Author: Greg Madatian

Pashinyan sees need for clarifying issues on return of displaced people from Artsakh

Greg Madatian

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 17:17,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sees need to clarify the issues relating to the return of people displaced from Artsakh due to the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, as well as issues on ensuring their security during the negotiations.

“The first point of the roadmap released by me today mentions the resumption of the negotiation process within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format. It’s supposed that the discussions and negotiations should give the answers on formation of mechanisms for further implementation opportunities of the points mentioned in the joint statement. That right is envisaged, and we should do everything for that right to be exercised with ensuring  the security, dignity and normal life guarantees of our compatriots”, the PM said during a Q&A session in the Parliament.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Erdogan’s decree on sending troops to Azerbaijan concerns the monitoring center – Kremlin

Greg Madatian

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 15:09,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decree on sending troops to Azerbaijan relates to ensuring the operation of the joint monitoring center of Turkey and Russia, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, reports TASS.

“There will be a monitoring center in the territory of Azerbaijan, the Turkish military will be sent there. This is an implementation of an internal procedure envisaged by the internal legislation of Turkey”, Peskov said, adding that this is the internal matter of Turkey.

As for the creation of a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan, Peskov said it is a result of a bilateral agreement between Russia and Turkey.

On November 9 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a statement on a full ceasefire and cessation of all military actions in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone since 01:00 Yerevan Time on November 10. Russian peacekeepers are being deployed to Nagorno Karabakh.

The memorandum on creating Russian-Turkish joint monitoring center for controlling the ceasefire regime has been signed on November 11.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

US Congressional Armenian Caucus calls on President-elect Joe Biden to revise Karabakh policy

Greg Madatian

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 13:46, 13 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. The US Congressional Armenian Caucus has called on Joe Biden to lead U.S. re-engagement in negotiations for a lasting settlement of the NK conflict through the OSCE Minsk Group and stop military aid to Azerbaijan.

Congressmen Pallone, Schiff and Speier – in a letter addressed to the US President-Elect – underscore: “The ceasefire that was reached this week does nothing to settle the underlying territorial dispute or ensure a lasting and equitable peace. The United States should work with the Minsk Group to define the future status of Nagorno Karabakh in a way that is consistent with the right of self-determination.”

Below is the full text of the letter, as reported by ANCA.

“The Honorable Joe Biden

President Elect of the United States

Dear President Elect Biden:

Congratulations on your election as the 46th President of the United States. We look forward to working with you and your Administration on behalf of the American people.

We write today to bring to your immediate attention the urgent crisis occurring in Nagorno Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, where a war launched by Azerbaijan, with support from Turkey and foreign mercenaries, has caused a mass humanitarian disaster and disorder that could worsen in the months and years ahead.

Since Azerbaijan launched a massive offensive against Nagorno Karabakh on September 27, the situation has rapidly devolved. Three ceasefires negotiated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs were breached almost immediately. Azerbaijan’s forces, aided by Turkish-funded foreign mercenaries, have pressed forward, backed by drones and other weapons. This week, Azerbaijan overran the strategically important city of Shushi just ten miles from the Capitol, Stepanakert.

With the risk of a mass atrocity against thousands of Armenian civilians rising, Armenia agreed to a peace agreement brokered by Russia. This agreement has ended the fighting, at least for now, but at tremendous cost. Under the deal, Azerbaijan will hold territory in Nagorno Karabakh and be guaranteed passage to its enclave, Nakhichevan, through Armenia itself. Russian peacekeepers will be stationed in Nagorno Karabakh to prevent a renewal of hostilities.

While we welcome peace, we are deeply concerned about the immediate and long-term implications of this deal, which does nothing to settle the question of Nagorno Karabakh’s ultimate status. Further, we believe that this tragic outcome was avoidable had the United States and the international community acted decisively. We completely concur with your strong and clear statement from October 28, which provided that, “The administration must fully implement and not waive requirements under section 907 of the Freedom Support Act to stop the flow of military equipment to Azerbaijan, and call on Turkey and Russia to stop fueling the conflict with the supply of weapons and, in the case of Turkey, mercenaries.”

Sadly, in the absence of these and other actions that could have deterred Azerbaijan and Turkey from pressing their military advantage, they have pushed ahead to create new facts on the ground by force. For far too long, we have condoned the bellicose rhetoric and aggressive actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan, and the results are now devastatingly clear.

As you take office, you have the opportunity to forge a new policy towards the region, one that reorients our foreign policy towards supporting democracy, human rights, and the right to self -determination.

First, we believe your Administration should immediately end the waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act with regard to Azerbaijan, and end military assistance to Azerbaijan under Section 333 which has totaled more than $100 million in the past two years. The United States should not be building the capacity of a nation that uses its military to attack its neighbors.

Second, the United States should reengage on negotiations for a lasting settlement through the OSCE Minsk Group. The ceasefire that was reached this week does nothing to settle the underlying territorial dispute or ensure a lasting and equitable peace. The United States should work with the Minsk Group to define the future status of Nagorno Karabakh in a way that is consistent with the right of self-determination.

Third, we need to recognize that the civilian population, infrastructure, and economy of Nagorno Karabakh have been severely impacted by Azerbaijani military attacks that included cluster munitions and repeated shelling. We must ensure that displaced Armenian civilians can return to their homes and are secure from future military threats by Azerbaijan and Turkey. This should include significant humanitarian aid and assistance in clearing unexploded munitions.

Fourth, the United States must engage in a thorough review of our policy towards Turkey, a nation that while a member of NATO has repeatedly acted against U.S. interests. In Syria, Nagorno Karabakh, Cyprus, and elsewhere, Turkey’s behavior has been destabilizing, and the once vibrant democracy within Turkey has been tragically diminished. As you know, Turkey has also tested Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, in direct contravention of U.S. law. Our relationship with Turkey, long complex, has become increasingly untenable, and we believe developing a new policy that is consistent with our values and interests should be a high priority for your Administration.

Finally, the United States should seek to strengthen our ties to Armenia, a young democracy that has been shaken by the events of the past month. We request that your administration identify ways in which our economic, cultural, and other ties to Armenia can be improved, something that would be enormously beneficial to Armenia and to the large Armenian-American diaspora in the United States.

Thank you for your attention. We stand ready to work with you after your inauguration to craft a policy that is consistent with U.S. national security, universal principles of human rights, and our democratic values.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Adam B. Schiff

Frank Pallone Jr

Jackie Speier.”

No, Iranian tourists didn’t go to watch a skirmish between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Greg Madatian
France 24 2020
Nov 6 2020

Thousands of people took to social media in October to share an amateur video that they believed showed Iranian tourists standing at the summit of a mountain watching exchanges of rocket fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia, who are locked in conflict over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh. But actually, the video shows a military exercise staged by the Russian army in November 2019.

This video was posted by an English-speaking blogger on Twitter and shared on a Spanish-language page on Facebook that claims to be a news site. Together, the two publications of the video garnered more than 200,000 views and were shared more than 6,000 times in total. Both of these posts claim that the video shows Iranian tourists who travelled to the border that they share with the two warring parties to watch them exchange rocket fire. The Azeri and Armenian armed forces have been clashing in Nagorno-Karabakh since September 27, 2020. 

Why it’s false 
 
The first clue to the real origin of the video comes at four seconds in, when you see a man wearing a jacket emblazoned with the word “Russia”. 

We took a screengrab 10 seconds into the video and ran it through a reverse image search on the Russian search engine Yandex (see our article to find out how). When we did that, we pulled up a previous publication of the same video, posted on YouTube on November 27, 2019 with a caption in Russian that says “BM-21 GRAD – Rapid Fire’’, which is a type of rocket.

The Indian fact-checking platform Altnews said this video was filmed during an exercise commemorating the Day of Missile Forces and Artillery, which is celebrated in Russia each year on November 19.  

We also pulled up an article on the Russian news site Russia Beyond, dated November 17, 2019, which mentions Russian citizens gathering to watch a rocket being launched from the Lushki Russian military base. 

Conclusion: This video has nothing to do with the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan  in Nagorno-Karabakh. This is an old video filmed in Russia in 2019 during an exercise carried out in honour of the Day of Missile Forces and Artillery. 


TURKISH press: Azerbaijani army destroys Armenian military convoy

Greg Madatian
 ISTANBUL POLITICS 
NOV 02, 2020 8:19 AM GMT+3
Explosions are seen in the mountains during fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces outside Stepanakert in the occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Nov. 1, 2020. (AP Photo)

Azerbaijan’s army on Sunday destroyed an Armenian military convoy during operations to liberate its occupied territories.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said the convoy was detected as it was moving toward the town of Khojavend.

Azerbaijan hit the Armenian forces both with airstrikes and artillery, destroying some of the vehicles and neutralizing the military personnel, the ministry added.

Video footage of the operation was also shared with the public via the ministry’s Twitter account.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Monday also stated that Armenia’s armed forces at the front fired in different directions including toward the positions of its army units and toward civilian human settlements using a variety of weapons, including artillery and missiles.

“Defending enemy units were forced to retreat while losing personnel and military vehicles at the front. The enemy’s weapons, ammunition and food supplies are running out. There is a lack of spare parts for trucks and other military vehicles” it added in a tweet, followed by, “During the day, a large number of enemy forces including 4 BM-21 Grad MLRS, 10 different types of howitzers, 3 trucks loaded with ammunition and 5 other vehicles were destroyed or wrecked along the front.”

It also stated that starting from 6 a.m. on Nov. 2, Armenian armed forces began shelling the Aghdam village and the Aghjabedi region.

Later in the day, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev announced that the Azerbaijani army has liberated eight more villages from the Armenian occupation.

“Victorious Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have liberated Chaprand, Haji Isagli and Gosha Bulag villages of Jabrayil, Dere Giletag and Boyuk Giletag villages of Zangilan, Ishigli, Muradkhanli and Milanli villages of Qubadli. Long live Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces! Karabakh is Azerbaijan!” he wrote on Twitter.

Since clashes erupted Sept. 27, Armenia has repeatedly attacked Azerbaijan’s civilians and its armed forces, violating three humanitarian cease-fires since Oct. 10 in the process.

To date, at least 91 innocent people, including 11 children and 27 women, have been killed by Armenian attacks, according to Azerbaijan’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office.

About 400 civilians, including at least 14 infants, 36 children and 101 women, have also been injured in the violence.

At least 2,442 homes, 92 apartment buildings and 428 public buildings have been damaged and become unusable, the authority also said.

More than 1,200 people from both sides have been reported killed in the fighting, but the death toll is believed to be substantially higher.

Yerevan and Baku once again accused each other of bombing residential areas on Saturday, in defiance of a pact to avoid the deliberate targeting of civilians in and around occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

Shelling was reported by both sides within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the conflict was reached. A meeting in Geneva included the two countries’ foreign ministers and envoys from France, Russia and the United States, which are the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, which was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict but to no avail.

Baku and Yerevan’s top diplomats agreed on Friday not to target civilian populations or non-military objects, according to a statement from the Minsk Group after it had mediated hours of discussions.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military took control of Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

About 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions, has been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

World powers, including Russia, France and the U.S., have called for a sustainable cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku’s right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia’s occupying forces.

In Artsakh, Assyrians of Armenia rise to country’s defense

Greg Madatian
The Assyrian Journal
Nov 2 2020

November 2020 | By Joe Snell

WASHINGTON — Assyrian-Armenian brothers Torgom Sayadyan and Artur arrived from Russia to the front lines of Artsakh to defend the region against a fierce offensive by Azerbaijan and allied forces. It was here, as Torgom became injured in the conflict, that Artur clung to his brother as he died in his arms.

Since fighting erupted between Armenian and Azerbaijan on Sept. 27 over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, also referred to as the Republic of Artsakh, five Assyrian-Armenian fighters, as young as 18 and as old as 59, have been killed and six others wounded. Their service highlights mounting military, medical and donation efforts by Assyrian communities around the world to support Armenian forces. 

The ongoing fighting has left more than 1,200 Armenians killed and many more wounded. This is the most serious escalation in the decades-long territorial clash that pits the two former Soviet states and a growing list of powerful allies on both sides. 

As a small community inside Armenia, Assyrians have rallied to the defense of the country they now call home. It’s a bond, many said, that goes back centuries. 

“We have almost the same destinies,” said Dr. Anahit Khosroeva, an Assyrian-Armenian and a leading researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences in Armenia. “Assyrians in Armenia, being a Christian nation, they have always considered Armenia as their home.”

Troops in Artsakh. (Photo by Roberto Travan)

FIGHTING ON THE FRONT LINES

There are four Assyrian-populated villages in Armenia: Arzni, Verin Dvin, Dimitrovo and Nor Artagers. The country has a total population of nearly 3 million and is home to roughly 5,000 Assyrians. That number was about 6,000 just a few decades ago, but the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and economic challenges have forced many to leave to Russia and surrounding countries. 

Armenia requires a military service from its citizens beginning at the age of 18. When the conflict in Artsakh erupted in late September, about 25 Assyrians were on active military duty. And despite having already served their country, others volunteered on contract with the Ministry of Defense. 

Today, more than 100 Assyrians are fighting for Armenia, Khosroeva estimates. This includes Rudik Sarkhosh, 59, who initially was denied volunteer service because of his age. But Sarkhosh refused to leave his local recruitment office for five days and demanded he be taken to the front lines. He eventually was sent to the conflict. 

Sarkhosh has since died in the fighting. He joins four other Assyrians who have died, including three fighters on active-duty and another volunteer. 

Reports last month indicated that two Assyrian fighters have gone missing in action. One soldier had only moved to Artsakh two years earlier to live with his mother. When the war started, he signed up as a volunteer. 

Military service is not the only way that Assyrians are rallying to the Armenian front lines. Assyrian nurses have also joined the fight. Nurses are in dire need, a source told the Journal, and some are flocking to hospitals near the fighting and others are choosing to remain in hotly-contested areas. 

One Assyrian nurse living in Artsakh had the opportunity to leave when the war broke out, but decided to stay and volunteer. Others, like Arusik Babasieva from the capital of Yerevan, have chosen to volunteer in the conflict zone.

Bag filled with sand, used to protect the civilian hospital in Stepanakert, arrive to the front lines. (Photo by Roberto Travan)

HELP FROM BEHIND THE FRONT LINES

Assyrians in the country who can’t fight are supporting Armenia through donation efforts and media platforms, many of which have been organized by local churches. 

Two registered ACOE buildings reside in Armenia, one in the town of Dvin and another in Arzni, while many smaller, non-registered churches also dot these communities. Despite being built around 1830 and at one point in fear of collapse, churches are the lifeblood of the villages and nearly everything is organized through them, a source told the Journal. 

So when fighting with Azerbaijan first broke out,  Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE) priest in Armenia Father Nikademus Yukhanaev, along with local volunteers, didn’t hesitate to help the troops and residents of Artsakh.

“We don’t have a homeland but Armenia is as our homeland,” Yukhanaev said. “We are living here for nearly 200 years and we are free to use and teach our language, we are free to worship in our churches and keep our culture. The attitude of Armenians is very good to us. That is why every Assyrian thinks that he should defend his homeland.”

Yukhanaev and a small group began traveling between villages and setting up donation drives. Initially, volunteers collected clothes and food. After posting efforts on Facebook, donor numbers grew larger and other Assyrian groups began pitching in, including a group of children in Dvin that sold fruit and donated all proceeds to an Armenian fund.

Today, the volunteers send a truck full of food and other items to the conflict area every two days. The contents vary depending on the needs of the troops. Last week, women in the villages sent bags of fresh-baked kadeh for the troops to eat on the front lines.  This week, the group organized 100 sleeping bags and non-perishable goods.

Mourning of a lost life in Artsakh. (Photo by Roberto Travan)

A BID FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

Grassroots volunteer efforts like those by Yukhanaev soon attracted global attention. Arsen Mikhailov, the Assyrians’ MP in Armenia’s Parliament, announced in late September that money had been received from communities in Russia and Ukraine. Other communities in Europe, Australia and the United States have also donated. In total, Khosroeva estimates that Assyrian individuals and organizations around the world have donated about $100,000 to support the Armenian fund and to assist with humanitarian aid.

Organizations like A Demand for Action (ADFA), a Swedish-based non-profit that works for the protection of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Armenians and other minorities across Iraq and Syria, receives dozens of Artsakh requests daily from individuals asking for warm clothes, food and hygienic supplies.

In an announcement last week, ADFA sent humanitarian aid to 1,400 Artsakh families. And they are now sending 30 tons of winter clothes to the area.

But despite international support, some Assyrians in Armenia are concerned that the world is growing disinterested with the conflict and the indifference could lead to another genocide. 

“Right now, the international community has to speak up about this issue,” Khosroeva said. She recalls watching the world lose interest in the Syrian conflict and now believes the same indifference is afflicting her own country. “If they don’t benefit from Armenia, they don’t care. I believe being silent, you are becoming a part of the crime. We have to speak up.”


Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the risks for Georgia

Greg Madatian
Oct 29 2020
27/10/2020 –  Onnik James Krikorian Tbilisi

For George Gogua, a Tbilisi-based journalist, the online space had already become toxic as Georgia edged closer to the parliamentary elections set for the end of October. As misinformation, disinformation, and political propaganda circulated, he decided to take a break from the polarised, often hostile debate by temporarily deactivating his Facebook account.

That was in June, but when he returned to the platform at the end of August, the situation was about to deteriorate even further a few weeks later. This time, however, not because of elections, but because fighting was about to break out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Georgia’s two neighbours in the region, over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

The two countries fought a bloody war in the early 1990s over the mainly ethnic-Armenian autonomous region situated within what the international community considers sovereign Azerbaijani territory. Over 25,000 had died by the time a ceasefire was signed in 1994, and by 2016 a further 3,000 had been killed in regular violations of a shaky truce.

Armenia was left in control of not only Nagorno Karabakh, but also much of the seven surrounding regions. Approximately 600,000 Azerbaijanis had become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in addition to around 160,000 ethnic Azeris that had been forced to leave Armenia and 300,000 ethnic Armenians that had to flee Azerbaijan.

“I’ve participated in several cross-border projects with Armenian and Azerbaijani colleagues”, says Gogua. “We all had a good time together and those Armenians and Azerbaijanis even agreed that their conflict was political and shouldn’t affect personal relations. But during this latest fighting, what they were posting online shocked me. It had turned into something far worse”.

Meanwhile, as the latest military confrontation that erupted on 27 September quickly became full-scale war, two days later those tensions spread to Georgia. Ethnic Armenian inhabitants of the country’s western region of Samtskhe-Javakheti even blocked the Turkey-Georgia highway after allegations of weapons shipments to Azerbaijan were spread on social media.

Georgia’s ethnic Armenian and Azeri minority communities are the largest in the country at 168,000 and 284,000 respectively. Although there are cases of coexistence and even cohabitation in several villages, towns, and cities, most communities remain largely separate, which is why some analysts are starting to express concern.

Demonstrations have already been held, with ethnic Azeri citizens of Georgia marching on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tbilisi to show their support for the military action. There have also been protests in response to allegations from Georgia’s ethnic Armenian community that Tbilisi was blocking humanitarian assistance being sent to Armenia.

That claim was rejected by the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi, and the Armenian government itself warned its citizens and ethnic kin to be especially cautious on social media. The situation is particularly precarious for Armenia as most of its trade passes through Georgia, while only a little passes through its only other open border with Iran. Those with Azerbaijan and Turkey remain closed.

As a result, any overspill of the conflict to either ethnic minority community, let alone both, could be potentially devastating.

“The communities remained relatively insulated from the first Karabakh war”, says Laurence Broers, Caucasus Programme Director at the UK-based Conciliation Resources, “but today anyone anywhere can participate in a toxic, radicalising social media space on this conflict. Georgia’s hard-won civic nationhood is threatened by any radicalisation of its two largest minorities”.

“My main concern is that co-ethnic compatriot populations within Georgia will potentially become increasingly sectarian and involved in the conflict”, says Michael Hikaeri Cecire, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute’s Frontier Europe Initiative. “Whether by volunteering to participate, but also by provoking rising tensions and threatening the generally peaceful coexistence of ethnic Azerbaijani and Armenian populations in the country”.

Arnold Stepanian, Chairperson of the Multinational Georgia public movement, agrees.

“The current situation has become highly aggressive and tense between the ethnic Armenian and Azeri communities”, he says. “Disinformation is playing an enormous role in provoking inter-ethnic hatred and aggression between the two. Russian and Turkish media are also involved”.

And it is the involvement of external actors that worries analysts the most.

“The regional implications of the current fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh are very serious”, says Irakli Sirbiladze, a Georgian international affairs analyst. “This is different from what has been before. The conflict dynamics make it clear that the implications of the fighting go well beyond Armenia and Azerbaijan”.

Indeed, there have already been allegations that shipments of weapons and mercenaries from Turkey to Azerbaijan have been using Georgian airspace, and Azerbaijan’s president has alleged the same about shipments to Armenia. Georgia denies the claims and says that if there is any evidence it will be presented to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

MEI’s Cecire notes that while Georgia’s neutrality is sensible in the circumstances, it might prove untenable over time as the country is the only obvious direct route for resupplying both Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 22 October, for example, one Russian lawmaker ‘advised’ Georgia to ‘calmly accept’ the necessity of allowing it if the need were to arise.

“The possibility of escalation exists”, he says, “and Georgia will be faced with the impossible position of either blocking Russian reinforcements and supplies and potentially subjecting itself to the possibility of a Russian invasion to force a corridor, or allowing it and opening the possibility that Azerbaijani and/or Turkish forces intervene to stop them”.

But even if the parties to the conflict were to agree to respect Georgia’s borders and airspace, Cecire believes that relations with all of them could suffer. And while Georgia’s offer to host any mediation between Armenia and Azerbaijan might be useful in the future, it is unlikely to be accepted while one side believes it has military advantage on the ground.

“Of all the non-belligerent regional actors, Georgia has the most to potentially lose from this war”, says Eurasia Democratic Security Network fellow Alexander Scrivener. “It is clearly unrealistic for Georgia to take on a leading role in mediation and it should probably avoid involvement in any physical peacekeeping mission. Georgia’s relative strength is likely to be in people-to-people diplomacy and facilitating informal or lower-level contact between officials and policymakers from Armenia and Azerbaijan”.

“This war is bad news for Georgia”, he concludes. “But just how bad depends on how the situation develops. At a minimum, Georgia faces the prospect of dealing with the economic effects of being surrounded by a wall of fire. Conflict to its south, in addition to its already fraught situation with Russia, is not good news for a Georgian economy already reeling from Covid-19″.

“The conflict, by highlighting the West’s impotence and disinterest in the region, is also likely to lead to further entrenchment of Russian hegemony here”, he says. “This, to put it mildly, is also not good news for Georgia”.


https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Georgia/Armenia-Azerbaijan-conflict-the-risks-for-Georgia-205802?fbclid=IwAR3w_HNkrCDxC492uOm09b_Ga9RzFalt0_DMjoBlzHzQ-2bNqQUby3bc2OQ

Artsakh improves positions in Berdzor-Aras River direction

Greg Madatian

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 22:21,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh’s forces have improved the military positions in Berdzor-Aras River direction, ARMENPRESS reports representative of the MoD Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a press conference, noting that during the day the clashes continued along the front line but not very intensively.

‘’First, in Berdzor-Aras River direction our troops were able to improve positions. Besides, like we had mentioned before, the military operations against subversive groups in the villages of Martuni and Askeran regions of Artsakh continue, mainly nearby small settlements in forest areas. Today those operations took place in the territories of Avetaranots and Sghnakh villages, in the nearby hills and forests”, he said. 

Hovhannisyan added that the bombing of various settlements of Artsakh continued during the day.

Time For Proactive Action

Greg Madatian

October 26,  2020



Azerbaijani forces continued to violate the ceasefire agreement as world leaders welcomed the effort

BY VICKEN SOSIKIAN

As I am writing this (Saturday 10/24, just after midnight), a friend sent me a news report that Turkey is transferring 1,200 special forces to Artsakh. Prime Minister Pashinyan has likened Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s coordinated attacks on Artsakh as our new Sardarabad – where had Armenians not been successful in defeating the Ottomans, there would not be an Armenia today.

By definition, what Armenians are experiencing in Artsakh today is genocide.

Article 2 of The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines 5 acts, any one of which that is carried out with the intention to destroy a people, as genocide.

When Azerbaijan bombs the capitol and major cities of Artsakh for weeks, causing most of the population to flee; there is no doubt that their intention is to destroy the Armenian population of Artsakh.

Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s support, is currently carrying out not one but three acts that are tantamount to genocide according sections A, B and C of the definition of genocide:

A. Killing members of the group;

B. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

C. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

Make no mistake, the Pan Turkism plan drawn more than a century ago is being executed as we speak. Armenia and the entire Armenian people are living in times of existential significance.

There should not even be a sliver of doubt that this bombardment is not only about the territory of Artsakh but more so about an effort the complete an unfinished genocide.

The only way to stop the attempts of annihilating the Armenian nation is to, once and for all, stop Azerbaijani and Turkish aggression against Armenia. Experience has shown that the only way to accomplish that is by defeating them so significantly that they hand over all that is ours to prevent us from having to liberate it.

In the absence of a significant breakthrough on the international diplomacy front, this war may take much longer than any of us would like. And the only way of ensuring the existence of our nation on the tail end of it all is to hold our line and defeat the enemy for good.

Anything less will result in the loss of Artsakh, and Armenia shortly after; and within about a hundred years the loss of the entire Armenian people.

The first Christian nation with thousands of years of history is, today, fighting for its life.

This is not pessimism; this is not hopelessness. This is my take on the situation based on history, based on current reality and based on the assessments made by Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Harutyunyan.

So where does this reality place us as a people? What course of action should every Armenian be planning as her contribution to the efforts of securing the existence of our nation?

The first course of action has already begun – Diaspora-wide grassroots activism. But, just as and if not more important, is the immediate establishment of goods production that directly or indirectly supports Armenia and its armed forces.

As a resident of Los Angeles one cannot be more amazed at the overwhelming amount of love and passion Armenians have displayed since the attacks started.

There’s been some form of rally or protest every day, fundraising results have been exponentially higher than ever before, the movement to rid our communities of Turkish products has taken off, more than one million ANCA action alerts have been sent to government officials, and now we’re pressuring PR firms to drop Turkey and Azerbaijan as clients.

While these actions are all important and impactful and while there’s a certain rush we experience when our actions produce results…these are reactive measurers.

If we want our nation to secure our rightful place in this world we must also be proactive and take meaningful leaps right away.

For example:

Engineers need to find a way to manufacture weapons in Armenia, now.

Those in the apparel business must shift to producing fatigues and military boots in Armenia, now.

Those in the construction industry must start building bunkers and rebuilding destroyed homes, now.

Those in the food service business must start making packaged and canned foods in Armenia, now.

And so on.

With similar urgency, even businesses unrelated to the war effort, should move their operations to Armenia.

Marketers, designers, advertisers, software developers and various other professionals should find a way to run their business out of Armenia, now.

All the famous Armenian women who produce makeup and beauty products should move their productions to Armenia, now.

Investors, entrepreneurs, and business savvy individuals should innovate in Armenia, now.

Now is the time. Later may just be never.

The Diaspora High Commissioner’s Office should focus all of its energies to such proactive measurers within Armenia to expedite the repatriation of Armenian innovation and commerce to Armenia. Not only would such an approach benefit the Armenian economy on the long term, but it will provide direct support to a people currently struggling to literally secure their place in the world.

In short, we all must find creative and impactful ways to support Armenia now. While it may not be economically and financially prudent, now is the time.

It is at these times that I remember my late friend Allen Yekikian, who would often quote Raffi: “While the prudent stand and ponder, the fool has already crossed the river.”