(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Vugar Khalilov
South Caucasus Weekly Review: 19-25 Sep 22
This project of Azernews is designed to cover major
weekly developments in the South Caucasus nations.
HIGHLIGHTS
CSTO Secretary-General arrives in Armenia
Washington emphasizes need for comprehensive, long-term
regional peace
Armenian premier blames Azerbaijan for recent border clashes
at UN
EU publishes evaluation of its support to Georgia
Ankara, Tbilisi mull multidimensional cooperation
Baku urges host nations to protect diplomatic missions from
Armenian attacks
Azerbaijani, Armenian top diplomats meet in New York after
recent deadly clashes on border
Baku hands over bodies of 95 Armenian servicemen back to
Yerevan
Azerbaijani FM addresses global security & cooperation
issues at UN
ARMENIA
CSTO Secretary-General arrives in Armenia
The CSTO delegation led by Secretary General Stanislav Zas
arrived in Armenia on September 20, Azernews reports, citing the
Armenian media.
The mission's objective is to assess the situation, prepare a
report for leaders of member-states and develop proposals for
de-escalation of tensions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, the
CSTO said in a press release.
“Over the course of the mission, actions related to studying and
monitoring the current situation in border regions are planned, as
well as meetings with the highest political and military leadership
of the Republic of Armenia.”
On September 22, Zas met with Chief of the General Staff of the
Armenian army Maj-Gen Edward Asryan in Yerevan to discuss the
situation in separate sections of Armenia's border regions. The
possible future measures by the CSTO in the current situation were
addressed.
Following that, Zas took his delegation to the border region of
the Vayots Dzor province along the border with Azerbaijan. Here he
spoke with the Armenian army commanders stationed along the front
lines, as well as local officials.
Washington emphasizes the need for comprehensive,
long-term regional peace
At the meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on
the margins of the 77th UN General Assembly session in New York, US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken underlined the need for
comprehensive and long-term peace in the region, Azernews reports,
citing the Armenian media.
Pashinyan briefed the opposite side about the latest regional
developments, adding that Armenia attaches importance to the clear
positions and evaluations of the US regarding what happened. He
highly appreciated Blinken's personal efforts to support the
negotiation process and dialogue.
Blinken, for his part, stressed the willingness of the US to
continue its efforts aimed at the negotiation and peace process,
emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and long-term settlement
of the conflict. The diplomat underlined the importance of the
trilateral meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers in New York expressing optimism about the continuation of
the dialogue in the future.
At the meeting, the sides also exchanged thoughts on the
continuous development of Armenian-U.S. relations and other issues
of mutual interest.
Similarly , Pashinyan had a meeting with
European Council President Charles Michel in New York.
Michel voiced concern about the tensions along the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, underlining the significance of
resolving regional issues through peaceful means. The European
Council President emphasized his desire to foster dialogue and
peace.
Armenian premier blames Azerbaijan for recent border
clashes at UN
Armenian premier Nikol Pashinyan has condemned Azerbaijan for
the recent border clashes along the state border during his address
to the 77th UNGA session in New York, Azernews reports, citing the
Armenian media.
Pashinyan said that there has been no concrete progress in the
delimitation and demarcation of Armenian and Azerbaijani borders,
the opening of regional communications, and the future peace treaty
since Azerbaijan is exploiting all of these matters to assert
territorial claims against Armenia.
“In this regard, I'm posing an official and public question to
the Azerbaijani president. Could you show the map of Armenia, that
you recognize or are ready to recognize as the Republic of Armenia?
Why I'm asking this? Because it can come out that from the point of
view of official Azerbaijan only half of Armenia and even less - is
the Republic of Armenia. If Azerbaijan would recognize the
territorial integrity of Armenia, not theoretically, but
concretely, I mean the integrity of our internationally recognized
territory of 29.800 square kilometers, it would mean that we can
sign a peace treaty by mutually recognizing each other's
territorial integrity. Otherwise, we would have a phantom peace
treaty and after that Azerbaijan will use the border delimitation
process for new territorial claims and occupation,” he
stressed.
He added that an international observation mission to the
Armenia-Azerbaijan bordering areas would be an important factor for
regional stability.
“I want to underscore that diplomatic solutions are an absolute
priority for us and the full engagement and support of the
international community is crucial. In this regard I would like to
mention, that the international observation mission to the
Armenia-Azerbaijan bordering areas would be an important factor for
regional stability,” Pashinyan said.
GEORGIA
EU publishes evaluation of its support to
Georgia
On September 19, the European Union published a detailed
evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of the EU's cooperation
with Georgia over the past funding period (2014-2020), the EU
Delegation to Georgia reported.
