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[Yervant1]

Jan 24 2023

 

 

Karen Khachanov condemned by Azerbaijan Tennis Federation for speaking out about Artsakh blockade, Armenian fans flock to stand with Russian

ByAditi Vivek Mishra

 

Russian player Karen Khachanov made a political statement at the 2023 Australian Open following his third and fourth-round wins at Melbourne Park, which has not gone over well with a certain part of the world.

After winning his third-round match against American Frances Tiafoe, Khachanov took to the camera lens and wrote, "Artsakh Stay Strong!!!." After his fourth-round win against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, meanwhile, he wrote, "Keep believing all the way until the end !!! Artsakh, stay strong!!!"

Artsakh is a breakaway state whose territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The 2022-2023 blockade of the Artsakh region is an ongoing issue between the country of Azerbaijan and the the Republic of Artsakh, where Artsakh's only connecting road to the world and Azerbaijan was blocked by the citizens of Azerbaijan.

Artsakh is very closely integrated with Armenia and in many ways functions as a de facto part of Armenia. More than 99% of the population is Armenian, holding both linguistic and religious similarities to Armenia as well.

Khachanov's support for the Republic of Artsakh, therefore, has led to Armenian fans around the globe flocking to his support. The 26-year-old has been well received at the Australian Open ever since his political stance, with fans waving the Artsakh flag proudly during his matches at the Melbourne Major.

However, Karen Khachanov's support has not gone down well with the Azerbaijan Tennis Association (FTA). On 21 January 2023, the FTA issued a statement condemning Khachanov's actions. They are appealing to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) to take drastic measures against Khachanov.

 

"Writing heartfelt wishes on the camera lens is a kind of tradition in tennis, but Khachanov abused this, using it in his dirty plans. The FTA condemns such incidents, demanding that the ITF punsih Khachanov and take drastic measures so that similar instances do not recur," the statement read. "We hope this issue will find its objective solution soon."
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During his press conference at the Australian Open after sealing his spot in the semifinals, Karen Khachanov was asked what he understands regarding the region and why he feels it's important to highlight the issue. Having Armenian roots himself, the 26-year-old declared that he was not worried about negative remarks against him and that he just wanted to show his support to his people.

" I say many times. I have Armenian roots. From my father's side, from my grandfather's side, even from my mom's side. I'm half Armenian. To be honest, I don't want to go deeper than that, and I just wanted to show strength and support to my people. That's it." Karen Kachanov replied.

Karen Khachanov through to the 2023 Australian Open semifinals as Sebastian Korda bows out due to an injury

Karen Khachanov is through to his second Major semifinal after American Sebastian Korda retired from the quarterfinal match on Tuesday with the score at 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-0 in favor of the Russian. He previously booked a semifinal spot at the 2022 US Open where he fell to Norway's Casper Ruud in four sets.

During his on-court interview after his quarterfinal match, the Russian urged the crowd to applaud Korda's efforts throughout the tournament, where he took down Khachanov's friend and countryman Daniil Medvedev in straight sets and Polish player Hubert Hurkacz in an epic five-set match.

Ranked 20 in the world, the Russian now awaits the winner of the clash between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jiri Lehecka. The semifinal, which will take place on Friday (27 January) will be Khachanov's first Australian Open semifinal match.

 

https://www.sportske...k-stand-russian

 

[Yervant1]

Jan 24 2023

 

 

 

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Karen Khachanov Sparks Political Debate After Artsakh Support at Australian Open Russia’s Karen Khachanov faced backlash from the Azerbaijan Tennis Federation for writing pro-Armenian messages after matches at the 2023 Australian Open.

By Julia Elbaba

Russia's Karen Khachanov has been playing without a flag next to his name at the 2023 Australian Open.

But that hasn’t meant the No. 20 ranked player hasn’t been in the crosshairs of political turmoil while playing in Melbourne.

Khachanov, whose father and mother are Armenian dissent, wrote, “Keep believing all the way until the end!! Artsakh stay strong!!!” on the television camera lens after his fourth round win over China’s Yoshihito Nishioka on Saturday.

His pro-Armenian message sparked a strongly worded complaint from the Azerbaijan Tennis Federation.

In the letter, Azerbaijan tennis officials demanded Khachanov be “punished” with “harsh measures” for his “heartfelt words.”

Khachanov has used his platform to speak out against Azerbaijan amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – an ethnic and territorial war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In support of Khachanov and what is currently being described as the Artsakh blockade, the Melbourne Armenian community have been bringing its nation’s flags to cheer on their countryman during his Australian Open campaign. 

After Khachanov’s quarterfinal win over American Sebastian Korda, he took to the television camera lens, writing, “Artsakh stay strong!!!”

When asked if he has heard any complaints about his written messages specifically from the Azerbaijan tennis federation, he said he has not.

“I say many times. I have Armenian roots. From my father's side, from my grandfather's side, even from my mom's side. I'm half Armenian,” Khachanov said after his latest match. “To be honest, I don't want to go deeper than that, and I just wanted to show strength and support to my people.”

Khachanov visited Armenia back in November 2021, where he went to “beautiful and sacred places” Etchmiadzin, Zvartnots, Sevanavank, Haghartsin, Haghpat, Akhtala, Noravank and Tatev. He said the trip was a “very interesting and intense journey.”

Khachanov is set to face Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday for a spot in the Australian Open final.

https://www.nbcbayar...n-open/3137922/

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

Azeri blockade of Lachin corridor represents blow to EU-brokered Armenia-Azerbaijan talks - The European Conservative

 

 

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 12:31, 24 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Azeri blockade of the Lachin corridor represents a blow to the EU-brokered talks and peace agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Tadhg Pidgeon wrote in an article titled “Armenia: EU To Escalate Its Response As Crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh Deepens” in the European Conservative.

 

Below is the full article as published in The European Conservative.

"Events in the Caucasus are heading towards a humanitarian crisis as the siege of the ethnic Armenian Community in Nagorno-Karabakh continues. 

 

The current situation commenced on December 12th when a group of Azerbaijanis claiming to be environmental protestors set up a blockade on the Lachin highway, virtually the only road leading to the Armenian enclave and its capital city Stepanakert. As a result, 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children, are now trapped with dwindling food and medical supplies. Groups such as Genocide Watch have warned that there is now a serious threat of ethnic cleansing underway in the region.

 

This represents a blow to the EU-brokered talks and peace agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which was claimed by some to be a sign that the EU was filling the vacuum left by Russia in the South Caucasus. These included talks between Prime Minister Pashinyan of Armenia and President Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Brussels and in Prague during April and October 2022 respectively. Both were hosted by the European Council, and in both, the presidents agreed to peaceful collaboration in delimiting the poorly-defined mountain borders of their countries.

However, recent years leading up to this period saw numerous clashes between the Azerbaijani and Armenian defence forces, with both sides claiming the other was acting in bad faith and subversion. Writing in 2021 for Chatham House, Laurence Broer claimed that it was Azerbaijan who was applying “maximum pressure” to press for strategic advantage in border demarcation. In November 2021, EU officials condemned the Azerbaijani military operations of that month as “the worst violation to-date” of the 2020 ceasefire. In this light, the blockade of the Lachin corridor appears to be a cynical continuation of this policy. 

 

There is some confusion over the protestors’ identity. Turkish channel TRT World reports on the protestors as being determined, young environmentalists. However, it is also apparent that the Azerbaijani government is currently paying PR firms to produce expert-signed environmentalist op-eds, one of which backfired when an Australian professor withdrew his signature after discovering the piece’s backing.

According to investigations by Armenian media, most of the protestors have no history of eco-activism, many have military backgrounds and actively shared pro-Aliyev content on social media. Another investigation by Armenian site CivilNet shares footage of the protestors giving the salute of the Grey Wolves, a pan-Turkic racial-supremacist organisation with ties across Europe and the near east.

On Wednesday, January 18th, the European Parliament debated the situation. Condemnations of the Aliyev regime’s actions were unanimous, and the environment protests were universally considered fraudulent. MEP Marina Kaljurand, chair of the parliamentary delegation for South Caucasus relations, denounced what she claimed was an Azerbaijani-led “witch hunt” that had begun against her due to her critical stance on the regime. Martina Michels of the Left Group and Emmanouil Fragkos of the ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) Group both called for the creation of an air bridge to bypass the blockade and provide humanitarian relief to Nagorno-Karabakh, Fragkos demanding it be started by “the end of the week.”

Yet, such condemnation has not been matched evenly by other EU institutions to date. Patrick Lars Berg, a German MEP with the ECR Group who participated in the parliament’s fact-finding mission to the region was critical:

The double standards of the European Commission are sometimes breathtaking. President von der Leyen’s ill-advised rapprochement with the authorities in Baku showed a cynicism notable even by the Commission’s usual standards. The President even described Azerbaijan as a “reliable partner.”

Meanwhile, it appears that the EU is stepping up its response. Following the completion of a month-long observation mission, the European Council has announced its plan to send another mission. Armenian sources claim this mission will last two years and will patrol the entirety of the Armenian border. President Aliyev has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the development, stating that the new mission “will not increase security, but on the contrary, it will undermine the format of negotiations.” Other Azerbaijani sources are more outspoken, as one piece on the Azernews site calls the EU mission a “French tool to deploy military force in the region.”

In spite of Azerbaijani fears of an increased EU observation deployment, Mr. Berg is still sceptical if it will be enough. Speaking to The European Conservative, he surmised:

Azerbaijan has ignored its commitments under the peace treaty it signed—Armenian prisoners of war remain in captivity, and the destruction of heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh continues unabated. Armenia is rich in its Christian heritage, and the systematic destruction of both infrastructure and culture is appalling.

A distracted Russia is unable to break the impasse, and in recent days it appears the previously close relationship between Russia and Armenia is breaking down, to the extent that Armenia has banned CSTO [the Russian-led multinational military alliance] manoeuvres on its territory.

Given von der Leyen’s penchant for exporting European values to areas of conflict, perhaps she will consider putting the gas deal on the back burner and filling the vacuum left by Russia, thereby ensuring the basic needs of the Nagorno-Karabakh population.

Under President von der Leyen, Europe has experienced pestilence and war, and Nagorno-Karabakh is now experiencing famine. Just one horseman to go."

 

 

https://armenpress.a...PR6fx230Gohy-NI

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

Due to the blocking of Lachin corridor, it is impossible to deliver 100 tons of food of Hayastan All Armenian Fund

 

 

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 19:18, 24 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The 100 tons of food donated by the "Hayastan" All-Armenian Fund within the framework of the program to provide urgent humanitarian support to Artsakh is currently located in the city of Goris, and due to the blocking of the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia by Azerbaijan, it is not possible to deliver it to Artsakh, ARMENPRESS reports the Information Headquarters of Artsakh published this information provided by the Ministry of Social Development and Migration of Artsakh on its Facebook page.

 

The message also states: "Negotiations are being held with the command of the Russian peacekeeping troops in order to deliver the humanitarian cargo to the Republic of Artsakh in the crisis situation.

If it is possible to transport the cargo, it will be stored at the Ministry of Social Development and Migration of the Republic of Artsakh and distributed free of charge to socially vulnerable groups according to the Ministry's lists”.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...4IUZG00_-SR55bM

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

Negotiations on resuming unimpeded traffic on the Stepanakert-Goris road continue. MoD Russia

 

 

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 20:46, 24 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Russian peacekeeping contingent continues to fulfill its tasks in Nagorno-Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said in a message.

 

 According to the source, Russian peacekeepers are conducting round-the-clock monitoring of the situation in 30 observation posts and monitoring of the ceasefire.

It is noted that the command of the Russian peacekeepers continues the negotiation process with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides regarding the resumption of the unhindered movement of automobile transport along the Stepanakert-Goris road (Lachin Corridor - ed.).

 

"A convoy of Russian peacekeeping troops with humanitarian cargo was escorted along the Goris-Stepanakert route”, reads the message.

 

Since December 12, Azerbaijan continues to keep closed the only highway connecting Artsakh to the world, the Lachin Corridor, citing false environmental reasons.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...5yNFSMa0JNzHjQ8

[Yervant1]

Jan 24 2023

 

 

US Secretary of State calls for peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia

Madeline Bruce | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US

JANUARY 24, 2023 12:47:20 PM

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Monday urged Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to immediately reopen the Lachin Corridor to commercial traffic in an effort to reach a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijani protestors since December 12.

During a phone call with Aliyev, Blinken pressed that the reopening of the corridor is key to peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The reopening would allow for supplies from Armenia to reach the ethnic Armenians in the area. Blinken pressed in the phone call with Aliyev that the blockage risks humanitarian crisis that undermines prospects for peace between the two nations.

The Lachin Corridor is the sole road connecting the ethnic Armenian region in Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh, with Armenia.  With the blockage, residents from Nagorno-Karabakh cannot leave the region, and essential goods are unable to get through to either region.

According to Human Rights Watch, the protestors blocking the corridor demand access to mining sites in the areas under control of the de facto ethnic Armenian authorities. Protestors claim that such authorities are illegally exploiting the mine deposits and using the Lachin Corridor to transport the mined goods to Armenia.

https://www.jurist.o...an-and-armenia/

[Yervant1]

She will urge fake sultan, if we're lucky she might even ask!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Armenpress.am

 

Vice Speaker Ruben Rubinyan calls on CoE Secretary General to increase pressure on Azerbaijan to open Lachin corridor

 

 

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 14:48, 25 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of Parliament and head of the Armenian delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Ruben Rubinyan met with Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić.

 

“I met with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. I presented the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor. We concurred that the CoE monitoring bodies must have unimpeded access to any territory in the CoU area. I called for increased pressure on Azerbaijan to immediately open the corridor,” Rubinyan said in a statement on social media.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...IOUBuimP8kZW5WY

 

[Yervant1]

Jessica Morden MP, UK Parliament

Jan 24 2023

 

 

Westminster Hall debate on the Closure of the Lachin Corridor and situation in Nagorno-Karabakh

 

Today in Parliament, I took part in a debate on the closure of the Lachin Corridor and the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. It's important that persecution and terrorisation of the Armenian Christian population of Nagorno-Karabakh is met with united, international condemnation. But it's also important that the UK Government uses its unique leverage as a close diplomatic and trading partner of Azerbaijan in this instance. Our message to Baku must be clear - end this disgraceful, unjustified siege now, and end the wider pattern of repression which so many see as an attempt to drive Armenian Christians in Nagorno-Karabakh out of their historic homeland.

 

Watch the MPs statement at https://www.youtube....h?v=RV9fxRufDWA

[Yervant1]

NEWS.am

Armenia - Jan 25 2023

 

 

Lebanon Armenians stage protest against Azerbaijan

14:47, 25.01.2023

 

 

 

Lebanese Armenians are protesting against Azerbaijan today.

Those in attendance say that they have come to support Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and call on everyone to stand up.

Also, the demonstrators are waving the national flags of Armenia and Artsakh, and holding numerous banners.

Artsakh has been under a blockade for 45 days now. Since December 12 of last year, Azerbaijan continues to close—under the name of "environmentalists"—the "road of life" connecting Artsakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, thereby stopping traffic and cutting off the only connection of Artsakh citizens with the outside world.

As a result 120,000 people in Artsakh—30,000 of whom are children—welcomed the New Year under a blockade, waiting for the reopening of the aforesaid road. Due to the Azerbaijanis’ closure of this corridor connecting Artsakh to Armenia, 1,100 Artsakh residents—of which 270 are children—cannot return home.

https://news.am/eng/news/741264.html

[Yervant1]

Jan 26 2023

 

'A survival problem': Canadian-Armenian woman describes life in blockade amid Armenia-Azerbaijan unrest

 

 

 

• Lillian Roy
• CTVNewsMontreal.ca Digital Reporter

 

Huri Zohrabyan moved to Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh to Armenians, after she married her husband in 2021. (Courtesy image)

 

 

When the electricity comes back on, Huri Zohrabyan limits the heat to one room, shutting the doors so it can't escape.

It's become part of everyday life in Nagorno-Karabakh, where power outages are a daily occurrence and winter winds are cold.

Zohrabyan is among 120,000 people living in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked enclave populated mainly by ethnic Armenians but recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan.

 

Born in Lebanon but of Armenian descent, Zohrabyan immigrated to Montreal as a teenager. After marrying her husband 2021, she made her way to his homeland: Nagorno-Karabakh, called Artsakh by Armenians.

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Soon after, in December 2022, the only road connecting the region to Armenia and the outside world -- the Lachin corridor -- was blockaded by protesters claiming to be environmental activists.

As a result, food, medicine and gas are in dangerously short supply.

"With this blockade, since the road is closed, we don't receive anything. The stores are empty," Zohrabyan told CTV News over a video call on Wednesday. "The stores are empty, the pharmacies are empty. We have run out of vegetables ... fruits, oil, rice, flour."

Gas is frequently cut off, electricity comes and goes, and health care has taken a serious hit. Schools and many businesses have closed, furthering economic instability.

"It's a survival problem here," Zohrabyan said. "Azerbaijan is creating a humanitarian crisis."

Nagorno-Karabakh has long been a centrepoint of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In 2020, the former launched an offensive to take the region, resulting in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Six weeks of bloodshed ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire.

Azerbaijan regained control of parts of the disputed territories, and Russia sent a peacekeeping force to maintain order.

Two years later, the demonstrators currently blocking the Lachin corridor claim to be protesting illegitimate mining. But Zohrabyan and many Armenians believe the blockades are a strategic attack on Karabakh's inhabitants.

"Their motive, their goal, is always to do the ethnic filtration of Armenians," said Zohrabyan. "I think that's [their] goal, is just to create panic and make it unlivable."

Like many, Zohrabyan has questioned whether she and her husband will stay in Karabakh when the blockades are lifted.

 

But for now, she doesn't intend to leave.

"If we start to think that this place is a place where we cannot live anymore, then Azerbaijan is going to reach its goal. So yes, sometimes we think that, 'Should we stay here? Should we leave?' But at the end, you know, it's our homeland. We have to fight for it," she said.

"We also have to have faith. We have to hope that everything will be okay."

Huri Zohrabyan (right) and her husband Petros Asryan (left). (Courtesy image)

MORE ACTION NEEDED FROM CANADA? 

Sevag Belian is the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada.

While Canada has called upon authorities in Azerbaijan to lift the blockade, he says the nation should do more to combat the crisis.

"We expect the Canadian government to ramp up diplomatic efforts to apply that pressure politically and economically, whether that may come into in the form of sanctions or anything else on Azerbaijan," Belian told CTV News.

He said Canada and other nations should act before tensions derail even further, perhaps even by lending aid "on the ground."

"Canada has very, very rich experience in terms of peacekeeping and peacemaking. And certainly, efforts from Canada and like-minded countries would be very much welcomed on the ground," Belian said, noting the shaky state of Russian peacemakers currently serving Nagorno-Karabakh -- the same peacekeepers charged with keeping the Lachin corridor secure.

In a similar vein, Huri Zohrabyan wants to see more international awareness of the crisis.

She frequently compares life in Canada to life in Karabakh, and the difference is striking.

"I've seen how people live in Canada. Why [do] people here have to struggle, you know, in their homeland?" she said. "Why [can't] children can have a normal education, why can't they live in peace?"

"After 45 days, the time has come really to [be] more active in this matter. Not only Canada, but the whole world."

https://montreal.ctv...nrest-1.6246380

[Yervant1]

  Newsweek  

Jan 25 2023

 

 

OPINION

What Good Is the UN if It Won't Defend Its Founding Principles? | Opinion

ZOHRAB MNATSAKANYAN , FORMER ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UN

The United Nations has grown from 51 independent nations upon its founding to an impressive 193 member countries—a great step forward for self-determination. But on occasion, it has also unintentionally validated, through paralysis and inaction, authoritarian states persecuting ethnic minorities.

That's precisely what is happening right now in a self-governing corner of Azerbaijan widely known as Nagorno Karabakh, which is called Artsakh by its Armenian population. UN indifference to the month-old blockade of the 120,000 people there will send the message that the organization has cast aside its very raison-d'etre.

After all, the fundamental purpose of the UN is to support the right of all peoples to express their will in peace. Many multi-ethnic nations have done so, living in harmony and democracy. But others, often relying on distorted versions of "history," have built environments of discrimination, intolerance, and violence. If the UN is serious about its responsibility to promote freedom and prevent atrocity, it cannot allow suppression of freedom just because it occurs within the boundaries of a member state.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, B.J. Habibie of Indonesia and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan all leveraged their countries' status as sovereign nations in the UN—a so-called "thick curtain of sovereignty—to act with impunity.

These leaders contradicted proven facts, assuring the UN secretary-general and international community all was fine back at home. They manipulated UN member states, including the Permanent 5 on the Security Council, appealing to narrow interests to prevent action. Others followed in their footsteps. For such despots, the UN has sometimes served as an unwitting shield for gross violations of human rights. For the peoples of Kosovo, East Timor and Darfur, among others, this resulted in massive tragedy.

For decades, the people of Artsakh have struggled for freedom against the dictatorship of Azerbaijan—one with a staggering record of human rights abuses and oppression at home. Meanwhile, Artsakh has demonstrated a capacity to self-govern in democratic fashion, with full respect for people's rights and freedoms.

The autocrats in Baku responded by systematically manipulating UN members internationally and their own people at home. They've utilized propaganda, creating a caricature of Armenians as the enemy, leading to international inaction and even some support for their totalitarian regime.

Since the resumption of aggression against Artsakh in 2020, thousands of Armenians have been murdered and mutilated, and tens of thousands forcefully displaced. And now, since Dec. 12, the enclave has been blockaded. Women, children, and the elderly are trapped in freezing temperatures without food, medicine, and other basic supplies. There have been intermittent cutoffs of gas and electricity. It has created a genuine humanitarian crisis.

The Azeri sense of impunity and the hostilities this has driven—recorded also by the UN International Court of Justice—are potential precursors of far worse. The dangers are heightened by the absence of international eyes and ears in Artsakh. The Genocide Prevention Network has warned that it is an attempt to "ethnically cleanse and drive Armenians out of Artsakh."

Back in the 1990s, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan demonstrated courage and determination in forcefully persuading the international community to act decisively in the face of extreme suffering and violence. He insisted on the primacy of human security and protecting the people, in whose name the UN Charter was written.

"Strictly traditional notions of sovereignty can no longer do justice to the aspirations of peoples everywhere to attain their fundamental freedoms," he told the UN General Assembly in September 1999.

The UN has since revamped itself to create an elaborate system of protection and prevention capabilities, from early warning and action to preventive diplomacy, peace building and peacekeeping. Armenia has consistently contributed to the endeavor—specifically to genocide prevention efforts.

The deteriorating situation in Artsakh provides a classic early warning sign of impending humanitarian disaster and atrocities. If not acted upon, what was the point of the UN reforms? Both-sidesism—the false but diplomatic-sounding assignation of equal blame—and the muddle of narrow and conflicting interests do nothing for the people of Artsakh. Even more importantly, they send a frightening message to people everywhere—and are a green light to despots.

If not acted upon, what was the point of the UN reforms? Both-sidesism—the false but diplomatic-sounding assignation of equal blame—and the muddle of narrow and conflicting interests do nothing for the people of Artsakh. Even more importantly, they send a frightening message to people everywhere—and are a green light to despots.

As Armenia's former Ambassador to the UN, I am pained by events on the ground—and also concerned about the credibility and future of the organization.

It's time for leadership from the UN, or the afflicted will conclude that its commitments are empty. Such a betrayal, such acquiescence to barbarity, would be outrageous. The people of Artsakh deserve the same self-determination and freedom from strife as the rest of us.

The UN must understand this before it's too late.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan is the former minister of foreign affairs of Armenia and Armenia's former ambassador to the United Nations.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

https://www.newsweek...opinion-1776260 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

“Historic achievement”- Artsakh government officials brief Canadian parliamentary committee on Azeri blockade

 

 

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 14:38, 26 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. On January 25, 2023, Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development convened two separate meetings on Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockade of Artsakh.

 

The meetings were organized following last week’s unanimous passage of a motion presented to the committee by Bloc Quebecois’ Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Stéphane Bergeron, which called for a maximum of three meetings, during which the committee would have the opportunity to hear from witnesses representing the Republic of Artsakh, as well as experts and community representatives, the Armenian National Committee of Canada reported.

This was a historic achievement, considering that for the first time, it provided an opportunity for Artsakh state representatives to appear in front of the Canadian Parliament and make the case for the 120,000 besieged Armenians of Artsakh and their struggle to live as they choose.

 

During the first meeting, ANCC’s Co-President Shahen Mirakian appeared alongside Dr. Taline Papazian (Lecturer at Sciences Po, École de l'Air), Robert Avetisyan (Republic of Artsakh’s Permanent Representative to the US & Canada) and Gegham Stepanyan (Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh). During his testimony, Mirakian provided the committee with a comprehensive understanding of where Armenian Canadians stand on this issue, emphasizing the need for Canada to use its considerable international influence and pressure Azerbaijan to end its genocidal blockade of Artsakh and deter Baku’s ethnic cleansing campaign in the region. Dr. Papazian provided testimony related to the geopolitical context of the ongoing situation and offered recommendations on how Canada can help end the latest humanitarian catastrophe orchestrated by Azerbaijan.

 

Artsakh’s Permanent Representative to the US & Canada, Robert Avetisyan and the Republic’s Human Rights Defender, Gegham Stepanyan, made excellent presentations, providing committee members with real facts from the ground related to the grave humanitarian consequences and the geopolitical implications of Azerbaijan’s genocidal aggression as well their policy priorities and vision for a free and independent Artsakh.

The second meeting of the committee heard from Olesya Vartanyan (Senior South Caucasus Analyst at the International Crisis Group), as well as Professor Christopher Waters (Professor of Law at the University of Windsor). Both witnesses shared grounded information on the ongoing situation in Artsakh, calling for an end to Azerbaijan’s destabilizing efforts and for increased international pressure to find a fair and permanent resolution to the conflict. During the second meeting, additional witnesses who appeared in front of the committee spared no effort to disseminate state-sponsored propaganda, unashamedly denying the suffering of the 120,000 innocent Armenians of Artsakh. Both witnesses were thoroughly questioned by committee members and at times, their foreign-sponsored talking points were pointedly exposed.

 

The Armenian National Committee of Canada thanks committee members for their ongoing advocacy and leadership on this important issue and remains committed to continuing nationwide advocacy efforts to end Artsakh's blockade and ensure that their voices are heard in the pursuit of a free and independent Artsakh.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...h2msjo0atqbOoQ8

[Yervant1]

Canada - Jan 27 2023

 

 

OPINION

Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh is a disaster waiting to happen, unless we act now

With their attention fixed on war in Ukraine, nations risk ignoring a crisis in the Caucasus – and a possible new phase in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict that could pull Russia, Turkey, Iran and the West into the fray

NEIL HAUER

YEREVAN, ARMENIA

SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL

 

Neil Hauer is a Canadian journalist reporting on Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone today who is unaware of the catastrophe in Ukraine, as Russia’s invasion of that country hits the 11-month mark.

But few could tell you there is another unfolding humanitarian crisis not far from there, on another edge of Europe, in the tiny, unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

For more than a month, the residents of this disputed enclave in the Caucasus mountains have been cut off, ever since government-organized protesters from Azerbaijan, which claims the region, blocked the only road to the outside world on Dec. 12. Food and electricity are now rationed, gas supplies are regularly cut, and at least 100,000 civilians are effectively under siege.

This conflict may seem obscure and unimportant – an arcane dispute in a far-flung corner of the world with few implications for anywhere else. But the risks of a new war that could draw in regional and international powers – including Russia, Turkey, Iran and even the West – is high. International Crisis Group, the world’s premier conflict watchdog, named the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict (including Nagorno-Karabakh, or simply Karabakh for short) second on its list of conflicts to watch in 2023, behind only Ukraine. The time to react to the blockade is now.

 

RUSSIA

IRAN

LIBYA

EGYPT

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800

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GEORGIA

Caspian

Sea

RUSSIA

Tbilisi

ARMENIA

AZERBAIJAN

Yerevan

Baku

Nakhchivan

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NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are former Soviet republics that have long disputed ownership of the region.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN;

OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; HIU

The current crisis is the latest development in a decades-old conflict in a region whose complexity and diversity can prove challenging for even experienced observers. Once the southernmost region of the Soviet Union, the Caucasus gained the unenviable distinction of being the most violent areas of the disintegrating USSR in 1991. Its three newly independent states – Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – saw no fewer than four separatist conflicts as other territories attempted to establish their own sovereignty while communist authority disintegrated.

One of these regions was Nagorno-Karabakh. When the Soviet Union’s internal borders were drawn in the 1920s, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was placed inside Soviet Azerbaijan – despite its overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population. As the USSR began to crack in the late 1980s, the population of Karabakh demanded to be joined to Soviet Armenia. Ethnic violence between Armenians and Azerbaijanis escalated, and the USSR’s dissolution gave way to a full-scale war. When a ceasefire was finally reached in 1994, ethnic Armenians controlled not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also seven adjacent provinces of Azerbaijan proper.

This situation persisted until 2020. Having rebuilt and modernized its army, Azerbaijan – backed by Turkey – launched a new war to redress its failure of three decades earlier. Through 44 days of war, Azerbaijan recaptured not only the seven provinces it had lost, but one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself, including the fortress city of Shushi. Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the remaining Armenian-controlled territory to maintain a fragile ceasefire, but Azerbaijan and its President, Ilham Aliyev, were not satisfied. For the past two years, Azerbaijan has continued its attempts to gain control over the rest of Karabakh – with or without its Armenian population.

Over the past few months, these efforts have picked up steam. Mr. Aliyev has sought to press Armenia into signing a capitulatory peace treaty that would see it abandon the Nagorno-Karabakh issue entirely and recognize the territory as part of Azerbaijan. In September, that took the form of a full-scale invasion of Armenia itself, with nearly 300 soldiers total killed in just two days.

When this did not achieve the desired result, Azerbaijan decided on a new tactic: using government-deployed civilian “protesters” to block the only road into Karabakh from Dec. 12 onward. For more than 40 days now, the only traffic in or out has consisted of a few Red Cross vehicles with urgent supplies. There are few signs that the blockade will be lifted any time soon.

 

https://www.theglobe...ter-waiting-to/

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Armenpress.am

 

Dunja Mijatović emphasizes the importance of providing free and unhindered access to NK for international missions

 

 

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 14:14, 28 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatović reaffirmed her statement on the need to immediately restore movement through the Lacin corridor, ARMENPRESS reports Mijatović wrote on her "Twitter" page.

 

Dunja Mijatović noted that the present situation shows once more the importance of ensuring free and unhindered access of humanitarian assistance and international human rights missions to all areas and people, including those residing in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Commissioner also emphasized the need to develop effective and flexible conditions for access that would allow all competent actors, including the Commissioner's Office, to have priority access to those in need of humanitarian assistance and human rights protection.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...22ilIzjFh3Okpa8

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Genocide Warning - SaveKarabakh.org

January 2023

 

 

 

Special Joint Statement of Concern: Conditions are now present for genocide against the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh).

On December 12, the government of Azerbaijan imposed a blockade on Nagorno Karabakh and its 120,000 Armenian residents, preventing food, medicine, gas, and other vital goods from transiting through the Lachin Corridor, the only land route into the region.

The government of Azerbaijan has long promoted official hatred of Armenians, has fostered impunity for atrocities committed against Armenians, and has issued repeated threats to conquer not only Nagorno Karabakh, but also Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, by force.

The present blockade is designed to, in the words of the Genocide Convention, “deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the end of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group in whole or in part.”

All 14 risk factors for atrocity crimes identified by the UN Secretary-General’s Office on Genocide Prevention are now present.

The current Azerbaijani aggression against the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh conforms to a long pattern of ethnic and religious cleansing of Armenian and other Christian communities in the region by the government of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, and their partisans.

We call on all contracting parties to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, to fulfill their obligations, through the UN Security Council, to prevent another chapter of the Armenian Genocide.

We also call on the UN Security Council to act to ensure unrestricted humanitarian access for all international organizations to Nagorno Karabakh, in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Convention.

 

Organizational Co-Signers

 

Christian Solidarity International

American Friends of Kurdistan

Anglican Office for Government and International Affairs

Argentine Armenian Lawyers Association

Armenian National Committee of America

Center for Truth and Justice

Conseil Français-Arméniens

Genocide Watch

German-Armenian Lawyers’ Association

Hellenic American Leadership Council

Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust

U.S. Armenian Council for Human Rights

In Defense of Christians

International Christian Concern

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention

The Philos Project

 

Individual Co-Signers

The Baroness Cox, Independent Member of the House of Lords

Lela Gilbert (Fellow: Hudson Center for International Religious Freedom)

Dr. Charles Jacobs (President, American Anti-Slavery Group)

Prof Elisa Von Joeden-Forgey (Endowed Chair, Dept. of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Keene State College)

René Léonian (President of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in Eurasia)

Prof Armen T. Marsoobian (First Vice President, International Association of Genocide Scholars)

Prof Irene Victoria Massimino (Co-president, Lemkin Institute)

Sheila Paylan (International Human Rights Lawyer and Activist)

Dr. Gurgen Petrossian (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

David L. Phillips (Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University)

 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

 

ICRC facilitates transfer of six patients from blockaded Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia for treatment

 

 

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 12:35, 29 January 2023

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the transfer of 6 seriously-ill patients from blockaded Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) to Armenia for treatment, the healthcare ministry of Artsakh said in a statement.

 

The Artsakh healthcare ministry added that planned surgeries remain suspended in all hospitals across Artsakh because of the blockade by Azerbaijan. 

Furthermore, 8 children are in neonatal and intensive care at the Arevik hospital, and another 12 patients are under intensive care at the Republican Medical Center. Five of the 12 patients are in critical condition.

 

So far, the ICRC facilitated the transfer of a total of 55 patients from Artsakh to Armenia during the blockade.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...fKkwk5eZQKVBjuA

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Armenpress.am

 

Pope Francis renews appeal for “grave humanitarian situation in Lachin Corridor in South Caucusus” amid Azeri blockade

 

 

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 10:41, 30 January 2023

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis again expressed concern over the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan.

 

The Pope renewed his appeal for the “grave humanitarian situation in the Lachin Corridor in the South Caucusus."

 “I am close to all those who, in the dead of winter, are forced to cope with these inhumane conditions. Every effort must be made at the international level to find peaceful solutions for the good of people,” Vatican News quoted Pope Francis as saying in St. Peter’s Square following the Angelus prayer. 

 

Pope Francis had addressed the humanitarian consequences of the blockade of Lachin Corridor on December 18, 2022 as well.

 

The Lachin Corridor is Nagorno-Karabakh’s land link with Armenia, and has been blocked by Azerbaijan since December 12, 2022.

 

 

https://armenpress.a...GtE9bhP7EI7WGvo

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