Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

All churches in Armenia to ring bells midday April 24 in honor of Armenian Genocide victims

Elizabeth Jabejian

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 16:14,

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Amid the coronavirus lockdown and suspension of public events, the Armenian Church said a Holy Mass will be served in all churches nationwide on April 24th in honor of the Armenian Genocide victims.  The masses will proceed behind closed doors, without believers.

The Armenian Church said that the bells of all churches will ring at 12:00 on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day – April 24.

As public events are banned to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional mass commemoration event on April 24 which usually sees hundreds of thousands of people laying flowers at the memorial in Yerevan will not take place. Only official protocol events are expected.

 

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan




Towards a vibrant civil society in Ukraine and Armenia

Elizabeth Jabejian
Emerging Europe
April 9 2020
April 9, 2020
Aram Terzyan
    

While civic activism was critical to both the 2014 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine and the 2018 Velvet Revolution in Armenia, a question remains as to whether or not civil societies have evolved into powerful agents of democracy in the two post-Soviet countries. A vibrant civil society has long been thought to be a crucial instrument for political change in countries in transition and a key component of a democratic society.

Studies show that Ukrainian civil society has been consistent in terms of standing up for Europe even after the Maidan Revolution. More specifically, civil society organisations (CSO) have been playing an active role in the promotion and oversight of reforms leading to the implementation of the Association Agreement with the European Union.

The largest and most visible reform network – the Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR) has brought together NGOs, reform groups and experts, who develop, promote, and in some cases even implement judicial, anti-corruption and economic changes. The underlying objective of the RPR is supporting the implementation of reforms in order to build an independent, consolidated, democratic state with a consolidation of civil society. Remarkably, on the eve of the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections, RPR prepared a “to do list” for the president’s reform agenda aimed at ensuring the new government’s consistent commitment to the reform path and, more specifically, to the successful implementation of the Association Agreement.

Uncivil groups vs. Civil society organisations

Essentially, while civil society coalitions in Ukraine have been one of the driving forces behind the country’s economic and political transformation, in Armenia the absence of an umbrella organisation or clearly reform-oriented movement, seems to leave the fate of the societal coalition that brought Nikol Pashinyan to power uncertain.

Moreover, the post-revolution trajectory of the Armenian CSOs has been marred by several pseudo-civil society groups, aiming to shrink the public space and spread false narratives. Namely, several opponents of Prime Minister Pashinyan and his government set up a network under the hashtag campaign #SutNikol (translated from Armenian to “#FakeNikol”), and launched an online influencing operation aimed at discrediting them and their supporters, not least through spreading biased narratives. A closer look at these narratives shows a tendency to regard the Armenian CSOs that support the revolution as “foreign agents” seeking to destabilise the country. The name of George Soros is among the most frequently used by this group, as it deems his support instrumental in staging the Armenian revolution.

Essentially, such claims are extremely consistent with the core narratives that Russian propaganda uses to demonise Western-funded CSOs and reinforce anti-Western attitudes.

Notably, within its strategy of promoting Eurasian integration within the Eurasian Economic Union and beyond, Russian propaganda would frequently target Armenian NGOs by framing those which are Western-funded ones as threats to Armenian-Russian relations. Such claims would be followed by the calls for ‘neutralising’ them through information campaigns and other methods, including through the legislature. Not surprisingly, the 2017 amendments to existing NGO legislation in Armenia, with imposed restrictions on their activities, would be largely viewed as a direct result of the mounting pressure emanating from Russia.

As for Ukraine, the growing activism of marginal far-right groups, including ‘Svoboda’, the National Corpus, the Right Sector, as well as extremist groupings such as OUN Volunteer Movement, Brotherhood and others, has raised concerns across Ukrainian civil society and beyond. While their attempts at moving from the margins to the mainstream have not resonated with the Ukrainian population, they have consistently tried to impose their radical agenda on Ukrainian society and spread their illiberal ideas.

More specifically, the extremist groups would specifically target left-wing, feminist, liberal, and LGBT activists, human rights defenders, as well as ethnic and religious minorities stressing the necessity of “cleaning” the public space of everything that they deem harmful to the nation or unacceptable in the face of the ongoing war. Essentially, the conflict with Russia has provided a fertile ground for their rebranding as “patriots” and for somehow legitimising their activities. While there has been negligible public support for far-rightists and they are highly unlikely to move from the streets to the halls of power, the advancement of vibrant civil society organisations is essential for raising the Ukrainian society’s immunity to extremism and illiberal ideas.

Boosting CSOs

Studies show that the path to a vibrant and consolidated civil society has two main dimensions. The first dimension boils down to the changes in the nature of civil society relations with the state and society and its potential and ability to induce reform, or what is often referred to as “change on the outside”. This has much to do with increasing their impact on public policy and practice, not least through engaging more with their constituencies and improving their interaction with public institutions and actors. It has not been uncommon for post-Soviet societies to treat civic associations as threat to the power and stability of the state together with the conviction that the state bears the responsibility for the wellbeing of the society.

Moreover, the CSOs’ tendency to prioritise relations with Western donors over engagement with citizens would result in their treatment as donor-driven, rather than community-oriented organisations. Meanwhile, greater engagement and effective communication with various social groups is critical to breaking down the public misconceptions about CSOs and their activities.

Thus, the “change on the outside” is instrumental in dissolving the apathy of the wider public leading to their shift from spectators to actors.

A major impediment to civil society in both countries is prevailing post-Soviet “informality” in the form of behavioural practices, such as considerable tolerance towards informal governance, the use of informal networks and connections in exchanges of favours, phone justice, corruption, etc. The latter has long condemned both countries to a vicious circle of underdevelopment and bad governance. Even though it would be an oversimplification to contend that graft is a way of life it takes a long time for deep rooted behavioral practices to change. Therefore, both governments, as well as CSOs have a crucial role in eradicating the informality and culture of corruption in both societies, not least through promoting liberal values and good governance practices.

The second critical dimension is “change on the inside”, related to the nature of civil society per se: such as the way it is organised and operates. This in turn has a great deal to do with the development of adequate institutional and professional capacity in civil society organisations and networks as a vital tool for influencing policy making. The institutional development at the organisational level includes building organisational capacities for governance, decision-making, and conflict management, as well as clarifying organisational identity, values and strategy of impact.

The latter is of crucial relevance as a lot of CSOs in both countries were established in response to certain needs or funding priorities with no predefined mission, strategic plans and organisation structure. That said, they were doomed to failure in terms of addressing the specific needs of their constituencies.

Overall, these changes and reforms are vital to the advancement of a vibrant civil society that is capable of consolidating and maintaining democracy in both countries.



Works carried out to transport Armenian citizens to homeland

Elizabeth Jabejian
Aysor, Armenia

The Commandant’s office and Foreign Affairs Ministry are dealing with the transportation of passengers from Moscow and solve their issues, Armenia’s Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said at press conference today.

The minister said during the past week at least three planes arrived in Armenia, one from Belarus, two from Moscow.

“The passengers were moved to the quarantine place, mainly in Yerevan and not only,” he said.

Torosyan said currently works are being carried out to organize other flights, the details of which will be reported by the MFA.

Minsk mediators voted for elections in Nagorno-Karabakh

Elizabeth Jabejian
Arminfo, Armenia
March 31 2020

ArmInfo. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Igor Popov of the Russian Federation; Stephane Visconti of France; and Mr. Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) made a statement regarding the elections held in Artsakh  today, noting that they took into account the fact of the so-called  “general election”.

As the OSCE press service told ArmInfo, in the context of a  comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the co-  chairs recognize the role of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in  determining their future in accordance with the principles and  elements set forth in the statement of the co-chairs of March 9.  2019. “At the same time, the co-chairs note that none of the co-  chairing countries or any other country recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh  as an independent and sovereign state. Accordingly, the co-chairs do  not accept the results of these as a factor affecting the  legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. They also stress that the results  in no way predetermine the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the  result of ongoing negotiations on a lasting and peaceful settlement  of the Karabakh conflict, “the statement by the co-chairs reads. 

April aggression of Azerbaijan reinforced determination of Artsakh to further develop statehood – MF

Elizabeth Jabejian

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 20:03, 2 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. The April aggression only strengthened the determination of the people and authorities of the Republic of Artsakh to continue the chosen path of further consolidation and development of their statehood, which is the best guarantee for the safe existence and peaceful development of the people of Artsakh, ARMENPRESS reports reads the statement of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh on the fourth anniversary of the April aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan.

“Four years ago, on April 2, 2016, in flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Azerbaijani armed forces attacked the Republic of Artsakh. They targeted not only the front-line positions of the Defense Army of Artsakh, but also the civilians. The intensity and scale of the hostilities, the number of forces and military equipment deployed by Azerbaijan, as well as the actions of the Azerbaijani side taken prior to the attack to deliberately escalate the tensions and disrupt the peace process indicate that the April 2 aggression was a carefully planned and prepared military operation.

Azerbaijan’s aggression was accompanied by gross violations of international humanitarian law and the rules of warfare. These crimes were documented in detail by the Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Artsakh and presented to the international community in two special reports.

The aggression in April 2016 was another attempt by Azerbaijan to resolve the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict by force. Only thanks to the decisive actions of the Artsakh Defense Army, as well as the support by all Armenians, it was possible to disrupt the military plans of Baku and to force the Azerbaijani side to comply with the ceasefire regime.

Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh became a challenge not only for our Republic, but also for the peace process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship, for the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. It is noteworthy that shortly before the April aggression, on March 19, 2016, the President of Azerbaijan openly accused the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen of “using their destructive activities to freeze the conflict, and therefore the faith of the Azerbaijani people in their activities is completely undermined”.

Azerbaijan bears international legal responsibility for both unleashing the April aggression and for the criminal acts committed by its servicemen during the aggression against Artsakh. The fact that the Azerbaijani servicemen, who had committed war crimes, were personally awarded by the President of Azerbaijan is another confirmation that these actions were committed either on the instructions, or under the leadership or control of the Azerbaijani authorities. Given that such crimes have no statute of limitations, the Republic of Artsakh will continue exerting consistent efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

The April aggression only strengthened the determination of the people and authorities of the Republic of Artsakh to continue the chosen path of further consolidation and development of their statehood, which is the best guarantee for the safe existence and peaceful development of the people of Artsakh.

Today, we pay tribute to all those that deceased, repelling the Azerbaijani aggression in April 2016, or became innocent victims of the military adventure of Baku. We also express our gratitude to all and everyone who supported the people of Artsakh during these tragic days.”

ACNIS reView from Yerevan #10, 2020_Weekly Update_14-21 March

Elizabeth Jabejian
Weekly Update    

22 MARCH 2020 

 

  • ARMENPRESS reported, because of the growing number of novel coronavirus patients in Armenia, healthcare authorities have designated other hospitals in addition to the Nork Infectious Diseases hospital to treat the cases, Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said. Earlier, all suspected and confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Armenia were being taken to the Nork Infectious Diseases Hospital in Yerevan. Torosyan said on March 21 that 5 medical facilities have been designated to treat coronavirus patients in Yerevan. He said that few patients are also currently hospitalized in two hospitals in provinces. “Asymptomatic patients are being taken to other hospitals, the others remain at the [Nork Infectious Diseases hospital]”, he said. The healthcare minister said so far 11 patients have been confirmed to have pneumonia by x-ray tests. Only 3 of them require intensive care. Torosyan said all patients are in non-life threatening condition. “I’d like to inform that today there are more than 600 people under quarantine. We find that the reserve is nearing its end, and we find that the preventive measures must be conditioned with self-quarantine. Experience shows that our citizens not always adhere to it. That’s why the parliament debated during a special session the bill on envisaging liability for the violation of self-quarantine or quarantine. I believe that this is a reasonable requirement, when a citizen is endangering public health, they must be held to account,” Torosyan said on social media. As of March 21, the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Armenia stands at 160. One patient has recovered and was discharged on March 15th. 

 

  • President Donald Trump will cancel an in-person meeting of G7 leaders at Camp David in June because of the coronavirus and will hold a video-conference instead, the White House said on Thursday, REUTERS reported. The decision comes as nations around the world seal their borders and ban travel to stop the virus’ spread. Trump held a video-conference with the leaders of the world’s major industrialized countries earlier this week and plans to repeat that in April, May and June, when the physical meeting at the presidential retreat in Maryland was scheduled to take place.

  

  • At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan asked the Cabinet members to thank with applause the country’s businessmen and healthcare providers for their work during the current state of emergency in Armenia due to coronavirus., NEWS.am said. “[Upper] Lars [checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border] is closed, our border with Iran is closed, everything is closed, but it’s all the same; our businessmen are able to find ways, import food products, and I want to thank all of them,” he said, in particular. “If I saw the need to speak from this podium in the case of businessmen, there is no such need in the case of healthcare system workers because that appreciation is widespread and everywhere.”

 

  • The Police in Moscow arrested Vahagn Harutyunyan, the lead of the investigative group investigating the case of mass disorders in the streets of Yerevan in 2008. Moscow Agency informed, referring to their sources in the law enforcement agencies, that Harutyunyan was arrested on March 14, LRAGIR.am said. “On March 14, Saturday on the Tverskaya Street, the police arrested Vahagn Styopa Harutyunyan born in 1994,” the news report says. Harutyunyan is charged with facilitating falsification of evidence to the case, as well as misuse of his formal powers resulting in grave consequences and misuse of formal powers along with the use of violence, weapons or special means. Harutyunyan was wanted since October 2018. Later on the Russian law enforcement agencies set him free. His extradition is going to be discussed soon.

 

  • PANORAMA.am reported, guided by Article 208 of the Armenian Constitution and Article 6.1 of the constitutional law “On Referendum”, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) is suspending all activities, processes and events being carried out to prepare and hold the referendum on constitutional amendments initially slated for April 5, the commission said in a statement. The move comes after the Armenian government made a decision to declare a month-long state of emergency in the country on March 16.

 

  • An extraordinary Cabinet meeting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan., the Prime Minister Office said. The Government approved the draft decision “On declaring state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia.” The decision comes as a response the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the world and in Armenia, the March 13, 2020 declaration by the Head of WHO on the recognition of the spread of this disease as a pandemic. The Government decided to declare a state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia from March 16, 18:30, local time, through April 14, 17:00. A crisis management center (hereinafter Commandant’s Office) will set up to ensure centralized crisis management. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan shall be appointed to the post of Commandant. The Commandant’s Office is composed as follows: Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministers of Emergency Situations, Healthcare, Economy, Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, State Revenue Committee Chairman, Acting Head of Police Force, Acting National Security Service Director, Head of the Coordination Bureau for Inspection Bodies’ Activities, Head of the Market Control Authority, Head of the Food Security Inspection Body. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan will support the activities of the Commandant’s Office.

 

Sources: https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/, https://www.reuters.com/, https://armenpress.am, https://news.am/eng/,  https://www.panorama.am/en/, https://www.lragir.am/en/.

  

 
 

ACNIS reView from Yerevan #9, 2020_Weekly Update_7-14 March

Elizabeth Jabejian
Weekly Update   

 

16 MARCH 2020  

 

  • Armenia will be the focus of the World Health Organization (WHO). This was stated in a telephone conversation with the President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sargsyan by the Director General of WHO Tedros Adan Gebreisus, ARMINFO told. He noted that the WHO statement on the pandemic indicates the  complexity of the situation, in which there is an urgent need to  combine international and national efforts, to coordinate activities  on the part of states, in particular in terms of border control,  population movement and mutual assistance, which is especially  important for Armenia.

 

  • President Armen Sarkissian sent a congratulatory message to His Holiness Pope Francis on the anniversary of his election as Pontiff, the Presidential Office said. Armen Sarkissian was the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Vatican. In 1997 he received the St. Gregory the Great Order from His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Through his active participation, in 1999 in attendance of His Holiness blessed memory John Paul II and His Holiness blessed memory Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin I, the “Armenia-Rome” exhibition was opened at the Sistine Chapel to commemorate the rich common historical and cultural past. President Armen Sarkissian mentioned this in his message and noted also that Armenians’ ties and relations with Vatican go back millennia and nowadays Armenia-Vatican interstate relations continue to develop harmoniously.

 

  • RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) reported, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday continued his tour of Armenian towns campaigning in next month’s constitutional referendum, signaling no need yet for suspending public rallies in view of new coronavirus cases confirmed in Armenia. Armenian authorities reported three new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total of confirmed cases to four. The country’s Ministry of Health said that two of the people testing positive for the novel coronavirus infection known as COVID-19 were citizens of Armenia aged 45 and 27 and one was a 51-year-old Italian who works in Armenia. All three had arrived from Italy, officials said. The first coronavirus patient identified in Armenia on March 1 had arrived from Iran, another country hit hard by COVID-19. Over three dozen people have been quarantined in a disused hotel in Armenia’s resort town of Tsaghkadzor since the beginning of the month as a precaution against the further spread of the infection.

 

  • TASS informed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially characterized the situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated during Wednesday’s briefing in Geneva. “WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” the WHO chief stated. “We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” he said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reminded that the disease had spread to 114 countries, with over 118,000 people infected.

 

  • Contractual serviceman, 36-year-old Zohrab Sianosyan, who died from a gunshot fired by the Azerbaijani side on the border with Nakhchivan today, was from the Pokr Vedi village of the Ararat Province of Armenia and a father of two daughters aged 2 and 4. Head of the village Norik Martirosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that Zohrab had just gone to serve as a contractual serviceman and had been helping his parents with farming until then. Zohrab was the eldest, and his younger brother is working abroad. A soldier of the Armenian Armed Forces was killed in fire by Azerbaijani side, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Zohrab Sianosyan (born in 1984) was fatally wounded as Azerbaijani side opened fire on Tuesday afternoon in the direction of one of the military units in Armenia’s southwest. An investigation has been launched.

 

  • Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Brussels on a working visit. The head of the Armenian government first met with European Council President Charles Michel. After a formal photo session, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of the European Council discussed a wide range of issues related to EU-Armenia cooperation. The meeting focused on the reform process underway in Armenia, the Prime Minister Office said. Welcoming Nikol Pashinyan’s visit, Charles Michel said it was a good opportunity to discuss cooperation prospects, including the effective implementation of democratic reforms in Armenia. Prime Minister Pashinyan appreciated EU’s support of the reforms being implemented in Armenia and expressed confidence that the EU-Armenia interaction will continue to develop effectively during Charles Michel’s tenure as President of the European Council.

 

  • During the period from March 1 to 7 the Azerbaijani armed forces violated the ceasefire regime in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact nearly 160 times by firing more than 1700 shots from various caliber weapons at the Armenian positions, the defense ministry of Artsakh told Armenpress. The Defense Army forces of Artsakh fully control the situation in the frontline and continue confidently conducting their military service.

 

Sources: https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/, https://www.president.am, https://www.azatutyun.am/en, https://armenpress.am, https://news.am/eng/, https://tert.am,  https://arminfo.info/.

  

Armenia PM on destiny of unlicensed taxi drivers

Elizabeth Jabejian
News.am, Armenia

23:13, 25.03.2020
                  

Armenia has been exempting taxi drivers from paying mandatory fees, but not licensing. This is what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared during a question-and-answer session with government officials in parliament today in response to MPs’ questions about how taxi drivers can survive during the state of emergency and due to the ban on taxi services.

According to Pashinyan, if a taxi driver doesn’t have a license, he can’t work as a taxi driver.

Moreover, the head of government said taxi drivers must do what all citizens of Armenia are doing, and that is observe the requirements of the Commandant’s Office.

He also stated that if the outcome of the restrictions is essential, citizens need to benefit from the projects for support to small and medium-sized businesses kicking off tomorrow. Pashinyan added that those who can’t benefit from the support, will have to solve their problems on their own.

The Armenian Church commemorates the forty Holy Martyrs

Elizabeth Jabejian
Panorama, Armenia

The Armenian Apostolic Church marks the commemoration of forty Holy Martyrs on March 21. Qahana.am reports that the Forty Holy Martyrs martyred in approximately 320 AD were Christians from various towns and cities of Lesser Armenia. They served as soldiers in the royal regiment of Sebastia. Upon the decree of Roman Emperor Likianos, interrogations were organized by Lucias, Duke of Caesarea, to reveal the Christian soldiers. 

Forty of the soldiers remain steadfast in their faith, defy the judges by their brave answers, and are imprisoned. One cold winter night the soldiers are thrown into a lake near Sebastia, to freeze them to death. Only one of the forty soldiers, being unable to endure the torments, comes out of the water, and tries to find salvation in a bathhouse built on the bank. The lone soldier dies and becomes deprived of both earthly and heavenly life.

At dawn, halos are seen encircling the heads of the soldiers. One of the guards charged with the execution of the forty, witnessing the holy phenomenon accepts Christ and throws himself into the lake to be martyred along with the others. In the morning it becomes apparent that through a divine miracle, the forty soldiers have been saved from freezing.

This infuriates their captors who execute them and thus, they become martyrs. The martyrs’ remains are buried in Sebastia, where subsequently a Forty-domed Cathedral is built. The Cathedral of Sebastia stood for nearly one thousand years until the invasion of Tamerlane and the Mongols at the end of the 14th Century. The name of the “Forty Martyrs Cathedral” has survived to this day.