Author: Kalantarian Kevo

The California Courier Online, February 11, 2021

Kalantarian Kevo

1 –        Russian Archbishop of Azerbaijan Makes
            Anti-Armenian Remarks to Please Aliyev
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2-         Armenian citizens living in Turkey drops by 30 percent in 2020
3-         Armenia continues to fight COVID-19 pandemic
4-         Moderna’s Noubar Afeyan Awarded Lebanon’s Order of Merit
5-         Qasabian’s ‘Run’ Wins
            2021 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award

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1 –        Russian Archbishop of Azerbaijan Makes
            Anti-Armenian Remarks to Please Aliyev
           By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Archbishop Vladyka Alexander, the head of the Diocese of the Russian
Orthodox Church in Azerbaijan, gave an interview last month to Jayson
Casper of Christianity Today, shamelessly spewing Azeri propaganda,
badmouthing Armenians and praising Azerbaijan. He spoke more like a
spokesman for the dictator Ilham Aliyev than a man of God. This is a
clergyman who would not hesitate to sell his soul to the devil for the
right price! It is not surprising that Azerbaijan’s Embassy in
Washington, D.C., immediately posted his interview on its Facebook
page.

Abp. Alexander started the interview by stating: “1,500 years of
separation between the Eastern Orthodox church and the Armenian
Apostolic church has complicated relations. We have holy books and
traditions in common, but we are not in fellowship.”

The Russian Archbishop knowingly lied by stating that “Azerbaijan has
a high level of multicultural acceptance and preserves its religious
monuments. The Armenian churches and libraries in Baku are kept safe.
In the case of a peace agreement, these can be used again, as they
should.” Abp. Alexander is wrong. There are no functioning Armenian
churches in Baku.

Strangely, the Russian Archbishop accused “Armenians of lying to
themselves.” He said that Armenians “are very sorry they had to leave”
Azerbaijan. The Archbishop must have forgotten about the massacres of
innocent Armenians by Azeris in Sumgait, Baku and other parts of
Azerbaijan.

When asked if he would be willing to make a phone call to Catholicos
Karekin II, the Russian Archbishop sarcastically replied: “I don’t
have his phone number [smiling].”

In response to the interviewer’s question about the Armenian Genocide,
the Russian Archbishop lied again by stating: “When the word genocide
is used, we should be very careful. We have very sad facts about the
actions of Armenian forces on the territory of Azerbaijan. We have
thousands of Azerbaijanis killed by the Armenian side, so to whom
should we address the word genocide?” He then added, “Azerbaijanis do
not have hate in their heart,” forgetting the beheadings of Armenians
by Azerbaijani soldiers during the recent war, not to mention the
earlier massacres in Sumgait and Baku.

Christianity Today mentioned that early in the recent Artsakh war, the
Russian Archbishop “signed an Azerbaijani interfaith letter
congratulating President Ilham Aliyev on his military victories.”

In response to these anti-Armenian remarks, the Primate of the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, Archbishop Hovnan
Derderian, sent a harshly-worded letter to the Russian Orthodox
Archbishop criticizing him for his false allegations:

“Responding to your interview with Christianity Today Magazine would
be considered a waste of time and effort, for it would be replying to
an individual who lacks humility, knowledge of history, attempts to
distort uncontestable historical facts, but above all, distorts the
TRUTH. Furthermore, your arrogance is quite astonishing for a shepherd
of Christ, the Lord.

“You speak of finding ways to live together. We certainly agree that
both parties should find ways to live together. Yet when a country,
that committed the Armenian Genocide a century ago by killing
1,500,000 innocent Armenians, rejects to accept the obvious facts, and
in addition to that openly supports Azerbaijan, it is hard to find
ways to live together. Moreover, when the same country leads the war
operations of Azerbaijan, sends its special forces, recruits thousands
of radical Islamists to kill Christian Armenians, it becomes difficult
to reconcile. When the leader of that country vows to ‘continue to
fulfill the mission that our grandfathers carried out for centuries in
the Caucasus again’ (Recep Tayyip Erdogan—July 24, 2020), attempts at
reconciliation are questioned, don’t you think?

“You state that Armenians have hatred toward Azerbaijan. When an
Azerbaijani army officer axes a sleeping Armenian army officer to
death and is later pardoned by the President of Azerbaijan, freed from
his sentence, and is granted the status of ‘Hero’ of Azerbaijan by the
same president, I ask you the definition of hatred. On May 26, 2020,
the European Court of Human Rights said it ‘found that there had been
no justification for the Azerbaijani authorities’ failure to enforce
the punishment of Ramil Safarov and in effect grant him impunity for a
serious hate crime.’ Isn’t hate in its purest form the deliberate
circulation of videos on social media of Azeri soldiers assassinating,
skinning and beheading Armenian prisoners of war amidst celebration?

“Your contention is that ‘Azerbaijan has a high level of multicultural
acceptance and preserves its religious monuments. The Armenian
churches and libraries in Baku are kept safe.’ How can you state such
a thoughtless claim when there is video evidence of purposeful
destruction of Armenian cross stones in Nakhichevan, carried out
systematically to permanently erase all traces of Armenian heritage
from the region?

“You speak about the Catholicos of All Armenians not doing enough to
make peace. Let me remind you that in 2010, His Holiness Karekin I
travelled to Azerbaijan, met with Allahshukur Pashazade [Grand Mufti
of Azerbaijan] and President Ilham Aliyev for peace talks in Baku.

“Replying to your interview responses is futile indeed, for the lack
of respect for history and the truth is quite evident.”

These are strong words from one clergyman to another. I suggest that
other Armenian clergymen and Catholicos Karekin II write letters to
Patriarch Kirill, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church in All of
Russia in Moscow, who has exclusive jurisdiction over Russian Orthodox
Christians in Azerbaijan, complaining about Archbishop Alexander’s
shameful statements.

Amazingly, on June 25, 2017, Archbishop Alexander was awarded a medal
of honor from the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in
Moscow for his significant contribution to the promotion and
strengthening of interreligious dialogue. Patriarch Kirill, in his
congratulatory message, commended Archbishop Alexander for carrying
out his task with “special tact and diplomatic skills … in the land
[Azerbaijan] where representatives of different religions and
nationalities live side by side.”

Obviously, after making such false statements about Armenians,
Archbishop Alexander has failed in his ‘interreligious’ duties.
Patriarch Kirill should be urged to take away the medal that he was
awarded.

It is understandable that Archbishop Alexander is trying to please the
dictator of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. However, a man of God should not
tell lies for any reason, under any circumstance. Patriarch Kirill
should tell Archbishop Alexander to apologize for his lies, and if
not, he should strip him of his religious rank.

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2-         Armenian citizens living in Turkey drops by 30 percent in 2020

(Panorama)—Recent figures released by Turkish Statistical Institute
(TurkStat) show that the number of foreigners who  immigrated to
Turkey in 2020 shrank by 13%.
As of January 2021, the foreign population who immigrated to Turkey
stood at 1,333 million, 197,770 fewer than in the previous year,
Ermenihaber reported on February 5.
The data found that the total number of Armenian citizens living in
Turkey stood at 1,257 people in 2020, dropping by some 30 percent to
compare with the data of 2019.

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3 –        Armenia continues to fight COVID-19 pandemic

(Combined Sources) Armenia in January announced plans to purchase
thousands of doses directly from its main ally, Russia. Yerevan got a
taste of the Moscow-manufactured candidate, Sputnik V, early in
December, when Russia donated about a dozen doses. Armenia’s top
health officials received the first jabs, essentially joining clinical
trials of Sputnik V.

“The Russian vaccine is available for us very quickly,” Health
Minister Arsen Torosyan said just ahead of the new year. “We plan to
procure doses for 1,000 people, most likely after the holidays, and we
will try to vaccinate frontline health workers.”

Armenian health authorities reported on January 11 that they had
observed no adverse effects of Sputnik V. Armenia plans to purchase an
additional 10,000 doses of Sputnik V at a later stage, depending on
its availability, Torosyan said. At the same time, Armenia made
advance payments to COVAX to procure vaccines for 300,000 people,
amounting to about 10 percent of its population. In the meantime,
Armenia continues to lean on its containment effort to slow spread of
the coronavirus. The nation extended on January 11 its lockdown
measures for another six months, until July 11.

Medical and social workers, seniors and people suffering from chronic
diseases will be the first to get vaccine shots free of charge, and
according to Gayane Sahakian, the deputy director of the National
Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

The first COVAX-distributed vaccine is the one produced by
AstraZeneca, which will deliver it to COVAX in February or March.

According to the Ministry of Health, there were 5,178 active
coronavirus cases in Armenia as of February 8. Armenia has recorded
168,177 coronavirus cases and 3,123 deaths; 159,876 have recovered.

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4-         Moderna’s Noubar Afeyan Awarded Lebanon’s Order of Merit

WASHINGTON (Combined Sources)—Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman
of Moderna, was honored with Lebanon’s National Order of Merit, along
with seven of his colleagues, all executives and scientists of
Lebanese origin on February 2. Ambassador of Lebanon to the United
States of America Gabriel Issa presented the awards on behalf of the
President of the Republic of Lebanon General Michel Aoun. The ceremony
was streamed live on Facebook, with some award recipients present in
person and others participating virtually.

The ambassador declared that the Moderna executives raised the flag of
Lebanon very high. They helped promote the name of Lebanon while
solving a basic problem of survival for humanity. Lebanon of course
will also benefit from the vaccine like any other country, he
continued.

Issa remarked that when he met President Donald Trump during a
ceremony to present his ambassadorial credentials, and thanked the
United States for all its help to Lebanon, the latter surprised him by
asking what Lebanon did for the United States. He did not have the
opportunity to respond then. The February 2 ceremony, he said,
provided the opportunity to give a partial delayed answer: Lebanese
helped the United States with its people and talent.

Afeyan could not participate in person but delivered his remarks of
thanks virtually. He first praised the other members of Moderna who
received the award and provided a brief background about the birth and
development of Moderna. He paid tribute to his country of birth and
expressed gratitude to Lebanon for accepting so many Armenian refugees
and orphans who survived the Armenian Genocide.

Afeyan spoke fondly about his memories of his childhood in Lebanon. He
noted that the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative was able to provide aid
after the August 2020 explosion, which reminded him of the burning
port he saw when fleeing with his family in 1975. He said that he saw
special kinship between Armenians and Lebanese today, with both
countries facing difficult conditions but also having successful
diasporas and the possibility of making positive changes through
entrepreneurship.

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5-         Qasabian’s ‘Run’ Wins
            2021 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award

(Combined Sources)—At a virtual ceremony, Natalie Qasabian was awarded
the 2021 Sundance Institute / Amazon Studios Producers Award for
Fiction Filmmaking  for her film, Run, reports Deadline.

The awards honor bold vision and a commitment to continuing work as a
creative producer in the independent space.

Qasabian’s husband/partner Sev Ohanian won the award two years ago for
his work on Searching, which they produced together. Qasabian was
presented by the award with her frequent collaborator, director Aneesh
Chaganty (Searching, Run).

“As producers, we may doubt whether or not we can do something: but we
can’t ever doubt if it’s worth doing,” Qasabian said in accepting the
award. “If we don’t cast the people that haven’t been cast before, if
we don’t hire the crew member that hasn’t been hired before, tell the
story that hasn’t been told before, or work with that first-time
director who’s never been produced before…we’ll never know what could
be on the other side. So, thank you again to the Sundance Institute
and Amazon Studios for recognizing a job that we ourselves doubt
sometimes. It helps us see what can be on the other side if we can
just push through.”

Qasabian produced Run with Ohanian from a script co-written by Ohanian
and director Chaganty. The film starred Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen
for Lionsgate, which premiered on Hulu in Fall 2020 and became the
most-watched film on the platform. Previously, Qasabian produced
Searching (Sundance 2018), directed by Chaganty, which was released by
Sony. Searching was made on a sub-one-million-dollar budget and
grossed $75M+ at the box office.

Currently, she’s working on a sequel to Searching for Sony and a
streaming series called The Future for HBO Max.

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Armenian MP staging protest outside PACE session hall to raise the issue of Armenian prisoners

Kalantarian Kevo
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 25 2021    

Member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Edmon Marukyan staged a protest in front of the doors to PACE session hall,  as the Assembly started its winter session on Monday  in Strasbourg. Marukyan held a poster reading “Freedom to Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan.” 

The Armenian MP shared the video from the scene on his Facebook account, saying: “We started the PACE session through raising our voice with the international community to exert pressure on Azerbaijan and immediately free Armenian prisoners and civilians,” Marukyan wrote. 

To note, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is holding its 2021 winter plenary session from January 25 to 28 in a hybrid manner, allowing members to participate remotely or attend in person in Strasbourg.

 

Armenia’s president discharged from hospital, will not return to Armenia yet

Kalantarian Kevo
Aysor, Armenia
Jan 26 2021

Armenia’s president Armen Sarkissian has been discharged from hospital, his aide Hasmik Petrosyan told Aysor.am.

“The president has not recovered completely yet, he is getting treatment at home. He feels good and is under doctors’ control,” she said.

Petrosyan noted that after getting relevant permission from doctors he will return to Armenia.

 

Syrian-Armenian Visual Artist Kevork Mourad to Create Immersive Installation at Cantor Art Gallery

Kalantarian Kevo
Jan 28 2021

January 28th, 2021 by College of the Holy Cross

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross, will host Syrian-Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad for an artist residency this February in collaboration with the College’s Arts Transcending Borders program. Using his signature style of spontaneous drawing and printmaking techniques, Mourad will create “Memory Gates,” an immersive installation. The work, imagined as a series of doors and passageways that visitors can pass through, will explore themes of cultural plurality and collective memory. “Memory Gates” will be on view from March 4 through April 11, 2021.

During Mourad’s residency, students will be invited to work alongside the artist, assisting in the execution and installation of the work as it unfolds. Meredith Fluke, director of the Cantor Art Gallery, says this is a key component of the project: “Our goal is for Holy Cross students to be involved directly in Kevork’s process, and to benefit from Kevork’s deeply collaborative and generative practice. In addition, students will gain intimate knowledge of the work it takes for an artist to conceive and execute a large-scale work of art in situ.”

“Kevork’s multi-faceted artistry and generosity of spirit have given us many opportunities to connect with public school students and immigrant communities in Worcester during previous campus residencies, and we’re very excited to build on this work together with our partners at the Cantor Art Gallery,” adds Yonca Karakilic, director of the Arts Transcending Borders program.

Arts Transcending Borders has previously presented Mourad’s onstage collaboration “Home Within” with clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh, and sponsored Mourad’s presence on campus as part of the Silkroad Ensemble’s multi-year residency at the College. As the sole visual artist member of the Ensemble, Mourad often performs alongside musicians; his drawings, which are created in response to the music, are projected onto a screen for the audience. He is inspired by the interplay of musical and visual languages, which he says, “Offers an intensified _expression_ of the cultural legacies I am interested in exploring.”

Mourad has a strong history of collaborative work with musicians and other visual and performance artists, including recent projects with the OYO Dance Troupe in Namibia; a commission from the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the 2019 exhibition “Armenia!,” where composer Vache Sharafyan composed music based on visuals by Kevork Mourad; and an animated film, “Four Acts for Syria,” 2019, with filmmaker Waref Abu Quba, honoring the historical and cultural wealth of his homeland. He was recently invited by the Aga Khan Foundation to create a site-specific 20-foot drawing-sculpture called “Seeing Through Babel” at London’s Ismaili Center, addressing the importance of diversity in our contemporary times.

Kevork Mourad has lived and worked in Brooklyn, NY since 1998. He was born and grew up in Syria to a family of Armenian heritage, his ancestors having sought refuge there from the Armenian Genocide. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts in Armenia, an institution which places an emphasis on cultural traditions in addition to its intensive studio curriculum.

All related programs will be available to the Holy Cross campus community, as well as the general public. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in-gallery visits from off-campus visitors will take place by appointment only. Hours are Tuesday through Friday noon – 5 p.m., with limited Saturday availability. To book an entry time, email [email protected] or call 508-793-3356. Masks and social distancing practices are required.

 

EVENTS:

Open Sessions with the Artist via Zoom

Thursday, February 25, noon – 12:45 p.m.

Friday, February 26, 4:30 pm – 5.15 p.m.

Tuesday, March 2, noon – 12:45 p.m.

 

Opening Artist’s Talk 

Live on YouTube

Thursday, March 4, 4 – 5 p.m.

Garegin II strongly condemns desecration of Armenian churches in territories occupied by Azerbaijan

Kalantarian Kevo

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 11:33,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, strongly condemns the desecration of the Armenian churches in the territories of Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan.

“Of course, we strongly condemn such cases and make efforts so that the international community will also condemn such incidents”, His Holiness Garegin II told reporters in the Yerablur Military Pantheon where he visited to pay tribute to the memory of fallen heroes on the Army Day.

He thanked the Russian leadership, as well as the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill for the support which made possible the continuation of the operation of the Dadivank Monastery in Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

French Secretary of State highlights OSCE MG’s importance over situation in NK

Kalantarian Kevo

French Secretary of State highlights OSCE MG’s importance over situation in NK

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 19:01,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France continues to consider the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship important in the situation over Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports Lemoyne told the reporters in Yerevan.

”A number of points are raised in the November 9 trilateral declaration, but there are missing points and those missing points should be raised in the sidelines of the Minsk Group. During the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in December, the sides reaffirmed readiness to continue discussions in that format. The OSCE Minsk Group remains important and works should be continued under its auspices”, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship (Russia, France and the USA) is the only mediation format engaged in Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.




Asbarez: Goshigs on the Ground: Post-War Artsakh in December

Kalantarian Kevo

January 21,  2020



The author, Raffi Dadaian, stands by the tank at the entrance to Shushi

BY RAFFI DADAIAN

Standing under the snow-covered victory tank along the Lachin-Stepanakert highway, we hear “Karabakh is Azerbaijan!” Just a few hundred yards away atop Shushi’s eastern fortress walls, stand three Azerbaijani soldiers. There is no one in sight but me and them. I stare up at them for 10 seconds and climb on top of the tank to take a picture. “Karabakh is Azerbaijan!” Again, I glance at the figures on the wall while light snow begins to fall and the low-lying clouds move in between us as they disappear in the silence.

Artsakh is in a dire state. There is no sugar-coating the situation when you are driving through the remaining mountains under “Armenian-control” dotted with Russian checkpoints. The Turkish and Azerbaijani flags set on the corners of the city of Shushi sign 10 yards from the road taunted us as we slowly worked our way through the staggered barricades of the Russian checkpoint in our Toyota Prado 4×4. “Ne govoryu po russki” (“I don’t speak Russian”). The Russian soldier did not speak English or Armenian, and so he posed a question to us in his native tongue which we did not understand. We respond “Stepanakert” to which he answers in Russian and waves us through. Davay.

Shushi under Azerbaijani control (Photo by Raffi Dadaian)

Stepanakert seemed to have come a long way since its deserted streets and bomb sirens just a few weeks ago during the war. The streets were filled with cars. Many businesses were operational. Much of the damage from the war had been repaired or in the process of being repaired. The overall structural condition of the city was much better than I expected. We still found remnants of drone and missile damage throughout the city, but it was not 50-percent destroyed like some reports stated. Although the city seems back near capacity, we heard that many of the wealthier Stepanakert residents are in Armenia and renting their Artsakh homes to internally-displaced Hadrut and Shushi families. The city’s famous old outdoor market was severely damaged during the war, but it is now open with much of the damage from the war repaired or covered with sheets and blankets.

Photo by Raffi Dadaian

Walking down the frigid streets of Martuni surrounding the city’s opera house was like nothing I had ever seen with my eyes before. Blown up roofs, exploded windows and heavy shrapnel scarred nearly every house. The city’s opera house, which was modeled after the Yerevan Opera house, still did not have a single window replaced with twisted metal window frames left behind from the constant targeting of the city. For 44 days straight, the Azeri military undertook a campaign to indiscriminately bombard civilian structures. The rebuilding process was clearly moving slower than the capital, but there were construction workers repairing the roof of a multi-story building as we passed through the city square.

We visited the home belonging to the family of a 26-year-old local who had helped with the AYF Youth Corp Artsakh summer camps over the years. He, as well his younger brother, were still missing, presumed dead, since the war. The family treated us to a spread of fruits and coffee as we sat with the father discussing the situation with long, silent and tearful pauses. He was broken. The whole family was. Their only sons were gone. No burial. No answers.

Opera house in Martuni (Photo: Raffi Dadaian)

Winter is in full swing and the snow has draped the visible wounds in many areas of the ancient Principality of Khachen. Though no one knows for certain what the future holds for the Republic of Artsakh, the story of our brothers and sisters there is not over. There is an old Armenian proverb which rings true to the people of this land, “the river does not forget its course, no matter the weather.”

Raffi Dadaian was born & raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. After graduating Ferrahian high school, he attended UC Davis where he majored in Neurobiology while spending two years conducting HIV vaccine research at the California National Primate Research Center. Raffi founded a non-profit project that distributed over 20,000 oral hygiene kits during a three year period to rural children in Armenian, Artsakh, and Georgia. He is now a 4th year dual-degree dental student in the dual DMD/MBA program at Temple University and a proud member of the Philadelphia ARF Chapter.




RFE/RL Armenian Report – 01/22/2021

Kalantarian Kevo 
                                        Friday, 
New Members Appointed To Armenian Judicial Watchdog
        • Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia -- David Khachaturian (L) and Gagik Jahangirian attend a session of the 
Armenian parliament, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc installed on Friday two new 
members of a state body empowered to nominate, sanction and fire Armenian judges.
The Armenian parliament appointed Gagik Jahangirian, a controversial former 
prosecutor, and legal expert Davit Khachaturian to vacant seats in the Supreme 
Judicial Council (SJC) in a vote boycotted by its opposition minority.
“We do not find it politically expedient to take part in the vote,” Iveta 
Tonoyan, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), 
told reporters. She said her party also has “reservations” about both candidates 
nominated by My Step.
“In the professional sense we have no problem with the candidates,” said Taron 
Sahakian of the opposition Bright Armenia Party. “Our decision is political and 
results from the fact that the opposition has been barred from participating in 
judicial reforms.”
Jahangirian served as Armenia’s chief military prosecutor from 1997-2006 and was 
accused by civil activists of covering up crimes and abetting other abuses in 
the Armenian armed forces throughout his tenure. He always denied those 
allegations.
Khachaturian is the former head of the governing board of the Armenian branch of 
U.S. billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. His brother Sasun 
Khachatrian runs Armenia’s Special Investigative Service, a law-enforcement 
agency.
The two men joined the SJC amid tensions between Armenia’s government and 
judiciary. Critics of the government say that Pashinian expects them to help 
increase his influence on courts.
In recent months Armenian judges have refused to allow law-enforcement 
authorities to arrest dozens of opposition leaders and members as well as other 
anti-government activists. Virtually all of those individuals are prosecuted in 
connection with angry protests sparked by the Pashinian administration’s 
handling of the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinian charged last month that Armenia’s judicial system has become part of a 
“pseudo-elite” which is trying to topple him after the disastrous war. Ruben 
Vartazarian, the chairman of the SJC, rejected the criticism.
Jahangirian criticized Pashinian’s political team for not “purging” the 
judiciary when he spoke in the parliament before Friday’s vote. He said the 
government-controlled parliament should pass legislation to “get rid of judges 
who committed blatant human rights violations.”
Pashinian accused judges of remaining linked to Armenia’s former leadership and 
controversially urged supporters to block court buildings after a Yerevan court 
released former President Robert Kocharian from custody in May 2019. His 
government subsequently abandoned plans for a mandatory “vetting” of the judges 
at the urging of European legal experts.
Armenian Authorities Gear Up For ‘First Phase’ Of COVID-19 Vaccination
        • Satenik Hayrapetian
Vials with a sticker reading, "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" 
and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo, October 
31, 2020.
Health authorities have announced plans to start vaccinating by the beginning of 
March an estimated 3 percent of Armenia’s population against COVID-19.
Gayane Sahakian, the deputy director of the Armenian National Center for Disease 
Control and Prevention, said on Friday that the first batch of a relatively 
cheap vaccine developed by the British company AstraZeneca and Oxford University 
will be delivered to the country soon.
Sahakian said that the choice of the vaccine was made by the supplier, the COVAX 
Facility global partnership supported by the World Health Organization. COVAX 
signed a supply contract with the Armenian government signed late last year.
In Sahakian’s words, the “first phase” of vaccination will cover medical 
workers, care home personnel, people aged 65 and older as well as younger 
Armenians suffering from chronic diseases. This was recommended earlier this 
week by a government commission of health experts.
The commission said that military and law-enforcement personnel, rescue and 
public transport workers, civil servants, schoolteachers and university 
lecturers should be the next to get vaccine shots free of charge. It is not 
clear when that could happen.
Sahakian told the press earlier this month that the authorities are planning to 
vaccinate only 10 percent of Armenia’s population.
She said on Friday that they are now negotiating with Russian officials on the 
possible acquisition of a “large quantity” of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. She 
did not go into details.
Nor did Sahakian say if COVID-19 vaccines could be made available to a larger 
percentage of the population later this year. She stressed only that the 
vaccination process will be voluntary.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many Armenians are wary of the vaccines despite 
the pandemic’s severe impact on their country of about 3 million.
The Armenian Ministry of Health has registered more than 165,711 coronavirus 
cases and at least 3,030 deaths caused by them so far. The real number of cases 
is believed to be much higher.
Blinken Backs U.S. ‘Security Assistance’ To Armenia
U.S. -- Antony Blinken, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary 
of state, speaks as Biden announces his national security nominees and 
appointees at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, November 24, 
2020.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state has said that the 
United States should boost Armenia’s security and step up its involvement in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process to help prevent another war in the region.
In written answers to questions submitted by pro-Armenian U.S. Senator Robert 
Menendez, Antony Blinken also said that the Biden administration will “review” 
security assistance to Azerbaijan due to the recent war in Karabakh.
“I support the provision to Armenia of security assistance and aid to strengthen 
democratic governance and promote economic growth, both of which will help to 
strengthen Armenia’s security and resilience,” Blinken wrote on Thursday.
“If confirmed, I look forward to working with Congress and the Secretary of 
Defense to determine the appropriate level of assistance to meet the security 
needs of Armenia and the region,” he added in response to a question about how 
the U.S. could help the Armenians defend themselves against “Azerbaijan and 
Turkey’s aggression.”
“If confirmed, I will reinvigorate U.S. engagement to find a permanent 
settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that protects the security of 
Nagorno-Karabakh and helps to ensure another war does not break out,” he said, 
answering another question.
Biden complained about a lack of such engagement during the autumn war in 
Karabakh that coincided with the U.S. presidential race. In an October 28 
statement, he said then U.S. President Donald Trump must “get involved 
personally to stop this war” and freeze U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.
The U.S. Congress had banned such aid through Section 907 of the Freedom Support 
Act passed in 1992. However, U.S. administrations were allowed in the early 
2000s to waive the ban and help Azerbaijan’s military and security agencies.
The Trump administration significantly increased the security aid to Baku, 
reportedly providing over $100 million worth of equipment and other assistance 
to Azerbaijan’s State Border Guard Service in 2018-2019. Azerbaijani border 
guards also participated in the six-week hostilities in and around Karabakh 
stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10.
“In light of the recent outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the 
Biden-Harris administration will review our security assistance to Azerbaijan,” 
said Blinken. “If the circumstances warrant, the Biden-Harris administration 
will be prepared to suspend waivers of requirements under section 907 of the 
Freedom Support Act.”
The two main Armenian-American advocacy groups were quick to hail Blinken’s 
written comments submitted days after his confirmation hearing before the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee headed by Menendez.
European Parliament Condemns Turkey’s Role In Karabakh War
Belgium -- A plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels, September 
16, 2020.
The European Parliament has strongly condemned Turkey’s “destabilizing role” in 
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, accused Ankara of sending “terrorist fighters” to 
the conflict zone and called for an end to Turkish military aid to Azerbaijan.
In two resolutions adopted this week, the European Union’s legislative body also 
welcomed the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
war on November 10. But it cautioned that the conflict remains unresolved.
One of the resolutions calls for a Karabakh settlement based on the Basic 
Principles, a framework peace accord that has long been jointly advanced by the 
three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group: the United States, Russia and France. 
It stresses the “urgent need” to ensure “the security of the Armenian population 
and its cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Turkey provided full diplomatic and military support to Azerbaijan during the 
six-week war. Turkish combat drones heavily used by the Azerbaijani army are 
believed to have been a key factor behind Baku’s military victory. According to 
Western media reports, Ankara also recruited thousands of jihadist fighters from 
the Middle East to fight on Azerbaijan’s side.
The European Parliament resolution “strongly condemns the destabilizing role of 
Turkey which further undermines the fragile stability in the whole of the South 
Caucasus region.” It says the Turks should “refrain from any interference in the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including offering military support to Azerbaijan.”
AZERBAIJAN -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev attend a military parade in Baku, December 10, 2020.
The resolution also deplores “the transfer of foreign terrorist fighters by 
Turkey from Syria and elsewhere to Nagorno-Karabakh, as confirmed by 
international actors, including the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries.”
France has been especially vocal in its condemnation of that transfer. Its 
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reiterated last month French calls for “the 
departure of the Syrian mercenaries” from the conflict zone.
Turkey has denied sending members of Turkish-backed Syrian rebel groups to 
Karabakh. Azerbaijan also denies the presence of such mercenaries in the 
Azerbaijani army ranks.
Armenia hailed the European Parliament resolutions on Friday. The Armenian 
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, praised, among other things, the 
EU’s legislature’s calls for an agreement on Karabakh’s future status to be 
“founded on the [Minsk] group’s Basic Principles.” Naghdalian said it thus 
voiced support for the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Pashinyan, Putin, Aliyev sign joint statement on development of Nagorno Karabakh in Moscow

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 19:07, 11 January, 2021

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Following the meeting between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Moscow, the leaders of the three countries signed a joint statement on the development of Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports Ria Novosti informs.

Russian President Putin said that the negotiation with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev were exceptional and productive.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan