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

Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders to discuss POWs issue in Brussels

Emil Lazarian

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 20:30,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev will discuss humanitarian issues, including the issue of war prisoners during the December 15 meeting in Brussels, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question what expectations Armenia has from the Brussels meeting.

“The important nuance is that we will try not to mix the agendas discussed in different formats. I think, yes, one of the issues to be discussed in Brussels will be humanitarian issues, including the issue of war prisoners. And within the framework of the EU’s Eastern Partnership, issues of our relations will be discussed. There will also be a general contextual discussion. And I do not think it is good to form expectations from any specific meeting, either negative or positive, one should not expect such rapid results”, Pashinyan said.

There are tensions in the region, and in order to overcome those tensions, Pashinyan attached great importance to negotiations and use the opportunities for negotiations. He also highlighted that exaggerated expectations or apocalyptic moods should not be shaped over those negotiations.

The Prime Minister reminded that a meeting will be held in Sochi on November 26 through the mediation of the Russian President. “By the way, the talks about that meeting did not start yesterday, they had started earlier. Such meetings and agreements should be positively reacted”, the Prime Minister said.

Pashinyan presents reason for refusing to meet with Putin, Aliyev on November 9

Emil Lazarian

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 20:39,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian side was ready to meet online with the Azerbaijani side on November 9, if that meeting would solve a specific problem, for example, the return of the POWs. If not, it was suggested to change the day of the meeting, taking into account the painful perception of the Armenian side related to that day, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question if there had been a preliminary agreement to hold a trilateral meeting between Pashinyan, Putin and Aliyev during the period of November 9-17, if yes, who refused it and why.

“There was an idea to hold a trilateral online meeting on November 9. I said that the idea of that meeting can be discussed but it’s problematic for us. I clearly stated, I sincerely stated our position, that November 9 is a hard, unpleasant day for us, but if it turns out that we can agree on a clear outcome based on the results of the November 9 meeting, for example, to resolve the issue of prisoners, I’m ready to take the bitter with the sweet and participate in that online conference. Later, when it turned out that unfortunately we cannot reach such an agreement because of the different positions, we just recorded that the symbolism of November 9 is not pleasant for us and I asked and proposed to postpone the meeting until November 15”, PM Pashinyan said.

He stressed that before November 15 there was an offer to meet on November 26. And then the idea arose to meet face to face, not online. “I supported that idea, it turned out that it is acceptable for the President of Russia and the President of Azerbaijan, an agreement was reached,” Pashinyan said.

He reiterated that Armenia is ready to negotiate, work, make efforts and find mutually acceptable solutions. “But sometimes, through symbolism or other means, Azerbaijan tries to pursue a policy of aggressive coercion and blackmail against Armenia. And I said at the latest meeting of the Security Council that Armenia will not give in to this policy of blackmail, no matter how much we understand the vulnerability of our situation, because Azerbaijan, with the encouragement of other countries, already targets Armenia’s independence, sovereignty, statehood and democracy. And I said that one should not speak to Armenia in the language of coercion,” Pashinyan stated.

Azerbaijan is trying to make a jungle of the region – Pashinyan

Emil Lazarian

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 21:57,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan emphasizes that Armenia should use Azerbaijan’s aggressive policy against that country itself, Pashinyan said during an online press conference, answering the question of ARMENPRESS.

“Azerbaijan pursues an aggressive policy. Azerbaijan has always pursued an aggressive policy, our task is to stop Azerbaijan’s aggressive policy by using all international levers. By and large, nothing has changed in Azerbaijan’s policy in the last 15 years, and it has become more aggressive after the war. We must use Azerbaijan’s aggression against itself,” Pashinyan said.

Referring to the statements made by the Azerbaijani leadership that “they have returned to Zangezur”, “Zangezur is theirs”, “Armenia is theirs”, Pashinyan noted that it all resembles international hooliganism. “Azerbaijan is trying to make jungle of the region. And we must show that this is an attack on Armenia, sovereignty, independence, statehood, and democracy.

At the Democracy Summit, I will show that there are forces in the region, in the face of Azerbaijan, that want to turn the region into a jungle. International mechanisms must be used against Azerbaijan”, the Armenian PM said.

According to him, this is also a reason why Armenia went to the Hague Court, where the lawsuit against Azerbaijan was quite successful. “Now we are waiting for the preliminary decision of the court. This judicial process is very important, which can create a new basis for Armenia and Artsakh in terms of conflict settlement,” Nikol Pashinyan concluded.

Armenpress: PM Pashinyan sees no need to declare martial law in Armenia

Emil Lazarian

PM Pashinyan sees no need to declare martial law in Armenia

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 22:14,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia assesses that there is no need to declare martial law in Armenia at this moment, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question why martial law and mobilization is not declared.

“As long as it is not declared, it means that the Government assesses there is no need for that. Whenever there is such a necessity, the Government will do it, but we hope there will be no such a necessity. Yes, we severely criticize Azerbaijan in this situation, but this does not mean we are seeking escalation”, Pashinyan emphasized, adding that Armenia will not miss any opportunity to speak with Azerbaijan directly.

Yerevan seeks Moscow’s mediation in Armenia-Turkey rapprochement

Emil Lazarian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Nov 23 2021
– 19:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Yerevan has asked for Moscow’s mediation in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said on Tuesday, November 23, RFE/RL Armenian Service reports.

Hunanyan said many of Armenia’s partners, including Russia, have expressed willingness to act as a mediator in the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, and the Armenian side has decided to ask the Kremlin for assistance.

“A number of international partners, including Russia, noted that they are ready to assist in the process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. And we informed Russia that we are ready to start the process of Armenian-Turkish normalization without preconditions. When and if such a process starts, we will naturally provide information about it,” Hunanyan said.

Until now, according to the diplomat, there have been no direct negotiations between Ankara and Yerevan.

Hunanyan also reiterated the Armenian side’s stance about a “corridor” connecting Azerbaijan to the Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic. “No such thing can happen,” he said.

The Azerbaijani side has on multiple occasions spoken about a so-called “corridor” through the southern Armenian province of Syunik that would connect Nakhijevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. The Armenian side, however, has repeatedly denied being involved in negotiations for the provision of a corridor to Azerbaijan, stressing that they have only agreed to unblock transport communications in the region.

Azerbaijan’s territorial claims on Armenia should be a subject of wider international discussion, PM Pashinyan says

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 23 2021
, 23:03

 2 minutes read

Azerbaijan has adopted a policy of continuous aggression against Armenia and the issue should be in the focus of discussions of the international community, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at an online press conference today.

“In a post-war euphoria, Azerbaijan is actually trying to exercise the right of the “winner of the war,” something that does not exist in the modern world,” the Prime Minister said,

He added that Armenia, in turn, is trying to make every constructive effort to calm the situation in the region. The Prime Minister stressed that a member of the international community should have certain boundaries, and the international community should keep an eye on those boundaries, because otherwise, “we are witnessing a process of decay of international relations.”

“Azerbaijan is apparently laying territorial claims on Armenia. What does “Zangezur corridor “mean? What does “Eastern Zangezur” mean? Who has coined these terms and what does this mean? What does the “corridor logic” mean? We have declared on many occasions and reiterate that we are not going to discuss any issue within that logic,” PM Pashinyan said.

He added, however, that this does not mean Armenia is refusing from the agenda of opening of regional communications.

“On the contrary, Armenia is perhaps more interested in the opening of regional communications. And in my opinion Azerbaijan is developing the “corridor logic” to abort the process,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the Armenian side will do its best not to allow it.

“This situation must go more international, because this is not an issue of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations only, this is an issue of international law and world order. The President of Azerbaijan says “we will stand wherever we want.” What does this mean? We need to understand whether there is a new world order where anyone can stand wherever they want. In other words, does this mean that a third country will stand wherever it wants in the territory of Azerbaijan, or does Azerbaijan indicate to all neighbors that it will stand wherever it wants? Does it mean that a new page of international law opens? This should be the subject of serious international discussion. Is the involvement of mercenaries becoming a new right?” the Prime Minister stressed.

According to him, this is the reason why Armenia is taking the issue to several international platforms, including the International Court of Justice.

“We believe that Azerbaijan’s behavior should be discussed more and more widely, not only in the trilateral format, not only in the CSTO, not only in the UN, not only in The Hague, not only in the ECHR. I am going to take part in the Democracy Summit, which will take place online, and I am going to raise this issue there as well. What Baku is doing is an attack on Armenia’s sovereignty, statehood, independence and democracy by Azerbaijan and the  countries that encourage it. We are going to pursue this issue on all possible international platforms. We will not limit ourselves,” Pashinyan concluded.

Opposition MP: According to unconfirmed reports, bribes and incentives are given through bookmakers

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 23 2021

MP Anna Mkrtchyan from the opposition With Honor faction on Tuesday denounced the bribery charges against Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan as an attempt by the authorities to crack down on their opponents.

Earlier on Monday, Sargsyan’s lawyer, Amram Makinyan, said the ex-president had been formally charged with taking a large amount of bribe. The charges stem from the testimony of businesswoman Silva Hambardzumyan, who also said she bribed second President Robert Kocharyan and other officials.

“It turns out that these irreplaceable and multifunctional Silvas always appear when there is a need to crack down on the people who are devoted to the homeland, are able to resist and after the destruction of the two counters, to build a victorious state again from what has been left by Nikol Pashinyan,” the lawmaker stated.

Mkrtchyan underscored that the circumstances of the case, in which Serzh Sargsyan was involved as a witness, have not changed for three years, adding simply the “orders of those people, who think that Serzh Sargsyan should be involved not as a witness, but as a defendant, have now changed.”

One of the journalists quoted the media as saying that a family member of Hrachya Musheghyan, head of a department of the Anti-Corruption Committee dealing with Serzh Sargsyan’s case, has declared $5,400 income though gambling winnings, and it is assumed that the income was received through contacts with a bookmaker.

Anna Mkrtchyan stated that Nikol Pashinyan’s 2018 statements on the end of corruption were yet another “myth”.

“According to unconfirmed reports, bribes and incentives are now given not only in the form of bonuses, but also through bookmakers, making “winnings” there and possibly receiving sums for their services,” the MP noted.

Turkish press: Top name of Armenian patriarchate in Turkey passes away

Emil Lazarian
 ISTANBUL MINORITIES 
NOV 15, 2021 2:05 PM GMT+3

Tatoul Anoushian poses in front of a church in Van, eastern Turkey, Sept. 8, 2012. (AA Photo)

Tatul Anoushian, a senior member of the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey, passed away at the age of 55 on Sunday evening due to a previous disease. Anoushian was serving both as general secretary and president of the Spiritual Council of the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey. He had been recently hospitalized for an unspecified disease, a stomach illness, according to the Agos newspaper.

In a telephone call to Anoushian’s family and Armenian Patriarch Sahak Maşalyan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan extended his condolences to the family and the Armenian community. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu released a message of condolence on Twitter over Anoushian’s death, expressing “great sadness.” “I convey my condolences and wish patience to his family, relatives and the Armenian Community,” he added.

Istanbul-born Anoushian, an English literature graduate, worked in the tourism business until 1992 when he devoted himself to church duties. He rose to the rank of subdeacon at a church in Istanbul’s Kınalıada island, shortly before rising to the rank of deacon at Samatya Surp Kevork Church. After stints at a clergy school in Lebanon as a lecturer and doctoral student, Anoushian returned to Turkey and worked at several Armenian churches in Istanbul. He was elected to the Spiritual Council in 2010. He was later chosen as head of the assembly but resigned from the post amid a row within the Armenian community over the successor of late Patriarch Mesrob II. He was elected again to head the assembly in 2019.

A funeral ceremony for Anoushian is scheduled for Thursday, according to the Agos newspaper.

Government Calls Another Highway in Syunik ‘Not Part of Armenia’s Territory’

Emil Lazarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 November 15, 2021

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

The Kapan-Chakaten highway

Human Rights Defender Calls Move ‘Unconstitutional’

Armenia’s National Security administration deemed another road, where new Azerbaijani customs checkpoints began operating Sunday as “not part of the territory of Armenia,” adding to wide-spread speculation that the Pashinyan administration is ceding territory to Azerbaijan outside of the parameters of negotiations over the so-called “unblocking of communications,” currently underway.

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan called the security council’s statement unconstitutional, saying that it ignores the safety and inviolability of the lives of Armenia citizens in the area.

After setting up customs checkpoints in the main section of the Goris-Kapan highway on Thursday, and blocking Armenians from using the road, Azerbaijan announced that it would set up more checkpoints, this time on the Kapan-Chakaten road, cutting off traffic to Armenians in a significant section of Armenia’s Syunik Province.

In its announcement on Monday, Armenia’s National Security Council continued the government’s cavalier attitude toward the increasing tensions on the road that also is the main highway connecting Iran with Armenia, downplaying its significance, especially the impact that it will have for local residents who regularly use the road for commerce and to travel to their jobs.

Last week, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan casually urged residents to use alternative routes, which were recently constructed as a result of the standoff on the Goris-Kapan Highway.

“As for the sections of the Goris-Kapan and Kapan-Chakaten roads, that have come under the control of Azerbaijan, we want to emphasize that they are not in the territory of Armenia according to the Soviet-era documents that direct have legal significance for the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” said the National Security Council in its announcement Monday.

“The government of Armenia has taken measures to create a new network of alternative roads in the Syunik Province, construction of which will be completed soon. We want to note that no settlement of Armenia has been deprived of vital roads,” emphasized the statement.

The declarations about the road were contained in the same National Security Council statement, which addressed the attempted invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan on Sunday.

Tatoyan took note of the security council’s announcement about Soviet-ear borders and alternate routes and argued that such announcements make it permissible for Azerbaijan to infringe on Armenia’s rights.

“In its statement, the Security Council’s mentions the creation of a network of alternative roads and thus, making it permissible for Azerbaijan to assert its control over roads,” explained Tatoyan.

Arguing that by establishing checkpoints, Azerbaijan is aiming to isolate the local population by depriving them of their right to free movement, and cited specific articles of Armenia’s Constitution to illustrate how the government must, first and foremost, protect the rights of its citizens and guarantee their security.

Tatoyan also said that the construction of alternative roads does not mean that it eliminates the real threats from the current Azerbaijani armed and masked soldiers on Goris-Kapan and Kapan-Chakaten roads to Armenia’s population and especially to the life and safety of residents in neighboring communities.

When Azerbaijan announced its customs checkpoints last week, Pashinyan said that negotiations with Azerbaijan over the checkpoints would mean agreeing to the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” which Yerevan has said that it opposes. However, Grigoryan, in an interview late last week with Armenia’s National Television channel said that a road connecting to Nakhichevan is under discussion by a task-force dealing with the so-called opening of communications and transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenian PM, World Bank Vice President discuss partnership priorities

Emil Lazarian

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 16:38, 15 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received today the delegation of the World Bank led by Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

Pashinyan highly appreciated the cooperation with the World Bank, within the frames of which different development programs have been carried out and continue to be carried out in Armenia.

He said that the government’s action plan highlights education, infrastructure, administration system reforms as priority directions, and taking into account the successful experience of the joint work, the Cabinet attaches importance to the deepening of partnership with the World Bank in this and other mutually beneficial directions.

The WB Vice President praised the level of cooperation with the Armenian government and congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on his re-election as PM. Anna Bjerde said that the World Bank assesses the government’s action plan as a targeted program for resisting the current challenges and is ready to continue the support to the Armenian government for implementing all those reforms.

The sides also discussed the Armenia-World Bank partnership prospects. They highlighted the public administration reforms, institutional capacity and human capital development programs.

Mr Pashinyan and Mrs Bjerde also discussed issues on raising public awareness about the COVID-19 vaccinations. Pashinyan highly valued the World Bank support to Armenia for COVID-19 response.

The Prime Minister said that the government is committed to the consistent implementation of the agenda of reforms and thanked the World Bank, its Armenian team for the readiness to continue the productive cooperation.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan