Author: Hovik Karapetian

Armenia’s MFA issues statement on opening of the “park” dedicated to Artsakh war

Hovik Karapetian
Aysor, Armenia

On April 12, with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan a “park” dedicated to Artsakh war was opened in Baku, where along with the Armenian military equipment the mannequins of the servicemen of the Armenian armed forces, personal belongings of the soldiers of Armenia and Artsakh and the helmets of killed Armenian servicemen were displayed, Armenia’s MFA said in a statement.

“The opening ceremony of the “park” and the remarks of the President of Azerbaijan demonstrate that the above-mentioned action is aimed at publicly degrading the memory of the victims of the war, missing persons and prisoners of war, violating the rights and dignity of their families.

At a time when the consequences of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh haven’t been fully addressed, when numerous Armenian prisoners of war are being held in Azerbaijani captivity, with the organization of such an “exhibition” wrapped in the elements of marauding, Azerbaijan is finally consolidating its position as a global center of intolerance and xenophobia. Such anti-human behavior of the Azerbaijani high-ranking leadership is more vocal than any statement or PR-campaign on peace, tolerance and multiculturalism.

On one hand, the Azerbaijani leadership is making observations about possible revanchisme on the part of Armenia, and on the other hand, with such exhibition, attempts to perpetuate the revanchisme, inhumanity and interethnic hatred. Such steps manifest how far the Azerbaijani leadership stands from its own declarative statements on the post-conflict situation, regional peace and reconciliation,” the statement said.

Azerbaijani Opinion: Azerbaijan is ready to play its part in the realisation of peace. What about Armenia?

Hovik Karapetian
Emerging Europe
April 8 2021
April 8, 2021
Tahir Taghizade

Azerbaijani Ambassador the UK

    Instead of exercising pressure on my country – which is committed to the promotion of peace and security in the region – the international community should urge Armenia to fulfill all its obligations, writes Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UK.

    The dichotomy between achieving peace and promoting justice is as old as conflict itself, and letting peace take precedence even when there are motives and resources to fight till the end is a difficult decision taken only by those with a constructive and benevolent vision.
    When Azerbaijan signed the trilateral statement on November 10, 2020, ending 44 days of military operations with Armenia, it had all the reasons and military circumstances in its favour to continue fighting.

    • Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is far from over
    • Tensions in Armenia highlight the need for more engagement from the EU
    • War crimes on both sides in Nagorno-Karabakh, says Amnesty

    Yet, in spite of strong emotions still fresh from the consistent injustice it has faced over the last three decades in the form of violation of its territorial integrity, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide against its population, destruction and desecration of hundreds of historical, religious and cultural monuments, ecological terror against its natural resources, Azerbaijan chose to pursue peace for the well-being of the two nations, as well as for the prosperous future of the region as a whole.

    In doing so, Azerbaijan’s government has shown considerable goodwill both in implementing the provisions of the trilateral statement, returning all prisoners of war to Armenia and in repeatedly declaring that it is ready to move on to a new phase of of inter-state relations between the two countries.

    The agreements reached within the framework of the trilateral statements, dated November 10, 2020 and January 11, 2021, also envisage the opening of communications which would benefit the entire region and open up new prospects for regional cooperation.

    While the magnanimity shown by Azerbaijan should see nothing but appreciation, vast pressure is being exerted on the country. This pressure disregards what Armenia has actually been doing in the territories of Azerbaijan it has subjected to military occupation for three decades, all without a single word of condemnation from the outside world.

    The problem is that historical context is hardly given consideration by foreign media and actors while analysing today’s events.
    First, it should be clear that for Azerbaijan liberating its territories affected by the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has never been part of a revanchist or nationalistic agenda or hatred towards another nation. For us, it has always been an issue of restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

    If some international actor raises a concern about the future of cultural heritage in liberated territories which my country vows to protect, it should first and foremost hold Armenia accountable for the massive destruction of Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage during its occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories.

    Likewise, if certain international organisations or individuals are concerned about presumed humanitarian law violations by the Azerbaijani side during military operations, they should first speak out about Azerbaijani grievances about the genocide committed in Khojaly by Armenian armed forces during the First Karabakh War and the killing by Armenia of more than 100 civilians in the cities of
    Ganja, Tartar and Barda using cluster munitions during the Second Karabakh War.

    Biased statements taken out of historical context however only add insult to injury.

