Author: Arsine Chaltikian

ArmInfo.The situation around the Lachin corridor should be tackled based on Paragraph 6 of the Trilateral Statement, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on  Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, non-partisan Taguhi  Tovmasyan wrote in a Facebook post referring to replies by the  Embassy of Russia in Armenia.  

I consistently inform my international colleagues, ambassadors accredited to Armenia about the continuous appearances of the criminal behavior by Azerbaijan. With a regular  letter I drew the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the  Russian Federation in the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr. Sergey  Kopirkin’s attention to the fact that Azerbaijan attacked Artsakh on  August 1 trying to cross the contact line afterwards using mortars,  grenade launchers and shock UAVsъ Since Azerbaijan again broke the  Trilateral Statement from November 10, 2020 and in the result victims  and casualties were registered, I requested my Russian colleague to  condemn such a criminal behavior by Azerbaijan, take steps towards  the stabilization of the situation in the region. 

I received a letter from the Embassy of Russia in Armenia according  to which the situation in the area of responsibility of Russian  peacekeeping contingent and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is an  important issue for Russian foreign policy. “We would like to draw  your attention to the Statement by the MFA of Russia on August 4 with  regard to the escalation of the situation on the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict zone. The Ministry called the two sides to show restraint,  hold the ceasefire regime and confirmed the necessity for the  regulation in accordance with the Statements by the leaders of  Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 10, 2020, January 11 and  November 26, 2021. (…) Russian peacekeepers make all possible  efforts to stabilize the situation “on the ground”. The important  role of Russian peacekeeping contingent was stressed in Baku and  Yerevan many times. They are sure that they totally deserve the  trust. We are ready to further show any necessary support to the  normalization of the ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan”.

With another letter I drew my Russian colleagues’ attention to the  process of handing over the settlements Berdzor, Aghavno and Nerkin  Sus to Azerbaijan. There are only a few days left for the Armenian  settlements to be handed over to Azerbaijan. And as closer we get  such a shameful reality imposed on the Armenians worldwide by Nikol  Pashinyan’s Government, the concept of the future becomes more and  more indeterminate. I informed Mr. Kopirkin with my letter about the  current difficulties as well as the concerns of my deputy colleagues  of Artsakh that the human, technical and transportation means are not  sufficient to carry out the evacuation process in time. I asked to  assist in setting up an extended deadline for the evacuation of the  communities in question.  

With the reply letter the Embassy of Russia in Armenia informs that  the situation around the Lachin corridor should be tackled based on  Paragraph 6 of the Trilateral Statement. It is worth mentioning that  according to the mentioned by the Embassy of Russia in Armenia  Paragraph 6, The Parties have agreed that a plan for the construction  of a new route along the Lachin corridor shall be determined within  the next three years, providing communication between  Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, with the subsequent redeployment of  Russian peacekeeping troops to protect this route. Considering also  the statement made by the Advisor-Envoy of the Russian Embassy in  Yerevan, Mr. Maksim Seleznyov recently, that “Russian peacekeepers  will not move an inch from the existing Lachin corridor until the new  road is exploited”, one can assume that not everything is clear on  this matter. By the way there is still more than a year left before  the expiration of the specified three-year period.

The Embassy of Russia adds that discussions with interested sides are  held regarding the matters raised by their letter aimed at reaching  agreement satisfying everyone to realize the Trilateral Statement.  “For this purpose we are in constant dialogue with Armenian and  Azerbaijani sides on the highest, as well as the levels of Russian  Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.  Phone talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime  Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan were held on August 2 and 8 S.V  Lavrov and S.K. Shoigu had contacts with Armenian and Azerbaijani  colleagues. Taking into account the sensitivity of the problematics,  discussion details were not disclosed, however such conversations  appear to be an important and effective tool for the regulation”.

ArmInfo. Only 12% of respondents in Armenia after 2020 visited Artsakh. This is evidenced by the results of the “Rule and Order” survey of the MPG consulting  company.

Thus, to the question of when you visited Artsakh, only 12% of the  respondents answered that they visited Artsakh after the large-scale  aggression of the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem against Artsakh. 55.8%  of respondents said that they were in Artsakh before the 2020 war.

When asked how you feel about the conversation between RA Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,  and congratulating the latter on a religious holiday, 9.4% of  respondents answered definitely positive, 21.8% – rather positively,  9.8% – rather negatively, 34.6% – definitely negatively, another  24.5% of the respondents found it difficult to answer.

At the same time, 53.4% of those polled are convinced that there are  no political prisoners in Armenia today, and 46.6% believe that there  are.  

At the same time, 73.1% of the respondents were informed about the  lawsuit around the film director Armen Grigoryan. 26.9% were not  informed. And only 11.6% of the respondents blame the acting  authorities of the Republic of Armenia for the death of Grigoryan,  6.4% of the respondents blame the judiciary, 45.7%  of the  respondents believe that no one is to blame and he had health  problems. 4.6% gave a different answer, another 35.9% found it  difficult to answer.  

At the same time, when asked whether, in your opinion, the opposition  factions should return to parliament in September, 11.4% of  respondents said unequivocally yes, 14.7% – rather yes, 11.1% rather  no, 31.4% – rather no, 31.2% – found it difficult to answer. At the  same time, when asked if there were elections next Sunday for which  bloc or political force you would vote, 16% of respondents mentioned  Nikol Pashinyan’s “Civil Contract”, 5.1% – Robert Kocharyan’s  “Hayastan” bloc, 2.7% “I have honor” bloc of Serzh Sargsyan, 2.3% –  Gagik Tsarukyan’s “Prosperous Armenia” party. 4.5% stated that they  will not vote for anyone, 12.1% refused to answer, 15.6% found it  difficult to answer, 32.8% noted that they would not participate in  the elections.

It should be noted that the survey was conducted through telephone  calls to residents of the Republic of Armenia in the period from June  30 to August 5 this year, the sample size was 1005 people, the  sampling error was +/- 3%.  In 2011, MPG became the official  representative of the Gallup International Association in Armenia,  one of the most prestigious and independent public opinion research  organizations in the world. Since 2003, MPG, working in the  sociological and marketing research market, has implemented more than  800 projects of various sizes.

In the last round of the World Chess Olympiad taking place in the Indian city of Chennai, the rival of the Armenian men’s team will be the Spanish team.

In previous rounds, the Armenian team defeated Madagascar (4-0), Andorra (3-1), Egypt (2.5-1.5), Austria (3-1), England (2.5-1.5), second team India (2.5-1.5) and first team India (2.5-1.5), Azerbaijan (3-1), played a draw against team USA, and lost to Uzbekistan (1-3).

Armenia and Uzbekistan are tied for first place with 17 points each. 

Armenia’s women’s team will face Croatia in the last round. Both teams scored 14 points, sharing 11-21 places.