DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 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

☆ 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

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

☆ USAID Chief to Raise Karabakh Humanitarian Situation in Azerbaijan Visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Daphne PsaledakisWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Biden administration officials arrived in Azerbaijan on Wednesday amid a humanitarian crisis and an exodus of tens of thousands of people after Azerbaijan took back control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning offensive last week. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power, joined by U.S. State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim, will raise the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the importance of Azerbaijan following through with its commitments in a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev. Power "will also address the prospects for a durable and dignified peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, based on mutual respect for each others’ territorial integrity and sovereignty," USAID said in a statement. The Armenians are not accepting Azerbaijan's promise to guarantee their rights as the region is integrated. The Nagorno-Karabakh leadership told Reuters the region's 120,000 Armenians did not want to live as part of Azerbaijan for fear of persecution and ethnic cleansing.

Persons: Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON, Samantha Power, Yuri Kim, Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, Daphne Psaledakis, David Holmes Organizations: Biden, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, U.S . State, Power, Karabakh, Reuters Locations: Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Europe, Armenia, Washington, Soviet Union

☆ 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

☆ 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

Around 4,850 people had arrived in Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh by midday Monday, according to a statement from the Armenian government quoted by state news outlet Armenpress. Most of those fleeing Karabakh were women, children and the elderly, the deputy mayor of the Armenian town of Goris, Irina Yolyan, told Armenpress Monday. Goris lies close to the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, near the Lachin corridor – the only road connecting the enclave to Armenia. Refugees who reached Armenia told Reuters they believed the history of their breakaway state was finished. “No one is going back - that’s it,” Anna Agopyan, who reached Goris, a border town in Armenia, told the agency.

Persons: Ilham Aliyev, Irina Yolyan, Armenpress, Goris, Anna Agopyan, ” Organizations: CNN, Karabakh, Reuters, Refugees, Armenia, “ Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Baku, Stepanakert, Goris

☆ Turkey's Erdogan to meet Azeri's Aliyev as thousands flee Karabakh
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/David Ghahramanyan Acquire Licensing RightsSept 25 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is to meet his ally Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on Monday, as thousands of ethnic Armenians began an exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan defeated the breakaway region's fighters last week. Erdogan will pay a one-day visit to Azerbaijan's autonomous Nakhchivan exclave - a strip of Azeri territory nestled between Armenia, Iran and Turkey - to discuss with Aliyev the situation in the Karabakh region, the Turkish president's office said. The Armenians of Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but previously beyond its control, were forced into a ceasefire last week after a 24-hour military operation by the much-larger Azerbaijani military. Erdogan, who backed the Azeris with weaponry in the 2020 conflict, said last week he supported the aims of the Azerbaijan's latest military operation but played no part in it. The Karabakh Armenians are not accepting Azerbaijan's promise to guarantee their rights as the region is integrated.

Persons: David Ghahramanyan, Tayyip Erdogan, Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan, Aliyev, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Lidia Kelly, Michael Perry Organizations: Residents, REUTERS, Karabakh, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan, Armenia, Iran, Turkey, Turkish, Khankendi, United States, Republic of Artsakh, 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

☆ Explainer: Why are 120,000 people about to move from Nagorno-Karabakh?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The 120,000 ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave for Armenia as they do not want to live as part of Azerbaijan and fear ethnic cleansing, the leadership of the breakaway region told Reuters on Sunday. As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Karabakh War erupted (1988-1994) between Armenians and their Azerbaijan. If 120,000 people go down the Lachin corridor to Armenia, the small South Caucasian country could face a humanitarian crisis. It was not immediately clear where 120,000 people could be housed in Armenia, whose population is just 2.8 million, ahead of winter. Many Armenians blame Pashinyan, who lost a 2020 war to Azerbaijan over Karabakh, for losing Karabakh.

Persons: Irakli, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Babayan, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Armenia's Pashinyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Russian, Armenian, International Committee, Karabakh, stoke, NATO, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Republic of Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, South Caucasus, Russia, United States, Turkey, Iran, Moscow, Yerevan, Russian

☆ Fleeing bombs and death, Armenians recount fear and hunger
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Petya Grigoryan is one of the first ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to make it to Armenia after a lightning 24-hour Azerbaijani military operation defeated the Karabakh Armenian forces. The ethnic Armenians of Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, say they will not live as part of Azerbaijan and that almost all of the 120,000 Armenians there will leave for Armenia. Grigoryan, a 69-year-old driver, said his Kochoghot village in what the Armenians know as the Martakert district of Karabakh was pummelled by Azerbaijan armed forces. Grigoryan and thousands of other Armenians made their way to the airport near the Karabakh capital, known as Stepanakert by Armenians and Khankendi by Azerbaijan, where some Russian peacekeepers are based. Then the Azerbaijan military shelled the Shosh village where he was staying.

Persons: Irakli, Grigoryan, Ilham Aliyev, Guy Faulconbridge, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Karabakh, Russian, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Goris, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Grigoryan, Martakert, pummelled, Khankendi, Leninakan

LONDON (AP) — More badly needed humanitarian aid was on its way to the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh via both Azerbaijan and Armenia on Saturday. Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the Azerbaijani region. Political Cartoons View All 1176 ImagesUnder the agreement mediated by Russian peacekeeping forces, Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist authorities made sizable concessions: disbanding the region’s defense forces and withdrawing Armenia’s military contingent. Valeri Hayrapetyan from Haterk said that he and his neighbors scrambled to leave after Azerbaijani forces entered the village earlier that day.

Persons: —, ”, Elena Yeremyan, “, Valeri Hayrapetyan, Haterk, Romela Avanesyan, Jeyhun Bayramov, Ilham Aliyev, Ararat, Nikol Pashinyan, Russia’s, Aida Sultanova Organizations: Azerbaijan, Russian, RIA Novosti, “, Baku, International Committee, Russia's Defense, RIA, Russian Defense Ministry, Ararat Mirzoyan, . Security, Armenia’s, ___ Associated Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Baku, Russia, Azerbaijani, Yevlakh, Artsakh, Askeran, ”, Haterk, Caucasus, Aghdam, Stepanakert, Azerbaijan’s, Yerevan, Moscow, Armenia’s, ___

☆ Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan says it wants to "reintegrate" breakaway region. What does that mean?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Karabakh officials said their forces were outnumbered and had no choice but to surrender. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has long been explicit about the choice that confronts Karabakh officials. In a speech delivered in May, he told Karabakh Armenians they needed to “bend their necks” and accept full integration into Azerbaijan. “It’s a mess.”It is also unclear where Karabakh Armenians will travel to, if evacuations are able to begin. Azerbaijani officials met with ethnic Armenian representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh in Yevlakh, Azerbaijan, September 21, 2023.

Persons: ” Olesya, “, ”, Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, AZA, Nikol Pashinyan, Miroslav Jenca, Siranush Sargsyan, Sargsyan, Reuters Olesya Vartanyan, Vartanyan, –, Armenia doesn’t, Farid Shafiyev, Shafiyev, Anna Ohanyan, Ohanyan, ” Ohanyan, …, Catherine the Great Organizations: CNN, Azerbaijan’s, Karabakh, Armenian, United Nations, UN, UN Security, Russian, Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters, ICRC, ”, International Relations, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, gaslight Locations: Azerbaijan, Armenian, Nagorno, Karabakh, South Caucasus, Armenia, Soviet Union, Baku, Yevlakh, Stepanakert, ”, Russian, Soviet Azerbaijan, Russia, Eurasia

☆ Azerbaijan says it sees amnesty for Karabakh fighters who lay down arms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Hayk Baghdasaryan/Photolure via REUTERS/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsGORIS, Armenia, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan envisages an amnesty for Karabakh Armenian fighters who give up their arms, though there have been some Karabakh military units which have said they will continue their resistance, an Azeri presidential adviser told Reuters. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday said his iron fist had consigned the idea of a separate ethnic Armenian Karabakh to history and that now the region would live in "paradise" as part of Azerbaijan. Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijan's president, told Reuters in a television interview that Baku envisaged an amnesty for those Karabakh fighters who gave up their weapons. Karabakh Armenian rights would be respected as part of their integration into Azerbaijan, he said, adding that they had requested humanitarian support as well as oil and gasoline supplies. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia was prepared to accept refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Hayk, Ilham Aliyev, Hikmet Hajiyev, Hajiyev, Roman, Guy Faulconbridge, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Karabakh, Wednesday, Reuters, Soviets, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Yerevan, Armenia, Photolure, Azerbaijan, Baku, Soviet Union, Russia, West, Turkey, Armenian, Russians, Ottomans, South Caucasus, United States, Iran

☆ The Nagorno-Karabakh crisis raises serious questions for Russia — and the West
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The contested mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it has been under de-facto Armenian control since the early 1990s. It follows an abrupt 24-hour offensive by Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday that swiftly broke through ethnic Armenian lines, seized strategic positions and resulted in the surrender of separatist forces. Armenia, which has typically looked to Russia as a security guarantor, said Azerbaijan's military operation was an attempt to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh, a charge Baku has denied. Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accused Azerbaijan of violating a cease-fire agreement, with Reuters reporting gunfire could be heard in the region's capital on Thursday. Armenians attend a rally in Yerevan on September 21, 2023, following Azerbaijani military operations against Armenian separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Persons: Karen Minasyan, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Japaridze, Pashinyan, Karabakh, Kusa, Pashynian's Organizations: Government, Armenian, Afp, Getty, CNBC, Eurasia Group, Kremlin, Collective Security, Organization, NATO, Anadolu Agency, Ukrainian Institute, Russian Embassy Locations: Yerevan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Caucasus, South Caucasus, Russia, Baku, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, London

