The Azerbaijani authorities have imprisoned Ruben Vardanyan, the former Minister of State of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), for four months, according to APA.

“The presentation was ensured in the process chaired by judge Ulviyya Shukurova. The Court has sentenced Ruben Varda[n]yan to 4 months of preventive detention,” the respective statement reads.

It was reported earlier that Russian Armenian businessman and philanthropist, former Minister of State of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan was detained by Azerbaijanis from the Lachin corridor Wednesday. He is accused of financing terrorism, participating in the creation and activities of armed organizations or groups not provided for by the legislation of Azerbaijan, and organizing the illegal arrival of a foreigner or stateless person to Azerbaijan.

By Harut Sassounian,

Last week, Armenians worldwide experienced one of the biggest tragedies of their lives after Azerbaijan occupied Artsakh.

120,000 Artsakh Armenians — men, women and children — were attacked in their historic homeland by advanced weapons imported by oil-rich Azerbaijan from Israel, Russia, Pakistan and Eastern Europe.

The main evil-doers are Azerbaijan and its partner Turkey which are guilty of committing mass crimes against the people of Artsakh.

However, there is plenty of blame to go around. I want to start with the shameful role that Armenia’s Prime Minister has played in this disaster. Starting from 2001, while Pashinyan was an unknown journalist, he wrote in his Haykakan Jamanak newspaper that “through diplomacy, it is not possible not to return these [Artsakh] territories to Azerbaijan…. Having abandoned our own lands, we are trying to be the owners of someone else’s land.” After becoming Prime Minister, Pashinyan made numerous contradictory statements regarding Artsakh, first stating emphatically that “Artsakh is Armenia, that’s it,” and then, “Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan.” While the words of a journalist may not matter, his statements as Prime Minister cannot be dismissed. Game over! Artsakh is lost and nothing is expected to change that reality for a long time. As always, Pashinyan blames everyone else for his misdeeds, including the former leaders, the domestic opposition, and Russia.

To make matters worse, Pashinyan washed his hands from Artsakh and urged its leaders to sort out their differences with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan basically threw 120,000 poorly-armed Artsakh Armenians to the big bad Azeri wolf. How can tiny Artsakh negotiate with powerful Azerbaijan? Pashinyan ignored the fact that since Artsakh Armenians are citizens of Armenia, it was his constitutional duty to protect them. For months, he made the laughable promise that the rights and security of Artsakh Armenians will be protected after they become citizens of Azerbaijan. Ridiculously, Pashinyan announced last week, a couple of hours before the UN Security Council meeting, that the lives of Armenian civilians in Artsakh were secure after Azerbaijan’s attack. Shortly thereafter Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told the Security Council that Azerbaijan is engaged in ethnic cleansing of Artsakh Armenians. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister immediately pointed out to the UN the contradictory statements by the two Armenian leaders, thus undermining Armenia’s credibility in front of the whole world. In the meantime, hundreds of Artsakh Armenians were killed and wounded, and thousands are missing as a result of Azerbaijan’s attack.

Last week, when Azerbaijan’s strong military invaded what remained of Artsakh, Pashinyan announced that Armenia will not get involved in the conflict, thus giving the green light to Azerbaijan to commit all sorts of horrible crimes on the people of Artsakh. Pashinyan has held the mistaken notion that once Artsakh is returned to Azerbaijan, citizens of Armenia will live in peace. Regrettably, this is the farthest thing from the truth. Azerbaijan’s President, seeing in front of him a militarily weak Armenia and a leader who has no idea what he is doing, will not stop after his conquest of Artsakh. Aliyev will keep on demanding concessions from the weakling Pashinyan and occupy more and more territories of the Republic of Armenia. Aliyev has repeatedly and falsely claimed that all of Armenia is “Western Azerbaijan.” Since the 2020 war, Azerbaijan’s troops occupied portions of Armenia’s territory and have no intention of leaving. My fear is that Aliyev will continue making incursions into Armenia, until he takes over the whole country. Therefore, Pashinyan’s premise that Armenians in Armenia will leave in peace after abandoning Artsakh is absurd.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev quickly capitalized on Pashinyan’s capitulation and repeatedly told the world that since Armenia’s Prime Minister admitted that Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan, that region is his country’s internal issue and no one has the right to intervene. Shortly thereafter, Russia’s leaders, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, repeatedly stated that Pashinyan is the one who relinquished Artsakh.

Nevertheless, Russia has its own share of guilt for what has been taking place in the last three years, and what happened in Artsakh last week. The Russian peacekeepers, who were mandated by the 2020 agreement to safeguard the population of Artsakh and keep the Lachin Corridor open until 2025, failed miserably to carry out their responsibilities. Russia did not even try to protect the borders of the Republic of Armenia, as required by the CSTO agreement signed between Armenia, Russia and several other former Soviet Republics. Russia’s inaction and Pashinyan’s relinquishment of Artsakh resulted in the massive human tragedy suffered by 120,000 Artsakh Armenians.

The international community is also guilty of ignoring the suffering of Artsakh Armenians who lost their historic homeland after being starved for nine months due to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan. Other than saying a lot of useless words, no one in the world lifted a finger to rescue these people and defend their rights. All international laws, human rights, and notions of justice were a lot of hot air. Equally useless were the UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights, European Union, European Council, and statements by officials of many countries, including the United States. As we all know, might makes right. Nothing else matters.

The top priority of Armenians worldwide now is seeking the immediate ouster of Pashinyan, since he is refusing to resign and digging a deeper hole for Armenia with every passing day. Unless Pashinyan is replaced soon by a competent and nationalistic Armenian who protects Armenia’s interests, Armenians may end up losing their homeland, this time for good!

After Pashinyan is replaced, Armenia’s new leader has to put all other issues aside and immediately acquire a massive amount of advanced weapons to defend the country’s borders from further incursions.

After vainly hoping and waiting for thousands of years for a foreign power to come and save Armenia, it is high time that Armenians finally realize that no one will ever come to rescue them. They need to save themselves!

Rahim Shaliyev @rahimsaliyev

Dear Armenians, growing up in Azerbaijan as a Talysh has taught me a lot. They will try to convince you that you are powerless, that no one will help you, and that you will be alone forever. They will try to create deep despair in you.

Remember one thing: If they have money, we have truths. And the truth is that we never ever chose to be slaves to evil regimes. Because we are sons of Liberty! We are daughters of Liberty! I don’t care what Turkey, Russia, Israel want. I don’t care about how they are powerful. I know only one thing: Their power is no greater than our truth and faith.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power has arrived in Yerevan, Armenia. She reported this on her X (former Twitter) microblog.

“Wheels down in Yerevan, Armenia. At this important moment for the country and region, I’m here to reiterate the U.S.’s strong support & partnership with Armenia and to speak directly with those impacted by the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,” she wrote.

Earlier, NEWS.am reported that senior Biden administration officials are scheduled to visit Armenia, with their arrival expected on Monday. Among the visiting officials are US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power and US State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim.

During her visit, Samantha Power is set to hold meetings with senior government figures and will “affirm US support for Armenia’s democracy, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and commitment to address humanitarian needs stemming from Nagorno-Karabakh,” according to the official statement.

Search operations for servicemen and civilians who died and for those who are considered missing since the military operations have been ongoing in the entire territory of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) since September 21, reports the Artsakh State Service for Emergency Situations.

On September 21, the dead body of a civilian was found in Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh.

On September 22, a wounded serviceman was found and evacuated from Ghaybalishen village of Shushi region, and the body of two fallen servicemen in Charektar village.

On September 23, a total of 68 dead bodies were retrieved, four of which were civilians—two children and an elderly couple—from Sarnaghbyur village of Askeran region.

On the same day, two persons were found in Nakhijevanik and Sarushen villages; their lives are not in danger.

And on September 24, a total of 34 dead bodies were retrieved, and three civilians were found in Shosh village of Askeran region.

