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Azerbaijan Eyes Prestige Boost From Hosting COP29, Despite The Critics

November 10, 2024 08:18 GMT
 
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A mural painted on a highway welcomes visitors ahead of the 29th UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, scheduled for November 11-22.
 

As Azerbaijan prepares to host this month's global climate summit, it is getting plenty of the attention it has sought. But as often happens when this oil-rich, authoritarian state is home to a high-profile international event, much of the publicity is bad.

Baku surely expected it would get criticism from the likes of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) when it won its bid last year to host the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) on November 11-22. It has also been taking flak within business and finance circles, however.

Unflattering pieces in the Financial Times and The Economist have accused it of using the COP-adjacent cred to deflect from its own "critically insufficient" climate plans, "launder" the reputation of authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev, and generally "greenwash" the regime, distracting from a poor human rights record and other faults.

"I cannot but touch upon the smear campaign by some media outlets aimed at tarnishing Azerbaijan's image under false pretext," Aliyev groused publicly at a pre-COP meeting on October 10. "Such vain attempts cannot derail us from achieving our noble mission to cope with the negative impacts of climate change."

It is a drill Azerbaijan has been through before. The country has long regarded holding large-scale events as a path toward international prestige. It hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012. It has bid repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully, to host the Summer Olympics and has hosted two Olympics-like events: the European Games in 2015 and the Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017. Since 2017, it has hosted the Formula One circuit's Azerbaijan Grand Prix through downtown Baku.

Azerbaijan has gotten bad press for big events in the past. But the problem could be magnified with COP29 this month, given its planetary stakes and alleged obfuscation around its precursors in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Azerbaijan has gotten bad press for big events in the past. But the problem could be magnified with COP29 this month, given its planetary stakes and alleged obfuscation around its precursors in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

The Azerbaijani government is drawn to such hosting opportunities for "brand-making purposes," said Najmin Kamilsoy, an analyst and doctoral candidate in public policy at Charles University in Prague.

At the same time, "the government is very sensitive to the negative attention of the international media ahead of the event," he told RFE/RL. "They want as many Western stakeholders as possible to attend COP29, and they want their organization of the event to be regarded as successful."

Azerbaijan has gotten bad press for big events in the past. But the problem could be magnified with COP29, given its planetary stakes.

"I don't think the government was fully aware that COP was not Formula One or Eurovision, that it had global implications," said Arzu Geybulla, an Azerbaijani journalist and co-author of a new report by the U.K.-based think tank Chatham House.

Greta Thunberg Slams Climate Summit Hosted By Azerbaijan
 
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COP29's Azerbaijani organizers are paying PR firm Teneo $4.7 million to manage publicity for the event. A Teneo filing under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act shows hundreds of attempts to reach out to the press, with a clear emphasis on major English-language media.

One of the organizers' key narratives about the conference is that it will be dedicated to "peace." They have promoted the idea of a "COP Truce," calling on warring parties around the world to suspend fighting for the duration of the event. Chatham House called the idea "incongruous" and "implausible" in light of Azerbaijan's recent military offensive to retake Nagorno-Karabakh and its continuing pressure on neighboring Armenia.

It also argued that the proclaimed peace agenda risks distracting from COP29's key climate challenges and thus making it a failure.

"I cannot but touch upon the smear campaign by some media outlets aimed at tarnishing Azerbaijan's image under false pretext," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev groused publicly at a pre-COP meeting.
"I cannot but touch upon the smear campaign by some media outlets aimed at tarnishing Azerbaijan's image under false pretext," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev groused publicly at a pre-COP meeting.

"A poor COP29 outcome could invite allegations of, at best, greenwashing. At worst, it could bring accusations of a dereliction of duty," the Chatham House authors wrote. "Recriminations towards Azerbaijan would likely damage its international reputation and undermine goodwill towards its government, as opposed to strengthening or resetting the country's international relations as the leadership might hope in the event that COP29 is perceived as successful."

In its pushback against the bad press, Azerbaijani officials and pro-government media have relied on a well-established playbook, including blaming it on the global Armenian lobby.

They also argue that it's illogical that Azerbaijan would seek to "greenwash" by inviting attention.

"It's completely counterintuitive because what is happening now is that there is a much greater emphasis and spotlight on Azerbaijan," Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to the United Kingdom, told Times Radio. "Who would do this? Who would try to avoid scrutiny by inviting the spotlight?"

As the climate summit approaches, Azerbaijan's government may be wondering: Is all publicity good publicity?
As the climate summit approaches, Azerbaijan's government may be wondering: Is all publicity good publicity?

Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Mukhtar Babayev, a longtime state-oil executive who is also president of COP29, blamed unnamed ill-wishers.

"Azerbaijan has achieved significant success: restoration of territorial integrity, economic achievements, strong positions in the international arena. Some countries don't perceive this. It is difficult for them to assess it fairly. However, we expected [such a campaign]," he said.

But he praised the country's PR representatives for fighting back.

"Thanks to the work of this professional team, there has not been a week this year when we have not provided information and made statements to international media," Babayev said. "Now [foreign journalists] all understand and see the strength of our country."

In the end, though, the audience for such mega-events is less international NGOs and press than international policymakers, said Kamilsoy.

"For the Azerbaijani elite, COP is an intergovernmental platform and the civil-society dimension of it is negligible," he said.

As a result, Azerbaijan's government might be increasingly unconcerned at the criticism.

"It feels emboldened and totally dismissive on the accountability front, both internally and externally," Geybulla said.

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    Joshua Kucera

    Joshua Kucera is a journalist living in Tbilisi. He also contributes to Eurasianet, The Economist, and other publications.

 
 
 
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Verdict becomes meaningless without enforcement! The butcher already erased everything Armenian in Artsakh, just like they did in Nakhichevan.

 

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Nov 11 2024
 
 

Press release November 11, 2024

NEW REPORT: Azerbaijani Regime Ethnically Cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh According to International Fact-Finding Mission

Freedom House and partners found that Azerbaijani authorities waged a deliberate campaign to empty Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population.

WASHINGTON—The Azerbaijani regime engaged in ethnic cleansing against the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a report released today from an international fact-finding mission composed of Freedom House and a coalition of six other partners.

The report, which builds on initial findings released in June, examined the situation for ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh between the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020 and the Azerbaijani regime’s September 2023 military offensive, along with the aftermath of that offensive. The report found multiple cases of gross human rights violations, breaches of international humanitarian law, and violations of international criminal law by Azerbaijani authorities against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, through extrajudicial killings, a monthslong blockade, forced displacement, and postdisplacement policies of cultural erasure and property destruction.

The documented evidence aligns with the definition of ethnic cleansing put forward by a UN commission of experts in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The fact-finding report also supports the conclusion that the acts documented in Nagorno-Karabakh constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report’s release comes as Baku hosts the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), the annual UN forum on climate change.

“Baku’s military offensive and the use of blockade, starvation, and threats were brutal tactics meant to forcibly displace ethnic Armenians out of Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Andranik Shirinyan, Armenia country representative at Freedom House. “The Azerbaijani regime’s unchecked actions in Nagorno-Karabakh set a dangerous precedent of undemocratic regimes using force to end conflicts. The global community must step up its efforts to address the human rights abuses faced by the ethnic Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”

Key findings include:

  • The Azerbaijani state’s actions constitute ethnic cleansing using forced displacement as a means. It acted upon a comprehensive, methodically implemented strategy to empty Nagorno-Karabakh of its ethnic Armenian population and historical and cultural presence. The documented evidence meets the criteria for ethnic cleansing as defined by a UN commission of experts’ report examining violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
  • The September 2023 displacement of 100,000 ethnic Armenians was the culmination of an intensive, yearslong campaign. This campaign by the Azerbaijani state included widespread human rights violations in various forms against the ethnic Armenian population, using prolonged tactics of intimidation and a blockade. Such actions made it impossible for the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh to live safely and in a dignified manner.
  • Ethnic Armenian residents suffered multiple violations to their rights and freedoms. Fact finders documented violations to residents’ rights to life, health, food, freedom of movement, adequate living standards, liberty and personal integrity, education, and property. Cultural rights were also violated. Ethnic Armenians additionally suffered violations to their right to live without torture and ill treatment. Perpetrators willfully killed civilians—even in the presence of peacekeepers—and enjoyed absolute impunity. This heightened the insecurity and terror among the population prior to the mass displacement in September 2023.
  • Violations in Nagorno-Karabakh remain ongoing in the form of erasure of Armenian cultural and historical presence. This includes the planned or completed destruction of Armenian cultural monuments, churches, cemeteries, and residential neighborhoods.

The report identifies a number of steps that democratic governments can take to address impunity. These recommendations include:

  • Urge accountability for acts of impunity. Support international efforts to prosecute crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including by making a state referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Implement targeted sanctions, such as travel bans and asset freezes, against Azerbaijani officials, military leaders, and individuals implicated in gross human rights violations and war crimes.
  • Uphold the rights of displaced ethnic Armenians. Urge the Azerbaijani state to establish conditions for the safe and voluntary return of displaced Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh, with robust safety guarantees and assurances of nondiscrimination. Support initiatives that safeguard the rights of forcibly displaced people and advocate for the implementation of strong legal protections and support services. Ensure that the voices of the affected population are heard and their rights upheld in all relevant international forums.
  • Protect Armenian cultural heritage. Urge Azerbaijan to uphold international cultural-preservation standards and prevent further destruction or modification of Armenian cultural properties. Advocate for Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other relevant bodies to facilitate independent monitoring missions and promote international dialogue for the protection and restoration of these sites.

The fact-finding mission was composed of Freedom House, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Democracy Development Foundation (DDF), Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly–Vanadzor, Protection of Rights Without Borders NGO, Law Development and Protection Foundation, and Truth Hounds. The mission’s full report collected evidence from 330 witness interviews representing 71 of 107 Nagorno-Karabakh communities. It expands on initial findings released in June 2024 with additional documented evidence and analysis on the September 2023 military offensive, the ensuing displacement of ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, and the aftermath, including details on all of the routes used by residents to evacuate. It also expands on legal frameworks and provides a comprehensive set of recommendations.

View the full report and its complete recommendations here. Click to read the fact-finding mission’s initial summary-of-findings report here.

To schedule an interview with Freedom House experts, please contact Maryam Iftikhar at press@freedomhouse.org.

To schedule an interview with IPHR experts, please contact iphr@iphronline.org.

To schedule an interview with DDF experts, please contact press@demdev.org.

https://freedomhouse.org/article/new-report-azerbaijani-regime-ethnically-cleansed-nagorno-karabakh-according-international 

 

 

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Armenpress.am

 
Politics16:25, 11 November 2024

Anne-Laurence Petel lauds Macron’s decision to skip COP-29 in Baku

 

Anne-Laurence Petel lauds Macron’s decision to skip COP-29 in Baku

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. French politician Anne-Laurence Petel has said that President Emmanuel Macron has made the right decision to not participate in the COP-29 in Azerbaijan.

“He’s made a right decision, because going to Baku contains the risk of shaking the hand of the dictator and legitimizing the explicit imitation, because Azerbaijan is absolutely not a country that participated in ecological transition,” Anne-Laurence Petel said in an interview with Sud Radio. “Azerbaijan is a petro-dictatorship and a country where the human rights situation is disastrous. Emmanuel Macron has actively supported Armenia since 2020, when the war in Nagorno-Karabakh began. He has done a lot in order for Europe to support Armenia in withstanding Azerbaijan.”

France is represented at COP-29 by Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition of France.

Asked whether Paris wasn’t supposed to completely boycott COP-29, the politician said, "There’s a difference between a complete boycott and sending technical experts or not political figures. I think if we want to participate from an ecological perspective, we can send specialists or experts, but I don’t understand why we should have a political representation or participation of a cabinet member. I think we could have refrained from that presence. Today we must understand that Ilham Aliyev is the person who not only started a horrifying war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 with the use of phosphorus bombs, but is also a dictator in his own country, because there are 300 political prisoners there.”

Anne-Laurence Petel accused Aliyev of interfering into French domestic affairs.

“Approximately 1,5 years ago, he created the so-called Baku Initiative Group, which is focused on uniting regionalists and separatists, be it in New Caledonia, Corsica or in other regions of France. Their goal is to create instability in the country. I’d like to stress that Aliyev’s opponent who was in exile and was living in France was killed in October 2024 in Mulhouse. Today, opposition blogger Mahammad Mirzali is under French police protection, lives in France, and there’ve been several attempts on his life in France,” Petel said.

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1204604?fbclid=IwY2xjawGgj0tleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYyvJgz6UxnFJa1KNEnWuRLJsln02XBtZyUkU1jPZPY-XfG36f-Qs66Rcg_aem_aTQD1xFBMHPLSW8B1aqowQ

 

 

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The Telegraph, UK
Nov 12 2024
 
 

Is the UK turning a blind eye to genocide against Armenian Christians for commercial gain?

A strong case can be made that the Baku regime’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabkh is an international crime

Luis Moreno OcampoFormer Chief Prosecutor of International Criminal Court

Last Sunday many Christian churches around the world conducted Ecumenical Prayer Services to call for the release of 23 ethnic Armenians unjustly detained in Baku. Today diplomats from all over the world are flying into the city for the UN Climate Conference (COP29).

The lack of progress in tackling climate change, together with the 2023 “ethnic cleansing” of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, exposes a fundamental and recurring concern in world affairs: that “national interests” will always emerge to block global solutions to existential problems like genocide and climate change. 

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently illustrated this, sparking controversy by describing Azerbaijan’s actions in Nagorno-Karabakh as a “liberation” rather than addressing them as international crimes. Mr Lammy’s remarks have remained uncorrected. Some argue this highlights the UK’s willingness to overlook severe human rights abuses to facilitate investments by British Petroleum (BP) in the region – investments that, despite their “green” label, will likely worsen climate change.

For thousands of years, Armenians inhabited the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which became an autonomous “oblast” within Azerbaijan during the Soviet Union era. After Armenia’s victory in a 1993 war, the enclave declared itself the Republic of Artsakh, and Armenians occupied the surrounding territory. Azerbaijan reclaimed the area following another war in 2020, turning Nagorno-Karabakh into an enclave under Russian peacekeeper protection, with access only via the Lachin Corridor.

In February 2023, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to keep the Lachin Corridor open to safeguard the Armenian population. Instead, Azerbaijan closed it, halting essential supplies and restricting movement. By September 2023, Azerbaijan had escalated its campaign, shelling Nagorno-Karabakh and forcing approximately 120,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia, abandoning their homeland and enduring the “serious mental harm” outlined in the Genocide Convention. 23 of them are in Baku jails as a message to Armenians, if you come back this will be your destiny.

If President Aliyev intended to destroy this ethnic group, the actions would constitute genocide. Absent that intent, they still qualify as crimes against humanity, including persecution and forced deportation.

The US and European countries issued condemnations but stopped short, as they always do, of labelling Azerbaijan’s actions as genocide, opting seemingly to preserve geopolitical alliances rather than take actions required under the convention to prevent genocide. 

The US sees Azerbaijan as a strategic counter to Iran and Russia. Europeans, unable to get oil and gas from President Putin, have strengthened ties with President Aliyev. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls him a “trusted partner”. But what is the difference between Putin and Aliyev are accused of committing serious international crimes? 

Signatories to the Genocide Convention, including these nations, are legally bound to prevent genocide. However, they avoid this obligation by declining to legally define the acts as such. Instead, they use the term “ethnic cleansing” – a powerful phrase but not a prosecutable crime – to sidestep accusations of Armenian genocide in 2023.

A similar dynamic emerges with climate change. The 2015 Paris Accords oblige nations to reduce fossil fuel use. Yet the agreement lacks an independent enforcement body, allowing countries, again, to prioritise their national interests. A few countries meet their targets while others neglect them entirely.

In response, “green funds” were established to finance clean energy initiatives, with climate finance a key objective for COP29. Azerbaijan, as host nation, is positioned to steer the negotiations, but its interests differ from non-oil-producing nations that rely on green funds for clean energy transitions. 

Fossil fuels account for over 90 per cent of Azerbaijan’s exports. Azerbaijan plans to use green funds to develop domestic solar power, freeing up fossil fuels for export. Such a policy contradicts the International Energy Agency’s warning that new fossil fuel projects are incompatible with climate goals. The impact on climate remains unchanged while Azerbaijani fuel is simply burned in Europe.

Azerbaijan’s government is actively promoting its green vision for Nagorno-Karabakh, designating the de-populated region as a “green energy zone”. BP was the first to seize this investment opportunity. Its regional director has praised Azerbaijan’s efforts to make Karabakh “the heart of sustainable development”. 

This begs the question: Is David Lammy’s endorsement of Azerbaijan’s “liberation” narrative part of a business deal? Allegations of international crimes are overlooked – and green investments in Azerbaijan are going to intensify climate change, not reduce it. 

Nothing has improved in a century. The first step towards the 1915 genocide was the incarceration and killing of the Armenian elite as Germany and the US deliberately looked the other way. Next week in Baku, while Mr Lammy and other leaders talk about climate change, they will ignore the hypocrisy of using green funds to promote fossil fuel exports. 

More gravely, they will deny the fact that 23 ethnic Armenians, including democratically elected leaders, are victims of international crimes and incarcerated just a few kilometres from COP29 venues.


