Month: September 2023

The normalization and regional cooperation processes among Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Armenia in the South Caucasus depend on the decisive steps to be taken by the administration in Yerevan, experts said amid the renewed tensions in the Karabakh region, underlining the lack of trust among regional actors.

While the ongoing diplomatic negotiations for a permanent peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the ongoing normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia have recently harbored a positive atmosphere in the region, they also heralded the steps of comprehensive regional cooperation. However, as a result of the recent increase in tension in the Karabakh region, Armenia-Azerbaijan relations have turned hostile again. Türkiye has adopted a discursive position on the side of Azerbaijan and against Armenia.

Ümit Nazmi Hazır, a political scientist at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, basically listed three problems for the renewal of tensions in the region: the unresolved border disputes, the role of Russian peacekeepers and the ongoing presence of Armenian forces.

He stated that there are still uncertainties over the determination of borders in the region. Moreover, Hazır said that Russian peacekeepers are still deployed in these disputed regions and have no intention to leave soon. “This leads Armenian forces to stay there and to attack Azerbaijani forces in areas under the responsibility of Russian peacekeepers.”

According to the agreement signed after the Karabakh war in 2020, Armenian forces had to withdraw from the specified areas in the Karabakh region and surrounding territories, noted Tutku Dilaver, an analyst at the Ankara-based Eurasian Studies Center (AVIM).

“After the withdrawal of Armenian forces from some regions, Azerbaijan even started settlement and infrastructure works in the Aghdam area. However, we see that there are still conflicts in the region. We first saw that the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia was beyond Aghdam, around the village of Farux, near Khojaly. A timetable and planning for the evacuation of this area were not included in the Nov. 9 agreement. Then we saw that the clashes took place in the regions south of Karabakh.”

According to Dilaver, these conflicts are a result of a similar situation. Accordingly, the Khojavend district and its surrounding areas were captured by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war and they were not included in a specific article of the agreement.

“Therefore, we see here from time to time that the Armenian forces clashed with the Azerbaijani forces. We understand that especially the illegal Armenian administration in Karabakh wants to turn the Nov. 9 agreement in their favor. Also, the events that took place on the Lachin line in recent days also shed light on the Armenian side’s desire to interpret the deal in its favor.”

As Dilaver noted, Article 4 of the deal stated that “Russian peacekeepers would be deployed in parallel with the withdrawal of Armenian forces.” Article 6 also stated that “The Lachin corridor will guarantee the connection of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and at the same time remain under the control of the Russian Federation peacekeepers, without affecting Shusha.”

“The interpretation of the illegal administration in Karabakh to these articles is as follows: Article 4 concerns the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces only from places where Russian peacekeepers will be located, not from the whole of Karabakh. Peace forces have not yet settled on the entire Lachin line. This is not possible as this is a large area. Therefore, Armenian soldiers must be present in order to protect the rights of Karabakh Armenians in places where peacekeepers are not settled. This interpretation actually shows us clearly why the conflicts are intensifying.”

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. New clashes erupted in September 2020 and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and more than 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years. Türkiye was a key backer of Azerbaijan during the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire and sizeable Azerbaijani gains on Nov. 10.

Azerbaijan last week announced that it has regained control of several strategic locations in the Karabakh region. Tensions have flared since an Azerbaijani soldier was killed in an Armenian firing in the border region of Lachin, pushing Baku to launch a retaliatory operation against Armenian forces in Karabakh. Azerbaijan has repeatedly pointed to Armenia’s failure to meet the provisions of the 2020 agreement signed by the two nations plus Russia, drawing particular attention to how Armenian armed groups have not yet pulled out of Azerbaijani territories in Karabakh.

Delay in cooperation process

Dilaver underlined that the attitude of the Armenian administration in Stepanakert (Khankendi) is responsible for the recent developments that negatively affect the process between Türkiye-Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“Azerbaijan wants to gain full control of its territory and complete its infrastructure investments and include the region in the economy and life of Azerbaijan. For the Lachin corridor, the construction of the road to Khankendi, bypassing Shusha, was also started. However, it is seen that the Armenian rulers, who were the head of the illegal administration in Karabakh, did their best to complicate this situation.”

Dilaver also specified the impact of the Armenian diaspora in Europe as another factor. As she explained, the relations between Russia and Europe were heavily damaged due to the Ukraine war and this also affected the meditation efforts on the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“A duality arose in the process. While Russia is on the ground as a peacekeeping force, we see that the EU is trying to be at the table. However, there is a strong diaspora that seriously affects the EU’s perspective on the situation. The political atmosphere created by the diaspora gives strength to the illegal rule in Khankendi.”

According to Hazır, these recent developments will cause a delay in the processes of normalization and cooperation.

“Armenia wants to gain more time. Also, the opposition in Armenia is against the process and this opposition affects domestic politics, making things hard for the (Armenian Prime Minister Nikol) Pashinian government to take steps.”

As Hazır stated, there is a correlation between the situation in Karabakh and the Türkiye-Armenia normalization process, which is negatively affected by recent incidents.

‘Mutual trust needed’

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last week that the international community “unfortunately” kept silent when Azerbaijani territories were occupied by Armenia until the fall of 2020, when with Turkish help, Azerbaijan took back its land.

“To put an end to this injustice, the support of Türkiye was given to the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. Thanks to an epic struggle that lasted for 44 days, Karabakh regained its freedom, and the 30-year occupation came to an end,” he said, referring to the fall 2020 conflict.

“With the agreements reached, a new era started in the South Caucasus. We are working hard to ensure that this historic opportunity is not wasted.”

Türkiye and Armenia have since taken “important steps” toward peace in the Caucasus, and have appointed representatives to normalize ties, Erdoğan said.

“I believe that our region will be stabilized in a short time if Armenia reads the developments correctly and responds to the sincere calls of Azerbaijan and Türkiye,” he added.

On last week’s flare-up of violence between the Caucasus nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also said Türkiye “once again warns Armenia not to engage in new provocations.”

Since the war ended, Ankara has made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising Türkiye, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus. Türkiye believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation among the states and people of the South Caucasus region.

Hazır also said that this whole situation can be read as a conflict between Türkiye and Russia. Accordingly, Russia wants this conflict to remain unresolved because it expands its influence area in the region as long as the uncertainty continues. On the other hand, Türkiye wants a solution and improved regional cooperation.

“Finally, the impact of these conflicts on the regional cooperation process and the developments among the actors in the region depends on the decisive steps to be taken by the administration in Yerevan. There is a distrust among the regional actors stemming from history. In order to take steps that will shape the future of the region together, mutual trust must first be established. This is an issue that requires attention and time in itself,” Dilaver finally said.

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Four Azerbaijani police officers and two civilians were killed in separate mine blasts in the region of Karabakh, Azerbaijan said on Tuesday and blamed “sabotage groups” as tensions with Armenia escalate.

Security services said two men died early in the morning in the Khodzhavenskiy district. They added that four police officers were killed on their way to the site when their vehicle hit “a mine laid on a tunnel road under construction by illegal Armenian armed groups.”

An investigation is underway into these terrorist groups, the state security service said.

The incident raised the number of people who lost their lives due to the explosion of mines, laid by Armenian forces after the Second Karabakh War, to 61. According to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, clearing mines planted by Armenia on occupied Azerbaijani territories will take nearly 30 years and cost $25 billion.

The standoff between Azerbaijan and Armenia has been steadily heating up despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement.

Earlier on Monday, Baku demanded Armenia immediately withdraw its armed forces from Karabakh and abolish the military and administrative structure of the so-called regime in the region.

Karabakh is a longstanding source of strain between the neighbors, which fought two wars over it – first in the early 1990s and again in 2020 when Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from illegal Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement and Moscow deployed a peacekeeping contingent to oversee it.

Currently, there is an escalation on the line of contact, shelling of positions and a buildup of military personnel on both sides. Azerbaijan and Armenia have accused each other of violating the agreement.

Especially since last December, the blockade of the Lachin corridor – the only land route connecting Karabakh to Armenia – has been the source of strain and left nearly a dozen people dead on both sides.

In a special briefing for diplomats on the current situation in Karabakh, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that despite Azerbaijani efforts through international partners, Armenia and the so-called regime established on Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory continue to harm the normalization process and reject all proposals to reduce tensions.

The ministry argued that the recent holding of “presidential elections” in the region was a provocative act.

There are more than 10,000 Armenian armed forces loyal to the so-called regime in Karabakh, it said, adding that the forces have over 100 tanks and other armored vehicles, more than 200 heavy artillery weapons, including volley rocket systems, and more than 200 mortar systems.

It added that Armenian forces have violated the tripartite declaration signed on Nov. 10, 2020, and Yerevan is preparing for a new attack.

Like every country in the world, Azerbaijan has the right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity according to international law, the ministry noted.

It urged Armenia to stop its military activities, give up its “plans for revenge,” stop violating Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and stop supporting separatism and terrorism in the Karabakh region.

According to Baku, Yerevan’s insistence on financing troops in the disputed territory in violation of the 2020 peace treaty is “proof of their objection to the reintegration of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians into Azerbaijan, which is because they still have irredentist claims on sovereign Azerbaijani territory.”

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YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday is bringing shipments of wheat flour and essential medical items to people in need in Nagorno-Karabakh via the Lachin Corridor and the Aghdam road.

The shipments were made possible “as a result of persistent diplomatic efforts to find a humanitarian consensus between the decision-makers,” the ICRC said in a statement.

“We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian aid will finally receive much needed support in the coming days,” said Ariane Bauer, ICRC’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia. “Health structures are lacking medical supplies. People are queuing hours for bread. They urgently need sustained relief through regular humanitarian shipments. This consensus has allowed our teams to resume this life-saving work.”

The ICRC said it has been in talks over the last weeks with decision-makers about options to get aid into the area via different routes, including both the Lachin Corridor and Aghdam road. Monday’s operation included two trucks which simultaneously delivered goods via both the Lachin Corridor and Aghdam road.

“I hope that this consensus allows for our strictly humanitarian convoys to resume not just today but in the weeks to come so that we can regularly get aid to those who need it. Our aim is to reach those most in need of assistance in line with our fundamental principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence,” said Ariane Bauer, ICRC’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

A group of European rabbis affiliated with the Chabad movement condemned in a letter what they consider a trivialization of the Holocaust by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The letter, penned earlier this month by more than 100 rabbis from the Rabbinical Centre of Europe, an association with many rabbis affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch movement, said that terms like “ghetto,” “genocide,” and “holocaust” belittles the “terrible suffering experienced by the victims of the horrific Holocaust and the Jewish people at large.”

In an interview from July, Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan, with which Armenia has had a long and bloody dispute over land with religious undertones, “created a ghetto, in the most literal meaning of the word” in Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed area at the heart of the conflict.

Pashinyan also spoke about Adolf Hitler and his gradual ascent to power. Hitler did not “pull out the sword and started chasing the Jews in the streets” immediately after his rise to power, Pashinyan said.

The letter’s signatories included some of the most prominent Chabad rabbis in Europe, including Binyomin Jacobs, a chief rabbi in the Netherlands, and Baruch Oberloander of Budapest, Hungary.

European Chabad rabbis rarely speak out on geopolitical matters, a task that normally falls to the European Jewish Association, a Brussels-based advocacy group headed by Menachem Margolin, a Chabad rabbi from Israel.

The letter follows an Azerbaijani rabbi’s push for attention in Jewish and other media to Holocaust-related rhetoric by Armenian leaders. The Baku-based News.za agency describes Rabbi Zamir Isaev of Baku as “the initiator of the campaign of the rabbis of Europe and America” against the use of the Holocaust themes in “Armenian propaganda.”

In this handout photo, President Isaac Herzog shakes hands with Azerbaijan’s new Ambassador Mukhtar Mammadov while accepting his credentials, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, March 26, 2023. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich nation whose annual gross domestic product of $56 billion is four times larger than Armenia’s, is thought to have a relatively robust lobbying apparatus in the European Union, the United States and beyond.

Azerbaijan is an ally of Israel and a major supplier of petrol to the Jewish state. Its officials have often claimed that their country has no antisemitism and it was the first Muslim-majority country to include the Holocaust in its curriculum for high school students. It is also a major consumer of Israeli weapons.

Azerbaijani officials have often compared the Holocaust, in which about six million Jews died, to the Khojaly massacre of 1992 against Azerbaijani civilians. The Azeri government says that 613 people were killed in that atrocity, perpetrated by Armenian troops.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev speaks during a news conference at the Palace of Brigades in Tirana, Albania, Nov. 15, 2022 (AP Photo/Franc Zhurda)

The website of the Azerbaijani defense ministry states that “Khojaly does not differ from other horrifying tragedies of Katyn, Lidice, Oradour-sur-Glane, Holocaust, Songmy, Rwanda and Srebrenica, which remain in history as deep and shameful scars.”

Armenian officials have often said their nation has a special bond with Israel born of their shared experience of genocide. Israel and Armenia “share a common history through painful and sad times with the extinction of millions in the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide,” former president Sarkissian said in a 2020 speech in Holon near Tel Aviv, referring to the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Turkish soldiers during World War I.

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Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) expressed frustration Thursday with the Biden administration’s lack of urgency in addressing what the United States has described as a “rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Nagorno-Karabakh, a hotly disputed region at the center of rising tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.  

Menendez, while chairing of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the crisis, said he was “amazed” by the responses from Yuri Kim, the acting assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.  

“I have been doing this for 31 years. I am amazed sometimes at what the department comes before this committee and says,” he said at the end of the hearing.  

The senator’s frustration centered on the administration’s application of Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act, which bans direct support to the Azerbaijani government. However, Kim listed various reasons that ban has been waived, mainly to bolster Azerbaijan’s anti-terror efforts and secure its border with Iran.  

Menendez argued that the U.S. was only helping the regime of Azerbaijan’s authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev, whom the senator blamed for a blockade that has cut off Karabakh in apparent violation of a 2020 truce between Azerbaijan and Armenia.  

“I have repeatedly expressed my deep opposition about waiving Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, allowing the United States to send assistance to his regime,” he said. “This clearly alters the balance of military power between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Aliyev’s favor. I think Azerbaijan’s actions over the past three years have vindicated my skepticism.” 

Earlier this year, Azerbaijani troops began a blockade of the Lachin corridor, which has reportedly led to the starvation of indigenous Armenians in the semi-autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh.  

The U.S. State Department released a statement Sept. 10 warning of the “urgent need” for humanitarian supplies in the region, but it avoided assigning direct blame.  

“The United States is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the statement reads. “We note that humanitarian supplies are positioned near both the Lachin and Aghdam routes, and we repeat our call for the immediate and simultaneous opening of both corridors to allow passage of desperately needed humanitarian supplies to the men, women, and children in Nagorno-Karabakh. We also urge leaders against taking any actions that raise tensions or distract from this goal. The use of force to resolve disputes is unacceptable.” 

When Menendez asked Kim why Aliyev refused to open to corridor despite numerous promises to do so, Kim responded, “We can have that conversation in a different setting, sir.” 

Menendez shook his head before saying, “What would be classified?” 

“I’ll give you an unclassified answer: He won’t open the corridor because he is trying to subjugate these people by starvation or by the threat of starvation and subject them to his will,” the senator continued.  

In renewing the Section 907 waiver, the Biden administration has argued that targeted U.S. assistance is not undermining broader efforts to broker lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, who fought a 44-day war over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.  

Yet the Armenian American community sees the extension of the waiver as a betrayal following Biden’s historic decision in 2021 to recognize, for the first time, the Armenian Genocide. 

Menendez has been a consistent opponent of the waiver, and while the waiver is up for renewal, Menendez said he is doubtful the administration will change its stance.  

Menendez delivered remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday urging the Biden administration to take immediate action in holding Aliyev accountable for the blockade, which has the characteristics of genocide, according to Article II of the U.N. Genocide Convention.  

So far, there is one reported death amid severe food shortages in Nagorno-Karabakh, with many more expected to follow without immediate assistance. Kim noted that with U.S. pressure, one truck has made it through the blockade with humanitarian aid.  

“One truck is not mercy,” Menendez said. 

That truck was also Russian, which was cause for concern for members of the committee. Moscow mediated the 2020 ceasefire, but Kim said it was proving to be an unreliable broker.  

Russia is Armenia’s sole provider of energy and has a military presence in the country. Kim said the crisis offered the U.S. an opportunity to rebalance Armenia’s geopolitical relationships in America’s favor, as Armenians become disillusioned with Russia as an ally amid the Ukraine war.

“[Armenians] are beginning to have second thoughts about having invited Russian troops onto their territory, relying on Russia as their sole source of energy, [and] hosting Russian military installations in their lands,” Kim said. 

While Kim repeatedly reassured the committee that the State Department is working hard to reopen the corridor and avoid impending genocide, Menendez was unconvinced.  

“I just hope you’ll tell the secretary [of State] on my behalf: I would hate to see this administration stand by and allow ethnic cleansing to take place on their watch and under their eye,” Menendez said. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday said it had finally been allowed to send trucks full of food and medicine to Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway ethnic-Armenian region in Azerbaijan.

“We are extremely relieved that many people reliant on humanitarian aid will finally receive much-needed support in the coming days,” said Ariane Bauer, ICRC regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been kept from receiving aid from ally Armenia since last December, when Azerbaijan closed the vital Lachin corridor — which the enclave, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, has relied on as a pipeline of support from Armenia since the end of a 1994 separatist war.

Azerbaijan in control of Nagorno-Karabakh’s lifeline to Armenia

During a six-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained some territories ceded in 1994, taking control of, among others, the region where the corridor is located.

As a result of the closure, the enclave’s 120,000 residents have suffered severe shortages of food and medicine.

“Health structures are lacking medical supplies. People are queueing for hours for bread. They urgently need sustained relief through regular humanitarian shipments,” said the ICRC’s Bauer. She said she hoped goods could be shipped, “not just today but in the weeks to come, so that we can regularly get aid to those who need it.”

The shipments were made possible by a deal between the belligerents and arrived via two routes: the Lachin corridor to Armenia in the southwest, and the Aghdam Road to Azerbaijani-held territory in the northeast.

Azerbaijain has repeatedly demanded Karabakh reopen its access to the region via the Aghdam Road, which separatists have kept closed since 1988. Karabakh, however, has remained hesitant, claiming Azerbaijan is simply seeking to take control of the enclave.

Karabakh authorities said in a statement that 23 tons of flour had arrived on Monday, as well as medical and hygiene supplies, adding that the deliveries were a “small drop” of what was needed. They also cautioned that people should not infer the roads were now entirely open.

Ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions after 2020 fighting

Tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia remain high, with the two regularly exchanging fire across their highly-fortified, closed border. Meanwhile, both sides have sought to blame each other for the ongoing stand-off.

Armenia, which last month requested the UN Security Council convene an emergency meeting to address humanitarian conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh, says Azerbaijan is amassing troops.

In turn, Azerbaijan says it is being forced to take “urgent measures” to stop Karabakh forces from further fortifying the border.

js/msh (AP, Reuters)

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have entered Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after Armenian separatists and the central government agreed to use roads linking it to Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to Baku.

Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of causing a months-long humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh after Baku last year blocked the sole road linking the mountainous region with Armenia. It is called the Lachin corridor, and Russian peacekeepers police it.

Azerbaijan has rejected the accusation, arguing that Nagorno-Karabakh could receive all the supplies it needs via Azerbaijan.

Baku said separatist authorities had simply refused its proposal to simultaneously reopen both the Lachin corridor and the Aghdam road, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh with the rest of Azerbaijan.

On Monday, the “simultaneous passage of the Red Cross cars was ensured” through the Lachin corridor and the Aghdam road, Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said on social media.

“The whole international community once again witnessed that there was no so-called blockade but deliberate self-blockade, weaponisation and politisation of humanitarian issues and theatrical dramas,” he said.

“[Thanks to] a humanitarian consensus between the decision-makers, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is today bringing shipments of wheat flour and essential medical items to people in need via the Lachin Corridor and the Aghdam road,” the ICRC said.

Nagorno-Karabakh residents, who are predominately ethnic Armenian, “urgently need sustained relief through regular humanitarian shipments. This consensus has allowed our teams to resume this lifesaving work”, said Ariane Bauer, ICRC’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

The European Union and United States have called for the reopening of the Lachin and Aghdam routes for humanitarian aid as Nagorno-Karabakh experienced shortages of food and medicine.

The months-long crisis as well as Baku’s deployment of troops near Nagorno-Karabakh and along the border with Armenia have sparked fears of a new all-out conflict between the arch-foes, who have fought two wars for control of the region.

Six weeks of fighting ended in 2020 with a Russian-brokered truce. The ceasefire saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had controlled since the 1990s.

The two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, United States and Russia.