Azerbaijan will not attend an EU-brokered event in Spain where its president, Ilham Aliyev, was set to hold talks with his Armenian counterpart over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Aliyev had been considering taking part in a meeting to discuss the breakaway region – which has largely emptied out after the mass exodus of ethnic Armenians – with the leaders of France, Germany, Armenia and the EU Council president, Charles Michel.

Azerbaijani state media said Aliyev had wanted Turkey to be represented at the meeting with Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, which was scheduled for Thursday, but that France and Germany had objected.

Baku felt “an anti-Azerbaijani atmosphere” had emerged among potential participants, according to reports.

The Azerbaijani news outlet APA said Baku had been angered by French officials and France’s decision, announced on Tuesday, to supply Yerevan with military equipment.

“Any format involving France is not acceptable for Azerbaijan, Baku will not participate in such a platform,” APA said, citing an unnamed Azerbaijani official.

Accounts from within Nagorno-Karabakh have revealed the dramatic aftermath of the region’s defeat by Azerbaijani forces in a lightning-fast military operation last month.

“The city is now completely deserted. The hospitals, more than one, are not functioning,” Marco Succi, who travelled to the region this week as part of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said. “The medical personnel have left. The water board authorities left. The director of the morgue … the stakeholders we were working with before, have also left. This scene is quite surreal.”

Succi said his ICRC team were scouring the regional capital, Stepanakert’s, abandoned streets with megaphones looking for the last residents who had been unable or unwilling to leave.

Succi said they found Susanna, an elderly cancer patient confined to bed, who was reportedly showing signs of malnutrition and was taken by ambulance to Armenia.

A video published on Wednesday by the Russian peacekeeping mission from Stepanakert similarly showed empty streets littered with debris left by former residents.

International media outlets have been refused entry to Stepanakert because the area is not yet secure, Azerbaijani officials have said.

Estimates of ethnic Armenians still in the Karabakh region ranged from only 50-1,000, after more than 100,000 fled in recent days, the first UN mission to the area in 30 years reported on Monday.

One of the few men left was thought to be a farmer from a village near Stepanakert. Speaking in Yerevan, his daughter Ani – who asked that her second name and father’s name be withheld for security reasons – told the Guardian he had decided to stay for now because he “could not leave his cattle behind”.

“He told me that he does not want his cattle to die, they are his life,” Ani said.

Ani last spoke to her father on Monday, when he described how fleeing neighbours had left food and other provisions that would last for three weeks. “I am not sure what he will do after that. There are no shops, no food. He is all alone there.”

Western officials have urged Baku to provide the ethnic Armenians who left Nagorno-Karabakh with security guarantees that would ensure their eventual return.

During a visit to Armenia on Tuesday, the French foreign ministry said that Paris was working on “a draft resolution aimed at guaranteeing a permanent international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh” that would enable Armenians “to return to their lands” in due course.

But several refugees said they saw no way for them to go back to their homes, mindful of a long history of bloodshed between the two sides.

“We will not return, no matter what the promises are,” said Tigran, a Nagorno-Karabakh native, in an interview from Dilijan, a town north of Yerevan where his family had been housed in a temporary shelter. “We just don’t trust Azerbaijan. We don’t want to live under their rule.”

Azerbaijani officials have emphasised that they would guarantee “the equal rights and freedoms of everyone” in Nagorno-Karabakh, “regardless of ethnic, religious or linguistic affiliation”.

But the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, pointing to the mass exodus, wrote in a report this week that “the [Azerbaijani] promises made are insufficient to build trust”.

“While it should be a goal of international diplomacy that the displaced can safely visit and, eventually, return to the enclave, that is likely to require a long-term effort,” the report said. “More immediately, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh will need help to start new lives in Armenia, where they may be for some time, if not permanently.”

It also remains unclear whether Azerbaijan is planning to repopulate the mountainous region with its own citizens.

Between 1988 and 1994, about 500,000 Azerbaijanis from Karabakh and the areas around it were expelled from their homes, according to Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus scholar and senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe thinktank.

