Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the line of contact in Askeran region. Women and children have been evacuated

NKR InfoCenter reported that on March 24, at 16.00, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the line of contact in the direction of Parukh village of Askeran region. Representatives of the Defense Army and Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the Artsakh Republic are trying to stop the enemy's further advance through negotiations, and return them to their starting positions. For security reasons the women and children of Khramort village of Askeran region have been evacuated. 

Khramort mayor Zorik Abrahamian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in the late afternoon that the situation in the village was “very serious.” He declined to elaborate.

Vardan Mikayelyan, the head of the village of Parukh of the Askeran district of Artsakh, said: "We can't get close to the village to understand what is happening, we are 3-4 km away from the village. They only captured the village, there were no shots, everyone was evacuated." According to him, he doesn’t know whether the Azerbaijanis are advancing or not. Women and children of the Khramort community of Askeran district were also evacuated. The head of the Khramort community, Zorik Abrahamyan, only said: "the situation is not good".

NKR InfoCentre reported that the protection of the line of contact in the direction of Parukh-Khramort settlements of Askeran region, and ensuring the security of the civilian population living in those communities is within the mission of the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the Artsakh Republic.

In Khramort, the soldiers of the Defense Army are ready to resist possible provocations of Azerbaijan, local residents have also created a self-defense unit, the correspondent of Civilnet Hayk Ghazaryan reports from Khramort. According to Ghazaryan, the Azerbaijanis have advanced in the direction of the village of Parukh. "If they take heights, they have a priority position in relation to neighboring villages -Noragyugh, Khnabad."

Later NKR InfoCenter informed that the situation in the direction of Parukh-Khramort settlements of Askeran region is under the control of the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the Artsakh Republic. As a result of the negotiations and additional security measures, the advance of the Azerbaijani armed forces in our territory is currently suspended, but the enemy has not yet returned to the starting positions. 

The Azerbaijani authorities are implementing ethnic cleansings against Artsakh through terrorist acts, Arman Tatoyan, former Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia wrote on Facebook.

"This is a genocidal policy (on ethnic and religious grounds) against over 100,000 population of Artsakh: shootings at villages, civilian houses; the entire population (hospitals, schools, etc.) is deprived of gas [heating and hot water]; through incursions and psychological intimidation, threats with force they force people to leave their houses, etc. It is of absolute urgency to pay close international attention to what is happening in Artsakh, to not allow isolation from the outside world. Human rights and security of people must not be ignored. The Azerbaijani authorities pursue their genocidal policies by isolating Artsakh. I have already contacted a number of international journalists today to keep the issue in the spotlight."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia has issued a statement, saying that aggressive actions of Azerbaijan once again demonstrate that official Baku continues to grossly violate the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, according to which the hostilities were ceased, the sides stopped in their positions and peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation were deployed along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We expect that the Russian peacekeeping forces in whose area of ​​responsibility the provocation takes place will undertake measures to ensure that the Azerbaijani troops immediately return to their initial positions and adhere to the commitments undertaken under the November 9 Trilateral Statement.

We call on the international community to make a clear assessment of Azerbaijan's provocative actions aimed at undermining the peace process and to support efforts for establishing peace in the South Caucasus and achieving a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

Gegham Stepanyan, the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, has addressed a statement to the international community, saying: "Azerbaijan is openly, publicly giving a "master class on the destruction and deportation of a concrete ethnic group" to the world, which even fails to make a condemning statements. That is why Azerbaijan is developing its arsenal of tools and means of committing crimes almost every day, that is why the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, openly violating the provisions of the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, dare to occupy civilian communities, to leave more than 120,000 people without heating and hot water, forcibly displace them. It can be listed endlessly.

Dear representatives of the international community, the facts and evidence are more than enough to enforce the principle of "responsibility to protect" adopted to prevent genocide, crimes against humanity, and mass crimes, to recognize the Artsakh Republic and save the Armenians of Artsakh from ethnic cleansing and genocide."

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan discussed the situation in the region and the situation in the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh where Russian peacekeepers are performing tasks, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

Artsakh is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe: Nikol Pashinyan

For 3 days, the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh have been deprived of natural gas supplies, which happened as a result of Azerbaijan's intervention, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government session.

"In these weather conditions, Artsakh deliberately lost the supply of natural gas needed for heating houses, kindergartens, schools, and hospitals. This is enough to understand that as a result of Azerbaijan's actions, Artsakh is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. I have no doubt that the heroic people of Artsakh will overcome this, but I must say that Azerbaijan is also doing a service to the people of Artsakh by its actions, because for the international community this episode is an apt description of the issue of Artsakh," Pashinyan said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that the policy adopted by Armenia on opening an era of peaceful development for the region has no alternative.

“Quite the contrary, with its actions, numerous provocations Azerbaijan is trying to divert us from our agenda of peace, to deligitimize that agenda in order to implement its policy of provoking new escalations, new wars in the region. But we must not give in to these and such kind of provocations. I have stated that for implementing the peace agenda we need firm nerves and we must not deviate from our declared strategy in any way. Strategy is a strategy that should guide us in all situations”, the PM said.

He reminded that after the first explosion of the gas pipeline, on March 10, a 5-point proposal on the settlement of the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan was handed over to Armenia. 

“We have responded to these proposals in writing very quickly, on March 14, and have applied to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, requesting to assist in organizing the peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And on March 21, 2022, the Foreign Minister of Armenia voiced Armenia’s overall assessment to the proposals presented by Azerbaijan, and that assessment is the following:

“There is nothing unacceptable for us in the proposals submitted by Azerbaijan. It’s another thing that these proposals do not address all issues on he Armenia-Azerbaijan comprehensive peace agenda. With our response, submitted to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, we have amended that agenda and thus, we are ready for the launch of peace talks on this base”.

Pashinyan also touched upon the situation in the world and in the region, saying: "The situation in the world and the region is tense, and we consider ourselves responsible for reducing this tension and finding fundamental solutions."

"In this regard, we believe that peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan should begin as soon as possible. At the same time, it's also necessary to state the need to start work on the demarcation and delimitation of border to increase the level of security and stability at the border," he said.

The Prime Minister recalled that the Armenian side made a proposal of mirror withdrawal of troops from the border.

"In addition to the full withdrawal, we has also made proposals for the local withdrawal of troops, and are waiting for Azerbaijan's response here as well. In particular, at the Yeraskh section, we proposed that they withdraw several positions from our territory, and we withdraw several positions from their territory. Thus, we will resolve the issue of one of the hottest spots over the past year and a half. We are waiting for Azerbaijan's response," Pashinyan said.

Protests in Armenia and Artsakh for international community to intervene as Azeri gas cut-off causes humanitarian disaster

Women in Artsakh held a peaceful rally in Stepanakert to make their voices heard by the international community, drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis which occurred after Azerbaijan deliberately cut off gas supply.

“….All international organizations should take clear actions pursuant to humanitarian principles, instead of making calls,” said of the women.

The demonstrators said that right now there is a humanitarian disaster in Artsakh and the whole world knows that Azerbaijan is the perpetrator. They warned that Azerbaijan could exploit the situation and aggravate it even more. The women said that the residents of Artsakh, the citizens of Artsakh are equally entitled to all the rights that citizens of other countries have.

A number of citizens held a protest in front of the UN office in Armenia, demanding to pay attention to the humanitarian situation in Artsakh.

They noted that the protest is not political, and both citizens who support the authorities and the opposition can join.

Mariam Hayriyan, one of the organizers, noted that their main goal is to convey their message to the international community: "We see what kind of terrorist act Azerbaijan is committing in Artsakh. This is a humanitarian disaster. We condemn the actions of the UN that the 30th anniversary of membership is being celebrated in Shoushi, a city occupied by Azerbaijan, despite what is happening in Stepanakert."

The participants of the protest also handed over a letter to the UN office.

Other News

• Armenia and Azerbaijan can get observer status in Shanghai Cooperation Organization. SCO Secretary General

• Ararat Mirzoyan briefed Georgian FM on Azerbaijan’s actions towards exerting psychological pressure against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. RA MFA

• It's unacceptable to aggravate the already difficult humanitarian situation. Maria Zakharova on the situation in Artsakh