Paul Antonopoulos,

The Armenian nation is facing an existential crisis and as events in Yerevan show, the Armenian people are more divided than ever.

It’s not my place to judge whether the protests are correct or not, but I must ask the question: as the protests continue and with Pashinyan determined to hold power, who is digging trenches and tunnels in Vayots Dzor, Syunik, Gegharkunik, and Ararat, especially as parts of some of these regions are already occupied by Azerbaijan? Who is hiding weapon caches and mining key areas? Who is preparing local defense forces to become potential guerrillas?

This will not stop with Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), even if there is a temporary “reprieve”. Aliyev waited three years before taking the next step in Nagorno-Karabakh and can wait several years more before launching the “West Azerbaijan” project, which has already entered mainstream Azerbaijani discourse and consciousness. Or he could take this opportune moment of the Armenian division to seize more land and finally connect the detached Nakhichevan province with Azerbaijan proper. Either way, Armenia is in immediate danger and nothing is being done to prepare sufficient defenses. You don’t need to listen to me, listen to your own martyrs: “If we lose Karabakh, we will turn the final page of Armenian history,” Monte Melkonian. Protest if you must, but also get to work, a lot needs to be done and only the Azeris know how much time you have.

Azerbaijan has a history of resorting to dirty tricks and falsehoods to advance its unjust goals. In this article, we will shed light on the pattern of deceit that has become a troubling tradition for Azerbaijan. While achieving justice seldom requires dishonesty, Azerbaijan seems to think otherwise.

By Ararat Petrosyan, Deputy Editor in Chief of Armenpress

We will examine recent events, specifically the wars of September 27, 2020, and September 19, 2023, to expose the false pretexts behind military operations in Artsakh and the aggression against civilian populations.

The Deception of September 27, 2020:

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan blatantly disregarded the peaceful negotiation process and the stance of international mediators, who had repeatedly emphasised that there was no military solution to the Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan launched an offensive across the entire Artsakh military front. Simultaneously, live footage from the frontlines flooded the airwaves, courtesy of Turkish and Azerbaijani journalists representing major television stations and news agencies.

The information disseminated painted a picture of the Armenian side shelling Azerbaijani border settlements, leading to Azerbaijan’s military response. However, how can we explain the presence of a significant gathering of Turkish and Azerbaijani journalists on the Jabrail steppes early in the morning?

Did they miraculously foresee that the Artsakh Defense Ministry would initiate operations against Azerbaijani settlements? Of course not; this was a premeditated act of deception.

In fact, President Ilham Aliyev later confessed multiple times that Azerbaijan had initiated the war by violating the ceasefire regime.

The Deception of September 19, 2023:

Fast forward to September 19, 2023, and the Azerbaijani press was quick to report a tragic incident involving a group of policemen.

According to their narrative, these officers fell victim to a traffic accident, and shortly thereafter, another group of policemen allegedly perished due to a landmine planted by “Armenian saboteurs.” Azerbaijani media wasted no time disseminating images of the victims and the incident site.

However, a closer examination of one of these images reveals a sign intended for Azerbaijani deminers. It becomes evident that the incident occurred within a demining area, suggesting that this was a planned provocation.

It is inconceivable that Armenian saboteurs would plant a mine in a known minefield, especially considering this area was 12-13 kilometres from the contact line. Moreover, in the context of prevailing geopolitical developments, the Artsakh Defense Army had no intention of escalating the situation.

The Dangerous Path:

Azerbaijan’s attempts to cover up its actions under the guise of territorial integrity are deeply concerning. This dangerous approach to problem-solving may one day target not only the military but also innocent civilians.

One cannot help but wonder: What’s to stop Azerbaijan from claiming that Armenian women or children attacked its army? While it may seem absurd, Azerbaijan’s track record is riddled with absurdities.

Addressing Azerbaijan’s deceptive and aggressive behaviour requires strict measures, clear condemnation, international community involvement, and accountability.

These steps are essential to curb the insidious tactics employed by Azerbaijan and to ensure a safer, more stable future for the region.