    Regretfully, what we observe today is a negative relationship between the scale of Azerbaijan’s goodwill and Armenia’s destabilising actions in the region. That is, the more constructive steps Azerbaijan takes towards regional peace, the more destructive actions are taken by Armenia to only drift further away from the momentum gained through the signing of the trilateral statement.
    Two weeks after the signing of statement, Armenia illegally transferred a sabotage group of 62 members to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan to conduct terrorist attacks as a result of which military servicemen and civilians were killed and wounded.

    Now that these persons are detained by the Azerbaijani authorities and are subject to further investigation, Armenia and its supporters have been trying to present these Armenian nationals as prisoners of war (POWs).

    However, since the members of the group were sent to Azerbaijan with the aim of engaging in sabotage and terrorist activities in the period after the cessation of hostilities, they are not considered as POWs in accordance with international humanitarian law and are liable under the criminal law of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

    Towards the end of February members of the armed forces of Armenia, wearing civilian outfits, were transferred to the territory of Azerbaijan through the “Lachin Corridor” in civilian trucks, under disguise, in an attempt to escape the control procedures of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

    While the trilateral statement envisages the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia’s continued sending of its armed personnel to the internationally recognised territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.

    Armenia’s refusal to release the maps of minefields planted in territories of Azerbaijan subjected to its military occupation is of particular concern and accounts for yet another severe breach of international humanitarian law.

    Landmines are used by Armenia as part of a deliberate strategy of revenge to deny return of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis ethnically cleansed by Armenia to their homelands and inflict as much unnecessary human suffering as possible. Since the signing of the trilateral statement more than 20 citizens of Azerbaijan, including 14 civilians have been killed and more than 85 citizens, including 16 civilians have been seriously injured as a result of mine explosions.

    Armenia’s conduct continues to impede realisation of the vision of peace, security, and cooperation in the region.

    Thus, instead of exercising pressure on my country – which is committed to the promotion of peace and security in the region – the international community should urge Armenia to fulfill all its obligations arising from international law, as well as the joint statements signed on November 10, 2020 and January 11, 2021.

    Sports: Armenian Journalists’ Team wins silver in Egypt Football Tournament for Media

    Hovik Karapetian
    MediaMax,  Armenia
    April 9 2021

    Armenian Journalists’ Team wins silver in Egypt Football Tournament for Media 

    Photo: Armenian Journalists’ National Football Team

    Armenian Journalists’ National Football Team has won the silver medal in the VIII Egypt International Football Tournament for Media and Journalists in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

    The Armenian team had 4 wins and 1 defeat, which secured it 12 points. Only due to additional criteria used for final point count, Armenia conceded the first place to Moldova. Kazakhstan finished third.

    These are the scores of the games featuring the Armenian team:
    Moldova – Armenia: 3-1
    Armenia – Kazakhstan: 5-4
    Belarus – Armenia: 2-4
    Armenia – Ukraine: 2-1
    Armenia – Egypt: 6-1.

    The Armenian team was able to participate in the tournament thanks to support from TotoGaming bookmaker company. Armenia took the silver in the 2019 tournament as well, when Egypt was the winner.

    Photo: Armenian Journalists’ National Football Team

    “This tournament was special as all teams were strong and each game was decisive. We aimed for the win and we managed to beat the favorites, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, but we could not get a win in the game with Moldova despite opening the score. Fatigue played a role, because we arrived in Egypt mere hours before the tournament. In any way, I consider the silver medal a decent result, one that inspires for future victories,” said captain of the team, editor-in-chief at Mediamax Davit Alaverdyan.

    Landmines and Hostages are Hindering Peace in Karabakh

    Hovik Karapetian
    The National Interest
    March 29 2021
    | The National Interest

    Serious difficulties remain in implementing the November peace agreement.

    by Shahmar Hajiyev

    The Second Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan changed the status quo in a protracted conflict that has lasted for decades. As a result of successful military operations, the Azerbaijani army liberated several districts and villages, including the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, Shusha city. It is worth noting that, during the Second Karabakh War, the Azerbaijani and Armenian armed forces used all types of heavy weapons, including long-range missiles such as the Tochka-U, Scud-B, and Polonez. Some experts also claim that Armenia used Iskander-E missiles against Azerbaijan during the war.

