Author: Janet Ekmekjian

Azerbaijan Rewriting Narrative of Nagorno-Karabakh

Janet Ekmekjian
Persecution: International Christian Concern
Jan 10 2021

 
 
 
01/10/2021 Nagorno-Karabakh (International Christian Concern) – Azerbaijani state media appear to have increased their production of English-language articles dedicated to how their country will “revive” Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh). The President established a Karabakh Revival Fund for the so-called benefit of “liberated” territory. Different articles in Azeri press describe various kinds of infrastructure developments intended to bring “big profits” to Azerbaijan.
 
When reading Azeri press, it is important to recognize that their international press freedom index ranking is quite low and stands at 168.  Press freedom and religious freedom are entangled within the context of analyzing the challenges facing Nagorno-Karabakh following the Turkish-backed Azeri invasion of the territory. Azerbaijan is attempting to rewrite the narrative not only of the area’s Christian history, but also why and how their government is behaving, the end result of which is the massive displacement of Armenian Christians whom cannot return to areas under Turkish-Azeri control. English-language articles of Azeri-Turkish press are meant for a foreign audience and do not necessarily reflect what is being published in the local language.
 

Catholicos of Great House of Cilicia: The territorial integrity of Armenia is an unconditional all-Armenian commitment

Janet Ekmekjian
News.am, Armenia 

Jan 10 2021
20:51, 10.01.2021
The territorial integrity of Armenia as well as the lasting and inviolable preservation of its statehood is an unconditional all-Armenian commitment, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I said in a statement.
 
The statement runs as follows:
 
As we have noticed recently, the truce announcement which was called to stop the war unleashed by Azeri-Turkish army against Artsakh, contains such indefinite and ambiguous clauses that can endanger the security, independence and territorial integrity of Armenia. The dangerous items of the truce have to be clarified at the request of Armenian and with the support of Russia. The territorial integrity of Armenia as well as the lasting and inviolable preservation of its statehood is an unconditional all-Armenian commitment. At the crucial moments of its centuries-old history our people have always and selflessly said its “no” to the dangers threatening our nation and our Motherland.
 
We are not aware of the details of the Putin-Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting to be held on January 11 in Moscow. It is our demand, and we believe also the demand of our people, that Yerevan by its signature under any agreement did not place in jeopardy the sovereignty, statehood and territorial integrity of Armenia.

As Yerevan copes with coronavirus and refugees, Putin and Erdoğan get friendlier

Janet Ekmekjian
Asia News, Italy
Jan 9 2021
 
by Vladimir Rozanskij
 
 
The Armenian president is in solitary confinement with severe symptoms of COVID-19. Total cases have reached 161,415 with 361 in one day at last count. Under Russian military protection, 50,000 Armenian refugees have returned to Nagorno-Karabakh in recent weeks. For Putin, the Turkish president is a man who does everything for the good of his country. Patriarch Kirill blames Patriarch Bartholomew for Hagia Sophia’s use as a mosque.
   
 
Moscow (AsiaNews) – Armenian President Armen Sarkisyan's press office announced yesterday that the president is in hospital with severe symptoms of COVID-19.
 
Mr Sarkisyan is in isolation and his condition appears to be fairly stable, which allows him to work remotely. Doctors hope to allow him to return to the presidential palace shortly.
 
Sarkisyan spent the New Year's Day in London with his family, and on his return home, he was tested positive.
 
As a precaution, controversial Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan also put himself in voluntary isolation.
 
Meanwhile, the coronavirus epidemic has reached worrying levels with 361 new cases in one day for a total of 161,415.
 
The COVID crisis is compounded by the refugees of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, whose repatriation has been completed.
 
Yesterday, Russian army peacekeepers led a column of 181 people, on buses from the Armenian capital Yerevan to Stepanakert, Karabakh's main city.
 
Over the past few weeks, almost 50,000 Armenians were repatriated under Russian military protection. Russian forces have helped distribute humanitarian aid and rebuild damaged houses and infrastructure.
 
Russia’s Defence Ministry also announced that 23 observation points are monitoring the ceasefire agreement signed on 10 November between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
 
More than 15 Russian brigades are deployed as peacekeepers, along with an unknown number of Turkish troops supporting Azerbaijani forces.
 
Russian-Turkish relations have come under closer scrutiny lately after Russia had to give in to Turkey in Syria, Libya and the Caucasus to varying degrees in 2020.
 
In his end-of-year press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “We have different, occasionally opposing views on certain matters with President Erdoğan. But he keeps his word like a real man. He does not wag his tail. If he thinks something is good for his country, he goes for it. This is about predictability. It is important to know whom you are dealing with.”
 
Putin also suggested that Russia should review its approach at the international level.
 
Moscow Patriarch Kirill (Gundyayev) also spoke about Erdoğan and his decision to reopen Hagia Sophia Basilica and other Istanbul churches as mosques.
 
Instead of criticising the Turkish President, he blamed his Orthodox “rival”, ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Arhondonis). In Kirill’s view, the Christian defeat over Hagia Sophia is “divine punishment for supporting the Ukrainian schism”.
 

Armenia to extend Covid-related quarantine for six months

Janet Ekmekjian
Public Radio of Armenia

Jan 6 2021

Armenia will extend the quarantine for another six months. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Alina Nikoghosyan confirmed the information to Public TV.

According to the latter, the proposal was made taking into account the epidemic situation caused by the coronavirus and the growing number of cases.

The quarantine was introduced on September 11 and was to be in place until January 11. It came to replace the state of emergency declared on March 16.

https://en.armradio.am/2021/01/06/armenia-to-extend-covid-related-quarantine-for-six-months/


Ombudsman concerned over Azerbaijani signboards installed near Armenia’s border settlements

Janet Ekmekjian
Panorama, Armenia

Dec 29 2020

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan has expressed concerns over the Azerbaijani signboards installed close to several border towns and villages in Armenia's Syunik Province. A statement posted by Tatoyan on Facebook on Tuesday reads: 

"Yesterday, on December 28, on the road between the Armenian town of Goris to the village of Vorotan, the placement of a sign by Azerbaijanis featuring the map of that country caused deep concern in Goris, Vorotan and a number of other peaceful settlements. This, in addition to the installation of Azerbaijani flags on that section of the road, as well as near the village of Vorotan.

The residents of these settlements have submitted their concerns to the Human Rights Defender's Office of Armenia regarding their life, physical security and inviolability, property, and other vital rights. It was stated in the alerts that this is a gross violation of their rights.

The staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia immediately initiated a detailed investigation. Both the observations of the Syunik regional and central subdivisions of the Defender's Office and the alerts of the local community bodies and residents were analyzed.

It turned out that in the middle of the border settlements of Armenia, the Azerbaijani military placed a sign reading "Welcome to Azerbaijan." The map shown on that sign is made in such a way that a significant part of Syunik Province of Armenia and a number of other settlements of our country are represented as part of Azerbaijan. In any case, it is obvious that this was done to create such a perception. The sign was placed on the road connecting one residential community of Armenia to another.

The results of the study clearly confirm that the mentioned step of the Azerbaijani military was taken in a way that violates the rights of the residents of the RA border communities, by openly and notoriously intimidating them (foremost, children and women).

This is a step with a clear intention to intimidate and terrorize civilians, first of all taking into account the torture, inhumane treatment and other war crimes, and the ethnic cleansing that the Azerbaijani armed forces committed against our people, especially during and after the September-November 2020 war.

Such steps are especially reprehensible against the background of the Azerbaijani state policy of a propaganda against the Armenian Genocide and the anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan, as well as the open call for war against Armenia by the Azeris who have public recognition and visibility in that country and have declared themselves human rights defenders. (The staff of the Human Rights Defender’s Office has secured the requisite proof).

This announcement will be disseminated to international organizations today."


Asbarez: Dozens Arrested During Protest in Front of Parliament

Janet Ekmekjian

December 28,  2020



Protesters in front of Parliament on Dec. 28

Dozens of mostly young people were arrested Monday as they peacefully protested in front of Armenia’s National Assembly building to condemn the ruling “My Step” faction lawmakers for advancing the agenda that has allowed the defeatist November 9 agreement to be signed, that while ending the Artsakh war, it forced the surrender of territories in Artsakh and Armenia to Azerbaijan.

This is a continuation of the wave of protests organized by the Homeland Salvation Movement, a coalition of 16 opposition forces, which have been demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation since he signed the November 9 agreement. Pashinyan on Friday called on all parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forces to consultations to hold snap parliamentary elections in 2021. However, the Homeland Salvation Movement and other forces that have been calling for Pashinyan’s resignation said that they did not have confidence that snap elections organized by the government would be free and fair.

Monday’s protesters condemned the My Step alliance lawmakers for effectively destroying the legislative branch in Armenia through their inaction and ineffective leadership. The protesters also demanded that the My Step bloc members resign from the alliance and end the martial law imposed at the onset of the war in September.

As demonstrators outside protested, the ruling “My Step” alliance called a National Assembly Council meeting to discuss removing the chair of the Standing Committee of Human Rights, opposition Prosperous Armenia Party member Naira Zouhrabyan from her position, instead of discussing the pressing issues facing the country.

The protesters began marching along Baghramyan Avenue toward Republic Square.

As the protest progressed dozens of people were arrested, among them Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia president and member Simon Simonian and Artsavik Minasyan, as well as several ARF Youth Organization members.

The Homeland Salvation Movement issued an announcement urging law enforcement to not become “enslaved” to the authorities. The statement also pointed out that the protesters had formed a human “wall of shame” in front of the parliament building, when My Step lawmaker Andranik Kocharyan lashed out at the protesters hurling insults at them. Another My Step lawmaker, Sisak Gabrielyan, got out of his car and began shoving and attacking protesters.

“The police have remained silent about the behavior of the lawmakers,” said the Homeland Salvation Movement. “Instead they have arrested dozens of citizens… While releasing some, they have begun criminal proceedings against others.”

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 12/21/2020

Janet Ekmekjian 
                                        Monday, 

Putin Praises Russian Peacekeepers In Karabakh


NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Military vehicles of the Russian peacekeeping force move on 
the road outside Lachin, November 29, 2020

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin praised on Monday Russian peacekeeping forces 
deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that they are successfully ensuring the 
implementation of a Moscow-brokered agreement that stopped the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war on November 10.

“On November 10 the Russian peacekeepers embarked on a very difficult mission in 
Nagorno-Karabakh. Their presence became a guarantee of compliance with the 
agreements on cessation of hostilities,” Putin said at a meeting with top 
Russian Defense Ministry officials.

Putin pointed out that the 2,000 Russian troops are also ensuring the safe 
return of refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh, helping to rebuild the region’s public 
infrastructures, demining civilian areas and protecting religious monuments.

“They are risking their lives to bring peace back to that land,” he added, 
according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also mentioned the peacekeeping operation 
in his remarks at the meeting chaired by Putin. “Civilians are returning to 
their places of residence and rebuilding their homes in completely safe 
conditions,” Shoigu said.

The peacekeepers set up 23 observation posts in and around Karabakh shortly 
after Putin brokered the Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire agreement following six 
weeks of heavy fighting in the conflict zone. They are also deployed along the 
so-called Lachin corridor connecting Karabakh to Armenia.

The peacekeeping contingent suffered its first casualty last week when a Russian 
officer was killed in an explosion during a demining operation near the 
Azerbaijani-controlled Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha).

In Shoigu’s words, the Russian troops have already defused more than 6,000 
landmines and pieces of explosive ordnance. They are also helping the warring 
sides to exchange prisoners and recover the bodies of soldiers killed in action.



Armenian Mayor Arrested Over Anti-Pashinian Protest

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Goris Mayor Arush Arushanian.

The mayor of the southeastern Armenian town of Goris was arrested early on 
Monday just hours after urging local residents to block a highway and not allow 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to visit their region bordering Azerbaijan.

The 29-year-old mayor, Arush Arushanian, was among the elected heads of more 
than a dozen communities in Syunik province who demanded Pashinian’s resignation 
earlier this month. They held him responsible for the Armenian side’s defeat in 
the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh and accused him of putting Syunik’s security 
at grave risk with Armenian troop withdrawals completed over the weekend.

Pashinian planned to visit the region on Monday in a bid to reassure its 
population.

Arushanian urged Goris residents late on Sunday to join a convoy of vehicles 
which he said will block the main regional highway to stop Pashinian from 
entering Syunik.

“This is not a political orientation or a partisan initiative,” he wrote on 
Facebook. “This is a fight for the dignity, security and physical existence of 
the people of Syunik,” he wrote on Facebook.

Arushanian was arrested and taken to Yerevan a few hours later. Armenia’s 
Investigative Committee said on Monday afternoon that he is suspected of 
organizing an illegal gathering.

Goris’s Deputy Mayor Irina Yolian and other Arushanian supporters condemned the 
arrest as politically motivated. Several dozen opposition activists gathered 
outside the Investigative Committee headquarters in Yerevan to demand the 
mayor’s release.

Arushanian’s lawyer, Armen Melkonian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service earlier in 
the day that he is being illegally denied access to his client.

Despite Arushanian’s arrest, a highway section near Goris was blocked by several 
hundred protesters, forcing Pashinian to cut short his trip to Syunik.

The prime minister was able to visit only one provincial town, Sisian. 
Addressing several hundred supporters who gathered there, he condemned the road 
blockade and said its organizers want to prevent similar gatherings in Goris, 
the provincial capital Kapan and other communities which he said would expose 
continuing popular support for him.

Pashinian is facing growing pressure to resign from the Armenian opposition and 
many public figures. He has rejected the opposition demands backed by President 
Armen Sarkissian and the Armenian Apostolic Church.



Pashinian Cuts Short Visit To Armenian Border Region Amid Protests


Armenia - Vehicles at a blocked section of a road outside Goris, December 21, 
2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian faced protests by angry residents of Armenia’s 
southeastern Syunik province as he visited it on Monday following further 
Armenian troop withdrawals resulting from the Russian-brokered ceasefire in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The protests forced Pashinian to cut short his visit.

Syunik borders the Zangelan and Kubatli districts southwest of Karabakh which 
were mostly recaptured by Azerbaijan during the war. Parts of the districts 
close to the provincial capital Kapan and other communities remained under 
Armenian control until last week.

Armenian army units and local militias completed their withdrawal from those 
areas at the weekend despite protests staged by many local residents. The latter 
say that they can no longer feel safe because Azerbaijani forces will now be 
stationed dangerously close to their communities.

The troop redeployments also raised questions about the safety of a road 
connecting Kapan to another provincial town, Goris. Some of its sections 
straddle the Soviet-era Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry and National Security Service (NSS) insisted over the 
weekend that the road, which is also part of the country’s vital transport link 
with Iran, will remain open for traffic.

A Defense Ministry statement said Russian border guards deployed in Syunik will 
guarantee its security. Pashinian announced, meanwhile, that he will tour Syunik 
on Monday and try to personally reassure the region’s population.


Armenia -- Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian (R) visits a new Armenian 
army post set up in Syunik province, December 18, 2020.
In an extraordinary move, Goris Mayor Arush Arushanian, urged supporters late on 
Sunday to block the main regional highway and bar Pashinian from entering the 
mountainous region bordering Iran.

“This is not a political orientation or a partisan initiative. This is a fight 
for the dignity, security and physical existence of the people of Syunik,” he 
said in an appeal posted on Facebook.

Arushanian was arrested overnight. This did not prevent hundreds of his 
supporters from gathering in Goris early in the morning. A convoy of vehicles 
carrying them was stopped just outside Goris riot police units sent from 
Yerevan. Some protesters and police officers briefly clashed at the scene.

Hundreds of other protesters blocked a highway section more than a dozen 
kilometers northwest of Goris.


Armenia - Prime Minister NikolPashinian pays tribute to soldiers killed in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh war and buried at a military cemetery in Sisian, December 21, 
2020.

Arushanian was among the heads of more than a dozen Syunik communities who 
issued earlier this month statements condemning Pashinian’s handling of the war 
with Azerbaijan and demanding his resignation.

Pashinian condemned the road blockade as a “provocation” when he began his tour 
of Syunik in another provincial town, Sisian, in the morning.

Addressing several hundred supporters that gathered in Sisian’s main square, he 
claimed that organizers of the protests want to prevent similar gatherings in 
Goris and Kapan which he said would expose continuing popular support for him.

The embattled prime minister insisted that he is ready to answer “tough 
questions” from the region’s population. “I admit that there are question to 
which we have no answers now,” he added.

With the protesters refusing to unblock the roads, Pashinian announced early in 
the afternoon that he will not travel to Goris, Kapan and other Syunik towns.

“We will not resort to the use of force especially during this mourning period 
[for Armenian victims of the war,]” he wrote on Facebook. “We are returning to 
Yerevan.”


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Commemorative procession led by Pashinyan starts in Yerevan

Janet Ekmekjian

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 13:24,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. A commemorative procession honoring the Artsakh war victims started from Republic Square in Yerevan. The participants of the procession, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan and other officials, are moving towards the Yerablur military cemetery to pay homage to the war victims. Today is also the first day of the national three-day mourning period.

Photos by Gevorg Perkuperkyan

Meanwhile, anti-Pashinyan protesters have gathered at Yerablur.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Azerbaijan’s efforts to cancel ECHR decisions failed

Janet Ekmekjian

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 09:56,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), as a result of the actions taken by the Office of Armenia’s Representative at the ECHR, has rejected the demand of the Azerbaijani government to eliminate the interim measure applied on September 29, 2020, Armenia’s Representation at the ECHR told Armenpress.

“The European Court particularly has taken into account the fact that the demands for applying interim measure for the protection of rights of captured persons and the evidence on that continue to be presented against Azerbaijan. The Court has also noted that Azerbaijan has not regularly fulfilled the demands of the Court to provide respective information about that persons. Therefore, the Court has found that the circumstances serving as a base for the interim measure continue to exist, thus, there are no grounds to cancel its decisions or their implementation.

Finally, the European Court has stated that it will continue examining the demands submitted for applying interim measures.

Let us remind that according to the decision of September 29, 2020, the European Court has called on Azerbaijan to refrain from measures, in particular from military actions which could lead to violations of convention rights of civilian population, as well as could also endanger their life and health. The ECHR has also called on Azerbaijan to fulfill its convention duties, especially under Article 2nd (right to life) and 3rd (ban on torture, inhuman treatment) of the Convention”, the statement says.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Russian peacekeepers suppressed ceasefire violation in Karabakh, commander says

Janet Ekmekjian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 13 2020

Russian peacekeepers on Friday suppressed a ceasefire violation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the situation in the region returned to normal, commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Lieutenant General Rustam Muradov told reporters today, TASS reports.

“A ceasefire violation was registered on December 11, in the vicinity of the settlements of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher of the Hadrut region, which was suppressed by the actions of the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” Muradov said.

The Lieutenant General stressed that at present “the situation in this area has returned to normal.” Russian peacekeepers are constantly monitoring the situation and keep in contact with representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides, Muradov added.

On the eve of the Russian Defense Ministry reported the first case of violation of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Earlier on Saturday, the Armenian Defense Ministry had announced the start of offensive actions of the Azerbaijani army in the direction of the villages of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd in the south of Karabakh.

As of Sunday the ceasefire is again observed in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Defense Ministry says.