Yervant1 Posted April 16, 2022 Report Share Posted April 16, 2022 PanArmenianArmenia - April 15 2022 Karabakh fears genocide if Azerbaijan crosses red linesApril 15, 2022 - 13:05 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The Foreign Minister of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Davit Babayan, has reacted to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent speeches and declared that there are no benchmarks to be lowered.Babayan's remarks came after Pashinyan said that the international community is telling the Armenian side to lower its "benchmark on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh a little and ensure greater international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh."Babayan told lawmakers on Thursday, April 15 that Artsakh was going through the most difficult period in its history, and that the fate of not only Artsakh but also of the Armenian statehood and the Armenian people is being decided."Speaking about the status of Artsakh and various benchmarks, it should be noted that we no longer have benchmarks, we have red lines instead, and their violation will lead to tragedy, nothing less, because Artsakh has one future within Azerbaijan, and that is genocide," Babayan said."We will lose the homeland. There will be no Armenia after the loss of Artsakh, it will be a matter of time."Babayan added, however, that there are all opportunities to save Artsakh.https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/299680/Karabakh_fears_genocide_if_Azerbaijan_crosses_red_lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted April 17, 2022 Report Share Posted April 17, 2022 Public Radio of ArmeniaApril 16 2022 Azerbaijani troops fully withdrawn to initial positions near Seysulan, ArtsakhApril 16, 2022, 17:15 Less than a minute The Azerbaijani troops that intruded in to the neutral zone of the line of contact near the settlement of Seysulan in the Martakert region have returned to the positions occupied before the incident, Artsakh’s InfoCenter reports.In On April 15 the enemy had advanced a certain amount of manpower, trying to improve its position in the neutral zone.In the evening of the same day, as a result of negotiations conducted by the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Artsakh, the Azerbaijani troops agreed to return to their starting positions.At this moment the Azerbaijani side has fully returned to its positions occupied before the above-mentioned incident. The operative-tactical situation in other parts of the line of contact is calm. https://en.armradio.am/2022/04/16/azerbaijani-troops-fully-withdrawn-from-martakert-region-artsakh-infocenter/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted April 18, 2022 Report Share Posted April 18, 2022 April 17 2022 Russian MOD says Azerbaijani forces broke ceasefire for 2nd time in a week Azerbaijani forces crossed the ceasefire line in Nagorno-Karabakh before returning to their positions after talks with peacekeeping.By TZVI JOFFRE Published: APRIL 17, 2022 00:14Updated: APRIL 17, 2022 07:55The ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was violated for the second time in a week on Friday, by Azerbaijani forces who crossed the ceasefire line near Seysulan in the Martakert region of the de-facto Artsakh Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry announced. The Russian peacekeeping contingent, in cooperation with representatives of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, took measures to resolve the incident. According to the Republic of Artsakh's NKR InfoCenter, the Azerbaijani forces returned to their starting positions after negotiations with the peacekeeping forces. The NKR InfoCenter claimed that the Azerbaijani forces were attempting to improve their positions by advancing troops. The Republic of Artsakh is a de facto republic internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. In 2020, the area where the republic is situated was recaptured by Azerbaijan. On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the ceasefire was violated by Azerbaijani forces who shot a member of the armed forces of the de-facto Artsakh Republic. The incident happened near Parukh, where Azerbaijani forces had crossed the line of contact last month, sparking a spike in tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian peacekeepers managed to resolve the incident on Tuesday. In March, Azerbaijani forces crossed the line of contact near the village of Parukh in the Republic of Artsakh, entering the village of Khramort. A day later, an Azerbaijani Bayraktar TB2 drone carried out strikes against forces belonging to Artsakh, killing three Armenian soldiers. The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement at the time saying that Azerbaijan had violated the ceasefire reached at the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war by crossing the line of contact, sparking outrage from Azerbaijani officials. The Azerbaijani defense ministry condemned the statement at the time, saying it "does not reflect the truth" and that it was Armenia, not Azerbaijan, that was violating the ceasefire reached in 2020. The ministry added that the Russian Defense Ministry's statement "contradicts the essence of bilateral relations" and the Declaration on Allied Interaction Russia and Azerbaijan signed this February. On April 6, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to hold peace talks to address tensions over the Nagorno-Karabakh area. On Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the ongoing tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying "We’ve had nearly 1000 deaths during the so-called peacetime, that’s not peace," according to Armenpress. "The people of Karabakh must live in Karabakh, the people of Karabakh must have rights, freedoms and status in Karabakh. The people of Karabakh must be Karabakhi, Artsakhi and Armenian in Karabakh," added Pashinyan. In 2020, a slightly more than month-long war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby areas, ending with a new line of contact drawn and Russian peacekeepers deployed along the line. Sporadic clashes have been reported along the line since the war. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-704364 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted April 28, 2022 Report Share Posted April 28, 2022 Armenpress.com US trying to push back on any unilateral actions particularly by Azerbaijan that would only inflame situation - Blinken SaveShare2 12:06, 27 April, 2022YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed Azerbaijan in actions that inflame the situation with regard to Nagorno Karabakh.In his remarks at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee session, Secretary Blinken said the United States supports a long-term political settlement with regard to Nagorno Karabakh. “I have been very actively in directly engaged with leadership in both Armenia and Azerbaijan including just as recently as a week ago phone calls with Prime Minister Pashinyan and with President Aliyev, as well as their foreign ministers, trying to help advance prospects for a long-term political settlement with regard to Nagorno Karabakh”, Blinken said. “We have been developing and promoting various confidence-building measures. We have been trying to push back on any unilateral actions particularly by Azerbaijan that would only inflame the situation and we have a number of programs in place that are part of the budget to try to help advance more peaceful prospects”. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1081721.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 1, 2022 Report Share Posted May 1, 2022 Public Radio of ArmeniaApril 30 2022 Armenia strongly condemns the desecration of Hadrut church by Azerbaijan – MFAApril 30, 2022, 16:14 1 minute read Armenia strongly condemns the acts of vandalism and desecration of the St. Harutyun Church in the city of Hadrut, currently underAzerbaijani control, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vahan Hunanyan said in s statement.“These pre-planned actions carried out by the authorities of Azerbaijan, aimed at destroying and desecrating the identity of Armenian religious, historical and cultural monuments in the territories under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces, are another manifestation of Azerbaijan’s ethnic and religious intolerance and the continuation of the policy of depriving Artsakh of Armenians and the Armenian trace,” Hunanyan said.“The atrocities against Armenian churches and other cultural and religious monuments in Artsakh grossly violate the norms of international law, including the decision on application of provisional measures issued by the UN International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021,” the Spokesperson said.He stressed tgat this case reaffirms the claims of the Armenian side on the urgent need for the visit of UNESCO assessment mission to Nagorno-Karabakh. https://en.armradio.am/2022/04/30/armenia-strongly-condemns-the-desecration-of-hadrut-church-by-azerbaijan-mfa/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 1, 2022 Report Share Posted May 1, 2022 PanARMENIANArmenia - April 30 2022 Karabakh raises Kosovo's privilege, lauds Putin's referenceApril 30, 2022 - 10:58 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) State Minister Artak Beglaryan has raised the question of why Kosovo can take advantage of the international mechanism of salvation and redress, while Artsakh can't.Beglaryan noted on his Telegram channel that it was nice to hear Russian President Vladimir Putin speak to UN Secretary General António Guterres about the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo, which concluded that “the declaration of independence of Kosovo adopted on 17 February 2008 did not violate international law”.Noting that Kosovo had declared independence in 2008 without consulting Serbia, Putin asked Guterres whether he agreed that provided a precedent for the two Donbas "republics" to declare independence without permission from Kyiv, and for Moscow to recognize them (as many western countries recognized Kosovo). However, Russia’s ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Bocan Harchenko, said later that Russia has not changed its attitude towards Kosovo and will not recognize it as an independent state.According to Beglaryan, Putin's reference to Kosovo was a precedent for peoples who live under the threat of destruction and fight for their right to self-determination, such as the indigenous people of Artsakh.“And here's a rhetorical question: why should Kosovo or other internationally unrecognized countries use this international mechanism of salvation and redress, while Artsakh, which meets all the norms of international law, does not? We should not forget the numerous cases when the international community did not fulfill its preventive duties, as a result of which a number of nations were subjected to genocide,” the State Minister said.https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/299991/Karabakh_raises_Kosovos_privilege_lauds_Putins_reference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 7, 2022 Report Share Posted May 7, 2022 PanArmenianArmenia - May 6 2022 Azerbaijani military convoy throws Armenian taxi into Karabakh gorgeMay 6, 2022 - 12:39 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - A vehicle from an Azerbaijani military convoy passing through Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) has pushed and thrown an Armenian taxi into a ravine.Military expert Karen Vrtanesyan has said that no one was hurt in the incident.Irina Safaryan, one of the locals, tweeted images from the scene, revealing that her friends were on their way to a village near Martakert, when they were hit by the Azerbaijanii army motorcade, and as a result their car rolled down the gorge. https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/300125/Azerbaijani_military_convoy_throws_Armenian_taxi_into_Karabakh_gorge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 7, 2022 Report Share Posted May 7, 2022 Armenpress.com Facts show Azeri convoy deliberately rammed into taxi cab in Artsakh – Ombudsman SaveShare 17:30, 6 May, 2022YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. The Ombudsman of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan says all facts show that the Azerbaijani military convoy deliberately rammed into a taxi cab carrying two passengers, which then crashed into a valley.“On May 5, around 13:00, a cargo vehicle traveling as part of an Azerbaijani convoy at the 24th kilometer of the Martakert-Drmbon road, entered the opposite lane and hit with its trailer a Renault Logan which is registered in Artsakh as a taxi cab, as a result of which the taxi cab crashed 12 meters into the right-side gorge. There were two passengers in the taxi in addition to the driver. As a result of preliminary examination the passengers did not suffer bodily injuries. Material damages were inflicted upon the taxi service.Based on the facts collected by the staff of the ombudsman’s office, we can note the following:Upon seeing the possible collision the Azerbaijani truck could have stopped and avoided the collision, which caused the taxi to crash into the gorge;After the collision, upon seeing that the taxi has crashed into the gorge, the Azerbaijani convoy did not stop and continued its course;According to the passengers, as well as the driver himself, the driver of the taxi did everything possible to avoid the collision, but he didn’t have any chance to do so,” Stepanyan said in a statement.He added that the law enforcement agencies of Artsakh have launched a probe, but at this moment the circumstances suggest that the Azerbaijani convoy deliberately rammed into the taxi cab with apparent intent to inflict harm. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1082610.html?fbclid=IwAR3v5PWx5VeD-wrH2vA8VIRnrXGFJqTvthE_k45cvU_Ngjq-J0VRL6hksXE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 8, 2022 Report Share Posted May 8, 2022 Public Radio of ArmeniaMay 7 2022 Employee of Sotk gold mine wounded in Azerbaijani shooting – Armenia MoD On May 7, at around 1:50 p.m., Azerbaijani Armed Forces fired from different caliber firearms at the military positions of the Armenian Armed Forces located in the eastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, as well as in the direction of Sotk gold mine, the Ministry of Defense reports.One of the employees received gunshot wounds, the Ministry said, adding that his life is not in danger.The Armenian side undertook measures to silence the the firing from Azerbaijan.As of 16:30, the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was relatively stable. https://en.armradio.am/2022/05/07/employee-of-sotk-gold-mine-wounded-in-azerbaijani-shooting/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted May 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 21, 2022 Report Share Posted May 21, 2022 PanArmenianArmenia - May 20 2022 Azerbaijani saboteur admits was on special mission in KarabakhMay 20, 2022 - 13:56 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani saboteur Shahbaz Guliyev has admitted that back in 2014 he was sent to Nagorno-Karabakh by the Azerbaijani authorities on a special assignment.Guliyev, Dilgam Asgarov and Hasan Hasanov illegally infiltrated into Kalbajar district of Karabakh and murdered 17-year-old local resident Smbat Tsakanyan and Major Sargis Abrahamyan, injuring the latter's companion Karine Davtyan on the road from Vardenis to Kalbajar.Hasanov was killed in firefight with Artsakh Defence Army servicemen, while the other two were detained. The Stepanakert Residence of the General Jurisdiction Court of First Instance of Nagorno Karabakh Republic sentenced Asgarov to life in prison and Guliyev to 22 years in prison (only Asgarov was convicted of Tsakanyan's murder. The two, however, were released when Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to exchange prisoners and hostages after the Second Karabakh war in fall 2020.Speaking in a fresh interview with Xural TV, Guliyev expressed frustration with the state's inattention after returning to Azerbaijan․ Complaining about poor social conditions, he said that he would speak even "at the cost of his life", Regionmonitor reports.The Azerbaijani saboteur noted that they infiltrated into Kalbajar on many occasions with the knowledge of Deputy Prime Minister Ali Shamil oglu Hasanov․ According to him, they were given firearms and grenades right in Hasanov's office in 2014 and sent to gather intelligence.Guliyev said the group provided 10 videos from their former incursion into the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Azerbaijani army.https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/300401/Azerbaijani_saboteur_admits_was_on_special_mission_in_Karabakh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted May 29, 2022 Report Share Posted May 29, 2022 PanArmenianArmenia - May 28 2022 Armenian soldier gravely injured in Azerbaijan's fireMay 28, 2022 - 15:27 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - An Armenian soldier was injured in Azerbaijan's fire from across the border on May 28, the Armenian Defense Ministry reports.The Azerbaijani troops used various caliber firearms, including sniper rifles, to target the Armenian posts in the southeastern section of the contact line.The serviceman identified as Davit Vardanyan is in a serious condition.The Ministry added that the Armenian side retaliated to silence Azerbaijan's fire.https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/300579/Armenian_soldier_gravely_injured_in_Azerbaijans_fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted June 22, 2022 Report Share Posted June 22, 2022 June 21 2022 Armenian soldier killed along border with Azerbaijan - report The Armenian Defense Ministry has not yet issued an official statement on the incident.By TZVI JOFFRE Published: JUNE 21, 2022 00:28Updated: JUNE 21, 2022 00:38An Armenian soldier was shot and killed by Azerbaijani fire near Vardenis in Armenia on Saturday, Armenian media reported on Sunday, although the Armenian Defense Ministry has not issued an official statement on the incident. Some of the reports identified the killed soldier as a 19-year-old from the village of Byurakan. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Armenian Service and Factor TV both reported that the Armenian Defense Ministry had confirmed the death of the soldier to them and had promised to provide further details "later." As of Monday night, the Armenian Defense Ministry had not yet issued an official statement on the incident. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on Saturday that Azerbaijani forces were targeted by fire from Armenian positions twice in one day near the border between the two countries. The Azerbaijani Army took "adequate retaliatory measures," according to the Defense Ministry. While the Armenian Defense Ministry had issued statements in recent days denying similar claims by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, it did not do so after the claims on Saturday. Post-war realityIn 2020, a war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby areas, ending just over a month later with a new line of contact drawn and Russian peacekeepers deployed along the line. Sporadic clashes have been reported along the line since the war. On April 6, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to hold peace talks to address tensions over the Nagorno-Karabakh area.https://www.jpost.com/international/article-709940 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted June 30, 2022 Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 NEWS.amArmenia - June 29 2022 Telegram channel: Bayraktar UAVs sold by Turkey were shooting at Azerbaijan soldiers during 2nd Karabakh war11:37, 29.06.2022 The Bayraktar drones, which Turkey sold to Azerbaijan for billions of dollars, were shooting Azerbaijani soldiers dead during the second Karabakh War, the "Iranian Journalist Diary" Telegram Channel wrote."In the video, the [Azerbaijani] war veteran says that his 52 comrades-in-arms were killed by the Bayraktar. Azerbaijani officials have not yet made any statement in this regard," the aforesaid Telegram channel added.https://news.am/eng/news/709485.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted July 13, 2022 Report Share Posted July 13, 2022 Public Radio of ArmeniaArmenia - July 12 2022 Azerbaijani forces shell Armenian positions from large-caliber firearmsJuly 12, 2022, 12:41 Less than a minute The Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire in the direction of Armenian military positions located in the western part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Large-caliber firearms were used, the Ministry of Defense informs.The fire of the Azerbaijani units was silenced by the retaliatory actions of the Armenian side.At the same time the Ministry denied the reports of the Azerbaijani side claiming that in the evening of July 11, units of the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire in the direction of the Azerbaijani positions located in the eastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.https://en.armradio.am/2022/07/12/azerbaijani-forces-shell-armenian-positions-from-large-caliber-firearms/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted July 31, 2022 Report Share Posted July 31, 2022 PanARMENIANArmenia - July 30 2022 Russia confirms Azerbaijan violated Karabakh ceasefireJuly 30, 2022 - 12:19 AMTPanARMENIAN.Net - The Russia Defense Ministry on Friday, July 29 confirmed that Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh earlier in the week."one violation of the ceasefire was recorded in the Taghavard area. The armed forces of Azerbaijan opened fire from small arms on the post of the armed formations of Nagorno-Karabakh," the Russian side said."There were no casualties. The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, in cooperation with representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides, resolved the incident."A resident of the community of Karmir Shuka in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) on Thursday submitted a police report, revealing that the kitchen window and entrance door of the second floor of his house were damaged in Azerbaijan’s ceasefire violations from across the contact line.https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/301815/Russia_confirms_Azerbaijan_violated_Karabakh_ceasefire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 3, 2022 Report Share Posted August 3, 2022 Armenpress.com Artsakh soldier wounded as a result of Azerbaijani provocation SaveShare 00:38, 2 August 2022YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, ARMENPRESS. Serviceman of the Defense Army of Artsakh Albert Bakhshiyan was wounded as a result of the provocation of the Azerbaijani forces, the Defense Ministry of Artsakh said. The soldier is in satisfactory condition. On August 1, starting at 09:00, the Azerbaijani forces resorted to provocation in a number of sections of the northern and north-western border zone of the Artsakh Republic, attempting to cross the line of contact, which were prevented by the Defense Army units. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1089434.html?fbclid=IwAR2MT9hztRhYssTYCr-DeT5iOx6V-8D3aUdPyZKCfBa6S8hcMpoxzlD7mvc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 3, 2022 Report Share Posted August 3, 2022 Armenpress.com Russia confirms it was Azerbaijan who violated the ceasefire on August 1 SaveShare 21:17, 2 August 2022YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, ARMENPRESS. During the past day, three cases of violation of the ceasefire regime by the Azerbaijani armed forces were registered in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops, as a result of which a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh was injured, ARMENPRESS informs, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has issued a message about this. "During the past day, three cases of violation of the ceasefire regime by the Azerbaijani armed forces were registered in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops, as a result of which the representative of the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh was injured. The command of the Russian peacekeepers resolved the situation together with the representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides," reads the message. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1089515.html?fbclid=IwAR3mDYWLPZs4baHwu_bv-s_O_uW7v59m8FfXYMme_oQIXTvdZHDke2NDGDE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted August 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted August 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 4, 2022 Report Share Posted August 4, 2022 Aug 3 2022 Deadly clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh 3 August 2022 ByAni AvetisyanandIsmi Aghayev The Lachin corridor. Photo: Ani Avetsiyan/OC Media. One Azerbaijani and two Armenian soldiers are confirmed dead and at least 14 Armenians wounded after clashes broke out on Wednesday morning in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to an official statement from the Nagorno-Karabakh Army, Azerbaijani troops employed mortars and unmanned aerial vehicles in an unprovoked attack. Azerbaijani media also released footage of a drone strike on an Armenian position. In a statement late on Wednesday afternoon, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry said they had conducted a retaliatory ‘revenge’ operation, accusing ‘illegal Armenian armed groups’ of violating the ceasefire. The ministry said they had taken control of several new positions in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result. The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh has so far remained silent, although the Nagorno-Karabakh Army said that ‘measures are being taken to stabilise the situation’ with the peacekeepers. On Wednesday afternoon, Nagorno-Karabakh announced a partial mobilisation as unconfirmed reports of clashes continue. In the morning, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence said that an 18-year-old soldier had been killed in the early hours of the morning near Lachin. On Tuesday, the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said that Azerbaijan had demanded that the Lachin corridor, which connects Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh, be handed over to them in the ‘near future’. The ceasefire agreement that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War stipulates that the Lachin corridor fall under the control of Russian peacekeepers until a replacement road could be built, after which it would be handed over to Azerbaijan. However, construction of the new road, which Russian peacekeepers would take control of, has not yet begun. Stepanakert reported that tensions remained high in several areas along the line of contact on Wednesday. Tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh have been running high for several weeks, despite a renewed diplomatic push by the US and EU in ongoing peace talks. On Monday evening, the Nagorno-Karabakh army reported that Azerbaijani forces attempted to cross the line of contact in the north and northwest of Nagorno-Karabakh and that one soldier had been wounded, a claim echoed by the Russian peacekeeping mission. [Read more: Tensions flare in Nagorno-Karabakh] The European Union expressed concern about the situation after the reported clashes on Monday, while US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried held phone conversations with the foreign ministers of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenian Foreign Ministry also announced on Wednesday that in a meeting with the special representative of the acting head of the OSCE Andrzej Kasprzyk,, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. https://oc-media.org/deadly-clashes-continue-in-nagorno-karabakh/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 4, 2022 Report Share Posted August 4, 2022 Public Radio of ArmeniaAug 3 2022Route passing through Lachin Corridor can be changed only according toa plan approved by all parties – Armenia MFAAugust 3, 2022, 20:22 2 minutes readAzerbaijan continues its planned policy of terrorizing the populationof Nagorno-Karabakh, subjecting Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansingand “creeping occupation,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in astatement.The comments come after the armed forces of Azerbaijan, once againviolating the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russiaand Azerbaijan on ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh of November 9, 2020,resorted to aggression in the area of responsibility of the Russianpeacekeeping forces, which resulted in casualties and injuries.“Despite the steps taken by the Armenian side to achieve stability andpeace in the region, Azerbaijan continues its planned policy ofterrorizing the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, subjectingNagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing and creeping occupation ofNagorno-Karabakh,” the Ministry said.It reminded that examples of such aggression and ceasefire violationare the advancements of the Azerbaijani forces in the direction of thevillage of Parukh on March 24, the attack on the villages of Khtsaberdand Hin Tagher on December 11, 2020, which are also located in thezone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops.“We consider inadmissible the statements made by the Azerbaijani side,which attempt at unilaterally changing the legal regime of the LachinCorridor defined by point 6 of the trilateral statement and reaffirmthat the route passing through the Lachin Corridor can be changed onlyaccording to a plan approved by the parties that signed thestatement,” the Foreign Ministry stated.“As the statement of November 9 clearly notes, with the agreement ofthe parties (i.e. the Russian Federation, the Republic of Armenia andthe Republic of Azerbaijan), the plan for the construction of a newtraffic route through the Lachin Corridor connecting Armenia withNagorno-Karabakh will be decided within the next three years, with thesubsequent redeployment of Russian peacekeeping troops to protect thatroute,” the Foreign Ministry noted.It emphasized that to date there is no such plan approved in atripartite format, and called on all parties to the trilateralstatement to adhere to their commitments, to make immediate efforts toimplement the conditions established by the statement of November 9,including respect for the ceasefire regime, opening of regionalcommunications, release of prisoners of war and other detainedpersons.“The Republic of Armenia has fulfilled all its obligations. The reasonfor non-implementation of a number of points of the tripartitestatement of November 9 is Azerbaijan’s arbitrary interpretations,continued aggressive rhetoric and actions,” the Ministry stated.“The Republic of Armenia, once again reaffirming its commitment to theagenda of establishing peace and stability in the region, calls on theinternational community to take measures to stop the aggressiveattitude and actions of Azerbaijan and to launch the necessaryinternational mechanisms for this,” it concluded.https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://en.armradio.am/2022/08/03/route-passing-through-lachin-corridor-can-be-changed-only-according-to-a-plan-approved-by-all-parties-armenia-mfa/__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!pEoVvS_WsaKYqPfMiHUJnj4cGLgVyMOzb65_JK0UPDbw6l1xGqHn5WhCugHppM1UQgIzrEFKd4us9ZFW0Q$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 4, 2022 Report Share Posted August 4, 2022 Armenpress.com Azerbaijan's behavior nullifies any guarantee of the right to life of people living in Artsakh. Ombudsman SaveShare 19:45, 3 August 2022YEREVAN, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia Kristine Grigoryan addressed Azerbaijan's military operations in a statement, stressing that this criminal behavior of Azerbaijan is reprehensible, it directly threatens and essentially nullifies any guarantee of the right to life of people living in Artsakh, which is the most vital component of peace. “On the 1st and 2nd of August, and today, the Azerbaijani side conducted aggressive military operations in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the various directions of Artsakh, using weapons of various calibers, grenade launchers, and attack unmanned aerial vehicles. These acts grossly violate the principles of international law on the prohibition on the use of force and the threat of use of force, as well as the obligations of the Azerbaijani state under the trilateral agreement of November 9, 2020.This criminal behavior of Azerbaijan is reprehensible, it directly endangers, and in fact, nullifies any guarantee of life for people living in Artsakh, which is the most vital component of peace. The criminal acts of the Azerbaijani side must cease immediately.Regardless of the geography of the incidents and the politico-military objectives of the parties involved, this encroachment on the right to life and other fundamental rights of the civilian population must receive its true assessment.I have called upon the ambassadors of the Minsk Group Co-Chair Countries, and other international actors involved in the conflict resolution to make maximum efforts in the direction of truly guaranteeing the right to life of the peaceful population of Artsakh”, reads the statement. The tension in Nagorno-Karabakh started on August 1, when, according to the Artsakh Defense Army, Azerbaijani units resorted to provocation in a number of parts of the northern and northwestern border zone of the Artsakh Republic starting at 09:00 in the morning, trying to cross the contact line. As a result of the Azerbaijani provocation, the serviceman Albert Bakhshiyan was injured. Aggressive actions of the Azerbaijani side continued in the following days. On August 3, around 3:00 p.m., Azerbaijani units launched a new attack in the northwestern direction of the contact line, using attack drones, as a result of which two servicemen of the Artsakh Defense Army were killed, and 14 more servicemen were wounded in various degrees. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1089590.html?fbclid=IwAR37oxrKP75_-8tMPq2avwtq1cpmt8c3kRgxpW0boWnU9MBc3CMXW8NN6MY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 5, 2022 Report Share Posted August 5, 2022 1945Aug 4 2022 Secretary Blinken Increasingly Has Armenian Blood On His HandsByMichael Rubin Azerbaijan has renewed its attack on Armenians in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Azeri attack comes less than a month after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s decided to waive Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to enable American taxpayer assistance to flow to the oil-rich dictatorship. Blinken issued the waiver against the backdrop of the July 4 holiday to avoid notice. Blinken’s actions may be diplomatically convenient, but they violate Congressional intent: Section 907 permits a waiver only if Azerbaijan eschews military solutions to its conflicts, something Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev mocks. While Aliyev has agency, and it is unfair to blame Blinken for his decision to attack Armenians, Blinken should also recognize that Aliyev responds to every concession he offers with renewed violence. Blinken may not pull the trigger, but his policy has been the equivalent of putting a loaded weapon in front of a repeat offender.The Azerbaijan-Armenia dispute may seem both complicated and irrelevant to broader U.S. security interests. Neither is true. Certainly, the region has been a flashpoint for a century. Historically populated by Armenians, thousand-year-old churches, monasteries, and graveyards dot the landscape. A young Joseph Stalin, who would ride his savagery to the Soviet premiership, transferred the region, at the time 94 percent Armenian, to the newly created Republic of Azerbaijan to gerrymander non-Russian nationalities and strengthen Moscow. As an autonomous oblast, however, Nagorno-Karabakh retained the theoretical right to secede. As the Soviet Union collapsed, it activated this after a petition campaign and referendum. Azerbaijan unilaterally stripped the region’s autonomous status and war ensued. When the guns fell silent, Armenians controlled most of the territory. There followed years of cold peace and relative stability, albeit one marked by sniping and the occasional skirmish. The region’s Armenians held democratic elections and formed the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which they subsequently renamed the Republic of Artsakh.Azerbaijan never dropped its claim to Nagorno-Karabakh but, alongside Armenia, agreed through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s so-called Minsk Group to resolve the conflict peacefully. In response to Azerbaijan’s commitment to negotiate, successive U.S. Secretaries of State waived provisions of the Freedom Support Act’s Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. Ironically, the Minsk Group had largely hammered out the outlines of a deal that would trade land for peace and insert neutral—likely Scandinavian peacekeepers—when Aliyev invaded in September 2020, rightly calculating that the White House was unfocused ahead of elections. Initially, Artsakh’s military pushed Azerbaijani troops back but after Turkish Special Forces joined it, the tide of war changed. While Azerbaijan today bring think tank guests and other perceived influencers to the ancient mountaintop city of Shushi (as the Armenians call it) or Shusha (as Azeris say), the reality is that Turkish Special Forces breached it; not their junior partners.President Joe Biden entered office both promising to re-embrace diplomacy and to recognize the Armenian Genocide. While Biden fulfilled his promise, Blinken sullied it with his pandering: He waived Section 907 despite Aliyev’s ongoing incitement and promises to finish the job. Aliyev concluded he would face no consequence for his actions. He retrenched and, on Azeri television, humiliated Andrew Schofer, the American co-chair of the Minsk Group. Blinken’s subsequent silence was deafening. It is now clear: Aliyev interpreted Blinken’s most recent waiver of Section 907 as a green light for aggression. Distraction with Ukraine and Taiwan convinced Aliyev he could renew his assault. That decision caps a long history of violence toward Armenians, seemingly motivated more by racist and religious hatred than simple frustration with a diplomatic dispute. After all, there is no other explanation for Azerbaijan’s destruction of the Julfa Cemetery, a cultural crime on par with the Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas. While Armenians are culpable for neglect of some towns such as Aghdam abandoned by Azeris during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, this does not compare to the destruction of Julfa or the sandblasting or removal of Armenian inscriptions from centuries-old churches in order to promote the fiction that Armenians are alien to the area. This is akin to efforts to de-Judaize Jerusalem. While the diplomatic dispute between Palestinians and Israelis may be real, such denial should have no place in the civilized world.Blinken’s refusal to learn makes him the foreign policy equivalent of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, always trusting Lucy not to move it at the last moment. At the very least, he shows himself as the most naïve secretary since Frank Kellogg. Perhaps it is time to change tack. Artsakh, like Taiwan, has a unique history dating back centuries. Today, Artsakh’s population asks why the United States supports Taiwan against the designs of its much larger neighbor but ignores Nagorno-Karabakh. At a minimum, it is time to revoke a waiver to Section 907 for Azerbaijan. Congress might almost reconsider its interpretation of Section 907 in order to apply it to Turkey due to Ankara’s support for Azerbaijan’s military aggression.A more just solution would be to recognize Artsakh’s special status, permanently station a diplomat in its capital Stepanakert, and perhaps even consider a Kosovo solution to demonstrate to Aliyev that such aggression will always backfire.Now a 1945 Contributing Editor, Dr. Michael Rubin is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Dr. Rubin is the author, coauthor, and coeditor of several books exploring diplomacy, Iranian history, Arab culture, Kurdish studies, and Shi’ite politics, including “Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East?” (AEI