Friday,
Armenian ‘Coup Plotters’ Win European Court Case
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - An alleged 2015 photograph of members of an Armenian militant group
arrested on coup charges.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Armenian investigators
violated the rights of the leader and two members of a clandestine militant
group that had allegedly plotted to overthrow former President Serzh Sarkisian.
The ringleader, Vartanian, and a dozen other individuals were arrested in
November 2015 in a dawn raid on their hideout in Yerevan jointly conducted by
Armenia’s police and National Security Service (NSS). The law-enforcement bodies
found large quantities of weapons and explosives stashed there. They made more
than 20 other arrests in the following weeks.
The NSS said afterwards that Vartanian set up a group called the Armenian Shield
Regiment before drawing up with his associates detailed plans for the seizure of
the presidential administration, government, parliament and state television
buildings in Yerevan. It said they also explored the possibility of shooting
down President Sarkisian’s plane.
Armenia - Security forces detain a man in a raid on a house in Yerevan's Nork
district, 25Nov2015.
Vartanian admitted acquiring weapons and ammunition for the militant group when
he and 19 other persons went on trial in December 2016. He insisted, however,
that he never intended to seize power or assassinate Sarkisian.
Most of the other defendants, including an Armenian Catholic priest, also
rejected the coup charges brought against them.
The judge presiding over the continuing trial agreed to free Vartanian on bail
in September 2019. All other arrested suspects were released from custody
earlier pending a court verdict in the case. Two of them had joined Vartanian in
challenging their pre-trial arrest in the ECHR.
The Strasbourg-based court ruled this week that the detention period was too
long and unjustified and violated a relevant article of the European Convention
on Human Rights. It said that Vartanian and another plaintiff, Harutiun
Saribekian, must each be paid 6,000 euros ($6,300) in damages.
Armenia - Artur Vartanian, the main defendant in the trial of 20 people accused
of plotting a coup détat, at a courtroom in Yerevan, 17Mar2017.
Vartanian expressed his satisfaction with the ECRH ruling when he spoke to
RFE/RL’s Armenian on Friday after the latest session of his protracted trial.
“The European Court found that justifications presented by prosecutors and
investigators were unfounded,” he said.
Vartanian reportedly lived in Spain before returning to Armenia in April 2015
and setting up the Armenian Shield Regiment.
According to the NSS, core members of the group underwent secret military
training in Vartanian’s paternal village in August-September 2015. Investigators
released in late 2016 a photograph, purportedly taken in a village house, of ten
masked and armed persons standing under the group’s banner.
Armenia, Azerbaijan Trade Fresh Barbs
• Aza Babayan
Azerbaijan - Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov meet in Baku, June24, 2022
Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other of not honoring their Russian-brokered
agreements during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s latest visit to Baku
concluded on Friday.
Meeting with Lavrov on Thursday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev complained
that Armenia has still not open road and railway links connecting Azerbaijan to
its Nakhichevan exclave. He said Moscow should press Yerevan to do that in line
with the ceasefire agreement that stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Aliyev also claimed that Yerevan has still not reacted to his proposals
regarding an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by Baku.
In March this year, Azerbaijan presented Armenia with five elements which it
wants to be at the heart of the treaty. They include a mutual recognition of
each other’s territorial integrity. The Armenian government said they should be
complemented by other issues relating to the future of status of Karabakh and
the security of its population.
In written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Foreign Minister Ararat
Mirzoyan pointed to those counterproposals and said Baku has still not
officially responded to them.
“We see nothing unacceptable in Azerbaijan’s proposals regarding the future
peace treaty while complementing those proposals with our ideas,” he said.
Mirzoyan also insisted that the Armenian side is interested in transport links
between the two South Caucasus states. He said their opening has been hampered
by “baseless” Azerbaijani demands for an exterritorial corridor for Nakhichevan.
Mirzoyan also said that Azerbaijan still holds dozens of Armenian prisoners in
breach of the 2020 ceasefire.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov echoed Aliyev’s claims after
holding talks with Lavrov on Friday.
“The artificial dragging of the negotiating process carries very serious risks,”
Bayramov warned at a joint news conference.
Lavrov said, for his part, that Russia will continue to help the two sides
negotiate a comprehensive peace accord, demarcate the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border and open it to travel and commerce.
Visiting Yerevan earlier this month, Lavrov said the Armenian, Azerbaijani and
Russian governments are now finalizing a deal on a “simplified” border control
regime for the planned road to Nakhichevan. The road will be under Armenian
control, he said.
Armenia’s Chief Judicial Officer Refuses To Quit Over Audio Scandal
• Naira Nalbandian
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - Gagik Jahangirian, the acting chairman of the Supreme Judicial
Council, at a news conference in Yerevan, August 2, 2021.
Gagik Jahangirian, the controversial acting head of Armenia’s judicial watchdog,
has dismissed calls for his resignation sparked by leaked audio in which he
appeared to blackmail his predecessor at loggerheads with the government.
“I have never been forced by any political force, alliance to tender
resignation,” the former senior prosecutor told Armenian Public Television in an
interview aired late on Thursday.
Ruben Vartazarian, the previous chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC),
publicized on Monday a 14-minute audio clip which he secretly recorded during a
dinner meeting with Jahangirian in February 2021. The meeting took place two
months before Vartazarian was controversially suspended as SJC chairman amid
rising tensions with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
In the recording full of profanities uttered by him, Jahangirian can be heard
seemingly warning Vartazarian to resign or face criminal charges. He says that
he has already blocked the opening of one or two criminal cases against the
latter.
Speaking to the state-controlled TV channel, Jahangirian claimed that he was not
in a position to trigger or halt any criminal proceedings and simply tried to
trick Vartazarian into resigning.
“Do you think that Mr. Vartazarian would write a resignation letter if he knew
that there will be cases against him and no guarantees that he will not be
punished later on?” he said, adding that he simply used “psychological ploys.”
Armenia - Gagik Jahangirian chairs a session of the Supreme Judicial Council,
April 4, 2022
Opposition and civic groups are bound to brush aside this explanation. They have
said that Jahangirian must be not only sacked but also prosecuted for what they
see as blackmail and illegal interference in the work of law-enforcement
agencies.
One of those agencies, the Investigative Committee, reportedly interrogated
Vartazarian on Thursday in a preliminary inquiry into the audio scandal. It is
not clear whether the committee will also question Jahangirian.
Despite the uproar, the SJC has refused to even start disciplinary proceedings
against its acting chairman. The powerful body, which nominates Armenian judges
and can also fire them, instead formally dismissed Vartazarian as its nominal
chairman and member on Thursday.
Jahangirian also says in the leaked recording that a key motive behind his
attempts to convince Vartazarian to quit is to prevent Robert Kocharian, a
former president and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s leading political foe,
from returning to power.
Jahangirian told Public Television, however, that he was solely motivated by the
need for sweeping judicial reforms in Armenia. He claimed that implementation of
such reforms has been his lifetime “mission.”
The 67-year-old was accused of grave human rights violations when he served as
Armenia’s chief military prosecutor and deputy prosecutor-general in 1997-2006
and 2006-2008 respectively. Local human rights activists say that official
cover-ups of crimes committed in the armed forces were the norm during his
tenure.
Armenia - Human rights activist Zhanna Aleksania, February 4, 2021.
“I know him as a bad military prosecutor who neglected people and covered up
cases,” one such activist, Zhanna Aleksanian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“Putting him at the helm of the judiciary was absurd.”
“He should not have been appointed to such a position,” said Aleksanian. “He has
a very bad biography.”
Jahangirian was appointed as a member of the SJC in January 2021 by the Armenian
parliament controlled by Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. Lawmakers
representing the party remained reluctant on Friday to comment on the audio
scandal and the resulting calls for Jahangirian’s resignation.
Opposition leaders have portrayed the recording as further proof of their claims
that Western-backed “judicial reforms” declared by Pashinian’s administration
are in fact aimed at increasing government influence on Armenian courts.
In a statement issued earlier this week, the main opposition Hayastan alliance
urged the U.S. and European Union ambassadors in Yerevan to comment on the
scandal and say whether they still support the stated reforms.
Taguhi Tovmasian, the chairwoman of the Armenian parliament’s human rights
committee affiliated with another opposition group, said on Friday that she has
sent the transcript of the recording to international organizations for the same
purpose.
Tovmasian said she asked them to answer the following question: “How can the
Supreme Judicial Council interfere in any criminal case for political
considerations in a country that has declared itself democratic?”
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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
Newspaper: Draft amendments to Armenia Electoral Code already been put into circulation
NEWS.am
Armenia –
10:09, 24.06.2022
YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: The draft [amendments to the Electoral Code (EC)] has already been put into circulation, and yesterday, hearings were being held in the NA [(National Assembly)] [Standing] Committee on State and Legal Affairs, with the participation of representatives of NGOs and extra-parliamentary forces attached to the authorities.
As we had written [before], the [ruling] CC [(Civil Contract Party)] is once again reshaping the EC in its "clothes." [CC MP] Vahagn Hovakimyan, the main speaker of the draft, said in his opening speech during the hearings that the need for amendments had arisen after the 2021 parliamentary and then after the local elections at the end of last year, and that the addenda are more of a technical nature.
However, during the discussion it became clear that the authorities are making the CC look like it will be able to seize power more unhindered in the upcoming elections—even in the communities where the CC has lost.
In short, they have decided to learn lessons from the local elections and remove all legislative and legal obstacles that complicate the process of snatching power from the opposition.
Irvine mayor’s efforts to repair relations with Armenian community could lead to memorial, school curriculum
Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan hosts a group of local mayors outside City Hall on Monday, November 15, 2021 for a press conference about how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will have a positive impact on communities. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
When a video surfaced in March of Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan joking and laughing during a meeting in 2020 with representatives of local Turkish groups, it sparked a furor among some community members who noted among the party a man who has been outspoken in denying the Armenian Genocide.
Residents penned letters and turned up at City Council meetings to voice their outrage. An Armenian group denounced the county Democratic Party for its early endorsement in Khan’s 2022 mayoral race.
In demand letters penned to the public and Khan, an immediate apology from the mayor was requested, along with a pledge to distance herself from anyone who has denied the genocide and for her support for teaching public school students about the history of the carnage.
Khan and Armenian community members have since met and it could mean an Armenian Genocide memorial is constructed in Irvine – Khan said she will support finding a place in the city. She’s also agreed to approach the Irvine Unified school board about coordinating training for educators on teaching about the genocide. And, at an April City Council meeting, she said she donated $1,500 to the Genocide Education Project.
Khan was quick to post recorded statements to social media apologizing, but has also said the video wasn’t an accurate representation of what was discussed during that meeting – she’s having a company look into its editing.
The video’s captions had an “incorrect translation” of the conversation between her and Turkish community members, she said, suspecting its out-of-context release now was “politically intended,” timed for two weeks before the Democratic Party of Orange County planned to announced its early endorsements.
The mayor remains steadfast that discussions at the meeting, which she said was one of many held with community members after her 2020 mayoral win, did not touch on the Armenian Genocide, as some have said.
She promised to cut ties with anyone critical that the genocide occurred.
“I think it’s a little disheartening,” Khan said of the response to the video. “I think I’ve been in the middle of conflicts before – from India and Pakistan, from Palestine and Israel – and I’ve never had the community react this way to me. I have never had this type of experience. It’s always been like, ‘We’re upset, let’s have a meeting. Let’s talk. Let’s have an understanding.’”
In the released video, Khan is accepting congratulations for her mayoral win, she said. When she is presented a box of Turkish Delights, captions appear depicting the conversation between Khan and a community member identified later as Ergun Kirlikovali. They read that he says on “Armenians’ occasions,” Khan could eat the candies and they would “disappear.” Khan responds, “I’ll make sure I eat it in front of them.”
Some said they believe Khan and Kirlikovali were referring to Armenians disappearing. But the mayor said there was “no mention of Armenian Genocide.”
“As a person of faith, as a person who has worked in interfaith for so many years, has 17 years of community building behind me, I would never make fun of anybody,” Khan said in an interview. “That’s not who I am. That’s not what I would do.”
She said she has a company looking into the authenticity of the video with captions, and “preliminary findings from them is that this is a chopped up, kind-of sliced up video. It’s not what I said. It’s not what I was discussing at the time.”
Khan said the company, which she declined to name or provide further details on, is preparing a final report on its review, which she will present publicly when it’s completed.
“I’m really hoping for that professional report to come out to kind of put to rest the idea that people are calling me a racist and that I’m denying the genocide or saying that Armenians should disappear,” Khan said.
Violet Bulujian, chair of the Orange County chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America, said seeing the video was a gut-punch.
“To say that we were outraged is an understatement,” said Bulujian, who added that she represents the area’s Armenian community.
“If you imagine the Democratic mayor attending a meeting that was hosted by Holocaust deniers, and that mayor says, ‘I pledged to stand with you no matter what,’ and then laughs along with them, that would not be tolerated, under no circumstances,” Bulujian said.
As many as 1.2 million Armenians died during the genocide that began in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. While most historians agree the deaths and massacres that occurred constitute genocide, the Turkish government has resisted calling it such, saying that while tragedies took place during World War I, no coordinated genocide happened.
Khan ultimately was given the Democratic Party of Orange County’s early endorsement at a meeting in March.
In response to a request for a recording of discussions during that meeting, Executive Director Ajay Mohan provided an emailed statement from Party Chair Ada Briceño, who said the group’s “Central Committee voted overwhelmingly, by a vote of more than 2/3, to endorse Mayor Farrah Khan for re-election. We look forward to supporting Mayor Khan in 2022.”
A couple weeks later, members of the Southern California Armenian Democrats began circulating a petition calling on the party to rescind the endorsement.
Led by UCI professor of Physics and Astronomy Kev Abazajian, the group wrote that Khan’s response to the community “has been as reprehensible as the original hate speech,” and the endorsement should be taken back “until which point she properly acknowledges the extent of the harm of her actions and takes concrete steps to reconcile with the Armenian community.”
The Democrats of Greater Irvine, a group also chaired by Abazajian, a 2018 City Council contender who lost out to Khan and Councilman Anthony Kuo, voted to censure the mayor at a meeting in April for “her participation in hate speech, supporting and promoting Armenian Genocide denialists and continued denial of the years-long relationship with Armenian Genocide denialists.”
There is an existing rift among Democrats in Irvine, Khan said, between those who support her and those who side with Councilman Larry Agran. A longtime figure in Irvine politics, Agran has held a seat on the City Council for the better part of three decades. He was first elected in 1978 and has served off and on, including times as mayor, to today.
The Democrats of Greater Irvine on March 20 – prior to the video surfacing – had already voted 37-11 to oppose giving Khan their early endorsement for mayor. In their letter to the Central Committee, the Democrats of Greater Irvine listed a number of reasons for opposing Khan, including her resistance to moving to district-based elections, her failure to second more than a dozen agenda items proposed by Agran and her promotion of Republicans in Irvine, among other issues.
The group urged the Central Committee to “support our local Democratic club members’ positions as they are the ones who will be organizing and volunteering, on the ground, when it comes election time.”
Khan contends that group isn’t representative of the broader base of Democratic voters in the city. She also said she “wouldn’t be surprised” if Abazajian was behind the public release of the video to disparage her politically leading up to the endorsement vote.
“I don’t know what the truth is behind it, but I can only assume that it is to help Larry Agran,” Khan said.
Abazajian balked at the notion that he had anything to do with the video or that the outrage over its release was about political infighting, saying the response from the community had “nothing to do with other members of the council.”
“This has to do with her supporting genocidal regimes for years. And associating with genocide deniers for years,” he said.
Abazajian said the issue is “way bigger than Irvine,” recalling that he and others were outraged in 2021 when Khan lauded the country of Azerbaijan as a “secular democracy” during an Azerbaijani Consulate event celebrating its Republic Day. The ANCA Western Region, which represents all of California, in a letter to the Central Committee asking the group not to award Khan its annual “Truth Award,” calling Azerbaijan “one of the most authoritarian regimes on earth, ranking amongst the worst offenders when it comes to democratic rights, press freedom and fundamental human rights.”
Khan said at the time she “did not realize there is a conflict going on,” between Azerbaijan and Armenia and she later sat down with the ANCA group to apologize, but she felt singled out because the criticism came as she was being considered for the Central Committee award. Other elected officials who were part of that Azerbaijani event didn’t receive the same pushback, she said.
Bulujian’s organization, the ANCA, has also noted that Kirlikovali was among a group that Khan announced in 2021 as her mayoral advisory committee. Khan said the residents weren’t appointed as part of an official committee, instead the group was formed out of an “open call to community members that I should be interacting with, to come on and share with me what they’d like to see more of in the city,” she said.
Agran called it “just ludicrous” to imply that he or his supporters were involved in this controversy, saying that Khan shouldn’t be focused on a resident or local politics. “Her problem is with the Armenian community, and as I understand it throughout Southern California and maybe even nationally,” Agran said.
Kirlikovali also said the conversation during the meeting with Khan in 2020 was about Turkish desserts and not about Armenians disappearing.
After sitting down with Bulujian and other community members in May, Khan said she hoped for an opportunity to move forward and “build a relationship with the community, especially here in Irvine, and go forward from there.”
Bulujian isn’t quite ready to call it a relationship mended. She said Khan agreed to what community members are asking of her, including the memorial and initiating training of district teachers on the Genocide Education Project.
“I don’t know about saying reconciliation. I wouldn’t call it that,” Bulujian said. But her hope as a result of the community’s response is for the mayor “to be more aware of who her constituents are and who she’s representing.”
Armenian NPP connected to country’s unified energy system
PanARMENIAN
Armenia –
– 15:58 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian nuclear power plant (NPP) has been connected to the energy system of the country after the annual repairs work, the press service of the NPP reports.
“On June 23 at 13:00, the 4th turbogenerator, then the 3rd turbogenerator at 20:56 of the second power unit of the Armenian NPP were connected to the unified energy system of the Republic of Armenia,” a statement from the power plant says.
The launch of the second power unit was set for June 27, but thanks to the efficient work of the personnel, the maintenance work was completed 4 days ahead of schedule, the NPP said.
Director Movses Vardanyan said earlier that the NPP was preparing to build a new storage facility for low- and medium-level solid waste.
https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/301108/Armenian_NPP_connected_to_countrys_unified_energy_system
Armenian Ambassador raises denial of genocide, destruction of cultural heritage at UN
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia –
Below are the Ambassador’s remarks in full:
Mr. President,
I thank Special Advisor Alice Nderitu for presenting the report of the Secretary-General, dedicated this year to the special needs of children and youth in the contexts of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, outlining recommendations on strengthening their protection from atrocity crimes.
One of the key messages of the report is the human rights-based approach in prevention efforts. Indeed, ensuring full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all should be central in addressing atrocity risks and advancing protection of younger generation. The Safe School Declaration, the Paris Principles and the Vancouver Principles, to which Armenia is a party, remain crucial instruments to promote and protect the rights and the dignity of all children, in particular those residing in conflict areas.
Mr. President,
Intolerance, discrimination, identity-based hate speech are among the underlying causes of atrocity crimes. A grave source of concern should be the involvement of children in the state-led and sponsored propaganda of hatred targeting a particular ethnicity or religion. Indoctrination of children with identity-based hate, incitement of violence and intolerance through educational programmes sows seeds of hate crimes and atrocities only waiting to happen in the future.
Countering hate speech, genocide denial, incitement to violence and war-mongering is another crucial priority of the prevention agenda. I would like to underscore the critical importance of the timely detection and adequate responding to the early warning signs of incitement to hate and identity-based violence on ethnic and religious grounds, instances of justification and glorification of past crimes. The UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech sets a practical framework for enhancing the Organization’s monitoring and reporting capacities.
Mr. President,
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, recognizes that at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity. Despite continuous efforts of the international community in support of the genocide prevention agenda, mass atrocities continue to persist, often, due to the lack of acknowledgment and condemnation of the past crimes. In this regard, education, in particular, human rights and genocide education can play an important role in promoting remembrance and awareness, to preserve historical memory and promote truth, justice and reconciliation.
The deliberate efforts to deny the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide have been employing various narratives, including those based on attempts to reinterpret international law to claim that the killings do not fit the definition of genocide because the events predate their legal concept – failing to account for the well-documented historical fact that it was precisely with reference to the systematic extermination of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire that prominent Polish Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin originally coined the term “genocide”. Often, denialists seek to challenge and mischaracterize the existing scholarly consensus as a “subject of a legitimate debate protected under the freedom of _expression_”.
Whatever methods the denialists seek to involve, all of them invariably run contrary not only to the vast body of existing historical evidence, but also to the findings of the reports mandated by the United Nations, including the Report of the United Nations War Crimes Commission of 1948 and the report adopted by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1985, prepared by Mr. Benjamin Whitaker, confirming that the systematic massacres of Armenians in 1915 without any question meet the criteria for the United Nations definition of genocide.
Mr. President,
Armenia has been consistently campaigning to reinforce the implementation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and to advance the prevention agenda.
Since 2015, the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime established by a GA resolution on the initiative of Armenia, has turned into a platform to foster cooperation for prevention of atrocity crimes, promoting development of national and international early warning mechanisms.
The United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect has a key role to play in advancing international cooperation to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, promoting prevention through monitoring grave human rights violations and assessing risks of potential atrocity crimes. We encourage strengthening the resilience of the Office by equipping it with the necessary human resources and financial capacities to properly deliver on its mandate in an independent and coherent manner. We also support the activities of the Office in coordinating the implementation of the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech.
Mr. President,
The UN system, the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect should be able to monitor, identify and react unambiguously to instances of propagating distorted narratives denying existence of ethnic and religious groups, their history, culture and heritage, inciting xenophobia and hate and glorifying perpetrators of the past crimes.
The UN Human Rights Council and its mechanisms – including the special procedures and treaty bodies, play an essential role in providing early warning of the risk factors that can lead to mass atrocity crimes.
The resolution on Prevention of Genocide presented by Armenia at the Human Rights Council and unanimously adopted in March this year, recognizes that early warning signs may also include an increase in serious acts of violence against women and children and calls upon states to take the legislative and other measures necessary to protect women and children from all forms of intimidation.
Mr. President,
The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage is often intimately linked to the preparation and perpetration of mass atrocity crimes. Since culture constitutes an intrinsic part of identity – an attack on cultural heritage is consequently an attack on particular people and their right to exist. In this regard we support the involvement of UNESCO in implementing necessary programs and actions aimed at protecting the cultural heritage of the people, particularly in conflict settings and rehabilitating and restoring monuments of cultural, religious and historic value.
Mr. President,
Let me conclude by reiterating Armenia’s support to advancing prevention agenda through constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, including civil society, academia, media and youth organizations.
Thank you.
PM highlights holding elections with identification cards
13:17,
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. In order to avoid any tension in electoral processes, Armenian Prime Minister highlights holding elections with identification cards.
“From political terms we should not forget about a problem that we have. Eventually, the election process should take place with a single identity document, that must be the identification card. I want us to focus on this issue”, he said at the Cabinet meeting today.
He reminded that currently there are several electoral documents – ID, passport and biometric passport. According to him, it is necessary to have an identification card. Moreover, the polling stations must have card-reading devices which will solve all issues connected with manipulation. However, he noted that no such problem has been observed during the last two elections.
“However, in order to rule out any tension in this matter we should hold elections with an identification card, maximally electronically. In other words, a person comes, identifies, the electronic system also registers that he/she has voted, which both theoretically and practically rules out that person’s voting in another polling station. This will also solve the issue of electoral lists. Only those people, who have applied and received, will have an ID card, and this will solve all issues”, the PM said.
Armenian PM receives new IMF Mission Head
16:27,
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received new Head of the Mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Armenia Iva Petrova, the PM’s Office said.
PM Pashinyan congratulated Mrs. Petrova on assuming office and expressed hope that she will contribute with her knowledge and experience to raising the efficiency of the cooperation between the Armenian government and the IMF. Nikol Pashinyan said the previous joint three-year project has been implemented successfully, expressing confidence that new projects will be developed in the future.
Then, the PM touched upon the macroeconomic situation in Armenia, adding that quite high economic indicators are being recorded this year, and the state budget revenues have a progressive growth. He also talked about the fight against corruption, the reduction in cash payments, the introduction of income declaration system and other reforms, stating that the government is receiving truth on this path as the previous reforms have given positive results.
The IMF Mission Head highlighted the intensive cooperation with the government of Armenia, stating that the IMF will continue contributing to economic stability and development in Armenia with new programs. She called the ongoing economic indicators in Armenia impressive and highlighted the necessity to ensure the continuation of the reforms.
The sides also discussed issues on implementing investments projects in road construction, education, infrastructure, water resource management, water reservoir construction, customs regulations and other public sectors.
Fly Arna inaugurates its office in Yerevan
19:02,
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Fly Arna, Armenia’s national airline and a joint venture company between the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group, celebrated the inaugural of its main office located on the Ground floor, Old VIP building at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, ARMENPRESS was informed from Fly Arna.
This new office features an open environment, with employee lounges and break rooms as well as multiple meeting and conference rooms. This step follows the receival of Fly Arna’s first aircraft as well as the launch of the commercial schedule starting July 3rd, 2022.
Fly Arna’s flights are now open for sale and customers can book their flights by visiting Fly Arna’s website (www.flyarna.com), calling the call center (+374 41 38 00 83) or through travel agencies.
Inaugural flights will take off from Zvartnots International Airport to Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt starting from July 3, 2022. Fly Arna team is continuously working on expanding its network and will soon announce the new destinations the airline will operate to.
Fly Arna is Armenia’s national airline and a joint venture company between the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group. Based in Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) in Yerevan, Fly Arna follows the successful low-cost business model operated by Air Arabia that focuses on offering comfort, reliability, and value-for-money air travel.
AW: President Biden waives Section 907 restrictions on US aid to Azerbaijan
WASHINGTON, DC – Despite ongoing Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, President Joe Biden has, yet again, waived Section 907 restrictions on US aid to Azerbaijan, clearing the way for continued US assistance to the corrupt, anti-Armenian Aliyev regime, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“President Biden’s decision to green-light military aid to Azerbaijan by waiving Section 907, again, emboldens President Aliyev to continue his illegal imprisonment of Armenian POWs, deadly attacks against Artsakh, and ongoing occupation of sovereign Armenian territory,” said ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. “The ANCA will continue to work with US Senate and House leaders to zero-out US military aid to Azerbaijan and restrict presidential waiver authority of Section 907.”
The ANCA has been running an online campaign urging President Biden and Congress to maintain section 907 restrictions on US aid to Azerbaijan.
During his run for office, on October 14th, 2020, then-candidate Biden stated that the United States must “fully implement and not waive requirements under Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to stop the flow of military equipment to Azerbaijian.” As President, he first reversed his position on the issue on April 23, 2021 – on the eve of his historic announcement properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide. “American recognition of the Armenian Genocide comes with responsibilities, among them, not arming or abetting Azerbaijan’s drive to complete this crime,” commented Hamparian at the time. “Any action by President Biden that green-lights US aid to the Aliyev regime runs counter to his clear stand and, more profoundly, the spirit of his recent recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”
Section 907, enacted in 1992, establishes statutory restrictions on US assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan “until the President determines, and so reports to the Congress, that the Government of Azerbaijan is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.” Congress included a Section 907 waiver in the FY2002 Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. US presidents – Republican and Democrat – have waived Section 907 annually ever since.
The Section 907 waiver and subsequent extensions require a number of certifications, including that granting the waiver “will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.”
A US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, issued earlier this year, revealed that the State Department consistently failed to inform Congress of the impact of over $164 million in assistance to Baku on the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“In fiscal years 2014 through 2021, State’s reporting to Congress did not address some required elements, such as the impact of proposed assistance on the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” asserts the GAO report. “State’s 2021 guidance to agencies did not provide detailed instructions about the information required for its reporting to Congress. Unless State takes steps to ensure its reporting addresses all required elements, Congress may lack important information about US assistance to the government of Azerbaijan.”
The GAO report went further, to explain that State and DOD, from fiscal year 2014 to 2020, “did not document how they determined that their programs would not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.” While program-level considerations of the waiver provision are not statutorily required, documenting such considerations would help ensure State’s access to quality information to support its certification of the waiver extension and its related reporting to Congress, explains the report.
According to the GAO, the US has provided about $808 million in overall US aid to Azerbaijan in fiscal years 2002 through 2020.
Fwd: The California Courier Online, June 23, 2022
The California Courier Online,
1- Gallup Poll Shows 89% of Armenians
Oppose Placing Artsakh Under Azeri Rule
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Michigan’s Armenian community rejects Pashinyan’s Diaspora Envoy
3- Najarian, Asatryan Win in Glendale Council Elections
4- ANSEF: Supporting Armenia’s Scientific Researchers
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
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1- Gallup Poll Shows 89% of Armenians
Oppose Placing Artsakh Under Azeri Rule
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
In a May 26-28, 2022 Gallup International Association poll, 89.3% of
Armenia’s surveyed citizens said it was unacceptable for them “if the
population of Artsakh will be granted the status of a national
minority within Azerbaijan.” Only 4.4% of those surveyed found it to
be acceptable.
51% of the survey respondents were negatively inclined toward the
results of the May 22 trilateral meeting of Armenia’s Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan’s Pres. Ilham Aliyev and European Union
President Charles Michel in Brussels. Only 34.7% of the respondents
positively assessed the meeting. The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
had agreed to unblock transport links between the two countries and
establish a road between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan crossing
Armenia’s territory.
Those who were surveyed thought that Armenia could receive weapons
from: Russia (48.1%), France (13.9%), United States (6.4%), Iran
(1.7%), CSTO — Collective Security Treaty Organization (1.1%), NATO
(0.5%), and UN Security Council (0.1%).
In an earlier poll conducted on April 2-6, 2022 by Gallup
International Association, 57.2% of the respondents did not believe
that “the current Armenian authorities will be able to sign a peace
agreement with Azerbaijan on acceptable terms in the interests of
Artsakh and Armenia.” 30.4% thought it would possible.
In response to the question as to who is responsible for the tension
created in and around Artsakh, 43.8% said it was Azerbaijan, 27% held
Armenia’s authorities responsible, 14.1% said the Russian
peacekeepers, 6.1% said the Artsakh authorities, and 3.5% put the
blame on Turkey.
47.7% of those surveyed gave a negative evaluation of Prime Minister
Pashinyan’s work,” while 38.8% thought it was positive.
The survey respondents were almost evenly divided between those who
said Pashinyan should resign (41.7%), and those who said he should not
(38.7%).
When asked which political party they would vote for if the elections
were held nowadays, 20.4% said they would support the ruling “Civil
Contract” party, 12% expressed support for the two opposition
parliamentary parties, and 1.7% for “Prosperous Armenia.” However,
28.8% of those surveyed said they would not vote for any party. The
ruling party’s rating has declined precipitously from 70.4% when
Pashinyan first came to power in 2018, and decreased even more from
the 53.9% of the votes his party received in the June 20, 2021
parliamentary elections.
When asked how they “assessed the current political situation in
Armenia,” 66.5% (two-thirds) of those surveyed gave a negative reply,
while only 22.3% had a positive opinion.
When asked for their solution to the current political situation in
the country, 27.6% saw no need for a change, 26.6% suggested that new
parliamentary elections be held, 21.8% favored the formation of a
transitional government, and 11.4% wanted more pressure exerted on the
opposition.
45.6% were against the recent street protests by the opposition, while
32.5% said they were supportive.
46.1% supported the confrontational conduct of the Armenian police
with the protesters, while 37.2% were critical.
In response to a question as to whether the survey respondents were
“for establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey without
preconditions and opening the borders,” 68% said they were against it,
while only 26.3% were in favor.
In conclusion, the Armenian society is sharply divided regarding the
country’s internal problems. There are those who support Prime
Minister Pashinyan and those who prefer that he be replaced.
Nevertheless, Pashinyan’s popularity has deteriorated significantly in
Armenia and most probably in the Diaspora compared to his initial
extraordinary popularity in 2018.
On critical issues facing Armenia vis-à-vis Azerbaijan and Turkey,
most Armenians are very negatively disposed toward any concessions in
order to improve relations with their two hostile neighboring
countries.
Respondents to several of the above questions have left no doubt that
the Prime Minister’s frequent claim that he has “the people’s mandate”
is no longer true. Pashinyan’s and his political party’s ratings have
diminished substantially, particularly after Armenia’s devastating
defeat in the 2020 war. His political party won last year’s
parliamentary elections with around 25% of the registered voters,
which is a small percentage of Armenia’s total population.
Since no such polls are conducted throughout the Diaspora, no one
knows Pashinyan’s exact rating among Diaspora Armenians. All
indications are that his rating in the Diaspora has suffered a
precipitous plunge just as in Armenia. Therefore, despite the Prime
Minister’s extremely high rating when he first came to power in 2018,
his followers now form a much smaller portion of Armenians in Armenia
and the Diaspora.
************************************************************************************************************************************************
2- Michigan’s Armenian community rejects Pashinyan’s Diaspora Envoy
(The Armenian Weekly)—The Republic of Armenia’s High Commissioner for
Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan publicized an official visit to
Michigan that was not announced to the entire community. “Instead, we
learned of Sinanyan’s Michigan public relations efforts in our state
through various social media posts and press releases issued by
Sinanyan’s office,” Michigan’s nine major organizations wrote in a
joint statement. “Those press releases falsely stated that he met with
‘community leaders from various Armenian churches, educational and
cultural organizations in the Greater Detroit area.” In fact, the
press statements from Sinanyan’s official office do not reflect the
reality of what really occurred while Sinanyan was in Michigan,” the
joint statement said.
“We are a strong community with many organizations and four Armenian
churches. However, during his Michigan visit, Sinanyan only visited
one church, where he met with a handful of selected community members.
No official announcements from Sinanyan’s office nor any formal
invitation to meet was extended to Michigan’s three other Armenian
churches and community organizations,” the group wrote in its
statement.
“It is disgraceful that the Government of Armenia, through Sinanyan’s
official office, falsified the truth of Sinanyan’s Michigan visit and
the pretenses under which it was made. It is clear that the reason
Sinanyan’s visit was handled in the above manner was to use Michigan’s
Armenian community to present the appearance that the Pashinyan
regime’s agenda was advanced here. Sinanyan operated in secrecy in a
failed effort to isolate and divide our community, following the usual
blueprint of the Pashinyan regime and its divisive strategies and
policies. The Armenian Diaspora is an essential pillar of the Armenian
nation. We will not allow anyone—including any representative of the
Pashinyan regime—to intrude on our community and attempt to divide our
unity,” the statement said.
“Contrary to the picture presented by the press releases from
Sinanyan’s office, Sinanyan failed to advance Nikol Pashinyan’s agenda
in Michigan to gain supporters for his traitorous agenda which gives
away Artsakh, normalizes relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan at the
expense of the security and sovereignty of Armenia and Artsakh and
jeopardizes the fight for full justice for the martyrs of the Armenian
Genocide. Sinanyan does not represent the Armenian Diaspora, and he
certainly does not represent the Armenian community of Michigan,” the
statement concluded.
The joint statement was signed by St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic
Church, St. Vartan Catholic Church, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) Azadamard Gomideh Detroit, AYF Detroit “Kopernik Tandourjian”
Junior and Senior Chapters, Armenian Relief Society (ARS) Tzolig,
Maro, Shake, Sybille and Zabel Chapters, Hamazkayin Armenian
Educational & Cultural Society of Detroit, Homenetmen of
Detroit,,Armenian National Committee (ANC) of Michigan, and Friends of
Artsakh.
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3- Najarian, Asatryan Win in Glendale Council Elections
In the June 7 municipal elections, Glendale City Councilman Vrej
Agajanian lost his seat after receiving 11,701 votes. He was replaced
by newcomer Elen Asatryan (pictured, top right) who got 13,121 votes.
City Councilman Ara Najarian (pictured, top left) was re-elected with
11,843 votes.
Two non-Armenian candidates, married to Armenians, lost: Anita
Quinonez Gabrielian received 9,817 votes, while Isabel
Valencia-Tevanyan received 3,055 votes.
Suzie Abajian was elected Glendale City Clerk after receiving 16,397
votes. She defeated Greg Krikorian who received 14,716 votes.
Rafi Manoukian (pictured, bottom right), who ran uncontested, was
re-elected Glendale City Treasurer with 24,297 votes. In the Glendale
Unified School District board elections, Lerna Amiryans and Armina
Gharpetian lost. Shant Sahakian (pictured, bottom left), who ran
uncontested, won.
In other elections, Harout (Art) Kaskanian lost his election to the
Gardena City Council. Sasha Zaroyan lost in the Monrovia City Council
elections.Ciran Hadjian lost in the Pasadena City Council elections.In
the Los Angeles Unified School District elections, Gentile
Barkhordarian lost.
Cong. Adam B. Schiff was re-elected with 101,970 votes (62.48%) in
California’s 30th District defeating Johny J. Nalbandian who got 7,663
votes (4.70%).
**********************************************************************************************************************************************
4- ANSEF: Supporting Armenia’s Scientific Researchers
By Florence Avakian
The Armenian National Science and Education Fund (ANSEF), started 22
years ago with the support from the Fund for Armenian Relief.
This project was initiated by Drs. Gregory Adamian, Mihran Agbabian,
Aram Chobanian, Garabed Eknoyan, Vartan Gregorian, Anahid
Kazanjian-Longobardo, Edgar Housepian, Tavit Najarian, Yervant
Terzian, Yervant Zorian, and others.
The project has helped stop the ‘brain drain’ of top scientific
researchers and instructors from Armenia, and bringing international
recognition to Armenia, its extraordinary science and research
programs, and its talented individuals.
Dr. Artur Ishkanyan, a prominent physicist and the
Academician-Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia,
related that ANSEF is “one of the unique cultural structures created
by the Diaspora.”
The story of one of the ANSEF grant beneficiaries revealed the
extraordinary benefits that resulted. Dr. Victor Vardanyan wanted to
understand the intrinsic causes of child epilepsy. This had interested
him since he had taken his PH.D. studies in molecular neuroscience at
the University of Hamburg, Germany in the early 2000’s. Now, a 2022
ANSEF grant recipient, he and his research team is hard at work to
find an answer.
Dr. Aram Chobanian, one of the founders of ANSEF, was President
Emeritus of Boston University from 2003-2005, and is a world-renowned
cardiologist and formerly Dean of Boston University’s School of
Medicine. He was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award
in Hypertension by the American Heart Association, and served as
Director of the Hypertension Specialized Center of Research funded by
the National Institute of Health from 1975 to 1995. He went to Armenia
in 1991 and 1992 to see the clinical condition of the hospitals. The
ANSEF pioneers created the program in 2000 with five research grants.
“The grants increased, reaching 100 to 150,” Dr. Chobanian said.
Dr. Vatche Sahakyan, who received his PH.D. in Theoretical Physics,
including cosmology, and the fundamental laws of nature, from the
University of Chicago, has taught as a professor at Harvey Mudd
College for 19 years. In the last 22 years, ANSEF has received 200 to
300 research proposals annually, he related. “ANSEF is funding
approximately $150,000 per year,” Dr. Sahakian said. He is one of six
professionals on the Executive Board of ANSEF.
ANSEF Executive Board member Dr. Anna Ohanyan, born in Armenia, and
now a professor of International Relations at Stonehill College in MA,
organized an international conference in Armenia, as a Fulbright
scholar in 2021. She reviews ANSEF proposals in the humanities and
social sciences, which, she said, were not paid as much attention to,
compared to the natural sciences in the USSR.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
More than 2.2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been
administered in Armenia since commencing the vaccination program a
year ago, authorities said on Monday, June 20. For the second week, no
new cases or deaths were reported. Armenia has recorded 423,104
coronavirus cases. Armenia has recorded 8,629 deaths; 412,661 have
recovered.
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