Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan meet Charles Michel, Olaf Sholz and Emmanuel Macron in Moldova

Emil Lazarian
June 2 2023

European Council President Charles Michel met with Azerbaijani President Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the margins of the European Political Community summit on 1 June. The summit was held at Mimi Castle, in Bulboaca, 35 km from Chisinau. 

“We had the opportunity to address all the topics that we discussed in Brussels in May – connectivity, security and rights, the border delimitation, the peace treaty,” said Charles Michel after the meeting, adding that his meeting was “a good preparation” for the next meeting that will take place in Brussels on 21 July.

He also announced that he intends to invite President Aliyev, Prime Minister Pashinyan, Chancellor Scholz, and President Macron to meet again in the margins of the next meeting of the European Political Community that will take place in Spain. 

“It means that we will do everything on the EU side in order to help, to provide assistance, to make more progress in the direction of normalisation of the relations,” concluded Charles Michel.

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Press release

https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/leaders-of-armenia-and-azerbaijan-meet-charles-michel-olaf-sholz-and-emmanuel-macron-in-moldova/

The Chișinău meeting was a good preparation for the next meeting. President of the European Council

Emil Lazarian

 20:53, 1 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. European Council President Charles Michel summarized the five-sided meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Charles Michel and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held in Chișinău, ARMENPRESS reports, the statement was published on the official website of the Europe Council.

“We recently had a very good meeting with President Aliyev, Prime Minister Pashinyan, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

We had the opportunity to address all the topics discussed in Brussels in May: communication, security and rights, border delimitation, peace treaty.

This meeting was a good preparation for the next meeting to be held on July 21 in Brussels. It means that we are working hard and intend to support all positive efforts towards normalization of relations.

I have also announced that I plan to invite President Aliyev, Prime Minister Pashinyan, Chancellor Scholz and President Macron again within the framework of the next meeting of the European Political Community, which will take place in Spain. It means that the EU will do everything to help, support, and make greater progress in the direction of normalizing relations,” said Michel.

Armenpress: Pashinyan rules out “unsolvable” road issues related to enclaves

Emil Lazarian

 09:55, 2 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. There’s no enclave that could create an unsolvable road problem for Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

“On the political level, we proceed with the presumption that Kyarki was there,” Pashinyan said at a meeting with the Armenian community of Moldova on June 1 when asked whether Tigranashen belongs to Armenia or Azerbaijan under the 1975 map.

“We are saying that we should look into the legal grounds. Politically, if it turns out that it belongs to Azerbaijan by that map, then we don’t have any problem,” Pashinyan added.

It’s no fact that Azerbaijan would want to return Artsvashen and take Tigranashen, Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister said he wouldn’t want the value of this issue to be overestimated.

“There’s no such enclave that could cause the kind of road problems for us that would be unsolvable. There’s no such issue. If the road can’t pass this way it will pass that way. There is no problem whatsoever. We are actually developing our road network in Armenia to such level that there is no unsolvable issue,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan warned that the enclave issue is being exploited to psychologically pressure the Armenian society.

“We are saying that on the political level we accept the enclaves, and they accept Artsvashen. Artsvashen is also an enclave. Assuming Azerbaijan wants that, thus we will take Artsvashen,” he said.

He added that there are many issues, for example how citizens must pass that road. Many issues must yet be agreed upon. PM Pashinyan warned that this issue should not become a tool for psychological pressure.

Satellite Internet in Armenia

Emil Lazarian
Spooool
June 1 2023


has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its ability to provide high-speed internet access to remote areas. While it has its advantages, it also has its disadvantages. In this article, we will explore both the advantages and disadvantages of satellite internet in Armenia.

Advantages of

One of the main advantages of satellite internet in Armenia is its ability to provide high-speed internet access to remote areas. This is particularly important in a country like Armenia, where many rural areas do not have access to traditional broadband internet services. Satellite internet can provide these areas with fast and reliable internet access, allowing them to stay connected with the rest of the world.

Another advantage of satellite internet in Armenia is its flexibility. Unlike traditional broadband internet services, which require physical infrastructure to be installed, satellite internet can be set up quickly and easily. This makes it an ideal solution for businesses and individuals who need internet access in a hurry.

Satellite internet in Armenia is also very reliable. Unlike traditional broadband internet services, which can be affected by weather conditions and other factors, satellite internet is not affected by these issues. This means that users can enjoy fast and reliable internet access no matter what the weather is like outside.

Disadvantages of

While satellite internet in Armenia has its advantages, it also has its disadvantages. One of the main disadvantages is its cost. Satellite internet can be more expensive than traditional broadband internet services, particularly for those who require high-speed internet access.

Another disadvantage of satellite internet in Armenia is its latency. Because satellite internet signals have to travel a long distance to reach the satellite and then back down to Earth, there can be a delay in the transmission of data. This can be particularly frustrating for users who require real-time internet access, such as online gamers or video conferencing users.

Satellite internet in Armenia can also be affected by weather conditions. While it is generally more reliable than traditional broadband internet services, heavy rain or snow can cause interference with the satellite signal, resulting in slower internet speeds or even a loss of internet connection.

Conclusion

In conclusion, satellite internet in Armenia has its advantages and disadvantages. While it can provide high-speed internet access to remote areas and is very reliable, it can also be more expensive than traditional broadband internet services and can be affected by latency and weather conditions. Ultimately, the decision to use satellite internet in Armenia will depend on the individual needs and circumstances of each user.

Volume of deposits, credits continues to grow; highest figure recorded in April

Emil Lazarian

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 10:05, 1 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. The total bank deposit portfolio of Armenia comprised 5 trillion 134 billion 447 million AMD in April 2023, surpassing the record high indicator recorded in December 2022 which stood at 5 trillion 122 billion 579 million. The April indicator grew twice compared to the same period of 2018.

Deposits of Armenian commercial banks grew 31,21% in April 2023 compared to the same month of 2022.

Resident deposits volumes stood at 3 trillion 821 billion 478 million AMD, the highest result recorded.

The credit portfolio of banks (excluding credit organizations) set a new record in April, totaling 4 trillion 409 billion 409 million AMD, surpassing the previous record set in March 2023 by 0,47%.

 




Putin felicitates Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan on birthday

Emil Lazarian

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 13:44, 1 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin extended birthday greetings on June 1 to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“Accept my sincere congratulations on your birthday. I highly value our constructive dialogue. It’s important for the allied relations between Russia and Armenia to continue to develop, despite the difficult international situation. I am hopeful that together we will continue to work around the current issues on our bilateral and regional agenda. I wish you robust health, happiness, welfare and success in your state activities,” Putin said in a letter to Pashinyan.

Peace edges closer in the troubled south Caucasus

Emil Lazarian
FINANCIAL TIMES
UK –
Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan may end the longest-running territorial conflict in the former Soviet Union
TONY BARBER
Imagine if Russia withdrew from all occupied Ukrainian territory, and Russian-speakers in the Donbas region and Crimea gave up separatism in return for autonomy and civic rights. Given Vladimir Putin’s thirst to annex much of Ukraine and his assault on Ukrainian national identity, such an outcome is at present far out of reach. But to much of the world it would seem a reasonable solution. 
 In the 35-year-long conflict between the south Caucasus states of Armenia and Azerbaijan, a settlement along these lines is starting to appear possible. On May 22, Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister, stated that he was ready to recognise Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave in Azerbaijan. His chief condition was that the government in Baku should protect the rights and security of the roughly 120,000 Karabakh Armenians. 
 For his part, Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, said last week that he saw “a possibility of coming to a peace agreement, considering that Armenia has formally recognised Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan”. 
 A deal would send four messages to the world. First, it would end the oldest unresolved territorial dispute in the former Soviet Union, a sometimes ferociously fought conflict that began in 1988. Second, it would contribute stability to the south Caucasus, a fragile meeting point of civilisations where the EU, US, Russia, Turkey, Iran and China brush up uneasily against each other. Third, a deal would suggest that, despite the war in Ukraine and notwithstanding that their diplomatic efforts in the south Caucasus are not exactly co-ordinated, western governments and Russia may find it in their separate interests to settle a notoriously intractable conflict. 
 The fourth lesson is more revealing about the harsh realities of geopolitics. For one reason why a settlement is within sight is that Azerbaijan has gained the upper hand in its military struggle with Armenia. Doubtless this lesson will not be lost on Ukrainians. 
 During a war in 1991-1994, in which some 30,000 people were killed, Armenia seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh and, partly or completely, seven regions around it. It held about 13.6 per cent of the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan. In a six-week war in 2020 that cost another 8,000 lives, Azerbaijani forces recaptured almost all the lost land. Since then, Baku has pressed home its advantage, inducing Pashinyan’s concession on Nagorno-Karabakh. 
 A peace settlement is by no means certain. At a meeting in Moscow on May 25, chaired by Putin, Pashinyan and Aliyev exchanged angry words over Baku’s decision to set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor. This is a highway that runs through Azerbaijan and is the only road connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. For the hard-pressed people of Nagorno-Karabakh, the checkpoint awakens old fears that Azerbaijan’s long-term objective is to ethnically cleanse the enclave of Armenians. 
 This points to another obstacle. Pashinyan’s concession has sparked outrage in Nagorno-Karabakh and across much of Armenian society, where the dream of a single political space uniting the enclave with Armenia appears to be falling apart. But the options of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are limited. Yerevan’s relations with Moscow are poor because of the refusal of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led military bloc, to take Armenia’s side in recent clashes with Azerbaijan. The US and EU support the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity — with guarantees for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. 
 Still, if the west and Russia can keep their antagonism over Ukraine from spilling into the south Caucasus, and if Azerbaijan calms the fears of the Karabakh Armenians, peace may be possible. It would be quite an achievement in a troubled world.  

Azerbaijani "eco-activists" complain over grant cuts

Emil Lazarian

Self-described environmental activists in Azerbaijan who took part in the government-backed blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh are voicing discontent over their finances. 

On May 26, a group of Azerbaijani NGO heads assembled in front of the presidential administration office in Baku, protesting against what they called cuts in their state grants. 

The same people participated in a demonstration on a key road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia that lasted for 138 days and ended after it was made redundant by a new Azerbaijani customs checkpoint at the other end of the road.. 

From December 12 until April 28, the NGO representatives camped out in tents and periodically chanted slogans and brandished placards accusing the Armenian administration of Nagorno-Karabakh of “ecocide”. 

What prompted the NGO heads to come forward was the disclosure of a list of winners of a state grant competition by the Agency for State Support for NGOs on the same day. Some did not get on the list while others got far less grant money than they asked for. 

Although there is no connection between the grant competition and the demonstrations at the Lachin-Stepanakert road, some clearly felt that they should be rewarded for the loyalty they showed the state in taking part in the blockade. 

One protestor – Matanat Asgargizi, chair of Public Union for Support for Soldier Families – said she was upset that her organization was granted only 8,000 manats (about $4705) for a painting contest on the theme of Shusha, a key Karabakh town. 

“We were the first ones to go [to the demonstrations]. We have been face-to-face with Russians [peacekeepers] and Armenians for weeks. They [authorities] say, ‘Are you not ashamed for mentioning your presence in Shusha.’ I don’t think that I should be given 20,000 manats just because I was in Shusha. I am just wondering – why should these people who are always standing by their state be ignored?” she asked, in an interview with local news outlet Abzas Media. 

Another NGO head – Tahira Mammadova, who went viral on social media in the early days of the blockade for accidentally killing a pigeon – was also disgruntled over the size of her organization’s grant. “They promised 15,000 manats (about $8,820) for one project, but they didn’t allocate it. And for a film about a Shusha martyr they allocated only 6,000 manats (about $3,530). This 6,000 manats is like an insult to me,” she told RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani service. (She did not take part in the protest in Baku.)

A member of the Board of Supervisors of the Agency for State Support for NGOs, Gunel Safarova, said the grants were cut because of the low quality of the pitched projects. “Besides, linking participation in Shusha with participating in the grant competition raises serious questions. The agency did not organize those demonstrations. They were a voluntary action. People who went there voluntarily did not go to later ask for grants. This is very absurd,” she told Abzas. 


PM Pashinyan meets with Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister

Emil Lazarian

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 13:42,

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén in Yerevan.

PM Pashinyan welcomed Semjén’s visit to Armenia and was pleased to note the restoration of diplomatic relations after a long suspension.

According to a readout issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, PM Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope that Armenia and Hungary will be able to swiftly catch up what has been missed.

Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén thanked for the warm reception and conveyed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s greetings. Semjén also attached importance to the restoration of bilateral diplomatic relations and emphasized the Hungarian government’s eagerness to develop and enhance partnership with Armenia. In this regard, he emphasized the role of the Armenian community of Hungary. 

PM Pashinyan thanked the Hungarian government for the preservation and caring attitude for the Armenian cultural heritage in Hungary.

PM Pashinyan and the Hungarian Deputy PM underscored the need to promote cooperation in the economic, tourism, culture and education sectors. Steps in direction of restoring direct flights between Yerevan and Budapest were highlighted. Deputy PM Zsolt Semjén said that the government of Hungary has initiated a scholarship program for Armenian students.

Various issues of regional and international importance were also discussed.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presented the situation in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan and stressed that the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh are now going through a humanitarian crisis. PM Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan has cut off gas and power supply from Armenia to Nagorno Karabakh, while food is supplied only through the peacekeepers. Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan’s actions are aimed at committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Nagorno Karabakh. The Armenian Prime Minister attached importance to an adequate reaction by the international community.

Hungary’s Ambassador to Armenia Anna Mária Sikó (stationed in Georgia) presented her credentials to Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan on May 15.




Chidem Inch: May 28th

Emil Lazarian
 Mark Gavoor Opinion 0

The bell-tower of the Sardarabad Memorial Complex at the site of one of the heroic battles of the First Republic of Armenia (Photo: Rupen Janbazian/The Armenian Weekly)

This week, we marked May 28—the 105th anniversary of the establishment of the first Armenian Republic. It was the first Armenian ruled nation in 600 years. Given the devastation of the 1915 Genocide, it is remarkable that this country was even born. For once in our recent history of tragic luck, the alignment of the planets and stars was with us. The Russians were occupied with the Bolshevik revolution some seven months earlier. Turkey was in the last days of what was left of the Ottoman Empire and the end of World War I.

The Armenians faced the Turks for a battle for the future of the nation. Would the Turks deliver the final blow or would the Armenians be able to persevere? It came down to three battles from May 22-29, 1918. The battles were in Bash Abaran, Karakilise and Sardarabad. The ultimate battle, not to diminish the value of the other two, was Sardarabad. It was indeed the battle for survival. Armenian forces and citizens (armed with whatever they had) formed a fierce band and fought hard for the survival of the nation.

In his 1990 book Armenia: Survival of a Nation, historian Christopher Walker noted that if the Armenians lost the Battle of Sardarabad, “it is perfectly possible that the word Armenia would have henceforth denoted only an antique geographical term.”

The First Republic was improbable in both inception and being successful. After the horrors and tragedies of 1915, it was amazing that we even had a Republic. Those intrepid souls who established the Republic were burdened with a destitute land and people. It lasted two years until the Soviets and Armenian Bolsheviks made the Republic part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. There were plusses and minuses to being an SSR. The minuses were the loss of Nakhichevan and Artsakh to Azerbaijan. The major plus was that Armenia survived and thrived until 1991 when the current Republic of Armenia was established with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Without those three battles and the efforts of the brave Armenians who fought them, there would be no Armenia today. It was a pure existential time for the Armenians. We need to acknowledge, honor and celebrate those times, those victories and that first Republic.

We have to also acknowledge that our plight is still existential. This has been brought to the forefront by the 2022 war in Artsakh and the negotiations/threats by Turkey and Azerbaijan since then. It seems a Sardarabad-like victory with the rallying of all citizens armed with guns will not work against the well-armed Azeri/Turkish forces we faced in 2022. We, all Armenians, need to look to the future of the nation, where we are now and what we can do moving forward.

In the Diaspora, we also have to come to terms with our role in this. We are Armenians, but we are not citizens of the Republic of Armenia. We can support, advocate, influence, certainly provide funds, and even be strategists and thought leaders. But our roles are, de facto, secondary no matter how we view ourselves and the resolve with which we state we disagree or are upset by this or that. We have no seat at the negotiation table.

Of course, being a Diasporan Armenian, I think we should. But the world is not structured or wired that way unless we can somehow garner the needed influence. How might that be accomplished? Well, that is the big question. Money and power are the typical answers. Someone close to me reacted to one of my articles by saying, “But, you offered no solutions.”  That is absolutely true. I am stymied by the current Armenian predicament. It is a source of great angst and frustration. Yet, I see no one offering any solutions for the guaranteed safety and security of Armenia and Armenians in Artsakh. We have hope. We have righteousness. The only solutions that might work seem to require compromises that are so unacceptable to us, that no one but Pashinyan has uttered one.

We have to reach back and acknowledge the importance of those three victories in May of 1918. We need that unifying spirit inside each and every one of us. We also need a chance to keep our Republic and build it into an economic force that is capable of defending itself. That is my May 28th wish and vision. It is a grand vision and a huge challenge.

Getseh Hayastan yev Hayeruh.

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Mark Gavoor is Associate Professor of Operations Management in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University in Chicago. He is an avid blogger and oud player.