Month: December 2020

US Congress calls for National Intelligence report on Artsakh attacks

Alex Nanijanian
Panorama, Armenia

Dec 22 2020

Congress is calling on the U.S. Administration to provide a detailed report on aggression in and around Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), demanding a detailed analysis of the impact of U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan and Armenia and its ramifications on the balance of power in the Caucasus region, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“We welcome this new statutory requirement that the Director of National Intelligence formally report to Congress on Artsakh – drawing upon the full resources of the U.S. intelligence community to identify the initiator of force against Artsakh and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We are confident that this report – and the facts it will confirm about Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression – will serve as a sound basis upon which the incoming Biden Administration can formally end the Trump Administration’s reckless $120 million military aid program to Azerbaijan’s oil-rich, corrupt, and violent Aliyev family.”

The Congressional request for the Artsakh report is included in the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY2021) foreign aid bill (H.R.133), adopted by the House in parallel to the COVID-19 stimulus package earlier today. The Senate is set to vote on the measure later in the evening. It is similar to language spearheaded by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) in the FY2021 Intelligence Authorization Act, whose leadership was critical to its inclusion in the foreign aid bill. The measure also maintained support for Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, which restricts U.S. aid to Azerbaijan for its ongoing aggression and blockade of Armenia and Artsakh. Since 2002, successive U.S. presidents have waived that provision, citing national security interests.

The FY2021 foreign aid bill also includes two key restrictions on U.S. military aid to Turkey, blocking funds for the transfer of F-35 aircraft or related weapons systems and stopping aid to the Turkish Presidential Protection Directorate (TPPD), in response to the 2017 Erdogan-ordered attack against peaceful U.S. protesters in Washington, DC.



​Armenia Investigative Committee launches case regarding party leader’s calls for using violence

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
 
Armenia Investigative Committee launches case regarding party leader's calls for using violence
23:48, 22.12.2020
 
In regard to the prima facie calls for violence that leader of National Security Party Garnik Isagulyan made in the video entitled “The person who executes Nikol needs to be granted the title of National Hero or a reward of one million dollars” and posted on YouTube, the Investigative Committee has instituted a criminal case for actions targeted at incitement of national, racial or religious hatred publicly or by mass media, with violence or threat of violence, and is conducting preliminary investigation, as reported the Investigative Committee of Armenia.
 
Note: A person suspected or accused of an alleged crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the court judgment that has entered into legal force as prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.

Pashinyan: Armenia MPs, ministers had voted in favor of Kelbajar being part of Azerbaijan

Garik Boshkezenian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
 
08:45, 22.12.2020
 
This is the description of the border lines of Sotk village of Gegharkunik Province according to the law on administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia, adopted in 2010; Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote this on Facebook Tuesday morning.
 
"Today our armed forces are deployed with this description. Let me remind that in 2010, the RPA, PAP, ARF factions [in parliament] voted for the law. The bill was submitted by the government.
 
Many of the MPs and ministers who voted in favor accuse us and will accuse us today, too, of handing over Kelbajar [region to Azerbaijan], despite the fact that they passed a law that it is part of Azerbaijan, they will blame [us] for the Sotk [gold] mine [now becoming a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan], although they have described by law what we have today," Pashinyan added.
 
  
 

Three members of Yerevan municipal council leave majority faction

Tatoyan Vazgen
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
 
 
 
YEREVAN. – The Yerevan Council of Elders convened its regular session Tuesday.
 
As Mayor Hayk Marutyan was late, the session started without him, and it is chaired by First Deputy Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan.
 
At the beginning of the session, Sargsyan announced that Hayk Tsirunyan and Mesrop Papikyan, members of the Council’s majority My Step faction, had submitted petitions to terminate their powers as members of the Council of Elders. Before that, Arsen Karapetyan also had submitted a similar request.
 
According to the relevant protocols of the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia, the aforesaid mandates of the My Step faction of the Yerevan city council were given to Sergey Gyozalyan, Vahe Ohanjanyan, and Karine Panosyan.
 
But Panosyan also submitted a petition to terminate her powers as a member of the Council of Elders, and her respective mandate was given to Gevorg Achemyan.
 
In addition, Ernes Avanesov and Sergey Gyozalyan, members of the My Step faction, have submitted requests to leave the faction, but they will continue to be members of the Yerevan municipal council.
 
In its turn, the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party faction resigned—in writing—from the post of Deputy Chairman—held by Markos Harutyunyan—of the Standing Committee on Urban Development and Land Use Affairs of the Yerevan Council of Elders.
 
 
 

Opposition member: Senior Officer of Armenia MOD Conscription and Mobilization Service resigns

Vardan Badalian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
14:15, 22.12.2020
 
Senior Officer of the Conscription and Mobilization Service at the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, Lieutenant Colonel Razmik Gevorgyan has submitted his resignation letter. This is what member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party Gegham Manukyan declared during the rally demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation at Republic Square today, adding that several high-ranking officers and various government officials have also submitted their resignation letters during the day.
 
“These people have taken oaths and can’t fulfill criminal orders. They are professionals who are required in order to ensure the country’s security, and the person occupying the seat of Prime Minister needs to resign as soon as possible so that the officers can fulfill their duties,” Manukyan said.
 
 
 
 

​Armenia High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs discusses professional involvement with newly appointed minister

Aram Torosian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
Armenia High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs discusses professional involvement with newly appointed minister
15:49, 22.12.2020
 
The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia has posted the following on its Facebook page:
 
“High Commissioner Sinanyan met with the newly appointed Minister of Labor & Social Affairs Mr. Mesrop Arakelyan in order to discuss Diaspora professional involvement in assisting with urgent social welfare issues related to the post-war situation in Armenia.
 
Topics included:
 
the involvement of Diaspora professionals to support local professionals on occupational therapy, assistive technologies, early intervention and physical therapy
 
prosthetics were discussed and the need for Diaspora professionals to support on modern prosthetic technology (both training as well as access to prosthetics)
 
mental / behavioral health and trauma was also discussed and preliminary plans were made to host webinars involving Diaspora mental/behavioral specialists and their local counterparts (similar to the work our office did at the beginning of the Covid crisis)
 
the need to create job opportunities in Artsakh and how our Diaspora compatriots can support with new investments/philanthropy projects
 
If you are a Diaspora Armenian with expertise in any of the aforementioned areas and are interested in becoming involved, please feel free to write an email to our office describing your background and credentials. [email protected].”
 
 
 
 

Azerbaijanis give owners of home in Armenia’s Vorotan 1 hour to leave premises

Rose Khoyetsian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
Azerbaijanis give owners of home in Armenia's Vorotan 1 hour to leave premises
17:57, 22.12.2020
 
 
Head of the administrative district of the Vorotan village of Syunik Province of Armenia Surik Ohanjanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that Azerbaijanis have given the owners of one of the homes in the administrative district an hour to leave the territory, adding that the Azerbaijanis decided that one of the homes also has to be transferred to Azerbaijan after demarcating the territory with the GPS system.
 
“The Azerbaijanis say it’s their territory, and we say it’s ours. We had gone to negotiate with the Russian border guards and the Azerbaijanis and came to the conclusion that both sides need to leave the territory until the head of the Russian border guards consider the issue with their superiors,” Ohanjanyan said.
 
Asked about the moods of people in the village, Ohanjanyan said the following: "When the Azerbaijanis come closer and give people an hour to leave, people automatically start panicking.”
 
 
 
 
 

​Some citizens of Armenia will spend the night at Republic Square in Yerevan

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
Some citizens of Armenia will spend the night at Republic Square in Yerevan
21:05, 22.12.2020
 
 
The march that citizens of Armenia held around the government building with the demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ended, after which the participants of the march returned to Republic Square.
 
Some citizens will spend the night at Republic Square. They have pitched tents, lit a bonfire and are singing Armenian patriotic songs.
 
Deputy of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction of the National Assembly Naira Zohrabyan told reporters that she and her fellow MPs are ready to spend the night at Republic Square.
 
“We’ll stay here until this person understands that Armenia is losing its sovereignty every day so long as he is in power,” she stated.
 
 
 

​Head of administration of Karabakh’s Kashatagh region inviting residents to meeting at university in Armenia tomorrow

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 22 2020
 
 
Head of administration of Karabakh's Kashatagh region inviting residents to meeting at university in Armenia tomorrow
21:48, 22.12.2020
 
Acting head of the administration of Kashatagh region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Mushegh Alaverdyan is inviting residents of Kashatagh to a meeting tomorrow, as reported on the Facebook page of the administration of Kashatagh region.
 
“The administration of Kashatagh region of Artsakh invites the residents of Kashatagh who evacuated and moved to Armenia to a meeting with acting head of the administration of Kashatagh region Mushegh Alaverdyan at the Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University on December 23,” the announcement reads.
 
 

Armenia ex-prosecutor resigns, to join people’s movement against government

Markos Nalchajian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 21 2020
 
 
Armenia ex-prosecutor resigns, to join people's movement against government
18:48, 21.12.2020
 
 
Prosecutor Rafael Gevorgyan today posted on his Facebook page about his decision to resign.
 
To note, Rafael Gevorgyan was Senior Prosecutor of the Department for Crimes against Property at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia.
 
The already former prosecutor wrote about his career and the reasons for his resignation and expressed gratitude to all those with whom he has worked throughout the years.
 
In closing, he said he won’t be politically neutral anymore and has decided to join the people’s movement in Armenia.