Today is the Commemoration Day in Azerbaijan, Report informs.
Day: September 26, 2023
The United States, the European Union and several European countries on Tuesday pledged millions of dollars in humanitarian funding to deal with the tens of thousands of Artsakh residents arriving in Armenia.
The EU announced that it will boost its humanitarian funding by 5 million euros ($5.1 million) as the U.S. said it will allocated $11.5 million for the effort. France and Sweden have also announced their own aid packages.
The EU’s funding was confirmed by the bloc’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who in a social media post called for unimpeded access to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Speaking about the explosion at a fuel depot that rocked Stepanakert on Monday, he said that the EU was providing additional assistance.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of yesterday’s tragic gas explosion in Stepanakert/Khankendi and their loved ones. There is an urgent need for unimpeded international humanitarian access to Nagorno Karabakh. EU announced additional assistance and ready to do more,” Borrell said on X.
“The conflict escalation and subsequent ceasefire is expected to trigger a mass exodus of people from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia… At the same time, there is a major food shortage and lack of access to electricity and water within the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave,” the European Commission said in a statement announcing its 5 million-euro package.
The European Commission said the funding will “assist people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. This aid will be delivered by various EU humanitarian partners operating in Armenia to reach around 25 000 people. The priority is to provide cash assistance, shelter, food security and livelihoods assistance and assist vulnerable people inside Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“This aid will be channelled through the International Committee of Red Cross and aims to support around 60,000 people with food, healthcare, shelter and logistics,” the statement added. “The EU is also deploying a humanitarian expert to the region who will work hand in hand with humanitarian partners on the ground to ensure a rapid response to the crisis.”
Samantha Power, the administration of the U.S. Agency for International Development visited the Kornidzor village in Armenia’s Syunik Province on Tuesday and met with medical professionals who told her that many of the forcibly displaced persons were suffering from malnutrition.
“It is very difficult to hear and see what these families are going through. Many left their towns and villages under shelling,” she said.
Power also met with people whose loved ones are missing.
She emphasized the need for international monitors and humanitarian organizations to have access to Nagorno-Karabakh to provide assistance to those in need on the ground.
France announced that it would provide 7 million euros, in addition to medical equipment for the displaced Artsakh residents, while Sweden said it will allocated the $1.3 million in assistance.
Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Samvel Shahramanyan։ these four people must be brought to justice and stand trial, they brought Artsakh to destruction with their 22 deputies, former Secretary of the Council of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, hero of Artsakh Samvel Babayan said in an interview to Public Television.
“Besides, they announced with the second point that Armenia should withdraw its army. Armenia does not have an army there, what army should be withdrawn? I know who wrote that text, the Russian side wrote that text, gave it to Armenia put it back into the game, as if Armenia has not fulfilled its duty, Azerbaijan is striking again, these people have gone to it and handed over the entire army’s arsenal to Azerbaijan: 100 tanks, 160-170 howitzers, grads, TORs, weapons of an entire army, without harming it,” he said.
According to him, there was an agreement with Azerbaijan by which all this could be avoided. “We could have created our own autonomous republic on 4400 square kilometers, have our own guards … these people did not allow,” he said, noting that Azerbaijan had agreed to this proposal.
Babayan stated that he did not personally negotiate with Azerbaijan, but through mediators, and there was already an agreement reached. “Those people seized power [in Karabakh] and committed a crime,” he said.
Samvel Babayan said he did not present this option to Artsakh authorities, because they would not listen, nor did they invite him to any security meeting in the last 15 days.
“They must stand trial, they are state criminals, the people made a referendum, chose independence, they canceled that independence with a document they had no right to, and handed over Karabakh to Azerbaijan in its entirety, and now they are evacuating the people. These people are state criminals, Armenia spent 500 million drams a year so that these people return, to improve their lives, and at the end, they wrote that Armenia is the criminal. Let me say more: the heavy equipment that Azerbaijan has accepted can be checked, it is the equipment captured from Azerbaijan in the 90s, it does not belong to Armenia, let them look at the numbers and see,” he stressed.
A meeting was held in Brussels between the Armenia’s Secretary of Security Council Armen Grigoryan and Advisor to Azerbaijan’s President on Foreign Policy Hikmet Hajiyev. The meeting was attended by the diplomatic advisors of the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Georgian crisis, Toivo Klaar, the press secretary of the President of the European Council reported.
The press release reads as follows:
“Under the auspices of President Michel, his Diplomatic Advisers Simon Mordue and Magdalena Grono hosted a meeting between Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan and Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, with the participation of Diplomatic Advisers to FR President Macron and DE Chancellor Scholz, Emmanuel Bonne and Jens Ploetner, as well as EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar.
President Michel joined the participants for a brief exchange.
The EU invited participants to exchange views on the current situation on the ground and various efforts aimed at addressing the urgent needs of the local population.
The European Union closely follows all these developments and has been engaged at the highest level to help alleviate the impact of hostilities on civilians. The EU reiterated in this context its position on Azerbaijan’s military operation last week.
Hikmet Hajiyev outlined Azerbaijan’s plans to provide humanitarian assistance and security to the local population. The EU stressed the need for transparency and access for international humanitarian and human rights actors and for more detail on Baku’s vision for Karabakh Armenians’ future in Azerbaijan. The EU is providing assistance to Karabakh Armenians.
The meeting also allowed for intense exchanges between participants on the relevance of a possible meeting of the leaders in the framework of the Third EPC Summit scheduled for 5 October 2023 in Granada.
The participants took note of the shared interest of Armenia and Azerbaijan to make use of the possible meeting in Granada to continue their normalisation efforts.
In this regard, Armen Grigoryan and Hikmet Hajiyev engaged in talks on possible concrete steps to advance the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process in the upcoming possible meeting, such as those with regard to border delimitation, security, connectivity, humanitarian issues, and the broader peace treaty.
Concrete action and decisive compromise solutions are needed on all tracks of the normalisation process.
The EU believes that the possible meeting in Granada should be used by both Yerevan and Baku to reiterate publicly their commitment to each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in line with agreements reached previously in Prague and Brussels.”
A meeting was held in Brussels between the Armenia’s Secretary of Security Council Armen Grigoryan and Advisor to Azerbaijan’s President on Foreign Policy Hikmet Hajiyev. The meeting was attended by the diplomatic advisors of the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Georgian crisis, Toivo Klaar, the press secretary of the President of the European Council reported.
The press release reads as follows:
“Under the auspices of President Michel, his Diplomatic Advisers Simon Mordue and Magdalena Grono hosted a meeting between Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan and Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev, with the participation of Diplomatic Advisers to FR President Macron and DE Chancellor Scholz, Emmanuel Bonne and Jens Ploetner, as well as EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar.
President Michel joined the participants for a brief exchange.
The EU invited participants to exchange views on the current situation on the ground and various efforts aimed at addressing the urgent needs of the local population.
The European Union closely follows all these developments and has been engaged at the highest level to help alleviate the impact of hostilities on civilians. The EU reiterated in this context its position on Azerbaijan’s military operation last week.
Hikmet Hajiyev outlined Azerbaijan’s plans to provide humanitarian assistance and security to the local population. The EU stressed the need for transparency and access for international humanitarian and human rights actors and for more detail on Baku’s vision for Karabakh Armenians’ future in Azerbaijan. The EU is providing assistance to Karabakh Armenians.
The meeting also allowed for intense exchanges between participants on the relevance of a possible meeting of the leaders in the framework of the Third EPC Summit scheduled for 5 October 2023 in Granada.
The participants took note of the shared interest of Armenia and Azerbaijan to make use of the possible meeting in Granada to continue their normalisation efforts.
In this regard, Armen Grigoryan and Hikmet Hajiyev engaged in talks on possible concrete steps to advance the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process in the upcoming possible meeting, such as those with regard to border delimitation, security, connectivity, humanitarian issues, and the broader peace treaty.
Concrete action and decisive compromise solutions are needed on all tracks of the normalisation process.
The EU believes that the possible meeting in Granada should be used by both Yerevan and Baku to reiterate publicly their commitment to each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in line with agreements reached previously in Prague and Brussels.”
On September 19 at approximately 1 p.m., Azerbaijan launched a major military offensive against Artsakh, causing the displacement of tens of thousands of residents. The same people who have been living under a blockade with little to no access to food and basic necessities have now been forced to leave their homes. Many Artsakh residents either have no way to evacuate their villages or are concentrated at the airport in Stepanakert secured by Russian peacekeepers. Thousands are currently being transferred to Armenia (as of 10 p.m. on September 24, 1,050 forcibly displaced persons have entered Armenia).
Humanitarian aid is the foremost important issue at stake regarding the forcibly displaced persons of Artsakh. Armenian Food Bank, a humanitarian aid organization with a clear objective to help those who have been forced to flee, is stepping up to help. Founded in 2020 by Michael Avetikyan, a Canadian Armenian and military veteran, along with his wife, the Armenian Food Bank Charitable Foundation in Armenia has been providing necessary humanitarian assistance to low-income families with children and needy families of veterans.
Michael is known as one of the 15 fastest shooters in the world and among the top five in North America. In March of 2020, he and his wife traveled to Armenia, yet due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not allowed to travel back to Canada. They decided to put their time to good use and help low-income families affected by the pandemic, which led them to establish the first food bank in Armenia: Armenian Food Bank. The bank also supported the Armenian army and the families of soldiers during the 2020 Artsakh War.
Volunteers boxing clothes and hygiene supplies for distribution
Their foundation has a clear and concise objective: to provide assistance in the form of food aid and necessary clothing to all families in need.
“We are the first charitable food hub and the most accessible food bank in Armenia, serving families in need, individuals, and organizations. Together, we fight hunger and its root causes, because no one should go hungry,” their mission statement says.
Boxes of flour and other non-perishable food supplies waiting to be picked up and distributed
Armenian Food Bank also takes care of children from poor families, so they can continue their education and break the cycle of illiteracy that is often prevalent in rural areas of the country. In 2020 alone, it assisted more than 200,000 citizens of Armenia and Artsakh and collected and transferred 12 tons of humanitarian aid to Artsakh, with the help of Diasporan Armenians. The organization functions like a well-oiled machine. Everything is organized and distributed appropriately depending on need. First, the organization makes a trip to the location to determine what people need, whether it is food, clothes or hygiene products. They then return to their site in Yerevan, gather the aid and make the delivery. This method allows for people to receive exactly what they need with no waste.
At present their sole mission, with the help of dozens of volunteers, is to collect and distribute food, clothing, toys and hygiene products to people arriving in Armenia from Artsakh. Approximately 60-percent of donated items come from other countries. Currently, they are collecting much-needed baby formula for women who cannot breastfeed, diapers and hygiene products. Many people are also donating toys for children as well as clothing, specifically warm clothing like coats before the cold weather begins to settle in Armenia. With each day in Armenia, the anticipation for an exodus of forcibly displaced persons from Artsakh grows. An increasing number of people of all ages are donating their time and a helping hand to give back to those in need.
If you would like to support Armenian Food Bank, please do so by visiting their website at https://www.armenianfoodbank.org/
Author information
Anthony Pizzoferrato is an Italian American freelance photojournalist, documentarian and filmmaker based in Yerevan, Armenia. His work places emphasis on reporting and documenting conflicts, political events, complex social issues, human rights and cultural history within post-Soviet states and the Middle East while creating understanding, intimacy and empathy. His work on the war in Ukraine and protests in Yerevan has been published in Getty Reportage.
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