Weekly update
14 January
The European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on Azerbaijan Željana Zovko (EPP, HR) calls for an urgent lifting of the blockade in Nagorno Karabakh. According to armradio.am she has issued the following statement. “I am gravely concerned about the blockade of the Lachin corridor in Azerbaijan that connects Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia, which has been taking place for approximately four weeks already and prevents the deliveries of food and other essential supplies, as well as the provision of indispensable services, to the region. The blockade should be lifted without delay in order to avoid any humanitarian implications and an irreparable negative impact on the peace process. I therefore call on the government of Azerbaijan to put in place all measures within its competences and pursuant to the obligations it undertook under the tripartite ceasefire statement of 9 November 2020, that are needed to restore free movement through the corridor and to ensure that humanitarian aid can be delivered to the local population given the shortage of food, medicines and other essential items.”
https://en.armradio.am/2023/01/14/ep-rapporteur-on-azerbaijan-calls-for-an-urgent-lifting-of-lachin-corridor-blockade%ef%bf%bc/
13 January
Is Ruben Vardanyan the savior of a nation, a Russian agent, or a billionaire with delusions of grandeur who is now in over his head? In line with eurasianet.org in the crisis over Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, a new de facto leader of the territory’s de facto government has emerged. It is Ruben Vardanyan, the territory’s newly appointed state minister, who has been the face of Karabakh’s response. As the de facto authorities manage the fallout from the blockade, Vardanyan has been out front: issuing decrees, making daily addresses to the population, and acting as the point man for the international media covering the crisis. That he is in this role is a surprise.It was only in September 2022 that the Russian-Armenian billionaire businessman and philanthropist made the unexpected announcement that he was renouncing his Russian citizenship and moving to Karabakh. A month later he was offered a role in the leadership, as state minister, a position which was given expansive new authorities just as he assumed it.
https://eurasianet.org/amid-blockade-spotlight-falls-on-karabakhs-new-enigmatic-leader
12 January
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia records that the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, with his latest statements, finally frankly states that the claims made about the so-called corridor have nothing to do with the trilateral declaration of November 9. In an interview with Armenpress, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia Vahan Hunanyan emphasized that there is only one mentioning about a corridor in the statement, and that is the Lachin Corridor, which has been illegally blocked by Azerbaijan for more than a month. Hunanyan also noted that with his latest statements, the President of Azerbaijan inadvertently admits that Azerbaijan, grossly violating its international obligations stipulated by the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, has been keeping 120,000 Artsakh Armenians under siege for more than a month and purposefully bringing Nagorno-Karabakh to a humanitarian disaster.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1101553.html
11 January
Nagorno-Karabakh’s political leadership on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest statements on the conflict with Azerbaijan and said Armenia must not end its support for the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination. According to azatutyun.am Pashinian said on Tuesday that the international community has always regarded Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. He also declared that the Armenian government must only deal with Armenia’s problems and that the authorities in Stepanakert should settle the conflict on their own. “Perhaps we were not quite pragmatic when it seemed to us that the four UN Security Council resolutions [on the Karabakh conflict] are just pieces of paper which we can ignore,” Pashinian told a news conference. Karabakh’s president and top security officials as well as leaders of its main political factions expressed serious concern over Pashinian’s comments during an emergency meeting held in Stepanakert. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, they said the comments run counter to “the position adopted by the Republic of Artsakh’s population and authorities.”
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/32218980.html
10 January
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a press conference on Tuesday. In line with news.am after a long break, this press conference took place in an offline format when a journalist of the state-funded Public Television of Armenia read the preselected questions sent by the mass media. Here are 5 most important quotes of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan during the briefing:
‘Armenia will not host Russia-led military exercises this year.’
‘Does this whole situation in the region suggest that the CSTO intends to leave Armenia?’
‘Armenia has not officially received a proposal from Russia to join the Union State and there couldn’t be one’ Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia has not received any official proposal from Russia to join the Union State.
‘Lachin corridor should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers’
‘Azerbaijan will never recognize Armenia's territorial integrity’.
https://news.am/eng/news/738860.html
9 January
The following is an OCCRP article according to hetq.am. Who is a beneficial owner? Why is beneficial ownership disclosure important to fighting crime and corruption? A beneficial owner is the person who ultimately controls a corporate entity, or stands to profit from its activities. In industry terms, they are often known as the “ultimate beneficial owner,” or “UBO.” In lots of cases, the beneficial owner might simply be the company’s legal owner. In more complex corporate structures, however, the true owner may hide behind proxies, such as so-called “nominee” shareholders or shell companies. Criminals and kleptocrats often use these structures to move money around the world while keeping their names off the paperwork. Thanks to leaks such as the Panama Papers, we know that there’s a massive industry of lawyers, accountants, and company formation agents who are willing to help corrupt and criminal actors hide their wealth. They often help hide their clients’ identities by setting up multiple layers of anonymous companies in so-called “secrecy jurisdictions” — that is, countries or territories that do not require ownership to be publicly disclosed. A large majority of serious corruption cases use anonymous companies to evade detection.
https://hetq.am/en/article/151933
8 January
The UK Government continues to monitor the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, Lord Ahmad, UK Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in response to a question by Lord Alton of Liverpool. According to armradio.am “The UK Government has repeatedly urged the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments to thoroughly investigate all allegations of war crimes and other atrocities in recent years. It is essential all allegations of mistreatment, abuse and summary killings are urgently and fully investigated by the appropriate authorities,” he said, when asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool about the assessment of warnings of genocide, and other atrocities, being committed against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
https://en.armradio.am/2023/01/09/uk-says-closure-of-lachin-corridor-risks-severe-humanitarian-consequences/
7 January
Britain joined Russia in blocking a UN Security Council statement condemning the Azeri blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to bylinetimes.com British foreign secretary James Cleverley and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have worked along parallel paths at the United Nations Security Council to protect the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan from criticism over its brutal conduct towards the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabach. Britain and Russia have a common interest in maintaining Ilham Aliyev, the notoriously corrupt and callous Azerbaijan president, in power. Put simply, Britain needs Azeri oil and gas. As for an increasingly embattled Vladimir Putin, Aliyev is a vital ally on the uneasy and dangerous border between Eastern Europe and Central Asia, an area where Russia has a deep strategic interest.
https://bylinetimes.com/2023/01/06/the-cynical-pact-between-russia-and-the-uk-over-azerbaijans-aggression-towards-armenia/
Sources: armradio.am, eurasianet.org, armenpress.am, azatutyun.am, news.am, hetq.am, bylinetimes.com, newsweek.com