Category: News

Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to exert maximum efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh. He made the statement at an international people’s diplomacy forum held within the framework of the NATO Week in Georgia, TASS reports.

“We very much hope that the leaders of Armenian and Azerbaijan will exert maximum efforts for settling the tense situation by both peaceful and diplomatic means with the active participation in the international community for the conflict’s peaceful resolution,” he said.

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze has spoken on the phone with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan about the current fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia.ge reports.

Last night the Georgian official instigated the phone conversation following a similar talk with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

“The Georgian Foreign Minister expressed his extreme concern over the recent escalation of the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone along the Line of Contact, which resulted in casualties, inter alia, among the peaceful population,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Janelidze said cessation of hostilities and ensuring peace on the ground was of “vital importance”.

He underlined continued fighting would aggravate the current situation and have a negative impact on regional stability.

During the conversation, the Georgian official put particular emphasis on the need to use all possible formats to deescalate the situation through the involvement of the international community.

On April 6-7, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will conduct an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany.

In the framework of the visit, the President of Armenia will meet with the highest leadership of Germany – President Joachim Gauck, Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of Bundestag Norbert Lammert, Minister of Foreign Affairs, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The Persian-language agency has published information, claiming that the Islamic State has created a special training ground at the Iraqi-Syrian border for Azeri citizens.

The training ground called Camp Abu Isa is located on ISIS-held vilayet of Aljazeera. ARAN quotes information disseminated by the Islamic State as saying that Azerbaijanis are being trained to use different weapons, and are taught the ideas of Wahhabism. The instruction is in the Azerbaijani language with a Turkish intonation.

ARAN agency reports that the terrorists have graduated from schools sponsored by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Azerbaijan.

“The information was first published by ARAN agency on September 21, 2015,” expert of Turkish studies Vazgen Petrosyan said in comments to .

“They published photos and facts proving that volunteers from Azerbaijan train with the Islamic State and all of them have graduated from schools financed by the Azerbaijani Government,” he said.

According to the expert, the Azerbaijani government created the schools to fight Shiites, and moist of the graduates have joined the Islamic State.

Petrosyan said these trainees are fighting along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact today.

Spokesman for the NKR President that Azerbaijan has hired mercenary terrorists to fight against Armenians.

“No Armenian military positions are under Azerbaijani control at this point,” Armenia’s First Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan told reporters today.

As for reports on the violation of truce, Tonoyan said “shooting continues and no ceasefire has been established.”

“There is an agreement on maintenance of truce, but the rival keeps shooting,” he concluded.

The High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini spoke this morning with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, and with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian concerning the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The HR/VP urged the immediate de-escalation of violence, an end to the targeting of civilians and strict observance of the ceasefire by all parties. The High Representative reiterated that a large-scale conflict is in the interest of no-one. The conflict requires a comprehensive and peaceful solution, not a military one.

The HR/VP once again reiterated, as she did during her recent visits to Baku and Yerevan, the European Union’s full support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and the three Co-Chairs, urging both sides to resume the negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. In this context, the High Representative stressed that all parties must take the necessary steps to create an environment conducive to successful negotiations, including avoiding actions and statements which could further complicate the already complex environment.

The High Representative will personally remain in close contact with her Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts, as well as through EU Special Representative Herbert Salber.

President Serzh Sargsyan attended today the funeral of Sasun Mkrtchyan, one of the soldiers killed in clashes along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact. The funeral service was held with military honors.
At the service, the President of Armenia spoke the words of condolences and support:

“Dear compatriots, distinguished parents of Sasoun Mkrtchian, family, and friends. Today, we say good-by to the Armenian soldier who stepped into eternity; a soldier, who crowned with glory his own name, a soldier, who crowned with glory the family which raised him. We have gathered here to bow to the heroism of Sasoun Mkrtchian and our other martyrs.

All those, who argue or doubt on how the Armenian nation has survived until 21st century in this tough region, must understand that they can find the answer right here, in the minds and on the lips of the fallen martyrs. Conscious death is immortality. We fought to defend our homes, our families, our identity. And our being here today, in this region is the most rock-solid proof of how we can fight. The ethnic and religious composition of this region changed before the eyes of the Armenian people a number of times. Many-many had come and had gone, many more will come and go, but we lived, we live, and we will live, because we know the formula of eternal life.

Events happening in Artsakh today is just another challenge for the Armenian nation which this time has be imposed on us by the leadership of Azerbaijan. I have no doubt that we will overcome it with honor yet again. Blinded with Armenophobia, drunk with the scent of oil, the Azerbaijani authorities do not comprehend that power is not measured by the number of tanks. Power is the light which emanates from the new generations in Artsakh and Armenia, and today that light has united us all, made us one iron fist, which will fall on the head of the foe which threatens our security.

Today, our thoughts are with our troops and officers who stand at the border. Each soldier’s step into immortality is a wound on our hearts, but actions of our troops make our hearts even stronger, endow us with resolve and persistence.

Today, we have become one, and our unity will nourish our future generation. I have to state that we have no illusions, we have no powerful sponsors, but we have sympathy of the just people all over the world, we have everything to defend our homes, our Fatherland.

Dear Sasoun, rest assured that we will carry on with your and your friends sacred mission. Rest in peace, Soldier of Fatherland.”

Escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could lead to a major conflict in the Caucasus region, the secretary general of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) told Sputnik Serbia on Tuesday.

“This [escalation] threatens with the outbreak of a very big conflict in the Caucasus region that’s why the leaders, first of all of Azerbaijan, should understand it,” Nikolay Bordyuzha said.

He added that the CSTO was participating in the settlement of the conflict by political means.

“Today we should take all the necessary measures to prevent the conflict from growing, to stop it, to stop warfare, bombardments,” Bordyuzha said.

The sitting of the Eurasian Intergovenmental Council will be held in Moscow next week. The Prime Ministers of Armenia and Russia Hovik Abrahamyan and Dmitry Medvedev discussed the  change of the venue in a phone conversation today, Russian Government’s Press Service reports.

The meeting was initially planned to be held in Yerevan, Armenia.

Dmitry Medvedev confirmed he would visit Armenia on April 7-8 as planned.

The Russian Prime Minister expressed serious concern over the recent outbreak of hostilities along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.

He stressed the need to ensure the strict implementation of the ceasefire regime as well as the importance of resumption of the process of political settlement.

The OSCE Minsk Group has issued the following statement today:

We, the representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries (Russian Federation, the United States of America, France, Belarus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey),  as well as the incoming Austrian OSCE Chair (2017) and the Serbian OSCE Chair (2015), strongly condemn the outbreak of unprecedented violence along the Line of Contact.  We extend our condolences to all affected families. We urge the sides to cease using force immediately.  There is no military solution to the conflict.

The deterioration of the situation on the ground demonstrates the need for an immediate negotiation, under the auspices of the Co-chairs, on a comprehensive settlement.

The representatives of the Minsk Group member states affirm their support for the Russian, American, and French Co-Chairs’ mediation efforts and welcome their plans to undertake direct consultations with the sides as soon as possible.

Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia

Twenty Armenian soldiers were killed, 72 were wounded as a result of the clashes along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact, Spokesman for the NKR Defense Ministry Senor Hasratyan told reporters in Stepanakert.

According to him, another 26 servicemen are missing. The Armenian side lost seven tanks. “Azerbaijan’s advancement has not exceeded 300 meters. At this point we have lost 5 military positions in the southern direction and 3 in the northern direction of the line of contact,” Hasratyan said.

As for the losses of the Azerbaijani side, Hasratyan noted that the rival lost 18 tanks, 2 helicopters, 6 infantry fighting vehicles, other military equipment. He said 300 Azeri servicemen were killed in clashes.