Category: News

The military actions of the past days showed that Azerbaijan is unable to solve the Karabakh conflict in  military way, President of the Public Council of Armenia, first Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan told a press conference in Stepanakert today.

He denounced the “symmetric” statement of the international community, their calls to both sides. “The Western countries are well aware who’s the aggressor. the United States and Russia can see from through satellites who’s shooting,” he said.

Vazgen Manukyan presented three ways out of the situation. First, he said, the parties should return to their initial positions.

Second, the OSCE should conduct monotony of the line of contact, including through satellites and stop pretending it’s unaware of who’s shooting.

Third, the international community must recognize the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, with future talks continuing on territories and refugees.

Why did Azerbaijan decided to incite clashes at this point? Vazgen Manukyan says it’s connected with the drop in oil prices, the problems inside the country, and this was an option for Aliyev to divert the attention of the public from domestic issues.

Is there a mechanism to neutralize the Turkish factor in the Nagorno Karabakh issue? Vazgen Manukyan said he sees no way to do that. “Even Europe has become a captive of Turkey. Ankara thinks it has been given a “carte blanche” because of the issue of migrants and is allowed to do anything in the region and beyond.”

Manukyan said the issue is not only about Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. “It’s a regional problem, where NATO’s interests collide with that of its rivals. Escalation will be an evil for the whole world. Let’s not forget that countries such Iraq, Syria and Afganistan are not far away,” he said.

The Armenian community of Argentina massively demonstrated outside the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the country to denounce the Azeri aggression against the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh on the night of Tuesday, April 5, reports.

After an intense awareness campaign in the Argentine society, all institutions of the community called for peace and recognition of self-determination of the people of Artsakh. The rally was attended by several community representatives and Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church for Argentina and Chile.

“Azerbaijan has embarked in recent years in the process of expanding its military arsenal and the externalization of their convictions to achieve their goals through weapons. The continued aggressive attitude of Azerbaijan against the civilian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh confirms that a peaceful resolution of the conflict will only be possible respecting the right of self-determination of its people,” reads the statement signed by all community organizations.

“The Armenian community of Argentina expresses its solidarity with the authorities of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, supports its self-defense forces and reaffirms its commitment to the struggle begun by its people in 1988 that culminated in the declaration of independence in 1991.”

“Given the serious situation in question, we ask the authorities of Argentina to urge the parties to circumscribe the conflict settlement within the framework of the negotiations held in the Minsk Group, and thus avoiding a regional explosion with unpredictable consequences,” ends the statement.

President Serzh Sargsyan, who is in Germany on official visit, met today with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Noting that his visit to Germany is taking place in the period when Azerbaijan has seriously challenged security of Nagorno Karabakh as well as of Armenia, the President of Armenia spoke in detail about the existing tense situation, which resulted from the violation by Azerbaijan of the ceasefire and unprecedented escalation of the situation, and the latest developments.

“The very fact that at this difficult moment I am here is more than just a testimony to the importance which Armenia attaches to the bilateral relations as well as to Germany’s role as the country presiding in the OSCE,” said the President of Armenia. He underscored that since the OSCE Co-Chairs are entrusted with the resolution of the NK problem, expectations from the OSCE are great. The President said that steps aimed at the establishment of peace are anticipated, and after the re-establishment of the ceasefire regime of 1994 it will be necessary to implement mechanisms which are aimed at the strict adherence to its terms.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany reiterated his appeal to the parties of the conflict regarding the situation and underscored once again that the NK conflict has no military solution; the parties must manifest political will and return to the negotiations conducted in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Minister Steinmeier stressed the importance of the implementation in the area of the conflict of the confidence building measures as well as the resumption of the monitoring in the Line of Contact by the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman—in-Office.

At the meeting, the parties stressed also the importance of the establishment of the mechanisms for the investigation of the ceasefire violations. With this regard, President Sargsyan viewed as important the extension of the mandate of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman—in-Office and amplification of the capacities of his Office.

The President of Armenia and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany discussed the dynamically developing agenda of the interstate bilateral relations, and preset opportunities for developing cooperation in a number of areas.

“The military actions launched by Azerbaijan unprecedented not only after the 1994 ceasefire, but also in comparison with the first Artsakh War because of several factors,” Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said at the government sitting today.

“The actions were unprecedented first of all for the density of firing, the types of the weapons and military equipment used, the number of troops involved and the great number of losses,” the Minister said. He added that the number of Azerbaijani casualties considerably exceed those of the Armenian side.

He also emphasized the high combat readiness of the conflicting parties, and the fact of terrorists fighting on the Azerbaijani side at different sections of the line of contact and their aggressive actions.

The Armenian Defense Minister said, however, that Azerbaijan achieved nothing as a result and turned town the Azeri reports of having conquered several Armenian settlements. “Talish and Nor Seysulan villages are under Karabakh control,” he said.

The Minister said the agreement on ceasefire has been reached on the level of the General Staffs of the armed forces of the two parties.

Seyran Ohanyan added that the actions of the Azerbaijani side, including torture and decapitation, amount to war crime.

Former French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen has been fined 30,000 euros for calling the Nazi gas chambers a “detail” of World War Two, the BBC reports.

He was convicted of contesting crimes against humanity.

The former Front National chief was convicted of the same charge in 2012 after saying France’s Nazi occupation had been “not particularly inhumane”.

France has strict laws against Holocaust denial.

Mr Le Pen told a journalist his remarks “corresponded to my thought that the gas chambers were a detail of the history of war”.

Asked if “millions of deaths” could be called “point of detail”, Mr Le Pen said: “It is not a million deaths, it is the gas chambers. I’m talking about specific things. I have not talked about the number of dead. I spoke of a system. I said it was a detail of the history of warfare.”

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Moscow on April 8 to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press service announced Wednesday.

“Nalbandian will leave for Moscow on April 8 where a meeting is planned with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,” the press service said.

The same day the Armenian Foreign Minister will participate in the sitting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers.

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting with Bundestag President Norbert Lammert today, President’s Press Office reported.

The interlocutors attached importance to the role of inter-parliamentary cooperation in the development of interstate relations.

President Sargsyan emphasized Mr. Lammert’s personal contribution to the development of bilateral relations. “You not only encourage inter-parliamentary ties, which have formed a practical platform for full comprehension of reciprocal interests, but also keep issues related to the Armenian people in the spotlight,” the Armenian President said.

As a testament to his words, President Sargsyan noted Mr. Lammert’s participation to the events conducted in Germany in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, as well as his statement at the special session of the Bundestag dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. Norbert Lammert expressed confidence that the official visit of the President of Armenia and meetings with the leadership of Germany conducted in the framework of the visit to Berlin, will elevate the Armenian-German political dialogue to a new level and will expand cooperation of the two countries.

The parties discussed also issues related to the future development of the Armenia-EU relations and expressed hope that the new framework Agreement, which will institutionalize the RA-EU relations, will be signed in the nearest future. In response to Mr. Lammert’s question regarding the constitutional changes conducted in Armenia, President Sargsyan informed him on the forthcoming developments conditioned by the changes and expressed gratitude to the German side for the consultative assistance to the process.

At the meeting, discussed were also the latest developments related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Two Armenian soldiers were killed in Karvachar last night. Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan confirmed the news to Public Radio of Armenia.