AW: Exhibit featuring Saroyan artworks opens at Armenian Museum

Emil Lazarian
July 27, 2023 Armenian Museum of America Art, Diaspora, Announcements 0

Drawn on the back of a menu from “The Ararat” restaurant in New York City on February 21, 1969, this watercolor by William Saroyan was donated to the Armenian Museum of America by Joan Agajanian Quinn.

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Following the donation of Ruben Amirian’s “Homage to Mesrop Mashtots,” a 14-foot composite work celebrating the Armenian alphabet, art collector and museum trustee Joan Agajanian Quinn has gifted two watercolors by literary genius William Saroyan and two drawings from his son Aram Saroyan to the Armenian Museum of America. All five works are now on display in the new exhibit “My Name Is Saroyan,” inspired by Armenian literary culture both past and present.

“After the success of our 2022 exhibition ‘On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s-1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection’ at the Armenian Museum, the Quinn family is happy to broaden the museum’s collection of contemporary artists with these donations,” explains Quinn. “We continue to be impressed with the way the museum displays Armenian art which spans the time frame from ancient to modern times. The contemporary exhibits on the third floor have been professionally and artistically compared to the top museums in the country.” 

Quinn is the co-host of “Beverly Hills View” and has been the producer and host of the “Joan Quinn Profiles” for more than 35 years. The Los Angeles native was west coast editor of Andy Warhol’s Interview, society editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the founding west coast editor of Condé Nast Traveler.

The Quinns have loaned art to museums all over the world, including the Louvre, MoMA, LACMA, Museum of Arts and Design, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Fresno Art Museum, Hammer Museum and the Huntington Art Museum. Part of the extensive Quinn family collection was loaned to the Armenian Museum for the exhibits “On the Edge” and “Discovering Takouhi: Portraits of Joan Agajanian Quinn,” which showcases contemporary Armenian artists.

“There’s a long tradition of contemporary exhibitions here at the Armenian Museum and the last few shows have taken things to new heights,” says executive director Jason Sohigian. “‘On the Edge’ was very well received, and we opened a new exhibition, ‘Ara Oshagan: Disrupted, Borders,’ that fits perfectly with our permanent collection, from manuscripts to diaspora and cultural identity, and even Artsakh with the installation of the ‘Shushi Portraits’ series. On top of this, the new exhibition of four Saroyan works adds more excitement to the Adele and Haig Der Manuelian Galleries.”

One of the most prominent American-Armenian literary figures of the 20th century, William Saroyan also wrote music and painted throughout his life. Visual works from his later years, like the watercolors currently on display in “My Name Is Saroyan,” have been compared to the Abstract Expressionism made famous through figures like Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author has artworks in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Weisman Art Museum of Minneapolis, among others. 

Earlier this month, the Armenian Museum’s Sound Archive released a rare and previously unknown recording of William Saroyan singing at the home of the writer Hamasdegh in 1939. The seven-minute recording, digitized and restored from a lacquer disc, is available on the museum’s website under “Virtual Resources.”

Succinct and provocative, Aram Saroyan’s brand of minimalism is reflected in a range of media, including his two Uchida marker drawings displayed in “My Name Is Saroyan.” The son of William Saroyan, Aram is an artist, poet, novelist, memoirist and playwright, having made his debut with six poems and a book review in the 1964 issue of Poetry. He became famous for his one-word or “minimal” poems, a form he developed in the 1960s that is often linked to Concrete poetry. Saroyan’s honors include the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He resides in Los Angeles.

Ruben Amirian’s “Homage to Mesrop Mashtots,” currently exhibited alongside William and Aram Saroyan at the Armenian Museum, contains 38 canvases representing the letters of the Armenian alphabet. Each canvas is 12 by 16 inches. Assembled altogether, the series extends to an impressive 14 feet wide by four feet high.

The Armenian Museum of America’s galleries are open Thursday through Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and is located at 65 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts.

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The Armenian Museum of America is the largest Armenian museum in the Diaspora. It has grown into a major repository for all forms of Armenian material culture that illustrate the creative endeavors of the Armenian people over the centuries. Today, the Museum’s collections hold more than 25,000 artifacts including 5,000 ancient and medieval Armenian coins, 1,000 stamps and maps, 30,000 books, 3,000 textiles and 180 Armenian inscribed rugs, and an extensive collection of Urartian and religious artifacts, ceramics, medieval illuminations and various other objects. The collection includes historically significant objects, including five of the Armenian Bibles printed in Amsterdam in 1666.


RFE/Rl Armenian Service – 07/27/2023

Lilit Nahapetian 
                                        Thursday, July 27, 2023
Azerbaijan Blocks Armenian Aid Convoy To Karabakh
July 27, 2023
Armenia - Trucks carrying food aid to Nagorno-Karabakh approach the Lachin 
corridor, July 26, 2023.
Azerbaijan refused on Wednesday to allow a convoy of trucks to deliver emergency 
food aid provided by Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin corridor 
that has been blocked by Baku for more than seven months.
The Armenian government announced on Tuesday that it will try to send 360 tons 
of flour, cooking oil, sugar and other basic foodstuffs to Karabakh to alleviate 
severe food shortages there caused by the blockade. Government officials 
expressed hope that Russian peacekeepers will escort the relief supplies to the 
Armenian-populated region.
Nineteen Armenian trucks carrying them reached the entrance to the Lachin 
corridor late in the afternoon but remained stranded there in the following 
hours, with Baku refusing to let them though an Azerbaijani checkpoint 
controversially set up there in April.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry condemned the aid convoy as a “provocation” and 
“encroachment” on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. A senior aide to 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Yerevan should renounce “territorial 
claims” to his country and stop impeding the restoration of Azerbaijani control 
over Karabakh.
The official, Hikmet Hajyev, said Karabakh should be supplied with basic 
necessities from Azerbaijan proper and the town of Aghdam in particular. “There 
is no other way!” tweeted Hajiyev.
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership has rejected the proposed Azerbaijani 
supply line. It maintains that Baku should comply with a Russian-brokered 
ceasefire that mandates unfettered commercial traffic through the only road 
connecting Karabakh to Armenia.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended the attempted 
delivery of the humanitarian aid.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the situation that Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh 
are currently facing,” Pashinian wrote in a late-night tweet. “The 360 tons of 
vitally important foodstuff sent to Nagorno-Karabakh is exclusively for 
humanitarian purposes.”
The shortages of food, medicine, fuel and other essential items in Karabakh have 
worsened significantly since Baku completely blocked on June 15 relief supplies 
that were carried out by the Russian peacekeepers and the International 
Committee of the Red Cross.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said last week that Karabakh is “on 
the verge of starvation” and called for stronger international pressure on Baku.
Yerevan Disputes Lavrov’s Claim
July 27, 2023
        • Artak Khulian
Russia - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets his Armenian counterpart 
Ararat Mirzoyan, Moscow, July 25, 2023.
Official Yerevan has denied Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s implicit 
claim that he discussed with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts the 
possible return of ethnic Azerbaijanis who had fled Soviet Armenia in the late 
1980s.
Speaking after their trilateral meeting in Moscow held on Tuesday, Lavrov said 
they discussed “the problem of guaranteeing the rights and security of the 
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of ensuring the territorial 
integrity of Azerbaijan.” He said Yerevan “understands the need to convince the 
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh” to reach agreements with Baku stemming from 
international conventions on ethnic minorities.
“The Azerbaijani side is ready to provide such guarantees on a mutual basis to 
persons living on its territory. The Armenians are ready to do the same 
regarding the application of all conventions to citizens living in the Republic 
of Armenia,” added Lavrov.
Lavrov’s remarks were construed by Armenian observes as a linkage between the 
status of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population and the return of Armenia’s 
former Azerbaijani residents officially or unofficially demanded by Baku.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan rejected the linkage on Thursday. In written 
comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Mirzoyan said ensuring the rights and 
security of Karabakh’s “indigenous” residents is a “completely different” issue.
“It cannot in any way be related to the topic of the rights of ‘citizens living’ 
in the Republic of Armenia’ provided for by international obligations and fully 
protected by the Republic of Armenia,” he said.
Russia - The foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan meet in Moscow, 
July 25, 2023.
“At the last trilateral meeting in Moscow, there was no discussion, let alone 
agreement, beyond this logic,” added Mirzoyan.
An Armenian ambassador-at-large, Edmon Marukian, said late on Wednesday that 
Yerevan could discuss the sensitive issue only in conjunction with the fate of 
at least 100,000 ethnic Armenians who fled Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan in 
1988-1991.
Tigran Grigorian, a Yerevan-based analyst, was unconvinced by these assurances. 
He said the language used by Lavrov marked another diplomatic setback for 
Armenia.
“We are dealing with the incompetence of Armenian diplomacy,” Grigorian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Baku has been pushing its demands through some loyal natives of Armenia who 
describe themselves as the leaders of “the community of Western Azerbaijan.” 
They claimed last week that their return to Armenia was on the agenda of 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s July 15 meeting with Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian held in Brussels.
Pashinian said on Tuesday that the fate of these Azerbaijanis cannot be linked 
to the issue of the Karabakh Armenians’ “rights and security.” “It is 
proportionate instead to the topic of the security and rights of Armenians from 
Baku, Sumgait, Gyanja or Nakhichevan,” he told reporters.
EU Presses Azerbaijan To Lift Karabakh’s Blockade
July 27, 2023
Belgium - European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks with the 
media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in 
Brussels, June 29, 2023.
Azerbaijan must reopen the Lachin corridor, the European Union said on Wednesday 
night, expressing serious concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The European Union is deeply concerned about the serious humanitarian situation 
affecting the local population in the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous 
Oblast,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in a statement. “The 
movement through the Lachin corridor remains obstructed for more than seven 
months, despite Orders by the International Court of Justice to reopen it.”
“Medical supplies and essential goods are in short supply or have already run 
out, with dire consequences for the local population. It is incumbent on the 
Azerbaijani authorities to guarantee safety and freedom of movement along the 
Lachin corridor imminently and not to permit the crisis to escalate further,” 
added Borrell.
Like the United States and Russia, the EU has repeatedly called for an end to 
the crippling blockade of Karabakh’s only land link with Armenia and the outside 
world. Borrell’s statement is the most strongly-worded of its appeals made to 
date.
Azerbaijan rejected the statement on Thursday, saying that it is based on “the 
Armenian side’s false propaganda.” “Presenting legitimate actions of Azerbaijan 
as a closure of the Lachin road is fundamentally wrong,” said Aykhan Hajizade, 
the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Nagorno-Karabakh - Empty shelves at a supermarket in Stepanakert, July 20, 2023.
Hajizade insisted on a different, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route for 
Karabakh proposed by Baku and rejected by Karabakh’s leadership as a cynical 
ploy designed to facilitate the restoration of Azerbaijani control over the 
Armenian-populated region.
Borrell stressed in this regard that while the EU “took note” of the Azerbaijani 
proposal it “should not be seen as an alternative to the reopening of the Lachin 
corridor.”
The EU official made the appeal shortly after the Azerbaijani side refused to 
allow a convoy of 19 Armenian trucks carrying 360 tons of food aid for Karabakh 
residents to pass through a checkpoint which it controversially set up in the 
Lachin corridor in April.
The trucks sent by the Armenian government remained stuck near the checkpoint on 
Thursday. EU monitors deployed along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan visited 
the area on Wednesday.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian condemned Baku’s refusal to let the aid 
convoy through. He said Yerevan still hopes it will be allowed to proceed to 
Stepanakert. The Azerbaijani authorities’ failure to do so would lend credence 
to “concerns about Baku's intention to commit genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh,” 
Pashinian added during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Armenia Reports Surge In Tax Revenue From Re-Exporters
July 27, 2023
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- The entrance to the State Revenue Committee headquarters in Yerevan, 
November 29, 2018.
Taxes paid by Armenian companies importing cars, mobile phones and other 
consumer electronics increased drastically in the first half of this year, a 
further sign that they are taking advantage of Western economic sanctions 
against Russia.
They are believed to be among local firms that have been re-exporting 
Western-manufactured goods to Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. 
Such trade operations explain why Armenia’s overall exports to Russia tripled 
last year and January-May 2023, translating into double-digit economic growth in 
the South Caucasus country.
According to the State Revenue Committee (SRC), the largest network of mobile 
phone shops in Armenia paid 15.8 billion drams ($40 million) in taxes in the 
first half of 2023, or nearly as much as it did in the whole of 2022. As a 
result, the company running the network, Mobile Center, became the country’s 
sixth largest corporate taxpayer. Its tax contributions totaled only 4.4 billion 
drams in 2021.
Vesta, a major electronics chain, is seventh in the first-half tax rankings 
released by the SRC this week. The tax and customs services collected 15.7 
billion drams from it, or twice as much as in 2022.
Suren Parsian, an economic analyst, said on Thursday that their extra revenue 
was generated not only by re-exports but also Russian consumers buying such 
goods during trips to Armenia.
Armenian firms importing Western cars posted similarly sharp gains in their 
revenue. Avangard Motors, the local dealer of Germany’s Mercedes-Benz, paid 3.7 
billion drams in first-half taxes, up from just 900 million drams in 2021. The 
tax contributions of the Toyota Yerevan car dealership likewise rose from 2.3 
billion drams in 2021 to about 5 billion drams ($13 million) in January-June 
2023.
Both Mercedes-Benz and Toyota stopped directly supplying their cars to Russia 
following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Armenia - Car carrier trailers line up near a customs terminal outside Gyumri, 
March 13, 2023
The SRC recorded last year a nearly six-fold increase in the number of mostly 
second-hand cars imported to Armenia. Its customs division struggled to cope 
with the rapid growth which has continued this year.
The Armenian government has faced in recent months strong pressure from the 
United States and the European Union to curb the re-export of hi-tech goods and 
components which the Western powers say could be used by the Russian defense 
industry. The government announced in late May that Armenian exporters will now 
need government permission to deliver microchips, transformers, video cameras, 
antennas and other electronic equipment to Russia.
James O’Brien, the sanctions coordinator at the U.S. State Department, visited 
Yerevan late last month to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
and other Armenian officials.
Pashinian said in May that despite its “strategic” relations with Russia, 
Armenia “cannot afford to be placed under Western sanctions.” “Therefore, in our 
relations with Russia we will act on a scale that allows us to avoid Western 
sanctions,” he said.
So far Washington has blacklisted only on one functioning Armenian company for 
allegedly helping Russia evade the sanctions. The Yerevan-based company, 
Medisar, imported chemicals and laboratory equipment from the U.S. as well as 
the EU.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Intentional Starvation in East Could Ensnare West

Boris Nahapetian 
27/id/1128670/ 
Demonstrators in support of Karabakh demanding the reopening of a blockaded
road linking the Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia, and to decry crisis
conditions in the region, in Yerevan: July 25, 2023. Karabakh has been at
the centre of a decades-long dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which
have fought two wars. (Karen Minasyan/AFP via Getty Images)
By Brig Gen (ret) Blaine Holt Thursday, 27 July 2023 06:47 AM EDT ET Current
| Bio | Archive
Perceiving a threat to his power (1932-1933), then-Russian leader Joseph
Vissarionovich Stalin implemented policies in motion to bring agrarian
satellite state, Ukraine, to heel.
The Holodomor (Ukrainian: "Death by Hunger") was a man-made famine killing
millions of Ukrainians.
Stalin's message to the rest of the Soviet States and Russians was
chillingly clear.
Looking the other way is a key ingredient in mass murders.
As the peasants in the world's former breadbasket resorted to suicides and
cannibalism, as a result of the Russian Army enforced famine, Moscow-based
correspondents (mostly American) denied the horrors, refusing to consider
reporting on the genocide until it was far too late.
When pressed by fellow denier, Ralph Barnes of the Herald Tribune, The New
York Times' Walter Duranty would say, "What are a few million dead Russians
in a situation like this? Quite unimportant.
"This is just an incident in the sweeping historical changes here. I think
the entire matter is exaggerated."
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there has been some form of war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In 2020, the Russians brokered a ceasefire with Armenia ceding five of seven
districts in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Russians have deployed so-called "peacekeepers" to the region since
then.
An uneasy ceasefire ensued for the Armenian population, that is, until
December of 2022.
(Additional/comparative background may be found here and here.)
That is when the Azeri's enacted an illegal blockade of the enclave,
inhibiting the flow of goods and people along the Lachin corridor, the
lifeline to greater Armenia.
Russia ignored the blockade along with most of Europe, while Azerbaijan
helped both, in re-labeling Russian gas as Azeri so Europe could skirt its
own sanctions on Russia.
In mid-June, the Azeri's did the unimaginable, tightening the noose,
blocking all food, energy and medical supplies from reaching the enclave.
Using the Russia-Ukraine War as convenient camouflage, Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev is taking a chapter from the Stalin playbook.
Where Stalin killed millions, Aliyev only need "eliminate" 120,000 (30,000
children) and potentially the enclave becomes Azerbaijan's.
The weakest are dropping.
Over this past weekend, a woman living in Nagorno-Karabakh we will call
"Anna," gave this writer a very dark account of the fate now befalling her
community.
Perhaps the state employed priest knew what was ahead when the blockade
began.
He announced to the people that he would pray for them to be blessed in
their next life.
How's that for an optimist? Anna's parents are diabetic.
If no medical resupply arrives, their medication will be exhausted in less
than 30 days.
Anna and her family are subsisting on some carrots, dandelions, and nettles.
One of her relatives walked 13 kilometers carting pounds of potatoes
delivering them to Anna and her parents.
Additionally, clean water is getting harder to come by.
Since there is no gas, getting out to the countryside to forage is near
impossible.
There are phases to a man-made famine. Anna and her folks are in the early
days of this.
Domestic animals are dying and left in the streets while the vulnerable,
elderly and children, are falling weak and ill.
When asked whether her people know what is going on between the, she
sorrowfully says, through malnourished, sunken eyes, "We can't think beyond
getting another piece of food or another cup of water; the one hour of TV
news we see every day repeats the message that we must hope for the best."
It is almost merciful that Anna and her people are spared the truth.
She might be broken were she to understand the palpable indifference to this
intentional genocide.
Even the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia had to recently walk back her tone deaf
comments in a July 3 interview where she said "the U.S. believes it is
possible to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh as part of
Azerbaijan."
Meanwhile at the edge of the sealed transit route, just kilometers from
those dying, the Armenian people continue to collect and stockpile, food and
medicine, hoping for diplomats to engage.
There was a day when we were better than this.
Does anyone remember how we turned the other cheek on a vanquished enemy and
saved 300,000 Germans in Berlin from starvation with our airlifters?
Where is U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken? Where is the mainstream
press? Where are the non-profit aid agencies?
Where is our compassion and care for humanity?
On Tuesday, President Aliyev went to Moscow to consult with Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov; at the same time the phones are ringing across
Nagorno-Karabakh telling residents they will have safe passage if they leave
now and walk to Armenia.
Is the grand compromise an ethnic cleansing versus a genocide?
If the global community doesn't care here, will it care when millions in
Africa have died due to a collapsed grain deal and missile strikes on over
60,000 tons of life-saving food?
Has human life become so cheap?
At the time of this writing, a deal was brokered in Brussels to move a
delivery of 400 tons of life saving food and medicine to the enclave only to
have the Azeris renege on the deal, stopping the aid at the border
checkpoint.
The siege continues - unabated. Meanwhile, medicines and food sit in the
backs of trucks as summer temperatures soar.
Before the State Department writes this off as another unsolvable problem,
let's remember how spread thin we are with wars and potential wars.
Turning our back's diplomatically to 120,000 being murdered in plain view
will come with significant consequences.
Their screams won't be silent. Think the Bosnian war of the 1990s.
Soon we may well be forced to listen to those screams, and get at their root
cause, whether we choose to or not.
Will we be prepared?
As long as the left holds sway over the rank swamp that is Washington, D.C.
don't count on it.
Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt (retired) is a co-founder of Restore Liberty, a
former deputy representative to NATO, a lifetime member on the Council on
Foreign Relations, and a Newsmax contributor. The views presented are those
of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. government,
U.S.Department of Defense, or its components. Read Gen. Holt's reports -
More Here.
Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt (retired) is a co-founder of Restore Liberty, a
former deputy representative to NATO, a lifetime member on the Council on
Foreign Relations, and a Newsmax contributor. The views presented are those
of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. government,
U.S.Department of Defense, or its components. Read Gen. Holt's reports -
More Here.
Posts by Brig Gen (ret) Blaine Holt
Food an Imprecise but Deadly Weapon
After Vilnius, Let's Remove Rose-colored Glasses
View More Posts by Brig Gen (ret) Blaine Holt
C 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Turkish Press: Azerbaijan ‘regrets’ EU foreign policy chief’s comment on Karabakh situation

Emil Lazarian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
July 27 2023
Burc Eruygur 

ISTANBUL 

Azerbaijan on Thursday said that a recent statement by the EU foreign policy chief on the current situation in the Karabakh region is “regrettable.”

“The presented approach towards the situation in the region by (EU) High Representative (for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) Josep Borrell in his July 26 statement, based on the propaganda and political manipulations spread by Armenia, is regrettable,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said in a statement.

Hajizada said that Baku appreciates the EU’s support “to establish peace and stability in the region, as well as to the peace negotiations with Armenia,” but “ignoring” the grievances of Azerbaijan regarding the incomplete withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the region and presenting Azerbaijan’s establishment of a border checkpoint on the Lachin road as its closure is “fundamentally wrong.”

“Similarly, it must be made clear that the blatant misinterpretation of the relevant decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will not yield results,” Hajizada said, indicating that an ICJ decision earlier this month “once more demonstrated that the protection of its own security by Azerbaijan is legitimate.”

On July 6, the ICJ unanimously rejected Yerevan’s request to modify the court’s February 2022 decision on the “Armenia v. Azerbaijan” case, in which one of its demands was to remove the border checkpoint established by Baku at the entrance of the Lachin road.

On Wednesday, Borrell said that the EU is “deeply concerned about the serious humanitarian situation” in the region, while also claiming that movement through the Lachin road “remains obstructed for more than seven months.”

Responding to the claim, Hajizada said that vehicles belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) pass through the road on a daily basis and that Azerbaijan continues to cooperate with the ICRC and facilitate the passage of medical supplies.

He further said that Azerbaijan made a proposal to use the Aghdam-Khankendi road and other alternative routes into the region for the transport of large amounts of cargo, while “taking into account threats originating from Armenia.”

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

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

Despite ongoing talks on a peace agreement, tensions between the neighboring countries increased in recent months concerning the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to Karabakh.

Blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh is running out of food, fuel and hope

David Nargizian
July 27 2023


Humanitarian crisis in the blockaded enclave reaches a tipping point, raising questions over West’s lack of action

Bashir Kitachayev
27 July 2023, 11.13am

There seems to be no end in sight for Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, now in its seventh month.

The Lachin corridor, the only road that links the contested region to Armenia, has been blocked for more than 200 days, sparking a humanitarian emergency as food, energy and medical care becomes increasingly scarce.

The tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians living in the region are thus faced with a stark choice: either acquire Azerbaijani citizenship or leave the small enclave that has been at the heart of conflict between the neighbouring states for 35 years. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory, yet its Armenian population claims independence.

In mid-July, in the latest round of Western-mediated peace talks that have run for more than a year, Armenia and Azerbaijan showed some readiness to recognise each other’s territorial integrity. But differing views on Karabakh’s future persist. Azerbaijan continues to resist calls to lift the Lachin corridor blockade and accuses Armenians in Karabakh of escalating activity against Azerbaijan. Armenia says it will recognise Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan only if there are international mechanisms to protect the enclave’s ethnic Armenian population, which Azerbaijan rejects.

Unsurprisingly, for the European Union (EU), which mediated the latest talks, and regional power broker Russia, which has offered to host “a trilateral meeting” in Moscow very soon, their own interests – namely the conflict in Ukraine – take priority in the Karabakh confrontation.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been blockaded since 12 December 2022, when protesters claiming to be ‘eco-activists’ took to the streets. They alleged that illegal gold mining in Karabakh was causing environmental harm. Observers suggested the blockade was backed by Azerbaijan, which was denied by authorities in Baku, the capital.

The ‘eco-activists’ ended their protest in April, when Azerbaijani border guards established a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, justified with claims that Armenia was using the road to send troops, weapons and ammunition to Karabakh. Armenia denied this, while Azerbaijan released videos of military-looking trucks being escorted by Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. What the vehicles contained and whether or not Armenian soldiers were in them remains uncertain. Either way, the checkpoint’s installation violated the Russia-backed Trilateral Agreement that ended Azerbaijan’s six-week full-scale offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020. The agreement guaranteed unimpeded traffic through the Lachin corridor.

On 15 June, the flow of goods and humanitarian aid along the Lachin corridor came to a complete halt following a shootout at the checkpoint. Authorities in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, said Azerbaijani border guards had attempted to plant their national flag in an area claimed by Armenia, while Russian peacekeepers looked on. Armenia opened fire and the exchange left one border guard wounded on each side.

Ever since, Azerbaijani border patrol units have blocked Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from delivering humanitarian aid to the region, accusing the latter of “smuggling” goods. The ICRC is currently allowed to transport patients requiring urgent medical care to Armenia, but Azerbaijani medical personnel examine them at the border. The organisation says this practice is exacerbating Karabakh’s already dire situation.

As a result, Nagorno-Karabakh continues to experience severe shortages of food, baby food, fuel, medicine, hygiene and personal care items. The enclave previously relied on imports from Armenia, even for fresh fruit and vegetables, and the interrupted gas and electricity supply, which passes through Azerbaijan, is hindering local efforts to meet demands. Local media regularly shows empty supermarket shelves and long queues outside bakeries, with people waiting hours for just a couple of loaves of bread.

With rising unemployment and soaring prices of essential goods, the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have introduced food stamps. Adding to the hardships faced by Karabakh’s people are dwindling fuel supplies, which mean uncertain goods deliveries, reduced private car usage and decreased public transport schedule. There has been a rise in miscarriages and premature births due to stress, poor nutrition and lack of essential medicines, according to Amnesty International, which cited doctors in Karabakh.

In one tragic episode in early July, two young children – Leo and Gita Narimanyan, aged three and six respectively – lost their lives while searching for their mother, who had left them unattended while she went to collect the family’s food allowance. The children, who had sought shelter in an unlocked car, ended up suffocating in what the Karabakh police suggested was vehicular heatstroke. (Another law-enforcement body has cautioned that this is just one of the theories being investigated.)

Azerbaijan denies imposing a blockade, using its state media to release videos that supposedly show Karabakh residents passing through passport control at a checkpoint. In January, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev offered Karabakh Armenians a stark choice: accept Azerbaijani citizenship and the promise of security and equal rights, or leave altogether. “The road is not closed,” Aliyev said, “it is open.”

But Karabakh Armenians profoundly distrust Azerbaijan’s promises of security. They accuse the Azerbaijani military of repeatedly violating the ceasefire and shooting dead soldiers and civilians. War crimes reportedly committed against Armenian civilians and captured soldiers, as well as gross human rights violations in Azerbaijan, further erode trust. Indeed, Karabakh and the Armenian authorities have accused Baku of carrying out a programme of ethnic cleansing.

Azerbaijan is yet to present any plans to better integrate the Karabakh Armenian population and has done nothing to de-escalate hostility. In May, Aliyev demanded the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh surrender and promised them amnesty, but he threatened force if they did not comply.

International human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have strongly condemned the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. Resolutions have been passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the International Court of Justice. All have called on Azerbaijan to restore unhindered movement along the Lachin corridor, but these calls remain unheeded.

Baku’s intention may be to make life in Nagorno-Karabakh unbearable, forcing inhabitants to leave. This strategy would effectively achieve a ‘bloodless’ ethnic cleansing and sidestep the need to address Karabakh Armenians’ social and economic integration issues.

On 21 July, Aliyev appeared to take responsibility for armed escalations against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia over the past three years. In referring to these incidents as “messages” to Armenia, Azerbaijan’s president basically admitted that Baku was using military pressure as its main negotiating tactic over Nagorno-Karabakh. Aliyev also declared that international law is ineffective as Armenian troops remain in Nagorno-Karabakh and force was the only guarantee of peace as signatures on agreements have little authority.

Even so, the Armenian leadership has generally adopted a more peaceable tone. On 25 July, prime minister Nikol Pashinyan said he was ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, based on mutual recognition of territorial integrity. This, he said, was in line with the agreement reached during the talks held in Brussels this month, which were mediated by European Council president Charles Michel.

The Karabakh blockade continues but so do the peace talks, with each round accompanied by claims of progress. In reality, meaningful developments remain scarce.

Russia, the EU and the United States are the main mediators in these negotiations. The Kremlin has long played a significant role in the Karabakh conflict, leveraging it to bolster its regional influence. The 2022 tripartite agrement led to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, with the Lachin corridor also falling under their purview. But they have yet to take steps to restore traffic through the corridor.

Russia is presumably content with the current situation, participating in negotiations only to prevent the West from becoming the sole mediator. Moscow views Nagorno-Karabakh as a way to exert pressure on both Azerbaijan and Armenia. But Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine means the Kremlin lacks the resources to maintain its declining influence in the South Caucasus. It appears unwilling to disrupt relations with Azerbaijan, a key transit route to Russia for goods that sanctions would otherwise make hard to get. Armenia is also used by Russia to bypass sanctions.

So far, the most productive negotiations have occurred in the West. The EU supports Pashinyan’s proposal to include a clause in any peace treaty that would guarantee the rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and provide an international mechanism to ensure those rights. Baku says the rights of Karabakh Armenians are an internal matter for Azerbaijan.

Baku’s intention seems twofold: to persuade the international community there is no blockade and create another humanitarian pressure mechanism to increase Karabakh’s reliance on Azerbaijan

Still, Brussels, preoccupied with the Ukraine war, views the Karabakh peace talks as a platform to counter the Kremlin’s influence. Signing a peace treaty could lead to Russia’s withdrawal from Karabakh, and potentially disrupt its relations with Armenia.

Indeed, there are questions about whether the EU can make Azerbaijan reopen the Lachin Corridor – or even wants to.

On 26 July, the day the EU again called on Azerbaijan to open the road, Azerbaijani military personnel refused an Armenian humanitarian convoy access to Nagorno-Karabakh, while officials in Baku claimed Brussels had approved the movement of humanitarian cargo to Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan. Previously, Michel of the European Council revealed that there had been joint discussions – although no approval – on sending humanitarian aid via the Azerbaijani town of Agdam, close to Karabakh.

Baku’s intention seems twofold: to persuade the international community there is no blockade and create another humanitarian pressure mechanism to increase Karabakh’s reliance on Azerbaijan.

Despite the escalating crisis and human rights violations, the lack of real Western pressure on Azerbaijan may also indicate the EU’s alignment with Baku’s conditions on the future of Nagorno-Karabakh. Perhaps the gas deal between Brussels and Aliyev plays a role. Concluded in the summer of 2022, it will increase the amount of fuel Azerbaijan supplies to the EU. The deal was done without any conditions set by Azerbaijan and observers say the proceeds of Baku’s energy sales to the EU may be going towards acquiring more weapons, sponsoring the blockade, armed escalations and human rights violations by the Aliyev regime.

This begs the question: with Karabakh, could the West be repeating the same mistake it made with Vladimir Putin in the 2010s, whereby the Kremlin profited from resource sales, prepared for war and disregarded all treaties before finally attacking Ukraine?

In a recent speech, Aliyev seemingly spoke the truth: international law operates selectively and signatures on treaties hold no value. Consider this statement in light of the EU’s behaviour. It says it is committed to human rights values but merely expresses bland concern about violations in Nagorno-Karabakh, calling on “both sides” to move towards a ceasefire.


Nagorno-Karabakh aid convoy held at Lachin Corridor

Karagyozian Lena
July 27 2023
 27 July 2023

ByAni Avetisyan

A convoy of lorries loaded with aid is stuck at the entrance to the Lachin Corridor, with Azerbaijani border guards so far refusing to allow it to enter Nagorno-Karabakh.

The convoy was arranged by the Armenian Government, which says it consists of around 400 tonnes of food and other essential supplies. Late on Wednesday, the convoy passed the Armenian checkpoint on the border but was prevented from proceeding further. 

The convoy comes in response to a growing humanitarian crisis among Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 residents, who have been cut off from outside food and medical supplies since mid-June. 

Azerbaijan’s State Border Service condemned the convoy before it left Yerevan on Wednesday, labelling it a ‘provocation’ and warning Armenia against ‘aggravating the situation’. 

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that Armenia not agreeing with the Azerbaijani Government before dispatching the convoy represented ‘an attack on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and is another provocation against the Lachin border checkpoint’. 

They also accused Armenia of ‘not being sincere’ in the peace process and of carrying out an ‘aggressive policy’. 

Responding on Thursday morning, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said that if Azerbaijan did not allow the convoy to pass, this would ‘only prove Baku’s genocidal intention in Nagorno-Karabakh’.

‘Isn’t it because the real goal of Azerbaijan is to starve the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, to subject them to genocide?’, he asked.  

Pashinyan emphasised that the convoy was solely humanitarian and said the government was awaiting a ‘positive response’ from both Baku and the Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh to ensure the supplies reached their destination. 

He added that allowing the aid to enter the region would be a ‘positive step’ towards peace. 

In their statement on Wednesday, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry dismissed reports of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh as ‘political blackmail’. They insisted that an alternative route to bring supplies into Nagorno-Karabakh, from Aghdam in Azerbaijani-government controlled territory, could be used. They said that the European Union and Red Cross backed the use of Aghdam Road.

The ceasefire agreement that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in November 2020 stipulated that the Lachin Corridor should remain open under the control of the Russian peacekeeping mission. However, since December 2022, Azerbaijan has limited traffic along the route, at times entirely, first with government-backed ‘eco protesters’ and then with the creation of a border checkpoint in April.

Following a meeting with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on 15 July, EU Council President Charles Michel appeared to back the use of the Aghdam road while also insisting that the Lachin Corridor should remain open.

‘I emphasised the need to open Lachin road. I also noted Azerbaijan’s willingness to provide humanitarian supplies via Aghdam’, his statement said. 

Michel’s statement was met with criticism in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, with local civil society organisations calling for the EU not to legitimise the blockade of the Lachin Corridor. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he did not have a mandate to discuss the proposal, implying that such questions should be discussed directly with the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh.

On Wednesday, EU High Representative Josep Borrell reiterated the EU’s position. He said the bloc ‘took note of the expressed readiness of the Azerbaijani authorities to also supply goods via the city of Aghdam’ but insisted ‘this should not be seen as an alternative to the reopening of the Lachin corridor’.

‘The EU also notes that ICRC activities in the region have been heavily impacted and calls for their full resumption, including medical evacuations and humanitarian supplies. The EU stresses that humanitarian access must not be politicised by any actors’, Borrell said. 

‘It is incumbent on the Azerbaijani authorities to guarantee safety and freedom of movement along the Lachin Corridor imminently and not to permit the crisis to escalate further’, he added.

The Red Cross has expressed a readiness to use the Aghdam road to deliver aid to the region’s population, but said on Tuesday that they had not received permission to do so, without mentioning which side was withholding permission. 

While still being able to transfer some patients requiring urgent medical needs to Armenia, the Red Cross has said they have been prevented from delivering medicine to the region.

Shortages of medical and hygiene supplies have been widely reported in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the dwindling fuel supplies affecting the operation of ambulances.

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.


Nagorno-Karabakh crisis puts the spotlight on EU ties with Azerbaijan

Karagyozian Lena
POLITICO
July 27 2023

Brussels has a key gas deal with Baku, but reports of a food and fuel shortage in Nagorno-Karabakh are increasing calls for it to take action.

BY GABRIEL GAVIN
JULY 27, 2023

Azerbaijan is accused of throttling the ethnic-Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — setting off a crisis in relations with the European Union just as the country becomes an increasingly important fossil fuel supplier to replace imports from Russia.

Members of the European Parliament are demanding action, and late Wednesday the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said that the bloc is “deeply concerned” about the worsening humanitarian situation in the region.

Worry is growing over the risk of famine in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region inside Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders. The Armenian population declared independence after a brutal war in the early 1990s, but Azerbaijan reversed many of those gains in a lightning campaign in 2020.

Since December, the only road in or out of the mountainous territory has been under the control of Azerbaijan’s armed forces and, for the past two weeks, local officials say a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor linking Karabakh with Armenia has been closed to civilian traffic and supply trucks.

In a statement Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has been bringing food and medicine to the tens of thousands of Armenians in Karabakh, said that “despite persistent efforts, we are currently unable to deliver aid.”

“People lack life-saving medication and essentials like hygiene products and baby formula. Fruits, vegetables, and bread are increasingly scarce and costly. Other food items such as dairy products, sunflower oil, cereal, fish, and chicken are unavailable,” it added. Miscarriages have tripled in the past month as a result of malnutrition, one doctor told local media.

A day earlier, the president of the unrecognized local Armenian administration, Arayik Harutyunyan, declared that it had become a “disaster zone” and called on international organizations, foreign nations and the U.N. to urgently intervene.

Over the weekend, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned that a repeat of the 2020 war is now “very likely.” He accused Baku of laying the foundations for “genocide” in the region.

Azerbaijan denies it is blockading Nagorno-Karabakh, and has offered to provide aid by a road from Aghdam, a regional hub it regained in 2020, almost totally leveled during three decades of Armenian control.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry called Borrell’s statement “regrettable” and said it was driven by “propaganda and political manipulations spread by Armenia.”

Responding to a question from POLITICO, Harutyunyan insisted that his government is unable to accept the offer because, “Azerbaijan created this crisis and cannot be the solution to it.”

Local officials fear that becoming dependent on Baku for supplies would effectively end their independence and make them vulnerable to future shut-offs.

However, Azerbaijan’s foreign policy chief, Hikmet Hajiyev, declared this week that the international community should press the local Armenians to accept supplies via Aghdam, insisting “there is no other way! Game over!”

The EU is slowly waking up to the crisis. Borrell said Azerbaijan is disregarding an International Court of Justice ruling mandating that it keep the road open. He added that the Aghdam route “should not be seen as an alternative” to the Lachin Corridor.

In its response, Baku accused the bloc’s top envoy of a “blatant misinterpretation” of the International Court of Justice ruling. 

The EU has a long-standing interest in the region.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen jetted to Baku last year, hailed the country as a “crucial energy partner” and signed a deal to double the EU’s purchases of Azerbaijani gas.

After Azerbaijan launched a series of incursions into Armenia last year, Brussels signed off on a Common Security and Defense Policy monitoring mission along the border in the hope of preventing future bloodshed.

Nathalie Loiseau, the chair of the European Parliament’s defense committee, said the EU should go further than just voicing concern and impose “targeted sanctions” on Azerbaijani officials “responsible for hate speech and illegal decisions,” arguing that the bloc’s status as a mediator shouldn’t prevent it from standing up for its self-declared values.

Nor, she said, should its energy ties with Baku weaken its leverage, because “in a trade relationship, both partners are dependent.”

The EU has repeatedly cautioned that what it sees as inflammatory rhetoric is a threat to peace in the region. Despite that, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has threatened to “chase away” Armenian separatists “like dogs” and Baku previously issued a commemorative postage stamp featuring a worker in hazmat gear spraying disinfectant on the region.

Brussels’ External Action Service has dispatched its civilian monitors to the start of the Lachin Corridor to “get first hand and verified information on current developments.”

However, according to François-Xavier Bellamy, a French MEP who sits on the Parliament’s energy committee, it appears there simply isn’t the political will in Brussels to do anything more substantive at present.

“It’s becoming a case of Parliament vs. the Commission. We’ve tabled questions, we had a debate and now Parliament has voted to support a settled position on introducing sanctions on Azerbaijan,” he said. “But if the Commission won’t listen, what else can we do?”

According to Laurence Broers, a leading analyst on the conflict and an associate fellow at Chatham House, the EU is trying to “compartmentalize” its role in the peace process to avoid damaging its relations with Armenia or Azerbaijan.

“We have seen some friction in the messaging between different parts of the EU, with the European Parliament taking a stronger normative stand,” he said. “Those parts of the EU more directly engaged with the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict have tended to rely more on positive incentives rather than negative disincentives.”

European Council President Charles Michel has spearheaded a series of trilateral talks in Brussels, bringing together Aliyev and Pashinyan. However, the situation on the ground has continued to worsen.

“Michel’s rhetoric is well received in Baku,” said Rusif Huseynov, director of Azerbaijan’s Topchubashov Center think tank. “He refers to Azerbaijani territorial integrity, he mentioned the Aghdam route as an alternative. Critical voices from MEPs of course are a source of irritation in Baku, but I don’t think there’s too much concern because Azerbaijan has good relations at the level of Charles Michel and von der Leyen.”

A spokesperson for Michel declined to comment on whether the EU needs to step up its response to the growing humanitarian catastrophe, saying only that a press release issued two weeks ago had details of yet more talks planned for after the summer holidays.

“That answers your question,” the official said.

Armenia sends humanitarian cargo to NK, Azerbaijan calls it a provocation

Mary Lazarian

July 27 2023


  • JAMnews
  • Baku

Delivery of humanitarian cargo from Armenia to NK

Trucks with humanitarian cargo bound for Nagorno-Karabakh have been in the border zone near the Armenian village of Kornidzor since last evening. With the help of the government of Armenia, the convoy will remain there until “Azerbaijan fulfills the legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice” to ensure unhindered movement along the Lachin corridor. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan wrote about this on Twitter.

The column is loaded with food, baby food and medicines, with a total weight of about 400 tons. The Russian peacekeepers, who were asked by the Armenian government to deliver the cargo, have still not complied with it. The Armenian media say that the Russian peacekeeping contingent did not even come up with any explanation for its inaction.

Baku regards the sending of humanitarian cargo to the unrecognized republic as a provocation.

  • A positive impetus to the negotiations? Baku and Yerevan on the Moscow meeting of foreign ministers
  • Ilham Aliyev: “International law works selectively”
  • “There are no difficulties in applying to the UN Security Council” – Pashinyan

On July 26, the Armenian government sent humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh in 19 trucks — 60 tons of sugar, 40 tons of vegetable oil, 100 tons of flour, 80 tons of pasta, 20 tons of salt, 40 tons of powdered milk, 12 tons of baby food and 9 tons of medicines.

The government reports that on the issue of the delivery of the cargo, “they turned to the Russian peacekeeping forces, as well as through the appropriate channels to the Azerbaijani side.”

A convoy of trucks with humanitarian cargo stands near the border village of Kornidzor in the Syunik region. The vehicles passed the Armenian checkpoint and are still awaiting a response from Russian peacekeepers.

Trucks with humanitarian cargo

In a morning government meeting, the Prime Minister of Armenia stated that Azerbaijan was blocking the import of humanitarian goods through the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh:

“Is it because the true intention, the goal of Azerbaijan is to starve the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, to subject them to genocide?”

Pashinyan said that the Armenian side is waiting for “a positive reaction from Russian peacekeepers and official Baku.” If Azerbaijan does not allow the humanitarian cargo to be transported, this, according to the prime minister, would only confirm the fears “about the intention to commit the Armenian genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh.” If the cargo is allowed to pass, it would be “a positive step for building confidence and will contribute to efforts to establish peace in the region.”

Pashinyan said that “as a pretext for illegally blocking the Lachin corridor, Baku made the absurd assertion that Armenia uses the corridor for military purposes.” He stressed that the heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Armenia managed to get acquainted with the contents of the trucks the day before. After a meeting at the Armenian Foreign Ministry, they examined the cargo that the Armenian government had prepared to send to compatriots “who have been living in blockade for the eighth month.”

Trucks near the building of the Armenian Foreign Ministry

Statement by the Prime Minister of Armenia on the situation in the unrecognized NKR, which has been blocked for 7 months, as well as the latest information on the deepening humanitarian crisis

The statements of Armenian diplomats not only speak of the need to unblock the Lachin corridor and let humanitarian cargo through, but also respond to Baku’s reaction.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan, in his commentary on the situation in the Lachin corridor, also responded to the statement of Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the President of Azerbaijan:

“Along with the failure to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice to ensure unimpeded movement, inhuman and cynical statements were made from Baku that “the game is over” [quotes Hajiyev].”

Earlier, Hikmet Hajiyev also stated that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed in Brussels on deliveries to NK via the Aghdam route, that is, the territory of Azerbaijan.

This was denied by Armenian Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukyan, who stated on air of public television of Armenia that this was “an outright lie.” Marukyan read out the words of the head of the European Council Charles Michel after the meeting of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan:

“I stressed the need to open the Lachin road. I also noted Azerbaijan’s readiness to equally ensure the supply of humanitarian aid through Aghdam. I consider both options important and call for humanitarian supplies from both sides to meet the needs of the population.”

Marukyan focused on the fact that in Michel’s statement there are no words about agreements with Baku. He also said that earlier the Armenian government sent another 500 tons of cargo to NK. This cargo is now in warehouses in the city of Goris, as it also failed to be smuggled through the Lachin corridor.

“At the moment, Armenia is clearly showing that Azerbaijan is lying to the international community that the Lachin corridor is open,” the Ambassador-at-Large said.

The Prime Minister of Armenia in an interview with France Presse talked about the humanitarian crisis in NK, the likelihood of war, the possibilities of normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and the “balancing” between the West and Russia

Last night, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell reaffirmed the EU’s approach:

“We have taken note of the readiness expressed by the Azerbaijani authorities to also deliver goods through the city of Aghdam. This should not be seen as an alternative to opening the Lachin corridor. The Azerbaijani authorities are obliged to guarantee safe and free movement along the Lachin corridor in the near future and prevent further deepening of the crisis.

The EU also notes that the activities of the ICRC in the region have been seriously affected and calls for their full resumption, including medical evacuations and the delivery of humanitarian aid.”

Previously, the the Red Cross stated:

“We cannot deliver humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh through the Lachin corridor or other routes, including Agdam, despite persistent efforts in this direction. To do this, the parties need to reach a consensus.”

The delivery of the cargo was monitored by the monitoring mission of the EU monitoring the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The European observers stayed at the border together with the head of the mission until late in the evening.

“Like you, we also do not know if the Azerbaijani side will allow vehicles through the Lachin corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh. Whatever happens, we will write about it in detail in our report,” the head of the mission, Markus Ritter, told Armenian journalists.

The EU mission monitored the situation until late in the evening

According to political scientist Tevan Poghosyan, taking into account the statement of the Russian Foreign Minister after the talks in Moscow, it can be assumed that “perhaps the issue of the delivery of goods was discussed.” However, he does not believe that this will lead to the unblocking of the Lachin corridor, which should operate according to the agreements of November 9, 2020. The political scientist suggests that this could become “the last cry of the Russian Federation.”

Poghosyan suggests that instead of a convoy of trucks, the delivery of humanitarian aid could have been organized by air:

“If we look at international humanitarian law, it indicates that Airlift receives global, full support in the legal field for air rescue. And if Azerbaijan somehow violated it, then this would be the case of the international court on the fact that the plane was blown up.”

The political scientist believes that even if Azerbaijan passes the cargo now, next time it will block it and insist that the transportation be carried out, for example along the Ijevan-Gazakh-Ganja-Barda-Agdam route.

Protests taking place in Yerevan in support of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, at the UN office and embassies, as well as an expert’s comment

For the second day, the issue of delivering humanitarian aid to the Armenian population of Karabakh from Armenia remains at the center of attention in Azerbaijan.

For the first time the official position of the country’s authorities on this issue was announced at the moment when the trucks that left Yerevan were on their way to the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The assistant to the President of Azerbaijan met with the ambassadors of several Western countries accredited in Baku and tweeted about the country’s official position:

“Armenia is engaged in political manipulation and speculation on the issue of the Lachin road, which functions for medical evacuations and deliveries.

In Brussels, an agreement was reached that the Agdam-Khankendi road will be used for a larger volume of deliveries. This was also confirmed in an ICRC statement, the presidential aide wrote.

Insist on using only the Lachin road, but abandoning the Aghdam road, blocking the road and politicizing it is unacceptable. The puppet “leaders” of the separatists in Khankendi are holding the local population hostage to their own political ambitions.

Armenia must stop its territorial claims against Azerbaijan, withdraw its troops from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and stop funding the illegal puppet regime.

It is necessary to ensure the disarmament of all illegal forces. The international community must send a clear message about the use of the Agdam-Khankendi road and the reintegration of the Armenian residents of Karabakh into Azerbaijan. There is no other way! Game over!”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan also made a similar statement.

“Despite the fact that the Azerbaijani side put forward a number of proposals, including the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road and other alternative ways to meet the needs of the Armenian residents, and these proposals were supported by the European Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Armenian side opposed all proposals, as well as against the transport of ICRC cargo along the roads indicated by Azerbaijan, hindering relevant humanitarian activities, blocking access to the territory by erecting concrete barriers on alternative roads, which indicates that their statements about the humanitarian situation are political blackmail. These steps, along with the politicization of humanitarian activities, contradict statements about the recognition of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The mission of the European Union in Armenia and the diplomatic corps also took part in the mentioned provocation, demonstrating that this was a pre-planned step.

We once again demand that Armenia refrain from such provocations.”

According to political observer Agil Sadikhov, the delivery of humanitarian aid has its own rules, and they are followed all over the world:

“Firstly, the country itself must declare part of its territory, or the entire territory of the state, as a disaster zone. If a country fails to do so, such an announcement is made by international organizations, first of all by the UN.

Azerbaijan has not announced anything of the kind. On the territory of the country there is a group of residents who refuse to obey its laws, and do not accept help. That’s the whole point of the question.

As for humanitarian aid from abroad, the host country has the right to refuse it even in the event of a natural disaster. We are familiar with many examples when, even after devastating earthquakes, countries refused the help of unfriendly states.

No one can simply send humanitarian aid to the territory of another state because of their prejudices. This is a violation of international laws. Humanitarian aid must be pre-agreed.

Based on the above, Azerbaijan has every right to refuse Armenia the admission of 360 tons of humanitarian cargo to its internationally recognized territory.

Regarding the specific situation, I am almost sure that the trucks at the border will not wait for permission, and will return.”

https://jam-news.net/armenia-sends-humanitarian-cargo-to-nk-azerbaijan-calls-it-a-provocation/

Azerbaijan protests after reports suggesting ‘Indian-made weapons entered Armenia through Iran’

Emma Nadirian
The Print, India
July 27 2023
SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP
New Delhi: A cargo of what is reported to be India’s indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers has reached Armenia via Iran, leading to a protest by its arch-rival Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan-based news portal Caliber.az put out videos Tuesday evening of a camouflaged convoy moving through Iran’s Nurduz border checkpoint into Armenia.

It claimed that the convoy was likely carrying military cargo delivered to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. 

Quoting “independent” sources, the portal identified the source of the cargo as India, which has increased its military-technical cooperation with Armenia in recent years.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in a conflict over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region that resulted in a 45-day war in September 2020. A peace deal brokered by Russia put an end to fighting till 2022 when frequent ceasefire violations escalated into another two-day conflict in September, followed by scattered instances of border clashes.

Hours after reports surfaced Tuesday suggesting weapons from India had entered Armenia, Hikmet Hajiyev — foreign policy adviser to the president of Azerbaijan — called on the Indian Ambassador to the country, Sridharan Madhusudhanan. Hajiyev noted that Azerbaijan was concerned about expanding military cooperation between Armenia and India and the circulation of photos and videos reportedly showing the transportation of Indian-made weapons systems to Armenia through Iran, Azer News reported.

According to the report, Hajiyev added that India’s supposed supply of lethal weapons to Armenia at a time when Azerbaijan was negotiating a peace agreement with it “paves the way for the militarisation of Armenia and escalation of the situation, and creates obstacles to the establishment of sustainable peace and security in the South Caucasus region”.

Hajiyev is also learnt to have said that such actions are incompatible with India’s self-proclaimed foreign policy based on the norms and principles of international law, as well as the historic “Bandung Principles” of the Non-Aligned Movement. He expressed “serious concerns of the Azerbaijani side to the attention of officials in Delhi and (asked them) to reconsider India’s decision regarding the supply of lethal weapons to Armenia”.

As reported by ThePrint, Armenia has turned to India to beef up its defences with the purchase of multiple military systems amid continuing tensions with Azerbaijan, which is seen as an ally of Pakistan and Turkey.

Late last year, Armenia had ordered a mounted 155mm 39-calibre artillery system manufactured by Bharat Forge, a private defence firm part of Pune-based conglomerate Kalyani Group. In September last year, Yerevan signed a government-to-government contract with New Delhi for the indigenous Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and ammunition.

Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan even met his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the DefExpo held last August, looking to expand defence cooperation with India. 

ThePrint had reported then that Armenia was eyeing more defence deals with India including procurement of drones, counter-drone measures and loitering munitions, besides mid-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems like the Akash developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Observers have pointed out that, despite the physical distance between them, an “indirect linkage” has emerged between Armenia-Azerbaijan and India-Pakistan in recent years.

In 2017, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan issued a joint statement, establishing security cooperation and building further on previous bilateral military aid arrangements. Azerbaijan later deployed Turkish drones in the 45-day war with Armenia in 2020 and is believed to be in talks with Pakistan to buy the JF-17 fighter aircraft.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)

King Tiridates III – The first Armenian to participate and win the Olympic Games

Arsine Chaltikian

July 27 2023


 

By 

Lianna Agasyan

 

The first Armenian who participated in the Ancient Olympic Games and won the Olympic Games in 281 in ancient Greece was King Tiridates III of Armenia from the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia.

King Tiridates III of Armenia played in the races of quadriga – chariots harnessed by four horses. He won the wrestling competition in 281 at the 265th Games in Greece.

What distinguishes Tiridates III of Armenia is the fact that it was during his reign that Armenia became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as the state religion in 301.

In 393, in Ancient Greece, the Armenian king of the Varazdat Arsacid dynasty won a wrestling competition, and his name was engraved on a marble slab as the winner of the last Olympiad.

Movses Khorenatsi wrote about the reign of Varazdat: “The philosopher Augustus from Theodosia, nicknamed the Great, in the twentieth year of his reign appointed Varazdat from the same Arsacid dynasty of Armenia as the king of Armenia instead of the Pap.”

Varazdat was young, bold and strong, very skillful and smart. At the time he fled from Shapouh and, having come to the palace of the emperor, accomplished many feats.

First he defeated the fist fighters in Pisa, then in the City of the Sun, Hellada, he beat the lions, and then at the Olympic Games he was honored, and the feats he accomplished could be compared with the deeds of St. Trdat.