Author: David Nargizian

Armenia Security Council chief on Berdzor, Aghavno villages’ fate: We have 1.5 years to find solutions

David Nargizian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
12:43, 30.06.2022

We have been discussing issues related to Berdzor [(Lachin)] and Aghavno [villages] with our colleagues in Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] since November 9. Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, announced this Thursday at the press briefing after the Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

“The Artsakh authorities are working on this part; they have talked about this in public, too. We still have time to find solutions for the [Lachin] road and for the residents [of the aforesaid villages]. We have about 1.5 years, we will work with the Artsakh government and find solutions,” he said.

The Security Council chief said that when they had tried to advance the peace agenda, they had talked about possible respective problems as well.

“It’s not like when we talked about the peace agenda, we thought that everything would be very easy; we know about its difficulties. But, also, we realize that in order to be able to ensure long-term security in our region, its possible option is the peace agenda; we will continue to work in this direction. But, also, we realize that it does not depend only on Armenia; this is also the reason why we work with all international partners to advance the peace agenda,” Armen Grigoryan stated.

Thank to pan-Armenian efforts, large-scale housing construction works are carried out in Artsakh. Arayik Harutyunyan

David Nargizian

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 13:01,

YEREVAN, JUNE 25, ARMENPRESS. President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan participated in the 31st sitting of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund in Yerevan on June 25.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Artsakh President’s Office, in his speech, Arayik Harutyunyan praised the Fund’s activities, emphasizing that due to pan-Armenian efforts, large-scale housing construction works are being carried out in Artsakh, as a result of which thousands of displaced families will be provided with apartments.

During the meeting, a number of issues related to the Fund’s activities were discussed, and the activities were outlined.

Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijan starts asphalting new road bypassing Lachin city (PHOTO)

David Nargizian
Economy Materials 23 June 2022 15:42


Economy Materials 23 June 2022 15:42

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 23. The restoration of road infrastructure is among the main priorities in reconstruction and restoration process in the Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenian occupation, Trend reports via the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads.

According to the agency, one of the road infrastructure projects implemented by instructions of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Karabakh and East Zangazur economic regions is the construction of a new highway bypassing the city of Lachin.

Design of all roads in the above regions envisions their construction bypassing large settlements. As part of the construction process, asphalting of sections of the road bypassing Lachin city has already started, the agency said.

The length of the new road is 32 km. The width of the carriageway is 7-10.5 meters, the width of the subgrade – 12-15 meters, and the width of the shoulder sections – 2×2.5 (5 m) meters, the agency noted.

At the site where the road base is ready, installation of the asphalt concrete pavement has begun. The construction of ring pipes and various artificial structures is also underway in order to ensure the drainage of water. Construction work on the 22-nd kilometer of the road is at the final stage.

The construction of the road is carried out in accordance with the schedule. The necessary labor force has been attracted to the territory to complete the construction work this year.



Prosecutor General of Armenia pays working visit to Belarus

David Nargizian

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 11:54,

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan departed for Belarus on a working visit to attend the 32nd session of the Coordination Council of Prosecutors General of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Minsk, his Office said in a statement.

The statement adds that the session participants will discuss legalization and return of criminally acquired assets, protection of business rights within criminal procedures, fight against extremism, terrorism and illegal migration, experience of CIS states in other areas and functions of prosecutions.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia will also have meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines of the session.

Supreme Judicial Court terminates powers of its suspended chairman Ruben Vardazaryan

David Nargizian

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 14:56,

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. The Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia approved a motion for disciplinary action against its suspended chairman Ruben Vardazaryan.

Acting President of the Supreme Judicial Council Gagik Jhangiryan released the decision at today’s meeting.

“President of the Supreme Judicial Council, judge of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, Ruben Vardazaryan’s powers are terminated on grounds of a serious disciplinary action”, Gagik Jhangiryan said, adding that the decision takes effect immediately after its publication and is not subject to appeal.

Embellishing Beirut with artist Lena Kelekian

David Nargizian
Lebanon –

With countless solo exhibitions and international awards to her name, multidisciplinary Lebanese artist Lena Kelekian has carved out a successful career in the art world. Here, we learn more about her journey, her contribution to the country’s artistic and cultural scene, and why the benches project on Beirut’s famed corniche boulevard is her most cherished to date.


It started in 1992, when I had my first solo exhibition at the inaugural event of the Salon de Artistes art gallery. Following the exhibition, my artwork was acquired by the Billy Graham Museum in Illinois; it is part of their permanent collection. Since then, I have had over 17 solo and 320 collective exhibitions in 65 countries.

My Olympian achievements have definitely marked my career. I won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Fine Arts and won a Torino Winter Olympics Torch for Lebanon, which was only awarded to a small number of gold-medal winners. In fact, I was the only recipient of the torch in the Middle East.

In 2012, I was also awarded a gold medal at the London Olympics for Fine Arts and was honored by the International Olympic Committee for my artistic endeavors and achievements.

Furthermore, I won first prize in the Sassine tunnel murals embellishment competition in 1997. My environmental design was titled “Trees of Lebanon.” More recently, following the devastating explosion of the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, I decided to create a special icon, “The Virgin Theotokos, the Protector of Lebanon,” which was auctioned off to help rebuild the homes destroyed by the blast. Thousands of copies of the icon were distributed to citizens affected by the blast, and pocket-size prints of the same icon were placed inside the little chapel at Rafic Hariri International Airport for travelers to take with them.

My city embellishment works can be viewed all over Beirut and Greater Beirut. I have more than 100 pieces of public art on display, including: the Ain Mreisse benches and the mega chess board; the Sassine and Salim Salam tunnel walls’ the 500-meter Beirut river wall, featuring floral designs; the 8-meter-high monument in Karantina displaying the “Power of Art” and the 65-meter backdrop wall; the 13-meter-long monument along the Damascus highway at the Aley roundabout; and the 60-meter Kempinski Summerland resort jetty and 300-meter marina wall, which depicts a shoal of fish. Elsewhere, I worked on the Haigazian University stele and the Armenian Genocide “Forget-me-not” monument, which can be seen on campus.

My murals can also be spotted in public gardens across Nabaa, Bourj Hammoud and Achrafieh. These projects are very special to me, as we wanted to transform former wastelands into playgrounds for children.

CMC Clemenceau Medical Center in Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh and other hospitals also showcase my work. It is hugely rewarding to help soothe the pain of patients and their families with colorful art.

Finally, my artworks can be found in over 23 museums, from Japan to Mexico.

The Ain Mreisse – Avenue de Paris Corniche benches project is the dearest to my heart because of the impact it has had on visitors, tourists and people frequenting the promenade on a daily basis. Each bench has become a landmark, combining functionality with artistic design and cultural interaction.

In addition, the art therapy project titled “Beirut Heals through the Arts” was our direct intervention through our MEADOWS NGO, which I established in 2007. The members trained in Greece and Jordan as art therapists, and we put their know-how to great use following the Beirut explosion to help heal the psychological wounds of hospital nurses, social workers and the youth.

In April, I curated the “Meadows Mask Art – Venice 2022” art exhibition installation, with the participation of 100 international artists from 65 countries within the Venice Biennale. Similarly, I am curating the 19th Asian Biennale in October 2022, which will showcase the works of 500 artists from 100 countries.

My upcoming exhibitions will be in Mexico, Romania and China.

In my art studio.

I love nature. My favorite area is Bois de Boulogne, Metn, where I spend time in my summer house relaxing or creating art pieces and hosting dear friends. I also love clubbing and discovering new restaurants!

https://www.lebanontraveler.com/en/magazine/lena-kelekian/ 






Aliyev threatens Armenia with new war

David Nargizian
ARMINFO
Armenia – June 16 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev assures that the declaration resulting from the trilateral meeting between EU Council President Charles Michel, him  and Prime Minister Pashinyan in Brussels clearly shows that the  rights and security of the Armenian population in Karabakh will be  taken into account.

Thus, the permanent leader of Azerbaijan, speaking at the opening of  the IX Global Baku Forum on the topic “Threats to the global world  order”,  threatened Armenia with new military operations in case of  failure to fulfill the Azerbaijani agenda.

Aliyev Jr. suddenly started talking about the Azerbaijani  constitution, which allegedly will take into account the interests of  the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in the future. “Our Constitution  ensures the rights and security of the entire Azerbaijani people. For  many years, our Constitution ensures the equal rights of all peoples,  including the Armenians living in Azerbaijan (who not only cannot  live there, but they are even forbidden to enter this country, ed.  note). Therefore, Of course, we will take care of their rights and  security,” Aliyev stressed, keeping silent about the atrocities that  the Azerbaijani authorities have committed and are committing against  Armenians, not remembering this Constitution.

At the same time, the Azerbaijani leader went further and called  Armenia’s statements about the status of Nagorno-Karabakh  unproductive. In this vein, he threatened Armenia with a new war, in  case of any reference to this issue. According to him, the Armenian  government “should understand this and stop trying to rewrite  history.” Apparently Aliyev meant Azerbaijani mythical history, far  from reality. He apparently does not know that, according to the same  history, Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum and left the Soviet Union  according to all the procedures by which all the countries of the  USSR left it, and almost the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh  voted through a plebiscite for secession from the Azerbaijan SSR and  declaration of independence.

“Therefore, if Armenia demands a status for the Armenians of  Karabakh, then why shouldn’t Azerbaijan demand a status for  Azerbaijanis from Western Zangezur? Because only Azerbaijanis lived  there. Thus, this can create a hopeless situation. I think that the  Armenian government should not forget the lessons of the Second  Karabakh war, should learn these lessons well and give up any  territorial claims against Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said, forgetting that  the Azerbaijani nationality as such formed only in the early 1920s.

Referring to the normalization of relations with Armenia, Aliyev said  that negotiations will begin as soon as Yerevan establishes a  commission on a peace treaty. “Azerbaijan has already established a  peace treaty commission on its part, and we expect that the same step  will be taken by Armenia. If this is done or as soon as this is done,  negotiations will begin,” he said.

At the same time, taking advantage of the opportunity to manipulate  the territory of the Syunik region in Armenia, Aliyev assured that it  would be very difficult to talk about peace without opening a  corridor.  “Azerbaijan’s efforts aimed at a normal neighborhood with  Armenia will be in vain.” Thus, it turns out that Aliyev is trying to  get peace, while seizing the sovereign territories of Armenia in the  Syunik and Gegharkunik regions, otherwise threatening to start a new  war. And all this is happening against the backdrop of the inaction  of the international community, which, in the pursuit of  petrodollars, does not notice Azerbaijani encroachments and threats  against Yerevan.

“If we are not given this entry-exit (through the Armenian Syunik  edition), then it will be very difficult to talk about peace, and all  the efforts of Azerbaijan aimed at normal coexistence, normal  neighborhood with Armenia will be in vain. This is another important  issue, and Azerbaijan has the right to demand it. The Armenian  government signed a corresponding statement. Secondly, Azerbaijan, as  a country that “won” the war, has the moral right to demand,” Aliyev  assured.

In conclusion, he traditionally lashed out at the OSCE Minsk Group  and assured that Azerbaijan had settled the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict  and there was no need for this international format anymore. The head  of state noted that, in particular, “after the Russian-Ukrainian war,  everyone understands that it is impossible to hold a meeting with the  participation of all three co-chairs of the Minsk Group.” “We have  already been informed that the institution of the co-chairs of the  Minsk Group will no longer function. It is time for them to retire.  Thus, I want to express our position that any speculation in Armenia  about the Minsk Group or in some another country only causes  irritation in Azerbaijan. We have settled the conflict. The Madrid  principles developed by the Minsk Group have been resolved. Now we  need to think about ways to normalize relations with Armenia, sign a  peace treaty,” Aliyev concluded.

Armenian FM responds to Azerbaijani president’s latest statements

David Nargizian
Panorama
Armenia –


Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has reacted to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that Armenia “is not sincere” in the process of achieving peace.

“The Armenian government has repeatedly proved its readiness to make efforts for the establishment of long-term stability and peace in the South Caucasus. At the same time, it is obvious that these efforts cannot be one-sided, and Azerbaijan must also take active and sincere steps in this direction. The establishment of peace cannot come as a result of the efforts of one side only, and peace negotiations cannot be based on the proposals of one side only,” Mirzoyan said on Friday in response to a request for comment from Armenpress.

“It is also obvious that for the success of these efforts, it is necessary to address the whole set of existing problems that have caused the conflict in order to find a solution acceptable to all parties. In this context, the statements made by official Baku about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict being settled are at least not understandable or, moreover, put under doubt the sincerity of the intention of the authorities of Azerbaijan to achieve peace. Whatever statements are made, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue continues to exist until adequate guarantees for the issues of the security of the Armenians of Artsakh and protection of all their rights, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh arising from it are not addressed. In the modern world, the situation created as a result of use of force cannot be a solution to a problem.

