Author: Albert Nalbandian

High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia is in Georgia on working visit

Albert Nalbandian

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 14:15, 1 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan is in Georgia on a working visit.

ARMENPRESS reports during his 5-day visit Sinanyan will meet with the Armenian MPs of the Georgian parliament, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili and Governor of Samtskhe-Javakheti region Besik Amirkhanashvili.

The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia will visit Armenian scientific, educational, cultural centers, schools and churches in Tbilisi, Akhaltska and Akhalkalaki and will meet the representatives of the Armenian community.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

PACE urges Azerbaijan to address the problem of political prisoners and fulfil its obligations under ECHR

Albert Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 30 2020

There can no longer be any doubt that Azerbaijan has a problem of political prisoners, and that this problem is due to structural and systemic causes,” the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has declared in a resolution on Thursday, the press service of the Assembly reported. 

The resolution urged the authorities to ensure alleged cases are reviewed by an impartial body, and to undertake “fundamental reforms” to fulfil its obligations under the European Convent ok ion on Human Rights.

Approving a resolution based on a report by Thorhildur Sunna Aevarsdottir (Iceland, SOC), the Assembly said that – on the basis of factual findings of the European Court of Human Rights – a number of individuals were “political prisoners” according to the Assembly’s definition. The Court also found a “troubling pattern” of politically motivated misuse of the criminal justice system, the parliamentarians pointed out.

The Assembly urged the government to ensure lists of alleged political prisoners were reviewed “by an independent and impartial body”, and to release those found to be political prisoners according to its 2012 definition.

It welcomed the steps taken by the authorities in recent years to reform Azerbaijan’s penitentiary, criminal justice and judicial systems, but said “much more remains to be done”.

It urged “a holistic approach” to reforms, addressing problems in the judiciary, the Prosecutor General’s office, the police and the detention system together, “to ensure the non-repetition of politically motivated arbitrary detention, as required by the European Court of Human Rights”.


  

Seyran Ohanyan: The issue of surrendering territories to Azerbaijan has never been discussed with me

Albert Nalbandian
Arminfo, Armenia
Jan 29 2020

ArmInfo.Former Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan stated that the third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, did not discuss the issue of surrendering territories  with him.  Ohanyan said this on January 29 in an interview with  reporters.

He said: "I have repeatedly noted that we must fight for every inch  of the land, and today the issue of concessions is not the subject of  negotiations. If we are talking about some of the documents that were  discussed, then they were exclusively negotiations on some document.  And no one ever discussed with me the issue handling surrendering  territories, "the former defense minister emphasized.

It should be noted that at a press conference, Nikol Pashinyan  criticized the "heritage" of Serzh Sargsyan, which remained on the  Karabakh issue. Pashinyan, in particular, said that the previous  authorities were negotiating the surrender of seven regions to  Azerbaijan – Agdam, Fizuli, Dzhabrail, Zangelan, Kubatly, Kelbajar  and Lachin, with the condition of providing direct ground  communication between Artsakh and Armenia.

ANC France Director: Emmanuel Macron to attend Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations banquet

Albert Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Jan 23 2020

23:27, 23.01.2020
                  

President of France Emmanuel Macron will be attending the banquet organized by the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France and has confirmed his participation. This is what Armenian National Committee France Director Hratch Varjabedian told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“The banquet will be held on January 29 and will be attended by not only the President of France, but also the mayors of Paris, Marseille and Lyon, several ministers, MPs, Armenia’s ambassador and several renowned French and Armenian figures. Turkish historian Taner Akcam is also invited to the banquet during which he will be awarded for his contributions to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This is the fourth year that the President of France is attending the banquet,” he stated.

According to Varjabedian, this banquet is important from the perspective of advancement of Armenian lobbying and in terms of the unity of the Armenian community. “We will also raise the issue of selling products and weapons to Azerbaijan, just like we raised it last year,” he said.

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte: I remember Azerbaijani man, whose arms I scratched to get away from his sweaty grip

Albert Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Jan 18 2020
 
 
21:13, 18.01.2020
 
 
The Armenian-American public figure, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte had a speech Saturday at the joint special session of the inter-parliamentary committee of the National Assemblies of Armenia and Artsakh, and dedicated to the 30th anniversary of these pogroms.
 
“We escaped to Yerevan a few weeks before the final massacre of Armenians in Azerbaijan in January of 1990,” she said. “We have spent months either hiding in our apartment or hoping that violence against Armenians would but it never ended.” “Finally my parents had a horrible feeling that something would happen to us,” she said adding that they left everything behind and fled. “We barely escaped in fall of 1989. Many of my neighbors and family friends were not so lucky.”
 
“It’s been thirty years, yet I remember these days as if it happened yesterday,” she added. “I can also remember the utter horror of being injured by a grown Azerbaijani man, neighbor, whose arms I scratched and hit to get away from his sweaty and enraged grip.”
 
“I imagine the sweet faces of my neighbors and relatives as if I saw them yesterday. I remember tyotya Janna, who was my best friend’s mother. She died in January 1990 at 35 years old. Her mother died of injuries and of a broken heart,” she noted adding that the woman's son grew up in Russia as orphan.
 
“A stranger lives in my family’s house now, my neighbors were killed, my grandparents graves were bulldozed over because they were Armenian. Our friends and our relatives are now spread across the world form the US to Russia to Ukraine and Armenia,” she added.
 
She noted that the life of 350,000 people is like hers. But we are here as survivors now, she said adding that we have succeeded in different professions, in different places and we all support Armenia and Artsakh.
 
Anna Astvatsatryan noted that there is an anti-Armenian policy at the state level in Azerbaijan, and Armenia does not have a clear position, a consistent presentation on these events.  According to her, the presentation is made occasionally by Armenia, and Azerbaijan gets a great opportunity to present the story in its desired way.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Yerevan named most expensive city in South Caucasus

Albert Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 17 2020

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, appears to be the most expensive city in the South Caucasus, according to Cost of Living Index by City 2020 released by Numbeo, a global leader in comparing cost of living worldwide.

In total, the ranking list includes 440 cities. According to Numbeo, the most expensive city at the beginning of 2020 is Zurich, followed by Basel and Lausanne.

Switzerland’s Geneva and Bern have been named the world’s fourth and fifth most expensive countries.

Yerevan ranks 380th in the world with an overall cost of living index of 33.04, making it the most expensive city in the South Caucasus, since Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, come 390th and 404th on the list, respectively.

The top ten most expensive cities in the world also features Stavanger, Oslo, Trondheim (Norway), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Bergen, Norway.

Ranking 251st, Moscow is Russia's most expensive city.

While working out the list, Numbeo takes into account the cost of living, rent, groceries and other factors. 

Two issues will be in agenda of Armenian side at expected Mnatsakanyan-Mammadyarov meeting

Albert Nalbandian

Two issues will be in agenda of Armenian side at expected Mnatsakanyan-Mammadyarov meeting

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 16:49, 25 October, 2019

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. There will be two issues in the agenda of the Armenian side during the expected meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov: the security of Armenians living in Artsakh and the issue of the status, Armenian deputy foreign minister Avet Adonts told reporters in Yerevan.

“I cannot say anything on the meeting dates. The agenda is known. Two issues are in our agenda – the security of our 150.000 compatriots living in Artsakh and the issue of the status”, the deputy FM said.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovakia’s FM Miroslav Lajčák announced on October 24 that he expects to host the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs in Bratislava soon.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




168: Two detained in suspicion of killing police officer in Yerevan

Albert Nalbandian
| 11:04 | October 16 2019
Category
Society

Two persons have been detained by the Police of Armenia in suspicion of killing a police officer in Yerevan on October 16, Head of PR and Media Department of the Police Ashot Aharonyan said on Facebook.

“Additional information about the details of the incident will be provided later”, he said.

On October 16, at 04:20, one police officer was shot dead while another was beaten by two persons in Yerevan.

Criminal case has been launched into the incident.

Investigation is underway.

ARF-D member: Everyone understands that Artsakh has right to self-determination

Albert Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 15 2019

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (ARF-D) has always voiced concerns over the statements from Armenia and Artsakh that could create tension in relations, ARF-D Bureau member, Head of the Office for Armenian Cause and Political Affairs Giro Manoyan told a news conference on Tuesday.

According to him, possible tensions in relations between the two countries may even lead to a split between the two societies.

Speaking about the “Pro Artsakh Forum: Cooperation for Justice and Peace” held in Stepanakert on 11 October in attendance of more than 150 political and public figures, as well as intellectuals from over 30 countries, Manoyan said everyone understands that the people of Artsakh have the right to self-determination, with some of the speeches at the event stressing that the ultimate goal of Artsakh is reunification with Armenia.

"In this case, independence is a path, a means, while the ultimate goal is the unification. They understand the meaning of the Artsakh flag – it's about the step-by-step unification. That’s to say everyone understands that the recognition of [Artsakh’s] independence is one stage of that process,” he stressed.