate in Syunik, the Iranian Consulate General opened there.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated that “Iran considers the security of Armenia and the region its security”

Political scientist Hovsep Khurshudyan explains that Syunik attracts the attention of geopolitical centers due to its position at the crossroads. That is why, when negotiations began on the provision of a road through this territory, Russia, Iran and Turkey immediately showed interest.

“Russia, whose influence both in our region and in the world is gradually weakening, is trying to cling to this most important region of Armenia. In particular, the deployment of the EU monitoring mission here, and before that the opening of the Iranian consulate in Kapan, led to the fact that Russia wanted to establish its presence in this important area.

The goal of the West and Iran is to ensure the maximum security of Syunik, that is, the main future trade route between Iran and the European Union, and the goal of Russia is to prevent the creation of this road. Moreover, the Russian consulate, like the Russian military before that, will perform the function of collecting intelligence information for Azerbaijan.”

The director of the Armenian Institute for National Resilience, Gevorg Melikyan, says Russia has been given the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the unblocked roads by a November 9 tripartite statement, although many in Armenia believe that this document does not give Russia such a function.

“If the roads in Syunik open, then, unfortunately, they will be controlled by the Russian Federation, so Moscow’s representation in the Syunik region is increasing. The question will arise whether it is possible to control these roads from Yerevan. Of course it is possible. Just the opening of the consulate shows their attitude to the issue.

The Armenian side constantly states that no, Russia will not control these routes. They maneuver, they say, Armenia will control its roads, but the November 2020 statement is different. And the Russian Federation is taking active steps to show that this is its function.”

Frank answers from the Prime Minister of Armenia in the Prima News program about the geographical and geopolitical problems of the country, relations with neighbors and even personal questions

Armenia is turning into a stage of conflict between geopolitical centers, political scientist Benyamin Matevosyan believes: by gaining a foothold in Syunik, Iran, Russia and the EU do not solve the issue of the region’s security, but create new threats:

“EU monitors will monitor the movements of Russian and Iranian troops, Russian troops will monitor the monitors and Iranian troops, and Iran will monitor the other two. That says it all”.

Director of the Democratic Platform Foundation Garegin Miskaryan believes that the consulate will have another important mission: to change the mood of local residents, to spread pro-Russian sentiment through cultural and educational events:

“It’s a soft instrument. Russia has lost its positions, in the Russian Federation they see that there are no allied relations and are now trying to restore their reputation and position. And they decided to start from Syunik, where they also have plans for the roads.”

According to Miskaryan, Russia is thus trying to show the West that Armenia is allegedly in full solidarity with it.

If the consulate will not serve its main purpose and, as political scientists say, will only deal with the issue of political positioning, then why did the Armenian authorities agree to its opening?

Hovsep Khurshudyan wants the authorities to weigh in on this. He believes that the government, although it has chosen the right path of closer cooperation with the West, is slow on many issues. In some cases, he says, risks are miscalculated, as may be the case with this decision.

https://jam-news.net/russian-consulate-in-syunik/