Author: Karagyozian Lena

CivilNet: From the Archives: Russian Peacekeeping Brigade’s Symbolic Karabakh Link

Karagyozian Lena
CIVILNET.AM

10 Mar, 2021 10:03

By Emil Sanamyan

The peacekeeping forces deployed in Karabakh since November 2020 come from Samara Oblast-based 15th motor-rifle brigade of the Russian army. Prior to Karabakh, the brigade was deployed in Abkhazia between 2005 and 2008, and is the only Russian military unit fully dedicated to peacekeeping operations.

While the 15th brigade was created in 2004, from 2019 it was made a formal successor of the 5th Alexandrian Hussar (Cavalry) Regiment of the Russian Imperial Army, giving it a curious historic link to Karabakh, a year before its deployment there. The 5th regiment was established in 1776 in the Ukrainian town of Alexandria and in 1918, when it was disbanded by the Bolsheviks, was based in Samara.

From 1812 to 1815, as most of the Russian army, the 5th regiment participated in the wars with Napoleonic France, making its way from Moscow to Paris. One of its commanders at the time was Karabakh-born Armenian Valerian Madatov. Madatov was born in the village of Chanakhchi, now known as Avetaranots (from late October 2020 it has been under Azerbaijani occupation). The future general made his way to Russia as a youth in 1796 and was recommended for military education by Archbishop Iosif Argutinskiy and businessman Ivan Lazarev, the most prominent Russian Armenian leaders of the time.

Following the Napoleonic wars, Madatov was transferred to the Caucasus to command Russian forces in the war against Persia from 1826 to 1828. That war ended with the Turkmenchay Treaty that made Erivan and Nakhichevan Khanates part of Russia and soon forming the Armenian Oblast, effectively the precursor to the Armenian republic. Ironically, the Armenian-populated Karabakh and Zangezur (Syunik) were not included in that Oblast since they became part of Russia a decade earlier. That circumstance helped localize the geography of the future territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

General Madatov died in 1829 shortly after defeating Turkish forces in Bulgaria. His best known portrait, painted by British artist George Dawe, depicts Madatov in the uniform of an Alexandrian Hussar.

Congressman Pallone asks Biden Administration to address issue of Armenian captives and Azerbaijan’s gross violations

Karagyozian Lena

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 13:21, 8 March, 2021

YEREVAN, MARCH 8, ARMENPRESS. Congressman Frank Pallone says he personally spoke with US President Joe Biden’s Administration over the issue of the Armenian captives whom Azerbaijan refuses to return after the Artsakh war.

“Azerbaijan committed gross human rights abuses during last year’s conflict. They continue to detain hundreds of Armenians in violation of international law. I have personally spoken with the Biden Administration to immediately address these issues,” Pallone tweeted.

Onik Gasparyan to stay General Staff chief until 8-day term expires – statement

Karagyozian Lena
Panorama, Armenia
March 3 2021

Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan will continue serving as the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff until the expiration of an 8-day period, the General Staff said in a statement on Wednesday.

President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign a decree drafted by the prime minister to sack Onik Gasparyan for a second time on Tuesday. In a separate application, he asked the Constitutional Court to determine the compliance of the law of November 15, 2017 “On Military Service and Status of Military Servant” with the Constitution. But the decree was said to automatically enter into force in three days’ time under the law.

The statement shared by spokesman of the General Staff Samvel Asatryan said the president acted exclusively in line with the Constitution.

“Under Article 168 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is not entitled to determine the compliance of the draft presidential decree with the Constitution or resolve the issue of the dismissal of the General Staff chief; that is, the president may apply to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine the compliance of the law of November 15, 2017 “On Military Service and Status of Military Servant” with the Constitution exclusively as the legal basis of the draft decree, and not in connections with its specific article or part of the law.

“The deadline for applying to the Constitutional Court is not defined at all by Article 139 (Part 2) of the Constitution and the related part. The deadline for the relevant terms is set by Part 3 of Article 35.1 of the law – 8 days after the return of the draft decree (grounds for dismissal, Part 3 of Article 40 of the law refers to the procedure of appointment).

“According to the statement, the president acted and expressed his intention to act exclusively in line with the Constitution.

“Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan will continue his service to the homeland and the people and remains the supreme military commander of the Armed Forces until the expiration of the 8-day term (after the president applies to the Constitutional Court, other deadlines come into force),” the statement reads. 

Thousands continue to march in Armenia to demand PM’s resignation

Karagyozian Lena
WION News, India
Feb 26 2021

WION Web Team
Yerevan, Armenia Published: Feb 26, 2021
Thousands continue to march in Armenia to demand PM’s resignation, World News | wionews.com

Several thousand opposition supporters continued to march through the capital of Armenia on Friday to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation over his handling of last year’s war with Azerbaijan.

Protesters flooded the streets of central Yerevan, waving Armenian flags and chanting anti-government slogans, hours before a planned meeting with the ex-Soviet country’s president.

The small South Caucasus nation plunged Thursday into a fresh political crisis as Pashinyan defied calls to resign, accused the military of an attempted coup and rallied over 20,000 supporters in Yerevan.

The crisis spilled into a second day after Pashinyan’s critics spent the night, then blocked streets near the parliament building in preparation for Friday’s rally. 

The march led them to the presidency and then to the prime minister’s residence, ahead of a meeting with President Armen Sarkisian at 15:40 local time (1140 GMT).

Pashinyan has said he is ready to start talks with the opposition to defuse tensions, but also threatened to arrest any opponents if they violate the law.

The prime minister has faced fierce criticism since he signed a peace deal brokered by Russia that ended the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan’s control during a war in the early 1990s.

Fresh fighting erupted over the region in late September with Azerbaijani forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains.

After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed some 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in Armenia, though Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country’s forces suffer even bigger losses.

Armenia’s military had backed Pashinyan for months, but on Thursday the military’s general staff joined calls for him to step down, saying in a statement that he and his cabinet were “not capable of taking adequate decisions”.

France, meanwhile, on Friday urged talks based on the legitimacy of President Armen Sarkisian, who holds a largely ceremonial role but has vowed to resolve this crisis peacefully, and Pashinyan himself.

(with inputs from agencies)


MP: If 7 regions surrounding Karabakh were going to be transferred to Azerbaijan, there shouldn’t have been investments

Karagyozian Lena
News.am, Armenia
Feb 17 2021
MP: If 7 regions surrounding Karabakh were going to be transferred to Azerbaijan, there shouldn’t have been investments
15:15, 17.02.2021

If the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh were supposed to be transferred to Azerbaijan, there shouldn’t have been investments in those regions. This is what leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party and homonymous faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Edmon Marukyan told reporters today.

Marukyan noted that the former authorities would repeatedly declare that the only purpose of leading negotiations was to win time. “The former authorities would declare that they wouldn’t cede anything to the adversary. Now former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan says there was a different path and criticizes this. If this was the case, the issue had to be solved quickly. Instead, the authorities led a policy on investments of Armenians of Armenia and abroad in the territories that were transferred to Azerbaijan,” Marukyan stated.

Any shooting by Azerbaijani military should be seen as a regular shooting – Armenia Ombudsman

Karagyozian Lena

 09:46,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has made a statement, commenting on the recent reports according to which the shots fired by the Azerbaijani military near the border villages of Syunik province are irregular or that they are simply firing in the air.

“In recent days, there have been reports that the shots fired by the Azerbaijani military near the border villages of Syunik province are irregular or that they are simply firing in the air. An impression may be borne that by so doing the dangers and risks to life associated with such shootings are therefore minimized.

1) Such a supposition raises a query of how do we determine what constitutes irregular shootings by Azerbaijanis, and how do they differ from regular shootings? For example, are 5 shots in 10 minutes are to be considered irregular shootings, but 10 shots in 5 minutes ought to be considered regular shootings?

2) Or, how will the villager decide which shot the Azerbaijani armed serviceman fires is in the direction of the village? If the villager assumes that the shot was fired in the air, then what? Can he then be expected to remain calm? What does it matter if the shot was fired in the air or in the direction of the village?

The goal of the Republic of Armenia Human Rights Defender is clear: even a single shot fired disturbs the peace and quiet life of the villager, endangers the life and health of the villager and his or her child, deprives the villager of the opportunity to cultivate his/her land and the use of his/her property. The presumption is that any shooting by the Azerbaijani military should be seen as a regular shooting and thus, in the sense of being a regular shooting, such shootings must therefore officially be recorded as shootings in the direction of the village.

It is already a well-established fact that Azerbaijanis are regularly firing from small and large-caliber weapons in the immediate vicinity of Armenian villages, even from less than 1 km away, both in the air and in the direction of the villages. The Azerbaijani servicemen are well aware that their shots are clearly heard in the villages, are disturbing to the civilians and, foremost among them, the shots fired are disturbing to the children and violative of the overall peaceful life of the villagers.

Consequently, the presence of Azerbaijani armed servicemen in general, and particularly in the immediate vicinity of the villages of the Syunik province or on the roads connecting the communities of the province, and any movement by them by such ways and means violates Armenia’s Constitution, internationally guaranteed rights of the peaceful inhabitants of Syunik, and is a threat to their peace and tranquility”, the statement says.

Armenpress: ECHR rejects Azerbaijani citizen’s claim against Armenia

Karagyozian Lena

ECHR rejects Azerbaijani citizen’s claim against Armenia

 20:51,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. The European Court of Human Rights delivered the decision of Samadov v. Armenia (application no. 36606/08) on February 18, ARMENPRESS reports the representation of Armenia to the ECHR informs.

The applicant was allegedly forced to flee from his home and property in Kalbajar (a district surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh) in 1993.

The present application had been introduced in 2008 more than six years after Armenia’s ratification of the Convention and its entry into force in 2002 and, at the time of introduction, more than fifteen years since the applicant’s forced displacement from his alleged property and home. His inability to return to his former domicile or to have any other access to or compensation for his property and home had thus remained unchanged for a considerable period of time, during which there had been no domestic petitions made or proceedings conducted and no political solution in sight. There had been no property claims mechanisms or other procedures in either Armenia or Azerbaijan whose conclusion the applicant and other potential claimants had to wait for before applying to the court. Moreover, there had been no other indication that the applicant had been unable to introduce his application with a shorter delay: more than a thousand similar applications had been lodged with the Court in the years 2004-7. Even with due regard had to the applicant’s personal status as a displaced person, the period of six years had to be considered excessive. 

Thus, the Court has declared the application inadmissible.

CivilNet: Syunik’s Shrinking Borders: Nerkin Khndzoresk

Karagyozian Lena
CIVILNET.AM

04:53

In Armenia’s southernmost Syunik Province, the residents of Nerkin Khndzoresk village have found themselves just a few kilometers away from Azerbaijani military positions. After the 44-day war, Armenia handed over multiple regions to Azerbaijan. Sections of communities in Syunik were also handed over. Now, those living in the bordering areas are under the constant gaze of the opponent’s military. 

But despite the loss of pastures and the security threats, the villagers tell CIVILNET that they are going to stay and they are not afraid. “It’s not like Azerbaijanis are not afraid. They are not the ones who defeated us. It’s Turkey that won the war,” they say.

Turkish press: Azerbaijan successfully tests Turkish-made minesweepers

Karagyozian Lena
Ruslan Rehimov   |10.02.2021

BAKU

Turkish-made mine-clearing equipment supplied last week has passed all required tests in Azerbaijan, officials said on Wednesday.

The Turkish National Defense Ministry said last week on Twitter that an air force cargo plane had departed for the Azerbaijani capital Baku with 20 units of mechanical minesweeping equipment.

MEMATT (Mechanical Mine-Clearing Equipment) minesweepers manufactured by Turkey’s state-owned ASFAT will soon be used by Azerbaijan in the territories its army recently liberated from the occupation of Armenian forces, according to Maj. Gen. Anar Karimov, the head of the engineering and fortification service of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The minesweepers will be both less time-consuming and safer in mine-clearing operations, Karimov told reporters, adding that MEMATT has superior technical features compared to other demining machinery.

In the test conducted in the exercise area near Baku, the mine-clearing equipment was successful in detonating all the mines laid in the field.

Following the tests, certificates were presented to the personnel who will use the equipment.

Gokhan Kus, the head of ASFAT Land Programs, who was attending the tests, emphasized that they are proud of the fact that MEMATT, an indigenous mine-clearing vehicle, is simultaneously brought into the service of both the Turkish army and the army of friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijani officials were very pleased. We did not receive any negative feedback,” he said.

Yasin Arslan, an ASFAT expert, said that MEMATT, a top-notch unmanned mine-clearing equipment, scored over 95% of success in mine tests conducted in Turkey.

He also underlined that MEMATT has a high resistance to explosions, and it is faster, reliable, and minimizes loss of life.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia had been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted in September last year, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade-long occupation.

In November, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russian-brokered peace deal to end fighting.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev

Armenpress: ”All for all” best solution for issue of POWs – says Zakharova

Karagyozian Lena

”All for all” best solution for issue of POWs – says Zakharova

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 19:54,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. The optimial solution for the issue of war prisoners is the exchange of ”all for all”, ARMENPRESS reports official representative of the Foreign Ministry of Russia Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing.

”As refers to the issue of the return of the Armenian POWs, we work with both the Azerbaijani and Armenian partners, including through the Russian peacekeeping unit stationed in the conflict zone. In general, we proceed from the fact that the optimal solution to this issue is the exchange of “all for all”, Zakharova said, reminding that a few days ago another act of exchange of prisoners took place through the mediation of the Russian peacekeepers.