The evaluation reads that the EU's cooperation with Georgia has
been“strategically sound and has benefitted from a strong
institutional setup in its design and implementation.” The
conclusions also state that a wide range of instruments,
modalities, and funding channels have been employed in the
cooperation with Georgia.
“There has been progressing contributing to increased
accountability and transparency and the visa liberalization has
worked well. The evaluation highlights that the population's trust
in the European Union has remained high.”
However, according to the document, the visibility of EU
projects was a problem in the early stages of the reviewed period,
but the Delegation has improved its approach. Along with the flaws,
little progress has been observed in the reform of the judiciary as
well as in human rights.
The following general recommendations were given by the
evaluation team:
The EU should continue to use a wide range of instruments,
modalities, and channels, including policy and political dialogue,
but with closer attention to effectiveness. The union should adopt
a critical approach to assessing the need for capacity building and
technical assistance to ensure sustainability.
The EU should continue to improve the quality of mainstreaming
cross-cutting issues, particularly gender equality and women's
empowerment. The European Union's cooperation portfolio should be
positioned strategically to reflect the evolving geopolitical
context.
Ankara, Tbilisi mull multidimensional
cooperation
Georgian premier Irakli Garibashvili and Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan discussed strategic partnership, trade and economic
relations, and regional and global security issues in New York on
September 20.
Substantial results of the strategic partnership between the two
countries, political dynamics of high-level bilateral interaction,
engagement, and active cooperation of Georgia and the Republic of
Turkiye in projects of regional geo-political nature were noted at
the meeting.
Discussion topics also included the war waged in Ukraine and the
resulting challenges in the complex security environment of the
world and region. The significance of peace and stability was noted
for ensuring the further development and long-term prosperity of
the region. Within this context, the agreement reached last year
between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the mediation of Garibashvili
was praised, as it resulted in the release of Armenian prisoners by
Azerbaijan in return for essential maps shared by Armenia with
Azerbaijan. It was thereby stated that further advancement of the
effective cooperation between Georgia and Turkiye in every
direction is vital for the stable and sustainable development of
the region.
AZERBAIJAN
Baku urges host nations to protect diplomatic missions
from Armenian attacks
Baku has urged the host nations to protect the Azerbaijani
diplomatic missions from possible attacks of Armenian fanatics in
their territories, Azernews reports, citing the Foreign
Ministry.
“We strongly condemn the criminal actions of the radical
Armenian groups and expect a responsible attitude to their duties
from agencies in charge of preventing such provocations in the
respective countries,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry emphasized that the attacks by Armenian communities
on buildings of the Azerbaijani diplomatic missions abroad are a
source of serious concern.
These assaults, which include elements of vandalism and
terrorism, are intended to hurt diplomats and their properties, and
hence are classified as criminal acts, the ministry underlined.
Azerbaijan demands that the acts of vandalism committed by
radical Armenian forces be investigated by the respective
countries' law enforcement authorities and those liable for these
crimes to face legal consequences, it added.
The ministry reminded that in accordance with the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, it is the host state's
specific obligation to safeguard the diplomatic mission from all
types of assaults and damage and to take the necessary steps to
avoid a breach of tranquility or an insult to the mission's
honor.
Following the recent border clashes between Azerbaijani and
Armenian military forces in response to the latter's provocation, a
number of Azerbaijani missions overseas have been attacked and
vandalized by Armenian fanatical groups.
On September 18, Armenian extremists in France stormed the
building of the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris.
“French Armenian fanatics storm the building of the Azerbaijani
embassy in Paris. But let's leave the Armenian barbarians aside.
Mr. Emmanuel Macron, shame on France, which does not protect
embassies and ignores our fundamental requests related to our
security,” Rahman Mustafayev, Azerbaijani Ambassador to France
tweeted.
Similarly, an aggressive group of Armenian radicals attacked the
Azerbaijani embassy in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on September
16.
Azerbaijani, Armenian top diplomats meet in New York
after recent deadly clashes on border
On September 19, within the framework of the high-level week of
the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, a meeting was held
between Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov
and Ararat Mirzoyan respectively on the initiative and with the
participation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the press
service of the Foreign Ministry reports.
During the meeting, Minister Bayramov drew attention to
Azerbaijan's position on ensuring peace in the region in the
post-conflict period and the necessary steps in this direction.
Bayramov stressed that on September 12-14, carrying out
provocations and attacks on Azerbaijan, Armenia provoked clashes,
as well as the fact that Armenia violated the preliminary ceasefire
agreement reached within a few hours, which led to additional
losses. He noted that Azerbaijan is not interested in destabilizing
the situation in the region as a party conducting large-scale
reconstruction work in the region and placing former internally
displaced persons there.