Press, 2019); “Kurdistan Rising” (AEI Press, 2016); “Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes” (Encounter Books, 2014); and “Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos” (Palgrave, 2005).https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/08/secretary-blinken-increasingly-has-armenian-blood-on-his-hands/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted August 5, 2022 Report Share Posted August 5, 2022 Aug 4 2022 New clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh signal ripple effects from Ukraine The US should do everything in its power diplomatically to ensure that conflicts in Armenia-Azerbaijan and elsewhere aren’t reignited.AUGUST 4, 2022Written byAnatol LievenThe latest clash between Azeri and Armenian forces in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh highlights the acute danger that the war in Ukraine will reignite other frozen and semi-frozen conflicts in Europe.The United States and the West should do everything possible diplomatically to make sure that this does not happen. Apart from the human suffering involved, the results of new conflicts could in some cases be very unfavorable to the West.The struggle over Nagorno-Karabakh — a largely Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan — began in the late 1980s, as the Soviet Union approached dissolution. For three years it was contained by Soviet troops, but with the end of the USSR it burst into a full-scale war, which Armenia won, with considerable help from the Armenian diaspora in the West. The resulting ceasefire mostly held from 1995 to 2020, when Azerbaijan — armed by Turkey and supported by plentiful energy revenues — launched an offensive that reconquered much of the territory held by Armenia.The 2020 war was ended by a ceasefire brokered by Russia, and enforced by around 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops. Armenia itself has a defense agreement with Russia, and Moscow maintains a military presence there. This agreement however does not extend to Nagorno-Karabakh, whose independence Russia does not recognize. Armenians regard the Russian alliance as crucial to ensuring that Turkey does not intervene directly in the Karabakh conflict on the side of the Azeris, with whom the Turks share a strong ethnic affinity.Iran too has a stake in the Karabakh conflict. Tehran wants a continued Russian presence in the southern Caucasus to prevent NATO expansion to the region. It fears that Georgia and Azerbaijan might host U.S. military bases to threaten Iran, and that Azerbaijan might receive U.S. support to stir up separatism in Iranian Azerbaijan (the present Republic of Azerbaijan was part of Iran until conquered by Russia in the early 19th Century).So far, Azerbaijan has held aloof from the war in Ukraine. It has provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but abstained from the UN General Assembly vote that condemned Russia’s invasion, and has refused to participate in Western sanctions against Russia. However, with the Russian armed forces bogged down in Ukraine, an obvious temptation exists for Azerbaijan to disregard the Russian peacekeeping force and launch a new offensive with the aim of total victory in Nagorno-Karabakh. The latest clash was preceded by a series of moves by Azerbaijan to put increased pressure on Nagorno-Karabakh.This temptation also exists in Georgia. As with Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic minority territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia during the Soviet collapse, and were placed under the protection of Russian troops. A Georgian attempt to recover South Ossetia by force in 2008 resulted in crushing defeat by the Russian army. Once again, the war in Ukraine might seem to give Georgia the chance to redress this defeat and recover its lost territories.Any such plans on the part of Georgians and Azeris should be strongly discouraged by the West. The Russian armed forces have fared poorly in Ukraine, but Russia remains vastly more powerful than Georgia and Azerbaijan. A war between Russia and Azerbaijan would bring with it the risk of Turkish and Iranian intervention and a general regional conflict.In the case of Georgia, a fresh Georgian defeat at the hands of Russia would face the United States and NATO with a choice between humiliation, if they failed to intervene to help a partner, and the risk of direct war with Russia if they did intervene. In the case of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the European Union, in the person of European Council president Charles Michel, is acting as a mediator in an effort to reduce tensions and restore transport links. So far however, no progress at all appears to have been made on the central issue of Karabakh. In a very significant concession, the government of Armenia has made a gesture towards recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity; but Azerbaijan for its part has declared that Nagorno-Karabakh no longer exists as a territorial entity, which hardly suggests a willingness to compromise. Nor has the EU or any Western government suggested a willingness to send its own peacekeepers to the Caucasus to replace those of Russia.Nonetheless, the West should go on working to try to resolve these conflicts, while doing its utmost diplomatically to prevent their escalation. Condemnation of Russia’s role in the southern Caucasus is easy. Replacing that role would be extremely hard. And bad though the existing situation is, absent wisdom and restraint it could easily get much worse for everyone involved. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/08/04/new-clashes-over-nagorno-karabakh-signal-ripple-effects-from-ukraine/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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