Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Armenia receives French armored vehicles instead of Ukraine

Eduard Nalbandian
Nov 12 2023
NEWSARMY
ByDylan Malyasov


Armenia has reportedly taken delivery of the first batch of Bastion armored vehicles from the French defense company Arquus, formerly known as Renault Trucks Defense.

The announcement was made by journalist and analyst Leonid Nersisyan on Sunday, accompanied by photos of the armored vehicles spotted in the Georgian port of Poti en route to Armenia.

It is worth noting that the Bastion armored vehicles received by Armenia are the same vehicles that Arquus pledged to deliver to Ukraine in 2022 from its stock of 24 units.

The transfer of these vehicles to Ukraine was initially reported by the French newspaper “La Tribune” on October 3, 2022, stating that the French manufacturer Arquus, a part of the Swedish group Volvo, would provide Ukraine with 20 Bastion armored vehicles.

It is noteworthy that negotiations regarding the delivery of these armored vehicles to Ukraine have been ongoing for some time, as reported by security and defense correspondent Elizabeth Gosselin-Malo in April 2023.

“Company officials say talks on this have been ongoing for some time but nothing finalized (24 in stock),” she stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The acquisition of the Bastion armored vehicles is seen as a significant step in bolstering Armenia’s defense capabilities amid regional security concerns.

https://defence-blog.com/armenia-receives-bastion-armored-vehicles-arquus/

Three Armenian artists head to Brussels for creative residency

Eduard Nalbandian
November 8, 2023 Guest Contributor Art, News 0

Creative Armenia, in partnership with the Boghossian Foundation, is thrilled to announce the newest cohort of East-West Residents. In January-February of 2024, three distinguished Armenian artists will travel to Brussels, Belgium, and spend one month at the Villa Empain. The 2023 East-West Residents are visual artist Narek Barseghyan, comics artist Shamiram Khachatryan and photographer Vahan Stepanyan. The selected artists are some of Armenia’s strongest rising talents and creative leaders, defining the trajectory of the arts within their respective disciplines. During their stay at the iconic Villa Empain, the creators will have an unprecedented opportunity to develop their creative projects, collaborate with European artists and explore Belgium’s dynamic cultural scene, while introducing contemporary Armenian arts into the European cultural landscape.

“The East-West Residency remains a vital bridge for Armenian artists to reach the European art scene,” said Garin Hovannisian, founder of Creative Armenia. “Already in its fourth edition, we see how these residents benefit from the experience in Brussels and return to their homeland with new ideas and collaborations.”

Already in its fifth year, East-West Residency has supported many renowned artists, helping them pursue ambitious creative projects. Fostering a culture of artistic exchange, the program has proactively championed Armenian talents in the European arena. Previous East-West Residents include art director and animator Tigran Arakelyan, visual artist Gayane Avetisyan, writer Anna Davtyan, art director and calligrapher Ruben Malayan and many more.

“We strongly believe that art is the key for a better understanding between cultures. The ambitious partnership with Creative Armenia strengthens our link with Armenia and its vibrant art scene,” said Louma Salamé, general director of the Boghossian Foundation. “We are proud to welcome leading Armenian artists at the Boghossian Foundation’s residency, a laboratory for ideas and contemporary creation, a place of sharing and of international encounters between artists, curators, writers and scientists.”

You can learn more about the residents and the program at creativearmenia.org/residency.

The East-West Residency is a program of Creative Armenia and the Boghossian Foundation, which entered into a partnership in 2018. Creative Armenia is a global arts foundation for the Armenian people that discovers, develops and champions innovative talents across the arts. The Boghossian Foundation was created in 1992 by Robert Boghossian and his two sons, Jean and Albert, jewelers of Armenian origin, with the primary objective of contributing to development and education.




CSI calls for U.S. action to prevent a new Armenian Genocide

Eduard Nalbandian
Nov 9 2023

Says it is not too late to combat the malign influence of Azerbaijan and Turkey

Having met with no challenge from the U.S., Azerbaijan and Turkey have now fixed their sights on the Republic of Armenia, whose people are increasingly anxious about their own future.”

— John Eibner, CSI International President

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, November 9, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is urging the United States to put its words into action and call the perpetrators of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh to account.

In a letter to President Joe Biden dated November 13, CSI International President Dr. John Eibner says it is time for the U.S. to stand up for the Christian people of Armenia who are existentially threatened by the aggressive authoritarian regimes in Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Referencing President Biden’s Oval Office speech on October 20 pledging support to the endangered peoples of Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, Eibner reminds the president that the Armenian people, and specifically the 120,000 Armenian Christians of Nagorno Karabakh, are still waiting for “constructive American action to stop an ongoing process of genocide” against them.

Last September, Azerbaijan, openly supported by Turkey, finally achieved its goal of ethnically and religiously cleansing the Caucasus region of Nagorno Karabakh of its Armenian Christian population following a nine-month blockade. “In doing so, Azerbaijan and Turkey reached another milestone in the historic process of the Armenian Genocide,” writes Eibner.

CSI’s international president recalls that, speaking on behalf of the administration only five days before Azerbaijan’s military assault, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Yuri Kim informed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: “The United States will not countenance any action or effort—short-term or long-term—to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Yet this is exactly what has happened, says Eibner. “Your administration did not act in defense of the fundamental human rights of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. Instead, it sacrificed them as valueless expendables in the context of the United States’ geopolitical power struggle for ascendancy in the South Caucasus.”

In her Congressional testimony, Kim identified the powers whose influence the Biden administration is dedicated to combat: Russia, China and Iran. But she failed to mention Azerbaijan and Turkey – the neo-Ottoman political, military, and economic constellation behind the ethnic/religious cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh.

Having met with no challenge from the U.S., Azerbaijan and Turkey have now fixed their sights on the Republic of Armenia, whose people are increasingly anxious about their own future, states Eibner.

“A reorientation of American policy to combat the malign influence of Azerbaijan and Turkey is overdue. But it is not too late,” he writes, and urges the U.S. to action.

The required action includes pressing for a UN Security Council Resolution calling for the establishment of a secure environment in which refugees and displaced persons can return to Nagorno Karabakh in safety, the international civil presence can operate, a transitional administration can be established, and humanitarian aid can be delivered.

The U.S. must simultaneously impose severe sanctions against the architects and other enablers of Azerbaijan’s religious/ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh; call for the suspension of Azerbaijan’s membership of NATO’s “Partnership for Peace Program”; and halt all US military aid to Azerbaijan.

The U.S. has the capacity to prevent further genocide in the region, Eibner concludes. “All that is required is the will on your part to lead. The power and prestige of the United States as an upholder of a rules-based world order, anchored in the UN Charter and the international human rights instruments, will be enhanced by such a display of leadership.”

Christian Solidarity International is an international human rights group campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity.

Joel Veldkamp
Christian Solidarity International
+41 76 258 15 74
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https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/667468755/csi-calls-for-u-s-action-to-prevent-a-new-armenian-genocide

Ukraine ambassador to Azerbaijan makes another anti-Armenian statement

Eduard Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
Nov 8 2023
17:19, 08.11.2023

Vladyslav Kanevskyi, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Azerbaijan, has made another anti-Armenian statement.

This Ukrainian "diplomat" issued congratulations on Azerbaijan’s "Victory Day" in a post on Facebook, and praised the Azerbaijani people and authorities.

Among other things, Kanevskyi wrote as follows: "At that time, Ukrainians, standing shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijanis, defeated the enemy, and today ethnic Azerbaijanis defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine on the battlefield."

The quote is presented as written, and it appears to suggest that "Once upon a time, Ukrainians stood shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijanis and defeated the enemy, and today, ethnic Azerbaijanis defend Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the battlefield."

Although this "enemy" is not directly mentioned in the post, it is obvious that it is about the Armenians—taking into account the date of the congratulation.

But this is not the first time when the ambassador of Ukraine to Azerbaijan indulges in anti-Armenian demarches. Last year, the Ukrainian embassy in Baku published an entire video praising Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenians.

On the Ukrainian ambassador's Facebook page, there is also a statement by the Ukrainian community on Tuesday, with congratulations and joy in connection with the Azerbaijani occupation of Shushi, Hadrut, and all other settlements of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Beyond Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: How India can help Armenia with military training

Eduard Nalbandian
First Post
Nov 2 2023
Maj Gen Ashok Kumar

The geopolitical landscape of the world is changing quite rapidly. It was the Russia-Ukraine war first, while it is now the Hamas-Israel war. US-China relations are also heating up on the issues of the Indo-Pacific, South China Sea, and Taiwan which may explode at any time. While adequate world attention is drawn to all these issues, a major conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, affecting 100,000 Armenians, has almost eroded from the memories of all world powers, despite the fact that almost the entire Armenian population was forced to move out of their native place to relocate themselves in Armenia.

The September 23 operations were launched by Azerbaijan to capture this Armenian enclave, which it succeeded in. It succeeded as it had four times the superior forces as compared to Armenia. The relative ‘Nos’ alone don’t matter. The force structure, force organisation, command and control structure, equipment, warfighting doctrine and tactics, and the morale of the forces matter much more. It was probably because of these reasons that Armenia won the first Nagorno-Karabakh war, which concluded in 1994.

It is therefore essential that the Armenian defence forces carry out a re-appraisal of their strengths and weaknesses. This will assist them in identifying the areas that need improvement. It will be a good idea if Armenia takes the assistance of some trusted country to help shape its defence forces, including imparting the training to make it more battle-ready. India could be the obvious choice to establish an ‘Indian Army Training Team (IATT)’ in Armenia, which can be co-located with the Force Headquarters of Armenia. IATT is more suitable due to the following reasons:

  • Armenia faces two front threats. From Nakhichevan enclave of Azerbaijan on its West which can be activated by the forces ab-initio placed in the Nakhichevan enclave besides Azerbaijan reinforcing the location through Iran / Turkey. It can also establish a forced corridor through the Southern end of Armenia for a much wanted connectivity. In addition, Armenia’s Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in the East is surrounded by Azerbaijan from almost all the four sides. Armenia needs to be prepared and capable of fighting ‘two front war’. There could be no better country in the world as compared to India which can assist Armenia in its current geo-graphic conflict context as India has fought and won a two front war in 1971 and is handling the similar threat now on two fronts due to collusivity of China and Pakistan.
  • India has a large and robust defence force structure. It has also the experience of establishing IATTs in other foreign countries successfully. It is therefore most suited to undertake this task.
  • India has been exporting defence equipment to include surveillance equipment to Armenia . In addition, it has also exported the Pinaka rocket weapon system while Armenia has been fighting against its adversary, Azerbaijan. India has done so when Armenia has been at war with Azerbaijan. Armenia is probably the first country in the world to get this support while being at war. It clearly indicates the importance attached to Armenia by India in the latter’s international security calculus.
  • Armenia has recently posted a Defence Attaché to its embassy in India who can interact with concerned stakeholders in Government of India at Delhi to work out a suitable structure and its early operationalisation.

Given the importance attached to Armenia and the mutual national interests of both countries converging, India could be willing to respond positively to any such proposal from the Armenian side. The Armenian embassy in India and the Indian embassy in Armenia could play an important role in making this happen. While the exact structure, role, and tasks of IATT will emerge based on mutual consultation between both countries, some ingredients could be as follows:

  • The structure should be adequate to provide the comprehensive support as requested by Armenia.
  • If Armenia desires, this team can also suggest the force structure and equipment for arming the Armenian Defence Forces. The structures could be aligned to the threat perception Armenia faces so that it can respond to threats comprehensively and decisively.
  • Armenia is importing the defence equipment primarily from Russia and erstwhile Soviet nations besides some new entrants. The sources of these imports are drying up due to the Russia-Ukraine war. In such a situation, India has been emerging as one of the main suppliers of defence equipment for the Armenian defence forces besides having the potential to maintain Russian supplied equipment . Indigenisation of defence equipment in India, export orientation and private sector participation is giving India new opportunities to equip the Armenian defence forces.
  • IATT can train officers as well as other ranks in all possible domains as desired by Armenia. It will collaborate with training infrastructure and instructors from the Armenian Defence Forces for the optimum results. The syllabi can also be re-structured as per training needs of Armenia.
  • Since Armenian defence forces have only two services to include Army and Air force and therefore the composition of IATT must factor the need to train both the Services .It should also train on equipment like drones and other such advancements.
  • Though Armenia does not have its Navy being a landlocked country, capacity creation in this field is still essential. IATT can factor this requirement as well.
  • Maintenance of the equipment in an operationally acceptable timeframe is also critical for winning the wars / battles. IATT will need to structure itself suitably to impart quality training to this facet as well.
  • IATT will need to assist in setting the wargames and field exercises for the Armenian army in a near-conflict simulation environment and will have to assist in objective evaluation.

The role, tasks, and areas to be covered for the training can be discussed by both countries to give it a practical shape. Though reports are emerging towards a peace settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, even then, a strong Armenian defence force is a must in the national interest of Armenia. India can fill this gap in the most effective manner by establishing a training team in Armenia early.

The writer is a retired army veteran. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.


Asbarez: A Tribute to Yervant Kotchounian

Eduard Nalbandian
by Contributor

 

 November 2, 2023

 

in Community, Latest, News, Top Stories

Yervant Kotchounian

BY KHACHIG TÖLÖLYAN

My friendship with Yervant Kotchounian spans nearly 40 years. I met him in 1982, during a visit to the offices of the weekly Nor Hye, edited by Sarkis Majarian. I spent a week in Los Angeles and passed an unexpectedly large amount of that time with Yervant, his closest friend Levon Kasbarian, and the writers Boghos Kupelian and Khosrov Asoyan, a posse of companions who cared about Armenian writing and talked together about every aspect of Armenian life in LA, Beirut, and elsewhere. I had not expected to spend so much time with them, especially with Yervant and Levon, but I did.

Soon after our encounter, we met again in Middletown, CT. The university where I taught, Wesleyan, is located there. Yervant called, saying he and Levon would like to come visit. I thought he was joking; he wasn’t. He had taken an extended leave from his workplace and they had driven across the country. They stayed with me for only a day and night, then moved on to Boston and Canada.

When I asked what motivated them to drive across the country, Yervant said: “We come as immigrants from the Middle East, get off a plane at LA airport and settle down in Southern California. Most of the people we know think the western border of the US is the Pacific Ocean, the northern border runs up through San Francisco, and the eastern border through the casinos of Las Vegas.” Levon added, “and they think the southern border runs through Tijuana and its vulgar night life.” Yervant noted that they both wanted to do better, to know the US, and also the Armenian communities of North America. This curiosity about both the greater Armenian community and the nation at large remained a characteristic of both.

But in Yervant it was also supplemented by his active and disciplined reading of contemporary American literature and criticism. He would surprise me by quoting from journals like The Antioch Review, The Hudson Review and The New York Review of Books. He wasn’t showing off — he wanted to know America and its distinctive intellectual culture, and did.

During the rest of the 1980s, I was a frequent visitor to LA, and I often stayed in a spare room in Yervant’s apartment. Very often we sat up late into the night talking about our personal lives and the life of the Armenian diaspora in LA and elsewhere. It became clear to me that Yervant attributed his considerable knowledge of Armenian life and literature to the influence of Simon Simonian. As a young man he had come to know other young writers, like Vehanoush Tekian and Boghos Kupelian, who frequented Simonian’s publishing house in Beirut and read and wrote for the weekly he edited, Spurk. We shared the conviction that Armenian writing was importantly shaped by two rival weeklies, Simonian’s Spyurk and Antranig Dzarougian’s Nayiri. Much later in life, Yervant, reviewing one of Marzbed Margossian’s books, reflected again on that environment in Beirut’s golden years.

One of the things that set Yervant apart from other cerebral, book-loving diaspora Armenians was his commitment to translation. He read them thoughtfully and critically, he translated extensively, sometimes for money but also and often because he loved the linguistic and intellectual challenges of translation. Fairly recently, he astonished me by asking if I knew Rafael Sabatini’s historical novel, “Scaramouche,” published in 1921. Upon finding out that I had read the now outdated historical novelist, he told me he was translating it into Armenian. I asked if it was a paid commission, and for whom? “For no one,” he said, “I liked it and I thought translating its, by now, slightly archaic English would be interesting.” He loved the challenges of translation.

It’s difficult, in an English language account like this, to convey the pleasures of talking to him as we always did, in Western Armenian. He was witty in both languages, and memorably so in Armenian. And on rare occasions, something he had said in conversation would re-appear in emails and other writings. One of my favorites was his dismissal of a somewhat pretentious, quite prosperous Beirutahye in LA who offered pompous analyzes and final judgments on Armenian political life. Yervant said, “The most interesting aspect of life happens between a person’s two ears, and that space is empty in his case.” Perhaps a year later, in one of his rare long letters, Yervant paraphrased that observation almost verbatim.

We did not always agree, of course, but when the Hamazkayine, encouraged by the late Yetvart Missirlian of San Francisco, inaugurated in honor of my parents the Minas and Kohar Tololyan Prize for Armenian authors writing and translating in North America,  I did not hesitate to recruit Yervant to serve on the jury that selected the winner. He served on that committee many years more than I did, and every year I anticipated his private comments to me on works submitted; they were perceptive, often wise and witty, on rare occasions harsh, but never unjust. He cared, he read closely, he shared views with discretion. I recall one of his crisp formulations about translation — Փոխադրութի՞ւն թէ փոփոխութիւն է թարգմանութիւնը: “Is translation transportation of a text from one language to another, or is it necessarily a transformation?” He always struggled with that.

At a time like this, weighed down by Yervant’s loss, I find it very difficult to convey the way his mind and heart and abilities and concerns came together to make him the exceptional person and friend he was, that made him mean so much to me. It’s customary to end remarks like this with sustained, elevated praise, rich in adjectives. I am not disposed to pile up adjectives here and now. What I most deeply admired, loved and valued about Yervant was his care and attention to our life and behavior as individuals in friendship or rivalry, and to our collective existence as a diaspora people. He cared memorably about our diasporic public sphere. So I will end with a passage from a letter he wrote in 2009, when he was explaining how much he had valued the issues of the Paris newspaper Haratch that I used to mail to him. Referring to its late Editor, Arpik Missakian, and to the assistant editor, Arpi Totoyan, for whose columns he had often expressed special praise, he said about the passing of that wonderful newspaper. «Նոր յառաջ»ի կամ համացանցային պարբերականի կարելիութիւնները խանդավառող են։ What I regretted was the unique position and attitude that the Arpis, each in their own way, brought to our public concerns and events. “(30 May 2009): “The appearance of Nor Haratch and new Armenian periodical publications on the internet make me enthusiastic. But I lament the absence of those distinctive positions and attitudes with which the two Arpis, each in their own style, turned their attention to our collective realities and concerns.”

I miss Yervant. I shall always miss his knowledgeable concern for our communal life and its realities, but above all I will miss his distinctive, sometimes idiosyncratic, always thoughtful, caring, perceptive and witty engagement in our shared lives as Armenian friends.

Khachig Tölölyan is an author and former Wesleyan University professor. He is the founder and editor of the academic journal Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies.




Armenia’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs attends Armenian-Iranian business forum

Eduard Nalbandian

 18:26,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian delegation led by the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia Narek Mkrtchyan, within the framework of the working visit to Iran, participated in the forum on the development of economic cooperation between Iran and Armenia, in Tehran,  the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia said in a statement.

''The Armenian delegation included around 15 business representatives, who discussed the directions and possibilities of further cooperation with their Iranian partners within the framework of the event.

During the forum, a number of issues of mutual interest in the field of work and employment were discussed, including the development of the labor market.

In his address at the forum,  the Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs praised the role of friendly relations formed with Iran and expressed confidence that  based on the best interests of both nations, further cooperation would continue to progress.

As part of the event, working groups have been established involving the two parties to determine further steps of cooperation,'' reads the statement.

EU signs €10 million grant to support education opportunities in Armenia

Eduard Nalbandian
Oct 26 2023

The European Commission is to provide a grant of €10 million to improve education infrastructure in Armenia. The agreement was signed at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels on 25 October, in the presence of Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, by EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Olivér Várhelyi and European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President Thomas Österos.

The project will see the construction of two extra-curricular education and teacher training centres in the municipalities of Kapan and Goris in the Syunik region in Southern Armenia. The centres will be operated by the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) – a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing educational opportunities and building infrastructure for children and families in rural Armenia.

The centres will provide after-school educational opportunities and access to services for children and young adults between the age of 6 and 18. Using a dedicated transport network, up to 6,000 students will get the opportunity to follow a curriculum covering subjects such as mechanics, programming, entrepreneurship, languages, arts, music, and athletics. In addition, students will have access to social workers, education counsellors, study trips and presentations from external experts and professionals.

The project, implemented through EIB Global, supports the flagship initiative ‘Investing in education, notably in the Syunik region’ for Armenia, under the European Union’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership. It is also an integral part of the Team Europe Initiative on Resilient Syunik which aims to support the socio-economic resilience of the Southern region of Armenia, which has been most affected by the 2020 hostilities and the recent plight of mass displacement of Karabakh Armenians.  

“Today’s announcement is another proof of the EU’s commitment to Armenia’s reforms in education, to enhance its quality, modernisation and relevance to economy and society,” said Commissioner Várhelyi. “Education is a priority under the Economic and Investment Plan’s flagships for Armenia, and I am pleased to see that the construction of two non-formal education centres in the Syunik region will be a reality. This will ensure the quality of rural education and workforce development and prepare young people of Armenia, including vulnerable groups, to find appropriate jobs in a competitive job market.”

President Khachaturyan said the investment was an important step towards the realisation of the two non-formal education centres to be constructed in the Syunik region: “This can help to further strengthen the links between formal and non-formal education as the latter is an essential auxiliary to the former. Moreover, the construction of these smart centres in Syunik will contribute to a bigger goal of developing the southern regions of Armenia.”

The Global Gateway Forum in Brussels on 25-26 October for the first time brings together an assembly of government representatives from the European Union and across the globe, alongside key stakeholders from the private sector, civil society, thought leaders, financial institutions, and international organisations to promote global investment in transformative infrastructure.

Global Gateway is the EU’s positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment gap and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems. The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions. Together, it aims to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027.

Find out more

Press release

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: Nagorno-Karabakh doesn’t cease to exist

Eduard Nalbandian
Oct 18 2023

Tigran Mkrtchyan, Ambassador of Armenia to Greece, in an interview with CNN Greece stressed, among other things, that the ethnic governance of Nagorno-Karabakh, has only "for some time" ceased to exist following Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of the region in September.

See the full interview:

CNN Greece: Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much for this interview and for having us here. Thank you. Thanks for the invitation to have an interview. So, Nagorno-Karabakh will cease to exist from the start of next year. Do you think the Nagorno-Karabakh case is over for Armenia?

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: Nagorno-Karabakh doesn't cease to exist; Nagorno-Karabakh Administration or the governance in Nagorno-Karabakh ceases to exist. The Armenian governance of or Armenian existence in Nagorno-Karabakh has, for some time, ceased to exist.

But the conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh is not over as such because there are several issues emanating from the end of the last violence. You know, as long as the Nagorno-Karabakh people are a compact unit entity in Armenia, there are more than 100,000 refugees who were forcefully displaced from their homes, the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh is not considered solved.

This is what the Azerbaijanis would like to imagine: that there are not the people in Nagorno-Karabakh, therefore, there is not a conflict. But this is a simplistic way of understanding the situation. There are a lot of issues emanating from this situation.

The right of return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, their right to their properties, which the Azerbaijanis are trying to quickly get rid of as much as possible. The crimes that have been committed against many of them, for example. The cultural rights of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian cultural heritage, which is richly endowed within Nagorno-Karabakh.

Unfortunately, Azerbaijan is trying to either distort the essence of this Armenian heritage or to destroy some of them. For example, we have evidence also, and these are all horrible crimes, and they need to be taken under international review, under international control as soon as possible.

UNESCO, for example, on account of cultural heritage, needs to step in as soon as possible. The rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh people need to be taken under the protection of the UN, for example, as soon as possible. International safe guarantees for their return should be ensured, and for this, the international community needs, together with Armenia, of course, we need to exert a lot of sort of pressure or incentives so that Azerbaijan would eventually agree to restore their rights in their homelands.

Also, of course, the war crimes that have been committed against the Nagorno-Karabakh people by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan need to be transparently and internationally investigated. Also, the return of the prisoners of war and also the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh.

They are treated as if they are ‘terrorists’ by Azerbaijan, but this is, of course, you know, these are sham trials that they have started, and this is a shame for the entire international community.

CNN Greece: Almost all ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, despite Baku's assurances of their safety and equal treatment as citizens. Do you think Azerbaijan denounces ethnic cleansing? What do you think Azerbaijan intends to do in the area?

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: You just need to look at another Armenian region called Nakhijevan, which 100 years ago contained a lot of Armenian population, a huge amount of Armenian population. Almost half of the population of Nakhijevan was Armenian.

If the international community doesn't act after all, wake up, you know, doesn't alert Azerbaijan that it's not going to tolerate the repetition of what happened in Nakhijevan to Nagorno-Karabakh, unfortunately, we may see a similar scenario developing in the coming decades. I'm not talking about the coming year or two; this will be slower but consistent.

You know, consistent cleansing of Armenian traces. So, what Azerbaijan intends to do is clear: it's getting rid of Armenians first and then the Armenian traces. And the signals, despite, you said, despite the assurances of the safety of Armenians, etc.

You know, despite the assurances, on the one hand, and then on the other hand, you see the fist-waving, Hitler-style fist-waving of Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, talking about Armenians as if they are dogs. You know, this is all reminding of fascist leaders' behavior.

The horrible mutilations and war crimes committed by their soldiers and none of them has ever been punished. None.

And just recently, we learned that one of the streets in Stepanakert, the Nagorno-Karabakh capital, has been named after Enver Pasha, who was one of the three main organizers of the Armenian Genocide. The signals and the symbols that are referred to do not tell anything good about Armenians' safety in the area.

CNN Greece: Russia had a decisive role in the peacekeeping agreements. Do you think Russia did not follow a balanced approach in the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan? And why do you think the international community did not react as strongly as in the case of Ukraine, for example?

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: The international community acted too late and too little. The reasons for that, of course, were a lot of propaganda ground prepared by Azerbaijan in various countries, working with the media, with certain politicians, backed by, of course, Turkey's support, to silence or minimize the interference and the reaction.

On the other hand, a lot of people forget that Azerbaijan is, as Freedom House characterizes it, a consolidated authoritarian regime where there is no free media, there is no freedom of _expression_, etc. They do not allow free media to access Azerbaijan and go and shoot any video wherever they want. This is impossible; it's excluded. For 9 months during the Karabakh conflict, not a single journalist was allowed to enter—foreign journalist, Armenian journalist, nobody was allowed to enter. Not even international organizations were allowed to enter, apart from the Red Cross.

As for Russia, I cannot comment on whether they were balanced or not. What I can say for sure is that on the Lachin Corridor, for example, when the blockade was imposed, and this was under the care of, according to the November 9th, 2020, ceasefire statement, the Lachin Corridor was under the care of Russian peacekeepers. Azerbaijan succeeded in imposing and putting a checkpoint there, and the Russian peacekeepers failed to stop this.

So, this is a clear case that the November 9th statement was violated, and Russia was unable to stop it. So, we can bring a lot of versions of why Russians did not intervene, but the fact is on the ground that they were unable to stop it.

On the other hand, you know, the latest attack also happened in the areas which were under the care of Russian peacekeepers, and they again failed to ensure the security and safety of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.

So, there are legitimate fears that Russia, unfortunately, was unable to make sure that the November 9th statement from 2020 would stay in force.

CNN Greece: Unfortunately, there are analyses and fears that Azerbaijan will claim more territory from Armenia. Are these fears justified? What is your comment on these kinds of talks?

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: These kinds of talks may continue unless there is a robust and very resilient response from the international community. At least on the level of a statement, I can certainly say that some of our partners have been very clearly sending messages to Azerbaijan and Turkey that the territorial integrity of Armenia cannot be violated.

There has been such support expressed from our Western partners, for sure, but this needs to be sustained in the long term. More international presence probably needs to be provided there. Also, the Armenian defence capacities and security sector need to be enhanced as soon as possible because Armenia must itself be capable of defending its own territories.

This is clear, but of course, this needs to be done in cooperation with our partners.

CNN Greece: There is an agreement with Russia that it will protect Armenia in case of an external attack. How safe do you feel after the late events in Nagorno-Karabakh?

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: Well, in 2020 during the 44 Days War, there were also attacks on the sovereign territory of Armenia. And then right now, just after that, there were incursions into the territory of Armenia proper.

And also in September 2022, the latest incursion into Armenia. Altogether, more than 150 square kilometers of Armenian sovereign territory has been occupied by Azerbaijan. This is accepted by almost every partner of ours.

The EU, clearly, the EU foreign affairs representative, responsible for foreign affairs, Mr. Borrell, he clearly accepted that it's an occupation of Armenian sovereign territory. So, despite that, we saw that the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a member of which is the leading member, Russia, was unable to give clear assessments about these violations of the sovereign territory of Armenia. So, this raised a lot of eyebrows in Yerevan, and not only Yerevan.

Very clearly, there are Soviet administrative borders, and these administrative borders on which ground we have agreed with Azerbaijan to proceed in terms of negotiations in the limitation and delineation of the borders. T

his cannot work if we don't have a minimal understanding of what the borders are. We clearly have what the minimal understanding of these borders are.

CNN Greece: What would you expect from the European Union and Greece?

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: With Greece, we have had intense cooperation, in terms of political and diplomatic cooperation. Greece is supporting Armenia in most international organizations that we are members of, both of us are members.

But not only in those organizations, but also in organizations where only Greece is a member. We know that Greece is supporting Armenia. This support needs to get more backing from the other members, and potential disruptors of this support need to be explained and approached.

The EU needs to be as present in Armenia as it is strategically important, and it is as strategically important as ever.

We don't need Europe to exaggerate the strategic importance of Azerbaijan. The actions of Azerbaijan, as you depicted, have been characterized as ethnic cleansing.

Some genocide scholars put this within the definitions of the Genocide Convention, basically that this was a genocidal act. What happened in Nagorno-Karabakh?

So, Greece can help us with support in international organizations, but also bilaterally. Various agencies of Greece have expressed readiness to support Armenia, and we are in close contact with the government of Greece on how to facilitate this support.

In the short term, we don't think that accepting refugees is necessary because we do not want the refugees to get dispersed throughout the world. Their rights need to be addressed, and with the hope, even if it may not seem realistic right now, at least in the near future, their rights need to be restored, and they need to return to their homes.

Therefore, with great gratefulness to the country expressing readiness to admit refugees, we do not want to encourage this process. Other than that, Greece-Armenia relations can and will be enhanced, and we hope that at some point, we will reach a strategic partnership. This is something we are aiming at.

CNN Greece: Okay, thank you very much for this interview.

Ambassador Mkrtchyan: Thank you.

See the video:


US and Israel weigh a future for the Gaza Strip without Hamas – Bloomberg

Eduard Nalbandian

 12:50,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 21, ARMENPRESS. U.S. and Israeli officials looking to the future of the Gaza Strip after dislodging Hamas have begun discussing possibilities, including potentially installing an interim government backed by the United Nations and with the involvement of Arab governments, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with US government deliberations.

The discussions are still at an early stage and hinge on developments yet to unfold, not least of which would be success in an Israeli ground assault, according to the people, who asked not to be identified detailing private deliberations. And any such possibility would need buy-in from Arab nations around the region, which is by no means certain.

Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they don’t intend to occupy Gaza, but they’ve also said that continued rule by Hamas is unacceptable after the Oct. 7 attack.

The challenge of achieving both of those objectives has helped fuel US worries that Israel hasn’t given sufficient thought to what comes after a ground assault. The US is also worried that a Gaza attack with no clear objective beyond ousting Hamas could fan the conflict into a regional war.