Author: Jagharian Tania

Turkish press: Russia denies opinion ​on Ryanair flight landing in Minsk

Jagharian Tania
Elena Teslova   |24.05.2021

MOSCOW 

The Kremlin spokesman on Monday refused to either support or condemn the landing of Ryanair’s flight in Belarus.

Speaking at a phone conference in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov said the situation has to be examined in accordance with the existing international rules of aviation.

“There are international aviation regulations. And the international aviation authorities should give an assessment in terms of compliance or non-compliance with these international standards.

“For now, there is a need for a sober assessment of the incident with this plane. In this case, there are a lot of contradictory statements, and we would not like to participate in this race, to condemn or support something. I repeat once again, I refrain from making any comments,” he said.

In a separate statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Ryanair landing incident should be assessed based on all available information.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, following a meeting with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, Lavrov confirmed that a Russian citizen has accompanied the detained journalist, and requested consular access to her.

Lavrov recalled that there were lots of similar incidents in the past that did not provoke such a harsh reaction.

“The most famous episode of 2013 [occurred] when, at the insistence of the US, Austria forced the plane of the President of Bolivia to land without any subsequent apology. And the case that is not often talked about, 2016, the plane of the Belarusian Airlines was forcibly landed in Kiev, because the Security Service of Ukraine was interested in an Armenian citizen who was on board. This citizen was taken out from the flight, and the plane continued its flight without any changes,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said the plane was grounded on the bomb alert to ensure passengers’ security in accordance with international rules, and that the situation was politicized by some countries.

On Sunday, a Ryanair Boeing 737-8AS flight from Greece’s capital Athens to Vilnius landed in the Belarusian capital Minsk due to a bomb threat, and Roman Protasevich, a journalist wanted for his involvement in “terrorism incidents,” was reportedly detained.

After that, the plane continued its way and successfully arrived in the Lithuanian capital.

Protasevich is the founder of a social media news channel, which reportedly played a major role in protests last summer in Belarus’ capital Minsk demanding the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko after he was awarded a sixth term in a presidential election.

Killings of Armenian POWs by Azerbaijani servicemen are war crimes, MEP says

Jagharian Tania

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 15:57, 20 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. In order to clarify the future status of Artsakh, a long-term, negotiated and political solution to the conflict is needed, based on the principles of non-use of force, territorial integrity, equal rights and the peoples’ right to self-determination, Member of European Parliament representing Spain Pernando Barrena Arza said at the discussion during the EP plenary session relating to the prisoners of war captured during the recent Nagorno Karabakh war.

He reminded that the recent attack by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh has ended by a trilateral statement which is not respected and is violated by Azerbaijan. “Around 200 Armenians are still held captive in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani servicemen are killing these prisoners of war, which is a war crime. It’s the time for this Parliament to urge Azerbaijan to immediately release without preconditions all those Armenians who have been captured during the conflict and after that, to fully respect the ceasefire agreement and refrain from further military incursion into an Armenian territory”, the MEP said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Edinburgh’s abandoned restaurant with erratic opening hours and strange rules

Jagharian Tania
Edinburgh Live, Scotland

Aghtamar Lake Van Monastery in Exile was an Armenian eatery notorious for its random opening times and extremely eccentric owner.

By

Hilary MitchellEditor
  • 11:05, 23 MAY 2021

Whenever you drive along Abbeyhill at the foot of the Royal Mile, you pass a very unusual single storey sandstone building with cyrillic lettering above the doorway. But have you ever stopped to wonder what it is – or what it used to be?

Well, wonder no more, because we’ve looked into its history, and it was way weirder, more entertaining and unusual than we could ever have imagined. Think a real life Fawlty Towers, but with an Armenian twist. But let’s start at the very beginning.

55 Abbeyhill was built in 1896 as a police station in a unique style, with castle-like elements, corner turrets and animal figure gargoyles. It was used as a police station until at least 1932, as there are records of officers being based there at that time.

So far, so normal. But after the police service moved out of the property, the story of this building takes a fascinating twist.

From the 1980s until at least 2008, the small ex-police station became arguably the strangest and most mysterious restaurant in Edinburgh. It was called Aghtamar Lake Van Monastery in Exile, an Armenian eatery notorious for its random opening times and extremely eccentric owner.

For years, the restaurant was the stuff of legend. If you could track down the owner and make a booking (no easy feat – one reviewer says it took a “month of phone calls”) you could access some utterly amazing food in the form of a ten-course Armenian banquet that diners raved about.

The man behind this delicious spread was Petros Vartynian, an unusual business owner who had a reputation for throwing customers out of the restaurant for – amongst other things – asking for more food or wine, turning up a few minutes late (he would refuse to give people directions to the restaurant), or failing to join in with one of his Armenian dancing tutorials.

We were also told that Vartynian, who still lives in Edinburgh, would ask customers to help with the washing up, and if people didn’t finish one of their courses they weren’t allowed any more food.

The last online review for the Aghtamar was left in late 2008, so it seems likely it stopped operating regularly at that time, although there are some accounts of people dining there as late as 2011. However, the building has gradually fallen into disrepair since and is now classed as “at risk”.

According to a now-archived blog post by local writer Jonny MacFarlane, the interior wasn’t particularly welcoming. Jonny spoke to a friend who had the rare honour of eating there, who said:

“The main eating hall was vast, cold and dark with only candle-light to guide your steps. There didn’t appear to be electricity.

“A giant moose head adorned the wall and various different posters advertising the Armenian tourist board were scattered around.

“There was a ghetto-blaster in the corner playing what sounded like red army choir music from an old, scratchy cassette.

“The whole place had a Soviet era, beyond the iron curtain feel. There were no amenities like heating, menus or salt and pepper.

“The best dish had minced pork and rice rolled up in cabbage leaves. The whole thing was steamed and served with a very nice salad with an amazing dressing. Dessert was also very memorable, a sort of fruit trifle, with very pungent flavors.”

One group once asked for Turkish instead of Armenian coffee – forgetting that Turkey and Armenia have serious historical beef. They instantly regretted it:

“In a sudden rage the owner unceremoniously threw out the entire group, ignoring their apologies and protestations. I think most saw the owner as part of the charm, temper and all. It wasn’t really about a meal, it was about an experience.”

Join our nostalgic Facebook group Edinburgh Back In Time for more fascinating facts about Edinburgh’s history.

The article also says that an Armenian newspaper reported in 2012 that the restaurant was going to be turned into an Armenian Cultural Centre.

in a recent interview, Peter himself spoke to the BBC about his time managing the restaurant.

“I’m not really a cook, not a trained cook,” he said.

“I just realised I could make my hobby into my work. I was encouraged by friends when I would host privately.

“I was trying to smash the barriers of general dining, the whole process.

“I’m not doing it for financial rewards, I would only do it if they (the guests) were coming here for some reason I was looking for.]

“People were so keen, I couldn’t control the numbers,” he added. “Some nights we had guests in the three figures, people would bring chairs from home for more seating.”

However, it’s currently on the Buildings At Risk Register and the Edinburgh City Council’s planning officer hasn’t added any information about planned renovations, so it’s fair to say that’s unlikely.

But whatever happens to it in the future, the next time you drive past this iconic building, you can imagine was it was like to dine at the bizarre Aghtamar Lake Van Monastery in Exile: Edinburgh’s most unusual and mysterious restaurant.

 

CivilNet: Soviet-era enclaves at the heart of Armenian-Azerbaijani border crisis

Jagharian Tania
CIVILNET.AM

01:05

By Syuzanna Petrosyan

Armenia and Azerbaijan are beginning the process of border demarcation and delimitation, Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced during a special meeting of the National Assembly on Thursday. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan (as well as Armenia and Georgia) did not demarcate their borders after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In Soviet times, these borders were internal and thus did not have to be defined.

In this process of demarcation, the most problematic issue for Armenia is the fate of the small enclaves. Three Soviet Azerbaijani enclaves – Voskepar and Barkhudarly in Armenia’s northeast and Karki in the south – remained under the control of Armenia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Soviet Armenia’s Artsvashen enclave came under Azerbaijani control.

Voskepar and Karki are of strategic importance for Armenia: vital interstate highways connecting Armenia with Georgia and Iran pass through these territories.

In a parliament session on Thursday, Pashinyan said that as a result of the First Karabakh war, more than 70 square kilometers of Soviet Armenia remained in Azerbaijan. He noted that both Armenia and Azerbaijan control territories that internationally belong to the other side. 

“Since the 1990s, there have been combat positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, which are located on the [former] territory of Soviet Armenia. And we have the opposite situation,” Pashinyan said.

