Weekly update
4 February
France is concerned about the closure of the Lachin Corridor and calls for its opening in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to infocom.am press secretary of the French Foreign Ministry, Anne-Claire Legendre, stated in an interview with RTVI. “Today, we are extremely concerned about the closure of the Lachin Corridor and constantly demand that it should be opened to deliver food and humanitarian aid to the population. There is a real danger of a serious humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,” said the Spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry, adding that Paris supports the resumption of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The diplomat noted that France supports the European mediation efforts, and reminded that the summit held in Prague last year was convened thanks to President Emmanuel Macron. “In that framework, it was decided to send the EU mission to the border from the Armenian side in order to reduce tension and ensure the protection of its borders,” said Legendre.
https://infocom.am/en/article/97103
3 February
Responding to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Armenian pro-government lawmakers reiterated on Friday a condition set by Yerevan for the deployment of monitors from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. According to azatutyun.am the Russian-led military alliance of six ex-Soviet states proposed such a deployment during a summit of its leaders held in Yerevan last November. Armenia reportedly declined it because the other CSTO member states refused to condemn Azerbaijan’s offensive military operations along the border. Yerevan requested a new and larger monitoring mission by the European Union. The EU announced the impending launch of the two-year mission on January 23, drawing strong criticism from Russia. Lavrov said on Wednesday that the CSTO offer is still “on the table.” The Armenian government did not publicly react to his statement.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/32254293.html
2 February
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in an interview with the Russian state-owned press, said Azerbaijan had retaken seven regions of its country that Armenia had occupied for years. According to hetq.am Lavrov told Russia 24 TV and RIA Novosti that the Kremlin now finds it difficult to decide what it can do next to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan after the two countries signed a document in Brussels on the terms of the 1991 Alma Ata declaration on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. "The document states that the borders between the newly independent states will pass through the borders of the union republics, including the Azerbaijan SSR, which also included the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region," Lavrov said. He emphasized that the CSTO organized a peacekeeping operation plan in this difficult situation, and it was "a very important achievement". "However, the Armenian partners did not agree to it. They announced that would only accept such a decision only if Azerbaijan's actions were sharply condemned there. Not all members of the organization were ready for that," Lavrov said.
https://hetq.am/en/article/152764
1 February
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry has announced that 39 people were arrested in connection to an Iranian "espionage network" after previous reports saying that seven suspects were detained. In line with The Azerbaijani news agency APA quoted the ministry on Wednesday that 39 people have been detained as part of a special operation to uncover subversive activities in the country “under the guise of religion”. According to the ministry, the detainees, "posing as believers, made propaganda for Iran on social networks and abused the freedom of religion in the country, carrying out the assignments of the Iranian special services." Meanwhile, ministry also said Wednesday that "it will use all relevant international platforms to widely condemn the terror act against its embassy and punish the perpetrators." Tensions between the countries have increased following an armed attack last week on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran that left an Azerbaijani security official dead and wounded two others.
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202302010866
31 January
Transparency International has released the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) results for 2022. Varuzhan Hoktanyan, TIAC Program Manager, speaks live at the Media Center on this year's performance, the reasons for Armenia's decrease, the regional and global picture, trends, and problems. According to transparency.am this year's research concentrated on the idea that corruption, conflict, and security are inextricably linked, the influence of violence and armed conflict on a country's perception of corruption, and the rise of corruption risks. Violence and corruption are strongly intertwined. Countries with a low peacefulness index value also have a very low CPI value. The results of Armenia's CEC in 2022 were deemed concerning. After several years of growth, Armenia's CPI has declined dramatically compared to last year and now ranks at 46, three points lower than the previous two years (49 points). This indicator demonstrates that corruption remains a severe problem in many aspects of the government, particularly the balance sheet, law enforcement officials, judicial independence, and civic space protection.
https://www.transparency.am/en/media/news/article/4818
30 January
Armenia told judges at the World Court on Monday that a blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region by neighboring Azerbaijan was designed to allow "ethnic cleansing", a claim rejected by Baku. According to reuters.com the Lachin corridor is the only route whereby Armenia can provide food, fuel and medicine supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, a region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians. The corridor has been blocked since December 12, when protesters claiming to be environmental activists stopped traffic by setting up tents. Azerbaijan denies any blockade, saying the activists are staging a legitimate protest against illegal mining activity. Monday's hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, was called to hear an Armenian request for the court to order Azerbaijan to lift the blockade.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/armenia-tells-world-court-azerbaijan-blockade-is-ethnic-cleansing-2023-01-30/
29 January
Israel carried out a drone strike targeting a defense compound in Iran, as the U.S. and Israel look for new ways to contain Tehran’s nuclear and military ambitions, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the operation. In line with wsj.com Iranian officials said that the country’s air defenses had fended off an attempted attack by three small quadcopters targeting a munitions factory in the city of Isfahan, right next to a site belonging to the Iran Space Research Center, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. for its work on Iran’s ballistic-missile program. Iran said its air defenses brought down one of the drones while the two others exploded above the warehouse, causing minor damage to the roof. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called the blast a cowardly strike.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-strikes-iran-amid-new-international-push-to-contain-tehran-11675004979
28 January
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) was joined by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair David Valadao (R-CA), House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee Ranking member Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) in calling on the Biden Administration to stop U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan and send emergency aid to Artsakh in response to the devastating humanitarian crisis in Artsakh caused by Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (a leading partner in the broad-based Save Karabakh coalition). According to asbarez.com the Capitol Hill press conference, held in the Press Triangle at the foot of the U.S. Capitol Building, featured the participation of former U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Senator Sam Brownback, Artsakh Representative to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan, and representatives of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and a diverse group of non-government organizations led by the Anglican Office of International and Government Affairs, Christian Solidarity International, the Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury and founder of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), the Vulnerable Peoples Project, and supported by the Genocide Watch, Hellenic American Leadership Council, and In Defense of Christians, who announced the launch of the Save Karabakh Coalition.
https://asbarez.com/savekarabakhcoalition-launched-to-stop-azerbaijan-from-committing-second-armenian-genocide/