President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan announced during a videoconference meeting of the CIS heads of states that the rollout of a vaccine against the Covid-19 virus is anticipated in Azerbaijan early next year. Aliyev disclosed that his government has engaged in negotiations with various vaccine producers, including Sputnik-V, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sinovac, Moderna, and Pfizer BioNTech. He assured that vaccination in Azerbaijan will be provided free of charge and on a voluntary basis.
Azerbaijan, like many nations, has endured significant challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with nearly 200,000 confirmed cases and over 2,000 fatalities reported thus far. In response to a recent surge in infection rates, the government has re-imposed stringent quarantine measures. Reports of mismanagement and mishandling related to the Covid-19 crisis have surfaced, with allegations suggesting the withholding of critical information by Hikmat Hajiyev, a presidential aide on foreign affairs responsible for communicating pandemic updates to the public.
President Aliyev also briefed former Soviet nations’ leaders on the conflict with Armenia and the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azeri head of state attributed the conflict’s severity to the actions of former Armenian presidents, Kocharyan and Sarkisyan, asserting that they bear culpability for Azerbaijani casualties.
Currently, Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, faces mounting pressure from Armenian opposition parties to resign, with many holding him accountable for mishandling the conflict and labeling him a ‘traitor.’ Pashinyan has claimed that previous Armenian administrations had proposed returning occupied Azerbaijani districts in exchange for a special status for the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh, an offer allegedly rejected by Baku. However, Azerbaijani territories, once home to Azerbaijani populations forcibly displaced by Armenians, have reportedly been settled by Armenians over decades.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also asserted that Pashinyan declined a proposal to allow the return of Azerbaijani populations to Shusha, even as Armenian troops remained in the city before its recapture by Azerbaijani forces. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh erupted on September 27, lasting 44 days before a ceasefire brokered by Russia was signed. The agreement resulted in Azerbaijan reclaiming territories lost in previous conflicts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, including the capture of Shusha and several surrounding settlements. Russian peacekeepers were deployed to oversee the division between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in parts of Nagorno-Karabakh under their control.
