Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ARF’s Ishkhan Saghatelyan says police used force to detain his three relatives after Sunday’s rally

Kalantarian Kevo
Panorama, Armenia
March 29 2021
    

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun) party’s Supreme Council of Armenia member Ishkhan Saghatelyan, who coordinates the activities of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement, said police used force to detain his three relatives after the opposition rally in downtown Yerevan on Sunday.

“The Turks [referring to police officers] attacked my aunt, brother and nephew in central Yerevan and detained them,” he wrote on .

The opposition leader warned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan against attempts to pressure the opposition, adding they will continue to take every effort to remove him from office.

Armenia truly appreciates strategic alliance with Russia, says FM Aivazian

Kalantarian Kevo

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 16:27, 29 March, 2021

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Russia remains Armenia’s strategic ally and Armenia truly appreciates it, Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said on March 29.

“I do not agree that Armenia and Armenia’s foreign policy depend on Russia. Russia remains our strategic ally, and we truly appreciate it, because after all the war stopped thanks to Russia’s efforts. Some might not like this, but this is a fact. Otherwise we’d have a completely different situation,” Aivazian said to lawmakers at the parliament’s foreign relations committee.

Aivazian emphasized that the CSTO has an important place in Armenia’s security sector. He said that during the war Armenia had notified about the situation but not applied to the CSTO.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

How an Authoritarian Regime Infiltrated a Government in the Heart of Europe

Kalantarian Kevo
VICE
March 29 2021

A VICE investigation reveals how a little-known TV station and large sums of money were part of a lobbying strategy to polish Azerbaijan’s image in Germany.
FD
by Felix Dachsel
RH
by Robert Hofmann
March 29, 2021, 10:19am

This article originally appeared on VICE Germany.

Angela Merkel’s ruling centre-right alliance between the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union has recently been plagued by pandemic infighting and scandal. But there is an arguably larger scandal engulfing playing out: The Azerbaijan Affair. 

A VICE investigation can reveal the previously-unknown extent of the authoritarian regime’s influence on conservative German MPs. Oil-rich and with a tendency to lock up critics, Azerbaijan has been attempting to buy itself a better image in Europe for years. 

It’s done this by sponsoring sporting events – and bribing politicians. And not always successfully. For example, in 2020 Luca Volontè, a conservative Italian member of the Council of Europe, was found to have been paid around two million euros in order to prevent a critical resolution against Azerbaijan and was sentenced to four years in prison by a Milan court. According to experts, Volontè is only the tip of the iceberg. In Germany, investigations are underway into a number of German MPs, including Karin Strenz and Axel Fischer, both members of the CDU. 

Scratch the surface and you’ll find that Azerbaijani influence on Berlin involves a wide network of politicians and lobbyists. Endorsements by German politicians, mostly from the CDU/CSU, are celebrated in Azerbaijan’s state media. And that’s because the republic desperately needs good press abroad – for decades, Azerbaijan has been at loggerheads with its neighbour Armenia. Last year, Azerbaijan started a bloody war with Armenia over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region. The number of casualties is thought to be in the thousands.

Human Rights Watch has described as “conspicuous” the fact that so many conservative German MPs clearly side with Azerbaijan in the dispute, and continue to support the regime despite the state of democracy and human rights in the country. 

MP and Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Bareiß, a key figure in Chancellor Merkel’s economic policy, has visited Azerbaijan several times. Last year, at the height of the first wave of COVID-19, he lobbied to send a shipment of ventilators to Azerbaijan. With ventilators still in very short supply in Germany, the request was denied.

Olav Gutting, another CDU MP, has repeatedly attracted attention with kind words about Azerbaijan – speaking at the first German-Azerbaijani economic summit in 2018, and also praising the state’s “long democratic history”. Jailed critics of Ilham Aliyev’s regime probably hold a different view. According to VICE investigations Gutting employed an Azerbaijani intern in his parliamentary office whose Facebook posts include fawning over dictator Aliyev and referring to Armenians as “animals” or “dogs”. In the first 22 months of the current election cycle, Gutting declared a supplementary income of 450,000 euros (about £380,000) on top of his parliamentary wage. As a lawyer, he is legally able to keep his clients and the specifics of his income under wraps.

MPs like Gutting regularly land themselves in Azerbaijan’s state press for their sympathetic comments. Meanwhile, Azerbaijani media often broadcasts interviews from a German television station, TV Berlin. Not a big name in Germany, but well-known and well-connected in the capital, TV Berlin narrowly escaped insolvency in 2013. The station’s showpiece is Peter Brinkmann, a greying journalist who some say brought down the Berlin Wall. 

A good 30 years on, Brinkmann seems to have lost faith in critical journalism, especially when it comes to the authoritarian Aliyev regime and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It’s a topic the station reports on surprisingly often – and surprisingly partisanly. In 2015, German media journalist Stefan Niggemeier called TV Berlin an “Azerbaijani government channel”.

That same year, Brinkmann interviewed CDU MP Strenz, who died earlier this month. The interview was a study in how not to conduct political interviews: No critical inquiry, only approval. After the interview, Strenz praised Brinkmann as a “real journalism legend”.

Strenz was at the centre of the Azerbaijan Affair until she collapsed and died on a flight from Cuba on March 21. The Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office was investigating Strenz on suspicion of bribery, bribery of elected officials and money laundering. She had received at least 15,000 euros (about £12,700) from Azerbaijan in 2014 and 2015. If convicted, she would have faced up to five years in prison. 

In addition to Strenz, TV Berlin has also aired several interviews with Germany’s Azerbaijani ambassador, plus cheerful reports on President Aliyev’s visit to Germany, and pleasant documentaries on the country and its culture. One YouTube commenter sums up the elements conspicuously absent from the documentaries: “What about the unjust state of Azerbaijan? What about the free press, the opposition, just being shot in front of the house?”

Relatively small enough in Germany to fly under the radar for its propaganda, TV Berlin is the ideal station for the Azerbaijani lobby. Whereas in Baku, the name “TV Berlin” carries weight and is easily marketed through state press. TV Berlin’s head of programming wouldn’t talk to VICE, while TV Berlin management offered us a telephone interview shortly before deadline. Brinkmann also refused to respond to our questions surrounding his particular interest in Azerbaijan and the regime.

An insider familiar with TV Berlin’s production processes told VICE that many programs were commissioned and indirectly paid for by the Azerbaijani government. Other sources close to TV Berlin confirmed this. We asked TV Berlin for a written statement on the allegations, and did not receive it by deadline. 

The commissions and finance came via lobbying organisation “The European Azerbaijan Society” (TEAS), since dissolved. Documents seen by VICE confirm the business relationship. Headquartered in Baku, TEAS lobbied in London, Paris, Istanbul, Berlin and Brussels between 2008 and 2018. The organisation was originally set up by Nijat and Tale Heydarov, the ambitious sons of Kamaladdin Heydarov, Azerbaijan’s influential minister of disaster management. Its stated goals were to highlight the country’s economic potential and to “raise awareness of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”. 

Insiders describe the lobby as trying to strike a balance between achieving the greatest possible influence, with minimal visibility. And to be fair, the work of TEAS has attracted basically no media attention, with the exception of a few reports on its German head Shahin Namati. 

Lobby experts describe Namati as a party animal – a dazzling businessman from Essen with Iranian-Azerbaijani roots and impressive access to German parliament. Equipped with a rare house pass that allowed him to visit MPs’ offices at any time, he regularly strolled the corridors of German parliament. Not infrequently, he worked on pro-regime statements with conservative MPs, which were then shared on news sites in Azerbaijan. 

Namati organised trips to Baku for select politicians, threw parties at the posh Hotel de Rome and dinners at celebrity venues. At jazz concerts organised by TEAS, he drew attention to the suffering of Azerbaijani refugees – one of the regime’s central strategies for gaining sympathy. According to VICE sources, Namati and anchorman Brinkmann are also said to be close friends. Namati did not respond to our questions regarding TEAS, TV Berlin and the flow of money from Azerbaijan to Berlin.

Gutting also refused to speak to VICE. Two days before the news of her death, VICE emailed Strenz with questions regarding her previous trips to Azerbaijan and her connections to TV Berlin and to TEAS, and received no response. 

We also asked Bareiß, parliamentary state secretary to the Ministry of Economics, about his visits to Azerbaijan and contact with Namati. Bareiß responded that he has been to the country five times, and the trips were officially reported to the parliament or were part of his remit as parliamentary state secretary. He has been to Armenia only once. He said he has never had any contact with TEAS or Namati, and has never received money or other benefits from TEAS, either directly or indirectly.

Unlike conservatives, Green politicians are considered out of reach for Azerbaijani lobbyists. We spoke to Tabea Rößner, a Green MP who is openly a member of the German-South Caucasian Parliamentary Group. Rößner traveled to Baku in 2015 with a delegation from the parliamentary group, including Strenz. Before a meeting with Aliyev, Rößner recalled Strenz insisting on moderating the conversation. Later, Rößner witnessed Aliyev stop by the hotel again and greet Strenz in the lobby with kisses.

It is important to make the distinction that not every German MP dedicated to Azerbaijan relations is disreputable. There are those who care about the country and not just personal profit. But if they care about Azerbaijan, they should also stand up for human rights. Like for Mahammad Mirzali, for example.

In mid-March, the well-known Azerbaijani blogger in exile was stabbed by multiple attackers in Nantes, France. He has a quarter of a million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Mirzali regularly reports on the persecution of opposition figures and on corruption in his native Azerbaijan. 

The attackers reportedly tried to cut off his tongue.

 

Armenian defense ministry awards Russian specialists for help in combating Covid pandemic

Kalantarian Kevo
TASS, Russia
April 2 2021
A team of Russian military specialists were seconded to Armenia in April 2020 under an agreement between the two countries’ defense ministers to help curb the coronavirus epidemic

YEREVAN, April 2. /TASS/. Armenian Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan has awarded defense ministry medals to specialists of the Russia radiation, chemical and biological protection forces for their assistance in combating the novel coronavirus pandemic, the press service of the Armenian defense ministry said on Friday.

“By an Armenian defense minister’s order, a number of specialists of the 48th Research Center of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces were awarded with the Armenian defense ministry medals for high professionalism they demonstrated during anti-epidemic campaign to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection in the Armenian army, diligent service and merits in the area of military medical cooperation,” it said.

A team of Russian military specialists were seconded to Armenia in April 2020 under an agreement between the two countries’ defense ministers to help curb the coronavirus epidemic.

By today, Armenia’s tally of coronavirus cases stands at 194,852, with 1,116 such cases reported during the past day. The coronavirus-related overall death toll is 3,552. As many as 864,876 tests for the coronavirus infection have been conducted in the country, covering some 28% of the population.

Slovak Parliament adopts resolution on Nagorno Karabakh, calls for release of POWs

Kalantarian Kevo
Public Radio of Armenia
April 1 2021

During the 25th plenary session the National Council of Slovakia unanimously adopted by 120 votes in favor the resolution “On Nagorno Karabakh” submitted by Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marián Kéry, (SMER-SD/Social Democrats).

The resolution strongly condemns the killings of civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, monuments of cultural and religious heritage, expresses concern over the military involvement of third countries in the conflict and their destabilizing role, and emphasizes that the process of determining the future legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be carried out under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, expresses deep concern that prisoners of war and other detainees, including civilians, have not been released in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Convention.

The resolution calls on the Government of the Slovak Republic, the European Union and international organizations to ensure that all allegations of war crimes, including the use of cluster munitions, are properly investigated, that all prisoners of war and civilians are released immediately, and that international humanitarian organizations enter Nagorno-Karabakh without restrictions.

This is the second resolution on the last 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh adopted by the Slovak National Council. The first resolution on the ongoing conflict in Nagorno Karabakh was adopted by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on October 22, 2020.

Artsakh confirms 7 new cases of COVID-19 over past day

Kalantarian Kevo

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 11:36,

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. 7 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Artsakh in the past one day, the ministry of healthcare said.

77 COVID-19 tests were conducted on March 30.

Currently, 20 infected patients receive treatment at hospitals, while the others – at home.

Artsakh has so far confirmed a total of 2486 COVID-19 cases.

The ministry once again urged citizens to follow all the safety rules to prevent the further spread of the disease.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Deputy head of Armenia’s Investigative Committee gets new post at NSS after 5 days in office

Kalantarian Kevo
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, March 31, signed an order to dismiss Andranik Simonyan as Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee. Simonyan had been appointed to the post on March 26.

Some media reports suggested Simonyan would soon get a new post at the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia.

Shortly after Pashinyan’s decision, a decree was published on the official website of the Armenian president on the appointment of Andranik Simonyan Deputy Director of the National Security Service.

Under a similar scenario, Argishti Kyaramyan, who currently serves as a deputy head of the Investigative Committee, became the National Security Service chief.

On 4 May 2020, Kyaramyan was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee, assuming the post of the NSS Deputy Director on May 5. He was named as Director of the National Security Service on June 8 last year. 

Goris Deputy Mayor informs about Azerbaijani hooliganism against van transporting bodies of victims

Kalantarian Kevo

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 18:22,

YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Mayor of Goris town Irina Yolyan informs that overnight March 28-29 Azerbaijanis threw stones at a van transporting bodies of killed servicemen, breaking the windows of the van.

‘’The driver tells that he left Stepanakert at night, driving to Goris. There was a heavy fog. He felt that the car was attacked with tones. The incident took place at 01:30. The driver did not stop, continued driving and reached Goris. Finally who will ensure the safe movement of peaceful civilians?’’, ARMENPRESS reports Irina Yolyan wrote on her Facebook page, adding that there are facts showing the aggressive behavior of the Azerbaijani side, which must be recorded and measures should be taken to stop it.

A similar incident took place on March 25. Armenian motorists were unharmed after being assaulted in a stone throwing incident in a village of Artsakh, with perpetrators being Azerbaijani troops who were traveling escorted by Russian peacekeepers along a road in the territory of Artsakh.

The Azerbaijani soldiers threw stones from their vehicles at Armenian residents of Artsakh who were traveling on the same road. “One of the motorists was able to avoid being hit, but the motorist driving behind him couldn’t,” Artsakh Interior Ministry spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS.

“After the incident, the residents of the town immediately blocked the convoy from traveling further, and the Russian peacekeepers and the commanders of the Azerbaijani troops exited their vehicles and apologized,” Tadevosyan said.

The Russian commander said the Armenian motorist whose car was damaged will receive compensation.




Possible recognition of Armenian Genocide will rattle US-Turkey relations, says strategist

Kalantarian Kevo
eKathimerini, Greece

Newsroom

22.03.2021 • 21:02

If US President Joe Biden recognizes the Armenian Genocide he will anger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will make it more difficult to improve the already strained relations with Turkey, according to the president of the Eurasia Group.

“It’s another move in the broader pivot from the Middle East, making a lot of Biden’s regional decision making less constrained,” Ian Bremmer said in a tweet, adding that such a move would also increase Ankara’s diplomatic isolation. 

The political scientist also said that, when asked whether the genocide recognition would proceed, a White house advisor told him that this was Biden’s pledge as a presidential candidate and “that’s the policy going forward.”

Talk about a possible recognition of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans from 1915 to 1923 by the US was further fuelled after a letter signed by 38 Senators of both parties was submitted to the president, which called on Biden to recognize the deaths as Genocide. 

In responde to the letter, the White House said last week: “As a presidential candidate, President Biden commemorated the 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. He said then that we must never forget or remain silent about this horrific campaign.”

President Sarkissian holds meeting with Aram Sargsyan and Artak Zeynalyan

Kalantarian Kevo

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 17:12,

YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian held a meeting with the Chairman of the Hanrapetutyun Party Aram Sargsyan and member of the party’s board Artak Zeynalyan as part of the meetings with parliamentary and non-parliamentary political forces.

The domestic situation and ways for overcoming the crisis were discussed, the presidency said.

Aram Sargsyan and Artak Zeynalyan presented their viewpoints and position.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan