Author: Karagyozian Lena

Artsakh bomb squads discover Azeri-fired cluster missile warhead with 260 bomblets in FARM

Karagyozian Lena

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 16:35,

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS. A missile with an internationally prohibited cluster warhead fired by the Azerbaijani armed forces on civilian settlements of Artsakh has been discovered near Stepanakert City, the capital of Artsakh. More than 260 exploded and unexploded shrapnel bomblets were found.

“The area where the missile was found is of economic significance,” the State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh said.  “Residents here make their living by farming, gardening and beekeeping. There is not a single military facility anywhere nearby,” the service said, adding that the bomb squads will dispose the ordnance.

The State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh called on citizens of the country to dial 911, 112 or 101 immediately upon noticing bombs, rockets or anything resembling them in gardens, forests or yards, or anywhere else in the country.

Numerous towns and cities of Artsakh were hit by Azeri rocket-artillery strikes since September 27.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Measures to resist Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression discussed at Security Council session of Armenia

Karagyozian Lena

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 18:29,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. An extraordinary session of the Security Council of Armenia took place, chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

In addition to Security Council members, President Armen Sarkissian, President of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Eduard Aghajanyan participated in the session.

The measures aimed at resisting the aggression of Azerbaijan-Turkey-terrorists and future steps were discussed at the session.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

Asbarez: Biden Says Turkey Must Stay Out of Karabakh Conflict; Challenges Trump

Karagyozian Lena

September 29,  2020



Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday said Turkey must stay out of the Karabakh conflict and challenged President Trump to hold Ankara accountable to the same.

“With casualties rapidly mounting in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the Trump Administration needs to call the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan immediately to de-escalate the situation. It must also demand others — like Turkey — stay out of this conflict,” said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

With Azerbaijan’s attacks on the entire border of Artsakh going into a third day, Armenia reported that one of its fighter jets was downed by a Turkish F-16 plane that flew out of an airbase in Gyanja, Azerbaijan, killing the pilot.

Since Azerbaijan began its massive attack against Artsakh Sunday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately voiced his unequivocal support to Azerbaijan and urged the people of Armenian to topple the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Erdogan also attacked the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries—the United States, Russia and France—saying that in 30 years they had not be able to reach a settlement, calling for end to the conflict, in favor of Azerbaijan, “once and for all.”

President Trump has not made a statement on the escalating military situation since Sunday when in response to a reporter’s question he said at a White House press briefing: “We are looking at it very strongly. We have a lot of good relationships in that area, we will see if we can stop it.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to “cease hostilities.”

Pompeo said during a visit to Crete on Tuesday that he had discussed the clashes in talks earlier with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.

“The foreign minister and I addressed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh where both sides need to stop the violence and work with the Minsk Group co-chairs and return to substantive negotiations as quickly as possible,” said Pompeo.

Soon after Azerbaijan began its attack on Artsakh, the State Department issued a statement, saying the U.S. is “alarmed.”

“The United States is alarmed by reports of large scale military action along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone that has resulted in significant casualties, including civilians.  We extend our condolences to the families of those killed and injured,” said the State Department on Sunday.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms this escalation of violence.  Deputy Secretary Biegun called the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, and the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, to urge both sides to cease hostilities immediately, to use the existing direct communication links between them to avoid further escalation, and to avoid unhelpful rhetoric and actions that further raise tensions on the ground,” added the State Department.

“The United States believes participation in the escalating violence by external parties would be deeply unhelpful and only exacerbate regional tensions.  We urge the sides to work with the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to return to substantive negotiations as soon as possible.  As a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States remains committed to helping the sides achieve a peaceful and sustainable settlement to the conflict,” the State Department urged.

For his part, Biden issued a statement Sunday, calling for the observance of the ceasefire and urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to return to the negotiating table.

“I am deeply concerned by the outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and call for urgent de-escalation, restoring the ceasefire, and a resumption of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Biden said.

“The United States should be pushing for more observers along the ceasefire line and calling for Russia to stop cynically providing arms to both sides, while reviewing our own security assistance programs to ensure no military capabilities are being repurposed for offensive means,” he added.
He called on the Trump administration to step up its diplomatic efforts, together with fellow OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs France and Russia, to seek a peaceful resolution and to support confidence-building measures.

“The eruption of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh runs the risk of escalating into a larger regional conflict, which is why third parties in the region must stay out of this conflict and the Minsk Group mediators must immediately seek de-escalation and a return to negotiations,” added Biden.

“Another cowardly step” – Azerbaijani hackers attempt to breach ARMENPRESS security system

Karagyozian Lena

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 19:39,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani hackers attempted to breach the security system of the ARMENPRESS Armenian State News Agency amid the Azerbaijani attack on Artsakh.

Upon failing to achieve their goal, the hackers took revenge on the security system of a third party which is not under the control of ARMENPRESS.

ARMENPRESS chief executive Aram Ananyan commented on the matter, noting that this was “yet another inhumane step of the enemy.”

“We are doing everything we can to rapidly restore it. This was another inhumane, spineless and cowardly step which totally characterizes our enemy’s conduct. The mania to cover up one’s own defeat and losses by a hacking attack should only cause laughter. Especially when the attack was made on a service rendered by a third party,” Ananyan, the Director General of ARMENPRESS remarked.

He emphasized that during September 27 there was a significant traffic of ARMENPRESS readers from Azerbaijan and  the Azerbaijani regime – which is keeping its own people in fear and restrictions – was forced to resort to ridiculous steps in an attempt to stop the Azeri population from getting actual and true reports.

“We regret for the inconveniences this caused to our readers and we will continue to provide rapid and reliable reports to our readers in Armenia and around the world,” Ananyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Gagik Tsarukyan detained for two months

Karagyozian Lena
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 26 2020

Leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan will be remanded in custody. The court of general jurisdiction announced the decision at 11 pm today.

Yerem Sargsyan, one of Tsarukyan’s defenders, said the court cited the risk that he could obstruct the investigation as a basis for the decision.

His lawyer Samvel Dilbandyan described the decision as “illegal and baseless” and said it would be appealed at a higher court.

Gagik Tsarukyan ihas been chargd with vote buying under Article 154.2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (Forcing the voter to divulge the results of the ballot, checking the ballot list to reveal the results of the vote, entering the ballot booth (room) as well as breaching the confidentiality of the voting otherwise).

The National Assembly voted in June to strip Gagik Tsarukyan of parliamentary immunity and sanction his arrest.


Grave of Urartian woman buried with jewelry unearthed in Van

Karagyozian Lena
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 12 2020
Society 14:35 12/09/2020Region

A grave belonging to a noble Urartian woman buried with her jewelry was found at the Çavuştepe Castle in the Gürpınar district of the eastern province of Van, Daily Sabah reported.

Since 2017, excavation works have been ongoing at Çavuştepe Castle, conducted by a team of academics led by professor Rafet Çavuşoğlu, head of the archaeology department at Van’s Yüzüncü Yıl University.

Over the course of the protracted dig, the team discovered a necropolis believed to mark the burial site of the Urartian ruling class.

Recently, this has led to the unearthing of the skeletal remains of a woman buried with a full set of exquisite jewelry. The team’s anthropologists are now set to examine the skeleton in a lab environment to determine the cause of death and the exact age of the woman.

Urartu, also known as the Kingdom of Van, is an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the historic Armenian Highlands. The kingdom rose to power in the mid-9th century BC, but went into gradual decline and was eventually conquered by the Iranian Medes in the early 6th century BC.

The Armenian Diaspora Survey and the “components” of Armenian identity

Karagyozian Lena
News.am, Armenia
Sept 7 2020

What does the Armenian Diaspora think? What are the “components” of Armenian identity in the 21st century? The Armenian Diaspora Survey (ADS) has tried to find answers to these questions.

 

The survey was carried out by the Armenian Institute in London with financing from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

 

“We often hear that “the Diaspora thinks this” or “the Diaspora wants that”, but we do not have evidence to support these claims. This survey of Armenian Diaspora presents facts about that the Diaspora really thinks and wants and what it has to achieve,” said Razmik Panossian, Director of Armenian Communities Department at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The survey was undertaken in 18 cities of four countries in 2019 – Argentina, Canada (Montreal), Lebanon and Romania.

Photo: REUTERS

The 175-page long report presents the opinions about 3,000 Armenians about identity, language and culture, religion, engagement in community life, and relations with Armenia.

 

“We included all community organizations: political parties, churches, companies, etc. We also invested a lot of time and effort to reach out to people who do not engage actively in community affairs, so we have a wide range of respondents.

 

ADS formed teams of experts, scientists and community leaders, who are well-aware of local issues, in each place of survey. In addition, we collaborated with a small team of local researches,” said Director of ADS Hratch Tchilingirian.

 

Answering the question about how they define their Armenian identity, 68% of the respondents said it was through family, 59% through Armenian language and 46% through Armenian culture.

 

53% of the respondents said they were “fluent” speakers of Armenian, while 15% thought they were at the “intermediate” level and 10% said they had basic knowledge of Armenian language. Interestingly, 78% of Armenians living in Canada and 77% of Lebanese Armenians said they were fluent in Armenian.

 

As for political positions, 38% of respondents identified as liberal and 17% – as conservative.

Photo: REUTERS

68% of 3,000 surveyed Armenians said they were Christian, while 13% of respondents identified as atheist or agnostic. Nearly 80% of respondents believe that Christianity is “Very/fairly important” important to Armenian identity today.

 

42% of respondents consider Armenia their homeland, while 57% consider their homeland the country where they were born, and 30% see as their homeland the country where they live.

 

The majority of respondents – 61% – visited Armenia or Artsakh at least once and 35% want to visit.

 

The top concern is lack of visionary leadership in the community (36%), followed by lack of events that interest young people (34%), followed by mixed marriages (29%).

 

42% of respondents believe their communities need lectures and activities related to Armenian history, language, culture, food and other relevant topics. 35% of respondents highlighted the need for cultural activities, summer camps and scout groups for children, 28% – the need for a professional network, and 28% – for Armenian schools.

Photo: REUTERS

The majority of respondents – 78% – wants to or has already enlisted their children in day school or after-school classes. 71% expect their children to learn Armenian language there. 59% send their children to Armenian schools for quality general education and 47% – for encouraging the commitment to Armenian identity.

 

The Diaspora should help the Republic of Armenia develop economy and create jobs – that is the opinion of 62% of respondents. According to the surveyed, Armenia also needs Diaspora’s assistance in education (46%) as well as strengthening of human rights protection and democracy (35%).

 

Diaspora has expectations of Armenia as well, particularly in terms of providing sufficient information to tourists (47%) and organizing cultural programs (42%)  and training programs for teachers (34%).

Photo: REUTERS

The questionnaire for the 2019 survey had 50 questions, plus up to 5 questions that were relevant to the given community.

 

For instance, 58% of the Armenians surveyed in Lebanon in October 2019 said they might leave the country within five years. President of Haigazian University in Beirut Paul Haidostian has noted that the index would have been much higher if the same question was addressed now. However, that is not a purely Armenian issue – many Muslims as well want to emigrate from Lebanon now.

 

The full report of survey results is available here.

 

Lusine Gharibyan


Azerbaijani press: OSCE PA concerned with illegal resettlement of Lebanese Armenians in occupied Azerbaijani territories

Karagyozian Lena
3 September 2020 16:20 (UTC+04:00)
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By Trend

The members of the leadership (Bureau) of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) expressed concern at a meeting held on September 2 about the illegal resettlement of Lebanese Armenians to the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia, Trend reports.

The Bureau’s members are also concerned by the intensity of provocations committed by the aggressor country against Azerbaijan in recent months.

A press release published on the results of the online meeting of the Bureau of the assembly on the OSCE PA website said that OSCE PA President, Giorgi Tsereteli touched upon issues related to the ongoing conflicts in the OSCE region, the escalation that has occurred in recent months on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the illegal border process continuing on the territory of Georgia, and the continuation of the illegal occupation of the territories of Ukraine.

The Bureau members also discussed the existing prospects for the OSCE PA to contribute to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the latest situation in the US, and Belarus, the importance of eliminating the consequences created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The press release said that OSCE PA Vice-President, Azay Guliyev, touching upon the current situation around the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, informed the Bureau members about the letters addressed to President Tsereteli and heads of delegations of several countries on the OSCE PA.

The vice president of the OSCE PA noted that these letters contain a call to support a just resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict under international law and the principles of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.

The official information disseminated by the OSCE PA in the press in connection with the Bureau meeting contains the protest of the vice-president of the structure against the policy of Armenia on the illegal settlement of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

OSCE PA Vice-President Azay Guliyev raised the issue of resettlement of Lebanese Armenians by Armenia to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan after the recent explosion in Beirut and expressed concern in this regard.

At this meeting, along with the listed issues, the facts of Armenia’s provocation against Azerbaijan in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz and the arming of Armenia by Russia were also discussed.

The _expression_ of the attitude of the OSCE PA to the provocative activities carried out by Armenia against Azerbaijan is of particular importance for giving a more adequate assessment of the aggressor country by the international community and protecting the fair position of Azerbaijan.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

—

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Armenia’s national postal operator to launch subsidiary in China

Karagyozian Lena

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 14:44, 26 August, 2020

YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, ARMENPRESS.  Armenia’s national postal operator HayPost is planning to launch a subsidiary in China, Minister of High Tech Industry Hakob Arshakyan said at a news conference.

He said the company’s subsidiary in the United States has been re-opened. “The HayPost subsidiary in the US state of Delaware has been re-opened, which will boost trade turnover with the US. The company is also planning to launch a subsidiary in China,” Arshakyan said.

He said bilateral talks with Russia’s postal service are currently underway, which will result in the development of many new postal logistic services.

HayPost is currently developing a new development strategy, he said.

Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan