cease-fire violations by azeris

[Yervant1]

Is this a kind of warning to fake sultan from Putin? Know your limits!

 

Armenpress.com

Russian government website uses “Nagorno Karabakh Republic” term

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15:17, 3 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. A Russian governmental website has used the term “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”, something it has avoided doing in the past.

 

The term was used in the procurement section of the Russian government’s single information platform in the defense ministry’s bid for buying maintenance services for the barracks of the Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1062303.html?fbclid=IwAR12uq8Rj0u_HOnem8TAkeRaCm_FM4IwlhLKPN-yM4l317lrD2_s3zXACbc

 

 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.com

Russia realized it was deceived by cooperating with Turkey and Azerbaijan, says political analyst

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08:52, 7 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. A senior analyst says that Russia is lately gradually changing its emphases over the Artsakh issue towards a more pro-Armenian position after realizing that it has been deceived by Turkey and Azerbaijan by cooperating with them.

Doctor of political science, Professor Garik Keryan at the Yerevan State University told ARMENPRESS in an interview that this is happening despite the fact that Moscow has serious disagreements with its Western colleagues of the OSCE Minsk Group – France and the United States, including over the status of Artsakh.

“Russia launched its drift towards a pro-Armenian position. That is, Russia is also saying ‘you know the issue isn’t solved, we still have to determine the status’ and so on. A question arises here, why did Russia start to drift to a more pro-Armenian side, and in this regard some consensus was created between Russia, France and the United States over revitalizing the OSCE Minsk Group process. There is an answer to this question too. The Russians had made a very gross and primitive mistake by cooperating with Turkey and Azerbaijan over the Artsakh issue,”

Keryan, the head of the Chair of Political Institutes and Processes at the YSU says that as a historian and political scientist he is unable to understand how Turkey is succeeding in finding formats of cooperation with Moscow when for 300 years it has continuously deceived Russians, acted against Russian interests and backstabbed Russia every time. According to Keryan, Moscow realized this only after Ankara – without taking into account what it had received from Russia – namely the nuclear power station, the South Stream pipeline, the S-400 missile systems, as well as concessions in Syria – sent foreign minister Cavusoglu to Kiev to take part in the Crimean Platform, where the Turkish FM claimed “Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine”.

“The Crimean issue is very painful for Russians, like the Artsakh issue is for us. Crimea is sacred for them. And after so many years, when Russia finally succeeded in returning Crimea, some Cavusoglu reserves the right to announce that ‘Crimea doesn’t belong to Russia and Turkey will do everything for Crimea to return to Ukraine’. This is where Russia’s counterinfluence began, and the Russians realized that they have made a mistake when first of all they allowed the war to end with such results, and second of all allowed the infiltration of Turkish influence into South Caucasus. And they’ve been deceived in the matter of Azerbaijan also. Moscow’s main goal was to pull Azerbaijan towards the Eurasian integration zone. And every time Aliyev was bargaining by saying ‘solve the Karabakh issue and I will come’. Now they saw that after ‘solving’ it, not only didn’t he come but on the contrary they lost Azerbaijan,” Keryan said.

As paradoxical as it may seem, he continued, today there are more favorable conditions for a fundamental discussion of the Artsakh issue than before the war. The only problem is that it would be very difficult to bring Azerbaijan to the negotiations table.

“Since the only item left on the negotiations table is the issue of Artsakh’s status, it seems to me that Azerbaijan will not sit down for talks under any condition. And if suddenly the Co-Chairs were to mention the item of restoring the NKAO [Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast] territorial integrity, which would make Hadrut and Shushi come under some kind of common administrative unit, this would mean a loss of influence for them. That is why Azerbaijan and Turkey won’t go to negotiations. They will talk, delay, like the negotiations process was protracted for 26 years,” the analyst said.

Professor Keryan ruled out Azerbaijan recognizing Artsakh’s status without getting under some serious sanctions. Moreover, he argues, there are “very interesting and effective sanctions” that would give results in a few days.

Whether or not Azerbaijan would agree to restart talks under the Minsk Group format depends on Turkey’s stance, because, as professor Keryan says, the Azerbaijan Republic isn’t an independent country for a long time now, it is rather a Turkish protectorate.

“If you want to know whether or not Azerbaijan will sit down for negotiations, you ought to change your question – will Turkey sit down for negotiations or not? And Turkey, as you know, doesn’t give a damn about anything. When needed, they even go against the Americans, and America is unable to do anything. That’s why I assume that they’d either delay the talks, or deceive, or simply opt out at all,” he said.

Moscow announced on September 2 that it is supporting the activation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs work over the Karabakh settlement based on the existing mandate. The new Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group then visited Baku and Yerevan for talks.

Interview by Aram Sargsyan

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1062512.html?fbclid=IwAR2OhWed5RW65bYZW0dUWJcALJoCtXssiQaix0J_l0Z-mLaAYpHj1PtUQ7U

[Yervant1]

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 10 2021

Political scientist: Unlike Treaty of Moscow, Treaty of Kars states that territory of modern-day Tigranashen belongs to Armenia

Unlike the Treaty of Moscow, the Treaty of Kars states that the village of Tigranashen belongs to Armenia, political scientist Edgar Elbakyan said on Facebook on Thursday.

“The funny thing is that unlike the Treaty of Moscow, the Treaty of Kars, which Armenia’s enemies, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the capitulator, refer to, states that the territory of modern-day Tigranashen belongs to Armenia. Before the Great Patriotic War, the territory was unilaterally annexed by Azerbaijan as an enclave through administrative violence,” he wrote.

“However, since the so-called Armenian-Azerbaijani border demarcation talks are not based on an _expression_ of good will and ratio decidendi, but rather Azerbaijan's efforts to impose whatever it wants on the capitulated leader of Armenia, there are constant signals about the imminent threat facing Tigranashen.

“Unfortunately, there is silent consensus of the Euro-Atlantic and ruling Russian circles over the further rule of the capitulator. The Armenian nation, not as a modern, static reality, but as a national-political collective of people who have lived, live and will continue to live in the Armenian Highlands, united around the idea of a unified Armenian statehood, is alone in this struggle and must rely only on itself,” Elbakyan said.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2021/09/10/political-scientist-Tigranashen/2562656

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.com

Outgoing Governor of Ararat denies reports about surrender of Tigranashen village to Azerbaijan

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13:00, 10 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Governor of Armenia’s Ararat province Razmik Tevonyan, who submitted a resignation letter yesterday to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, denied the reports according to which the village of Tigranashen has been handed over to Azerbaijan.

“Dear citizens, as you know, I have submitted a resignation letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Various scenarios about my resignation are being circulated in the press, one of which is that “a document on the handover of Tigranashen has been signed, and which has created a reason for my resignation””, Razmik Tevonyan said on Facebook. “I officially state that the reports about the handover of Tigranashen are made-up, such a thing has never been discussed and will not be discussed. Please avoid such fake and baseless speculations”.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 

 

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[Yervant1]

Sept 16 2021

Armenia Files Suit Against Azerbaijan at World Court

By Reuters Wire Service Content • Sept. 16, 2021, at 4:29 p.m.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Armenia filed a case at the World Court asserting that Azerbaijan has violated an international treaty on racial discrimination, the court said on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Azerbaijan would defend itself "robustly" and planned to file a countersuit accusing Armenia of the same thing.

In fighting last September to November, Azeri troops drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a ceasefire.

In the filing, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of subjecting Armenians to racial discrimination "for decades" in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both states are signatories, the court said.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-09-16/armenia-files-suit-against-azerbaijan-at-world-court

[Yervant1]

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 17 2021

Renaud Muselier: In the face of ongoing barbarism Armenians turn to the international law to defend their right to live in peace

French politician Renaud Muselier, serving as President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP), has commented on the case filed by Armenia against Azerbaijan before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"I support Armenia's case against Azerbaijan filed at the International Court of Justice. Mass killings, torture, the use of chemical weapons and continuous border violations cannot go unpunished.

In the face of the ongoing barbarism, Armenians appeal to the international law, institutions, to defend their right to live in peace in Artsakh and Armenia. The Hague-based International Court of Justice must now live up to this challenge, and face with dignity the Aliyev-Erdogan axis alongside the Armenians calling on it!" Muselier wrote on his Facebook.

As reported earlier Armenia filed a case at the ICJ accusing Azerbaijan of violating the international treaty on racial discrimination.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2021/09/17/Renaud-Muselier/2567283

[Yervant1]

Public Radio of Armenia

Sept 18 2021

Azerbaijani forces fired at Armenian positions near Shushi on September 17, Russia MOD confirms

September 18, 2021, 23:20

Less than a minute

Three cases of ceasefire violation were registered in Shushi region on September 17, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports.

The Ministry quotes the Armenian side as saying that the shots were fired frim the positions of the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

As a result of the shelling, two servicemen of the armed force of Artsakh were injured.

The command of the peacekeeping contingent is conducting an investigation with the participation of representatives of both sides.

Artsakh’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday that one of its servicemen was wounded as a result of shooting from the Azerbaijani side.

 

https://en.armradio.am/2021/09/18/azerbaijani-forces-fired-at-armenian-potions-near-shushi-on-september-17-russia-mod-confirms/

[Yervant1]

JURIST

Sept 19 2021

Armenia commences proceedings against Azerbaijan over persecution and rights violations

Vishwanath Petkar | Paris II Panthéon-Assas U., MU

SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 01:40:39 PM

The Republic of Armenia on Thursday instituted proceedings against the Republic of Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s top judicial organ, over alleged violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) by Azerbaijani authorities.

In its application, Armenia contended that “for decades, Azerbaijan has subjected Armenians to racial discrimination” and that as a result of such State-sponsored of Armenian hatred, Armenians have been subjected to systemic discrimination, mass killings, torture and other abuse. Armenia also alleged that these violations were directed at individuals of Armenian ethnic or national origin regardless of their actual nationality.

Armenia further claimed that such practices came into action following Azerbaijan’s aggression against the Republic of Artsakh and Armenia in September 2020, during which Azerbaijan committed grave violations of the ICERD. It also contended that even after the end of hostilities, following a ceasefire which entered into effect on 10 November 2020, “Azerbaijan continued to engage in the murder, torture and other abuse of Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons”, and that Azerbaijan has continued to systematically destroy, erase and falsify Armenian cultural heritage in the region.

Through its application, the Republic of Armenia has requested the Court to take provisional measures “as a matter of extreme urgency” in order to “protect and preserve Armenia’s rights and the rights of Armenians from further harm, and to prevent the aggravation or extension of this dispute” until it is able to decide the dispute in the merits. This includes measures such as the return of all release immediately all Armenian prisoners of war and
hostages, measures to protect Armenian culture and dignity and an order to close the Military Trophies Park, which has been heavily criticized as an crude means of depicting Azerbaijan’s victory. Under Article 74 of the Rules of Court, “A request for the indication of provisional measures shall have priority over all other cases”.

The present dispute comes as a result of a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 2020, following a six-week war that claimed more than 6,500 lives. The ceasefire was largely considered as a victory for Azerbaijan, as it gave theformerly Armenian-occupied territory back to Azerbaijan. The region had been a territory under dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the early 1990’s, owing to the fact that it was located within Azerbaijan but made up of a majority Armenian ethnicity population.

In a Communique, the Azerbaijani ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it would launch its own legal proceedings against Armenia in relation to Armenian’s own systematic violations of CERD.

https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/09/armenia-commences-proceedings-against-azerbaijan-over-persecution-and-rights-violations/

[Yervant1]

Sept 19 2021

Turkey allegedly sends Afghan fighters to Nagorno-Karabakh, says NGO

• Sep 19 2021 10:56 Gmt+3
• Last Updated On: Sep 19 2021 10:57 Gmt+3

Turkey may be in the process of sending Afghan fighters to the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Christian nonprofit International Rescue Committee (ICC) said on Sunday.

ICC made its claim after citing a statement from the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh’s foreign minister, who warned that Turkey was deploying the fighters to the territory where it supports its ally Azerbaijan’s claims to the region.

“In the occupied parts of Nagorno-Karabakh there are already a lot of international terrorist groups controlled by Turkey that are out of Azerbaijani control. This way Turkey is strengthening its position in Azerbaijan,” Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Minister David Babayan told the Armenian outlet news.am.

Artsakh is the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Artsakh is a country that is not recognized by any other country, including Armenia.

“After the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, some of the Al Qaeda militants were immediately deployed in the Artsakh Republic territories [now] occupied by Azerbaijan,” Babayan told news.am in an interview on August 30. He accused Turkey of deploying these militants as a way to exert pressure on Azerbaijan.

It is unclear what evidence Babayan was relying on to make his assertion about Afghan fighters being transported to the region. Turkey has sought out a limited role in securing Kabul's international airport after the Taliban's takeover of the country last month.

During last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey was widely reported to have deployed Syrian mercenaries to support Azerbaijan amidst its 44-day war against Armenia. The conflict came to an end after a truce was brokered by Russia that allowed Azerbaijan to maintain swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh and deployed Russian peacekeepers to the region.

The peace has been tense, owing to skirmishes along the border that Armenia and Russia accuse Azerbaijan of instigating. Baku denies the charges and has pushed Russia to better monitor ceasefire violations.

Turkey has claimed that it is ready for talks about reconciliation with Armenia with whom it has no diplomatic relations. On Sunday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country is “not closed to talks” with Armenia if it takes steps in that direction.

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Nikol Pashinyan for his part has said he sees the possibility for normalization, but the Armenian foreign ministry has said any talks between the two states are only ongoing in a multilateral format.

 

https://ahvalnews.com/artsakh/turkey-allegedly-sends-afghan-fighters-nagorno-karabakh-says-ngo

[Yervant1]

Sept 23 2021

US Congress demands Azerbaijan to release all Armenian prisoners of war

• JAMnews, Yerevan
  

The House of Representatives of the US Congress demands Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian military and civilians who continue to remain in captivity after the end of the second Karabakh war. The House of Representatives approved an amendment to the law presented by Congressmen Adam Schiff, Tony Cardenas and Brad Sherman.

It says that all Armenian prisoners who continue to be held in Azerbaijan must be returned in accordance with the requirements of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

“Despite its obligations under the Geneva Conventions and the statement of November 9 [document on the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh, signed by the heads of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia – JAMnews], the Azerbaijani government continues to detain about 200 Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees, distorting the status of these people to justify their being in captivity”, says the document, published on the website of the House of Representatives.

The authors of the bill also demand that the Biden administration investigate the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan in the fall of 2020 during the war in Karabakh.

• Experts on the meaning behind Biden’s statement on the Armenian genocide
  
• Op-ed: How does Armenia approach its 30th anniversary of independence


• Armenia files a lawsuit against Azerbaijan at International Court of Justice

The document says that on September 27, 2020, with the support of Turkey and foreign armed formations, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, thousands of people died, tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians became internally displaced persons.

The authors of the bill insist on the investigation of war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during 44 days, while the military actions were going on in Karabakh, including the use of prohibited weapons against civilians (white phosphorus, cluster bombs).

In addition, Congressmen are demanding an investigation into the use of American technology in Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles. This refers to the Turkish “Bayraktars”, which, as indicated in the document, were used to shell peaceful settlements.

The US Secretary of Defense must report the results of these investigations to the appropriate congressional committees within 180 days of the law’s entry into force.

https://jam-news.net/us-congress-demands-azerbaijan-to-release-all-armenian-prisoners-of-war/

[Yervant1]

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 24 2021

Azerbaijan systematically fighting against Armenian cultural values in Artsakh - Ombudsman

"The fierce struggle waged by Azerbaijan against the state symbols of the Artsakh Republic is another manifestation of the xenophobic behavior of the Azerbaijani authorities towards the Armenians," the Human Rights Ombudsman of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan said in statement on Friday.

The Ombudsman referred to the case of clearing the symbols of Artsakh statehood with knives from a bus and demands to remove the Artsakh flag from various buildings of Artsakh, naming them "vivid examples of the complete lack of tolerance of Azerbaijanis towards Armenians living in Artsakh."

"We must keep in mind that the symbols of Artsakh statehood are an integral part of our cultural values, so intolerance towards them is another proof that Azerbaijan is systematically fighting against Armenian cultural values in Artsakh. The symbols of statehood are the symbols of the right of the people of Artsakh to live in their homeland, to preserve their identity, to self-determination, against which any encroachment is directed against the dignity of our people and the general system of rights," added Stepanyan.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2021/09/24/Azerbaijan-Artsakh-Ombudsman/2571044

[MosJan]

it has allways been like this ... 

 

[MosJan]

[MosJan]

[MosJan]

[MosJan]

[Yervant1]

Iran International
Sep. 24, 2021

Iran Lawmaker Warns Republic Of Azerbaijan Amid Apparent Tensions

Fada Hossein Maleki, an Iranian lawmaker and a member of the Iranian
parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has warned
the neighboring Republic of Azerbaijan for obstructing transit of
goods between Iran and Armenia and objected to a joint military
exercise at the Iranian border by the military forces of Azerbaijan,
Turkey and Pakistan.

Maleki also warned(link is external) that Iran closely monitors
developments beyond its northern borders and is sensitive to
suspicious moves close to its borders.

He added that Iran did not expect such a military exercise regardless
of why it was carried out. He added that Iran also expects Turkey and
Pakistan to seek Tehran's views before arranging such joint exercises.

Maleki said, "Regardless of the label of the joint military exercise,
security circles all over the world will perceive it differently."
Meanwhile, he warned Baku to be weary of suspicious moves as
belligerent countries such as Israel are planning to disrupt the
security balance of the region. He told Baku “Not to play in the hands
of regional troublemakers, as most of those troubles would be targeted
at Baku."

There have been several reports in recent days that Azeri forces which
have entered Armenian territory north of the Iranian border after last
year’s war with Armenia have been stopping and preventing free
movement of Iranian vehicles. The Iranian ambassador in Baku has
complained to Azerbaijani officials. Maleki raising the issue said,
"Armenia is an independent country and Iran wishes to have trade
relations with Yerevan."

Social media accounts have been warning about a military build-up at
the Azerbaijani border since last year’s war between Armenia and
Azerbaijan around the Karabakh region.

Last week, users commenting on reports about security developments on
the IRGC's channel on the popular social media platform Telegram
observed that tensions were rising at Iran's northern borders(link is
external). One user wrote: "Azerbaijani media have reported that
drones with Azerbaijani flag have been flying along the border with
Southern Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. I have seen them, but I am not
sure whether they belong to Iran or Azerbaijan."

Meanwhile, several Iranian social media users posted warnings and
threats against the Republic of Azerbaijan. One user posted a picture
of Iranian "Persian Gulf" missiles(link is external) and threatened
that "We are prepared to pound Aliev's spider house. I wish they would
do a mistake, so that we could give them a historic lesson."

Most recently, on September 22, the Twitter account @twmelli, which
identified itself as Twitter-e Melli (National Twitter)(link is
external) posted another picture of an Iranian missile, and reported
that, "Iranian forces at the northwestern borders are in a state of
full alert. Missiles are ready to be fired, choppers ready to fly and
drones constantly on patrol. They are waiting for one mistake from the
Baku republic to end Azerbaijan's stupid laughable illusions."

There were mixed reactions in the comments to that post, with a lot of
still more serious threats. One user said(link is external): "We
should not hit Baku. We need to beat the delusional local governor [on
the Azeri side]."

Another user said(link is external) on September(link is external) 23:
"The military power of Iran and Baku cannot be compared with each
other. With its missile power, Iran can destroy Azerbaijan's airports
and military centers in a matter of one day. Iran is hesitant only
because of shared religious concerns, otherwise, Baku would have
realized how sharp Iran's sword is."

On the same day, two other Iranian lawmakers, Mohammad Reza Ahmadi
Sangari(link is external) and Ahmad Naderi(link is external) also
warned Baku to watch its behavior toward Tehran as one of them quoted
an Azerbaijan Republic MP as having said that "Iran should be wiped
off the map,"

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://iranintl.com/en/world/iran-lawmaker-warns-republic-azerbaijan-amid-apparent-tensions__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!7l9a9JQbZeE76XrLVyRiV8eRCBOCmiejL8Xe--DN69Thi8FTi4L7Bu0Pp98Nrg$

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.com

Iran emphasizes crucial significance of guaranteeing traffic via Goris-Kapan road

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13:24, 25 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. The need for guaranteeing traffic via the Kapan-Goris road and efforts for regulating transport shipments as a result of agreements on new demarcations in Syunik province have become of double importance for both Iran and Armenia, the Iranian embassy in Armenia said in response to an inquiry of ARMENPRESS, referring to the obstacles facing Iranian cargo truck drivers on the Kapan-Goris road caused by the Azerbaijani authorities in areas under their control, such as checkpoints and charging of duties.