The ethnic Azeri population made up about 25% of the total population of Nagorno-Karabakh before a Russian-brokered ceasefire signed in 1994 that left Karabakh, as well as swathes of Azeri territory around, it in Armenian hands.

Baku previously said it had resettled some districts in Nagorno-Karabakh that it had retaken from Armenia after six weeks of fighting in 2020, in a programme that the authorities called the “big return”.

Armenia’s parliament has voted to join the international criminal court (ICC), obliging the former Soviet republic to arrest Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, if he were to visit the country.

Tuesday’s decision will further strain relations with Moscow, Armenia’s traditional ally. Ties are already badly damaged over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and Azerbaijan’s recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Kremlin last week warned Armenia that its decision to join the ICC, which has issued an arrest warrant for Putin for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children, was “extremely hostile”.

Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has tried to reassure Russia that his country is only addressing what it says are war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in the long-running conflict with its neighbour, and is not aiming at Moscow.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, on Tuesday described the Armenian decision to join the ICC as “inappropriate … from the point of view of our bilateral relations”.

Moscow “absolutely disagrees with … Pashinyan’s words that Armenia has decided to accede to the Rome statute [which established the ICC] because the tools of the CSTO [the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization] and Armenian-Russian partnership were not enough to ensure the country’s security”, he said.

“The Armenian side doesn’t have mechanisms better than those, and we are sure about that,” he said.

Pashinyan, in a speech last weekend to mark Armenia’s independence day, said “the security systems and the allies we have relied on for many years” were “ineffective”, and that the “instruments of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership” were “not enough to ensure Armenia’s external security”.

Peskov did not confirm whether Putin would avoid travelling to Armenia as a result of the parliament’s decision, but indicated that could be the case: “Of course, we wouldn’t like the president to have to abstain from visits to Armenia for any reasons.”

Russia, with a military base in Armenia, has long been its security guarantor, including managing tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh, but as Azerbaijan launched its offensive on the mountainous breakaway region, Moscow made clear its troops had no intention of intervening.

As Azerbaijani troops surrounded Nagrono-Karabkah, Pashinyan, criticised Moscow and questioned the effectiveness of the 2,000 Russian troops deployed since 2020 to keep the peace in the region.

Richard Giragosian, the head of the Regional Studies Centre in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, said the country’s decision to ratify the founding treaty of the ICC was the latest sign that Pashinyan was attempting to reduce Moscow’s influence.

“The ICC ratification by Armenia is mainly motivated by its desire to prepare legal challenges against Azerbaijan. But it also sends a clear message to Moscow,” he said. “It is part of a consistent escalation in measures taken by Armenia to stand up for itself and challenge its relationship with Moscow … Yerevan is seeking to diversify its security.”

Last month, Yerevan hosted US troops for an unprecedented joint military exercise. It has also sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, delivered personally by Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan.

France’s foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, flew to Armenia on Tuesday to assess the country’s urgent needs as it faced an influx of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and the risk of Azerbaijani military operations on its territory, diplomats said.

Putin’s inability to travel to Armenia, a country he last visited in 2022, is a glaring symbol of his waning influence in the South Caucasus.

The Russian leader skipped the Brics summit in South Africa in August amid speculation he could be detained under the ICC warrant.

“Russia’s role as a provider of security in its near-abroad has been severely diminished as a result of its disastrous war against Ukraine,” Alexander Gabuev, the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, in Berlin, wrote in the Financial Times recently. “The destabilising effects will continue to be felt across the vast Eurasian landmass.”

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan continues to arrest and charge Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership after its takeover of the region.

On Tuesday, Baku announced it had arrested two former heads of the breakaway region as well as the former parliament speaker. Azerbaijani state media said all three men had been transferred to Baku.

A day earlier, Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general, Kamran Aliyev, announced that the country had opened criminal cases against 300 separatist officials.

Last week, Azerbaijani border police detained Ruben Vardanyan, a prominent billionaire banker and philanthropist, who briefly held a top political job in Nagorno-Karabakh.

France has agreed to deliver military equipment to Armenia, according to an announcement made by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Tuesday.

“France has given its agreement to the conclusion of future contracts with Armenia which will allow the delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that it can ensure its defense,” Colonna told reporters in a joint news conference with Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan after talks that she said touched upon security and defense.

Colonna traveled to Armenia to assess the country’s urgent needs amid an influx of refugees from Karabakh following Azerbaijan’s counterterrorism operation.

The Caucasus neighbors have been locked in a deadly dispute over the enclave – internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but occupied by Armenia for over three decades – since the 1980s and fought two wars over the territory.

In 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.

Last month, Azerbaijan carried out an anti-terror operation to clear the territory to establish constitutional order in the region.

Illegal Armenian armed forces in Karabakh surrendered after the 24-hour operation.

Azerbaijan, having established full sovereignty in the region, has called on the Armenian population to become part of Azerbaijani society and vowed to protect their rights.

https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/france-to-send-military-equipment-to-armenia

The French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, is in Armenia today, to examine the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azerbaijan which until 2 weeks ago had a sizeable ethnic Armenian population. But now the enclave is empty, as more than 100,000 of its former residents have crossed the border and now live in Armenia.

• Richard GIRAGOSIAN, Director, Regional Studies Center
• Laurent LEYLEKIAN, Political Analyst
• Catherine NORRIS TRENT, FRANCE 24 Senior Correspondent
• Kavus Abushov, Associate Professor of Political Science, ADA University

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on a visit to Armenia on Tuesday that Paris agreed to deliver military equipment to the small South Caucasus nation.

Colonna travelled to Armenia after Azerbaijani forces last month swept through the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and secured the surrender of Armenian separatist forces that had controlled the mountainous region for decades. 

“France has given its agreement to the conclusion of future contracts with Armenia which will allow the delivery of military equipment to Armenia so that it can ensure its defence,” she told reporters after talks that she said touched upon security and defence.

France’s top diplomat declined to provide any details. 

“I can’t give many details. If I have to go a little further, know that there are things that were already agreed between Armenia and France and that are in progress,” Colonna said. 

“There is a second category of things that we can do with Armenia,” she added, noting that both countries did not seek an escalation in the region.

France, which has a large Armenian diaspora, has traditionally helped mediate the decades-old territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh.

Colonna also met with burn victims, many of them injured by a fuel depot explosion last month in the breakaway enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, in a hospital in Yerevan.

“You can count on our continued support,” Colonna said after the visit, promising that France would treat four victims who would be flown out this weekend.

“I’m honoured that our country is your closest, and perhaps most loyal, friend,” she told reporters.

Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said: “This humanitarian support, this human support, is very important.”

More than 100,000 refugees have fled Karabakh to Armenia since an Azerbaijani military offensive there last month.

During the exodus, a massive explosion on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Stepanakert killed 170 people and injured hundreds more.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP)

Stepanakert (Azerbaijan) (AFP) – Intact but abandoned, the capital of the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh lies eerily silent after the hasty departure of tens of thousands of residents.

Its name “Stepanakert” could be seen on a sign in Armenian letters in white on a red background, just beyond an Azerbaijani checkpoint on a road into the city.

Nearby, a bright-blue new road sign stands, reading “Khankendi” — the Azeri name for the former separatist stronghold at the heart of a 30-year conflict.

Nagorno-Karabakh surrendered to an Azerbaijani military offensive last month and since then almost the entire population of the territory has fled to Armenia.

Armenian separatists, who had controlled the region for three decades, agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Baku following a one-day Azerbaijani offensive.

The presence of the winning side is still discreet and only a few Azerbaijani police officers could be seen patrolling the city.

But the Azerbaijani mobile phone network already works perfectly in some areas and red cars of the country’s operator Bakcell could be seen at work at antenna masts.

Buildings, restaurants, hotels and supermarkets lay empty and deserted in a city that once had 55,000 inhabitants.

Many have been smashed up with empty shelves — signs of looting or hasty departures.

There is no longer any Armenian flag visible and the only civilian seen was a haggard man, carrying a scythe accompanied by a pack of six German shepherd dogs.

Its name “Stepanakert” could be seen on a sign in Armenian letters in white on a red background, just beyond an Azerbaijani checkpoint on a road into the city.

Nearby, a bright-blue new road sign stands, reading “Khankendi” — the Azeri name for the former separatist stronghold at the heart of a 30-year conflict.

Nagorno-Karabakh surrendered to an Azerbaijani military offensive last month and since then almost the entire population of the territory has fled to Armenia.

Armenian separatists, who had controlled the region for three decades, agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Baku following a one-day Azerbaijani offensive.

The presence of the winning side is still discreet and only a few Azerbaijani police officers could be seen patrolling the city.

But the Azerbaijani mobile phone network already works perfectly in some areas and red cars of the country’s operator Bakcell could be seen at work at antenna masts.

Buildings, restaurants, hotels and supermarkets lay empty and deserted in a city that once had 55,000 inhabitants.

Many have been smashed up with empty shelves — signs of looting or hasty departures.

There is no longer any Armenian flag visible and the only civilian seen was a haggard man, carrying a scythe accompanied by a pack of six German shepherd dogs.

But the separatist government said in a statement on Monday that some officials will stay until search operations for people killed and missing have been completed.

Danger is never far away in the city.

Some distance from the city, Azerbaijani officials brought a group of journalists to a field next to its former airport, currently a Russian peacekeeper base.

The officials said there were 100 hectares of cannabis there, which they said had been used to fund the separatist government.

Asked why the cannabis was growing next to a Russian base, interior ministry official Aykhan Mustafayev said: “An investigation is underway. We are not making any comment”.

As the officials were showing the cannabis field, a Russian military helicopter flew in and settled beyond the barbed wire on the landing strip of the former airport.

Admiring the surrounding scenery, Mustafayev said: “It is emotional. After years of sorrow, years of disbelief finally this is over.

“As the ministry of internal affairs, we can now establish control over the whole territory,” he said.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231002-ghostly-capital-of-karabakh-lies-abandoned

It’s from the former head chef of Mamakas Taverna

BY HELEN JACOB | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC SANTOS |  OCTOBER 2, 2023

Seb’s culinary education began at home, watching cooking shows. “I was that weird 11-year-old kid watching Emeril Lagasse on Saturday mornings while everyone else was watching cartoons,” he recalls. “I just fell in love with how you can speak through food.”

At 14, Seb became a prep cook in Massimo Capra’s kitchen. He was in the big leagues—and he was hooked. He went on to formally train at the Culinary Institute of America and Toronto’s Liaison College. “I never thought in a million years I’d have a restaurant with my two younger brothers. We sit down and have business meetings together. It’s cool. It’s different. I used to be like their co-parent after my mom passed, but now they’re my partners.”

The menu is adapted from Taline’s own recipes and tells the story of her upbringing. Seb has also incorporated the flavour of childhood memories: the taste of sweet cantaloupe on vacation in Armenia, the toasted sunflower seeds rolled up in newspapers and sold on street corners, and the arak that people often drink when fishing in Lebanon. The Yacoubians also have a hand in growing and selecting local ingredients—all the microgreens they use are grown hydroponically with the help of Krop in Vaughan, and they have their own beehive at Vosgi Honey in King City.

Taline has recently started bottling their own orange wine with local winemaker Norman Hardie. “In Armenia, it’s all about skin-contact wines,” says Seb, so an orange wine felt appropriate. They’re also in the process of producing their own arak, a flavoured spirit made of grapes and aniseed that’s prominent in the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean region. Keeping with the theme, cocktails play up flavours of tahini, orange blossom and fresh herbs.

The two-storey restaurant is soaked in warm lighting, and the olive-green, brown and copper tones represent Taline’s favourite colours. On the main floor, it’s all exposed brick and leather banquettes. Upstairs, decorated ceilings and stained-glass windows frame a gorgeous skylight. Custom art by Toronto-based husband-and-wife duo Karagusi line the walls, and a seven-foot-tall olive tree is the room’s centrepiece.

https://torontolife.com/food/whats-on-the-menu-at-taline-armenian-restaurant-rosedale/