19:50,
YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. On June 19, Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan took part in the opening ceremony of the Paris Air Show in the “Le Bourget” airport within the framework of his working visit to France at the invitation of French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, visits to exhibition booths of French military-industrial enterprises and meetings with company leaders are planned.
Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Tigran Avinyan has submitted an annual declaration of income and assets for 2022 to the Corruption Prevention Commission.
According to the document seen by Hayastan.News, Avinyan received a garage as a gift in 2014, in 2021 he purchased a 2014 Honda car, which he sold for $11,000 in the reporting year.
Avinyan owns a mansion in Yerevan’s Arabkir administrative district. In 2022 he was gifted a Volkswagen car worth 19,000,300 drams (approx. $50,000) by his father, Armen Avinyan.
According to Hayastan.News, Avinyan was gifted a white Volkswagen ID.4 SUV.
The deputy mayor declared 1,890,000 drams on bank accounts, as well as electronic accounts and cryptocurrencies.
He declared $3,000 dollars in cash. At the beginning of the year he had 26,300,000 drams, which reduced to 12,500,000 drams at the end of 2022.
His father also gifted Avinyan property worth 11,000,000 drams.
Tigran Avinyan has a loan of 13,000,000 drams from ARMBUSINESSBANK. He was paid a salary of 5,212,000 drams by the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) and 3,700,000 drams by the Yerevan Municipality for the period from 23 September 2022 until the end of the year.
Avinyan’s spouse Mariam Pahlavuni owns a mansion and drives a 2017 Range Rover, which she bought in 2020. She has zero drams on her bank account and has declared 1,300,000 drams in cash.
Azerbaijan will continuously achieve its long-term goal by putting pressure on the authorities of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to achieve the de-Armenianization of Artsakh, and be in a win-win situation with Armenia if there is border delimitation and demarcation. Seyran Ohanyan, head of the opposition “Armenia” Faction of the National Assembly and former defense minister of Armenia, told this to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
According to Ohanyan, Azerbaijan also wants to get a road or a corridor through the territory of Armenia in order to implement the “Great Turan” policy.
As for the Armenian authorities, Ohanyan said that as a result of their policies, they brought Armenia and Artsakh into war, they did nothing to achieve success in the war, whereas the Armenian people had the opportunities and potential for all of this.
“All we have to do is solely reaffirm the ‘red lines’ marked by the ‘Armenia’ alliance, that the only way is the self-determination of Artsakh, which can bring about the security of Artsakh and sustainable development in its historical territory,” Ohanyan added, in particular.
According to him, Azerbaijan’s actions and statements show that peaceful coexistence with that country is not possible, and therefore Artsakh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan.
To the question whether Azerbaijan’s provocations can lead to large-scale military actions, Seyran Ohanyan responded that this depends on the Armenian people.
“The more they [i.e. the Armenian authorities] surrender, the stricter and sharper Azerbaijan’s actions will be towards Artsakh and Armenia. The Armenian people should go for a national uprising and organize our defense and get rid of these [incumbent Armenian] authorities,” Ohanyan said.
He reflected on the Artsakh authorities as well, noting that they should have a strategy that should be aimed first of all at being in an advantageous position in security issues.
“These opportunities exist in Artsakh. Second, to demand from the Armenian authorities the commitment that Armenia is obligated to. Third, major steps must be taken in foreign policy. The first is relations with Russia; it is the major work on international platforms. On the ground, the security of Artsakh is ensured by the Russian peacekeeping forces. And major work must be done so that after the expiration of the term of the Russian peacekeepers, the peacekeepers do not leave at the request of one side [i.e. Azerbaijan], but of the other side—the Armenian side, the Russian peacekeepers remain there,” Ohanyan said.
“The second unit that should ensure the security of Artsakh is the Artsakh Defense Army. We must present to the international community that the Artsakh Defense Army was formed at the initial phase of Artsakh’s self-determination, when Azerbaijan opposed provocations to it, then it turned into large-scale military actions. At that time, in order to organize its self-defense in the territory of Artsakh, the Defense Army was created within its capabilities,” Seyran Ohanyan noted.
11:40,
YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. At 10:50 p.m. on June 9, the units of Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire from different caliber firearms at the Armenian positions located in the Kakhakn sector, Gegharkunik Province, using mortars as well.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, there are no casualties on the Armenian side.
Earlier, on June 9, at 6:30 p.m., units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire on a vehicle transporting Armenian servicemen in the direction of Kakhakn.
11:40, 9 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 9, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan has said he believes the postponed foreign ministerial talks with Azerbaijan that were to take place in Washington D.C. will be held soon.
“I think that the postponed negotiations will take place in a short period of time,” Khachatryan told reporters.
Asked to specify whether Azerbaijan has responded to the Armenian proposals around a peace treaty, Khachatryan said it’s a working process and views are constantly being exchanged.
“If at some phase we submitted a proposal and we still don’t have Azerbaijan’s stance over it, or vice versa, this is a usual process. There’s no need to specifically observe anything here. What matters is that the sides are noting that the recent discussions and negotiations are bringing the views closer,” Khachatryan said.
The foreign ministerial talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, scheduled for June 12 in Washington D.C., were postponed by Azerbaijan.
19:35, 7 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the German Bundestag Michael Roth emphasizes the deepening of both political and economic relations with Armenia, in this context, the visa liberalization process as well, ARMENPRESS reports, Roth expressed such a position in a conversation with journalists after a series of meetings held in Yerevan. He emphasized that Armenia is a European state and if it expresses desire to become a member of the European community, then they should actively support Armenia on that path, it should be Armenia’s free will.
“We want to deepen both political and economic relations with Armenia. And in this context, we also emphasize the visa liberalization process, which should take place as quickly as possible,” Roth said.
Monday, June 5, 2023
Armenia, Azerbaijan Continue To Disagree On Border Demarcation
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - A view of an area in Armenia's Syunik province where Armenian and
Azerbaijani troops are locked in a border standoff, May 14, 2021. (Photo by the
Armenian Human Rights Defender's Office)
Armenia and Azerbaijan have still not reached an agreement on the key parameters
of delimiting and demarcating their long border, Foreign Minister Ararat
Mirzoyan said on Monday.
Baku insisted, meanwhile, that the two sides made no progress on the thorny
issue during recent peace talks.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed
it at their most recent meeting held in Moldova’s capital Chisinau on Thursday
on the sidelines of a European summit. They were joined by European Union chief
Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz.
Pashinian described the talks as “useful.” In particular, he said, Baku now
seems open to accepting an Armenian proposal to use 1975 Soviet maps as a basis
for delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, likewise said on
Sunday that “progress” was made at Chisinau regarding the use of those maps. The
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denied that on Monday, however, accusing Grigorian
of misrepresenting the Chisinau summit.
“The Armenian side is well aware that at this and other meetings no agreement
was reached on using any maps as the basis for the border delimitation,” the
ministry said in a statement.
The statement noted that Azerbaijan has demarcated its borders with other
neighboring states “on the basis of analyses and examination of legally binding
documents, rather than any specially chosen map.”
Speaking in the Armenian parliament later in the day, Mirzoyan acknowledged that
Yerevan and Baku still disagree on the border delimitation mechanism. But he too
claimed that during the Chisinau meeting Aliyev “did not seem to object” to
using the 1975 maps.
Aliyev said ahead of that meeting that the demarcation process must be carried
out on Baku’s terms and warned of fresh military action against Armenia.
Ter-Petrosian Aide Also Blasts Pashinian’s Karabakh Policy
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia -- Levon Zurabian, deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress.
A top political ally of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian joined on Monday a
chorus of condemnation from Armenian opposition leaders of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s effective recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
Levon Zurabian said that Pashinian has gained nothing in return for meeting
Baku’s key demand.
“We can see that his move was followed not by a softening of Azerbaijan’s
position but by a more aggressive stance [adopted by Baku,]” Zurabian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
He pointed to the recent tightening of Azerbaijan’s six-month blockade of
Karabakh’s land link with Armenia and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
threats of fresh military action against Karabakh.
Pashinian publicly acknowledged his readiness to sign a peace deal upholding
Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh after his May 14 talks with Aliyev held in
Brussels. The statement drew strong condemnation from the Armenian opposition
and Karabakh’s leadership.
Zurabian suggested that Pashinian had naively expected that Baku will
reciprocate by lifting the blockade or come under strong Western pressure to
agree to an international format of negotiations with the Karabakh Armenians. He
described the prime minister’s failure to make his recognition conditional on
such concessions beforehand as a manifestation of gross incompetence.
“What Pashinian is doing is an unprecedented technique in the history of
diplomacy,” said the deputy chairman of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National
Congress party.
Zurabian insisted that Pashinian has not even secured a formal Azerbaijani
recognition of Armenia’s existing borders. He argued that Azerbaijani troops
show no signs of preparing to withdraw from Armenian border areas occupied by
them after the 2020 war in Karabakh.
Pashinian’s Karabakh policy has been praised by the European Union and the
United States. The U.S. State Department last week also hailed Aliyev’s stated
readiness to grant “amnesty” to Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leaders if they
resign and “surrender” to Baku.
Ter-Petrosian and his political team have long advocated a compromise solution
to the Karabakh conflict. The 78-year-old ex-president stated last September the
Armenian opposition should help Pashinian accept “painful solutions” backed by
the international community. But he has not yet personally commented on
Pashinian’s latest moves denounced by Zurabian.
Fallen Soldier’s Mother Goes On Trial
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Gayane Hakobian is brought into a courtroom in Yerevan, June 5, 2023.
A grief-stricken woman accused of attempting to “kidnap” Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s son was moved to house arrest and again taken into custody a few
hours later as she went on trial on Monday.
Gayane Hakobian, whose son Zhora Martirosian was killed during the 2020 war in
Nagorno-Karabakh, was detained last month after an argument with Ashot Pashinian.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee charged Hakobian with tricking the young man
into getting in her car and trying to drive him to the Yerablur Military
Pantheon where her son was buried along with hundreds of other soldiers killed
in action. Pashinian Jr. jumped out of the car on their way to Yerablur.
Hakobian’s arrest sparked angry protests in Yerevan attended by several dozen
other parents of fallen soldiers and hundreds of their sympathizers. Nikol
Pashinian sought to justify it during a May 22 news conference.
Hakobian again strongly denied the accusations at the start of her trial. If
convicted, she will face between four and eight years in prison.
Armenia - Mothers of soldiers killed in the 2020 Karabakh war lead an
anti-government demonstration in Yerevan, May 20, 2023.
“I had no evil intentions. Nobody forced him to get into my car,” she told a
Yerevan court of first instance.
“I just wanted us to go to Yerablur, my home and my holy site,” she said. “Bad
things are not done in holy sites.”
Hakobian’s high-profile trial began hours after Armenia’s Court of Appeals
released her from custody and moved her to house arrest. A trial prosecutor and
Ashot Pashinian protested against that decision during the first lower court
hearing in the case.
They both demanded that the defendant be arrested anew, with the prime
minister’s son saying that she committed a “grave crime” and must remain behind
bars. The judge presiding over the trial promptly satisfied their demands.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's son Ashot speaks during a trial in
Yerevan, June 5, 2023.
One of Hakobian’s lawyers responded by accusing the judge of executing a
“high-level” political order. “The legal problem raised by us is that there is
direct influence on the court from the prime minister and this was proved during
today’s hearing as well,” he told journalists.
Armenian opposition leaders and other critics of the government claim that
Pashinian ordered Hakobian’s arrest in a bid to muzzle the families of deceased
soldiers who have staged demonstrations over the past year to demand his
prosecution on war-related charges.
Pashinian triggered their regular demonstrations in Yerevan in April 2022 when
he responded to continuing opposition criticism of his handling of the
disastrous war. He said he “could have averted the war, as a result of which we
would have had the same situation, but of course without the casualties.” The
soldiers’ families say Pashinian thus publicly admitted sacrificing the lives of
at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers killed during the six-week war with Azerbaijan.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
10:31, 7 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has congratulated the five newly elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.
“Congratulations to the newly elected members of UN Security Council. Wishes of every success in their responsible mission to maintain international peace & security,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry tweeted.
Algeria, Guyana, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone and Slovenia will join the premier body for maintaining international peace and security, starting in January, serving for a two-year period.
The UN Security Council is composed of 15 countries, five of which – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – are permanent members, granting them the right to veto any resolution or decision.
The 10 non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly, which comprises all 193 UN Member States, and in line with geographical distribution by region.
Voting is conducted by secret ballot and candidates must receive a two-thirds majority, or 128 votes, even if they run uncontested.
Overall, 192 countries voted to fill three Council seats allocated to the Africa and Asia-Pacific Groups, and one each for Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Slovenia beat Belarus in the race for Eastern Europe, receiving 153 votes versus 38, while Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Korea ran unopposed.
The five newly elected countries will join Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland as non-permanent members of the Council.
They will take up seats currently occupied by Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates when their two-year terms end on 31 December.
Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society of Eastern United States 46th Annual Representative Assembly
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society of Eastern United States Region convened its 46th annual representative assembly on May 13 at St. Gregory’s Church “Founders Hall.” For the first time in three years, the meeting was held in-person; it was hosted by the Hamazkayin Philadelphia Chapter. In addition to chapter representatives, in attendance were the following guests: Arevig Caprielian, Hamazkayin Central Executive Committee; Ani Tchaghlasian, ARF Eastern Region Central Committee; Caroline Chamavonian, ARS of Eastern USA; Daron Bedian, AYF-YOARF Eastern Region USA; former Hamazkayin Central Executive Committee member Hrair Baronian.
In her remarks following the election of a temporary executive, Caprielian commended the outgoing regional executive and expressed her appreciation for the members’ untiring work toward fulfilling the mission of Hamazkayin to the best of their abilities. She emphasized the importance and urgency of the success of initiatives such as ArtLinks, Petag and the Western Armenian Cultural Retreat,” all in an effort to attract youth to the ranks of Hamazkayin. She reminded attendees that they dedicate all events during this year to the commemoration of the 95th anniversary of Hamazkayin.
Tchaghlasian congratulated the outgoing regional executive, noting that in spite of the difficulties presented by the 2020 Artsakh War and the dire situation in Lebanon, the Hamazkayin Eastern Region continues its cultural and educational initiatives.
The representatives of ARS and AYF also added their remarks and expressed their continuing support of Hamazkayin and its mission. A congratulatory letter from Hairenik editor Zaven Torigian was read by Hasmig Aprahamian.
After the presentation of annual reports by chapter representatives, the meeting came to a close with the election of the new Eastern Regional Executive: Aprahamian from New Jersey, chairlady; Kari Ghezarian from Philadelphia, vice-chairlady; Hoori Samuelian from New Jersey, treasurer; Maroush Paneyan-Nigon from Philadelphia, secretary; Vartivar Keshishian from New Jersey, advisor; Aline Baghdasarian from Washington, DC, advisor; Khajag Arakelian from Chicago, advisor.
As has always been true in the past, the collegial atmosphere present throughout the meeting precipitated lively and fruitful discussions, resulting in a successful 46th annual Hamazkayin Eastern Regional Representative Assembly.
At his May 22, 2023 press conference, the person holding the position of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia openly announced the recognition of Artsakh and the former enclaves of the Tavush and Ararat regions (marzes) in the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan – the latest manifestation of the anti-state and anti-national policy consistently implemented by the administration of the Republic of Armenia.
The current government of Armenia, working hand in hand with the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, is deliberately trying to break the spirit of resistance of our people, leading the country to inevitable destruction.
The long line of defeats, losses and humiliations is entering a new phase. Every day and hour this government stays in power is a threat to our existence.
However, all is not yet lost. The situation can be corrected. We have the capacity to do so. With the joint efforts of all our national forces, we must immediately restore the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity and make a breakthrough in the situation. A strong, just, dignified Armenia is the guarantee of our security and future success. But first, it is necessary to prevent the adoption of new capitulation agreements which would force wreckless concessions, preventing any agreement without the direct participation of the people.
Any actions of any Armenian authority, which call into question the results of the referendums held in Artsakh, the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, and the Declaration of Independence, which is an integral part of the Armenian Constitution, are null and void from the start.
We will not tolerate coercive agreements that violate the interests of the Armenian nation. All honorable and patriotic Armenians have a role to play in this regard. We believe that together we can turn the tide of history.
ARF Bureau