Month: December 2020

President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met on Thursday.

Their offices released specific details about the meeting, only that they discussed the current situation in the country and ways to confront the challenges facing the homeland.

The two leaders also discussed the defense and security of Armenia’s border regions, re-establishing a semblance of normalcy in Artsakh and the issues related to the assistance programs undertaken by the government.

It was the first time the leaders were meeting since the Pashinyan signed the November 9 agreement that ended the war but mandated the surrender of historic Armenian territories in both Armenia and Artsakh to Azerbaijan.

Days after the agreement was announced, Sarkissian announced that he was not informed about the document and its provisions and urged the government to put forth a comprehensive proposal to emerge from the crisis. He also called for the resignation of the government and snap elections, which would be organized by a temporary national accord administration made up of experts and professionals.

Azerbaijan is concealing the actual number of captured Armenias, said Artak Beglaryan, Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender during a farewell press conference on Wednesday in Stepanakert.

Beglaryan announced his resignation from the post and, on Thursday, he was named chief advisor to Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan.

According to him, Azerbaijan has so far returned 53 Armenian prisoners of war. This number includes women, two elderly Armenian men who died in Azerbaijani prisons, with evidence of brutal violence against them. Beglaryan said the vast majority of those returned report of extreme physical and psychological abuse, adding that currently most of them are being treated at various hospitals.

Beglaryan explained that there different categories of Armenian POWs: individuals whose captivity has been officially recognized by Azerbaijan, those who, according to hard evidence, are being held captive but are not acknowledged by Azerbaijan, and people about whom there is little or no information, but there is indirect information about their captivity.

According to the human rights defender, dozens of Armenians—including the 62 servicemen who went missing in Khtsaberd village and several dozens more—are currently being held captive in Azerbaijan. He explained the his office updating and submitting lists to mediators, saying these Armenians must be returned without any conditions.

During his briefing, Beglaryan also reported that at least 60 civilians were killed as a result of Azerbaijan’s military aggression, from September 27-to November 9. He announced that a report, released on Wednesday, includes the names of these civilian casualties and, in some cases, the circumstances of their deaths.

According to Beglaryan, 39 civilians were killed as a result of the recent hostilities, either from being hit by missiles and bombs, while the remainder are known to have been killed in captivity or in the occupied territories. He said most of the remains have been found, and there are other details that are being verified.

Beglaryan stressed the need to give status to the civilian casualties so that their family members can receive support and social benefits. He added that close to 40 civilians have gone missing during or after the recent Artsakh war, suggesting that there is evidence of capture of several civilians, and at least 163 civilians were injured.

Beglaryan said that he and his counterpart in Armenia, Arman Tatoyan have published six reports detailing the killings, the inhumane treatment of Armenian captives, and the Azerbaijani military’s defiling of bodies of the dead during the military aggression from September 27 to November 9.

According to him, these reports were prepared on the basis of open sources, media, and data found on the internet. He explained that the reports have not been made available to the public because they contain horrifying photograph and videos. However, he explained, that they been sent to the relevant government agencies in Armenia and Artsakh, as well as to international organizations, including human rights groups and foreign countries.

Beglaryan noted that several human rights organizations had responded, while the United Nations and and the Council of Europe commissioners for human rights were also conducting their own investigations.

However, Beglaryan lamented that the international community has largely been restrained in its statements in this regard, and it continues to use false parity, which is absolutely unacceptable. He did say that some of the organizations have publicly announced their intention to visit Artsakh based on the information contained in the reports.

“It would have been good if they had not isolated Karabakh before the [recent Artsakh] war, or visited it during the war. They have done neither. We hope that in the future they will not politicize visits to unrecognized countries and will fulfill their mandate, regardless of Azerbaijan’s destructive position,” said Beglaryan.

ANCA-Western Region Welcomes the Appointment of its Former Legislative Consultant

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region Board of Directors extended its warmest congratulations to longtime ANCA activist and former ANCA-WR Chief Legislative Consultant Haig Baghdassarian on being appointed as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Counsel at the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Baghdassarian’s appointment by Governor Gavin Newsom was announced on Thursday.

“We are so proud of our own Haig Baghdassarian for this consequential appointment,” remarked ANCA-WR Board Chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq. “Haig has been an integral part of our ANCA-WR team for several years, and we are confident that he will exceed Governor Newsom’s expectations in serving the interests of all Californians. We wish Haig good luck and success in his new post and look forward to celebrating his accomplishments.”

“I am honored and humbled at having been appointed by Governor Newsom to serve in his administration,” said the incoming CA Department of Food and Agriculture Deputy Secretary and Chief Counsel Haig Baghdassarian, Esq. “Given the extraordinary challenges facing our state in the wake of the pandemic, I appreciate the governor’s confidence, and look forward to serving our fellow citizens well.”

Baghdassarian has been Principal for the Law Office of Haig Baghdassarian since 2009. He was Chief Legislative Consultant for the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region from 2013 to 2018, Contract Attorney for Meyers Nave LLP in 2008 and Legislative Coordinator for the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission in 2007. Baghdassarian served as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2006 and a San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner from 2001 to 2004. Baghdassarian earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Armenia’s police on Thursday brutally beat, shoved and dragged opposition protesters, who were gathered at Armenia’s government building as they continued to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, blaming him for signing the November 9 agreement that ended the war, but stipulated the surrender of territories in Artsakh and Armenia to Azerbaijan.

Police officers barricaded and formed a human shield in front of the Armenian government building in Yerevan where protesters gathered as the government was in session.

Ministers apparently had entered the building from other entrances, because the protesters kept the main door to the building was closed for more than five hours.

The police then used unprecedented force against the protesters, pushing and shoving, and in some instances beating.

During the confrontation with the police, five women were injured. Police arrested 69 activists, among them the son of Artsakh War Hero Shahen Meghryan, Zinavor, as well as Sako Minoyan an AYF and ARF Shant Student Association activist from Los Angeles who was beaten and sustained injuries to his face and nose.

“Syunik is not as well guarded as this despicable traitor is,” said Armenian Revolutionary Federation leader Gegham Manukyan, referring to Pashinyan, as well as the heavy armed police presence, saying the law enforcement officials “should think about that.”

The ARF is part of a coalition of 16 opposition parties that have banned together to demand Pashinyan’s resignation and have called for snap parliamentary elections, which would be administered by a national accord government. This National Salvation Movement has chosen Armenia’s first prime minister Vazken Manukyan to their candidate for Armenia’s premiership.

Thousands joined the movement on Tuesday during a day-long strike, which saw people from varied walks of life joining in the protest, which was taking place a day after Pashinyan was forced to cut his visit to the Syunik Province short because protesters had blocked the roadway leading to the cities of Kapan, Goris and Meghri. The Mayor of Goris, Arush Arushanyan, one of the organizers of the protest in Syunik was arrested early Monday morning for saying in a social media post that Pashinyan was not welcome in the province after key positions along in Armenia-proper were forced to be surrendered to Azerbaijan as a direct ramification of the November 9 agreement.

The wave of those calling for the prime minister’s resignation grew on Thursday when 130 professors and staff members of Yerevan’s Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences issued a statement calling for Pashinyan’s resignation, saying the current government is unable to confront the challenges facing Armenia because of the November 9 agreement.
“We, the representatives of a higher education institution, are responsible for educating the patriotic generation and we cannot be indifferent to the political situation and the moral atmosphere in the country,” the statement added.