Author: Emil Karabekian

Armenia’s deputy FM submits resignation application

Emil Karabekian
Aysor, Armenia
May 31 2021

Armenia’s deputy minister of foreign affairs Gagik Ghalachyan has submitted resignation application.

Armenia’s MFA informed Aysor.am that Ghalachyan submitted the application on May 27.

Ghalachyan was appointed to the post on December 28, 2020.

Speaking to the MFA staff at a farewell meeting former acting foreign minister Ara Aivazian said, “I have assumed this post with big difficulty but when I assumed it there was one criteria for me – this ministry must strictly observe our sovereignty, independence, our state and national interests. My decision to resign is agreed with this reason – for no one to ever doubt that this ministry may take a step or agree to ideas, initiatives which are against our statehood, our national and state interests.”

Turkish press: Turkey, Azerbaijan launch military dialogue in Baku

Emil Karabekian
 İSTANBUL DIPLOMACY 
JUN 03, 2021 12:49 PM GMT+3
Turkish and Azerbaijani fighter jets take part in a military drill in central Turkey’s Konya province, May 31, 2021. (AA Photo)

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday that the 13th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Military Dialogue kicked off in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.

The two delegations are headed by Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Kerim Veliyev and Deputy Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroğlu, the ministry said.

The meeting’s agenda is focused on bilateral cooperation in security, military, military-technical, military-medical, military-educational, defense industry, and other fields.

Earlier this year, Turkey and Azerbaijan carried out the Winter 2021 Drill, featuring domestically developed weaponry and equipment.

The drill mostly focused on operational capabilities during the harsh weather conditions in winter months, including practicing sheltering, reinforcement, maintenance and educational development. Ground and air assaults, airdrops, airborne operations and logistic support were practiced by both militaries.

Ankara and Baku, with the participation of the countries’ air and ground forces, launched joint military drills last year in the wake of Armenian attacks on Azerbaijani border points.

Turkey threw its support behind Azerbaijan, whose Nagorno-Karabakh region had remained under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades before finally being liberated last November.

Ruling My Step faction MP steps down

Emil Karabekian

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 11:56, 5 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament of Armenia from the ruling My Step faction Sergey Atomyan has submitted a resignation letter, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan said in a statement.

The lawmaker submitted his resignation letter on June 4.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

ECHR hasn’t accepted Azerbaijan’s application against Armenia as a new and separate case

Emil Karabekian

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 14:19, 4 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. On 3 June 2021 the Armenian Government was informed that on 1 and 2 June 2021 the Government of Azerbaijan submitted a new application form and an interim-measure request with the European Court of Human Rights requesting the Armenian Government to provide with the maps of the locations of alleged landmines, the Representative of Armenia before the ECHR reports.

“The European Court has found that the said application should be treated as integral part of the Inter-state application submitted by Azerbaijan in January 2021 and has attached to it. Thus, the European Court has not accepted this application as a new and separate case.

It should be noted that early in May 2021 the Armenian Government submitted an addition to their Inter-State application lodged with the European Court on 1 February 2021 providing the Court with additional evidence and making additional claims.

As for the interim-measure request submitted by Azerbaijan, the European Court has informed the Azerbaijani Government that back on 5 March 2021 the Court had already adopted a decision on the same matter rejecting the Azerbaijani request for being out of scope of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court. The European Court noted that its decision of 5 March 2021 still stands and there is no necessity to reconsider it”, the statement says.

On June 1, events were held with the financing of IDBank

Emil Karabekian

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 16:19, 2 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. On June 1, IDBank presented a holiday to children of the border villages of Artsakh. A visit to Stepanakert was organized for 220 children from the villages of Karmir Shuka, Karmir gyugh, Sarushen, Kherkhan, Karahunj, where the children watched a children’s play at the Vahram Papazyan State drama theater. Then the children were presented with gifts.

The program was implemented with the financing of IDBank. The initiative belongs to Vache Vardanyan from Sarushen, according to whom the children need support after the war. “Initially it was planned to surprise 100 children, but gradually they began to apply from different villages, as a result IDBank presented the holiday to more than 200 children. It is noteworthy that a few minutes after my publication on Facebook, the answer from IDBank employees followed: as far as I know, both the Bank’s staff and the Bank participated”, Vache Vardanyan said.

Another event with the support of IDBank also started in Artsakh, but continues in Syunik. The festival, which is held from May 29 to June 5 within the framework of the “Тhe rear is the culture, the border is the center” program, called “With Song and Love”, was organized by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Children’s Philharmonic Society “Little singers of Armenia”. The program includes children from acting choirs from the cities of Sisian, Goris, Kapan, Kajaran, Meghri, the villages of Khndzoresk, Shinuhayr, as well as Stepanakert and Martuni.

We decided to organize this festival despite all the difficulties, also thanks to the support of companies that understand the importance of the issue, such as IDBank. In general, the role of business is great in the development of culture, science and education. Whether it be with a song, a word, attention or warmth, we must support people who have gone and are going through the hardest days”, the artistic director of the “Little Singers of Armenia” choir Tigran Hekekyan noted.

The Bank informed that this kind of programs will be continuous.

BANK IS CONTROLLED BY CBA

Defense Ministry denies report on Azeri military taking more Armenian servicemen captive

Emil Karabekian

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 15:15,

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of Armenia is denying the reports claiming that more Armenian servicemen have been taken captive by the Azeri military.

“On May 30, reports started circulating in Azerbaijani social media networks claiming that Armenian military servicemen have been taken captive upon crossing the Azerbaijani state border. Despite the fact that this report was swiftly denied by the Azerbaijani state agencies themselves, with the Azerbaijani state border guard service issuing a respective statement, some social media users and news outlets in Armenia continue circulating it. The Ministry of Defense is once again urging not to spread unverified, fake, and in this case even officially refuted information,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Europe demands release of hostages

Emil Karabekian
Church Militant
by Trey Blanton  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •     

Fake Catholic Joe Biden is the first president to recognize as a genocide the 1915 atrocities committed by the Turks against the Armenians. A little over a week later, however, Biden violated international law by sending military aid to Azerbaijan, which is participating in the ongoing genocide. Church Militant’s Trey Blanton shows how Biden is assisting in the continuation of the Armenian genocide.

Azerbaijan, a majority-Muslim nation of Turkish descent, violated again on Thursday (local time) the ceasefire agreement with Armenia — Azeri forces captured six Armenian soldiers in Armenian territory along the disputed border between the two nations.

Jerry Tutunjian, editor with the Canadian-Armenian news site Keghart.org, responded to Azerbaijan’s blaming of  Armenia.

Tutunjian: “Armenia is in no position to be aggressor. It’s a defeated country. It is Azerbaijan who is provoking Armenia to have an excuse to take more land.”

This latest aggression comes a week after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly against Azerbaijan, demanding the unconditional release of more than 200 known prisoners of war (POWs).

In the Parliament’s resolution, Azerbaijan stands accused of abusing prisoners and promoting hate by displaying war trophies in a museum. Tutunjian, however, feels the resolution is insufficient.

Tutunjian: “These are meaningless words. They are diplomatic words which have no teeth. When they say we deplore, we regret, we reproach, it means nothing unless there is force or threat behind it.”

This action [by the European Parliament] is in stark contrast to unelected Biden’s actions of waiving Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which prevents sending military aid to Azerbaijan if it violates human rights.

The Genocide Convention places a legal obligation on nations, including America, to punish countries committing genocide. Biden rightly recognized the atrocity, but now he’s complicit in it.

Church Militant has received many more photos and video — too graphic to show — of Azerbaijan soldiers torturing and brutally killing Armenians.

Caucasian Knot | EU supports Pashinyan’s idea of observers on Azerbaijani border

Emil Karabekian
The Caucasian Knot, EU
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The Foreign Service of the European Union (EU) has welcomed the offer to place observers on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, urging the parties to start talks on the border delimitation.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Nikol Pashinyan had suggested that Armenia and Azerbaijan should simultaneously withdraw their troops from the border and allow international observers to be deployed there.

In mid-May, the Armenian-Azerbaijani border conflict escalated. On May 13, Yerevan stated that Azerbaijani militaries entered the territory of the Syunik and Gegarkunik Regions of Armenia. In their turn, Azerbaijani authorities claim that the border guards only changed their deployment, staying within the Lachin and Kelbadjar Districts of Azerbaijan.

The EU’s Foreign Service (EFS) has called for an immediate de-escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. “The EFS urges both parties to refrain from further military deployment and military action,” the EFS says in its statement.

All the troops should withdraw to the positions they held before May 12, 2021, and the parties to the conflict should start negotiations on the border delimitation and demarcation, says the document posted on the EFS’ website.

The EFS has also announced the need to release all the prisoners of war (POWs) and detainees. “We welcome all the efforts aimed at reducing tensions, including offers for a possible international observer mission,” the statement reads.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 09:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of wounding a soldier, Militaries blown up by mine in Azerbaijan, Pashinyan offers Azerbaijan to simultaneously withdraw troops from border.

Source:
© Caucasian Knot



Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials

Emil Karabekian
News.am, Armenia
13:04, 28.05.2021

Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, accompanied by clergymen, on Friday visited the Sardarapat Memorial on the occasion of Republic Day.

After laying flowers at the memorial, the Catholicos recited the Lord’s Prayer.

Karekin II visited the Sardarapet Memorial again unaccompanied by high-ranking officials.

On April 24, the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Catholicos had visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan unaccompanied by state officials.

Tehran: Virtual show to spotlight Armenian monastic ensembles of Iran

Emil Karabekian
Tehran Times
  1. Tourism
– 22:1

TEHRAN – The Iranian National Commission for UNESCO will be hosting a virtual photo exhibit of the three photogenic ancient churches that constitute the Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran.

A selection of 70 pictures captured by Iranian photographer Ebrahim Khadembayat will go on show during the exhibit, which officially starts on May 25, according to organizers.

To the untrained eye, Iran’s earliest churches may seem modest structures to some but they bear testimony to a vast panorama of architectural and decorative scenes associated with Armenian culture blended with other regional cultures: Byzantine, Orthodox, Assyrian, Persian, and Muslim.

St. Thaddeus, St. Stepanos, and the Chapel of Dzordzor are three photogenic ancient churches that constitute the Armenian Monastic Ensembles of Iran, which were collectively inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage in 2008. They are dotted in fresh and green lands of northwest Iran and are important pilgrimage sites for Armenian-Iranians and others from across the globe.

Also known as the Qareh Klise (“the Black Church”), St. Thaddeus, as one of the oldest surviving Christian monuments in the country, is situated in Chaldoran county some 20 kilometers from Maku, adjacent to the borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. The ancient Church shows off elaborate bas-reliefs of flowers, animals, and human figures on its façade and exterior walls. It bears verses of Old and New Testament in Armenian calligraphy as well.

The Chapel of Dzordzor stands tall on the outskirts of Maku. The name narratively originates from a famous painter Hovans Yerz, known as Dzordzortzi, who supervised the chapel’s restoration for a while. What is present now is a remnant of the large monastery that once existed there, as the entire chapel has been shifted to a new location 600 meters away due to submergence resulting from a dam that was built on the river.

St. Thaddeus Monastery plays hosts an annual religious ritual every summer. Last July, it hosted over 3,000 Christian worshippers coming together from Iran, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Germany, Canada, and some other countries.

Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are the most significant religious minorities in Iran with Christians constituting the bulk.

AFM