Author: Hambik Zargarian

Caretaker deputy PM Avinyan gets second shot of COVID-19 vaccine

Hambik Zargarian

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 16:22,

YEREVAN, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker deputy prime minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan got his second dose of coronavirus vaccine in the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, his Office told Armenpress.

Avinyan has been vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine.

Vaccinations against COVID-19 continue in Armenia.

As of June 27, 74,814 people have been vaccinated against the disease since the launch of the vaccination process.

Vaccinations are carried out in centers of primary healthcare all days of the week.

Foreigners in Armenia can also get vaccinated for free.

AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Coronavac vaccines are available in Armenia.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Turkish press: Turkey to give ‘clear’ message on security in talks with US

Hambik Zargarian
 ANKARA DIPLOMACY 
JUN 21, 2021 4:30 PM GMT+3
Head of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Akif Çağatay Kılıç speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Antalya, Turkey, June 21, 2021. (AA Photo)

Ankara will be clear and open in the upcoming talks with the U.S. in which security and Turkey’s unity will be discussed, the head of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Akif Çağatay Kılıç stated on Monday.

Discussing the commission’s upcoming trip to the U.S., Kılıç told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they will have talks with several senators and congresspeople as well as representatives from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the media, the Turkish community and businesspeople.

“We both have things to tell each other. During the visit, we have the opportunity to observe that parliamentarians interacting at various levels with Turkey’s international agenda are not aware of the realities in Turkey – we will fix this,” he explained.

He gave the example of the 1915 events, which U.S. President Joe Biden recently referred to as the “Armenian genocide.” Highlighting that Turkey has repeatedly urged Washington to establish a historical committee to investigate the incidents, Kılıç noted that some parliamentarians believed that Ankara was trying to impede such a process.

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Kılıç stressed that the issue of terrorism will be high on the agenda.

“We will explain once again how wrong it is for the U.S. to cooperate at various levels with elements linked to terrorism in the region.”

On the issue of democracy and human rights, Kılıç said the deficiencies and faults of those criticizing Turkey will be voiced directly.

Ankara and Washington disagree on a number of issues that have further strained bilateral ties in recent years, from Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems to the U.S. support to the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian branch, the YPG terrorist group. The two sides have also butted heads over the U.S. refusal to extradite Fetullah Gülen, leader of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) among other legal matters.

The U.S. primarily partnered with the YPG in northeastern Syria in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group while Turkey strongly opposed the YPG’s presence in northern Syria. Ankara has long objected to the U.S.’ support for the YPG, a group that poses a threat to Turkey and that terrorizes local people, destroying their homes and forcing them to flee.

Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the YPG, despite its NATO ally’s security concerns. Underlining that one cannot support one terrorist group to defeat another, Turkey conducted its own counterterrorism operations, over the course of which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists from the region.

Erdogan’s visit to Shushi a provocation – Artsakh MFA

Hambik Zargarian
Public Radio of Armenia
June 15 2021
 
 

Artsakh’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to occupied territories of Artsakh, calling it a provocation.

Erdogan and his family visited the historic capital of Artsakh, Shushi, accompanied by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and his family.

“The visit to the historic capital of Shushi, which was destroyed by Turkey and Azerbaijan in 1920 and 2020, is a gross violation of international law, a clear manifestation of xenophobia, genocidal and terrorist policy,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh  strongly condemns such visits to the occupied territories of Artsakh, considering them as a provocation, a clear-cut implementation of expansionist and extremist policy.

“Turkey’s provocative actions must be condemned by the international community, as such visits, the ideas, statements, agreements reached and glorification of medieval expansionist policy are a serious threat to international and regional security, a challenge to the entire civilized humanity, a blow to the reputation of all the organizations and structures, of which Turkey is a member,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

 

Turkey and Azerbaijan sign new declaration reinforcing military cooperation against Armenia

Hambik Zargarian
June 17 2021


by Levent Kenez June 17, 2021


 

The Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders met on Tuesday in a city that is emblematic of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict to sign a declaration announcing joint action in the field of defense.

Visiting the strategically important city of Shusha in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that both Armenia and Azerbaijan claim is historically their own, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev signed a new protocol called “The Shusha Declaration” on Azerbaijan’s national day, emphasizing the military cooperation between the two countries as well as Turkey’s commitment to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

The most noteworthy clause of the declaration is undoubtedly the wording that refers to cooperation in the defense industry and mutual military assistance. According to the text signed by the two presidents, if a third state or states carry out attacks or threats against one of the two parties, the countries will jointly take appropriate initiatives and assist each other militarily for the purpose of preventing that threat or attack.

The Shusha Declaration in Turkish and Azeri:

 

Despite the text saying that “the military-political cooperation between the two parties in line with their interests is not against third states,” it is obviously a clear message to Armenia, which fell into instability following its defeat in the 44-day war against neighboring Azerbaijan in 2020. Calling Erdoğan and Aliyev’s visit to Shusha provocative, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry claimed in a statement on Tuesday that it would harm international efforts to establish stability in the region.

Another point that attracts attention is that the two countries have reached an agreement for the production of military equipment that is currently not available to one of them. The Azerbaijani press reported that production of the Turkish drones which played an enormous role in the victory in the recent war will begin in Azerbaijan in the coming months.

 Meanwhile, before the signing ceremony President Aliyev bestowed the Garabagh Order, created on the occasion of the victory in the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, on Haluk Bayraktar, CEO of Baykar Makina, which produces the Bayraktar TB2 military drones used by the Azerbaijani army. Aliyev previously gave the same order to Erdoğan’s son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar, chief technology officer and a shareholder of Baykar Makina, in April, noting that Selçuk Bayraktar was at the forefront of the victory and praising Baykar drones “in the destruction of the enemy’s equipment during the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation.”

Nordic Monitor previously reported that in 2018 leading Turkish defense contractor Aselsan signed an agreement with its Azerbaijani counterpart for the joint production of communications facilities. Similarly, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) signed a cooperation protocol with the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (AMEA) in September 2018 to join efforts in the fields of defense and aviation. The same year, the Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) received a defense cooperation offer from Azerbaijan’s Ministry of the Defense Industry, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Moreover, Turkey’s Roketsan and Azerbaijani military-scientific enterprise Iglim have been working on developing a long-range missile system since 2009.

A noteworthy detail is that the protocol emphasizes Turkey’s contribution to the activities of the joint Turkish-Russian Center, which monitors the implementation of the Russian-brokered ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh and plays an important role in ensuring peace and stability in the region. However, many international observers claim that the joint center is not supposed to be functional, that in fact it is a “carrot” which aims to reduce Turkey’s influence in the region.

President Erdoğan also promised to open a Turkish consulate in the contested city of Shusha, a gesture welcomed by Azerbaijan. It is not difficult to guess that no other country will follow Turkey’s lead since they will not want any dispute with Armenia given the Armenian diaspora’s influence, particularly in the US and France.

It is no secret that an important issue on Erdogan’s agenda is that Turkish contractors close to him will be involved in lucrative post-war infrastructure projects. In a video that went viral on Tuesday Erdoğan, pointing out a construction area, asked Aliyev if “our Azeri brothers” would undertake the construction, and Aliyev replied by naming Turkish companies Cengiz and Kolin, which are owned by businessmen in Erdoğan’s inner circle. When Erdoğan said he didn’t know they were operating in Azerbaijan, Aliyev added, “They are everywhere.” Erdoğan, who pretended to be unaware of that fact, a few seconds before had said he just talked with [Mehmet] Cengiz, the owner of Cengiz Construction, and that Cengiz told him he was at the construction site.


Bright Armenia party expects again to be the third force in parliament

Hambik Zargarian

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 12:13,

YEREVAN, JUNE 18, ARMENPRESS. Bright Armenia party expects that it will again be the third force in the parliament as a result of the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, party president Edmon Marukyan told reporters on the last day of the pre-election campaign.

“Developments are moving on this direction”, he said.

He stated that in the post-election period the party will go to the streets only if the election results are falsified or a disaster occurs in the country.

“If we come with an agenda of unity and solidarity, unite everyone, so what street the talk can be about? If a government of national consent is not formed, it means our agenda is defeated. If our agenda is defeated, we have nothing to do. In other words, we will do everything for that agenda to win. That agenda is the demand of the people. We have already done and do what depended on us”, Marukyan said.

The early parliamentary elections in Armenia will be held on June 20.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

One can not come off the street and rule the country, the negotiation process is not for a dilettante – Arkady Ghukasyan

Hambik Zargarian
Panorama, Armenia

“Over the past 30 years we have never stoped being a country in war, as the war has been continuing during this period,” the former President of Artsakh Republic Arkady Ghukasyan stated on Monday during the round table discussion at Lazarev club. 

Ghukasyan questioned the actions of the Armenian leadership which has changed 4 commanders of the army over the past three years. “It is easy to blame the former leaders but all those commanders were your appointments. You have appointed them and then removed,” said Ghukasyan, adding the tendency of the current leaders to put the blame on others is strange. 

Speaking of the negotiations around the Artsakh conflict, the former president said, Armenia’s leaders speak of things they are not aware and have no enough knowledge. 

“It is not a shame to ask others. We have offered our efforts and support, since it is impossible to come off the street and rule the country, deal with foreign policy. What happened is now a fact but they could ask for advice at least. To understand what is the current stage of the negotiations, we should have asked about its history and the outcomes,” said Ghukasyan.  

“Negotiation process is not for a dilettante. When the one weakens the army, changing the commanders from time to time, announces an intention to start the negotiations from zero point that was expected to turn into a dangerous initiative,” said Ghukasyan, expressing hope in the future the past mistakes would be considered and lessons would be learnt. 

Anonymous group approaching citizens and asking about their votes on behalf of Armenia Ombudsman

Hambik Zargarian
News.am, Armenia
22:54, 14.06.2021

The Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia reports that anonymous people are approaching people, speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Defender and asking which political party or politician they will cast their votes for.

The Office received such alarms today and informs all citizens that those anonymous people or their inquiries have nothing to do with the Office, and the Human Rights Defender has no such jurisdiction in general.

Those people are simply taking advantage of the reputation of the institution through deceit.

Therefore, the Office calls on everyone to ignore the fake inquiries or not respond to any question.


Armenia’s first president said he told Pashinyan to fix heritage received from Serzh Sargsyan in Karabakh issue

Hambik Zargarian
Aysor, Armenia

Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan speaking at a news conference today stated that he has always been concerned with the Nagorno Karabakh issue.

“I told Nikol Pashinyan that his first step must be to fix the heritage he received from Serzh Sargsyan,” Ter-Petrosyan said, adding that he told him to wrote letter to foreign affairs minister demanding present the situation over Karabakh conflict settlement as of April 18 – Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation day.

“After you have it, if you make the situation better it will be your honor, if you bring worse solution will be your shame,” the first president said.

Albanian Parliament votes to impeach President

Hambik Zargarian

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 13:13,

YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. Albania’s Parliament voted Wednesday to impeach President Ilir Meta, after the ruling Socialist Party accused him of meddling in the April 25 national election and violating the country’s constitution, Voice of America reports.

The issue goes now to the Constitutional Court, which will have the final say.

One hundred and four lawmakers voted in favor, seven against and three abstained in the Socialist-dominated legislature. Ninety-four votes, or two-thirds, were needed for the impeachment.

It is the first time that Albania’s Parliament has voted to impeach the president. Lawmakers followed an accelerated procedure to impeach after an ad hoc investigative commission worked for three weeks to conclude that Meta had committed impeachable offenses.

In Albanian law, the president does not belong to a political party and symbolizes the unity of the country.

Armenia 2nd President on the reason for country’s defeat in the war and return of Armenian POWs

Hambik Zargarian
News.am, Armenia
June 8 2021
Armenia 2nd President on the reason for country’s defeat in the war and return of Armenian POWs
16:57, 08.06.2021

We Armenians were defeated when the ‘walkers’ declared that their coming to power in 2018 was more important than the fight for Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). This is what second President of Armenia, leader of the “Armenia” bloc Robert Kocharyan said during a meeting with the residents of Sisian today, adding that the parliament welcomed this statement.

As far as the return of captives is concerned, Kocharyan recalled that the government and first and foremost the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to make sure the international community exerts great pressure on Azerbaijan.