Statue of a Dictator (Aliyev Clan)

[Yervant1]

Nov 9 2023

Unmasking Azerbaijan’s War Crimes: The Urgent Need for Accountability

The issue of war crimes committed by Azerbaijan continues to remain at the forefront of the international community’s attention and public scrutiny. Of particular concern are the incidents following Azerbaijan’s deadly attack on the Republic of Artsakh from September 19th to 21st, resulting in the deportation of the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In light of these events, along with Armenia’s recent ratification of the Rome Statute, it is crucial to examine the brutal war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the recent past.

This examination is vital to properly assess the xenophobic policies of the Azerbaijani side and the potential dangers they pose.

The internet, the International Court, and the press have already discussed a series of crimes attributed to the Azerbaijani side. Prominent among these are well-known footages depicting killings in 2020, as well as the execution of Armenian soldiers during the military aggression against Armenia in September 2022.

However, there are lesser-known episodes that require attention to highlight the specific inhumane policies of Azerbaijan, their actual intentions, and the crimes of war.

https://x.com/araratpetrosian/status/1686322885915197441

https://x.com/araratpetrosian/status/1681414849518026768

Particular attention should be given to footage clearly showing signs of torture and executions. These instances might be of a mass scale and have not faced significant resistance from the international community and organisations.

With the hope that following the adoption of the Rome Statute by Armenia, not only can Armenia hold Azerbaijan accountable for many crimes but also potentially prevent a new Azerbaijani adventure, the presence of the International Criminal Court could play a concerning role.

Amidst numerous anti-Armenian statements by Ilham Aliyev, his regime’s fascist position, and the regime’s committed war crimes, the ratification of the Rome Statute serves as another means for Armenia to safeguard its sovereignty.

This move may not fully replace defunct security systems such as the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and agreements with Russia. However, it could open a new chapter of accountability for Azerbaijan and its leadership.

In the face of the collapse of the global security system and numerous major regional conflicts, controlling Azerbaijan’s reckless behaviour becomes increasingly challenging.

By Editor-in-Chief “Respublica Armenia” newspaper Ararat Petrosyan.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/11/07/unmasking-azerbaijans-war-crimes/

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Exclusive: Nagorno-Karabakh exodus was genocide, says former ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo

13:55, 9 November 2023

BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo believes that countries are deliberately ignoring the risk of genocide to avoid the obligation to prevent it.

In an interview with Armenpress Brussels correspondent, Ocampo said that the forced displacement of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh after the Azerbaijani attack constitutes genocide.

Mr. Ocampo, on August 7, you provided and then published your professional opinion to the President of the Republic of Artsakh, considering the blockade and complete siege of Artsakh as genocide. What process could have been started at that time to prevent the coming disaster?

Well, the report was important because we made a point in the public opinion. However, states are doing something fascinating, they are deliberately ignoring the risk of genocide to avoid the obligation to prevent genocide, that’s what we found. We found basically that states are trying to avoid the word genocide. Even because when the US Congress took the report and started activities, then US State Department, without mentioning genocide said they will protect Nagorno Karabakh internationally. But it was late too late. They said that and three days later Aliyev attacked.

How do you interpret what happened after September 19 in Nagorno Karabakh? It seems that when many say genocide, they only imagine a massacre. But in a few days, more than a hundred thousand people forcibly left their homeland, leaving behind everything.

That is a genocide as well, under Genocide Convention article 2B. There's a new report by Juan Mendes saying that the fact that 100,000 people left is showing the mental harm. The fact that they left everything. So that is another form genocide to be, not only killing. The killing was not massive, but there is a mental harm of all the community leaving their land.

What legal mechanisms are there for the rights of the people of Artsakh that can work and how realistic do you consider the restoration of the rights of these people according to international norms?

I think it's important now that France is pushing for that. That's an important state that is pushing the agenda and it's something we should fight for. We should fight for gaining respect of the right of the people, because the people, even if they are not there, they are still the owners of the land and the place, so their rights must be respected. And I think a different priority is to recover, to release the hostages. There are 53 people in jail in Azerbaijan. The problem is international law is not something like if someone steals your bike, you can go to the police and the courts. No, there's nothing like that. We have the International Court of Justice presumably for states, and there is the International Criminal Court for prosecuting individuals. The legal process for releasing these people is not clear, but we should develop the process politically. That is why this meeting is important.

How do you assess the behavior of the international community, what could it have done that it did not do, and that inaction led to this result?

Well, that is a problem, a failure by design. Because the world has no global institutions. Basically, the only global independent institution is the International Criminal Court, that's it. That's not enough. Imagine a country with just one court, no government, no political system. So, Armenia should be involved in resolving the problem. And that's why meetings like this, discussions with political leaders about what they can do and articulating that with the European Union, with the ICC, that is what we need to do. Armenia is showing that it's not just Armenia at risk, but civilization is at risk, and that's why Armenians are not alone. But Armenia is crucial. Armenia has a very important community around the world, so it’s an incredible strength you have there, and we can use it.

There are some conflicts that get more attention than others, as if all children are not children, all women are not women. What is your explanation for this duality?

Well, the media’s span of attention is only 6 seconds. That’s normal. The Darfur genocide was top in the media, then came the Arab Spring, then Libya, then Syria, then Russia, Yezidis, then Rohingya. There's always a new conflict covering the failure of the previous conflict. And that's why this year we are on the topic of having five genocides in only 2023. Now is the time to fix it. The fact that the Armenian community and the Jewish community are so widespread could really help to transform this situation. I understand it is a very difficult moment for the Armenian community, that even attacks on Armenia are possible, but you must understand that you never win if you stop fighting. So, you have to keep on fighting, and you are not alone.

Lilit Gasparyan

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1123809.html?fbclid=IwAR2Nscqy0bqa6HYgoT47ZinWr4ZuYrt2omSUic7oLLwsxhExQqAIw72V4g0

[MosJan]

more and more facts are being published on atrocities committed my azerbejan in Nagorni Karabakh during September.

[Yervant1]

Asbarez.com

For 3 Years Armenia has Refused to Ensure Access to Nakhichevan, Aliyev Complains to Iran’s President

by Asbarez Staff

November 10, 2023

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

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan meets with his Iranian counterpart, Ibrahim Raisi, in Tashkent, Uzebakistan on Nov. 10

 

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan complained to Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi that for that past three years Armenia has refused to guarantee a road through its sovereign territory to Nakhichevan, referencing his scheme to carve a “corridor” through Armenia.

“During the last three years, after the second Karabakh war, Armenia has refused and continues to refuse to abide by its obligations and ensure passage to Nakhchivan through the major part of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said, the Trend news agency reported.

“It is their [Armenia’s] choice and I think they made a huge mistake,” Aliyev said during a meeting with Raisi in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Azerbaijani leader emphasized that Iran has announced the construction of bridges over the Arax River, which he said “has great potential.”

Last month Azerbaijani officials said that a “corridor” through Armenia had “lost its appeal,” announcing that Baku has opted to create a link to Nakhichevan through Iran.

Despite this announcement, however, Azerbaijani officials, as well as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, continue to press Armenia to move forward with the project, which Yerevan unequivocally has rejected.

Yerevan has called the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” scheme a territorial claim by Azerbaijan.

Iran has also voiced its opposition to any effort that would alter the existing borders in the region and, in the past, has rebuked Ankara and Baku for advancing the “corridor” scheme.

