Chamber of Advocates initiates process of providing legal aid to to Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan
18:48, 24 June, 2021
YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. The Chamber of Advocates of Armenia organized a consultation on June 24 over the effectiveness of the issue of providing legal aid to Armenian war prisoners in the ongoing trials in Azerbaijan.
As ARMENPRESS was ifnormed from the press service of the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia, Chairman of the Chamber Ara Zohrabyan, first Deputy Chairman of the Chamber Mane Karapetyan, Deputy Chairman Harut Aklunts, advocates Hayk Alumyan and Ara Ghazaryan participated in the consultations. Representative of the Republic of Armenia in the European Court of Human Rights Yeghishe Kirakosyan and deputy representative Liparit Drmeyan were present at the consultation. The Representative of Armenia to the ECHR provided general information to the advocates over the process of cases of Armenian POWs examined at the ECHR.
The advocates discussed the issue of providing legal aid to the Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan, as well as the issue of the necessity of discovering and proving possible violations. The advocates expressed concern over the fact that that Azerbaijan will hinder the providing of legal aid to the Armenian POWs by Armenian lawyers.
Based on the results of the discussion, the Chamber of Advocates made a decision to apply to the relevant bodies of the Republic of Armenia, the relevant bodies of Azerbaijan, the Chamber of Advocates of Azerbaijan, as well as other international institutions for ensuring the providing the legal aid to the Armenian POWs by the lawyers of the Republic of Armenia, permitting the entry of Armenian lawyers to Azerbaijan and ensuring their security.
”Considering the above-mentioned, we ask the lawyers specializing in criminal law to send a letter to Email until June 29, 2021, informing about their readiness to provide legal aid to the Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan”, reads the statement of the Chamber of Advocates.
Ruling My Step faction MP resigns
16:25,
YEREVAN, JUNE 25, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament of Armenia from the ruling My Step faction Lusine Yeganyan has submitted a resignation letter on June 25, the Speaker of Parliament said in a statement.
Mrs. Yeganyan received her parliamentary mandate on June 18 and was replacing MP Hamazasp Danielyan.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Zatulin: Azerbaijan President is demonstrating low-browed nationalism against Armenians
Baku is striving to gain as many concessions as possible from Yerevan during the process of demarcation and delimitation of the borders in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces of Armenia. This is what Deputy of the Russian State Duma, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Russians Abroad, Director of the Institute of CIS countries Konstantin Zatulin said during today’s Sochi-Yerevan teleconference.
The Russian MP labeled Azerbaijan’s policy as not the most reasonable one since it is Azerbaijani servicemen who infiltrated into the territory of Armenia.
“Moreover, the leader of Azerbaijan is actually making attacks on Armenia and the Armenian people by demonstrating low-browed nationalism,” Zatulin emphasized.
Talking about Russia’s efforts to resolve the crisis that he had talked about in the past, Zatulin stated that President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin prefers a milder way to solve the problem, trying to have an impact on all the sides of the negotiation process.
Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijan victorious again as pressured Armenia provides minefield maps for Aghdam
By Trend
Armenia has given up to pressure and has provided Azerbaijan with maps, showing the location of 97,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in Aghdam district on June 12, 2021.
After the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from the Armenian occupation, the most pressing issue for Azerbaijan is the de-mining and restoration of these territories.
During 30 years of occupation, the Armenians built a big number of fortifications, fences, created earthen ramparts there and planted hundreds of thousands of mines.
In all his speeches, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, spoke about the importance of maps of minefields and that Armenia must provide them to Azerbaijan. The president has repeatedly stated that the international community must intervene and urge Armenia do the right thing.
The calls of the US Department of State and the European Union on this issue, the fact that Armenia was forced to give these maps are another great achievement of President Aliyev’s diplomacy.
The process of de-mining only in Aghdam district could have taken years without these maps, not counting the finances, and the threat of having more lives lost due to mined lands.
POW issue shouldn’t be speculated in domestic political life, Bright Armenia party’s Marukyan says
11:22,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Edmon Marukyan, who is leading the Bright Armenia party’s electoral list for the June 20 snap polls, welcomes the return of 15 Armenian prisoners of war from Azerbaijan on June 12.
“Azerbaijan continues holding the Armenian prisoners of war, putting different preconditions for their return. It’s an act of a terrorist country as terrorists take hostages and put preconditions by holding them”, Marukyan told reporters on the sidelines of the party’s pre-election campaign.
He said the solution of the POW issue is within the international law, stating that the Armenian side needs to make a very serious emphasis here. According to him, in case of strengthening Armenia’s external diplomatic front, the POWs can be returned.
“Now there is a difficult situation. You know that the officials of the foreign ministry have resigned. I think that after the elections if the agenda, which we are presenting, is fulfilled, this issue can be solved very quickly. In other words, the issue of the prisoners of war can be solved very quickly if we solve our problems inside the country and strengthen in the external front. The return of POWs should not be speculated in our domestic political life in any way. Perhaps everything can be speculated, but not this one relating to the person’s release from captivity”, he added.
The electoral campaign for the June 20 snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.
The campaign will last until June 18.
25 political forces – 21 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to reengage in substantive negotiations under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
15:09,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. The European Union welcomes the actions taken by Armenia and Azerbaijan and facilitated by Georgia that led to the release by Azerbaijan of 15 Armenian detainees and the handing over by Armenia of maps of mined areas on June 12, EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in a statement released on June 13.
“These are important humanitarian and confidence building gestures by Baku and Yerevan that will hopefully open the path for further cooperation between the sides and the ultimate release of all Armenian detainees, as well as the handing over of all available maps of mined areas to avoid further civilian casualties.
The European Union and other international actors have actively encouraged moves in this direction and we urge further cooperation between the countries involved.
We will continue to promote a durable and comprehensive settlement of the conflict, including where possible through support for stabilization, post conflict rehabilitation and confidence building measures and reiterate our call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to reengage in substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs”, the statement reads.
Armenia acting PM’s son campaigns in Yerevan
Ashot Pashinyan, son of acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, was campaigning in Yerevan today.
“By voting for Nikol Pashinyan and his Civil Contract Party, by giving him a ‘steel mandate’, you will turn over the page of the criminal-oligarchic and criminal elements in Armenia once and for all,” Ashot Pashinyan stated while campaigning.
Azerbaijan swaps 15 Armenian soldiers for landmine map
- JAMnews, Baku-Yerevan
Turkish press: Zangezur corridor to boost Turkey-Azerbaijan ties: Aliyev
The Zangezur corridor will strengthen Azerbaijan’s ties with Turkey, President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday.
Aliyev told Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu in Baku that the opening of the corridor will further strengthen relations between Turkic nations.
He said transportation’s significance has especially become evident after the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war, which ended after a Russia-brokered cease-fire in November. “Here is an important part of the East-West corridor … the volume of cargo passing through this route has increased over the years.”
Aliyev said Armenia first objected to the corridor but later gave up realizing its importance.
The formation of the corridor, expected to be operational in 2 1/2 years, was negotiated by the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in a trilateral working group, he added.
Relations between the ex-Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
Fresh clashes erupted on Sept. 27, and the Armenian Army continued its attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces for 44 days, even violating two humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
Baku liberated several cities and nearly 300 of its settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation during this time.
On Nov. 10, the two countries signed a Russia-brokered deal to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive solution.
Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace deal and to facilitate the return of refugees. Under the agreement, which leaves Karabakh’s future political status in limbo, Armenia lost control of parts of the enclave as well as the seven adjacent districts that it seized during the 1990s war.
Turkey and Azerbaijan enjoy strong relations, as the two countries embrace the “one nation, two states” motto.
During his 4 1/2 years duty term, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Azerbaijan more than 20 times, he said adding that the delegation visits reached more than 100.
Pashinyan in Brussels says Azerbaijani forces should be pulled out from Armenia
YEREVAN, June 2. /TASS/. Armenia’s acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with President of the European Council Charles Michel on Wednesday in Brussels and underlined the vital nature of the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from Armenia, Pashinyan’s press service reported.
“The acting prime minister provided a detailed account about the situation in the Southern Caucasus after the 44-day-long Artsakh war (hostilities in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic — TASS) and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in particular. Pashinyan underlined the need to withdraw the Azerbaijani Armed Forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia and provided information about diplomatic and negotiating actions in this area,” the statement reads.
Pashinyan also underlined the necessity for “an appropriate reaction from the international community to Azerbaijan’s provocative actions and actions to ensure the return of Armenian prisoners of war.” “The president of the European Council welcomed the position of the Armenian side on a peaceful and political resolution of the problem on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and expressed readiness of the European Union to facilitate this process,” the statement adds.
Following the end of military action in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone last fall, when seven regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh fell under Azerbaijan’s control, the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan moved to the immediate vicinity of the Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces. The situation there exacerbated on May 12. Then, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces attempted to carry out “certain operations” in the Syunik Province in a bid to “redefine the border.” The Azerbaijani forces ceased their activities after the Armenian Armed Forces took measures in response.
However, both parties regularly report new incidents. On May 27, Azerbaijan announced that it had captured six Armenian servicemen during an attempt to cross the border. The Armenian side confirmed that the servicemen were captured yet emphasized that at the time they were involved in engineering works in the border area of Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province. Later, Yerevan said that it had turned to the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with regards to the escalation of the situation on the Armenian-Azeri border. In their turn, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh put forward their de-escalation plan, which involves the parties withdrawing troops and beginning the process of demarcating and delimiting the state border with the assistance of the Minsk Group.