Author: Antonian Lara

Armenia PM highlights formation of common EAEU gas market

Antonian Lara
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 4 2020
 


The Armenian side prioritizes the full implementation of the project “Strategic Directions for the Development of Eurasian Integration by 2025” , Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the siting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

This document is aimed at bringing the levels of economic development of the member states closer, expanding the spheres of economic cooperation, and improving the institutions of the Eurasian Economic Union’s regulatory sphere, he said.

“The mechanisms for the formation of common markets without barriers and restrictions mentioned in this document are an important factor for the practical establishment of the four freedoms, the cooperation of our national economies and the level of competitiveness,” the Prime Minister stressed.

He noted that the implementation of the document will serve to strengthen the Union’s reputation in the world, and will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of its investment and innovative attractiveness.

“The need to create equal, non-discriminatory conditions of competition in all sectors of the Union’s economies remains a key issue for us. That is why we believe that it is necessary to pursue a coordinated energy policy to develop the common markets for oil, oil products, gas, as well as the common market for electricity,” PM Pashinyan stated.

In this regard, he added that the adoption of an international agreement on the EAEU common gas market will be of great importance. It envisages the implementation of common approaches to pricing and tariff setting in the EAEU common gas market, including common tariffs for services provided by natural gas monopolies.

The Prime Minister highlighted the creation of a single market for construction services. “The adoption of an action plan in this area is an important step in that direction. In the context of the envisaged measures, it is possible to develop an international agreement within the EAEU on mutual recognition of the professional qualifications of the leading technical personnel in the field of construction.”

“Finally, I would like to address the issue of providing tariff benefits for goods and services from developing, less developed countries. I consider it necessary to immediately review the list of countries using the common system of tariff privileges. It must be made in accordance with our own standards,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

He reiterated Armenia’s readiness for active cooperation in favor of further development of Eurasian integration.


Armenian president to pay private visit to Moscow

Antonian Lara
TASS, Russia
Nov 28 2020
Armen Sarkissian plans to meet with members of the Armenian community in Russia to discuss the situation in his country and Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN, November 28. /TASS/. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian will pay a private visit to Moscow on Saturday, where he plans to meet with members of the Armenian community in Russia to discuss the situation in his country and Nagorno-Karabakh, the head of state’s press service said.

“President Armen Sarkissian left for a private visit to Russia’s capital Moscow on November 28. While continuing discussions with representatives of the Armenian diaspora, President Sarkissian will have meetings with members of the Armenian community in the Russian Federation, during which he will raise the issue of events involving Artsakh (the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic – TASS) and the situation in Armenia,” the press service said.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region declared secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. In the armed conflict of 1992-1994 Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining districts.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region.

Nikol Pashinyan gives interview to Public TV

Antonian Lara

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 19:56, 13 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to Public TV, ARMENPRESS reports Mane Gevorgyan, spokesperson of PM Pashinyan, wrote on her Facebook page.

”Today at 22:00 you can watch the interview of Prime Minister with Petros Ghazaryan”, Gevorgyan wrote.

Pashinyan Signs Agreement to End War, Surrenders Territories Including Shushi

Antonian Lara

November 9,  2020



Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan revealed that he had signed an agreement with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan that will end the fighting in the Karabakh conflict zone, and will surrender Aghdam, Lachin, Kelbajar and Shushi to Azerbaijan.

The agreement also calls for the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces in the region for a minimum of five years. The Russian border troops will also allow for the unimpeded transport between Azerbaijan-proper and Nakhichevan through Armenia.

“I have signed an agreement on the termination of the Karabakh war with Russian and Azerbaijani presidents that will begin at 1 a.m. The text of the statement, which has already been publicized is unbelievably painful for me and our people,” Pashinyan said in a Facebook post early Tuesday local time immediately after the end of the military hostilities went into effect.

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan soon took to Facebook to announce that he had consulted with Pashinyan and had agreed to the decision in the name of salvaging lives.

Below is the text of the agreement.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia
and the President of the Russian Federation
We, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan I. G. Aliyev,
Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikolai Pashinyan and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced the following:

1. A complete ceasefire and end all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are announced from 00:00 hours Moscow time on . The Republic of Azerbaijan
and the Republic of Armenia, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, stop at their positions.

2. The Aghdam region and the territories held by the Armenian Party in the Gazakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall be returned to the Azerbaijan Party until November 20, 2020.

3. Along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor, a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is deployed in the amount of 1,960 servicemen with small arms, 90 armored personnel carriers, 380 units of automobile and special equipment.

4. A peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation will be deployed in conjunction with the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces. The duration of the stay of the peacekeeping mission of the Russian Federation is five years, with an automatic extension subsequent five-year periods, if none of the Parties declares six months before the expiration of the period of intention to terminate the application of this provision.

5. In order to increase the effectiveness of control over the implementation of the agreements by the Parties to the conflict, a peacekeeping center is being deployed to control the ceasefire.
6. The Republic of Armenia will return the Kelbajar region to the Republic of Azerbaijan by November 15, 2020, and the Lachin region by December 1, 2020, leaving behind the Lachin corridor (5 km wide), which will ensure the connection of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and at the same time not will affect the city of Shushi.

By agreement of the Parties, in the next three years, a plan for the construction of a new traffic route along the Lachin corridor, providing communication between Stepanakert and Armenia, with the subsequent redeployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to protect this route will be determined.

The Republic of Azerbaijan will guarantee traffic safety along the Lachin corridor of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions.

7. Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas under the control of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

8. There is an exchange of prisoners of war and other detained persons and bodies of the dead.

9. All economic and transport links in the region are unblocked. The Republic of Armenia provides transport links between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic in order to organize the unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions. Control over transport communication is carried out by the bodies of the Border Guard Service of the FSB of Russia.

By agreement of the Parties, the construction of new transport communications linking the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic with the western regions of Azerbaijan will be provided.

November 2020

The president
The Republic of Azerbaijan

Prime Minister
Republic of Armenia

The president
Russian Federation

Catalonian city of Berga recognizes Artsakh independence

Antonian Lara

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 13:11, 6 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The City Council of Berga, Catalonia, has recognized the independence of the Republic of Artsakh, the Armenian Culture Union of Barcelona reports.

“The plenary session of the City Council has acknowledged and recognized the independence of the Republic of Artsakh, the peoples’ right to self-determination and territorial integrity with the majority of votes at the proposal of the Armenian Culture Union of Barcelona”, the statement says.

Berga is the capital of the county of Berguedà, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia to sends facts of use of phosphorus ammunition by Azerbaijan to international organizations

Antonian Lara

Armenia to sends facts of use of phosphorus amunition by Azerbaijan to international organizations

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 21:52,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh are currently conducting joint analyses, the results of which will be published and sent to relevant international bodies, ARMENPRESS reports Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook page.

”Objective evidence was published on the Azerbaijani Armed Forces to use ammunition of mass destruction containing chemical elements in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) yesterday and today.

According to the information the ammunition contained phosphorus. A number of reports have been released since then certifying that the ammunitions contain other chemicals of mass destruction.

Nonetheless, at least the following facts should be highlighted:

1) mass destruction ammunitions are used;

2) ammunitions contain chemical elements;

3) are used towards forests, causing mass fires and destruction;

4) according to expert assessments, the fire, caused by this type of weapon is not stopped even with the extinguishing materials or water;

5) the forests where these ammunitions were used, are located near the civilian communities (according to the current data these are regions of Shushi, Martakert, Askeran);

6) according to the fact-finding activities, civilians are hiding from attacks of Azerbaijani military forces in those forests.

The usage of thess ammunitions especially through these methods, are prohibited by international law.

The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh are currently conducting joint analyses, the results of which will be published and sent to relevant international bodies”, Tatoyan wrote.

[see video]

Azerbaijan’s Aliyev tried to mislead the special envoy of the President of Iran with his false state

Antonian Lara

Azerbaijan’s Aliyev tried to mislead the special envoy of the President of Iran with false claims

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 19:53,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Referring to the historical-cultural and religious heritage of Artsakh, in a meeting with the special envoy of the President of Iran Abbas Araghchi, president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev deliberately made false claims that cultural and religious monuments of Artsakh, particularly mosques are in ruins.

ARMENPRESS reports that according to experts, it’s not surprising that Azerbaijan, after purposefully bombing Shushi’s Ghazanchetsots Church twice, speaks about the protection of cultural and religious monuments.

The Azerbaijani leader should be reminded that in contrast to the Baku authorities, by the decision of which one of the 19th-century mosques in the center of Baku was demolished in 2017, by the efforts of the leadership of Artsakh the Shushi Mosque was fully restored and reconstructed.

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Diplomacy urged as Nagorno-Karabakh fighting rages

Antonian Lara
CGTN China
Oct 28 2020
CGTN
Ruins of a house that was destroyed by shelling during a military conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the city of Terter, . /Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as fighting in and around the region continues as the ceasefire brokered in Washington failed again.

Armenia acknowledged overnight that Nagorno-Karabakh forces had withdrawn from a strategic town between the mountain enclave and the Iranian border.

Both sides accused each other on Tuesday of striking targets outside Nagorno-Karabakh itself in defiance of a truce brokered by Pompeo at the weekend.

Pompeo, in India on Tuesday, spoke separately with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev over phone and “pressed the leaders to abide by their commitments to cease hostilities and pursue a diplomatic solution,” the State Department said.

Azerbaijan rejects any solution that would leave Armenians in control of the enclave that is part of Azerbaijan but populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Armenia says it will not withdraw from territory it views as part of its historic homeland and where the population needs protection.

The ethnic Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh “defense ministry” said its military had recorded 1,009 deaths since the fighting erupted on September 27. Azerbaijan has not disclosed its military casualties. Russia has estimated as many as 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

A car is damaged by shelling during the military conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the town of Martuni, ./Reuters

A car is damaged by shelling during the military conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the town of Martuni, ./Reuters

What the major powers say?

World powers want to prevent a wider war that might suck in Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a defense pact with Armenia. The conflict is also close to pipelines that carry oil and gas from Azerbaijan to international markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that it was disappointing to see the U.S.-brokered ceasefire collapsed. “It’s disappointing to see that, but that’s what happens when you have countries that have been going at it for a long time.”

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Twitter that Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi would travel to several countries including Turkey and Russia to discuss the crisis.

And Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that Iran has prepared a peace proposal for the regional conflict. “Iran’s proposal for permanent resolution of the conflict will be tabled either today or tomorrow.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, discussed Nagorno-Karabakh in a phone call. Moscow said they discussed an immediate ceasefire.

The OSCE Minsk Group, formed to mediate the conflict and led by France, Russia and the United States, is scheduled to meet the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers in Geneva on October 29. Turkey has demanded a bigger role in the mediating body.

(With input from agencies)

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-10-28/Diplomacy-urged-as-Nagorno-Karabakh-fighting-rages-UWVl2a9KvK/index.html