Author: Edgar Tavakalian

During a military parade in Baku, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev laid claims on Armenian lands and hinted at a possible continuation of the war.

Aliyev said Zangezur (in Armenia’s Syunik province), Sevan and Yerevan were “historic Azerbaijani lands and stated that “back in the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were expelled from their native lands.”

At the same time, Aliyev hinted that he is not satisfied with the current geopolitical situation.

He recalled that earlier he had repeatedly said “if Armenia fails to return our lands, we will resolve this issue by military means.”

During the coming two years, Sweden and Lithuania, will in partnership with the Ministry of Emergencies (MES) of the Republic of Armenia, strengthen emergency preparedness capacity and support development of civil protection within the organization.

The Twinning project “Enhancing Civil Protection in Armenia”, financed by the European Union, is implemented by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Fire and Rescue Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania (FRD). The overall objective of the project is to make Armenia disaster resilient and ensure significant reduction of various disaster risks to human lives, country’s economy and communities.

The project builds on a long tradition of relationships between the countries and gives a certain association for MSB. In 1988, MSB did its first international rescue mission ever to Armenia after the devastating earthquake in Spitak that hit the country hard. Now, 32 years later, MSB is back together with FRD to continue the cooperation and strengthen the relationship further.

 “It is symbolic to announce the launch of this new Twinning project in the sphere of Civil Protection and Disaster Risk Management at this very day of commemoration of the Spitak earthquake. We highly evaluate this collaboration opportunity with our Swedish and Lithuanian colleagues towards resilience building and better preparedness to emergencies in Armenia”, mentioned Colonel Hovhannes Yemishyan, Deputy Director of the Rescue Service of MES.

“I am proud to be part of this mission, Our partner in Armenia, MES, has requested this project, which is an important part for its possibilities to succeed. I am looking forward to this process of mutual learning and development within the important area of Civil Protection”, says Jon Andersen, Resident Twinning Adviser, deployed by MSB to lead the implementation of the project for two years.

The Twinning project consists of three components:

• Enhanced civil protection legal and policy framework
• Improved effectiveness and efficiency of the comprehensive civil protection system
• Improved capacity to ensure effective human resource management and development

The project will run for two years.; it kicked off in October this year. During the two years of implementation, Swedish and Lithuanian experts within the field will cooperate with the Armenian colleagues, to carry out activities aimed to enhance Civil Protection in Armenia. Some of the activities foreseen are support in implementing the legal framework on civil protection, strengthening of the volunteer system, crisis awareness and the Human Resources system within MES and the Armenian Rescue Services.

The President of Armenia, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Armen Sarkissian has addressed an official letter to the members of the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

During the difficult days of the war, most of the funds raised by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, 52,703,113,395 AMD, were donated to a separate treasury account of the Government of the Republic of Armenia at the request of the Government to finance infrastructure, social and health expenditures.

From the beginning, President Sarkissian has been of the opinion that the money transferred to the government should be converted into a debt through a loan. However, in the current difficult situation, the majority of the members of the Fund’s Board of Trustees made a different decision.

Taking into account the growing public interest in the issue, President Sarkissian addressed a letter to the director of the foundation Haykak Arshamyan on November 26 with a request to provide clarifications.

“As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, I am deeply concerned that due to the transfer of the money donated to the fund by our compatriots and friends to the government, there has been some distrust and dissatisfaction with the fund’s activities. Our compatriots have raised the issue in the press, as well. This fact has also become a source of speculation, donors have suspicions that their trust might have been abused. As a result, the reputation of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, as well as fundraising and donations for future programs, may be jeopardized,” the President said.

The President of the Republic stressed that the current situation requires urgent steps to be taken so that the trust in the government and the foundation is not completely lost. In addition, there is a danger of discrediting the idea of pan-Armenian unity in general, an idea that has so far ensured the fund’s activities.

Therefore, according to the President, the government should submit a clear, detailed, transparent report on the expenditures made with the funds transferred by the fund, and this should be done as publicly as possible.

At the same time, an urgent international audit should be conducted to provide the public, especially our Diaspora compatriots, as the main and loyal donors of the foundation, with comprehensive information on the funds raised by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and their targeted management.

In case of a negative conclusion of the international audit or if the results of the audit are not satisfactory to the trustees or donors, the amount of AMD 52,703,113,395 transferred to the government should be restated as a loan, subject to subsequent return to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.

“Aware of the existing difficult situation of the country, I still consider it unacceptable to add to the various crises the crisis of confidence around the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund,” the President said.

He added that he return of the funds transferred to the government to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund can change the situation and become a guarantee of restoring trust in the fund.

“The refund to the fund’s budget will allow the Board of Trustees to decide on spending directions themselves, taking into account the views and suggestions of the trustees, donors, and, if necessary, cooperating with the Artsakh leadership and the Government of the Republic of Armenia,” said President Sarkissian, anticipating the opinion of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund on the issue.

The President believes the fund must be an absolutely apolitical structure, free from even the slightest doubts.