Month: March 2021

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan trial: Court refuses to discontinue prosecution under Criminal Code Article 300.1

Kanayan Tamar
News.am, Armenia
14:00, 30.03.2021

YEREVAN. – Presiding Judge Anna Danibekyan of the Yerevan general jurisdiction court trial of the criminal case against Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan, former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, and former Deputy PM Armen Gevorgyan on Tuesday refused to terminate the criminal prosecution under Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code, despite the Constitutional Court decision on this article.

The court adjourned, and the next hearing was set for April 12.

The reason for rescheduling today’s hearing was the prosecution’s absence from the courtroom.

As reported earlier, this was the first court session after the Constitutional Court declared Article 300.1 (overthrow of the constitutional order) of the Criminal Code in conflict with Articles 78 (principle of proportionality) and 79 (principle of certainty) of the Constitution, and therefore invalidated it on March 26. It is not clear what kind of “overthrow” is in question, given that the aforesaid article was adopted under one constitution, and they had tried to amend it under another constitution.

The defendants are charged under this article of the Criminal Code.

In fact, the court shall terminate these defendants’ criminal prosecution under the said article, as well as of others who are charged with similar charges in this criminal case.

Provincial governor: Armenia is in favor of unblocking roads

Emma Nadirian
News.am, Armenia
14:15, 30.03.2021

I am in favor of everyone doing their job and doing it professionally. The governor Armenia’s Tavush Province, Hayk Chobanyan, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

"I consider the statement by the secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, incorrect. The main discussions are in progress on the issue of unblocking the roads," said the provincial governor.

"I know that Armenia is in favor of that process from an economic point of view; it is in our interests. But the issue of security is a priority, and a balance needs to be put," Chobanyan added.

As reported earlier, when asked in a recent interview whether Armenia considers Turkey an enemy state, Security Council secretary Armen Grigoryan had stated that Armenia should make some adjustments in its respective approach.

German Ambassador to Azerbaijan explains why he refused to visit occupied territories of Artsakh

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
17:38, 30.03.2021

Ambassador of Germany to Azerbaijan Wolfgang Manig has explained why he refused to visit the occupied territories of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

As reported earlier, the Ambassador’s refusal to visit the occupied territories of Artsakh made Azerbaijan burst into outrage and even led to threats from Azerbaijan.

Turan news agency asked the German Ambassador to comment on this and answer the following two questions: Why didn’t you participate in the diplomats’ trips? What is Germany’s current stance on the situation surrounding the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?

In response to the first question, the Ambassador said the decision on when and where the Ambassador or employees of the embassy are sent depends on the analysis of all the factors, and what is decisive is whether this will add to the embassy’s mission and if there are security or health risks.

In response to the second question, the Ambassador said the following: “Over the past month, the federal government’s policy on the South Caucasus region was focused on cessation of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, and the aim is to stop the hostilities and start reconciliation between the Azerbaijanis and Armenians.”

The Ambassador stressed his personal involvement in the talks with his colleagues in both Azerbaijan and Armenia and added that the embassies in Baku and Yerevan are working in this direction.

“We call on both sides to resume negotiations under the auspices of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for a sustainable settlement of the conflict,” he said, Turan reports.

CivilNet: Why Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Announced His Resignation

Aram Torosian
CIVILNET.AM

31 Mar, 2021 07:03

By Gevorg Tosunyan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan must resign by May 2 of this year in order for the government to hold snap parliamentary elections on June 20, as it has announced. Here is why. 

This resignation is symbolic in nature, and the constitution says that it must be done to allow for the dissolution of the National Assembly (parliament), which, in turn, will allow for snap elections. 

According to the Armenian constitution, the parliament can only be dissolved in one of the following two ways. One path is for the National Assembly to not approve the government’s program which mandates  in the dissolution of the legislature. This route is not possible at the moment as the parliament has already approved the executive’s program. 

The second path towards dissolution is if the prime minister resigns and the parliament does not elect a new prime minister. It is given two opportunities to do so. If both fail, then the legislature dissolves and snap elections are held. The government intends to head towards extraordinary snap parliamentary elections on June 20 using this second method.

What if the parliament does elect a new prime minister from the opposition parties? 

Taking into account the fact that Nikol Pashinyan’s My Step faction holds the majority of seats in the parliament with 83 deputies and that a new prime minister must receive majority of votes, it is unlikely that after Pashinyan’s resignation the opposition will be able to nominate its own candidate and elect him or her as prime minister. 

Following the resignation, it is most probable that it is Pashinyan that My Step will again nominate Pashinyan’s candidacy for the pro-forma vote to take place, knowing full well that there is an understanding that he will not receive the necessary votes

Further,  there is a high likelihood  that if My Step again wins the most votes during the June 20 elections, it will in fact nominate Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister. Whether he is in fact elected depends on the division of votes among the political forces who will be participating in the election.

This constitutional scenario also took place in October 2018 when Nikol Pashinyan became prime minister and promised new parliamentary elections.

CivilNet: As Armenia Raises Libel Penalties, Civil Society Warns of Chilling Effect

Andranik Taslakhchian
CIVILNET.AM

30 Mar, 2021 11:03

By Mark Dovich

Last week, Armenia’s legislature, the National Assembly, passed a controversial set of amendments to the Civil Code that substantially raise the maximum damages for insult and defamation. The bill, introduced by Vice Speaker Alen Simonyan, a close ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, raises the maximum penalty for defamation to 6 million drams (about $11,400) from 2 million drams ($3,800), while increasing the penalty for insult to 3 million drams ($5,500) from 1 million drams ($1,900). Seventy-six lawmakers voted in favor of the changes, while 40 voted against, and 3 abstained.

Simonyan has argued that the amendments “will provide additional guarantees for individuals to protect the dignity or business reputation of not only an individual, but also the media, from false and offensive attacks.” Nonetheless, the changes have been roundly criticized by domestic and international press freedom advocates alike, who have expressed fears that the amendments may have a chilling effect on press freedom in the country.

Prior to the introduction of the new changes, Armenian courts rarely sought maximum damages in libel suits. Moreover, in past cases, Armenian judges have ruled that media organizations convicted of insult or defamation are not to be charged the maximum penalty under the law, but rather a proportionate amount, “so as not to interfere with the normal operation of the media.”

This is precisely why many press freedom advocates have decried the amendments. Very few media organizations in Armenia, if any, could afford to pay the new maximum penalties for insult or defamation and continue their operations.

Under Armenian law, insult is defined as “a public _expression_ made with the aim of defaming honor, dignity, or business reputation through speech, image, sound, sign, or in any other way,” while libel or defamation is legally considered “the public presentation of such factual information about a person (statement of fact) that is untrue and discredits their honor, dignity, or business reputation.” Precedent set by Armenia’s Court of Cassation holds that the presence of a third person allows a potential libelous statement to be considered public.

Following the passage of the amendments, a group of Armenian press freedom organizations issued a joint public statement urging President Armen Sarkissian not to sign the bill into law and to send it instead to the Constitutional Court for further review. The Union of Journalists of Armenia have called on Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan to challenge the amendments’ constitutionality in court.

Meanwhile, Freedom House, the prominent U.S.-based democracy-focused organization, released a strongly worded statement warning that the changes “will stifle free _expression_ and threaten the financial viability of media outlets in the country.” The organization has called on “the Armenian authorities to take the concerns of civil society and media organizations seriously, and strike down this legislation.”

Turkish press: Upcoming Turkic Council meeting to bolster unity of Turkic world

Hambik Zargarian
 ANKARA DIPLOMACY 
MAR 30, 2021 1:35 PM GMT+3
Presiden Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with Turkic Council's General-Secretariat Baghdad Amreyev in Presidential Complex, Ankara, Turkey, . (AA)

The Turkic Council’s upcoming official summit in Istanbul will strengthen the unity of the Turkic World, Turkic Council Secretary-General Baghdad Amreyev stated Tuesday ahead of an informal virtual summit on March 31.

Saying that the Turkic Council aims for a united state of the Turkic world, Amreyev told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are to attend the upcoming summit.

Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is to attend with observer country status, and an official from Turkmenistan is expected to attend as well.

"It's the first summit of Turkic leaders, after the (Azerbaijan's) Nagorno-Karabakh victory. That's why the significance of this meeting has grown in the eyes of the public," Amreyev said while adding that the "meeting is going to be an essential point in our efforts for strengthening the unity of the Turkic World."

On the summit's agenda, the secretary-general of the council said Kazakhstan's ancient city of Turkistan is to be declared the spiritual center of the Turkic world.

The city with 2,000 years of history was Kazakh Khanate's capital from the 16th to 18th century.

Turkistan, where the well-known Sufi Sheik Khoja Akhmet Yassawi lived in the 11th century and was buried there after his death, played an essential role in Central Asia's Islamization.

It was one of the spiritual, political and commercial centers of the historical Silk Road and started to revitalize after 1991 when Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union.

"We know the significance of this city (Turkistan) for the whole Islamic world," Amreyev said while adding that other cities in the Turkic world "like Istanbul, Samarkand, Bukhara, Shusha, Baku, Almaty" in the future may also receive special statuses.

'Turkic countries to help reconstruct Karabakh'

Furthermore, multilateral cooperation, the situation in the region and the world, ways of strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries and the international partners of Turkic Council member states are also to be addressed during the informal summit.

As the meeting will be the first gathering of all Turkic Council leaders following Azerbaijan's Karabakh victory, Amreyev said the council's leaders "will show solidarity efforts toward rehabilitation to reconstruct the liberated territory of Karabakh … Our leaders will exchange views."