Karabakh Armenian authorities accused Azerbaijan of violating a ceasefire agreed on Wednesday after a lightning Azerbaijani offensive forced the separatists to agree to disarm. When asked about giving up weapons, Babayan said his people could not be left to die, so would security guarantees first. Talks took place on Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh between Azerbaijan and representatives of the Republic of Artsakh, as the Karabakh Armenians call themselves. He said the region's ethnic Armenians would enjoy full educational, cultural and religious rights. An aide to Aliyev said Baku had given Yerevan a new draft peace agreement, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Persons: Pashinyan, GORIS, David Babayan, Samvel Shahramanyan, Babayan, Ilham Aliyev, Melkumyan, Stringer, Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Khankendi, Gayane Sargsyan, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Nailia Bagirova, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: Azerbaijan reclaims, Protesters, Reuters, National Assembly of, REUTERS, Karabakh, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan, Karabakh, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh's, Azerbaijani, Yevlakh, Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA, Caucasus, Baku, Yerevan, Russia, Moscow, Stepanakert, Goris

☆ Turkey says it played no direct role in Karabakh operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Azerbaijan mounted a lightning offensive to retake control of its breakaway Karabakh region on Tuesday. On Wednesday, NATO ally Turkey publicly threw its support behind Baku's "steps to preserve its territorial integrity" but it had been unclear whether Ankara played any active role in the 24-hour military operation. "It was Azerbaijan army's own operation, there was no direct involvement of Turkey," a Turkish defence ministry official told reporters on Thursday. The move was condemned by Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine. In a phone call with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev late on Wednesday, Erdogan reiterated Turkey's "heartfelt support" of Azerbaijan, his office said.

Persons: Siranush Sargsyan, Tayyip Erdogan, Baku's, Nikol, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan, Turkey's, Huseyin Hayatsever, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson Organizations: Rights, NATO, United Nations General Assembly, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Nagorno, Karabakh, Rights ANKARA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkish, Ankara, Azerbaijani, Russian, Baku, Yerevan, New York, Ukraine

☆ Azerbaijan says Armenians of Karabakh arrive for meeting after ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Armenian delegation from Karabakh arrived in the town of Yevlakh for talks, Azerbaijan's presidency said. Under the ceasefire agreement, as outlined by Azerbaijan, breakaway Armenian forces must disband and disarm, and the region will be integrated as part of Azerbaijan. Aliyev said that "war criminals" had tried to poison the brains of 120,000 Karabakh Armenians, who, he said, would now live in paradise and have their religious and cultural rights respected. But thousands of Armenians massed at the airport in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh known as Khankendi by Azeris. Known as Artsakh by Armenians, the territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim, but its inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians, who are Christians.

Persons: Melkumyan, Stringer, Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan's, Ramin Mammadov, Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, Nailia Bagirova, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn Organizations: National Assembly of, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Yevlakh, Azerbaijan, Rights YEREVAN, Armenian Karabakh, Stepanakert, Russians, Ottomans, Artsakh

☆ Azerbaijani leader sends Karabakh Armenians and Armenia message of cooperation and peace
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Nailia Bagirova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 20 (Reuters) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday offered the ethnic Armenians of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region and also neighbouring Armenia prospects of cooperation, reconciliation and joint development after his forces took control of the enclave. He said Azerbaijan had nothing against Karabakh's Armenian people - "they are our citizens" - but only against their "criminal" separatist leadership. A separatist Armenian human rights official said on Wednesday that at least 200 people had been killed and more than 400 wounded in the fighting. The Kremlin denied this, saying Russia was "not going anywhere" and would remain the guarantor of security. Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Kevin Liffey; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev, Mikhail Metzel, Aliyev, Azerbaijan's, Nailia Bagirova, Kevin Liffey, Grant McCool Organizations: Armenia's, Eurasian, Sputnik, Wednesday, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Baku, Yerevan, Nagorno, Soviet Union, Stepanakert, Karabakh's, South Caucasus, Georgia, Armenian, Ukraine

☆ Who is Nikol Pashinyan, embattled prime minister of Armenia?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses parliament following an escalation in hostilities over the Nagorno-Karabakh region along the border of Armenia with Azerbaijan, in Yerevan, Armenia, September 13, 2022. Tigran Mehrabyan/PAN Photo via REUTERS /File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsYEREVAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Here are some key facts about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who finds himself at the centre of a new crisis after Azerbaijan launched an offensive this week in the breakaway Armenian-populated territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. - Pashinyan, 48, is a former journalist who became prime minister after a wave of street protests, sometimes referred to as Armenia's Velvet Revolution, toppled his predecessor in 2018. - Pashinyan has engaged in successive rounds of talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in search of a peace agreement between two countries. - Pashinyan is likely to come under fierce domestic pressure again if Azerbaijan takes back control of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Tigran Mehrabyan, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin, Mark Trevelyan, William Maclean Organizations: Armenian, Rights, Criminal, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Yerevan, Rights YEREVAN, Russian, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine

☆ Azerbaijan pounds Karabakh as Russia and US call for calm
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ethnic Armenians in Karabakh said Azerbaijan had triggered a new war against the 120,000 people living in an area they consider their homeland. Armenians in Karabakh, known by Armenians as Artsakh, said fighting was continuing with varying intensity. As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Karabakh War erupted (1988-1994) between Armenians and their Azeri neighbours. RUSSIAIn 2020, after decades of skirmishes, energy-rich Azerbaijan began a military operation which became the Second Karabakh War, swiftly breaking through Armenian defences. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, won a resounding victory in the 44-day war, taking back parts of Karabakh.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Karabakh, Antony Blinken, Ilham Aliyev, Pashinyan, Aliyev, Blinken, Antonio Guterres, Baku's, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Chris Reese, Lincoln, Gareth Jones Organizations: Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Nagorno, Armenian, U.S, Washington, Residents, United Nations, European Union, TASS, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russia, U.S, Azerbaijan, YEREVAN, United States, Baku, Yerevan, Turkey, Ukraine, Soviet Union, South Caucasus, Iran, Artsakh, Russian, France, Germany, RUSSIA, Moscow, Melbourne

☆ Azerbaijan-Armenia: The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh explained
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Armenia and Azerbaijan have already fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh to Armenians, is a landlocked region in the Caucasus Mountains and lies within Azerbaijan’s borders. Under the Soviet Union, of which Azerbaijan and Armenia are both former members, Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous region within the republic of Azerbaijan in 1923. After years of sporadic clashes between the two sides, the Second Karabakh War began in 2020. The news of fresh strikes on Nagorno-Karabakh sparked cryptic reactions from prominent Russian figures showing little sympathy for Armenia.

Persons: –, Tofik Babayev, “, Siranush Sargsyan, Nikol Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Aliyev, ”, Armenia’s, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Dmitry Peskov, Karen Minasyan, Vladimir Putin, Pashinyan, haven’t, Armenpress, Margarita Simonyan, Judas Organizations: CNN, Soviet Union, Karabakh, Artsakh Defense Army, Armenian Soviet, United Nations General Assembly, Kremlin, ” Analysts, Getty, Collective Security, Organization, US Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Soviet, Artsakh, Azerbaijan’s, Soviet Union, Turkey, Russia, Moscow, AFP, Azerbaijani, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Turkish, Ottoman, Baku, Ukraine, Rome

CNN —Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accepted a ceasefire proposal made by Russian peacekeepers Wednesday, a day after Azerbaijan launched a military operation in the disputed territory. Azerbaijan on Tuesday began what it called an “anti-terrorist” campaign against separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Karabakh officials said killed dozens and wounded hundreds more. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said it had agreed to suspend its operation, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. Taking this into consideration, the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh accept the proposal of the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s command regarding a ceasefire,” the Nagorno-Karabakh Presidential Office said, according to Armenpress. Russia’s defense ministry said it had evacuated around 2,000 civilians from Nagorno-Karabakh overnight Tuesday.

Persons: “, “ Regrettably, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, ” Pashinyan, Baku’s, Siranush Sargsyan, Armen Grigoryan, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, Peskov, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev Organizations: CNN, Authorities, Russian, RIA Novosti, Karabakh, Defense Army, Army, Office, Armenian Armed Forces, Armenia doesn’t, Criminal Court, Azerbaijan, Armenia’s Security, Armenian Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s, Armenia, Russian, Yevlakh, ”, Republic, Artsakh, Armenpress, Moscow, Russia, Karabkh, Baku, Yerevan

Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a mountainous region within Azerbaijan that is internationally recognised as part of that country. But its 120,000 inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians who broke away during a first war in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured seven surrounding districts and took back about a third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. Azerbaijan has been tightening pressure on Nagorno-Karabakh for months, effectively blocking its lifeline road connection with Armenia - the "Lachin corridor". Such a deal would put Azerbaijan close to achieving all its objectives, while any further fighting could increase the risk of a bigger war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Persons: Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's, Mark Trevelyan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Russian Defence Ministry, Reuters, Russian, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Thomson Locations: Askeran, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, KARABAKH, Artsakh, Soviet Union, AZERBAIJAN, Moscow, Ukraine, Aghdam, Turkey, Russia, Iran, South Caucasus, Baku, United States, EU

Search resuls for: "Aliyev"

25 mentions found