Losses So Heavy Azerbaijani Commander Is Dismissed
Lragir.am
Country – 22 November 2014, 16:01
The spokesman for the RA Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan made
a post on his Facebook page. It runs: “In fact, Azerbaijan’s losses
are many and so many that the commander of the brigade has been
dismissed. I wonder if he was dismissed for these losses or for
shooting down the helicopter,” he writes.
Azerbaijan tried “to steal” the dead bodies of the pilots (video)
16:06 | November 22,2014 | Politics
Azerbaijan not only didn’t let approaching the place, where the
helicopter had fallen, but also tried “to steal” the dead bodies of
the pilots. This was said by NKR Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan
explaining why they carried out such operations. As a result of the
operation dead body of one of the pilots, relics of the two pilots and
some necessary parts of the helicopter were evacuated from the scene.
The comment of NKR DM, DA Commander, Lieutenant General Movses
Hakobyan on the military operation- in the video.
Non-coalition forces have always lacked unity – Anahit Bakhshyan
12:44 * 23.11.14
The three non-coalition forces activities have since the very
beginning lacked unity, Heritage party member Anahit Bakhshyan told
Tert.am, as she commented on Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian’s
decision to invite a civil conference, without agreeing it with the
other non-coalition forces.
“Raffi [Hovannisian] has answered this question by saying that this
platform has no common agenda. If steps are not coordinated, any
common platform is in question,” she said.
Asked why the Heritage party remains part of the “trio,” Ms Bakhshyan said:
“Raffi Hovannisian’s statement should be viewed as a step which made
an assessment of the common activities. That is, there is no common
agenda and they have never been united.”
Armenian News – Tert.am
AMD430/$1 exchange rate unprecedented over past few months
14:31 * 23.11.14
The AMD/USD exchange rate has reached AMD430/$1.
This is an unprecedented exchange rate over the past few months for
VAS exchange offices. SAS exchange offices sell $1 for AMD427, but
have no USD in cash at the moment.
As regards Armenian banks, Ameriabank has the lowest sale price for US
dollars – AMD428/US$1. ArmSwissbank buys $1 for AMD421 (the highest
rate).
According to rate.am, the highest selling price for EURO 1 is AMD528, and
the highest buying price is AMD524/EURO 1.
As to other exchange office networks, the situation is as follows:
VAS – (sell AMD 532, buy AMD 525); SAS (sell AMD 530, buy AMD 526).
Armenian News – Tert.am
Crew of helicopter downed by Azerbaijan was evacuated earlier than November 21
16:42, 22 November, 2014
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The special operation of evacuation
of the Armenian helicopter’s crew downed by Azerbaijan was realized
not on November 21, but earlier. The Defense Army of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic has issued a statement on this. As reports
“Armenpress”, the Defense Army’s statement particularly runs
as follows.
“For the record of the official propaganda-machine of the Ministry of
Defense of Azerbaijan and the media serving it, the Ministry of
Defense of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic notifies that the special
operation of the evacuation of the downed Armenian helicopter’s crew
was carried out not yesterday, but the day the Ministry of Defense of
Azerbaijan issued a statement about its casualties on the front line,
introducing them as a result of the Armenian snipers’ shots. In
addition, we would like to remind that one of the statements with such
content appeared in the media on November 20. So, this is a special
tactical method characteristic to the Azerbaijani propaganda, which is
again used to conceal their disability.”
Taking into consideration the official statements by the Azerbaijani
side and the absolute lack of reasoning, the Armed Forces of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic were forced to carry out a special operation
to learn about the fate of the crew members of the helicopter downed
by the rival on November 12 on the site and give solution to issues
stemming from it. In the result of the realization of the military
task, the body of one of the crew members and remains of the two
pilots have been evacuated from the site of the incident along with
some of the necessary parts of the helicopter. At the course of the
special operation, two askyars of the rival have been eliminated. The
Defense Army had no casualties.
ARMENIE
Hommage à un Héros : les cendres d’un fedayin éminent enterrés en Arménie
Les restes de Sepuh, un leader éminent du mouvement arménien de
libération à la fin du 19e siècle, début du 20e siècle, ont été
solennellement enterrés jeudi après-midi dans le cimetière militaire
d’Yerablur à Erevan.
Le Général Sepuh (Archak Nersisyan) (1987-1940) a lutté contre la
Turquie ottomane dans le cadre de l’auto-défense de Sassoun en 1904 et
a également participé à des mouvements de libération dans le reste du
Caucase. Il a servi en tant que membre du parlement dans la Première
République éphémère d’Arménie (1918-1920), en participant à des
combats contre les troupes turques. Après l’établissement de l’ordre
soviétique en Arménie, Sepuh a quitté le pays et plus tard a émigré
aux États-Unis. Sa dernière volonté était que son corps soit incinéré
et enterré en Arménie une fois que cela serait possible.
Lors de la cérémonie au Panthéon à Erevan était présent le ministre
arménien de la Défense Seyran Ohanian. Les cendres de Sepuh ont été
rapatriés grce aux efforts du ministère ainsi que des membres de la
famille Nerisyan. L’inhumation a eu lieu dans le cadre de
manifestations consacrées au centenaire du génocide arménien de 1915.
dimanche 23 novembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Nov 22 2014
The sense of the Perinçek v Switzerland case
by MAXIME GAUIN
The hearing for the Perinçek v. Switzerland case, in front of the
Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), will take
place in January 2015, and so will coincide with the centennial of the
1915 events. After the decision of the French Constitutional Council
in February 2012, finding the Boyer bill in contradiction with the
Declaration of Human Rights (1789), the ruling of the ECHR was a major
blow for Armenian nationalism. The Court found a violation of DoÄ?u
Perinçek’s freedom of speech, and rejected the accusation of `racism.’
The ECHR `shares the opinion of the Turkish government, who claims
Holocaust denial is the main driving force of anti-Semitism today. In
fact, it judges that this is still a current phenomenon, which the
international community must be firm and vigilant against. One cannot
affirm that the dismissal of the description of `genocide’ for the
tragic events that occurred in 1915 and the following years might have
the same repercussions.’ The Court added, even more remarkably, that
`the present case is clearly distinct from cases bearing on the denial
of Holocaust crimes,’ because the Holocaust deniers `had not only
contested the simple legal description of a crime, but also denied
historic facts,’ and because these facts `had been judged to be
clearly established by an international jurisdiction,’ with `a clear
legal basis, i.e. Article 6, paragraph C), of the Statutes of the
International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg.’
This distinction is crucial and, indeed, well substantiated. For the
Armenian case, the only attempt of an international tribunal, by the
British government in Malta, totally failed. More than two years of
investigation (1919-1921) were not sufficient to find any evidence
against any of the 144 Ottoman ex-leaders interned in Malta; the
seized Ottoman documents explicitly warned against measures
susceptible to lead to massacres and ordered the protection of the
relocated Armenians. If any evidence of `genocide’ had existed, it
would have been found by the British. These Ottoman documents seized
by the British army and published more than 35 years ago by Salâhi
Sonyel include:
`Armenian Deportations: A Reappraisal in the Light of New Documents,’
Belleten, January 1972 and `The Displacement of Armenians: Documents,
Ankara, 1978.’ Nobody has ever been able to find a satisfactory
explanation to conciliate the `genocide’ charge with these orders.
`Furthermore, the Court considers, with the applicant, that `genocide’
is a well-defined legal concept ¦ It is thus a very strict legal
concept, which is, moreover, difficult to prove. The Court is not
convinced that the `general consensus’ to which the Swiss courts have
referred, to justify the conviction of the applicant, can bear on
these very specific points of law.’ In other terms, the ECHR noticed
an obvious but fundamental fact: There is no consensus on the
`Armenian genocide’ charge. Indeed, since its emergence in the public
debate, in 1965, these accusations have been challenged, with
documentation, by respectable historians such as Edward J. Erickson,
Bernard Lewis, Guenter Lewy, Stanford Jay Shaw and Gilles Veinstein.
The ECHR’s ruling is an unprecedented demolition of the core of the
Armenian nationalist claims. Not surprisingly, there was huge pressure
on the Swiss government, who violated its tradition of neutrality and
accepted filing a poorly substantiated application to the Grand
Chamber. Currently, there are unbelievable pressures on the Grand
Chamber itself, both from Armenia and from the diaspora.
However, the re-examination of this case offers a new opportunity to
see what Armenian activism is. Among the third parties, there are the
Switzerland-Armenia Association (ASA) and the Coordination Council of
France’s Armenian Associations (CCAF). The ASA was established in 1992
by James Karnusian, who had also established, two decades before, the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), a
terrorist, racist and anti-Semitic organization. Correspondingly, the
co-chairmen of the CCAF are Jean-Marc `Ara’ Toranian, a former
spokesman of the ASALA, and Mourad Papazian, author of vitriolic
articles supporting Armenian terrorism during the 1980s.
The Grand Chamber now has the choice between freedom of speech and
those who defend a totalitarian conception of justice in the name of
`democracy.’
Maxime Gauin is a researcher at the Center for Eurasian Studies (AVIM)
and a PhD candidate at the Middle East Technical University history
department.
November/22/2014
IHS Global Insight
November 21, 2014
Widening Q3 Armenian trade gap underlines external financial risks
According to the latest customs-based trade results published by the
Armenian National Statistical Service, the trade balance in
January-September posted a deficit of USD2.1 billion. This total marks
widening of some 6% year on year (y/y), while being the result of
imports rising by 4.6% y/y and exports gaining 1.9% y/y. In the third
quarter alone, imports climbed by 11.2% y/y, while exports increased
by a lower rate of 4.0% y/y, causing the trade deficit to widen by
over 15% in annual comparison. These results signify deterioration in
over the past quarter; in the second quarter, the trade gap had
widened by a lower rate of 3.2% y/y as the marginal fall in exports
had been combined with a significantly lower increase of 2.0% y/y in
imports.
Significance:Even as the return of export growth in the third quarter
is naturally welcome, the overall picture of Armenian external trade
is fairly weak. Importantly, a widening trade gap increases external
financing risks, given that the current account deficit is still
unsustainably wide, marking notable external vulnerability. Moreover,
Armenian external financial risks have recently increased. This is
because the country is very dependent on workers’ remittance inflows,
and the outlook for these has significantly deteriorated with the
economic downturn Russia. As Armenia now has less non-debt creating
foreign financing available, pressures to increase external borrowing
increase. While believe that Armenian access to concessional external
financing should secure adequate external financing, the country’s
current-account deficit certainly remains wide enough to suppress its
creditworthiness more generally, and the latest trade results confirm
this.
Seyran Ohanyan: Parts of Armenian helicopter downed by Azerbaijan to
be submitted for examination
by Nana Martirosyan
Saturday, November 22, 17:10
The parts of the Artsakh helicopter downed by Azerbaijan will be
submitted for expert examination, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan told media on Saturday.
“The tough state stand of Azerbaijan, the lack of logic, the
reluctance to be committed to the principles of humanism during both
the downing of the helicopter and prevention of retrieval of the
victims’ bodies have forced the leadership of the NKR Defense Army to
resort to special actions”, the minister said. He added that due to
the professional skills of the NKR military, the specific site of the
downing was determined and the body of a pilot and the remains of the
other two pilots were retrieved.
“Though the enemy tried to hinder the retrieval of the helicopter
parts by making a trap, they were retrieved and the trap was
liquidated. The parts of the helicopter will shortly be submitted for
examination”, the minister stressed. Ohanyan added that one should be
proud of the servicemen, who carried out that difficult task.
When asked whether there will be a response to Azerbaijan’s
provocation, Ohanyan pointed out that the measures will be
strengthened to find and liquidate the enemy. “We give a worthy
response to those who try to violate the peace”, he stressed.
To note, the NKR Defense Army Special Forces have recovered the body
of a crewmember and the remains of the two pilots of Mi-24 helicopter
that was downed by Azerbaijani forces on 12 November. The necessary
wreckage was recovered too. Two Azerbaijani militaries were killed in
the course of the special operation. The NKR Defense Army suffered no
losses.
To remind, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while
it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12
November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan,
Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The Azeri officer
that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.
1,200 ceasefire violations by the Azerbaijani side reported this week
14:13, 22 Nov 2014
According to the data of the NKR Defense Army, about 1,200 cases of
ceasefire violation were registered at the line of contact between the
armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan from November 16 to
22.
The rival fired more than 13,000 shots from weapons of different
caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions.
The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army gave a worthy response to
the provocative actions of the adversary and undertook necessary
measures to organize the reliable protection of the military positions
all along the line of contact.