The California
Courier Online, August 31, 2023
1- Pashinyan’s
Gross Misconduct Dishonors
Everything
Armenians Hold Sacrosanct
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Armenian
community calls on Kim Kardashian to speak up for Artsakh
3- Three
Artsakh Armenian Students Kidnapped
by Azerbaijan while Crossing Lachin
Corridor
4- Wagner chief
Prigozhin, Armenian officer among 10 dead in Russia jet crash
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1- Pashinyan’s
Gross Misconduct Dishonors
Everything
Armenians Hold Sacrosanct
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Not a day passes without Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
making a new blunder.
This is what happens when a yellow journalist becomes the
head of government. Most Armenians, blinded by their utter dislike of the
former leaders, welcomed him initially with open arms.
Fortunately, Pashinyan’s popularity has plummeted from 80%
five years ago to 13% last month. Over the years, various Armenian polls have
indicated a steady decline in his ratings. Nevertheless, he remains in power
and refuses to resign, especially after his calamitous mismanagement of the
2020 war, resulting in the loss of most of the Republic of Artsakh
and the deaths and injury of thousands of Armenian soldiers.
Pashinyan has made so many mistakes that it is hard to
mention them all. His biggest blunder was recognizing the Republic
of Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan,
thus dishonoring the sacrifices of thousands of dead and wounded Armenian
soldiers. He had no right ‘to gift’ Artsakh to Azerbaijan,
since the territory of the Republic of
Artsakh did not fall under the
jurisdiction of Armenia.
Among Pashinyan’s many other blunders are: swinging a hammer
in the air during the electoral campaign in 2021, threatening to bash the heads
of his political rivals and lay them on the asphalt. He then disparaged Armenians’
long-held devotion to Mt. Ararat, and criticized two of Armenia’s most
cherished state symbols: the coat of arms and national anthem.
More recently, Pashinyan complained about the 1990
Declaration of Armenia’s Independence, the
initial document that paved the way for the establishment of the Republic of Armenia, after seven decades of
Communist rule. He wrongly stated that the Declaration of Independence fomented
conflicts with Azerbaijan
and Turkey
which is at odds with his ‘peace agenda.’
The Declaration of Independence had referred to the 1989
unification act adopted by the legislatures of Soviet Armenia and the
autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabagh. It had also declared that the Republic of Armenia
supports the “international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey
and Western Armenia.” Subsequently, Armenia’s
constitution referred to the Declaration of Independence.
Last week, on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence, Pashinyan stated: “A critical analysis of the text
of the Declaration shows that we eventually chose a narrative and content based
on the formula that made us part of the Soviet Union; namely, a confrontational
narrative with the regional environment that was to keep us in constant conflicts
with our neighbors.”
Pashinyan misinterpreted the Declaration of Independence
from the Soviet Union as being “based on the formula that made us part of the Soviet Union.” His faulty explanation is the exact
opposite of what the text actually stated.
Pashinyan went on to push forward his unrealistic and
defeatist ‘peace agenda’ to normalize Armenia’s
relations with Azerbaijan
and Turkey.
He does not seem to understand that begging for peace does not lead to peace.
This is simply a formula for more humiliation and war. While blindly pushing
for peace, he contradicted himself by stating that Azerbaijan is committing genocide
against Artsakh Armenians. How can genocide and peace coexist?
Pashinyan’s many criticisms indicate that he is opposed to
all symbols and values of the independent Republic of Armenia.
His eventual goal is to appease Azerbaijan
and Turkey by eliminating
all references to Artsakh and giving up the pursuit of genocide claims from Turkey.
In the meantime, Pashinyan has completely forgotten the
dozens of Armenian prisoners of war who have been detained and tortured in Baku since the 2020 war.
Not only he has taken no action to liberate them, but has not even mentioned
them. This is the result of his failure to have Armenia
and Azerbaijan
simultaneously exchange all their prisoners of war, as stated in their 2020
agreement. Instead, right after the war, Pashinyan released all Azeri prisoners
in return for a small number of Armenian prisoners.
Furthermore, after occupying most of Artsakh,
Azerbaijan has taken over
parts of the territory of the Republic
of Armenia. Pashinyan has
made no effort to dislodge the enemy. Protecting Armenia’s borders is one of the key
responsibilities of the Prime Minister.
Pashinyan’s security agents silence all those who disagree
with his defeatist ‘peace plan,’ whether they live in Armenia or the
Diaspora. Patriotic Armenians and non-Armenians who support the Armenian Cause
are banned from visiting Armenia,
while the inhabitants of Armenia
are harassed and arrested if they dare to protest or criticize Pashinyan. In
the meantime, Turkish denialists and extremist grey wolf members are free to
roam Armenia and insult the
memory of Armenian Genocide victims at the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.
This is the exact opposite of what a democratic country
should be, where freedom of _expression_ is the basic right of the people.
Regrettably, a man who came to power claiming to establish democracy and
democratic freedoms has done the exact opposite. All powers and decision-making
authority is concentrated in the hands of one man who consults no one and
listens to no one. Neither the Ministers nor the Parliament nor the President
nor the courts have any say in Pashinyan’s autocratic decisions.
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2- Armenian community calls on Kim
Kardashian to speak up for Artsakh
(The International News)—On Saturday, August 26, a group of
Armenian-Americans gathered outside the entrance to the exclusive Hidden Hills
community in Calabasas, California, where the 42-year-old reality
star resides with her children. This gated community also houses several other
members of the celebrity family, including sisters Kourtney, Khloe, Kylie
Jenner, and their mother Kris Jenner.
During this demonstration, protesters displayed Armenian
tricolor flags and brandished signs with messages, such as ‘Kim, Speak up for
Artsakh’ and ‘Kim, Your People Need You.’
Kardashian has strong familial ties to the community. Kim’s
late father, Robert Kardashian, was a third-generation Armenian-American, thus
grounding their connection to the Armenian heritage.
Kim, along with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe, embarked on
a journey to Armenia
in 2015 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
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3- Three Artsakh Armenian Students
Kidnapped
by Azerbaijan
while Crossing Lachin Corridor
YEREVAN
(Armenpress)—Artsakh authorities are unable to contact two students who were
taken into interrogation by Azeri border guards in the Lachin Corridor’s
illegal Azeri checkpoint, the Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan
said in a statement.
Another student was kidnapped by Azeri border guards and
taken into an unknown direction, Stepanyan said.
All three men are students of universities in Armenia; they were among 170 others who were
being transported by Russian peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia on
August 28. The 22-year-old student, Alen Sargsyan, was kidnapped by the use of
force by Azeri border guards.
Another 5 persons were taken into an interrogation room
where they were questioned by Azeri border guards on various issues, such as
their purpose of visiting Armenia,
the economic situation in Armenia
and Artsakh and others.
Stepanyan said the border guards had pre-arranged lists of
persons. Two people who were on this list—Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon
Grigoryan—did not cross the illegal checkpoint but Nagorno-Karabakh authorities
are unable to contact them.
President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan convened a Security
Council meeting to discuss the measures taken by his administration to
determine the fate of the men kidnapped by Azerbaijani border guards and return
them home.Harutyunyan and the officials also discussed the situation in
Artsakh, possible developments and the tasks of the authorities, his office
said in a statement.
“President Harutyunyan informed the participants of the
session about the steps taken in the direction of determining the fate of the
citizens of Artsakh Republic who were kidnapped by Azerbaijan and
returning them home. The situation in Artsakh, possible developments and tasks
of the authorities for withstanding the daily worsening humanitarian disaster
and solving security issues were discussed,” Harutyunyan’s office said.
According to Azerbaijani media reports, the arrested
Armenians are football players of the Martuni Avo club who have been wanted by
Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies since 2021 for allegedly “dishonoring” the
Azerbaijani flag. They face a 10-day jail term.
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4- Wagner chief
Prigozhin, Armenian officer among 10 dead in Russia jet crash
(Armenpress)—A business jet crash in Russia has
killed ten. Wagner Mercenary Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger
list, authorities say.
The Embraer business jet crashed in the Tver region, all on
board were killed, Russisn media quoted the Emergency Ministry as saying.
“The Embraer plane was flying from Sheremetyevo to St. Petersburg. There
were three pilots and seven passengers on board. All of them died,” the source
said.
The emergency services told TASS that the bodies of four
people had been found.
It was noted that the plane burned down when it hit the
ground, it was in flight for less than half an hour.
Yevgeny Makaryan was also with Prigozhin in the plane that
crashed in Tver marz. According to Russian media, he was a former district policeman,
joined Wagner HRC in 2016, and fought in Syria. Makaryan was 38 years old
and lived in the Chelyabinsk
region.
On June 24, Prigozhin and his mercenary forces staged a
dramatic uprising against Russia’s
Vladimir Putin. However, the rebellion was dramatically called off before the
rebels reached the capital city.
The potential coup could have dramatically impacted Armenia and
Artsakh, if Russian Peacekeepers withdrew from Artsakh, leaving Armenians there
vulnerable to Azeri attacks. Any Russian withdrawal from the region, including Armenia, could threaten Armenia’s protection from attacks by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
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