The Iranian embassy added that clarifications made by Armenian government officials give great hopes around the swift development of the alternative bypass through Tatev, and that Iran is hopeful that in the nearest future they will witness the opening of a road with safe infrastructure. At the same time, the Iranian side expects that before the opening of the alternative road, traffic via the current road will resume normally.

ARMENPRESS – According to the official press release, on September 22 during a meeting with the Secretary of Security Council Armen Grigoryan, the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia H.E. Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri addressed the obstacles caused by Azerbaijan in the Kapan-Goris section of the interstate road, expressing concern over the problems around the use of infrastructures linking Iran with Armenia. What information can you convey over the course of actions in direction of resolving these problems and around the discussions over this issue with the Armenian and especially Azerbaijani sides? Does the Azerbaijani side continue to cause obstacles for Iranian motorists on the Kapan-Goris road?

Iranian Embassy – In the recent months, while communicating with relevant authorities of Armenia, the [iranian] embassy tried to evaluate the unique condition of the Goris-Kapan road, the prospects of its exploitation and various sides related to the transit of goods and passengers from this and other possible roads. Undoubtedly, until the present phase of this road it was the main route of trade continuation and movement of citizens of the two countries. Nevertheless, as a result of the latest agreements on new demarcations in the Syunik province, the need to guarantee traffic and efforts for settling transport shipments have become of double importance for both the Islamic Republic of Iran and Armenia.

We believe that the security of Armenia’s land road, in addition to the positive effect it will have on the current communication, can present the stable picture of the region to the businessmen and investors of the two countries and the region and guide them to plan their economic activity and raise the level of mutual interactions. The security of this two-way road, in addition, can show Armenia’s reliable position for advancing major infrastructure projects in the region.

Undoubtedly, what was being proposed in the recent months as a goal – to unblock regional transportation communications, is again in this format, which is becoming actual.

ARMENPRESS – In your opinion, how can in principle the problem of the road linking Iran with Armenia be solved? Do you have any offered formula in this regard?

Iranian Embassy – During the latest meeting of the Iranian Ambassador and Mr. Armen Grigoryan the unique condition of the Goris-Kapan road and the unusual move implemented in direction of charging only Iranian cargo trucks with duties, and current programs and initiatives were discussed. The clarifications coming from Armenian government officials inspire great hopes around the swift development of the alternative route through Tatev, and we are hopeful that soon we will witness the opening of a road with safe infrastructure.

Certainly, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects that before the opening of the alternative road, the traffic via the current road will continue normally. These concerns have been communicated to Armenian government officials on various occasions. At the same time, this issue, besides proper attention and consultation of the Armenian government with its colleagues, requires also the efforts of other sides. Therefore, parallel to expressing Iran’s expectations to Armenian authorities, separate contacts are underway with other sides, including with Azerbaijani government officials.

ARMENPRESS – Do you see political subtexts in Azerbaijan’s actions given the recent Azerbaijani media reports saying that Iranians are conducting cargo shipments to Artsakh Republic?

Iranian Embassy – In the bilateral dimension, with the purpose of further advancing cooperation projects, an agreement was reached to hold a joint forum of economic cooperation between the two countries, which we are hopeful will be implemented soon. Fortunately, as part of the Dushanbe summit constructive negotiations of the two presidents took place, and there is a comprehensive program of joint cooperation.

Aram Sargsyan

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1064015.html?fbclid=IwAR2yLnqPyDOX7aiJAkrBCfDMvB908C9n0Q-6442lekF89pqczCTVgxK6dlo

[Yervant1]

IANS (India) - MSN
Sept 27 2021


Why India needs to rediscover Armenia to counter Turkey and Pakistan

IANS


New Delhi, Sep 27: Recently the Republic of Armenia celebrated 30 years of independence. This year too, the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy celebrated the bicentennial - a seminal moment not just for the academy, or for the Armenian community of Kolkata or India but for India-Armenia relations. These enjoy a natural edge given the centuries long history of interaction between our two peoples. At least since the 16th century AD, there is documented history of Armenians in India; undocumented history of interactions stretch back to before the Christian era.

Fast forward to the present. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Armenian counterpart Nikol *****nian in New York in September 2019 on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly. "Had extensive deliberations with PM @NikolPashinyan. We talked about expanding India-Armenia cooperation in aspects relating to technology, pharmaceuticals and agro-based industries. PM Pashinyan also referred to the popularity of Indian movies, music and Yoga in Armenia," he had tweeted after the meeting.

This news gained currency because just days before that, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had stridently condemned India's reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir state. And Armenia, inimical to Turkey as it was because of the genocide of the Armenians by the Ottomans, became a popular word for a while. Then in March last year India won a $40 million defence deal to supply four indigenously-built military radars to Armenia. The equipment was developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). This had also generated some excitement in India, and then was forgotten.

Then the war erupted in the South Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan over disputed territories. Going into the history of the unfortunate enclave of Nagorno Karabakh will require a separate article. But Azerbaijan won the war purely because of Turkish support. As a result, Ankara gained a strategic foothold in the region.

While India officially kept equidistant from the parties to the conflict, most Indians batted for Armenia.

More recently External Affairs Minister Jaishankar met with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Dushanbe, on the side-lines of the SCO and CSTO meetings which were hosted in the Tajik capital. During that meeting, the two top diplomats agreed to take bilateral relations to a "qualitatively new level". And Armenia at the meeting once again expressed support for India's position on Jammu and Kashmir.

There is a case to be made for closer ties with Armenia. There is immense goodwill for Indians in the tiny Caucasian country. Tapping into it will produce long-term strategic benefits. For one, being as it is in Russia's strategic backyard, Armenia enjoys deep bilateral relations with Russia. It past of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, (CSTO) as well as the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which is also headed by Moscow. Therefore, closer defence ties would be to the benefit of both countries.

At the ongoing UN General Assembly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again raked up the Kashmir issue. Armenia, which has no diplomatic relations with Turkey, unequivocally backs India's position on Kashmir as it supports India's claims to a permanent UN Security Council seat.

Turkey is also now well ensconced in South Asia through its close cooperation with Pakistan mostly through defence deals even if Pakistan does more of the paying. But now, Armenia's arch-rival Azerbaijan is also injecting itself into South Asian politics. While Pakistan firmly supported Azerbaijan in its war with Armenia last year, with some credible reports of Pakistani fighters joining the war on the Azeri side, Azerbaijan has in recent times increased its partnership including in defence ties with Pakistan. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan recently held two weeks long military drills 'Three Brothers - 2021' in Baku.

Most significantly, these drills followed a tripartite meeting in Islamabad in January this year of the foreign ministers of these three states and the adoption by the three states of the "Islamabad Declaration ''. And what did this declaration say? Amongst other things it said that all three states, i.e., Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan back each other's position on Kashmir, Cyprus and Nagorno Karabakh.

The tripartite statement that was issued, "Reaffirmed the most recent OIC resolution 10/47-Pol on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute adopted in Niamey in November 2020 and Communiqués of OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir and expressed deep concern over the unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, continuing grave human rights violations in and efforts to change the demographic structure of Jammu and Kashmir, and reiterated their principled position for a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions..."

After Erdogan's tirade this year at the UN podium, Jaishankar met his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and tweeted "....Important that relevant UN Security Council resolutions in respect of Cyprus are adhered to by all", in an obvious reference to Turkey.

But mere tweeting is a knee-jerk reaction not becoming of an emerging power. India has been trying to cultivate ties with Greece, again spurred on by its strained relations with Turkey. Cultivating close relations with Armenia, including in defence, should therefore be a matter of course.

In this context it is significant that Armenia is part of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Indian ambassador in Tehran is on record saying that India plans ".... to connect the western part of Chabahar (port) and the Indian Ocean with Eurasia and Helsinki in Finland, through the territory of Armenia, creating a North-South Corridor" rather than through Azerbaijan.

This is why the virtual event to mark Chabahar Day earlier in March this year included, along with the traditional signatories of the Tripartite agreement - Iran and Afghanistan - Armenia too. India wishes to link up the INSTC to Chabahar Port which logistically makes a lot of sense for India's trade.

With the ascendancy of the Taliban in Afghanistan, a consolidation of Turkey's footprint in the region is a matter of time. For India it is time to follow up rhetoric with action. And aligning strategically with Armenia and getting a foothold in the Southern Caucasus would be a good way to start. Simultaneously, New Delhi may also consider recognising the Armenian genocide of 1915.

(Aditi Bhaduri is a columnist specialising in Eurasian geopolitics. Views expressed are personal. The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-india-needs-to-rediscover-armenia-to-counter-turkey-and-pakistan/ar-AAORfkv

[Yervant1]

The National Interest
Sept 27 2021

Nagorno-Karabakh: A Year of U.S. Failure in the South Caucasus

Azerbaijan and Turkey launched their assault on Nagorno-Karabakh to continue the Ottoman project of more than a century ago. Silence encourages them and others.

by Michael Rubin

One year ago today, the Azerbaijani army, backed by Turkish Special Forces and Syrian jihadis acting as Turkish mercenaries, launched a surprise attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory which Armenia controlled since the end of the 1988-94 Nagorno-Karabakh War. While Azerbaijan justified its actions in the fact that the international community recognized the territory as Azerbaijani, the situation was more complex.

Legally, at least from Washington’s perspective, Azerbaijan’s case is not as cut-and-dry as its proponents claim. First, the United States continue to recognize the Republic of Armenia as an occupied nation after Joseph Stalin gerrymandered its borders and incorporated it into the Soviet Union. Also, when in 1991, Azerbaijan re-asserted its independence upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, its parliament did so based on the borders of the first independent Republic of Azerbaijan and not upon the territory of the subsequent Soviet-created Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Third, the population of the autonomous oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijani control, a move that was constitutionally valid.

The diplomatic case is as important. While Azerbaijani authorities never accepted Armenia’s control over Nagorno-Karabakh and several Azerbaijani districts that separated the territory from Armenia proper, Baku had committed as part of the Minsk Group process to resolve the territorial dispute diplomatically. While Azerbaijani diplomats might say the progress was going nowhere, that was a lie: There was broad consensus within the Minsk Group about the dispatch of peacekeepers, likely from disinterested Scandinavian countries, as well as the eventual Armenian return of occupied Azerbaijani districts as confidence grew. Regardless, the State Department had, six months before Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev ordered the assault, waived provisions of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to enable U.S. assistance to flow to Azerbaijan. The basis of that waiver was Azerbaijan’s commitment to the diplomatic process.

That Azerbaijan surprised not only Armenians but also Americans remains an intelligence failure that both Congress and the broader U.S. intelligence community have so far failed to investigate. Nor can any honest analyst ignore the fact that the invasion coincided with the one-hundredth anniversary of the Ottoman invasion of independent Armenia against the backdrop of the Armenian genocide. This was not a coincidence but deliberate. Simply put, Azerbaijan and Turkey’s move constituted an opening salvo in what both countries’ leaders hoped would amount to an Armenian Genocide version 2.0.

In the aftermath of the invasion, the State Department under both Secretaries of State Mike Pompeo and then Antony Blinken recommitted the United States to diplomacy. Andrew Schofer, the Minsk Group’s American co-chair, returned to the region to try to jumpstart diplomacy.

Unfortunately, through no fault of Schofer’s, Blinken and President Joe Biden bungled it. Biden was right to recognize officially the Armenian Genocide. However, the following day, Blinken quietly waived Section 907 again, effectively rewarding Azerbaijan for its aggression. By both the letter and the spirit of the Freedom Support Act, Blinken’s move violated U.S. law, though Congress has been too distracted to hold him to account and force the waiver’s reversal. While National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Blinken may have thought an olive branch appropriate to keep Azerbaijan at the table, the net effect was to eviscerate any American leverage and to telegraph to Aliyev that the United States was weak.

A short survey of the past six months shows that far from returning to diplomacy, American passivity is enabling increased Azerbaijani aggression. On March 25, 2021, Azerbaijani soldiers threw stones at Armenian civilian cars on the Sarushen-Karmir Shuka road in Artsakh’s Askeran region. Three days later, Azerbaijani troops ambushed an Armenian vehicle transporting the bodies of Armenian soldiers killed in the forty-four-day war. On April 20, Azerbaijani forces fired at an Armenian home on Vagharshyan Street in the Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh, the self-governing Armenian republic in Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite Azerbaijan’s diplomatic promises to respect religious freedom, on April 26, three Azerbaijani soldiers beat and dragged an Armenian pastor in Syunik’s Aravus village. Two days later, between eight and ten Azerbaijanis in civilian dress infiltrated the buffer zone between the two sides, before being chased off by Armenian forces. In effect, Azerbaijan’s constant probing and attempts at infiltration appear to take a page from North Korea’s playbook vis-à-vis South Korea.

In May 2021, such violations increased. Azerbaijan began a show trial for Lebanese Armenian Vicken Euljekjian, kidnapped by Azerbaijani forces after the November 9, 2020, ceasefire; he remains in prison. On May 12, 2021, Azerbaijani forces moved two miles into Armenian territory in the Syunik region to seize Sev Lich. Such unilateral “border adjustments” continued over subsequent days. On May 14, for example, Azerbaijani Armed Forces advanced another 300 to 400 meters toward Vardenis in Armenia proper. Azerbaijani forces have also continued to fire across the border at Armenian soldiers in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province. A similar attack on Artsakh’s Sos village injured a civilian. The lack of any serious American diplomatic pushback simply caused Aliyev to become more aggressive. At around 9:10 pm on May 20, several Azerbaijani soldiers entered Armenia. Armenian soldiers intercepted and, in the resulting brawl, almost a dozen were injured. Less than a week later, Azerbaijani forces killed Armenian Sergeant Gevorg Y. Khurshudyan near the village of Verin Shorzha, in Armenia proper. Two days later, Azerbaijan kidnapped six Armenian soldiers doing engineering work near the Gegharkunik border. Once again, Aliyev appeared to take a page from the North Korean playbook. And, once again, Blinken was silent. Up to 1,000 Azerbaijani troops remain in Armenia proper, according to Artak Davtyan, Armenia’s chief of the General Staff.

In June, such aggression accelerated yet again. Azerbaijani soldiers, perhaps hungry as Azerbaijani officials embezzled military supplies, fired on shepherds in Armenia and stole their cattle. Armenian soldiers stopped another attempt to steal horses from a shepherd in Gegharkunik. Nor are Armenians the only victims. In June 2021, Azerbaijani soldiers threatened to execute Spanish journalists reporting from the Armenian side of the border and, the next month, Azerbaijani raids on livestock as well as sniping attacks—some fatal— and skirmishes continued across the Armenian border. As the Biden administration remained silent, Azerbaijan increased the severity of attacks. Small arms sniping evolved into the firing of mortars across the border, for example, and ceasefires proved fleeting. In August, Azerbaijani forces took a page from Islamic State actions in Iraq and Syria and began setting fire to Armenian crops and grassland.

Both the office of the Artsakh ombudsman and Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights have begun collecting evidence, documenting such attacks in earnest. Armenia’s Ministry of Defense also announces the deaths of its soldiers as they occur.

Perhaps the biggest Azerbaijani affront, however, is the continued holding and torture of Armenian prisoners of war (POW). While the State Department might make occasional calls for their return, Azerbaijani authorities dismiss these as readily as the Taliban does Blinken’s calls for diversity in the Taliban cabinet. After all, when Blinken waives sanctions on Azerbaijan to allow American funding to flow to Baku, why should Aliyev take American statements seriously? Nor can Biden or Blinken expect Russia or Turkey to take them seriously when Blinken does not demand that Russia publicize its peacekeeping and monitoring reports which, as a party to the Minsk Group, it is legally obliged to do. Nor has Biden yet to take substantive action against Turkey for its use of American components in the drones its uses to target not only Armenians but also Kurds and perhaps even Tigrayan Christians.

Biden and Blinken may not care about American prestige, but this is not the only thing at issue in the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan and Turkey launched their assault on Nagorno-Karabakh to continue the Ottoman project of more than a century ago. Silence encourages them and others. The precedent of ethnic cleansing that they undertake—and the lack of any serious response to it—could destabilize areas far beyond the South Caucasus. So too is American silence regarding the Turkish and Azerbaijani use of Syrian jihadis, some with previous service in the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. It behooves Biden and Blinken to show that this is a red line. Nor does it make sense to reward Azerbaijan financially when it is no longer the stable, tolerant ally Washington once believed it to be, but rather does increasing business with both Russia and Iran. It is time to sanction Azerbaijan until Aliyev returns the last Armenian POW, pays compensation for his aggression, and holds accountable every Azerbaijani soldier on video torturing Armenians or destroying cultural heritage.

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/nagorno-karabakh-year-us-failure-south-caucasus-194492

[Yervant1]

Sept 29 2021

PACE put a spotlight on Turkey’s use of jihadists in Azerbaijani-Armenian war

September 29, 2021

Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Europe’s largest intergovernmental body that promotes the rule of law, identified Turkey as a country that sent Syrian jihadists to help Azerbaijan in last year’s conflict with neighboring Armenia.

In a resolution and annexed report that were approved after a heated debate on September 27, 2021, PACE noted that “there is worrying evidence of the use by Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s assistance, of Syrian mercenaries …” It urged Turkey to cooperate fully with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on complaints lodged against Turkey over this action.

PACE made reference to the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries and said, “Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s assistance, used Syrian fighters during the six-week war, including on the frontline.”

“The fighters appeared to be motivated primarily by private gain and in the case of death their relatives were reportedly promised financial compensation as well as Turkish nationality,” it added.

The findings of the report were challenged by members of the Turkish and Azerbaijani delegations, who submitted a series of amendments to remove references to mercenaries in the report. They, however, failed to secure enough votes, and their move was opposed by the rapporteur and the relevant committee that had approved them in an earlier meeting.

“We had high expectations of this report from Mr Paul Gavan [author of the report], but, unfortunately, it turned out to be a partial one instead of a neutral one,” lamented Ahmet Yıldız, head of the Turkısh delegation to PACE and a member of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He branded evidence that was cited by the ECtHR in its interim decision against Turkey as “social media clippings of dubious provenance and hearsay.”

“The use of mercenaries from Syria by Azerbaijan with Turkey’s assistance is a fact. This fact has been confirmed by the state security agencies of Iran, Russia, France, the USA, international media outlets, human rights watchdogs and NGOs, so this is the truth and it should be displayed,” said Ruben Rubinyan, an Armenian lawmaker, in his response to motions by the Turkish delegation to delete references to fighters in the report and resolution.



PACE report on the humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan:


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The assembly rejected the amendment by a vote of 68 against, 28 in favor and 10 abstentions, keeping the references to the use of mercenaries by Azerbaijan with the help of Turkey. At the end of the debate, the resolution and its accompanying report were approved by an overwhelming majority despite opposition from the Turkish delegation, which included not only Erdoğan’s AKP but also lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

PACE also confirmed the findings of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, which indicated that the way these individuals were recruited, transported and used in and around the conflict zone appeared to be consistent with the definition of a mercenary.

The author of the report, Paul Gavan of Ireland, said he had seen photographs, videos and reports to the effect that mercenaries were used by Azerbaijan in the six-week war in 2020 and added that they back up allegations that Azerbaijan used foreign mercenaries.

Similar accusations were made against Turkey by UN human rights experts at the Working Group on the use of mercenaries — Chris Kwaja, Jelena Aparac, Lilian Bobea, Ravindran Daniel, and Sorcha MacLeod — over the involvement of the Turkish government in recruiting Syrian fighters to take part in military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey claimed that videos showing mercenaries in the region were fake. However, Turkish diplomatic communication to the UN did not mention international media reports of interviews with Syrians who joined the fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It alleged that images of members of the Syrian National Army were recorded and circulated by Armenia.

In November 2020 UN rapporteurs had sent a joint letter to the Turkish government seeking further information on its role and “the circumstances surrounding the recruitment, financing, transportation and deployment of Syrian fighters to participate in the hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

They noted that the alleged use of Syrian fighters by Turkey in hostilities in third states negatively impacts peace and security in the region. “The systematic and continuous recruitment of these fighters for financial compensation is particularly worrisome,” the letter said.

The UN expressed concern over the reported role of Turkish private military and security companies in facilitating the recruitment of Syrian fighters in alleged coordination with Turkish authorities.

The Turkish government’s response to the UN letter was conveyed by the country’s permanent mission to the UN office in Geneva via a note verbale dated January 21, 2021. “The press release by the Working Group on the use of mercenaries based on black propaganda products of fake images and fabricated news has undermined the credibility of the UN Special Procedures Mechanism,” the Turkish government stated.



Amendment submitted by the Turkish delegation aimed at removing references to the use of Syrian fighters by Azerbaijan with the help of Turkey. It failed to pass in the assembly vote:


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The joint letter was sent by the UN’s Chris Kwaja, chair-rapporteur of the working group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self- determination; Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and _expression_; and Nils Melzer, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

UN officials urged the Turkish government to provide information on “the command and control structure over the Syrian fighters deployed in support of Azerbaijani’ [sic] armed forces, including any measures in place to hold these fighters accountable for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including specific examples.”

According to the UN rapporteurs, the deployment of Syrians contributed to the rapid escalation and intensification of hostilities and resulted in civilian harm and suffering. “During armed conflicts, mercenaries and mercenary-related actors are obliged, as are all other members of State armed forces or non-State armed groups party to a conflict, to respect the applicable rules of international humanitarian law,” they said.



Joint UN letter dated November 6, 2020:

https://nordicmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/UN-letter.pdf



According to reports received by the UN, members of the Hamza Division, Sultan Murad Division, Al-Amshat Faction and the Sultan Sliman Shah Brigade allegedly agreed to be transferred to Azerbaijan in return for monetary compensation. “Turkey allegedly contracts private military and security companies to facilitate the preparation of official and contractual documentation for the fighters, apparently in coordination with the Turkish security services,” the UN letter said.

Referring to a previous UN letter about the role of Turkey in deploying and financing Syrian fighters to take part in the conflict in Libya, the rapporteurs took note of the Turkish government’s reply, dated September 17, 2020, and said it did not substantively address the allegations raised.

In June 2020 the UN sent a letter to the Turkish government revealing how Turkey effectively recruited Syrian fighters from several Syrian armed groups to take part in military operations in Tripoli in support of the Government of National Accord (GNA).

In that communication, SADAT and other possible Turkish contractors were also accused by UN agencies of recruiting children under 18 years of age to take part in the armed conflict in Libya. “Not only have these [Turkish] companies facilitated the recruitment and deployment of mercenaries from Syria to Libya, but, according to the available information, they have also contributed to the recruitment of children under 18 years of age to take part in an armed conflict,” the letter said.

“Turkish authorities allegedly contracted private military and security companies to facilitate the selection as well as the preparation of official and contractual documentation for the fighters, apparently in coordination with the Turkish security services. One of the companies cited in this context was Sadat International Defence Consultancy [sADAT],” the letter stated.

SADAT, which is fully funded and supported by the Turkish government, is owned by retired Gen. Gen. Adnan Tanrıverdi, the former chief military aide to President Erdoğan. Nordic Monitor has published several reports on SADAT’s activities and goals in Turkey and abroad.

Tanrıverdi announced in December 2019 that SADAT had been working to pave the way for the long-awaited mahdi (prophesied redeemer of Islam), for whom the entire Muslim world is waiting.

Opposition Turkish lawmakers had asked the government about the alleged role of SADAT in training Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Syrian al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusrah (al-Nusrah Front) fighters and the alleged close relations between Turkish intelligence agency MİT and SADAT.

The reports can be read at the link below
https://nordicmonitor.com/2021/09/council-of-europes-body-put-a-spotlight-on-turkeys-use-of-jihadists-in-2020-azerbaijan-armenian-war/

[Yervant1]

Financial Tribune, Iran

Sept 29 2021

Azerbaijan Troubling Iranian Trucks En Route to Armenia

Azerbaijan’s relations with Iran, its large neighbor to the south, have been in flux since the end of last year’s war with Armenia.

The most recent rocky period started when Azerbaijan began charging Iranian trucks toll fees on a road heading for southern Armenia through slices of Azerbaijan’s territory, Eurasianet reported.

At first, Iran remained silent even after Azerbaijani police and customs confirmed the practice. Armenian media reported that some of the trucks targeted had been “transporting cement to Yerevan and Stepanakert”, the de facto capital of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but had been controlled by Armenian forces since the first war between the two sides in the 1990s.

The drivers were detained because they “entered Azerbaijan illegally from Armenia and relevant measures will be taken”, Spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs Ehsan Zahidov said the following day.

Azerbaijan has long held that entry into Karabakh via Armenia amounts to an illegal border crossing.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry responded by demanding the release of drivers and called for a meeting with Azerbaijani officials to resolve the issue.

A series of meetings have taken place since then, but the fate of the drivers is still unknown.

Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Abbas Mousavi met with Hikmet Hajiyev, the senior foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijan’s president, twice in a week.

In a tweet, Mousavi said the two “reviewed the current situation and the future of our good relations and other issues of interest”.

On Sept. 23, Azerbai, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

In a statement, the Azerbaijani MFA noted that the ministers reviewed the “current situation in the region”.

Tension has been exacerbated by naval military exercises conducted jointly by Turkey and Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the drills violated an international convention banning foreign military forces from the sea.

Azerbaijani analysts retorted that Iran is the only Caspian littoral country not to have ratified the convention.

Iran then held its own military drills close to its border with Azerbaijan.

In Baku, analysts say the government appears to be motivated by long-running irritation at Iranian trucks supplying Nagorno-Karabakh.

Following Azerbaijan’s control over some stretches of the road, which connects the key southern Armenian cities of Goris and Kapan, and which is Armenia’s only highway linking Iran, Baku has been able to act on those Iranian deliveries.

The war also resulted in Azerbaijan regaining territory very close to the Lachin corridor, the road that connects Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. That has allowed Azerbaijan to control the road for what it sees as illegal border crossings.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, in a Sept. 27 interview with Turkish media, said that between August 11 and Sept. 11, Baku had observed 60 Iranian trucks using the road.

He also said Iranian officials had repeatedly refused to act.

"The first time [the Azerbaijani side issued] a verbal warning, the second, an official note, and the third, posts - customs, border, police. In this way, we have begun to control the road through Azerbaijani territory," Aliyev said.

As a result, he said the number of Iranian trucks passing through Lachin has "dropped to zero".

While much of the Azerbaijani media coverage of the spat has emphasized a widespread belief that Iran is on Armenia’s side in the conflict, that is a misunderstanding, said political analyst, Eldar Mamedov.

Iran has “repeatedly supported Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity on the level of political and religious leadership”, Mamedov said.

As for the most recent tensions between the two countries, Mamedov suggests they will not fundamentally change the relationship.

“Iran is treading carefully in the Caucasus. It does not need destabilization of the northern border, in addition to all the challenges it already has in other scenarios like the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/110510/azerbaijan-troubling-iranian-trucks-en-route-to-armenia

[Yervant1]

EurasiaNet.org

Sept 30 2021

Armenian ex-defense minister arrested for embezzlement and faulty weapons purchases The minister enjoyed an unusually long tenure in Armenia's government, more than two years, resigning only after the defeat in last year's war with Azerbaijan.Ani Mejlumyan Sep 30, 2021

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduces then newly appointed Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan in 2018. (photo: mil.am)

The Armenian authorities have detained a former defense minister and a major arms dealer on charges related to purchases of faulty weaponry.

The National Security Service (NSS) announced on September 30 that it had detained former defense minister Davit Tonoyan on charges of “embezzlement of large sums of money, falsifications, committing publicly dangerous acts.” The NSS also detained David Galstyan, the head of a defense contractor supplying weapons to the Armenian armed forces. Together, the two are charged with stealing approximately 2.3 billion drams ($4.7 million).

The case involves the purchase of missiles – the seller, type of missile, or year when they were purchased was not identified – that were produced between 1985 and 1991. The NSS also said that “large-scale” investigations are continuing to fully uncover the chain of crimes and all the people involved.

On September 25, the NSS – citing the same amount of embezzled money – said that it had arrested another senior military figure, the head of the aviation department of the armed forces. According to the NSS, the officer knew in 2011 that the missiles were faulty and unusable, but bought them anyway. The statement did not name the officer, but from 2009 to 2019 that post was held by Major General Avetik Muradyan.

"Some of the missiles failed to fire shortly after delivery, and were taken out of the arsenal. The rest were not used at all, including during the 44-day war that began on September 27, 2020,” the NSS said in its statement. Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces Stepan Galstyan was also questioned in the case, the NSS reported.

Davit Galstyan, the arms dealer, is already facing a similar charge that was filed in February. In that case, Galstyan’s firm Mosston Engineering (an offshore company registered in the Seychelles) is accused of embezzling $1 million. That case involved the purchase of artillery shells: Mosston was contracted in 2018 to supply the military with a certain type of shell, produced between 1983 and 1986, but the firm instead bought Czechoslovakian shells produced in 1977, which were “significantly inferior.”

Galstyan’s lawyer told journalists on September 30 that his client denied the charges, and that “this is a completely new case, has nothing to do with the old case.”

Tonoyan hasn’t been named in the first investigation, even as a witness, even though he was appointed defense minister in 2018.

Tonoyan has spent almost his entire career since the late 1990s in the armed forces and defense ministry. He appeared to enjoy an unusual amount of trust from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as his tenure lasted more than two years – a rarity in the quickly churning government. Tonoyan resigned last November, a week after the end of the war with Azerbaijan, following public pressure.

Galstyan has long been known as a murky operator. A 2011 United Nations Security Council report found that one of his firms, "DG Arms Corporation,” illegally bought and transported ammunition to Libya in violation of international sanctions. In another episode, Mosston was reported to have transferred 275,000 euros to an offshore account belonging to Ukraine’s then-president Petro Poroshenko for a VIP jet service.

None of that stopped the government from working with him.

On August 21, 2018, the Ministry of Defense announced that it had reached an agreement with a firm owned by Galstyan, Royalsys Engineering LTD, to produce Kalashnikov rifles in Armenia. No such company is registered in Armenia, but the Panama Papers leaks included information about a similarly named company with a spelling error: Royalsys Enginerring.

Tonoyan was confronted at the time by a journalist from the news outlet Civilnet about the fact that no such company existed in Armenia, but Tonoyan denied it. In 2019, Davit Galstyan was appointed adviser to Tonoyan.

 

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.

https://eurasianet.org/armenian-ex-defense-minister-arrested-for-embezzlement-and-faulty-weapons-purchases

[Yervant1]

Asbarez.com

Moscow’s Rebuke of Aliyev’s Threats

by Asbarez Staff

September 30, 2021

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

Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Alexei Zaytsev

Confrontational rhetoric does not contribute to overcoming disagreements, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Alexei Zaytsev told reporters on Thursday, in an apparent rebuke of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who has continuously threatened that Baku will open the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” linking Azerbaijan proper with Nakhichevan through Armenia.

“Instead, it is extremely important to create opportunities for finding mutually acceptable solutions,’’ advised Zaytsev, adding that both Baku and Yerevan have expressed, at the highest level, their “readiness to open a new page in relations and a gradual normalization of relations.’’

Saying that Russia is proponent of “such positive approaches,” Zaytsev added that the working group tasked to address the unblocking of transport routes in the South Caucasus continues its efforts with the participation of the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“For our part, we welcome the positive attitude of Baku and Yerevan towards reaching mutually acceptable, package agreements, which in the future will give an opportunity to jointly advance toward a partnership,’’ said Zaytsev.

The foreign ministry official also said that Moscow is hopeful that a proposed visit by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the region will contribute to the organization of a meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

‘’Russia has always believed that constant dialogue, particularly at the highest level, contributes to the ensuring of mutual understanding and finding solutions to problematic issues in a constructive atmosphere,” said Zaytsev.

He also said that Russia is continuing to work with Yerevan and Baku to ensure the return of Armenian prisoners of war in exchange for maps of minefields, which he said will help normalize relations between the two countries.

https://asbarez.com/moscows-rebuke-to-aliyevs-threats/

[Yervant1]

Asbarez.com

Tehran ‘Dissatisfied’ with Aliyev’s ‘Anti-Iran’ Remarks

by Asbarez Staff

September 30, 2021

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

Iran's Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian voiced Tehran's dissatisfaction with Baku while welcoming Azerbaijan's new ambassador to Iran, Ali Alizadeh

Iran’s Foreign Minister expressed his country’s dissatisfaction with the manner in which Azerbaijani border guards have treated truck drivers from Iran, including the arrest of two Iranian drivers on the Goris-Kapan Highway. He also called “unfortunate” the recent “anti-Iran” remarks by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian voiced Tehran’s concerns when welcoming Azerbaijan’s newly appointed ambassador to Iran Ali Alizadeh.

Relations between Baku and Tehran have become bumpy ever since Azerbaijani forces, having set up road blocks on the Goris-Kapan Highway in Armenia’s Syunik Province, have been stopping Iranian commercial trucks and imposing high taxes on the drivers. Earlier this month, two Iranian truck drivers were arrested. The road blocks have impeded Iran’s trade with Armenia.

Citing Iran’s “emotional response” to the highway debacle, Aliyev told the Turkish Anadolu news agency this week that he was angry and surprised at Iran’s decision to hold military drills in the country northwest region, bordering Nakhichevan.

Amir-Abdollahian characterized Aliyev’s remarks as “anti-Iran,” and said that it was unfortunate and surprising that the Azerbaijani leader would make the statements.

He defended Iran’s right to hold military exercises as the country’s sovereign right, saying that the drills are meant to train its armed forces to ward off potential attacks by Israel.

In a separate announcement on Thursday, the commander of Iran’s ground forces General Kioumars Heydari told the ISNA news agency that the drills in question will be held on October 1 in the country’s northwest region.

He explained that the drills, called Conquerors of Khaybar, will involve artillery, armored equipment, drones and helicopters.

Heydari added that the purpose of the drills is to check and increase the combat readiness level of the military and test military equipment.

https://asbarez.com/tehran-dissatisfied-with-aliyevs-anti-iran-remarks/