Author: Hambik Zargarian

Azerbaijan uses Armenian POW issue to develop its policy of hatred: Armenian Ombudsman tells MEPs

Hambik Zargarian

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 10:24,

YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. A discussion was held on April 12 at the European Parliament relating to the issue of the release and return of the Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan.

Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan participated in the discussion and delivered a special report, emphasizing the need for international pressure on Azerbaijan, which, he said, will allow to avoid future crimes, the Ombudsman’s Office told Armenpress.

The discussion has been organized by head of the EU-Armenia friendship group at the European Parliament Loucas Fourlas who also delivered a report. MEP Marina Kaljurand and Executive Director of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy Heghine Evinyan also participated in the online discussion.

Ombudsman Tatoyan told the discussion participants that on April 9 he has applied to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers over the immediate return of the Armenian POWs who are illegally kept in Azerbaijan. He once again drew the attention on the fact that all servicemen and civilians of the Armenian side have been captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces during the continuous armed conflict, therefore, he noted, they all are prisoners of war in their status and should be immediately released and returned to the homeland without any political or other precondition.

Tatoyan stated that the Azerbaijani authorities are artificially delaying and politicizing the process, grossly violate the rights of the POWs and their families, causing sufferings and creating tension within the society.

He stated that the Azerbaijani authorities are using the issue of the Armenian prisoners of war for developing their policy of hatred. These crimes are of ethnic nature which are sponsored by the Azerbaijani authorities at the highest level, Tatoyan noted.

The Ombudsman said the EU must express its position in an institutional way to eliminate these violations and prevent the future ones.

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Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Police in Armenia detain women protesters trying to enter government building

Hambik Zargarian
Panorama, Armenia
April 7 2021

Participants of a women’s protest action initiated by the VETO opposition movement on Wednesday marched from Yerevan’s Charles Aznavour Square to the government building, which was guarded by numerous police officers.

Police were standing in several rows at the entrance to the government building.

One of the protesters said, addressing police: “You ensure the safety of persons subjected to Turkey, do you consider yourself a man? We urge you to open the entry for us, otherwise we will do it ourselves.”

Afterwards, the women tried to break through the police cordon, but a scuffle erupted, as police did not allow them to approach the entrance to the building. Protesting women also started throwing eggs towards the government building.

Police officers started to detain women protesters. 

Artsakh continues searching for war casualties

Hambik Zargarian

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 12:12, 5 April, 2021

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. Search and rescue operations for those missing in the 2020 Artsakh war continue in the Jrakan region, the Artsakh Interior Ministry said.

1529 bodies were found during the search and rescue operations since the ceasefire took effect. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian FM stresses necessity of immediate return of POWs from Azerbaijani captivity

Hambik Zargarian

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 17:21, 2 April, 2021

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. The session of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers was held today in Moscow. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian also participated in the session, the MFA told Armenpress.

The discussion focused on issues relating to strengthening the cooperation between the CIS participating states, raising the efficiency of the organization, etc.

During the session the foreigner ministers of the CIS states touched upon the current regional affairs, as well as approved the draft decision on the statement of the leaders of the CIS participating states addressed to the nations of the participating states and the global community on the 80th anniversary of the launch of the Great Patriotic War.

In his remarks, the Armenian FM stated that the victory in the Great Patriotic War is also a clear call to build peace without wars, conflicts and violence.

In the context of regional security and stability-related issues, the FM drew the attention of the session participants to the current humanitarian situation in Artsakh caused by the recent Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression with the involvement of foreign terrorists. He presented in details the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during the military operations, such as the deliberate targeting of the peaceful civilians and civilian infrastructure, the inhuman treatment against the prisoners of war and other detained citizens, stating that all these actions were aimed at eliminating the indigenous people of Artsakh in their historic homeland.

Minister Aivazian also touched upon the implementation process of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, stressing the necessity of the immediate return of Armenian prisoners of war and detained civilians from the Azerbaijani captivity.

In addition, the minister also raised the issue of alarming facts on vandalism against the Armenian religious and cultural heritage. He emphasized the impermissibility of another cultural genocide by Azerbaijan, noting that the establishment of peace on the ruins of the Armenian churches is impossible.

Summing up his remarks the minister said lasting and stable peace in the region is possible to achieve only through the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict based on the principles of the international law, the people’s right to self-determination and equality, within the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Ucom testing up to 1 Gbit/sec network

Hambik Zargarian

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 11:34,

Ucom, which provides communication services through the fastest fiber-optic network in Armenia, is testing the capabilities of up to 1 Gbps internet as well as of the latest Wi-Fi 6 modems at some addresses, offering the customers about 10 times higher speeds than the maximum speed currently available. At the moment, the testing is carried out in the apartments of the first subscribers. In the future, Ucom will expand the geography of its new speeds.

Hasmik Hajatyan was the first to join the network delivering internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps and will use the uMix L package for free for 6 months. In particular, in addition to the high-speed internet, the subscriber will enjoy the content of more than 200 TV channels as well as have access to fixed-line phone service.

“I am glad to be the first to enjoy the fastest internet connection in Armenia at my place. I will periodically provide feedback to Ucom employees on my user experience,” said Hasmik Hajatyan.

By the way, starting today, both new and existing customers of Ucom will enjoy the maximum Wi-Fi bandwidth within their existing packages by purchasing the latest Wi-Fi 6 modems. The international Wi-Fi 6 standard is designed to provide a more stable network signal, higher speed as well as enable connection to the Internet of multiple devices running on the same Wi-Fi network at home, in the apartment or office. The Wi-Fi 6 modems can be purchased both at Ucom sales and service centers and at Ucom’s online shop.

“Ucom is the first telecom operator in Armenia to provide a Wi-Fi solution for faster and more stable internet. From today, our existing and new customers can purchase the latest Wi-Fi 6 modem, which will provide high-quality connection for all home devices at your place,” Ucom’s Director General Ara Khachatryan posted on his microblog on Twitter. 

Let us remind that Ucom is the only operator in Armenia currently providing fixed internet speed of up to 120 Mbps in case of subscription to uMix L package with a 12-month commitment. Ucom is continuously upgrading its network to assure the best quality of fixed-line services for its customers.

Armenia: From Students to Frontline Medics

Hambik Zargarian

March 8 2021

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021
“The desire to help others was stronger than caring about my own life.”

Gayane Mkrtchyan

| Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Diana Saiyan spent nearly a month volunteering in a hospital on the frontlines of the last Karabakh war. The whole time, she recalls, her trainers were constantly soaked with blood.

“The most dreadful day was when 30 dead bodies were brought in at once,” said the 22-year-old, who was assigned to a field hospital set up in a school building in Gishi, a village 11 kilometres from Martuni. “The guys unloaded them from the car and we checked their pockets for identity documents. If we found any, we wrote the name on a piece of paper and pinned it to the body, so the person would not be included in the lists of missing persons.” 

Originally from Stepanakert, Saiyan moved to Yerevan to pursue her medical studies six years ago. As soon as war broke out, she went to the Shengavit military commissariat and volunteered. A few days later, she was deployed to Karabakh. 

“The desire to help others was stronger than caring about my own life. When I arrived and saw everything with my own eyes, I was surprised why I didn’t feel scared. It is only now that I have been able to process the emotions experienced in those days. At that time, I blocked something in myself and just worked mechanically, feeling nothing,” Saiyan said.

Saiyan is one of many young Armenian women who volunteered as medical staff during the recent war, which ran from September 27 to November 9 last year. 

Gayane Papoyan, also a sixth-year medical student, said that when the clinic where she worked – a Yerevan orthopedic centre repurposed to treat coronavirus patients – was asked to send four nurses, 12 people immediately volunteered. She was among them.

“I cannot describe how much I love my homeland and how much I wanted to help,” the 22-year-old said, adding that at the time Armenia was fighting two wars simultaneously – one against Covid-19 and another in Karabakh. 

“In both cases, we lost lives. Covid-19 took the lives of our elderly, but when 18-20-year-old boys died, who did not even have time to live.”

Papoyan, originally from the village of Vardablur in Armenia’s Lori province, said that she still felt the effects of the fear that had gripped her in Shushi, the city where she had been deployed. 

Papoyan recalls October 8 in particular, a day that saw heavy shelling that hit the cathedral and other cultural buildings.

“I saw the most terrible wounds, similar to what I had till then seen only in the movies … in such moments you stop thinking about yourself. You stay focused, you think about how to connect the injured to a ventilator, start the operation,” she said, adding that it had been impossible not to imagine that the young soldiers might have been her friends or relatives.  “What happened there cannot be described in words,” Papoyan concluded. 

Narine Arzumanyan, a medical student in her sixth year who plans to be a cardiologist, volunteered to work in the Martuni hospital alongside her father, a military doctor. 

“I said, if you don’t take me with you, I’ll go anyway, so it’s better to be with you. In those days I was not afraid. I just kept working without emotions,” she said. 

Her greatest fear was the idea of being responsible for triaging patients amidst an influx of heavily wounded. 

“It means to choose the patients whose lives are worth saving. Someone in the war has to do it, but I didn’t want to, because I didn’t know how to live with it later. When you do everything for the patient and then you lose him, your conscience is clear, but if you have to choose whom to save, it’s awful.” Narine said. 

After graduating, she said, she would be returning to Karabakh to continue to serve the community.  

“I love Karabakh very much, this is where I belong,” she said. “I don’t want to live anywhere else. I will go and work in Stepanakert. I now value little things in life more than ever, even ordinary things.” 

Lebanese-Armenian Woman Just Returned To Beirut After 4 Months In Azeri Captivity

Hambik Zargarian
The 961, Lebanon
March 11 2021
Souad Lazkani·

·March 11, 2021

In a tearful and emotional reunion, Lebanese-Armenian Maral Najarian has returned home to Beirut, after spending the last 4 months in Azerbaijani captivity.

Najarian, who had survived the devastating August 4 Beirut Port explosion had last been seen on November 10th and was taken hostage by Azeris in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Like many Lebanese-Armenians who moved to Armenia after the blast, she decided to re-settle in Artsakh, the long-disputed region over which violent conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan have taken place.

Tensions between the neighboring countries rose once again and a war was waged between September 27 to November 10, forcing her to take refuge in a city in Armenia.

After the armistice was declared, she reportedly went back to the hotel in Nagorno-Karabakh, where she was staying, to collect her things. However, that was the last time she was seen – until now.

Although visibly exhausted with the tinge of her traumatic experience coloring her face, Najarian is back as a survivor of multiple hellish experiences..

is back as a survivor of multiple hellish experiences..

 

Meeting initiated by President Sarkissian called off

Hambik Zargarian
Public Radio of Armenia
March 12 2021

Taking into account that the My Step and the Bright Armenia parliamentary factions have accepted the President’s invitation for a meeting, the Prosperous Armenia faction and the Homeland Salvation Movement proposed their agenda for the meeting and presented conditions, at this moment the format of the meeting around one table becomes infeasible, the President’s Office said in a statement.

President Armen Sarkissian will continue his efforts; he is ready to have separate meetings both with those invited, as well as with the MPs not included in the factions of the National Assembly, with the representatives of different extra-parliamentary political forces.

These meetings will give an opportunity to hear everyone’s views once again, to further clarify the positions, and to formulate a working agenda based on results.

The President of the Republic reaffirms his conviction that the only way to resolve differences is through negotiations and dialogue, and that everything must be done to keep the country from being shaken.

On Wednesday President Armen Sarkissian invited the Prime Minister, the leaders of the parliamentary factions, the leaders of the Homeland Salvation Movement for a meeting at the presidential residence on March 13.

CivilNet: New Polls Highlights Armenians’ Declining Trust in Public Institutions

Hambik Zargarian
CIVILNET.AM

12 Mar, 2021 10:03

New Polls Highlights Armenians’ Declining Trust in Public Institutions

By Mark Dovich

Armenians are increasingly distrustful of key public institutions, results from a newly-published public opinion survey show. The poll was conducted last month by the Center for Insights in Survey Research at the International Republican Institute (IRI), a Washington-based “international democracy-development organization.”

According to the survey, the majority of Armenians have a “very” or “somewhat” favorable opinion about only six institutions: the army (73%), the police (63%), the Human Rights Defender’s Office (60%), local authorities (56%), the prime minister’s office (54%), and the Armenian Apostolic Church (52%).

At the same time, the majority of respondents reported holding a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion about seven institutions: political parties (73%), the National Assembly (64%), the president’s office (60%), courts (57%), the Constitutional Court (55%), the cabinet of ministers (53%), and the prosecutor’s office (53%).

These statistics suggest that trust in public institutions has fallen considerably in recent years. For instance, in a September-October 2019 IRI poll, only four institutions received a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable rating from the majority of respondents: the courts (57%), the prosecutor’s office (55%), political parties (52%), and the Constitutional Court (51%). Notably, public distrust in political parties has surged by a whopping 21 percentage points between the two surveys.

Conversely, in the 2019 survey, there were nine institutions that garnered “very” or “somewhat” favorable opinions from the majority of the public, as compared to only six in 2021. Five of the six were rated trustworthy by the majority of Armenians in both polls; only the police did not receive “very” or “somewhat” favorable opinions from the majority of respondents in 2019, but did in 2021.

In addition to the six institutions listed in the 2021 survey, the majority of Armenians in 2019 also reported favorable views about the president’s office (82%), the cabinet of ministers (63%), and the National Assembly (63%). Intriguingly, all three of those institutions are now distrusted by the majority of the country.

Moreover, public trust in four of the five institutions that the majority of Armenians reported trusting declined between the two surveys. In that period, trust in both the prime minister’s office and the Armenian Apostolic Church declined by a massive 22 percentage points, while trust in the army dropped by 18 points and trust in the Human Rights Defender’s Office fell by 3 points. Only the local authorities improved their position, from 55% in 2019 to 56% in 2021.

Data from the Caucasus Barometer also support the view that trust in public institutions is largely on the decline in Armenia. The barometer is an annual household survey organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers, a prominent think tank network in the South Caucasus. The most recent survey was conducted in Armenia in February-March 2020, roughly four months after the 2019 IRI poll, but about a year before the 2021 IRI survey.

Case in point: In the 2020 Caucasus Barometer poll, 88% of respondents reported “fully” or “rather” trusting the army. This figure lies between 2019’s 91% and 2021’s 73%. Likewise, 80% of respondents in the Caucasus Barometer survey reported “fully” or “rather” trusting the religious institution to which they belong — relatively close to 2019’s 74% level of trust in the Armenian Apostolic Church, but much higher than 52%, the 2021 statistic. (The vast majority of Armenians identify as belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church.)
The apparent decline in Armenians’ trust in public institutions comes as the country grapples with an explosive political crisis following ethnic Armenian forces’ disastrous losses in the September-November war in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. Talk is swirling of snap elections, though meetings about early polls between the ruling My Step alliance, on the one hand, and the two opposition parties represented in the National Assembly, on the other, have so far yielded few concrete results.