Luis Moreno Ocampo served as the founder prosecutor of the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2012

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/12/ethnic-cleansing-genocide-nagorno-karabakh-cop29-azerbaijan/

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Azatutyun.am

 

U.S. Watchdog Decries Azeri ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Of Karabakh

Նոյեմբեր 11, 2024
 
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Ethnic Armenians flee Karabakh for Armenia sitting in a truck at the Lachin checkpoint controlled by Russian peackeepers and Azeri border guards, 26 September 2023.
 

Last year’s exodus of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population was the result of Azerbaijan’s systematic “policy of ethnic cleansing,” U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House and six other human rights groups said in an extensive report released on Monday.

The 130-page report presents the findings of a joint fact-finding mission launched by them after Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive that forced more than 100,000 Karabakh Armenians to flee to Armenia.

“The policy of ethnic cleansing was executed through a combination of meticulously planned violent and non-violent measures that have been in place since 2020. Violent actions included targeted killings, shootings, and military offensives,” it says, describing some of those actions as war crimes.

“These practices culminated in the large-scale offensive on September 19, [2023] which affected all residents of Nagorno-Karabakh,” adds the report based on interviews conducted with 330 Karabakh Armenian refugees.

Freedom House and its Western and Armenian partner organizations insisted that even before the offensive that restored its full control of Karabakh Baku sought to drive the Karabakh Armenians out of their homeland by “creating conditions of severe insecurity, hardship, and psychological duress.” They singled out a nearly yearlong Azerbaijani blockade of the region that preceded the exodus not prevented or stopped by Russian peacekeepers.

They went on to urge the international community to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan and refer it to the International Criminal Court (ICC) while pressuring Baku to create conditions for the “safe and voluntary return” of the Karabakh Armenians. The release of their report was clearly timed to coincide with the start of the annual UN climate change summit held in the Azerbaijani capital.

A satellite image shows a long traffic jam of vehicles along the Lachin corridor as ethnic Armenians flee from the Nagorno-Karabakh, September 26, 2023.
A satellite image shows a long traffic jam of vehicles along the Lachin corridor as ethnic Armenians flee from the Nagorno-Karabakh, September 26, 2023.

Azerbaijan denies forcing the Karabakh Armenians to flee their homes and says they can live there under Azerbaijani rule. Karabakh’s leaders and ordinary residents rejected such an option even before the Azerbaijani offensive condemned by the United States and the European Union.

Despite that condemnation, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden did not impose sanctions on Baku or Azerbaijani officials. A senior U.S. State Department official, James O’Brien, said in June that Washington has commissioned “an outside group that advocates for human rights globally” to look into the Karabakh exodus to determine whether it was the result of ethnic cleansing.

Artak Beglarian, a former Karabakh premier, suggested on Monday that the report drawn up by Freedom House and its partners is the “independent review” that was mentioned by O’Brien. Andranik Shirinyan, the Armenia country representative at Freedom House, did not deny that.

“All I can say is that they [the U.S.] are also waiting for the full report to be released to draw their conclusions,” Shirinyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

It remains to be seen whether the report will influence the policy of the outgoing Biden administration or the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. The latter condemned the “forcible displacement” of the Karabakh Armenians and vowed to “stop the violence and ethnic cleansing” as he courted Armenian American voters in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.

 

 

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/33198290.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGgwXJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHd1K-d0yHTwIki5LRwkUQszG8UYhIqGF3Zhs2DUyH1pzpyOcG6Ua6cCTAA_aem_IvRnbKLtHpCOIrKFybXJEw

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CaliforniaCourier.com

 

Senior Azerbaijan MP’s letter on Karabakh Armenians angers Switzerland lawmakers

· NOVEMBER 12, 2024

unnamed-2024-11-12T144948.433.jpg

News.am

On October 15, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council, the lower house of the Swiss Parliament, had passed a resolution demanding the Swiss authorities to hold an international conference on the return of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Armenians to their homeland. With that, however, the Swiss parliamentarians provoked the anger of Azerbaijan.

 

In late October, all the members of the aforesaid committee received an individual letter from Azerbaijan, in which MP Rizvan Nabiyev demanded the withdrawal of the approved motion from the committee.

 

image_2024_11_11T11_04_26_173Z.png (451 KB)

 

Swiss parliamentarian Erich Vontobel, who is the author of the controversial resolution, does not allow himself to be intimidated and is convinced that the Swiss National Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee has clearly hit Azerbaijan’s sore spot.

“The Swiss parliament has the freedom to make decisions on such initiatives—without the influence of external pressure. I support the right of Karabakh Armenians to return to their homeland and rely on the real peace process. An immediate peace conference will be crucial in promoting stability in the region,” Vontobel said.

image_2024_11_11T11_02_27_710Z.png (308 KB)

 

Swiss MP Niklaus-Samuel “Nick” Gugger already had negative experiences with the Azerbaijani government. After reading the letter, the lawmaker is convinced: “This is an unacceptable and really unpleasant letter, a brazen attempt to influence a foreign parliament.” Gugger hopes that the representative of the Swiss executive, Minister Albert Rosti, will discuss the Armenian issue at the upcoming UN climate conference in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

image_2024_11_11T11_02_54_799Z.png (349 KB)

Swiss parliamentarian Nicolas Walder also is not intimidated by the aforesaid letter, but, in his view, the audacity to send such letters to the lawmakers of a sovereign state is astonishing. “It’s a rather undiplomatic intervention,” he noted.

 

image_2024_11_11T11_03_27_190Z.png (413 KB)

At the December session, the National Council of Switzerland will vote on the aforementioned resolution adopted by its Foreign Affairs Committee, which requires the country’s executive to hold a peace conference within a year on the return of Artsakh Armenians to their homeland.

 

 

https://www.thecaliforniacourier.com/senior-azerbaijan-mps-letter-on-karabakh-armenians-angers-switzerland-lawmakers/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGhCq1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdD9f6i5yvStjDkG9MVZOrhbRwwLohOQ3SvRTP0MCuHR4iS9AWIqMIE8UQ_aem_GUKtORc8WV2LzaNwb8-Ohw

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OC Media
Nov 13 2024
 

ICJ accepts jurisdiction over Azerbaijan v. Armenia cases, rejects objections against Armenia

clock_088f7a37.png 13 November 2024
 

The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Tuesday that it had jurisdiction to proceed with the competing cases between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but rejected all of Azerbaijan’s claims against Armenia. 

 

The ICJ’s ruling on Tuesday stems from claims filed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan over alleged violations of international law. An actual decision by the ICJ on the merits of the case may take several more years. 

The ICJ ruled that it had jurisdiction to proceed with ruling on the lawsuits filed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Both countries have accused each other of violating a UN regulation prohibiting racial discrimination known as the (CERD) related to the decades-long conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In addition to ruling on jurisdiction, the ICJ also rejected all of Azerbaijan’s objections in the case against Armenia. At the same time, the court accepted two of Armenia’s objections and rejected another in the case. 

The decision stems from a lawsuit that Armenia filed against Azerbaijan more than three years ago when Yerevan accused Baku of violating the convention. Two years later, Azerbaijan filed a countersuit with identical claims. 

However, the ICJ dismissed all objections from Azerbaijan while upholding some from Armenia, implying Azerbaijan’s claim will be limited in scope, namely that it will not examine events from the First Nagorno-Karabakh War or accusations regarding environmental damage in the region.

The unanimous decision of the 17-member commission relates to counter-complaints filed with the ICJ in September 2021. The complaint centres around Armenia’s claim that Azerbaijan violated the CERD and carried out a policy of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the region.

 

Azerbaijan rejected the allegations and filed a counterclaim with the ICJ and  accused Armenia of inciting hatred and pushing  ‘racist’ propaganda.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry stated that the ICJ’s decision on ‘ethnic cleansing and other illegal actions carried out by Armenia during its occupation of the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan for decades will be thoroughly investigated by the Court’.

‘With regards to Azerbaijan’s Preliminary Objections, the Court has importantly reserved all analysis of the facts and evidence related to Armenia’s false claims of racial discrimination merits phase’, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said, adding that it will ‘continue efforts to hold Armenia accountable for its numerous breaches of international human rights during decades of occupation of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory and the associated conflicts’.

The court did not say when the next hearings in the rival cases would take place. A ruling on the merits of the cases is expected to take years. While the ICJ's rulings are binding, the court has no mechanism for enforcing them.

Following a months-long blockade that resulted in the cutting of supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan launched a military operation against the region in September 2023. Nagorno-Karabakh collapsed and surrendered shortly after, announcing its own dissolution. Within days, more than 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians fled the region to seek refuge in Armenia.

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

 

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Armenpress.am

 
Azerbaijan21:29, 18 November 2024

Council of Europe Advisory Committee calls on Azerbaijan to create conditions for safe return of Karabakh Armenians

5 minute read

Council of Europe Advisory Committee calls on Azerbaijan to create conditions for safe return of Karabakh Armenians

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. According to Council of Europe experts Azerbaijan must improve the possibilities of its national minorities exercising their rights.

The Fifth Opinion on Azerbaijan of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has been published.

The body’s experts have found the conditions in Azerbaijan to be insufficient for ensuring full and effective equality of national minorities.

In its report, the advisory committee stressed that it is assessing for the first time the situation in the Karabakh region and underscored the need for immediate measures to resolve the post-conflict situation.

“During this monitoring cycle, Azerbaijan reestablished its effective control over Karabakh, as well as seven adjacent districts, which resulted in the mass displacement of more than 100 000 ethnic Armenians. In order to secure sustainable peace in the region, it will be of utmost importance to ensure all the rights contained in the Framework Convention for persons belonging to the Armenian and other minorities. The Advisory Committee assesses, for the first time, the situation in this region and addresses recommendations to the Azerbaijani authorities, with the intention of supporting them in the post-conflict reintegration and reconciliation process, including in carrying out confidence-building measures to ensure a peaceful co-existence of persons belonging to different communities,” the committee said in the report.

“There is a strong public narrative against the Republic of Armenia in the context of the Karabakh conflict, impacting directly the attitudes towards ethnic Armenians. Following an almost ten-month blockade of the Lachin corridor, the military operation of the Azerbaijani authorities in September 2023 and the sudden reopening of the corridor, more than 100 000 Armenians have left the region. Ensuring the possibility for safe return, restitution of property or compensation, protecting Armenian cultural and religious heritage, effectively guaranteeing minority rights and fostering a genuine truth and reconciliation process will be essential to lay the foundations for peaceful coexistence in the future. The current negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at normalising their relations could be seen as an opportunity to develop confidence building measures in line with the principles of the Framework Convention and to strive for a lasting peace in the region,” it added.

The advisory committee called on Azerbaijan to create conditions necessary for the safe return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.

“The Advisory Committee urges the authorities to create the political, legal and practical conditions necessary for safe, unimpeded and sustainable return of displaced Armenians from Karabakh and to set up a dedicated mechanism to deal with property issues, with clear criteria to be defined in cooperation with all relevant actors. The authorities should refrain from and resolutely combat anti-Armenian narratives to prepare the ground for the reconciliation process."

“The Advisory Committee urges the authorities to inventory, protect and preserve all Armenian religious and cultural sites and artefacts and to investigate all allegations of vandalism, destruction and alteration of historic and cultural monuments and cemeteries used by ethnic Armenians in the region. All relevant authorities, including at the highest political level, should clearly recognise the historical contribution of ethnic Armenians to the cultural heritage of Karabakh and guarantee the protection of cultural and religious rights of ethnic Armenians from Karabakh, including those who are now in refuge abroad," it further said. 

The Advisory Committee urged the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from and condemn firmly any manifestation of intolerance and spreading of ethnic hatred against persons belonging to the Armenian community. All such statements and actions inciting to ethnic hatred need to be fully investigated and sanctioned in accordance with the law, the committee said in the report. 

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1205254?fbclid=IwY2xjawGo7eZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdZCNtboGcan034sbchERUNPhrp5K-O930i84eFg_d3xSmdI8_-31oxKHw_aem_KOPeE9U6tcsTT1z5U82Fnw

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RFERL.org

 

COP29 Brings Focus On Azerbaijan's Pollution Of The Caspian Sea

November 18, 2024 06:02 GMT
  • By Ulkar Akifgizi
  •  
    • [SEE VIDEO]
  •  
  • Azerbaijan is hosting COP29, the UN climate conference, drawing criticism from some who point to the country's huge oil industry and poor record of pollution. Not far from the host city, Baku, RFE/RL filmed untreated waste gushing into the Caspian Sea.
 
 

Azerbaijan is hosting COP29, the UN climate conference, drawing criticism from some who point to the country's huge oil industry and poor record of pollution -- and not far from the host city, Baku, RFE/RL filmed video of untreated waste gushing into the Caspian Sea. The waste includes toxic water used in oil production, which has been linked to fish and seal deaths in the sea. One Azerbaijani opposition leader told us that money to improve sewage treatment has been diverted to pay for the rebuilding of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan retook from Armenian control in 2020.

As the annual UN climate conference (COP29) takes place in Baku, RFE/RL presents exclusive coverage of environmental issues that are often underreported from regions that are often overlooked.

 

 

https://www.rferl.org/a/video-cop29-azerbaijan-baku-caspian/33181777.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGo9HBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHd18v6nDhParX0-C-p_mD-pScq1Xov39B0AkMlki5YCmAnIJMcoS62k-uw_aem_sijUy8je6fN_n8QQLxBqZw

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MEDYA News
Nov 20 2024
 
 

COP29 host Azerbaijan ‘greenwashes genocidal acts against Armenians’

As Azerbaijan hosts the 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) summit in Baku this November, the nation faces global scrutiny for its human rights record, in particular regarding treatment of Indigenous Armenians, amid allegations of suppressing activists and silencing dissent. The controversy raises questions on the credibility of climate leadership.

The 29th UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, held from 11-22 November, has sparked controversy as activists, politicians, and human rights organisations denounce the host nation’s alleged rights violations. While the conference aims to tackle the global climate crisis, critics argue that Azerbaijan is using the platform to greenwash its human rights record, specifically regarding violations against Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and silence dissent.

 

The summit, which brings together world leaders, activists, and climate experts, has been overshadowed by Azerbaijan’s reported human rights abuses, including the detention of over 300 political prisoners, suppression of civil society, and destruction of the indigenous Armenian cultural heritage. The International Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both raised concerns about the worsening situation for activists, journalists, and academics in Azerbaijan since the country was announced as the COP29 host in November 2022.

According to Natalia Nozadze of Amnesty International, the Azerbaijani government has intensified its crackdown on dissent in the lead-up to the summit. Prominent figures such as Gubad Ibadoglu, a 53-year-old academic researching the country’s environmental issues, remain under house arrest more than a year after being detained on disputed fraud charges. Anar Mammadli, a leading advocate for reducing fossil fuel emissions, was jailed on smuggling charges in April, while environmentalist Nazim Beydemirli received an eight-year prison sentence for protesting mining activities near his village.

The situation has drawn international condemnation, with the European Parliament criticising Azerbaijan’s “repressive” policies as incompatible with its role as COP29 host. Activists have also called for urgent reforms to ensure future climate summits are not hosted by nations with poor human rights records.

Armenian activists have also voiced strong criticism of Azerbaijan’s role as host, staging protests in cities such as Berlin on 10 November. One activist, who spoke to Medya News on condition of anonymity, condemned the summit as an attempt to whitewash Azerbaijan’s treatment of Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

“Hosting a climate conference in a dictatorship heavily dependent on revenues from fossil fuel exports is problematic in itself. However, the worst thing is that the host country is using the conference as a platform to greenwash the genocidal acts it has committed against Indigenous Armenians in Artsakh,” the activist said. “This is both disgusting and a compromise of the integrity of climate negotiations. Meanwhile, all other parties remain silent about our indigenous rights, passively complying with the rules imposed by the dictator.”

Armenian protesters are demanding justice for forcibly displaced Armenians, the release of 23 confirmed Armenian hostages, and sanctions against Azerbaijan. Their calls also extend to broader demands for justice, including an end to colonialist policies and prioritising Indigenous peoples’ rights globally. Activists have specifically urged governments to divest from Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, which they accuse of financing both fossil fuel dependence and state repression.

Meanwhile, regional tensions have further complicated the summit. Reports revealed that Ankara denied Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s aircraft access to Turkish airspace en route to the COP29 summit, prompting the cancellation of his visit. While the president’s office cited “security considerations,” Azerbaijani and Turkish sources confirmed the airspace denial. This incident highlights the tense regional dynamics, particularly as Turkey severed diplomatic ties with Israel following the October war in Gaza.

The controversy surrounding COP29 has cast a shadow over the summit’s core objectives. Despite Azerbaijan’s attempts to position itself as a leader in climate action, critics argue that its reliance on fossil fuel exports and lack of substantial reforms undermine its credibility.

Azerbaijan’s hosting of COP29 has raised broader questions about the UN’s criteria for selecting summit venues. Activists and organisations have called for stricter guidelines, ensuring that host nations uphold human rights and address internal abuses. This debate highlights the tension between global climate diplomacy and local accountability, as well as the challenges of ensuring inclusivity in tackling climate change.

As COP29 concludes, its legacy may be defined less by climate agreements and more by the growing calls for justice, accountability, and meaningful action. Activists continue to emphasise that the fight against climate change cannot be separated from the fight for human rights.

https://medyanews.net/cop29-host-azerbaijan-greenwashes-genocidal-acts-against-armenians/

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Armenpress.am

 
Armenia17:11, 21 November 2024

Belgian politicians call on Azerbaijan to pull back troops from sovereign territory of Armenia

Belgian politicians call on Azerbaijan to pull back troops from sovereign territory of Armenia

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 21, ARMENPRESS. In the backdrop of the COP29 currently taking place in Baku, 20 members of the Belgian Federal Parliament, the Flemish Parliament, the Walloon Parliament and the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region address the Azerbaijani Government and the Belgian government’s delegation to COP29, with three main demands: liberation of the Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan, protection of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh and withdrawal of the Azerbaijani forces from the occupied sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, as well as restraint of any kind of Azerbaijani aggression against the Republic of Armenia, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) said in a press release. 

The Belgian politicians and parliamentarians who co-signed this statement stem from the major political parties of the country, i.e. MR, Les Engagés, DéFI, N-VA, CD&V, Vooruit and Groen. The presidents of MR - Georges-Louis Bouchez, of Les Engagés - Maxime Prévot, and of DéFI - Sophie Rohonyi also endorsed the statement. 

The Belgian politicians emphasize that as the host country, Azerbaijan has an obligation to demonstrate a tangible commitment to the fundamental principles of human rights, human dignity, and justice. Further they state their demands by recalling the resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict adopted by the Belgian Federal Parliament, the Flemish Parliament, the Walloon Parliament since December 16, 2020.

In line with these resolutions as well as those adopted by the European Parliament since May 2021 and October 2024, the Belgian politicians urge the government of Azerbaijan to:

"immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and captives in Baku, including the military-political leadership of Nagorno Karabakh;
ensure that the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno Karabakh stays intact, including the monasteries, khachkars and refrain from their albanisation as well as history revisionism;
refrain from threats and any aggression against the Republic of Armenia, withdraw the Azerbaijani military forces from the occupied territories of the Republic of Armenia.”
Additionally, the co-signatories call on the delegation of the Belgian government to act in the spirit of the above- mentioned parliamentary resolutions while participating in COP29. 

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1205577?fbclid=IwY2xjawGtCYZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeUBkqFUuc-eB7NzEVQmhctOp53qWJ4-8hBDH2CJ5R-lDABfbHEVfIQ8JQ_aem_cL1xxmlaUlqAGdziM-f4Zg

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Asbarez.com

 

Europe Lawmakers Demand that Baku Release Armenian Captives, Leave Armenia’s Territory

 
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In two separate instances on Wednesday, lawmakers from Belgium and Luxembourg demanded that Azerbaijan release Armenian prisoners of war, leave territories it is occupying in Armenia and exercise restraint in its aggression against Armenia. They further emphasized that Baku must take steps to protect Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh.

With the United Nations Climate summit, known as COP29, winding down in Baku, 20 Belgian lawmakers sent their demands to the Azerbaijani authorities, as well as the Belgian government delegation at COP29.

This effort, which was fully supported by the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy, included lawmakers and other political leaders from major parties represented in Belgium’s national and regional legislatures.

In their statement, the Belgian officials emphasized that, as the host country, Azerbaijan has an obligation to demonstrate a tangible commitment to the fundamental principles of human rights, human dignity, and justice. Furthermore, they reiterated their demands that were outlined in resolutions regarding the Karabakh conflict passed in 2020.

In line with these resolutions as well as those adopted by the European Parliament since May 2021 and October 2024, the Belgian politicians urged the government of Azerbaijan to:

  • Immediately and unconditionally release all Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and captives in Baku, including the military-political leadership of Nagorno Karabakh;
  • Ensure that the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno Karabakh stays intact, including the monasteries khachkars and refrain from their albanization as well as history revisionism;
  • Refrain from threats and any aggression against the Republic of Armenia, withdraw the Azerbaijani military forces from the occupied territories of the Republic of Armenia.

The co-signers of the statement also called on the Belgian government to act “in the spirit of the aforementioned parliamentary resolutions while participating in COP29.”

In a related matter, Luxembourg Parliament approved a resolution condemning the Azerbaijani authorities violations against civil society representatives by curtailing their rights to freedom of speech.

The same resolution also demanded that Azerbaijan “immediately and unconditionally” release all illegally imprisoned persons—including Armenians being held captive in Baku.

 

 

https://asbarez.com/europe-lawmakers-demand-that-baku-release-armenian-captives-leave-armenias-territory/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGtC_hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcQrR31UaJxOx3JnNFqd8atzbJnbAdVQ1NKBjNudprX-m1smAs6JMnSIwQ_aem_dcXia-_HsV62qrBVGXahhw

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Modern Diplomacy
Nov 22 2024
 

How Azerbaijan Disguises Its Obstruction of the Peace Process with Armenia

 

On November 9, Azerbaijan celebrated the fourth anniversary of its military victory in the 2020 Karabakh war with performative events.

 

On November 9, Azerbaijan celebrated the fourth anniversary of its military victory in the 2020 Karabakh war with performative events. They included the opening of the “Victory Park”, military parades in the major cities of Azerbaijan, including in ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh, and its President Aliyev’s speech manifesting his “iron fist”. He proudly stated to have “capitulated” Armenia and “eradicated” the “traces of separatists in the land of Karabakh”, using armenophobic expressions to stigmatize Armenians and employing historical revisionism to imply that Armenians were not indigenous there. He also mocked international mediators who were aiming at a compromise-based peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, while admitting that Azerbaijan was preparing for its military solution.

Aliyev repeated Azerbaijani one-sided narratives of the conflict in the speech made at the opening ceremony of COP29 summit on November 12 in presence of the UN and EU top officials, the heads and other senior representatives of many states. This contradicts his call for a truce in conflict zones worldwide for the duration of COP29. This confirms concerns that the event may be used to “greenwash” ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and give a green light to Azerbaijan’s new military offensives against Armenia.

Azerbaijan’s bellicose rhetoric continues in parallel to the formally stated progress in the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On October 18, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov met in Istanbul on the sidelines of the meeting of “3+3” regional platform. On October 24, Pashinyan and Aliyev met in Kazan on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit. During both meetings, parties discussed the finalization and the conclusion of the Agreement on Peace and Establishment of Interstate Relations in the shortest possible period. It was followed by the announcement that Presidents of both counties approved the regulations of commissions of the border delimitation commissions between the two countries.

However, Azerbaijan has been raisingpreconditions and demandsto Armenia for concluding a peace agreement. It is also unclear whether Baku intends to withdraw from Armenia’s border areas within the delimitation process. Baku controlsat least 215 square kilometres of Armenia’s sovereign territory as a result of its military offensives and creeping annexation in 2021-2023. This has created human security challenges for civilians in 31 border villages of Armenia.

In the last four years, Azerbaijan employed a variety of conventional and hybrid warfare tools against Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and the Republic of Armenia. While Azerbaijan has framed its actions as “restoration of its territorial integrity and sovereignty”, its rhetoric indicates that it pursues expansionist objectives and may invade Armenia. It also undermines Armenia’s sovereignty with its ambitions to establish a regional hegemony with regard to Armenia. 

When Azerbaijan launched a large-scale  war against Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in 2020, it normalized the use of military force as an alternative to “conflict resolution” in violation of the UN Charter. Despite the similarities between the Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo conflicts, Azerbaijan framed Armenia as an “aggressor and occupant”. Due to the lack of international humanitarian intervention, during the first Karabakh war Armenia intervened to stop Azerbaijan’s military operations, blockade and forced displacement of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. The regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh occupied in the heat of the war, remained under the Armenian control as a result of the mutually maximalist and unconstructive negotiating positions of both parties to the conflict throughout two and half decades. While Armenia was trying to maintain the status quo, Azerbaijan was preparing for a war.

After its military victory and the 2020 ceasefire, Azerbaijan continued its warfare against Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, and extended it to sovereign Armenia. Invoking the principle of non-intervention, Baku rejected international peacekeeping or even humanitarian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh. It denied any level of self-governance for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, announcing that It is capable of ensuring their rights in a unitary state, despite its record as an authoritarian state with a history of human rights violations.

Exploiting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and weaponizing the principle of territorial integrity, Azerbaijan used the Western mediation to persuade Armenia to recognize the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. To gain the Western support, Baku was accusing Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh of being Russian proxies. However, it signed a Joint Declaration on allied interaction with Russia on February 22, 2022, and an agreement with Russian GazProm in November 2022 to import Russian gas, and reportedly started mixing it with the gas supplied to Europe. It exploited the geopolitical interests of Russia in the region to secure the inaction and complicity of the Russian “peacekeeping” mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In violation of the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Azerbaijan imposed a nine-month blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians causing “serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group”. It weaponized energy cuts and prevented the delivery of humanitarian supplies, including by the international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which eventually lead to the starvation of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.

Azerbaijan ignored warnings from the U.S. and the EU that ethnic cleansing would not be tolerated in Nagorno-Karabakh. When the perseverance of people broke, Baku launched a military offensive, causing more than two hundred casualties and four hundred injured in one day. Despite Azerbaijan’s claims of no civilian casualties, 27 civilians, including women and children were killed during the offensive. Baku framed its military offensive as a “counter-terror operation”, employing language reminiscent of the Army of Republika Srpska for Srebrenica in 1995. It achieved the disarmament of the local civil defense forces, and coerced the surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh authorities. International pressure forced Azerbaijan to allow the remaining 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to flee to Armenia during the following week. At least 220 more people died, 50 went missing and many more were injured in a fuel depot explosion that transpired in the chaos of the crisis, and 64 more people passed away from exhaustion during the exodus. Baku also conducted arbitrary detentions of Nagorno-Karabakh politicians and regular citizens, based on dubious lawsuits without due process. Russian peacekeepers did not prevent Azerbaijan’s blockade and military offensive, while Russian diplomats prevented the UN Security Council from adopting any statement or resolution about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, thus undermining the “Responsibility to Protect” and “Leave No One Behind” notions.

Baku claimed that Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians may return, but proceeded to undertake actions making their return untenable. They include military paradesdestruction or appropriation of the Armenian cultural heritage, demolishing public buildings and houses, and resettling Azerbaijani inhabitants in the region.

Baku has been denyingthat forced displacement and ethnic cleansing has occurredclaiming that Armenians left voluntarily. Baku is also demanding that Armenia withdraws its Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) v. Azerbaijan at the ICJ as a precondition for the peace agreement. Although Armenia doesn’t raise even the issue of return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku claims that the lawsuit indicates a territorial claim by Armenia to Azerbaijan.

The demand of withdrawing Armenia’s case in the ICJ is one of Azerbaijan’s preconditions and demandsfor concluding a peace agreement. Baku also demands Armenia to change its constitution as a key pre-condition for the peace agreement. It points out a provision in Armenia’s Declaration for Independence that cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. Even if Armenia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the Preamble is not reflected in the articles of the Constitution, and therefore has no legal significance, Azerbaijan uses it to sabotage the peace agreement. However, the Armenian Constitution cannot be changed without a referendum, which is planned in 2027 within a larger constitutional reform. To accelerate the change of the Preamble in a separate referendum may lead to an unpredictable outcome in Armenia’s current political environment affected by the forced displacement of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and the challenges of their integration in Armenia, and Russia’s hybrid tactics of interference. Baku may be interested in its negative outcome as a pretext for a new military offensive against Armenia.

At the same time, Yerevan points out that Azerbaijan’s Declaration for Independence and Constitution contain territorial claims on Armenia but doesn’t demand to amend those documents because it expects the peace agreement to resolve that issue. Azerbaijan has declared itself as a legal successor of the 1918-1920 Musafat Republic of Azerbaijan. The League of Nations refused to recognize the First Republic of Azerbaijan and rejected its application in 1920 because it presented maps claiming most of contemporary Armenia’s territory. Since January 2024, Aliyev has expressed territorial claims to Armenia, including the capital Yerevan. Besides, after claiming for years that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan”, Baku has introduced an irredentist claim that “Armenia is Western Azerbaijan” through an NGO called “Western Azerbaijan” and has developed a “Concept of Return” to Armenia. 

Baku is also demanding the withdrawal of the EU Mission in ArmeniaAzerbaijan and Russia have been conducting coordinated information warfare to delegitimize EUMA since its establishment. Despite its civilian monitoring nature, EUMA is serving as a soft deterrent against Azerbaijan’s further military advances in Armenia, and has also led to the withdrawal of the Russian military from the Armenian-Azerbaijan border. Az     erbaijan’s propaganda machine claims that Azerbaijan cannot trust the EU because it is supporting Armenia. That rhetoric intensified after the adoption of a modest non-lethal assistance measure from the European Peace Facility for Armenia. Baku even claimed that the West will “share responsibility with Armenia for any possible destabilising provocations. In his November 9 speech, Aliyev accused Armenia’s “Western patrons” of Islamophobia, and “fostering more bloodshed” in the South Caucasus. This also falls under Baku’s information warfare against the U.S, France, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and other actors for their criticism of Azerbaijan and support for Armenia. Recently, Aliyev called the U.S. criticism of Azerbaijan’s human rights record “disgusting”.

Azerbaijan has also urged to impose restrictions on the Armenian army, based on its stigmatization of Armenia as an aggressor. However, Azerbaijan has initiated all wars and military offensives against Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Azerbaijan is receiving armaments and military technologies from IsraelTurkeyPakistanSerbia and Italy. It also conducts dozens of military exercises with Turkey and other partners. At the same time, it accuses France and India for their recent supplies of armaments to Armenia, and the US for conducting joint military exercises with Armenia. Yerevan has made it clear that it is using itsright to defense in line with the UN Charter, and doesn’t even intend to de-occupy its border areas through military means, instead relying on the delimitation process for it. Given the significant discrepancy between military capabilities and economic resources between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Armenia is aiming to reduce the military imbalance to deter military offensives and the use of coercive diplomacy by Azerbaijan.

Finally, Baku and Moscow use each other to coerce Armenia into acquiescing to their regional interests. They jointly demand an extraterritorial “Zangezour corridor” through Armenia to link Azerbaijan’s mainland with its exclave Nakhichevan under the control of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Armenia is instead offering to open communications in line with its project “Crossroads of Peace” under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of each country.

To conclude, Azerbaijan doesn’t seem to be interested in a peace agreement but is aiming to achieve Armenia’s capitulation, jeopardize its sovereignty and security, and create conditions for new advances on its territory. The outgoing U.S. administration and the EU were encouraging Azerbaijan to conclude peace with Armenia through soft mediation. However, “liberal peace” theory did not work with Azerbaijan, and led to the forced displacement of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. It would be in line with the incoming U.S. administration’s vision of peace for Ukraine and Middle East to persuade Azerbaijan to refuse from its tactics of diplomatic obstruction and military coercion, and sign a durable and dignified peace agreement with Armenia.

Sossi Tatikyan holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, has been a NATO Defense College Partnership for Peace Fellow, and is currently a PhD Researcher in Sorbonne Nouvelle University. Her main research topics are: Ethnic conflicts, cognitive warfare and lawfare, Euro-Atlantic integration, security dilemmas of small states. In her first career, she was a diplomat, representing Armenia in NATO and IAEA. Subsequently she has been an OSCE and UN Political and Security Advisor in the UN missions in Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Central African Republic and African Union. She has coordinated UNDP and Freedom House democratic governance projects and conducted research on security sector governance for DCAF (Security Governance Center in Geneva) in Armenia. Since 2021, Sossi has been acting as an independent analyst on foreign and security policies, involved in informal public diplomacy and peacebuilding. She combines academic research and policy work through articles, policy advice and public speaking. She is a member of the UN Senior Women Talent Pipeline and UN Security Sector Reform Advisory Network.

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2024/11/22/how-azerbaijan-disguises-its-obstruction-of-the-peace-process-with-armenia/

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Links.org - Australia
Nov 22 2024
 

Caucasus Feminist Anti-War Movement: Against Azerbaijan’s authoritarianism, COP29, green capitalism, wars and the regional slide into authoritarianism

 

Caucasus Feminist Anti-War Movement (C-FAM) is an emerging movement of feminist and anti-war/peace activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Unified in our defiance, C-FAM originated from a powerful solidarity action to confront the greenwashing practices at COP29 taking place in Azerbaijan on November 2024, one of the largest events in our region in recent times. Our movement embodies the principles of feminism, anti-militarism, anti-war, anti-authoritarianism, anti-nationalism, and anti-capitalism, opposing oppressive systems that perpetuate inequality and violence.

We advocate for the radical decolonization of the South Caucasus, rejecting the oppressive binary imposed by Western and Russian influences, which fractures our region and suppresses its true potential. C-FAM is committed to dismantling the pervasive nationalist and patriarchal structures that fuel conflict and exploitation in our homelands.

Our activism is rooted in intersectionality, recognizing that the liberation of one is inextricably linked to the liberation of all. We strive to forge a new geopolitical consciousness that prioritizes local voices and sustainable, community-led development over foreign intervention and corporate agendas.

C-FAM calls for transformative change through direct action, educational outreach, and international solidarity. We aim to re-envision our region’s future free from the shackles of neo-colonialism, militarization, and authoritarian rule, fostering a culture of peace and egalitarianism. We fight to create a South Caucasus that is autonomous, resilient, and grounded in the values of freedom and equity for all its peoples.

Together, we reject the false dichotomy between the West and Russia, advocating for a third path — one that is crafted by and for the people of the South Caucasus, reclaiming our region’s agency and redefining its place in the world. We believe peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice.

Our protest in Georgia during the opening day of the COP29 summit on 11th of November 2024 is a testament to our shared resistance and the growing demand for a just future. We come together to expose the devastating impacts of authoritarianism, green capitalism, and the entrenchment of oppressive regimes across the region. As a coalition of feminist anti-war voices from across the Caucasus, we are challenging the narrative that seeks to isolate our struggles from global movements for justice. We reject the complicity of both local and international powers in maintaining systems of exploitation and demand an end to the erasure of our experiences and the voices of those most affected.

Below, we share our full statement, outlining the core demands and messages of our movement. We hope it resonates with those who share our vision for a world that prioritizes freedom, equality, and sustainability over profit and oppression.


Collective statement by Caucasus Feminist Anti-War Movement: Against Azerbaijan’s authoritarianism, COP29, green capitalism, wars and the regional slide into authoritarianism

In the face of oppression, we raise our voices for those silenced. In the wake of greenwashing, we tear down the mask of exploitation. In the shadow of war, we demand justice for the people of the Caucasus: Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Talysh, Lezgins, Avars, Tats, Kurds, Chechens, Kabardins, Tatars, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Cherkess, in total more than 50 ethnic groups that inhabit our homeland.

Today, we stand united—Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian activists, along with allies around the world—demanding an end to the systems of oppression that devastate our lands and communities.

We, a coalition of activists, came together to let our voices be heard and deliver several messages to the World.

Together, we declare:

1. Stop Azerbaijan: A COP29 host that masks authoritarianism with greenwashing

The Azerbaijani regime has captured people into an open-air prison. It’s land borders are closed for four years since 2020 under the pretext of the COVID pandemic. The regime wants to have full control over our bodies and our minds. It imprisons the ones who think differently, it exiles the ones who are declared to be ethnic and political others, it prevents the ones who are in the country to leave and find refuge elsewhere, it drowns people in poverty and oppresses dissent by taking the loved ones of those dissenting as hostages.

Those who speak out — journalists, activists, feminists, or the brave souls without labels in villages like Söyüdlü and Nardaran — are met with police brutality, imprisonment, and, in some cases, risk of disappearance without even an illusion of a trial. This isn’t just political persecution; it is the systematic erasure of voices who dare envision a freer Azerbaijan. But as we see today, the regime fails to silence us all as we are among the people who refuse to surrender their existence and thus, continue to resist.

We stand here for our friends and comrades in Azerbaijani prisons:

For Sevinj Vagifqizi

For Nargiz Absalamova

For Elnara Gasimova

For Bahruz Samadov

For Igbal Abilov

For Farid Mehralizada

For Gubad Ibadoghlu

For Afiyaddin Mammadov

For Fazil Gasimov

For Aykhan Israfilov

For Elvin Mustafayev

For Mahammad Kekalov

For Ulvi Hasanli

For Hafiz Babali

and the other 300 political prisoners.

As these political prisoners languish behind bars, tortured in silence, the world looks away. For decades, the world has looked away and tolerated a dictator who oppresses its own people. These powers have not only tolerated a dictator but made his very reign possible by pumping his clan with oil money. It is only in the moment when this dictatorship has become dangerous for neighboring countries that some are opening their eyes. Aliyev failed to resolve this conflict for almost 20 years in power. His way was to start a war with Armenia and ethnically cleanse Armenians. However, even then we see how profit can make the those who have a voice indifferent again.

Today, we say: No more. Authoritarianism cannot be “greenwashed.” The hypocrisy must end. We call on COP29 attendees to demand the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan and reject all forms of complicity in Aliyev’s oppression. Environmental justice must mean freedom, not oppression masquerading as sustainability.

2. End our region being a battleground for capitalist and imperial interests

Since the first wells of oil were drilled in Azerbaijan, our region has suffered under the yoke of imperial forces. Today, both Russia and the West, and regional powers like Turkey exploit our region for profit and control, deepening divisions among our people. Under the guise of “green energy,” the West seeks new extractive markets, while Russia and Turkey cling to their imperial ambitions. Our countries are used as pawns — sites of conflict and profit, torn apart by outside interests. Nothing much has changed over a century: colonial and imperial logic of “divide and rule” continues.

Yet today it has a new mask- a “green and sustainable” one. Under the name of green energy – a new brand for extractivism cloaked in sustainability rhetoric and entrenched in profit – Allies in the Global North aim to profit from the transit of green energy and goods from the Global East. But for “in-between” empires like Russia – we are only an asset and an ex-colony – the periphery of Empire, that it can’t lose.

Being on the crossroads of empires and world capital means bloodshed, war and enormous grief to us – indigenous peoples of these lands. Our national elites are in the same club with colonial powers and capital and will never be on our side. They will never hesitate to impose war and devastation upon us to hold their power. This is what the Azerbaijani regime did in 2020 by waging a war, and later in 2023, by ethnically cleansing Armenians from their homes. Let us be clear: Azerbaijan’s plans to transform Nagorno-Karabakh into a so-called “Green Zone” is an exploitation agenda built on ethnic displacement, raw material extraction and resource monopolization.

To the profiteers: our region’s “green transition” must not come at the expense of our people, nor should it deepen inequality or exploit our resources. We demand a transition that serves the people, not global corporations or empires.

3. Keep the local tyrants accountable

Imperialism screws us over, but that doesn’t make our homegrown dictators any better. These so-called leaders only bring devastation, insecurity, and poverty. After more than 20 years of Aliyev’s rule — following the 30-year reign of his father — the people of Azerbaijan have only endured suffering: lacking decent food, healthcare, jobs, education, and freedom.

In Georgia, it’s been over a decade of suffering under the rule of the Georgian Dream and Ivanishvili. The people have faced broken healthcare, precarious jobs, and a neoliberal economy that offers nothing but misery. Now, Ivanishvili wants to strip away freedom of speech and assembly, hiding behind the excuse of a “Global War Party” conspiracy, which conveniently lets Russia elude any responsibility for its war in Ukraine and its chaos in our region.

These wannabe monarchs hold a massive chunk of our economies in their pockets. Ivanishvili alone controls a third of Georgia’s GDP, while Aliyev and his family, let alone his daughters, sit on an estimated $13 billion — almost half of Azerbaijan’s national budget.

To our so-called leaders, we say: The people deserve dignity, not dictators.

4. Stand with the Caucasus: Not isolated, but an essential part of global struggle

South Caucasus countries—Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia—are not in isolation and very much depend on world politics, but it is not a one-way street.

Today, the Azerbaijani regime is desperate and thus, claiming regional power. They try to host COP29, influence elections in Georgia, actively engage in politics in Turkey, have a stronghold in Central Asia, buy off European politicians, engage in illegal lobbying in the USA, and of course, force Armenia into political submission after the defeat in 2020. What is most vile is its ongoing role in and support for the genocide in Gaza by supplying Israel’s oil and gas. More than 40,000 people are massacred by the Israeli regime with the support of the Azerbaijani regime, and its State Oil Company – SOCAR – is shamefully complicit in this.

We are not separate from global politics, from what is happening in the rest of the world. We feel the chaos and turbulence of international relations more than people in the metropoles.

We, the people of the Caucasus, reject the greed, violence, and hypocrisy of our elites and their global allies.

Our Call to Action

We call upon all people, movements, and leaders to recognize that Azerbaijan’s regime is the antithesis of justice. Let us join together to expose these crimes, to amplify the voices of the silenced, and to reclaim our discourse of social justice. Only a world that prioritizes freedom and equality over profit, and community resilience over capitalist growth, can sustain life on this planet.

To those who try to divide us, we say:

We will not choose between genocidal and non-genocidal fascism.

We will not choose between Russia and The West.

We will not choose between starvation and a false freedom.

We will not choose between your imposed traditional values and your “civilized” values.

We reject these false dichotomies. We say: A plague o’ both of your houses.

Our struggle is global, our solidarity unbreakable, our commitment unyielding. No more silence. No more complicity.

https://links.org.au/caucasus-feminist-anti-war-movement-against-azerbaijans-authoritarianism-cop29-green-capitalism 

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IRAVABAN, Armenia
Nov 23 2024
 
 
“Armenia v. Azerbaijan Case Takes a New Turn: The Hague Court Rejects Baku’s Preliminary Objections”

 
The Hague Court has rejected Baku’s preliminary objections in the framework of the “Armenia v. Azerbaijan” case. Three years ago in September, Armenia initiated proceedings against Azerbaijan regarding the latter’s violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Last year in April, Azerbaijan presented its preliminary objections. What will this mean for Armenia and what results can be expected? Experts present their analysis in our report.

https://iravaban.net/en/502168.html
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CBC Canada
Nov 24 2024
 
 

COP29 host Azerbaijan guilty of 'ethnic cleansing' during 2023 attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh: report

More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the disputed region during assault

 
Neil Hauer · CBC News

Azerbaijan carried out "ethnic cleansing" against the Armenian population 14 months ago in attacks on the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, a new report by the Washington-based non-profit organization Freedom House has concluded.

The comprehensive report, released on the first day of COP29, the United Nations climate conference that took place this month in Azerbaijan, draws upon interviews with more than 300 Karabakh Armenians. The summit, which began on Nov. 11, wrapped up this weekend in Baku, the country's capital, under the auspices of the same government that's accused of committing crimes against humanity.

Human rights groups, environmental activist Greta Thunberg and politicians in Canada and the United States were among those expressing disappointment and alarm that the conference was being held in a major oil-producing country with a dubious record of upholding rights — a charge that Azerbaijan's political leaders called "disgusting" and a "smear campaign."

The Freedom House report includes accounts from survivors of last fall's military action, including from this woman about the start of the assault: "On September 19, [2023], I came home at noon to have lunch. My child came and told me they had heard an explosion. I saw through the window that they were shooting at the residential area."

Less than two weeks later, the interviewee, her child and more than 100,000 other ethnic Armenians would be refugees, part of a campaign of violent forced displacement that ended more than a millennium of Armenian settlement there.

The report, titled Why Are There No Armenians In Nagorno-Karabakh?, is an exhaustive indictment of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his government.

Conducted by researchers from Freedom House and six partner organizations — four Armenia-based groups experienced in field research, a Ukrainian NGO focused on Russian war crimes, and a Brussels-based group — its conclusions do not mince words.

The final 24-hour offensive by Azerbaijani troops on the territory last year was "the culmination of an intensive, years-long campaign," in which the perpetrators "willfully killed civilians and enjoyed absolute impunity" in doing so, the report said. "The Azerbaijani state's actions," it concludes, "constitute ethnic cleansing using forced displacement as a means."

Exodus of almost entire population

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh was one of the former Soviet Union's longest-running disputes. Local Armenians in the region, backed by Armenia itself, fought a successful war to secede from newly independent Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Azerbaijan struck back in 2020, conquering three-quarters of the territory in a 44-day war.

Russian peacekeepers entered the territory following the war's end but proved helpless to stop either Azerbaijan's nine-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh or its military offensive on Sept. 19, 2023 — the latter of which resulted in its complete capture and the exodus of nearly its entire population.

The hundreds of testimonies on these events gathered in Freedom House's new report make for a harrowing read.

"People were starving and were fainting in the lines for bread," one interviewee states, describing the famine-like conditions during Azerbaijan's blockade, which cut off all access to the outside world — including crucial food supplies. "It was very difficult to survive. We were thinking that at the end we would really starve."

The testimonies on the final Azerbaijani offensive and subsequent exodus paint an even worse picture. "I was surrounded by children and tried to prevent panic," says one woman, from the village of Sarnaghbyur. "I told them not to be afraid and suggested they pray. And right at that moment we heard an explosion near us," she says, describing how Azerbaijani shelling killed five civilians, including three children.

Others detail Azerbaijani servicemen mocking and harassing them — sometimes even beating them or stealing their jewelry — as they made the perilous journey to Armenia. "[The Azerbaijanis] turned up their music loud, yelled something at us, insulted us with finger gestures and told us: 'Leave, leave!'" says another local.

The intensity of these stories made even producing the report a difficult experience, researchers say.

"There are chilling testimonies from Karabakh Armenians that were hard to read, even for us," said Andranik Shirinyan, Freedom House's country representative for Armenia. "Mentally and psychologically, working on this report has been difficult for everyone involved."

Evidence in report a 'call to action'

The sum total of the Azerbaijani government's actions, and the unlivable environment created by them in Nagorno-Karabakh, was the basis of Freedom House's declaration of ethnic cleansing in the region.

"'Ethnic cleansing' is not a defined legal term — it's a political term that is used to stress the gravity of the atrocities that have happened in a given territory," Shirinyan said.

"We analyzed three periods — the post-2020 war period, the blockade and the exodus. While analyzing these, we came across findings of extrajudicial killings, of torture, of human rights violations, of grave human rights violations. We realized that Azerbaijan created an environment in Nagorno-Karabakh that wouldn't allow the ethnic Armenian community there to stay and live in dignity."

Freedom House based its assessment in part on legal conclusions from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a United Nations body that prosecuted war crimes committed during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s.

The similarities between war crimes there and the Azerbaijani government's actions in Nagorno-Karabakh make the term "ethnic cleansing" entirely appropriate, other human rights experts say.

"Freedom House's in-depth investigation demonstrates how Azerbaijani authorities' September 2023 offensive is in line with similar crimes of forced displacement [that] international courts have examined," said Steve Swerdlow, a human rights lawyer and international relations associate professor at the University of Southern California.

"These include the former Yugoslavia, as well as more recent cases, such as Myanmar's ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. The damning evidence in this report is a call to action to international courts against impunity."

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.

'Now I truly have nowhere to return'

Amid the brutality, the nearly 2,000-strong Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh merely stood by and watched, the report says. It's replete with anecdotes describing their passivity and refusal to confront Azerbaijani violence.

"We saw so many instances where Russian soldiers just stood by while Azerbaijani soldiers were threatening the livelihoods of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians," Shirinyan said. "It is safe to say that the Russian peacekeepers were unable or unwilling to fulfil their duties."

Shirinyan said he hopes that the report will help to bring about some sort of accountability for the Azerbaijani government, at least in the long term, despite the fact that Baku is  presently engaged in erasing all traces of Armenian presence in the region.

Most Karabakh Armenians have long since lost such hope.

"Until recently, I had a tiny little hope, fuelled by international calls for the return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh," said Lilit Shahverdyan, a journalist from Stepanakert, the now-empty capital of the region.

"A few days ago, our house was demolished, along with the entire neighbourhood where I grew up. Countless other residential buildings are being ransacked daily," she said.

"I firmly believe that Aliyev's intention is to crush any hope we have of going back.... Now I truly have nowhere to return."

Neil Hauer is a Canadian freelance journalist reporting on the former Soviet Union, based in Yerevan, Armenia, but currently reporting from Ukraine. His work has been featured in CNN, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, Foreign Policy magazine and other outlets. He can be found on Twitter at @NeilPHauer, or contacted via email at neil.hauer@gmail.com.

Groong note: see a large number of photos at the link below

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/azerbaijan-ethnic-cleansing-report-1.7391467

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Armenpress.am

 
Azerbaijan21:00, 27 November 2024

Baku threatens Polish President for his visit to Armenian-Azerbaijani border

1 minute read

Baku threatens Polish President for his visit to Armenian-Azerbaijani border

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan has sharply reacted to the visit of Polish President Andrzej Duda to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as part of his official visit to Armenia, which was conducted with representatives of the European Union Mission in Armenia. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has issued a statement threatening the head of one of the major European countries.

“We deeply regret that the President of the country which is officially a “strategic partner” of Azerbaijan has participated in the unacceptable diplomatic “binocular show” leading to the aggravation of relations between Azerbaijan and Poland,” the foreign ministry said on the social media platform X. 

“Despite the numerous messages sent from Azerbaijani officials to the Presidential Administration and Foreign Ministry of Poland, the Polish side did not refrain from this provocative step,” it noted, promising to take appropriate diplomatic measures against “this unfriendly action''. 

 

 

 

Published by Armenpress, original at https://armenpress.am/en/article/1206116?fbclid=IwY2xjawG09wRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbYTE8p-sOjcZDfybvFmiLSgmQ8mj6XZItXIHmxxTCu4DXCg5TJ8N62W5g_aem_S7l2wyhVfUPcsqa4zuYUiw

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CaliforniaCourier.com

 

Assistant to the Azerbaijani military attache in the United States is arrested for gold smuggling in Turkey

· DECEMBER 2, 2024

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BAKU (Tass) — Gahraman Mammadov, senior adviser to the Azerbaijani military attache in the United States, was detained by Turkish law enforcement agencies on suspicion of gold smuggling, a criminal case was opened against him at home and an arrest sentence was passed. This was reported by the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan.

According to the ministry, “substantial suspicions were revealed” that Mammadov, in collusion with another Azerbaijani citizen Anar Gasimov and foreign citizens, participated in the smuggling of gold from the United Arab Emirates to Turkey. Using a diplomatic passport, he carried gold bars brought from the UAE by Gasimov through the customs border of the two countries without declaration, but was detained by Turkish law enforcement agencies when he was heading to a hotel in Istanbul by taxi.

“During the inspection of the bag that was with Mammadov, 70 kg of gold bars with a total value of more than 10.220 million manats (more than $6 million) were found and confiscated.”

The report notes that during the investigation, another package with gold bars weighing 14 kg was found in the storage of the Istanbul airport, which also did not pass the customs declaration procedure.

According to information, within the framework of the criminal case being investigated by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, a criminal case has been opened against Mammadov under a number of articles of the country’s criminal code providing for liability for smuggling and abuse of official authority, the Baku Military Court has chosen a preventive measure in the form of arrest against him.

 

 

https://www.thecaliforniacourier.com/assistant-to-the-azerbaijani-military-attache-in-the-united-states-is-arrested-for-gold-smuggling-in-turkey/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG82UJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbdoLYh1vQ2Gxft7E2aVO7S35SaegIeN0A1lgvcuXW_gc85xFg6gbZF3Bg_aem_V8nvKRBq

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