Author: Frangulian Shushan

Armenpress: European Parliament demands immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian POWs

Frangulian Shushan

European Parliament demands immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian POWs 

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 19:53,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS.  The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the POWs issue with 607 votes in favor, demanding the Armenian war prisoners to be released immediately and without preconditions.

ARMENPRESS presents parts of the resolution.

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Armenia and Azerbaijan,

– having regard to the EU-Armenia Partnership Council meeting of 17 December 2020 and the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council meeting of 18 December 2020 and their respective conclusions,

– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations (UN), the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War,

– having regard to the tripartite ceasefire statement by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia of 9 November 2020, which came to effect on 10 November 2020,

– having regard to the Human Rights Watch report of 19 March 2021 entitled ‘Azerbaijan: Armenian POWs Abused in Custody’,

– having regard to the EU statement of 28 April 2021 on captives from the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,

– having regard to the Statements by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group of 25 October 2020, 30 October 2020, 14 December 2020, 13 April 2021 and 5 May 2021,

– having regard to the European Court of Human Right’s notification to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers of 9 March 2021, under Rule 39 of the Rules of the Court, of interim measures in relation to the recent armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,

– having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

  1. whereas since the first war over Nagorno-Karabakh between 1988 and 1994, the international community has been trying to broker a lasting and comprehensive peace settlement for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, led by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs;
  2. whereas hostilities ended after 44 days following an agreement on a complete ceasefire in and around Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, which was signed on 9 November 2020 and entered into force on 10 November 2020;
  3. whereas point 8 of the tripartite ceasefire statement stipulates that prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees, as well as the remains of those killed, must be exchanged; whereas these exchanges should be conducted according to the ‘all for all’ principle;
  4. whereas both Armenia and Azerbaijan are parties to the Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which in Article 118 stipulates that prisoners of war must be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities; whereas Article 13 of the Geneva Convention (III) stipulates that prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated, any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the Convention; whereas the Convention also protects prisoners of war (POWs) against acts of violence or intimidation, insults and public curiosity;
  5. whereas military personnel and civilians detained before and after the ceasefire enjoy different statuses under international law; whereas, on the one hand, military personnel taken into captivity before and after the ceasefire should be recognised as POWs and benefit from protection under the Geneva Conventions; whereas, on the other hand, civilians detained during the conflict must be recognised as protected persons and are also protected under the Geneva Conventions; whereas civilians detained after the ceasefire are instead protected under international human rights law;
  6. whereas since the hostilities were suspended, several exchanges of prisoners, both military and civilian, have been conducted, with the most recent taking place on 4 May 2021;
  7. whereas according to worrying reports, approximately 200 Armenians are being held in Azerbaijani captivity; whereas the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) stated that it has received complaints regarding 249 Armenians captured by Azerbaijan; whereas the ECtHR has applied interim measures with regard to the 229 Armenians, and 183 still remain in force; whereas the ECtHR concluded on 9 March 2021 that Azerbaijan had failed to comply with the measures, judging the information provided as too general and limited; whereas the Azerbaijani authorities acknowledged that 72 Armenians are in their captivity; whereas with regard to a further 112 individuals, no information has been submitted by Azerbaijan to the ECtHR; whereas the fate of the other Armenian POWs is unknown; whereas since the cessation of hostilities, 73 Armenian POWs and civilians have been repatriated to Armenia;
  8. whereas the ECtHR has also received complaints in relation to 16 Azerbaijanis allegedly captured by Armenia, 12 of whom were repatriated in December 2020; whereas the ECtHR suspended its examination under Rule 39 in relation to the other four individuals, given the nature of the information received from the Government of Armenia;
  9. whereas credible reports have been made that Armenian service personnel and civilians have also been taken prisoner since the cessation of hostilities on 10 November 2020; whereas the Azerbaijani authorities claim that these hostages and prisoners are terrorists and do not deserve POW status under the Geneva Convention;
  10. whereas Human Rights Watch reported on 19 March 2021 that Azerbaijani security and armed forces had abused Armenian POWs, subjecting them to cruel and degrading treatment and torture either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at various detention facilities; whereas Azerbaijani forces have used violence to detain civilians and have subjected them to torture and inhuman and degrading conditions of detention, leading to the death of at least two detainees in Azerbaijani captivity; whereas Azerbaijani forces detained these civilians even though there was no evidence that they posed any security threat that could justify their detention under international humanitarian law; whereas Azerbaijan denies accusations that Armenian POWs have been subjected to treatment violating the Geneva Conventions;
  11. whereas the ‘Park of Military Trophies’ inaugurated in Baku on 12 April 2021 reportedly displays Armenian military equipment, wax mannequins depicting dead and dying Armenian soldiers and models of Armenian POWs chained in a cell, which may be perceived as a glorification of violence and risks inciting further hostile sentiment, hate speech or even inhumane treatment of remaining POWs and other Armenian captive civilians, thereby perpetuating the atmosphere of hatred and contradicting any official statements on reconciliation;
  12. whereas on 12 May 2021, troops from Azerbaijan temporarily entered the territory of Armenia, which amounts to a violation of the territorial integrity of Armenia and of international law; whereas this violation of Armenian sovereign territory follows worrying statements by Azerbaijani representatives, including the president, which appeared to raise territorial claims and threaten the use of force and thereby undermine the efforts towards security and stability in the region;
  13. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenian prisoners, both military and civilian, detained during and after the conflict, and that Azerbaijan refrain from making arbitrary detentions in the future; urges the parties to fully implement the tripartite ceasefire statement of 9 November 2020, which provides for an exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees, as well as the remains of those killed during hostilities;
  14. Deplores the violence that took place during the most recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh; expresses solidarity with the victims and their families; deplores the violation of the ceasefire, which led to further human suffering, loss of life and destruction; condemns all attacks targeting civilians and recalls states’ obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilian lives;
  15. Urges the Government of Azerbaijan to provide exhaustive lists of all persons held in its captivity in connection with the armed conflict and to provide information about their whereabouts and health, including of those who have died in captivity;
  16. Recalls that failure to disclose information regarding the fate and whereabouts of missing persons may amount to enforced disappearance, which both Azerbaijan and Armenia have committed to preventing; calls on all sides to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared and to treat dead bodies with dignity;
  17. Demands that the Government of Azerbaijan respect legal safeguards, allow access for lawyers, doctors and human rights defenders to the Armenian prisoners and facilitate their communications with relatives;
  18. Expresses its grave concern about credible reports, according to which Armenian prisoners of war and other captive persons have been and are being held in degrading conditions, and that they have been subjected to inhuman treatment and torture when captured or during their detention; condemns all instances of torture and enforced disappearances, including those perpetrated in armed conflict, as well as the ill-treatment and desecration of bodies;
  19. Calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure that those still in custody are provided with all protections required under international human rights and humanitarian law, including freedom from torture and inhuman treatment; calls on the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities to conduct independent, prompt, public and effective investigations and prosecute all credible allegations of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other violations of international law and war crimes, in order to ensure accountability of those responsible and redress for the victims, possibly with the assistance of an international dedicated mission; calls on the Government of Azerbaijan to fully cooperate with the ECtHR to investigate the validity of reports of dehumanising treatment of Armenian prisoners and to hold those responsible to account;
  20. Recalls that there is currently no publically available credible information about Azerbaijani POWs and detainees in Armenian captivity;

Azerbaijani press: Baku, Ankara mull Azerbaijani-Armenian border situation

Frangulian Shushan
15:43 (UTC+04:00)
607

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu have discussed the situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, the Foreign Ministry reported on its website on May 19.

In a telephone conversation that took place on May 19, the two ministers focused on the current regional situation, including issues related to the tensions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

During the conversation, Bayramov and Cavusoglu also discussed Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Palestinian developments.

Baku has said that Azerbaijani troops were taking up positions on the country’s own borders and added that the Armenian leadership is trying to politicize the issue ahead of the June snap parliamentary elections. 

Earlier, Bayramov stated that Armenia’s appeal to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) over the tensions related to the delimitation and demarcation of the two states’ borders has no basis and is nothing but an attempt by the Armenian authorities to politicize the issue.

Armenia appealed to Russa-led CSTO to hold consultations over its border dispute with Azerbaijan months after the 44-day war in and around Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region in autumn 2020. 

The hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan’s Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani Army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres and historic Shusha city. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

ANCA-WR and UCLA’s Promise Institute to Co-Host Panel Discussion

Frangulian Shushan



ANCA-WR an UCLA’s Promise Institute will co-host a panel on May 16

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region and The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law will co-host a panel discussion on Sunday, May 16 at 5 p.m. (Pacific) titled “The Armenian Genocide: Truth, Recognition and Opportunities.”

Moderated by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, esteemed panelists include U.S. Congressman David Valdao (R-CA-21); Dr. Eric Esrailian, Philanthropist and Emmy Nominated Filmmaker; Dr. Bedross Der Matossian, Professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and Michelle Gulino, International Legal Associate at the Human Rights Foundation.

The panel will be discussing the long road to U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the future of U.S.-Turkey relations, and the implications of the announcement on human rights atrocities all over the world from China to Ethiopia.

Register for the event, please visit: www.ancawr.org/webinar

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law is the center of human rights education, research and advocacy at UCLA and around the region.

Extraordinary session kicks off at the Armenian parliament

Frangulian Shushan

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 18:00,

YEREVAN, MAY 14, ARMENPRESS. The extraordinary session of the National Assembly of Armenia has kicked off.

ARMENPRESS reports the session has been initiated by ”Propserous Armenia” Party aimed at addressing the crisis situation in Syunik, Gegharkunik and Vayots Dzor Provinces.

On May 12 in the morning the Azerbaijani armed forces crossed Armenia’s state border in the territory of Sev Lake in Syunik province and advanced up to 3,5 kilometers, trying to surround the Lake. Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this action is intolerable for Armenia, as it is an encroachment on the sovereign territory of Armenia.

So far, neither the Armenian nor the Azerbaijani side have used any weapon. The number of Azerbaijani soldiers in the territory of Armenia is about 250.




Prime Minister Garibashvili Visits Yerevan

Frangulian Shushan
Civil, Georgia

12/05/2021 – 20:34

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, accompanied by Foreign Minister, Deputy PM David Zalkaliani, arrived in Yerevan today, where he met with acting Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, after which the two leaders delivered statements at a joint press conference.

At the joint press conference, PM Garibashvili hailed “centuries-old historical friendly relations” between Georgia and Armenia and expressed his confidence that relations between the two countries will “continue in this spirit.”

Prime Minister Garibashvili said the two leaders talked about prospects for developing existing economic and trade relations, and cooperation in the fields of transportation, energy, tourism, culture, education, and innovation. “We underlined our aspiration to have intense political dialogue,” he noted.

The Georgian PM underscored that peace and regional stability are necessary to advance existing relations, adding that Georgia “has always been a supporter of peaceful cooperation and coexistence in the South Caucasus.” Stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent Nagorno-Karabakh war “posed significant difficulties for the entire region,” he remarked that “there is no alternative to peace, negotiations, and dialogue.”

PM Garibashvili further stressed that “the Georgian people have chosen the European and Euro-Atlantic path to strengthen stability, peace, and democratic values,” and that “Armenia’s stability and democratic development is extremely important” for Georgia and the whole region.

On his part, the acting Armenian Prime Minister said, “the development of special neighborly relations with Georgia takes a key place in Armenia’s foreign policy.”

“Our age-old friendship, as well as the common values of democracy and the rule of law, form the solid foundation on which the partnership of our two states is based,” underscored Mr. Pashinyan.

According to the acting Armenian PM, the two leaders agreed to further focus on boosting trade and economic ties between Tbilisi and Yerevan, adding that they emphasized “the need to develop transit potential and the more efficient use of regional transport routes.”

Noting that “each conflict has its own peculiarity,” Mr. Pashinyan said he maintained “a balanced and constructive position on issues that are sensitive to each other,” alluding to Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia regions.

“Armenian-Georgian partnership is one of the strongest guarantees for ensuring stability in our region,” highlighted the Armenian leader.

This is the second neighboring capital Irakli Garibashvili visited since his reelection as the Georgian Prime Minister in February. A week ago, on May 5, PM Garibashvili visited Baku, where he met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, PM Ali Asadov, and Milli Majlis Speaker Sahiba Gafarova.

Russia looks forward to first results of working group on Nagorno-Karabakh

Frangulian Shushan
TASS, Russia
On January 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed on establishing a working group of Deputy Prime Ministers that would focus on reviving transportation and economic ties in the region

BAKU, May 11. /TASS/. Russia is anticipating the initial results of the trilateral working group seeking to restore transportation and economic links in Nagorno-Karabakh quite soon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after the negotiations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov Tuesday.

“We commend the work of the trilateral group of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the three states, which – I would rather not get ahead of myself and voice any assessments for them – is operating quite productively. We have all reasons to believe that we will have the first results of this work in the nearest future,” the top diplomat said.

On January 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed on establishing a working group of Deputy Prime Ministers that would focus on reviving transportation and economic ties in the region. Baku and Yerevan have challenged the sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988, when it declared independence from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic.

CSTO welcomes ceasefire deal on Tajik-Kyrgyz border

Frangulian Shushan

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 13:16, 4 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has applauded the ceasefire deal on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border and the pullout of military units and equipment, the CSTO said in a statement, reports TASS.

“The CSTO welcomes the agreements on establishing a ceasefire on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border, the withdrawal of additional military units with military equipment and the commitment by the sides to regulating contentious border issues via political and diplomatic means in the spirit of alliance and good neighborliness, which forms the basis of the organization’s activity”, the statement says.

The situation on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan near the Golovnoy water intake facility escalated on April 28, after skirmishes had erupted between the residents of the two countries’ border areas. On April 29, clashes between Kyrgyz and Tajik servicemen broke out. Kyrgyzstan accused Tajikistan of using mortars, automatic weapons and Mi-24 military helicopters. On the evening of April 29, the parties agreed to a ceasefire and the pullout of troops, however, these hostilities continued periodically in certain locations until May 1.

Turkish Media Account Accuses US of Mass ‘Genocide’ of 84 Million People Amid Armenia Spat

Frangulian Shushan
Sputnik
May 1 2021
10:52 GMT 01.05.2021(updated 11:07 GMT 01.05.2021) Get short URL
by Ilya Tsukanov

Already shaky relations between the US and its Turkish ally took another turn for the worse last week after Joe Biden formally recognised the actions of the Ottoman Empire against Armenians in the early part of the 20th century as genocide. The move sparked outrage throughout Turkey and demands to leave NATO or kick US troops out of the country.

Clash Report, a Twitter and Telegram security-related news account allegedly linked to the Turkish military, has posted a chart accusing the United States of a litany of horrific crimes throughout its 240+ year history.

In tweets posted in both Turkish and English, the account points to nearly two dozen grisly events going back to the 1800s, starting with the “US genocide against Native Americans,” and alleging that “70 million Native Americans were slaughtered in their own land.” It goes on to call the enslavement of 35 million people from the African continent “Black Genocide,” saying that the minority “still face[s] racism in the US” today.

It lists off a number of other “genocides,” from the alleged killing of “over a million civilians[s]…by the US forces” in the 1899-1902 Philippine-American War, to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Korean War, the coups in Iran and Guatemala and the “massacre in Cuba” by US-backed Batista forces. The list goes on with the Vietnam War, the mass killings of communists in Indonesia, the “massacre in Cambodia and Laos,” which Clash Report blames on the US, the 1973 coup in Chile, massacres by US-backed forces in Argentina, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, and the US invasions of Grenada and Panama. The chart also features the Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, the “Darfur Coup,” the Arab Spring, the Syrian War and “US-backed Israel’s massacres of Palestinians.”

 

© Photo : Twitter / @clashreport
Chart compiled by Turkish military-linked Twitter account Clash Report accusing US of a range of horrific crimes.

 

Altogether, Clash Report accuses the United States of the “genocidal” killing of nearly 84 million people.

The post was met with mixed reactions by Clash Report’s followers, with some readers suggesting that although they didn’t support most of these conflicts, wars do not constitute genocide. Some asked why the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia was not mentioned. Others dismissed the report as “nonsense propaganda,” or pointed to Turkish involvement in some of these events, such as the ongoing war in Syria or the history of the Ottomans in the African slave trade.

Clash Report’s controversial tweet comes in the wake of the Biden administration’s announcement last Saturday that henceforth, the United States would recognise the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of Armenians. Between 1915 and 1917, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, and millions more were systematically ethnically cleansed from Anatolia.

© Wikipedia / W. Walton after Louisa and Godfrey Charles Mundy
Chief of Major Chinese Paper Accuses Australia of ‘Genocide’ of Its Aborigines Amid Uyghur Criticism

The Turkish government has long rejected the term “genocide” to describe the events, and has urged the US president to reconsider the recognition. Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the recent statements by Washington would have a “destructive impact” on Turkish-US ties, and suggested that historians, not politicians, should determine how to label historical events.

On Wednesday, following protests outside Incirlik Air Base demanding the withdrawal of US forces, and demonstrations outside Turkey’s Izmir NATO HQ urging Ankara to withdraw from the Western alliance, the Turkish military clarified that US troops were able to be stationed on Turkish soil only because Ankara allows it.