Author: Kalashian Nyrie

ANN/Armenian News Week in Review – 07/26/2020

Kalashian Nyrie

Armenian News Network / Armenian News

Armenian News: Week in Review

ANN/Armenian News

Table of Contents

 

Introduction

Listen to us on…

Your Hosts

Guests This Week

Main Topics for This Week

Panel: War roundup / Artsakh

Overview

Sources

Conversation with Karena Avedissian on  Nat’l Security

Overview

Sources

Panel on National Security Doctrine (NSD)

Overview

Headlines in the News

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

People in the News

Nora Arisian

Jirair Reisian

Lucy Esgenian

This Week in Review we discuss the aftermath of the border clases of mid-July between Armenian and Azerbaijan. The violence that erupted between Armenian and Azeri demonstrators worldwide and the new National Security Strategy document promulgated by the government of Armenia.

            

●          Hovik Manucharyan

●          Asbed Bedrossian

●          Asbed Kotchikian

●          Emil Sanamyan

●          Garen Vrtanesyan

●          Alen Zamanyan

And

●          Karena Avedissian

 

 

Joining us today are

●      Emil Sanamyan, who is a senior research fellow at USC’s Institute of Armenian Studies specializing in politics in the Caucasus, with a special focus on Azerbaijan. He is a regular contributor to ANN/Armenian News.

●      Garen Vrtanesyan, editor of Razm.info, a specialty website on military and warfare strategies with a focus on Armenia and its neighboring region.

●      Asbed Kotchikian, Professor of political science and international relations at Bentley University in Massachusetts.

This week we saw the fighting in the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan simmer down and take a backseat to the political statements flowing in from around the world. In general except for Turkey and a few other countries, we’ve seen balanced statements from major countries and organizations such as the US, the EU, the UN, Russia and the CSTO.

Major journalists such as David Ignatius called on the US and Russia to seize this moment as a rare opportunity to collaborate towards peace in the Caucasus.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has called in Israel and Turkey to analyze the failures of its UAV/Drone arsenal, and also to upgrade to a fleet of Turkish drones which were highly effective against the Kurds and Russia in Syria. We’ve also had a full week of Jeyhun Bairamov in his new role as Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, following Mammadyarov’s humiliating dismissal by Aliyev.

We discuss the state of affairs since the cessation of fighting, and what the replacement of Azerbaijan’s long-time foreign minister portends for the future of negotiations with Armenia. Also, the drone wars and what that means for the future of warfare in the region.

We also spend some time into why, as the border quieted down, clashes have broken out in cities around the world between Armenian diaspora communities protesting against Azeri aggression against Armenia, and Azeri or Azerbaijan-supported protesters. In cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Moscow, Kiev, London, violence broke out between angry demonstrators. In San Francisco an Armenian school was vandalized with hate graffiti, while in Berlin a car belonging to the Armenian embassy was set on fire.

  

●      Interview with Seyran Ohanyan – Yerkir Media

●      Turkey Now Has Swarming Suicide Drones It Could Export – TheDrive.com

●      Armenian, Russian servicemen to develop new ways on fighting against UAVs – Armenpress

 

Armenia’s Security Council introduced a new National Security Strategy (NS Strategy) on July 10, 2020. The previous strategy document was adopted in 2007, in the final year of second president Robert Kocharian’s final term in office. Last week we had a conversation with Dr. Karena Avedissian on this topic. Her research focuses on social movements, new media/communications, civil society and governance in the former Soviet Union, with an area focus on Russia and the Caucasus. Here is that conversation.

●      Rationalizing the Tonoyan Doctrine: Armenia’s Active Deterrence Strategy – Jamestown.org

●      Armenia’s New National Security Strategy: Sharing First Impressions  -By Vahram Ter-Matevosyan on EVNreport.com (contains a link to the NSD)

●      Armenian-Azerbaijani Border Clashes: The Russian Dimension and Beyond – Jamestown.org

●      Interview with Armen Grigoryan – Armenian Public TV

●      The enemy is not inside, the enemy is outside, stop it. Ara Hakobyan – 5 TV

The publication of the NSD came just before the border flare up and at a time when Armenia has been articulating a more assertive military doctrine known as a deterrence doctrine or in some circles “Tonoyan doctrine”. Azerbaijan may have been surprised at what appears to have been an aggressive counter response by Armenia.

One salient point we’ve noticed is that it seems that Armenia is making a deliberate effort to not use the term “Artsakh Republic” or “Nagorno Karabakh Republic” in the strategic document, which is a marked difference from the 2007 version. In explaining this change, Armen Grigoryan simply pointed to Pashinyan’s speech in Artsakh on August 5, 2019. That was the speech where Pashinyan said “Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s that”. Meanwhile, critics argue that this move de-emphasizes the right of self-determination, one of the key positions held by the Armenian sides throughout the last 30 years in negotiations.

Discuss.

●      Over the weekend the Russian Defence Ministry carried out a snap check of troops in the southern and western military districts, as well as units of Air and Naval forces per the decision of President Putin. Despite denials, the exercises were clearly a warning to Turkey to stay out of the Caucasus war scene.

●      Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party refuses to sign under anti-Armenian bill in the Turkish parliament, stating that it is necessary to give preference to a peacemaking foreign policy instead of an anti-Armenian statement and that bringing Armenia and Azerbaijan to the negotiating table and easing the tension need to be the main principle.

●           Greta Thunberg was awarded the first Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity

●           Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.‘s Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act will be included in an en bloc package and passed by Congress. It requires a report from the Secretaries of Defense and State to address allegations that some units of foreign countries that have participated in security cooperation programs under Section 333 of title 10, U.S.C. (Building Partner Capacity Program) may have committed gross violations of internationally-recognized HR before or while receiving U.S. security assistance.

●      Three Armenians were elected to Syria’s 250-seat parliament: Dr. Nora Arisian and Jirair Reisian from Aleppo, and Lucy Esgenian from Damascus.

●      Ararat Mirzoyan signed the law on the constitutional court, when the 21 mandated days expired after president Armen Sarkisian refused to sign it.

●           Washington Post associate editor David Ignatius called  on the US and Russia to collaborate on a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

●           The ECHR demanded Azerbaijan to give information about the location and living conditions of Narek Sardaryan; about his health; and  whether a criminal case has been initiated against him. Narek Sardaryan wandered into Nakhichevan and was apprehended there nearly 2 weeks ago.

●      Paul Stronski, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank noted the very late reaction from the US State Department on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, and attributes it to a lack of South Caucasus strategy at the White House.

●      An official car of the Armenia Embassy in Berlin is set on fire.

●      The US congress adopted the Speier-Cox-Krishnamoorthi Amendment for U.S. demining assistance to Artsakh as part of HR 7608.

●       US House Rules Committee ruled Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus amendment as  “out of order”.

●           Vandals targeted the Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan Armenian School in San Francisco with threatening and racist graffiti, in an attack that claimed to support a violent, anti-Armenian movement led by Azerbaijan. The attack, which US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned, is being investigated as a hate crime.

●            

●           UNESCO expressed its deepest regret for Turkey’s decision to change the status of Hagia Sophia, and has not received any guarantees of preservation of the world cultural site.

Sources

●            – ArmRadio.am

Sources

●      3 Armenians elected members of Syrian parliament – Armenpress.am

 

Sources

●            – ArmRadio.am

SF Armenian School and Adjacent Community Center Vandalized With Curse Words, Ethnic Slurs

Kalashian Nyrie
SFist, San Francisco

Members of San Francisco’s Armenian community were dealt an appalling sight Friday when they discovered the KZV Armenian School and its shouldering community center were painted with hateful, racist graffiti by vandals in the night.

Reported by various local news outlets (KTVU, SFGate, NBC Bay Area), another spate of racism unfolded yesterday in San Francisco. This time, however, it wasn’t an individual subjected to such malice, but rather two local Armenian community and educational facilities.

“As I came today at [eight] this morning, I saw the graffiti on the walls,” said school principal Grace Andonian to KTVU about the vandalism. “I was shocked. I was appalled. The community is in shock. Our families, students, alumni, they were all in shock to see these hate messages on the wall.”

Vandals spray-painted graffiti on almost every single wall at KZV Armenian School, leaving distasteful, racist remarks that referenced the Armenian Genocide which took place between April 1915 and May 1918. (Described as an “ethnic cleansing,” it’s estimated at least one million Armenians lost their lives during the over three-year campaign.)

The many painted messages contained not only curse words but also racist epithets of the Armenian people. Similar incidences to this have appeared across the nation and global due to the increased tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia over a recent border dispute. For example: SFGate noted in their reporting of Friday’s spoliation that earlier this week, several people were injured after protests turned violent outside the Azerbaijan Consulate in Los Angeles.

One person was also arrested in that incident.

Both Mayor Breed and SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin expressed their disgust and “outrage” over the incident, each adding that such acts have no place in our city.

“The Armenian community is an important part of our city, and we stand with them,” the San Francisco mayor tweeted, with Boudin earlier saying “this is totally inconsistent with San Francisco values” and that his office is working with SFPD to hold the people responsible for this “CRIME” accountable.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also tweeted out her revulsion over the event, saying “the hateful defacing of this place of community & learning is a disgrace.”

SFPD has said their special investigations unit will be leading an investigation into the crime. Per NBC Bay Area, officers have said the possibility of this being a hate crime “isn’t being ruled out,” but they said the investigation is still in its early stages.

Any helpful tips and insights into the vandalism can be shared — anonymously or not — with local law enforcement by calling or texting SFPD’s Tip Line at (415) 575-4444; texts should start with the keyword “SFPD,” followed by the message.


Armenian Speaker of Parliament signs law on making amendments to Law on Constitutional Court

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 10:20,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan signed the law, adopted by the Parliament on June 3, on making changes and amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court.

“Now the Law must be published in the official bulletin and will enter into force from that moment”, the Speaker said.

On June 30 the Parliament adopted the bill submitted by the ruling My Step faction which sets a pension for the judges of the Constitutional Court whose powers have been suspended based on the recent changes. After the adoption of the bill President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian announced that he would not sign it.

On June 22 the Parliament adopted the bill on the Constitutional amendments submitted by a group of the ruling My Step faction MPs, which proposes to replace the Constitutional Court President and those judges of the Court which have served no less than 12 years. The Constitutional amendments have entered into force. Hrays Tovmasyan is no longer the President of the Constitutional Court, and the powers of three judges of the Court – Felix Tokhyan, Hrant Nazaryan and Alvina Gyulumyan have been suspended. The three new judges of the Court must be elected within two months.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 21-07-20

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 17:31,

YEREVAN, 21 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 21 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.89 drams to 483.70 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.53 drams to 553.59 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 6.83 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 5.86 drams to 613.72 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 180.79 drams to 28235.74 drams. Silver price up by 4.91 drams to 302.32 drams. Platinum price up by 350.15 drams to 13140.86 drams.

Senator Paul Scarr Calls on Australia to Recognize Armenian Genocide

Kalashian Nyrie
Greek Reporter
July 10 2020
By

 Stavros Anastasiou

 –

Jul 10, 2020

Federal Senator for Queensland Paul Scarr announced his support of the Joint Justice Initiative, calling for Australia to recognize the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides.

“For many years, I have provided support to the Queensland Rwandan community in relation to its commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda against the Tutsis,” Scarr stated in regards to his decision. “I understand the importance of recognizing historical truths.”

Senator Scarr had previously signed an Affirmation of Support to back national recognition of the genocide, meeting with delegated from the Joint Justice Initiative on February 2020.

The Joint Justice Initiative is an organization made up of members from the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities. Their goal is to mainly raise awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The Initiative had also featured a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding during this time between the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC).

The memorandum declared Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides as a priority on behalf of the communities that have immigrated to and thrived in the country.

Responding to Senator Scarr’s support, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia Haig Kayserian said “We welcome Senator Paul Scarr joining our growing coalition of supporters in the Federal Parliament, representing a broad cross-section of political parties. It is only a matter of time that this support must translate in overdue Australian recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides.”

Over 100 federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, officials, academics, media and community leaders witnessed the historic signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

Attendees were later treated to cultural performances, along with wine, food and a gala celebration when the public affairs representatives from the three communities in Australia united together in order to encourage Australia to recognize the Turkish-committed genocide against their ancestors.

https://au.greekreporter.com/2020/07/10/senator-paul-scarr-calls-on-australia-to-recognize-armenian-genocide/?fbclid=IwAR30OyuO6dscutw49Z7POrgWm3QuMwynsEsvGsP_NLHvMiRIHwvkrwbd4ko


Artsakh to toughen anti-coronavirus measures: President chairs session of Commandant’s Office

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 14:52, 6 July, 2020

YEREVAN, JULY 6, ARMENPRESS. The session of the Commandant’s Office of Artsakh was held today chaired by President Arayik Harutyunyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Commandant, State Minister of Artsakh Grigori Martirosyan briefly presented the actions taken in the Republic in the past month to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Acting Minister of Healthcare Arayik Baghryan presented a report on the statistics of COVID-19 in the world, in Armenia and Artsakh, as well as the actions taken by the ministry.

President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan touched upon the recent COVID-19 cases detected in hospitals, urging the responsible officials to take strict measures to rule out new cases or minimize them as much as possible.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Russian Embassy Worried About Armenian Debate On Media Regulation

Kalashian Nyrie
UrduPoint
 
 
 
Sumaira FH 23 hours ago Sat 27th June 2020 | 02:00 AM
 
YEREVAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 27th June, 2020) The Russian embassy in Armenia on Friday reacted to a media regulation bill clearing the first round of debates by warning that its passing would spell uncertainty for Russian television channels.
 
“First of all, we would like to emphasize that it’s an internal matter of Armenia… Nonetheless, the new bill will have a direct impact on the future of Russian broadcasts in the Republic. We are, of course, closely following debates on it,” the statement read.
 
The Bill on Audiovisual Media is aimed to replace the dated Television and Radio Law, the diplomatic mission noted.
 
It would require a foreign channel’s country of origin to sign a contract with Armenia to secure air time.
 
“That means we will have to negotiate ‘rules of the game’ and Armenia will have the upper hand. Russia has said many times it is ready for talks. The ball is in Armenia’s court,” the embassy added.
 
The bill would also require foreign-language media content to be either subtitled or dubbed. The embassy said it was concerned that this would further undermine the rights of those speaking Russian that have been eroded since Armenia emerged as an independent state.

European Parliament’s official stance on NK conflict has changed for the better – MP

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 16:01,

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. The European Parliament has approved the official proposals of the European Parliament on Eastern Partnership addressed To the Council of the European Union, to the European Commission, to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. 507 MEPs votes in favor and 119 against the proposals, ARMENPRESS reports Chairman of the Standing Committee on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan wrote on his Facebook page.

‘’This is the official position of the European Parliament over Eastern Partnership issues of the EU foreign policy agenda, including the issue of the settlement of Artsakh issue, but not the statement of the 3 MEPs that was circulated days before’’, Yeghoyan said, noting that referring to Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the document suggests the mentioned EU institutions to reaffirm their support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs aimed at the settlement of the conflict and their fundamental principles of 2009.

The European Parliament also calls on the EU institutions to encourage the conflicting sides to activate dialogue and refrain from escalating rhetoric.

Yeghoyan reminded that the Fundamental Principles of 2009 are about the equality of peoples and their right to self-determination, territorial integrity and non use of force.

‘’Summing up, the official position of the European Parliament on Artsakh issue has not changed negatively for, and has even changed for the better visible for professionals’’, he said.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan, Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

Real fight against corruption is viewed as pressure on opposition: Armenian PM’s response

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Real fight against corruption is viewed as pressure on opposition: Armenian PM’s response

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 15:27,

YEREVAN, JUNE 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan commented on the international reaction to the recent events in Armenia.

The PM said for 30 years Armenia was told to fight against corruption, electoral bribes and frauds, but now, when a real fight against this has started, they say why are you pressuring the opposition? “The corrupt people of these 30 years are now an opposition. This is a very good way: I am an opposition, don’t do anything against me”, the PM said.

On June 17, President of the European People’s Party Donald Tusk touched upon Armenia on Twitter during the Eastern Partnership Leaders’ Meeting, stating that “the EPP is concerned by numerous instances of backsliding of democracy in Armenia and calls on Armenian authorities to refrain from pressuring the opposition”.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Artsakh will consistently seek de-occupation of its regions by Azerbaijan – MFA Artsakh

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 19:57,

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh has issued a statement on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the occupation of Shahumian region by Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the restoration of the territorial integrity of Artsakh is one of the key elements for the settlement of the conflict.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Artsakh, the statement runs as follows,

‘’28 years ago, on June 12, 1992, the Azerbaijani armed forces, supported by the units of the 23rd division of the former Soviet Army, launched a large-scale attack on the Republic of Artsakh, employing heavy equipment and military aircraft. The first to be targeted was the Shahumian region. Having multiple superiority in manpower and equipment, the Azerbaijani armed forces managed to capture the Shahumian region of the Republic of Artsakh, after which they started ethnic cleansing and brutal massacre of Armenian civilians.
 
To escape, the people had to leave for the Martakert region through mountain paths, where along the way they were being attacked by the Azerbaijani militants. According to the recollections of the residents of the Shahumian region, the column of civilians was fired on, including from combat helicopters. The attack on the civilians was deliberate and had only one goal – to kill as many people as possible. It was in such an inhuman way that the Azerbaijani side tried to recoup on civilians for their own military defeats in the winter and spring of 1992.
 
As a result of the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces during the occupation of the Shahumian region, about twenty Armenian villages were destroyed and looted, over twenty thousand Armenians became internally displaced persons and refugees, and several hundred people were deliberately killed or have gone missing.
 
By committing war crimes and subjecting the civilian population to terror the Azerbaijani authorities tried to break the will of the people of Artsakh seeking to defend its right to life, self-determination and independence. However, the atrocities by the Azerbaijani side only strengthened the determination of the people of Artsakh to defend its sovereignty, its ideals and its rights. The subsequent actions by the Defense Army of Artsakh to repel the Azerbaijani aggression and to ensure safe borders were conditioned by the need to defend the Republic and its population from physical annihilation.
 
Today, the Shahumian region and parts of the Martakert and Martuni regions of the Republic of Artsakh continue to remain under the occupation of Azerbaijan. In violation of international humanitarian law, the Azerbaijani authorities continue the policy of illegal settlement and eradication of the signs of presence of the indigenous Armenian population on the occupied territories of the Republic of Artsakh.
 
The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh will consistently seek the de-occupation of the Shahumian region, as well as parts of the Martakert and Martuni regions. The restoration of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Artsakh is one of the key elements of the position of official Stepanakert on the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict’’.