Editor’s Note: Shortly after the initial publication of this news report on September 14 at 4:13 p.m. EST, a ceasefire was announced on Armenia Public TV by Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan through the mediation of the international community. Armenia’s Ministry of Defense has not registered any new attacks since.
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said he is prepared to sign an agreement that would brand him a “traitor” following a second day of deadly attacks launched by Azerbaijan within the internationally recognized borders of Armenia.
“We want to sign a paper, as a result of which we will be criticized, scolded and called traitors,” Pashinyan said while addressing parliament on September 14. “The people may even decide to remove us from power. But we will be grateful if as a result of this Armenia receives lasting peace and security on an area of 29,800 square kilometers.”
“I made a clear decision. I don’t care what happens to me,” Pashinyan continued. “I care what happens to the Republic of Armenia.”
In response to speculation that Pashinyan is prepared to cede Artsakh to Azerbaijani control, Pashinyan said in a Facebook Live address late Wednesday evening that he has not signed any agreement and that there is no draft agreement that he is ready to sign.
Pashinyan continued that he would be prepared to sign an agreement that may not be “the document of our dreams,” yet would “help Armenian interests and in the long run guarantee Armenia’s peace and security,” without specifying what such an agreement may entail.
Pashinyan’s comments in the National Assembly have outraged Armenians from Yerevan to Stepanakert. Protesters have descended on Republic Square and Baghramyan Avenue, just outside the gates of the National Assembly, demanding Pashinyan’s immediate resignation. Crowds have gathered in Artsakh’s capital as well.
Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said that “any documents that could recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan are unacceptable to us” in a Facebook post following Pashinyan’s speech.
The prime minister also admitted that the Azerbaijani military has gained control over 10 square kilometers of Armenian sovereign territory over the past two days, in addition to the 42 square kilometers captured during the May 2021 incursions.
At least 105 Armenian soldiers have been killed since the Azerbaijani armed forces launched simultaneous attacks on communities along Armenia’s eastern border in the Syunik, Gegharkunik and Vayots Dzor provinces after midnight on September 13. This week’s fighting marks the deadliest in the region since the 2020 Artsakh War. The MoD of Azerbaijan reports that 50 Azerbaijani soldiers have died. Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons said on Wednesday that it is ready to “unilaterally hand over the bodies of about 100 Armenian servicemen” killed in this week’s fighting.
Fighting has persisted along the border in spite of a ceasefire agreement reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry that began at 10:00 in the morning Caucasus time on September 13. Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan confirmed the ceasefire.
“In spite of the international community’s clear response to the situation, the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan continues its aggressive actions against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, targeting both military and civil infrastructures,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said on September 14.
The Azerbaijani armed forces deployed rocket and artillery strikes as well as combat drones along the entire border from Sotk in Gegharkunik to Goris in Syunik through the afternoon and evening on September 14, according to the MoD of Armenia. A military unit in Sotk caught fire due to shelling. Azerbaijani shelling also struck a Russian border guard base in Gegharkunik, damaging the facility and several vehicles.
Azerbaijan launched attacks on Nerkin Hand in Syunik and Jermuk in Vayots Dzor on the morning of September 14, following overnight attacks on Jermuk using combat drones. The previous day, the Azerbaijani armed forces attempted “positional advancements” in the direction of Verin Shorzha, Artanish and Sotk in Gegharkunik and Nerkin Hand.
As of 8:00 in the evening local time on Wednesday, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that most of the shooting had stopped.
Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Kristine Grigoryan said that four civilians have been wounded by Azerbaijani shelling. Her office reports that 2,570 civilians, most of whom are women, children and elderly, have been displaced, as residents of border communities in Syunik and Gegharkunik continue to flee their homes.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry has confirmed the attacks, stating that it takes “local retaliatory measures” against “legitimate military targets.” In a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov accused the Armenian armed forces of laying mines in the Lachin district, which was ceded to Azerbaijan at the end of the 2020 Artsakh War.
The MoD of Azerbaijan later said that Armenia wants to “delay the signing of a peace treaty,” while Azerbaijan “is interested in establishing peace in the region through the start of demarcation and delimitation of borders and the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries.”
