Tag: Armenia

Armenia, Azerbaijan exchange war prisoners

By Emil GULIYEV BAKU, Dec 13, 2023 (AFP) – Armenia and Azerbaijan on Wednesday swapped prisoners of war, a first step towards normalising relations since Baku retook control of the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in a one-day autumn offensive. It is the first time the neighbours have exchanged prisoners since the lightening September offensive. Azerbaijan’s military operation ended almost three decades of Armenian separatist control of Karabakh, forcing tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee. […]

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The geopolitical concerns facing Armenia after Nagorno-Karabakh collapse

By Joris FIORITI PARIS, Oct 2, 2023 (AFP) – Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh have, after three decades of struggle, agreed to disarm, dissolve their government and reintegrate with Azerbaijan after Baku seized back control in late September. The collapse of the breakaway statelet could shift the balance of power in the region and has left Yerevan facing a raft of geopolitical concerns. – Russian ‘double-deals’ – Nearly all of Karabakh’s estimated 120,000 residents have now […]

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Nagorno-Karabakh empties as Armenia says 100,000 have fled

By Karen MINASYAN with Armine GEVORGYAN in YEREVAN KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The flood of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh dwindled to a trickle Saturday as Armenia said nearly the entire population of the breakaway territory had already fled since Azerbaijan seized back control. An AFP journalist at the Kornidzor crossing into Armenia saw only several ambulances arrive as border guards said they were waiting for a final few buses. In the nearest town […]

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Concern mounts for ethnic Armenians in Karabakh

SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, Sept 24, 2023 (AFP) – Concern was growing for ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh on Sunday as Azerbaijani forces tightened their grip on the breakaway region. If the new ceasefire there holds, it could mark the end of a conflict between the Christian and Muslim Caucasus rivals that has raged, off and on, through the three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the years of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh have been marked […]

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Karabakh rebels negotiate withdrawing their forces

KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – Nagorno-Karabakh separatists said Friday they were negotiating the withdrawal of their troops from the disputed enclave after Azerbaijan reclaimed control in a lightning offensive. Azerbaijan on Thursday held a first round of “reintegration” talks with the ethnic-Armenian rebels after they agreed to lay down their arms in the face of the day-long military assault. The separatists said they were in talks with Baku to organise the withdrawal process […]

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#BREAKING: Azerbaijan troops on ‘outskirts’ of Karabakh stronghold, people ‘hiding’: separatists

YEREVAN, Sept 22, 2023 (AFP) – Azerbaijani troops are on the edge of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist stronghold of Stepanakert, prompting residents to hide in basements in fear, a rebel envoy told AFP on Friday. “The situation in Stepanakert is horrible, Azerbaijani troops are all around the city, they are on the outskirts and people fear Azerbaijani soldiers could enter the city at any moment and start killings,” separatist spokeswoman Armine Hayrapetyan said. Hayrapetyan, who represents the […]

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US calls for Armenia, Azerbaijan dialogue after road closure

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States called Wednesday for the reopening of the only road linking Armenia with the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It also called on both Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue dialogue on ending their long-running conflict over Karabakh. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, the State Department said, one day after the country closed the so-called Lachin Corridor. Blinken “underscored the need for free […]

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Peace deal ‘within reach’ in Armenia-Azerbaijan talks

By Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A peace deal to end Armenia and Azerbaijan’s three-decade-old dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is “within reach” after four days of talks in Washington, US top diplomat Antony Blinken said Thursday. The discussions between Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov did not result in a deal to end the territorial conflict between the two ex-Soviet republics, but Blinken said progress […]

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EU mission to Armenia will fuel confrontation, says Russia

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday accused the EU of seeking to fuel “geopolitical confrontation” by sending a civilian mission to monitor Armenia’s volatile border with Azerbaijan. Moscow has sought to maintain its role as a powerbroker between the ex-Soviet republics despite being bogged down in its offensive in Ukraine. On Monday, the EU launched a civilian mission to help monitor Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, bolstering the bloc’s role in a region viewed by […]

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‘War is not over’: Tensions simmer over Karabakh road blockade

by Emil GULIYEV with Mariam HARUTYUNYAN in Yerevan Agence France-Presse LACHIN CORRIDOR, Azerbaijan (AFP) — Ruzan Hovhanisyan fears that she will have to ring in the New Year without her family in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh due to a blockade by arch-enemy Azerbaijan. The mood in the Armenian-populated breakaway territory has been anything but festive. The region of around 120,000 people is running short of food, medicines and fuel, and Armenian authorities have accused […]

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Armenia, Azerbaijan hold US talks hours after new shootout

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Armenia and Azerbaijan held peace talks on Monday, mediated by the United States, just hours after a fresh shootout along their troubled border in a conflict which has left hundreds dead in recent months. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the foreign ministers of the rival nations. “The United States is committed to the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Blinken said before the meeting. “Direct dialogue is the […]

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Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs hold peace talks

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AFP) – The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan have held talks in Geneva on a future peace treaty, officials in Baku and Yerevan said Monday, following recent deadly clashes between the arch foes. Last month, at least 286 people were killed from both sides before a US-brokered truce ended the worst clashes since the Caucasus neighbours’ 2020 war. Baku and Yerevan fought two wars — in 2020 and in the 1990s — […]

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