Author: Albert Nalbandian

Head of Armenia’s Shurnukh village: The Russians said it’s not up to them, decision has already been made

Albert Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Jan 2 2021
 
 
Head of Armenia's Shurnukh village: The Russians said it's not up to them, decision has already been made
12:10, 03.01.2021
 
During a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am, head of Shurnukh village Hakob Arshakyan said the residents of the 12 houses of the village transferred to the Azerbaijanis must leave their homes before January 5.
 
“The Azerbaijanis gave us time until January 5 to leave the territories transferred to them and said anyone, including animals passing through that territory after January 5 will be theirs,” Arshakyan said.
 
In regard to the photo of a library that was disseminated these past couple of days, Arshakyan stated that he couldn’t confirm if it was the library in Shurnukh or not.
 
The village head added that he has shown the map of the USSR showing Shurnukh as an Armenian village to a Russian army general and peacekeepers.
 
“We were told that it’s not up to them and that the decision has already been made. Now the villagers and I are trying to find documents from the archives in order to retrieve our lands,” Arshakyan stated.
 
Yesterday the village head informed that Azerbaijanis and Russian border guards had entered the Shurnukh village of Syunik Province. According to the demarcation conducted by the Azerbaijanis, 12 houses in Shurnukh are being transferred to Azerbaijan.
  
 

Turkish Press: Karabakh: Big win for Turkish foreign policy in 2020

Albert Nalbandian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Dec 30 2020
Karabakh: Big win for Turkish foreign policy in 2020

30.12.2020

ISTANBUL

The resolute, consistent, and solution-oriented support to Azerbaijan that liberated Nagorno-Karabakh from the Armenian occupation, and the opening of the Nakhchivan corridor — a centuries-old dream – is the biggest win for the Turkish foreign policy in 2020, according to experts. 

The opening of the corridor is the beginning of a new era for Turkish foreign policy in the region stretching from the Caucasus to Central Asia.

Turkey pursued a proactive foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and the Caucasus while combating the novel coronavirus that has affected the entire world in 2020.

In Nagorno-Karabakh, where the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group did not produce any solution despite UN resolutions, Turkey's military, political, and diplomatic efforts brought results.

The 44-day Karabakh War, which started with border violations and attacks by Armenia, ended in Azerbaijan's victory.

At the end of the war, the Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan corridor, which had been the dream of the Turkic world for over a century, was opened, restoring Turkey's land connection with the Central Asian Turkic Republics.

The Karabakh victory is considered the most important achievement of Turkish foreign policy in 2020. Turkey is also now focusing on increasing its political, military, and economic weight in the region.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Aygun Attar president of the Turkish Azerbaijan Friendship Cooperation and Solidarity Foundation (TADIV) stated that the most important event that marked Turkish foreign policy in 2020 is its Karabakh policy. She said that it should not be evaluated only in the context of brotherhood or "one nation two states".

Failure of OSCE Minsk Group

Attar stressed that Russia continues to convey the message that it is the dominant power in the South Caucasus region, where geopolitical risks are intense. But with a persistent attitude, Turkey has carved a place in the region using a mix of diplomacy and hard power achieving successful results.

After the failure of the OSCE Minsk Group in the Karabakh conflict, lasting over 30 years, Azerbaijan took Turkey to the table, said, Attar.

"The Karabakh conflict became part of Turkish foreign policy. Turkey took part in the process as an active actor during the 44-day war period,” she said.

Attar said the skillful stance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev accelerated the success and led the opening of "the Eurasian gateway the Nakhchivan corridor".

She also stated that the success of the opening of the Nakhchivan corridor will have a lasting effect on "the geopolitics of the South Caucasus, crucial to the success of the centuries-old dream coming true”.

Attar said that Turkey's public diplomacy together with Karabakh-centric foreign policy also went down in history as a diplomatic victory for both Turkey and Azerbaijan.

She stressed that the invitation extended to President Erdogan to attend the Karabakh victory parade and his presence there with a large delegation is the beginning of a new era in the South Caucasus region. She said this event has left a lasting mark on 2020.

Ibrahim Ethem Atnur, professor at the National Defense University said that the Turkish foreign policy, which has been advancing decisively and consistently over the past 30 years, clearly stood by Azerbaijan in its just cause.

Courageous foreign policy

He recalled that Turkey was also on Azerbaijan's side in the 1990s, but for the first time, it achieved success using all its diplomatic instruments.

"It also led to the realization of the Nakhchivan Corridor, a 100-year dream in Turkish foreign policy," said Atnur.

Recalling that the biggest goal of Turkey and the Turkic world in 1918 was to provide transportation through Zengezur, the professor said: “At that time this was not possible. The second opportunity came in 1992. But this opportunity also ran away because Turkey was not interested enough. The missed opportunity that day was realized today due to Turkey's determined stance.”

Stressing that Ankara's courageous foreign policy bothers some countries and groups, Atnur pointed out that Israel, the US, and France accused Turkey of being "expansionist” and “Islamist".

"The success achieved in the field in Karabakh is a result of the military, commercial and cultural rapprochement, training-equip agreements with Azerbaijan in recent years,” he said.

“As a result of the effective policy of the Turkish foreign ministry in the Karabakh issue, Iran has become unable to act comfortably in the region. The fact that mass organizations in Turkey and Azerbaijan have drawn the Turks in Iran into this issue, it prevented the political and military support that the Iranian state used to give to Armenia, as in the past,” said Atnur.

“Iran has been unable to act comfortably in the region. Mass organizations in Turkey and Azerbaijan have drawn the Turks in Iran into this issue has prevented the political and military support that Iranian state has given to Armenia, as it had done in the past,” he said.

Giray Saynur Derman, a professor in Communication Faculty of Marmara University also said that the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, which had become a "frozen conflict", is the single most important achievement of Turkish foreign policy in 2020.

Nakhchivan to revive Silk Road

He said that the opening of the Nakhchivan corridor through the territory of Armenia near the Iranian border linking Turkey and Azerbaijan by land for the first time in a century is another achievement.

“According to Article 9 of the agreement, barriers to economic and transport links in the region will be removed. Transport and communication networks will be built between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the western regions of Azerbaijan," he added.

Derman hoped that the opening of the Nakhchivan corridor will revive the historical Silk Road by creating strong support to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route, as well as connecting Turkey and the Central Asian Turkish Republics by land.

He said Turkey has further increased its power as a major player in the South Caucasus, adding that the new conjuncture arising out from the Azerbaijan-Turkey partnership will also lead to the strengthening of the bond between the Turkic states.

"Aliyev and Erdogan showed to the world the strong image of the two states with an emphasis on unity and togetherness in their magnificent speeches at the Baku victory feast on Dec. 10,” the communication professor added.

Drawing parallels, he said 102 years ago, under the leadership of Nuri Killigil Pasha, the Caucasian Islamic army saved the Azerbaijani people from the Armenian militia, and today Turkey has shown that it is on the side of the Azerbaijani people.

“Heydar Aliyev's poem One Nation Two States as this pride, reflects this joy experienced by the people of the two countries at the same time,” said Derman.

*Writing by Merve Berker

US-Armenian relations at an all-time low, political scientist says

Albert Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 30 2020

Relations between the United States and Armenia have hit an all-time low, according to political scientist Suren Sargsyan.

In a public post on Facebook on Wednesday, the expert said it was naive to think that the Biden administration would embark on a process of providing financial assistance to Armenia immediately after taking power amid the deep financial crisis in the US due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“1. First of all, next year's budget is Trump's budget, which envisages $16.6 million in aid to Armenia.

2. Yes, it is possible that additional assistance will be provided to Armenia, for instance, to fight Covid-19, as it was done for hundreds of countries this year.

3. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has stated that it is working to increase the amount of US assistance to Artsakh and Armenia. It’s not ruled out that we will receive some humanitarian assistance in the post-war period. But this should be exclusively attributed to the ANCA activities and not to the attitude towards the Armenian authorities. It is obvious that this will be the result of their work, rather than Biden's "love" for our government.

4. Let's not forget that the ARF demands the resignation of the authorities, which means that the Armenian National Committee in Washington will not do anything for the Armenian authorities any longer, with all the ensuing consequences.

5. Let's not forget that the US-Armenian relations are at an all-time low.

Let me repeat myself: Washington's attitude towards Yerevan may change, but its politics will not,” he wrote. 

To finally solve the Hrant Dink murder, Turkey must ‘face itself’

Albert Nalbandian
CPJ – Committee to Protect Journalists
Dec 21 2020

By Özgür Öğret/CPJ Turkey Representative on December 21, 2020 11:44 PM EST

After nearly 14 years and multiple court cases, the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, remains largely unsolved even as the extended main trial appears to be set to draw to a close. Dink’s teenage killer and his immediate accomplices are behind bars, but prosecutors in the retrial, ordered by Turkey’s supreme court in 2013, have yet to pin down a broader conspiracy that Dink’s family and colleagues insist led to his death. The long-running case, in which the defense is due to begin closing arguments on December 22, shows how lack of political will to probe every lead – or worse, political interference in an investigation – can stymie the pursuit of justice for murdered journalists.

“Those who gave the kill order have yet to be found,” Yetvart Danzikyan, editor-in-chief of Agos, the Turkish-Armenian newspaper that Dink founded in 1996, told CPJ by phone in September. “That is why we do not know why [Dink] was killed.” 

Prosecutors offered their closing arguments on December 14, after which the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court gave lawyers for Dink’s family just two days to prepare their response. The lawyers deemed that amount of time woefully insufficient, and declined to give a statement at the December 17 hearing, according to independent news site Bianet.   

That court decision followed another which lawyers for the family said impeded the search for truth. In September, judges reversed a decision to hear testimony from a senior official with the Turkish National Intelligence Agency, the MİT, according to reports. Lawyers for Dink’s family see such testimony as key to determining whether authorities covered up a plot to kill the journalist. But Turkey’s government and judiciary have all but blocked the agency’s participation in the proceedings. In 2010, then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denied permission for an investigation into the agency. And in 2011, prosecutors dropped their investigation of two agents who spoke with Dink about his reporting in 2004, a conversation Dink believed to be a veiled threat. The agents have also been prevented from serving as witnesses, as Bianet reported. 

Meanwhile, changes in Turkey’s political atmosphere have continued to impact the trial, as CPJ has previously documented. When Dink was killed, powerful figures in Turkey initially blamed Ergenekon, an alleged ultranationalist conspiracy to topple the Turkish government, as behind the murder. But in recent years, blame has shifted to the Fethullah Gülen Terrorist Organization, or FETÖ. That is the Turkish government’s name for the movement of self-exiled Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, a former ally of Erdoğan whom the president contends was behind an attempted coup in 2016. Prosecutors in the Dink case brought charges against Gülen in 2017. Today, there are 76 defendants in the main trial, reports said.

Dink’s reporting on the Armenian plight – and specifically the atrocities against ethnic Armenians under Ottoman rule that Turkey refuses to recognize as genocide – had long made him a subject of official scrutiny. In 2004, that scrutiny reached new heights when Agos reported Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey’s first female pilot and the adopted daughter of founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, may have been of Armenian descent. The general staff secretariat of Turkey’s military reacted with fury, declaring that “opening a national symbol like this up to discussion, for whatever reason, is a crime against national integrity and social peace.”

Shortly after, Dink was summoned to the Istanbul governor’s office where the two MİT agents allegedly warned him about his reporting, though MİT later claimed it knew of no greater plot. Next, Dink was tried for “denigrating Turkish identity” over a column in which he had actually advocated for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. Dink was found guilty in 2005 and his appeal was denied. In his final column, republished by the Turkish foundation that bears his name, he described the growing threats against him. “In the hallways of the courthouse, fascists rained racist curses on me. They insulted me with placards and banners, and day by day the flood of threatening telephone calls, e-mails and letters was on the rise.” Nine days after the column’s original publication, on January 19, 2007, 17-year-old gunman Ogün Samast shot Dink multiple times outside of the Agos office, killing him. 

In July 2007, Samast and several accomplices initially went on trial together, but Samast was later convicted of murder in a separate juvenile court. His accomplices were convicted on various charges in 2012, but a year later Turkey’s supreme court ordered a retrial (while upholding Samast’s conviction) on the basis that the original trial failed to acknowledge the murder as the result of organized crime. At the time, Dink’s supporters told CPJ that the supreme court ruling did not go far enough because it did not describe the perpetrators as part of an alleged terrorist organization, the classification of which would have allowed for a much deeper investigation. The retrial has morphed in the ensuing years, as Samast and his accomplices were spun off into a separate trial and another trial, that of law enforcement officers who allegedly knew of threats to Dink, was folded into the main one. 

Danzikyan contends that the police and gendarme intelligence divisions of the northern province of Trabzon, Samast’s hometown, the Istanbul police, and even officials in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, were all aware of the risks facing Dink. “The picture we have before us is such: Hrant Dink was made a target; the state learned that an action was to be taken against Hrant Dink [and] did nothing; the [judiciary] did whatever it could to make Hrant Dink seem guilty; that is how Hrant Dink was killed.” 

He acknowledged that Dink’s supporters have a hard path ahead, even as the trial is now reaching its final stages: “Solving this case in a way that reveals everybody involved and satisfies public opinion would mean the state facing itself.” 

Özgür Öğret is a Turkish freelance journalist and CPJ’s Turkey representative. He was lead researcher for the 2012 CPJ special report, “Turkey’s Press Freedom Crisis.”


President and Prime Minister Meet

Albert Nalbandian

December 24,  2020



President Armen Sarkissian (left) met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Dec. 24

President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met on Thursday.

Their offices released specific details about the meeting, only that they discussed the current situation in the country and ways to confront the challenges facing the homeland.

The two leaders also discussed the defense and security of Armenia’s border regions, re-establishing a semblance of normalcy in Artsakh and the issues related to the assistance programs undertaken by the government.

It was the first time the leaders were meeting since the Pashinyan signed the November 9 agreement that ended the war but mandated the surrender of historic Armenian territories in both Armenia and Artsakh to Azerbaijan.

Days after the agreement was announced, Sarkissian announced that he was not informed about the document and its provisions and urged the government to put forth a comprehensive proposal to emerge from the crisis. He also called for the resignation of the government and snap elections, which would be organized by a temporary national accord administration made up of experts and professionals.

​Aliyev says resolutions supporting Artsakh mean nothing to Azerbaijan

Albert Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 24 2020
 
 
Aliyev says resolutions supporting Artsakh mean nothing to Azerbaijan
21:45, 24.12.2020
 
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has declared that he views the allegations against Baku in the resolutions that several Western countries adopted after the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh as groundless, RIA Novosti reported.
 
“Let the countries having adopted those resolutions against us open their eyes and see. Open your eyes, hypocritical politicians. Your deputies have adopted a resolution. Those resolutions mean nothing to us, they are pieces of paper. However, the fact of the matter is that they are making groundless allegations against us,” he said.
 
 
 
 
 
 

​Vazgen Manukyan meets with leaders of 15 top IT companies in Armenia

Albert Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 21 2020
 
 
 
Vazgen Manukyan meets with leaders of 15 top IT companies in Armenia
20:56, 21.12.2020
 
The opposition Homeland Salvation Movement in Armenia posted the following on its Facebook page:
 
“Today Vazgen Manukyan, candidate of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement for Prime Minister, had a meeting with the leaders of 15 top IT companies and organizations of Armenia.
 
Manukyan touched upon three common issues related to technology, science and education in Armenia, the goals of the nation set due to the current situation in the country, as well as the future actions and the development of prospective programs of the government in case of the formation of an ad-hoc government.
 
The current state of high technologies in Armenia and the opportunities for their development, as well as the paths and prospects for innovative advancement, cyber security and the development of military production were discussed with the IT specialists.
 
Views on the future strategy and vision for the country’s development were also exchanged.”
 
 
 
 
 

Alexey Miller and Mher Grigoryan, Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister, discuss gas supply issues

Albert Nalbandian
EIN News
Dec 18 2020

OSCE MG Co-chairs reaffirm commitment for fostering regional peace, stability and prosperity

Albert Nalbandian

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 00:15,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) released a statement following a regional trip, ARMENPRESS reports, citing the official website of the OSCE.

French Co-Chair Stephane Visconti and U.S. Co-Chair Andrew Schofer traveled to Baku 12 and 13 December and Yerevan 13 and 14 December. In Baku, they were received by President Aliyev and met with Foreign Minister Bayramov. In Yerevan, they were received by Prime Minister Pashinyan and met with Foreign Minister Aivazian. Due to Russian Co-Chair Igor Popov’s inability to travel, the Russian Federation was represented in Baku by Russian Ambassador Mikhail Bocharnikov and in Yerevan by Russian chargé d’affaires Alexei Sinegubov.  The Co-Chairs also met with representatives of the ICRC and UN agencies active in the region.  The Personal Representative of the Chairperson in Office (PRCiO) Andrzej Kasprzyk also participated in all meetings.

In both capitals, the sides provided their assessment of the situation on the ground and expressed their expectations on engagement with the Co-Chairs for the coming year.  Taking into account the new realities, the Co-Chairs affirmed their continuing commitment to engage constructively with the sides to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and to resolve outstanding issues.  The Co-Chairs also committed to providing concrete proposals on issues raised during the meetings for future discussions between the sides. 

Noting recent reports of incidents resulting in casualties, the Co-Chairs called on the sides to take additional measures to stabilize the situation in accordance with their commitments.  The Co-Chairs urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to complete as soon as possible the exchange of all detainees and accelerate the identification and repatriation of remains in coordination with the ICRC.  

Recalling the 3 December OSCE ministerial statement in Tirana by the Minsk Group Co-Chair country heads of delegation, the Co-Chairs reiterate their united position in favor of comprehensive and sustainable settlement of all remaining core substantive issues.  The Co-Chairs and the sides stressed the importance of reducing inflammatory rhetoric in order to create a more positive environment.  The Co-Chairs and the sides emphasized the importance of engaging with international organizations to promote humanitarian assistance to populations affected by the conflict, as well as the protection of cultural and religious heritage.

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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 20:49,

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’’.