Jirair Kafian – Page 35 – Armenian Directory & News

PM Pashinyan highly appreciates readiness of volunteers to place truth above all

December 25, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

20:26,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia met on December 24 with dozens of representatives of volunteer detachments that participated in Artsakh war.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, Pashinyan greeted the participants of the meeting, expressing happiness for the meeting. ”Our today’s conversation is very important for me and I think that this is a conversation that should be continuous, because we have much to analyze and understand together”, Pashinyan said, thanking them for their service to the Motherland. I want to say that I highly appreciate your service, I highly appreciate your civic positions and I highly appreciate your readiness to place truth above all, particularly now, when the truth can be very bitter and dangerous. But I think we must have the will and determination to pursue the truth in any case”, Pashinyan said.

The representatives of volunteer detachments thanked the PM for the opportunity to meet and highlighted that format for jointly discussing the post-war situation and the vision for the future. They talked about the problems they faced during the war and presented proposals for solving them.

During the meeting Pashinyan answered the questions of the volunteers, which were about revealing the cases of desertion and treachery, the developments over Artsakh, army building, reforms in the sphere of education, model of patriotic upbringing and other issues.

French and international singers initiate an online charity concert to support the children of Artsakh

December 21, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

Panorama, Armenia

Dec 21 2020

More than 50 French and international singers and artists unite their efforts and organise an online show to help and support the children of Artsakh and Armenia. The online event, initiated by Amnésie Internationale, will be streamed live on December 26, at midnight Yerevan time.

The organizers inform that after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, over 30.000 children in Armenia and Artsakh are now facing extremely difficult living conditions. Hundreds of them have lost a father, a mother, or both. Thousands have no more home to go to. Most of these kids cannot even attend school anymore, as they are denied its basic right to education.

“Children of Artsakh and Armenia deserve a bright, new future. And together, we can all help them build it! Now is the time to make a difference,” the organisers added.

The fundraiser will be streamed live on Facebook, and will then be available till January 10th, 2021, for enjoyment as well as the ongoing donations, on YouTube and 6play, the replay channel of M6, third most watched television network in the French-speaking world.

The funds raised by the online benefit concert will help the children and their tens of thousands of displaced parents find a new home. All of the funds raised during the concert will be donated to Children of Armenia Fund, Fonds Arménien de France and Jeunesse Arménienne de France.

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs meet with Azerbaijani President in Baku

December 13, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

16:57,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Stéphane Visconti of France, Andrew Schofer of the United States of America, and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, met with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Baku.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Co-Chairs’ regional visit.

The meeting was also attended by Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov.

The OSCE MG Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office will also visit Armenia.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Sports: Mkhitaryan after Sassuolo clash: ‘Everyone saw what happened’

December 8, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

Panorama, Armenia

Dec 7 2020

‘Angry’ Henrikh Mkhitaryan didn’t want to speak about the referee after Roma-Sassuolo: ‘Everyone saw what happened.’

The Giallorossi were held to a 0-0 draw at the Olimpico by Sassuolo but had Pedro sent off in the first half while the former Manchester United and Arsenal man had a goal disallowed, Football Italia reported.

“We played well even if we were down to ten men, we had several goal scoring opportunities,” the Armenian told Sky Sport.

“I am not going to talk about the referee, everyone saw what happened. It’s enough to just look at the images.”

Paulo Fonseca was also sent off before the half-time break and said after the game he ‘didn’t understand’ the referee.

“We are angry for what happened,” Mkhitaryan continued.

“I am angry because I’ve had a goal disallowed for the second time, I am angry because Pedro was sent off even if the second yellow card was fair. We are going to focus on the next games.”

Can Roma be title contenders?

“It’s still too early to say that, there is balance up there. It’s going to be a long season, we’ll give our best to get a Champions League placement.”

Is This the End of Azerbaijan?

December 2, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

The National Interest

Nov 30 2020

Azeris may celebrate November 10 as the date of their victory over Armenia in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War but, when the heady days of celebration recede, they may just realize it marks the beginning of the end to true Azeri independence.

by Michael Rubin

When Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan accepted a ceasefire on Nov. 10, 2020, Azerbaijan president Ilham Aliyev had reason to feel triumphant. He reversed the territorial losses suffered by his father, Azerbaijan’s former president, at the end of the first Nagorno-Karabakh War. He had successfully fooled the United States by committing to diplomacy in exchange for cash and military aid only to then launch a surprise attack to achieve militarily far more than he might have diplomatically. He also cemented his own power: By transforming himself into an indispensable ally for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian president Vladimir Putin, he may calculate that they will preserve his power in Azerbaijan should there be any significant unrest, much as Putin has spared no effort to protect Russian interests by propping up Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Armenia lost the war and Aliyev won. But Azerbaijan also lost. Azerbaijani flags may fly over Shusha, also known among Armenians as Shushi, and Kalbajar, but Aliyev’s victory comes at the expense of Azerbaijani independence. In order to cement personal power and the likely guarantee that his wife and son will succeed him, Aliyev has sold out Azerbaijani sovereignty.

Russian troops are now in Azerbaijan. In both theory and reality, they are enforcing a ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but the re-insertion of Russian forces in the region has also been Putin’s longstanding goal as step-by-step he appears to return all former Soviet states to his fold. Perhaps Aliyev felt confident accepting Russian troops because they cemented the gains he and Turkish forces achieved during the war, but Aliyev forgot that while Russian troops are quick to enter, they seldom exit.

The Turks, too, are unlikely to leave Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s war aim was Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding Azeri districts, which Armenia had taken in the 1988—1994 war. But Turkey’s motivation was different. Erdogan and the military’s intellectual drivers like Doğu Perinçek have long embraced pan-Turkic ambitions to link Turkey culturally, economically, and politically with Azerbaijan and Turkic states of Central Asia. Driving from Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport into town, visitors pass a roadside mural decorated with the flags of Turkic republics from Azerbaijan to East Turkestan, as pro-independence Chinese Uighurs call it. Armenia, however, is an impediment to Erdoğan’s grand ambitions as it (and Georgia) physically separate Turkey from the Turkic republics. The ceasefire agreement not only reportedly gave Turkey a corridor through Armenian territory (although the mechanisms of that road remains unclear), but Turkey will also send troops to a joint Turkish-Russian monitoring center. Turkish special forces are in Baku, and Turkish F-16 jets remain stationed at Azerbaijani bases. Aliyev may look at Erdoğan as a friend but Erdoğan sees Aliyev as the means to an end.

Finally, there are the Syrian mercenaries. Turkey facilitated their transport into Azerbaijan, and Aliyev welcomed their contribution. Now, however, it is unlikely Aliyev has the ability to force their exit, even if he wanted to do so. Just as Turkey was able to direct the mercenaries’ fire against Armenians, they could just as easily utilize them to target any Azeris who oppose Turkey’s aims.

Azerbaijan first won independence in 1918, but that lasted a mere twenty-three months as Russian forces moved in on Azerbaijan’s oil-rich territory. The dissolution of the Soviet Union gave Azerbaijan a second chance. The Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic declared Azerbaijan’s independence on Oct. 18, 1991, a move subsequently confirmed by referendum. While this period of independence has lasted considerably longer, the end result is the same: foreign troops on Azeri territory answering not to Baku but rather to the Kremlin and the Ak Saray. Azeris may celebrate Nov. 10 as the date of their victory over Armenia in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War but, when the heady days of celebration recede, they may just realize it marks the beginning of the end to true Azeri independence and the beginning of the country’s subordination to Russian and Turkish suzerainty.

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a frequent author for the National Interest.

COVID-19: Schools in Armenia to resume in-person learning from December 7

December 2, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

11:50, 1 December, 2020

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has instructed provincial authorities and the Yerevan City Hall to resume in-person learning of the 5-12th grades in schools starting December 7.

The 1-4th grades are already conducting in-person learning.

The decision was made jointly with the healthcare ministry.

The schools will continue following the health authorities’ coronavirus guidelines.

Clinically vulnerable and 65+ employees of schools can work remotely.

At-risk children will continue learning remotely.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

No issue of handing over any village of Syunik province is being discussed, deputy governor says

December 2, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

19:56, 1 December, 2020

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. No issue of handing over any village of Armenia’s Syunik province to Azerbaijan is being discussed, Deputy governor of Syunik Narek Babayan said on Facebook.

“At this moment the roads of Syunik province, Kapan-Goris highway are safe, the borders of the province are under control and safe, no demarcation works are being carried out in the province, no issue of handing over any village of the province is being discussed, the Kapan airport will remain in the territory of the Kapan community”, he said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Sports: UEFA Bans Former Azeri Club Official For Anti-Armenian Post

November 27, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

Eurasia Review

Nov 27 2020

People should decide with whom to build future – Armenian PM

November 27, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

11:47,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan says it is necessary to create a guarantee for further continuation of reforms in Armenia, adding that the agenda of the reforms should expand because of the new challenges.

“In line with solving the most urgent issues there should be a process of revealing, clarifying and analyzing the causes of what has taken place, and the Armenian public should get concrete answers on what has taken place and why. The people should have an access to the truth and have an opportunity to make decisions. Therefore, our key task, the key task of the government is to maintain the feeling and the fact of the Armenian citizens’ being the owner of their country and the situation, as well as the institutional strengthening of this fact. The citizen of Armenia should be confident that he/she is the real owner of the situation and should build his/her future based on this feeling. And also the people should decide with whom to build that future and who must play what role in building that future”, the PM said.

Pashinyan said the creative potential of the Armenian people is endless, and their key task must be to concentrate that potential on building the new future.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Numerous historical-cultural monuments destroyed, damaged or desecrated by Azeri armed forces

November 27, 2020March 12, 2026 Jirair Kafian

14:53,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The military and political leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan, violating tripartite agreement entered into force on May 12, 1994, the sanction approved by the UN General Assembly Resolution XXIX on aggressive military actions, the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, as well as the application of customary international humanitarian law by using prohibited means and methods in time of war, by motives of national hatred, by putting at danger lives of many, by illegally killing two or more people, civilian persons of the peaceful settlements of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, deliberately targeting with attacks, intentionally exploding property, humanitarian and cultural objects, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia told Armenpress.

Within that framework, both in the course of active military operations and after the ceasefire agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia signed on November 9, the representatives of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan has deliberately targeted Armenian historical and cultural monuments, objects of special historical or cultural value, destroying, damaging or desecrating them.

In particular, factual information was received that during the period from September 27 to November 9, 2020, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, by regularly targeting artillery shells, damaged Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi city, Azerbaijan, as well as later desecrated the church with various inscriptions on exterior and interior walls.

Besides, other historical and cultural monuments, in particular, the monument devoted to the victims of the Great Patriotic War in the village Avetaranots, the cross-stones placed in different settlements of the Republic of Artsakh, the graves of Armenian soldiers and the monuments devoted to them became victim of such “behavior” of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

After the adoption of the above-mentioned tripartite declaration of the ceasefire, the dome and the bell tower of the “Green church” or St. HovhannesMkrtich church located in Shushi city were destroyed by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to the video appeared on the internet on November 16, 2020, the servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan desecrated and damaged the church of ZoravorSt.Astvatsatsinlocated in Mekhakavansettlement /Jabrahil/ of the Republic of Artzakh, breaking the cross of the church.

According to a photo appeared on the internet on the same day, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan desecrated the monument of Commander Vazgen Sargsyan sitting on it.

The mentioned circumstances were investigated under Article 384, Part 2, Article 390, Part 3, Points 1 and 2, Article 391, Part 3, Article 387, Part 1, Article 104, Part 2, Points 1, 6, 7 and 13, Article 34-104, Part 2, Points 1, 6 and 7of the RA Criminal Code and Article 185, Part 3, Points 1 and 2 of the RA Criminal Code and within the framework of criminal cases.

The above-mentioned data obtained in the course of the preliminary investigation are checked according to a proper legal procedure, other investigative and judicial actions are undertaken, operative and investigative measures are undertaken to collect facts of other similar cases in order to reveal all the circumstances of the mentioned cases regarding destroying historical and cultural monuments, detecting the perpetrators, giving full criminal assessment to such acts typical of war crimes and solving the issue of criminal responsibility of the perpetrators.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia also undertakes measures to draw the attention of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other international organizations engaged in the protection of cultural values to assess the above-mentioned criminal acts, to prevent the possible destruction and damage of other structures as well as to undertake measures in order to protect and use effective protection mechanisms for preventing the further destroying and damaging of the monuments and objects of Armenian historical and cultural monuments in the territories of the Republic of Artsakh, which came under the Republic of Azerbaijan.