Armenia seeks to sign peace treaty with Azerbaijan in coming months based on three Brussels principles: Pashinyan

Nyrie Kalashian

 18:58,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian side hopes to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan in the coming months, based on the three principles agreed upon at the negotiations held in Brussels.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this during the panel discussion at the 6th Paris Peace Forum.

 “Principle 1: Armenia and Azerbaijan fully recognize each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, based on the understanding that Armenia's territory covers 29,800 square kilometers and Azerbaijan's 86,600 square kilometers.

Principle 2: Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirm their unconditional commitment to the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration as the political basis for the border demarcation.The Alma-Ata Declaration was signed by 12 republics of the Soviet Union on December 21, 1991. With this declaration, the 12 republics of the former USSR, including Azerbaijan and Armenia, recognize each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the inviolability of existing administrative borders; therefore, the existing administrative borders between the republics of the Soviet Union become state borders.

Principe 3: Future transport regulations to unblock transport and economic ties in the region will respect the principles of sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity and equality of all countries,” Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister recalled that an agreement on these principles was reached during negotiations with the President of Azerbaijan in Brussels, and these agreements had been recorded in the statements by European Council President Charles Michel after tripartite meetings on May 14 and July 15, 2023.

“French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have also expressed their support for these principles, and this is reflected in the Quadrilateral Declaration adopted in Granada, signed by Charles Michel, Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and myself. And if Azerbaijan does not abandon these principles, this will mean that the signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan in the coming months will become quite realistic.

The planned tripartite meeting in Brussels in October did not take place, and I have not received an invitation to the next meeting from Charles Michel. I hope that our EU partners remain faithful to their obligations," said the RA Prime Minister.

PM Pashinyan presents the “Crossroads of the World” project at the Paris Peace Forum

Emil Lazarian

 19:02,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS.  During the panel discussion at the "6th Paris Peace Conference", Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, presenting the "Crossroads of Peace" project, noted that it is aimed at connecting  the regional countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, with railways, roads, cables, gas pipelines, power lines or to strengthen existing connections.

''The South Caucasus needs peace, that is, a situation where all countries in the region live with open borders, are connected by active economic, political, cultural ties, and have accumulated experience and traditions of resolving all issues using the tools of diplomacy and dialogue.

Without the resumption of transport communications, it will be very difficult to ensure such a situation, and given this fact, the Armenian government has presented the “Crossroads of the World” project.

The “Crossroads of the World” project will also be beneficial for Georgia and Iran, including bilaterally, as well as in terms of strengthening relations with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia,’’ Pashinyan said, expressing hope that they would be able to implement the project as a guarantee of stable and long-term peace in the region,'' said Pashinyan.

According to PM Pashinyan, the implementation of the "Crossroads of Peace" project would be beneficial not only for the region, but also for international trade, communication and stability.

“And I hope for support not only from the countries of the region, but also from the international community, in general. Undoubtedly, we are facing a very important and historical crossroads. Let's make it a crossroads of peace", concluded Armenian Prime Minister.

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Korea discuss efforts to establish stability and peace in the region

Emil Lazarian

 19:30,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS.  On November 10, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in Paris on a working visit, had a meeting with Park Jin, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

''The interlocutors discussed agenda issues of Armenian-Korean cooperation. Thoughts were exchanged on issues related to the deepening of bilateral political dialogue, the prospects of mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, science and education, innovations and high technologies.

In the context of the most effective realization of the existing potential in the above directions, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Korea reaffirmed their intentions to mutually open diplomatic missions in both countries. Issues of interaction with the Korea International Cooperation Agency were also addressed.

Collaboration between the two countries within international platforms was also on the agenda of the meeting.

Reflecting on the regional security issues, Minister Mirzoyan presented to his Korean counterpart the situation created as a result of the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan and the measures implemented to address the problems faced by more than 100,000 forcibly displaced Armenians.

In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized effective cooperation with international partners and institutions. 

The interlocuters touched upon the efforts aimed at establishing stability and peace in the region,'' reads the statement.




Armenia Security Council Secretary meets European Commission President’s Head of Cabinet

Arpi Talalian

 20:18,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. During the working visit to Brussels, the Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan on Friday, held a meeting with Bjoern Seibert, the Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Commission, the Office of the Security Council of Armenia said.

During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed the process of implementation of the agreements reached during the meeting between the Armenian Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

The parties also referred to issues covering the scope of Armenia-EU bilateral multi-sectoral cooperation.

PM Pashinyan meets the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

Emil Lazarian

 20:21,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Within the framework of the Paris Peace Conference, the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmad Khan, the PM’s Office said.

During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed issues related to international justice and law, as well as other topics of mutual interest.

Asbarez: Catholicos Aram I Raises Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenians with House Speaker Mike Johnson

David Nargizian
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Main, Latest, News, Top Stories
His Holiness Aram I led Armenian clergy and lay leaders from the Prelacies of Eastern US, Western US, and Canada in meetings on Capitol Hill.


Highlights Plight of Artsakh Armenians in Opening Prayer of U.S. House of Representatives

WASHINGTON – His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, on Thursday called for American leadership in aiding Artsakh’s 100,000 Armenian Christian refugees, during discussions with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and a dozen other members of Congress, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

“We warmly welcome His Holiness Aram I’s constructive consultations with Congressional leaders – among them Speaker Johnson and former Speaker Pelosi,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “A global ambassador for Armenian aspirations and inter-faith understanding, His Holiness represents a powerful voice for justice in Washington and in capitals around the world.”

Aram meets with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Adam Schiff, and US House Chaplain Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben, prior to offering today’s opening prayer Aram I speaking with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Rep. Anna Eshoo and His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian look on

The Armenian pontiff was on Capitol Hill at the invitation of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and served as Guest Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives.

After a meeting in the Capitol with Speaker Johnson, Rep. Schiff, and U.S. House Chaplain Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben, His Holiness Aram I offered the opening prayer at today’s U.S. House of Representatives session.  In his prayer, he noted, “Help us, God of Mercy, remember in our prayers more than one hundred thousand Armenian refugees who were recently forced to leave Nagorno Karabakh, their centuries old homeland…” The prayer was televised on CSPAN.

In remarks on the U.S. House floor, Rep. Schiff welcomed His Holiness Aram I to Congress, noting that “his unwavering commitment to the values of faith, community, and compassion embodies the spirit of our vibrant Armenian community.”  Rep. Schiff went on to stress that His Holiness Aram I’s “support for humanitarian issues, advocacy for human rights, engagement in several educational and cultural initiatives, and promotion of interfaith understanding have left an indelible mark making the world a better place for all.”

Following the prayer, His Holiness Aram I met with Speaker Pelosi, House Democratic Whip Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Representatives Jim Costa (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Young Kim (R-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), at a reception hosted by the ANCA. His Holiness also met separately with Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL).  The Armenian pontiff praised members of the Congressional Armenian Staff Association in attendance, for their efforts to educate elected officials on Armenian American concerns.

Aram I led Armenian clergy and lay leaders from the Prelacies of Eastern US, Western US, and Canada in meetings on Capitol Hill Aram I with Members of Congress, Armenian clergy and lay leaders from the Prelacies of Eastern US, Western US, and Canada, and ANCA advocates. Aram I led Armenian clergy in singing a moving rendition of The Lord’s Prayer in Armenian at the Capitol Prayer Room, adjacent to the rotunda.

Prior to leaving the Capitol, His Holiness Aram I led fellow clergy in a moving rendition of The Lord’s Prayer, sung in Armenian in the Congressional Prayer Room near the rotunda in the United States Capitol.

During his visit to the U.S. Capitol, Catholicos Aram I was accompanied by His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Prelate of the Eastern U.S. Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America; His Eminence Archbishop Papken Tcharian, Prelate of the Canadian Prelacy; His Grace Bishop Torkom Donoyan, Prelate of the Western U.S. Prelacy; Very Rev. Fr. Sahag Yemishian, Vicar General of the Eastern U.S. Prelacy; Very Rev. Fr. Hovagim Panjarjian, head of the Catholicosate Media Department; Very Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aprahamian, head of the Middle East and Christian-Islam dialogue section of the Ecumenical Department of the Catholicosate; Mr. Stepan Der Bedrosian, co-chair of the Central Executive Council of the Catholicosate; Leaders of the Executive Councils of the Eastern U.S. Prelacy, Western U.S. Prelacy, and Canadian Prelacy; as well ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian and members of the ANCA Washington DC Staff.

His Holiness Aram I arrived in Washington, DC earlier this week, the first stop in his visit to the Eastern Prelacy, continuing his mission to revitalize Diasporan life through the various fields of activity of the Cilician Catholicosate prelacies.

Pashinyan Meets With Macron in Paris

Edgar Tavakalian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Prime Minister Nikpl Pashinyan meets with President Emmanuel Macron of France on Nov. 9 in Paris


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday met with President Emmanuel Macron of France in Paris.

The talks, which Pashinyan later called “excellent,” centered around issues related to normalization of Armenia and Azerbaijan relations.

Reference was made to the humanitarian issues arising from the more than 100,000 forcibly displaced Artsakh residents who fled to Armenia after Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack in September as part of its ethnic cleansing campaign. The need for the international community to assist in resolving existing challenges was highlighted.

Macron and Pashinyan emphasized the importance of the principles declared during a meeting in Granada, Spain last month, which include European leaders’ “unwavering support” for Armenia’s territorial integrity and called for “regional connectivity links based on full respect of countries’ sovereignty and jurisdiction, as well as on the principles of equality and reciprocity.”

Last month, Pashinyan with Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Sholz and the European Council President Charles Michel in Granada, where they issued a joint declaration after President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan declined to participate in what were billed as peace negotiations between Yerevan and Baku.

“Excellent talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. We discussed issues related to the strengthening of the Armenia-France exceptional, friendly relations and bilateral agenda, cooperation with the EU, as well as the situation in the South Caucasus,” Pashinyan said in a post on X.

Macron and Pashinyan also discussed strengthening relation between their countries.

Last week, France and Armenia signed a military cooperation agreement, the first such accord with a Western nation, that envision delivery of French defensive weapons to Armenia.

Pashinyan is in France to attend the annual Paris Peace Forum. He and his wife, Anna Hakopyan, attended an opening reception at the Elysee Palace hosted by Macron.

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 11/10/2023

Lara Antonian 
                                        Friday, 


Pashinian Meets International Court Prosecutor Wanted By Russia


France - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets International Criminal 
Court prosecutor Karim Khan, Paris, .


Risking more tensions with Russia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met on Friday 
with the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who issued 
an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.

Pashinian’s press office said he discussed with the British prosecutor, Karim 
Khan, “issues relating to international justice and law as well as other topics 
of mutual interest.” The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual Paris 
Peace Forum held in the French capital.

Khan ordered Putin’s arrest over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in 
Ukraine. Moscow strongly condemned the move before adding Khan to the Russian 
Interior Ministry’s wanted list in May. It vehemently denies any war crimes 
committed during the invasion of Ukraine and accuses the ICC of executing orders 
issued by Western governments.

One week after the order for Putin’s arrest, Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave 
the green light for parliamentary ratification of the ICC’s founding treaty also 
known as the Rome Statute. Despite stern warnings issued by the Russian 
leadership in the following months, the National Assembly controlled by 
Pashinian’s party ratified the treaty on October 3.

The move added to unprecedented tensions between the two states. Russian 
officials said it will cause serious damage to Russian-Armenian relations. They 
dismissed Yerevan’s assurances that the ratification does not commit it to 
arresting Putin and handing him over to the ICC in the event of his visit to 
Armenia.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said last week that it has proposed to Moscow a 
bilateral agreement that “can dispel the concerns of the Russian Federation.” 
Russian lawmakers brushed aside the proposal.

The Pashinian government’s stated rationale for accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction 
is to bring Azerbaijan to justice for its “war crimes” and to prevent more 
Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia.

Armenian opposition politicians counter that Azerbaijan is not a party to the 
Rome Statute and would therefore ignore any pro-Armenian ruling by The Hague 
tribunal. They say the real purpose of ratifying the treaty is to drive another 
wedge between Russia and Armenia and score points in the West.




Aliyev-Pashinian Meeting ‘Possible In December’

        • Heghine Buniatian
        • Karlen Aslanian

Belgium - EU Council President Charles Michel meets the leaders of Armenia and 
Azerbaijan in Brussels, July 15, 2023.


The European Union may succeed in organizing next month a potentially decisive 
meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev, a senior EU official said on Friday.

Aliyev and Pashinian were scheduled to meet on the fringes of the EU’s October 5 
summit in Granada, Spain. Pashinian hoped that they will sign there a document 
laying out the main parameters of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.

However, Aliyev withdrew from the talks at the last minute. He also appears to 
have cancelled another meeting which EU Council President Charles Michel planned 
to host in Brussels later in October.

The EU official, who did not want to be identified, told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service that Michel and other EU representatives are now holding separate 
discussions with Yerevan and Baku in an effort to reschedule the trilateral 
meeting for December. Although no agreement has been reached so far, the summit 
may take place next month, said the official.

Pashinian said, meanwhile, that he has not yet received “an invitation to the 
next meeting from Charles Michel.” Speaking during the annual Paris Peace Forum 
in the French capital, he said the peace accord can be signed “in the coming 
months” if Azerbaijan commits to mutual recognition of each other’s Soviet-era 
borders and a corresponding mechanism for delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
frontier.

Pashinian questioned Baku’s willingness to do that, saying that Azerbaijani 
officials, academics and government-controlled media are increasingly promoting 
“the concept of so-called Western Azerbaijan” encompassing much of modern-day 
Armenia. That is a “concept for preparing a new war against Armenia,” he claimed.

The EU official said in this regard that Aliyev repeatedly recognized Armenia’s 
territorial integrity during EU-mediated talks with Pashinian. The Azerbaijani 
leader has not done so publicly, however.

The Brussels-based official also revealed that Aliyev pledged not to resort to a 
military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict just days before the 
Azerbaijani army attacked Karabakh and forced its practically entire population 
to flee to Armenia.




Former Defense Chief Decries His ‘Political Persecution’

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia -- Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan at a news conference in 
Yerevan, April 9, 2019.


Davit Tonoyan, a jailed former Armenian defense minister facing corruption 
charges, has described the case against him as politically motivated, saying 
that the final decision to arrest him was made at a meeting chaired by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Tonoyan was arrested more than two years ago in a criminal investigation into 
supplies of allegedly outdated rockets to Armenia’s armed forces. The National 
Security Service charged him, two generals and an arms dealer with fraud and 
embezzlement that cost the state almost 2.3 billion drams ($5.7 million).

All four suspects, among them former army chief of staff Artak Davtian, have 
denied the accusations during the trial that began in January 2022. The judge 
presiding over the trial has repeatedly refused to release Tonoyan from custody 
pending a verdict in the case.

“Political consent to arrest me was given during a meeting with the prime 
minister of Armenia, all participants of which are known to me and the public,” 
Tonoyan told the 168 Zham newspaper in an interview published this week. “Two of 
them are no longer in office, and rest assured that sooner or later everyone 
involved in making the above decision will answer for it.”

Tonoyan did not name any of those participants. Nor did he explicitly accuse 
Pashinian of personally ordering his imprisonment despite describing himself as 
a victim of “political persecution.”

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and 
army chief Artak Davtian (R) attend an event in 2019.

Pashinian’s office has not commented on his latest claims so far. The premier’s 
press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasarian, did not answer phone calls from RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service on Friday.

Lawmakers representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract party were also reluctant to 
comment, saying that they are unaware of the ex-minister’s latest statements.

“I’m not aware of that meeting and don’t know where Tonoyan heard about it,” 
said Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the parliament committee on defense and 
security.

Pashinian appointed Tonoyan as defense minister right after coming to power in 
2018. He sacked the latter in the wake of the disastrous 2020 war with 
Azerbaijan. Shortly before the start of his marathon trial, Tonoyan claimed that 
he is being made a scapegoat for Armenia’s defeat in the six-week war.

In August this year, Tonoyan agreed to testify before an ad hoc parliamentary 
commission tasked with examining the causes of the defeat. The two opposition 
blocs represented in the National Assembly have been boycotting the work of the 
commission. They say that it was set up last year to whitewash Pashinian’s 
wartime incompetence and disastrous decision making.

Tonoyan called for an end to the opposition boycott when he appeared before the 
commission made up of only pro-government lawmakers. Some opposition figures 
scoffed at the appeal, saying that the ex-minister is desperate to get the 
authorities to set him free.




Russia Again Offers To Host Armenian-Azeri Talks


Russia - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C) meets his Azeri (R) and 
Armenian counterparts in Moscow, July 25, 2023.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov still stands ready to host fresh peace 
talks between his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, one of his deputies 
said on Friday.

“We have repeatedly confirmed our readiness to provide a Moscow platform for 
further dialogue at the level of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan 
on the issues of normalizing bilateral relations and signing a peace treaty,” 
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told reporters.

“This readiness of ours is unchanged. When we agree on the dates of such an 
event, we will announce it in a timely manner,” he said, according to Russian 
news agencies.

Moscow first made such an offer last month as it sought to sideline the West and 
regain the initiative in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process. A Russian 
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman suggested recently that the talks between the 
Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers could pave the way for 
another summit of the leaders of the three nations. Russian President Vladimir 
Putin expressed readiness on October 13 to host such a summit.

Armenia now seems to prefer Western mediation of the peace talks amid its 
unprecedented tensions with Russia. They deepened further after Moscow’s failure 
to prevent, stop or even condemn Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 military offensive 
in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lavrov held talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov but not 
Armenia’s Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of a multilateral ministerial meeting 
in Tehran on October 23. Lavrov and Bayramov also twice spoke by phone in the 
following days. No such phone conversations were reported between the top 
Russian and Armenian diplomats.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
were scheduled to meet on the fringes of the European Union’s October 5 summit 
in Granada, Spain. Pashinian hoped that they will sign there a document laying 
out the main parameters of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.

However, Aliyev withdrew from the talks at the last minute. He also appears to 
have cancelled another meeting which EU Council President Charles Michel planned 
to host in Brussels later in October.

Visiting the Belgian capital on Friday, the secretary of Armenia’s Security 
Council, Armen Grigorian, expressed hope that the EU-mediated talks will take 
place “in the near future.” Yerevan, he said, is ready to “come to Brussels, 
reach the final point and sign the peace treaty.”



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.

For 3 Years Armenia has Refused to Ensure Access to Nakhichevan, Aliyev Complains to Iran’s President

Emil Lazarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan meets with his Iranian counterpart, Ibrahim Raisi, in Tashkent, Uzebakistan on Nov. 10


President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan complained to Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi that for that past three years Armenia has refused to guarantee a road through its sovereign territory to Nakhichevan, referencing his scheme to carve a “corridor” through Armenia.

“During the last three years, after the second Karabakh war, Armenia has refused and continues to refuse to abide by its obligations and ensure passage to Nakhchivan through the major part of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said, the Trend news agency reported.

“It is their [Armenia’s] choice and I think they made a huge mistake,” Aliyev said during a meeting with Raisi in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Azerbaijani leader emphasized that Iran has announced the construction of bridges over the Arax River, which he said “has great potential.”

Last month Azerbaijani officials said that a “corridor” through Armenia had “lost its appeal,” announcing that Baku has opted to create a link to Nakhichevan through Iran.

Despite this announcement, however, Azerbaijani officials, as well as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, continue to press Armenia to move forward with the project, which Yerevan unequivocally has rejected.

Yerevan has called the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” scheme a territorial claim by Azerbaijan.

Iran has also voiced its opposition to any effort that would alter the existing borders in the region and, in the past, has rebuked Ankara and Baku for advancing the “corridor” scheme.

“We carried out an anti-terror operation in September, which put an end to separatism in Azerbaijan. It paved the way for more active development of Azerbaijan and creates a favorable environment for the entire region,” Aliyev told Raisi.

“I am happy that as a result of the joint work of the representatives of Iran and Azerbaijan, an agreement for the construction of a railway and a highway along the southern bank of the Arax River was achieved,” Aliyev said, expressing confidence that this project “will be implemented in a short time and will become another direction of the North-South transport corridor.” .

“In other words, as a result, we will have two routes, one through Astara, one through Aghbend, and both routes will serve to strengthen the fraternal relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, and will be accessible to our neighbors and partners from other countries,” the Azerbaijani leader added.

Aliyev and Raisi also discussed the regional alliance project know as the “3+3” format, which envisions an alliance between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey that would bolster economic relations and allow for settling of conflicts without Western interference.

A summit of foreign ministers of the “3+3” countries was held in Tehran last month. Georgia has announced that it would not take part in the scheme, because of its decades-long enmity with Russia. Armenia, on the other hand, has decided to engage in talks to advance this formula.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry on Friday accused Armenia of “endangering” the peace process between the two countries and criticized Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan of spreading “fake rhetoric and accusations” against Baku in international forums.

Speaking at UNESCO summit on Thursday, Mirzoyan accused Azerbaijan of blockading Artsakh for ten months as part of its state sponsored ethnic cleansing.

“It is unacceptable that Armenia, which committed mass murders and crimes against humanity during almost 30 years of military aggression against Azerbaijan, continues to hypocritically accuse Azerbaijan of ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Armenians who voluntarily went to Armenia,” Aikhan Hajizade, the spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry, said in a statement.

The Situation In and Around Nagorno-Karabakh

Albert Nalbandian
US Mission to the OSCE
Nov 10 2023

As delivered by Deputy Chief of Mission Katherine Brucker
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
November 9, 2023

The United States supports the Armenian government’s efforts to help displaced persons who fled their homes following Azerbaijan’s September 19th military operation.  We are working closely with Prime Minister Pashinyan’s government and humanitarian organizations to identify and provide bilateral assistance.

We note the October 16 to 23 visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan, including to Nagorno-Karabakh, by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights.  We urge Azerbaijan to allow unhindered access for international observers, NGOs, and journalists to Nagorno-Karabakh and conflict-affected areas, in part to help establish a clear channel of communication through which the displaced can receive information and ask questions about potential returns, for those who may wish to do so, either permanently or temporarily.   Such observers should also be allowed to conduct independent and impartial assessments of allegations of human rights abuses and destruction and damage to religious and cultural sites.

The only acceptable path forward to a dignified and durable peace in the South Caucasus is through dialogue.

Acknowledgment of both Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s territory by size, commitment to border delimitation based on the 1991 Almaty Declaration and underlying maps, and guarantees that regional communication links will reciprocally respect sovereignty, territorial integrity, and jurisdiction will further the path to peace.

Outstanding political, economic, humanitarian, and security issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia remain a focus for the United States and we continue to encourage both parties at the highest levels to remain engaged in dialogue.