19:51,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court testifies to Armenia’s commitment to international law and the protection of human rights, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in a post on X.
''Every accession brings us closer to universal participation and to ending impunity for the most serious crimes,'' Borrell added.
20:46,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. On November 17, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vahe Gevorgyan had a meeting with Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas of the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Miroslav Jenča.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs presented the situation resulting from Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic cleansing and continuous use of force in Nagorno-Karabakh, emphasizing the importance of addressing the security, humanitarian and social-economic issues of more than 100,000 forcibly displaced Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, the foreign ministry said.
In this context, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the imperative of the involvement of the international community, especially the relevant UN agencies, in order to address the primary and long-term needs of the forcibly displaced refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, to restore their fundamental rights and ensure their right to dignified and safe return to their homeland.
During the meeting, the interlocutors also touched upon the prospects of lasting stability and peace in the region.
20:54,
19:57,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Staff Arayik Harutyunyan attended the funeral service of Christian Ter-Stepanyan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to UNESCO, Personal Representative of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia to the International Organization of Francophonie, at the Komitas Chamber Music House in Yerevan, the PM's Office said in a readout.
20:37,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vahe Gevorgyan on Thursday received UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Fabian Salvioli, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, welcoming the Special Rapporteur highly appreciated Armenia’s cooperation with various UN mechanisms.
During the meeting, reference was made to the efforts undertaken by Armenia for the prevention of genocides, the work carried out in the direction of human rights protection. The humanitarian situation resulting from Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing policy against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and the gross violations of human rights documented during Azerbaijan's attack on the sovereign territory of Armenia were also presented.
According to the source, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that Armenia is ready to further strengthen cooperation with the UN special procedures.
21:31,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Municipality has initiated the development of a new master plan. With the support of partner structures, all necessary data in the city will be collected and compiled, which will become the basis for implementing the project, the Municipality said.
''The master plan serves as the cornerstone for the strategic development of the city. Following today's discussion, we will promptly consolidate all our efforts to realize the envisioned development of Yerevan," said Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan.
A Jerusalem police officer engages with representatives of the Armenian community
Police in Jerusalem has demanded local Armenians to vacate the area of “Armenian Gardens”—known as the “Cows’ Garden” in the Old City of Jerusalem— and accused them of misappropriation of property.
The alarm was sounded by local attorney and activist Daniel Seidemann who, in a post on X, also added that the Armenian community of Jerusalem is resisting.
Since November 12, a large group of Jerusalem Armenians, in cooperation with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, are on duty in protest in the area of “Cows’ Garden” and have barricaded the access to the wall, with cars and fences, in order to impede any further illegal construction on the Armenian property.
The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, had leased the area of “Cows’ Garden” to a Jewish businessman for 99 years. This decision, however, caused a lot of uproar; but after a long battle, the deal was canceled.
The Movement for the Protection and Preservation of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem has released a statement, according to which there is a tense situation at the “Armenian Gardens.”
It is noted that at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a convoy of vehicles presumably belonging to Jewish settlers entered the “Cows’ Garden,” after which the Armenian residents of Jerusalem gathered there and surrounded the barricaded border.
The Israeli police have arrested three Jerusalem Armenians, one of whom is a minor.
The Israeli police allowed some settlers to stay at the “Cows’ Garden,” whose objective, according to the aforesaid statement, is to appropriate that area.
In response, the local Armenian residents formed a human shield and peacefully urged to vacate the area of the “Cows’ Garden.”
The situation remains tense, the statement added.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has warned that it is facing the “greatest existential threat” in its history.
In a statement, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the developer who sought to lease some 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem has ignored a letter by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem cancelling the controversial real estate deal and has started demolition works, and moreover police now demand that all members of the Armenian Community vacate the premises.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is under possibly the greatest existential threat of its 16-century history. This existential-territorial threat fully extends to all the Christian communities of Jerusalem.
Instead of providing a lawful response to the cancellation, the developers attempting to build on the Cows’ Garden have completely disregarded the legal approaches of the Patriarchate toward this issue, and instead have elected to use provocation, aggression, and other harassment and incendiary tactics including destruction of property and deploying heavily armed instigators.
In recent days, the vast destruction and removal of asphalt on the grounds of the Armenian Quarter has been done without the permits from the municipality by neither the developer nor the police.
Despite this fact, the police have chosen in the last few days to demand that all members of the Armenian Community vacate the premises.
“We plead with the entirety of the Christian communities of Jerusalem to stand with the Armenian Patriarchate in these unprecedented times as this is another clear step taken toward the endangerment of the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land,” the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.
Asbarez is saddened to report the passing of long-time contributor and reporter Noubar Demirdjian, who died on November 15 in San Francisco.
For decades, Demirdjian’s writings shined a light on many crucial issues, especially with a focus on unique Armenian Genocide survival stories. He also reported on community events that became the conduit for the growth and advanced of the Armenian-American community in the San Francisco-Bay area.
A staunch member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Demridjian played a crucial role in development of the Armenian community in the Western United States and specifically the Bay Area.
Asbarez will have more about the storied life and contribution of Noubar Demirdjian.
The Asbarez editorial department, management and staff offer their heartfelt condolences to the Demirdjian family and the greater Western U.S. and San Francisco Bay communities.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington on May 4
Azerbaijan will not participate in a planned meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan scheduled for November 20 in Washington.
The Azerbaijani foreign ministry reacted angrily to a statement made by James O’Brien, the Assistant Secretary of State on Eurasian affairs, who signaled, during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, that Washington’s ties with Baku have cooled since Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh in September.
“We’ve made clear that nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track. So we’ve canceled a number of high-level visits, condemned the action,” O’Brien said, adding that the State Department will not seek a waiver of Section 907 “until such time that we see improvement.”
Baku accused Washington of committing “mortal sins,” calling O’Brien’s statement “one-sided and biased,” as well as “counterproductive, baseless, and unacceptable,” and a blow to Azerbaijani-American relations.
In the strongly-worded statement, Baku also accused O’Brien, personally, and the entire U.S. diplomatic apparatus of ”ignoring the main issue that led to Azerbaijan’s actions,” referring to Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh in September.
Official Baku has taken a defensive tone toward the U.S. and Europe. It condemned France, last week, for supplying arms to Armenia, per an agreement signed between Paris and Yerevan last month.
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on “The Future of Nagorno Karabakh”
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In an overdue and still inadequate response to Azerbaijan’s U.S.-armed genocide of Artsakh’s indigenous Christian Armenians, President Biden has only now started to outline potential accountability measures – starting with a cut-off of all U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan – that have long been called for by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), our congressional allies, and community and coalition partners.
Ambassador James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told House Foreign Affairs Committee members today “we have not and don’t anticipate submitting a waiver on [Section ] 907,” referencing the 1992 U.S. law that restricts U.S. aid to Azerbaijan based on its ongoing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh. Amb. O’Brien flatly rejected arguments – often advanced by the Azerbaijani lobby – that enforcing Section 907 would undermine U.S. national security interests.
“A day late and a dollar short,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Having armed, emboldened and actively abetted Azerbaijan’s genocide of Artsakh – the U.S.-backed ethnic cleansing of Armenians from yet more of our indigenous homeland – President Biden will need to do far more than send signals about his willingness to enforce an existing U.S. statute. He can, for example – if he is serious and not just engaged in electoral damage control – lead a U.N. Security Council resolution establishing an international mandate providing security for the safe and sustainable return of Armenians to Artsakh.”
Dr. Alexander Sokolowski, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, and Amb. James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Amb. O’Brien’s statements came during the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) Subcommittee on Europe hearing on “The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh,” where committee members pressed the State Department and USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Dr. Alexander Sokolowski about expanding U.S. aid to the over 100,000 Artsakh Armenian victims of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing and efforts to stop renewed Aliyev regime aggression against Armenia.
Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ), Chairman, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe
“Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh are now living as refugees in Armenia. We cannot afford to look away from the region or be distracted by other conflicts proliferating across the globe,” stated Subcommittee on Europe Chair Tom Kean (R-NJ). He went on to call on State Department and USAID representatives to outline plans for humanitarian assistance to Artsakh refugees and asked them to clarify the Biden administration’s message to Azerbaijani officials to prevent further attacks against Armenia. “I hope our witnesses today will explain how they are communicating to President Aliyev that the use of force against sovereign Armenian territory, including in the Syunik province, would be completely and totally unacceptable,” stated Chairman Kean.
Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA), Ranking Democrat, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe
Subcommittee Ranking Democrat Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) concurred, noting, “I strongly believe we must provide humanitarian and economic assistance to displaced people in Armenia and ensure accountability for any potential crimes committed against those fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh or those who are choosing to remain there.”
Speaking of the 100,000 Armenian refugees “uprooted” from Artsakh, Amb. O’Brien told Congress, “We insist on the people having complete access to the territory, on the protection of the property, the protection of the culture, and that the people receive adequate information so that they can make a real choice about their future and know that they have the viable opportunity to return and live well in Nagorno-Karabakh if that’s what they choose.” Instead of clearly condemning Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, Amb. O’Brien announced that the State Department has commissioned independent investigators and is working with international partners to provide “a comprehensive, thorough and transparent record of what happened, not just on those days, but for the months before.” No timeline was announced for the presentation of the report.
In an attempt to address Congressional concerns about a clear U.S. response to Azerbaijan’s brutal attack on Artsakh that led to the forced exile of Artsakh Armenians, Amb. O’Brien noted, “We’ve canceled a number of high-level visits […] We don’t anticipate submitting a [Section 907] waiver until such time as we see a real improvement in the situation. All of this is to say we continue to urge peace.”
With regard to the U.S. humanitarian aid for Artsakh’s forcibly displaced, Dr. Sokolowski reiterated USAID Administrator Power’s commitment of $11.5 million in U.S. assistance. He also announced that “USAID has focused nearly $6 million in funding from existing programming at USAID Armenia to respond to the humanitarian crisis.”
Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)
Members of Congress were skeptical about the State Department’s optimism about Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks and President Aliyev’s commitment to peace in the region.
“I don’t see the peace process as going nearly as well as some of the descriptions I’ve just heard. The meeting in Granada, Spain, the last two meetings, Azerbaijan refused to go. I don’t know how you describe that as being positive,” stated Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA). He went on to raise security concerns stemming from proposed economic corridors through Armenia. “Armenians are concerned and feel threatened by that corridor and what it might imply for another grabbing of land by Azerbaijan once it’s established.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) asked Assistant Secretary O’Brien to outline the specific resources the State Department is prepared to use to ensure Azerbaijan honors a peace deal. “What are you prepared to do, Ambassador [O’Brien], to create a carrot and stick to move this agenda? Are you willing to add sanctions for non-compliance?” Assistant Secretary O’Brien stated, “Yes, we are looking at all the tools we have. I’m not going to preview any sanctions decisions, but that’s certainly a tool in our toolkit.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY)
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) questioned the Biden administration’s military aid to Azerbaijan in the face of President Aliyev’s ties with Russia and Iran. “Sanctioned Russian and Iranian companies own significant shares in Azerbaijan’s gas fields exporting energy to Europe, and Azerbaijan has recently signed lucrative energy deals with both countries,” stated Rep. Lawler. Assistant Secretary O’Brien noted they were aware of Azerbaijan’s energy deals and affirmed they are not in U.S. national interests.
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL)
“Many of us here in Congress sent letter after letter after letter and supported resolution after resolution to exert pressure and relieve the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been exacerbated since the 2020 war. It looks like we failed,” stated Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) in powerful remarks questioning the State Department’s assessment of prospects for peace. “The tightening of the stranglehold around Nagorno-Karabakh over the years until the ethnic Armenian population was forced to leave was not just about counterterrorism, and it was not just about geopolitics,” stated Rep. Schneider. He went on to relay the story of the brutal murder of Armenian serviceman Gurgen Margaryan, axed to death by Azerbaijani soldier Ramil Safarov during a NATO exercise in Hungary in 2004. Safarov was extradited back to Azerbaijan in 2012, where he was promoted and rewarded for his actions. “What should be our takeaway from what happened in 2004 through 2012? How should we think of the possibilities of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan in this context?” asked Rep. Schneider.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV)
Calling Margaryan’s murder a “reprehensible” set of events, Amb. O’Brien cited the need for “accountability for crimes,” and “setting a new path going forward,” but stopped short of outlining any clear U.S. actions to achieve the former or to ensure the latter – placing the onus on Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We are creating a path for them to take and incentives for them to go there.”
Noting Turkey’s history of genocide against the Armenian people, Rep. Dina Titus cited the close ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan and asked, “What kind of damage are they causing now?” Rep. Titus called for end-use monitoring of U.S. weapons sold to Turkey, expressing concern about Turkey’s illegal transfer of military parts and munitions to Azerbaijan.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA)
Rep. Madeleine Dean stressed the importance of the hearing. “What started as a blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh culminated in the Azerbaijani offensive on September 19 and 20 to regain control of the region. Within 10 days, approximately 100,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, about 80-percent of the population, fled to Armenia. Armenia, the U.S., E.U. and international organizations have stepped in to provide humanitarian assistance for the refugees, but many questions remain as to their future, as well as the future of Nagorno-Karabakh,” stated Rep. Dean.
Video from the hearing is available on the ANCA YouTube channel.