15:18,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government extended until June 20, 2022 the nationwide “quarantine” regime which was introduced instead of the state of emergency which was declared over COVID-19 in early 2020.
The “quarantine” regime allows the government to continue enforcing safety rules such as social distancing, mask wearing and other anti-epidemic preventative measures.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
While no one is watching, the social and economic geography in the South Caucasus is continuing swiftly to evolve. Signal among these developments, indeed its driving force, is the rebuilding of the Karabakh region following the expulsion of occupying military forces from the Republic of Armenia, or under its direct control, which had been there for 30 years. The development has deep implications for the geopolitics of the broader region.
Danger still exists from Armenian irregular forces that continue to operate from the Azerbaijani territories where Russian peacekeeping troops are located. At the same time, there are periodic attempts to infiltrate special-operations teams from the body of Armenia proper into the newly liberated lands.
So far the headline story, but far from the only one, in the redevelopment of the Karabakh region is the opening of a new international airport in Fuzuli, a city that became a ghost town after its Azerbaijani population was driven out following its capture in August 1993 by Armenian forces who destroyed its civilian infrastructure.
It happens that the Azerbaijani army was able to retake important areas of Fuzuli district in 1994, although not the city itself. The development of non-occupied Fuzuli distinct since 1994 is an indicator of what to expect not only for Fuzuli city but for the whole of the de-occupied territories, once they are de-mined from the vast amounts of ordnance implanted by Armenian forces. This procedure is complicated by Yerevan’s general refusal to turn the requisite maps over to Baku. In one case where they did so, for the city of Aghdam, it was determined by inspection that these maps were only about 25 percent accurate.
In 1979, the city of Fuzuli had a population of 13,091. The whole of the Fuzuli district had population of 76,013, of which almost 97 percent was ethnic Azerbaijani. By 1989, the population of Fuzuli city had reached 17,090, an increase of 23 percent. Applying this rate of growth and ethnic apportionment to Fuzuli district would give it a population of 93,450, of which over 90,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis. This would be the number ethnically cleansed by Armenian forces from Fuzuli district alone during the First Karabakh War.
Making a very rough calculation based on Azerbaijan’s population growth of 42 percent over three decades, from 7.02 million in 1989 to 9.98 million in 2019, these figures indicate that proportionally the old Fuzuli district should be able to support almost 128,000 Azerbaijanis, or indeed more, given the now-planned economic development there.
It is estimated that in the mid-1990s 40,000 Azerbaijanis had returned already to those areas of Fuzuli district not under Armenian military control, where they have thrived. This established demographic and economic base, an advantage that most of the de-occupied administrative districts do not enjoy, will facilitate the further development of Fuzuli city and the rest of Fuzuli district.
Azerbaijan is building two more airports in the formerly occupied territories, in Zangilan and Lachin districts. Construction of Zangilan International Airport began in May 2021 and will be completed next year. These three airports will go far to re-integrate the region economically back into Azerbaijan. It is planned to create industrial zones adjacent to the airports. Private Turkish companies have already started to construct an agropark in Zangilan district.
Thus, it is planned that the new airports will also become foci for modern logistics and transportation centres. The airports and their associated infrastructure will strengthen the region’s own security and connectivity by linking important new highways there, already under construction. New highways have already been finished that link major Karabakh cities, in the mountains, to the country’s eastern plain.
The catastrophe of the contamination of the de-occupied territories by land mines is becoming more widely recognized. Estimates made in 1998 supposed about 100,000 mines in the occupied territories. However. the mine maps provided for the city of Aghdam alone on 12 June 2021 showed no fewer than 97,000 mines. Official Baku believes that the occupying Armenian forces sowed no fewer than a million mines throughout the territories over the course of 30 years.
The United Kingdom has provided US$677,000 to Azerbaijan for de-mining activities via the United Nations Development program. France has donated US$473,000 directly to Azerbaijan for the same purpose. The United States has recently pledged US$500,000. Other countries have stepped up by providing trained personnel as well as funding.
Unfortunately Canada has not been among them, despite its having once vaunted itself with pride for having promoted and motivated the 1997 signature of the so-called “Ottawa Treaty” (full title: Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Land Mines and Their Destruction), which entered into force in 1999.
Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister Elnur Mammadov has told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Armenian forces continue to lay landmines in a “campaign of ethnic cleansing and incitement to violence against Azerbaijanis [that] is ongoing” and which have killed or injured “at least” 106 Azerbaijanis, including 65 civilians as of the middle of last month. Azerbaijan has applied to the ICJ for an order to Armenia to hand over maps showing the location of land mines in the liberated territories.
Even if it takes a decade to clear the mines, the economic development of the liberated territories is not being delayed. Baku is dedicating already in 2021 $1.5 billion dollars for the restoration of these territories. Similar figures may be foreseen for the future. This sum is not a great burden on the country’s state budget, which estimated an oil price of $45 per barrel; this price has risen to over $80 lately, with further increases likely.
The results of these investments will not only transform the territories themselves. The broad rebuilding of the infrastructure, including international links, will equally transform the geostrategic map of the whole South Caucasus region and beyond.
Robert M. Cutler is a Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com
PanARMENIAN.Net – The alternative road to replace the one passing through pockets of Azerbaijan-controlled territories in Armenia’s Syunik province is “practically completely ready”, Minister Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan told a press conference on Wednesday, November 10, Armenpress reports.
Sanosyan said roads are under construction in a number of communities of Syunik province, revealing that the one connecting the towns of Sisian and Kajaran is a priority.
Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan said in late October that the alternative roads in Syunik will be ready in spring 2022.
The main road connecting the cities of Goris and Kapan in the region in some cases runs across territory which Baku gained control of as a result of the 44-day war in fall 2020. Azerbaijan has already set up border guard posts and police checkpoints, has at least once blocked a 21-kilometer section of it for nearly 48 hours and is now collecting taxes from Iranian trucks delivering goods to Armenia.
The UK can help right an “appalling historical injustice” by recognising the Armenian genocide, a Conservative former minister has said.
Tim Loughton the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham put forward in the House of Commons a bill that would require the UK Government to formally recognise the genocide of the Armenians in the period 1915 to 1923 and to establish an annual commemoration to the victims of the Armenian genocide.
Mr Loughton, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Armenia, claimed that despite the fact that no fewer than 31 countries now officially recognise the Armenian genocide, the UK has still “failed to follow suit”.
He insisted a memorandum from the Foreign Office back in 1999 “let the cat out of the bag” when it said: “Given the importance of our relationship, political, strategic and commercial with Turkey, recognising the genocide would provide no practical benefit to the UK.”
“Refusing to recognise the Armenian Genocide risk conveying a dangerous message of impunity that a crime unpunished is a crime encouraged or downplayed”
Mr Loughton insisted “glossing over the uncomfortable inconveniences of past history is not the basis for strong and constructive relationships.”
He told MPs: “We cannot legitimately call out and stand up to genocide still going on in the 21st century by sidelining and neglecting the genocides of the 20th century.
“Refusing to recognise the Armenian Genocide risk conveying a dangerous message of impunity that a crime unpunished is a crime encouraged or downplayed.”
He noted the Bill is strongly supported by members from at least five parties across the House, before adding: “We have the opportunity to do our best to help right an appalling historical injustice and as a leading advocate of human rights on the international stage, send out a clear message that we recognise genocide wherever and whenever it has been committed, as the worst crime against humanity and we will call it helped defend the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
In April, US president Joe Biden formally recognised the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century as “genocide”.
Mr Biden used a term for the atrocities that his White House predecessors had avoided for decades amid concerns over alienating Turkey.
The Turkish foreign ministry said in response at the time: “We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups.”
Mr Loughton’s Armenian Genocide Recognition Bill was listed for a second reading on March 18 2022, but is unlikely to become law due to a lack of parliamentary time.
In Armenia, a group of 12 candidate judges enhanced their knowledge on substantive and procedural grounds for conditional non-enforcement of the sentence, early conditional release, as well on the pre-release reports submitted by the Probation Service. Moreover, as part of the training, the candidate judges got acquainted with the role and aim of probation in general.
This training also focused on opportunities for cooperation with the Probation Service, and on particularities of the probation work, thus contributing to the improvement of the functioning of Probation Service in Armenia.
This training took place on 25 October 2021 and it was the first in a series of training sessions for future judges, with the view of further integrating the training curricula within the curricula of the Academy of Justice of Armenia. The training was organised in close cooperation with the Academy of Justice of Armenia based on the training course developed earlier by the Council of Europe
The activity was organized in the framework of the project “Support the scaling-up of the probation service in Armenia” implemented by the Council of Europe and financed through the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022.
Sixteen officials are found guilty of using violence against more than 100 suspects accused of cooperation with the Armenian special services and the preparation of acts of sabotage and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The above has been announced by the Deputy General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in the spring of 2017, a group of militaries and civilians was arrested in Baku, and they were accused of cooperation with the special services of Armenia and of plotting acts of sabotage against units of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of Azerbaijan in the Terter District. During the investigation, eight persons were tortured to death, and four of them were posthumously rehabilitated. The General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan called the public outcry “unreasonable rush.”
The human rights Union “For Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan” recognized 25 people sentenced in the “Terter case” as victims of prosecution for political reasons. The World Organization Against Torture has also reported that Azerbaijan’s law enforcers used torture against detainees.
More than 100 persons involved in the “Terter case” were subjected to physical pressure, reported military prosecutor Khanlar Veliev, Deputy General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan. He admitted that some of them were unreasonably subjected to criminal prosecution.
Meanwhile, Khanlar Veliev emphasized the significance of the “Tartar case and associated it with the aggravation of the Karabakh conflict in the autumn of 2020. “There have been such cases before, a fight was carried out against them, and the guilty persons were brought to justice. If our army had not been cleansed, we would not have been able to win the war,” the “Turan” news agency quoted Khanlar Veliev as saying.
The victims of torture underwent medical treatment, and doctors saved some of them from death.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 1, 2021 at 02:13 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent
Source:
© Caucasian Knot
Armenia committed to becoming a really Smart State, devoted to Nature, Planet and Humanity: President addresses COP 26
November 2, 2021, 18:40 4 minutes read
Armenia is committed to becoming a really Smart State, devoted to our Nature, Planet and Humanity, President Armen Sarkissian said in an address to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
“And I’m optimistic that we can overcome these difficulties and build a brighter future for all of us,” the President said.
Below is the President’s speech in full:
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank Her Majesty and Her Majesty’s Government for organizing this significant and timely event.
Special thanks to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his colleagues and the City of Glasgow for an excellent summit and warm hospitality.
First about Armenia – a small state but a global nation.
According to the World Bank analysis, Armenia is the 4th most vulnerable country to climate change in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Armenia has registered a 1.3-degree Celsius increase in temperature, and a 9 per cent decrease in precipitation.
Despite the challenges by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we are committed to a stronger integration into the global agenda on climate change and to demonstrate an increase in our climate ambition.
Armenia has consistently expressed its commitment to joining global efforts to combat climate change. In 2021 Armenia reaffirmed our commitment through the Nationally Determined Contributions and declared an objective of 40 per cent reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to the 1990 levels.
The long-term objective of Armenia is to achieve climate neutrality in the second half of this century.
Transition to climate neutrality is at the core of the country’s energy independence, energy security and green growth policies.
Our vision of resilient and low-carbon growth is directly connected to a solid and effective adaptation strategy based on an ecosystem approach, reforestation, investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, new high technologies, promotion of electric mobility and further development of nuclear energy.
Dear colleagues,
Substantial public debt burdens most developing economies in their ability to access concessional and non-concessional climate finance.
In this regard, a creative approach is crucial. I am delighted to share with you our renewed “Debt-for-Climate Swap” Initiative. It presents a new climate finance instrument. And it will help developing countries to adapt more efficiently to climate change finance, provides new economic opportunities.
Mr. President,
Exactly one year ago during its war against Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan used internationally banned weapons to target not only civilians but also beautiful forests of the large area, causing massive forest fires and creating environmental disasters in place. We call on international community to step up its efforts to prevent such irresponsible, inhumane behavior.
The environmental challenges do not recognize borders and conflict lines, and we should bring all states of the world into comprehensive cooperation.
Now just a couple of words about this conference.
I thoroughly enjoyed the opening of the conference, enjoyed the speeches of my colleagues from worldwide. And it was confirmed by everybody here, that there’s a big problem which is the climate change. But that’s not the only problem that we have these days, because we are facing also pandemic, we are facing economic difficulties worldwide, we are facing rise of populism, we are facing uncertainty, we are also facing unpredictability here.
By having all of these problems, we have also recognized here globally that there’s huge wealth and that wealth is in trillions of dollars that could resolve the issue. And on the other side during the hundred years of development based on quantum technology and quantum physics, we have achieved phenomenal achievements in science and technology, and that technology today can resolve our problems be that in climate changes, be that in Covid and other problems that we are facing.
So where is the problem? Why are not we so effective or efficient? I think that there’s one thing that we should learn from the history of science when 100 years ago great scientists, people like Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Heisenberg, realized that the classical laws of physics and mechanics cannot be applied to the new discovered small particles and atoms. You have to change your mentality, you have to change your philosophy, your logic, even your common sense to understand and create the theory of quantum physics.
We are on the crossroad. The world has become quantum. This is a crossroad that we have to start thinking differently because the world that’s ahead of us, is not the one that was there 10 or 20 years ago. If we change our mentality and form our ambition and strategy, then we can effectively use the finances and the wealth that the world created during this phenomenal development and use the technology to handle the problems that we are facing. But not only to resolve the problems but also to create the basis of development to the brighter future years to come.
At the opening of this Summit Professor Brian Cox took us to a trip to Cosmos to see from the above how amazingly beautiful this Planet is and to realize that in the whole Universe this is our Home and the Only One and there is no other alternative for us but to work and to fight for this Green and Blue Planet.
Armenia is committed to become a really Smart State, devoted to our Nature, Planet and Humanity. And I’m optimistic that we can overcome these difficulties and build a brighter future for all of us.
At the joint sittings of the NA Standing Committees on Regional and Eurasian Integration and on the Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs the RA Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Ghevondyan presented the allocations and to be provided to the sphere and the result indicators to be expected.
According to the Deputy Minister, the format of the bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation exists in the Eurasian region. In 2022, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Armenia and Russia turns, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Aid.
Despite the pandemic, in 2021 the Armenian-Russian allied relations were activated on the bilateral and multilateral platforms: 4 meetings of the RA Prime Minister and the RF President, 5 meetings of the Foreign Ministers, more than dozens of telephone talks.
Armen Ghevondyan noted that with the results of the statements of the Heads of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan signed on 9 November 2020 and 11 January 2021 the de-blockading process of the economic and transport communication was launched in the South Caucasus region.
In December of this year, the next 20th meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission for Economic Cooperation between Armenia and Russia it planned to hold in Yerevan. It was noted that the RF showed great support to our country in the fight against pandemic.
In the near future the next meeting of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council will be convened in Yerevan.
In activating the economic ties the MP Khachatur Sukiasyan highlighted the effective work of the embassies, the commercial attaches and tried to clarify what tools were used in this direction. To Armen Ghevondyan’s conviction, to enliven the economic ties we may use new opportunities, if there will be the diversification channels, which can connect our countries and facilitate the contacts of the entities. In this context the Chair of the Standing Committee on the Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs Gevorg Papoyan has recorded that there is the notion economic diplomacy in the five-year plan of the Government activity, and in case of the concrete programmes allocations will be designed during the distribution of the budgetary means.
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National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia published this content on 04 November 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 07:22:04 UTC.
15:12, 3 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan within the framework of his two-day official visit to Armenia.
The Georgian Minister of Defense paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Minister Burchuladze was accompanied by Major-general Arayik Harutyunyan, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, the defense ministry said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
13:23, 1 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan received today newly-appointed Ambassador of Norway to Armenia Helene Sand Andresen, the Parliament’s press service said.
The sides discussed a number of issues relating to the development of the Armenian-Norwegian relations. Both emphasized the importance of implementing programs aimed at boosting the inter-parliamentary cooperation.
The Speaker of Parliament also highlighted the necessity of deepening the cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries in various international platforms.
The discussion also touched upon the regional security and stability. In this context the sides highlighted the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship in the comprehensive settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Alen Simonyan stressed the urgency of the repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians held in Azerbaijan.
The meeting also covered topics relating to democracy and human rights.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan