Author: Babken Chilingarian

Azerbaijan says it quelled Armenian attack near Nagorno-Karabakh

Babken Chilingarian
Al Jazeera, Qatar
Aug 3 2022

The European Union demands an end to fighting near the disputed region as Azerbaijan says it seized several strategic hills.

Azerbaijan says its forces have suppressed an Armenian attack near the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting international calls for an end to fighting in a region that has been a flashpoint for 30 years.

Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan with Armenian support after a bloody post-Soviet conflict in the early 1990s. In 2020, Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the region and Baku successfully won back part of the territory controlled by the separatists.

Under the terms of a subsequent ceasefire, Russian peacekeepers were deployed to protect the remainder of the separatist-held territory. Both sides accuse each other of breaches, and in recent days violence has flared.

The Azeri defence ministry on Wednesday said Armenia had grossly violated the ceasefire by committing an act of sabotage that killed one soldier.

In addition, Baku said its forces had beaten back an Armenian attempt to capture a hill in an area controlled by the Russian peacekeepers.

It demanded the disarmament of “illegal Armenian formations” around the disputed territory, and also said it has taken control of several strategic heights in the region.

Meanwhile, Armenia called on the international community to help stop Azerbaijan’s “aggressive actions” after the flare-up and accused Baku of breaking the ceasefire.

Earlier, separatist authorities in the territory declared a partial mobilisation.

Russia’s defence ministry said the situation in and around Nagorno-Karabakh was deteriorating, according to Russian media reports.

The European Union called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“It is essential to de-escalate, fully respect the ceasefire and return to the negotiating table to seek negotiated solutions,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s spokesman said in a statement.

Six weeks of fighting in late 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce, but tensions persist despite a ceasefire agreement.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Could there be a new conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan?

Babken Chilingarian
Qatar – Aug 6 2022

Armenia and Azerbaijan are blaming each other for renewed fighting near the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The area is recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is mostly controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Two Karabakh troops and an Azerbaijani soldier were killed in a district under the supervision of Russian peacekeepers.

The latest violence triggered calls for calm from Russia, NATO, and the European Union.

Both sides accuse each other of breaking the 2020 ceasefire.

So can the truce hold and prevent a new conflict?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Richard Giragosian – Director of Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, Armenia

Matthew Bryza – Former US ambassador and mediator on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Watch the report/interview at 

US congresswoman calls on the State Secretary to hold Aliyev’s regime accountable and prevent further massacres

Babken Chilingarian

US congresswoman calls on the State Secretary to hold Aliyev’s regime accountable and prevent further massacres

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 11:15, 6 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 6, ARMENPRESS. The US Department of State should use all its diplomatic tools to hold Azerbaijan’s leadership accountable for the attacks against Artsakh, ARMENPRESS reports US Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky said.

“Azerbaijan should be held accountable for once again violating the ceasefire agreement with Armenia. I call on the Department of State to use all its diplomatic tools to hold Aliyev’s regime accountable for the attacks against Artsakh and to prevent further massacres,” Schakowsky wrote on her Twitter page.

Garo Paylan: Armenian youth beaten in Turkey on racist grounds

Babken Chilingarian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
16:49, 29.07.2022

Karo Paylan: Armenian youth beaten in Turkey on racist grounds

A group of people attacked an Armenian youth named Arlen in Uskudar. An Armenian member of the Turkish parliament, Karo Paylan noted, calling the reason for the attack ‘racist’.

“The fact that the assailants beat Arlen with intent to kill, and the perpetrators were not prosecuted, raises the suspicion that this was a hate crime. Arlen was beaten for being an Armenian?” the MP .

Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces visits military units

Babken Chilingarian

 

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 13:12,

YEREVAN, JULY 30, ARMENPRESS. Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Major-General Edvard Asryan continues conducting inspections in military units according to the plan of sudden inspections of combat readiness of the Armed Forces, the defense ministry said.

The purpose is to check the combat preparedness of the troops, the abilities to act quickly in accordance with the situation, etc.

CivilNet: UN official deletes Armenian Genocide post after Turkish outcry

Babken Chilingarian
CIVILNET.AM

28 Jul, 2022 10:07

  • Azerbaijani forces opened fire on Armenian positions along the eastern section of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, as well as on Nagorno-Karabakh’s Taghavard and Karmir Shuka communities.
  • Opposition activist Avetik Chalabyan was released from detention.
  • United Nations General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid deleted a tweet about visiting the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan after complaints from Turkey.

Credits: Ruptly

ERO Los Angeles removes an Armenian with multiple prior removals

Babken Chilingarian

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Los Angeles field office removed an Armenian citizen with two prior removals. Deportation officers transferred custody of Vigen Patatanyan, 59, to Armenian authorities at the Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, without incident, May 7.

Patatanyan, who was unlawfully present, first entered the U.S. Feb. 19, 2000, at a Los Angeles airport on a nonimmigrant visa with authorization to remain in the United States for six months. An immigration judge in San Francisco ordered Patatanyan removed from the U.S. in April 2001.

Patatanyan filed a motion to reopen his case with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). His motion was denied and Patatanyan was removed from the U.S. to Armenia in March 2004.

On Sept. 15, 2004, Patatanyan applied for admission into the U.S. at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in Otay Mesa. An immigration judge in San Diego ordered the Armenian removed in February 2005. Patatanyan exercised his due process and filed another appeal with the BIA March 16, 2005. The appeal was dismissed June 20, 2005, and he was removed a second time from the U.S. to Armenia Oct. 5, 2005.

Patatanyan was again encountered by U.S. Border Patrol agents Feb. 9, 2016 in San Diego and he was referred for prosecution for illegal reentry to the U.S. The U.S. District Court, Southern District of California convicted Patatanyan of illegal entry into the U.S. on Feb. 23. On May 12, he filed a third appeal with the BIA and was denied the motion on the same day. He filed a fourth appeal to the BIA and was denied June 20, 2016.

Patatanyan filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was denied Feb. 19, 2019.

ERO Los Angeles deportation officers arrested Patatanyan in the community March 29, 2022, and placed him in custody until his removal to Armenia could be completed.

Regardless of nationality, ICE makes custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with U.S. law and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.

 

First Armenian church inaugurated in Spain

Babken Chilingarian
PanARMENIAN
Armenia –
– 16:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A newly-built Armenian church has been inaugurated in Malaga over the weekend, becoming the first Armenian church in Spain, Armenpress reports citing the Pontifical Legation of the Western Europe.

The Vicar of the Pontifical Legation in Spain and Portugal, Very Rev. Father Shnorhk Sargsyan attended the event, which was presided over by archbishop Khajag Barsamian, the Pontifical Legate of the Western Europe and Representative of the Armenian Church to the Holy See.

At the end of the ceremony, the Holy Father addressed all those present and noted that the church should be the home of all Armenians and that everyone should take care of it and fill it with life.

The cleric also expressed his gratitude to everyone who came up with the idea of establishing the first Armenian church in Spain.

U.S. pledges more military aid to Ukraine

Babken Chilingarian

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 13:10,

YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS. The United States promised more military support for Ukraine, including drones, and is doing preliminary work on whether to send fighter aircraft, as fighting raged on in the east, with the war about to enter its sixth month, Reuters reports.

Moscow and Kyiv signed a landmark deal on Friday to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports. However, representatives declined to sit at the same table and avoided shaking hands at the agreement ceremony in Istanbul, reflecting wider enmity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed Friday’s agreement as unlocking around $10 billion worth of grain exports, needed to ease a food crisis.

But on the war, Zelenskiy said there could be no ceasefire unless lost territory was retaken.

The White House on Friday announced $270 million in fresh support for Kyiv, saying it was doing preliminary work on whether to send fighter aircraft, although such a move would not happen in the near term.

Armenian school-children win 1 silver, 3 bronze medals at International Chemistry Olympiad

Babken Chilingarian

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 12:46,

YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. 4 Armenian school-children participated in the 54th International Chemistry Olympiad which was held online from July 10 to 18, the Armenian ministry of education, science, culture and sport said.

Leonid Asatryan captured a silver medal, and Hayk Aghekyan, Sona Sagheyan and Tigran Harutyunyan won bronze medals.

326 students from 84 countries participated in the 2022 International Chemistry Olympiad.