Author: Boshkezenian Garik

Armenia ombudsman: Azerbaijan actually carries out human trafficking by holding captives

Boshkezenian Garik
  News.am  
Armenia – Feb 4 2022
14:02, 04.02.2022

Azerbaijan holds Armenians captive for no reason; solely for political and military dividends. The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, told this to a press conference Friday.

The ombudsman emphasized that the Armenians being held captive in Azerbaijan face a major violation of their rights, under threat of life.

“This is the most actual [human] trafficking from political calculations. This is unacceptable and a gross violation of human rights. The world needs to be shown that we are actually dealing with new war crimes. The trials in Azerbaijan in connection with the [Armenian] captives are nothing more than a veil [by the Azerbaijanis], an attempt to justify themselves,” the Armenian ombudsman said, recalling that the only international organization that can visit these captives is the Red Cross. To note, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had announced earlier Azerbaijan’s attempts to restrict the Red Cross’ activities.

“Holding captives is also an indicator of Azerbaijan’s ‘honesty’ in peaceful intentions. Not only do they not return the captives, but they also increase the enmity between the peoples,” Tatoyan said, stressing the need to increase pressure to have these Armenian captives returned and carry out a comprehensive preventive work so that the events of November 16, 2020 to not recur.

“We [i.e., the Armenians] must not allow them [i.e., the Azerbaijanis] to mislead the world community. And let’s act with facts!” the Armenian ombudsman added.

Office of Austrian Development Agency to open in Yerevan, Armenia

Boshkezenian Garik

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 16:09, 2 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the Austrian Development Agency will open in Yerevan on the sidelines of the current visit of Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg in Armenia, Armenpress correspondent reports.

During a press conference today, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said that the visit of his Austrian counterpart to Armenia is taking place on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

At the press conference, Alexander Schallenberg in turn said that this is already the second visit of the Austrian Foreign Minister to Armenia in the past 12 months, which, he said, shows the importance of the bilateral relations.

“I am happy to note that over these past 30 years numerous joint programs have been implemented, there is a serious experience of political, economic, cultural dialogue and cooperation. Of course, we have not yet utilized that whole potential that exists in the relations of our countries, and I have great hopes that this visit will contribute to moving forward on this direction and passing to the next stage of our relations”, the Armenian FM said.

In terms of boosting the bilateral ties, the Armenian FM highlighted the contacts between the business communities of Armenia and Austria. He praised the fact that together with Mr Schallenberg, a serious Austrian business delegation has also arrived in Armenia to attend the opening of the Armenian-Austrian business forum on February 3.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 02-02-22

Boshkezenian Garik

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 17:17, 2 February, 2022

YEREVAN, 2 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 2 February, USD exchange rate down by 0.86 drams to 482.52 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.05 drams to 545.34 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.04 drams to 6.32 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.20 drams to 653.57 drams.

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

Gold price up by 21.72 drams to 27921.75 drams. Silver price up by 5.35 drams to 354.95 drams. Platinum price up by 297.52 drams to 16180.45 drams.

Armenia’s ex-defense minister to remain imprisoned

Boshkezenian Garik
panorama.am
Armenia – Jan 24 2022

Armenia’s former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan will remain in custody, his lawyer Sergey Hovhannisyan told reporters on Monday.

Judge Manvel Shahverdyan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction denied a defense motion to release him, arms dealer Davit Galstyan and two other former senior military officials involved in the case, upholding their arrest, Pastinfo reported.

In the meantime, the court ruled to release Artyom Hambaryan, another defendant in the case, on a bail of 5 million drams (approx. $10,000).

Tonoyan’s lawyers had earlier asked the court to release their client under personal guarantees offered by MPs Kristine Poghosyan and Vilen Gabrielyan from the ruling Civil Contract party, as well as President of the Hanrapetutyun Party Aram Sargsyan.

Tonoyan was arrested on 30 September on charges of “fraud and embezzlement of large sums of money” as part of a criminal probe into supplies of allegedly faulty ammunition to the Armenian army.

MP Arsen Torosyan says President Sarkissian’s resignation arguments are “strange”

Boshkezenian Garik

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 14:40,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament Arsen Torosyan from the ruling Civil Contract party says President Armen Sarkissian’s reasons for resignation are “strange”.

He said that President Sarkissian was well aware that the position was largely ceremonial when he took office. 

“And it’s very strange that this is being cited as an obstacle for making some changes or as a reason for inefficiency,” Torosyan told reporters.

“As you know, in many countries of parliamentary administration the presidents have ceremonial functions, or functions of maintaining balance in emergency situations. Even the appointment of Cabinet ministers or other high-tanking officials are ceremonial. It’s not up to the president to decide who will be minister, deputy prime minister or even prime minister. The same goes for the foreign policy.”

At the same time, Torosyan underscored that he respects Sarkissian’s decision.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with him as minister and as head of the prime minister’s office, we’ve talked about this issue many times. I can either share or not share his opinions, but nevertheless it is his decision,” Torosyan said.

President Armen Sarkissian announced his resignation on January 23.

By law, the resignation will take effect in a week if Sarkissian doesn’t retract it. Then, the parliament must elect a new president no sooner than in 25 days but no later than 35 days. After the resignation is accepted and until a new president is elected the functions of the president will be fulfilled by Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan.

Turkey and Armenia welcome ‘constructive’ efforts to mend relations

Boshkezenian Garik
 France 24 
Jan 14 2022

Turkey and Armenia on Friday welcomed “constructive” talks between their special envoys, who met for the first time in Moscow in a bid to mend historically strained ties. 

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic relations, a closed border and a long history of hostility rooted in mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Armenian envoy Ruben Rubinyan and his Turkish counterpart, Serdar Kilic, met “in a positive and constructive atmosphere” on Friday, their foreign ministries said in identical statements. 

No concrete measures were announced after the 90-minute talks in the Russian capital.

However, the “parties agreed to continue negotiations without preconditions aiming at full normalisation (of relations)”, the ministries added.

The statements said the date and location of the next meeting would be decided in “due time through diplomatic channels”.

Historically tense ties between the two countries deteriorated further in 2020, when Turkey backed Azerbaijan in the latter’s war with Armenia for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The 2020 conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, claimed more than 6,500 lives. It ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire under which Armenia ceded to Azerbaijan territories it had controlled for decades.

Armenia and Turkey have since stepped up efforts to improve relations, including the reciprocal appointment of special envoys.


In addition, two budget airlines are reportedly set to start flights between Yerevan and Istanbul on February 2.Yerevan announced last month that it was lifting an embargo on Turkish goods that it had imposed in retaliation for Ankara supporting Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict.

In 2009, Turkey and Armenia signed an agreement to normalise relations, which would have led to the opening of their shared border.

However, the document was never ratified by Yerevan, which abandoned the procedure in 2018. 

 

Commander of Armenian peacekeeping unit in Kazakhstan says key task was to stop terrorists from poisoning water supply

Boshkezenian Garik

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 13:32,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. One of the key objectives of the Armenian peacekeeping unit in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was preventing the rampaging terrorists from poisoning the local water supply, the unit’s commander Major Hayrapet Mkrtchyan told journalists, reports TASS.

“One of the main tasks at the Druzhba water supply facility was the prevention of the water [supply] from being poisoned”, he stated.

According to the commander, the water supply facility is a strategic object and quite possibly it could have been targeted for contamination by the terrorists.

In Almaty, in addition to the Druzhba waterworks, the Armenian peacekeepers are also guarding one of the largest bread factories.

According to the January 6, 2022 decision by the CSTO Collective Security Council, the bloc’s collective peacekeeping forces were deployed to Kazakhstan for a limited time period in order to stabilize and normalize the situation. The contingent includes the armed forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Azerbaijanis demand Armenian soldier change his faith by taking away his cross, Ombudsman says

Boshkezenian Garik
 News.am, Armenia
Jan 9 2022
00:30, 09.01.2022

New forms of torture against Armenian prisoners testify to the fact that Azerbaijan has further exacerbated its policy of hostility after the war, the Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook.

“For example, there is a known case when Azerbaijani servicemen demanded that an Armenian soldier renounce Christianity and convert to Islam, that is, to change his faith. After the Armenian soldier refused to obey, his legs were burned, severely beaten and humiliated. We have not recorded anything like this before.

“In another case, Azerbaijanis burned a part of the body of a captured soldier with a lighter, on which they noticed a tattoo in the form of a cross and severely beat him.

“Everyone who had a cross with them was either taken away or destroyed. When our prisoners demanded the return of the crosses, they were severely beaten and ridiculed, mocking religion.

“These cases are a direct consequence of the policy of patronage of Armenophobia and the hostility of the Azerbaijani authorities towards the Armenians.

“They prove that: after the war, this policy only strengthened even more, its roots became even deeper.

“Moreover, even the accent has changed. Religiousness is also violated along with ethnicity.

“P.S. These cases were recorded after the recent special report of the Armenian Human Rights Defender on torture of prisoners in Azerbaijan. I especially warn all those who decide to refute this publication that there is reliable objective evidence, which, however, I do not disclose, so as not to turn these people into “targets.” I am publishing this information so that both our and the international community know about the real situation, about what violations of rights are taking place at the moment,” he wrote.

Russian Aerospace Forces complete transfer of Armenian peacekeepers to Kazakhstan

Boshkezenian Garik

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 15:26, 8 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. Aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense completed the transfer of servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces from the CSTO peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, reports TASS.

“The aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Defense Ministry has completed the transfer of the military personnel of the Armenian military from the CSTO peacekeeping forces to the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the statement said.

In accordance with the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council, adopted on January 6, 2022, the Collective Peacekeeping Forces of the CSTO were sent to Kazakhstan for a limited time to stabilize the situation in the country. They include units of the armed forces of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Human rights activist: Artsakh’s political elite ‘has run out of patience’

Boshkezenian Garik
panorama>>am
Dec 27 2021

Artsakh’s political elite “has run out of patience”, human rights activist and former Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan claimed on Sunday, referring to the recent statements of the country’s leaders.

His comments came after the Artsakh president and human rights ombudsman harshly reacted to the statements of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the Artsakh issue, calling them “extremely dangerous” for the vital rights of the Artsakh Armenians.

In a public post on Facebook, Melikyan admitted that not all developments in Artsakh were clear to him.

“Nevertheless, I reserve the right to make a few points:

1) The Artsakh elite has completely run out of patience, with an exception of “23.65%”.

2) The confrontation is real, not “staged”.

3) The vast majority of Artsakh Armenians (99% and more) are well aware that the capitulator has turned into an enemy agent and henchman,” he said, welcoming the “awakening process” in the country.