- Two U.S. senators have introduced a resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, now approaching its sixth month.
- A State Department spokesperson declined to say when a high-level Armenia-Azerbaijan summit in Washington, initially set for next week but then postponed, may take place.
- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will meet today with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- A Yerevan court found Gayane Hakobyan guilty of trying to kidnap Pashinyan’s son, but released her from detention on a four-year suspended sentence.
-
BREAKING: Ruben Vardanyan detained by Azerbaijan while trying to leave
Ruben Vardanyan, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who briefly served as Nagorno-Karabakh’s state minister, was detained by Azerbaijan Wednesday as he tried to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. Vardanyan “has been arrested and held captive by the Azerbaijani authorities at the border as he attempted to leave this morning, along with thousands of Armenians escaping Azerbaijani occupation,” Veronika Zonabend, Vardanyan’s wife, said in a statement to the press. The well-known Azerbaijani Telegram channel Maiden Tower released a photograph appearing to show Azerbaijanis detaining Vardanyan. Meanwhile, Russia’s TASS news agency reported that Vardanyan “was detained while crossing the Hakari bridge,” referring to […]
-
France to open consulate in Armenia’s Syunik region
France will open a consulate in Syunik, becoming the third country after Iran and Russia to establish or announce plans to establish a permanent diplomatic presence in Armenia’s strategically vital southernmost region. “We will soon open a consular office in Syunik province near the border,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was quoted as telling lawmakers in Paris Tuesday by Nouvelles d’Arménie magazine. She did not say where exactly the consulate would be located, nor did she provide a timeframe. “The fact that Russia has abandoned Armenia and is complicit in Azerbaijan’s military operations makes international diplomatic actions even more necessary,” […]
-
USAID chief dodges questions on Washington’s response to Baku’s assault
By Mark Dovich During a 30-minute, highly-managed press conference in Yerevan Monday, where only pre-selected media were allowed to ask questions, USAID chief Samantha Power pledged to support Armenia’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” but largely dodged questions on how the United States would respond to further military action in the region by Azerbaijan. Also present at Power’s press conference Monday was acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim, who told senators earlier this month “we will not tolerate any military action, we will not tolerate any attack on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.” Kim did not speak at Monday’s press conference, […]
-
‘The worst-case scenario is now underway’: Who is to blame
Tigran Grigoryan, the head of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security, talks to CivilNet about Azerbaijan’s assault last week on Nagorno-Karabakh, the global (non-)response to the situation, and Russia’s role in the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.
-
Arrivals to Armenia top 13,000 as mass exodus from Karabakh
13,550 people forcibly displaced from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh had reached Armenia as of 8 o’clock Tuesday morning, according to the latest official figures. Most of them have traveled in their own vehicles, many with their belongings strapped to the roofs of their cars. The mass exodus comes even as the authorities in Stepanakert have repeatedly urged people to temporarily refrain from traveling to Armenia, citing the need to first evacuate people in need of urgent medical treatment. “Considering the need for emergency medical evacuations along the Stepanakert-Goris highway for those who were wounded (during Azerbaijan’s strikes last week) and […]
-
Chaos, exodus and explosion in Karabakh amid ethnic cleansing
The opening of the Lachin corridor on Sunday was followed by the mass exodus of Karabakh Armenians to Armenia and a fuel warehouse explosion, leaving hundreds wounded and an unclear number of dead. The explosion took place in the area where hundreds of Karabakh residents had gathered to wait their turn to get enough fuel to cross into Armenia. According to locals, there was no organized evacuation by local authorities, which caused additional chaos in the region’s captial Stepanakert. The exact number of casualties remains unclear, and authorities in Stepanakert have called for an urgent airlift to save the lives […]
