16:24,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian and First Lady Nune Sarkissian visited the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan to pay tribute to the fallen troops of the Artsakh war. They laid flowers at the graves of the soldiers and observed a moment of silence.
The President also laid flowers at the graves of assassinated Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, military commanders Monte Melkonyan and Andranik Ozanyan.
A multilateral approach to the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict presents an opportunity for the United States and Russia to work together on a regional challenge where their interests overlap.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in a reception organized for the representatives of the public administration system on the occasion of the New Year and Christmas holidays.
In his speech, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan particularly said,
“Honorable President of the National Assembly,
Distinguished representatives of the Government, the legislative and the judicial branches,
First of all, I would like to thank all of you for the work done in 2021, because people usually complain about the work of the public system, citing bureaucracy, hassles, delays. But I want to remind you that 2021 was not an ordinary year, in fact, we felt, saw and faced a significant part of the consequences of the 44-day war in 2021. Our statehood was facing huge, dangerous challenges, and it should be stated that we were able to manage those challenges.
Of course, it was not easy, the work done by all those present, all our state bodies, local self-government bodies is of essential and key importance for the management of those challenges. I am really thankful to you for that work. Moreover, by overcoming those challenges, we not only did not damage Armenia’s international reputation as a democratic country, but, on the contrary, strengthened it even more.
Early parliamentary elections were held in the country in 2021. With them, we were able to reveal a new function of the electoral process, when the atmosphere of internal political unrest was finally overcome by the elections, and not the contrary. During those elections and before that, our entire state system, legal system and judiciary worked around the clock. Moreover, they worked trying not to yield to emotions, trying to stay loyal to the service, mission, state order. And it is obvious that in 2021 this service of addressing these challenges was a success, which does not mean that our work is perfect, on the contrary, in 2020-2021 we identified a number of systemic problems that exist in our public administration system. And an agenda has been formed, which, of course, we must consistently implement.
Our greatest challenge is ensuring external security, but I want to emphasize again that ensuring external security is not, has not been and should not be the function of only the army, the Armed Forces. It is equally the function of our diplomatic service, our other public administration bodies. I would also like to mention here the work of our special services, the important mission and work of our parliamentary diplomacy. And I want to emphasize that we have also overcome significant challenges in the field of internal security in 2021, moreover, we have overcome those challenges without any shocks. And in this regard, I want to emphasize again the work of our law enforcement agencies.
Dear attendees,
Dear colleagues,
I want to wish Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all you, your families. I want to believe that 2022 will really be a year of renascence for Armenia. I hope the shocks that took place in 2020-2021, our capability to pass that road full of those shocks, which was demonstrated, will really help and strengthen us in building a state worthy of all our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the Motherland during the 44-day war, the four-day war that took place before it, also our victims of the previous Artsakh war. This is probably the biggest motivation we have. And this is probably the biggest motivation, which should never allow us to waver or shake under any circumstances. We must take firm steps towards the Armenia that our ancestors dreamed of, that our martyrs dreamed of, that we dream of for our generations.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”
Through the mediation of the Government of Hungary, five Armenian prisoners of war were repatriated, Armenia’s foreign ministry reported on Wednesday. The ministry has also published the names of the prisoners – Sarkis Abrahamyan, Arman Khachatryan, Vahe Aghajanyan, Suren Khachatryan, Aram Avetyan.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani sources reported that the returned servicemen had been captured during the November 16 border incident.
The report of Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Gegham Stepanyan on “Malicious Prosecution by Azerbaijan of Captured Armenian Servicemen and Civilians” was disseminated as an official document in the United Nations, Stepanyan said on Facebook on Tuesday.
The report is available here. https://undocs.org/A/76/581?fbclid=IwAR2FhHGSDqx2NqFs-fmKVeRGcK2dnuPoniY5SZnFtzvIGQvcb_JAPtA2n3k
The Yerevan City Council adopted the draft budget of the city for 2022 by a vote of 36 for, no against and one abstention at a session on Tuesday.
The document envisages 94,560,201 drams in revenues and 98,821,222 in spending for the capital next year. The budget deficit is projected at 4,261,021 drams.
City councilor Arman Antonyan deplored the budget as “reckless” in his speech at the session.
“Does this draft budget have anything to do with the capital of a war-torn country?” he said.
Antonyan regretted that no joint debates were held and many proposals were not included in the reference summary sheet. He stated the figures in the budget are “ungrounded”.
Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan disagreed with his claims, admitting, however, some changes may be made in the document.
18:03,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan participated in the informal meeting of the leaders of the CIS member states in St. Petersburg, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
The event was attended by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Toka, the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, as well as CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev.
First, the participants of the meeting took a “family photo”, then Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted those present.
Issues related to the development of cooperation in the CIS area, as well as joint measures to combat the coronavirus were discussed at the meeting.
Anna Popova, Acting Head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare, presented a detailed report on the work and measures taken against the coronavirus.
The meeting ended with an informal dinner of the CIS leaders.
Tuesday,
Coup Charges Dropped Against Armenian Oppositionists
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- Former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian speaks at
an opposition rally in Yerevan, November 21, 2020.
Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) has reportedly dropped coup charges
that were brought against its former director, Artur Vanetsian, and another
prominent opposition figure one year ago.
Vanetsian, who now leads a major opposition party, Ashot Minasian, a militia
commander critical of the Armenian government, as well as two other
oppositionists were detained in November 2020 amid anti-government protests in
Yerevan sparked by Armenia’s defeat in the six-week war with Azerbaijan
The NSS charged them with plotting to kill Pashinian and overthrow his
government. The NSS claimed to have found large quantities of weapons and
ammunition in a property belonging to Minasian.
All four men rejected the charges as politically motivated before being freed by
courts a few days later.
Vanetsian’s lawyers said on Tuesday that a senior NSS investigator has decided
to close the criminal case against their client for lack of evidence.
“The decision made confirmed that there was no conspiracy to assassinate Nikol
Pashinian or seize power,” the lawyers, Yervand Varosian and Lusine Sahakian,
said in a joint statement.
Vanetsian, who headed the NSS from 2018-2019, described the yearlong probe as
“yet another show staged against me.”
“For a whole year, the authorities claimed that ‘they tried to kill the prime
minister’ and thereby justified the presence of armed people in the National
Assembly,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But as we can see, the criminal
case opened one year ago … had nothing to do with reality. All steps taken by
the authorities are aimed at protecting their power.”
Armenia - Ashot Minasian.
Minasian was also cleared of the coup charges, according to his lawyer, Mihran
Poghosian.
The prominent Karabakh war veteran was arrested as recently as on December 1.
Poghosian said he continues to be accused of illegal arms possession and will
therefore remain in detention for now. Minasian denies that accusation as well.
Earlier this year, the Armenian Ministry of Justice asked the country’s judicial
watchdog to take disciplinary action against a judge who refused to issue an
arrest warrant for Minasian in November 2020. The judge, Arman Hovannisian,
described the move as government retribution for his decision.
The NSS did not comment on the latest developments. It was also not immediately
clear whether the two other suspects were also cleared of the alleged coup plot.
Deadlock Continues Over Parliament Post
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Artur Ghazinian of the opposition Hayastan bloc attends a meeting of
the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security, September 22, 2021.
A key committee of the Armenian parliament failed to elect its deputy chairman
for the 18th consecutive time on Tuesday as its pro-government members continued
to object to an opposition candidate for the post.
Armenian law entitles opposition lawmakers to heading three of the parliament’
12 standing committees. It stipulates that the deputy chairpersons of several
other parliamentary panels should also represent the opposition minority in the
National Assembly.
The main opposition Hayastan alliance nominated this summer one of its
lawmakers, Artur Ghazinian, as deputy head of the parliament committee on
defense and security. He was also backed by the Pativ Unem bloc, the second
parliamentary opposition force.
Seven members of the 11-member committee representing the ruling Civil Contract
party have blocked Ghazinian’s appointment since then. Some of them have cited
Ghazinian’s harsh criticism of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s handling of last
year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hayastan responded by re-nominating him for the
vacant post for 13 more times.
A senior Civil Contract lawmaker, Armen Khachatrian, again demanded on Tuesday
that the opposition minority propose another candidate.
“I won’t name names today there are opposition members of the committee who are
acceptable candidates for us,” Khachatrian told reporters.
“We could have appointed our candidate today or a week ago, which could have
been totally legitimate and legal … and closed the issue,” he said. “But this is
a political decision to enable the opposition to field its candidate.”
Hayastan’s Gegham Manukian rejected the demand, saying that the opposition
alliance is continuing to insist on Ghazinian’s candidacy. “Nobody can impose
their will on us,” he said.
Another Former Armenian POW Arrested
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - A soldier at an Armenian army post on the border with
Azerbaijan,November 12, 2021.
An Armenian court has allowed law-enforcement authorities to arrest another
soldier who was freed and repatriated by Azerbaijan earlier this month.
Major Narek Yeremian was among three dozen Armenian soldiers taken prisoner
during the November 16 fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which left at
least 13 troops from both sides dead. The Armenian military also lost two border
posts in what Yerevan condemned as an Azerbaijani incursion into Armenian
territory.
Baku freed ten POWs on December 4. A few days later, Armenia’s Investigative
Committee arrested four of them on charges of violating “rules for performing
military service.”
The law-enforcement body said they tried to negotiate with, rather than engage,
Azerbaijani troops that attacked and seized their border post. It filed the same
accusation carrying between three and seven years in prison against Yeremian.
A court of first instance refused to sanction the officer’s arrest, however. The
Court of Appeals overturned that decision late on Monday.
Yeremian’s lawyer, Karmen Poghosian, said on Tuesday that he only partly accepts
the accusations and maintains that he and his subordinates “didn’t have enough
time to destroy the enemy that intruded the position.”
“They didn’t leave their position, flee and surrender,” Poghosian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service.
A lawyer representing another arrested soldier said on December 14 that he and
his comrades repeatedly warned their senior commanders about an Azerbaijani
military buildup in the border area but were ordered not to open fire.
Armenian opposition politicians have for months accused the government of not
allowing army units to shoot at Azerbaijani forces attacking them at various
sections of the border. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted on November 17
that neither he nor any other official had ever issued no-shoot orders.
Baku set free on December 19 ten other Armenian soldiers captured on November
16. None of them is known to have been indicted so far.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
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On December 10, 1991 a referendum cemented Artsakh’s independence
Artsakh President, Parliament and State Minister Voice Outrage at Pashinyan’s Claims
The leadership of Artsakh, including its parliament, voiced outrage at remarks made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who on Friday called into question Artsakh’s independence, prompting Stepanakert officials to firmly protest statements that can jeopardize the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh.
Since the beginning of the Karabakh Liberation Movement in 1988 there has not been such a standoff between the authorities of Artsakh and Armenia, with Pashinyan on Monday again doubling down on the assertions he made during a virtual press conference on Friday.
In his ongoing efforts of to deflect blame for the debilitating defeat of last year’s war, Pashinyan on Friday again blamed Armenia’s previous leaders for what he called mishandling of the negotiations. He also criticized the OSCE Minsk Group co-charing countries—the United States, Russia and France—for putting forth proposals in 2016 that he claimed diminished Artsakh’s status as an Armenian settlement and envisioned the restoration of control by Azerbaijan over Artsakh.
Furthermore, Pashinyan reiterated an earlier statement that a final status of Karabakh does not necessarily stipulate its independence, saying that the Minsk Group Co-chairs’ proposals “Artsakh could not have ended up being completely Armenian.”
“It was obvious during those negotiations that Artsakh is going to have both Armenian and Azerbaijani populations,” Pashinyan said.
These statements have prompted Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan to issue a statement, which was echoed in more blatant terms by an unanimous decision of the Artsakh Parliament on Monday.
The complete recognition of the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to self-determination cannot be doubted or conceded, President Harutyunyan said, adding that only Artsakh Republic leaders are authorized to speak on behalf of the people of Artsakh.
“The goal of the international recognition of Artsakh Republic’s Independence is our main objective, from which no government can afford to deviate. Therefore, the people and the authorities of Artsakh will never and in no way accept any status within Azerbaijan until our goal is achieved,” Harutyunyan said.
He added that there can be no return to the past, not only in terms of status, but also in terms of demographics.
“What kind of coexistence can we talk about, if Azerbaijan continues to feed its society with Armenophobia, to prepare it not for peace but for eviction of Armenians from Artsakh?” asked Harutyunyan. “Of course, we are in favor of a peaceful settlement of the conflict, we are ready to make efforts in that direction, but the vital rights, interests and demands of our people are not negotiable.”
“The territorial integrity of the Artsakh Republic must be restored at least in the territories where the Republic of Artsakh was proclaimed in 1991. Therefore, our occupied territories must be de-occupied; our compatriots must be able to return to their homes,” he added.
“As for the security of Artsakh, we will continue our efforts to strengthen the capabilities of the Defense Army, and the Russian peacekeeping troops must remain in Artsakh permanently and indefinitely until the final and just settlement of the conflict and the provision of additional international security guarantees,” Harutyunyan added.
Without referring to the details of the negotiation process in the past, he stated that “now the moment is much more decisive moment than ever. Therefore, we have no right to make mistakes, otherwise those mistakes can be fatal for Artsakh and Mother Armenia.”
“If any Armenian wants to support Artsakh, they must take into account the will and goals of the Armenians of Artsakh, otherwise they should simply not interfere,” added the Artsakh president.
“All authorities are temporary, but our goals and positions must be maintained firmly and and must be unshakable. Unity around our national values and goals is important, and, as I mentioned, the guiding principle for every Armenian and the government in the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict must be the will and aspirations of the Armenians of Artsakh,” he added.
“Artsakh has been Armenian for thousands of years and will remain Armenian. The Armenians of Artsakh have enough will and strategic patience to continue that struggle. Regardless of anyone’s claims and opinion, I am confident that the Armenians of Artsakh will continue their just struggle for the international recognition of Artsakh’s independence and the defense of the Homeland,” added Harutyunyan.
Artsakh State Minister Artakh Beglaryan took to Facebook to voice his grievance about Pashinyan’s remarks.
“The will and aspirations of the Armenians of Artsakh need to be inviolable and serve as a basis for supporting the homeland for every Armenian. There need to be specific goals, principles and red lines established on the basis of national interests, above any narrow and short-term interests, including the political situation in the country, and this concerns the political forces and figures in Artsakh, Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, starting from me,” said Beglaryan
“Every Armenian who believes Artsakh needs to remain Armenian, has something to do, and he or she must first and foremost not harm, and must then support,” added Beglaryan.
The Artsakh Parliament on Monday delivered a terse—and unanimous—rebuke to Pashinyan, calling his statements dangerous. Below is the translated text of the statement.
Throughout the history of the Karabakh conflict, statements distorting the essence of the problem are periodically exaggerated, which complicate and confuse the process of a comprehensive and final settlement of the conflict, the parliament said.
We consider it inadmissible any statement by any political force and figure that casts doubt on or belittles the existence of the Republic of Artsakh and its future as an Armenian settlement. It is puzzling that the last such statement was made on December 24 by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, while answering questions from representatives of the media and public organizations.
The fate of Artsakh was not and will not be a monopoly of any political force. Representing the opinion and position of broad public and political circles of the Republic of Artsakh, we express our disagreement and indignation at a number of dangerous and distorted formulations and ideas voiced during the press conference.
Concern is also caused by the fact that against the backdrop of the achievements of the national liberation struggle of 1988—the Karabakh Movement—formulations are being voiced that cast doubt on the very existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Republic of Artsakh), proclaimed on September 2, 1991 and formed in complete compliance with the norms of international law, as well as its long struggle to achieve international recognition.
The legal and political foundations of the Armenian representatives in the negotiation process in previous years and the protection of our national interests in this context did not enter into any contradiction with the positions of international structures and mediators.
The fact that the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh has never been ignored in the proposals previously submitted by the mediators is confirmed by the explanations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
Speculations about the working options discussed in the negotiation process over the years and a possible change in the format of the negotiations cause alarm and concern.
We consider unacceptable statements that question Artsakh’s Armenianness and emphasize the importance of the presence of possible external forces, which we reject and condemn, in memory of the thousands of Armenians who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and independence of Artsakh.
While respecting all victims of the Artsakh liberation struggle, we simultaneously express our gratitude to all Armenians, in particular to our compatriots from the Republic of Armenia, for standing with Artsakh and sharing in its suffering and hardships.
The fraternal relations between the two Armenian republics have been based on a resolution adopted on July 8, 1992 by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia, which clearly defined the attitude of the Republic of Armenia, as a full member of the international community, to the Republic of Artsakh striving for international recognition. According to this resolution, Armenia undertakes to “consistently support the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and protect the rights of its population,” and it is also established that “any international or domestic document in which the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will be indicated as a part of Azerbaijan is unacceptable for the Republic of Armenia.” This formula is still valid today.
“The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, reaffirming the adherence of the people and the authorities of Artsakh to the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Artsakh, declares that it is inadmissible to express any position without taking into account the point of view of the authorities of Artsakh, since only the legal authorities formed by the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh through elections have the right to make decisions regarding the future of the Republic of Artsakh.”
11:14,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. 59 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total number of confirmed cases to 344,540, the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said in a statement.
4669 tests were administered (total 2,540,319 tests).
248 patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 330,841.
7 people died, bringing the death toll to 7950.
As of December 27, the number of active cases stood at 4250.