“We carried out an anti-terror operation in September, which put an end to separatism in Azerbaijan. It paved the way for more active development of Azerbaijan and creates a favorable environment for the entire region,” Aliyev told Raisi.

“I am happy that as a result of the joint work of the representatives of Iran and Azerbaijan, an agreement for the construction of a railway and a highway along the southern bank of the Arax River was achieved,” Aliyev said, expressing confidence that this project “will be implemented in a short time and will become another direction of the North-South transport corridor.” .

“In other words, as a result, we will have two routes, one through Astara, one through Aghbend, and both routes will serve to strengthen the fraternal relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, and will be accessible to our neighbors and partners from other countries,” the Azerbaijani leader added.

Aliyev and Raisi also discussed the regional alliance project know as the “3+3” format, which envisions an alliance between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey that would bolster economic relations and allow for settling of conflicts without Western interference.

A summit of foreign ministers of the “3+3” countries was held in Tehran last month. Georgia has announced that it would not take part in the scheme, because of its decades-long enmity with Russia. Armenia, on the other hand, has decided to engage in talks to advance this formula.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry on Friday accused Armenia of “endangering” the peace process between the two countries and criticized Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan of spreading “fake rhetoric and accusations” against Baku in international forums.

Speaking at UNESCO summit on Thursday, Mirzoyan accused Azerbaijan of blockading Artsakh for ten months as part of its state sponsored ethnic cleansing.

“It is unacceptable that Armenia, which committed mass murders and crimes against humanity during almost 30 years of military aggression against Azerbaijan, continues to hypocritically accuse Azerbaijan of ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Armenians who voluntarily went to Armenia,” Aikhan Hajizade, the spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry, said in a statement.

https://asbarez.com/for-3-years-armenia-has-refused-to-ensure-access-to-nakhichevan-aliyev-complains-to-irans-president/?fbclid=IwAR2HvCk7kSCjeMQEiW2ydj40Bh8TjHKvwq_6hYavO8rTHifvvb1DLKdGM3M

[MosJan]

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

ICJ to deliver its Order on provisional measures against Azerbaijan submitted by Armenia on Nov. 17

12:06, 11 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. On Friday 17 November 2023, the International Court of Justice will deliver its Order on the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Armenia in the case concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Armenia v. Azerbaijan), the press service of ICJ reports.

Judge Joan Donoghue, President of the Court will deliver the Order on Friday 17 November 2023.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1123950.html?fbclid=IwAR2ZLN6dRvhrKw0QQhNNQXP6774qJY9JgUZ6lcZ3s7AJCMgCQRcqDJqwU-M

[Yervant1]

News.am, Armenia

Nov 11 2023

Azerbaijan destroys Armenian church in Hadrut of occupied Artsakh

15:33, 11.11.2023

The international organization for the protection of the Caucasian heritage, Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW), published a warning about the destruction of the Armenian church in the Hadrut region of the occupied Artsakh, which documents the violation of the decision of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations.

In the summer of 2022, Caucasus Heritage Watch recorded the almost complete destruction of Mokhrenes village in Hadrut region, which passed under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan after the 2020 44-day Artsakh war. Among the destroyed structures was also the Saint Sargis Armenian Church of Mokhrenes, which was built in the 18-19 centuries. It was constructed in the 18th or 19th centuries, repurposed in the Soviet years, then revived as a church in the 1990s and remained in active use until Armenians evacuated Mokhrenes.

However, as mentioned in the publication, the demolition of the Saint Sargis Church was apparently not the last step in terms of Azerbaijani intervention, as the organization documented evidence of further construction works during its ongoing monitoring.

The organization reminds that Azerbaijan is obligated to protect Armenian cultural heritage and prevent any effort to erase the centuries of Armenian cultural and religious life in Mokhrenes.

“The destruction of St. Sargis of Mokhrenes in 2022 was the first documented violation of the interim order indicated by the International Court of Justice in December 2021,” CHW writes.

According to the organization, that "provisional measure", arising from the ongoing case Armenia v. Azerbaijan, ordered Azerbaijan to “take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artifacts.”

https://news.am/eng/news/791954.html#google_vignette

[Yervant1]

Globes, Israel

Nov 13 2023

Azerbaijan buys $1.2b Israel Aerospace Barak missile system

Dean Shmuel Elmas

Following IAI's announcement of the sale of the system to an unnamed country, reports in Baku confirm that Azerbaijan is the customer.

Four days after Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced the delivery of an air defense system to an unnamed country in a deal worth $1.2 billion, reports from Baku say that Azerbaijan has procured the Barak MX system.

As "Globes" reported in September, IAI demonstrated the Barak MX system before senior figures in Baku, with the system probably designed to protect Azerbaijan against the threat from Iran.

The deal in which IAI will serve as the lead contractor is being conducted by Israel's Ministry of Defense. The Barak MX can also be used by Azerbaijan in its economic waters in the Caspian Sea in order to broader its air defenses.

The Barak MX system has several key components at the forefront of technology, which include interceptors, launchers, command and control systems, advanced radar, and multi-systems and inter-systems communications. The Barak MX is one of IAI's most advanced products.

IAI CEO Boaz Levy said after the deal was closed, "Following the Swords of Iron War, IAI is in an accelerated process of providing systems and solutions for Israel's security forces in all theaters, at sea, on land and in the air and in space and is at the same time is also working for all our customers around the world. This deal joins a range of deals for air defense systems that have been recently signed, which strengthen the company's status as a global leader in the field."

The exercise in which the system was demonstrated in Azerbaijan included live fire from operational batteries and in full operational configuration. As part of the exercise, several end units of the Barak MX air defense system were activated, including the LR and ER versions, which involved war games with advanced weapon systems, in which a ballistic missile was intercepted.

Combining interceptor missiles

The Barak MX system is supported by radar and various launchers for covering combat aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, cruise missiles, and ground-to-air and ground-to-ground missiles. The system is based on a smart and operations-proven control center, which can be combined with other interceptor missiles: Barak MRAD for high-speed short range vertical launch, adapted to handle threats up to 35 kilometers and including a radar homing warhead with only a one pulse engine; the mid-range lightning interceptor LRAD is launched vertically at high speed, adapted to deal with threats at a range of up to 70 kilometers and includes a radar homing warhead with a two-pulse engine; and the long-range lightning interceptor ER launched vertically and includes a booster engine, a two-pulse rocket engine and an advanced radar homing head.

Increasing the interception range of the Barak ER is achieved by adding a rocket booster and adjusting the communication and radar capabilities to a range of 150 kilometers.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-azerbaijan-buys-12b-israel-aerospace-barak-missile-system-1001462371

[Yervant1]

Nov 13 2023

Statement on the Sentencing of Vagif Khachatryan in the Republic of Azerbaijan

November 13, 2023

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention energetically condemns the 15-year prison sentence handed down to Mr. Vagif Khachatryan on 7 November 2023 by the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Lemkin Institute exhorts the international community to persuade the regime of President Aliyev into promptly releasing all Armenian persons under its jurisdiction and to refrain from providing any kind of assistance that could worsen the suffering of the victims of the Artsakh genocide or embolden Azerbaijan to perpetrate any unlawful act of aggression.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention energetically condemns the 15-year prison sentence handed down to Mr. Vagif Khachatryan on 7 November 2023 by the Republic of Azerbaijan.

A resident of the Republic of Artsakh, Mr. Khachatryan was detained at the illegal Hakari Bridge checkpoint on 29 July 2023 while he was being evacuated from his homeland by the International Committee of the Red Cross for urgent medical treatment. This checkpoint was established by Azerbaijan in the Lachin Corridor in April 2023, four months after Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the same corridor on 12 December 2022. This blockade left the then 120,000 inhabitants of Artsakh without essential goods and services, constituting a textbook case of genocide-by-attrition, as accurately observed by the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Mr. Luis Moreno Ocampo.

Mr. Khachatryan’s abduction took place before Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Artsakh on 19 September 2023, which resulted in massacre and atrocity and the consequent flight of almost 100 percent of its indigenous Armenian population to neighboring Armenia. The aggression, atrocity and forced displacement amount to a very thorough genocide of an ancient, continuous indigenous civilization.

Upon his abduction, Mr. Khachatryan was immediately accused by Azerbaijani authorities of committing war crimes during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the 1990s, charges he has repeatedly denied and for which Azerbaijan has offered no independent evidence.

In this context, the Lemkin Institute recalls its “Statement on the Ongoing Imprisonment of Armenian Officials of the Republic of Artsakh by the Republic of Azerbaijan,” issued on 27 October 2023. In that statement, the Lemkin Institute noted that: “At the present time, [Mr. Khachatryan] is on trial in Azerbaijan’s infamous judicial system, where violations of the fundamental guarantee of due process have become alarmingly common. In fact, according to one observer, Mr. Khachatryan’s statements are intentionally being mistranslated for Azerbaijani and Turkish audiences. Additionally, photos of Mr. Khachatryan have raised concerns about his potential mistreatment and deteriorating health.”

According to the news outlet News.am, the prosecution explained that Azerbaijani law does not allow Mr. Khachatryan to be sentenced to life imprisonment, as he is over 65 years old. According to another news agency, Mr. Khachatryan is scheduled to spend the initial five years of his 15-year sentence in prison, followed by 10 years in a high-security correctional facility. This seemingly innocuous, legalist discourse, however, is nothing but the gilded cloak that hides the ordinary dagger: a miscarriage of justice of the highest order.

The law often serves to legitimize those in power, particularly within dictatorial regimes like the one led by Azerbaijani President Mr. Ilham Aliyev. Given Mr. Khachatryan’s advanced age and heart condition, the latter being the cause of his emergency evacuation from Artsakh on 29 July 2023, his 15-year prison sentence amounts to a death penalty, concealed beneath the superficially benign façade of an unmistakably oppressive and genocidal regime.

Once again, the Lemkin Institute recalls the ongoing and unlawful imprisonment of the eight high-ranking Armenian officials, as well as the abandonment of dozens and perhaps hundreds of Armenian civilian captives and POWs, as outlined in its aforementioned statement, who might soon share the same fate as Mr. Khachatryan, if not worse. Time and time again, Azerbaijan has shown its repudiation of a law-based international order, including its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

The Lemkin Institute exhorts the international community, which seems to have forgotten the commission of atrocity crimes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as well as the looming threat of an invasion of the Republic of Armenia by Azerbaijan, to persuade the regime of President Aliyev into promptly releasing all Armenian persons under its jurisdiction and to refrain from providing any kind of assistance that could worsen the suffering of the victims of the Artsakh genocide or embolden Azerbaijan to perpetrate any unlawful act of aggression.

https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new-page/statement-on-the-sentencing-of-vagif-khachatryan-in-the-republic-of-azerbaijan

[Yervant1]

Nov 14 2023

Borrel threatened Baku with "serious consequences". Opinion on the EU position

• JAMnews

• Yerevan

Details of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting

The EU mission that monitors Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan will be expanded. This proposal was approved by the participants of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union. It is reported that the EU foreign ministers took into account the “continuity of reforms in Armenia”. The decision must still be approved by the European Commission and ratified by EU member states.

The participants of the meeting also approved a proposal to intensify discussions on the liberalization of visa regime with Armenia. This was stated by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell at a press conference after the meeting. But journalists quoted his statement regarding Armenia’s security most of all:

“Any violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity is unacceptable and will have serious consequences for the quality of our relations [with Azerbaijan].”

Political observer Hakob Badalyan considers it vital to get clarification on how effective the mentioned “consequences” will be, and whether, for example, sanctions on President Aliyev and his family members are possible.

• EU mission monitoring Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan opens fifth office
• “NK was not a red line for the West, but Armenia could be” – Azerbaijani expert
• “We are not satisfied with many things” – Armenian Foreign Minister on relations with Russia

“Increase patrols at problematic parts of the border”

Josep Borrel ltold journalists about the need to strengthen the EU observation mission stationed on the Armenian border. In this regard, the number of observers patrolling the territory will be increased.

“The EU will be very attentive to any attempts of internal and external destabilization in Armenia. The Council of Ministers discussed how to strengthen cooperation with Armenia and support its democratically elected authorities, its sustainability, security and ensuring the continuation of reforms in the country. We will also consider possible support to Armenia within the framework of the European Peace Facility,” he said.

The European Peace Facility is a mechanism through which Brussels provides funds to non-EU countries to improve their defense capabilities, prevent conflict and promote peace. Through this mechanism, the EU has supported Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

Borrell also called for the resumption of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan through the mediation of the head of the European Council. He stated that a peace agreement could be signed and the EU is committed to continue its mediation role.

"The enclaves may become a pretext for Baku's next attack" – Armenian political scientist

According to Beniamin Poghosyan, Azerbaijan may resort to military actions and present them as “liberation of its territories”

“The EU mission will further enhance stability at the borders”

This is how Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan commented on the possible expansion of the EU observer mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. He told journalists that this issue has been discussed for a long time. But it is not clear yet by how many the number of observers will be increased.

Commenting on the beginning of negotiations on visa liberalization with the EU, he noted that Yerevan seeks to complete them as soon as possible. He believes that the process will intensify in the coming months and considers it important that none of the EU countries has opposed it.

"We expect cooperation with EU in security sphere" – Armenian Security Council Secretary

Armen Grigoryan spoke about the “tools” for ensuring the country’s security at a conference in Brussels called “Armenia-Europe: Armenia’s Strategic Future”

Comment

Political observer Hakob Badalyan told JAMnews that when assessing the statement on violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity, one should understand what exactly EU officials mean by integrity. He says that the border is indivisible, and Azerbaijan demands the return of enclaves.

The expert emphasizes that in the current world situation, all such “international formulations” lose their force and significance, yielding to the factor of force:

“The question arises how rational it will be to expect that statements about territorial integrity can mean anything and be a deterrent for Azerbaijan.”

He believes that the wording “severe consequences” in Borrell’s statement also needs clarification:

“Are we talking about severe consequences in the form of some kind of sanctions that Aliyev can easily circumvent or compensate for? Or would they be severe consequences directly for Aliyev’s family? The latter could in a sense change the situation.”

According to the political observer, it is important to understand to what extent these “heavy consequences” can become an effective mechanism to improve Armenia’s security.

The analyst calls the expansion of the EU observation mission and the discussion of visa liberalization a “bonus” offered to Armenia. In his opinion, in this way the EU is trying to bring Baku back to the Brussels negotiating platform and achieve the signing of a protocol document, if not a peace treaty.

Badalyan warns that one should not allow visa liberalization with the signing of a peace agreement:

“Yerevan is offered one thing, expecting to get something else. If it is connected with the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, then the bonus in the form of visa liberalization should be definitely rejected. It is much more important for us what will be the content of the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

He recalls that during her visit to Armenia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock avoided the topic of closer EU relations with Yerevan. She stated that “peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is important and a priority.” According to Badalyan, this showed that the EU “considers its relations with the region as a whole and is not ready to significantly promote relations with Yerevan, which would lead to differentiation with Azerbaijan.

Badalyan states that today the power factor prevails over the appeals and statements of the international community. And Azerbaijan’s power is formed in interrelation with such actors as Turkey and Israel:

“Despite the appeals of the international community, Israel bombs Gaza and solves its problems, including at the cost of killing civilians. To the extent that EU statements deter Israel from solving its problems militarily, they will also deter Azerbaijan if Baku sees an opportunity to use force against Armenia.”

https://jam-news.net/details-of-the-eu-foreign-affairs-council-meeting/

[Yervant1]

 

Daily Wire

Nov 16 2023

 

Azerbaijan Slams U.S. For Siding With Armenians, Will Skip Meeting With Armenia In D.C. As Tensions Rise

By Zach Jewell

•

Nov 16, 2023

As tensions spill over in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it would not be attending a meeting with Armenia that was set for next Monday in Washington, D.C., condemning the U.S. for taking a “one-sided approach” to the conflict between the European countries.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been looking to ramp up peace talks between his country and Azerbaijan as the nations contend for the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The 1,700-square-mile mountainous slice of land has been inhabited by Armenians for thousands of years, but it is surrounded by Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim nation that says the region is its territory.

Azerbaijan was angered by testimony from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, who spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The country said O’Brien’s remarks were “one-sided and biased” after the assistant secretary of state discussed Azerbaijan’s take over of Nagorno-Karabakh in September, which forced more than 100,000 Armenians to flee their homes in what has escalated to ethnic cleansing of the Christian population from the oldest Christian nation in the world.

During the hearing, O’Brien told the committee that the U.S. government has “urged Azerbaijan to ensure all ethnic Armenians who have departed Nagorno-Karabakh are guaranteed a safe, dignified, and sustainable return, should they so choose, with their rights and security guaranteed.”

“We have also called for Azerbaijan to respect and protect the cultural heritage of the many groups who have lived in the region throughout the millennia,” O’Brien said, adding, “Our message to Armenia and the displaced has been unambiguous: The United States will support Armenia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic institutions.”

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry claimed that O’Brien’s testimony left out important context in the conflict. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of refusing to respond to peace negotiations “for more than two months” and claimed Armenia was “illegally stationing” more than 10,000 troops in Nagorno-Karabakh before Azerbaijan’s takeover. The country also said U.S. officials are unwelcome in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital.

The Muslim country’s bombardment of Nagorno-Karabakh in September was preceded by a military blockade that began last December, which cut off access to food, electricity, and water from the outside. Yana Avanesyan, a doctoral researcher who is originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, told The Daily Wire last month that the religious difference between the two countries plays a major role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

“When we say Armenians, we are speaking about us being Christians,” Avanesyan told The Daily Wire. “We know they hate us so much that they will just destroy everything.”

The U.S. has taken a clear stance in the conflict, condemning Azerbaijan for its recent actions in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan’s use of force in Nagorno-Karabakh has eroded trust and raised doubts regarding Baku’s commitment to a comprehensive peace with Armenia,” O’Brien said. “Given this new reality, the Department has made it clear to Azerbaijan that there cannot be ‘business as usual’ in our bilateral relationship. The United States has condemned Azerbaijani actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, canceled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements with Azerbaijan, and suspended plans for future events.”

https://www.dailywire.com/news/azerbaijan-slams-u-s-for-siding-with-armenians-will-skip-meeting-with-armenia-in-d-c-as-tensions-rise

[Yervant1]

France 24

Nov 16 2023

Azerbaijan rejects Armenia peace talks in US over Washington's 'biased remarks'

Azerbaijan on Thursday refused to participate in normalisation talks with arch-foe Armenia that were planned in the United States this month over what it said was Washington’s “biased” position.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a decades-long territorial conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Baku reclaimed in September after a lightning offensive against Armenian separatists.

Internationally mediated peace talks between the ex-Soviet republics have seen little progress but both countries’ leaders have said a comprehensive peace agreement could be signed by the end of the year.

“We do not consider it possible to hold the proposed meeting on the level of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington on November 20, 2023,” Baku’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The move followed a hearing in the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, where, the ministry said, Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien made “one-sided and biased remarks” about Azerbaijan.

O’Brien told the House Committee that “nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track.”

“We’ve cancelled a number of high-level visits, condemned (Baku’s) actions,” he added.

The Azerbaijani foreign ministry said: “Such a unilateral approach by the United States could lead to the loss of the United States’ mediation role.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday that Yerevan’s “political will to sign, in the coming months, a peace agreement with Azerbaijan remains unwavering.”

Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have held several rounds of talks under EU mediation.

But last month, Aliyev refused to attend a round of negotiations with Pashinyan in Spain, citing France’s “biased position.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been scheduled to join EU chief Charles Michel as mediators at those talks.

So far, there has been no visible progress in EU efforts to organise a fresh round of negotiations.

(AFP)

https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231116-azerbaijan-rejects-armenia-peace-talks-in-us-over-washington-s-biased-remarks

[Yervant1]

Nov 13 2023

"The enclaves may become a pretext for Baku's next attack" - Armenian political scientist

• JAMnews

• Yerevan

Consequences of the termination of negotiations

“If the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks are frozen, i.e. the process stops on both Western and Russian platforms, Azerbaijan will have a window of new opportunities for a military attack on Armenia,” political analyst Beniamin Poghosyan believes.

He warns that the Azerbaijani side may launch military actions not only on the pretext of obtaining the so-called “Zangezur corridor”, i.e. a road uncontrolled by Armenia to connect with Nakhichevan, but also “enclaves”. In his opinion, this is a more realistic scenario of Baku’s actions, for which the Azerbaijani authorities are now preparing grounds.

• “We expect cooperation with EU in security sphere” – Armenian Security Council Secretary

• “Armenia was only reacting to challenges”: on the situation after the 2020 war

• “Apart from Armenia, no one needs the Crossroads of Peace.” Opinion from Yerevan

“A new aggression could begin in March 2024.”

Given the weather conditions and the terrain, the political analyst suggests that military action is unlikely in winter. They could start in spring, and the reason for them could be, in Baku’s terminology, “Armenian-occupied villages or enclaves”.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly publicly stated that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity of 86,600 square kilometers. But he has not received reciprocal recognition by Azerbaijan of Armenia’s territorial integrity. At a press conference organized in late May, Pashinyan also stated that Armenia’s 29,800 square kilometers of territorial integrity does not include the village of Tigranashen in Ararat province and six villages in Tavush province.

And now, according to the political analyst, it is important to understand whether the enclaves fall within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, which the Armenian prime minister has recognized:

“If Armenia recognizes that there is a territory under its control that it considers part of Azerbaijan, I am afraid that we may have the same situation here as on September 19, 2023 [referring to the military actions of the Azerbaijani army on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, after which the entire Armenian population moved to Armenia].”

Poghosyan explains that Azerbaijan could resort to military action and present it as “liberating its territories, exercising the right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.”

“I don’t rule out that we will have a situation where the Russian president will say, ‘What should I do?’ Armenia has said that these enclaves are Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan is returning its territories. And there will be no special reaction from the West,” he said.

"Entrust Armenia's security to an American private company" – political scientist

Areg Kochinyan proposes to engage an American private military company to solve Armenia’s security problems until the completion of defense reforms

“Azerbaijan is not interested in a Western negotiating platform”

Poghosyan emphasizes that Baku has already received the maximum from its Western partners, “namely, it conducted ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh with zero reaction to it from the West”. In addition, within the framework of the Western negotiating platform, the Azerbaijani side achieved

• “an agreement to recognize territorial integrity within the Soviet administrative boundaries,
• Armenia’s recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, as well as the rejection of the demand for autonomy”

He recalls that Armenia made concessions and “lowered the bar on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh”, expecting to receive guarantees of rights and security of Armenians of the unrecognized republic, but received nothing. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan used the concessions of the Armenian side as a “legitimate basis for attacking Artsakh”.

According to the analyst, Baku has nothing more to gain from the Western platform, so it is “saying goodbye to it and trying to return to the Russian negotiating platform”.

Turkish and Azerbaijani Armed Forces exercises near Armenia's borders. Is a new escalation possible?

Military expert Leonid Nersisyan believes that “Baku will not occupy, for example, the southern region of Armenia, Syunik, but will resort to a new escalation”

“Armenia is maneuvering”

The analyst says that Armenia is disappointed with the Western platform, as it did not get anything there, but also does not want to return to the Russian platform. He notes that given strained Armenian-Russian relations, Azerbaijan has “started flirting” with Russia and Iran:

“Azerbaijan is trying to make Armenia look like a state that is constantly trying to ensure the presence of ‘enemy forces’ here for Russia and Iran — the EU and the US.”

In addition, Baku supports the Russian and Iranian position that regional problems should be solved by regional countries and the presence of extra-regional powers only harms the process of normalization of relations.

“If we continue to avoid the Russian platform, Azerbaijan will further toughen this rhetoric of its, saying to Russia and Iran: look, Armenia wants to bring your enemies to the South Caucasus,” he said.

In this case, according to the political analyst, there will be “additional problems not only in Armenian-Russian, but also in Armenian-Iranian relations, which is not in Armenia’s interests.”

https://jam-news.net/consequences-of-the-termination-of-negotiations/

[Yervant1]

 

 

Use of Force by Azerbaijan Against Armenia is not Acceptable, says Subcommittee Chairman Kean (R-NJ)

Armenian Assembly of America

(l-r) Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ), Chairman of Europe Subcommittee on House Foreign Affairs, Ranking Member of Europe Subcommittee on House Foreign Affairs, Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA), Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), and Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)

Washington, D.C. - During today’s hearing on “The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh,” House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe Chairman Tom Kean (R-NJ) made clear that the use of force by Azerbaijan against Armenia is unacceptable,” reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

In his opening remarks, Chairman Kean stated that “we cannot afford to look away from the region” and made clear that the “use of force against sovereign Armenian territory, including in the Syunik province, will be completely and totally unacceptable.”

Ranking Member Bill Keating (D-MA) echoed the Chairman’s message, stating that “military action is unacceptable”, and also indicated his support for a “safe and dignified return” of the Armenians of Artsakh.

Testifying before the Subcommittee, Department of State Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Europe and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien repeatedly highlighted that the Biden Administration has no intention of waiving Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act for the foreseeable future and that such a decision does not negatively impact U.S. national security.

O’Brien highlighted that the Armenians of Artsakh should have complete access and that the Administration is insisting on the protection of their property and cultural assets as well as a “viable opportunity to return.” With respect to transport links (road and rail) in southern Armenia, O’Brien stated that it should not be created through force. When asked by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) about the use of sanctions against Azerbaijan if “other methods don’t work,” O’Brien committed to the use of sanctions.

The Assembly has repeatedly called for sanctions to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its genocidal policies, and its testimony today stated that “Azerbaijan should not be rewarded for their continued assault against the Armenian people, but rather sanctioned” and highlighted that the “U.S. has many tools at its disposal to do so from the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and economic sanctions to trade restrictions and the enforcement of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act,” along with the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act.

Representative Dina Titus (D-NV) raised concerns about Turkey’s role in the region, including the use of Turkish F-16s in the 2020 war, while Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) highlighted the fallacy of the U.S. providing military assistance to Azerbaijan to counter Russian and Iranian influence while Azerbaijan has significant energy ties to Russia and Iran. Assistant Secretary O’Brien acknowledged that the Administration is aware of the situation which it found not in the U.S. interest.

In his remarks, Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) highlighted his position that “dictators with the rule of gun [should] not prevail over democracies with rule of law.”

Representatives Jim Costa (D-CA) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) expressed concern about Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Artsakh and the humanitarian needs arising from it. “It was ethnic cleansing that happened with the removal of these Armenians from their historic homeland in Nagorno-Karabakh... These folks did not want to leave,” stated Rep Costa who also asked about the Administration’s supplemental request and hoped that part of the humanitarian request would include Armenia. Rep. Costa also encouraged congressional visits to Armenia and the assistance of the Administration, to which O’Brien agreed.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501©(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

State Department signals pause in U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan

11:17, 16 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador James O’Brien, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told House Foreign Affairs Committee members on November 15 “we have not and don’t anticipate submitting a waiver on [section ] 907,” referencing the 1992 U.S. law that restricts U.S. aid to Azerbaijan based on its ongoing aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Amb. O’Brien flatly rejected arguments – often advanced by the Azerbaijani lobby — that enforcing Section 907 would undermine U.S. national security interests, the ANCA reports.

Amb. O’Brien’s statements came during the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) Subcommittee on Europe hearing on “The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh”, where Committee members pressed the State Department and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Dr. Alexander Sokolowski about expanding U.S. aid to the over 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian victims of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing and efforts to stop renewed Aliyev regime aggression against Armenia.

 

“Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh are now living as refugees in Armenia. We cannot afford to look away from the region or be distracted by other conflicts proliferating across the globe,” stated Subcommittee on Europe Chair Tom Kean (R-NJ). He went on to call on State Department and USAID representatives to outline plans for humanitarian assistance to NK refugees and asked them to clarify the Biden Administration’s message to Azerbaijani officials to prevent further attacks against Armenia. “I hope our witnesses today will explain how they are communicating to President Aliyev that the use of force against sovereign Armenian territory, including in the Syunik province, would be completely and totally unacceptable,” stated Chairman Kean.

Subcommittee Ranking Democrat Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) concurred, noting “I strongly believe we must provide humanitarian and economic assistance to displaced people in Armenia and ensure accountability for any potential crimes committed against those fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh or those who are choosing to remain there.”

Speaking of the 100,000 Armenian refugees “uprooted” from NK, Amb. O’Brien told Congress “we insist on the people having complete access to the territory, on the protection of the property, the protection of the culture, and that the people receive adequate information so that they can make a real choice about their future and know that they have the viable opportunity to return and live well in Nagorno-Karabakh if that’s what they choose.” Amb. O’Brien announced that the State Department has commissioned independent investigators, and is working with international partners to provide “a comprehensive, thorough, and transparent record of what happened, not just on those days, but for the months before.” No timeline was announced for the presentation of the report.

In an attempt to address Congressional concerns about a clear US response to Azerbaijan’s attack on NK that led to the forced exile of NK Armenians, Amb. O’Brien noted “We’ve canceled a number of high-level visits […] We don’t anticipate submitting a [section 907] waiver until such time as we see a real improvement in the situation. All of this is to say we continue to urge peace.”

With regard to the U.S. humanitarian aid for NK’s forcibly displaced, Dr. Sokolowski reiterated USAID Administrator Power’s commitment of $11.5 million in U.S. assistance. He also announced that “USAID has focused nearly $6 million in funding from existing programming at USAID Armenia to respond to the humanitarian crisis.”

Members of Congress were skeptical about the State Department’s optimism about Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks and President Aliyev’s commitment to peace in the region.

“I don’t see the peace process as going nearly as well as some of the descriptions I’ve just heard. The meeting in Granada, Spain, the last two meetings, Azerbaijan refused to go. I don’t know how you describe that as being positive,” stated Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA). He went on to raise security concerns stemming from proposed economic corridors through Armenia. “Armenians are concerned and feel threatened by that corridor and what it might imply for another grabbing of land by Azerbaijan once it’s established.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) asked Assistant Secretary O’Brien to outline the specific resources the State Department is prepared to use to ensure Azerbaijan honors a peace deal. “What are you prepared to do, Ambassador [O’Brien], to create a carrot and stick to move this agenda? Are you willing to add sanctions for non-compliance?” Assistant Secretary O’Brien stated, “Yes, we are looking at all the tools we have. I’m not going to preview any sanctions decisions, but that’s certainly a tool in our toolkit.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) questioned Biden Administration’s military aid to Azerbaijan in the face of President Aliyev’s ties with Russia and Iran. “Sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies own significant shares in Azerbaijan’s gas fields exporting energy to Europe, and Azerbaijan has recently signed lucrative energy deals with both countries,” stated Rep. Lawler. Assistant Secretary O’Brien noted they were aware of Azerbaijan’s energy deals, and affirmed they are not in US national interests.

“Many of us here in Congress sent letter after letter after letter and supported resolution after resolution to exert pressure and relieve the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been exacerbated since the 2020 war. It looks like we failed,” stated Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) in powerful remarks questioning the State Department’s assessment of prospects for peace. “The tightening of the stranglehold around Nagorno-Karabakh over the years until the ethnic Armenian population was forced to leave, was not just about counterterrorism, and it was not just about geopolitics,” stated Rep. Schneider. He went on to relay the story of the brutal murder of Armenian serviceman Gurgen Margaryan, axed to death by Azerbaijani soldier Ramil Safarov during a NATO exercise in Hungary in 2004. Safarov was extradited back to Azerbaijan in 2012, where he was promoted and rewarded for his actions. “What should be our takeaway from what happened in 2004 through 2012? How should we think of the possibilities of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan in this context,” asked Rep. Schneider.

Calling the Margaryan’s murder a “reprehensible” set of events, Amb. O’Brien cited the need for “accountability for crimes,” and “setting a new path going forward,” but stopped short of outlining any clear U.S. actions to achieve the former or to ensure the latter – placing the onus on Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We are creating a path for them to take and incentives for them to go there.”

Noting Turkey’s history of genocide against the Armenian people, Rep. Dina Titus cited the close ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan and asked “what kind of damage are they causing now?” Rep. Titus called for end-use monitoring of US weapons sold to Turkey, expressing concern about Turkey’s illegal transfer of military parts and munitions to Azerbaijan

Rep. Madeleine Dean stressed the importance of the hearing. “What started as a blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh culminated in the Azerbaijani offensive on September 19 and 20 to regain control of the region. Within 10 days, approximately 100,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, about 80 percent of the population, fled to Armenia. Armenia, the U.S., E.U., and international organizations have stepped in to provide humanitarian assistance for the refugees, but many questions remain as to their future, as well as the future of Nagorno-Karabakh,” stated Rep. Dean.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1124252.html?fbclid=IwAR1g6LR0zCQ8WqdUNZ7l5V_uhWp3j3GKQe1PsCDHO06YJzujw_VmeyfwGvo

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

U.S. Senate unanimously adopts bill blocking military aid to Azerbaijan

12:43, 17 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Michigan Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) led the unanimous U.S. Senate passage of the “Armenian Protection Act of 2023” (S.3000) which aims to block all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan by removing President Biden’s authority to waive Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025, the ANCA reports.

 

The bill passed on November 15 will be introduced in the House of Representatives. Then, if passed, it will be presented to the United States president for signing to become a law.

In remarks on the Senate Floor during consideration of the measure, Sen. Peters detailed Azerbaijan’s aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. “Not only did they blockade the Lachin Corridor for 10 months, creating significant hardships, they also violently attacked innocent Armenians and forced the dissolution of the government of Nagorno-Karabakh on September 20th.”

Noting that President Biden failed to stop military aid to Azerbaijan in the face of their escalating aggression, Sen. Peters urged his Senate colleagues to act. “If we do not take action when countries willfully ignore the terms of our agreements with them, our agreements will become effectively meaningless and toothless,” stated Senator Peters. “I urge my colleagues to join me in holding Azerbaijan accountable for their actions, enforce our agreements with them, and stand with the Armenian people in the face of unprovoked aggression.”

Sen. Peters travelled to Armenia’s southern Syunik region in September to assess the devastating impact of Azerbaijan’s 10-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. “This visit confirmed that we must do more to protect Armenian lives and prevent ethnic cleansing. Increased aid to the Armenian people is critical, and we must stop providing aid to Azerbaijan and impose targeted sanctions on the Aliyev regime,” stated Sen. Peters.

Sen. Peters introduced S.Res.3000 upon his return which received bipartisan support from Senators Robert Casey (D-PA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in the run up to its unanimous passage.

Two measures in the U.S. House – H.R.5683 & H.R.5686 – if passed, would block U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan by calling for the complete repeal of Presidential waiver authority of Section 907. The measures also urge expanded humanitarian and military assistance to Armenia to address Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression against Armenia and provide assistance to NK’s forcibly displaced Armenian population.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1124348.html?fbclid=IwAR00hJq3pWbq119uZo9FB25pNK2G3BriEe56Cew7ycI4_zNrNrsNilDPQCo

[Yervant1]

Global News, Canada

Nov 17 2023

Azerbaijan must ensure safety of Nagorno-Karabakh people, top UN court orders

By Mike Corder

Associated Press

The U.N. top court on Friday issued an order calling on Azerbaijan to ensure the safety of people who leave, return to or remain in Nagorno-Karabakh, following the Azerbaijani military’s retaking of the separatist region in September.

Armenia asked the International Court of Justice to order so-called provisional measures, guaranteeing safety and protecting property and identity documents, after Azerbaijan’s army routed ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh in a 24-hour campaign that began on Sept. 19.

The region’s separatist government then agreed to disband itself by the end of the year. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh to neighboring Armenia.

Armenia last month urged judges to issue interim orders on Azerbaijan to prevent what the leader of Armenia’s legal team called the “ethnic cleansing” of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from becoming irreversible.

“Azerbaijan has not engaged and will not engage in ethnic cleansing or any form of attack on the civilian population of Karabakh,” he said at the hearings in October. He made pledges that Azerbaijan would do all it could to ensure the safety and rights of all citizens in the region.

The court said Friday that those pledges “are binding and create legal obligations for Azerbaijan.”

The judges then, by a 13-2 majority, ruled that Azerbaijan must ensure that people who left Nagorno-Karabakh after the Sept. 19 military operation and want to return “are able to do so in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner.”

The court added that Azerbaijan also must ensure that people who want to leave the region can do so safely and ensure that people who remain in Nagorno-Karabakh or returned and want to stay ”are free from the use of force or intimidation that may cause them to flee.”

The judges also called on Azerbaijan to “protect and preserve registration, identity and private property documents and records” of people in the region and told the country to report back within eight weeks on the measures it takes to implement the orders.

The orders are a preliminary step in a case brought by Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of breaching an international convention against racial discrimination linked to the Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan also has brought a case against Armenia at the world court alleging breaches of the same convention.

Those cases are likely to take years to resolve.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry responded to Friday’s court order by reiterating the country’s position that it did not force out any ethnic Armenians, and that many left despite the government’s call for them to stay.

“Azerbaijan is committed to uphold the human rights of the Armenian residents of Karabakh on an equal basis with other citizens of Azerbaijan in line with its constitution and relevant international obligations,” the ministry said.

After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia.

Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains during a six-week war in 2020, along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier. Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory.

Orders by the court, which adjudicates in disputes between nations, are final and legally binding.

Friday’s ruling came on the day that another court in The Hague, the International Criminal Court, announced that Armenia will become its 124th member state on Feb. 1 after ratifying its founding treaty. The country has said it accepts the court’s jurisdiction dating back to May 10, 2021.

Armenia’s decision to join the court has further strained its already tense relations with ally Russia. The ICC earlier this year issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his alleged involvement in crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine.

The court’s member states are bound to arrest Putin if he sets foot on their soil. Moscow has called Armenia’s effort to join the ICC an “unfriendly step,” even as Yerevan sought to assure that Putin would not be arrested if he entered the country.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10098838/un-court-nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan/

[Yervant1]

Fake sultan and ErDOGan doesn't want peace! I guess attack on Armenia is not off the table.

GEO TV

Nov 17 2023

Azerbaijan rejects the Armenian peace talks scheduled in the United States

BAKU: Azerbaijan on Thursday refused to participate in normalization talks with arch-rival Armenia that were scheduled to be held in the United States this month due to what it described as Washington’s “biased” stance.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a decades-long regional conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Baku regained in September after a lightning attack against Armenian separatists.

Internationally mediated peace talks between the former Soviet republics have seen little progress, but leaders of the two countries said a comprehensive peace agreement could be signed by the end of the year.

The Foreign Ministry in Baku said in a statement: “We do not see it as possible to hold the proposed meeting at the level of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington on November 20, 2023.”

The move came after a hearing in the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, where the department said Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien made “biased and biased statements” about Azerbaijan.

O’Brien told the House of Representatives committee that “there will be nothing normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace path.”

He added, “We have canceled a number of high-level visits and condemned (Baku’s) actions.”

“Such a unilateral approach by the United States could lead to the loss of the American mediation role,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

Armenian Prime minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday that “Yerevan’s political will to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the coming months remains firm.”

Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held several rounds of talks mediated by the European Union.

But last month, Aliyev refused to attend the round of negotiations with Pashinyan in Spain, citing “France’s biased position.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were scheduled to join European Union Secretary General Charles Michel as mediators in those talks.

So far, no tangible progress has been made in the European Union’s efforts to organize a new round of negotiations.

https://geotvnews.com/azerbaijan-rejects-the-armenian-peace-talks-scheduled-in-the-united-states-and-the-world-geotv-news/

 

[Yervant1]

eurasinet

Nov 17 2023

Azerbaijan continues to snub peace talks as U.S. moves to boost support to Armenia Azerbaijan has been ratcheting up its criticism of Western mediators in the peace talks with Armenia, accusing them of bias in favor of Yerevan.Heydar Isayev Nov 17, 2023

Azerbaijan continues to refuse to attend peace talks with Armenia, citing what it calls the biased approach of Western mediating countries. This time it was the U.S. that displeased Azerbaijan.

On November 16, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry put out a statement announcing the country's decision not to attend a meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington scheduled for four days later.

The snub was in large part a response to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James O'Brien's testimony the previous day at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing titled "The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh." He told the committee that the U.S. was working on establishing a "comprehensive, thorough and transparent" record of what happened in the formerly Armenian-populated enclave before and during Azerbaijan's September military takeover.

"We have commissioned independent investigators, we have our own investigators working in the field. There is information available from international non-governmental organizations and other investigators. And as we develop the record of what happened, we will be completely open about what we are finding. I can't put a timeline on this investigation, but we will inform you as we go forward," he said.

O'Brien went on to express support for Armenia, which has been attempting a pivot away from Russia and is scrambling to accommodate the 100,000-some people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh in September.

"I am very impressed by the Armenian government's commitment to reforms and diversifying the relationships that it has – economic, political, energy and security – particularly in the Trans-Atlantic community," he said. "And I think we owe it to the people of Armenia to help them through this difficult situation so that those choices they have made very bravely are able to help them to make them have a more secure, stable and prosperous future."

O'Brien also said that the U.S. had canceled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements with Azerbaijan (without specifying exactly when) and would keep urging Baku to "facilitate the return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who may wish to go back to their homes or visit cultural sites in the region, as well as restore unimpeded commercial, humanitarian, and pedestrian traffic to the region."

In its statement the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called the hearing "a blow to the Azerbaijan-U.S. relations in bilateral and multilateral formats."

"The groundless accusations voiced against Azerbaijan are irrelevant and undermine peace and security in the region," the statement read.

On the day of the hearing, the U.S. Senate also adopted a bill titled "Armenian Protection Act of 2023". If it becomes law, the bill will suspend all military aid to Azerbaijan by repealing the Freedom Support Act Section 907 waiver authority for the Administration with respect to assistance to Azerbaijan for the years 2024 and 2025.

On that front, Azerbaijan's diplomatic body argued that the U.S. was repeating "the same mistake" it made in 1992, when Azerbaijan was sanctioned with this amendment, "despite being a state who faced aggression and occupation" at the hands of Armenian forces.

Also on November 16, the U.S. reaffirmed its support for Armenia-Azerbaijan rapprochement irrespective of who mediates. "We would encourage the two parties to engage in those talks, whether they are here, whether they are somewhere else, and that'll continue to be our policy," spokesperson of the U.S. State Department Matthew Miller told a briefing.

Baku for its part does not seem interested in the U.S. having an active role in those talks. For some months now, it has been expressing distaste with Western-brokered negotiations and instead shown a preference for regional mediators like Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

And its latest statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry warned that, "uch a unilateral approach by the United States could lead to the loss of the mediation role of the United States."

Heydar Isayev is a journalist from Baku.

https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-continues-to-snub-peace-talks-as-us-moves-to-boost-support-to-armenia

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

There must be real consequences for Aliyev's aggression toward Armenia – Congressman Pallone

16:33, 17 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. United States Congressman Frank Pallone has commended the Senate passing of the Armenian Protection Act which aims to block all U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan by removing the U.S. President's authority to waive Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025.

“I applaud the Senate for passing the Armenian Protection Act,” Pallone said on X. “Now, the House must follow and pass my bipartisan bill, H.R. 5683, which will repeal Section 907 and ban U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan. There must be real consequences for Aliyev's aggression toward Armenia.”

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1124367.html?fbclid=IwAR3qzgK2ASqa2TeNFMfFbzrBR_2_Ziv3SJCMP0_HawEELF706x3PPELdayE

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

DeSantis and Haley Join Ramaswamy in calling out Azerbaijan for ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians

12:44, 18 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley joined with Vivek Ramaswamy in condemning Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s 120,000 indigenous Armenians at The FAMiLY Leader Thanksgiving candidate forum in Iowa, a high-profile program co-sponsored by the 120,000 Reasons Coalition, Oragark (ARF official publication) newspaper reported.

Their statements were made during a table-side talk led by The FAMiLY Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats. Noting that Armenia is the first Christian nation and citing Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of 120,000 Armenian Christians, Vander Plaats asked the three candidates, “how would you ensure that this bastion of ancient Christianity is safeguarded?”

In his response, Gov. DeSantis noted, “I think the United States should be standing for the Christians in Armenia. I think that is a noble cause.”

 

Amb. Nikki Haley underscored in her response, “What happened in Azerbaijan is a travesty… we should be calling out Azerbaijan.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, offered the most detailed response, stating that “120,000 Armenians, the oldest Christian nation of the world, displaced. And, the even dirtier secret at the heart of that – we’re [the US government] is paying for it.” Ramaswamy criticized the Biden Administration for waiving Section 907 restrictions, arming and abetting Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Armenians.

Ramaswamy has been outspoken in spotlighting Azerbaijan’s forced displacement of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians on the campaign trail, discussing the matter with Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan, and attending a 120,000 Reasons protest organized by the ANCA Eastern Region and AYF Eastern Region on the eve of the GOP presidential candidates debate in Miami, Florida. He recently attended an Armenian reception at Armenian Estates, in Genoa Township, OH, hosted by Tigran and Viola Safaryan and Steve and Erna Atikian. Longtime ANC-Ohio leader David Krikorian introduced Ramaswamy at the event, which was attended by Armenian Americans from across the Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland areas.

Vander Plaats and The FAMiLY Leader are part of the 120,000 Reasons coalition, which has been working on the ground in Iowa and across the US to exert pressure on the White House, Congress, and the 2024 Presidential candidates to break the silence on the Azeri ethnic cleansing campaign targeting Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and to support the sovereignty and security of Armenia.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1124422.html?fbclid=IwAR1pTI4DPwpXWBXeoYA2OGQx8rzy_6_6WzI7nUyQtcMavBRp_rB_SDzc4SA

[Yervant1]

Foreign Brief

Nov 20 2023

AZERBAIJAN REJECTS US INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN PEACE TALKS WITH ARMENIA IN WASHINGTON

BY NICK GIURLEO

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

Azerbaijan has declined an invitation from the US to participate in peace talks with Armenia in Washington today.

According to Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry, Azerbaijan would not send its foreign minister to participate in peace talks in the American capital due to the less-than-neutral stance of the administration of President Joe Biden on the ongoing crisis over Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku has specifically cited testimony by US Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien to the House of Representatives omitting references to Azerbaijani peace overtures to Armenia.

Azerbaijan’s decision is a significant blow to US efforts to present as an honest broker in the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. On the micro level, it demonstrates a lack of unity and oversight within the State Department, criticized recently, for example, for internal dissent from some lower-level officials on the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel. On the macro level, expect the snub to help open the door for other interested brokers, like Turkey and Russia, to negotiate a peace agreement. The timing is especially poor for the US as Armenia and Azerbaijan have signalled—most recently at the latest meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Saturday—that Yerevan and Baku are moving closer to a treaty.

https://www.foreignbrief.com/azerbaijan-rejects-us-invitation-to-participate-in-peace-talks-with-armenia-in-washington/

[Yervant1]

Anadolu Agency, Turkey

Nov 20 2023

Azerbaijan calls French statement on ICJ decision on Karabakh ‘irrelevant, unacceptable’

‘It is lamentable that this country…misinterprets and meddles in the Court’s affairs on a matter that has nothing to do with France,’ says Foreign Ministry

Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan said Sunday that a statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry about a decision last week by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the situation in Karabakh is “irrelevant and unacceptable.”

The ICJ issued an order on Friday which stipulates that Baku should ensure the safety of those who wish to depart Karabakh and that those who wish to stay must remain “free from the use of force or intimidation that may cause them to flee.”

The French Foreign Ministry said this corresponds to the position of Paris.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said “France’s disregard for the rejection by the Court of most of the unlawful requests by Armenia is another vivid example of double-standards and bias against Azerbaijan.”

“It is lamentable that this country, which has presented itself as the greatest advocate of justice and order, misinterprets and meddles in the Court’s affairs on a matter that has nothing to do with France,” it added.

It said that France should “focus on the implementation of orders that are related to it, including with regard to its notorious colonial policy and illegal acts, including related to nuclear tests.”

“Unlike France, Azerbaijan takes its international obligations seriously,” it added.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/azerbaijan-calls-french-statement-on-icj-decision-on-karabakh-irrelevant-unacceptable-/3058906

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Armenpress.am

U.S. ‘would welcome a role’ in facilitating Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations

11:19, 21 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. The United States continues to engage the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan and offer to facilitate a dignified and durable peace where the rights of all are respected, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said in Washington on Monday.

“I will say that we continue to engage the leadership of both countries and offer to facilitate a dignified and durable peace where the rights of all are respected. It is important that Armenia and Azerbaijan discuss and resolve issues directly to benefit the region. We would welcome a role in facilitating those talks. We’ve seen other countries offer to facilitate those talks. We think it’s important that the two countries talk face to face to reach a durable agreement,” Miller said at a press briefing.

Miller refused to comment on the U.S.-mediated Armenian-Azerbaijani foreign ministerial negotiations that were scheduled to take place on November 20, but were cancelled after Azerbaijan opted out.

Asked whether the U.S. still continues offering Washington as a potential platform for the talks, Miller said: “As I just said, we would be willing to facilitate those talks, as we have in the past, and we welcome other countries doing so as well.”

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1124578.html?fbclid=IwAR2Lohq_G10tFXuBJxIviCDokVnit0EQidBMVD5PKQxSgpddER2kFTQADcQ

[Yervant1]

Armenpress.am

Azerbaijan offers Armenia to hold direct talks

16:58, 21 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has offered Armenia to hold a meeting on the state border to continue the peace talks, according to a statement released by the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.

"Azerbaijan is ready for direct bilateral talks with Armenia to achieve the peace deal as soon as possible. We believe that the two countries should decide the future of their relations together. The two countries bear responsibility for the continuation of the peace process, including the selection of a mutually suitable venue or a decision to meet at the state border," the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said in a statement, according to the Trend news agency.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said it conveyed to Azerbaijan new proposals on a peace treaty.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1124626.html?fbclid=IwAR2A3_ETi-loYHxbevpUd_eBMgD--q0DvIev6_LUKmURQ_cxAP7-q4QxQUA