Month: December 2020

Armenpress: PM’s spokesperson comments on announcements of Aliyev and Erdoğan

Albert Nalbandian

PM's spokesperson comments on announcements of Aliyev and Erdoğan

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YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS.  Mane Gevorgyan, spokesperson to the Prime Minister of Armenia, commented on the announcements of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Baku.

Gevorgyan particularly said,

''We strongly condemn the provocative announcements made by the Azerbaijani leader in Baku. Speaking about territorial ambitions against Armenia seriously questions Azerbaijan's readiness for establishing peace and deliberately puts regional peace and security under risk.

The claims of the Azerbaijani president that Azerbaijan solved Karabakh issue by military force once again shows who was the initiator of the war and use of force and who tries to lead the region to further destabilization and challenges. Those announcements make the international recognition of the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination an imperative for preventing new genocidal aspirations of Azerbaijan against the Armenian population of Artsakh.  

Those statements contradict the spirit of the November 9 trilateral declaration. Speaking with the Armenian people with threats is condemnable and cannot bring lasting stability in South Caucasus. It's also strongly condemnable the glorification of the ideologies of the Young Turks, the architectures of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish president. Such acts put Turkey's announcements, including about their readiness to contribute to the establishment of regional peace and stability, under question.

Aliyev said Yerevan, Sevan and Zangezur are Azerbaijani territories during a military parade in Baku, and Erdoğan said in his speech that this day is ‘’the he day of enlightenment of the souls of Enver Pasha, Nuri Pasha and soldiers of the Caucasus Islamic Army’’.




Erdogan, at Karabakh parade, says Armenia needs new leaders

Adrine Hakobian
Cyprus Mail
Dec 10 2020
By Reuters News Service

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday renewed a call for a change of leadership in Armenia, as he reviewed a military parade marking that country’s defeat by Azerbaijan in a war in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Erdogan, who provided military and diplomatic backing to Azerbaijan in this year’s war, offered indirect support for opponents of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is under pressure at home to resign over his handling of the conflict.

“We wish for the Armenian people to rid itself of the burden of leaders who console them with the lies of the past and trap them into poverty,” said Erdogan.

“If the people of Armenia learn their lessons from what happened in Karabakh, this will be the start of a new era.”

Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark peace accord in 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after a century of hostility stemming from the World War One mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces. But the deal was never ratified, and ties have remained tense.

Erdogan issued a similar call for political change in Armenia on Sept 27, the day the six-week war in Karabakh started.

The fighting was brought to a halt last month after Russian peacekeeping troops deployed under a deal that locked in territorial gains by Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey.

Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is populated and, until recently, was fully controlled by ethnic Armenians after a bloody war in the 1990s which saw them seize other outlying regions belonging to Azerbaijan too.

Erdogan, who reviewed the parade in Baku with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, said there was also now a need to hold ethnic Armenian forces accountable for what he said were their war crimes and destruction of villages, cities and mosques.

Armenian forces deny such accusations. They say Azeri forces and foreign mercenaries are the ones responsible for large-scale cultural destruction and atrocities. Baku denies that.

At Thursday’s parade, helicopters bearing the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan flew over the nearby Caspian Sea, almost 3,000 Turkish troops marched across Baku’s main square, and Azeri tanks and soldiers filed past the two men.

Aliyev paid tribute to Turkey’s support during the war.

“Erdogan supported our position, our just cause, from the very start… Taking part in this victory parade together we are again showing our unity, not only to our own peoples but to the whole world,” he said.

Turkey can open border if Armenia takes steps for peace: Erdogan

Antranik Varosian
Business recorder
Dec 10 2020
  • Erdogan said he took issue with Armenia's leadership not its people.
  • Armenia could participate in the planned regional platform along with Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia if it contributed to regional peace, he said.
Reuters 10 Dec 2020

ANKARA: Turkey could open its border gates to Armenia if Yerevan takes positive steps for regional peace, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, adding he discussed forming a six-country regional cooperation platform with his Azeri counterpart.

Erdogan, in Baku to mark Azerbaijan's victory in a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, earlier renewed a call for a change of leadership in Armenia.

Speaking alongside Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan said he took issue with Armenia's leadership not its people. Armenia could participate in the planned regional platform along with Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia if it contributed to regional peace, he said.

​Azerbaijan holds parade after Nagorno-Karabakh fighting

Emil Lazarian
Associated Press
Dec 10 2020
 
 
 
Azerbaijan holds parade after Nagorno-Karabakh fighting
 
GMT
 
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — More than 3,000 troops took part in a military parade in Azerbaijan on Thursday to celebrate reclaiming control over broad swathes of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding lands in a conflict with Armenia.
 
The parade attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly backed Azerbaijan, also involved dozens of military vehicles, and a flyby of combat aircraft. The display, which also featured a Turkish commando brigade and Turkish drones, was held a month after a Russia-brokered deal ended six weeks of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev showered Turkey with praise, hailing its support for the ex-Soviet Caspian Sea nation as “an example of our unity, our brotherhood.”
 
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.
 
In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 people killed on both sides, the Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan reclaim much of the separatist region along with surrounding areas.
 
In his speech, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s continued support to Azerbaijan, saying that “as long as Turkey and Azerbaijan work hand in glove, they will continue to overcome all difficulties and run from one success to the next.”
 
Erdogan voiced hope that Armenia would “take lessons” from its defeat and noted that Turkey was ready to reopen the border with Armenia if it takes unspecified “positive steps.”
 
Turkey and Azerbaijan have shut their borders with Armenia ever since the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted, a blockade that has weakened the economy of the landlocked country.
 
“As long as positive steps are taken, we would open our gates, which were closed,” Erdogan said. “It’s not that we want to keep our doors closed to Armenia … we have no enmity with the people of Armenia. Our problem is with the Armenian leadership.”
 
The Nov. 10 peace deal became a major trauma for Armenians, triggering a month of protests calling for the resignation of the country’s prime minister, Nikola Pashinyan. Pashinyan has refused to step down, describing the peace agreement as a bitter but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from taking over the entire Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
As Aliyev and Erdogan watched the parade in Baku, several thousand people in Armenia’s capital demonstrated in front of the government building to push the demand for Pashinyan to resign. Protesters tried to enter the building but were pushed back by police who arrested scores.
 
___
 
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, and Daria Litvinova and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, contributed to this report.
  

Erdogan, who fuelled Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict arrives in Baku

Emil Lazarian
WION News, India
Dec 10 2020
Edited By: Gravitas desk WION
New Delhi, Delhi, India

Despite a month after the peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed, the crisis is far from over. 

In the latest, Yerevan has accused Baku of using phosphorous bombs during the fight. 

Azeri president, on the other hand, has said that the country will not shy of "breaking Armenia's back with an iron fist". 

Also read | Azerbaijan's struggle will continue on many other fronts, says Erdogan during military parade

And amid the tense ties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who fuelled this week war, has landed in Baku to survey the reins. 

Erdogan received a hero's welcome on his two-day visit to Azerbaijan 

He even reviewed a parade where Baku displayed the destroyed Armenian vehicles and dished out hate in plenty. 

To the unversed, Erdogan provided military and diplomatic support to Azerbaijan during the conflict and even praised Baku's operations. 

He even cheered "brotherly Azerbaijan with all our means and all our hearts". 

"If the people of Armenia learn their lessons from what happened in Karabakh, this will be the start of a new era in the region," said Erdogan. 

Karabakh is internationally recognised as a territory of Azerbaijan but until recently, it was populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. 

According to the peace deal brokered by Russia, broad strips of Nagorno Karabakh territory were handed over to Azerbaijan. 

It also pushed Armenia into an internal political mess as thousands are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan

Even though troops in Baku are celebrating their victory, over 5,000 military personnel died in six weeks of fighting and all this because one man couldn't keep himself from adding fuel to the fire. 

Azerbaijan’s struggle will continue on many other fronts, says Erdogan during military parade

Samvel Nahapetian
WION News, India

Dec 10 2020
WION Web Team
Baku Published: Dec 10, 2020,
Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan speaking during a military parade in Baku said that "Azerbaijan's struggle carried out in the political and military areas will continue from now on many other fronts," referring to Armenia.

Turkey is Azerbaijan's staunch ally and had backed it during clashes with Armenian forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region which started on September leading to the death of at least 5,000 people.

"Karabakh's freedom will be the beginning of a new era," Erdogan said. "Azerbaijan's saving its lands from occupation does not mean that the struggle is over," the Turkey president said.

Erdogan joined Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev during the celebrations over its victory against Armenia as the army paraded weapons seized from Armenia during the six-week war. 

The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict ended after a peace deal was stuck brokered by Russia in which Armenia ceded control over parts of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave including seven districts it had seized during the war in the 1990s. 

Russian peacekeepers entered the Nagorno-Karabakh later to ensure stability in the region for a five-year period which can be extended later with the peace between the two sides being monitored in Azerbaijan by Turkey's military. 

Armenia had earlier accused Turkey of involvement the conflict by pushing foreign fighters which was dismissed by Erdogan's government.

Erodgan has consistently maintained that Azerbaijan's ties with Armenia could only be restored only if Armenian forces withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh.


Two Women Entrepreneurs Design Tech Workshops For War Displaced Armenian Refugee Children

Vanyan Gary
FORBES
Dec 10 2020
Jackie Abramian Contributor

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

ForbesWomen

Three school age children from Shushi, Artsakh, now displaced

The offensive by Turkish-backed Azerbaijan on the Armenian-populated regions of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh) during the recent 44-day war has left 71 schools and 14 kindergartens destroyed, disrupting education for nearly 30,000 Armenian students in the region. These exclude the schools and kindergartens in the communities currently under Azerbaijani control. To mend the  disruption, two Armenian technology executives have joined forces to provide technology workshops for the Armenian refugee children, now living in temporary accommodations throughout the neighboring Republic of Armenia.

Seda Papoyan, founder of Girls In Tech is now launching Tech workshops for displaced Armenian … [+] children.

Seda Papoyan

Seda Papoyan, founder of Girls In Tech, Armenia–a chapter of the global non-profit designed to end gender inequality in high-tech industries and startups (who also founded CoderDojo Armenia) has joined forces with Sisian Ghahramanians, Senior Manager, Developer Monetization & Growth at California based Fyber, to provide technology workshops for the displaced children in Armenia. In my recent virtual interview with Papoyan, she explained how the initial idea and the partnership was forged.

Jackie Abramian: What initiated the idea to provide technology workshops for the displaced children of Artsakh now living in Armenia–and the partnership with Sisian Ghahramanians?

Seda Papoyan: I’ve been engaged in setting up free coding clubs for children in Armenia since 2018 which was actually how I got to know Sisian. We got connected on LinkedIn and when she traveled to Armenia, we met and discussed possible future collaborations.  Sisian was among the first to donate and spread the word about our “STEMpower Girls Armenia” –a project we were fundraising for before the start of the September 27th Artsakh war. Sisian offered to support the project as her birthday fundraiser which was coming up in November. Well, the Artsakh war came faster than her birthday–so together with Sisian we decided to also direct our efforts towards the displaced Armenian children of the Artsakh war.

Abramian: How many Artsakh children are displaced and now living in Armenia?

Papoyan: Some 24,000 schoolchildren and over 4,000 preschool children have been deprived of their right to education for the last two months. We don’t have a final number of those who returned to Artsakh since the peace agreement was signed, but there are thousands who lost their homes and have to stay in Armenia.

Abramian: How much have you fundraised so far?

Papoyan: We’ve set a goal of $10,000 as an initial stage to be able to get equipped enough and cover the logistics to mainly travel to the temporary accommodation sites where the displaced Artsakh population are housed across Armenia. We’re targeting big communities of displaced people to engage as many children as possible.  Thus far we have raised about 90 percent of the initial goals but with the growing interest of both potential participants and donors, we’ve raised the goal particularly for the additional Christmas event component we’ve added.

Abramian: What’s the Christmas event that you’re planning?

Papoyan: Because it’s almost the end of the year, we’re planning a special coding Christmas event for the displaced children where they’ll be able to code a virtual Christmas card via block-based programming tools. This will be a fun holiday activity with a goal to empower them into the learning path ahead. It will be a nice opening for the workshop series.

Abramian: Have the tech workshops started yet? If so, how many children are involved?

Papoyan: Not yet. We are now engaged in organizational logistics and plan to start the regular workshops by mid-January of 2021.

Abramian: What type of technology lessons will you be offering?

Papoyan: The teaching plan targets the interests of the children and teenagers–to open up the world of technology and STEM fields for them. The open philosophy is based on our experience of project-based learning within CoderDojo clubs. But in this case, we have a certain goal to spark their interest and also contribute to their career orientation. All workshops are planned to engage the young learners in practical and useful journey of exploring technology with the help of experienced mentors. The workshops will equip the children with vital technical skills they’ll need in life wherever they go and whatever profession they choose. Ideally some of the participants, and particularly the teenage boys and girls, will show specific talent and willingness to get deeper into technology which we’ll definitely spot and put more efforts for their realization.

Abramian: Where will the workshops be held?

Papoyan: In most of the cases the workshop will travel to the communities and get hosted either in a local school classroom or a public building or a hall. But it will be an after-school and often a week-end program so the children can be free from school obligations.

Abramian: Will you be offering any tech workshops in schools in Stepanakert, the war-ravaged capital city of Artsakh where some of the displaced have returned?

Papoyan: We’ll start the workshops in Armenia’s capital city, Yerevan, and the surrounding regions where there are big communities of displaced Artsakh children. Later next year, based on the developments and available funding, we plan to travel to Artsakh as well. On the other hand, we’re now considering the possibility of building an online learning platform with simple and accessible video tutorials for children to start learning remotely as well. That was initiated because of the huge interest and requests we received from a number of Diaspora Armenians who are willing to teach and share their knowledge and experience with the younger generation of Armenians in Armenia. This is the most exciting layer of this project which promises new developments. We keep accepting expressions of interests in teaching.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackieabramian/2020/12/10/two-women-entrepreneurs-design-tech-workshops-for-war-displaced-armenian-refugee-children/

Armenia lowers growth forecast to 3.2% as parliament passes 2021 budget

Mary Lazarian
Reuters
Dec 10 2020

By Reuters Staff

YEREVAN, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Armenia’s economy is set to grow 3.2% next year, below the previous forecast of 4.8%, according to a budget plan approved by parliament on Thursday, with the country still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Activity has been stung by health restrictions aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic, but a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave and surrounding areas added to the South Caucasus nation’s economic woes.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who swept to power in a peaceful revolution in May 2018, has faced protests demanding his resignation after he accepted a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal last month to end the bloody conflict which secured territorial gains for Azerbaijan.

The overall economic contraction in 2020 is seen at 7.9%, the finance ministry said, with the services, manufacturing and construction sectors taking the biggest hit. The 9.1% third-quarter drop was a slight improvement on the 13.7% crash from April to June.

Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan said attaining the revised economic growth forecast of 3.2% next year would still require hard work.

“We consider 2021 as exceptional…it’s not clear yet when the recovery of the economy will start and how long it will last,” Janjughazyan told lawmakers in parliament earlier this week.

Facing criticism over limited military expenses in the budget, Janjughazyan said the scale of current uncertainties did not allow for changes right now.

The 2021 budget sees a deficit, covered by internal and external sources, at 5.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), up from the 2.3% expected this year, with revenues at 1.5 trillion drams ($2.9 billion) and spending of more than 1.8 trillion drams.

The annual inflation target is the same as this year, projected at 4%, plus or minus 1.5%.

Armenia, a land-locked country of three million people, bordering Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran, had reported 145,240 coronavirus cases and 2,416 deaths as of Thursday.


Aliyev lays claims on Armenian lands, hints at possible continuation of war

Samvel Nahapetian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 10 2020

During a military parade in Baku, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev laid claims on Armenian lands and hinted at a possible continuation of the war.

Aliyev said Zangezur (in Armenia’s Syunik province), Sevan and Yerevan were “historic Azerbaijani lands and stated that “back in the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were expelled from their native lands.”

At the same time, Aliyev hinted that he is not satisfied with the current geopolitical situation.

He recalled that earlier he had repeatedly said “if Armenia fails to return our lands, we will resolve this issue by military means.”


Armenia Art Fair Expands Online, Sidestepping Covid and Combat

Hambik Zargarian
OCULA
Dec 10 2020
By Ocula News
Yerevan
 
 

New digital projects developed in response to a tumultuous 2020 aim to bolster the event's long-term sustainability.


The Armenia Art Fair (AAF) launched its Open Space curatorial project online today. It features photography, video, and other new media works by 30 international artists from 19 countries. It will remain online until 30 January, 2021.

Open Space was established in 2018, the same year as the AAF, to provide a dedicated space for new media art. In 2019, the project was integrated into the physical fair in Yerevan, but holding the fair this year proved impossible due to the pandemic and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Instead, Open Space is now live on the AAF's new permanent digital platform, which was designed by Nouneh Khudaverdyan and created with funding from the International Relief Fund of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut, and others.

Previously focused on art spaces and curatorial projects in Armenia and the surrounding region, this year Open Space extended the invitation to people everywhere. Participants come from as far as Brazil, Indonesia, France, and China.

'Getting in touch with all the selected artists and researching their work was a huge excitement for us, and encouraged us to continue thinking about Open Space as a growing platform with immense possibilities online and offline,' said Eva Khachatryan, Curator and Director of the Open Space project.

Moving Open Space online is part of a broader strategy to increase the AAF's resilience, ensuring access to exhibitions and educational programs as well as making room to experiment with different kinds of digital presentation.

'A digital platform is an immediate solution for continuing our activities and mission in the context of the coronavirus outbreak,' said Nina Festekjian, who co-founded the fair with Zara Ouzounian-Halpin.

'It also adds long-term sustainability for us as a contemporary art organisation, since a permanent digital platform will enable constant public access to artworks and educational programs that will run in parallel with the eventual return of physical exhibitions and events,' Festekjian said.

Led by Juraj Carny, AAF Guest Curator and Director of Curatorial Studies Institute in Slovakia, a second online curatorial project will launch on December 20.

The project will explore art's ability to address socio-political issues without engaging in propaganda. It will feature works by Ilona Nemeth, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Koronczi & Martina Szabóová, Matej Kaminský & Martin Piaček, and Aldo Gianotti. —[O]