Artsakh in Dire Conditions

Image caption: No Gas Supply, Frequent Power Cuts, and Continuous Psychological Terror in Artsakh (Photo by Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan)

Shelling, gas supply cuts, and psychological threats. That’s what last week entailed to the regular Artsakh resident.

The Artsakh resident woke up to shelling on its Eastern border on Wednesday morning, after days of gas supply cuts by the same perpetrator. The shelling was targeted at Khramort and Nakhichanik of Askeran and Khnushinak and Karmir Shuka of Martuni, Artsakh. The Western borders of Artsakh were not spared, with one casualty, Hratch Manasaryan, reported on the 7th of March.

50 minutes of fire exchange followed mere days after, on the 9th of March, on the Western border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Khnushinaki of Artsakh also received fire on the same day.

The residents of Khramort have been exposed to Azerbaijani psychological threats. On loudspeakers, the Azerbaijani side has been blasting the Azerbaijani national anthem, as well as calls to evacuate the region. A third of the residents are underage children. Russian peacekeepers have set up post to monitor the situation.

The Artsakh Parliament Facebook page was also hacked and statements psychologically threatening Artsakh residents were posted.

Additionally, gas has been inaccessible to all 100,000 residents of Artsakh since the 8th of March. The damage on the pipeline delivering gas from Armenia falls under Azerbaijani control, and repairing it has not yet been allowed.

“The Azerbaijani side obstructs the access of representatives of law enforcement bodies and specialists of gas supply company to the place of accident.

At the moment, the restoration work is not being carried out due to the obstacles created by the Azerbaijani side.

Power cuts have also become frequent.

Representatives of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Artsakh have been informed about the accident and the problem of gas supply, and negotiations are underway to start restoration work,” wrote Gegham Stepanyan, Human Rights Defender of Artsakh in a Facebook post.

I spoke to Arthur Harutunian, a former serviceman and current university student and graphic designer who grew up in Martakert, Artsakh, and attended school in Stepanakert. Here’s what he told me:

“We understand that our enemy is doing its best to manipulate us psychologically and mentally to leave our homes.

From the morning of March 8, Azerbaijani forces blocked our access to natural gas. The morning I knew that the enemy did it, I was sure it was going to be for a long time. It is freezing outside and most of the families do not have other options to heat their homes.

In 2021, our water supply was cut – again because of the enemy – for more than a month but we managed to live. This time the situation is worse because of the weather conditions,” Arthur tells me.

“Here in Artsakh, we try to stay positive no matter what and do our best to support each other,” he ends his message.

Arthur was among “the six,” a group of lost servicemen who were found 2 months after the war of 2020 had ended, surviving by themselves in the wilderness. You can read more about him here.

Read more about the timeline of events in Artsakh here.

Armenian & Turkish MFAs Meet in Turkey

Image caption: Armenian & Turkish MFAs Meet in Antalya to discuss normalisation of ties, without preconditions (Photo from Reuters)

Since the 2009 attempts to restore links between the two countries, Armenian and Turkish officials met for the first time this past January. This was followed by a meeting of the two MFAs in Antalya, southern Turkey, and held “productive and constructive” talks.

The Antalya meeting was the first of its nature since 2009, where officials had an actual sit-down to discuss their agendas. The meeting lasted half an hour.

“We are making efforts for stability and peace,” said Turkish MFA Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. “It was a very productive and constructive conversation,” he added.

Armenian MFA Ararat Mirzoyan said “we are continuing the process of normalising relations without preconditions.”

Turkey, to this day, denies that the Armenian genocide was an act of intent, planned systematically to murder. It does, however, accept that Armenians were killed during Ottoman-Armenian clashes through WWI. This has been a key argument point between the two countries, as both have prioritised the genocide issue to be a spearheading foreign policy issue.

Turkey’s top ally Azerbaijan shelled Artsakh with 120mm ammo and had cut Artsakh’s gas supply on the week of the Antalya meeting. The Armenian MFA has yet to comment.

Notable News:

• Father Husik of the Saint Astvatzatzin Armenian Apostolic Church in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine speaks to Hetq, says plans to evacuate to Armenia are underway. Read more here.

• Armenian heritage sites protection on OSCE agenda, says Polish rep. Read about it here.

• Armenian startup Orion currently in employment and relocation logistical support of Russian and Ukrainian migrants resettling in Armenia. Read here.

• Grain exports of Russia to the Eurasian Economic Union will halt until the 31st of August. Armenia imports more than 90% of its grains from Russia, and is a part of the Union. Read more about that here.

• “No criminal intent,” said an Istanbul court, acquitting three citizens who danced atop an Armenian church gate in July of last year. The church is called Saint Takavor and is located in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Read about it here.

• The European Parliament has condemned Armenian heritage destruction in Artsakh. 635 MEPs voted for the resolution, two against, and 42 MEPs abstained from voting. Read about it here.

• Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-NJ) pressed the Departments of State and Defence against the military financing of the US to Azerbaijan. Read about his statement here.

• The Armenian Security Service (NSS) uncovers another network of spies, arrests 16 individuals. Read here.

• Two Armenian POWs sentenced two almost two decades of imprisonment. Read here.

• New infrastructure and trade potential between Armenia and Iran. More here.

Football Kentron

Image caption: Armenian Head Coach Caparros has selected his squad for the friendlies against Montenegro and Norway (Photo from Official Arm FF Twitter profile)

Surprise! Week to Week has a new exclusive section called Football Kentron, provided by the podcast of the same name. Dig right into the weekly news of Armenians in soccer around the world, exclusively on Armenia Media, thanks to our fellow podcasters from around the world. Enjoy below.

• Armenian Head Coach Joaquin Caparros has selected his squad for the friendlies for 24th of March against Montenegro and 29th of March against Norway. The squad list can be found in the picture above!

• Lucas Zelerayan has been on fire since the MLS (American league) started in the last week of February. The attacking midfielder has scored four goals in three matches, as well assisting one. This earned him to be featured in two team of the weeks back to back.

• Hovhannes Hambardzumyan scored a goal for Anorthosis in the first leg of the Cypriot Cup Quarter-Finals against APOEL. The Armenian right-back's team is fighting to retain the title this season.

• Armenian wonderkid, as well as Football Kentron Future Star, Eduard Spertsyan scored from the spot for Krasnodar in Russia during the week.

• Another Future Star of Football Kentron, and an attacking monster, Vahan Bichakhchyan was voted as February's player of the month of Ekstraklasa (the Polish League) after a flying start to the season.

Multimedia Corner

• Read: Read this spotlight on the modern youth of Artsakh, and who the driving forces are here.
  
  
• Listen: I recently discovered a new Armenian band (or duo? Not sure!) called Eleven Green. They’ve released a new song called Takanq, a lyrically rageful breakup song. Listen here, and air-guitar jam to its instrumental chorus.
  
  
• Watch: Get a glimpse into the daily life of border villagers in Artsakh by watching the 2nd episode of Mariam Avetisyan’s 3rd season of “The Desire to Live,” here. Find the time to watch everything she has released for the series, because I cannot recommend them enough.
  
  
• Learn: Learn about the very-interesting Leopold Gaszczyk, the Pole who became a photographer of Armenians here.