Month: February 2020

ArmInfo. The portal of the second president of Armenia 2rd.am on its Facebook page published excerpts from the speech of the second president of Armenia Robert  Kocharyan, which reflect his position on the Karabakh issue.

In particular, he notes: “Our people have already resolved the  Karabakh issue. The negotiations today have one goal, to legitimize  what we already have today on this land,” the second president of  Armenia emphasizes.

“I would like to emphasize that the current situation around  Nagorno-Karabakh is the consequence of the aggression of Azerbaijan  in 1991-1992 with the aim of ethnic cleansing of the Armenian  population, as well as Azerbaijan’s refusal to accept the latest  proposals of mediators to resolve the conflict,” Kocharyan  emphasized.

In response to a question from the head of the Azerbaijani delegation  to PACE, the second president of Armenia stated: “The world  recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and we recognize  it. But the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has nothing to do with the  territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Because you never had it. “And  you gained independence together with the Karabakh people. I  participated in the hostilities and I am proud of the result that we  have today.”

It should be noted that on February 15, during a security conference  in Munich, a discussion took place between the Prime Minister of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Aliyev, in particular, noted that Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan and  the settlement of the conflict is possible only if it is returned to  the AR. He also added that Artsakh’s belonging to Azerbaijan is  recognized by the international community, and it is an integral part  of Azerbaijan.

In turn, Nikol Pashinyan said: “Karabakh was never part of  independent Azerbaijan. Karabakh was included in Azerbaijan only  during the existence of the Soviet Union. Therefore, when we talk  about the territorial integrity of the state, we must first decide  which state we are talking about >, “he said, recalling that Artsakh  left the Azerbaijan SSR and the Soviet Union in the same way as the  Azerbaijan SSR left the USSR.”

ArmInfo. During the discussion in Munich between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the statements of the Prime Minister were not very convincing. Political  analyst Alexander Minasyan stated this at a press conference on  February 17.

He noted that such discussions should be well prepared, as it is very  different from the closed-door meeting when it is not known what was  being discussed. Here, in fact, a press conference at which the heads  of two states present their arguments and viewpoints on a very  important issue for the countries.

According to the political analyst, Pashinyan’s arguments about  Tigran the Great and the revolution in the country are very weak, the  most interesting is that even the moderator after these statements by  the prime minister was puzzled. “In fact, this kind of argument is  not to the liking of countries like the USA and Russia, the EU will  not like it either, since during the above period of time many states  didn’t exist either, which, in turn, could wounded their self-esteem.  And since Pashinyan decided to bring these arguments, they could be  presented more tactfully so as not to cause a negative reaction,  “Minasyan emphasized, noting that it did not make sense to go so deep  into history. The expert noted that the legal side of this issue was  no less important than the historical one. Indeed, in the legal  aspect in the 20th century, Karabakh’s independence from Azerbaijan  was confirmed three times, in particular, in 1918, in 1920 and in  1991.

 “The fact that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are visiting  Karabakh suggests that they recognize Artsakh as a party to the  conflict. In this situation, Karabakh should not wait for the demands  of Baku, but must put forward its own conditions. And it would be  right for Azerbaijan to apologize to Armenians for the massacre of  the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and Karabakh, “Minasyan noted.  As for the tragedy in Khojaly, the expert noted that according to the  position of the Armenian side, the Popular Front of Azerbaijan bears  all responsibility for what happened, since it was the  representatives of this organization that carried out the massacre of  the civilian population.

It should be noted that on February 15, during a security conference  in Munich, a discussion took place between Prime Minister of Armenia  Nikol Pashinyan and  President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Aliyev, in  particular, noted that Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan and the  settlement of the conflict is possible only if it is returned to the  AR. He also added that Artsakh’s belonging to Azerbaijan is  recognized by the international community, and it is an integral part  of Azerbaijan. Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, reacting to these  attacks of Aliyev, advised the latter not to go so deep into history,  recalling that not only before our era, but also in the later period,  the Azerbaijani people in the Caucasus did not exist in principle.  

“If President Aliyev wants to delve deeper into history, then I can  remind him that during the time of the Armenian king Tigran the  Great, there was no country called Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus.   Armenians, Georgians, but not Azerbaijanis lived here historically,”  he added. The prime minister said:  “Karabakh was never part of  independent Azerbaijan. It was included in Azerbaijan only during the  existence of the Soviet Union. Therefore, when we talk about the  territorial integrity of the state, we must first decide which state  is in question,” he said , recalling that Artsakh withdrew from the  Azerbaijan SSR and the Soviet Union in the same way as the Azerbaijan  SSR from the USSR. “

ArmInfo. “We were all looking forward to the revolution in the hope that after it the situation on the border would change, but that did not happen,” said human rights  activist Nina Karapetyan on February 17, who organized the protest in  front of the government building.

The protesters are demanding to identify the reasons for the increase  incidence of deaths in the armed forces. Nina Karapetyan noted that  we are talking about two important issues at once – security and  children who die in peaceful conditions. Nina Karapetyan noted that  we are talking about two important issues at once – security and  children who die in peaceful conditions. According to Karapetyan,  officials should explain the reasons for the record increase in  deaths in the army over the past 40 days.

“Prosecutors and other law enforcement officials say that they  revealed 90% of deaths in the army, but this is not so. Most cases  have not been disclosed,” Karapetyan emphasized. According to the  human rights activist, the Minister of Defense and the head of the  military police should go to military units where cases of murder  were recorded. “They had to go to every military unit where the  killings and suicides took place, and stay until the cases were  solved,” she said.

Protesters said that after the upcoming government meeting, which  will be held on February 20, 2020, they will demand a meeting with  the Prime Minister, the Director of the National Security Service,  the Attorney General, the Minister of Defense, the head of the  military police, the head of the general staff, the head of the  Investigative Committee and the head of the Special Investigation  Service.  It should be noted that discussions on the situation in the  armed forces will take place in two parliamentary committees – on  defense and security issues and on health and social issues. Artak  Davtyan, Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, will be  invited to the meetings, which will be held in closed session. Ani  Samsonyan, a member of the Bright Armenia faction, wrote on her  Facebook page that discussions would begin on February 18 at 11:00  am. The MP did not raise issues on the agenda of the meeting,  however, with a high degree of probability, discussions will mainly  be held around the theme of the death of soldiers in the army under  unclear circumstances.

In turn, member of the Prosperous Armenia faction Naira Zohrabyan  noted that frequent deaths in Armenia pose a serious threat to the  country’s security. According to her, on-duty statements about the  need to eradicate hazing cannot be dispensed with.  To recall, on  February 14, it became known about the death of the 13th soldier who  died in the Armenian army since the beginning of the year. Almost all  of these deaths occurred under unclear circumstances. This fact is  being vigorously debated in society, on social networks they demand  the resignation of Minister of Defense David Tonoyan and Chief of the  General Staff, Artak Davtyan.

The Armenian women’s national football team will hold a training camp at Football Federation of Armenia’s (FFA) Technical Centre-Football Academy from February 28 to March 6.

In the frames of the training camp, the Armenian women’s team will face the team of Lithuania in an international friendly twice, the FFA official website reported.

The friendly matches will take place at FC Pyunik stadium on March 4 and 6.