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☆ Armenia's PM Pashinyan: We Hope for Peace With Azerbaijan Soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: 1 min

TBILISI (Reuters) - Armenia hopes to conclude a peace agreement with Azerbaijan in the coming months and establish diplomatic relations with it, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday. Speaking at a forum in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Pashinyan said that Armenia also hopes to open its border with Turkey, a close ally to Azerbaijan, to citizens of third countries. His comments came amid efforts to cement peace in the volatile South Caucasus after Azerbaijan last month retook the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally regarded as Azeri territory but which had been ruled by breakaway ethnic Armenians since the 1990s. (Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Felix Light, Gareth Jones Organizations: Armenian Locations: TBILISI, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgian, Tbilisi, Turkey, Caucasus, Nagorno, Karabakh

☆ In the ultimate irony, Russia's obsession with Ukraine may have weakened its power over its other neighbors
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference at the Commonwealth of Independent States' head of states meeting on Oct. 13, 2023, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. This pool photograph distributed by Russian state owned agency Sputnik shows Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov attending a welcoming ceremony prior to their talks in Bishkek on October 12, 2023. In fact, she said, Kyiv's resistance highlighted to Russia's neighbors and partners that "Russian power is a bubble with only a nuclear button in its center." Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the hall during Russian-Uzbek talks at the Grand Kremlin Palace on Oct. 6, 2023. So it's fair to say that if you do not control Ukraine, you do not control the post-Soviet space," he told CNBC.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, —, Georgia —, It's, Emmanuel Dunand, Sadyr Japarov, Sergei Karpukhin, Vladimir Putin's, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Vira Konstantinova, Vladimir Milov, Putin, Milov, Milov —, — Putin, Igor Semivolos, Ilham Aliyev Organizations: Commonwealth of Independent States, Getty, Afp, Azerbaijan, Sputnik, Kyrgyz, AFP, CNBC, Russian, West, Center for Middle East Studies, Anadolu Agency Locations: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Moscow, Soviet Union, South Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Karabakh, Lachin, Nagorno, Kyiv, Transnistria, Moldova, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, USA, Turkey, Baku

☆ Armenia sees no advantage in keeping Russian military bases -PM to WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrives at the Palace of Charles V on the day of the European Political Community Summit in Granada, Spain October 5, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Armenia sees no advantage in continuing to host Russian military bases on its territory after Azerbaijan retook the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian prime minister told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Wednesday. "These events have essentially brought us to a decision that we need to diversify our relationships in the security sphere, and we are trying to do that now," Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the WSJ. Russia's military presence in Armenia includes garrisons in two locations and an airbase. Later on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian authorities were unaware of Pashinyan's comments.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Charles V, Jon Nazca, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Felix Light, Maxim Rodionov, Gareth Jones, Leslie Adler Organizations: Armenia's, Political Community Summit, REUTERS, Rights, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Granada, Spain, Armenia, Russian, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Soviet Union, Moscow, Caucasus

☆ Russia, Iran strengthen ties in 'trusting' atmosphere -Russian foreign ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting in Tehran, Iran October 23, 2023. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsOct 24 (Reuters) - Russia and Iran are firming up bilateral relations in a 'trusting' atmosphere, Russia's foreign ministry said early on Tuesday after its chief, Sergei Lavrov, was received by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a visit to Tehran. "In a traditionally trusting atmosphere, current aspects of the bilateral agenda were substantively discussed with an emphasis on further building up the entire complex of multifaceted Russian-Iranian partnership," the foreign ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Lavrov, who went to Tehran shortly after an Asia trip to China and North Korea, discussed energy and logistics projects with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. Iran initially denied supplying the Shahed kamikaze drones to Russia but later said it had provided a small number before Moscow launched the war.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Ebrahim Raisi, Lavrov, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Lidia Kelly Organizations: Russian, Russian Foreign Ministry, REUTERS Acquire, Iranian, Kyiv, Moscow, United, Thomson Locations: Tehran, Iran, Russia, Asia, China, North Korea, Russian, South Caucasus, Nagorno, Karabakh, Ukraine, Moscow, United States, Melbourne

☆ Iran to host six-nation meeting on Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

IRNA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying the six countries wanted to talk about regional issues "without the interference of non-regional and Western countries". That was an implicit reference to the United States and the European Union, whose involvement in the search for a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan has particularly annoyed Moscow. Russia's Interfax news agency said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would travel to Tehran for the meeting. More than 100,000 Karabakh Armenians have since fled, and Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of carrying out ethnic cleansing. The two countries have fought two wars in the past three decades and have so far failed to reach a peace deal despite long-running efforts by the United States, EU and Russia.

Persons: Sergei Lavrov, Maxim Rodionov, Hugh Lawson Organizations: European Union, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, MOSCOW, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tehran, Caucasus, United States, Moscow, Ukraine, Nagorno, Karabakh, Baku, EU

☆ Putin filmed in China accompanied by officers with Russian nuclear briefcase
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Rare footage was shown on Wednesday of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing accompanied by officers carrying the so-called nuclear briefcase which can be used to order a nuclear strike. Putin, after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, was filmed walking to another meeting surrounded by security and followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform each carrying a briefcase. Russia's nuclear briefcase is traditionally carried by a naval officer. The Russian defence minister, currently Sergei Shoigu, also has a nuclear briefcase. One of the nuclear briefcases used by former Russian President Boris Yeltsin is displayed in the Yeltsin Museum in Yekaterinburg.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Xi Jinping, Mount Cheget, RIA, satchel, RUPTLY, Sergei Shoigu, Valery Gerasimov, Boris Yeltsin, Guy Faulconbridge, Nick Macfie Organizations: Kremlin, U.S, White, Cuban Missile, Russian, Forum, REUTERS, Acquire, Comprehensive, Russia's Zvezda, Zvezda, Yeltsin, Soviet Union, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Beijing, Putin's, Ukraine, Moscow, Washington, China, United States, Yekaterinburg

☆ Aliyev raises Azerbaijan's flag in former breakaway region of Karabakh
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday raised the national flag in the capital of the former breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after a lightning military operation last month brought the territory back under Azerbaijan's control. "President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has raised the national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the city of Khankendi and delivered a speech," the presidential office said. In Soviet times is remained as part of the Azeri Soviet Republic but with autonomy. In 2020, after decades of skirmishes, Azerbaijan began a military operation which became the Second Karabakh War swiftly breaking through Armenian defences. Then in September of this year, Aliyev launched a military operation against the ethnic Armenian fighters of the region, defeating them.

Persons: Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Olaf Scholz, Annegret, Ilham Aliyev, Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Karabakh, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan, Berlin, Germany, Nagorno, Karabakh, Republic of Azerbaijan, Khankendi, Armenia, Artsakh, South Caucasus, Russian, Azeri Soviet Republic, Soviet Union, Karabakh's, Turkey

PARIS (AP) — The Louvre Museum in Paris and Versailles Palace evacuated visitors and staff Saturday after receiving bomb threats, police said. Paris police said officers searched the museum after it received written bomb threats. Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesThe former royal palace at Versailles also received bomb threats, and the palace and its sprawling gardens were being evacuated while police examine the area, according to national police. Macron urged the people of France to “stay united.”___Schaeffer reported from Arras, France. Associated Press journalists Thomas Padilla in Paris and Nicolas Garriga in Arras, France contributed to this report.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron's, Mona Lisa, Gerald Darmanin, Mohammed M, Gambetta, Carnot, ″, Emily Noge, ’ ’ It’s, ‴, Samuel Paty, Macron, “, ” ___ Schaeffer, Thomas Padilla, Nicolas Garriga Organizations: PARIS, Louvre Museum, Police, police, Gare de Lyon, Counterterrorism, The Associated Press, Education Ministry, Associated Press Locations: Paris, Versailles, France, Israel, Louvre, Gare, Arras, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Chechen

☆ Fact Check: Photo of Israeli flag on Azerbaijan skyscrapers from 2015
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A photo from 2015 of the Israeli flag projected on three skyscrapers in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku is falsely claimed online to have been captured after this weekend’s attack on Israel by the Islamist militant group Hamas. However, the image was first shared on social media in June 2015 by the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles. The consulate said at the time that the display honoured the Israeli sports team at the European Games, held in Azerbaijan. On Oct. 7, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry shared a message after the Hamas attack. The image of the Israeli flag on the Flame Towers in Baku dates to 2015.

