Statue of a Dictator (Aliyev Clan)

[Yervant1]

July 5 2023

Why Azerbaijan May Find Itself a Victim of Its Own Success

Plentiful resources contribute to long-term success if channeled to the development of institutions, but Azerbaijan, like many other autocracies, is instead using them to burnish its image abroad and cement the status quo.

Kirill
Krivosheev

Since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, news out of Azerbaijan has been an unending series of announcements about achievements and victories. It remains to be seen, however, whether the current success is sustainable.

Baku’s biggest triumph in recent years has undoubtedly been almost complete resolving the complicated and long-running territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh in its favor. Following Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 war, those forcibly evicted by Armenians three decades ago have begun to return home, though so far, only a few hundred of the 700,000 people who originally fled the disputed territory and Armenia have returned. The main thing for Baku, however, is that the process is finally under way after decades of waiting.

Azerbaijan’s other foreign policy successes only add to the sense of optimism. The country looks set to make big profits on the European energy market, which is desperate for oil and gas after Russian supplies nearly ended amid the war in Ukraine.

The extraction and export of natural gas is growing, and there are ongoing negotiations about the construction of new branches of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) that link Caspian gas fields to Italy. Several Balkan countries that the pipelines pass through are ready to switch from Russian to Azerbaijani gas. EU leaders have called Baku a “reliable” partner that is making a significant contribution toward “security of supply.”

All this is happening without any significant concessions by Baku to the West. On the contrary: Azerbaijan is conducting itself rather crudely, not hiding its ire at the Western leaders who sympathize with Armenians, like French President Emmanuel Macron.

Gone are the days when Baku attempted to be liked in the West by financing the restoration of sites including the Sistine Chapel, thousand-year-old churches in France, and the catacombs in Rome. After victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Baku halted such overtures, disappointed that European society mostly remained supportive of Armenia.

Nor has Baku been shy about criticizing Moscow. There has been a flurry of official diplomatic protests: over statements by State Duma deputies, comments made on talk shows, and the reasons for disagreements with Russian peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Baku’s assertiveness is even visible when it comes to extremely sensitive issues for Russia. Most telling of all was Aliyev’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 1: the leaders of Belarus, Armenia, and the Central Asian nations could not possibly allow themselves to meet with Putin’s antagonist.

Still, it’s not all plain sailing. Azerbaijan is still using the coronavirus pandemic to justify its closed land borders, which make it impossible to enter the country from Russia, Georgia, or Iran. The two exceptions are the tiny land border between Turkey and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, and the post in Lachin corridor linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, which remain open.

It is hard to find any medical explanation for this policy so long after the pandemic. It is more plausible that the domestic situation in Azerbaijan is not that stellar, and the authorities fear that excessive contacts with the neighbors may ignite serious trouble.

Both Azerbaijan and Iran adhere to the Shia branch of Islam, but the two countries’ relations are increasingly strained due to Baku’s growing apprehension about importing religious radicalism.

In the case of Russia, the Azerbaijani authorities would rather avoid the influx of Russians fleeing mobilization or political repression. In Armenia and Georgia, it made prices skyrocket, while Azerbaijan is already struggling with inflation—food prices rose by nearly 20 percent last year—so there is likely an aversion to taking on any extra economic risks.

Another danger the regime faces is that the successful return of territory in Nagorno-Karabakh is fueling rising domestic expectations. For many years, revanchism was at the cornerstone of the ideology of the Aliyev regime. What happens if successful revanchism does not yield what many hoped it would?

Above all, this concerns the repopulation of Nagorno-Karabakh, a project that has few parallels in modern history. It’s crucial for Baku that there should be no discontent among the returnees. But given the Azerbaijani system, that is unlikely—when the most fertile land ends up in the hands of those with the best connections, for example. While Azerbaijanis are still euphoric over their military success, in a few years it may be important to them that villages in Nagorno-Karabakh are not Potemkin villages.

There are other risks, too. While Azerbaijan has boosted its international standing by increasing gas deliveries to Europe, this is no panacea. The experience of other post-Soviet states suggests that without social justice and political accountability, even petrodollars, foreign investment, and military victory are not enough to guarantee stability. Widespread disappointment could easily explode into protests if it is fueled by anger over growing corruption and widening inequality.

The Azerbaijani regime is lucky to have reached this stage of its development at a comparatively favorable moment in time. It is not threatened by the senility of an eternal leader (Aliyev is only sixty-one years old) or external pressure. Europe is more dependent than ever on new gas supplies, and that means Western politicians will not pay too much attention to the fate of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

On the other hand, this sort of halcyon era has already been experienced by other post-Soviet countries—for example, Russia and Belarus—and it ended without achieving sustainable prosperity. Plentiful resources contribute to long-term success if channeled to the development of institutions, but Azerbaijan, like other autocracies, is instead using them to burnish its image abroad and cement the status quo.

Inevitably, such a system is vulnerable. A good example is Kazakhstan, which also appeared to be enjoying a rare run of success until it was convulsed by unrest in January 2022. If Azerbaijan likewise experiences such social discontent, the situation would be exacerbated by the large number of men with military experience, the proximity of unfriendly Iran, and widening inequality typical for many resource-rich autocracies. The consequences could be dire.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/90126

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Armenophobia highly prevalent in Azerbaijani public narrative, warns Ombudsperson

11:22, 6 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. The public narrative in Azerbaijan is full of Armenophobia, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Anahit Manasyan warned Thursday.

She cited a recent report by her office quoting and describing the speeches by the Azeri government officials, including the president, lawmakers and others.

Given the status of those who make the anti-Armenian statements it is obvious that Armenophobia is state-sponsored in Azerbaijan, Manasyan said, adding that in this condition it is impossible to find solutions guaranteeing human rights.

Manasyan made the remarks at the July 6 Armenia-Nagorno Karabakh telebridge press conference.

She said that the Ombudsperson’s reports are regularly provided to international partners.

The Armenian Ombudsperson’s office is conducting daily monitoring of the Azerbaijani press regarding the policy of Armenophobia in Azerbaijan.

The reports also include human rights violation committed as a result of the illegal Azeri military deployment inside Armenian territory. The aim of the Azeri policy of Armenophobia is to commit ethnic cleansing in a specific region and specific settlements.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1114802.html?fbclid=IwAR26W0rmGgEpmljcX_8Z5ZsQ0SyvbSLGiqg-ZdaLu0v3l7fJToJ2D4WYKI0

[Yervant1]

How many times do you have to call, ask, demand. It's obvious fake sultan (aliyev) is not listening to you!!!!!!! Lots of barking with no bite or it might be we talk and you don't pay attention.

 

Armenpress.am

Russia calls on Azerbaijan to unblock Lachin Corridor

15:21, 6 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Russia has expressed extreme concern over the frequent ceasefire violations in Nagorno Karabakh and the continuing blockade of Lachin Corridor.

“According to the existing information, the humanitarian situation in the region is deteriorating. Regrettably we have to note that due to the suspension of supplies the population of Karabakh could be left without food, other essential products and reserves of medication,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing. She said that this contradicts the trilateral agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

She also called on Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor.

“We call on Baku and Yerevan to resolve all issues exclusively through political-diplomatic means, we call on the Azerbaijani side to unblock the Lachin Corridor and ensure unimpeded passage of persons, vehicles and goods for civilian purposes,” Zakharova said.

Zakharova said the actions of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh would depend on the development of the situation on the ground and the trilateral agreements.

She said that Moscow maintains contact with the sides to de-escalate the tension in the region.

“These contacts continue on the political level, as well as in terms of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. And of course, a lot depends on the parties themselves, their political will and readiness to meet each other halfway. We are making all necessary efforts from our side,” Zakharova said.

Zakharova added that the Russian Foreign Minister’s Special Envoy for supporting normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Igor Khovaev, could pay a visit to the region soon.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1114829.html?fbclid=IwAR1kvg6PV4zl2T0Gixm7sNt8InMoxcqfK9y_ZDPpesa-CtjsBPb45Mt5ON8

 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azeri kangaroo court sentences kidnapped Armenian soldiers to over 11 years imprisonment on fabricated charges

12:04, 7 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. The two Armenian soldiers who were kidnapped by Azerbaijani forces on May 26 in an Azeri cross-border incursion into sovereign territory of Armenia were sentenced on Friday to more than 11 years in prison in a sham trial in Azerbaijan.

Local media reported that the Azeri court sentenced the two Armenian soldiers to 11 years and 6 months imprisonment on fabricated charges of illegal border crossing and conspiracy to commit crimes.

The two servicemen were ambushed and kidnapped by Azerbaijani forces after delivering water and food to an Armenian army unit on the border.

On May 27, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said Azerbaijan was attempting to deviate from its own obligations with the illegal kidnapping of the troops. It called on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian POWs.

On May 29, Armenia requested the ECHR to indicate interim measures in the case of the two kidnapped soldiers.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1114893.html?fbclid=IwAR3WJS3OH2CapJeL42kS1Skbok7skRuIfT9dO4hTuQhwBot17abgxMxt1GM

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

The criminal prosecution of kidnapped Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan is a gross violation of international law. HRD

17:48, 8 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. Armenian human rights defender Anahit Manasyan issued a statement regarding the condemnation of two Armenian servicemen captured from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia by the armed forces of Azerbaijan. "Armenpress" presents the statement of the human rights defender of RA.

"The court on grave crimes in Azerbaijan has convicted two Armenian servicemen who were ambushed and captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the sovereign territory of Armenia. They have been found guilty of allegedly violating various articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan and have been sentenced to 11 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

According to the information received from the parents and relatives of the two servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces, Mr. Karen Ashot Ghazaryan (conscript) and Harutyun Yurik Hovakimyan (contract serviceman) were captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces on May 26, 2023, in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

According to the information registered by the Human Rights Defender's Office, they were transferring nutrition and water supplies to the combat positions of the Armenian Armed Forces and were captured by the Azerbaijani side in the middle of the combat positions located between the Chakaten and Shikahogh villages of the Republic of Armenia.

The Human Rights Defender, Ms. Anahit Manasyan, emphasizes that the information registered by the Human Rights Defender's Office shows that the actions of the Azerbaijani authorities in capturing Armenian servicemen from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, then charging them with false charges and subjecting to an unfair trial constitute a gross violation of international law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. These actions are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the requirements of international humanitarian law, including the Third Geneva Convention.

The Human Rights Defender specifically highlights that Armenian servicemen illegally kept in Azerbaijan should have the status of Prisoners of War, and their detention, criminal prosecution, and proceedings are gross violations of international humanitarian law.

These servicemen were taken captive in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia during an incessant armed conflict. International humanitarian law is warranted in such situations, regardless of the reasons or intensity of the confrontation.

Moreover, the policy of Armenophobia propagated by the Azerbaijani authorities further confirms the unlawfulness of the criminal proceedings. It is evident that the fundamental rights of the Armenian prisoners of war are endangered in these circumstances.

The Human Rights Defender highlights that the Armenian captives still held in Azerbaijan are exposed to a constant risk of torture, degrading and inhuman treatment, as evidenced by the information registered by the Human Rights Defender's Office.

The Office of the Human Rights Defender is currently summarizing and studying the above-mentioned information and will present it to relevant international organizations, other stakeholders, and competent state bodies".

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1114999.html?fbclid=IwAR3WjTXgrTXzOtm8Jy0M49yxtw6ui_4X17FZZJDHiVIqSOvOxv-x6Rp9ya8

[Yervant1]

IRAN FRONT PAGE

July 10 2023

Azerbaijan cuts off gas delivery to Nagorno-Karabakh

ByIFP Media Wire

July 10, 2023

Azerbaijan Republic has once again cut off gas supply via a pipeline running from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh a day after gas pumping to the Armenian-populated Azeri region was resumed after a six-month break, the Armepress agency reported, citing local sources.

According to the agency, the gas pipeline began to lose pressure on July 9 and finally it dropped to zero. According to Artskhgaz, “a certain volume of fuel” was stored over the several hours of the pipeline’s operation but it was nearly exhausted by the ends of the day. Following the gas pipeline’s shutdown, gas stations will soon stop operating.

Azerbaijan has been blocking the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with a primarily Armenian population since December 2022.

Gas and power supply have been periodically cut since January. Azerbaijan completely cut gas supply to the region in March, driving the region’s population of 120,000 to the edge of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have problems with access to the region.

https://ifpnews.com/azerbaijan-cuts-off-gas-delivery-nagorno-karabakh/

[Yervant1]

Asbarez.com

Would International Community Force Jews to Live Under Hitler’s Regime?

by Asbarez Staff

July 10, 2023

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

Azerbaijan's illegal checkpoint at Lachin Corridor

A group of prominent civic organizations in Artsakh equated the international community’s insistence that Artsakh be part of Azerbaijan and be under Baku’s rule to suggesting that Jews live under Adolf Hitler’s regime.

In an open letter to the international community, publicized Monday by Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan, the civic organizations asked the international actors interested in a peace whether they would make the same proposal, equating Azerbaijan to a Nazi state.

“When there are calls from various international platforms for a peaceful resolution to the conflict by including Artsakh in Azerbaijan, we suggest that they recall the history of the Second World War and trying to imagine: would it be possible to ask Jews to live under Hitler’s Nazi government?” the open letter emphasized.

“Modern-day Azerbaijan is also a Nazi state in relation to the Armenians, and it is not difficult to prove. One only has to objectively look at the one-sided Azerbaijan propaganda being consumed [by its population],” added the statement.

The groups delineate the history of Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh beginning on December 12, 2022 and the further tightening of that blockade beginning with the installation of an illegal checkpoint and later by completely closing the Lachin Corridor to all traffic last month.

“These actions by Azerbaijan should not be considered as separate acts of aggression, but as a part of its consistent and systematic policy of ethnic cleansing against Artsakh and its indigenous Armenian population,” said the civic organization, pointing out that on June 28, Azerbaijani forces against attacked Artsakh positions, killing four Artsakh soldiers.

The statement also highlights the various rulings and resolutions adopted during the past six months, specifically those by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the United Nations, and especially the International Court of Justice, which ordered Azerbaijan to ensure the “unimpeded movement” along the Lachin Corridor. The ICJ reaffirmed this ruling last week.

“As if mocking the authority of thee organizations, Azerbaijan stubbornly continues to conduct the policy of genocide against the people of Artsakh, demonstrating its criminal will and thereby opposing the civilized world. Furthermore, the President of Azerbaijan overtly allows himself to threaten representatives of the international community who do not share his approach to resolving the Artsakh issue, while believing that international law is entirely on the side of Azerbaijan,” the statement emphasized.

“Official Baku has been rejecting the demand to provide guarantees for the security of the people of Artsakh and is constantly insisting that this is a domestic concern of Azerbaijan, which it intends to solve at its discretion, against the backdrop of blatant Armenophobia, which has become part of the state policy of the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan and completely permeates the Azerbaijani society. As there is plenty of evidence, it is not difficult to imagine what this ‘solution’ might be if the people of Artsakh suddenly find themselves under the rule of Baku,” explained the statement.

“We would like to emphasize that the only reliable guarantee of our rights and security is the recognition of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh, which is based on the rights of the people to self-determination, enshrined in international law, and the free will of the people of Artsakh,” the civic organizations said.

“Artsakh is not a ‘territory’ inherited through force, but rather it is our Homeland, where we have a complete and inalienable right to live safely,” the civic groups emphasized.

https://asbarez.com/would-international-community-force-jews-to-live-under-hitlers-regime/?fbclid=IwAR2zLry2iMNWG7pkqw-RyhBFD2HH4Wx51gWBdXgPXeH0JHeXr8xW4EEZPrg

[Yervant1]

Qatar - July 11 2023

Azerbaijan accuses Red Cross of smuggling, shuts road to Karabakh

Azerbaijan says the passage through Lachin checkpoint is temporarily closed due to a probe into smuggling by the Red Cross.

Azerbaijan has temporarily shut the only road linking its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia, accusing the Armenian branch of the Red Cross of smuggling.

The Armenian-populated region has been at the centre of a decades-long territorial dispute between the Caucasus arch-foes, which have fought several wars over the mountainous territory.

“The passage through Lachin checkpoint of the state border is temporarily suspended” pending an investigation into the Red Cross using its medical vehicles for “smuggling”, Azerbaijan’s state border service said on Tuesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that it “is aware of concerns raised about the transport of unauthorised goods across the Lachin Corridor and does not support any such activity”.

“No unauthorized material has been found in any vehicle belonging to ICRC. All cargo is subject to customs checks by the Republic of Azerbaijan,” it added.

“However, we regret that without our knowledge four hired drivers tried to transport some commercial goods in their own vehicles which were temporarily displaying the ICRC emblem. These individuals were not ICRC staff members and their service contracts were immediately terminated by the ICRC.”

Azerbaijan in April set up the border point at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, exacerbating allegations from Armenia of a Karabakh “blockade”.

The Armenian branch of the Red Cross said in late June that Azerbaijan was blocking access to Karabakh, as concern grew over the humanitarian situation in the restive region.

Azerbaijan’s state border service said several days later that traffic through the Lachin corridor – policed by Russian peacekeepers – resumed on June 26.

The latest developments followed a months-long blockade by Azerbaijani environmental activists, which Yerevan claims spurred a humanitarian crisis, and food and fuel shortages.

Azerbaijan insisted at the time that civilian transport could go unimpeded through the Lachin corridor.

In February, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s top judicial body – ordered Azerbaijan to ensure free movement on the road.

Decades of conflict

The two former Soviet republics have fought two wars for control of Karabakh, in the 1990s and again in 2020.

Six weeks of fighting ended on November 9, 2020 with a Russian-sponsored ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swaths of territory it had controlled for decades.

There have been frequent clashes at the two countries’ shared border despite continuing peace talks between Baku and Yerevan under mediation from the European Union and United States.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ethnic Armenian separatists in Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan. The ensuing conflict killed about 30,000 people.

SOURCE: AFP

HTTPS://WWW.ALJAZEERA.COM/NEWS/2023/7/11/AZERBAIJAN-ACCUSES-RED-CROSS-OF-SMUGGLING-SHUTS-ROAD-TO-KARABAKH

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Ambassador of Azerbaijan to EU receives a warning for threats against MEPs who visited Armenia

14:34, 11 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS. The offices of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, condemned and described as unacceptable the behavior of the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the EU, Vagif Sadikov, who threatened the members of the European Parliament, who had visited Armenia to familiarize with the situation on the border with Azerbaijan. Vagif Sadikov was summoned to the European Service of External Relations for the threatening post made on Twitter against the MEPs.

Let's remind that Sadikov made a post on "Twitter" regarding the visit of the delegation of the European Parliament to Armenia, threatening the MEPs. He posted an image and description of an Azerbaijani-made sniper rifle with the following caption: "They know what to do protect themselves. The "Istiglal IST-14.5" sniper rifle produced in Azerbaijan has an effective fire range of about 3000 meters. Stay away from the state border of Azerbaijan..."

The topic was covered by the OC Media news platform, quoting the reactions of the EU spokesperson and the head of the delegation visiting Armenia, MEP Nathalie Loiseau, to Sadikov's post. The spokesperson of the European Union emphasized that they condemn such behavior, which is not appropriate for an ambassador accredited to the EU.

The threatening post of the Azerbaijani ambassador was also addressed by Euobserver, which spoke with Nathalie Loiseau.

Loiseau said that she has sent letters to the President of the European Parliament and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. The spokesperson of the President of the European Parliament replied that any threat to the members of the European Parliament is unacceptable. "We are examining this issue," Metsola’s spokesperson said.

Josep Borel's office noted that the European External Action Service has summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador in connection with the post and told him clearly that they expect this to be the last time when Azerbaijani diplomacy will show such disrespect towards EU institutions and their representatives.

Nathalie Loiseau added that the threatening and insulting note of the Azerbaijani ambassador to the EU is not the only one addressed to the MEPS who visited Armenia, clarifying that other Azerbaijani officials also called them corrupt. Loiseau emphasized that the President of Azerbaijan also uses such rhetoric.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115171.html?fbclid=IwAR0IPbS87uno2H0IcD86y73b1h6Cp18HfTEjCHwR2pVqSv8qwXkzalo7bQE

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Under the false pretext of smuggling, Azerbaijan is trying to subordinate the office of ICRC in NK to Baku’s ICRC office

16:22, 11 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 11, ARMENPRESS. Recently, the Azerbaijani state propaganda machine has been actively circulating the illegal demand to withdraw the ICRC office from Artsakh or to subordinate it to the ICRC office in Baku, constantly looking for an opportunity to justify and implement it, ARMENPRESS reports, the Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh issued a statement, emphasizing that "under the false pretext of smuggling, the July 11 step of Azerbaijan is part of the chain of actions aimed at the implementation of that vile policy."

“This morning, at the illegally installed checkpoint over the Hakari Bridge in the Lachin corridor, the Azerbaijani side again blocked the entry of the vehicles transporting patients and their accompanying people to Artsakh, as well as the already limited amount of medicines transported from Armenia to Artsakh by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This time Azerbaijan used the false pretext of "smuggling”.

Cars belonging to the ICRC are hardly being searched in any part of the world as thoroughly as they are done at the illegally installed checkpoint of Azerbaijan, which aims to deliberately obstruct the mission of the only international humanitarian organisation in Artsakh.

Azerbaijan clearly ignores the special status of the ICRC defined by international law, which envisages the inviolability of ICRC personnel, vehicles and cargo.

This is not the first case when Azerbaijan deliberately creates obstacles for the activities of the ICRC in Artsakh. Thus, earlier, the Azerbaijani side demanded to check the passports and vehicles of the ICRC drivers, as well as of the transported patients at the illegally installed site. Since June 15, due to the obstacles that had arisen, the bilateral transportation of patients and their accompanying persons to Artsakh by the ICRC was completely suspended for 10 days in a row.

By undermining the activities of the ICRC, the Azerbaijani side once again proves that humanitarian issues and the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh are used as a leverage to put pressure on the peaceful population of Artsakh and create unbearable living conditions for them.

Recently, the Azerbaijani state propaganda machine has been actively promoting the illegal demand to either suspend the ICRC Office in Nagorno-Karabakh or subordinate it to the ICRC office in Baku, constantly looking for a reason to justify and implement its goal. And today’s incident is part of the chain of actions aimed at implementing this vile policy of Azerbaijan”, reads the statement.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115185.html?fbclid=IwAR0c48QQjWuqv5QPTZeBpLu2H1C58L0IdZxopvBzgPw0AwSJLDP3C0Y0io8

[MosJan]

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

The humanitarian crisis in NK continues to worsen as a result of Azerbaijan blocking the Lachin Corridor – MFA Armenia

13:41, 12 July 2023

YEREVAN, 12 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia released a statement on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been under blockade for 7 months, ARMENPRESS presents below the statement issued by the MFA Armenia.

“It has already been 7 months since the Azerbaijani authorities have illegally blocked the Lachin corridor, the lifeline linking Nagorno-Karabakh with the outer world.

