Author: Hagop Kamalian

Comprehensive settlement of NK conflict is possible only under the mandate of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs – FM Mirzoyan

Hagop Kamalian

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 18:02,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan held a meeting in Paris with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Andrew Schofer (USA), Igor Khovaev (Russia), and Brice Roquefueil (France) on November 10.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Ararat Mirzoyan stressed that the comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be achieved only through peaceful means under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship on the basis of the principles and elements well-known to the sides.

The importance of the Co-Chairs’ visit to the region was underlined in the context of assessing the situation on the ground. During the meeting the sides emphasized the priority of implementing concrete steps towards the de-escalation of the situation in the region․ In this regard, Ararat Mirzoyan condemned the attacks on the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in casualties, as well as the consistent Armenophobic rhetoric.

Foreign Minister of Armenia and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs exchanged views on humanitarian issues that need to be urgently addressed. In this context, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the imperative for immediate and unconditional repatriation of the Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons, as well as clarification of the fate of missing persons and preservation of the Armenian historical-cultural heritage.

On the same day, with the mediation and participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan was hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian.

During the five-party meeting, the Foreign Minister of Armenia expressed the position of the Armenian side to fully resume the peace process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. Ararat Mirzoyan reaffirmed the position expressed during the meeting with the Co-Chairs, including on the need for de-escalation of the situation and addressing the humanitarian issues, as well as the inadmissibility of provocations and Armenophobic rhetoric.

Criminal case initiated as Azerbaijani forces target Armenian farmer

Hagop Kamalian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 10 2021
, 16:46

 Less than a minute

A criminal case has been initiated in connection with the attempted murder of a resident of Khachik village, Artsakh’s Prosecutor General’s Office reports.

On November 9, 2021, at around 2:50 p.m., servicemen of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, motivated by national hatred, targeted a tractor driven by T. Asatryan in the administrative area of Khachik village, Vayots Dzor region.

The farmer, who was carrying our agricultural works with his tractor, escaped unhurt. The window of the vehicle was damaged.

Under an agreement reached between the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani prosecutors-general regarding exchange of information on criminal acts at the line of contact, the Russian authorities have been notified about the incident.

Russia doesn’t claim monopoly in communication with Armenia, Azerbaijan – Foreign Ministry

Hagop Kamalian
TASS, Russia
Nov 6 2021
The ministry emphasized that the Moscow-initiated trilateral agreements and mechanisms were not imposed on the sides

MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Russia does not seek an exclusive right to communicate with Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement marking a year’s anniversary of the trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020.

"Russia is not claiming a monopoly in communication with Armenia and Azerbaijan although we have bonds of a longstanding and close friendship and a large-scale partnership on all azimuths with those countries and peoples," the statement says. "We stand for effective use of the international community’s current potential with adequate account of the changed regional realities."

The Foreign Ministry pointed out that a year has gone since the trilateral statement was adopted, so the information on social networks and in online resources that "Russia's peacekeeping efforts were allegedly aimed at ‘breaking Nagorno-Karabakh away,’ ‘handing it over’ to Azerbaijan, and turning Armenia into a ‘protectorate’ can be safely refuted.

"These statements are populist, they show an obvious external order and have nothing to do with reality," the Foreign Ministry noted.

The ministry emphasized that the Moscow-initiated trilateral agreements and mechanisms were not imposed on the sides, but were based on a verified balance of interests and included a very respectful attitude to the sovereignty and interests of Baku and Yerevan.

"Some of our initiatives could not be agreed upon, and that is normal. On the other hand, the agreement that has already been confirmed is, as they say, hard-won and is effectively implemented in practice," the Foreign Ministry stressed.

The highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been disputed by Baku and Yerevan since February 1988 when the region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. According to the statement, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and then the Armenian forces would turn over control of certain districts to Azerbaijan. In addition, Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the contact line and to the Lachin corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

 

Armenian PM receives Georgian Defense Minister

Hagop Kamalian

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 16:46, 2 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received today Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze, the PM’s Office said.

“I must praise the fact that there is a very high dynamics in the relations between Armenia and Georgia over the past period and I am also happy that this dynamics is being strengthened with the visit of the Defense Minister. We are interested in deepening our cooperation with Georgia in all areas and developing our brotherly relations. And of course, such kind of visits and also the personal contacts between the members of the government are very important in this context. I would like to once again welcome you”, Pashinyan said in his welcoming remarks.

In his turn the Georgian defense minister thanked for the reception and said: “It’s a great honor for me to meet a person with such a biography like you. Before being appointed as minister of defense, I have served as the deputy of the minister who later become a prime minister, and I am happy that your relations with him are a base for continuing our cooperation. My visit is the continuation of that cooperation, and this progress, of course, will be constant. Once again thank you”.

Pashinyan asked to convey his warm greetings to his Georgian counterpart, stating that the dialogue with the Georgian PM, the government is based on full mutual trust, which, he said, is a good base for the development of strategic partnership.

Juansher Burchuladze assessed the cooperation and the programs with the Armenian defense ministry as effective.

The Armenian PM and the Georgian defense minister also exchanged views on strengthening the defense partnership and on issues of regional significance.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenian, Georgian defense ministers discuss cooperation programs

Hagop Kamalian

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 17:30, 2 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. The delegation led by Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze arrived in Armenia on a two-day official visit on November 2, the Armenian defense ministry said in a statement.

Defense Minister of Armenia Arshak Karapetyan and his Georgian counterpart firstly held a private meeting which was followed by an extended-format meeting attended by delegations.

Minister Arshak Karapetyan introduced the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to his Georgian counterpart.

During the meeting both sides emphasized the necessity of establishment of peace and sustainable development in the region.

The meeting participants discussed international and regional security-related issues, as well as the cooperation of Armenia and Georgia in the field of defense.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

UNESCO magazine covers Armenian intangible cultural heritage

Hagop Kamalian
News.am, Armenia
Oct 29 2021
14:34, 29.10.2021

The latest—2021—issue of Living Heritage magazine of UNESCO has been published, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

This issue is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of UNESCO, and it presents the challenges of preserving the intangible cultural heritage in Southeastern Europe.

In this connection, the magazine extensively covers the intangible Armenian cultural heritage, too.


Karabakh offers to swap Azerbaijani paintings with Armenian treasures

Hagop Kamalian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Oct 26 2021


– 10:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Lusine Karakhanyan has confirmed that after the First Karabakh War, Armenia possesses 4 dozen Azerbaijani paintings, which the Armenian side is ready to exchange, Aravot.am reports.

The Minister noted that the Azerbaijani side, which had not expressed interest in said paintings for 30 years, has now been offered to exchange them for the Armenian cultural treasures trapped in Shushi.

"This is paradoxical: they are not interested in their values, but are used to robbing others. I cannot say in detail what kind of works they are, I know that these are Azerbaijani paintings," Karakhanyan said.

"We proposed this option within the cooperation with Russian peacekeepers immediately after the war, but these people are ignorant, this is a nation that does not value culture, but only steals culture. We are in such a difficult situation. The Russian peacekeeping contingent has cultural and educational personnel, and we worked with them."

Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region immediately after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.

Iran reaches agreement with Armenia on new transport routes

Hagop Kamalian
Tehran Times, Iran
Oct 25 2021
  1. Economy
– 15:39

TEHRAN – Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mehdi Mirashrafi said good agreements have been reached with Armenia on the development of customs cooperation as well as the use of alternative routes for the transport of goods.

Mirashrafi who visited Moscow on Sunday to attend an international customs conference noted that Iran has diversified its international routes so that no single route could impose a limitation on the country’s international trade.

Earlier this month, Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Kheirollah Khademi had announced an agreement between Iran and Armenia for establishing new transit routes, as the two countries are facing problems in trade exchanges through Azerbaijan.

“The alternative transit route for Iranian trucks in Armenia will be asphalted within the next month, and there will be no need to use the previous route which passes through Azerbaijan and requires us to pay tolls to the country,” Khademi said.

Azerbaijan is controlling and claiming ownership for approximately 20 km out of a 400 km route between Iran and Armenia and has imposed strict regulations on Iranian drivers which are posing major problems for them passing through the 20-kilometer section of Armenia’s Goris-Kapan Road including paying tolls levied by Azerbaijani border guards.

Mirashrafi further pointed to the positive talks held with the members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) during the conference, saying: “The volume of trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union has taken an upward path, and with the agreements reached, we will soon see a leap in trade relations with the member countries of this union.”

Referring to the importance of land crossings for the export and import of goods between Iran and Russia, the official said: "Completing the maritime and road infrastructure and providing more customs facilities, especially in the Caspian Sea region, can increase trade [between the two countries]."

In addition to ground roads, Iran has routes in the Caspian Sea through Ro-Ro ships to Azerbaijan Republic, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, Mirashrafi added.

EF/MA

Russian Vote Monitor Named ‘Foreign Agent’ After $3 Donation From Armenian

Hagop Kamalian
Oct 22 2021

Golos, an independent vote-monitoring movement, was named a “foreign agent” by Russia’s Justice Ministry in August after receiving a $3 contribution from an Armenian citizen, the movement's co-chairman Grigory Melkonyants said on Facebook. 

A Russian court denied Golos’ challenge against being designated a “foreign agent,” explaining that the grounds for the vote-monitoring organization being added to list was two transfers of “about 200 rubles” ($2.80) from a citizen of ex-Soviet republic Armenia, Melkonyants said.

The Russian Justice Ministry included Golos, a local organization that observes elections, in its list of “foreign agents” just weeks before September’s parliamentary elections in a move widely decried as a ploy to frustrate their efforts to monitor and report on election fraud.

Created in 2000, Golos had notably denounced election rigging in the 2011 parliamentary election and the 2012 presidential vote which saw President Vladimir Putin return to the Kremlin. 

“Despite the lack of evidence, the court dismissed our claim. We will appeal,” Melkonyants said in a post. 

Melkonyants disputed the Justice Ministry’s claims, and said that the movement did not even have a bank account where the transfer could be sent to. He added that he was “discouraged by the lack of evidence and supporting documents” that the Justice Ministry used as grounds for the “foreign agent” label. 

The development mirrors other incidents of organizations being designated “foreign agents” after having received small donations from foreign citizens or people living in other countries. Last year, the League of Voters non-profit was added to Russia’s “foreign agent” registry after receiving a transfer of 225 rubles ($3.20) from a Molodvan citizen.

Kremlin critics say authorities are using the “foreign agents” law to silence opposition voices and independent media. News organizations, NGOs and individuals which are added to the registry must follow rigorous financial reporting requirements and attach a 24-word foreign agent disclaimer to every publication, including social media posts.



During Routine Maintenance, Conservators Discovered an Unknown Arshile Gorky Painting Hidden Behind a Work on Paper

Hagop Kamalian
Oct 21 2021

The newly discovered work will go on view at Hauser and Wirth in New York next month.

Sarah Cascone, 

When the Arshile Gorky Foundation sent a work by the early Abstract Expressionist out for routine conservation, they got more than they bargained for: The single work came back as two after onservators discovered a painting hidden behind the later work on paper.

“This discovery is the sort of moment that drew so many of us to art in the first place—the wonder and surprise, the invitation to think beyond what we already know, hints of new horizons,” Marc Payot, president of Hauser and Wirth, which will debut the work in a non-selling exhibition in New York next month, told Artnet News in an email.

The painting, which has been dubbed Untitled (Virginia Summer), is being added to a new Gorky catalogue raisonné, due out this month from the artist’s foundation.

When Gorky finished the painting on paper, The Limit (1947), he was in quite a prolific period, making a new work every day. As a result, it appears he was short on materials, and, lacking a stretched canvas to work on, simply placed it atop the earlier work now identified as Untitled (Virginia Summer).

Arshile Gorky, The Limit (1947). Photo by Jon Etter, ©the Arshile Gorky Foundation/Artists Rights Society, courtesy the Arshile Gorky Foundation and Hauser and Wirth.

It’s quite possible that this isn’t the only painting the artist obscured this way. “Curators of museums: It’s not a bad idea to take it out of the basement or off the wall, look behind, and see if you’ve got two paintings instead of one,” Matthew Spender, the artist’s son-in-law and author of From a High Place: A Life of Arshile Gorky, told the New York Times.

Gorky used glue along the edges and kraft paper tape, an adhesive designed for easy removal, to affix The Limit onto the canvas, presumably as a temporary measure. But when the artist died the following year, Virginia Summer stayed covered, lost to art history for over seven decades.

Conservators Michaela Ritter and Olivier Masson of the Swiss restoration studio Masson and Ritter undertook the painstaking work of peeling back The Limit to reveal the painting underneath. They then constructed a new stretcher on which to safely display the delicate work on paper.

Arshile Gorky, Untitled (Virginia Summer) ca. 1946–47. Photo by Jon Etter, ©the Arshile Gorky Foundation/Artists Rights Society, courtesy the Arshile Gorky Foundation and Hauser and Wirth.

The find is all the more remarkable considering Virginia Summer was hanging quite literally in plain sight at some of the nation’s most prestigious museums. The foundation has loaned The Limit to both the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the latter for a major retrospective of the artist in 2009 and 2010.

On the other hand, the discovery wasn’t entirely unexpected. Gorky’s daughters Natasha Gorky and Maro Spender had already noticed one of the corners of The Limit had come unstuck. Clearly, there was paint underneath.

Conservators had long been deemed too risky to try and see what was really under there, but with a lighter work schedule due to the pandemic, Ritter and Masson were able to take the time to do it carefully. As they worked, they came to realize the canvas contained a completed late masterpiece by the artist, an aqua-colored abstract canvas filled with biomorphic shapes.

At the time, Gorky was experimenting with new techniques, mixing oil and turpentine for a more fluid, expressive style.

“Gorky was incredibly inventive in his last years,” Payot said. “This painting gives us additional insight into his own revelations and wonder at that time. It’s thrilling for us to share a newly found masterpiece with the public, as well as scholars and artists who have long loved and been inspired by Gorky’s work.”

Because the work had never been exposed to light, the colors remained as vibrant and fresh as the day Gorky painted them. “[It was] like an explosion compared to The Limit,” Masson told the Times. “It was so well protected. I would say it’s in mint condition.”

“Arshile Gorky. Beyond the Limit” will be on view at Hauser and Wirth, 542 West 22nd Street, New York, November 16–December 23, 2021.