14:34, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan awarded the outgoing United States Defense Attaché Colonel Gregory Pipes with the medal “For Military Cooperation” during a farewell meeting on August 4, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

“On August 4, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan received Defense Attaché of the U.S. Embassy to the Republic of Armenia, Colonel Gregory Pipes on the occasion of the expiration of mission,” the ministry said in the readout of the meeting. “The Minister of Defense expressed gratitude to Colonel Gregory Pipes for cooperation and wished him success in his further career.
Minister Papikyan awarded Colonel Pipes with the medal “For Military Cooperation” for his great contribution to the development of Armenian-American cooperation in the defense sphere,” the ministry added.

 15:36, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Canada has called on Azerbaijan to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice and to allow free passage along Lachin Corridor.

“Canada is concerned with the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. We call on Azerbaijan to comply with the order of the ICJ to allow the free transit of people and goods in the Lachin corridor and urge all sides to continue peaceful dialogue,” the Canadian Foreign Ministry said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.

 15:45, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST4, ARMENPRESS/ARTSAKHPRESS.  68-year-old Vagif Khachatryan, who was being transferred from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to Armenia for treatment by the International Committee of the Red Cross, has not contacted any of his family members since his abduction by Azerbaijan on July 29, Vagif Khachatryan’s daughter, Tsovinar Khachatryan, told Artsakhpress. 

“We go to the Stepanakert office of the Red Cross several times a day, and my sister to their office in Yerevan to find out any information. They tell us they have no information. They say that they are negotiating to see my father, but so far it has been unsuccessful,” Tsovinar Khachatryan said.

The representative of the Red Cross called only at midnight on July 29 and informed that Vagif Khachatryan was in a hospital in Baku, where he was connected to artificial ventilation machine.

According to Tsovinar Khachatryan, her father has health problems and she once again urged the international institutions to respond to their requests and urgently return her father to the homeland in order to save his life.

The Office of the Human Rights Defender of Azerbaijan published a statement yesterday claiming that Ombudsperson Sabina Aliyeva met Vagif Khachatryan personally. According to the report, Khachatryan allegedly “expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan state for the treatment, conditions of detention and the opportunity to contact his family.” But the family had actually no contact at all with Khachatryan, whom even the Red Cross hasn’t visited after July 29.

On August 2, prominent Armenian attorney Siranush Sahakyan ruled out due process in Azerbaijan regarding Vagif Khachatryan. She said that the kidnapping of Vagif Khachatryan by Azerbaijan constitutes extraordinary rendition in terms of international law.

The Nagorno-Karabakh resident’s kidnapping has been condemned by the Armenian foreign ministry as a war crime.

Vagif Khachatryan’s daughter revealed earlier this week that the Azeri border guards threatened the ICRC staff with force at the illegal checkpoint in Lachin Corridor. She denied the charges against her father and asked for international support to achieve his release.

 16:11, 4 August 2023

KORNIDZOR, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Representatives of a number of humanitarian and children’s rights organizations operating in Armenia have visited the border area of Kornidzor, where humanitarian aid trucks intended for Nagorno-Karabakh are still blocked. 19 trucks with 361 tons of humanitarian aid sent by the Armenian government, as well as 2 trucks loaded with confectionaries from the candy-producer “Grand Candy”, continue to stand in the border area of Kornidzor, near the entrance to the Lachin Corridor, because Azerbaijan prohibits their entry into Nagorno-Karabakh.

The representatives of the organizations are accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, Anna Zhamkochyan.

“We consider this an act of genocide. The object of our concern are the 30,000 children who live in Artsakh and are currently deprived of food and medicine. Families are separated. All children’s rights have been violated, and it is our expectation that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible, and measures will be taken to open the corridor,” Knarik Garamfilyan, the president of the Armenian Child Protection Network (CPN) said during an interview.

Mira Antonyan, the representative of the Child Protection Center of the “Fund for Armenian Relief” noted that their organization is a member of the Eurochild organization where specialists who deal with child protection issues are united.

“We are extremely concerned, and we want to inform our international partners and ask them to knock on all possible doors, to deliver the messages that 30 thousand children cannot starve in broad daylight, in front of the eyes of the world. The children of Artsakh have the same rights and opportunities as all the children of the world,” Antonyan said.

 16:57, 4 August 2023

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Demonstrators in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) plan to organize a peaceful march towards Hakari Bridge where Azerbaijan has installed an illegal checkpoint and is keeping Lachin Corridor blockaded.

The demonstrators have formed an organization called the People’s Movement for Unblocking of the Corridor to organize the rally.

Artur Osipyan, a member of the movement, told ARMENPRESS that they see a solution to the situation through peaceful struggle.

“Based on the current situation, a large number of peaceful, unarmed residents can go to Hakari and resolve the issues on the ground, meaning to negotiate. This doesn’t mean that we are renouncing the state bodies of Artsakh, contrary to the opinions claiming that with this step we’d be doing what Aliyev told us to do. That’s not so. With this people’s movement we are once again raising the issues that we’ve raised before, to show that there are no criminals in Artsakh who’ve usurped power and are dictating their will, but that the people and the government actually concur in all the matters concerning the self-determination and the status of Artsakh. This movement is an independent people’s movement. This is a new idea of pan-national movement, that we must go and unblock the corridor ourselves,” Osipyan said.

He said that they want to rally thousands of citizens and unblock the corridor because the Russian peacekeepers and the international community are not resolving the issue.

Osipyan did not provide timeframes of the expected march.

‘We will announce the rally when we’ll see that the majority of the society is ready for it,” he said.

Van Novikov

 17:04, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan has held a meeting with the outgoing Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin.

The Ministry of Defense said in a readout that Papikyan and Wiktorin discussed “a number of issues related to the activity of the EU monitoring mission and regional security.”

 17:13, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General’s special representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia has expressed serious concern over the deteriorating situation around Lachin Corridor.

“Deeply troubled by the deteriorating situation surrounding the Lachin corridor. Key to ensure freedom of movement & address pressing humanitarian needs. NATO encourages all stakeholders to redouble efforts towards reaching a negotiated agreement,” the NATO Secretary General’s envoy for South Caucasus said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.  

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.

 17:54, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, 4 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 4 August, USD exchange rate up by 0.11 drams to 386.29 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.47 drams to 422.72 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.05 drams to 4.06 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.23 drams to 490.55 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 99.31 drams to 24039.83 drams. Silver price down by 10.53 drams to 292.54 drams.

 18:00, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has offered condolences to his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili on the deadly landslide in the region of Racha.

“I am deeply shocked by the deadly and devastating disaster in Georgia’s Racha region. On behalf of the people and government of Armenia, I express condolences and support to you and the brotherly people of Georgia. I wish resilience to the families and friends of the victims, and speedy recovery to those injured. We share the deep sorrow of the brotherly Georgian people at this difficult time,” Pashinyan said in a telegram sent to Garibashvili.

 18:22, 4 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. There are no Armenians among the victims of the landslide in Georgia according to the latest information, the Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan told ARMENPRESS.

“There are no citizens of the Republic of Armenia in the list of victims officially published by the Georgian authorities as of this moment,” Badalian said.

At least six people died in Georgia in a landslide at the Shovi resort in the Racha area on August 3, RFE/RL’s Georgian Service reported citing the Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry. 140 people have been rescued so far, with 35 people still missing.