He said that: "Another also important point is the participation of our private sector in rehabilitation works in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. We are going to convene the business forum in Baku at the end of April to discuss ways of using the potential of our private sector (toward the rebuilding of liberated lands in Karabakh)."

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought for six weeks over Nagorno-Karabakh last year after new clashes erupted on Sept. 27. The Armenian Army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

The council under the secretary-general's leadership has prepared the "Turkic Council Strategy 2020-2025 and Turkic World Vision-2040," which are topics to be addressed during the informal gathering on Wednesday, Amreyev said.

With Turkic World Vision-2040, "which constitutes our road map until 2040, we aim for stronger foreign policy coordination, security cooperation, signing free trade agreements, opening borders in transportation, and strong cooperation between our countries with the language and alphabet in particular," he said.

Describing the 2020-2025 and 2040 documents as road maps for the Turkic Council's cooperation in the future, Ameryev hopes the member states' leaders will adopt the documents during the formal summit in Istanbul in autumn as he said the documents would "shape the future of the Turkic world, especially focusing on strengthening economic ties between our member states, reaching the preferential trade agreement."

Besides establishing an FTA among Turkic Council member states, Ameryev added that "establishing additional mechanisms of our economic cooperation" is also on the agenda.

'Over 10 countries seek observer status'

Pointing out that the Turkic investment fund is close to being finalized, he noted that the fund is a "very important financial instrument to support many of our small and medium-sized enterprises."

He further said that the council is "focusing on developing the existing transportation routes," and said, "That's why we started last year, the realization of a 'green corridor' between our countries through Azerbaijan."

The "green corridor" is known as an international fast-track transport line for essential goods.

"In general, the Turkic Council does its best to develop multilateral cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, science, culture and education, military, law, environment, energy, transportation, investment and finance," he said.

On Turkey taking over the term presidency from Azerbaijan by holding the Turkic Council summit this year, Ameryev hailed Turkey's position in the council and said the country has "always played a very important role in strengthening our cooperation in all fields."

"I think that Turkey will continue to play a leading role in consolidating unity and cooperation," he added.

In response to a question on Ukraine's request to receive observer status at the council, Ameryev said the council is " now considering requests that came from our international partners. More than 10 countries expressed their intention and wish to have observer status."

"Now we only have one observer country, which is Hungary. In the future, we'll have, of course, more observers in our organization. We are currently finalizing the regulations on the topic of observer countries. After they are completed, possibly some time around the autumn summit, we will start to accept observers," he added.

Turkish press: Turkic Council eyes forming ‘united states of Turkic world’

Garik Boshkezenian
Merve Aydogan   |30.03.2021
Secretary-General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev speaks during an exclusive interview in Istanbul, Turkey on . The intergovernmental organization of Turkic-Speaking States is set to virtually hold an informal summit on March 31, which would prepare the group for an upcoming official summit in Istanbul. ( Elif Öztürk – Anadolu Agency )

ISTANBUL

The intergovernmental organization of Turkic-Speaking States is set to virtually hold an informal summit on March 31, which would prepare the group for an upcoming official summit in Istanbul.

Speaking ahead of the informal meeting exclusively for Anadolu Agency, Secretary-General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev told the meeting was decided to be held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Telling that the Turkic Council aims for a united state of the Turkic world, Amreyev said the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are to attend the upcoming summit.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban is to attend with observer country status as an official from Turkmenistan to attend as well.

"It's the first summit of Turkic leaders, after the [Azerbaijan's] Karabakh victory. That's why the significance of this meeting is grown in the eyes of the public," Amreyev said while adding that the "meeting is going to be an essential point in our efforts for strengthening the unity of Turkic World."

On the summit's agenda, the Secretary-General of the Council said Kazakhstan's ancient city of Turkistan is to be declared as the spiritual center of the Turkic world.

The city with 2,000 years of history was Kazakh Khanate's capital in the 16th to 18th centuries.

Turkistan, where the well-known Sufi sheik Khoja Akhmet Yassawi lived in the 11th century and was buried there after his death, played an essential role in Central Asia's Islamization.

It was one of the spiritual, political and commercial centers of the historical Silk Way and started to revitalize after 1991 when Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union.

"We know the significance of this city [Turkistan] for the whole Islamic world," Amreyev said while adding that other cities in the Turkic world "like Istanbul, Samarkand, Bukhara, Shusha, Baku, Almaty" in the future may also receive special status.

'Turkic countries to participate in the rehabilitation of Karabakh'

Furthermore, multilateral cooperation, the situation in the region and the world, ways of strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries and international partners of Turkic Council member states are also to be addressed during the informal summit.