Persons: “, Read Organizations: Hamas, Reuters, Facebook, Consulate, European Games, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan’s, Baku, Israel, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Los Angeles, Palestine, Gaza

☆ Azerbaijan's president says France will be to blame if new conflict starts with Armenia
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev speaks during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany March 14, 2023. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's president scolded the European Union and warned that France's decision to send military aid to Armenia could trigger a new conflict in the South Caucasus after a lightening Azerbaijani military operation last month. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev last week pulled out of an EU-brokered meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at which Brussels said it was standing by Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev said "that due to the well-known position of France, Azerbaijan did not participate in the meeting in Granada," the Azerbaijani presidential office said. She declined to elaborate on what sort of military aid was envisaged for Armenia under future supply contracts.

Persons: Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Olaf Scholz, Annegret, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol, Aliyev, Charles Michel, Catherine Colonna, Emmanuel Macron, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Armenian, European Council, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan, Berlin, Germany, European, Armenia, South Caucasus, EU, Brussels, France, Granada, Yerevan, Baku, Nagorno, Karabakh

☆ Any new Armenia conflict would be France's fault, Azerbaijan's president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a meeting in Yerevan, Armenia October 3, 2023. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev last week pulled out of an EU-brokered meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at which Brussels said it was standing by Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev said "that due to the well-known position of France, Azerbaijan did not participate in the meeting in Granada," the Azerbaijani presidential office said. She declined to elaborate on what sort of military aid was envisaged for Armenia under future supply contracts. The Azerbaijani president visited Georgia on Sunday and thanked Tbilisi for offering to mediate for a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Persons: Catherine Colonna, Nikol Pashinyan, Hayk, Aliyev, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol, Charles Michel, Emmanuel Macron, Tigran Balayan, Guy Faulconbridge 私 Organizations: European Affairs, Armenian, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, European Union, European Council, Reuters Locations: Yerevan, Armenia, Photolure, Azerbaijan, Georgia, MOSCOW, European, South Caucasus, EU, Brussels, France, Granada, Baku, Nagorno, Karabakh, Tbilisi

Not only in the EU but in all of Europe," Zelenskiy said on his arrival, warning of Russian "disinformation attacks". "It does worry me," Biden said on Wednesday, though he added that a majority of U.S. lawmakers continued to support funding Ukraine. In Slovakia, former prime minister Robert Fico's party came first in a parliamentary election on pledges of halting military aid to Ukraine, while Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said Warsaw was no longer arming Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday he was "very confident" that U.S. support for Ukraine would continue. Many EU leaders have condemned the Azerbaijani operation, which triggered an exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.

Persons: Zelenskiy, Spain Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Joe Biden, U.N, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Rishi Sunak, Democrat Biden, Biden, Ursula von der Leyen, Robert Fico's, Mateusz Morawiecki, Pedro Sanchez, Ilham Aliyev, Belen Carreno, Andreas Rinke, Anna Pruchnicka, Gareth Jones Organizations: Political, EU, British, U.S, Republican, Democrat, European Commission, Kyiv, Polish, European Union, NATO, Spanish, Thomson Locations: Spain, Europe, Balkans, Caucasus, Granada, GRANADA, Kyiv, Spanish, Ukraine, Norway, Albania, Russia, Poland, Brussels, U.S, Slovakia, Warsaw, EU, East, Africa, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Serbia, Kosovo, Nagorno, Karabakh, Baku, Berlin

[1/3] Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev arrives for a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow, Russia May 25, 2023. "The stars aligned for certain reasons and President Aliyev saw the alignment," said Suleymanov, who previously worked in Aliyev's office. "President Aliyev is completing something that his father could not do because he ran out of time," said one of the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to give comments to the media. Aliyev's father, then President Heydar Aliyev, was forced to agree to a ceasefire that cemented Armenia's victory. "President Aliyev has delivered the testament of his father," said Suleymanov, the ambassador to Britain.

Persons: Ilham Aliyev, Ilya Pitalev, Aliyev, Elin Suleymanov, Suleymanov, Hikmet Hajiyev, Hajiyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Aliyev's, Heydar Aliyev, Ilham, Heydar, Vladimir Putin, Putin, David Babayan, Babayan, Andrew Osborn, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Economic Council, Sputnik, REUTERS, Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Kremlin, Russia, Karabakh, Baku, Armenian, European Commission, Armenia, West, Moscow, Karabakh Armenian, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Kremlin, Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia, West, Britain, Baku, Caucasus, Iran, Turkey, Ukraine, Russian, Washington, Soviet, Stepanakert

Armenian officials said that 84,770 people had left Nagorno-Karabakh by Friday morning out of a total population of around 120,000. In the 1990s, the Azerbaijani population was itself expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and hundreds of thousands of people were displaced within Azerbaijan. Some of those who fled the regional capital, Stepanakert, said they had no hope for the future. After six years of separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by Armenia. In December, Azerbaijan blockaded the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, accusing the Armenian government or using it for illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces.

Persons: Anahit Avanesyan, Nikol Pashinyan, ”, ” Laurence Broers, ” Broers, Samvel Shakhramanyan, “, Ani Abaghyan, Narine Karamyan, Ghazaryan, Ruben Vardanyan, David Babayan, ___ Emma Burrows Organizations: Armenian Health, Armenian, Ministry, Analysts, Associated Press, “, Emergency Service Locations: YEREVAN, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, London, Baku, Stepanakert, Soviet Union, Armenian, Goris, Aghdam, Russia

☆ US to announce disaster response team for South Caucasus amid Karabakh crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday will announce it has deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team in the South Caucasus region to coordinate the U.S. humanitarian response to the crisis after Azerbaijan took back control of Nagorno-Karabakh last week. "The United States is deeply concerned about the safety of vulnerable populations in Nagorno-Karabakh and the more than 50,000 people who have fled to Armenia," Power said in the statement. Power traveled to Armenia and Azerbaijan this week following Azerbaijan's defeat of the breakaway region's fighters in a conflict dating from the Soviet era. The Armenians are not accepting Azerbaijan's promise to guarantee their rights as the region is integrated. "Azerbaijan must protect civilians, uphold its obligations to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals in its country, and ensure its forces comply with international humanitarian law," Power said.

Persons: Samantha Power, Irakli, Power, Ilham Aliyev, Daphne Psaledakis, Peter Graff Organizations: Agency for International Development, USAID, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, U.S . Agency for International Development, Karabakh, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, United States, South Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Soviet, Washington, Soviet Union

☆ More than half of Nagorno-Karabakh's ethnic Armenians have left
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region ride in a truck upon their arrival at the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 27, 2023. Azerbaijan says it is prepared to respect ethnic Armenian rights as it reabsorbs the region, but with a history burdened by folk memories of alleged genocide, ethnic cleansing, pogroms and at least two wars, the Armenians are fleeing in fear. In Soviet times, Nagorno-Karabakh enjoyed autonomy within the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. But as the Soviet Union crumbled the First Karabakh War erupted. About 30,000 people were killed between 1988 and 1994 and more than a million people displaced, more than half of them Azeris.

Persons: Aliyev Aliyev, David, Ruben Vardanyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Samantha Power, Ilham Aliyev, Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey Organizations: REUTERS, USAID, Soviet, KARABAKH, Wednesday, Armenian, West, U.S . Agency for International Development, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Yerevan, Azerbaijan, South Caucasus, Soviet Union, Soviet, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, Moscow, Baku, Lachin

Tens of thousands died fighting for and against it, destroying the careers of two presidents — one Armenian, one Azerbaijani — and tormenting a generation of American, Russian and European diplomats pushing stillborn peace plans. It outlasted six U.S. presidents. But the self-declared state in the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — recognized by no other country — vanished so quickly last week that its ethnic Armenian population had only minutes to pack before abandoning their homes and joining an exodus driven by fears of ethnic cleansing by a triumphant Azerbaijan. Slava Grigoryan, one of the thousands this week who fled Nagorno-Karabakh, said he had only 15 minutes to pack before heading to Armenia along a narrow mountain road controlled by Azerbaijani troops. On the way, he said, he saw the soldiers grab four Armenian men from his convoy and take them away.

Persons: —, Slava Grigoryan Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Republic of Artsakh, Armenia

CNN —Armenian soccer player Henrikh Mkhitaryan has called on international leaders to “stand up against ethnic cleansing” in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The region has its own de facto government that is backed by Armenia, but is not officially recognized by Armenia or any other country. The latest figures mean that more than one-third of the region’s roughly ethnic Armenians have left Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia. The blockade prevented the import of food, fuel and medicine to Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting fears that residents were being left to starve. The closure of the Lachin corridor has also prevented international organizations and foreign media from accessing Nagorno-Karabakh.

Persons: Henrikh Mkhitaryan, “, Mkhitaryan, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Inter Milan, Cross, Criminal Court, Manchester United, Arsenal, Europa League, Karabakh, Reuters Locations: Armenian, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, Baku, Russian, Russia

☆ Nagorno-Karabakh: Nearly half of the population has fled. What happens next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Nearly half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population has fled to Armenia, with many thousands more still scrambling to evacuate, a week after the breakaway region surrendered following a lightning Azerbaijani offensive. No Armenian will be left here within maybe two weeks,” a Karabakh resident told CNN. Nonna Poghosyan, the American University of Armenia’s program coordinator in Stepanakert, told CNN that her family realized this weekend that it was safer to leave than to stay. Residents told CNN before the latest offensive began that they would have to wait in line for hours to get their daily share of bread. Analysts told CNN before the evacuations began that they feared Azerbaijan might prevent certain members of the population from leaving.

Persons: –, Vasily Krestyaninov, Stepanakert, ”, Russia –, Olesya, “, Ilham Aliyev, Siranush Sargsyan, rakli Gedenidze, Farid Shafiyev, ” –, ” Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Poghosyan, ’ ” Poghosyan, Poghosyan's, Nonna, Pashinyan, Samantha Power, Power, ” Vartanyan, Ruben Vardanyan, Vardanyan Organizations: CNN, Wednesday, Karabakh, Soviet Union, Russia, Refugees, International Relations, Armenia’s, American University of, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, Residents, US State Department, Crisis, ICRC Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s, Baku, ”, Soviet Union, Soviet, Turkey, Russian, South Caucasus, Stepanakert, Kornidzor, Baku –, Artsakh, Republic of Armenia, Goris

☆ Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh minister as exodus tops 50,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians who broke away in the 1990s in the first of two wars there since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Karabakh authorities said more than 50,000 had left so far, out of an estimated ethnic Armenian population of 120,000. Azerbaijan rejects Armenian accusations of ethnic cleansing, but images of tens of thousands of desperate people on the move have provoked widespread international alarm. Germany added its voice to U.S. calls for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh. Karabakh authorities said they lost at least 200 people in Azerbaijan's offensive last week.

Persons: Ruben Vardanyan, Veronika Zonabend, Morris Tidball, Binz, Annalena Baerbock, Matthew Miller, Washington, Irakli, Ilham Aliyev, Zonabend, Miller, Vera Petrosyan, Daphne Psaledakis, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher, Alison Williams Organizations: Twitter, U.S . State Department, REUTERS, Reuters, Local, Russian, Russia, State, Washington, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan Karabakh, Germany, GORIS, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Baku, Soviet Union, Kornidzor, Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, United States, Washington

☆ Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians rush to flee Nagorno-Karabakh
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh region ride in the back of a truck as they arrive in the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 26, 2023. The hairpin mountain road snaking out of Karabakh towards Armenia was choked with people. There were conflicting details about the toll of the blast but the ethnic Armenian authorities said at least 68 had been killed, 105 were missing and nearly 300 were injured. "The Secretary urged President Aliyev to commit to broad amnesty and allow an international observer mission into Nagorno-Karabakh," Miller said. "President Ilham Aliyev underlined that respective activities are underway to ensure the rights of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region," it said.

Persons: Irakli, GORIS, Vera Petrosyan, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Antony Blinken, Azerbaijan's Aliyev, Matthew Miller, Aliyev, Miller, Blinken, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: REUTERS, Soviet Union, Reuters, Armenian, West, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Soviet South Caucasus, South Caucasus, Soviet, Askeran, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Moscow

☆ Russia, US trade diplomatic blame over instability in Karabakh crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sept 26 (Reuters) - Moscow and Washington have accused each other of destabilising the South Caucuses region, as thousands of ethnic Armenians fled their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh over ethnic cleansing fears. "I do think that Russia has shown that it is not a security partner that can be relied on," U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. Thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh by Monday after their fighters were defeated by Azerbaijan in last week's lightning military operation. Baku has promised to protect the rights of the roughly 120,000 Armenians who call Karabakh home but many refuse to accept its assurances. Moscow has said Armenia only had itself to blame for Azerbaijan's victory over Karabakh because it flirted with the West rather than working with Moscow and Baku for peace.

Persons: Anatoly Antonov, Vladimir Putin, Matthew Miller, Nikol Pashinyan, Samantha Power, Yuri, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: US State Department, U.S . State Department, Monday, Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia's, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, . State, U.S, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Washington, Nagorno, Karabakh, Armenia, Russia, Soviet Union, Ukraine, U.S, Baku, South Caucasus, United States, Turkey, Iran, Europe, Azerbaijan, Russian, Melbourne

☆ Armenia warns of 'ethnic cleansing' as thousands flee the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Armenian police officers walks near refugees as they queue in vehicles near the border town of Kornidzor, arriving from Nagorno-Karabakh, on September 26, 2023. Thousands of ethnic Armenians on Tuesday fled their homes in the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, as Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly blamed Russia for failing to ensure the country's security. The U.S. has called for Azerbaijan to maintain a ceasefire and "take concrete steps" to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. The landlocked territory of Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 and, with the support of Armenia, has fought two wars with Azerbaijan in the space of 30 years. As of Tuesday morning, at least 13,350 people were estimated to have entered Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the Armenian government.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan Organizations: Tuesday, Armenia's Locations: Kornidzor, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russia, Azerbaijan, Caucasus, Europe, Asia, The U.S, Armenia

☆ Russia, US Trade Diplomatic Blame Over Instability in Karabakh Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

(Reuters) - Moscow and Washington have accused each other of destabilising the South Caucuses region, as thousands of ethnic Armenians fled their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh over ethnic cleansing fears. "I do think that Russia has shown that it is not a security partner that can be relied on," U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. Thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh by Monday after their fighters were defeated by Azerbaijan in last week's lightning military operation. Baku has promised to protect the rights of the roughly 120,000 Armenians who call Karabakh home but many refuse to accept its assurances. Moscow has said Armenia only had itself to blame for Azerbaijan's victory over Karabakh because it flirted with the West rather than working with Moscow and Baku for peace.

Persons: Anatoly Antonov, Vladimir Putin, Matthew Miller, Nikol Pashinyan, Samantha Power, Yuri, theArmenians, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: Reuters, US State Department, U.S . State Department, Monday, Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia's, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, . State, U.S, aMoscow Locations: Moscow, Washington, Nagorno, Karabakh, Armenia, Russia, Soviet Union, Ukraine, U.S, Baku, South Caucasus, United States, Turkey, Iran, Europe, Azerbaijan, aroundNagorno, Melbourne

Summary Erdogan and Aliyev hold talks in Azerbaijani exclaveBoth leaders back a land corridor via ArmeniaYerevan, in turmoil over Karabakh, opposes the ideaAliyev has threatened to create corridor by forceSept 25 (Reuters) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted talks on Monday with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan at which he hinted at the prospect of creating a land corridor between their two countries via Armenia, which opposes the idea. Aliyev in 2021 threatened to create such a corridor - that would create a contiguous land bridge between close allies Turkey and Azerbaijan and deprive Armenia of a land border with Iran - "whether Armenia likes it or not." "The land link between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan (the exclave) was thus cut off," complained Aliyev. "The new target of Azerbaijan and Turkey is Syunik (a province in southern Armenia through which such a corridor would pass). "We expect a comprehensive peace agreement between the two countries (Azerbaijan and Armenia) as soon as possible and for promises to be quickly fulfilled, especially on the opening of the Zangezur (land) corridor."

Persons: Erdogan, Aliyev, Ilham Aliyev, Tayyip Erdogan, Andrew Osborn, Nailia, Guy Faulconbridge Organizations: Reuters, General, Azerbaijan, Thomson Locations: Armenia Yerevan, Karabakh, Armenia, Nakhchivan, Iran, Turkey, Ankara, Baku, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Azerbaijani Soviet, Armenian Soviet, Artsakh, Syunik, Russia, Yerevan, Ukraine, South Caucasus, Russian

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