PM Pashinyan indicated that Azerbaijan launched the attacks in response to the lack of progress over the primary issues under negotiation while addressing the Armenian parliament on September 13.
The Armenian PM said that Azerbaijan refuses to discuss the status of Artsakh during peace talks and instead insists that the Artsakh conflict was resolved through the 44-day war.
“Over time, and particularly during the last meeting in Brussels, it became clear that, nevertheless, Azerbaijan refuses to hold peace negotiations based also on the principles presented by us,” Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agreed to “step up substantive work” on a peace treaty during their fourth trilateral meeting in Brussels on August 31. However, Armenian authorities indicated in the days following the talks that the leaders had failed to reach common ground on key issues, since Azerbaijan refuses to address the status of Artsakh and the security of its Armenian population in a peace agreement.
Many Armenian analysts have noted that Azerbaijan launches attacks to place military pressure on Armenia to fulfill its demands in ongoing negotiations.
Political analyst Tigran Grigoryan noted a pattern over the last year and a half in which the Armenian government has made key concessions following military escalations by Azerbaijan.
“They understand that this tactic of military pressure is quite effective,” Grigoryan said in an interview with CivilNet on September 13. “The Armenian government has its part of responsibility for that, because after every military escalation, Armenia is ready to make some concessions.”
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military alliance, announced after a special session on Tuesday that it would send a mission led by the alliance’s head Stanislav Zas to Armenia next week to “assess the situation” and “prepare a report” that will be presented to the CSTO member states later this year. The bloc will also “create a working group to constantly monitor the situation in the CSTO zone of responsibility.”
Armenia formally applied to Russia under the mechanisms of the CSTO as well as a mutual defense pact in the hours following the start of the attack. While the Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledged the application in a written statement, it said that “all disputed issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be solved exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”
International actors have been explicit in assigning blame for the attacks to Azerbaijan.
Michael J. Abramowitz, president of the US-based human rights organization Freedom House, called on the Azerbaijani armed forces to “immediately cease their deadly attacks on Armenian territory and commit to the ongoing peace process facilitated by the EU, the US and Russia.”
“Military attacks on sovereign nations have no place in the rules-based international order,” Abramowiz said in a written statement.
PM Pashinyan had phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, European Council President Charles Michel, Iranian President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on the night of September 13.
During a phone call with the Azerbaijani president, Blinken “urged President Aliyev to cease hostilities” and expressed “deep concern over military action along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, including shelling in Armenia,” according to US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. While speaking with the Armenian PM, Blinken “assured Prime Minister Pashinyan that the United States would push for an immediate halt to fighting,” Price said.
Macron also called Aliyev on September 13 and “urged him to put an end to hostilities,” “which resulted in the bombardment of Armenian localities,” and “return to respect for the ceasefire.”
The Iranian President said that “Iran’s position regarding the territorial integrity of states is clear” and the “issue of Armenia’s security is important for Iran,” according to a readout of the call from the Armenian PM’s office. He recalled comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who has previously stated that “Iran’s connection with Armenia should not be endangered.”
Meanwhile, Michel expressed his readiness to prevent further escalation, tweeting that “there is no alternative to peace and stability—and there is no alternative to diplomacy to ensure that.”
Garibashvili said that Georgia is ready to “make every effort to contribute” to peace and stability.
“The absence of a reply to calls to the international community during the 44-day war in 2020 has made Azerbaijan more aggressive,” a joint statement from five political parties represented in the Artsakh parliament reads. “We call on the international community to condemn Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions and take effective steps to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia and establish regional peace.”
Armenian politicians and political analysts had warned that Azerbaijan could renew its provocations, following daily accusations of ceasefire violations leveled against Armenia by the MoD of Azerbaijan for two weeks following the trilateral meeting in Brussels, all of which the MoD of Armenia denied.
“We all know that when Azerbaijan plans its latest border provocation, it organizes a pretext based on false information to legitimize that provocation, before carrying it out,” Armenia’s ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan wrote on Facebook on September 12.
Lillian Avedian
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So how many drones did you buy and train using in the last two years? Or did you actually develop your model airplane called krunk further? No? Well, then you deserve what you get.
So true, Zaven sad but true!
net worth of about 4 billion. How did a second rate journalist and supposed servant of the Armenian people get so rich?
Dont get me wrong, Pashinyan is scum but I’d be interested in your source about his net worth. I was not aware.
The more this is dragged, the more land will be lost.
since when would an otto turk person be trusted in the military or govt- we must be david and strike goliath with all we can forever and ever- returning to our way of might is right-lest we lose all- turk boy otto azeris will pay massive debt to us for decades till annilated
This man is a disaster. He got bribed in Brussels and comes and says I will not handover a corridor. His entire plan is to stay in power. He did not upgrade the army instead he is focused on 30 thousand policemen to protect his seat. He needs to be slaughtered. Enough is enough.
If those policemen or someone in the army dont step up and depose him RIGHT AWAY, there is no hope.
Shahe, 100% you are right, I been in Armenia so many times, last year when I was there , I noticed so many polices on the streets, yes instead spending money on army, he is defending himself.
He is a trader, longer he is in power we will louse more lands!
This former failed journalist turned make-believe Prime Minister is both a naive fool and a treasonous narcissistic sorry excuse for a leader. He is a naive fool because he thinks just because he can give his failed movement a catching fancy name like ‘The era of peace’ and will do anything to achieve it that this is what the enemy wants too. It is as if he does not know the true character of our centuries-old enemy. Like a farmer who thinks by sacrificing a few of his herd he can save the rest but at the end ends up losing them all, he also thinks if he appeases the enemy by giving away some territory that the enemy will be satisfied and welcome his fake ‘peace’ initiative not realizing that the more he appeases the enemy the more emboldened the enemy gets because to this enemy his behavior is only a sign of weakness to be exploited and that this kind of weak behavior not only does not avoid future clashes but that it increases its likelihood as we have been witnessing.
He is treasonous because, faced with constant enemy aggression, he neither mobilizes the country nor does he allow the army to conduct its duty. He has paralyzed our defense mechanisms while emboldening the enemy to commit more crimes without any consequences and with impunity. He is quick to take full credit for any superficial and minuscule ‘achievement’, if any at all, but blames all his failures on the previous leaders. The very same leaders against whom enemy failed to do anything in thirty years and whom the enemy feared and paid heavy price for any and all of its transgressions. The very same leaders during whose rule the enemy’s deadliest and largest scale attack on the Armenians took less than a week ending in heavy casualties on the enemy. This man is delusional and the sooner he leaves the better for him and the country. He was voted into office by a bunch of ignorant and gullible zombies whom he fooled by his lies. Four years ago everywhere he went he would be surrounded by hundreds or thousands welcoming him but today he can’t even go from one government building to another without being surrounded and protected by a squadron of armed policemen. That picture alone tells everything we need to know about this con artist!
Every day that I wake up I hope to hear that this cancer in the Armenian soul is finally gone! Gone forever, along with his hacks, the speaker of the parliament, the do-nothing US ambassador… on and on… but it begs the quesiton: who is ready to replace him?
Pashinyan’s trademark was always to blame previous leaders for his failure, beware this guy will end Armenian identity.
IF CORRUPT ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SPENT 32 YEARS BUILDING THE MILITARY INSTEAD OF STEALING MONEY, ARMENIA WOULD NOT BE ON ITS KNEES BEGGING A WORLD FOR HELP WHO DOES NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ARMENIA.
This is the unfortunate reality. Pashinyan is the worst of the worst, but his predecessors and their underlings also damaged Armenia in ways that are ireversible. Question: who is that model leader now who can step up (assuming that Pashinyan is deposed)? The only person that I can think of is the former president, but even if he has the gravitas, integrity and political maturity, is he tough? the lack of a military background would be a big concern. Armenia either throw in the towel and becomes a protectorate of someone (Russia? France? US? keep dreaming?) or miraculously identifies the Armenian version of an Ataturk (yes, learn from the enemy) who can reverse course and rise from the ashes.
FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, the country needs to rid itself of PERSONALITIES and KNOWN BRANDS, just a government of different representatives – not power hungry, selfish, egomaniacs. How pathetic are the common citizens who aren’t taking the streets in overwhelming numbers to bulldoze over the palace guard? Soon many of us will simply give up and offer no support, financial nor moral!
since the armenians voted for him,good luck ,they are responsible for their fate
I dont know how many of the 135 dead soldiers or their families voted for him, but I disagree with this callous remark. Look for solutions… maybe there aren’t any, but many innocent people and well-meaning patriots have died – for nothing? at least they deserve our respect.
You may call it callous, but the fact remains that the majority of eligible voters in Armenia voted for this con artist. I didn’t see on the streets of Armenia’s cities a single mother of some 3,000 soldiers killed during the recent so-called “war”, protesting against this bozo. We must stop blaming odars and start blaming ourselves for our political myopia.
And not once but twice. What does that say about
1. The quality of citizenry in such a backward country.
2. Democracy as a form of government for backward countries.
Food for thought.
To be honest, my opinion is that our PM Nikol Pashinyan is a traitor; destroyed the backbone of our armed forces; can we spare this guy …
REPEAT OF 1915. NEWSPAPERS REPORTING ARMENIANS BEING KILLED. THE WORLD NOT GIVING A SHIT. ARMENIA NEVER LEARNING ITS LESSON TO BUILD ITS MILITARY. PAPER LADLE STORY. 32 YEARS OF CORRUPTION. CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST. HOPELESS.
This guy is also a total diplomatic failure. After 2020 he neither tried to gain international support.
He failed to get North South corridor. India wanted Armenia to be part
Does it matter now how rich this guy is? He sold our historic and present lands to our enemies, and even if he got $1 for it he would be just as guilty. Take him out of power, resolve this Artsakh issue to our favor and bring him to justice later.
YOU ARE TALKING OUT OF TURN LIKE MANY ARMENIANS WHO LIVE IN A FANTASY WORLD. RESOLVE ARTSAKH ISSUE TO OUR FAVOR? HOW…BY THROWING LAVASH AT THE ENEMY? ARMENIA IS WEAK, POOR, AND UNDER POPULATED. ARTSAKH IS EVEN WORSE. YOU WANT ARMENIA TO LAUNCH A FULL SCALE ATTACK ON AZERBAIJAN? TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN WILL CRUSH ARMENIA IN .0000001 SECOND. ARMENIA HAS NO POWER, NO ALLIES, NO INFLUENCE. ARMENIA WASTED AND STOLE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SINCE INDEPENDENCE INSTEAD OF BUILDING THE COUNTRY. HEAVY INVESTMENTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN MILITARY, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, AND ARMING AND TRAINING EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD TO USE GUNS LIKE KHRIMYAN HAYRIG ADVISED OVER 100 YEARS AGO. INSTEAD, THE ONLY INVESTMENTS THAT WERE MADE WERE BUYING MANSIONS AND ROLLS ROYCES. WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW IS 1,000% THE FAULT OF CORRUPT AND INEPT ARMENIAN LEADERS, AND ARMENIA WILL CONTINUE TO BE ON ITS KNEES, BEGGING THE WORLD FOR HELP UNTIL THAT MENTALITY CHANGES.
This just proves that you do not need to be part of a rich family “clan” to sell your people out. Armenian people were too quick to assume that a “seeker of truth” in journalism, with moderate net worth, would be good enough to undo what was done by the rich and fat before him. What exactly needed to be undone anyway? The rich and fat were there when we got the Artsakh under our control.
Pashinyan’s cling to power is there for the money, not the usual other way around. Regardless, he needs to go. Someone needs to grab the army and make an announcement to him to cede power nicely.
