Category: South Caucasus News
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Hikmet Hajiev, a foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, on Saturday denied that Baku had reached a deal with the breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh to simultaneously reopen roads to Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In a message posted on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Hajiev said that Baku had offered to simultaneously reopen the roads but that what he called the “illegal regime” in Karabakh had refused.
Hajiev said that Azerbaijan would maintain “border and customs” control on the Lachin corridor, which links Karabakh to Armenia. He said that the road to Azerbaijan would open for aid shipments for the first time since 1988, a key demand of Baku’s.
Karabakh, which broke away from Baku after a war that spanned the collapse of the Soviet Union, is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but its 120,000 population is overwhelmingly ethnically Armenian.
Azerbaijani retook large amounts of ground in a 2020 war, leaving Karabakh almost entirely surrounded. In December 2022, Azerbaijani civilians began blockading the last road linking Karabakh to Armenia, causing acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
Armenian state news agency Armenpress reported on Saturday that Karabakh officials had bowed to Baku’s demands to reopen the long-closed road to Azerbaijan in return for lifting the blockade on the Lachin corridor.
Armenpress cited Karabakh officials as saying they had agreed to the deal in view of “severe humanitarian problems” in the region.
At the time, Hajiev confirmed to Reuters that the Karabakh authorities had agreed to allow aid shipments from Azerbaijan to enter the territory in return for reopening the road to Armenia.
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Azerbaijan accused Armenia of “imitating” peace talks and continuing to foment “separatism” in Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday following Armenian claims that it is planning another war in the conflict zone.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and two top aides to President Ilham Aliyev made the accusations during an extraordinary meeting with Baku-based ambassadors of foreign states.
An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement cited them as saying that Yerevan is not honoring Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements reached after the 2020 war in Karabakh.
“Armenia’s goal is to sustain separatism in the territory of Azerbaijan with all possible ideological, political, military, financial and other means. In this way, Armenia is trying to gain time and avoid real steps that can ensure progress in all areas of negotiations,” they said, according to the statement.
The Azerbaijani officials also alleged that the Armenian side has stepped up “military provocations.” They went on to condemn as “extremely provocative” the election of Karabakh’s new president by local lawmakers scheduled for Saturday.
The Armenian government said earlier this week that Azerbaijan has been massing troops along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Karabakh “line of contact” in possible preparation for offensive military operations. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan urged the international community to take “very serious measures” to thwart Baku’s alleged plans.
Officials from the Armenian Defense Ministry on Friday again met with Yerevan-based foreign military attaches to brief them on the situation along the volatile border. According to a ministry statement, they said the situation remains “tense” because of the Azerbaijani military buildup. Armenian army units are therefore “continuing to take necessary actions to stabilize it and prevent provocations,” added the statement.
Karabakh’s army said on Tuesday that “large numbers” of Azerbaijani soldiers and military hardware are massing at various sections of the line of contact. It released purported videos of the troop movements. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said afterwards that its troops are simply engaging in routine training.
Armenia’s Ambassador to Russia, Vagharshak Harutyunyan, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which reprimanded Yerevan for what it called recent “unfriendly steps” by Yerevan.
The ambassador was also given a “protest notes” outlining grievances from Moscow, including a remarks by Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan, who told reporters that it was beneath him to “respond to some female secretary,” referring to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. Moscow was also angry the Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Ukraine this week and presented “humanitarian assistance to the Nazi Kyiv regime.”
“We noted the appearance of certain doubts in the official circles and political elite of the Republic of Armenia regarding the expediency of allied relations within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and with Russia on a bilateral basis, as well as regarding the feasibility of the complex of tripartite agreements between Moscow, Yerevan and Baku reached in 2020-2022 about ways of normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement regarding the ambassadorial summons.
Russia also cited a recent Armenian government decision to ask parliament to ratify the International Criminal Court treaty, as well as the announcement this week that Armenia will host joint military exercises with the United States.
“At the same time, Moscow firmly believes that Russia and Armenia remain allies, and all agreements on the development and strengthening of partnership relations will be fully implemented for the benefit of the peoples of our two countries. This, among other things, concerns the organization of exercises within the CSTO and in the future sending to the Republic of Armenian an observation mission of the Organization in order to facilitate the settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Russian side will continue to apply all necessary efforts for these purposes,” the Russian foreign ministry added in its statement.
EU Does Not Recognize what it Calls ‘So-Called’ Elections
The Artsakh National Assembly convened a special session during which it elected Samvel Shahramanyan as the president of the republic.
Shahramanyan replaces Arayik Harutyunyan who resigned last week and appointed the newly-elected president as Artsakh’s State Minister. Earlier this week, the parliamentary factions, including the ruling bloc, endorsed Sharamanyan’s candidacy.
He was confirmed with 22 votes in favor and one opposed. An inauguration ceremony will take place on Sunday.
The status of Artsakh must be determined and a direct connection with Armenia through the Lachin Corridor must be restored, Shahramanyan told parliament after his election.
“The status of Nagorno-Karabakh must be determined, and we must have direct connection with Armenia through the Lachin Corridor. While other routes could be opened, but they cannot replace the corridor,” Shahramanyan said.
“Negotiations must take place, the format [of talks] can be both multilateral and bilateral, with guarantees from a third party. Stepanakert must be a engaged in the negotiations,” Shahramanyan added.
He called for the strengthening of Artsakh’s statehood, domestic stability, exercising the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh, improving the socio-economic situation and establishing law and order.
Baku on Friday condemned the vote, calling it “extremely provocative.”
The European Union was quick to announce that it does not recognize the presidential elections in Artsakh, a statement from the bloc’s diplomatic service said on Saturday.
“In view of the so-called ‘presidential elections’ in Khankendi/Stepanakert on 9 September 2023, the European Union reiterates that it does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework within which they have been held. At the same time, the EU believes that it is important for the Karabakh Armenians to consolidate around de facto leadership that is able and willing to engage in result-oriented discussions with Baku. The EU is committed to supporting this process,” the European Union External Action Service said in a statement.
Artsakh authorities announced Saturday that Russian assistance will be delivered to Stepanakert via the road from Aghdam. At the same time an agreement has been reached to restore the humanitarian transit along the Lachin Corridor.
“The Russian government has initiated an effort to provide humanitarian aid to the Republic of Artsakh, given the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. The aid, which includes Russian-made essential products, has been sent to Artsakh through the Russian Red Cross by their vehicles,” said an announcement by the Artsakh InfoCenter.
“The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh, based on the need to mitigate the severe humanitarian problems resulting from the total blockade by Azerbaijan, have decided to allow access of the Russian goods to our republic through the town of Askeran. At the same time, an agreement has been reached to restore humanitarian shipments by the Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross along Lachin Corridor,” the InfoCenter added.
This is a developing story.