What is happening in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia / JAMnews

● The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has announced the suspension of the examination of Armenia’s main claim against Azerbaijan before the International Court of Justice. On 21 April, the Azerbaijani side officially submitted to the court its initial objections to the claim brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. “Due to Azerbaijan’s initial objections, the court has suspended the examination of Armenia’s main claim,” the office said.

●”Alain Simonyan’s statement is not conducive to peace and well-being in the region.” This is how the Azerbaijani parliament reacted to the Armenian parliament speaker’s words on the unacceptability of the checkpoint on the Lachin-Khankendi road. “This is yet another attempt to interfere in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs,” the MPs stressed.

● The heads of the defence ministries of Azerbaijan and Georgia have signed a cooperation agreement in Baku. Prior to this, Juansher Burchuladze met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Azerbaijani media described the Georgian defence minister’s visit as “unexpected”.

● All tickets for the Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix are sold out. The event will be attended by a record number of fans from more than 100 different countries around the world, according to the organisers of the “royal race” which will be held in Baku on 28-30 April.

● Armenians around the world today commemorate the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The crime committed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians was the first genocide of the 20th century. People will lay flowers at the eternal flame.

● Overnight, thousands of people held a traditional torchlight procession to commemorate the victims of the Genocide. They burned the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan. Baku has condemned this action.

● The Azerbaijani side set up a checkpoint at the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor. “This undermines efforts to build confidence in the peace process,” said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.

● Armenia’s Foreign Ministry urged Russia to make efforts to unblock the Lachin corridor, which finally closed today following Baku’s actions at the Khakari Bridge.

● Armenia’s MMO has confirmed the death of a soldier shot by an Azerbaijani sniper. The deceased is Artem Arsenovich Poghosyan.

● The Azerbaijani State Border Guard Service has reported the installation of a checkpoint on the border with Armenia, at the entrance to the Lachin road. “The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the Joint Turkish-Russian Monitoring Centre have been informed about it,” the agency said.

● Azerbaijan’s installation of the checkpoint on its sovereign territory complies with all the principles and norms of international law. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said. “There are adequate conditions for the transparent, safe and orderly passage of Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in both directions,” the ministry said.

● Baku has condemned the burning of Azerbaijani and Turkish flags in Yerevan. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry urged the Armenian government “to take urgent measures to prevent such hate crimes as well as xenophobic acts.”

● On the night of Monday, 24 April, Baku blocked all roads in the city centre, which are used as a Formula One track. Authorities are urging citizens to reach the city centre by public transport. The blocked roads will not open until the morning of 2 May. The “Royal Races” will be held in Baku on 28-30 April.

● Georgian citizens in Sudan have been moved to a safe house from where they will be evacuated, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

● Patriarch Ilia II’s health condition has deteriorated, local media reports. However, his personal doctor claims that “he does not need emergency treatment, his health condition is satisfactory.”

● Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili accused the opposition of “not even realising their responsibility before the Georgian people and their own country, not understanding how unpatriotic it is to base their political agenda on imported topics. The Speaker is referring to the US sanctions against four Georgian judges for corruption.

● The foreign ministers of Georgia and Italy signed a declaration to establish high-level dialogue between the two countries.

● Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia commented on how the parents of children diagnosed with achondroplasia are prematurely demanding help to buy expensive medication. A group of parents have been leading a 24-hour protest outside the government house in Tbilisi for the fifth day. “The medicine vosoritide is an early-stage drug, and the World Health Organisation has no standard guidelines on this. More time is needed to determine the stages of its introduction in the country.” Only 16 children in Georgia have been diagnosed with achondroplasia, read more about it here

● “Mikhail Saakashvili is very weak, I am afraid he will fall and not get up, he also forgets words”: Julie Alasania, mother of Saakashvili.

● Several Georgian judges went to the US for a training programme. But four others refused in a show of support for the four judges against whom the US has imposed sanctions for corruption.

● At the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, Lasha Talakhadze became the European champion for the seventh time.  (photo by Reuters).