According to the acting prime minister, there are various ways to solve the problem. For example, he said, “we can fix the existing situation by a state border,” implying that Azerbaijani enclaves inside Armenia remain in Armenia and Armenian enclaves inside Azerbaijan remain there. This would solve Armenia’s transportation issue to Georgia and Iran. 

In a televised interview on Thursday,  Armenia’s Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan said that a new Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia trilateral working group will be created, which will finally determine the country’s borders. Grigoryan did not rule out a return to Soviet era borders, but stressed that everything will be resolved through negotiations. 

A return to Soviet era borders would mean that the three Azerbaijani enclaves will become part of Azerbaijan, while Armenia will gain control over its Artsvashen enclave on its eastern border. 

“While Artsvashen has no strategic significance for Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani enclaves of Voskepar and Karki currently inside Armenia are of strategic economic importance –  Armenia’s roads to Georgia and Iran pass through them. Nonetheless,  Azerbaijan might demand the return of these enclaves to place additional diplomatic and economic pressure on Armenia,” says Karen Harutyunyan, CivilNet’s editor-in-chief.

“No one can say now what the agreement will be,” Armen Grigoryan said, hinting that these negotiations may last for years. 

…

Earlier this month, Pashinyan resigned from his post as prime minister to trigger snap parliamentary elections as envisaged by the constitution. He will remain as acting prime minister until a new government is formed following June 20 elections.

Ombudsman presents violations of Armenian border residents’ rights to CoE Human Rights Commissioner

Jagharian Tania

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 17:27,

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan had an urgent discussion with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović during which he presented the gross violations of the rights of the Armenian citizens, firstly the border residents which was caused by the recent illegal advancement of the Azerbaijani armed forces into Armenia’s sovereign territory, the Ombudsman’s Office told Armenpress.

Tatoyan also presented the results of the fact-finding activities of his Office carried out in Armenia’s Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces on May 14 and 15.

The Ombudsman’s Office stated that the additional details of the human rights violations will be submitted to international organizations in separate reports.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

CSTO attentively following situation in Armenia’s Syunik – Stanislav Zas

Jagharian Tania

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 18:32,

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. The CSTO is attentively monitoring the developments in the bordering areas of Armenia’s Syunik Province, ARMENPRESS reports CSTO Secretary-General Stanislav Zas said.

He informed that the situation will be thoroughly during the May 19 session of the Council of the Foreign Ministers of the CSTO member states. Zas said that they welcome negotiations that have started between the sides under the Russian mediation, as well as the reaching of the agreement on withdrawing some of the units.

”We see here prospects for establishing lasting peace here. There are no shootings here any more, but the situation remains tense’’, Zas said.

President of Union of Armenians of Russia: We call on all political parties of Armenia to gather around a round table

Jagharian Tania
News.am, Armenia
00:09, 20.05.2021

We call on all political parties of Armenia to set aside their differences for a while at this crucial moment for Armenia, gather around a round table and prepare a roadmap to solve the country’s security issues, viewing this as the supreme goal for everyone. This is stated in the statement issued by President of the Union of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan. The statement also reads as follows:

“During the election campaign, the most important issue of Armenians isn’t in our focus, and that is security.

The security issues facing the country must be primary for all political parties with potential.

Today, more than ever, the Republic of Armenia is in need of consolidation.

Taking into consideration the alarms sounded by international organizations and diplomatic missions about security on the borders of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the lack of exhaustive information from the responsible authorities of Armenia, we call on the authorities of Armenia to fulfill the duty of the state to ensure security of all citizens of Armenia and provide the public with full and comprehensive information about the borders of the Republic of Armenia and security.

We call on all political parties of Armenia to set aside their differences for a while at this crucial moment for Armenia, gather around a round table and prepare a roadmap to solve the country’s security issues, viewing this as the supreme goal for everyone.

The powerful Armenian Diaspora must be ready to stand with Armenia and the citizens of Armenia in these difficult times and use all of its resources for one goal, that is, the goal to ensure security of the homeland.”


Lending rates higher than Central Bank expected – CBA President

Jagharian Tania

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 12:09,

YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Lending rates in Armenia based on the results of the first quarter of 2021 are higher than the forecasts made by the Central Bank, CBA President Martin Galstyan said at the session of the parliamentary standing committee on financial-credit and budgetary affairs, while presenting the Bank’s annual activity report.

“According to our expectations, the behavior of banks in 2021 must have been more conservative. We were expecting that the lending rates would be weaker. But the first quarter shows that the lending rates are higher than we expected”, he said.

However, he noted, that some terms have been toughened. There are groups of customers which are viewed as more risky by banks, in other words, banks may not provide them with loans, or may provide it in higher interest rates.

Talking about 2020, the CBA chief reminded that last year the incomes of the population and the businesses have certainly decreased, and some citizens, economic entities have faced problems in terms of servicing their loans.

“But in many cases the banks have revised their terms, by extending the loan contract term or lowering the interest rates. In other words, they have tried to solve those problems by showing an individual approach”, Martin Galstyan said, adding that the dialogue between the banks and their clients, which launched last year, continues this year as well.

 

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Ex-ruling party official: There is no government in Armenia

Jagharian Tania
News.am, Armenia
17:30, 18.05.2021

“There is no sovereignty today [in Armenia]. [Rustam] Muradov [commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone] has more power than this [Pashinyan]. (…). He says, “We have applied to the CSTO.’ Why did you apply to the CSTO? “Boy, do you not have the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense, the NSS [National Security Service]?” Sharmazanov added.

Referring to Security Council secretary Armen Grigoryan’s statement that Azerbaijan tried to sow in the Armenian society that it had won the recent Artsakh war, Sharmazanov countered: “If Azerbaijan did not win, you and Nikol should have gone to Shushi to hold a festival. (…). If Azerbaijan has not won, go to Hadrut, Talish, Mataghis.”

According to Eduard Sharmazanov, Nikol Pashinyan has turned Azerbaijan from a defeated into a victorious state.

As per Sharmazanov, Pashinyan managed to introduce certain disagreements within the Armenian opposition and achieve snap parliamentary elections. “Our biggest problem is indifference. I am very happy that political content is possible during these elections because there are [political] teams of the first, second, and third presidents,” he added.

Eduard Sharmazanov noted that it is at least strange and ridiculous for him that First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was at the roots of the Artsakh movement and during whose tenure a victorious ceasefire was signed, equates the years from 1998 to 2018 with their following three years during which there was a defeat. “Moreover, [third President and RPA leader] Serzh Sargsyan’s negotiating legacy was the best, by which the people of Artsakh were to receive a status, even independence, by a document,” Eduard Sharmazanov added.

If Azerbaijan fails to pull back troops, Armenia has legitimate right to use force – opposition LHK

Jagharian Tania

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 14:50,

YEREVAN, MAY 14, ARMENPRESS. Opposition Bright Armenia (LHK) leader Edmon Marukyan says the Armenian government’s actions over the border incident are correct at this moment, at the same time if the negotiations fail Armenia has the legitimate right to use force to defend itself.

“Clearly this is a crisis situation, by breaching the Armenian state border the Azerbaijani side violated our state’s legislation and territorial integrity and is now located somewhere it shouldn’t be located,” Marukyan said at a press briefing.

Marukyan says there could’ve been two directions of actions for the Armenian authorities. “First would’ve been to attempt to prevent and deliver a strike during the breach. However, the situation is such that the Azeri troops breached the border, positioned themselves and then only got detected.” Negotiations began after the Azeri incursion was detected.

“I think the Armenian side has the legitimate right to use all levers it has, including force if Azerbaijan doesn’t pull back as a result of talks. However, the negotiations and actions which are now underway are correct, all measures must be exhausted to resort to the use of force. However, there is hope that the Azerbaijani side will pull back as a result of negotiations,” Marukyan said.

Marukyan says the government’s decision to apply to the CSTO was correct because a new escalation is maturing at the Armenian border.

He warned all political forces not to use the crisis for political goals. “If the enemy is infringing on our borders, that border isn’t the border of the [ruling party], it’s not Pashinyan’s border, it is the border of the Republic of Armenia, our border, and all of us must stand united and protect this border, if it’s a matter of negotiations, negotiate, if it’s a matter of fighting, fight,” he said.

On May 12, Azeri military units breached the Armenian state border in an attempt to seize the area of the Sev Lake in Syunik Province. Azeri military formations advanced into the Gegharkunik Province as well. A total of 250 Azeri troops are illegally deployed inside Armenian territory.

PM Pashinyan called the Azeri actions a pre-planned provocation and infringement on Armenian sovereignty. Armenia officially applied to the CSTO to initiate the mutual-defense mechanisms. 

 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan