Author: Emil Lazarian

 11:37,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. During the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh and its people last fall, the armed forces of Azerbaijan have been deliberately targeting civilian infrastructures, including schools, kindergartens, as well as Armenian cultural and religious heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, more than 22.000 children of Nagorno-Karabakh have been deprived of their right to education, the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan said in remarks at the 41st Session of the UNESCO General Conference.

“I would like, first of all, to congratulate His Excellency Mourao on his election as President of the 41st session of the General Conference and to extend my wishes of success in his mandate.

I would also like to congratulate Madame Azoulay for being re-elected.

We also thank all the Member States for supporting Armenia’s candidature as one of the Vice-Presidents of the General Conference.

The extraordinary challenges that the world faces today from armed conflicts to COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of climate change, emphasize the importance of expanding cooperation in the fields of education, sciences, culture, communication and information. Therefore today, as we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of UNESCO, we reiterate our commitment to the values of UNESCO and support its Strategic Transformation process.

In 2022 Armenia will mark the 30th anniversary of its UNESCO membership, during which Armenia has been and continues to be firmly committed to UNESCO’s mandate to advance universal values and fulfill our common goals, including those defined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That is why we have decided to stand for the Executive Board of UNESCO by submitting our candidacy for the 2021-2025 term. 

Armenia is committed to promoting a future of education based on the principle of equal opportunities for all. We think that Global citizenship education is an important tool to respond to global challenges. We also believe that education and awareness-raising are vital for advancing the prevention of hate speech and identity-based discrimination. This is also one of the main ideas behind establishing the UNESCO Chair on Education and Prevention of Genocide and other Atrocity Crimes in 2020 in Yerevan State University.

Armenia strongly supports UNESCO actions for Global Priority Africa and Small Islands Developing States (SIDS). These actions should be further reinforced with special attention to the fields of education and culture.

Armenia supports UNESCO’s efforts to safeguard cultural heritage in conflict zones and condemn the attacks on cultural symbols because of their diverse origin or identity. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

During the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh and its people last fall, the armed forces of Azerbaijan have been deliberately targeting civilian infrastructures, including schools, kindergartens, as well as Armenian cultural and religious heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, more than 22.000 children of Nagorno-Karabakh have been deprived of their right to education. 

Also, it has been almost a year since Armenia alerted the Director-General and the Member States of UNESCO on the severe threats to the Armenian cultural property located in the territories fallen under Azerbaijani control.

We are grateful to Madame Azoulay for her efforts to send an independent technical mission in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in line with the 1954 Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict.

Unfortunately, Azerbaijan continues to block the implementation of this mission. This obstructive attitude makes us fear the worst for the state of the Armenian cultural heritage under Azerbaijani controlled territory. Both during the military hostilities and after the establishment of the ceasefire, there have been numerous documented cases of deliberate destruction and acts of vandalism by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the Armenian cultural and religious heritage, and the most notorious example is the double precise drone strikes on the Holy Saviour Ghazanchetsots Cathedral of Shushi on October 8th, last year.

Along with the physical destruction of Nagorno-Karabakh’s religious and cultural heritage, we witness unacceptable cases of distortion of the identity and changing of the architectural appearance of the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in  the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh currently controlled by Azerbaijan with more than 1.500 cultural property and 19.000 museum exhibits.

It is crucial to spearhead international efforts and act appropriately to prevent the Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh to share the tragic fate of 28.000 annihilated properties of the Armenian cultural heritage of Nakhijevan.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to conclude by stressing the importance of promoting a culture of peace, tolerance, mutual respect, and dialogue between cultures as an essential tool for bringing people together and promoting peaceful co-existence. It will enable us to achieve all of the Organization’s priorities,” FM Mirzoyan said in his speech.

 13:57,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. A delegation from Ukraine consisting of political and public figures will visit Armenia on November 15-16, AnalitikaUA.net reports.

Among over 70 guests will be leaders of Armenian communities, influential politicians, members of Parliament, political scientists, media experts, journalists, athletes, etc.

During the visit the Ukrainian delegation members are expected to meet with the Armenian authorities.

A number of round-tables, cultural events and the opening of a skate-park – the donation of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine for Yerevan, will be held during the visit.

“Our goal is to give a new impetus to the relations between Kiev and Yerevan”, head of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine Vilen Shatvoryan told AnalitikaUA.net.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:35,

YEREVAN, 12 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 12 November, USD exchange rate down by 0.38 drams to 475.19 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.49 drams to 543.66 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.11 drams to 6.59 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.56 drams to 636.42 drams.

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

Gold price down by 45.63 drams to 28384.46 drams. Silver price up by 12.01 drams to 381.64 drams. Platinum price up by 47.87 drams to 16622.15 drams.

 17:36,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Arshak Karapetyan received today Ambassador of India to Armenia Kishan Dan Dewal and India’s military attaché to Armenia, brigade general Rajesh Pushkar (residence in Moscow, Russia), the defense ministry reports.

Minister Karapetyan congratulated Rajesh Pushkar on accreditation to Armenia, stating that it’s a serious step for the development of cooperation of Armenia and India in the defense field.

The meeting sides also discussed the bilateral defense cooperation. They agreed that there are several areas of mutual interest which must be enshrined by cooperation agreements.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

As last week marked the first anniversary of the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the Caucasus, an Armenian expert is hopeful for the future of his country’s relations with both Azerbaijan and Turkey, which assisted Azerbaijan in its victory.

The outcome of the fall 2020 Karabakh conflict “altered the landscape, it’s changed the map of the region,” Richard Giragosian, a US-born Armenian political analyst, told Anadolu Agency.

“For Armenia-Turkey normalization, however, the key difference is a big advantage,” said Giragosian, now director of the Regional Studies Center based in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.

Azerbaijan, Armenia’s neighbor and longtime rival, “is no longer opposed to normalization,” he added.

Close allies with Azerbaijan under the slogan “One nation, two states,” by contrast Turkey has long been at loggerheads with Armenia, over such issues as Yerevan’s refusal to recognize their shared border, terror attacks on Turkish diplomats, and claims over the events of 1915.

Another reason for Turkey to pursue normalization with Armenia, Giragosian said, is that it offers “a way for Turkey to have a more active role in the regional restoration of trade and transport.”

Due to its intransigence, landlocked Armenian has long been left out of transport and trade lines towards Turkey and Europe, routes meant to draw the region closer together.

Liberation of Karabakh

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper Karabakh), a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

An Armenian offensive last September, including attacks on civilians, triggered a 44-day conflict which ended with a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020.

During the conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and some 300 settlements that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

At the end of the conflict, Turkish leaders voiced hope that peace could open doors to greater regional reconciliation and cooperation.

Giragosian also pointed to out what he calls “a very positive exchange of messages” since the Karabakh conflict, not only by Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but also by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

“In other words, the stars are realigning in terms of a more positive environment conducive to two developments: the reopening of the closed border between Armenia and Turkey, and the establishment of diplomatic relations,” he added.

“And in this post-war context, normalization in this second attempt is now much stronger and much more likely to succeed,” he explained.

Normalization between Armenia, Turkey

According to Giragosian, there was one winner from the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, “it wasn’t Azerbaijan as much as Russia.”

“Russia has now deployed military forces to all three countries in this region,” he added, including a joint Turkish-Russian center to monitor the peace in Karabakh.

“Nevertheless, I do think that the Russian peacekeepers, (the) Russian buildup in southern Armenia has added a new challenge to the independence and sovereignty of Armenia and Azerbaijan, meaning that Turkey in many ways is seen as an important alternative to any kind of overdependence on Russia,” he said.

On the future of relations, Giragosian is optimistic. “I would say the outlook for normalization between Armenia and Turkey is no longer a question of if, but when. And in this context, I do expect it in the coming year.”

“The reason is, this is a second round of reengagement, and the first time, the signing of the protocols, as delayed or disappointing as they were, because they weren’t implemented,” he added, referring to the 2009 Zurich protocols between Turkey and Armenia, which proposed opening the border as well as mending diplomatic ties.

“They actually achieved a tremendous amount in terms of the border (which) didn’t reopen yet, but minds reopened.”

Normalization “was never supposed to be that quick or that easy,” he explained.

Now, in the wake of the Karabakh conflict, the prospects for normalization “are much more realistic,” he argued.

“However, we’re only talking about the basic minimum, neighbors with open borders and trade and diplomatic relations. This is not reconciliation,” he added.

“This has nothing to do with the genocide issue,” he said, referring to the deaths of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, which Turkey has accused Armenia of ignoring the historical record on in favor of using it as a politicized weapon against Turkey on the international stage.

“This is about normalization,” said Giragosian. “And it’s a process I fully support because it’s the first step toward reconciliation.”

[see video]