Month: May 2021

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today signed the law on declaring amnesty for persons who avoided regular military call-up for fixed-term military service or alternative military service, as reported the Staff of the President of Armenia.

According to this law, amnesty shall be declared for male citizens of the compositions of privates having attained the age of 27 and reserve officers having attained the age of 35 who avoided compulsory military service or alternative service and male citizens suspected, accused of committing a criminal offense to avoid fixed-term military service or alternative service or convicted of committing the criminal offense.

The adversary has not only failed to retreat, but also continues to advance and set up military posts. This is what head of Geghamasar village of Gegharkunik Province of Armenia Hakob Avetyan said, confirming Pastinfo newspaper’s information.

“The Azerbaijanis didn’t retreat. They actually advanced,” he said, noting that the Azerbaijani side, which is in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, has advanced a few hundred meters more.

“Today, they advanced 200-300 meters, but we see that they are able to move forward. This is very bad and is sparking more tension. I don’t know what the consequences will be,” the head of the village said.

According to him, the problem is that it has already been six days since the enemy’s troops invaded the territory of the Republic of Armenia and, instead of leaving, they continue to advance.

Yesterday the Ministry of Defense of Armenia unofficially put into circulation news that the negotiations had ended successfully and that the Azerbaijani troops had to retreat, but Avetyan told Pastinfo that there have been advancements over the past two days.

Avetyan also informed that the Armenian troops are deployed in the territory, aren’t panicking and are ready to fight, just like the villagers.

Certain media outlets are spreading news that the Azerbaijanis have allegedly seized an Armenian military position in the border sector of Vardenis. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia has sharply refuted the news in a press release provided to the Information Verification Center.

“Not only have the Azerbaijanis failed to seize an Armenian military position, but also, theoretically speaking, they couldn’t seize the military position since there are simply no military positions in the border sector in which the Azerbaijanis tried to ensure advancement. The border sector is simply an open space which, along with the Azerbaijani soldiers in that space, is under the control of the Armenian units,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces clarified.

Human Rights Defender of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Gegham Stepanyan has sent a letter to Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic. The letter particularly states the following:

“As Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh, I officially express my willingness to cooperate for human rights protection, which is even more important for our country today, taking into consideration the volume and complexity of the humanitarian issues facing the Republic of Artsakh and its people as a result of the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression.

During the war that Azerbaijan unleashed in the fall of 2020, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces committed gross violations of international humanitarian law, and this caused a difficult humanitarian situation in Artsakh. The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan deliberately and indiscriminately targeted civilians, children, the elderly, journalists and Armenian cultural heritage. They killed captured Armenian servicemen and civilians, as well as distorted and tortured their bodies. Today, as a result of the war, despite the calls of several international human rights organizations, more than 200 prisoners of war are detained in unknown conditions in Azerbaijan, nearly 40,000 people have been displaced, and several Armenian cultural monuments are being vandalized and destroyed to this day.

From the very first day of the war, the Ombudsman launched a fact-finding mission to explore and record the violations and war crimes that Azerbaijan committed during and after the war. The findings of the fact-finding mission have been presented (according to topics) in more than a dozen special reports prepared by the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh.

I would like to state that the fact-finding efforts for assessment of the post-war humanitarian situation continue, and it is very important to assess the presence of international partners, parliamentary bodies and human rights organizations on the spot.

On my behalf, once again, I would like to express my willingness and call for reciprocal efforts to protect the rights of the people of Artsakh since protection of human rights in all corners of the globe is part of the commitments of the international community, regardless of international status of the territory, and this includes Artsakh.”

The Azerbaijanis aren’t going to let us Armenians freely use Sev Lake. This is what ex-Prime Minister of Armenia Hrant Bagratyan told reporters at Freedom Square today.

“You’ll see that they will build a water pipeline so that they can build a settlement later,” he added.

Touching upon the process of forming a militia, Bagratyan said the following: “We’ll come here every day to enlist people, and I will submit the list to the government. I was a member of a movement in the early 1990s, after which I became Prime Minister and went to war. The other army generals are nothing today. I am certain that the Azerbaijanis had advanced deeper into Gegharkunik Province because they heard that there will be negotiations in two days and want to go deeper now so that they can cede half later.”

Bagratyan also said he and other citizens will address the government with the request for weapons. Touching upon the question about weapons being collected from the residents of borderline villages, Bagratyan said the chief of the army’s General Staff is in favor of that.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed US President Joe Biden for support to Israel, reminding him about his recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

According to Erdogan, US military aid helps make possible “Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians who lack resources for self-defense”. “We saw Biden’s signature on the document on the major sale of arms to Israel,” Erdogan said, referring to the news about the US selling weapons to its closest ally in the Middle East.

“Mr. Biden, you support the Armenians with regard to the so-called Armenian genocide. Now you are going down in history with bloody hands by supporting Israel, which is attacking Gaza with disproportionate force,” he said, adding that Turkey won’t keep silent and will continue the fight for Al-Quds (Jerusalem-ed.).

The Turkish leader also slammed Austria for supporting Israel and declared that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s Cabinet is trying to “expiate the guilt of the Holocaust” “by forcing Muslims to pay for that”.