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

Azerbaijanis shell village of Nor Shen in Artsakh, calling on loudspeakers to leave area

Emil Lazarian
 NEWS.am 
Armenia – March 6 2022


21:41, 06.03.2022

Yesterday, Azerbaijanis shelled the village of Nor Shen in Artsakh, after which they demanded the villagers to leave the area, failing which they will use force over loudspeakers. Metakse Hakobyan, a member of the Justice faction of the Artsakh National Assembly, told NEWS.am about this.

“Immediately after the incident, the villagers appealed to the head of the administration. The peacekeepers arrived very quickly and managed to resolve the situation.  However, the agricultural work could not continue and was stopped. The peacekeepers promised that they would be near the villagers in the field for a month, so that they could carry out agricultural work until a solution is found,” the deputy said.


Armenian Ambassador presents details about situation in Ukraine and work of Embassy

Emil Lazarian

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 15:57, 5 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Ukraine Vladimir Karapetyan presented details about the ongoing developments in Ukraine, the actions taken and being taken by the Embassy.

In an interview to ARMENPRESS, the Ambassador said currently the military operations continue in different – northern, eastern and southern, parts of Ukraine, including in the outskirts of capital Kiev.

He added that the Embassy staff is in constant, daily touch with the Armenian citizens, provides consulting support about the departure ways and possibilities from Ukraine to Armenia, prepares and provides necessary documents for that purpose.

– How are the developments going on in Ukraine now?

– At the moment the battles continue in different – northern, eastern and southern, parts of Ukraine, including in the outskirts of the capital Kiev. The second round of the Russian-Ukrainian talks was held in Belarus on March 3, as a result of which some promising agreements were reached, particularly relating to the humanitarian corridors for the exit of the civilian population and the temporary ceasefire in that sites. Armenia has expressed its position over this matter and has great hopes that it would be possible to settle issues around a negotiation table.

– We know that before the start of the military operations some embassies in Kiev evacuated firstly the families of their diplomats, and then the diplomats. What policy has Armenia adopted in this regard?

– The diplomatic representation of Armenia in Ukraine has been one of the unique embassies (there are 100 embassies in Kiev), which has been in Kiev with its whole staff from the very start of the military operations and fulfilled its functions. The Embassy has also been in constant touch with the Armenian citizens, ethnic Armenians and local authorities.

Due to the deterioration of the situation around Kiev, according to the decision of the Foreign Minister of Armenia, the Ambassador and the Embassy staff moved to the city of Lviv on March 4 and will temporarily work there for security purposes. A consular point has already opened in Lviv for providing support to the Armenian citizens. Tomorrow another such consular point will open in Uzhhorod.

– What does the Embassy do for assisting the Armenian citizens?

– The Embassy staff is in constant, daily touch with the Armenian citizens, provides consulting support about the ways and opportunities of leaving Ukraine for Armenia, prepares and provides necessary documents for this purpose.

Within its modest opportunities, the Embassy, together with the Armenian community of Ukraine, helped those people who wanted to leave their homes, their cities. It’s important to consider an essential factor: several hundreds of thousands of Armenians live in Ukraine, and most of them are citizens of Armenia. I say this so that you can imagine the overload under which the Embassy has worked in Kiev: constant calls, we answered several thousand calls, dozens of visits of citizens and applications for assistance. No embassy had the volume of workload which we had, given the big size of the community and the number of applications.

And all of these works have been done in the war situation. Two of the Embassy diplomats spent the nights in shelters from the first days of the war, sheltering from the explosions and shootings, and sometimes they communicated with our compatriots from shelter, received calls and gave consulting.

Today as well the Embassy continues its service around the clock, by providing both consulting and also in respective cases certificates of return to Armenia to those citizens who currently do not have a valid Armenian passport for crossing the border of Ukraine. Within its capacities the Embassy is also assisting the Armenian citizens who are in different difficult situations.

I would like to specifically highlight the caring attitude of the Foreign Ministry leadership towards our compatriots facing difficulties. The only direction and goal of all our orders and tasks are our citizens and relate to the measures of providing them with proper assistance.

You are aware also that with the efforts of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova and Hungary have allowed Armenian citizens leaving Ukraine to cross their land border checkpoints without a visa. Moreover, Armenian diplomats are working in the border sections between these countries and Ukraine, assisting our compatriots who need help.

– How many Armenian citizens are there in Ukraine? Is there any support also for Ukrainian-Armenians?

– It’s impossible to mention the exact number because only a small part of the citizens goes through a consular registration which is a voluntary process.

As for Armenians who are citizens of Ukraine, we must note that we receive most of the calls also from the Ukrainian citizens. I want to remind the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry that Armenia is ready to host Armenians arriving from Ukraine. We are also ready to provide necessary support to the persons with Ukrainian citizenship who are crossing the Armenian border, regardless




PACE head: Armenia does not have a stance on Russian-Azerbaijani allied cooperation declaration

Emil Lazarian

March 2 2022


  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

Armenia and signing of Armenian-Azerbaijani declaration

Armenia is neither surprised by the signing of the Russian-Azerbaijani declaration on allied cooperation, nor holds a strong position on it, said member of the ruling Civil Contract party and the head of the Armenian delegations in PACE Eduard Aghajanyan.

A week has passed since the signing of declaration on allied cooperation by by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, however, Armenian authorities have not yet issued a comment on this matter. Meanwhile, Armenian society has a lot of questions – on social media, users are discussing the implications of Russia’s ( Armenia’s strategic ally) deepening of ties with a state with which Armenia is still far from friendly.

What Russia and Azerbaijan agreed on, Yerevan’s “late reaction” to the deepening of cooperation between Moscow and Baku, the attitude of the local opposition to this and expert opinion below.

  • Azerbaijan signs declaration on allied cooperation with Russia. What does it mean?
  • IRI polls in Armenia: “Turkey and Azerbaijan are a threat to Armenia’s security”
  • “Russia ousted the West from the South Caucasus” – former co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group

The document was signed on February 22 in Moscow. The purpose of the declaration signed by Putin and Aliyev is, among other things, the deepening of military cooperation. The Kremlin believes that this “will bring relations between Russia and Azerbaijan to an allied level”.

The document itself, in particular, states: “In order to ensure security, maintain peace and stability, Russia and Azerbaijan may consider the possibility of providing each other with military assistance on the basis of the UN Charter, separate international treaties and taking into account the existing international legal obligations of each of the parties”.

The document also touches upon other aspects of military cooperation, including the holding of joint activities for operational and combat training, equipping with modern weapons and military equipment.

The President of Russia assessed the signing of the declaration as a new stage in the development of relations with Baku. The President of Azerbaijan also positively assessed the document.

The Armenian authorities have not officially reacted to this situation. The vice-speaker of the parliament Hakob Arshakyan, in response to the question of the deputies, said that “the text of the declaration should be studied carefully”, and assured that “the reaction will not be postponed”. A week has already passed, but there has been no official response yet.

At this moment, there has only been the answer of the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vahan Hunanyan:

“The interstate allied cooperation that has developed between Armenia and Russia, based on the centuries-old friendship of peoples, is self-sufficient in nature and is in no way conditioned by relations with third countries, which the parties do not develop to the detriment of the Armenian-Russian union. This is also evidenced by history and signed documents.

Yerevan and Moscow, at various levels, including high and highest, are consistently taking steps to expand relations both in bilateral and multilateral formats, aimed at developing the two countries in conditions of guaranteed security. We hope that the declaration signed in Moscow on February 22 this year will create additional opportunities for the implementation of the provisions of the three statements adopted by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, which can also contribute to a long-term and comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship”.

This point of view is shared by the parliamentary majority of Armenia. In an interview with journalists on March 1, Eduard Aghajanyan, a member of the Civil Contract faction, stated:

“In fact, this agreement confirms the reality that has existed for many years in the context of Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Since this is not new to us, Armenia has no position on this issue”.

The declaration signed by Moscow and Baku does not create any problems for Russia’s allied relations with Armenia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing. She recalled that the contractual framework between Armenia and the Russian Federation includes almost 200 documents, and stressed that Russia will fulfill all obligations to its longtime ally․

She also stated that “the declaration signed with Baku will strengthen the trilateral cooperation between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia”, which, in turn, will contribute to strengthening regional security.

Former authorities of Armenia, who are now acting as an irreconcilable opposition, immediately responded to the signing of the declaration. The executive body of the Republican Party of Armenia, led by Serzh Sargsyan, has issued a statement:

“When your only ally becomes an ally of your enemy, it is, first of all, the result of your own weakness, the mistakes you made, your military-political failure, your geopolitical bankruptcy”, the RPA statement says.

It emphasizes that relations with Russia should be built in a new quality, content and on fair terms. The Republicans believe that this “is a vital necessity for the future of Armenia and Artsakh”, but this work will have to be carried out by the future authorities of the country.

Russia’s goal is to restore its influence in the post-Soviet space, says Benyamin Poghosyan, director of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies. And the signing of the Russian-Azerbaijani agreement, by and large, is not connected either with Armenia or with its foreign policy.

According to the political scientist, Russia believes that by signing the declaration, they are strengthening their positions in Azerbaijan.

“After the war, Russia has a strong lever of influence on Azerbaijan. These are Russian troops stationed in Artsakh. Now soft means of influence have been added to this – allied cooperation, economic relations, etc.

Benyamin Poghosyan does not think that “Russia is sacrificing the interests of Armenia”, because Russia and Azerbaijan signed not an agreement, but only a declaration.

At the same time, the political scientist emphasizes that the policy pursued by Armenia and the signed declaration do not contradict each other:

“If we look at Armenia’s policy towards Azerbaijan after the war, which suggests that we need to improve relations with Azerbaijan, delimit borders, demarcate, sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, open roads, then I don’t see any contradiction between Armenia’s regional policy and points of the declaration signed by Russia and Azerbaijan”.

The expert also addresses paragraph of the document, which states that Russia and Azerbaijan are building their relations on the basis of “territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of the two countries”:

“Russia tells Azerbaijan that it de jure recognizes the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region as part of Azerbaijan, which means the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the borders of Soviet Azerbaijan. But Azerbaijan at the same time agrees that a small part of Nagorno-Karabakh, three thousand square meters, remaining under the control of the Armenian side, will be de facto under the influence of Russia, that is, Azerbaijan recognizes that this territory is not under its control”.

 

BOOK: Der Matossian’s book takes closer look at Adana massacres

Emil Lazarian
Nebraska Today
March 2 2022
by Deann Gayman | University Communication

On April 23, 1909, the Omaha Daily Bee reported on its front page that “all inhabitants of several Armenian villages and towns have been killed … victims number ten thousand.”

The newspaper was referring to the shocking massacres that engulfed Adana in April 1909. These massacres were twin eruptions of violence that claimed the lives of at least 20,000 Armenians and 2,000 Muslims in the former Ottoman Empire, presently Turkey.

At the time, these massacres were covered extensively by the press; however, they soon fell into oblivion. Historians tend to concentrate more on the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 which killed up to 1. 5 million Armenians.

But a new book by University of Nebraska–Lincoln historian and preeminent scholar of ethnic violence in the Ottoman Empire, Bedross Der Matossian, sheds light on the Adana massacres and the political, economic and societal factors that led up to it. The book, “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early 20th Century,” offers one of the first close examinations of the events that led to the massacres. It will be published March 15 by Stanford University Press.

Courtesy | Ernst Jackh Papers, Columbia University
Destroyed buildings are shown in the city of Adana following the 1909 massacres.

Relying on documents and newspapers from 15 archives in a dozen different languages from around the world, Der Matossian examines the events from the perspectives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders and humanitarians.

“It was a period where massive violence shook the province,” Der Matossian, Hymen Rosenberg Associate Professor of Judaic Studies and history, said. “The historiography of the Adana massacres has been represented in a superficial way — as Muslims killing Christians. I argue that that’s not the case. I argue that we have to really go into depth in order to understand why these massacres took place. As historians, we have to really understand and explain why phases of violence erupt in a specific period of time and lead to a cataclysm of violence.”

“In order to fully understand the Adana violence, we have to really understand the political and socio-economic structure of the province of Adana.”

The book follows his examination of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 in “Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire,” and begins with the economic hardships wrought for some by the invention of the cotton gin and other new technologies. Previously, cotton grown in the region had been harvested by 70-80,000 migrant workers.

“The requirement for labor started decreasing with the development of new technology,” Der Matossian said. “Armenians played an important role in the introduction of this new technology of cotton machines, and there’s anger and envy towards perceived Armenian superiority in the economic sphere. Economic changes created a kind of resettlement.”

Also playing a role in the massacres was the despotic government in power, which fomented rumors and conspiracy theories. Adana was under extensive surveillance by the government before the 1908 revolution because a small group of Armenians had formed revolutionary groups in order to fight against the depredations and persecutions suffered in the eastern provinces.

“Post-1908 revolution, the conspiracies about the intentions of the Armenians were spread very fast by discontented elements of the province leading to an exacerbation of an already contentious situation.” Der Matossian said. “The government and the local notables in power now believed that Armenians were preparing an uprising in order to reinstate the kingdom of Cilicia.”

Courtesy | Ernst Jackh Papers, Columbia University
Tents were put up in a refugee camp in Adana.

Der Matossian, who is the grandson of Armenian genocide survivors, said it is important to grow the historical knowledge of these massacres, as history has a way of repeating itself.

“Massacre is an extremely important thing that needs to be analyzed,” he said. “I argue in the book that massacre is not an aberration. It is a logical process that has its unique dynamics and has an evolution and a conclusion.”

“They are endemic to urban centers — they start there and spread — but they are not endemic to specific religions, cultures or societies.”

And, he does not want these massacres to be forgotten.

“I also wrote this book because in the field of Middle Eastern Studies, in the field of Ottoman and Turkish Studies, this important phase is not even in the footnotes,” Der Matossian said. “Most scholarship tends to concentrate on the Armenian genocide because of its magnitude and bypasses this important episode. I’ve tried to lay out here the complexity of the situation and what we can learn from this specific episode.

“What types of measures can we take? Because these massacres not only happened in 1909, similar dynamics and similar actors played important roles in different massacres across the course of the 20th century.”

Der Matossian concludes his book by comparing the Adana Massacres to the 1905 Pogroms of Odessa (Ukraine) and the Sikh Massacres of 1984 (India).

Eleven Armenian companies to participate in Wine Travel Awards

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
March 2 2022
March 2, 2022, 13:38

Armenia will participate in the first ever Wine Travel Awards 2021-2022 online wine tourism awards to be held in March 2022. Under the auspices of the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ), Private Sector Development and Vocational Education and Training in the South Caucasus program, Armenia will present 11 wine tourism projects with the support of the Viticulture and Enology Foundation of Armenia.

Voting starts on March 1 at www.winetravelawards.com. The winners will be decided both by public voting and a jury of wine and enotourism experts.

“This is the first time this innovative competition will be organized. It includes implementation of joint advertising and information campaigns in the target countries. They will contribute to the popularization of the proposed wine tourism projects, competition partners, and the participating countries,” says Hayarpi Shahinyan, expert in innovative enotourism.

Articles about the candidate projects and profiles will be published in the Wine Travel Awards Guide catalog, which will be on display at some of the most prominent and famous wine exhibitions, including London Wine Fair and ProWein.

In addition, before the competition,public awareness campaigns will be conducted in the target countries: Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

Armenian parliament starts voting for new president

Emil Lazarian
panorama.am
Armenia – March 2 2022


The Armenian National Assembly stated voting for the election of a new president of the country on Wednesday afternoon.

The voting, which began at 3pm, will run until 4pm.

Vahagn Khachaturyan is the sole presidential candidate nominated by the ruling Civil Contract faction.

The opposition Hayastan (Armenia) and With Honor factions did not field any presidential candidates, and boycotted today’s parliamentary debates on Khachaturyan’s candidacy.

Khachaturyan needs 81 votes to be elected president in the first round. but the Civil Contract faction holds 71 seats in the parliament. In the second round, however, 65 votes in favor are enough to elect a new president.

Armen Sarkissian stepped down as Armenian president on January 23.

Yerevan Court ordered Nikol Pashinyan to publish refutation of Hrayr Tovmasyan`s scandalous "pen case"

Emil Lazarian
ARM INFO
March 2 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.The Court of General Jurisdiction of the city of Yerevan partially satisfied the claim of  former Chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan against  RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Thus, the capital court ordered Nikol Pashinyan to refute statements  containing slander against Judge Hrayr Tovmasyan. “The court ordered  Pashinyan, within five working days after the entry into force of the  court decision, to publish a publication on the Facebook page  entitled “Refutation of slanderous information regarding Hrayr  Tovmasyan” with the following content: “I, Nikol Pashinyan, refute my  statement that 

Hrayr Tovmasyan has been offering me his services since May 2018.” By  court decision, if it is impossible to post the text of the  refutation on Facebook, to oblige Nikol Pashinyan to issue a  refutation with at least 5,000 (five thousand) copies through any  print newspaper published in the Republic within five working days  after the entry into force of the decision.  At the same time, by  another decision, the court rejected Tovmasyan’s claim that Pashinyan  should ask for forgiveness.  

The decision was made on February 17 of this year. It will enter into  force one month after its publication if it has not been appealed. An  appeal against the decision may be filed within one month from the  date of its publication.  

It should be noted that on February 25, at a press conference, Nikol  Pashinyan stated that Hrayr Tovmasyan offered him his services, which  he rejected.  Tovmasyan, in turn, called this statement a  fabrication, threatening to sue Pashinyan for libel if he does not  provide “at least one reliable fact.” After this demand, the Prime  Minister of Armenia posted on his Facebook page a photo of a pen,  which, as he wrote, was presented to him by the chairman of the  Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan. “I thought for a long time  whether to throw it away or not. In the end, I decided to leave it as  evidence of the strangest servility,” the prime minister wrote at the  beginning of his post. This post caused a resonance in the Armenian  society and became the subject of wide discussions and jokes.  

On February 21, 2020, Hrayr Tovmasyan’s representative Artur  Hovhannisyan sued Nikol Pashinyan, demanding an apology for the  offensive language and publishing a refutation of the slanderous  information. 

Armenophobia is internal and external political tool for Azerbaijani authorities – Human Rights Defender

Emil Lazarian

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 17:16, 2 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Kristinne Grigoryan says Armenophobia in Azerbaijan is a result of state policy which has existed both in the Soviet times and also continued since its independence.

During a public debate today relating to the Armenophobia in Azerbaijan and the danger of ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, the Defender said that the 2020 September 27 war unleashed by Azerbaijan was accompanied by large-scale hate and hostility propaganda supported by the Azerbaijani authorities.

“Armenophobia finds its practical _expression_ in the public speeches of the Azerbaijani president. He is making expressions full of threats, insults and hostility addressed to the Armenian people, the populations of Armenia and Artsakh. His is making such remarks which obviously contain manifestations of fascism. Unfortunately, Armenophobia is an internal and external political tool for the Azerbaijani authorities”, she said.

She emphasized the fact that during the 2020, while torturing, beheading the Armenian servicemen and civilians, and conducting other violent acts, the Azerbaijani servicemen were using the same expressions which their President used and continues using.

According to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, that propaganda in Azerbaijan has two grounds – ethnic and religious.

She says the violation of the special measure imposed by the International Court is proved by the working group set up by Azerbaijan at a state level, whose task is to falsify and eliminate the Armenian cultural heritage.

Representative of Armenia to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Yeghishe Kirakosyan in his turn said that the propaganda of hatred against ethnic Armenians has several components, the first one of which is the propaganda within Azerbaijan, which is reflected in public speech by their top officials.

“The statements of the Azerbaijani president served as a base for brutal killings during the war. It is the atmosphere created by such propaganda that awakens atrocities in people leading them to war crimes”, he said.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 02-03-22

Emil Lazarian

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 17:43, 2 March, 2022

YEREVAN, 2 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 2 March, USD exchange rate up by 4.50 drams to 489.36 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.51 drams to 651.93 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.20 drams to 4.57 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.21 drams to 543.19 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 467.47 drams to 30239.38 drams. Silver price up by 8.09 drams to 387.67 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

Report Finds That State Department Failed to Comply with Reporting Requirements of Section 907

Emil Lazarian

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) which found that, according to Chairman Menendez, “the State Department failed to comply with reporting requirements for reviewing U.S. assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan,” reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

Further, according to Chairman Menendez, the GAO report “found that over several years, the Department of State and Department of Defense failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to Congress on the impact of U.S. assistance on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

“We commend Chairman Menendez for his leadership. Given Azerbaijan’s unprovoked war in the Fall of 2020 and the ongoing ceasefire violations committed by Azerbaijan, along with the failure of the State Department to comply with the reporting requirements of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, we urge Congress to fully enforce Section 907,” stated Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan.

Per Senator Menendez’s press release, the following are key findings from the GAO report:
· State’s reporting to Congress from FY2014-FY2021 did not address required elements, including the impact on proposed assistance on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
· State’s Memorandums of Justification contained limited or no details regarding quantity of assistance, status of the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the impact of U.S. assistance on the military balance, or the impact of the assistance on peace negotiations.
· State’s 2021 guidance did not provide detailed instructions to agencies about reporting requirements to Congress.
· State and DoD did not document their consideration of waiver requirements from FY2014-FY2020, including how they determined assistance would not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.
“The Assembly looks forward to working with Chairman Menendez to further strengthen this principled provision of law,” added Khaloyan.

To read the full report, click here.


Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.


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