cease-fire violations by azeris

[Yervant1]

VICE.com

Oct 29 2020

Turkish Ultranationalist Group Linked to “Hunt For Armenians” in France

The Grey Wolves, a militant group which is banned in a number of countries, has been accused of orchestrating marches targeting Armenians near Lyon.

By Tim Hume

Hundreds of Turkish ultranationalists have marched through the streets of two French towns, chanting threats against Armenians, as tensions over the war in Nagorno-Karabakh boiled over.

A French anti-racism group and an organization representing France’s Armenian community said what they called the “hunt for Armenians” was orchestrated by the Grey Wolves, a militant Turkish ultranationalist group which is active in Western Europe and banned in a number of countries, including Austria. Footage of the marches, which took place on Wednesday night, was circulated on Twitter accounts featuring wolf emojis and references to the Turkish name of the ultranationalist organisation, Bozkurtlar.

The International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and CCAF, the Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations in France, both called Thursday for the Grey Wolves to be banned.

“French people of Armenian origin must be able to live in France in safety, without being targeted by acts of violence and racial hatred,” the CCAF said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the CCAF, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said no Armenians were injured during the intimidating marches, as most people were at home due to coronavirus restrictions.

But her organisation was hugely concerned by the incident, which for her community carried echoes of the Armenian genocide under the Ottomans.

“We saw hundreds of Turks going into the streets looking for Armenians,” she told VICE News. “It’s a very scary situation and it reminds us of the darkest stages of history.”

The intimidating scenes took place in Vienne and Décines-Charpieu, both located near Lyon, a major hub of France’s Armenian community, which is the largest in the European Union. Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway enclave within Azerbaijan which is run by ethnic Armenians, with the Azeris receiving heavy military support from Turkey.

Local officials and police said a mob of Turkish nationalists, estimated to number between 150 and 250, descended on Vienne at about 7.30pm. Footage from the scene showed a large crowd advancing on a rapidly retreating police car, waving Turkish flags and yelling. Explosions are heard and projectiles are seen hurtling through the air.

The mob then converged on nearby Décines-Charpieu, a heavily Armenian commune in the Lyon metropolitan area where the Armenian Genocide Memorial is located. Security was ramped up at the site once officials became aware of the trouble.

Laurence Fautra, mayor of Décines-Charpieu, said in a statement that a procession of about 250 people marched through the city centre waving Turkish flags, yelling violent threats like: “We are going to kill the Armenians.”

Regional officials tweeted that police had intervened to restore order in response to “an illegal grouping of individuals from the Turkish community, ostensibly wishing to do battle with people of Armenian origin.” It said order was restored without violence, with 65 people receiving verbal warnings for breaching coronavirus restrictions.

The marches followed violent clashes earlier Wednesday, when a group of pro-Armenian demonstrators blocked a motorway near Vienne, and clashed with members of the Turkish community. According to police, clashes with knives broke out, and four people were injured, including a 23-year-old man who was hit with a hammer.

French officials, police, and anti-racism groups all denounced the marches. The anti-racism group LICRA said in a statement that the gatherings amounted to “veritable pogroms against members of the Armenian community” and said the Grey Wolves “must be dissolved.”

France’s Independent Union of Police Commissioners also denounced the marches, saying that community groups did not have the right to “impose their own law.”

“Communitarianism must not take precedence over the Republic!” the group tweeted.

The CCAF spokeswoman said the tensions were a consequence of the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bellicose statements against Armenia. She said her group was working with French authorities to prevent a repeat of the marches, and to try to outlaw the Grey Wolves in France.

“We are very concerned about this situation,” she said. “This is happening after Erdogan’s declarations. There’s no way we’ll let his politics of terror take hold in France.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epddna/turkey-france-armenia-grey-wolves-lyon?fbclid=IwAR0uVJz_mzocOGkdakR853u5Hyy-SV_YY6nes5P9e6gYy6PrxoHl3NxQugU

[Yervant1]

The Spectator, UK

Oct 30 2020

It’s time to expel Turkey from Nato

Tim Ogden

30 October 2020, 8:30am

Even the staunchest Remainer would admit the EU is not currently the happiest ship, sailing in the waters of world politics. Viktor Orban’s self-proclaimed ‘illiberal democracy’ is growing increasingly incompatible with EU values, Poland has expressed distaste for 'the Brussels elites, blinded by political correctness', and on two occasions Greece has locked horns with the EU's upper echelons over the debt crisis. But while the EU has been a daily headline topic for years, the state of Nato has been largely neglected — despite the fact that one of its own members, Turkey, threatens to fatally undermine the alliance. Ankara's relations with the West have been deteriorating for years — but that process has accelerated over the last few days after Turkey's President Erdogan accused the Emmanuel Macron of needing 'mental treatment' following his attempts to tackle insurgent French Islamism.

Donald Trump has been the only world leader to draw attention to Nato’s issues, but he has been focused more on America shouldering the alliance’s financial burden and Germany’s military incompetence (the army’s ludicrous rules of engagement, which largely prevent it returning enemy fire, have led some to describe it as an ‘aggressive camping organisation'). Turkey’s growing belligerence to the West has, however, largely gone unaddressed.

It wasn’t always like this. The inclusion of Turkey in Nato in the early 1950s was part of a sound strategy at the time. Turkey bordered the southern Soviet states of Georgia and Armenia and denied the USSR access to the Mediterranean at the Bosphorus strait and its Nato membership allowed the US to station ballistic missiles on its soil — although this ended up becoming one of the catalysts of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Even after the missiles were dismantled, Turkey remained home to a significant US Air Force presence at the Incirlik Air Base and continued its role as a thorn in the USSR's southern flank.

There were, of course, problems with Turkey's Nato membership before the end of the Cold War. The Cyprus crisis of 1974 saw Turkey and Greece — both Nato members — go to war against each other, which led to the establishment of a largely-forgotten UN demilitarised zone that separates the northern and southern portions of the island.

Turkey is making fewer attempts to disguise its increasingly Islamist and authoritarian tendencies

But although Turkey's actions in the 1970s were concerning, back then it at least did not collude with hostile powers, nor seek to undermine the West in the way it has done in more recent years. The thought that a Nato power would forsake the West for the Kremlin would have been unthinkable in the Cold War, but this has now come to pass in the form of President Putin's friendship with Erdogan. Ankara's relations are now close enough with Moscow that it purchased Russian-made anti-aircraft systems and even launched joint operations with Russian troops in Syria.

In contrast, Ankara's relationship with the West continues to deteriorate, most recently with a diplomatic spat between Turkey and France over Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on an increasingly rampant Islamism, and Erdogan's call for Turks to boycott French products.

August also witnessed greater tensions between Ankara and Athens, this time over contested waters — and the natural resources beneath — in the eastern Mediterranean. Both countries launched naval war games, but the situation was further muddied when individual Nato member states dispatched warships to participate in the exercises of both countries: French and Italian ships worked with their Greek counterparts, while a US Navy destroyer took part in Turkey's training. This is hardly the united front Nato needs.

In the Middle East, Turkey has launched assaults on Western-backed Kurdish groups in Syria, as well as operations in Libya in support of the Government of National Accord. To supplement its war effort, Turkey has even transported fighters from Syrian rebel factions (some of whom have been accused of war crimes) to Libya. There are credible reports that it has done the same to support Azerbaijan in its ongoing war against Armenia.

Ankara has fanned the flames of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan; the latter is a close Turkish ally (the two countries describe themselves as being 'one nation, two states'), and President Erdogan has given Baku every support in its war efforts. This stands in contrast to the rest of the international community which — including Russia, an ally of Armenia — have called for an immediate ceasefire.

In short, Turkey is making fewer attempts to disguise its increasingly Islamist and authoritarian tendencies, and is actively working against Western interests.

Why then has Nato not yet acted against its bellicose member? The obvious solution would be to have Turkey ejected from the alliance, a move which would show that Nato has the courage of its own convictions and will not tolerate members which have, effectively, become hostile powers. Better this than let Turkey quit on its own terms. But there exists no mechanism to eject member states from Nato — Article 13 of the alliance's founding Treaty declares that a country may indicate its own wish to leave, but there is no method to forcibly remove a troublesome state.

Doubtless, in the late 1940s it was inconceivable to any of Nato’s founding nations that one of their own would show signs of such rank betrayal in the fight against Communism. It is now, however, time for this to be amended: the world has drastically changed since the fall of the USSR, and Nato itself has swollen substantially. More importantly, the threats it faces are more complex than those which necessitated its creation, without the moral sureties of the Cold War.

Perhaps Nato could alter its founding document so it can eject Turkey. Its current image is only one of weakness — not just to its Russian and Chinese rivals or its ostensible Turkish friends, but also external partners striving to earn membership. It is hardly an encouraging sign for would-be members that Nato will not call out wrongdoing in its own ranks: this negates the very notion of security on which the alliance was founded. In other words, if Nato cannot stand up to its allies, it is highly unlikely it will appropriately confront its enemies.

WRITTEN BYTim Ogden

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/it-s-time-to-expel-turkey-from-nato?fbclid=IwAR1ZxzjQlwXikPmlNluKM_oFJAKSKUvOV8HpR9FwxBris8nansK2cYLYlbw

[Yervant1]

FOX News, Los Angeles

Oct 30 2020

Los Angeles surgeon saved countless lives as bombs fell around him on the frontlines in Artsakh

By Araksya Karapetyan

LOS ANGELES - A local surgeon in the middle of a war zone saved countless lives on the frontlines in Artsakh. Dr. Armen Hagopjanian performed countless surgeries as bombs were going off all around him.

Without question, he said this was the most difficult thing he’s ever experienced in his life.

To complicate matters, Dr. Hagopjanian contracted COVID-19 while he was in Armenia. He has since recovered and is back in Los Angeles. Just days after he returned to the U.S., that very hospital where he spent his time was bombed.

Dr. Hagopjanian said his decision to go into a war zone was actually an easy one to make, once he realized just how serious the situation was.

"When we talk about quality of life, we are talking from the American perspective. There's no quality of life. There is no life when you cannot sleep. There is no life when you can’t come out of the bunker. There’s no quality when your kids are scared, when your wives are scared, when your mothers are scared, there's no quality of life. There's no food. There's no water. There's no... there's nothing," said Dr. Hagopjanian.

RELATED: Click here for more coverage of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Since Dr. Hagopjanian’s return from that very hospital in Stepanakert, it was hit by Azerbaijani missiles, and this time a portion of the building was severely damaged.

"You should have seen the faces of all those nurses and all those middle medical personnel in the hospital that stayed. Every single one of them had either a brother or a husband or a son at the front line,” said Dr. Hagopjanian.

Working under such dire conditions was beyond challenging. But Dr. Hagopjanian said they did what they could, they did what they had to do.

"Most of the time we had two patients at the same time in one operating room. So, if you would be squirting some fluid over the wound, you were running the risk of getting some blood from one patient into the other operating field," said Dr. Hagopjanian. "But we did not have time to care. We had to save lives."

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They worked around the clock, performing surgeries nonstop. Dr. Hagopjanian said he lost count of how many lives he saved.

"Human body has amazing ability to adjust. And we adjusted to the lack of sleep, we adjusted to the lack of food. We just due to the lack of water, we adjusted to the lack of sunlight. You did not have a chance not to adjust," said Dr. Hagopjanian.

Dr. Hagopjanian along with the other doctors suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"No matter how, how hard you try to separate yourself from the patient. It was impossible not to get attached to all these 20, 22-year-old kids whose life was completely reversed from that point on," said Dr. Hagopjanian.

He said he can’t believe the inhumanity, the sheer irresponsibility of those in power. He is in disbelief that the world continues to ignore what’s happening.

"It's impossible to listen to the idiots that came to power that do not care about human life. It's impossible to listen to this from the human perspective, they don't consider human lives as their own, they don't care. You look back at the history. I always remember the famous words of Stalin— that the death of one person is a tragedy, the death of 10,000 is just statistics. For them, it’s just statistics. How many lives do we need to get rid of to satisfy ambitions of Erdogan of Aliyev," said Dr. Hagopjanian.

"You can be brave all you want, but if you stand in the middle of the field and there are 50 drones flying over your head and 20 of them blowing your head off, then there's nothing you can do. We are not fighting the war of the Titans. We're not fighting the war of good versus evil. We're fighting the X-Box wars when kids sitting somewhere, a hundred miles away from the field are using joysticks to kill people. It's a real life and you don't get a second life when you get killed," he added.

https://www.foxla.com/news/los-angeles-surgeon-saved-countless-lives-as-bombs-fell-around-him-on-the-frontlines-in-artsakh?fbclid=IwAR0gp_VeeghLWLCqcjmrhZOLEiBY8jGXmIvi2xI82CSlXOH-fJy-g0EhvSk

[Yervant1]

The Daily Beast

Oct 30 2020

The Gravedigger Who Fears Digging His Own Son’s Grave in Nagorno-Karabakh

Under the assault of Azerbaijani artillery, Martin Ghulyan digs graves for Armenian soldiers. Every day, he hopes that his son on the frontlines will not end up in one of them.

Emil Filtenborg

Stefan Weichert

Published Oct. 30, 2020 12:43PM ET

 

The dead soldier’s family drags out a coffin from the back of an electrician’s van. They carry him to the graveyard with hurried steps, passing another 28 graves decorated with plastic flowers. Gravedigger Martin Ghulyan is walking next to them in silence, carrying two shovels in one hand. He puts down the shovels and removes the lid on the coffin.

For five minutes or so, the family takes their last look at a young man in his twenties. He is beautiful, with a symmetric face, a beard, and golden skin. But he is also a dead man, and because of the war, the living have to say their goodbyes quickly. Everything is rushed, with little time for ceremony. It is crucial to finish the funeral swiftly at the military graveyard because staying for too long could attract an Azerbaijani air attack, Ghulyan says.

The funeral is taking place in Stepanakert, the main city in the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The breakaway Republic of Artsakh controls most of the region, which is internationally recognized as a part of Azerbaijan.

In the early 90’s, a war between Armenians and Azerbaijanis broke out, killing 30,000 people. In the end, the ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh claimed independence to establish the Republic of Artsakh, which has led to several confrontations between Armenians on one side and Azerbaijanis on the other, turning borders into frontlines. The latest burst of fighting was a four-day war in 2016, but in September, a regular war started, as Turkey supplied Azerbaijan with drones, giving them the upper hand.

As Ghulyan walks to the grave, his phone keeps ringing while the family lowers the young man’s coffin into the grave and they say their final goodbyes. This funeral is just one of many today, and Ghulyan is repeatedly requested at other graveyards. Since the war broke out on September 27 between the Republic of Artsakh, supported by Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the 52-year-old Ghulyan has dug around two to seven graves per day. At the military graveyard, Ghulyan has dug four shallow graves that have not found new inhabitants yet. They are dug as a precaution if the front line’s killings outpace his ability to dig new ones.

“It is hard to see all these young people die,” Ghulyan says to The Daily Beast, “Of course, I think about my son on the frontline at these funerals like everyone else would. Everybody has someone in the war. A son or a husband. We want peace, our kids to be happy, and the war to end.”

After the funeral, Ghulyan walks back to his car, passing graves from the first devastating war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Many of the tombstones have pictures of the dead, and several of these fallen soldiers died in their early 20s. Many of Ghulyan's friends from the first war are buried here. Today, he buries his friend’s sons next to them and prays that he will not have to bury his own.

 

Ghulyan was a platoon leader during the war almost 30 years ago for a group of 20 soldiers. Armed with an AK-47, he fought for years in the Caucasus mountains for the Republic of Artsakh’s independence. He blames Azerbaijan for starting the new war and claims that they target civilians in Artsakh.

Azerbaijan’s president has said that Nagorno-Karabakh must return to Azerbaijani control and claims that Artsakh started the war. While Artsakh says that Azerbaijan targets civilians, Armenia and Artsakh have been accused of targeting civilians in Azerbaijani cities such as Ganja, where 12 civilians died in an attack. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is trying to broker a peace deal, 5,000 people have already lost their lives in the current war. Russia is an important player in the war because it has a defense pact with Armenia and sells weapons to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to Ghulyan, this is not a new war. He says that the old war was simply on hold.

“We don’t trust the Azerbaijani. We never believed in this peace,” says Ghulyan, “We have been ready for this forever, and we are prepared. I don’t know if there can ever be peace.”

Azerbaijan has access to superior military equipment such as Turkish-made striker drones, which is taking a brutal toll on the Artsakh defenses. It is a problem, Ghulyan says, but he is sure of victory. However, the frontline shows that Artsakh is under heavy pressure and losing territory in the southern part of the region, and supply routes are under threat.

Of course, I think about my son on the frontline at these funerals like everyone else would. Everybody has someone in the war. A son or a husband. We want peace, our kids to be happy, and the war to end

A young soldier, who has just lost his brother, told The Daily Beast at the military graveyard that the battles are fierce with the Armenians being outnumbered. When asked if he might be willing to return for a longer interview later, he says that he does not know how long he will be alive. At times, “one soldier is fighting against three tanks,” the soldier says. Ghulyan, however, is confident of victory because the war is not just about military hardware, he says, but also about the willingness to sacrifice.

“If they come here, I will take my rifle and go to war,” says Ghulyan and smiles. “In the first war, we fought to the last man, and we were ready to spill our last blood. This is not any different.”

According to Ghulyan, the spirit of the ethnic Armenian people is too strong for the Azerbaijani. He tells the story of how he and his friends were fighting with whatever they had back in the 1990s and that their people are accustomed to living during war. He and his wife got married in 1992 during the war, and their first daughter was born in 1994 during shelling. If it were not for Turkish support, Azerbaijan would “not stand a chance” in the current war, Ghulyan claims.

However, the war's impact is visible in Stepanakert, the capital of the Republic of Artsakh, and it paints a different picture. Weeks of drones, missiles, and airplane attacks have wounded the city. Several buildings are in ruins, and most of the civilian population has fled. Only a few civilians remain hiding in basements and bunkers because they refuse to leave.

Some say that they fear a genocide if they give up. During and immediately after the First World War, around 1.5 million Armenians were eradicated by the Ottoman Empire on territory that now belongs to modern-day Turkey. Turkey supports Azerbaijan, and it creates fear among the locals in Artsakh.

“We are 150,000 people. Of course, we did not start the war against seven million people in Azerbaijan,” says 77-year-old Albert Tonyan to The Daily Beast, as he hides in a bunker. “Azerbaijan started the war, but Turkey has coordinated it.”

Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan is known in Artsakh as a war hero for his support during the 1990s. He wishes peace for both “the Armenian and Azerbaijani people” but says that Artsakh has the right to defend itself and that it is impossible to all share the land.

“You know as a Christian, we hate wars, but Jesus Christ said that if you don’t have a sword, you can sell your cloak and buy one,” the archbishop says to The Daily Beast, “That means that we have the right to defend our life, our freedom, relations, and our family.”

“The war is different this time because of the new weapons,” he says, “War is a bad thing for the world because it brings disabled people, orphans, and deaths, but we need to defend ourselves. We cannot live together, because they want the land for themselves.”

Such a Thing as a Free Lunch

All around Stepanakert, people seem certain that Armenia and Artsakh will win the war. The same goes for Hovig Samra, who is an ethnic Armenian born in Syria and who moved to Stepanakert in 2011 to grow fruit. He owns a restaurant in Stepanakert, where he gives everyone free lunch. It is the only restaurant open in Stepanakert, and he refuses payment.

“I feel bad for the young people dying on both sides,” says Samra, “I believe that we will win. Whether it will be a long war depends on the world. The world can continue to ignore us, like they are doing now, or they can do something and stop the war.”

He refers to the toxic situation unfolding, where the war could quickly evolve into a regional conflagration. While Turkey supports Azerbaijan, Russian has a defense pact with Armenia, and Iran, at the southern border, is also increasingly concerned about the events up north. In Washington, D.C. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had leaders from both Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to a peace treaty, which broke only a few hours after.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) has, among others, called for an immediate ceasefire and the potential recognition of the Republic of Artsakh.

“Since Azerbaijan continues its attempts to resolve this conflict through the illegal use of military force, the international community will be left with no choice but to move to recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh,” said Markey.

In the first war, we fought to the last man, and we were ready to spill our last blood. This is not any different.

Samra says that while the world is still discussing what to do, everyone in the Republic of Artsakh will need to do what they can to help. Every day, his restaurant offers free food and is filled with all kinds of people from Stepanakert, searching for a free home-cooked meal or a sense of normality in a place razed by war and often hit by shelling.

“Not everyone has a gun to fight. The soldier fights with his weapons, the writer with his writing, and the singer by his songs. I try to give a good image of my nation. It is simple,” he says, “But if Azerbaijan comes here, I will, of course, fight for our nation, and my wife will fight too.”

‘We Made a Mistake’

Everyone who speaks to The Daily Beast in Artsakh is sure that the war will end at some point, but while they claim to not hate the Azerbaijani people, they are also not ready to make concessions. Ghulyan, showing The Daily Beast around at the graveyard, is worried that he will soon have to dig the grave for his son but he says that the new war could only have been avoided by taking more land in the 1990s.

“In 1994, Azerbaijan was losing and was begging for peace,” says Ghulyan, who says that Armenian soldiers burned the homes of the Azerbaijani people back in the 1990s to prevent the Azerbaijani population from ever returning. “We made peace but should have progressed further, and it was our mistake that we did not do that. If we had taken more land, we would be in a better position now.”

Now, he says, the Artsakh people are again forced to fight. He remembers vividly back in 1991 when he was helicoptered into Stepanakert for the fighting, the intense combat, and the terrible smell of dead people from the first war. To him, death never becomes normal, but that does not mean that he is scared.

“I am not afraid, and let me tell you why. It is war, right?” he asks, “If someone kicks you right now, you are going to fight back and not just lay down. We are not letting them into our homes. We will stand firm—our instincts will kick in, and we will fight.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-gravedigger-who-fears-digging-his-own-sons-grave-in-nagorno-karabakh?ref=scroll

[Yervant1]

Al-Jazeera

Oct 30 2020

What’s Turkey’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

Turkey has close ties to Azerbaijan and wants a seat at the negotiating table, but Ankara’s interest goes beyond brotherly love.

By Patrick Keddie

30 Oct 2020

Istanbul, Turkey – NATO, the United States, Russia, and Iran have repeatedly called for an halt to the intense fighting that broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in late September.

Turkey has also called for a truce, but it has struck a different tone.

In early October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Azerbaijan’s “great operation both to defend its own territories and to liberate the occupied Karabakh”.

Turkey stands with and will continue to stand with “friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan with all our means and all our heart”, Erdogan said.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory, including by Armenia, but is dominated by ethnic Armenians who broke away from Baku in a war in the 1990s.

It has been the subject of several UN resolutions calling for an end to the occupation of Azeri lands.

Turkey and Azerbaijan have strong economic, military, cultural and linguistic ties. Erdogan has invoked the saying that the countries are “one nation, two states”.

Meanwhile, Turkey and Armenia have a fraught history. Armenia calls the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the late Ottoman period a “genocide”, which Turkey refutes.

Ankara’s vocal and fervent support for Baku has angered Western nations, who have accused it of adding fuel to a dangerous conflict.

To date, more than 1,000 people have been killed, including dozens of citizens on both sides.

Analysts say Turkey’s staunch backing of Azerbaijan in this round of fighting has played a significant role in what is the most serious flare-up in the region since the 1990s and reveals insights into Ankara’s wider ambitions in the region.

‘Unconditional’ support

While Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan’s claims over disputed territory in the region, it did not play a significant rhetorical or military role in support of Baku in its previous conflicts with Armenia.

Turkey and Azerbaijan’s relationship even took a huge hit in 2008 as Turkey pursued a policy of rapprochement with Armenia.

“The failure of those diplomatic efforts between Turkey and Armenia was a watershed for Turkey-Azerbaijan relations,” Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat who now chairs the Istanbul-based think-tank Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (Edam), told Al Jazeera.

“It’s after that that the relationship recovered and deepened.”

Military ties have deepened significantly between Turkey and Azerbaijan over the past 10 years as the oil-and gas-rich state spent heavily to gain military superiority over its much poorer neighbour Armenia.

Turkey trains officers in the Azeri armed forces and it has become Azerbaijan’s third-largest supplier of weapons after Israel and Russia – Moscow arms both Armenia and Azerbaijan, despite having a defence pact with Yerevan.

Since 2015, nationalist figures have risen to prominence in the Turkish state and Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) depends on its ally the National Movement Party (MHP) for its parliamentary majority.

Many within the party support Azerbaijan and consider the geopolitics of the Caucuses and the Black Sea as high priorities.

Meanwhile, the AKP’s current foreign policy has shifted from the “no problems with neighbours” soft power approach it pursued in the early to mid-years of its rule.

In recent years, Turkey has intervened militarily in Syria, Libya, and northern Iraq, and has pursued a more assertive approach in a dispute with Greece and Cyprus over energy rights and maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey has become bolder in its support for Azerbaijan – particularly over the past year.

“The most significant support Turkey is extending is in terms of rhetoric and moral support,” Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ office in Ankara, told Al Jazeera.

“Turkey is encouraging Azerbaijan to be more assertive.”

In July, after fighting broke out between Azeri and Armenian forces north of Nagorno-Karabakh close to gas pipelines, Turkey pledged “unconditional” backing to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Turkey held joint military exercises in July and August, and Turkey left two of its F-16 fighter jets in the Azeri city of Ganja. Meanwhile, Turkey’s arms sales to Azerbaijan have increased sixfold this year. The sales include sophisticated Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drones.

The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone [DHA via AP]Svante E Cornell, director of the American Foreign Policy Council’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, told Al Jazeera that Azerbaijan and Turkey regard Armenia’s nationalistic and more pro-western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to be more of a threat than his predecessors.

 

But Pashinyan is not popular in Moscow – and Baku likely thought that Russia, which has deep ties to Azerbaijan as well as Armenia, would not stand in the way of an Azeri offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh at this time.

Meanwhile, Armenia held a conference in August to mark the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Sevres – an enduring source of anger in Turkey – which had aimed to partition the Ottoman Empire and allow for a larger Armenia, but was superseded by the Lausanne Treaty that established the borders of the modern Turkish Republic.

“This exacerbated the sense that the Armenians were declaring diplomatic war on Turkey,” Cornell said.

Azerbaijan may have decided that – with full Turkish backing and Russia unlikely to stand in its way – it was the right time to press its military superiority, according to Cornell.

‘Game-changer’

Baku says it has made significant gains in Armenian-occupied territory over the past month. On October 22, Azerbaijan said it had driven out Armenian forces to take full control of its border with Iran.

“In this stage of the fighting, Turkish drones have been a game-changer,” Unluhisarcikli said.

Unlike Azerbaijan’s Israeli-made “kamikaze” drones, Turkey’s drones are multiple-use. They also appear to be technologically superior to some of Armenia’s ageing Russian military hardware and present a serious threat to Armenia’s reliance on trenches and conventional means of defence.

 

 

Armenia has also accused Turkey of sending its own military personnel as well as Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan – which Ankara and Baku both deny.

 

Ulgen said that the transfer of Turkish military expertise in recent years has been a major factor in Azerbaijan’s apparent battlefield gains.

“Ultimately this has made a difference, given that this time around clearly Azerbaijan’s military units have performed vastly better than on past occasions.”

What are Turkey’s aims?

Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan goes beyond brotherly love. Azerbaijan is crucial for Turkey’s energy security and is a major investor in the ailing Turkish economy.

Ankara’s gas imports from Azerbaijan rose by 23 percent in the first half of 2020. SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, has become the biggest foreign investor in Turkey.

Ulgen said Turkey also aims to become an influential regional power and wants more of a stake in a future political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Ankara sees the OSCE Minsk mediation group as being co-chaired ineffectively by Russia, France, and the United States.

“Turkey is realistic in the sense that, in Karabakh, the aim is not to eliminate Russian influence,” Ulgen said. “It’s to gain influence, so that Turkey acquires leverage over Russia that it could potentially use in Syria or in Libya.”

 

Cornell said Russia is wary of losing influence in Azerbaijan now that it has such staunch Turkish backing.

 

“I do think [growing Turkish influence in Azerbaijan] really does shift the geopolitics and it does undermine Russia’s long-term dominance in the region,” he said.

Ulgen says support for Azerbaijan currently enjoys wide public support within Turkey, including from the main opposition, especially as Turkey does not seem to be directly involved in the fighting.

“So in that sense, Turkey’s exposure to the conflict is very limited as things stand.”

But the conflict also comes with risks for Azerbaijan and Turkey.

‘Red-line’ risks

Turkey could further damage its international standing and weaken its hand in any negotiations if the fighting drags on and if Ankara is seen to be fanning the flames of a conflict in which growing numbers of civilians and young conscripts on both sides are being maimed and killed.

But analysts agree that the main risk for Turkey is if Azerbaijan crosses one of Russia’s red lines, which some speculate could entail Azeri forces taking over Nagorno-Karabakh’s biggest city Stepanakert or severing the enclave from its Armenian supply lines.

If Moscow activates its defence pact with Armenia and intervenes militarily on its behalf it would raise the prospect of a direct Turkish intervention and a confrontation between Turkey and Russia that neither country wants.

Cornell says Azerbaijan’s President Ilhan Aliyev surely understands the red lines that could trigger a Russian reaction.

“He is definitely a much more cautious person than the Turkish leadership, which makes me think that he is going to stop before the Turks think he should stop,” Cornell said.

Yet wars are always loaded with the risk of unintended consequences and miscalculations.

Cavid Aga, an Azeri analyst and writer based in Ankara, said Azerbaijan’s gains on the battlefield have generated a sense of momentum and heightened expectations among the Azeri public that will be hard to ignore.

“Even if they wanted to stop now, [the Azeri public] would be strongly against it – people would demand to continue the war to the end,” he told Al Jazeera. “Right now they are very focused on victory – not peace, or any sort of negotiation.”

 

Even if it wanted to at some point, Turkey may not have enough sway over Azerbaijan to halt its military offensive.

 

“Azerbaijan is very independent,” Cornell said. “They have been willing to challenge everybody when it’s in their crucial national interest.”

Meanwhile, Russia has so far excluded Turkey from the truce negotiations.

Unluhisarcikli said Moscow maintains immense logistical and political advantages over Ankara in the Caucuses.

“At the end of this, Russia will broker and dictate the peace terms. And I guess Turkey is aware of that.”

 

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/10/30/whats-turkeys-role-in-the-nagorno-karabakh-conflict

[Yervant1]

Public Radio of Armenia

Oct 30 2020

The enemy suffered significant losses as attacks in the north were repelled – Armenia MoD

Today, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched attacks in several directions of the frontline, official representative of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan told a daily briefing today.

“After a short artillery preparation in the northern direction, an attempt was made to attack several positions in the rear. The adversary suffered serious losses here, was thrown back, leaving a significant number of corpses in the field,” Hovhannisyan said.

In the southern direction, north of Araks River, in the direction of several heights, the Armenian Armed Forces have certain positional advantages, he added.

“Two separate processes took place in the central direction- in the Martuni-Chartar direction, the Azerbaijani armed forces tried to break through the frontline. There is no change of position in this direction at the moment, but the battles are persistent,” Hovhannisyan noted.

The fight aginst subvesrive groups in the forested villages near Shushi continues, although we have recorded good results.

https://en.armradio.am/2020/10/30/the-enemy-suffered-significant-losses-as-attacks-in-the-north-were-repelled-armenia-mod/

[Yervant1]

Charlatan, Canada - Carleton University

Oct 30 2020

Armenian-Canadians protest Turkish war crimes

Over 3,000 people marched through downtown Ottawa on Oct. 23 to protest Canadian involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Protestors gathered to urge the Canadian government to recognize the region Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, as independent and condemn Turkey and Azerbaijan for war crimes against civilians.

The protest follows allegations that Turkey used Canadian drone technology to bomb civilians during a month of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both nations lay claim to Artsakh and renewed conflict over the zone on Sept. 27, after a 26-year stalemate.

Araz Hasserjian, one of many volunteers who helped coordinate Friday’s demonstration with the United Armenian Council of Ontario on Parliament Hill, said she is worried about the rising conflict in Artsakh.

“The people of Artsakh, who the vast majority of are Armenian, wish to become independent of Azerbaijan because of the persecution that they were facing,” she said.

Hasserjian said that since the conflict started in September, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, has used illegal cluster bombs on civilians, destroying schools, hospitals and the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, a church with cultural significance.

Hasserjian fears Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will continue the genocide that began in 1915, in which over one million Armenians were killed.

“Earlier this summer, Erdoğan said they are going to fulfill the mission of their grandfathers,” she said. “He would like to get rid of us, and he is using his ally Azerbaijan to do this.”

Protestors also called for the expulsion of Turkey from NATO.

The protest was coordinated by several Armenian organizations, including the Armenian National Committee of Canada, the Armenian Association of Toronto, the Armenian Youth Federation, and the Armenian Canadian Medical Association of Ontario.

Demonstrators were led by the Homenetmen Armenian Scouts and Armenian members of the clergy from Quebec and Ontario.

Alina Avanes, a second-year Carleton University neuroscience student, and Lena Darakjian, a psychology student in her second year at Ryerson University, both traveled from Toronto to attend Friday’s demonstration in Ottawa.

“We hold Armenia close to our hearts, and knowing that we have Armenian soldiers that are our age or even younger than us dying on the front lines right now, hurts,” Avanes said. “Especially knowing that our population is so little.”

As Armenian Canadians, Avanes and Darakjian said they felt it was necessary to attend the protest.

“As Armenians, we feel that it is really important for us to maintain our culture and our heritage,” Darakjian said. “The fact that our ancestors went through so much, it’s not that we’re making it up to them, but we’re carrying on what they’ve been through.”

Sarkis Kelebozian is a volunteer with the Armenian Youth Federation and a fourth-year University of Toronto biology student who attended the protest. He has volunteered at several demonstrations across the country protesting Turkish war crimes.

“If we were to lose Artsakh […] it would be the next step in the destruction of our race,” Kelebozian said. “We are not fighting this war to win a war, we are fighting this war to defend our lives and defend our people, our culture.”

At a recent demonstration in Toronto, Kelebozian explained that 35 cars drove from Finch Station to the Turkish Consulate, where they led chants and protested.

Protesting again in Burlington, Kelebozian said a barrel of fake blood was spilled outside of L3Harris WESCAM, the company who allegedly built a targeting sensor being used in Turkish attack drones.

Kelebozian emphasized that as a country that prides itself on its humanitarianism, Canada should not support Turkey and Azerbaijan.

“This is not an Armenian problem. This is a humanitarian problem,” he said. “People are dying […]. I think that all Canadians should take a stand against what Turkey and Azerbaijan are doing.”

Featured image by Isaac Phan Nay.

https://charlatan.ca/2020/10/armenian-canadians-protest-turkish-war-crimes/

[Yervant1]

It's all lies, there is no evidence!

Arms Control

Oct 30 2020

Cluster Munitions Used in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Latest ACA Resources

Landmines / Cluster Munitions

• November 2020 Books of Note
  (November 1, 2020)
• Cluster Munitions Used in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
  (November 1, 2020)

• Arms Control Today

November 2020

Long-simmering tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region bordering Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out in late September with shelling between Azerbaijani forces and those of the Armenian-backed but internationally unrecognized state of Artsakh. The conflict has seen the use of cluster munitions, and civilian casualties have resulted.

Azerbaijan has been accused by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International of using Israeli-made M095 cluster bombs. Switzerland, as president of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, issued a statement expressing deep concern and condemnationof any use of the weapons by any actor involved. The treaty, which has 110 states-parties, bans the use of the weapons. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Israel have not signed the pact.

Azerbaijan made counterclaims that Armenia used cluster munitions in its own attacks on Azerbaijan, but has yet to provide evidence.

Cluster munitions, which are air dropped or artillery delivered, release up to several hundred smaller submunitions that often fail to explode as intended, at times detonating years later. Civilians account for the vast majority of victims.

States-parties to the convention are scheduled to meet for the treaty’s second review conference on Nov. 23–27.—ALEXANDER BERTSCHI WRIGLEY

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2020-11/news-briefs/cluster-munitions-used-nagorno-karabakh-conflict

 

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by Yervant1

[Yervant1]

Public Radio of Armenia

Oct 30 2020

Robert O’Brien calls for Scandinavian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh, rules out any Turkish role

Any armed peacekeeping force in Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone should not include Minsk Group Co-Chairs, including the United States, or neighboring countries, US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said during a meeting with Armenian community representatives in Los Angeles.

“Any sort of Turkish mediation or peacekeeping role is a non-starter for the United States, as well as for Armenia. We believe that both countries should accept Scandinavian peacekeepers, and we are working with Scandinavian governments to put together a peacekeeping force that could be deployed into the region to keep the ceasefire,” Mr. O’Brien said.

https://en.armradio.am/2020/10/30/robert-obrien-calls-for-scandinavian-peacekeepers-in-nagorno-karabakh-rules-out-any-turkish-role/

[Yervant1]

FOX News, Los Angeles

Oct 30 2020

Porter Ranch 3rd-graders raise over $20,000 for Armenian kids, families impacted by war in Artsakh

By Araksya Karapetyan and Sandra Endo

Published 5 hours ago

Porter Ranch

FOX 11

Students raise money for Armenians affected by conflict in Artsakh

A group of third-grade students in Porter Ranch raised thousands of dollars by selling homemade art and crafts to benefit Armenians affected by the conflict in Artsakh.

PORTER RANCH, Calif. - Good teachers look for ways to engage their students with things going on outside their normal lives, to make them care about the bigger world around them. Great teachers also look for ways to use the current events happening around the world as a way to get kids to engage and care about others.

In Porter Ranch, third-grade students from AGBU Manoogian Demirdjian School are holding a peaceful rally and yard sale to raise awareness on the ongoing war in Artsahk between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The children have peacefully protested, fundraised creatively — doing chores, accepting piggy bank challenges, and even donating their tooth fairy money.

The students managed to raise more than $20,000. That money has provided for 26 families consisting of mothers and 100 children. The fathers of those children are on the frontlines of the war.

Advertisement

(FOX 11)

(FOX 11)

AGBU students also had an opportunity to Zoom with their peers in Artsakh to check-in on them, to see how they're doing. Those children are displaced and going through a difficult time.

Porter Ranch students Zoom with refugees in Artsakh

Their teacher Mrs. Houry Khechoumian said the students formed a strong emotional bond during the Zoom call. Mrs. Khechoumian said this was an important lesson in civics, global community, and international conflict.

https://www.foxla.com/news/porter-ranch-3rd-graders-raise-over-20000-for-armenian-kids-families-impacted-by-war-in-artsakh

[Yervant1]

Asia Times

Azerbaijan’s ‘five day’ war turns uphill battle

President Ilham Aliyev becoming a prisoner of his own rhetoric after
pledging to take back Nagorno-Karabakh

By Richard Giragosian October 30, 2020

YEREVAN – Azerbaijan’s war for Nagorno-Karabakh, originally intended
as a quick and easy battle, has dragged long beyond its expected time
frame, cost and casualties, according to two foreign military
attaches.

“All indications suggest that the original plan of attack was based on
a quick round of fighting for an estimated three-to-five days after an
overwhelming attack to push back the Karabakh Armenian forces,” said a
Western military officer stationed in the region.

The offensive, which was launched on September 27, has now entered its
second month with Russian President Vladimir Putin citing figures of
more than 5,000 people killed on either side.

That desired short time frame was confirmed by a European military
official based in Moscow.

Azerbaijan’s campaign, for which over 1,000 Syrian mercenaries were
recruited by Turkey to serve as shock troops, was based on the premise
that the “Karabakh forces were vulnerable,” the European official
said.

But Baku, he said, “greatly underestimated the capacity” of the
defenders, who increasingly enjoy the topographical advantage of the
mountains now that the initial race along flat adjacent terrain has
ended.

Both military observers spoke to Asia Times on condition of anonymity.

[Photo: An image grab taken from a video made available on the
official website of the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry on September 28,
2020. Photo: AFP/ Handout / Azerbaijani Defence Ministry]

Plans gone awry

Azerbaijan’s planned rapid offensive, timed to coincide with the last
month of the US presidential race, had hoped to be completed before
any international reaction could be mobilized. Baku would then pursue
an immediate ceasefire to consolidate its territorial gains, according
to sources.

The September 27 launch of the Azerbaijani offensive came at a time
when the region was already at war and struggling to contain the
Covid-19 pandemic, which has only exacerbated the potential for a
humanitarian catastrophe now looming across the region.

Russia’s response has been uncharacteristically passive, giving
credence to the perception of prior knowledge or even complicity based
on the more strategic context of closer relations between the Russian
and Turkish presidents over already strained and tense relations
between the Russian and Armenian leaders.

While some analysts have argued that Russia was likely caught off
guard by the Azerbaijani offensive, there is a general consensus that
Moscow sees the war as an opportunity to weaken an Armenian government
that was resented since it first came to power in the non-violent
democratic “Velvet Revolution” of 2018.

Yet even the benefits of Russia’s passivity and superior weaponry from
Israel have been undermined by an unexpected degree of resistance by
the well-entrenched Karabakh defenders and Armenia’s national
mobilization.

In recent days, Azerbaijan notably pivoted its war effort toward the
highly-symbolic city of Shushi, known to Azerbaijanis as Shusha, which
is steeped in history for both sides. But that could be a costly
gambit as it will present a bloody uphill battle and detract from the
logical military choice of cutting Karabakh off from Armenia via the
Lachin corridor.

Determined to present win and gains to the Azerbaijani public, Baku
this week requested a postponement of a planned meeting in Geneva with
the OSCE Minsk Group, moving it instead to October 30, with separate
meetings of the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers with the
mediators.

[Photo: A screen-grab from a video on October 20, 2020, shows
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev raising his fist while addressing
the nation in Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo: AFP/Azerbaijani
Presidency/Anadolu Agency]

Prisoner of rhetoric

As a prisoner of his own rhetoric, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
now stands at a point where his threatening words of war and
long-promised military victory over Karabakh is being tested.

But by vowing that his forces would drive Armenians “out of our
lands,” Aliyev has staked his standing on an elusive goal. His
discourse, including his statement that the “criminal regime in
Armenia is the biggest threat to our region,” has done little to win
Western understanding or sympathy for his position.

The destruction of tanks, artillery and weapons systems of the
Azerbaijani forces has not been as proportionally severe as the losses
incurred on the Karabakh side. Yet the level of Azerbaijani censorship
suggests that even limited losses are not taken lightly.

While the Armenian side has announced more than 1,000 fatalities among
its forces, the scale of military casualties remains a closely guarded
secret for Azerbaijan, which has also sought to quash the now widely
accepted notion that it deployed Syrian mercenaries.

Such sweeping censorship may present a problem for Azerbaijan,
however, as the lack of any concrete information on casualties tends
to only foster misinformation, while further eroding any pubic trust
or confidence in official reports. That, in turn, could undermine the
Azerbaijani government’s credibility even in cases where it reports
truthful or accurate information.

A second threat, less urgent but equally significant, is that even
with a complete defeat of Nagorno-Karabakh and the routing of its
Armenian population, initial popularity and exuberance within
Azerbaijani society may rapidly erode and turn out to be less lasting
than the ruling elite hopes given the high costs of the war in terms
of both reconstruction and in the wake of disclosing the sacrifice of
military casualties.

Such intensity can quickly turn against Aliyev, whose hereditary rule
critics say is based more on corruption and patronage, with no real
legitimacy from free and fair elections.

[Photo: Azerbaijani army members hold the national Azerbaijani flag
during its reconstruction at the dominant height near the village of
Talysh, Azerbaijan, October 22, 2020. Photo: Alexey Kudenko/Sputnik]

The Azerbaijani government, therefore, may undermine its stability in
the face of victory and could trigger new accusations that the war
should and could have been fought and won years earlier.

With the precedent of a past military coup in the 1990s, the danger of
a possible attempt by disgruntled elements of the armed forces to
overthrow the government can not be dismissed, particularly in light
of the ruling dynasty’s accumulation of wealth over the past decade.

Based on these inherent vulnerabilities, a third, if somewhat
unlikely, threat comes from the isolation of Azerbaijan should Turkey
withdraw its direct military support.

As unprecedented as Turkish military support for Azerbaijani in the
field has been, it may become neither sustainable for Turkey nor
acceptable for Russia in the coming months.

This is a scenario the Azerbaijani leadership seems both unable to
foresee and unwilling to accept, thereby magnifying the impact if and
when Turkey retreats from its exposed position and Russia reasserts
its power and influence.

Should Turkey establish a permanent military base or retake its former
role as Azerbaijan’s primary military patron, sustained direct Turkish
military engagement will be costly in the face of competing military
commitments in Syria and Libya and grand ambitions elsewhere.

[Photo: People gather to stage a protest against Armenia’s
cross-border attacks and in support of Azerbaijan in front of the UN
Office in Geneva, Switzerland, October 29, 2020. Bayram Altug /
Anadolu Agency]

As Ankara is already largely overextended in Azerbaijan, it is also
exposed as Moscow will not easily accept any such Turkish presence
over the long term in a region that Russia regards as a crucial
element in its own sphere of influence or near abroad.

Yet Aliev’s first, most pressing threat comes from within, as
dangerously high expectations among his populace for a complete,
decisive and lasting military victory seem to suggest an impractical,
if not impossible, threshold.

Under such pressure, exacerbated by years of a pronounced domestic
feeling of humiliation and loss over Karabakh, any “victory” short of
the full and complete capture of the territory would be seen as a
defeat.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/azerbaijans-five-day-war-turns-uphill-battle/__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!46aYgSAjGtl-dJCcTl4C4CYcgd_JhzgogTPnNx29zNwX9gkmY5p4-Cro7c_43A$

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azerbaijani forces suffer heavy personnel and materiel losses overnight

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09:37, 30 October, 2020

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Artsakh Defense Army says it continued taking reconnaissance and strike countermeasures overnight October 29-30 in the deployment locations of the Azeri forces, and eliminated “a large quantity of [Azerbaijani] armament and personnel”.

“After midnight the [Azerbaijani] forces attempted to launch a new offensive in the south-eastern direction, which was thwarted by the army units. The [Azerbaijani] forces also attempted to gain success in the northern part of the frontline, and these attempts were also thwarted. The [Azerbaijani] forces suffered heavy losses here as well,” the Defense Ministry of Artsakh said.

The Azerbaijani forces resumed shelling the residential areas of the towns and cities of Artsakh.

The Artsakh Defense Army said it continues the “search and destroy” countermeasures against the attacking Azeri forces.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033260.html?fbclid=IwAR2ITbBoSK8xfhF-RlIIjTV8CNiq3lKYxfKHEAIv-8B8Q-cqGGtEXV0S3EQ

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azerbaijani military suffers heavy casualties in another failed offensive

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11:05, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces launched a new offensive from the northern direction of the Artsakh frontline, but the attack was repelled, the Armenian military’s spokesperson Lt. Colonel Artsrun Hovhannisyan said.

He said that the Azeri attacking troops suffered big losses and were repelled “leaving dozens of bodies on the battlefield”.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033269.html?fbclid=IwAR2lZF3SHOpmOfhTD7RMcYX_YDyRmr-W9lZtixVfaS-95CmoVbNfeNLWoXo

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Wherever Turkey wants to create problems, it sends jihadists - EAFJD Chairman

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11:28, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Turkey is the main factor in the failure of the third attempt to establish ceasefire in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, Chairman of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) Gaspar Karapetian told Armenpress, stating that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has no opportunity of making any decision, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the one who tells everything.

“What is Turkey’s policy in recent period? Turkey has decided to create problems everywhere trying to force that it is the greatest regional power. Syria, Libya, Cyprus, issues of the Eastern Mediterranean with Greece. And now it is trying to push forward its policy in this region via Azerbaijan”, he said, adding that he is not so optimistic over the expected meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Geneva.

Gaspar Karapetian said during this period a very serious work has been done in the propaganda field, pushing forward the thesis according to which there is Turkey’s genocidal handwriting in the aggressive actions against Artsakh. He said both Armenia’s diplomacy and the Diaspora’s structures have worked actively.

“A great job has been done in the propaganda field. The Armenian national committees, Armenian structures operating abroad manage to raise the issue, bring the attention of the society, politicians to these processes. During the work with Europeans we explain them that jihadists have no borders. Wherever Turkey wants to create problems, it will send jihadists”, the EAFJD Chairman said.

As for the upcoming actions, he said it is necessary to work at all directions, having in focus the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. According to him, Russia can play a key role in stopping the hostilities against Artsakh. He says Russia needs to be more decisive, based on the allied relations with Armenia.

As for the possibility of the recognition of Artsakh’s independence at this stage, Gaspar Karapetian said at this moment it has no prospect in the EU member states, but added that creating a respective environment in this direction is very important and is being done actually.

Reporting by Anna Gziryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033273.html?fbclid=IwAR3vN1SBvkoj4_8rHPuuKfAxwUTcu6yGvdD_JOXKMTfkCXYqcmTdnFhNJu0

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

“War entered to everyone’s family”: BBC film on Armenian servicemen and their mothers

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12:47, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The BBC has shot a new film about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Armenian servicemen and their mothers.

“For the third time in 30 years Armenians and Azerbaijanis are fighting over Nagorno Karabakh. In the war between 1988 and 1994 30,000 Armenians and Azerbaijanis were killed, a million others were displaced. Hundreds died in a four day conflict in April 2016. Now another generation of young men from both sides are heading to the front lines”, the film starts with the following overview.

Armenian women living in shelters share their stories of loss and wait in the film. “War is passed from generation to generation. My husband was killed during the war. And now his son [she shows another woman standing by her] is fighting at the border. This chain goes on and on”, one of the Armenian women tells.

Another woman remembers the brutal murder of his brother in 1992 during the war. Another one tells that his son-in-law was killed in 2016 war, leaving two children without father. Another woman told that she has no news from his son.

Coming to the frontline, one of the Armenian soldiers tells how they quickly noticed the movement of the Azerbaijani side and gave a counterstrike, repelling their offensive.

The next film shows the funeral of a 19-year-old Armenian soldier killed in action. A young man participating in the funeral tells the BBC: “We will not give up. We are fighting against three states. And we will fight to the end”.

Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033282.html?fbclid=IwAR2dBSQcUVQV5WDOmDKO_c6fZ4S8QhpRa-Y7l0_SA9za3xuG_03AROKKSnQ

[Yervant1]

I heard this at least dozen times from Moscow, instead of sitting on your ass do something about it before it's too late!

 

Armenpress.am

Moscow doesn’t rule out danger of “outflow” of Syrian mercenaries fighting against NK to Russia

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13:18, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Russia’s foreign ministry doesn’t rule out the danger of “outflow” mercenaries from Syria and Libya deployed in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone to Russia.

“Of course, we cannot rule out such danger”, Russian deputy FM Oleg Siromolotov told RIA Novosti.

“There are no small things in the fight against terrorism. It’s important to analyze any risk, including potential and work on preventing it. The Russian law enforcement agencies are closely following the situation”, he said.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) head Sergei Naryshkin has recently announced that he has information that mercenaries from international terror groups, such as the Nusra Front, the Firqat al-Hamza, the Sultan Murad Division, fighting in the Middle East, actively converge in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone. According to him, the talk is about hundreds or even thousands of extremists who seek to profit from the new Karabakh war.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033287.html?fbclid=IwAR1r97Q0IcnAt6YF2D97nYN8uqHxHdYQXCsyfu7efld2_bIvUFyz8ZZhjvw

 

 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Turkey says plans to produce infamous Bayraktars using homegrown engines

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14:16, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish Defense Industry Ministry has announced plans to start producing its Bayraktar combat drones using locally made engines.

BayKar executive Selcuk Bayraktar, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, has announced that they will use the engines developed by Tusaş Engine Industries. He said BayKar - the joint venture producing the drones, has started testing the engines weeks ago.

The infamous Bayraktar combat drones are widely used by the Azerbaijani military in the bombardments of Artsakh, including residential areas. Amid international pressure several foreign companies have suspended supplies of components that are used in producing the drone.

More than a dozen Bayraktar drones were shot down by the Artsakh air defense forces in the ongoing Azeri attacks.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033295.html?fbclid=IwAR3m3M5Fib7rOmHaqr-wiHHTQndKnctwq20MMyF-N6kTD5hlkt-WlD0vY20

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Two villages near Shushi cleared from Azeri raid teams

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14:37, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army forces of Artsakh have secured two villages east from Karin Tak (a village few kilometers from Shushi) by clearing the areas from Azerbaijani raid teams, the Armenian Defense Ministry representative Lt. Colonel Artsrun Hovhannisyan told Factor TV.

Lt. Colonel Hovhannisyan said the Defense Army reconnaissance units found a large Azerbaijani ammunition depot and an Azerbaijani sabotage raid team’s camp was destroyed with precision artillery strikes.

Speaking about the Azerbaijani military tactic of attempting to advance using sabotage teams, the Lt. Colonel said: “It’s difficult for them to advance in the open front, for several days we saw how they wanted to breach into Martuni in the direction of Fizuli, they failed, and they don’t want to go for a direct clash, that’s why they are taking sabotage actions by trying to bypass and advance with small groups. This contains both political PR and military significance. The military one aims to spread panic and cut the communication line, while the political one – Aliyev seeks to put a flag on another settlement for his PR.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033299.html?fbclid=IwAR1vbTsx2GDMrC6esC_brQhjXDEOmWMs-mpScijZxwlZ4Wo6Mb4j9HgHXNE

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Armenian Ombudsman presents facts on Azerbaijani atrocities to EU Ambassador

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16:24, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan met with head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, the Ombudsman’s Office told Armenpress.

During the meeting Ombudsman Tatoyan presented facts about the Azerbaijani atrocities and crimes against the peaceful civilians, including the use of banned weapons, the destructions of civilian infrastructure in Artsakh.

The sides highlighted the importance of cooperation of the two structures and agreed to deepen the cooperation in the protection of human rights.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033321.html?fbclid=IwAR3b8h6xhCH2CDb9RgmdY4ryz2FIcUdJn6h0774vbdqGFt89Ev6cfNkf3nQ

[Yervant1]

The ISIS fighters were scared to die at the hand of Kurdish women fighters in Syria, now they will have the same fear because if they die at the hand of Armenian women they will not go to paradise and collect their 72 virgins! What a shame.

 

Armenpress.am

First company of volunteer women trains for active duty in Armenia

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16:42, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The first company comprised of Armenian women volunteers who joined the military amid the Azeri attacks is undergoing extensive trainings ahead of deployment to active duty.

The Defense Ministry released a video from the training.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033323.html?fbclid=IwAR1bAKzJ93NmRRnqf5y8s-PT8B_ixxpvBB_jezc6vX6oRNtYFKaaU0yU2i8

Edited October 31, 2020 by Yervant1

[Yervant1]

My sympathies for the victims! May they rest in peace!

 

Armenpress.am

Magnitude 7,0 earthquake hits western Turkey, heavy damages reported

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17:20, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Heavy damages occurred in western Turkey from a 7,0 magnitude earthquake.

The interior ministry tweeted that 6 buildings collapsed in Izmir.

There were no immediate reports on victims.

According to media reports the tremors were felt in Istanbul and elsewhere in the western parts of the country.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033331.html?fbclid=IwAR2dBSQcUVQV5WDOmDKO_c6fZ4S8QhpRa-Y7l0_SA9za3xuG_03AROKKSnQ

 

 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azerbaijan attempts renewed bombing of Shushi

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17:34, 30 October, 2020

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military attempted to once again bomb the town of Shushi, but the strikes landed in the direction of an adjacent ravine, the State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS.

“The Azerbaijani forces were trying to target Shushi, but the strike landed in the direction of an adjacent ravine. We can now hear distant sounds of explosions. And a while ago we were told that military actions continue in that direction, and the Artsakh air defense system is also working,” the service said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033335.html?fbclid=IwAR2ZkY4R3Q2ei5M_p4xpEEq7JAVBBEJ8HMRadHEZ566A4Ot9mTrjXGlersQ

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Armenian forces confidently carry out their task on front line – Tonoyan meets with US Ambassador

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18:22, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan received Ambassador of the USA to Armenia Lynne Tracy.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MoD Armenia, the U.S. Ambassador expressed concerns over the non-compliance with the ceasefire agreements and hoped that the diplomatic efforts will give result.

At the request of the Ambassador, the Defense Minister of Armenia presented the process of the military operations and the situation on the front line, specially emphasizing the fact of the involvement of foreign servicemen and mercenaries in the operations.

Davit Tonoyan noted that under the light of the absence of the ceasefire, the Armenian forces continue to carry out their tasks with confidence. He underlined the ceasefire can be possible to achieve only in case of applying verification mechanisms on the ground.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033342.html?fbclid=IwAR0hE7kTMksI9TxAt2Nc7eZ8f7O77vW7b2Fq2WSVgc0y6hPA6sr0K_wY5zg

[Yervant1]

Keep repeating that same thing until it's too late. They are already active in every sense.

 

Armenpress.am

Secretary of Russia’s Security Council warns of activation of extremist Islamists in the country

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18:54, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev has warned of the activation of extremist Islamists in the country, ARMENPRES reports, Ria Novosti informs.

‘’The extremist Islamists have intensified efforts to convert to Islam people, who have not traditionally been bearer of Islamic culture'', Patrushev said.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033348.html?fbclid=IwAR1w2PEE-ix3wxwmqqFOxgGtT7DoB_lFXaDgVlUEeggJuYw4QKfdXMgMh-Q

 

 

[Yervant1]

Please tell Europe, use of illegal weapons including phosphorous bombs on Artsakh!

 

Armenpress.am

Azeri aggression against Artsakh serious threat for Europe – Belgian MP meets with Artsakh's FM

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21:12, 30 October, 2020

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Artsakh Masis Mayilyan received Georges Dallemagne, Member of House of Representative of Belgium.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Artsakh, the Foreign Minister of Artsakh greeted the Belgian MP and highly appreciated his courageous act of standing with Artsakh and its people during the hard period and receiving first-hand information of the situation resulted by the Azerbaijani aggression.

Masis Mayilyan highlighted long years of activities of Georges Dallemagne aimed at awareness raising about Artsakh in the Belgian parliament, as well as protecting its interests. In this context, Masis Mayilyan thanked him for authoring the resolution condemning the military aggression of Azerbaijan, Turkey and international terrorists against the people of Artsakh.

The goal of the 3rd visit of Georges Dallemagne to Artsakh is to get acquainted with the situation on the ground, share the hardships that the people of Artsakh have to overcome and in the future present the real image of Artsakh in various European platforms. He emphasized that the military aggression against Artsakh and violation of the humanitarian laws are a serious threat not only for Artsakh, but for the security of Europe.

At the request of Georges Dallemagne, Masis Mayilyan presented in detail the circumstances and consequences of the large-scale military aggression by Azerbaijan against Artsakh starting from September 27. The Foreign Minister of Artsakh presented the complicated humanitarian situation in Artsakh resulted by the deliberate strikes against settlements, civilian infrastructures and hospitals by the Azerbaijani armed forces, as a result of which nearly 60% of the populations has been forced to abandon their homes.

Masis Mayilyan underlined that in the existing situation it's important that the international community takes practical steps to stop the aggression against Artsakh, de-escalate the situation in the conflict zone and create conditions for a peaceful settlement of Azerbaijan-Artsakh conflict, noting that the recognition of the independence of Artsakh is one of the most productive measures.

Georges Dallemagne thanked for the detailed situation, assuring that he will continue is consistent efforts for presenting true information about Artsakh in Europe, which will set basis for practical steps aimed at prevention of violence in Artsakh and establishment of stability in the region.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033365.html?fbclid=IwAR3BwHPZ4Dyap_YUfooRTQWEjWB-U432pTCcD1B7Mkyh8nnnlKkJyB8NNLk