Weekly update
11 December
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan referred to the accusations addressed at the government by some forces, at the same time emphasizing that the key issue is the low level of accomplishment of statehood and state institutions, and the main thing to do is the development of statehood and state institutions. According to armenpress.am the PM particularly wrote, “The rhetoric of the "traitorous government" generated by some forces is not at all the voice the pain of the lost homeland. This is an episode of a hybrid war seriously thought out and prepared for many years. In 2018, as Prime Minister, I had not yet managed to read the negotiation papers on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the same forces were whispering that our government was going to surrender the lands. The idea was slowly, step by step, circulating from ear to ear. The goal was that if / when the time comes to defend the interests of Artsakh and Armenia with weapons, the idea that war and struggle are meaningless, everything is decided at the top, "the lands have been surrendered" seemed to be trustworthy by which the country's resistance, soldier motivation and will would be broken. And before the possible war, the country's position at the negotiating table would weaken." According to Pashinyan, such combinations are, of course, built in close cooperation between outside and inside forces, and those who generate this rhetoric inside often do not even guess what they are participating in, because everything is served with a high "patriotic" sauce.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1070524.html
10 December
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed the need start the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as soon as possible. In line with eurasiareview.com Lavrov made the remarks in phone talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday, December 8. Lavrov also emphasized the importance of bringing into a practical field the agreements within the Trilateral Working Group on unblocking transport and economic ties, co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. The foreign policy chiefs discussed bilateral, regional and international issues. According to information provided by the Russian side, particular attention was paid to the implementation of the Sochi agreements of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia from November 26. The Deputy PMs of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan first meet in person on January 30 in Moscow to discuss new transport communications that would link Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan. New rail and road routes in the South Caucasus are expected to connect the Azerbaijani Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan with the rest of the country, for which a road will be built through the territory of Armenia. There will also be road and rail routes through the territory of Azerbaijan to connect Armenia to Russia.
https://www.eurasiareview.com/10122021-lavrov-urges-armenian-azeri-border-delimitation-as-soon-as-possible/
9 December
Armenia’s strategic ally, Russia, has refrained from addressing Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s most recent threat of war against Armenia, when he said earlier this week that his country will force the opening of the so-called “Zangezur Corridor.” In accordance with asbarez.com, “Moscow’s principled position is that we proceed from the need to refrain from making statements and taking actions that may handicap the implementation of the trilateral agreements at the highest level and, of course, statements and actions that may lead to escalation of the conflict,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on Wednesday. “I believe it would be better to stick to the issue, not political statements,” added Zakharova. “As a mediator, Russia is doing everything it can to stabilize the situation…You know our principled approaches…We are doing everything we can to make sure the agreements are implemented, and the situation…it can never be guaranteed since we are dealing with an old conflict, but, either way, we are doing everything we can to make sure the situation in the region doesn’t worsen,” she added. Zakharova also didn’t address the killing last week of an Artsakh resident by Azerbaijani forces. Seyran Sargsyan, 65, had wandered into territory currently under control of Azerbaijan near the Tchartar village in Artsakh Martuni district while shepherding his cattle. He was caught by Azerbaijani forces who beat and killed him.
https://asbarez.com/moscow-refrains-from-addressing-aliyevs-war-threats/
8 December
The International Court of Justice has not ordered Azerbaijan to release all Armenian prisoners of war captured during the Second Karabakh War in fall 2020, according to a decision published by the Court on Tuesday, December 7. As panarmenian.net reports, Azerbaijan was instead ordered to "protect from violence and bodily harm all persons captured in relation to the 2020 conflict who remain in detention, and ensure their security and equality before the law". The Court also said Baku has to take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination, including by its officials and public institutions, targeted at persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin. Azerbaijan must also take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts.
https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/297229/UN_court_fails_to_order_Azerbaijan_to_release_Armenian_PoWs
7 December
Armenia urges Russia, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the UN Security Council and the OSCE Minsk Group to pay attention to Baku’s statements which, from Yerevan’s point of view, threaten the territorial integrity and country’s sovereignty, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. According to tass.com "Yerevan drew the attention of its main security partner - Russia, [and also] the CSTO, the UN Security Council, members of the OSCE Minsk Group and the entire international community to the fact that Baku continues to resort to belligerent rhetoric and threatens the use of force, making statements which undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia in violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including the UN Charter," the message reads. The Armenian foreign ministry also stressed that, through this rhetoric, Baku undermines the efforts of the working group on the opening of regional communications, which includes the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan. "Baku’s provocative statements hinder the work of the trilateral working group, which discusses the list of measures and the schedule for the unblocking of roads, the restoration of highways and railways in the region," the ministry noted.
https://tass.com/world/1371917
6 December
Azerbaijan has repatriated to Armenia 10 soldiers its forces had captured during an invasion attempt on Armenia’s southeastern borders on November 16. In line with asbarez.com a day after the foiled invasion attempt, Armenia’s Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijani forces had captured 13 Armenian soldiers, while another 24 had gone missing. There are still unknown numbers of Armenian POWs and civilians, who were captured during and immediately following last year’s war, being held by Azerbaijan.
https://asbarez.com/azerbaijan-returns-10-captured-soldiers/
5 December
On December 5, 2021, Armenia will be holding the most important municipal election in its 30 years since independence. According to evnreport.com it is the third and largest installment of a series of three municipal election dates in the autumn of 2021; the first two were on October 17 and November 14. In the wake of the early parliamentary election on June 20, 2021, these municipal races serve as a kind of second round to provide greater insight into Armenia’s ever-changing political landscape. Over a million Armenian citizens from nine different regions will have the opportunity to cast their vote on December 5, in 38 separate election races that were triggered as a result of a municipal amalgamation initiative. The amalgamation reduced the number of municipalities in Armenia from 502 to 79, joining smaller villages under the same administration as their nearest city. The new units roughly correspond to the regional administrations used during Soviet times and targeted a minimum size of 4,000 registered voters (citizens over 18 years old), so that they would use the proportional electoral system for municipal elections in accordance with recent changes to the Electoral Code. Exceptions were made for the following villages, which have a high proportion of ethnic minority residents:
https://www.evnreport.com/elections/december-5-armenia-s-most-important-municipal-election
4 December
The Nordic Monitor, a news web and tracking site run by the Stockholm-based Nordic Research and Monitoring Network, published an article on December 3 that Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay last week stated that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) played an active role in the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, helping to tip the military balance in favor of Azerbaijan. According to hetq.am the article says that Oktay made the revelation during a presentation on the annual activities of state institutions operating under the Presidency at the Turkish Parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee on November 26. “In many regions such as Syria, Libya, Upper Karabakh and most recently Afghanistan, the organization has carried out important work that protects our national interests and shapes the balances in the field in favor of our country, in line with our state policy. We have not only carried out the most successful operations in our history against terrorist organizations at our borders and just beyond but have also achieved many successes, from ending the 30-year occupation of Karabakh to the struggle for legitimacy in Libya against the putschists. We are progressing and demonstrating our concrete achievements one by one.”
https://hetq.am/en/article/138568
Sources: armenpress.am, eurasiareview.com, asbarez.com, panarmenian.net, tass.com, evnreport.com, hetq.am