The minister recalled that despite the grave consequences of the
occupation of the internationally recognized territories of
Azerbaijan for 30 years, Baku put forward a proposal to sign a
peace treaty immediately after the 44-day Patriotic War and
consistently takes initiatives in this direction. According to him,
despite the efforts of Azerbaijan in the process of normalizing
relations with Armenia, opening communications, delimitation and
demarcation of borders, as well as in the humanitarian direction,
Armenia hinders the processes and grossly violates its obligations
within the framework of tripartite statements.
Minister Jeyhun Bayramov once again stressed the readiness for
urgent negotiations between the leaders towards ensuring lasting
peace in accordance with the tripartite statements and the results
of the meeting in Brussels.
Baku hands over bodies of 95 Armenian servicemen back to
Yerevan
Baku has returned the bodies of 95 Armenian servicemen to
Yerevan, Azernews reports, citing the State Commission on Prisoners
of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons.
A search was conducted for the corpses of Armenian military
personnel, who were killed in the area as a result of the
Azerbaijani army's counter-attack operation against large-scale
provocations perpetrated by the Armenian armed forces on the state
border on September 12-14, the committee said.
The bodies of 95 Armenian military personnel were examined on
September 20 in cooperation with the Azerbaijani Military
Prosecutor's Office. The bodies were handed over to Armenia through
the International Committee of the Red Cross after it was
determined that there were no marks of violence on them.
Azerbaijan has honored its commitment to international
humanitarian law and human ideals once again. The humanitarian
process of transferring the bodies of Armenian personnel to the
opposing side will be carried on, the committee said.
To recap, units of the Armenian armed forces carried out
large-scale provocations along the Azerbaijani-Armenian state
border in the Dashkasan, Kalbajar, and Lachin directions on the
night of September 12 leading to 13. The Armenian sabotage groups
mined land and supply roads linking the positions of the
Azerbaijani army units in different directions, taking advantage of
the area's steep topography and existing ravine gaps.
The clashes between the sides ensued as a result of the urgent
efforts made by the Azerbaijani armed forces to quell these
activities. As a result, 79 armed forces personnel were killed, the
ministry detailed.
So far, the Armenian government reported 207 losses among its
own military personnel. Moreover, 293 soldiers and three civilians
were wounded, and 20 soldiers were taken prisoners.
Azerbaijani FM addresses global security & cooperation
issues at UN
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has addressed
global and regional security, as well as cooperation issues on the
margins of the 77th UN General Assembly session in New York,
Azernews reports, citing the ministry.
CICA
As part of his visit to New York, Bayramov attended the informal
meeting of the foreign ministers of the Conference on Interaction
and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on September
22.
Addressing the meeting, chaired by Kazakhstan, Bayramov
underlined the growing need for regional engagement and cooperation
in light of the mounting threats to global security. In this
regard, he stressed CICA's importance as a platform for encouraging
communication and cooperation, as well as developing confidence and
maintaining regional security and prosperity.
He emphasized the importance of respecting international legal
norms and principles, particularly sovereignty, territorial
integrity, and border inviolability, to preserve regional and
global peace and stability. The importance of the CICA for the
implementation of confidence-building measures was noted.
Moreover, CICA's confidence-building measures on safe and
efficient transport corridor systems, which have been coordinated
by Azerbaijan, were underlined.
The minister stressed that Azerbaijan is actively promoting
communication projects such as East-West and North-South transit
corridors between the CICA member nations. In this context, the
minister underlined the relevance of the Zangazur Corridor, which
would significantly contribute to regional and global peace by
promoting local, regional, as well as trans-regional trade.
During the meeting, matters concerning the preparations for the
CICA's Astana Summit were also addressed.
Organization of Islamic
Cooperation
On September 22, Bayramov attended the annual coordination
meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) member states in New York.
In his address to the meeting chaired by Pakistan, Bayramov
reaffirmed Azerbaijan's commitment to Islamic solidarity, as well
as to the Islamic ideals of peace, tolerance, togetherness,
harmony, and justice for the benefit of humanity's progress and
prosperity.
The top diplomat described the OIC, as the main international
organization, as well as one of the key actors in ensuring peace
and stability in the Muslim world. Moreover, Azerbaijan's concern
over the escalating insecurity and conflict in various Muslim
countries was underlined.
Bayramov briefed the participants about Azerbaijan's
contribution to multiculturalism and interreligious dialogue,
underlining the importance of the Baku Process, which has been
operating since 2008.
Bayramov thanked the OIC for the extensive and continuous
support to Azerbaijan both during the occupation of its territories
by Armenia, as well as in the post-conflict period. The minister
also spoke about Azerbaijan's steps in ensuring regional peace and
stability.
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