Author: Emma Jilavian

Death toll in ammo depot blasts in Kazakhstan rises to 5

Emma Jilavian

Save

Share

 10:32, 27 August, 2021

YEREVAN, AUGUST 27, ARMENPRESS. The death toll in a series of ammo depot blasts in southern Kazakhstan has risen to five people, TASS reports citing the press office of the republic’s Defense Ministry.

A fire and subsequent blasts occurred at a military unit stationed in the Bayzak district of the Jambyl region at around 7:00 p.m. local time on August 26. The fire triggered more than 10 blasts. According to the latest data, around 90 people have been injured in the blasts and 28 of them have been hospitalized.

“Another serviceman of the military unit in the Jambyl Region where the fire occurred has been found dead”, the statement says.

It was earlier reported that four people died in the blasts.

Armenpress: Armenian Government plans to acquire Pfizer/BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines

Emma Jilavian

Armenian Government plans to accquaire Pfizer/BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines

Save

Share

 21:57, 28 July, 2021

YEREVAN, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Գovernment plans to purchase Sinopharm (China) and Pfizer / BioNTech (Germany-US-China) vaccines against coronavirus, ARMEPRESS reports, the relevant issue is included in the agenda of the July 29 sitting of the Government.

50 thousand vaccines for 25 thousand citizens will be purchased. The Government will allocate nearly 3.5 billion AMD for the acquisition of the vaccines.

At the moment Russian Sputnik V, British-Swedish AstraZeneca and Chinese Coronavac vaccines are available for the citizens of Armenia.

Azerbaijan attempts to discredit trilateral statements and the topic of unblocking regional communications – Pashinyan

Emma Jilavian

Save

Share

 11:29, 29 July, 2021

YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. At the beginning of today’s Cabinet meeting caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched upon the current situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and stated that the situation is not stabilizing.

Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan continues the aggressive rhetoric and actions, leaving without response all the proposals of the international community aimed at the political and lasting solution of the situation.

“Azerbaijan is attempting to disrupt any opportunity for dialogue with all its actions, discrediting the November 9 and the January 11 trilateral statements. Azerbaijan is taking consistent actions also to discredit the topic of unblocking the regional communications. Azerbaijan continues to point out a topic of a so-called corridor, outlining concrete routes and directions. I have repeatedly stated that Armenia has not discussed, is not discussing and will not discuss any issue of corridor logic”, he said, adding that all transportation and economic communications in the region must open.

“Just as Armenia must have a communication to Russia, Central Asia and Iran via Azerbaijan, so Azerbaijan must have a communication to Nakhijevan, Georgia and Iran via Armenia. In order to implement this plan, customs points should be established in the respective sections of the border”, Nikol Pashinyan said, bringing as an example the border checkpoints operating in the CIS territory.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

CivilNet: Rhetoric escalates in region as Armenian soldier is killed in border skirmish

Emma Jilavian
CIVILNET.AM

16 Jul, 2021 08:07

By Mark Dovich

One Armenian soldier has died in the latest border skirmish along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, amid escalating rhetoric on both sides. The July 14 shoot-out near the Armenian village of Yeraskh, situated on the border between Armenia and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, left one Armenian serviceman dead and caused an unspecified number of “losses” among Azerbaijani troops, according to the countries’ respective defense ministries. 

Border tensions between the two countries have been especially high since mid May, when Azerbaijani forces crossed into the easternmost parts of Armenia’s Gegharkunik and Syunik regions. In Syunik, they advanced roughly 3.5 kilometers into Armenian territory, toward Sev Lich (Black Lake).

The same day as the latest border incident, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev warned Armenia “not to make another mistake,” in an apparent attempt to pressure Armenia to negotiate a peace treaty. The two sides signed a Russia-brokered ceasefire on November 10, 2020, concluding last year’s war.

“Armenia should think carefully” before deciding not to sign a peace treaty, Aliyev said, “because otherwise it will be too late.”

Aliyev also reiterated previous claims that parts of today’s Republic of Armenia are historic Azerbaijani territory. “We will return there and we are returning there. Nobody can stop us. We will definitely return there because there is no other way,” he said.

“The Azerbaijani population will return to the lands of their ancestors…All refugees must return to their homeland. Our native land is Zangezur, our native land is Goycha and Irevan,” Aliyev said, using the Azerbaijani names for various Armenian territories.

The Armenian region of Syunik is often called Zangezur in Azerbaijan, while Goycha refers to the region around Lake Sevan, corresponding to today’s Gegharkunik region. Irevan is the Azerbaijani name for Yerevan.

In response, Armenian Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan referred to the continued presence of Azerbaijani troops on Armenian soil as the main hindrance to border talks.

“Such an approach and method of blackmail cannot be acceptable to the authorities of the Republic of Armenia and the people of the Republic of Armenia,” he said. “The first issue to be discussed is the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the territory of the Republic of Armenia.”

The border between Armenia and Azerbaijan officially remains undelimited and undemarcated, as does the Armenia-Georgia border. In Soviet times, those borders were internal, and so officially defining the borders between the union republics was not an issue of concern for the authorities in Moscow.

Delimitation refers to the process by which a border is legally defined, while demarcation involves the process of physically marking a border, such as by building a fence or wall, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Last year’s 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around Karabakh left over 6,000 dead and thousands more injured and displaced on both sides.

Modest Kolerov: Delimitation, demarcation have no direct connection with Karabakh

Emma Jilavian
News.am, Armenia
Modest Kolerov: Delimitation, demarcation have no direct connection with Karabakh
12:24, 11.07.2021

The process of delimitation and demarcation has no direct connection with Karabakh [(Artsakh)]; this should have been done 30 years ago. Modest Kolerov, the chief editor of Regnum news agency, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
According to him, the negotiation process is rhetorical, regardless of the attempts in Armenia to replace with the OSCE Minsk Group format the trilateral statement on Karabakh signed between Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan, and this negotiation process is almost non-existent.
“Therefore, there is nothing to stop, and it is necessary to demarcate in any case; moreover, it should have been done 30 years ago. Armenia itself should have done that, so that tomorrow the inaccurately or unprofitably drawn border will not become a reason to protest that the Russians drew it that way,” Kolerov said.
According to him, Armenia has lost Karabakh forever.
“Now the issue is something else. Will Armenian Karabakh be maintained thanks to Russian peacekeepers? It will not be maintained without them. What to do so that the Russian peacekeepers stay there? This is a separate issue and should be addressed. It is very good that Armenia is helping Karabakh with money, but in the future Armenia will not be able to have a bearing on the status of Karabakh,” Modest Kolerov concluded.

6% economic growth forecast for Armenia in 2021

Emma Jilavian

Save

Share

 11:49, 1 July, 2021

YEREVAN, JULY 1, ARMENPRESS. During today’s Cabinet meeting caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that the economic growth forecasts for 2021 have been revised from 3.2% to 6%.

“But it’s important that in line with these figures we successfully carry out the revenue collections of the state budget, and have an over-fulfillment as of the first quarter”, he said.

Chairman of the State Revenue Committee Edvard Hovhannisyan noted that over 750 billion drams in tax revenues have been collected in the first quarter of 2021, in case when the program figure was set to be 683 billion drams. He stated that 24 billion more transactions have been carried out in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2020.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Poland ready to support Armenia in process of democratic reforms

Emma Jilavian

Save

Share

 16:16,

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland has made a statement over the June 20 snap parliamentary elections held in Armenia.

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland welcomed the positive assessment of the parliamentary elections in Armenia, according to which international standards were met and the transparency of the voting process was ensured. The final results of the elections, presented by the Central Election Commission of Armenia, confirm that the will of the voters is to continue the democratic reforms initiated during the Velvet Revolution.

The Republic of Poland will cooperate with the new government of the Republic of Armenia, which will emerge as a result of early elections, and counts on the further development of good bilateral relations. We are ready to support Armenia in the process of democratic reforms and modernization of the country, as well as work together to further expand Armenia’s relations with the EU and to fully settle conflicts”, the statement says.

Azerbaijani servicemen threaten Armenian villagers in Syunik province: Ombudsman stresses need of creating security zone

Emma Jilavian

Save

Share

 09:56,

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has issued a statement over the actions of the Azerbaijani servicemen on the border with Armenia.

Armenpress presents the full text of the statement:

“Yesterday, the Azerbaijani military servicemen threatened residents of the Syunik Province Tegh village with firearms in the sovereign territory of Armenia, and did not allow them to gather the harvested grass.

In particular, on June 26 2021, several residents of Tegh village went to their property lands to collect the grass they had harvested on June 23 and 24.

When they were about 300 meters away from the Azerbaijani position in the administrative territory of Tegh community, they noticed that 5 Azerbaijani armed servicemen were approaching them shouting aggressively.

Approaching about 150 meters, they directed their weapons to the villagers, started threatening, shouting and not allowing them to collect the grass. Two of them behaved more aggressively and demanded from the villagers not to come to those areas at all or try to use the lands.

The incident took place in a place called Andrun Stones, which is located at the intersection of Tegh, Aravus and Khnatsakh villages of Syunik province. The lands of that place are used by the residents of the three villages. There are both privately owned and community-owned lands. There are pastures used by the residents of these three villages to graze their cattle.

The villagers were able to collect the grass only today, on June 27, when the commanders of the 1st Army Corps of theArmenian Armed Forces, the heads of the local self-government bodies went to that place.

This information has been submitted to the Human Rights Defender by the villagers, including the villagers who went to collect the grass, as well as the head of the Tegh administrative community. All the information has been checked by the Defender’s Office.

This criminal act of the Azerbaijani servicemen against the citizens of the Armenia took place in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

It is obvious that such obvious criminal acts of the Azerbaijani servicemen are aimed at depriving the citizens of the Republic of Armenia of other vital rights to life, to be engaged in cattle breeding, to earn a family income. All this should be viewed on an ongoing basis, as they regularly commit similar acts (threats to shepherds, theft of animals, etc.) against residents of villages of both Gegharkunik and Syunik Provinces.

This incident once again proves that protection of Armenia’s population from criminal actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces urgently require creation of a security zone”.

Russian Federation Council member says elections in Armenia were held in accordance with country’s legislation

Emma Jilavian

Save

Share

 15:00, 21 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The snap parliamentary elections in Armenia were held in accordance with the country’s national legislation and the international standards, and the minor violations registered by observers could not have affected the voting results, member of the Russian Federation Council Viktor Smirnov said, reports TASS.

“The snap parliamentary elections of Armenia were held in accordance with the country’s national legislation and the international standards. That minor violations registered by the international observers, were of technical nature and, undoubtedly, could not have affected the voting results”, he said.

Mr. Smirnov stated that he personally visited 17 polling stations in Armenia on the voting day. He said the Russian senators have also met with the executives of the Central Electoral Commission, the representatives of several political parties and blocs.

“The professionalism of the district electoral commissions and the Central Electoral Commission was demonstrated on the voting day. We witnessed an organized work where we visited, the Republic’s electoral legislation has been accurately exercised”, Smirnov said.

The Russian official added that the polling stations, where they visited, have also maintained the anti-coronavirus rules.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Turkish press: Turkey, Azerbaijan’s diaspora institutions’ cooperation to grow

Emma Jilavian
 ANKARA POLITICS 
JUN 22, 2021 12:59 PM GMT+3
Fuad Muradov (L), head of the Azerbaijani government committee responsible for the diaspora, and Abdullah Eren, head of the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), shake hands. (Courtesy of the YTB)

The cooperation between the diaspora institutions of Turkey and Azerbaijan will be further enhanced and strengthened with the recently inked Shusha agreement, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) stated on Tuesday.

The agreement provides the basis for more comprehensive and dense cooperation in the institutions’ activities within the scope of international law, the YTB said.

Through strengthening the cooperation between both countries’ diaspora, both will act together in the face of common challenges. The two countries’ diaspora institutions will also focus on the promotion of Turkey and Azerbaijan and will play significant roles in making heard historical realities to the world.

YTB head Abdullah Eren said, “We have carried out many examples of cooperation until today – ranging from education, history and culture – as the two countries’ diaspora institutions.

Noting Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan during its 44-day war against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Ereb stated that the YTB visited Baku during those difficult times in a show of solidarity. He added that he came together with the government committee responsible for the diaspora and its head, Fuad Muradov.

“We will contribute to our unity, which is displayed the best by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and (Azerbaijan) President Ilham Aliyev with the principle, ‘One people, One diaspora.’”

On June 15, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed a declaration “on allied relations” aimed at deepening ties in several areas of cooperation, including security, during Erdoğan’s visit to Shusha – a city that Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian occupational forces in last autumn’s conflict.

Aliyev said the declaration envisages cooperation on political, economic, trade and energy issues.

“But most important is the agreement on cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey in the defense industry sphere and mutual military assistance,” Aliyev said last week at a news conference alongside Erdoğan.

Erdoğan, the first foreign leader to visit Shusha after it was retaken by Azerbaijan, also promised to open a Turkish consulate in the city. “In that way, we will ensure that our activities are carried out faster and more effectively,” he said.

The historic city was liberated by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in November last year, after 28 years of Armenian occupation. Shusha, known as the pearl of Nagorno-Karabakh, was occupied by Armenia on May 8, 1992.

The town has significant military value since it is located on strategic high ground about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the region’s capital over Stepanakert (Khankendi) and on the road linking the city with Armenian territory. Besides its strategic significance, the town is known as a symbol of Azerbaijani history and culture with many historic sites, the restoration of which has started. Many prominent Azerbaijani musicians and scholars were born in the city.