“The assertion that as a result of the use of force there is no Nagorno-Karabakh at all, does not speak about the constructiveness of Azerbaijan. Needless to say that this, indeed, does not correspond to the factual reality, the most important part of which is the existence of Armenians in Artsakh as well as the presence of Russian peacekeeping forces to ensure their security, or the November 9 trilateral statement, which stopped the war and clearly defines the existence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The same can be said about the statements of the Azerbaijani authorities on the non-existence of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. First of all, no one has suspended it and without the relevant decision of the international institution defining it, they cannot suspend the international mandate of the co-chairmanship, that is, to contribute to the political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In that case, it is incomprehensible that if the parties really want to negotiate sincerely, to find mutually acceptable solutions, to achieve a lasting and sustainable peace, then why should not those talks take place in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, which has the clear support of the international community, and non-use of the experience and potential of which is simply illogical and unreasonable,” the minister said.

Commenting on Aliyev’s claims that the Armenian side is delaying the process of unblocking the region, Mirzoyan stressed Armenia has always been interested in opening all the transport and economic infrastructures in the region.

“This is evidenced by both the trilateral statements adopted by the Russian mediation on January 11 and November 26, 2021 as well as the agreements reached in Brussels,” he said.

“I would like to emphasize that Armenia has been involved in the discussions in good faith, and the process would have been much smoother and faster if Azerbaijan would not have come up with statements on the extraterritorial corridor, which are not in line with the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 as well as with the commitments made by the statements I mentioned.

“As for Azerbaijan’s efforts to draw parallels between the Lachin corridor and the regional transport routes to be unblocked, they obviously cannot have the same status, at least coming from the provisions of the trilateral declaration signed on November 9, 2020, which clearly define the status of the Lachin corridor. Moreover, Nagorno-Karabakh and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic have different statuses, different neighborhoods, and different security environments. Accordingly, their relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be identical.

“I would like to emphasize again that the November 9 statement envisages unblocking of all infrastructures in the region, while Azerbaijan is delaying in undertaking steps in this direction. We are ready for unblocking the region within the framework of the agreements on the preservation of the sovereignty of the countries and jurisdiction over roads, and the recent talks between the Deputy Prime Ministers of the two countries in Moscow followed this logic,” Mirzoyan said.

Renovation, modernization of Armenia’s Meghri border checkpoint to launch soon

David Nargizian

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 13:35,

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia Rustam Badasyan, Head of the European Union’s Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin and Head of the Yerevan Resident Office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) George Akhalkatsi visited the Meghri Customs Checkpoint Division of Southern Customs House Department to get acquainted with the customs service working process.

“Ensuring easy and fast movement for businesses and citizens through the border checkpoints is one of the priorities of the State Revenue Committee, and the modernization of Armenia’s southern border checkpoint is also very important. The program of renovating and modernizing the Meghri border checkpoint will launch soon with the financial support of EU and EBRD. The modernization of the checkpoint will boost the passenger transportation and trade turnover via Armenia’s southern economic border”, Rustam Badasyan said on social media.

Armenia Defense Minister: At this stage we see no danger of war with Azerbaijan

David Nargizian
NEWS.am
Armenia – June 7 2022
23:13, 06.06.2022

At the moment a huge amount of work is carried out on the arrangement of the border, this work is under my direct supervision, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan said in an interview with the Public Television.

“Now we are building roads with about 13 companies, mainly road construction companies.  These are the roads that lead to the front line. We face the task of fully providing both the road network and the front line in the summer period.  In parallel, engineering work is being carried out on the front line,” he said, assuring that the state of the border equipment, which was before the war, “will change by the end of the year.”

Speaking about the situation on the border, the minister noted that there is some tension on the border, although there are times when Azerbaijan spreads misinformation about ceasefire violations by the Armenian Armed Forces.

“As a rule, the Armenian Armed Forces prevent the violation of the ceasefire by silencing the enemy. That is, when there is an exchange of fire, it is not on our initiative. And I hope that the representatives of the armed forces of the neighboring country will act in the same way and we will be able to ensure the current peaceful situation and achieve lasting peace,” he said.

 “I cannot make such assessments now; in any case, Armenian armed forces must be ready to secure our borders. At this stage, we see no danger,” Suren Papikyan said.

https://news.am/eng/news/705981.html