Author: Badalian Vardan

What it means to be Armenian

Badalian Vardan
August 9, 2023 Varak Ghazarian Letters to the Editor 0

Being Armenian no longer simply means having an “IAN” or “YAN” at the end of your last name. Being Armenian no longer means being able to speak or read Armenian. Being Armenian no longer means sending your children to Armenian schools. Being Armenian no longer means joining Armenian organizations and singing patriotic songs. Being Armenian no longer means enjoying Armenia from afar. Being Armenian no longer means spending your summer as a tourist in Armenia.

Being Armenian has forever changed in my mind since November 9, 2020. It has become a duty to better the free and independent country we have today. Being born in the diaspora, Armenia always seemed like a fairy tale relayed to me by various Armenian organizations and schools. However, after the 2020 Artsakh War, I realized that Armenia is frail, not strong as described in those fairy tales. Trauma lurked within Armenians all over the world after the tragic end to the war. I owned up to the trauma and answered the call to move to the homeland. It was the best decision I have ever made, as the homeland cured me and provided me with a strong sense of purpose, a purpose that I would never have attained living outside of Armenia. Every day I wake up thankful to be living and breathing on free and independent Armenian land. Although this is not where my ancestors were from, I still feel so attached to the land and the people. The connection with a people, a plot of land, a mountain range, or a body of water has never felt so real or fulfilling.

I live this attachment to the land, day in and day out, contributing to the future of our nation. Hrant Dink once said, “The best thing you can do for your country is to live there.” I agree with him wholeheartedly. However, if one decides to reside outside of Armenia, the work for the nation should always be ever present in their mind. The most important thing is establishing a tangible and real connection with Armenia, whether living inside or outside of the country, that will contribute to Armenia’s betterment. We are fortunate to have a free and independent Armenia today and must ensure it remains free and independent through hard work and “sacrifice.” By “sacrifice,” I mean attaining a purpose and living a fulfilling life—one full of endless gratitude and beauty.

-A Concerned Armenian

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Varak Ghazarian is an Armenian-American from Los Angeles who attended a Armenian school his entire life. Upon his graduation from UC Berkeley, he volunteered in Armenia for year with Birthright Armenia. He spent time in Artsakh for a month, where he mentored teenagers in border villages about fundamental topics of health. He currently lives in Armenia, which has opened up a door of imagination that was closed off elsewhere.


Azerbaijan commits genocide in major concentration camp, Nagorno-Karabakh President warns

Badalian Vardan

 10:02, 7 August 2023

STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has again warned that Azerbaijan is committing genocide with its blockade. 

In an interview with the local public television, Harutyunyan said that Azerbaijan has turned Nagorno-Karabakh into a “major concentration camp” and is committing genocide there. “Now we already have a preliminary conclusion that this constitutes genocide,” he added.

“We have severe shortages of medicine in the healthcare sector. There’s shortage of life-saving medications in pharmacies. The number of deaths resulting from various chronic illnesses continues to grow. For example, the cases of deaths from cardiovascular system diseases increased nearly twice in the first half of the year. Pregnant women, children and people with chronic illnesses are the most vulnerable ones, and their health is deteriorating because of malnutrition, stress and other issues,” President Harutyunyan said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh President said that he declared nationwide disaster with the expectation that the international community would provide at least humanitarian support.  Harutyunyan noted that Armenia was first to respond and sent a humanitarian convoy, but the goods remain blocked at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor because Azerbaijan doesn’t allow them to go through.

Harutyunyan added that the Azerbaijani blockade has destroyed the economy and restoring it would take decades.

“We are witnessing genocide, and we are planning our steps in this regard,” he added.

Representatives of humanitarian organizations visit Kornidzor

Badalian Vardan

 16:11, 4 August 2023

KORNIDZOR, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Representatives of a number of humanitarian and children’s rights organizations operating in Armenia have visited the border area of Kornidzor, where humanitarian aid trucks intended for Nagorno-Karabakh are still blocked. 19 trucks with 361 tons of humanitarian aid sent by the Armenian government, as well as 2 trucks loaded with confectionaries from the candy-producer “Grand Candy”, continue to stand in the border area of Kornidzor, near the entrance to the Lachin Corridor, because Azerbaijan prohibits their entry into Nagorno-Karabakh.

The representatives of the organizations are accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia, Anna Zhamkochyan.

“We consider this an act of genocide. The object of our concern are the 30,000 children who live in Artsakh and are currently deprived of food and medicine. Families are separated. All children’s rights have been violated, and it is our expectation that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible, and measures will be taken to open the corridor,” Knarik Garamfilyan, the president of the Armenian Child Protection Network (CPN) said during an interview.

Mira Antonyan, the representative of the Child Protection Center of the “Fund for Armenian Relief” noted that their organization is a member of the Eurochild organization where specialists who deal with child protection issues are united.

“We are extremely concerned, and we want to inform our international partners and ask them to knock on all possible doors, to deliver the messages that 30 thousand children cannot starve in broad daylight, in front of the eyes of the world. The children of Artsakh have the same rights and opportunities as all the children of the world,” Antonyan said.




France calls on Azerbaijan to restore free movement through the Lachin Corridor

Badalian Vardan

 18:12, 27 July 2023

YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. France calls on Azerbaijan to fulfill its international obligations, in particular, to fulfill the February 22 decision of the International Court of Justice and to ensure free movement through the Lachin Corridor, ARMENPRESS reports, this was emphasized in the statement issued by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs regarding the blocking of the Lachin corridor.

“France expresses its regret on the occasion of Azerbaijan’s persistent blocking of the Lachin Corridor, which contradicts the obligations undertaken under the ceasefire agreement and harms the negotiation process,” the statement said.

France expresses its full support for the July 26 statement of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy regarding the humanitarian situation affecting the population of Nagorno Karabakh.

“France calls on Azerbaijan to fulfill its international obligations, in particular, to apply the provisional measures mentioned in the decision of the International Court of February 22, which are mandatory. France calls for the restoration of the free movement of cargo, people and goods in both directions through the Lachin Corridor and the continuous supply of gas and electricity to the population,” the Ministry’s statement said.

The statement also recalls the message of the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs during his visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan at the end of April: France, together with the EU, remains fully committed to the establishment of a stable and just peace in the region.

On July 26, 361 tons of humanitarian aid was sent from Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh in 19 trucks. On July 26, the humanitarian aid reached Kornidzor, the entrance to Lachin Corridor. Armenia requested that the representatives of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh accept the cargo and transport it to Nagorno-Karabakh, where a humanitarian crisis has been established as a result of the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor for 8 months.




The price of Russian migration

Badalian Vardan


Last year, several hundred thousand people fled Russia due to war and mobilisation. This has become a major economic stimulus for Russia’s neighbouring visa-free countries, like Georgia and Armenia — so major that their GDP growth predictions had to be increased several times.

On the other hand, the arrival of Russian nationals led to inflation and rental prices rising. Novaya Gazeta Europe has attempted to estimate what impact the newcomers had on the economies of the countries hosting them.

In 2021, the global economy started to emerge from the recession caused by the pandemic, the World Bank experts reported. The same analysts speculated the South Caucasus GDP would increase by 4.2% by the end of the year, but in practice it grew by 7%.

The economists could not have predicted the mass migration from Russia following the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to different estimates, between several hundred thousand and a million people left Russia last year. Usually, Russians would depart for less wealthy countries or nations with lenient migration policies, economist and former president of Russia’s New Economic School Ruben Enikolopov says.

Russians had the biggest impact on Armenia’s economy. According to the World Bank forecast, by the end of 2022 Armenia’s GDP was supposed to increase by 4.8%, instead it grew by 12.6%, as per the data provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is one of the highest results in the world.

In a conversation with Novaya-Europe, economist Suren Parsyan confirms that the growth is related to the arrival of Russians, in particular those who work in IT. In total, Russians transferred $1.75 billion to Armenia in 2022.

Georgia ranks second on the list of countries with the biggest difference between the forecast and the actual growth of GDP. According to the data published by the National Bank, the country received around $3.6 billion from Russians via money transfers, tourism, and export of goods — this number makes up 14.6% of all Georgian economy. As a result, Georgia’s GDP grew by 10.1%.

In Kyrgyzstan, real indicators of economic growth reached 7%. The country also documented a growing cash flow due to the arrival of Russians. By the end of 2022, the total sum of bank transfers from Russia amounted to $2.8 billion, as per the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan.

According to the University of California professor Oleg Itskhoki, the growth of GDP in all of these countries demonstrates that the Russians who came there had savings; they were, on average, wealthier than the local residents. The emigrants created demand in the market of goods and services which in turn impacted GDP.

Kazakhstan was the only country where the growth of GDP did not differ from the forecast. As the Renaissance Capital chief economist for Russia and CIS Sofia Donets told Russian media outlet RBC, this result has to do with the size and structure of the Kazakh economy. For example, GDP equals $6,600 per capita in Georgia, $6,500 in Armenia, but $11,400 in Kazakhstan. Furthermore, Kazakhstan’s authorities put their stake on the industries and not on the service sector.

Serbia was the only country popular among Russian emigrants that saw its GDP go below the World Bank forecast. The expected economic growth of Serbia was 4.5%, however, according to the IMF and the National Statistics Bureau, it ended up being 2.5%. Enikolopov and Itskhoki believe the decline happened in part due to energy prices rising eight- or ninefold. Another thing to consider is that fewer Russians moved to Serbia compared to Georgia and Armenia.

However, if it wasn’t for emigrants, the country’s GDP would’ve crashed, Itskhoki says. The local authorities also confirmed the impact of Russian nationals on the economy. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that “qualified” software engineers who had previously worked in foreign companies moved to Serbia.

The difference between forecasts and the actual numbers was noticeable in other countries, too. For example, Turkey’s GDP was 5.6% — the estimates put it at 2%. The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey calculated that Russians had registered over 1,300 companies in Turkey in 2022 (which is almost eight times as many as in 2021).

Still, it’s hard to determine what impacted the local economies more — the mass arrival of migrants or the increased trade with Russia. All of these countries became hubs for the re-export of various goods to Russia because of the sanctions introduced due to the war in Ukraine, Itskhoki says (for example, the export of goods from Turkey quadrupled). He estimates that the emigrants and parallel imports had about an equal impact on the growth of GDP.

Another consequence of the flow of Russians has been the rise in prices for goods and services. Among the countries that Russian citizens migrated to most often, Turkey has recorded the highest level of inflation. By the end of 2022, according to the World Bank data, the inflation rate amounted to 72.3%. But in Turkey’s case, Russian immigrants weren’t the reason why. The experts believe the inflation rate is connected to the weak Turkish lira and the low interest rate remaining unchanged by the Central Bank.

In Kyrgyzstan, the 2022 inflation rate was 14.7%. As per the National Bank, the figure was impacted by the announcement of an upcoming rise of utility prices.

When it comes to Georgia, Serbia, and Armenia, the situation is more ambiguous. Georgia’s National Office reported a 12% inflation rate. Economist and member of the Girchi political party Alexandre Rakviashvili says that this rate of inflation was a trend that started in 2019 and that Russians had no impact on it.

However, the migrants’ impact on inflation can be tracked down to the rise in prices on various goods and services that they consume, Enikolopov says. For example, alcohol, tobacco, and housing prices increased in Georgia, flat equipment and restaurant prices grew in Serbia, while food and clothes became more expensive in Armenia.

All the countries that Russians moved to saw an increase in rental prices, Itskhoki says. For example, rental prices increased by around 70% in Tbilisi in 2022 compared to 2021, according to analysts of the TBC Capital Bank. This data is confirmed by the Numbeo statistics, which demonstrate that, on average, renting a flat in Georgia now costs $779.1.

Rental prices increased by 57% in Armenia. The average price of renting in this country was the most expensive in our sample — $956.5.



By the end of 2022, the inflation rate in Armenia reached 8.6%. Economist Narek Karapetyan ties the reasons for inflation to the influx of Russians: this led to a rise in utilities, services, and real estate prices.

In both Serbia and Kazakhstan, the price of renting increased by 24%. It costs over $600 per month to rent a place in these countries now.

Somehow, rental prices increased the least in the country with the biggest inflation rate. Turkish landlords raised their prices only by 16.4% (on average, up to $369.7 per month).

Following 24 February 2022, the authorities of host nations had to face not only the short-term influx of money into their countries but also think about the future. As a rule, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asia countries are thought of as “transit points” by Russians, which is confirmed by the statistics published by the local Ministries of Internal Affairs and statements by politicians. This means that if the Russian migrants leave, the local economies could shrink again.

The prices of rent and various services go down, but so will the general demand impacted by the migrants.

The government of Kyrgyzstan is trying to attract Russian IT employees through the Digital Nomad programme which offers tax benefits. The local Ministry of Economy and Commerce justified the initiative by saying it’s an opportunity for “investment prospects and creating new jobs”. However, only around a thousand of foreigners had received the nomad status by February 2023. The other countries housing Russians are basically not taking any concrete steps to keep the migrants there.

Ruben Enikolopov believes that mass departure of Russian migrants could be the biggest risk for the economies of the countries they had fled to. According to him, their potential return home will depend on what’s going to happen in Russia which is “impossible to predict”. The economist speculates that only highly qualified professionals will be able to leave these countries for others, seeing as no one is really waiting for them in Western Europe and the USA.

Still, the economic impact of last year’s migration is more of a positive one, the economists agree.

“It may seem that 2022 was the ‘boom year’ and that 2023 will be even worse. But if we take a look at people’s collective wealth, then this was a positive shock to these countries,” summarises Itskhoki.

Demonstrators in Yerevan ask UN intervention to save blockaded Nagorno Karabakh, call on Russia to take action

Badalian Vardan

 12:23,

YEREVAN, 17 JULY, ARMENPRESS։ Hundreds of demonstrators, including children, gathered on Monday outside the UN Office in Yerevan to call on the international community to help lift the blockade of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh).

The demonstrators included displaced residents of Nagorno Karabakh who lost their homes in the 2020 war.

“In 2020, when the war started, a week later I and my family realized that we could not stay there any longer and came to Yerevan. Now, with this rally, we demand to open the Lachin corridor and respect the rights of our peers,” said 11-year-old Arman in an interview with journalists. Arman and his family are originally from Hadrut but are now living in Armenia.

One of the children participating in the rally said that he remembers his school, home, friends with whom he was playing every day. Gevorg’s father is now in Artsakh, he is a police officer. Due to the blockade of Artsakh, he cannot meet his father.

The children participating in the rally wear T-shirts saying “No to the blockade of Artsakh”, “We are Artsakh”, “Open the way of life”.

Dr. Aramayis Galumyan, a member of the professional council of the Artsakh Ministry of Health, noted in his speech that currently a ‘terrorist attack’ is being committed against Artsakh.

“It is terrorism by a state, which is not a private terrorist group, but a terrorist state. It is an unprecedented phenomenon; 120,000 people are surrounded, deprived of basic food and health services. What is this if not terrorism? All international organizations, all major powers that establish order in the world are responsible for this situation. We demand to provide the population of Artsakh with food, health services, free movement through corridor and everything [else],” Aramayis Galumyan told reporters.

Mariam Avagyan, coordinator of the Congress of Refugees from the Azerbaijani SSR mentioned in her speech that Armenians have not lost their hope that they can save Artsakh with soft power.

“The Yerevan office of the UN regularly reminds me personally that they do not deal with political issues. Now, I ask a question: Isn’t the death of 2 young children in the complete blockade a result of politics? Why has the Yerevan office of the UN not yet spoken out about the impending genocide against Artsakh, which is currently under complete blockade? Today, Artsakh is subjected to genocide through exhaustion.” The UN office in Yerevan is obligated to act as a mediator between the UN office in New York and us and to convey to them that the UN needs to save its reputation. The UN should not forget that it is the successor of the League of Nations, which did not recognize Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan. The UN should take control of its many conventions, according to which the Republic of Artsakh is a de facto and de jure established republic,” Avagyan said.

He added that recently they sent letters to officials in charge at the UN, in which they reminded that at least 820 thousand Armenians became refugees from the first Artsakh war, and from the second war, as recorded by the UN, there are 26 thousand 750 refugees.

“We demanded the UN Commissioner for Refugees to come to Armenia and find out the concerns of Armenian refugees. With the second point, we requested that the Secretary-General’s adviser on the issue of genocide prevention provide information on what actions the UN is taking to stop the genocide carried out by Azerbaijan against the Armenians of Artsakh through exhaustion, and to prevent it in the future,” said Mariam Avagyan.

The demonstrators then walked through downtown Yerevan to the Russian Embassy where they held the same rally.

The demonstrators called on Russia to take action to open the Lachin Corridor. 

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations and the Red Cross has been facilitating the medical evacuations of patients.

PM Pashinyan pays working visit to Brussels, will meet with Azerbaijani president

Badalian Vardan

 19:40,

YEREVAN, 14 JULY, ARMENPRESS․ Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan left for Brussels this evening on a working visit, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

On July 15, Nikol Pashinyan will first have a meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, then a tripartite meeting of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of the European Council and the President of Azerbaijan is planned.

RFE/RL Armenian Service – 07/13/2023

Badalian Vardan 
                                        Thursday, 
Armenia Blames Azerbaijan For Deaths Of Karabakh Children
        • Susan Badalian
Nagorno-Karabakh - The photos of Leo and Gita, Karabakh children found dead in 
Martakert on July 8, 2023.
Armenia on Thursday blamed Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh for last 
week’s deaths of two young Karabakh children whose mother had to leave them 
unattended to get some food.
The 3-year-old Leo and his 6-year sister Gita were found dead in a car in the 
town of Markatert on July 8 one day after disappearing from their home in the 
nearby village of Aghabekalanj.
Their single mother, Vera Narimanian, left them home alone to go to Martakert to 
receive sunflower oil and sugar as humanitarian aid. They were gone after she 
returned to the village about two hours later.
“I spent the whole night searching for them with the police, firefighters and 
army but didn’t find them,” Narimanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on 
Wednesday.
“I will be devastated for the rest of my life,” she said.
The infants were caught on security cameras going to Martakert on foot late on 
July 7. A town resident found them dead in his car the following morning. He 
said that one of the car’s doors was not locked.
The Karabakh police suggested that Leo and Gita died in their sleep from 
vehicular heatstroke. But the spokesman for another law-enforcement body 
cautioned on Wednesday that this is just one of the theories considered by 
investigators.
“Necessary forensic tests have been ordered … and intensive investigative work 
is underway,” he said.
“The 7-month blockade of the Lachine Corridor and total siege of 
Nagorno-Karabakh people is having an irreversible and devastating impact on the 
lives of people: [Nagorno-Karabakh] resident children 3 y/o Leo and 6 y/o Gita 
died as a consequence of the serious humanitarian situation,” tweeted Armenian 
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. “In the 21st century. This should not be 
tolerated.”
Azerbaijan tightened the blockade on June 15, completely blocking emergency 
supplies of food, medicine and other essential items to Karabakh which were 
carried out, in limited quantities, by Russian peacekeepers and the 
International Committee of the Red Cross. It thus significantly aggravated the 
shortages of basic foodstuffs in the Armenian-population rationed since January.
Officials in Stepanakert say they are especially concerned about growing child 
malnutrition resulting from the blockade.
“When I tell our kids to draw anything they want, they draw fruits because they 
miss them,” the director of a local kindergarten told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service 
on Thursday.
Arrest Warrant Issued For Former Armenian Defense Chief
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian speaks during a press conference in 
Yerevan, June 28, 2017.
Armenian prosecutors have issued an international arrest warrant for Vigen 
Sargsian, a U.S.-based former defense minister and opposition figure facing what 
he sees as politically motivated charges.
The move comes five months after he was charged with abuse of power in 
connection with the distribution of government-funded housing to Armenian army 
officers and their families.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General claims that in early 2018 Sargsian 
illegally ordered a Defense Ministry commission to allocate 26 apartments in 
Yerevan to military personnel and ministry officials who were not on an official 
waiting list for those homes.
Sargsian strongly denied that right after being indicted in February. He said 
that the apartments were given in accordance with rules set by the Armenian 
government and based on their recipients’ “combat background and merits.” He 
challenged the current government to release the list of those officers.
Sargsian, who has lived in the United States since 2019, claimed that Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s administration ordered his “political persecution” to 
keep him from returning to Armenia. He also complained that investigators have 
not tried to question him despite knowing his phone number and e-mail address.
A prosecutor overseeing the case countered at the time that “in the materials of 
the criminal case there is no information about where he lives now.”
Armenia - Vigen Sargsian, the Republican Party's top election candidate, speaks 
to reporetrs outside a polling station in Yerevan, December 9, 2018.
Norayr Norikian, a lawyer representing eight other military officers who missed 
out on free apartments because of the alleged wrongdoing, brushed aside the 
prosecutor’s claim on Thursday.
“Vigen Sargsian periodically gives interviews, makes comments,” Norikian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Armenian law-enforcement bodies are well aware of 
his place of residence and, I think, address as well.”
The arrest warrant issued for Sargsian this week means that they have to 
formally start looking for him. The criminal investigation will be suspended in 
the meantime.
Sargsian, 48, served as defense minister from 2016-2018 in the administration of 
President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter was forced to resign in April 2018 amid 
nationwide protests led by Pashinian. Vigen Sargsian stepped down immediately 
after Pashinian was elected prime minister in May 2018.
Sargsian topped the list of the former ruling Republican Party’s candidates in 
snap parliamentary elections held in December 2018. According to their official 
results, the party narrowly failed to clear a 5 percent vote threshold to enter 
the Armenian parliament.
The prosecutors indicted Sargsian on February 8 just as the parliament allowed 
them to bring separate corruption charges against Seyran Ohanian, another former 
defense minister who now leads the parliamentary group of the main opposition 
Hayastan alliance.
Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetian asked the National Assembly to lift 
Ohanian’s immunity from prosecution on January 20 one day after 15 Armenian 
soldiers died at their makeshift barracks destroyed by a major fire. Hayastan 
says that the case against Ohanian is aimed at defusing public anger over the 
deaths.
Next Aliyev-Pashinian Meeting Slated For July 15
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Belgium - Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian and European Council President Charles Michel pose for a picture in 
Brussels, May 14, 2023.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian expressed hope on Thursday that he and 
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev will move closer to a peace treaty between 
their countries at their next meeting slated for Saturday.
“My meeting with the president of the European Union Council [Charles Michel] 
and the president of Azerbaijan is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 
Saturday, July 15,” Pashinian told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
“I have confirmed my participation in the meeting and hope to make progress 
towards the peace treaty during the meeting,” he said.
The Brussels meeting was originally scheduled for July 21. It is not clear why 
it was brought forward.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Pashinian and Aliyev by phone 
earlier this week. He said he told them that the United States remains committed 
to facilitating an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.
According to the U.S. State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, during his 
call with Aliyev, Blinken stressed “the need for creativity, flexibility, and 
compromise in the negotiations” and reiterated U.S. calls for the lifting of 
Azerbaijan’s seven-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Washington hosted late last month another round of peace talks between the 
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. Pashinian cautioned last week that 
progress made by them was “not significant.”
“Unfortunately, the text of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is 
not yet ready for signing,” he said.
Speaking in Baku on Tuesday, Aliyev underscored the significance of Armenia’s 
recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh which was declared by 
Pashinian in May. “Now, however, the time has come to put those words to paper,” 
he said.
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.

The delegation led by Alen Simonyan leaves for Paris

Badalian Vardan

 16:24,

YEREVAN, JULY 10, ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by the President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan left for Paris on a working visit on July 10-13, ARMENPRESS was informed from the National Assembly of Armenia.

The delegation also includes Vladimir Vardanyan from the “Civil Contract” faction, who is also the head of the Armenia-France friendship group, Sargis Khandanyan, Arusyak Manavazyan, Tsovinar Khachatryan, and Armen Rustamyan from “Hayastan” faction.

Luxury hotel lease angers residents in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter

Badalian Vardan
Israel –
Nicole Jansezian/The Media Line|08:41
The developer who leased a large portion of the Armenian Quarter has presented to the Jerusalem Municipality a concept for a luxury hotel complex that would encompass 10% to 20% of Armenian land with the potential to tack on “adjacent” properties during the duration of the lease.

Details of the contract between the Armenian patriarch and Xana Gardens Ltd. were made public for the first time during the presentation on Friday of a fact-finding report by a team of international lawyers from the United States and Armenia. 
Audible groans rippled through the main square of the Armenian Convent as Setrag Balian, one of the activists opposing the deal, read the report’s conclusions during a press conference. Residents lingered after the presentation to pore over the information, which included a copy of the contract that shows what appears to be an altered date.
If the lease goes through, many fear it will forever alter the Armenian and Christian presence in Jerusalem.
“I feel betrayed,” Serop Sahagian told The Media Line. “It’s against us and our interests, but this has all been done by those idiots, one of whom is called the patriarch.”
He fears the company, Xana, is a front for a Jewish organization that seeks Old City land.
“We are at a very dangerous crossroads,” Sahagian said. “I hope we can survive this. Our community activities are in real danger. We cannot have any community activities if we don’t have a parking lot – the school and our clubs will be under real pressure.”
The plan presented to City Hall calls for a sprawling luxury hotel complex, managed by the exclusive One&Only chain, between 14,000 and 16,000 square meters (3.5 to 4 acres), well beyond the 11,500 square meters mentioned in the contract. The parking lot alone is 7,000 square meters.
This would mean the eviction of residents, businesses, and the Armenians’ seminary hall.
The lease in question is a 49-year contract for the Cow’s Garden, the name for the land currently used as a parking lot for Armenian residents of the quarter. The contract allows the lessee to extend the contract for another 49 years. The Armenian Patriarchate, according to details of the contract signed by Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, an archbishop and the patriarchate’s then-real estate director, would receive an annual rent of $300,000 for the land during the duration of the lease.
The Media Line was able to view, but not copy or photograph, the documents.
Balian believes the report also offers hope in an expected legal battle to try to reverse the deal. The date on the contract appears to be altered from July 7 to July 8, 2021, to reflect the day that Xana Gardens Ltd. was incorporated in Israel. Also, the contract has three confirmed signatures on the Armenian side but only a stamp from the company without a signature or a position associated with it.
One of the signatories, now deposed priest and then-real estate director Khachik (formerly Baret) Yeretzian, told The Media Line in an interview in May that the land had been shopped around to hotel investors for decades. He said this one was the most financially beneficial for the Patriarchate.
Yeretzian brushed off comparisons to the sale of the Greek Patriarchate land including two hotels at Jaffa Gate to a Jewish land redemption group, saying that the developer, Danny Rothman (also known as Rubinstein), is not religious.
“The Greeks made the contract with Ateret Cohanim,” he said. “We did it with a secular Jew.”
Ateret Cohanim is a religious Jewish nongovernmental organization that aims to “redeem” land in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City and other predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem by reestablishing a Jewish presence in it. The organization utilizes various legal means, including buying properties directly or indirectly from Palestinian owners and seeking court orders for properties that were Jewish-owned prior to 1948. Its activities have been controversial, with critics arguing they exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and contribute to demographic change in historically Palestinian neighborhoods.
After the controversial Armenian Quarter deal reverberated all the way to Los Angeles and Yerevan, Yeretzian was defrocked by the Armenian patriarch for “for his disloyalty and especially the series of frauds and deceptions he committed.” He said, however, that he was made a “scapegoat” by the patriarch whose signature matters more than his.
The Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority froze their recognition of Manougian and called upon him to revoke his signature.
“Jordan and Palestine considered the land deal a threat to the status quo of occupied Jerusalem and a further attempt by Israel and Israeli settler groups to Judaize Jerusalem and change the facts on the ground,” the lawyers said in their 184-page report.
The Armenian Quarter – just one-seventh of the area of the Old City – has long been at the center of a tug-of-war between Israelis and Palestinians in final status negotiations of Jerusalem.
“A walled city of one square kilometer is a bone of contention,” said Amb. Manuel Hassassian, a veteran Palestinian diplomat, now the PA’s envoy to Denmark, who was in charge of the Jerusalem file in the 2000 Camp David negotiations. “[Palestinian] President [Yasser] Arafat did not concede [the Armenian Quarter].”
Hassassian said the Armenian Quarter was “hardest to crack” in the negotiations in 2000 because it is the bridge between the Jewish and Christian quarters. Conceding it to the Israeli side, he said, disrupts the contiguous access of the Armenians to the Christian Quarter.
Should the deal go through now, “Jerusalem is a lost cause” for Christians and Palestinians, he said.
“All the property opposite the Armenian compound will go to the Israelis and that means the end of the Armenian Quarter and an end to the final status negotiations,” he said. “This is more than a calamity to Armenians and Palestinians in Jerusalem.”
“The diverse mosaic will be gone. The population of Christian Jerusalem is jeopardized,” he added.
Manougian has not publicly commented and has refused requests to publicize the contract. Some 2,000 residents live in the quarter where Armenians have maintained a presence for 1,600 years.
Hassassian accused Israel of “trying to take over” New Gate, which provides access to the Christian Quarter, as well, with municipal investments and events in the heart of the Christian Quarter.
“Bit by bit, they want to swallow the Old City,” he said. “Since nothing was achieved at Camp David, and since we barely had negotiations since Camp David, now they use this incremental strategy until they change the nature of the Old City, which is hard to reverse.”