Author: Badalian Vardan

International community’s silence could lead to new Azeri aggression against democratic Armenia, warns senior diplomat

Badalian Vardan

 11:28,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The international community’s silence or absence of unequivocally targeted measures on Azerbaijan may cause new aggressions against democratic Armenia, Ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan warned after the latest Azerbaijani shooting which targeted civilian infrastructure in Yeraskh.

“Azerbaijan opened fire at the vehicles and infrastructures of a plant being built in the sovereign territory of Armenia by a US-Armenian investment. Intensive fire continued for three hours. This is an outrageous behavior going against all efforts carried out towards the peace process and a gross violation of all commitments on non-use of force or even threat of use of force. We strongly condemn this provocative behavior and call for our international partners to take measures against Azerbaijan, including sanctions and direct calls for refraining from such destructive approach. The silence of international community or absence of unequivocally targeted measures on Azerbaijan may cause new aggressions against democratic Armenia,” Marukyan tweeted.

“This is an indiscriminate use of force by Azerbaijani armed forces in the sovereign territory of Republic of Armenia, which must be condemned by all international actors interested in peace as stability of the entire region,” Marukyan added in a separate post.

Borrell notes that the socio-economic situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is serious

Badalian Vardan

 19:01,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. The socio-economic situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is quite serious, which is why the EU has implemented various initiatives in the last two years to provide humanitarian support to the local residents. 70 million euros have already been allocated for this purpose, ARMENPRESS reports, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said during the discussion on “Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor” in the European Parliament.

The head of EU diplomacy noted that the humanitarian support was aimed at solving health problems, including providing medical equipment and providing social support to people affected by the conflict. Borrell emphasized that there is still a lot to be done in that area.

Fear and loathing in Armenia

Badalian Vardan
The New Statesman
June 9 2023

The prospect of losing the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan has Armenians bracing for another humanitarian catastrophe.

By Ido Vock

YEREVAN — Walk around Yerevan, the capital Armenia, and you’ll notice two flags flying from most flagpoles and many windowsills of the city’s eclectic buildings, from grand Stalin-era blocks of flats to ultra-modern museums. One is the national tricolour of red, blue and apricot, the colours used during the medieval period when the French House of Lusignan ruled the region. The second is the emblem of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, almost identical to Armenia’s but with an added carpet-inspired motif.

The prominence of the Karabakhi flag here reveals how strongly locals feel about the region, an ethnic Armenian enclave inside neighbouring Azerbaijan that has been disputed for decades. But Armenia, after a catastrophic defeat by Azerbaijan, its long-time enemy, in a 2020 war, is on the cusp of giving up on Nagorno-Karabakh. A deal to resolve the decades-old conflict appears to be closer than ever, on terms which many in Yerevan feel amount to a de facto Armenian surrender. Many fear that the peace deal could result in the region’s centuries-old ethnic Armenian population facing mass displacement.

Accordingly, the mood in Yerevan is grim. “A sense of helplessness and powerlessness permeates Armenian society,” said Karena Avedissian, a political scientist and editor for EVN Report, an Armenian new website, when I met her in Yerevan in late May. My arrival in the country had coincided with a seeming rapprochement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with rounds of negotiations mediated by the US, EU and Russia. Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister, now regularly meets Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani president.

In many ways Armenians have reason to be optimistic about the future. Outwardly the capital is booming. The country’s economy has flourished since the war in Ukraine began, largely because of an influx of Russian citizens. At first Russians fled south for political reasons, fearing government repression and the army draft. They would often work remotely in professional jobs once they had arrived. Now a different type of Russian can be seen across the city: tourists, exploring one of the few destinations still open to them. Russians from Moscow to Volgograd take advantage of plentiful direct flights to Armenia. They can be seen strolling around Yerevan’s grand Soviet-era Republic Square and frequenting the new coffee shops and pizza parlours opened by émigrés.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 06/06/2023

Badalian Vardan 
                                        Tuesday, June 7, 2023
Armenian Inflation Falls Sharply
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- Shoppers at a supermarket in Yerevan.
Annual inflation in Armenia fell from 8.6 percent in 2022 to just 1.3 percent in 
May this year amid significant drops in the prices of some food products and 
fuel, according to government data.
The Armenian Statistical Committee said on Monday that the national food price 
index was 2.1 percent down from May 2022, reflecting a worldwide trend. The 
government agency recorded roughly 20 percent decreases in the prices of 
vegetables, wheat and cooking oil. Fuel prices in the country likewise plummeted 
by an average of 25 percent year on year, it said.
This was offset by further sizable rises in the cost of services, clothing and 
other consumer goods. The continuing robust growth of the Armenian economy 
suggests that consumer demand for them remains strong.
Most people randomly interviewed on the streets of Yerevan on Tuesday said that 
they have not yet felt the effects of falling inflation on their well-being.
“Things are still expensive, very expensive, compared with last year,” one of 
them told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“The cost of living has gone up,” complained another Yerevan resident.
“Inflationary pressures remain … and I think this explains why the Central Bank 
is in no rush to soften its [monetary] policy,” said Narek Karapetian, an 
independent economist.
The Armenian Central Bank has raised its benchmark refinancing rate by a total 
of 625 basis points since December 2020 in an effort to curb rising inflation. 
Despite expecting the inflation rate to remain below its annual target of 4 
percent in the months ahead, the bank has so far indicated no plans to cut the 
rate.
Armenian Gold Mine ‘Partially Operational’ Despite Azeri Gunfire
ARMENIA -- An Armenian army post just outside the Sotk gold mine on the border 
with Azerbaijan, June 18, 2021.
A senior Armenian official said on Tuesday that the country’s largest gold mine 
has not been fully shut down despite the recent cessation of open-pit operations 
there blamed on cross-border fire from Azerbaijan.
The Sotk mine, which employs more than 700 people and is located on the volatile 
border with Azerbaijan, was seriously affected by an upsurge in skirmishes 
between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in mid-April. Its employees say that 
they have since repeatedly come under fire and been evacuated after trying to 
return to work.
In a statement issued last week, the Russian-owned company GPM Gold operating 
the mine announced that due to the continuing gunfire it has decided to “stop 
the operation of the open-pit mine” and put many of its workers on unpaid leave.
“We all knew that the open-pit section of the Sotk mine is going to be closed in 
the coming months,” said Karen Sargsian, the governor of Armenia’s Geghakunik 
province encompassing Sotk. “But due to the recent security problems its 
operations there were halted [earlier than planned.] But the operations continue 
at the underground section.”
“The Sotk mine is partially working,” Sargsian told journalists in Yerevan. He 
did not say how many GPM Gold workers have retained their jobs.
The GPM Gold statement said nothing about the switch to underground mining at 
Sotk which was predicted by an Armenian deputy minister of local government and 
infrastructures earlier in May.
The company, which is part of Russia’s GeoProMining metals group, had already 
lost control over a large part of the mountainous area’s gold deposits following 
the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh and the resulting Armenian withdrawal from the 
Kelbajar district bordering Sotk. This appears to explain why total taxes paid 
by it plummeted from 20.8 billion drams ($53 million) in 2021 to just 3.2 
billion drams in 2022.
U.S. To Host More Armenian-Azeri Talks
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
U.S. - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts talks betewen the Armenian 
and Azerbaijani foreign minsters in Arlington, May 4, 2023.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will meet again in Washington 
next week for further U.S.-mediated talks on a peace treaty between their 
nations.
“We look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington later this 
month as the parties continue to pursue a peaceful future for the South Caucasus 
region,” a U.S. State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said on Monday.
European Council President Charles Michel announced the Washington talks, 
scheduled for June 12, right after last Thursday’s meeting of Armenian Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that took place 
in Moldova’s capital Chisinau. Michel indicated that their foreign ministers 
will prepare for another Armenian-Azerbaijani summit which he will host in 
Brussels on July 21.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov 
reported major progress towards the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty during 
four-day negotiations held outside Washington one month ago.
Aliyev and Pashinian tried to build on that progress when they held a trilateral 
meeting with Michel on May 14. The Armenian leader confirmed afterwards that he 
is ready to sign a peace deal that will uphold Azerbaijani sovereignty over 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The three men were joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and German 
Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the subsequent talks in Chisinau. They reported no 
concrete agreements.
The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, said over the 
weekend that the peace deal could be signed before the end of this year.
Hakob Badalian, a Yerevan-based political analyst, cautioned on Tuesday that 
despite Pashinian’s effective recognition of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan the 
conflicting sides have yet to eliminate other sticking points. He argued that 
they still disagree on practical modalities of delimiting the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, an international framework for a dialogue between 
Baku and Karabakh’s leadership and international guarantees for the sides’ 
compliance with the peace treaty.
Baku’s approach to the border delimitation is very different from Yerevan’s, 
Badalian said, questioning Aliyev’s readiness to recognize Armenia’s territorial 
integrity.
Mirzoyan admitted on Monday that Aliyev has still not publicly offered such 
recognition. “I hope that Azerbaijan’s leadership will come up with such words 
soon,” the foreign minister told the Armenian parliament.
Armenian opposition leaders say that Baku is reluctant to recognize Armenia’s 
existing borders even after Pashinian’s far-reaching concession on the status of 
Karabakh strongly condemned by them.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Azerbaijan must pull back troops from sovereign territory of Armenia – Governor of Syunik

Badalian Vardan

 13:07, 6 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 6, ARMENPRESS. Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasyan has said that the Azerbaijani military must pull back its original positions in the Tegh section.

Speaking about the farmers who have lost pastures and arable lands as a result of the Azerbaijani invasion near Tegh village, the Governor said that the government will pay assistance to those who are unable to access their territories. “I am convinced that Azerbaijan must to pull back to its original positions,” he added.

The governor said that the Azerbaijani troops have pulled back in some parts but was unable to give details on specific location and distance of withdrawal.

“Azerbaijan must pull back from our sovereign territory. This is an unequivocal stance,” Governor Ghukasyan said at a press briefing.

No border incidents were recorded over the past two weeks in Syunik, he added.

Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries are conducting engineering works on the border, the governor said.

The session of the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils will be held in Minsk

Badalian Vardan

 19:24, 5 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. The Committee of Secretaries of the Security Councils of the Collective Security Treaty Organization will discuss the challenges and threats in its zone of responsibility at the meeting to be held on June 8 in Minsk, ARMENPRESS reports, press secretary of CSTO Vladimir Zaynetdinov told “TASS”.

“On June 8, the session of the Committee of Secretaries of the CSTO Security Councils will be held in Minsk under the chairmanship of Alexander Volfovich, State Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus. CSTO General Secretary Imangali Tasmagambetov will take part in the meeting,” he said.

Zainetdinov emphasized that during the meeting it is planned to discuss the documents related to the conduct of the CSTO regional anti-terrorist operation “Mercenary”, the formation of command and control bodies and forces of the CSTO collective security system, and other issues.

Armenpress: $70 million Armenian-American steelworks under construction in Yeraskh

Badalian Vardan

 17:50, 3 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. A major Armenian-American metallurgical plant with 70 million USD investment is under construction in Yeraskh, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said on social media.

“The plant is a 30-meter high structure with 16,500 square meters area, where the annual output will be 180,000 tons. 200 workers are already employed there, and after its launch the number of workers will be 1000,” he added.

ANN/Armenian News – TLG – 06/03/2023 – There Must Be A Way – Bedros Afeyan

Badalian Vardan

The Literary Armenian News

There Must Be A Way


In this burning world of change and clamor there must be a way

False truth and lies a’glamour, there must be a way

When Google, Apple, Meta and Chat Bots slide you fluff glimmering as truth and not solid granite somber unduality 

In that world of deep fakes, cheap dates, meek heroes, flights of crippled avatars

How will the young know deeply an art, a science, a craft, a discipline, years and tears, dedication, endless resolve, maturing skill?

And when all is Marvel universe of tiny nothingness swishing and booming through vacuum with cathartic music and tight bodies in latex, where will obese populations climb, amble, scleroses cooking in their veins? 

Where will nature end, flounder, falter bouncing twix extremes, be as unparadisiac, as the past has known paradise, mild mannered streams kissing shaded trees?

Oil fields fellating fighter jets

Rolling tanks and fish farms in a bunker swim

Incubated babies, collective parenting by bots

State supervised labor camps advertised as worker’s dreams 

Skin color aware, faith banter justified, hard drugs administered by priests.

Come to the future, all advertising, all toxic debris where algorithmic entertainment is life and life but a nuisance best left to the state to manage by decree. 

No war, no brain, no breath, no sea. Simulated sunlight on Wednesdays and Fridays only.

Bedros Afeyan

Pleasanton, CA

05-28-2023

The homepage for The Literary Armenian News is at: Armenian News.org/tlg/


Dr. Bedros Afeyan ([email protected]) is the editor of The Literary Armenian News (TLG), and will consider works not only of poetry, but also in the area of short fiction. Quality of language, excellence of translation, quality of song and images are all crucial to the aesthetic value of any work up for consideration.
Please note the following important guidelines:
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  • With your submission include a short bio about the author;
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  • Submissions which have not yet been selected will continue to receive consideration for following issues;
  • In art, selection is necessarily a judgement call. As such, we will not argue why a particular submission was or was not selected;
  • There is no guarantee or promise that a submission will be published.
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NSO spyware used in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, report finds [+Links]

Badalian Vardan
May 25 2023

SECURITY

NSO spyware used in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, report finds

Researchers believe it is the first time that the powerful technology capable of spying on smartphones has been weaponized in an armed conflict between countries.

By Kevin Collier

Invasive spyware capable of reading a smartphone’s messages and listening to calls was found on the phones of at least 12 Armenian journalists, politicians and civil society members, according to a report published Thursday by a group of nonprofit organizations.

The spyware, called Pegasus and made by the Israeli company NSO, had previously been found on the phones of thousands of people around the world, leading to U.S. sanctions in 2021 and a lawsuit from Apple. But researchers said their most recent findings are unique — they believe it is the first time that the technology has been weaponized in an armed conflict between countries.

Armenia has intermittently battled its neighbor Azerbaijan for decades. In 2020, a cease-fire was broken in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving thousands dead. Since then, the two countries have been mired in a sporadic shooting war which has killed dozens more. 

The report, a collaboration among the international internet rights group Access Now, Amnesty International and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, calls for “an immediate moratorium” on the sale and transfer of spyware technology.

NSO is the most notorious mercenary spyware developer in the world. It creates powerful programs like Pegasus, which can hack smartphones to reveal information such as contacts, calls and location. 

The report does not conclusively find that Azerbaijan was behind the spyware used on Armenian citizens, though researchers noted that all instances of the spyware’s use occurred during or near the time of conflict between the two countries and against those who would be considered traditional espionage targets. Citizen Lab’s research found two distinct Pegasus operators in Azerbaijan, both of which were registered by 2018.

Three arms of the Azerbaijani government — the consul’s office in Washington, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the president’s office — did not respond to requests for comment.

NSO has long insisted its software is intended only for governments to catch terrorists and criminals. But its spyware has repeatedly been found on the phones of dissidents in authoritarian countries. A global media consortium found in 2021 that Pegasus spyware had been used on at least 189 journalists and 85 human rights activists around the world.

NSO has denied responsibility in many of the cases where its software has been abused, arguing that its software was operated by independent, legitimate government agencies.

While governments around the world have long abused NSO tools, the findings revealed Thursday are the first time that civilians have been hacked while their country is in armed conflict with another country.

“We’ve expected this, but it’s still surprising when you see it,” said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, which has for years documented NSO Group attacks. “And it’s a reminder that mercenary spyware is not just a cybersecurity problem. It is a geopolitical problem, and it is potentially capable of changing the outcome of armed conflict,” he said. His research contributed to the investigation.

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