Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Artsakh President, Armenia’s Deputy PM discuss restoration of infrastructure

Kalantarian Kevo

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 10:41, 22 December, 2020

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan received today Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

A number of issues relating to the restoration of infrastructure in Artsakh were discussed during the meeting. The officials, in particular, highlighted the necessity of ensuing electricity supply and communication for Martuni town and other settlements of Artsakh, as well as launching a house-building project. They agreed to further harmonize and multiply the joint efforts for overcoming the post-war difficult socio-economic situation.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Turkish-Russian joint center in Karabakh to operate from January

Kalantarian Kevo
Panorama, Armenia

Dec 26 2020

Turkish military has left for Azerbaijan to serve at the joint center with Russia for monitoring the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, TASS news agency reported, siting  NTV ness channel. The two countries concluded an agreement to set up joint center for Nagorno-Karabakh on December 1. 

The Turkish parliament later voted  to deploy a mission to “establish a joint center with Russia and to carry out the center’s activities.” The deployment is set to last a year and its size will be determined by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

  


Armenian church [in Jerusalem] leasing land to Israelis causes Palestinian worry

Kalantarian Kevo
Arab News
Dec 19 2020
Palestinian demonstrators protest against the selling of church land to Israelis, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. An unknown deal to turn the land into a parking lot is causing concern for the Palestinian leadership. (AP/File)

Armenian Patriarchate terms the deal as simply a financial operation and ‘not selling land’

Daoud Kuttab
23:21


AMMAN: A previously unknown agreement to turn sensitive land in the old city of Jerusalem into a parking lot — largely for the exclusive use of Jewish residents of the old city — is causing concern for the Palestinian leadership and members of the tiny Armenian community.

The contract, a copy of which is with Arab News, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.


 Officials of the Armenian Patriarchate confirmed the agreement but insisted that the contract with the Israeli Jerusalem municipality and the Jewish-centric Jerusalem Development Authority (Harali) does not constitute selling or leasing land but is simply a financial operation.


 The Armenian Patriarchate said that removal of all earth from the plot of land, which will cost about $2 million, was “a financial obligation that the Patriarchate by itself doesn’t have the capacity to undertake,” according to a statement by the real estate department of the Armenian Patriarchate. The statement said that efforts to get support from “multiple governmental bodies” had run “into obstacles.” In return, the municipality and Harali will have access to 90 parking spots.


 But the five-page contract notes (Article 2a) that the cost of lifting the rubble will be considered “a loan” that the church will have to pay back.


 The Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine wrote to Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manoogian reminding him that the Armenian quarter is part of occupied Palestinian territories where UN resolutions, including the 2017 UNSC Resolution 2334, apply. The letter also noted that the agreement between Jordanian King Abdullah and President Abbas in 2013 was set to regulate Christian and Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.


 The letter, signed by Ramzi Khoury, the director of the committee, called on the Armenian Patriarchate “to abide by international law” and said that Israel has “expansionist ambitions,” especially in the area of the Omar Bin Khatab Square and the Armenian quarters” in the old city. Palestinian sources have said that President Arafat refused to concede the Armenian quarter during the 2000 negotiations at Camp David.

The Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine wrote to the Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manoogian reminding him that the Armenian quarter is part of occupied Palestinian territories where UN Resolutions, including the 2017 UNSC resolution 2334, apply.

A well-respected Palestinian source from the Armenian community said that he “smells a rat,” adding that the current Armenian Patriarchate is not to be trusted. “I think that this is not the first time that the Armenian Patriarchate has tried to sell land and the people of Jerusalem to the Israelis and the people of the city stood up to him,” said the Palestinian leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.


 The Palestinian/Armenian source denied claims that the church had no choice but to go to the Israelis after repeated requests for financial support from the Palestinian government and others were turned down: “This is not true. The EU was interested in fixing the parking lot in a way that would allow its parking lot income to support the church while allowing all the people of the old city to use it but the church refused the offer. A 10-point official statement issued by the real estate department of the Armenian Patriarchate states that the parking lot will remain private and that the management, ownership of the parking lot will remain in the hands of the Patriarchate.”


The statement also highlights that “within the next 10 years, once the Patriarchate has finalized and received all construction permits, in agreement with the municipality, the Patriarchate will begin a new construction that will benefit the Armenian community.” The Patriarchate is hoping to get permission to build a hotel.


 Armenian clergy have frequently complained about religious Jews spitting on them. In March 2020 the Israeli police, and for the first time since 1967, fined a young Jewish man 1,500 Israeli shekel ($463) for spitting at an Armenian bishop a year earlier.


 Palestinians have boycotted the “unified” Jerusalem municipality since 1967 and consider the Jerusalem Development Authority an arm of radical Jewish groups that intend to Judaize the old city of Jerusalem at the expense of the indigenous Arab Palestinians.


https://www.arabnews.com/node/1779856/middle-east


Newspaper: Why are Armenia forces coming down from their positions in Syunik Province

Kalantarian Kevo
News.am, Armenia
Dec 18 2020
09:58, 18.12.2020


YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Yesterday, all day, the situation was tense in the RA Syunik Province. Since early in the morning, the residents of Syunik, the leaders of several communities had closed off the Yerevan-Kapan motorway, demanding an explanation of what security guarantees would be given to them, and what was expected in the near future when they would be instructed to hand over the adjacent heights to the enemy [Azerbaijan].

The situation became tenser when Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsyan announced that today the heights of Kapan and 13 villages will be handed over to Azerbaijan, for which time is given until today, 17:00.

And what [military] positions are we talking about? Zhoghovurd daily has learned that on the day of the well-known non-pro-Armenian statement of November 9-10, before the signing of the document, the Armenian side has positioned on favorable terms. And today, when the demarcation work is to be carried out, it turns out that the Armenian forces are standing further ahead than needed, and that is why they are coming down from the positions.

We are talking about the parts of Kubatlu and Zangelan (…).


Armenia’s borders strong and controlled by Armed Forces – Minister

Kalantarian Kevo
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 17 2020

Armenia’s Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan is in Syunik Province, where troops are being deployed along the entire border of the Republics of Armenia, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said at the government sitting today.

He said the Ministry of Defense will provide further details on the work being carried out.

Minister of Territorial Administration Suren Papikyan said, in turn, that he regularly contacts colleagues in Syunik.

“According to the information I have received, at this point the troops are being deployed along the entire border. To prevent various interpretations and misinformation, it should be noted that the borders of the Republic of Armenia are strong and controlled by the Armed Forces,” the Minister said.

Publications containing elements of crime during war are under investigation – official

Kalantarian Kevo

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 18:52,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The announcements and all the publications containing elements of crimes during live broadcasts and press conferences referring to the period of the war under investigation, criminal cases have been initiated, ARMENPRESS reports Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan’s advisor Gor Abrahamyan said in a meeting with lawyers.

”There has been no statement containing some concrete elements of crime that has not appeared in the focus of the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office. Numerous criminal cases have been initiated. There will be a special publication over that”, Abrahamyan said, emphasizing that the information of allegedly providing 1400 Armenian passports to Armenian speaking Azerbaijanis is also under investigation.

”The purchases of low-quality ammunition is also under investigation’’, Abrahamyan said.

Asbarez: Putin Says Karabakh is Azerbaijan, Adding Ankara Defended Baku’s ‘Just Cause’

Kalantarian Kevo

December 17,  2020



Russian President Vladimir Putin during his annual press conference at the presidential residence in Moscow on Dec. 17

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the Karabakh is Azerbaijan and its status must remain be unchanged. He also said that Turkey defended Azerbaijan’s “just cause” when it backed Baku in military operations against Artsakh.

“From an international legal perspectives, all these territories are an integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” said Putin adding that Armenia, itself, hasn’t recognized Karabakh’s independence and based on international legal standpoint Nagorno-Karabakh is also Azerbaijan.

“This is how our position was advanced in the Minsk Group, where Russia, the United States, and France are co-chairs. For many years, we have always assumed that the seven held areas around Nagorno-Karabakh should be returned to Azerbaijan,” Putin explained during his annual year-end press conference.

According to Putin, the Karabakh situation is “much more complicated than just simple normative assumption, including international legal ones.”

“The roots [of Karabakh] lie in an ethnic conflict, which began in Sumgait, and then spread to Nagorno-Karabakh. Here, each side has its own truth. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh once took up arms to protect their lives and dignity,” he added.

The current status of Karabakh should remain unchanged, but transportation link between Armenia and Karabakh is integral, hence the “addition” of the Lachin corridor, which was established for this purpose.

The Russian president said that discussion of Karabakh’s status should be deferred to the future, reiterating that the current status quo should remain unchanged.

In discussing Turkey’s involvement in Nagorno-Karabakh, Putin acknowledged Ankara’s support to Azerbaijan, a fact that Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev has denied or contested.

“Turkey’s position is based on, and it is has been publicly stated, that Turkey defended, as they believe, the just cause of Azerbaijan, namely the return of territories that were occupied during the fighting in the 1990s,” Putin said.

He said that the situation in Karabakh had gotten out of control for many years, noting that small skirmishes throughout the years grew into a full-blown war, adding that he did not believe that “external” forces were involved in the resumption of military actions in Karabakh.

Putin highlighted the importance of the November 9 agreement, which he signed along with Aliyev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, saying that the main objective was to end the bloodshed in Karabakh

“The agreement on the cessation of hostilities is very important. Because it stopped the bloodshed, the civilians have stopped dying, this is an extremely important thing, this is fundamental. Everything else is secondary. Saving people’s lives and health is the most important task that we have solved,” he said.

Putin touched on recent ceasefire violations that have seen a standoff between Azerbaijani forces and Artsakh soldiers in two Armenian villages in Hadrut. The Russian leaders simply expressed hope that it would never happen.

“Those ceasefire outbreaks happened only once. I hope that this isolated incident will remain an isolated one, [that] all the parties will still be able to sit down at the negotiating table, whether with our mediation or with the mediation of the [OSCE] Minsk Group—it’s not really important—the main thing is that the process begins and it ends on a positive note,” he added.

“We have agreed within the framework of the trilateral statement that the hostilities will stop, and—here is a very important thing—we have agreed that the parties will remain in the positions where they were at the signing of our trilateral statement. This is where everyone should stand,” explained Putin.

There are many technical issues related to infrastructure in the region, Putin said, but they “must be dealt with in a calm atmosphere during the negotiation process,” adding that the November 9 agreement provides a foundation by stipulation that “after the ceasefire, the next stage should be a complete normalization of the situation in the region with the opening of economic and infrastructural potential, including road and rail.”

EU-Armenian Partnership Council to meet

Kalantarian Kevo
Foeign Brief
Dec 16 2020
  • In Daily Brief
  • December 17, 2020
  • Can Eker

Photo: European Union

Armenian delegates will attend the Armenia-EU Partnership Council today in Brussels.

Topics to be discussed include repercussions of the six-week Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which roiled the Caucuses. The meeting takes place amid prisoner swaps between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On Monday, Armenia’s deputy prime minister welcomed a Russian plane returning 44 Armenian former captives to the capital Yerevan.

Today, Brussels will urge investigation of possible war crimes committed during the conflict. The EU’s resolution concerns providing substantial humanitarian aid to locations where atrocities agonised the civilian population. The EU has largely abstained from assuming a key role in the gas-rich South Caucuses, thus leaving the area under Russian and Turkish influence. Seizing the opportunity, Moscow upheld its status in the region by mediating the ceasefire agreement and deploying Russian peacekeepers.

Although the EU was not extensively involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it will likely strive for a stronger foothold to counter the Russian and Turkish presence in the region. Concerned that the conflict could resurface in the near future, the EU will seek to ensure that ceasefire procedures are fully abided by. Otherwise, it will likely penalise the aggressor.

Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. Download The Daily Brief.

TURKISH press: Turkish presence in Caucasus ushers in new balance of power

Kalantarian Kevo
 COLUMNS 
DEC 14, 2020 12:05 AM GMT+3

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended last week a military parade in Baku, Azerbaijan, to celebrate that country’s victory in Nagorno-Karabakh. His address, which reinforced the idea that Turkey and Azerbaijan are “two states and one nation,” touched on three key points.

First, Turkey’s military and air support played a crucial role in Azerbaijan’s victory, which concluded 44 days of fighting. Ankara’s contributions at Baku’s time of need took bilateral relations to the next level. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who consolidated his domestic support with a victory after 28 long years, knows the benefits of allocating a special place to Turkey in his country’s multidimensional balance-of-power policy. Aliyev, too, appreciated the “Erdoğan factor” behind the liberation of Karabakh better than anyone. There will be more areas of concrete cooperation between Ankara and Baku, as Armenia is held accountable for the mass destruction of Azerbaijan’s once-occupied lands and the rebuilding of those areas.

At the same time, Azerbaijan’s surprisingly fast victory in Nagorno-Karabakh marked the beginning of a new chapter in the Caucasus, as a new regional balance of power came into being. In light of these developments, Russia must stop treating the region like a backyard it inherited from the Soviet Union, and accept Turkey’s military and political presence there. Moscow must now work with Ankara.

Another important point was Erdoğan’s offer of peace to the people of Armenia: “You must notice that encouragement from Western imperialists will not get you anywhere. The relationship must be reevaluated. If the Armenian people learn from what happened in Karabakh, that could be the start of a new era in the region.”

If Yerevan fails to accept the new status quo, under the influence of Paris or some other capital and pursues a policy of revenge, it will only serve to destabilize the region and undermine the safety and welfare of the Armenian people. Armenia will end up getting squeezed between the West, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey if it attempts to fight this new reality.

What is needed, instead, is for the winds of peace to blow and for Azerbaijan and Armenia (and, simultaneously, Turkey and Armenia) to normalize their relations. Make no mistake: Normalization would serve Armenia’s interests more than others. In this sense, Erdoğan’s pledge to open Turkey’s borders with Armenia, along with his call for a multilateral platform in the Caucasus, are revolutionary developments.

Last but not the least, the Turkish presence in the Caucasus signals the beginning of a new period in Turkey’s relations with Central Asia and Iran. There is an opportunity to boost cooperation among Turkic states. A new geopolitical balance of power is emerging and it features the West, Russia, China, Turkey and Iran, which extends far beyond the Caucasus.

That geopolitical space spans between energy lines and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Again, the new balance of power in the Caucasus will strengthen bilateral relations between Ankara and Tehran in the medium term, as Iran takes into consideration Turkey’s growing position in the region. That development will impact other aspects of the bilateral relationship as well.

Armenia’s Health Ministry examines bodies of 2996 deceased servicemen

Kalantarian Kevo
Aysor, Armenia
Dec 11 2020
Armenia’s Health Ministry reports about forensic examination of 2996 servicemen killed as a result of war.

“As of this moment 2996 bodies were medically examined,” Armenian health ministry spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan told Armenpress.

She said a total of 1816 DNA samples were taken from family members and 993 samples from the bodies.

256 samples from family members and 541 samples from the unidentified bodies are pending results as of December 10.

The examination and identification process continues.

As of December 10, Artsakh Defense Army reported about 1779 killed servicemen.