Author: Bedik Zaminian

Avetik Chalabyan released from custody on bail of 15 million drams

Bedik Zaminian
ARMINFO
Armenia – Aug 31 2022
Alexandr Avanesov

ArmInfo. Public and political figure, co-founder of the Arar Foundation Avetik Chalabyan was released from custody on bail of 15 million drams. The decision was  made on August 31 at a meeting of the Armenian Court of Appeal  chaired by Judge Ruzanna Barseghyan.

Thus, the court granted the petition of the defense, canceling the  decision of the court of primary instance.

It should be reminded that Chalabyan is accused of forcing students  of the Academy of Agriculture to participate in protest actions of  opposition political forces. 

Pakistan floods have affected over 30 million people – climate change minister

Bedik Zaminian

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 11:51,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 27, ARMENPRESS. Historic monsoon rains and flooding in Pakistan have affected more than 30 million people over the last few weeks, the country’s climate change minister said on Thursday, calling the situation a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions,” Reuters reports.

Pakistan has urged the international community to help with relief efforts as it struggles to cope with the aftermath of torrential rains that have triggered massive floods since last month, killing more than 900 people. 

“33 million have been affected, in different ways; the final homeless figure is being assessed,” Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told Reuters in a text message.

She added that the southern province of Sindh, hardest hit in the last few days, had requested 1 million tents for affected people.

“South of Pakistan is inundated almost underwater. … People are going to higher ground,” she said.

“Needs assessment is being done, we have to make U.N.’s international flash appeal; this is not the task of one country or one province, it is a climate-induced disaster,” she added.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a report that in the last 24 hours 150 kilometres of roads had been damaged across the country and over 82,000 homes have been partially or fully damaged.

Iran receives the US response on the nuclear deal

Bedik Zaminian

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 20:28,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS. Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Wednesday that Iran is studying the US responses received via the EU coordinator, ARMENPRESS reports, citing IRNA agency.

Kanaani said that the US government’s response to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s comments to resolve the remaining issues in the sanctions removal talks has been received by Tehran through the European Coordinator this afternoon.

A detailed review of the views of the US side has begun and the Islamic Republic of Iran will announce its standpoints to the Coordinator after completing the study, he added.

At the latest round of the talks, held earlier in August, the European Union presented proposals aimed at salvaging the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), which ran into trouble in 2018 after the US withdrew and reinstated sanctions on Iran.

Tehran last Monday offered its response to the proposals which the EU and the US said they had received and were assessing.

Iran has time and again said that it is serious to reach a strong, good and durable revival agreement that respects its red lines.

Charles Michel extends condolences to families of victims of Yerevan explosion

Bedik Zaminian

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 16:45,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 17, ARMENPRESS. President of the European Council Charles Michel extended condolences to the families of the victims of the Yerevan explosion.

“Today I join all Armenians in their mourning for the lives lost in the tragic explosion at Sumalu market in Yerevan. My sincere condolences to the families that lost their loved ones. I wish speedy recovery to all injured,” Michel tweeted.

Two days of national mourning are declared in Armenia in memory of the victims of the Surmalu trade center explosion.

Taner Akcam alarmed by neglected grave of celebrated Armenian scholar

Bedik Zaminian
PanARMENIAN
Armenia – Aug 16 2022
– 13:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish-German historian and genocide scholar Taner Akcam has published images from the grave of the celebrated Armenian-American sociologist and historian Vahakn N. Dadrian, which has been left unattended and is now overgrown with weeds and bushes.

“I share some images from my dear Professor Vahakn N. Dadrianwith great shock and sadness,” Akcam wrote on social media on Monday, August 15.

“After persistent and patient research, the director of the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, Maggie Goschin, found out that Dadrian’s grave, a cemetery in Yerevan, where he was interred in 2019, had been left unattended and was overgrown with weeds-bushes. Worse still, there was no marker on the grave. Only after consultation with the cemetery administration, the grave site could be located.

Akcam believes Dadrian doesn’t deserve such attitude.

“While many foreign dignitaries are honored on the road to Yerevan’s Tsitsernakaberd Memorial, it is unacceptable and an immense shame that the grave of the founder of modern Armenian Genocide Research lies in an unkempt and forgotten in a cemetery without even a grave marker,” the scholar said.

“I am unsure who was responsible for Dadrian’s burial or who was in charge of building a grave for him. Whatever the reasons might be, I’m sure everybody will agree with me that this is a great shame and unacceptable. I hope those responsible will take immediate action and give Dadrian the grave he deserves. Instead of blaming each other, we should get together and do whatever is necessary.”

Dadrian was a professor of sociology, historian, and an expert on the Armenian genocide. He was one of the early scholars of the academic study of genocide and recognized as one of the key thinkers on the Holocaust and genocide.

Turkish press: Zangezur corridor: New transport route to connect Europe and Asia

Bedik Zaminian
 AUG 09, 2022 – 12:05 AM GMT+3

A view of the newly rebuilt village of Agali in the district of Zangilan, Azerbaijan, July 19, 2022. (AFP Photo)

The settlement of the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day Second Karabakh War completely changed the geopolitical situation in the region, opening up a number of new opportunities. The unblocking of transport corridors has become the No. 1 topic for discussion. Among the most urgent projects, we can confidently note the opening of the Zangezur corridor, which will connect both Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic through Armenia, Russia and Turkey, paving the way from Asia to Europe and the Middle East.

The project will not only open up a lot of economic opportunities but also contribute to the formation of long-term peace in the region of the South Caucasus.

Why is the Zangezur corridor so important at the global level?

The Zangezur corridor will become the shortest land transport route between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as the intersection point of the North-South and East-West routes. It will significantly expand the operation of land transport routes connecting Europe and Asia.

The resumption of work of both railways and roads through the Zangezur corridor was discussed by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia at the meetings held in Brussels. The European Union strongly supports the opening of the transport routes in the region. Just recently, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinke spoke over the phone with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and reiterated the United States’ offer of assistance in helping facilitate the opening of regional transportation and communication linkages.

Since the end of the Karabakh conflict, Turkey has been supporting the opening of the Zangezur corridor and dialogue efforts to fix broken relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. On July 21, İstanbul hosted the second trilateral meeting of the chairpersons of the Parliaments of Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey. Speaking at the event, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop highlighted the restoration of justice in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and said that the Zangezur corridor will increase economic well-being in the region.

The opening of the Zangezur corridor will give Turkey a gateway to the Caspian basin and one of the faster routes to Central Asia and China as it offers huge economic and energy potential. Central Asian states are now looking for an additional route to access Europe due to the current situation around Ukraine. Operating the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project and the launch of the Zangezur corridor suggests that a general agreement on multimodal transportation between all countries through the Caspian Sea will be reached in the near future. This means that the cargo flow in these directions will increase, which will also lead to an increase in the volume of exported products.

The launch of the Zangezur corridor will also ensure the development of the Middle Corridor, which will have a positive economic impact on the entire region, from the Black Sea through the Caucasus and Central Asia to India, China and other countries of East and South Asia.

Why does the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey play an important role in this process?

Armenia and Turkey have agreed to move forward with efforts to normalize relations with the end of the Second Karabakh War. Since the beginning of this year, the special representatives of Turkey and Armenia on the normalization of bilateral relations have held four meetings in Moscow and Vienna. The last meeting on July 1 resulted in an agreement on the possibility of crossing the Armenian-Turkish land border for citizens of third countries and carrying out direct air cargo transportation between Armenia and Turkey. In a wide-ranging interview, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on Armenia negotiating a peace accord with Azerbaijan and opening a land corridor to the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.

Until now Armenia has been trying to drag out the opening of the corridor under various pretexts although the unblocking and restoration of communication is important for the country itself, which has been under an economic blockade for about three decades. However, given the increased interest of global powers in the launch of the corridor, the situation may change at any time.

This is the reality and it is time to make the right decision.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Political analyst based in Azerbaijan

The process of normalization of relations with Armenia continues. Çavuşoğlu

Bedik Zaminian

 

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 20:27,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke about the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, saying that the process continues and some steps have been taken in that direction, ARMENPRESS reports the Azerbaijani “APA” agency informs, referring to its correspondent in Istanbul.

Speaking at the 13th conference of ambassadors in Turkey, the Foreign Minister of Turkey said that the process of normalization of relations with Armenia is coordinated with Azerbaijan, which causes some concern in Armenia. However, Çavuşoğlu assured that both Turkey and Azerbaijan are sincere.

“We are a democratic country. Even though the normalization process is two-sided, it is necessary for all of us to take steps to establish stability in the South Caucasus,” said the Turkish Foreign Minister.

Armenia and Turkey have appointed special representatives to start a dialogue aimed at normalizing bilateral relations. Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan and Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kılıç first met in Moscow on January 14, 2022. The last, fourth meeting between Rubinyan and Kılıç took place on July 1 in Vienna. On August 11, spokesperson of MFA Armenia Vahan Hunanyan said that there is no agreement regarding the next meeting of the special representatives.




Iranian diplomat: Presence of terrorists and their transfer from Syria to Azerbaijan to border with Iran is unacceptable

Bedik Zaminian
NEWS.am
Armenia – Aug 11 2022
17:05, 11.08.2022

The presence of terrorists and their transfer from Syria to Azerbaijan to the border with Iran is unacceptable, Former Iranian ambassador to Armenia Kazem Sajjadi tweeted.

Following Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, Syria and Iraq, Turkey is now waging sinister activity near Iran’s borders. Turkey should understand that it is playing with fire, the diplomat said.