The incident came a day after Armenia accused treaty ally Russia of “absolute indifference” towards attacks on its territory.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of massing forces close to the border, and striking its positions using drones, mortars and small arms fire. Azerbaijan denied gathering forces, but said it was taking “retaliatory measures”.

Reuters was unable to verify the reports.

Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but inhabited primarily by ethnic Armenians, has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century.

The incident came a day after Armenia accused treaty ally Russia of “absolute indifference” towards attacks on its territory.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of massing forces close to the border, and striking its positions using drones, mortars and small arms fire. Azerbaijan denied gathering forces, but said it was taking “retaliatory measures”.

Reuters was unable to verify the reports.

Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but inhabited primarily by ethnic Armenians, has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century.

The incident came a day after Armenia accused treaty ally Russia of “absolute indifference” towards attacks on its territory.

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of massing forces close to the border, and striking its positions using drones, mortars and small arms fire. Azerbaijan denied gathering forces, but said it was taking “retaliatory measures”.

Reuters was unable to verify the reports.

Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but inhabited primarily by ethnic Armenians, has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbours since before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century.

Fresh border clashes have erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with both sides having sustained casualties.

The fighting broke out around their common border, northwest of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, on Friday.

According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry, four of its troops had been killed and another wounded in shelling near the border villages of Sotk and Norabak.

Azerbaijan’s authorities said Armenia had struck the country’s positions across the border in the Kalbajar region, using drones, wounding three soldiers.

“We declare that all responsibility for the tension and its consequences lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia,” Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said. 

Nagorno-Karabakh has been at the center of a dispute between Baku and Yerevan for more than three decades.

Since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, the two neighboring countries have fought two wars, in 1994 and 2020, over the mountainous territory.

Karabakh, while acknowledged as a part of Azerbaijan by the international community, has a predominantly Armenian population that has persistently opposed Azerbaijani governance since a separatist war in 1994.

In 2020, a new conflict erupted in Karabakh resulting in the loss of over 6,500 lives from both sides within a six-week period. The war concluded with a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia, which led to Yerevan relinquishing control over significant portions of Azerbaijani territory that it had held for many years.

Accusations of ceasefire breaches are regularly exchanged between both parties.

Tensions remain high and skirmishes along the shared border are a regular occurrence despite mediation efforts by the European Union, United States and Russia.

Russia brokered a peace deal between the two sides in November 2020 an end to a 44-day war in the region. It has since deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers.

European Union Council President Charles Michel, who mediated another round of peace talks between the two countries, stated on July 15 that peace and normalization of ties between Azerbaijan and Armenia could be achieved if both sides avoid violence and harsh rhetoric.

“Real progress depends on the next steps that will need to be taken in the near future. As a matter of priority, violence, and harsh rhetoric should stop in order to provide the proper environment for peace and normalization talks,” Michel said.

Arayik Harutyunyan has resigned as de facto president of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, effective on September 1.

He made the announcement on Facebook on August 31, posting: “I made this final decision two days ago, taking into account my contacts in the past weeks with all domestic and foreign actors and the public.”

There had been speculation for weeks about his possible resignation and he openly mused about it amid demonstrations this week in the region’s de facto capital, Stepanakert. 

Harutyunyan took office in May 2020. Together with leaders of the Republic of Armenia, he oversaw the Armenian side’s defeat in the Second Karabakh War in fall of that year which saw the de facto statelet lose most of the territory it claimed. 

The remaining area controlled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (usually referred to as Artsakh by Armenians) has been under Azerbaijani blockade since December 2022, and that blockade has been total or near-total since June 2023.

The resulting shortages of foodstuffs and essential supplies contributed to growing frustration with Harutyunyan’s rule. 

In his resignation announcement, Harutyunyan wrote that the “unstable geopolitical situation” and “Artsakh’s internal political and social environment” required a more flexible approach to the region’s future that could start with his departure.

“My biography and Azerbaijan’s attitude towards it artificially create a number of conditions that cause significant problems from the point of view of building our next steps and conducting a flexible policy. In addition, the defeat in the war and the subsequent difficulties in the country have significantly reduced the trust in the authorities, especially the president, which has seriously hindered the further course of proper governance,” said the former president.

Azerbaijan declared Harutyunyan a “terrorist” during the 2020 war for allegedly ordering the shelling of civilians. Baku initiated a criminal case against him and placed him on an international wanted list.

Before stepping down, Harutyunyan pushed through a constitutional amendment that enabled Karabakh’s legislature to elect an interim president in case of the incumbent’s early resignation. 

Hence, the National Assembly will elect an interim president within ten days to serve out the rest of Harutyunyan’s term ending 2025.

Along with his resignation, Harutyunyan also dismissed Gurgen Nersisyan as state minister, which is the second-highest-ranking executive position in the territory. Shortly afterward, Artak Beglaryan announced he was stepping down as advisor to the state minister. 

Harutyunyan named Samvel Shahramanyan, the former Security Council secretary who also headed the team negotiating with Azerbaijan earlier in March, as the new state minister.

The Ruben Vardanyan factor

The former president’s loudest and most influential critic was Ruben Vardanyan, a Russian-Armenian billionaire who moved to Nagorno-Karabakh last September in order to take on a leadership role. 

Harutyunyan appointed him to the newly empowered position of state minister but sacked him from that post in February, after just four months in the job.

In a Facebook video address on August 19, Vardanyan, who has remained in Karabakh, demanded Harutyunyan’s resignation, claiming that he had reneged on several previous promises to step down. 

The address came after a group of civilian militia supportive of Harutyunyan entered the parliament building in an apparent show of force against opponents calling for his resignation.  

That event in turn took place two weeks after the de facto parliament had elected MP Davit Ishkhanyan, an opponent of Harutyunyan’s and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun, as its new speaker. 

Tigran Grigoryan, a Karabakh native and the president of the Regional Center of Democracy and Security in Yerevan, told RFE/RL that Harutyunyan’s resignation resulted from pressure from Vardanyan and the region’s still-influential former presidents. 

“Vardanyan consolidated the former presidents and their supporters, as well as the opposition parties in Karabakh, and their collective demand compelled Harutyunyan to resign,” he said. 

He was referring to former de facto presidents Bako Sahakyan (in office 2007-20) and Arkadi Ghukasyan (1997-2007), who are broadly considered to be allied with the former presidents of the Republic of Armenia (Robert Kocharyan and Serj Sargsyan) that are now in opposition there. 

Grigoryan noted rumors that Samvel Shahramanyan, the newly appointed state minister, would be chosen by MPs as the new president. 

“They’re transitioning to create a collective body, consisting of the former leaders and security forces, as the new decision-maker. Shahramanyan is not an independent political figure but rather a representative of the group,” he said, adding that it’s still unclear what effect the change in leadership will have on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

BRUSSELS 

European Council President Charles Michel’s office said on Friday that the EU had proposed a plan to “gradually reopen” the Lachin road linking the Karabakh region to Armenia, as well as the Aghdam-Khankendi road. 

Michel’s team and the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, “have been in frequent contact with Baku, Yerevan, and representatives of Karabakh Armenians to work out a solution for unblocking access” between Karabakh and Armenia, Michel’s spokesperson, Ecaterina Casinge, said in a statement.

“Michel has proposed a step-by-step approach which would reflect a sequencing in the full-fledged operation of the Lachin corridor and the opening of the Agdam route,” Casinge further said.

According to the EU’s position, “the Lachin corridor must be unblocked” in line with the decision of the Hague-based International Court of Justice, she stressed.

The EU diplomats also noted that the use of the alternative Aghdam-Khankendi road, suggested earlier by Azerbaijan, “to provide supplies can also be part of a concrete and sustainable solution to the provision of urgent and daily basic needs.”

The EU side has also argued for addressing “legacies of the conflict to facilitate a long-term sustainable resolution” beyond the current situation, Casinge explained.

Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region.

In April, Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint to prevent the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.

According to Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, the “wide-range abuse of the Lachin road by Armenia over past three years necessitated Azerbaijan’s legitimate and legal action of establishing a border check-point.”

Armenia accused Azerbaijan of causing a “humanitarian crisis” in the region that Baku denied, proposing the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road for shipments to the region.

Michel, who presides over meetings of EU leaders and represents the bloc in international affairs, has made significant diplomatic efforts for reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan following their conflict in 2020.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

AFP , Friday 1 Sep 2023

Armenia said that two of its servicemen were killed and one wounded on Friday after Azerbaijan fired at its positions near the town of Sotk, close to the border.

Tensions between Baku and Yerevan have escalated sharply in recent months, as both sides accuse the other of violating agreements and cross-border gunfire.

“As a result of firing by the Azerbaijani army in the direction of Armenian positions located in the Sotk area, there are two dead and one wounded on the Armenian side,” Armenia’s defence ministry said.

The incident marks another setback to the tenuous peace process between the two ex-Soviet republics, which have for decades been locked in a bitter dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Yerevan and Baku have fought two wars for control over the region, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians.

The two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, United States and Russia.

Azerbaijan accused Armenia of building up troops along the two countries’ volatile borders in August, while Armenia accused Azerbaijan’s military of opening fire on European Union observers.

Separatist authorities in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said in June that four Armenian soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani fire in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan summoned France’s ambassador Thursday and condemned its “direct interference” in Nagorno-Karabakh after several French councils sent a humanitarian aid convoy to blockaded Armenians in the enclave.

Baku has been accused of blocking the Lachin corridor – the only road link between the enclave and Armenia – since December, cutting off Armenian-populated settlements in the disputed breakaway region.

Azerbaijan said it had set up checkpoints on the short mountainous road for “security reasons”, while Yerevan has demanded that the UN intervene to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

On Wednesday, several French politicians, including Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, joined a 10-lorry humanitarian convoy financed by French local councils, which was stopped from entering the enclave.

Hidalgo wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “no humanitarian aid can get into” Nagorno-Karabakh “in total violation of human rights”.

“This is a humanitarian crisis.”

The stand-off has riled Azerbaijan, which summoned the French ambassador Thursday.

“The ambassador received a note of protest over vehicles being sent to the Lachin border post… under the cover of ‘a humanitarian convoy’,” Baku said in a statement.

It also condemned the “provocative declarations (of French politicians) against Azerbaijan”, which they said were stirred up by a “campaign of lies and manipulation by Armenia”, a historic French ally.

• Azerbaijan rebukes France for ‘failure and inaction’ over Armenia
• France sends emergency aid to Armenian community in Nagorno-Karabakh

“This constitutes direct French interference in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs,” it added.

The Caucasus neighbours have been locked in a deadly dispute over the enclave – internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan – since the 1980s and fought two wars over the territory.

The second, in 2020, saw the defeat of Armenian forces and significant territorial gains for Azerbaijan.

Faced with international criticism, Baku insists that the Lachin corridor is not blocked to civilians, and said earlier this week that it was itself sending an aid convoy to Nagorno-Karabakh.

(AFP)

A Brentwood intersection was dedicated Thursday as Republic of Artsakh Square in an effort to raise awareness of the Azerbaijan blockade of Artsakh and its impacts.

The City Council voted in May to designate the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue as Republic of Artsakh Square in honor of the embattled region that has great meaning for Southern California’s vast Armenian community.

Azerbaijan’s Los Angeles consulate is located at the intersection..

“Azerbaijan’s dictator has explicitly threatened genocide and called for the expulsion of all Armenians from territories he claims, once again threatening the annihilation of the Armenian people in their ancient homeland,” City Council President Paul Krekorian said in a statement when the council approved the designation of the intersection.

A Brentwood intersection was dedicated Thursday as Republic of Artsakh Square in an effort to raise awareness of the Azerbaijan blockade of Artsakh and its impacts.

The City Council voted in May to designate the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue as Republic of Artsakh Square in honor of the embattled region that has great meaning for Southern California’s vast Armenian community.

Azerbaijan’s Los Angeles consulate is located at the intersection..

“Azerbaijan’s dictator has explicitly threatened genocide and called for the expulsion of all Armenians from territories he claims, once again threatening the annihilation of the Armenian people in their ancient homeland,” City Council President Paul Krekorian said in a statement when the council approved the designation of the intersection.

Azerbaijan Consul General Ramil Gurbanov issued a statement Thursday expressing his “deep concern regarding the decision of the Los Angeles City Council to name the intersection of Wilshire and Granville streets as “republic of artsakh square” and unveiling of street signs. This provocative act goes against international law, the spirit of peace, and confidence-building in the region and undermines the efforts of international diplomacy.”

https://mynewsla.com/life/2023/09/01/brentwood-intersection-dedicated-as-republic-of-artsakh-square-2/