Monday,
Armenian Policeman Accused Of Assaulting Oppositionist
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
• Nelli Yeghiazarian
Armenia - Opposition activist Karapet Poghosian speaks to RFE/RL in Gyumri, July
10, 2023
An opposition activist based in Gyumri on Monday claimed to have been assaulted
by a local police officer.
The maverick activist, Karapet Poghosian, said that the officer verbally abused
and hit him after a tense conversation in a local grocery store during which he
told the latter to “stay away” from him.
“It was really a surprise to me, and I will definitely try to evaluate this as a
clearly deliberate act,” Poghosian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. He did not
specify why he warned the policeman moments before the alleged assault.
Poghosian, who is a vocal critic of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, claimed that
he was attacked because of his political activities. “This is not the first time
in recent years that they resorted to violence or fabricated criminal cases
against me,” he said.
Armenia’s human rights ombudswoman, Anahit Manasian, expressed concern over the
allegations, saying that law-enforcement authorities must investigate them in a
“detailed and comprehensive” manner.
“The human rights defender once again emphasizes that violence is totally
unacceptable and condemnable,” read a statement released by Manasian’s office.
The police told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they have already launched an
internal inquiry into the incident. Another law-enforcement body, the
Investigative Committee, said it is conducting a separate probe based on the
policeman’s claim that he himself was attacked by the oppositionist.
The Gyumri incident was reported two weeks after scores of Armenian lawyers went
on strike to show support for their colleagues allegedly beaten up by police
officers.
One of the lawyers, Karen Alaverdian, claimed to have been subjected to “undue
physical force” after trying to stop several policemen kicking and punching his
client at a police station in Yerevan earlier in June. The Investigative
Committee effectively denied the allegations on June 13, saying that Alaverdian
himself shoved and even hit the officers in a bid to free the criminal suspect.
Human rights activists say that ill-treatment of criminal suspects remains
widespread in Armenia despite sweeping law-enforcement reforms promised by
Pashinian’s government. Law-enforcement officers are still rarely prosecuted or
fired for such offenses.
As recently as on June 22, a man in Yerevan claimed that the Investigative
Committee chief, Argishti Kyaramian, personally tortured and threatened to kill
him following his arrest on June 17. A spokesman for Kyaramian denied the
allegations.
Opposition Lawmaker Set To Lose Parliament Post
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia-Member of 'I Have Honor' faction Taguhi Tovmasian hold parliamentary
briefing at the RA National Assembly building in Yerevan, Armenia,10Oct,2022
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party moved on Monday to oust
the last remaining opposition lawmaker heading a standing committee of the
Armenian parliament.
The party’s parliamentary group claimed that Taguhi Tovmasian, the chairwoman of
the parliament committee on human rights, “showed an indifferent attitude
towards … hate speech in various situations, including a committee meeting
chaired by herself.” It said Tovmasian must therefore be dismissed by the
National Assembly.
The parliament’s pro-government majority referred to the April 4 meeting during
which the committee discussed two candidates for the then vacant post of
Armenia’s human rights defender. The meeting was marred by verbal abuse and
threats shouted by some Civil Contract deputies at Edgar Ghazarian, the
candidate nominated by the Armenian opposition.
Those deputies were incensed by Ghazarian’s claim that the 2018 “velvet
revolution” that brought Pashinian to power was in fact a “Turkish-Azerbaijani
revolution.” One of them, Artur Hovannisian, publicly pledged to “cut the
tongues and ears of anyone” who would make disparaging comments about the regime
change.
Hovik Aghazarian, another pro-government lawmaker, defended Hovannisian’s
scandalous behavior at the April 4 meeting, saying that it was “two levels below
what was admissible in that situation created by Taguhi Tovmasian.”
Armenia - Edgar Ghazarian (right) and pro-government deputy Artur Hovannisian
attend a paliament committee meeting, April 4, 2023.
“I could not ban Edgar Ghazarian from expressing any view during the committee
meeting just like I could not prevent Artur Hovannisian from publicly
threatening to cut the opposition candidate’s ears and tongue,” countered
Tovmasian.
“Lies have become the linchpin of the activities of the Civil Contract faction
and the party as a whole,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Tovmasian, who is a former journalist and newspaper editor, claimed that
Pashinian personally ordered his loyalists to strip her of the parliamentary
post in retaliation against her defection from his political team following
Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
The National Assembly is scheduled to debate the issue on Tuesday. Tovmasian
said she will not attend the session because of being on sick leave. She
expressed hope that fellow lawmakers will not discuss her fate in her absence.
Despite a resulting uproar, law-enforcement authorities declined to investigate
the threats. Nor did Pashinian’s party take any disciplinary action against its
lawmakers involved in the ugly scenes. It appears to have decided instead to
replace Tovmasian, who is affiliated with the opposition Pativ Unem bloc.
One of the parliament’s three deputy speakers, Ishkhan Saghatelian, and the
chairman of the parliament committee on economic affairs, Vahe Hakobian, were
ousted in July 2022 after weeks of anti-government protests organized by their
Hayastan alliance and Pativ Unem. Another Hayastan deputy, Armen Gevorgian,
immediately resigned as chairman of a committee dealing with “Eurasian
integration” in protest. Tovmasian pointedly declined to follow suit.
Gas Supply To Karabakh Briefly Unblocked By Azerbaijan
• Robert Zargarian
Nagorno-Karabakh - A woman and her son have a dinner at their home in
Stepanakert in the absence of electricity and gas, January 18, 2023.
Azerbaijan unblocked Armenia’s supplies of natural gas to Karabakh at the
weekend only to halt them again several hours later amid growing shortages of
energy, good and medicine experienced by the region’s population.
The flow of gas through a pipeline passing through Azerbaijani-controlled
territory has been regularly disrupted during Azerbaijan’s eight-month blockade
of Karabakh’s only land link with Armenia and the outside world. According to
officials in Stepanakert, it resumed on Saturday for the first time in more than
three months but stopped shortly afterwards.
Azerbaijani officials made no statements on the latest disruption which came
three weeks after Baku banned emergency supplies of food, fuel and other
essential items to Karabakh carried out by Russian peacekeepers.
A senior Karabakh official, Artak Beglarian, accused Baku of seeking to “induce
a sense of uncertainty and helplessness” among the Karabakh Armenians.
“The authorities of Azerbaijan must realize that they cannot take away our
natural rights from us and break our will and spirit of freedom with gas,
electricity, fuel, food and other household deprivations,” he wrote on Facebook.
Beglarian called on the international community to take “urgent and practical
measures” to prevent a further worsening of the humanitarian crisis in Karabakh.
“A day that began with promise again ended in disappointment and frustration,”
Toivo Klaar, the European Union’s special envoy for the South Caucasus, tweeted
on Sunday. “As reiterated many times by the EU, it is crucial that the flow of
energy supplies be restored without restrictions, as well as the movement of
people and goods via the Lachin corridor.”
The United States and Russia have also repeatedly called for an end to the
blockade. Azerbaijan has dismissed such appeals.
Nagorno-Karabakh - Customers visit an almost empty food store in Stepanakert,
January 7, 2023.
With most vehicles in Karabakh powered by pressurized natural gas, the blockage
of gas supplies has also disrupted public transport. Bus services between
Stepanakert and other Karabakh towns and villages were seriously curtailed last
week due to the fuel shortages.
Ashkhen Grigorian, a resident of the village of Machkalashen, complained on
Monday the only realistic way to get to Stepanakert from her community now is a
single minibus that runs twice a week and is too small to accommodate all local
travelers.
“We ride it if we manage to get in and stand there on one foot,” she told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Karabakh is also running out of key foodstuffs which the Russian peacekeepers
shipped from Armenia in limited quantities until the June 15 tightening of the
blockade.
“There is no fruit, vegetables, cooking oil and sugar at all,” said Anahit
Tonian, a resident of another Karabakh village. “The shops sell only limited
amounts of rise, buckwheat and macaroni.”
“We grow cucumbers and tomatoes in our garden and get by that way,” added Tonian.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Author: Anna Tamamian
Russia May Get its Hands on French Weapons, Supplied to Armenia
July 7 2023
Armenian and French defense cooperation has heated up in the past year. Last October, France appointed a permanent defense attaché to Yerevan tasked with increasing French-Armenian military cooperation. This May, Paris supplied Yerevan with 50 armored personnel carriers. Three weeks ago, 170 French parliamentarians and other elected officials called on the government to provide more military support to Armenia. And just last week, the Armenian Defense Minister was in Paris meeting with his French counterpart.
These developments worry Ukraine and Israel, who are concerned that French-supplied military technology could make its way to Russia or Iran given Armenia’s close ties to the two countries. Both Kyiv and Jerusalem have been silent publicly but have expressed their private concerns as noted by French military experts.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Russia’s military has profited from its alliance with Armenia. Since the start of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine in February of last year, senior U.S. trade and tax officials reported a surge of western electronic components sold to Russia through Armenia. This included electronic devices and chips crucial to the development of Russian cruise missiles and other weapons. Yerevan has also served as a transit hub for the Iranian drones headed to Russia. These are the drones that are often used to target civilian infrastructure.
Another cause for concern is the potential for French military technology to be reverse engineered. This March, CNN reported that Russia was capturing NATO and U.S.-supplied weapons like Javelin and Stinger missiles and sending them to Iran to be dismantled and analyzed to see if the Iranian military could make their own versions of the weapons. Iran has previously managed to reverse-engineer anti-tank guided missiles and drones from intercepted U.S. stockpiles.
The APCs that France already delivered to Armenia are the nearly 50-year-old VAB MK3s. This type of antiquated technology falling into Russian or Iranian hands would not be likely to cause too many issues. However, the French are considering supplying the Armenians with modern Sherpa and Bastion APCs. This has caused French defense experts to express their concern given Yerevan’s close ties to Moscow. And considering that Paris has supplied Kyiv with Bastion APCs, if Russia were able to get their hands on one, it would be able to better counter them on the battlefield.
France is aware of these risks but has prioritized its own influence in the South Caucasus. The weapons sale is not a matter of economics or profit, but a purely political calculation. Since their defeat in the 2020 Second Karabakh War, when Azerbaijan reclaimed a large swath of Armenian-occupied territory in the separatist territory of Karabakh, many in the Armenian government including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, understood that Russia is not a reliable guarantor of their security. The realization made Yerevan search for a new patron – France.
Pashinyan has taken real steps to move westward, including distancing itself from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization – or CSTO — defense pact. He also declared three weeks ago that Armenia would not act as a Russian ally in the war against Ukraine, leading to a retaliatory Russian ban on Armenian dairy products.
But Armenian politics are complicated. While Pashinyan appears to sincerely want to pivot Armenia westward, he can only do so much. Many Armenian elites and politicians have close ties to Russia and Armenia is still very dependent on Russia economically and militarily. Russia is Armenia’s largest trading partner in both imports and exports and has two military bases in the country. This makes reorienting extremely difficult. Additionally, Pashinyan must deal with domestic hardliners, often backed by Russia that have sabotaged attempts at making peace with Azerbaijan, a necessary step if the country aims to wean itself from Russian dependence.
That is why despite Pashinyan’s moves West, Yerevan has become one of Russia’s go-to partners in avoiding sanctions and has served as a transit hub for Western electronics used in the Russian war effort.
Armenia’s relationship with Russia is not the only cause for concern. Yerevan has also become closer to Iran as the latter seeks to contain Turkish and Azerbaijani influence on its borders. As Armenia attempts to rely less on Moscow, it has increased cooperation with Tehran.
When it comes to containing Turkey, French and Iranian interests overlap. Paris and Ankara have long competed for influence in the Eastern Mediterranean region and North Africa. Through Armenia, France feels it could counterbalance the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem in the South Caucasus.
In addition to the perceived foreign policy benefits, increased military support to Armenia would be domestically popular for Paris. France is home to an estimated 650,000 Armenians, the largest Armenian diaspora outside the United States and Russia. This population is politically active and organized and French politicians know that military support for Yerevan and Karabakh is extremely popular.
Support from the Armenian diaspora has proven more important to France than Armenia’s actual welfare and finding a peaceful solution to the thirty-year conflict over Karabakh that has ravished the region. This was proven by French President Emmanuel Macron last week, when he told representatives of the local Armenian community that he was taking a stronger stance against his Azerbaijani counterpart than Pashinyan himself.
France should reconsider supplying Armenia with modern military technology. Russian expansionism is the real threat to Europe. And given the strong defense cooperation between Russia and Armenia, there is a high risk of French military technology giving Russia an advantage while it commits war crimes on European soil. France should also consider that meddling in the South Caucasus could jeopardize Azerbaijani energy exports to the Europe Union. These exports have been crucial as the European Union seeks to become independent from Russian energy. European officials have already expressed their concerns that Moscow is trying to use the separatists in the Karabakh region to create a conflict to disrupt this supply. Given the Armenian military’s historic close collaboration with the separatists in Karabakh, much like Russia’s relationship with Ukrainian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk, French military technology supplied to Armenia could easily become part of this conflict.
If France truly wants to support Armenia, it should focus on helping the Pashinyan administration root out Russian influence. Now that Moscow is overloaded with its invasion of Ukraine and dealing with domestic challenges to Putin’s authority, it has less capacity to deal with maintaining its authority in the South Caucasus. Armenia is trying to take advantage of this trend, and hopefully it does, but it has a long way to go.
Russia calls on Azerbaijan to unblock Lachin Corridor
15:21, 6 July 2023
YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Russia has expressed extreme concern over the frequent ceasefire violations in Nagorno Karabakh and the continuing blockade of Lachin Corridor.
“According to the existing information, the humanitarian situation in the region is deteriorating. Regrettably we have to note that due to the suspension of supplies the population of Karabakh could be left without food, other essential products and reserves of medication,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing. She said that this contradicts the trilateral agreements between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
She also called on Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor.
“We call on Baku and Yerevan to resolve all issues exclusively through political-diplomatic means, we call on the Azerbaijani side to unblock the Lachin Corridor and ensure unimpeded passage of persons, vehicles and goods for civilian purposes,” Zakharova said.
Zakharova said the actions of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh would depend on the development of the situation on the ground and the trilateral agreements.
She said that Moscow maintains contact with the sides to de-escalate the tension in the region.
“These contacts continue on the political level, as well as in terms of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. And of course, a lot depends on the parties themselves, their political will and readiness to meet each other halfway. We are making all necessary efforts from our side,” Zakharova said.
Zakharova added that the Russian Foreign Minister’s Special Envoy for supporting normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Igor Khovaev, could pay a visit to the region soon.
Pashinyan again denies Azerbaijani false accusations on Armenia maintaining military presence in Nagorno Karabakh
11:28, 6 July 2023
YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned on Thursday that the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor is getting worse day by day.
“As you know, Nagorno Karabakh is deprived of supplies of all kinds of products since the June 15 provocation that happened near Hakari Bridge. Even the Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno Karabakh don’t have the possibility to carry out supplies because the Lachin Corridor is completely blockaded. Natural gas and electricity supply into Nagorno Karabakh have also been cut off by Azerbaijan for months. At the same time, we see a growing escalation in the Azerbaijani rhetoric and propaganda, especially in the direction of Nagorno Karabakh,” Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting on July 6.
Furthermore, Azerbaijan continues to make false accusations against Armenia. Azerbaijan continues to demand Armenia to withdraw what it described as units of the Armed Forces of Armenia, whereas Armenia doesn’t maintain any military presence in Nagorno Karabakh.
“In particular, Azerbaijan continues to demand the withdrawal of the army units of Armenia from Nagorno Karabakh, but Armenia doesn’t have a single soldier in Nagorno Karabakh. I say again, there is no military of Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh. Nagorno Karabakh has its own Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army, and anyone can find the reasons of its existence in the official propaganda and actions of Azerbaijan, whose overt essence is to subject the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing and genocide. We are basically witnessing the implementation of this policy today in Nagorno Karabakh,” Pashinyan added.
Azerbaijanis fire in the direction of farmers – the are no casualties
18:26,
YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. On June 25, at around 16:00, Azerbaijani servicemen fired at Mikael Mezhlumyan, a 22-year-old resident of Myurishen village, Martunu region of Artsakh, from their combat positions. Mezhlumyan was doing agricultural work with a tractor in the field on the left side of the highway from Murishen to Avdur.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Police of the Artsakh Ministry of Internal Affairs, agricultural works were stopped as a result of the shootings, no one was injured. Russian peacekeeping troops were informed about the incident.
Talks with Azerbaijan must include issue of Armenian refugees, says ex-justice minister
16:13, 21 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The case of Armenian refugees displaced from Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh relates not only to the violation of the right to property, but also interference with the right to identity, which is protected in context of the right to privacy, therefore if court rulings were to record these violations then the state could take appropriate measures, according to Artak Zeynalyan, human rights advocate, lawyer and former Minister of Justice of Armenia.
The matter also contains an element of genocidal policy that Azerbaijan is carrying out against the ethnic Armenians. The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has tasked relevant authorities to conduct studies in this regard and apply to the UNHCR.
“On this occasion there must be UN-developed mechanisms which would be used against Azerbaijan in order to eliminate the consequences of the genocide and enable the refugees to return to their homes, so that their rights are duly protected. There could be mechanisms defined by interstate agreements, so that each of the states could assume the protection of the rights of the displaced, those who have become refugees who were displaced by the adversary and are now on its territory,” Zeynalyan said.
Asked whether or not a return of Armenian refugees to their homes is realistic given Azerbaijan’s ongoing policy of ethnic cleansing against Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, Zeynalyan said that this issue must definitely be included in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations in order to receive a legal solution.
“The international legal arena and the negotiations process must be used simultaneously, because these two directions complement one another, increasing the probability of resolving the refugee issue in context of the principle of the rule of law,” he said.
The PR manager at the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Interior Ministry, Nelly Davtyan, told ARMENPRESS that the refugee issue has a history of over 30 years, with the first major flow happening in 1988-92, when 360,000 Armenians were forced to leave Azerbaijan, which served as the basis of Armenia adopting a dedicated law on them. Some of them acquired citizenship of Armenia, while others maintained the status of refugee, while a part of them left for other countries. Today, the number of Armenians forcefully displaced from Azerbaijan comprises several thousands in Armenia.
The delegation led by the adjutant general of the US State of Kansas paid tribute in "Yerablur" pantheon
19:47, 21 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. As part of the events dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Armenia-Kansas partnership, the delegation led by the adjutant general of the state of Kansas, the commander of the national guard, brigadier general Michael Venerdi, who visited the “Yerablur” military pantheon in Yerevan on June 21, and paid tribute to the memory of the fallen Armenians who sacrificed their lives for the motherland.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Defense, on the same day, the members of the delegation visited the Armavir training center. The guests were presented with details about the history, structure and activities of the center. Issues related to the process of training professional sergeants were also discussed with the members of the delegation, which is also one of the priorities of the training center.
The delegation headed by adjutant General Michael Venerdi toured the territory of the military unit, got acquainted with the social and living conditions of servicemen, the educational base and daily routine.
The Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, is also visiting Armenia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of cooperation between Armenia and Kansas.
Armenpress: The European Parliament fully supports the idea of sending an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor
20:53, 21 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The European Parliament fully supports the idea of sending an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor. ARMENPRESS reports, the chairperson of the Security and Defense Subcommittee of the European Parliament Nathalie Loiseau said during a press conference, answering the question whether the issue of sending a fact-finding team to the Lachin Corridor was discussed with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as part of her visit to Armenia, and whether she currently sees such an opportunity?
“First, there is a decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the unblocking of the Lachin Corridor, which must be properly implemented. Second, the European Parliament fully supports the idea of sending a fact-finding mission.
The European Parliament also welcomes the idea of an international presence in general to fully protect the rights and interests of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
We are also completely in favor of a UN Security Council resolution being adopted. And the sooner, the better it will be if the members of the UN Security Council prepare a draft of such a resolution,” said Loiseau.
"The Power of One Dram" initiative turns 3: more than AMD 128 million to more than 20 funds
17:06, 14 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The initiative of Idram and IDBank “The Power of One Dram” is already 3 years old. During this period, the companies have collected more than AMD 128 million to more than 20 funds and contributed to the implementation of strategically important projects. According to Mher Abrahamyan, Chairman of the Board of IDBank, “The Power of One Dram” initiative during this period proved to be a successful program of corporate social responsibility.
“First of all, we are grateful to our users who use the Idram&IDBank application not only for its convenience and speed, but also for understanding that for each of their payments we transfer 1 AMD to funds that do important and valuable work for our country. We are extremely grateful that our users are carefully following which funds become our beneficiaries. Moreover, we wanted to thank our partner funds for making a great contribution to the development of important sectors in our country: healthcare, education, defense, environmental protection,” says Mher Abrahamyan.
According to Idram director Arsene Kdenian, the initiative “The Power of One Dram” developed greatly. “I am glad that just a few days ago we announced the launch of the “The Power of One Dramik” initiative. As already known, the Idram Junior application, which is intended for youngsters under 16, has already been launched. With Idram Junior, our young users can not only make contactless QR payments, charge their phones and make transfers, but also become part of charity. We are now transferring 1 dram per initiative for each payment of our young users,” says Arsene Kdenian.
“The Power of One Dram” initiative continues, and the whole amount collected in June will be directed to improvement and equipment of the territory of the annual “Hayordi” camp.
According to Vache Vardanyan, the coordinator of “Hayordi” camp, children who lost their parents as a result of the war from all over the territory of Artsakh and Armenia, as well as children resettled from Aghavno and Berdzor, will take part in the camp.
“The Power of One Dram” supported:
- Schools in the border villages of Lori and Tavush,
- Hayastan All-Armenian Fund,
- Insurance fund for military personnel,
- Homeland defender’s rehabilitation center,
- VIVA Foundation,
- Vahe Meliksetyan Foundation,
- Health fund for children of Armenia,
- Teach for Armenia Foundation,
- City of Smiles Foundation,
- “My Forest Armenia” organization,
- “Children of Armenia” foundation,
- “QaylTech” Company,
- Rehabilitation City of Heroes,
- “4090” fund,
- “Aren Mehrabyan” Charitable Foundation,
- Music for the Future Foundation,
- Installation of water heaters in the villages of Artsakh,
- A program to identify the professional potential of war veterans,
- Road of Life organization,
- “Hayordi” camp.
IDBank and Idram transfer 1 dram for “The Power of One Dram” initiative when paying through the Idram&IDBank application, online platforms Idram.am, IDBanking.am, terminals of both companies. Each of us can become a goodwill ambassador!
And yes, it all started with just one dram.
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