Author: Babken Chilingarian

Newspaper: US sees regression in Armenia in human rights, democracy

Babken Chilingarian
News.am, Armenia
Oct 21 2021
09:33, 21.10.2021

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: In recent months, the dissatisfaction of the Western authorities and international organizations with the conduct of the RA authorities is clearly growing.

We learned that in recent times, the US ambassador is having meetings with various circles, including the civil society, the opposition [of Armenia], and is not hiding their dissatisfaction with everything that is happening in Armenia. She says almost straightforwardly that Armenia is recording a serious regression in the field of human rights and democracy.

And the concerns are in several directions. First of all, on the issues related to the freedom of speech. The US authorities are puzzled that defamation and insult have been criminalized at us, and the amount of [respective] fines has been increased. They see a problem with the [relevant] bill authored by [parliament speaker] Alen Simonyan.

The next direction is that the law on confiscation of illegal property is being arbitrarily applied—only to the targets of the authorities.

The other [concern] refers to the enlargement of [Armenia’s] communities, which, in the American view, also corresponds to the palate of the authorities.

Finally, the American government is concerned about the political prosecution being carried out against political opponents.

Iran’s FM says will travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan soon

Babken Chilingarian

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 14:11,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is planning to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan in the nearest future, Mehr news agency reports.

“Focusing on neighbors, including the northern neighbors, is one of the foreign policy priorities of the new Iranian government”, FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview with the Russian television channel. “Armenia and Azerbaijan are two good neighbors of the Islamic Republic of Iran, so we cannot work against each other. Iran’s foreign policy is a balanced foreign policy”, the minister said, adding that he will “visit the two countries at the appropriate time”.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 11-10-21

Babken Chilingarian

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 17:33,

YEREVAN, 11 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 11 October, USD exchange rate down by 0.59 drams to 478.71 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.21 drams to 553.20 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 6.68 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.14 drams to 651.91 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 138.18 drams to 27291.88 drams. Silver price down by 2.59 drams to 347.06 drams. Platinum price up by 750.98 drams to 15837.22 drams.

Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte expresses Lithuania’s willingness for closer ties with Armenia

Babken Chilingarian

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 11:57, 4 October, 2021

VILNIUS, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Lithuania wants to deepen bilateral relations with Armenia, continue exchange of experience in various sectors and is ready to be Armenia’s friend in the future as well, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said at a joint press conference with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan in Vilnius.

She expressed hope that the Armenian and Lithuanian governments will find ways to enhance ties.

“This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations. We celebrate the anniversary of restoring diplomatic ties with a number of states, but we managed to meet only with few representatives of states, and I am very happy that this meeting is taking place,” PM Simonyte said.

PM Simonyte said that the June 20 Armenian elections showed the very strong support for democracy in the country.

“The prime minister and his political team received strong support. They received strong support for reforms and democratic changes. And I believe that exchange of technical knowledge and experience and best practice and solutions, lessons learned from mistakes and information on alternatives can be useful. We passed a long way, we’ve amassed a rich experience and we have exchanged this experience and will further continue to actively exchange,” she said.

PM Simonyte said that soon Yerevan and Vilnius will be linked with direct flights.

Speaking about challenges facing Lithuania and Armenia, as well as other countries, PM Simonyte pointed out the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that Lithuania has very successful experience in fighting against the pandemic and is also supporting Armenia in this matter.

“Our health workers are providing assistance to Armenia, our government has made two decisions on donating vaccines to the Armenian people. We hope that we will be able to support in overcoming this issue and we will help the Armenian government,” the Lithuanian PM said, noting that the Lithuanian and Armenian healthcare ministries have signed an agreement on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lithuanian PM thanked the Armenian government for addressing illegal migration issues.

“One of the pressing needs was ensuring translators. We need translators to communicate with people illegally crossing the border, and Armenia helped us by dispatching Kurmanji translators. We highly appreciate this assistance.”

PM Simonyte said that Lithuania supports the EU’s efforts aimed at deepening partnership with Armenia and overcoming regional challenges.

Speaking about the Armenia-EU CEPA, she said: “We believe that with their support and participation  the European institutions play a highly important role. The mechanisms for re-establishing and maintaining peace are also very important. We are ready to be Armenia’s friend in the future too.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Another Armenian Church Vandalized in California

Babken Chilingarian

Sept 29 2021


09/29/2021 United States (International Christian Concern) – In the early morning hours of September 23, a masked assailant armed with a bat destroyed the stained-glass windows at St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a report from CBS Los Angeles. The attack came just days before the anniversary of Azerbaijan’s invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh) last year, which was supported by Turkey. Many fear that the ensuing war from last year and the taking of territory by Azerbaijan from Armenia has emboldened anti-Armenian hate crimes around the world.

This attack also falls into a pattern of increased attacks against the Armenian community in the United States. Last year, St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco was set ablaze when an unknown assailant lit two Molotov cocktails in the office of the church’s priest. Additionally, the nearby KZV Armenian School was defaced with anti-Armenian graffiti and shot at in a drive-by shooting in two separate occasions, also occurring in the second half of 2020 around the time of the invasion.

International Christian Concern (ICC) released a report shortly after the war depicting the religious freedom violations committed by Azerbaijan and Turkish-paid Syrian mercenaries entitled, Anatomy of Genocide: Karabakh’s Forty-Four Day War. During the war, not only did these militants commit war crimes against ethnic Armenian Christians, but they also underwent a campaign to erase the history of Christianity from the land through the destruction of churches and Christian symbols, a campaign that continues to this day.

ICC also sent two staff members to Artsakh earlier this year to meet with survivors of the war and investigate the reality on the ground in order to deliver humanitarian aid to families in need. Their findings, compiled into a report entitled, Nagorno-Karabakh, A Humanitarian Perspective, showed the devastation that Turkey and Azerbaijan undertook during the war to truly strike at the heart of Armenian culture and Christianity.

As long as Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to commit atrocities against Armenian Christians in Artsakh, it is reasonable to expect that radicals around the world will feel empowered to commit crimes against Armenians, such as the ones seen in California.


Armenia alliance announces torchlight procession to Yerablur on Sept. 26

Babken Chilingarian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 24 2021

The opposition Armenia alliance has announced its plan to hold a torchlight procession to the Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan on September 26 to pay tribute to the soldiers killed in last year’s war in Artsakh.

The march will start from the Garegin Nzhdeh Square at 6։30pm, the bloc said on Thursday.

“September 27, 2020: A war that could have been averted, a war we could have won, a defeat that was planned.

“One year on, those responsible have not been held to account yet,” the bloc said.

“Join the procession and candlelight vigil in memory of our heroes, our holy martyrs!

“Let’s show the enemy that the Armenians have not given up,” it noted.

CSTO summit kicks off in Tajikistan

Babken Chilingarian

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 10:30,

DUSHANBE, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The narrow-format meeting of leaders of the CSTO member states has kicked off in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is also in attendance.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is taking part online.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Opposition MP: ‘Azerbaijani terminology’ completely used in Armenian NSS statement

Babken Chilingarian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 13 2021

The opposition Armenia bloc calls for parliamentary discussions on the Azerbaijani military’s unlawful actions on Goris-Kapan highway.

At a parliament session on Monday, Armenia alliance secretary Artsvik Minasyan deplored the government’s “passive stance” on the issue.

“We witnessed illegal actions of the Azerbaijani military and, unfortunately, the passive stance of the government, which provided no explanations,” the MP said, stating the respective statement of the National Security Service (NSS) is not in the interests of Armenia and “says anything”.

Highlighting that Armenia is a parliamentary republic, Minasyan said the Armenia bloc demands that a format be created to hold discussions on the matter.

“The public needs to understand what is happening, especially when Azerbaijani terminology is now completely used in the NSS statement,” he said.

Minasyan suggested that not only the NSS, but also representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office, Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry attend the parliamentary hearings on the issue.

All persons kept in detention in Azerbaijan must be immediately released – Marshal of Polish Senate

Babken Chilingarian

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 21:00, 8 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan met with Marshal of the Senate of Poland Tomasz Grodzki in Vienna.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the National Assembly, during the conversation it was recorded that the close cooperation in the parliamentary format plays an important role in enriching the agenda of the Armenian-Polish interstate relations and deepening the existing friendly ties.

Alen Simonyan informed his Polish counterpart that Armenia expects assistance from its partners in the peaceful and lasting settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, as well as political pressure on Azerbaijan to release prisoners of war and civilians immediately.

In response, Marshal of the Senate of Poland Tomasz Grodzki said that Poland’s position from the beginning was that all conflicts should be resolved peacefully without casualties. He stressed that the situation should be resolved as soon as possible and all those detained by Azerbaijan should be released immediately.

The President of the National Assembly of Armenia invited his counterpart to pay an official visit to Armenia, during which the formats of further cooperation will be outlined.

House in Artsakh’s Taghavard damaged in Azerbaijani shooting, ombudsman says

Babken Chilingarian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 7 2021

Azerbaijani forces deployed near the Karmir Shuka and Taghavard settlements of the Martuni region of the Artsakh Republic opened fire at the Armenian positions and peaceful settlements on Monday, at around 7:30pm, Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The house of one of the residents of the Taghavard community was damaged in the Azerbaijani shooting. 3 bullets hit the wall of the house, while 1 bullet hit the window of one of the bedrooms.

6 civilians, including a minor, live in the house damaged as a result of the shooting, the ombudsman said.

After midnight, the Azerbaijani side continued shooting, but no casualties and material damage were reported.

Russian peacekeepers and the Artsakh law enforcement agencies were notified of the incident.

“The Azerbaijani positions deployed in the vicinity of peaceful settlements pose an immediate and real threat to the life, health and other vital rights of the Artsakh people and disrupt the normal life and activities of the people living in these settlements,” Stepanyan said, underlining that the failure to hold the perpetrators accountable leads to recurrence of such incidents.

“A comprehensive investigation of all ceasefire violation cases, including with the involvement of Russian peacekeepers, is extremely urgent,” he said.