Author: Antranik Varosian

Safeguarding the People of Nagorno-Karabakh

Antranik Varosian
   
Date: 
Wednesday, – 2:15pm
Location: 
2360 Rayburn House Office Building

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on safeguarding the people of Nagorno-Karabakh as risks of renewed violence in and around the enclave increase.

Two and a half years after a bloody six-week war pushed Armenian forces out of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, tensions are again escalating. A blockade of the Lachin corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijani-backed activists has entered its 7th month, and on April 23 Azerbaijan opened a military checkpoint on the corridor that is widely viewed as inconsistent with the provisions of the 2020 ceasefire agreement that ended the last war.  A number of international efforts are underway to mitigate the risk of a new full-blown war, including by officials at the U.S. State Department. One major issue is what is required to adequately protect the rights and safety of ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan seeks to assert control.

This hearing will examine the measures required to adequately safeguard, during this period of blockade and negotiation, a vulnerable ethnic population, and offer recommendations for U.S. policy.

This hearing will be open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the interested public, and the media. The hearing will be livestreamed via the Commission website and will also be available for viewing on channel 53 of the House Digital Channel service. For any questions, please contact Mark Milosch (for Co-Chair Smith) or Kimberly Stanton (for Co-Chair McGovern). 

Christopher H. Smith
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC

Panel I          

  • Ambassador Sam Brownback
  • Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
  • David Phillips, Director, Peace-Building and Human Rights Program, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University
  • John M. Evans, Former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Department of State

Witnesses may be added.

Related Items: 
Azerbaijan: Do Human Rights Matter?
118th Congress
Watch the video at 

CSTO foreign ministerial meeting underway in Minsk

Antranik Varosian

 15:21,

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. The narrow-format meeting between foreign ministers of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states is underway in Minsk, Belarus, Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said on June 20.

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan is participating in the meeting.

Azerbaijan opens cross-border gunfire at U.S.-affiliated plant’s construction site in Armenian village

Antranik Varosian

 14:44,

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani forces have again opened cross-border gunfire at a U.S.-affiliated steel mill construction site in the Armenian village of Yeraskh, the ministry of defense said Monday.

“On June 19, at 1:25 p.m., the units of the Azerbaijani AF opened fire from different caliber small arms targeting the metallurgical plant in Yeraskh, which is being built with foreign investment,” the Ministry of Defense of Armenia said in a statement.

The construction site was again targeted by Azeri forces last week, resulting in two Indian workers getting shot and wounded.

Armenian, Hispanic Parents Clash With Antifa, School Board Over LGBTQ Agenda

Antranik Varosian
Daily Wire
June 7 2023
By  Hank Berrien

Tensions boiled over Tuesday night outside a California school board meeting where officials were discussing efforts to celebrate Pride month, with parents and activists squaring off against masked Antifa members.

The clash came outside the Glendale Unified School District’s headquarters, where parents, many from the Los Angeles County city’s Armenian and Hispanic communities, were blasting board members for promoting a pro-LGBTQ agenda to young children. Other speakers, including a man in a skirt and high heels, showed up in support of the district’s pro-Pride agenda, according to reports.

“All of these fake people [pointing to several masked crowd members] are going to go away, and we’re going to vote every one of you [pointing to the school board] out,” one father warned, according to The Daily Signal.

The issue has roiled the district in recent days, with many parents, including those from ethnic communities, pulling their children out of school in protest.  Some elementary schools only had a 40% attendance rate on June 2, The Daily Signal reported.

Outside the meeting Tuesday, three people were arrested as parents confronted members of Antifa clad in masks and pink bandanas. It was not known who was arrested, but Glendale Police said the suspects “exceeded the bounds of peaceful assembly.”

Armenian parents have not been the only ethnic community protesting the LGBTQ+ agenda.

Parents told board members inside and media covering the confrontation outside that they opposed pushing the pro-LGBTQ agenda on children.“Bringing in curriculum for K-6 on gender ideology, that is what we’re against,” Any Torosyan, a parent from Glendale, told KTLA.

“I graduated from Glendale in ‘96, and I have two daughters,” one father told the board. “My daughter is afraid to change in the locker room because she knows another guy could come into the room. When I asked the principal, he told me there were no cross-gender bathroom policies.”

One teacher who works in the district told the board that children know they are transgender by as early as 3 years old, and that they are being persecuted.

“I am also a community member who volunteers extensively in South LA and work with the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles with queer/trans youth in large groups, and so I deal with a lot of their trauma related to the hetero-normative, Judeo-Christian, patriarchal, imperialist, capitalist system that oppresses them.”

“Recently, intentional and harmful disinformation has been circulating about what is being taught in our district and the ways we serve our students,” Glendale Unified School District said in a statement. “This includes disinformation about LGBTQIA+ curriculum, sex education, and supporting transgender and gender non-conforming youth.”

“The option to opt out pertains only to certain curriculum, including development/maturation and sex education. Parents/guardians may not opt their child out of any lesson referencing LGBTQ+ individuals and history, as dictated by the FAIR Act,” the statement adds.

The California FAIR Education Act was passed in 2011. It requires instruction in history/ social science to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans in the teaching of California and United States history.

The California Department of Education’s California Healthy Youth Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 2016, mandates that K-12 curriculum incorporate the LGBTQ agenda.

“Instruction shall affirmatively recognize that people have different sexual orientations and, when discussing or providing examples of relationships and couples, must be inclusive of same-sex relationships,” it states. “It must also teach students about gender, gender _expression_, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes.”

EU mission expands to contain Baku’s provocations – Armenian political scientist

Antranik Varosian
June 7 2023
  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

New operation centers for the EU mission

The head of the EU monitoring mission in Armenia announced that in the coming months it is planned to open three additional operational centers for monitoring the border with Azerbaijan. Markus Ritter said that they will be located in Kapan, Ijevan and Yeghegnadzor.

Political scientist Gurgen Simonyan explains that the EU mission intends to place its observers in the direction where “the armed forces of Azerbaijan are illegally present.” He believes that monitoring these sections of the Armenian border “will help neutralize Baku’s destructive and destabilizing steps.”

  • Russian and Western platforms for Baku-Yerevan negotiations: Similarities and differences
  • “The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan includes Nagorno-Karabakh,” and other statements by Pashinyan
  • Withdrawal from CSTO not on the agenda of Yerevan: What is the danger?

The head of the mission of civilian observers monitoring the Armenian border said that more than 300 patrols have been carried out since February 20. The total length of patrol routes was 3,800 kilometers.

The EU monitors arrived in Armenia in February of this year on a long-term two-year mission. It consists of 100 people: 50 observers and 50 administrative staff. The purpose of the mission is to promote stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground and create favorable conditions for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Markus Ritter recalled that the mission in Armenia materialized urgently, “with unprecedented haste.” He said that at the moment operational centers exist in the cities of Goris, Jermuk and Martuni.

“Our goal is to help stabilize the security situation in the border areas. According to various Armenian officials, our work contributed to a certain stabilization. However, in general, the situation is still unstable.”

The head of the mission of EU observers monitoring the Armenian-Azerbaijani border said that they inform the Azerbaijani authorities in advance when and where exactly they will be

According to political scientist Gurgen Simonyan, in order to understand what caused the need for additional operational centers in the directions indicated by the head of the mission, one should simply look at the map.

“The additional accumulation of forces and the activation of Azerbaijan near Yeghegnadzor are aimed at cutting off the Tigranashen-Yeghegnadzor connection, having control over this small area and tearing off Syunik [the southern region of Armenia bordering Azerbaijan]. The EU mission is expanding to contain Baku’s provocations,” he told JAMnews.

According to the political scientist, international actors are trying to prevent this, but the increase in the combat capability of the Armenian armed forces also plays a significant role.

According to him, the EU monitoring mission “does not give Baku the opportunity to create moral grounds for military aggression.” Such a basis could be the factual justification by Azerbaijan that Armenia was the first to start hostilities. However, this is not possible in the presence of EU observers. Simonyan explains that this presence is not limited to patrolling and monitoring the border:

“The mission headquarters takes into account, studies the factual data provided by the Armenian side, then presents them in the form of reports to the EU, EU member states and other interested parties.”

The political scientist says that recordings from cameras installed along the border by the Armenian Ministry of Defense are also taken into account. He gives an example of military clashes near the village of Tegh in April:

“Azerbaijan could not present its own provocation in this area as aggression from the Armenian side, because it was recorded by cameras, there was factual material.”

The expert also commented on the statement of the head of the EU mission, which he made in April. Markus Ritter said that the observers inform Azerbaijan when and where the monitoring will be carried out.

“This is done so that Azerbaijan does not resort to provocations. This is not about the fact that Azerbaijanis are warned in advance: “We will be out of place, do nothing against Armenia.” They are warned: “Please note that we will be on this site.” All their movements take place on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, or in the contact zone, so Azerbaijan is informed that their armed forces should not open fire on observers,” Simonyan says.

He positively assesses the activities of the EU mission and believes that the observers are fulfilling their task. He says that after their deployment on the border, “we have not observed cases of large-scale military aggression.”

He emphasizes that the activities of the mission, as well as the ongoing Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process on the European platform, should be considered within the framework of the policy pursued by the West:

“And the collective West under the leadership of the United States is not interested in any military conflict or escalation in the region.”

https://jam-news.net/new-operation-centers-for-the-eu-mission/

Direct dialogue is key to durable and dignified peace – U.S. State Department on upcoming Armenia-Azerbaijan talks

Antranik Varosian

 10:26, 8 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS. The United States looks forward to hosting another round of talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington next week, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel has said.

“We look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington as the parties continue to pursue a peaceful future in the South Caucasus region. You’ve heard the Secretary and others speak to this. We continue to believe that direct dialogue is key towards reaching a durable and dignified peace,” Patel said at a press briefing on June 7. 

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov are scheduled to start a new round of talks in the U.S. capital on June 12.

Azerbaijan provides information to the ECHR regarding 2 kidnapped Armenian servicemen

Antranik Varosian

 17:44, 7 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. On June 7, the Office of the Representative for International Legal Matters of Armenia received information from the European Court of Human Rights regarding the two Armenian servicemen submitted by Azerbaijan to the European Court, including medical documents and details of detention conditions.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the message issued by the Office of the Representative on International Legal Matters, Armenia will present its position regarding the information and documents provided by Azerbaijan within the deadline set by the European Court, until June 16.

On May 26, the armed forces of Azerbaijan invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and abducted 2 Armenian servicemen who were delivering food to combat positions. Fake criminal cases were initiated against the kidnapped Armenian servicemen in Azerbaijan, presenting them as “saboteurs”.




Today marks Aram Khachaturian’s 120th anniversary

Antranik Varosian
Panorama
Armenia – June 6 2023

Today, June 6, marks the 120th birth anniversary of world-renowned Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.

Тhe 19th Khachaturian International Competition is launching on 6 June to commemorate the anniversary of the great composer. The celebrated classical music event will host young pianists from around the world in Yerevan, Armenia.

Aram Khachaturian was one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century classical music whose renown was recognized worldwide and works performed by a great number of celebrated orchestras. Not only was Khachaturian’s music nourished by his Armenian origins but his identity always remained infused with the native spirit of Armenian musical and cultural heritage, even though he lived most of his life away from Armenia.

Born and raised in Tbilisi, the multicultural capital of Georgia, Khachaturian moved to Moscow in 1921 following the Sovietization of the Caucasus. Without prior music training, he enrolled in the Gnessin Musical Institute, subsequently studying at the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Nikolai Myaskovsky, among others. His first major work, the Piano Concerto (1936), popularized his name within and outside the Soviet Union. It was followed by the Violin Concerto (1940) and the Cello Concerto (1946). His other significant compositions include the Masquerade Suite (1941), the Anthem of the Armenian SSR (1944), three symphonies (1935, 1943, 1947), and around 25 film scores. Khachaturian is best known for his ballet music—Gayane (1942) and Spartacus (1954). His most popular piece, the “Sabre Dance” from Gayane, has been used extensively in popular culture and has been covered by a number of musicians worldwide. His style is “characterized by colorful harmonies, captivating rhythms, virtuosity, improvisations, and sensuous melodies”.

During most of his career, Khachaturian was approved by the Soviet government and held several high posts in the Union of Soviet Composers from the late 1930s, although he joined the Communist Party only in 1943. Along with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was officially denounced as a “formalist” and his music dubbed “anti-people” in 1948 but was restored later that year. After 1950 he taught at the Gnessin Institute and the Moscow Conservatory and turned to conducting. He traveled to Europe, Latin America and the United States with concerts of his own works. In 1957 Khachaturian became the Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers, a position he held until his death.

Khachaturian composed the first Armenian ballet music, symphony, concerto, and film score. He is considered the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century. While following the established musical traditions of Russia, he broadly used Armenian and, to lesser extent, Caucasian, Eastern and Central European, and Middle Eastern peoples’ folk music in his works. He is highly regarded in Armenia, where he is considered a “national treasure”.

Khachaturian went on to serve again as Secretary of the Composers Union, starting in 1957 until his death. He was also a deputy in the fifth Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (1958–62). In the last two decades of his life, Khachaturian wrote three concert rhapsodies—for violin (1961–62), cello (1963) and piano (1965)—and solo sonatas for unaccompanied cello, violin, and viola (1970s), which are considered to be his second and third instrumental trilogies.

Khachaturian died in Moscow on 1 May 1978, after a long illness, just short of his 75th birthday. He was buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan on 6 May, next to other distinguished Armenians. He was survived by his son, Karen, and daughter, Nune, and his nephew, Karen Khachaturian, who was also a composer.

EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to avoid steps that could put peace process at risk

Antranik Varosian
June 1 2023

The Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process has, during the past month, seen an intensification, which the European Union welcomes, the EU spokesperson has said in a statement. 

“The EU believes that it is important to keep this historic momentum and avoid steps, including hostile rhetoric, that could put the peace process at risk,” says the statement published on 30 May. “Despite the difficult conflict history and past grievances, all issues need to be resolved exclusively by peaceful means, through dialogue.”

Following the negotiations on the peace treaty that were held in the United States in early May, a leaders’ meeting took place in Brussels on 14 May, ahead of another meeting scheduled for 1 June in Chișinău, Moldova. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan also met in Moscow. 

In Brussels, the negotiations focused on several key topics, such as border issues, connectivity, humanitarian issues and the rights and security of Armenians living on the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

Since then, the leaders reaffirmed publicly their unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration and the respective territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 km2) and Azerbaijan (86,600 km2).

The EU recalls that it is committed to supporting the parties in their endeavour to reach a comprehensive normalisation.

Find out more

Press release

Rostelecom to build a 200-rack data center in Armenia

Antranik Varosian
DCD – Data Center Dynamics
June 1 2023

Confirms plan to expand via GNC-Alfa subsidiary

Russian telco Rostelecom is planning to a new data center in Armenia.

The Tass news agency reports Rostelecom’s Armenian subsidiary GNC-Alfa plans to launch a 200-rack facility in Armenia in early 2024. Neither location nor power capacity were shared.

– Getty Images

“We continue to actively develop in Armenia, where we have a subsidiary and a data center is currently being built. This will be the first large data center created according to the most stringent requirements in the country, there is a lot of interest from government agencies. At the beginning of next year, 200 racks with the possibility of a rapid increase in capacity should already be launched,” said Mikhail Oseevsky, president of Rostelecom.

News that Rostelecom was considering a facility in Armenia surfaced last year. The news was an about-face for Rostelecom, which was reportedly looking to sell its Armenian unit in 2021. The company confirmed in March 2023 it had dropped the sale plans.

“There is no issue of selling it anymore, we have decided to develop it actively,” said Oseevsky said at the time.

CJSC GNC-Alfa, a subsidiary company of Rostelecom in Armenia, provides Internet access, fixed telephony, IP TV, and other services in the country. The company’s 2,500km fiber optic network covers 80 percent of the country’s territory.

Founded in 2007, Rostelecom acquired a majority stake in the company in 2012.