Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Armenia PM: After ‘Common State’ idea, issue of exchanging territories appeared on negotiating table

Eduard Nalbandian
NEWS.am
Armenia – June 15 2022
16:07, 15.06.2022

During the time of [then-President] Robert Kocharyan, in November 1998, the country’s authorities were negotiating on the basis of the so-called “Common State” plan, which presupposed the presence of Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] in Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this speaking in the parliament after the report on the implementation of the 2021 state budget of Armenia—and on the negotiation process to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

Pashinyan again blamed the former Armenian authorities for all the failures; in particular, noting that in the aforesaid negotiations they were allegedly discussing the possibility of including Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

“But now, becoming an opposition, they accuse the [incumbent] authorities of treason. And the fact that Kocharyan, like his supporters—including [the ARF] Dashnaktsutyun [Party]—insist that Nagorno-Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan, smells of cunning—to put it mildly. Not only did they not rule out the possibility of Karabakh becoming part of Azerbaijan, but they also agreed with the key logic of the negotiation package, according to which Karabakh shall eventually become part of Azerbaijan. Moreover, they thus ignored the declaration of independence of Karabakh adopted on September 2, 1991, as well as the independence referendum held on December 10 of the same year,” the Prime Minister said.

According to him, after the idea of a “Common State,” the issue of exchanging territories appeared on the negotiating table.

“The essence of that plan was that Armenia gets Nagorno-Karabakh, and in return it gives Azerbaijan the Meghri region in Syunik Province [of Armenia],” Pashinyan assured.

From his point of view, Yerevan’s agreement to discuss that option, in fact, indirectly meant that Armenia, perhaps at that time, recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

Russian Prosecutor General highlights role of prosecutors in preventing escalation in Nagorno Karabakh

Eduard Nalbandian

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 13:38, 16 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov highlighted the role of the Prosecutions of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan in preventing escalation in Nagorno Karabakh.

On June 16 Igor Krasnov met with Armenia’s Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia said.

“Together with the Azerbaijani officials in a trilateral format, we have made every effort for the restoration of peace in that region and for the prevention of escalation of tension within the local population”, the Russian Prosecutor General said.

He said there should not be a unilateral and deliberate approach if the talk is about restoring peace and security, protecting human rights and freedoms and investigating crimes. He expressed the readiness of the Russian military prosecutors stationed in Nagorno Karabakh to provide all support.

At the meeting Igor Krasnov thanked Artur Davtyan for the constructive approach to the cooperation with the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and highlighted Mr. Davtyan’s dedication to the principles of professional ethics, independence and impartiality.

Biden’s NSA Jake Sullivan praises diplomatic efforts between Armenia, Azerbaijan towards lasting peace

Eduard Nalbandian

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 13:39, 7 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The United States is committed to peace, security, and prosperity in the South Caucasus region, the U.S. President’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the meeting with Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan, Hikmat Hajiyev.

“Mr. Sullivan conveyed the commitment of the United States to peace, security, and prosperity in the South Caucasus region.  He praised the significant and historic diplomatic efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia toward a lasting peace.  Mr. Sullivan expressed support for talks hosted by President of the European Council Charles Michel.  He conveyed the readiness of the U.S. to engage closely and support progress through a variety of means, including in our capacity as a Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group”, the statement made by NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson says.

Russia lifts all coronavirus restrictions on transport communication with Armenia and Kyrgyzstan

Eduard Nalbandian

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 20:35, 7 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Russia has lifted coronavirus restrictions on transport communication with Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, the relevant decision, was signed by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin.

Earlier, the Russian government decided to compile a list of countries from which temporary restrictions on Russian transport communication should be lifted. The list includes 9 countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and Ukraine. The decision of May 22 was amended, the names of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan were added.

Karabakh reveals high treason case involving serviceman

Eduard Nalbandian
PanARMENIAN
Armenia –
– 11:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The National Security Service of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) has revealed that a serviceman of the Defense Army communicated with foreign agents online and delivered military information in return for $1,550 in early 2021.

In January and February 2021, the man identified by his initials as L. G. spoke to a foreign agent pretending to be a young Armenian woman, received $150 and provided “certain” military information, the NSS said.

The Armenian soldier continued his interaction with another foreign agent from February 2021 and provided coordinates of military positions located along the line of contact, details of the equipment and armament of those posts, number of servicemen involved in shifts, combat duty-related information, receiving $1400 in return.

After a criminal case was initiated, the man was arrested. He has given confessional testimony.

GRETA Publishes Report on Human Trafficking in Armenia

Eduard Nalbandian

June 7 2022

Despite progressive revisions to Armenia’s anti-trafficking legislation, the country still has to properly investigate human trafficking cases and offer better support to victims, experts on human trafficking said last week.

Armenia is expected to provide better support to human trafficking victims. (Photo: Global Panorama, Flickr, License)In a report published last week, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) urged the country to “improve access to legal aid and psychological assistance” for human trafficking victims and “to effectively investigate offences of human trafficking for all forms of exploitation and promote reintegration of victims.”

A total of 68 victims were identified between 2017-2021, two thirds of which were women and girls. While human trafficking can subject its victims to a multitude of inhumane treatments, the prevailing ones here were sexual and labour exploitation.

Female human trafficking victims in particular face severe discrimination from gender stereotypes and patriarchal cultural norms, the report notes. This consequently has an adverse effect on their ability “to gain access to justice on an equal basis with men.”

Survivors can also expect to face stigma, prejudice, and gender-based violence, thereby further isolating them from those whom they are in need of the most.

Regrettably, the report highlights that certain groups of women may have an even slimmer chance of receiving justice should they belong to an ethnic minority or live with a disability.

Those from lower-tiered socio-economic strata may also lack the knowledge of how to pursue legal aid—or even an awareness of their legal rights—due to a lack of education and access to information.

Naturally, financial resources also factor into to what extent one may be able to pay for legal representation, judicial taxes, and child care while in court.

Children were also highlighted as an at-risk group in GRETA’s report. Part of how GRETA urged Armenian authorities to better protect children from trafficking included paying particular attention to children from rural areas at risk of child labour, using girls from the Yezidi community (an ethnoreligious minority) and children placed in child-care institutions as examples.

Another recommendation aimed at combatting human trafficking was to enact measures that will lower the population’s poverty rates, as it would provide the parents with more time and resources to attentively watch over their children.

One distinct obstacle Armenian authorities are faced with is their ability to identify human trafficking victims and pursue their captors. GRETA argues that, by and large, “authorities largely relied on trafficking victims to self-identify and failed to detect victims through pro-active investigations.”

As with women, however, all victims were noted to express a degree of distrust towards police and feelings of shame for being a victim in the first place, thereby choosing to remain silent.

This distrust towards the authorities’ ability to deliver them justice can be better understood in the criminal investigations against traffickers. Between 2017 and 2021, “a total of 69 criminal investigations were conducted into human trafficking cases but only 13 cases were brought to trial and just six persons were convicted for trafficking,” the report found.

GRETA concludes its report by recommending that Armenia establish a bureau dedicated to monitoring human trafficking activities, as well as urging the country’s authorities to guarantee legal assistance to victims as soon as they have been properly identified as such.

Pashinyan: Armenia provides and will continue to support Nagorno-Karabakh

Eduard Nalbandian
NEWS.am
Armenia – May 31 2022
12:11, 31.05.2022

Armenia will transfer 20 billion drams to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022. The funds will go towards housing construction. Prime Minister of the Republic Nikol Pashinyan stated this at the National Assembly during a preliminary discussion of the execution of the state budget for 2021 on May 31.

Armenia, according to the leader, renders and will continue to render support to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“In particular, in 2021, all utility payments of the population of Karabakh, within a certain amount for each, as well as all salaries in the public sector, were paid from the state budget of the Republic of Armenia. In general, since November 2020, we have provided support in the amount of 136 billion drams, and we do not intend to stop there,” Pashinyan said.

He noted that in 2019 the state budget of Karabakh amounted to about 118 billion drams. Of these, approximately 58 billion drams were transferred from Armenia. In 2021, the state budget has already amounted to 174 billion drams. Of these, 128 billion drams were provided by Armenia.

“In 2022, these payments will increase to 144 billion drams. In particular, pensions and benefits in Karabakh increased by 20% in 2022,” the PM added.

In addition to current expenses, about 20 billion drams will be allocated for the needs of housing construction. In total, 50 billion drams will be allocated for this in the coming years.

Sports: Armenia 1 – 0 Republic of Ireland

Eduard Nalbandian
BBC News, UK
June 4 2022
Armenia 1 – 0 Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland’s Nations League campaign began in deeply disappointing fashion as they fell to a surprise defeat by Armenia in Yerevan.

Eduard Spertsyan scored the only goal, beating Republic keeper Caoimhin Kelleher with a rasping drive from distance 16 minutes from time.

Chiedozie Ogbene squandered the visitors’ best chance, misjudging a free header in first-half injury time.

The result extends the Republic’s winless run in the Nations League.

It is now 11 games without victory in the competition, having scored just two goals in the process, and with three difficult games against Ukraine and Scotland to come over the next 10 days in Group B1.

An eight-game unbeaten run prior to Saturday’s match, including creditable draws at home to Portugal and Belgium, had lifted the mood around the Republic after a difficult start to Stephen Kenny’s reign.

  • As it happened: Republic stunned by Armenia

However, this result will likely attract further criticism after Kenny’s side were stunned by a team ranked 92nd in the world in a game that stirred memories of last year’s embarrassing World Cup qualifying defeat by Luxembourg.

The Irish were expected to overpower an Armenia team that lost 9-0 to Norway in their last outing in March, but Kenny’s side found the going tough against a resilient defensive unit led impressively by captain Varazdat Haroyan.

Having ridden waves of Irish pressure in the first half, Armenia appeared rejuvenated upon the resumption with the lively Tigran Barseghyan’s goal ruled out after Hovhannes Hambardzumyan had strayed offside before supplying the assist.

Barseghyan also curled an effort just wide from distance but the Republic did not heed the warning and were punished when Spertsyan was given time to turn and shoot from 25 yards, his shot going in off Kelleher’s right-hand post.

While Armenia celebrated in the Yerevan heat, the Republic only had themselves to blame after spurning a series of presentable chances to open the scoring.

Callum Robinson and Ogbene, two of the Republic’s brightest sparks over the past year, combined twice to good effect early on, with Robinson hitting the side-netting on 12 minutes before having a shot deflected behind after being found by the Rotherham attacker on both occasions.

It was Ogbene, however, who spurned the Republic’s biggest chance of the opening half when he failed to keep his free header down after Josh Cullen’s right-wing free-kick.

While Armenia can no longer call upon the playmaking talents of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who retired from international football earlier this year, they offered glimpses of their threat with Barseghyan’s disallowed goal and effort from distance signs of the home side’s growing confidence.

The Republic, who ran out of ideas in a flat second-half display, had to wait until the 62nd minute to register their first effort on target when Shane Duffy headed straight at David Yurchenko before Jeff Hendrick curled a tame shot into the home keeper’s grasp.

But while the Irish grew increasingly dismayed in their attempts to break down the home side’s defence, Spertsyan picked up the ball and unleashed an unstoppable 25-yard drive to spark jubilant scenes among the home supporters.

From there, the Republic could only fashion a late header from John Egan that went wide as their miserable Nations League record continued ahead of a triple-header against more accomplished opposition in Ukraine and Scotland.

  • Line-ups
  • Match Stats
  • Live Text

Home TeamArmeniaAway TeamR. of Ireland
Possession
Home32%
Away68%
Shots
Home10
Away13
Shots on Target
Home3
Away2
Corners
Home2
Away6
Fouls
Home6
Away10

Position of the Coordinating Council of Russian-Armenian Organizations regarding meeting on June 4 in Yerevan about Pan-Armenian Forum

Eduard Nalbandian
June 5 2022

in Russian – http://crossroadorg.info/spyurq-4-6-2022/

On June 4, 2022, within the framework of the “Unity Platform” initiative, a meeting-consultation of representatives of dozens of organizations and experts was held in Yerevan – https://www.armspb.org/post/spyurq-4-6-2022

 

Armenia is an international legal and political subjectivity of the worldwide Armenians, but it does not have sufficient resources, logistics, subsoil, other assets to solve the problems of the Armenian nation in general. The solution of national problems is hampered by the rift between Armenia and the Diaspora, which has recently become more acute, and must be stopped. Armenia must finally become an integral and harmonious part of a single and global Armenian world.

Ashkharazhokhov (Աշխարաժողով, Pan-Armenian assembly), historically traditional for our people, can become the highest collegial body of worldwide Armenians, uniting Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora (Spyurq). Ashkharazhokhov is called upon to realize the strategic goal of the Armenian people – its transformation into a single supra-regional, supra-party, global, technologically advanced, networked nation with a single, clear and implementable ideology based on the principles of spirituality and national values.

The Pan-Armenian Forum should become a unifying platform for developing principles for the formation of Ashkharazhokhov.

Ashkharazhokhov’s concept at the meeting on June 4 was presented by Sargis Tsaturyan, a member of the CC RAO (video in Russian) .

This process should be started by the convocation of the Pan-Armenian Forum, the delegates to which should be elected from Diaspora, Armenia and Artsakh.

On the one hand, in past years high goals were announced several times, but in the end they were discredited, therefore, within the framework of the current attempt, one must be very responsible and not allow another failure. On the other hand, since 2019, the government of Armenia promised to convene a Pan-Armenian forum, which was never held. The preparation and holding of such forums should not be behind the scenes. Therefore, it is important to have a nationwide information system, which should be built from the very beginning.

In Russia, there is a problem with the legitimacy of many Armenian community structures, which often do not represent real community life. These structures practice the decorative institute of electivity, being de facto entrepreneurial monopolies for many years. Such structures cannot be considered public associations, there are little changes in them, insufficient protection of the rights of compatriots, of native language and history, a weak level of patriotic education as citizens of Russia. Many community events are held formally, imitatively, in connection with which the question arises: how to form a representation from the Armenian community of Russia – the largest in terms of numbers in the Diaspora. For example, the poor representation at the meeting on June 4 of diaspora communities, incl. from Russia is a dangerous indicator.

The Coordinating Council of Russian-Armenian Organizations and the Russian-Armenian Association of lawyers ARMROST are long-term independent, supra-party, supra-group public and professional associations for the development and dissemination of a new methodology for structuring community life. CC RAO has a solid volume of dynamic information resources in Internet, incl. websites: Russia-Armenia.info, Russia-Artsakh.ru, HAYASA, Antitopor, Realist, Miaban, Khachmeruk and others. CC RAO expresses readiness for cooperation and considers it important to be represented in the working group for the preparation of the planned forum.

 

Armenpress: Armenian PM, Iranian President hold phone talk

Eduard Nalbandian

Armenian PM, Iranian President hold phone talk

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 09:30, 2 June 2022

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi held a telephone conversation, the PM’s Office said.

PM Pashinyan shared his impressions and provided information about the latest meeting held in Brussels.

The sides exchanged ideas particularly about the opening of regional communications, the launch of delimitation works of the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, the settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the prospects of normalization of the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Issues relating to the bilateral agenda were also discussed. The sides particularly focused on matters relating to the Armenia-Iran third power transmission line, the construction of North-South highway and energy sector.

Pashinyan and Raisi reaffirmed the mutual invitations on paying an official visit and agreed that mutual visits will take place to the capitals of the two countries.