As the meeting will be the first gathering of all Turkic Council leaders following Azerbaijan's Karabakh victory, Amreyev said the Council's leaders "will show solidarity efforts towards rehabilitation to reconstruct the liberated territory of Karabakh… Our leaders will exchange views."

He said that "another also important point is the participation of our private sector in rehabilitation works in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. We are going to convene the business forum in Baku at the end of April to discuss ways of using the potential of our private sector [towards the rebuilding of liberated lands in Karabakh]."

The former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan experienced tense relations for almost three decades after the Armenian military started occupying Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions, in 1991.

When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade-long occupation during the 44-day conflict.

Despite the Nov. 10 deal, the Armenian army several times violated the agreement and martyred several Azerbaijani soldiers and a civilian, as well as wounded several others, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Council under the Secretary-General's leadership has prepared "Turkic Council Strategy 2020-2025 and Turkic World Vision-2040," which are to be addressed during the informal gathering on Wednesday, Ameryev said.

With Turkic World Vision- 2040, "which constitutes our roadmap until 2040, we aim for stronger foreign policy coordination, Security cooperation, signing Free Trade Agreements, opening borders in transportation, and strong cooperation between our countries with the language and alphabet in particular," he said.

Describing the 2020-2025 and 2040 documents as roadmaps for the Turkic Council's cooperation towards the future, Ameryev hopes to for the member states' leaders to adopt the documents during the formal Summit at Istanbul in autumn as he said the documents would "shape the future of the Turkic world, especially focuses on strengthening economic ties between our member states, reaching the preferential trade agreement."

Besides establishing an FTA among Turkic Council member states, Ameryev added that "establishing additional mechanisms of our economic cooperation" is also on the agenda.

'Over ten countries seek observer status'

Telling that the Turkic investment fund is close to being finalized, he noted that the fund is a "very important financial instrument to support many of our small and medium-sized enterprises."

He further said that the Council is "focusing on developing the existing transportation routes," and said, "that's why we started last year, the realization of a 'green corridor' between our countries through Azerbaijan."

The 'green corridor' is known as an international fast-track transport line for essential goods.

"In general, the Turkic Council does its best to develop multilateral cooperation in the fields of political, economy, science, culture and education, military, law, environment, energy, transportation, investment and finance," he said.

On Turkey's taking term presidency from Azerbaijan by holding the Summit of Turkic Council this year, Ameryev hailed Turkey's position in the Council and told the country has "always played a very important role in strengthening our cooperation in all fields."

"I think that Turkey will continue to play a leading role in consolidating unity and cooperation," he added.

In response to a question on Ukraine's request to receive observer status at the Council, Ameryev told the Council is "considering now requests that came from our international partners. More than ten countries expressed their intention and wish to be to have observer status."

"Now we have only one observer country, which is Hungary. In the future, we'll be having, of course, more observers in our organization. We are currently finalizing the regulations on the topic of observer countries. After it is completed, possibly some time in autumn Summit, we will be able to start to receive observers," he added.

Asbarez: ANCA-WR, LAUSD to Host Workshop Series on Armenian Genocide for L.A. Teachers and Families

Greg Madatian



ANCA-WR, LAUSD to host workshops on Armenian Genocide

The Armenian National Committee of America–Western Region and the Los Angeles Unified School District will provide two educator workshops and one family webinar on April 7, April 8, and April 19, focused on effective methods for implementing Armenian Genocide education in classrooms and promoting cross-cultural understanding in the community.

“Teaching educators and community members about this dark – and often neglected – era of history is extremely important to the Armenian Cause,” remarked ANCA-WR Education Committee member Sedda Antekelian. “We must ensure that future generations understand the implications of the Armenian Genocide, to prevent future atrocities,” she continued.

On October 6, 2020, the LAUSD Board of Education unanimously voted to give families across the district the day off on April 24 to observe and remember the start of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution also called on the district to conduct professional development workshops to appropriately and meaningfully teach the students, staff and the community about the atrocities. The ANCA-WR has been working in collaboration with the office of LAUSD President Kelly Gonez to ensure that the staff and community understand the significance of the day and learn about the importance of human rights.

The educator workshops aimed at Elementary (K-5) teachers will help build foundational knowledge on Armenian Heritage, the Armenian Genocide and recent events in Artsakh. It will focus on helping educators empower the students to become caring community members, by exploring the significance of cross-cultural understanding, belonging and civil responsibility through the lens of the Armenian experience. Middle and High School teachers will further expand on these themes and will learn about stories of survival and resilience as well as the unique role that the U.S. played in providing humanitarian support during and after the Armenian Genocide.

The webinar for families will focus on how to have meaningful conversations about culture and identity to expand their skills for social-emotional learning and how to be a responsible citizen in their community. This workshop will also include remarks from California State Senator Anthony Portantino, California State Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian, and LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner.

Space for this workshop is limited. Interested participants can register online