Author: Garnik Tadevosian

Photo: Sertac Kayar/Reuters

 

About 2,000 people were killed and entire neighbourhoods razed in southeastern Turkey in 18 months of government security operations characterised by massive destruction and serious human rights violations, the United Nations said on Friday, Reuters reports.

The UN human rights office said in a report on the period July 2015-December 2016 that up to 500,000 people, mostly Kurds, had been displaced, while satellite imagery showed the “enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry”.

The UN investigators documented numerous killings, disappearances and torture, as well as other human rights violations. The most serious abuses took place during periods of curfew imposed for several days at a time.

The investigators were not granted access by Turkey and as of last month the UN had not received any formal response to its concerns, the report said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said in a statement on Friday that Turkey had “contested the veracity of the very serious allegations” in the report.

He was particularly concerned that Turkey appeared not to have launched any credible investigation into the hundreds of unlawful killings, adding that an independent investigation was both urgent and essential.

“It appears that not a single suspect was apprehended and not a single individual was prosecuted,” he said.

 

 

 

“Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to appoint his wife as Vice-President raised a wave of discussions. Therefore, the provocations at the line of contact were meant to distract public attention from the fact,” says Shahin Mirzoyev, Talyshi activist, journalist at Tolishi Sado newspaper, who has fled Azerbaijan and been provided asylum in Armenia.

Speaking to reporters in Armenia today, Mirzoyev said he feels good in Armenia, but keeps receiving threats from Azerbaijan. MPs even suggest introducing the death penalty and sentence Mirzoyev to death.

“And this is how they are going to solve the Karabakh issue in a ‘peaceful way’,” Shahin Mirzoyev said.

Speaking to Public Radio of Armenia, the Talysh activist said he has relatives in Azerbaijan, who are being insulted, but Mirzoyev is not sure they will also be able to escape to Armenia.

Having had an opportunity to compare the public opinion in Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said “societies in both countries are ready for dialogue on the Karabakh issue.” He added that “dialogue is possible only in case Ilham Aliyev’s regime is ousted,” but added that “Aliyev is doing his best to have the conflict and enmity continue in order to keep power.”

Photo: Reuters

 

Iraqi forces have entered a neighbourhood in West Mosul for the first time since launching an operation to retake it from so-called Islamic State (IS) five days ago, the BBC reports.

It comes a day after troops retook the city’s airport from IS.

The army’s assault takes them from desert and farmland into a densely packed city, where fighting is expected to be particularly hard.

IS are dug into the west after being driven out of eastern Mosul last month.

Iraqi forces carried out heavy air strikes overnight ahead of the ground attack on the city itself.

Russian travelers will soon be able to enter Armenia on an internal passport as part of Yerevan’s plan to boost tourism, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told Sputnik.

The Armenian government agreed last week to ease rules for Russian nationals coming to the country. Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan ordered that change take effect by March.

“This agreement was made on the level of Russian and Armenian presidents, who gave the order, and steps have already been taken to carry it out…Russians will be able to enter Armenia on internal passports in coming days,” Nalbandian said.

Armenia’s Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan said border guard officials would not stamp Russian passports to make sure identification documents stay valid.

Photo: Alamy

A suicide attack in a popular shrine in southern Pakistan has killed at least 72 people, police say, the BBC reports.

The bomber blew himself up among devotees in the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in the town of Sehwan in Sindh province, police said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has condemned the attack, which has been claimed by so-called Islamic State.

It is the deadliest in a string of recent bombings claimed by IS, the Pakistani Taliban and other militants.

The shrine, one of the country’s oldest and most revered, was crowded as Thursday is considered a sacred day for Muslims to pray there.

There is no alternative to the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan has said.

“Azerbaijan has not refused form its terrorist policy ever since 1988,” Kocharyan said at a conference in Yerevan titled “Breaking the Siege of Stepanakert: 25 years later.”

“This policy took the shape of war crimes during the April war. In the face of Azerbaijan we have to deal with a subject that pretends to be negotiating and refuses from its own signatures,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

“Azerbaijan uses the negotiations as a cover for its preparations for a new war. Under these conditions there is no alternative to the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.”

An Azerbaijani lawmaker blames France for pro-Armenian position and urges to send a note to Paris over President Francois Hollande’s recent statement on Nagorno Karabakh.

MP Azay Guliyev on Tuesday criticized French President Hollande’s latest comments on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling on Baku to send a note of protest to Paris.  He believes “France supports Armenia in violation of the norms of international law.”

Addressing the Parliament’s plenary sitting, the MP described Hollande’s recent statement on self-determination for Karabakh as a “non-constructive” step.

He said “France is a country which has the closest relationship with Armenia” and noted that French citizens constitute the majority of those visiting Nagorno Karabakh.

The comments come after French President Francois Hollande’s remarks at the .  Addressing the meeting Francois Hollande announced plans to discuss the Karabakh issue with Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan during the latter’s visit to France in March. He emphasized the urgency of finding a way out of the conflict “because the murderous clashes that occurred during those terrible days of April 2 to 5 remind us that deaths are reported in Nagorno-Karabakh almost every day.”

“So we have to act. We must act, first of all, to stop hostilities when they happen – this is what we did with our Russian and American partners: there was a halt to the fighting, the opening of a dialogue , a truce. But we cannot be satisfied with a truce, because the ceasefire is not the solution. We must open real negotiations for the resolution of the conflict. It would be a serious mistake, once again, to consider that the situation has stabilized. We need to find elements of conflict resolution. We know them; they have been fixed; these are the Madrid principles – I will not state them here – but we know that they will lead, if they are applied, to the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Hollande stated, in part.

“This was the first time a President of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing country declares that if applied, the Madrid Principles will lead to the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Kayts Minasyan,  analyst at the Center of Strategic Studies of France, said in an interview with . Accoridng to him, no President had done it before.

“President Hollande spoke about the principle of the right of peoples to self-determination, without even referring to the other ones. Surely, other principles are also included in the Madrid Principles, but he didn’t speak about territorial integrity,” said Minasyan, who was present at the dinner.

Commenting on Azerbaijan’s anger over the statement, the expert said: “Azerbaijan has recently suffered three defeats on the diplomatic fields.  First, France’s current Interior Minster is on Azerbaijan’s black list for having visited Nagorno Karabakh two years ago. The second defeat was President Hollande’s statement. The third defeat was the refusal of the French Court to accept a complaint from Azerbaijan against MP Francois Rochebloine, a friend of Armenians.”

Arman Tatoyan, Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Armenia had a meeting with representatives of about 30 human rights organizations in Brussels. The meeting was organized with support from the European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA).

Mr. Tatoyan gave a briefing followed by a lively debate about the human rights situation in Armenia. He explained the new tools given to his institution, such as immunity for his members of staff, the Ombudsman’s permanent representative in the Armenian Parliament, and the new forms of NGO involvement in his work.

“The institution of the Ombudsman in Armenia is now strong and legally protected like no other in Eastern Europe”, Mr Tatoyan said, adding that especially the enhanced cooperation with NGOs in Armenia helps the effectiveness of his work. Key fields of activities are torture prevention, fighting domestic violence, supporting freedom of speech and the legal framework surrounding the upcoming elections.

Arman Tatoyan spoke about the involvement of Artsakh’s Ombudsman in international meetings and presented the latter’s report on Azerbaijani atrocities.

The Ombudsman said he ready to hold meetings on any Armenia-related issues, but added that the participation of Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender in Karabakh-related issues is a must, since human rights issues are in no way related to politics.

He stressed that human rights recognize no borders and said that “the public and democratic institutions of Artskah should be involved in all international meetings.

Arman Tatoyan attached importance to the work of journalists in Artsakh, stressing the need to boost the visits to Nagorno Karabakh.

 

 

 

“Part of the armament to be supplied under the $200 mln loan agreement with Russia has already been shipped to Armenia and put into operation,” Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan told a press conference today.

According to him, the shipment of the rest of the armament proceeds according to the schedule. “We’re committed to receiving the equipment as soon as possible, as it is directly related to the combat readiness of the army,” the Minister said.

“We search for opportunities both on the Russian market and those of other partner countries to replenish the Armed Forces with equipment necessary,” Minister Sargsyan said.

“Although we have an efficient army, we have to look into the future, and develop faster than events,” he said.