The statements from Yerevan saying that Russia poses a threat to Armenia’s security are absurd, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

“The Russian and Armenian peoples are linked by strong ties of friendship. We are determined to further strengthen both bilateral relations and cooperation in the common integration associations CSTO, EAEC and CIS. Against this background, the statements coming from Yerevan as if “the Russian presence poses some kind of a threat to security” are absurd.

“For decades, our troops and border guards have been contributing to Armenia’s security and protecting its borders. This is an objective reality, which cannot be denied.

“Moreover, the current Armenian leadership has publicly stated earlier that the Russian military presence complies with the national interests of the republic. But the adventurers calling for our servicemen to be sent to the door are clearly not aware of the real consequences of such a step,” she said.

Alison Tahmizian Meuse,

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday announced that he had refused to host Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping drills in Armenia — explicitly rebuffing Russian support not only to Artsakh, but the Republic of Armenia itself.

“The military presence of the Russian Federation not only does not ensure the security of the Republic of Armenia, but also creates a threat to its security,” he told a room of hand-picked reporters.

He specified that his government “informed the CSTO joint headquarters in writing that we do not consider it appropriate to hold such military exercises in the Republic of Armenia in this situation. Those military exercises will not take place this year,” Pashinyan said.

The press conference came a day after Pashinyan-aligned demonstrators attempted to surround the Russian military base in Gyumri, the sentinel on the border with hostile Turkey, demanding Russia’s expulsion.

It was the latest step in a pattern of sabotage, which began with Pashinyan’s 2018 jailing of Armenia’s respected CSTO representative General Yuri Khachadurov over spurious claims, later thrown out, and the ill-fated dismissal of CSTO warnings of an impending Azeri attack and rejection of preventative military drills in September 2020. Last fall, Armenia again declined to participate in CSTO drills, and Pashinyan capped the year by making a public spectacle of rejecting a military support package in the final minutes of a summit attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that units of the Russian Ground Forces will take part in a peacekeeping exercise of the CSTO to be held in Armenia, according to the website of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Pashinyan’s latest rebuffing of a military exercise explicitly aimed at bolstering CSTO’s peacekeeping capacity and interoperability, and which would have brought Russian ground troops to counter the Turkish buildup on Armenia’s borders, comes as Russia’s peacekeeping mission in the Artsakh Republic is under unprecedented pressure from Baku and now Yerevan. Pashinyan, in parallel with his consolidation over all key levers of power, namely the judiciary and police, has dropped even verbal support for Artsakh’s right to self-determination, gifting Erdogan and Aliyev fresh diplomatic leverage to demand the end of the Russian protectorate, eliminate Artsakh as an autonomous republic, and then continue with the ongoing campaign to sever Armenia from its vital lungs to the outside world through Georgia and Iran.

Russian peacekeepers stationed on the precarious low ground beneath the occupied fortress city of Shushi are currently locked in a month-old standoff with Azeri forces on the artery connecting Artsakh to Armenia. Baku has strategically put forward unarmed personnel posing as eco-activists as the veneer of its blockade, effectively controlling the media narrative and precluding the use of force for their removal. While Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan has called for the peacekeepers’ mandate to be strengthened and numbers boosted, the Pashinyan administration has done the opposite — working to convince the Armenian public and Diaspora that Artsakh’s submission to Azerbaijan is in the best interest of the nation.

Despite Azerbaijan’s failure to honor its most basic obligation to return Armenian POWs following the 2020 war, Pashinyan has expedited conditions for Aliyev’s demands, which now extend to claim over the capital Yerevan, to be fulfilled. Pashinyan’s administration pulled the Armenian military from Artsakh in July and then in August enforced the ceding of the Berdzor artery — the umbilical cord of gas, electricity, hydroelectric and telecom infrastructure between Armenia and Artsakh, leaving the local Artsakh Defense Forces and Russia’s two-thousand man contingent as the only force inside a noose of Turkish and Azeri troops vulnerable to gas and communication blockades.

The planned CSTO peacekeeping exercises, unveiled by the Russian Ministry of Defense on the first day of the New Year, would logically bolster the peacekeeping mission in Artsakh and send a defiant message to Ankara and Baku following joint Turkish-Azeri drills which saw Turkey keep its forces ominously stationed in place — as was done in the runup to the 2020 aggression.

Pashinyan on Tuesday effectively rejected the military support he for months has claimed to be seeking from Armenia’s chief ally.

The threat to Armenia today is no less than that to Artsakh. Of the three regional powers impacting Armenia — Russia, Iran and NATO’s second largest army Turkey — only one seeks Armenia’s destruction as a sovereign nation.

With the US-led NATO alliance locked in a protracted and deepening struggle against Russia in Ukraine, there will be no Western arming of Armenia against Turkey, and neither Pashinyan handing over Artsakh nor expelling Russian troops from Gyumri will change that but will only leave Armenia exponentially more vulnerable.

The US State Department announced last year — when Iran held military exercises along the Arax River bordering Azeri-occupied areas of Artsakh and in support of Armenia’s territorial integrity — that Washington stood firmly in support of Azerbaijan.

The Pashinyan administration, by courting Turkey and Azerbaijan and shunning Armenia’s natural allies, invites the truncating of Armenia and paves the way for genocide.

Those Armenians who wish to see the homeland secure must comprehend that the only Western intervention will not be salvation from France or America, but invasion via the easternmost member of NATO: Turkey. The ongoing expulsion of Russia spells genocide.

Alison Tahmizian Meuse

Alison Tahmizian Meuse is a veteran Middle East journalist, having served as a correspondent for AFP, NPR and the Asia Times over the past decade. She is currently based between Armenia and Artsakh.

#Azerbaijan must end the blockade of the #Lachin corridor, which has left residents of Nagorno Karabakh without access to essential goods and services. Freedom of movement and protection of economic and social rights for those affected must be ensured

#Azerbaijan must end the blockade of the #Lachin corridor, which has left residents of Nagorno Karabakh without access to essential goods and services. Freedom of movement and protection of economic and social rights for those affected must be ensured

— amnestypress (@amnestypress) January 11, 2023

Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Minister of State Ruben Vardanyan on Wednesday made a post on Telegram, and reflected on the current political situation.

“Yesterday’s speeches of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan confirmed that the only possible choice for Artsakh is struggle.

You have to fight, relying on your own strength.

To fight with the support of the citizens of Armenia, who in the last elections voted for the political forces that declared full support for Artsakh in their programs.

Fight with the active support of the [Armenian] Diaspora, which has always stood with the motherland in extreme situations.

We call on the international community to stand with Artsakh, protecting Artsakh from annihilation and occupation,” the Minister of State of Artsakh wrote.

This year is the last chance for Armenia, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told TV channels.

“We can live so long, a peace treaty is not needed. But what will happen then? Time will tell. So I think Armenia will hear my messages and make the right conclusions,” he said.

In his view, this year will be “the last chance” for Armenia. “Because 2024 is coming, and then Russia’s peacekeeping mission ends in 2025. They need to see a little further than their nose,” Aliyev said.

“If they are not interested, we don’t need it either. If they are not interested in delimitation, we don’t need it either. This means that the border will go where we think it should be. I already have to use such terms. If the boundary is not delimited, who can say the boundary goes here and not there? I think it should be here. I have reason to say so – historical, cartographic. So this issue should concern them more than us,” Aliyev said, adding that “this year will bring clarity to many issues.”

“By the way, I sincerely believed that we would be able to sign the agreement before the end of the year. But that did not happen,” he noted.

A conversation with Ruben Vardanyan, state minister of the embattled Artsakh region, on the conflict with Azerbaijan.

By Sohrab Ahmari

Armenians—the world’s oldest Christian nation and the victims of the first modern genocide—are under attack. With Russia, their historical if mercurial protector, bogged down in Ukraine, Armenians have in recent months come under pressure from an increasingly aggressive Azerbaijan. Buoyed by oil and gas wealth, and promoted by lobbyists in Washington and Brussels as an ally against Iran, Azerbaijan’s kleptocratic ruler, Ilham Aliyev, sees an opportunity to retake the disputed and heavily Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region—and to humiliate the Armenian state.

In September, Azerbaijani forces launched an invasion of Armenia proper. More recently, the regime in Baku has imposed a blockade against Karabakh, which the Armenians call Artsakh. The so-called Lachin Corridor, the single road connecting Karabakh to Armenia proper, has been closed by Azerbaijani environmental protesters (don’t chuckle), while the Azerbaijani government has threatened to shoot down aircraft delivering aid. As the blockade stretches into its second month, rights groups are warning of an impending humanitarian catastrophe.

On Friday, I spoke with Artsakh’s state minister, Ruben Vardanyan, via Zoom to discuss the latest on the blockade, Azerbaijan’s endgame, and prospects for peace. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sohrab Ahmari: The blockade began on December 12. Has anything changed lately?

Ruben Vardanyan: Unfortunately, nothing has changed. We are continuing under blockade. We have shortages of food, medication, and gasoline. We continue to have separated families who cannot rejoin each other, including kids in Artsakh whose parents are in Armenia, and kids in Armenia whose parents are in Artsakh. It’s quite a challenging situation. It’s been 26 days, and it’s really tough.

S.A.: This began as an Azerbaijani environmental protest?

R.V.: It began as a protest by Azerbaijani ecological activists, who blocked the road. But if you follow the past 10 years of Azerbaijan’s history, you will not find any other ecological protests anywhere in Azerbaijan. It’s a little bit surprising, given how big the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan is. It’s curious that they suddenly now care about the environment and why they chose to hold their first protest here.

From the beginning, we said, “There is no problem with sending international experts to monitor our mining business.“ We have high standards. The Artsakh government has placed high standards for any industry here. So we said, “No problem, let’s check not only how we mine, but also the quality of mining in Azerbaijan,” because we also care about how our Azeri neighbors treat the environment. But they refused. Plus, a lot of these “protesters” are special forces, military people…. Others are just students hired by the government and are paid to protest.

S.A.: Isn’t the Lachin Corridor supervised by Russian peacekeepers? Why are the Russians not helping?

R.V.: Well, if you follow the history of peacekeepers in any part of the world, you’ll find a similar story. Because usually there’s a very limited number of peacekeepers. They don’t have a right to use their weapons. And they usually try to avoid conflict. And if a conflict happens, they have a limited chance to do something more active…. And it’s not easy to [overcome the blockade] without some violence.

S.A.: I should have started by wishing you a Merry Christmas. Today is Armenian Christmas, isn’t it? How is the blockade impacting the holy days?

R.V.: We are the oldest Christian nation in the world, and in our church, we celebrate Christmas and Jesus’ baptism on the same day, always on January 6.

It’s tough under blockade this time around. Like many Christian communities, on Christmas we eat fish. We don’t have fish now. We have some rice with dried fruit. Most of the people don’t have the foodstuffs they would normally expect at Christmas. But people are in a good mood. I was today in a church, it was packed with thousands of people. And most of them are supportive. They understand what’s happening. They appreciate that this blockade isn’t about ecology, it’s about our right to live in our homeland. And this is why most people say, we aren’t budging—we are here to stay.

S.A.: Is there a risk of starvation? How much supplies do you have left? How long can this go on?

R.V.: We have reserves that we have been planning for many years. And don’t forget that Artsakh is a rich land. We have some good meat and some grain. So there are some basic foods, and starvation hasn’t started, but not everything. We don’t have vegetables. Kids aren’t getting normal food, it’s bad for their development. Medicines, the Red Cross is helping us to some extent, but of course we have problems that continue….

Azerbaijani “activists” do allow the Red Cross through. Now the Azeris play this game, saying, “Look, the road is open, the Red Cross is getting through.” But with others, they check your passport now, asking, “Why are you going where you’re going?“ But the [international] agreement is that the road should be free and clear. This is unacceptable from our side.

S.A.: How much is the government in Yerevan able to help?

R.V.: It’s tough. Armenia is facing its own challenges with Azerbaijan. The Armenian government and Armenian society have limited resources.

S.A.: Seems like the Azerbaijanis are determined to squeeze and squeeze until the 120,000 Karabakhi Armenians feel compelled to leave.

R.V.: Look, this has been going for 35 years. In 1988, when Armenians in Karabakh under the Soviet Union demanded independence from the Azerbaijan Soviet republic, they [the Azeris] started a war, they lost the first war. But the goal was to do an ethnic cleansing of Armenians on this whole territory, where we have been living for thousands of years. There are fantastic monasteries that attest to our presence here, villages where people have lived for tens of generations. But they want to clear this territory for Azerbaijani people.

S.A.: Are you prepared to leave? Would Karabakhi Armenians ever leave this land?

R.V.: Ha! On December 25, we had a big meeting, 50,000 people gathered. It was a mutual decision: Despite all the difficulties and all the dangers for us, this is our homeland. We will die, but we will stay in our homeland. Azerbaijan faces a difficult choice: They will have to kill 120,000 people, including 30,000 kids. Azerbaijan would face a huge price for this, not only their own soldiers but the fact that the world wouldn’t accept such an operation. Anyway, we have made up our minds: We are not leaving our homes.

S.A.: What the Azerbaijani government says is that, “We have a region, Karabakh, where there are Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian heritage. And they can live among us.“ Why is that not acceptable to you?

R.V.: Look, you’re living there in the United States. It’s a democracy. The Azerbaijani state is not a democracy. It’s an autocratic state. Just ask yourself: What kinds of rights do ordinary Azerbaijani people have? They don’t have any rights. There is no opposition, no real elections, no real democracy. It’s one family controlling the country. So we say, “How do you want us to live as citizens of a country where violations of human rights against their own people are so routine, let alone national minorities?”

So it’s not about hate. It’s not that we can’t live together. We Armenians and Azerbaijanis had been living together like neighbors for hundreds of years. But now, we have a democracy. We’ve had five presidents elected in the time [since independence]. We have an opposition, we have a civil society. So they’re asking us to become part of a state that is just completely different. It really isn’t about religion, it isn’t about nationality. It’s about a way of life.

S.A.: When I was in Yerevan in October, some officials that I interviewed said they’re prepared to contemplate some final-status negotiation over this frozen conflict. What they’re worried about is you being ethnically overwhelmed and imagining what it would mean for Karabakhi Armenians to live with Azerbaijanis who’ve been pumped for 30 years with extreme anti-Armenian propaganda. Can you imagine any kind of reintegration of Azerbaijanis into the territory, especially those who, we must note, lost their homes and were expelled in the earlier wars? Can they come back to your mind?

R.V.: If you really want to make peace and have a long-term strategy where we can live next to each other like neighbors, he [Aliyev] needs to do something differently. You can’t use your power to push people around. He needs to sit down and discuss…. Thirty years ago, they lost a war. More recently, Armenians lost a war. And it can go on forever. And the power balance may change, because in the future the price of oil and gas may go down. The conflict could be forever….

The leaders of Azerbaijan need to understand: If you really want to make peace in the region, they need to come up with suggestions that would be acceptable to both sides. And the solution is very simple: They need to accept that Artsakh and its people are used to living independently, and they will not just become ordinary citizens of Azerbaijan…. They need to find a way to accept this. They need to be wise enough to recognize this, not only to overcome the current conflict, but so as not to impose the conflict on the next generation. You need to sit and talk with the people. It will take a lot of time, and a lot of will from both sides to talk to each other, to bring the hatred down to the point where we can live next to each, like it has taken place between Britain and France, between Germany and France. If we don’t try, we will never find the solution.

S.A.: But right now they’re trying to impose it?

R.V.: They’re trying to use their momentum. They don’t understand—it’s funny—it’s not right to use your momentum and power in a one-sided way. Because it’s not a long-term solution.

S.A.: Parts of the American foreign-policy establishment have become very pro-Azerbaijan over the last few years. Because of oil and gas. Because they see Baku as a spearhead against Iran. And Azerbaijan has sold itself as a reliable ally to the West. Americans may not understand that some of our foreign-policy elites would be prepared to harm another indigenous Christian community on the basis of this calculation. Why should Americans, and especially American Christians, care about Armenians in their historic lands?

Source: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/armenia-under-siege/

The restriction of the internet is already a problem because neither the real patrons nor their real objectives are known. Samvel Martirosyan, an information security expert, told this to a press conference Monday, commenting on the Armenian government’s initiative to restrict access to the internet during war.

According to the expert, the respective bill was incompletely developed. In particular, it is not clear how all this will be implemented in practice.

“The authorities want to introduce very strict repressive mechanisms, up to the complete shutdown of the internet. As far as I know, no one in Armenia has tried to do something like this yet. We don’t even know what consequences all this can lead to. Imagine that some official will be entrusted with a switch, and one day he will decide that everything should be turned off. No one knows what will happen to the banking system. The cellular connection may simply disappear completely. We generally have a bad idea of the entire infrastructure of our country. For example, we do not have a  law on critical infrastructures. That is, we don’t even have a list of these infrastructures, and we still need to understand how to protect it,” explained Martirosyan.

In addition, according to the information security expert, the proposed mechanisms will essentially enamel to “unmask” the media. In other words, the Armenian authorities will be able to deprive them of all necessary equipment.

“They will be able to take away the entire technical base, leaving journalists with only notepads and pens. Although pens can also be taken away, considering them as a tool to fight against military-patriotic propaganda,” Martirosyan noted sarcastically.

He is convinced that the Armenian state should have a comprehensive program that includes increasing the level of media literacy of the entire population.

The expert pointed also to the extremely passive position of the Armenian public. In his opinion, this can ultimately lead to the early adoption of this legislative initiative.

“Furthermore, a significant part of society is in favor of accepting the above-mentioned restrictions. Of course, I understand that people have seen everything, but such restrictions should be sensible. They should be placed within the framework of a certain strategy,” the information security expert emphasized.

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, formed by the union of various state circles, was appointed: police chief, Nikol Pashinyan’s childhood friend Vahe Ghazaryan from Ijevan became the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Four deputy ministers were also appointed: the deputy ministers of justice, and emergency situations, and two deputy police chiefs became deputy ministers of internal affairs. But if appointing the deputy chief of police as chief of police is still understandable, there is no logic in appointing a police officer with more than 20 years of experience as head of the rescue service, ignoring the rescuers with more than 20 years of experience. Kamo Tsutsulyan, the deputy chief of police, was appointed the director of the rescue service.
This is Nikol Pashinyan’s second such appointment. In 2021, Armen Gasparyan, who has more than 20 years of experience as a police officer, was appointed the director of the rescue service.

Kamo Tsutsulyan is from Ijevan, like Nikol Pashinyan and Vahe Ghazaryan, and has been in the police since 2001. Before becoming a velveteen, he reached the position of deputy head of the Tavush regional police department for operations. The Tavshyas appointed him the head of the Ararat regional department, then the deputy police chief, and now the director of the rescue service, the deputy minister of internal affairs. Once again, an entire sector is entrusted to a person who has no connection with that sector but is close to the velvets.

This is another non-professional work of Kamo Tsutsulyan’s biography. Tsutsulyan graduated from the police academy in 2009 but has been working as a police officer since 2001. Having no professional education, he worked as an inspector of the juvenile affairs group of the Ijvean department of the Tavush Regional Office of the RA Police, as an operational inspector of the criminal investigation department of the same department, as a senior operational inspector. Even now, not having any knowledge, quality, or skills of a rescuer, he will manage the rescue service.
 

Areg Margaryan

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