Artsakh MPs thanked the French Senate for adopting a resolution supporting Armenia and proposing sanctions against Azerbaijan

Members of the "Artsakh-France" Friendship Circle of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh sent a word of gratitude to the deputies of the French Senate.

Artsakh MPs expressed their gratitude to the chairman of the Senate "Republicans" faction for the joint proposal of the resolution "imposing sanctions against Azerbaijan, the latter's immediate withdrawal from Armenian territory, forcing respect of the agreement of November 9, 2020, and calling for any initiative aimed at establishing peace between the two countries."  Bruno Ratayo, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense Christian Cambon, Chairman of the Communist faction Elias Assassi, Chairman of the Socialist faction Patrick Kanner, Chairman of the Union of Central Forces faction Hervé Marseille, Chairman of the France-Armenia Friendship Group Gilbert-Luc Devinaz.

On November 16, the Senate of the Republic of France adopted a resolution supporting Armenia and proposing sanctions against Azerbaijan.

Baku condemns the resolution adopted by the French Senate

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan responded to the resolution adopted by the French Senate.

The statement of the Ministry states that "the resolution is completely far from reality, reflects false and slanderous provisions and, having an openly provocative nature, is aimed at disrupting the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia."

 "The resolution adopted by the Senate and without any legal force clearly shows the biased and one-sided political position of France as a country that declares its intention to contribute to the peace process.  In general, all the absurd claims mentioned in the resolution show that its authors are not aware of the historical facts and the situation in the region," the message states.

Referring to the point by which the resolution reaffirms the need to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and suggests the government to establish a humanitarian office in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan once again noted that "Nagorno-Karabakh is the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan."

 "The security of the Armenian population living in that region is an internal matter of Azerbaijan, and they will be ensured in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

By encouraging the revanchist forces in Armenia, this resolution of the Senate does not serve peace, stability, and progress in the region and is far from the "promotion of lasting peace" mentioned in the resolution. We strongly condemn the next resolution adopted by the French Senate," the statement of the Foreign Ministry reads.

Prime Minister Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with Irakli Gharibashvili

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili.

The interlocutors discussed both bilateral and regional issues.  In this context, the improvement of the atmosphere in the South Caucasus region and the implementation of appropriate steps in that direction were emphasized.

Emphasizing the need for continuous development of trade and economic ties between Armenia and Georgia, the parties agreed to hold an Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental dialogue session in Yerevan in early 2023.

The American general will discuss Armenian-American security relations with Armenian officials

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia welcomes to Yerevan Major General Daniel Lasica, Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy, United States European Command.

During his visit on November 16-17, Major General Lasica will take part in wreath-laying ceremonies at the Yerablur Military Memorial Cemetery / Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

He will meet with Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, Chief of General Staff General Edward Asryan, and Secretary of the National Security Council Armen Grigoryan to discuss the U.S.-Armenian security relationship and regional security issues.

Major General Lasica will participate in a dedication ceremony to mark the completion of new barracks, dining facility, and conference room funded by the United States at the Zar Peacekeeping Training Area.

Nikol Pashinyan referred to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

At the NA-government question-and-answer session, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the opposition's criticism that the positions regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh problem are not concrete and elusive.

"If I could understand this assessment 1-1.5 months ago, I can't now, because I think that the statement made by the Russian President in Valda was very important for us to clarify a number of issues and record that, at least in the RA political field, those approaches In terms of this, it is almost a consensus situation," said Pashinyan.

Pashinyan reminded that it's about the position of the RA government regarding the proposals of the Russian Federation, the essence of which was to postpone the Nagorno-Karabakh issue for some time.

"When this question was asked, there were statements in the opposition field and in Nagorno-Karabakh demanding the government to accept the proposals of the Russian Federation.

I want to say that the Government accepted this agreement a long time ago, since January 2021, but did not talk about it purely out of correctness," he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the current position of the government is what the opposition demanded from them, not knowing that the government adopted that position a long time ago. He expressed that he had shared this position with the NK president a long time ago.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that if the opposition now has a different opinion, and considers that RA should reject RF's proposals, it would be right to announce it loudly.

The Prime Minister hopes that an internationally visible conversation will take place between the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports the Prime Minister said during the Parliament-Government Q&A session, presenting the conditions when Armenia will be ready to sign a framework agreement with Azerbaijan.

"Accepting the Russian position is the reason why we are not promoting the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, but the issue of ensuring the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Like in 2018, we believe that the number one interested party in that dialogue should be the participant of the dialogue. I am talking about the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. We hope that there is an understanding among the international community that an internationally visible conversation should take place between the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, which should be about the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. The fact that we agree to separate the issue of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations from addressing the rights and security issues of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh does not mean that we agree to remove that issue from the agenda.

If we solve this issue, of course, the Republic of Armenia is ready to sign a framework agreement on peace with Azerbaijan on the basis of mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty," said Pashinyan.

Speaking about the unblocking of regional communications, the Prime Minister noted that if the issue of opening communications for Azerbaijan is not a matter of seeking a new escalation, then the issue can be considered.

In Artsakh, Azerbaijanis opened fire on civilians doing agricultural work

Fire was opened from the Azerbaijani combat position in the direction of civilians doing agricultural work.

On November 16, at 2:30 p.m., a 36-year-old resident of Sarushen village, Askerani district, reported to the Red Market Department of the Martunu district police department that around 11:40 a.m., works were carried out on the agricultural lands belonging to the Sarushen community of Askerani district in the Amarasi valley.

From the adjacent combat position, Azerbaijani army officers opened irregular fire from various firearms in the direction of the citizens working in the field. Agricultural work was stopped due to the violation of the ceasefire regime.

There were no casualties among civilians. The police informed about the incident and provided relevant materials to the Russian peacekeeping troops. The Martuni regional department of the police is engaged in the inspection.

The US Secretary of State urged Ilham Aliyev to maintain the ceasefire and stop the provocation 

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had a conversation with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev today.

The Secretary of State emphasized US support for the peace process and urged both sides to plan further negotiations as agreed in Washington.

The parties discussed the results of the Armenian-Azerbaijani bilateral peace negotiations and further steps.

According to the US State Department, Blinken urged Aliyev to maintain the ceasefire and stop provocations, while exploring ways to strengthen confidence with Armenia to create a basis for peace.

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