Let’s be fare. Let’s Congratulate Nigol Pashinyan that he came first to be qualified from Levon Der Bedrossyan school of training traitors. Let’s also congratulate the Armenian people in Armenia who knowingly or unknowingly chose Pashinyan as their prime minister not only once but twice. So, you can imagine how many traitors were there to be able to choose a Traitor. Traitors choose…traitors. Many years ago, you would know how we dealt with the traitors. Look at us, in the Diaspora and the organization we have in Armenia. We are the laughingstock in our own country. What kind of leaders we have to make Pashinyan to think about his actions? That is why, he was able to tell the country from his National assembly speech that he will put the ARF in the garbage bean of history. This means…he is not afraid. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about Armenia and of her politics but I want to say it is time to get organized in the Diaspora and be ready when the challenges do appear. They will appear and we need to be prepared. PREPARE TO BE PREPARED. That’s what Gen. Antranig said in 1908, nobody listened, Njteh said similar things that we can’t trust the Turks, nobody listened, and they threw him out, Shahan Natali said the thing that these two leaders had said, nobody listened, and he was thrown out too. It is going to HAIL, and we need to be ready. I said I wasn’t going to write because really it means nothing however, I thought I write again, and it doesn’t matter if the Armenian Weekly publishes it.
He, Nigol Pashinyan, outperformed his teacher. How is that? Well Anna Hagopyan, presently the wife of this man Nigol, said it all and you what? we, as in the leadership especially ARF, weren’t listening. She said, that her husband is doing exactly what he has been writing for so many years. Either we weren’t reading what he was writing, or we were laughing at him (like we did in 1908) and now not only he is laughing at us but he also what I hear made a lot of money. Not bad for a second-class journalist and a first-class SPY. Not bad at all. Amazing stuff.
I am wondering what happened to the saying that “HOGH HANSTNOGHIN, HOGHIN GE HANSTNEN.” I think everyone forgot about it.
Nubar Yeressian Thank you. You said it all
Put aside everything you think you know about the situation in Armenia and watch thes two video reports. Nukol’s regime is allowing Western and Turkish interests to draw Armenia into a very dangerous game against Russia and Iran. If this continues, Armenians will face another genocide in the foreseeable future.
The New Atlas: How the US is using the Azeri-Armenian conflict to “extend” Russia.
https://youtu.be/s_B7gigTPC8
Redacted: Kevork Almassian on the latest fighting
https://youtu.be/ChQC9Lu0gV0
Exactly. Picture United States with its military bases in Armenia going for close monitoring of, and encounters with, Iran’s military and strategic actions. Not pretty at all. Need I remind how many conflicts will never be resolved between these two countries, accompanied by severe casualties – on Armenian soil. I am not a huge fan of the States helping us with their military presence. We just need more money ASAP, and also we need to press the United States to stop arming Azerbaijan with their money.
At the end of the war in 2020, Nikol promised to abandon Artsakh, recognize Azerbaijan’s borders and give Azeris/Turks a route in Zangezur that Turks call, an exclusive “corridor” and Russians call, a “trade route” under Armenian/Russian control. Nikol later realized that when he does all this he will be ousted. He is therefore tyring to save his skin. Hence, the delays, the temper-tantrums, the running around the world looking for saviors…
For their part, Turks and Azeris are putting pressure on Nikol to make him deliver what he promised back in 2020. This is one of the reasons why (the other being Ukraine) the CSTO was in no mood to immediately jump to Nikol’s western financed regime’s defense…
Put aside everything you are seeing/hearing in the media. Panic is being spread by both sides for different reasons. By Nikol, to convince the sheeple that we need to give Turks a corridor and it’s all Russia’s fault. By the opposition, to convince the sheeple that Nikol is deliberately destroying Armenia. What I just outlined above is what is happening…
Think: why would the CSTO send forces to fight Azerbaijan (a country they want within their ranks) when Nikol’s regime has NOT mobilized Armenia’s armed forces; has NOT announced a state of emergency in the country; and has publicly stated that the fighting is simply a border skirmish and that their main goal is peace with Baku and Ankara…
Think: Why would Russia send forces to fight Azerbaijan (a country they want within their orbit) and Turkey (a major NATO power), at a time when they are in a major war in eastern Europe, and if that is exactly what Anglo-American-Jews are trying to have them do – with the help of Nikol’s Western financed regime nonetheless…
It is my opinion that this is all being orchestrated by Putin. As we can see his goal of bringing back Ukraine into the Soviet Union or the Greater Russia. I believe his goal is to do the same with Armenia. I think he will give Artsakh to Azerbaijan as long as he has Armenia.