    However, the major turning point in the war was the effective use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), such as the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 and Israeli Harops, by the Azerbaijani army. As a result, the Armenian armed forces suffered heavy losses, both in manpower and weapons. The military operations were stopped owing to Russian intervention on November 10, 2020, when Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia signed the Trilateral Agreement. With the November ceasefire agreement, Moscow became a key guarantor for the ceasefire and peace in the region. In accordance with the November Agreement, 1,960 armed troops, ninety armored vehicles, and 380 motor vehicles and special equipment units have been deployed to the Karabakh region. Moreover, the “Joint Russian-Turkish Center for Monitoring the Ceasefire” was opened in the Agdam region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.

    Thus, the November ceasefire agreement became an important document that ended military operations. According to the agreement, Armenia pledged to return Agdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijani control, while Azerbaijan guaranteed the security of the Lachin Corridor, to be used as a humanitarian connection between Armenia and Armenians in Karabakh.

    One could argue that the main impulse for the normalization process during the post-conflict period is economic integration by opening all transport links as envisaged in the November peace agreement. This should be an efficient means for achieving durable peace and stability. Towards this end, a positive signal came on January 11, 2021, when the deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia met in Moscow to discuss implementing the November deal’s clauses. This was the first trilateral meeting to discuss future peace in the region. They agreed to establish expert subgroups to deal with the provision of transport, including security, border, customs, sanitary, veterinary, and other types of control relating to rail, road, and combined transport.

    Despite these positive dynamics, there are still challenges and difficulties in implementing all clauses of the November deal. The transit of Armenian armed forces and weapons through the Lachin corridor to Karabakh, as well as the Armenian armed forces’ withdrawal from Azerbaijani territories, are among the worrying signals. In addition, there are two main issues that Armenia and Azerbaijan have so far been unable to resolve. The first is the status of the sixty-two Armenian soldiers that Azerbaijani military forces captured in mid-December, a month after the signing of the peace deal. Those soldiers refused to accept the peace deal, continued military operations against the Azerbaijani army, and killed three servicemen and one civilian. In this regard, Baku accuses these soldiers of terrorism and, unlike the POWs who were returned home, has refused to hand them back to Armenia.

    However, Azerbaijan recently released a Lebanese citizen, Maral Najaryan, who was previously detained in Karabakh. She entered Azerbaijani territory illegally, thereby violating Azerbaijan law. In addition, Baku has already returned the bodies of 1,400 Armenian military servicemen, facilitated humanitarian aid to the Armenian community of Karabakh, permitted Armenians to visit the Khudavang Monastery in the Kalbajar region of Azerbaijan, and, last but not least, allowed the transportation of Russian natural gas to Armenia via Azerbaijan. By these acts, Baku has shown its goodwill and readiness for future reconciliation. In the meantime, Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia provide maps of minefields.

    It should be highlighted that, after the end of the war, the landmine legacy is a significant challenge in the post-conflict period. The Karabakh region has one of the largest mine contamination problems in the post-Soviet space, and it is very difficult to remove all landmines without maps of the minefields. The Armenian refusal to provide maps of the minefields to Azerbaijan could undermine future peace efforts.

    Azerbaijan has already started demining operations throughout the region. According to the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), since the forty-four-day war, at least 750 unexploded missiles and rockets, 4,500 anti-personnel mines, and 2,000 anti-tank mines have been found and destroyed. It should be noted that demining operations are carried out manually, through demining machines, and with the help of mine detection dogs. In order to improve demining performance and to enhance the safety of de-mining personnel, Azerbaijan has received twenty new, modern MEMATTs (Mechanical Mine Clearing Equipment) from Turkey. Additionally, Turkish mine-clearance experts are training their Azerbaijani counterparts as well as taking part in demining operations.

    It is clear that demining efforts in the liberated areas are highly important for Azerbaijan to develop infrastructure and start the settlement plan. Anti-personal landmines continue to pose a major threat to human life in the liberated territories. According to Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office, mine explosions have killed fourteen Azerbaijanis, including five Azerbaijani soldiers, since the November deal. Moreover, fifty-two soldiers and eight civilians have been injured as a result of mine explosions. It is clear that many civilians have been falling victim to anti-personal mines during the post-conflict period.

    It should be noted that a complete mine clearance of the liberated territories is crucial for sustainable development and the region’s revival. It is exactly this process that will affect the settlement of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the region’s economic integration process. Therefore, Azerbaijan is cooperating with the United Nations and other international organizations to accelerate de-mining operations. The UN has provided $2 million to support the emergency humanitarian response in conflict-affected areas of Azerbaijan. With an additional $1 million from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Crisis Response and the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, UNDP will provide support to ANAMA to train, equip, and deploy emergency response teams to clear mines and unexploded bombs that pose risks to local communities living in conflict-affected areas.

    The scale of the contamination by landmines and other types of unexploded ordnance is large; it will, therefore, take several years to completely clear the territory and, without access to maps of the minefields, demining operations become very difficult. Armenia should provide minefield maps to Azerbaijan and to peacekeepers as an indication of its intention for peace. Such action will accelerate demining operations and enhance mutual trust between the parties.

    In the end, strengthening the post-conflict demining efforts is significant, and Armenia can help Azerbaijan by providing minefield maps. That is the most effective way to support peaceful coexistence as well as to address humanitarian concerns in the region. Additionally, Azerbaijan should support mine-risk education and capacity building across the region in order to reduce risks of future human casualties as well as increase the share of land used for agriculture and housing.

    Shahmar Hajiyev is a leading advisor in the Center of Analysis of International Relations, (AIR Center), in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    Image: Reuters.

    https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/landmines-and-hostages-are-hindering-peace-karabakh-181429

    Biden Can Help Armenia and Azerbaijan Make Peace. Here’s How.

    Hovik Karapetian
    Foreign Policy
    March 30 2021

    BY DANIEL BAER

     | MARCH 30, 2021, 1:57 PM

    The first 100 days are not even over, and the Biden administration’s national security and foreign-policy team has already dealt with major fires around the world—from the Saudi-backed war in Yemen to a military coup and brutal crackdown in Myanmar to calibrating the relationship with a bristling China.

    Late last year, a war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and although the bullets and bombs have stopped for now, the underlying conflict has not ended. It is an example of the kind of problem that slips out of the headlines and, therefore, away from the firefighters’ view. That’s too bad—not only because the smoldering embers could ignite further violence and human misery but also because firefighting is about preventing destruction, not about construction. If all one does is put out fires, one never builds anything. In other words, moments of relative calm, however tense and enduring the challenges might be, often present the opportunities—however difficult—for actual progress.

    Though its roots go back further (they always do), in its contemporary incarnation the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan erupted three decades ago, as ripples of the Soviet Union’s slow-motion collapse began radiating outward from its epicenter in Moscow.

    Until a new wide-scale war broke out in September 2020, the conflict over the status of the majority-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories had been mostly frozen since 1994, when a Russian-brokered cease-fire ended several years of war that killed thousands of people and displaced more than a million in the two former Soviet republics. Since 1997, the United States, Russia, and France, as co-chairs of the Minsk Group at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), have been charged with facilitating negotiations toward a lasting resolution.

    But in recent years, diplomacy faltered, and outbreaks of violence along the line of contact became more frequent, including a four-day conflagration in 2016. The 1994 agreement left Armenia in de facto control not only of Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority-Armenian region that had been part of Azerbaijan in the Soviet Union, but also of adjacent Azerbaijani territories—and it was signed in part because of Azerbaijan’s fear at the time that Armenian troops might make further gains, including attacking Azerbaijan’s second-largest city, Ganja. But in the intervening decades, Azerbaijan’s oil money combined with military, intelligence, and training support from Turkey—and Armenia’s relative poverty and dependence on Russia—created a situation where the party dissatisfied with the status quo, Azerbaijan, had accumulated significant advantages in military power. This loaded the spring for renewed conflict, and the failure of the parties to negotiate effectively—and of the international community to pressure and incentivize them to do so—released the spring in the new war that broke out last year.

    This time, roles were reversed as Azerbaijan reclaimed territory adjoining Nagorno-Karabakh and wrested control of a significant portion of Nagorno-Karabakh itself before the parties signed another Russian-brokered cease-fire late in the night of Nov. 9, 2020. Notably, that agreement provides for 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to be deployed along a new line of contact and in the corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia proper—a step that worries many who have witnessed how in Georgia and Moldova, two other former Soviet republics, Russian so-called peacekeepers have undermined sovereignty rather than reinforced it.

    The new status quo is unlikely to change in the near term, nor do the two parties seem willing to move forward constructively. And the Nov. 9 agreement is only a cease-fire, not a peace accord. Furthermore, the deep involvement of and ambiguous objectives of Russia and Turkey make things even more complicated, and the situation on the ground is already a morass of sensitive transit routes and mountainous terrain. Looking at maps of the conflict area can actually be confusing rather than clarifying.

    Today Azerbaijan, though drunk with victory, remains a brittle and repressive petrostate held back by official corruption and economic stagnation. Armenia’s democratic reforms, a source of hope after the 2018 political transition, are—like its prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan—on the ropes, as weak institutions and a disheartened populace prove vulnerable to Russian disinformation, corruption, and anti-Western narratives. Though an improvement over his predecessors, Pashinyan has proved an unsteady steward of Armenia’s democratic transformation. This month, he called for snap elections in a bid to escape the political crisis precipitated by anger over Armenia’s defeat. Either way, Armenia is likely to remain painfully dependent on Moscow. And leaders in both Baku and Yerevan have prepared their populations for war for more than a generation and have done little to lay the groundwork for peace. Against this backdrop, senior officials in the Biden administration might well argue internally that they should keep an eye on the situation but focus their energies elsewhere—and not attempt to play a leading role diplomatically.

    This would be a mistake. Instead, the new U.S. administration should see the South Caucasus region as an opportunity to demonstrate the value of serious U.S. engagement and use it as an example of President Joe Biden’s commitment to a pro-democracy foreign policy centered on universal values and human rights. This is not to suggest that a dramatic breakthrough is obviously in reach; there is plenty of reason for sober analysis and skepticism about outcomes. But without energetic U.S. diplomacy, there is significantly less hope for progress.

    Here are four steps the Biden administration can take to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan toward a lasting peace. It will be a long road, but these steps would set a constructive course.

    First, press for implementation of the cease-fire, addressing issues of accountability and remediation. The Nov. 9 agreement between the two parties, co-signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is not ideal. But for now, there is no near-term alternative framework for sustaining the cease-fire. That agreement demands the exchange of all prisoners, military and civilian, taken by both sides. Credible reporting suggests that prisoners remain, and their return should be a priority. Washington should also support reporting by the OSCE team on the ground—hopefully augmented from its current size of just a handful of people—on complaints about cease-fire violations, human rights abuses, and alleged war crimes. Accountability requires a factual record, and recording victims’ complaints is a first step. The OSCE can also advise on possible approaches for compensation for displaced persons.

    Second, support humanitarian work and resettlement activities. Too often, when the guns go silent, attention shifts elsewhere. People on the ground are left to sort out how to restart their lives with property and businesses destroyed, landmines strewn in unknown numbers in indeterminate places, infrastructure and transportation routes disrupted, and families displaced or returning. The practical work of supporting ordinary people as they adapt to a new political geography is less sexy than the negotiation of military cease-fires or political agreements, but it is the foundation for peace: The conflict cannot be settled until people are. Resettlement in territories newly controlled by Azerbaijan will not be easy—and the corrupt government in Baku does not have a track record of responsible management of local governance challenges. Meanwhile, Armenians newly displaced are worried about the fate of Armenian religious and cultural sites now under Azerbaijani control. Neither Russia nor Turkey can be relied on to shepherd this work.

    The international community can lend both expertise and credibility to addressing concerns on both sides. New grievances should not be allowed to smolder in the quiet after conflict. The United States should work with Europeans and others to support NGOs and international organizations that can carry out local confidence-building measures.

    Third, drive a regionwide economic development strategy. The most plausible lever to drive future cross-border cooperation is a new regional economic strategy, including infrastructure development, that can attract international investment to strengthen the economies of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and neighboring Georgia (which is going through its own self-inflicted political crisis). U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen should, formally or informally, put the region on the agenda for high-level talks at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank beginning next week. And Washington should work with the European Union and the three governments in the South Caucasus to develop such a framework for regional development. The C5+1 framework, developed by the Obama administration (and continued by the Trump administration) to foster cooperation on regional issues in Central Asia, could be a model for a new SC3+2 framework, involving the three South Caucasus countries, the United States, and the EU.

    Financial investments from the international community should be pinned to political commitments from the parties and to their progress on resolving contentious issues that impede regional economic development, such as border crossings and utilities infrastructure. Moreover, any financial assistance should be paired with measures to tackle endemic corruption.

    Fourth, reinvigorate diplomacy. The U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group should have ambassadorial rank. Washington should energetically push the co-chairs to meet regularly along with the OSCE team on the ground to chart and implement a strategy for addressing the irritants that rarely make headlines but hamper day-to-day progress. In addition, Washington should begin talks with Moscow about a United Nations Security Council resolution to ratify the Nov. 9 cease-fire and call for a full peace agreement.

    The Russians should welcome Security Council ratification of Putin’s hastily drawn-up one-page agreement. In exchange, such a resolution should also give an international imprimatur to a regional development plan that would include all three South Caucasus countries. It could reaffirm the parties’ sovereignty, including their right to end the Russian peacekeeper deployment after five years.

    In an era increasingly defined by geopolitics, there is a natural tendency to focus on the heavyweights of the global stage and to see the rest of the world, especially smaller countries, through the prism of great-power competition. Indeed, great-power competition often manifests itself indirectly and through proxies in other parts of the world. In part, that is why great-power competition persists as a model for understanding international politics.

    But it is never the full picture, either. As Eleanor Roosevelt observed, human rights begin in the “small places close to home.” A foreign policy centered on human rights, therefore, cannot focus only on geopolitics and the biggest players. And when the geopolitical contest is not just a contest of power but of ideologies and worldview, even small places can become big tests. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is seen by many as intractable. An earnest U.S. effort to push for progress is an opportunity to demonstrate what a values-driven foreign policy looks like.

    Daniel Baer is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from 2013 to 2017. Twitter: @danbbaer

    Prisoner swap must be completed – Russian ambassador

    Hovik Karapetian

    Save

    Share

     15:11, 3 April, 2021

    YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. The work on exchanging the captives of the Nagorno Karabakh war must be completed, Russia’s Ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopyrkin told reporters when asked to comment on Azerbaijan’s refusal to return Armenian prisoners who are still in their custody.

    “The work of exchanging the captives must naturally be completed. Russia is actively participating in that process by supporting that after all the ‘all for all’ principle is fulfilled,” the ambassador said.

    Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

    Armenia parliament vice speaker: Opposition today is richer, more competitive than ruling team

    Hovik Karapetian
    News.am, Armenia
    16:13, 31.03.2021

    YEREVAN. – You know how the official position is expressed and by whom. Alen Simonyan, the National Assembly (NA) vice speaker and member of the My Step ruling bloc of Armenia, on Wednesday told this to reporters in the NA, referring to the controversial statement by My Step MP Hovik Aghazaryan that, “Is there a bold person in Armenia who can tell the world that Kelbajar [in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)] was ours?”

    Simonyan added that he considers the whole region, which is called “Armenian World,” as his homeland.

    To the question why during PM Nikol Pashinyan’s recent visit to Armavir Province the residents were promised to asphalted roads—that is, something for which they used to criticize the previous authorities—, the NA vice speaker said: “Because those we were criticizing never did that asphalt; they were doing it only before the elections. The current authorities have done more asphalt in the last two years than the previous authorities—in five to ten years.

    As for the visit, it was a regular visit, the prime minister has always been in contact with the citizens. Many were accusing the prime minister of traveling around Armenia with a police barricade, and when the prime minister goes, meets with the people, we find another alternative to manipulate. I am happy with one thing: I have visited two provinces with the prime minister, and those people understand everything very well and give their assessment; this is not the government that makes asphalt only before an election.”

    In response to the remark that the aforesaid creates an unlevel playing field between the political forces, Alen Simonyan noted that today the incumbent Armenian authorities were in the most unlevel playing field. “The [Armenian] government does not have the financial resources and their opportunities that the opposition has today. Today, the opposition is several times richer and more competitive in terms of its strength, its resources than the current government team,” he said.

    Bridging stories: the Instagram account bringing Armenia and Turkey together through photography

    Hovik Karapetian
    The Calvert Journal
    March 24 2021
     

    Instagram account @bridging.stories uses photography as a means of promoting peace between young people from Armenia and Turkey.

    Text: Lucía de la Torre
    March 24, 2021
    From colourful images of local markets, lush landscapes, urban streets at rush hour, and intimate scenes from daily life, the photographs capture local communities through the eyes of the aspiring photographers who live there.

    The account belongs to Bridging Stories, an initiative part of Storyteller’s Cafe, a non-profit founded in 2016 by Armenian photojournalist Anush Babajanyan and National Geographic photographer John Stanmeyer.

    The programme, supported by the US Embassy in Yerevan, ran two photojournalism camps in Dilijan, Armenia, in 2016 and 2019 with young participants from both countries. Each edition of camp saw Stanmeyer and Babajanyan working with Turkish photographers Serra Akcan and Sabiha Cimen respectively.

    After learning about different photographic storytelling techniques, participants were tasked with going back to their local communities to capture snippets of their daily lives and the world around them. The best shots, which were also selected by camp leaders for in-person photography exhibitions in Yerevan and Istanbul, are now being shared on the Bridging Stories Instagram page.

    From lonely late night trains to the buzz of wedding celebrations, the images capture universality of the world that photographers from both countries share, despite deep political divides reaching back to the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.

    View photos at 

    St. Stephen’s School Kicks off ‘Alumni Roundtable’

    Hovik Karapetian

    March 25, 2021



    The St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School launches speaker series

    The St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School, in Watertown, Mass. launched a virtual speaker series, the “SSAES Alumni RoundTable” on Tuesday, March 9, featuring school alumnae Teny Avakian (’94), Araz Chiloyan (’05), Nairi Krafian (’07), and Meghri DerVartanian (’08). These graduates are either employed in Armenia, involved in non-profits in Armenia or have close ties to the homeland. The speaker series will be held every third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

    SSAES Principal, Houry Boyamian, welcomed the panelists and attendees in Armenian & English. She hoped that the Alumni Round Table would help parents and the community gain a greater understanding of what the school’s alumni have accomplished and how the school has been a part of their journey. She shared that the next Alumni Roundtable would be held on Tuesday, April 20.

    SSAES Interim Curriculum Coordinator, Heather Krafian shared that all the panelists had similar experiences as students, shared similar paths in their life journey pursuing passions while giving back to the Homeland.

    The evening was an opportunity to ask Alumnae questions that highlighted their various journeys. They all shared that lifelong friendships and close bonds, along with amazing teachers made lasting impressions on them. For each of them, SSAES was a Family.

    The panelists shared that although leaving SSAES was emotionally difficult, their academic and social transition to secondary & higher education went smoothly. They felt prepared as they entered high level math classes, pursued honors, and AP courses. They were passionate that the school set them up for success as they were taught respect as well as discipline for learning and hard work.

    The phrase “Նախ դաս, յետոյ խաղ/First Lessons, Then Play” was instilled at a very young age. They each strived for “Գերազանց/Excellence.” To put forth their best effort and of course earn stickers from Mrs. Ardemis. They noted the teachers instilled a passion in them, especially in Armenian, which they carry with them as adults until today. This culminated in their establishing nonprofits in and for Armenia, as well as living and working there.

    When asked how their Armenian education at SSAES prepared

    In closing, the guests answered a two part question. If they could offer one piece of advice to the students, what would it be? If they could offer one piece of advice to the parents about the importance of sending their child to an Armenian School, what would it be? Our Alumnae reminded our students to enjoy their time at SSAES and cherish the friendships they developed. Advising all to maintain these connections beyond graduation into their young adult lives, as these friends were now a part of their community. The Alumnae reminded graduates that they will become ambassadors in their school communities and beyond and to take all they have learned and impart that knowledge to others.

    The alumnae shared sound advice for the parents on the importance of sending their child to an Armenian School and the value of being bilingual.

    COVID-19: Armenian health authorities investigate 300 possible re-infection cases

    Hovik Karapetian

    Save

    Share

     13:20,

    YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. So far, there’ve been around 300 “double positive” cases of COVID-19, Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said, stressing that now they can’t definitively say whether or not these are re-infections or cases when the virus hasn’t completely withdrawn from a person’s body.

    “To determine this, these cases are studied and analyzed, the results will be available a bit later,” she said, noting that some experts argue that in order for a case to constitute a re-infection it should happen at least 90 days after the initial infection.

    Avanesyan once again called on the population to be vigilant and maintain epidemiological guidelines due to the rising infection rates in Armenia. She warned that hospitals don’t have an unlimited capacity.

    There are 12 hospitals in Armenia currently treating COVID-19 patients.

    On March 18, the Armenian health authorities reported 1024 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

    Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan