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Author: Ani Basmajian

‘Armenia’ bloc representative: Many police officers from Yerevan voted in Shurnukh and other villages of Syunik Province

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
July 2 2021
‘Armenia’ bloc representative: Many police officers from Yerevan voted in Shurnukh and other villages of Syunik Province
19:52, 02.07.2021

Several police officers from Yerevan also voted in Shurnukh and other villages of Syunik Province. This is what representative of ‘Armenia’ bloc (the bloc ran in the June 20 snap parliamentary elections and won seats in parliament) Aram Vardevanyan told reporters today.

“Why was it decided that a large number of police officers had to travel from Yerevan to Syunik Province and vote? This is a question that the Police of Armenia need to answer. It would be very interesting to hear what the Police have to say about this,” he said.

Vardevanyan also stated that in December 2020, a statement was issued stating that there are 90,000 Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) living in Armenia. “How many of the 90,000 were allowed to participate in the elections? I know many weren’t allowed, but I also have reports stating that some people were allowed. How was this decided? Perhaps there were certain mechanisms for specification,” Vardevanyan added.

Turkish President Joins Azerbaijani President in Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh

Ani Basmajian
June 23 2021

Turkish President Joins Azerbaijani President in Shushi, 
Nagorno-Karabakh

06/23/2021 Nagorno-Karabakh (International Christian Concern) –  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Shushi of Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh) with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on June 15. Erdogan became the first leader to visit Shushi since the town was captured by Azerbaijan. Turkey’s military support of Azerbaijan during the 44-day war proved crucial in the capture of Shushi and the partnership between the two countries has only grown.

Erdogan reviewed the troops at a welcoming ceremony in Shushi before meeting with Aliyev. During their meeting and following announcements, agreements were made to deepen political, commercial, and military cooperation between the two.

These plans include the opening of a Turkish consulate in Shushi and the co-production of military drones. Erdogan commented saying, “We are taking measures to make sure the occupation of Azerbaijan’s historic lands doesn’t happen again.” Erdogan also suggested the creation of a regional cooperation platform including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, Georgia and Armenia.

The visit by the Turkish President brought condemnation however from the Armenian side. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said, “These provocative actions significantly harm international efforts to establish stability in the region and are absolutely unacceptable.”

For more information about the humanitarian impact of the 44-day war, see ICC’s report: Nagorno-Karabakh: A Humanitarian Perspective.

Armenpress: Nikol Pashinyan, Edmon Marukyan discuss opportunities for future cooperation

Ani Basmajian

Nikol Pashinyan, Edmon Marukyan discuss opportunities for future cooperation

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 17:54, 22 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan continues political consultations with heads of different political forces.  As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan met with head of ‘’Bright Armenia’’ Party Edmon Marukyan.

Nikol Pashinyan – Dear Mr. Marukyan, first I am thankful for accepting the invitation. I want to say that I followed the pre-election campaign of ‘’Bright Armenia’’ Party as much as I was able and, frankly speaking, I regret for that ‘’Bright Armenia’’ Party did not overcome the threshold for entering the National Assembly, because the party has its place and had a role in the political life of the recent years. Today I would also like to hear your opinions over the future of the political life and I also would like to hear what kind of solutions you see, so that the Government and extra-parliamentary opposition, including ‘’Bright Armenia’’ Party have a high level of reciprocal contact.

Edmon Marukyan – Mr. Pashinyan, I am thankful for the invitation. Yes, ‘’Bright Armenia’’ Party carried out a pre-election campaign with slogans of restoring solidarity, reconciliation and unity inside the country. In fact, we believe that our agenda was defeated in these elections. Anyway, that does not mean anything and our party will continue to have a role and present the approaches and values that are the basis of our party. I hope that holding parliamentary elections and the formation of the new parliament can help to overcome the crisis in the country.

During the meeting the interlocutors discussed issues related to the consolidation of capacities and potentials, as well as opportunities for future cooperation.

Australian Mayors join call for recognition of Armenian Genocide

Ani Basmajian
Public Radio of Armenia
 

Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney of the City of Willoughby and Mayor Jerome Laxale of the City of Ryde recently added to calls for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to recognise the Armenian Genocide, following the 106th anniversary of the mass killings and deportations committed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

Both municipalities are home to thousands of Sydney-based Armenian-Australians who were direct descendants of survivors of the Armenian Genocide and have established vibrant Armenian community centres, schools and churches.

In her letter to the Prime Minister, Mayor Giles-Gidney reaffirmed Willoughby City Council’s position and endorsed the 1997 resolution on the Armenian Genocide passed by the New South Wales State Parliament. The letter also condemned the atrocity, recognised that Assyrians and Greeks were also subjected to genocides by the same perpetrators, and noted the importance of learning from history. Mayor Giles-Gidney acknowledged the ANZAC prisoners of war who witnessed and saved Armenian victims, as well as the significant humanitarian relief effort by Australians.

Mayor Jerome Laxale’s letter to the Prime Minister called upon “the Australian Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide”, as his Council has unanimously done on several occasions at the joint initiative of Councillor Sarkis Yedelian – himself a grandchild of Armenian Genocide survivors.

ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian thanked Mayor Giles-Gidney and Mayor Laxale for their continued support and solidarity with the Armenian-Australian community, and acting on their councils’ Armenian Genocide recognition motions by calling upon the Federal Government to do the same.

“Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is important for Armenian-Australians in our pursuit for justice and for humanity in its pursuit for prevention of such crimes, therefore to have Mayors Giles-Gidney and Laxale amplify calls on our Prime Minister is both sincerely appreciated by our community and simply the right thing to do,” said Kayserian.

In 2005, the City of Ryde formally recognised the Armenian Genocide, with a memorial plaque honouring the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in forced deportations and massacres. Council reaffirmed its position in 2018 by passing of a resolution recognising the Genocide and again in 2021 by unveiling an Armenian Khatchkar (cross-stone) in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

In 2015, Willoughby City Council also passed a motion recognising the Armenian Genocide, becoming the second Australian local government to accurately characterise the events as Genocide.

The New South Wales and South Australian State Parliaments have also recognised the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, while the Australian parliament has debated in favour of motions correctly characterising the events of 1915 as genocides.

The Joint Justice Initiative of the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities has over 40 Federal parliamentarians as signatories, collectively calling on the Australian Government to recognise the genocides committed against their ancestors, while the Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also received letters calling for his accurate recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides from Mr. Trent Zimmerman MP and Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP – as co-convenors of the Armenia-Australia Inter-Parliamentary Union, Senator Janet Rice – as the Foreign Affairs Spokesperson of The Australian Greens, Hon. Jonathan O’Dea MP and Hon. Walt Secord MLC – as co-convenors of the New South Wales Armenia-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, the New South Wales Young Liberals, the New South Wales Ecumenical Council representing 16 churches, Christian Charity Barnabas Fund Australia, Kurdish Lobby Australia, Arab Council of Australia, as well as from numerous prominent academics.

The Jewish-Australian community also added their voice to these calls, with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Zionist Federation of Australia, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the editors of Australian Jewish News calling on Australia and Israel to recognise the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides.

Former Armenian PoW was surrounded by Azeris for 43 days

Ani Basmajian
PanArmenian, Armenia


PanARMENIAN.Net – Former Armenian prisoner of war Erik Khachatryan and his comrades were surrounded by Azerbaijani troops in Hadrut for 43 days before being captured. In an interview with Armlur, Khachatryan said they hid for 43 days on a roof before being discovered by the Azerbaijanis and taken to Baku.

Azerbaijan handed over 15 PoWs to Armenia, including Khachatryan, in exchange for maps of minefields in the Aghdam region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The deal was negotiated with the active facilitation of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker.

Khachatryan said he was generally treated normally, and he and his friend were even allowed to read books. Everyone with whom he spoke in the Azerbaijani prison is already in Armenia, he added. Khachatryan said he was informed of his return to Armenia on the morning of June 12.

“I did not lose hope that we’ll return home. What matters is that everything is behind us now,” the serviceman said.

Armenia freedom fighter is arrested

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
13:12, 24.06.2021

YEREVAN. – The court has granted the motion to remand—freedom fighter—Artur Ayvazyan in custody within the framework of the criminal case under investigation into swearing and making threats of violence during a live Facebook broadcast. Armenian News-NEWS.am was informed about this from the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

On June 9, Ayvazyan had organized a live broadcast on Facebook, during which he reflected on a number of incidents in Armenia, in particular the beating of an Armenian soldier by Azerbaijanis on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, and cursed those who will vote for the party led by the acting prime minister in the June 20 snap parliamentary elections.

Also, during the aforementioned broadcast, Artur Ayvazyan made threats of using violence against the same circle of people.

He has been charged and arrested.

The investigation continues.

Professor Armen Charchyan detained by police – Aram Vardevanyan

Ani Basmajian
Panorama, Armenia

Member of “Armenia” pre-election bloc, Director of Izmirlyan Medical Centre, Professor Armen Charchyan has been detained by Police, the official representative of the bloc Aram Vardevanyan reported.

“The disgraceful fact that Professor Charchyan has been detained at the instruction of the leaving authorities and particularly, the Head of Special Investigation Service, is true. This is an explicit political persecution reaching the ultimate stage of absurdity for which they will be held accountable. Erik Alexanyan will take the protection of the Professor’s rights,” Vardevanyan informed. 

Armenpress: Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 18-06-21

Ani Basmajian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 18-06-21

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 17:37,

YEREVAN, 18 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 18 June, USD exchange rate down by 0.38 drams to 513.73 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.20 drams to 612.16 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 7.12 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 4.28 drams to 713.98 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 1,377.94 drams to 29378.43 drams. Silver price down by 18.76 drams to 439.26 drams. Platinum price down by 905.93 drams to 18069.38 drams.

CivilNet: The “Criminal Side” of #ArmVote21 Candidates

Ani Basmajian
CIVILNET.AM

17 Jun, 2021 06:06

Civilnet investigated the first 20 candidates running for parliament from each of the 26 parties participating in the elections on June 20. The analysis examination showed that at least 32 candidates from all the parties running  either have passed criminal charges or are currently in the midst of ongoing criminal cases.

Remains of four soldiers found in Nagorno-Karabakh

Ani Basmajian
The Caucasian Knot, EU

Near the cities of Varanda and Djrakan (Djebrail), Karabakh rescuers have found remains of four soldiers, thus, bringing the total number of bodies and remains found to 1567, the Nagorno-Karabakh emergency service has informed.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on May 24, 20201, Karabakh rescuers resumed searching for the remains of those who perished in the conflict zone. By June 8, the total number of bodies and remains found in the conflict zone reached 1563.

Now, remains of four more perished militaries have been found in the battlefield. They were removed from the regions of Varanda (the Azerbaijani name is Fizuli, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) and Djrakan (the Azerbaijani name is Djebrail, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”), the “Sputnik-Armenia” reported in the evening of June 10 with reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh’s emergency service.

According to the preliminary version, the remains belong to participants in the battles; a forensic medical examination has been appointed to identify them. In total, in the Karabakh conflict zone, the total number of bodies and remains found has reached 1567, the Nagorno-Karabakh emergency service reported in the evening on June 10 on its Facebook page.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 08:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

In Armenia, investigators disclose details of case on storage of soldiers’ remains, Head of Armenian MPH apologizes for storage conditions for bodies of those who perished in Karabakh, Relatives of missing soldiers block a street in Yerevan.

Author: The Caucasian Knot;

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot