Russia wants to open consulate-general in Kapan

 13:12,

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. Russia wants to open a consulate in Kapan, Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan has said.

“The issue of opening a consulate-general in specifically Kapan is being discussed,” Kostanyan said.

When asked why Russia has chosen specifically Kapan, Kostanyan referred the reporters to the Russian embassy.

“The procedures will be fully maintained. We welcome the interest and desire by our international partners on having a diplomatic representation in Syunik, with the purpose of getting to know the situation on the ground better,” Kostanyan said.

Earlier Iran also opened a consulate-general in Kapan.

Armenia’s strong displeasure regarding the incident near the Hakari bridge presented to Russian Ambassador

 20:03,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia on June 16, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin was presented with Armenia’s strong dissatisfaction with the incident involving Russian peacekeepers near the Hakari Bridge. The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ani Badalyan, told ARMENPRESS, answering the question about the purpose of the visit of the Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopirkin, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“During the meeting with the Russian Ambassador at the Foreign Ministry today, Armenia’s strong displeasure was presented with regard to the incident involving Russian peacekeepers near the Hakari bridge on June 15. It was called to take all the necessary steps to find out the circumstances of the incident and correct the situation,” said Badalyan.

Earlier, the border guard service of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia reported that on June 15, around 08:40, a group of soldiers of the border guard service of Azerbaijan attempted to advance towards the Hakari bridge in order to raise a flag on the territory of the Republic of Armenia. It is noted that as a result of the measures taken by the Armenian side, the advance of Azerbaijani servicemen and the attempt to raise the flag on the territory of the Republic of Armenia was prevented.

In one of the videos spread on the Internet, it was seen how the Azerbaijani military, accompanied by the Russian peacekeepers, tried to raise the Azerbaijani flag on the Hakari bridge.

Disagreements with Azerbaijan over unblocking are technical issues, says Speaker of Parliament

 13:19,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. The contradictions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over unblocking are technical, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has said.

“There is a common understanding over this issue, but there are technical disagreements. The main red line in Azerbaijan’s position is that they argue that their citizens, while traveling from Baku to Nakhijevan, are not moving from Azerbaijan to a third country and in their perception this implies a facilitated option. Our stance is that we are in favor of unblocking of all roads, and if we talk about peace we shouldn’t put forward strong preconditions and cause tension, or create a war situation, because in such situation that road would be meaningless. It would be good if the Azerbaijani side understood this all,” Simonyan told reporters.

Simonyan also commented on clause 9 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement which says that Russian border guards shall exercise control over transport connection from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan. He said that Armenia has its sovereign territory where laws of Armenia are enforced.

“If at some point Armenia were to consider outsourcing any of its functions to the bodies of another country, then that would be its own internal issue, but at this moment there is no decision or discussion on that issue,” Simonyan said.

He added that Armenia displayed its will and emphasized that it will not grant any extraterritorial corridor through its territory.

“It seems that this has been understood, that no such thing was planned or talked about. Although some tried to manipulate and claim that Prime Minister Pashinyan had promised something. It is obvious that there is no such thing, because even the President of Russia spoke about this, and it’s clear that this wording is no longer present in the Azerbaijani rhetoric,” the Speaker said.

The Speaker of Parliament also denied the Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev’s claim that Russia will control the roads to Nakhijevan in Armenian territory. Simonyan said there is no such decision and that the negotiations are ongoing as the parties try to bring their positions closer.

“If Azerbaijan wants the Russian side to control the entry, then Armenia could also want some representation of a third country to control the entry to Azerbaijan, because border unblocking is a mutual process. If the Azerbaijanis should travel to Nakhijevan through Armenian territory, it means that the citizens of Armenia shall also be able to travel to Russia or any other country through Azerbaijani territory. The conditions must be the same, and our position over this issue is unequivocal,” Simonyan said.

Speaker Simonyan ruled out anything being imposed upon Armenia because Armenia’s authorities are legitimately elected. “If the authorities of Armenia were not elected authorities, then perhaps there could be coercion. Armenia is having big successes in its democracy levels, and from now on the world is viewing this all as an attack on democracy. Yes, we have our mistakes, and not everything is perfect, but the progress is obvious, the government’s will to resolve and correct the existing problems is obvious. This all can’t go without a response,” he said.

U.S. looks forward to rescheduling postponed Armenia-Azerbaijan talks in Washington

 10:37,

YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministerial meeting that was supposed to take place on June 12 in Washington D.C. was postponed “100 percent due to scheduling issues,” according to United States Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller.

The U.S. looks forward to rescheduling the meeting, Miller added.

“It was 100 percent due to scheduling issues. We look forward to hosting another round of talks in Washington as the parties continue to pursue a peaceful dialogue for the South Caucasus region. As we’ve said before, we believe direct dialogue is key to resolving the remaining issues. We believe an agreement is within reach. This meeting unfortunately couldn’t go forward 100 percent due to scheduling issues, and we look forward to rescheduling it as soon as we can,” Miller said at a press briefing when asked why the June 12 meeting was canceled.

The U.S. State Department spokesperson did not disclose the new possible timeframes.

The foreign ministerial talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan were planned to take place June 12 in Washington. On June 8, authorities that Azerbaijan requested to postpone it.

Government to provide 35 billion drams in agriculture subsidy in 2023 – economy minister

 11:36,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia plans to carry out 35 billion drams in subsidy in the agricultural sector this year, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said Tuesday.

“If we look at 2006-2010, the total support to agriculture was just 1 billion drams in four years,” Kerobyan told lawmakers in parliament. “We are now talking about 30 billion drams annually. I categorically disagree with the opinion claiming that the farmers are left on their own. Tens of thousands of farming businesses are using our programs. The agriculture in Armenia is now undergoing structural changes, the traditional agriculture is being replaced by high output agriculture,” Kerobyan said, adding that the changes will be seen in statistical figures some time later.

Armenian American was victim of hate crime by pro-LGBTQ vandal outside of parental rights protest in Glendale, CA: police

The Post Millennial

“IT’S OK TO BE QUEER” was carved into the paint of the car.


An Armenian American was the victim of “hateful vandalism” on Friday in Glendale, California. The man’s car was keyed with pro-LGBTQ sentiments and a derogatory phrase against people of Armenian descent.  

According to a news release, The man parked his car at 9:00 pm Wednesday, and when he returned Friday morning the words “IT’S OK TO BE QUEER,” “PRIDE,” STOP HATING,” and “LGBTQ” were carved into the paint of the car. 

“The Glendale Police Department stands with our community against all hate,” the release said. “We are committed to protecting those who live, work, or visit Glendale and maintaining a safe and inclusive community.”

Investigation into the incident is ongoing and the Glendale Police Department is asking anyone with information to contact them by calling 818-548-4911.  

The vandalism took place less than a mile away from the site of the Glendale Unified School District school board meeting where violent clashes that broke out earlier this week Armenian American parents and Antifa militants. 

The parents were there to protest the Glendale school board meeting, voicing their opposition to their Pride celebrations and the indoctrination of their kids. They demanded transparency in what their children are being taught, which the school board has refused to provide. 

Things turned violent when “some so-called Antifa, or hoodlums, anti-social folks who were here, 20-30 folks, who segregated themselves with LGBTQ protesters, then they moved away and went to a parking lot, they met a group of Armenian men. One of the Antifa attacked an Armenian man and the men fought back,” one father on the scene said. 

This was the second clash between Antifa and the parents. The first incident took place on June 3, when parents were protesting a “PRIDE assembly” outside of Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood, California. 

The parents who are part of the Glendale Unified School District Parents’ Voices went to protest the assembly that was aimed at kindergarten to fifth-grade students. They held signs that said “Stop grooming our kids” and Parental choice matters.” 

Reports note that a fight broke out after a far-left agitator in support of children’s pride events allegedly assaulted one of the parents. 

Azerbaijani Press: Cox on blood. On the Baroness’s message to the Armenians of Karabakh

Azerbaijan – June 8 2023

The Baroness herself does not promise anything to Karabakh Armenians anymore, not to put in a good word for them in the British Parliament, nor any other help. This proves that she cannot and could not exert any effective influence on anyone.

“It is my hope and prayer that the long-suffering Armenian nation will continue to strive for the opportunity to live in peace and dignity in your own land. This is the blessing that my family and I, along with all Britons, enjoy. For that great privilege I am deeply indebted to those in my nation who, over eighty years ago, chose to endure a great sacrifice, rather than accepting a false promise of peace.”

This is an excerpt from a letter to the Armenians of Karabakh calling for a sacred sacrifice with a reference to Britain’s choice in the face of Nazi aggression. Its author is the notorious Baroness Caroline Cox, who lives thousands of miles away from Karabakh in her house with an English lawn. Disclaimer: We do not associate either the author’s rhetoric or her position with the policies of the United Kingdom, which has not been known to pander to the aggressive Armenian project.

In her message Cox states that the international community has forgotten about them (Armenians of Karabakh—Ed.) and is forcing Armenia to sign peace, although then Baku will organize their “genocide”. The good old Cox scares the Karabakh Armenians and encourages them to fight. A good part of her letter is devoted to the chilling memories of the atrocities allegedly committed against them by Azerbaijanis. Such pronouncements are intended to arouse the spirit of vengeance in the minds of the ethnic Armenian population of the Karabakh region and raise them to fight.

But whatever hints the Baroness used, knowing her love of jingling coins, one could well take this message as a desperate plea to secure a comfortable life for her in her old age. This is, of course, understandable for an elderly woman. Life in London has always been expensive, even more so now, with the energy crisis and the ensuing price hikes. The “miatsum” project has collapsed, the world centers of power have accepted the new reality and seem to have become immune to all kinds of pro-Armenian lobbying initiatives. In the past, the Armenians and their “miatsum” were a godsend to her. While Baroness was munching khorovats, photographing Albanian churches and writing reports on all this, not only was Azerbaijan developing its economy and strengthening its army, it was also building strong relations with the world centers of power. The ones that are now pressuring Armenia to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan as soon as possible.

The Baroness acknowledges this, by the way. However, interestingly enough, the letter is addressed not to the world powers and not to Armenians in general, but exclusively to “the people of Artsakh”. In other words, Cox went from lobbying efforts to open blackmail, but without any sanctions. Cox’s message is approximately as follows: I slaved for you for thirty-five years, I gave you the best years of my life, I received money, I got used to delicious food and warm bed, and now, in my old age, you make me turn the knob of my heater? And do you have any idea how much it costs to mow an English lawn? This is not your wild Karabakh grass you put in your flatbreads. Are you suggesting I should live on the wages of a peeress? No, this will not do. You must pay. With blood!

The Baroness herself does not promise anything to Karabakh Armenians anymore, not to put in a good word for them in the British Parliament, nor any other help. This proves that she cannot and could not exert any effective influence on anyone. For years all her fuss with trips (and she visited Karabakh illegally 88 times), sympathetic words and promises simulated help, which was greatly promoted by the world elites pandering to the Armenian aggression. Now that support is gone and it has become impossible to simulate the process. The question, however, is whether Cox is relying on other outside forces. She does not seem to be. Especially since the Baroness’s message, as already noted, is addressed only to the Armenians of Karabakh. She removed even Armenia itself from her audience, apparently convinced of the fatal reluctance of the Armenians of Yerevan to live in enmity with their neighbors. The letter even contains some details of “atrocities.” That is an incitement: you must not forget the “cruelty of the Turks”. If you have forgotten, I will remind you. That is the essence of the message. Something akin to metered injections of a drug. One gets the impression that the Baroness is trying to excite the already pretty bruised center of pleasure in the brains of the Armenians of Karabakh. Yes, Azerbaijani Dr. Iron Fist administered a harsh but effective treatment by removing most of that organ from the patient’s brain. The patient has been in a state of apathy ever since. And then Cox comes to the rescue, slipping them an intoxicating picture of long suffering in the hope of a relapse, forgetting that not only was the surgery effective, but the patient is under the watchful eye of the aforementioned Azerbaijani professional, who seems ready to perform a second operation, or rather, a special operation to destroy the remnants of the Armenian gangs in Karabakh.

Thus, we can say for certain that Baroness Cox’s letter is nothing more than a gesture of despair, a kind of epitaph for “miatsum”, to be inscribed on its tombstone. If we were Armenians, we would read the letter carefully to see in it all the tragedy of the Armenian people. It is not in the description of imaginary atrocities of Turks, but in the way you are manipulated through images of mythical monsters, forced to play the role of firewood, essentially, being prepared to become outcasts in the Caucasus. Take in the Baroness’s lines: you are being told what you want to hear, you are being drugged. Note that it is not you who are trying to convince a foreigner of the atrocities of Turks, but on the contrary, the foreigner is convincing you. Isn’t this a blatant example of the external indoctrination of your mind that has been going on the decades? Now that peace is so close, the foreign bird is once again trying to feed the vile seeds of Turkophobia to the still unfledged Armenian generation with its crooked black beak.

But the good news is that Cox has alerted the world in a way that even the West is pressuring Armenia to make peace with Karabakh being recognized as part of Azerbaijan. She does mention this: “I am deeply disturbed by reports that the Republic of Armenia is being pressured by international powers to contemplate sacrificing your homeland of Karabakh to the Republic of Azerbaijan in return for a so-called peace treaty. If reports are to be believed, those involved in the negotiation process say that the treaty will secure the borders of the Republic of Armenia and allow trade to open up with the Turkish world.”

In other words, it is great that the international community has realized a simple truth better than the Armenians themselves: as long as Armenia does not recognize the borders of Azerbaijan, its own borders are a very arbitrary concept. The leaders in Washington, Moscow, Brussels, Berlin and Paris are in fact just as concerned about the fate of the Armenian people as the Baroness. This is why they strongly recommend Yerevan to forget about the “miatsum” and to think about the fate of its own 29,800 square kilometers, cut out of the historical Azerbaijani lands. Which, by the way, is also a well-known fact.

Murad Abiyev

Translated from Caliber.Az

https://aze.media/cox-on-blood-on-the-baronesss-message-to-the-armenians-of-karabakh/

Azerbaijani forces open fire at Armenian positions

 10:16, 8 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces opened fire at 22:35, June 7 at Armenian military positions in the Khoznavar section, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia said in a statement.

The Armenian side did not suffer casualties.

As of 10:00 the situation on the frontline was relatively stable, the ministry added.

Yerevan’s iconic giant corncob-like Youth Palace building to be rebuilt

 12:13, 7 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The Youth Palace building in downtown Yerevan which was once one of the most iconic landmarks of the Armenian capital ever since it was built in the 1970s until its demolishment in 2006 will be brought back to life.

A project by Aprelu Yerkir Party and Artur Tarkhanyan Center called Public Initiative for Development of Yerevan, supported by Ruben Vardanyan Foundation, seeks to rebuild the Youth Palace building resembling a giant corncob (hence its nickname Kukuruznik in Russian) in the very same location overlooking Teryan Street, with the same design, but with modern solutions.

Aprelu Yerkir President Mane Tandilyan said that their project will also feature many other major programs. She attached importance to giving back the iconic building back to the city. 

Architect Anahit Tarkhanyan, whose father was one of the architects of the original Youth Palace building – said that the private company who had acquired the building and subsequently demolished it committed multiple violations of the law. The company had signed a contract assuming an obligation to invest five million dollars within three years, something it failed to do. Moreover, the building was demolished based on falsified documents, Tarkhanyan said, expressing hope that law enforcement agencies will eventually prosecute those guilty.

The project is still in a preliminary phase and experts are now working on the future concept of the building.

In a best case scenario the building will be completed in two years, and another two years will be needed for interior works.

Photos by Tatev Duryan