All the actions undertaken by Azerbaijan around the Lachin corridor during these months, from demonstrations of fake eco-activists to the installation of an illegal checkpoint in the corridor and the well-known “punitive” blockade of movement, come to prove that these steps are clearly preplanned and aimed at creating conditions incompatible with life for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and subjecting them to ethnic cleansing.

These actions of Azerbaijan not only directly contravene the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, but also clearly disregard the calls of the civilized community to lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor, the resolutions adopted by various parliaments and the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6. We would like to reiterate that in its latest Order of July 6, the Court stated that Azerbaijan’s assertions of its compliance with the Court’s Order of 22 February to ensure the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions along the Lachin corridor, have nothing to do with reality.

During these months, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blockade of the Lachin corridor has continued to deteriorate. It is further exacerbated by months-long disruption of the gas and electricity supply by Azerbaijan.

Since June 15, the supply of food to Nagorno-Karabakh has been completely halted. Prior to this, during the unimpeded operation of the Lachin corridor, Nagorno-Karabakh was receiving approximately 400 tons of cargo, whereas, after December 12, the amount of food transported through the Russian peacekeeping contingent decreased by tenfold. Currently, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh faces a real threat of starvation, as the supply of all types of goods has been completely prohibited. The information circulated in Azerbaijani media yesterday about an attempted transportation of tobacco and mobile phone batteries, on the one hand, demonstrates a desperate situation of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh that undermines their dignity and, on the other hand, once again highlights the impossibility of unhindered movement of cargo.

The same situation has developed in the healthcare sector. There is a clear shortage of medicine required for proper medical care. Consequently, several vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, cancer and diabetes patients and children face serious health problems. There has already been an increase in mortality rates in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Only a few people were able to reach Armenia through the ICRC to receive urgent medical care. They and their accompanying persons were subjected to humiliating procedures and degrading treatment, having been filmed and subsequently exploited by the Azerbaijani propaganda machine as a tool to falsely depict an unhindered movement of people through the Lachin corridor.

It is unfortunate that during these months, the international community and international humanitarian organizations have been unable to gain humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh to conduct a proper fact-finding mission and provide humanitarian aid.

Under such circumstances, Armenia expects that the international community will use all available tools to ensure the implementation of the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6, 2023 on the opening of the Lachin corridor. This is crucial to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh and stop the policy of ethnic cleansing. The civilized world cannot and should not tolerate such actions and disdain of the legally binding Orders of the International Court of Justice.”

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115246.html?fbclid=IwAR27ptdESrF1jSt2pCYnWSx9x28y2oWFFYOyfiYQXAkHKOebr1U7UdcaOQ0

[Yervant1]

July 13 2023

Azerbaijan’s Illegal Blockade Causes 30,000 Armenian Children Mental Anguish, Starvation, Trauma

By Uzay Bulut on July 13, 2023

read

8 min

Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, have blockaded Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh), an Armenian republic in the South Caucasus, since December 12, 2022, in an attempt to force the Armenians to flee their native lands and take over the region. Currently, food supplies are completely cut off from transportation into Artsakh, and there is no fuel or gas. The Azeri military attacks on farmers are ongoing. And the 7-month siege of Artsakh Republic is killing children.

Artsakh has for millennia been an integral part of historic Armenia and has never been a part of independent Azerbaijan. Dating back to the 9-6th century BC, the region was governed by various Armenian kingdoms, and in the 17th Century, it was annexed by the Russian Empire. In 1921, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin arbitrarily carved out Artsakh and placed it under the administration of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic as an autonomous oblast. Artsakh, however, remained demographically Armenian and preserved its autonomous status despite widespread oppression and discrimination at the hands of Soviet Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, Artsakh declared independence as a republic from the Soviet Union – an act which further increased Azerbaijan’s persecution of Artsakh. And this persecution that aims to ethnically cleanse Armenians has reached its culmination in recent years.

On July 8, in Aghabekalanj village in Artsakh’s Martakert region, three-year-old Leo and six-year-old Gita died of heat and exhaustion in an abandoned car after going to look for their mom, who had gone on foot to search for something to feed them.

Artsakh officials have been warning that supplies of basic goods are dwindling after Azerbaijan closed the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor to humanitarian shipments on June 15. Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade has since reached a critical point.

During the initial months of the blockade, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Russian peacekeeping forces were able to deliver humanitarian cargo, including food and medicine, from Armenia to Artsakh.

In recent months, however, Azerbaijan has been taking additional illegal steps to double down on the blockade and finalize its genocide against Armenians. On April 23, Azerbaijan illegally established a military checkpoint on the Berdzor Corridor on the Hakari River Bridge.

On July 11, Azerbaijan announced that it would deny the ICRC access to Artsakh through the Corridor after claiming they were used to “smuggle” mobile phones, cigarettes, and fuel into the region.

This decision makes the illegal blockade absolute as the Berdzor corridor is the only path Armenians in the Artsakh region have with the outside world. This means that if somebody gets sick in Artsakh and needs to be transported out, they will die.

Artak Beglaryan, an advisor to State Minister of Artsakh, reported on July 11:

“Azerbaijan just announced that again forbids the movement of the ICRC through Lachin Corridor to transfer patients and medications. The new pretext is alleged transfers of some small number of non-medical products by ICRC drivers. Now Artsakh is under full siege with 0 [zero] movement.”

The ICRC issued the following statement about the Azeri allegations:

“Our work along the Lachin corridor is always strictly humanitarian. This essential work, which has allowed more than 600 patients to be evacuated for medical care and for medical supplies, food, baby formula and other essentials to reach healthcare facilities and families, must be allowed to continue. This work is always done with the agreement of the sides and makes a difference to the lives of thousands of people.”

Azerbaijan is creating a humanitarian crisis in Artsakh through a state-sponsored campaign to eliminate the region’s indigenous Armenian population who does not want to be persecuted by Azerbaijan and requests its right to self-determination. The greatest victims of this ongoing siege are 30,000 children, who live in Artsakh.

Dr. Anzhela Mnatsakanyan, a lecturer at the Chair of Political Science of Yerevan State University, and a researcher at the Edinburgh Peace Institute, told Providence:

“Even though we might think that the children are too small to understand what is going on, the reality is different. Children see their parents stressed; there is little food, and some can’t attend school and kindergartens. I can give an example of my friend trying to explain to her five-year-old granddaughter that she can’t take a bath as there was no hot water back in March. Her granddaughter answered, ‘But you used to have heating.’ Try explaining to a five-year-old that she cannot have ice cream as usual because there is no cream in the whole republic. My other friend hasn’t seen her nephew since December, and they were quite close; it is hard for her to explain to him why she is not visiting and missed his birthday.

“Another friend shared a video of her child playing with her friends. During the play, she said to her friends, ‘You look pale; you need to eat fruit,’ and then complained that there was no fruit in their home as well.

“Let’s remember how scared the children from Artsakh who went to Armenia to participate in the Junior Eurovision Contest were, and then they couldn’t come back home due to the siege. When they eventually had a chance to return, they were physically attacked by Azeri eco-activists and some even lost consciousness.

“A few days ago, a tragedy happened. Two children died because there was no food and fuel, so their mother went to another city on foot to find food. Please remember this is happening in 2023…

“This ongoing nightmare is not only affecting children’s mental and physical health, but is also killing children, even those who were not born yet; I know women who miscarried their children because of stress and the lack of vitamins.”

On his Twitter account, Arman Tatoyan, the former Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, listed additional facts regarding the Azeri ethnic cleansing in Artsakh.

Tatoyan noted that since January 9 there has been no electricity in Artsakh. Since March 21, no gas and no humanitarian aid (including food) since June 15. There has only been limited medications through the ICRC since June 25. Tatoyan added that Azeri-sponsored hatred and the total blockade of Artsakh with 120,000 Armenians is ongoing.

Narine Karapetian, a mother living in Artsakh, told Providence:

“Fuel shortages and limited transportation make it impossible for children to attend sports and art classes that are far from home. Unfortunately, it has become commonplace for children to be constantly exposed to life-threatening situations. Even when they hear a loud clap of thunder, they stare at us with a puzzled look, expecting us to say, ‘We have to go down to the basement.’

“Children genuinely find happiness when there is light in the house. They often wonder why their peers can travel outside of Artsakh and have new life experiences, especially during the summer, while they cannot.”

Lilit Hovakimyan, a teacher in Artsakh, told Providence:

“From a teacher’s perspective, it is incredibly challenging to educate children in Artsakh about basic human rights and fundamental freedoms when the international community seems to turn a blind eye to the violations happening in their region. As educators, we strive to instill in our students a sense of justice, equality, and the importance of standing up for their rights. However, the ongoing blockade of Artsakh creates an environment of frustration and helplessness.”

Siranush Sargsyan, a journalist based in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh, shared with Providence:

“The blockade imposed by Azerbaijan affects everyone in Artsakh, but perhaps children suffer the most. I experienced my childhood during the first Artsakh war [1988-1994] and its consequences have always followed me throughout life. I don’t know if it’s harder for children who are newly born, whose rights are already violated, or for children who already understand what is happening. For small kids, their mothers struggle to find diapers, formula, and other necessities. For kids who understand, they will remember all these hardships throughout their whole lives. Even their games are impacted by the blockade.

“I remember a friend’s child playing with toy cars. He lined them up and just watched. When his mother asked why he wasn’t playing, he answered that he was playing – he was waiting with his car in line to get fuel. Some children don’t understand why they can’t eat what they want or why Santa didn’t bring them gifts or why they can’t celebrate their birthdays. Another cruel fact is that children living near the border are under the constant threat of fire; they can hear gunfire from Azerbaijani positions every day and live in fear.

“The sad part of all this is that even if the problems are solved tomorrow, which I find hard to believe, these children will always remember these hardships.”

Mariam Gasparyan, a psychologist living in Artsakh, agrees with Sargsyan’s observations:

“Firstly, children feel the situation as much as the parents, since the safety for the children depends on the safety of the parent. The reaction of parents develops the reaction of the child to the situation. Kids are facing very directly the situation – skipping school due to the blockade and being deprived of their favorite foods. If the parents can’t manage their reactions correctly, then the kids do not react well. But we are in a situation that is out of our control. If the parent has certain needs and she/ he does not know how to meet them, then they cannot help their child feel secure. The longer the blockade lasts, the more one must passively adapt to it, but at the same time the adaptation mechanisms start to weaken.

“Today, the play of the children has changed. In their activities, they are more often imitating blocked roads, the absence of some food and the guards driving nearer. On one hand it is good that the kids are expressing their feelings through games, but on the other hand the situation is so tense and serious that the kids lose carelessness, and they start to combat the situation together with each other, but the levels of perception are very different. As opposed to an adult, when the kids hear that they [Azeris] will come and kill us, they perceive it directly while adults can analyze and think of other options. This brings panic attacks to children who perceive what they hear directly.

“The child’s feelings are exacerbated and when the situation is stressed, and their fathers go to the frontline, they have increased anxiety, concerns that they will never see their fathers again, they may have frustration and psychosomatic symptoms. When the parents take the child to the psychologist since they cannot do anything about the symptoms. And it is not happening once or twice, but it is constant, resulting in apathy or some elements of disorder, which needs therapeutic treatment. Especially when the kid loses a parent in recent events, their roles change. The child assumes the role of an adult and not of someone playing soccer in the yard, so they understand what they are losing. Childlike things are no longer in the focus of their life.

“The kids need to regain their carelessness, with no feelings of danger, they should be able to believe once again that their parents will be able to protect them.”

Meanwhile, 28 non-governmental organizations from Artsakh published an open letter to the international community on July 10. They said, in part:

“Artsakh is not a ‘territory’ inherited by someone by the right of the strong, but our Homeland, where we have a full and inalienable right to a safe life. Artsakh is not just a handful of 120,000 people, not counting about 30,000 forcibly displaced Artsakh residents, who were expelled from their homes as a result of Azerbaijan’s military aggression in 2020…

“We suggest recalling the history of the Second World War and trying to imagine: would it have been possible to call on Jews to live under Hitler’s Nazi government? Modern Azerbaijan is also a Nazi state in relation to the Armenians, and it is not difficult to make sure of that – in case of an objective look at this issue without unilateral consumption of the Azerbaijani propaganda. Having survived the horrors of the three wars unleashed by Azerbaijan, pogroms, exile, psychological terror, human and material losses, continuing to live with the looming existential threat, the people of Artsakh are demanding to use all existing international mechanisms to prevent ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out by Azerbaijan. In view of the current situation, we demand the presence of representatives of all relevant international organizations in Artsakh.”

Will the world hear this call? Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade on Artsakh has remained ongoing for the past 7 months. Will the US administration finally take a moral step at this historic time and end the second Armenian genocide in Artsakh?

https://providencemag.com/2023/07/azerbaijans-illegal-blockade-causes-30000-armenian-children-mental-anguish-starvation-trauma/

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Hundreds of European NGOs demand their leaders to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan

14:36, 15 July 2023

YEREVAN, 15 JULY, ARMENPRESS․ More than 470 European NGOs and associations have sent a letter to the leaders of the European Union, urging them to take immediate and effective steps to end the ongoing illegal blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan.

ARMENPRESS reports, the letter is addressed to the Presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament, and EU High Representative, as well as the heads of the member states of the European Union and the Council of Europe.

“We, the civil society organizations and associations from Europe, are addressing to you our deepest concerns regarding the native Armenian population of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh):

Since 12 December 2022 the native Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh - 120.000 people, including 30.000 children, have been facing existential threat by Azerbaijan, in total violation of international law, Geneva Convention and despite the ongoing negotiations. The November 2020 ceasefire statement, also signed by Azerbaijan after its devastating attack on Artsakh that left 6.000 dead, is being regularly violated by Azerbaijan. The latter continuously carries acts of aggressions against the native Armenian population of Artsakh and violates the sovereign borders of the Republic of Armenia.

On 22 February, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations ordered Azerbaijan to immediately lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor. The goal of the blockade is obvious – the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh. In its resolution adopted in March 2023 the European Parliament calls on the EU Council to impose sanctions against Azerbaijani government officials, if the ICJ’s order of 22 February is not immediately implemented. Despite this, and the numerous voices being raised across Europe and around the world, we regretfully observe that the European Commission continues to congratulate itself on its gas partnership with a dictatorship ranked among the worst on the planet – Azerbaijan. A government that is notorious for its deep-rooted corruption at the highest level, and which hires jihadist mercenaries as a support to its army.

In the name of respect for human rights, the values that European democracies claim to stand for, in the name of the sovereign right of peoples to self-determination and as citizens contributing to the prosperity and influence of the European Union who are concerned about its future, we solemnly ask you to act without delay and

• demand once again that Azerbaijan immediately stops violating the November 9 ceasefire statement and remove the checkpoint on the Hakari-bridge installed in blatant violation of the binding order of the ICJ and international commitments, unblock the Lachin Corridor, secure the free and safe movement of people and goods to and from Artsakh;
• impose economic and political sanctions on Azerbaijan and its leaders for non-compliance with international provisions, for the occupation of part of the territory of the Republic of Armenia, for Azerbaijan’s war crimes and for the blockade vis-à-vis Artsakh;
• use all your leverage to prevent any control of Baku over Artsakh since this inevitably means the ethnic cleansing of the native Armenian population of Artsakh;
• recognize the right to self-determination of the native Armenian population of Artsakh as indispensable and use the leverage at your disposal to ensure that the status of Artsakh reflects the democratic _expression_ of will of its native Armenian population and enables sustainable peace as well as security;
• set up an air corridor in order to provide emergency economic and humanitarian aid to Artsakh and to guarantee the safety of air links from Stepanakert airport;
• put pressure on Azerbaijan to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and stop its aggressive stance towards Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia as a prerequisite for peace talks.

The native Armenian people of Artsakh demand nothing less and nothing more than the protection of their fundamental and inalienable right to live as a free people in safety and with dignity in their own homeland. We sincerely hope that their voices as well as ours will be heard!

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115522.html?fbclid=IwAR17lpOKU0YEr8ozYmdxDJ0CP0jl59ti4sUqmp5zahKs2zMVBRTQxFQ12GA

[Yervant1]

July 15 2023

Caucasus, the agony of Nagorno Karabakh held hostage by Azerbaijan for seven months

July 15, 2023

It has already been 7 months since the Azerbaijani authorities illegally blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only access to the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the South Caucasus. Since then, 120,000 people have been completely isolated, without supplies and escape routes to save themselves. Azerbaijan has also cut off supplies of water, gas and electricity. And in recent days it has also blocked the means of the International Red Cross that were trying to bring aid to civilians. Despite appeals from Europe and the United States to break the isolation of the small Armenian enclave, the Azerbaijani army continues its military offensive undisturbed, violating the ceasefire agreements signed in 2020 after the 44-day war.

Ethnic cleansing

«All the actions undertaken by Azerbaijan in recent months, from the demonstrations of fake eco-activists (including sympathizers of the Turkish terrorist formation of the Gray Wolves, ed) to the installation of an illegal checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor, are clearly planned to create impossible living conditions for the population of Nagorno Karabakh: an authentic operation of ethnic cleansing is underway» denounces the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs bluntly.
“Baku not only breaks the truce signed three years ago, but also ignores the resolutions adopted by many parliaments (including the European one, ed) and by the International Court of Justice against the closure of the Lachin Corridor”. On 6 July, the International Tribunal in The Hague once again ordered Azerbaijan to immediately reopen the crossing “because denying the right to free movement of persons, vehicles and goods plausibly constitutes racial discrimination”. This appeal has again fallen on deaf ears because Nagorno Karabakh remains completely isolated, surrounded by Azerbaijani military forces and devoid of any external connections. The Russian interposition force, which was supposed to guarantee access to and security of Karabakh on the basis of the agreements signed by Yerevan, Baku and Moscow, continues to be of no use.

«Previously, an average of 400 tons of foodstuffs passed daily from Lachin to Karabakh. Then from 7 December 2022 the illegal checkpoint placed by Azerbaijan reduced supplies to a tenth. Since June 15, supplies have been completely cut off» confirm the Armenian authorities.

Humanitarian disaster

The situation is disastrous because the food stocks in the warehouses are now reduced to a flicker, the shops are empty, the lines for rationing are long. There is also a shortage of medicines and oxygen in hospitals. Furthermore, Azerbaijan is preventing the transfer of the most seriously ill to Armenia, a fact which is causing an increase in mortality rates, especially among the weakest segments of the population.
“Before the total blockade, only a few people managed to reach Armenia to receive urgent treatment thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross,” says a government official. «The sick and their companions were subjected to humiliating control procedures and degrading treatments: they were filmed and subsequently those images were exploited by Azerbaijani propaganda to demonstrate the normal opening of the passage to Lachin. But it was just a fabrication, a falsehood, disinformation» denounces Yerevan pointing the finger at the international community and humanitarian organizations «unable to gain access to Nagorno Karabakh to conduct an adequate fact-finding mission and provide humanitarian aid».

The appeal to the UN

Armenia also appeals to the United Nations Security Council (chaired by Russia responsible for the massacres and destruction taking place in Ukraine) to “use all the tools at its disposal to ensure the implementation of the orders of the International Court of Justice, prevent the humanitarian catastrophe and stop the ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh”. Harsh, clear words, an appeal almost out of time “to the civilized world which cannot and must not tolerate such actions, just as it must not accept contempt for the legally binding orders of the Hague Tribunal”. Words that on Friday 14 July were again drowned out by the roar of Azerbaijani batteries on the peaceful villages of Nagorno Karabakh. Words then sunk into the umpteenth silence of the international community.

https://www.breakinglatest.news/world/caucasus-the-agony-of-nagorno-karabakh-held-hostage-by-azerbaijan-for-seven-months/

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

European Parliament slams Azerbaijan for ‘strong suspicions of corruption’, ‘whitewashing its human rights record'

10:48, 18 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 18, ARMENPRESS. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on July 13 on recommendations for reform of the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption.

The resolution mentions violations by various countries and organizations, including the Azerbaijani government’s actions.

“…whereas Azerbaijan has conducted large-scale influence operations, involving strong suspicions of corruption, against members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; whereas Azerbaijan has managed to avert probes into its elections and whitewash its human rights record,” reads clause T of the resolution.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115655.html?fbclid=IwAR2p59SSnQrMPaDfbdIeiT3aXM8YkeM4rNFCC8VTrTlu9gif1FA6YutuGA4

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Int'l community must either intervene or accept they are shareholder of ethnic cleansing – diplomat on Nagorno Karabakh

11:42, 19 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. On a daily basis Azerbaijan is proving that it is not even capable of ensuring the narratives it's been formulating in front of the eyes of the international community, Armenia’s Ambassador-at-Large Edmon Marukyan said in a tweet on Wednesday.

“On a daily basis Azerbaijan is proving that it is not even capable of ensuring the narratives it's been formulating in front of the eyes of the international community. For instance, Azerbaijan claimed that they want to integrate the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and that they are their citizens. The international community demanded Azerbaijan to take confidence building measures and start direct talks with the representatives of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh by introducing an international mechanism with guarantees of rights and securities for Nagorno Karabakh Armenians. In response to this, prior to integrating Christian Armenians, Azerbaijan kills them by organizing various sabotage activities, then destroys Christian churches and monuments of Christian heritage, consequently, Azerbaijan has no plan to integrate Christian Armenians. Moreover, for about 7 months, it cuts off the gas and electricity supply, keeps the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh under siege, and cases of children dying of starvation have already been recorded. Naturally, with these steps, Azerbaijan is resorting to an international criminal offense, making clear to everyone that it is not taking measures to build confidence. In the contrary, it shows that the implemented policy is not meant to integrate Armenian people but to subject Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing, eventually assuming a piece of land without a people. Under the pressure of these overt evidence, already proven by the circumstances, the institutions of liberal democracy of the international community must either accept that they are the shareholders of the starvation, killings and ethnic cleansing of 120,000 and 30,000 children of Nagorno Karabakh Armenians, or take clear steps in the form of international intervention to stop these crimes against humanity. Otherwise, the 21st century will be marked by yet another massive violation of human rights, more specifically an international criminal offense, which may be still prevented by the international community,” Marukyan tweeted.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115736.html?fbclid=IwAR1U5yDYsjmlpxQqzzSTXDR4Jd7uUfXqUfXvzvbPF9U0ebkpXlyi8C5YhtE

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Artsakh calls for tribunal for Azeri regime, international recognition based on Remedial Secession to prevent genocide

13:39, 19 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. The Speaker of Parliament of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Artur Tovmasyan has called on the international community to launch a special criminal tribunal for the leadership of Azerbaijan regarding their unprecedented violence and crimes against humanity in Nagorno Karabakh.

“By creating the most sophisticated concentration camp in a territory of nearly 3000 square kilometers, Azerbaijan has been testing the latest achievements of science on the citizens of the Artsakh (NKR) Republic since 12 December 2022, aimed at dehumanizing an entire nation, the population of the Republic of Artsakh,” Tovmasyan said in a statement.

“The population of 120+30 (forcefully displaced) thousand of a freedom-loving country is being subjected to humiliation, famine and threats of physical extermination every day for eight months, living without electricity, gas, fuel and medication. After WWII, when the international community condemned and stipulated provisions in international law ruling out the Nazi Germany’s crimes in the future, it was difficult to imagine that our people would face the threat of physical extermination in the 21st century with new methods, and that it wouldn’t even receive an intervention by the international community to prevent a great human tragedy,” reads the statement addressed to the international community.

“At the same time, taking into account the provisions of international law related to violence and aggression by an aggressor country against self-proclaimed independent countries, we call on responsible and relevant international intergovernmental institutions to launch the process of international recognition of the Artsakh Republic, as the most practical way to prevent genocide and the forced displacement of our people from our homeland,” he added.

Tovmasyan called on international intergovernmental institutions to launch a special criminal tribunal to try the Azerbaijani leadership for creating a modern concentration camp in the territory of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and regularly destroying the indigenous people of Nagorno Karabakh.

The Speaker expressed hope that his statement will receive a response and that the international community and intergovernmental organizations will not surrender to aggressors and murderers, but will support the people of Nagorno Karabakh. The only way to avoid the abovementioned dangers is through the recognition of Artsakh’s independence based on the principle of Remedial Secession, Tovmasyan said.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115741.html?fbclid=IwAR1Rf1Hv_zu4tpfBVlWJRoPSwd1bx0zDD8ABtIvxRAJ6kTIx6JYQSv9yomw

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azeri 'aid' is actually blackmail and attempt to subjugate us,Nagorno Karabakh demonstrators say after closing Akna road

14:08, 19 July 2023

STEPANAKERT, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. Citizens in Nagorno Karabakh have closed the Askeran-Akna (Aghdam) road with concrete barriers in a move to show that despite the harsh humanitarian situation Nagorno Karabakh is categorically against receiving any supplies of Azerbaijani goods, be it “humanitarian aid” or "very cheap products".

Demonstrators said that Azerbaijan, by claiming that it wants to send supplies to Artsakh, is actually blackmailing Nagorno Karabakh in an attempt to subjugate it.

Several high-ranking Azerbaijani government officials have been talking about “readiness” to send what they describe as “aid” to Artsakh via the Akna (Aghdam) road. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has spoken about this during a number of meetings. The President of the European Council Charles Michel also mentioned the possibility of using this road during a press briefing after his meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Brussels on July 15.

“We’ve clearly said that this is a red line for us,” Arshak Abrahamyan, a founding member of the Artsakh Security Development Front movement told ARMENPRESS. The Askeran-Akna road is closed by demonstrators from this movement’s youth wing and others.

“Artsakh should maintain its social and economic connections only with Armenia. The removal of the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint on Hakari Bridge remains a priority in our main demands,” he added, noting that they are calling for a humanitarian air corridor to be established as a short-term and urgent solution to the humanitarian disaster.

“Their statements claiming to be ready to send supplies are an attempt to blackmail and subjugate us,” Abrahamyan added.

Van Novikov

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115742.html?fbclid=IwAR1FxuotJmwPnKNZItCcP7lGOyFO_E24KF3lpQsIOeOqHlWIR8VGd0nI7Es

[Yervant1]

July 19 2023

Armenia and Azerbaijan: A blockade that never ended and a peace deal hanging by a thread

No progress despite a series of diplomatic talks

Written byArzu Geybullayeva

Empty store shelves, people on the brink of starvation, and a region on the brink of yet another massive humanitarian crisis. Nagorno-Karabakh and its residents have once again been cut off from essential supplies after Azerbaijan suspends road traffic on the only road linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. For months, between December 2022 and April 2023, environmentalists from Azerbaijan — allegedly linked to the government — were blocking the Lachin Corridor, the only route connecting Armenia to Karabakh across the territory of Azerbaijan. Then on April 28, 2023, the so-called “eco-activists” suspended their blockade following the installation of an Azerbaijani border checkpoint on the corridor. However, since mid-June, no supplies have been allowed past the Azerbaijani checkpoint, and gas supplies have been once again cut off from the region. Azerbaijan has also blocked International Red Cross vehicles from entering the region, citing “contraband” prevention measures. On July 14, thousands of Armenians gathered in Stepanakert (Khankendi in Azerbaijani), Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, and marched to the ICRC office in the city and the Russian peacekeeper base on the city’s outskirts, reported OC Media.

Lachin blockade

Armenia and Azerbaijan may have fought a war two years ago and signed an agreement to end hostilities, but tensions between the two countries over the Karabakh region linger. When the blockade began in December, at first, the protesters demanded Armenia stop the illegal mining in Karabakh and prevent the transfer of minerals into the country. However, in the following days, the demands changed. According to reporting by Radio Liberty at the time, the protesters’ demands changed to “Baku establish control over the Lachin Corridor.”

The border checkpoint set up by Azerbaijan is viewed as a way to better facilitate the blockade of Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan holds the upper hand in screening any vehicle traveling between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Reports that residents were being screened by the Azerbaijani border troops emerged on May 1. According to reports, footage appeared to show Armenian vehicles passing through the checkpoint, with Azerbaijani border control officers inspecting their vehicles and documents.

“The people are from villages near the checkpoint under double blockade and were traveling with the support of peacekeepers, with guarantees of not being bothered,” wrote Artak Beglaryan, an adviser to the State Minister, on Twitter at the time when the checkpoint was set up.

The most recent blockade has left some 120,000 local Armenians cut off from supplies, causing severe shortages:

According to reporting by Eurasianet, since July 18, “public transportation services were cut to a bare minimum — only 2.4 percent of the pre-blockade volume.”

Peace talks

On July 15, leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Brussels in talks mediated by the European Council. This was the sixth such meeting that has taken place since the two nations fought a 44-day war in 2020. In June, their foreign ministers convened at a meeting in Washington, DC.

In Brussels, following the meeting between the leaders of both countries, the President of the Council of Europe, Charles Michel, said in a statement, “I commended the leaders for their strong commitment to the peace process and encouraged them to take further courageous steps to ensure decisive and irreversible progress on the normalization track.”

But while the leaders discussed some of the pressing points of reaching a final peace deal, there has been little sign of progress on the “most difficult issue — the fate of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” wrote Olesya Vartanyan, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, an independent organization that works to prevent wars and shape policies.

The Nagorno-Karabakh area has been under the control of its ethnic Armenian population as a self-declared state since a war fought in the early 1990s, which ended with a ceasefire and Armenian military victory in 1994. In the aftermath of the first war, a new, internationally unrecognized, de facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was established. Seven adjacent regions were occupied by the Armenian forces. As a result of that war, “more than a million people had been forced from their homes: Azerbaijanis fled Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the adjacent territories, while Armenians left homes in Azerbaijan,” according to the International Crisis Group. Following the second Karabakh war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained control over much of the previously occupied seven regions. Azerbaijan also captured one-third of Karabakh itself during the war. On November 10, 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia.

According to Vartanyan, although significant progress was made in talks between the two nations in light of Armenian leadership's “significant concessions” since the end of hostilities in 2020, the fate of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh remains unclear. “Armenia is insisting it includes special rights and ensures the security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population. International mediators also want special measures due to decades of conflict and the recent 2020 war that claimed over 7,000 lives in just six weeks,” wrote the analyst.

Azerbaijan has yet to produce a document outlining its next steps regarding the ethnic Armenian population. Speaking to Reuters, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said guarantees for ethnic Armenians were not negotiable as this would amount to interfering with Azerbaijan's internal politics. “This is an internal, sovereign issue. The Azerbaijan constitution and a number of international conventions to which Azerbaijan is party provide all the necessary conditions in order to guarantee the rights of this population,” said Bayramov.

In an interview with Politico, Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst and the director of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security in Yerevan, said if faced with a choice, the local Armenian population will “choose to leave” rather than “accept [Azerbaijani] passports.”

A recent International Crisis Group report published in May 2023 explains how the new checkpoint is viewed among the local Nagorno Karabakh residents:

[Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh] worry that the checkpoint’s imposition represents a form or muscle flexing that could be the precursor to ethnic cleansing. This move unsettles the ethnic Armenians, who cite a violent history – in particular, Azerbaijani-orchestrated attacks on ethnic Armenians in the late 1980s – that leads them to equate Azerbaijani control with oppression. Indeed, both Azerbaijanis and Armenians harbor bitter memories of being forced to flee areas controlled by the other group in the wake of conflict and for fear of additional bloodshed.

The new round of blockade has given Azerbaijan an upper hand at the negotiation table over peace agreements as well. Speaking to Eurasianet, Zaur Shiriyev, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, “Simply put, Baku controls the Lachin road, meaning everything is in their hands, and while it remains a priority, it seems that there is no immediate urgency to reaching a peace agreement.”

Despite the repeated international calls to end the blockade, official Baku is reluctant to lift the blockade. Meanwhile, reports of deadly clashes continue. And prospects for peace remain hanging by a thread.

https://globalvoices.org/2023/07/19/armenia-and-azerbaijan-a-blockade-that-never-ended-and-a-peace-deal-hanging-by-a-thread/

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

MEP Fabio Massimo Castaldo calls for urgent EU aid to Nagorno Karabakh, slams Azeri ‘crime against humanity’ blockade

10:36, 20 July 2023

BRUSSELS, JULY 20, ARMENPRESS. Member of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo Castaldo (Italy - Movimento 5 Stelle) has expressed deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh).

In an interview with ARMENPRESS, MEP Castaldo said that Azerbaijani ‘prolonged, hateful’ blockade of Lachin Corridor puts countless lives at risk by impeding access to vital goods and exacerbating the suffering of the affected population.

He said that the blockade constitutes a crime against humanity and called on the EU to provide urgent humanitarian aid and propose itself as one of the final guarantors of any final agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan which must include international guarantees for the safety and security of the Armenian population in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is deeply concerning. The prolonged, hateful blockade of the Lachin Corridor puts countless lives at risk, impeding access to vital goods and exacerbating the suffering of the affected population. As I recently witnessed the dire conditions faced by the Armenian community during an official visit organised by the European Parliament, I am firmly convinced that we cannot ignore these violations of international law that represent crimes against humanity. In the immediate term, the EU must provide urgent humanitarian aid to address the pressing needs on the ground. Then, in the medium run, our Union should actively support the trilateral negotiations, acting as an honest broker, to ensure the inclusion of crucial clauses in any final agreement. These clauses must include international guarantees for the safety and security of the Armenian population in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, and the EU should propose itself as one of the final guarantor of this agreement and its conditions,” MEP Castaldo told ARMENPRESS correspondent Lilit Gasparyan in Brussels.

Castaldo visited Armenia in November 2022 on a fact-finding mission.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since December 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1115810.html?fbclid=IwAR2Wb50icA9-2wO0F17l_BH5gfLt0d9rPMpuhDVQCRkoFCpUtOU4cqBRYvg

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Compliance with the binding ICJ order must be a precondition for any EU-Azerbaijan cooperation – MEP Martin Sonneborn

13:59, 24 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Member of the European Parliament Martin Sonneborn (Germany - Die PARTEI )has said that Azerbaijan’s ‘total blockade’ of Nagorno Karabakh is ‘intolerable’ and that Baku is 'terrorizing' the civilian population as part of its agenda of ethnically cleansing Armenians from the region.

“Azerbaijan put the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia under total blockade. The situation is intolerable. We see videos of empty shelves in supermarkets and hear the news about the lack of fuel for ambulances. People are dying. Azerbaijan is terrorising the civilian population as a part of its agenda of ethnically cleansing Armenians from the region,” MEP Sonneborn told ARMENPRESS correspondent Lilit Gasparyan in Brussels.

He noted that Azerbaijan is disregarding the international community’s calls to open the road and is tightening the blockade.

“Although the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and numerous governments called upon Azerbaijan to open the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan keeps tightening the blockade and does not even allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to deliver humanitarian aid. The United Nation’s highest judicial body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), stated in a legally binding order that Azerbaijan must facilitate unimpeded transport of cargo and persons along the Lachin corridor. While the European Parliament requested sanctions for Azerbaijani government officials in case they do not comply with the court’s order, Council President Charles Michel recently welcomed an Azerbaijani proposal to provide humanitarian aid from their side. This is a disastrous signal since it rewards Azerbaijan once again for its non-compliance with international law. Compliance with the binding ICJ order must be a precondition for any EU-Azerbaijan cooperation. Since the European Union does not exercise pressure regarding the court’s order, it is complicit with Azerbaijan’s inhuman agenda," the MEP added.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1116043.html?fbclid=IwAR0W1djdDZZVeAh-PGLj3gOsthbKfZBagLbmwRLY7jMOLh7HI96D5ihLGaA

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Armenian President presents to António Guterres the threats caused by Azerbaijan’s illegal blocking of Lachin Corridor

18:01, 24 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, who is in Italy on a working visit, had a meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres within the framework of the UN Food Systems Summit.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the President’s Office, during the meeting, Vahagn Khachaturyan presented to the Secretary General the threats of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin humanitarian corridor.

Reference was made to the realities and developments in the South Caucasus region.

During the conversation, the sides exchanged ideas on cooperation agenda between the United Nations and the Republic of Armenia.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1116074.html?fbclid=IwAR2BUsXOyw9Wvff8pPvJSYrSvane29OtWkKr8_XTKorYNj_0gIHVM_MeIT8

[Yervant1]

Never trust a lying fake sultan, aliyev lies all the time!

 

Armenpress.am

Aliyev assured that Baku will never be supporter of creating corridor and closing the corridors between Armenia and Iran

22:16, 24 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has not been and will never be a supporter of creating a corridor and closing the historical corridors between Armenia and Iran, ARMENPRESS reports, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said after the meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

He noted that they talked about the need to remove barriers to the existing corridors, transit capacities and communications in the region and not to create obstacles for the historical and traditional corridors between the two countries.

He said that Tehran and Yerevan have a special emphasis on the importance of transit routes.

“During today's discussions, I presented to my colleague what I heard from Aliyev during our meeting, that he is raising the Zangezur Corridor as a step towards the elimination of obstacles. Aliyev assured that Azerbaijan has not been and will never be a supporter of creating a corridor and closing the historical corridors between Armenia and Iran. We also explained to the Azerbaijani officials that even in crisis conditions we will not close the communication route from Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, and in that regard there is an agreement between the two countries," Hossein Amir Abdollahian said.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1116094.html?fbclid=IwAR2v47Z_KXt8lufy8KSw1JhB2pQorhRwtyERPwUo3JSl8DTWEXqVOED4WKM

 

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azerbaijani narrative reminiscent of Nazi leadership’s justifications at Nuremberg trials – Nagorno Karabakh

14:00, 25 July 2023

STEPANAKERT, JULY 25, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has slammed the Azerbaijani government’s narrative claiming that Nagorno Karabakh is its domestic matter for being similar to what the Nazi leaders tried to represent as justifications for their actions during the Nuremberg trials.

“The Azerbaijani claims that the Artsakh issue is their domestic matter reminds us of the Nazi Germany leadership’s justifications during the Nuremberg trials when they were describing mass murder as a domestic matter,” President Harutyunyan said at a press conference.

He called on the international community to take action and prevent genocide against the people of Nagorno Karabakh by Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan is deliberately creating the kind of conditions that are aimed at either partial or complete destruction of the people of Artsakh. This constitutes genocide under international law, and it provides for all members of the international community to take steps to prevent the crime of genocide,” he said.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1116124.html?fbclid=IwAR3E5isdJ7nhCCQjetniMS4XQhk8R67JYb8hycf5jfd8yAT53zYL4BA9X-Y