✓Six Armenians have died after a massive explosion in Beirut.
✓Scuffles take place at the Amulsar mine sit in protest.
✓288 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed.
✓The investigation into the brawl between far right group leader Artur Danielyan and Parliament VP Alen Simonyan has concluded.
✓Yerevan’s planned new metro station in Ajapnyak will be funded by the government.
Lawmaker Edmon Marukyan from the opposition Bright Armenia Party says the air travel will resume in Armenia only after the state of emergency is lifted.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the lawmaker said many citizens have been asking him when regular flights to Russia and other CIS countries will resume at least.
“The air travel will be possible to resume only after the state of emergency is no longer in place in the country. In other words, the first step towards reopening the borders is not to extend the state of emergency,” the lawmaker said, stressing Bright Armenia has opposed the decision to further extend the state of emergency after the first month it was imposed, urging authorities to impose coronavirus restrictions with other legal regulations.
“At this moment, it is only necessary to practice social distancing, to frequently disinfect the hands, in our opinion, to observe the mandatory rule of wearing a face mask only in closed areas. We can abide by these restrictions also without a state of emergency, removing the country from the list of countries where a state of emergency has been declared, with all its negative effects,” he said.
“We continue to claim that there is no need to further extend the state of emergency,” Marukyan added.
The Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan joins the call of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova who earlier called to resolve all disputes within the framework of existing legal mechanisms. Moskalkova’s call came following series of mass brawls between Azerbaijani and Armenia nationals in Moscow.
“We share the position of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russia Federation. The physical violence and incitement to ethnic hatred disrupts the basis of human rights and freedoms which may lead to mass violations and irreversible losses,” Tatoyan wrote on his Facebook page.
In Tatoyan’s words, the Human Rights Defender’s Office will be in contact with Russian colleagues to ensure the protection of the rights of our citizens.
Camp Javakhk participants, 2016 (Photo provided by the author)
BY ANI KHACHATOURIAN
From The Armenian Weekly
In April of 2015, I came across a statement Erdogan had made about Armenians “fixing” commemorative events to coincide with the Gallipoli ceremonies on purpose. I remember sitting in my freshman dorm on that very late night, frustrated and fed up with it all. I immediately took to pen and paper and began writing my “letter to Turkey,” while reminding myself that in that moment, the pen was mightier than the sword…
It seems I have this habit of writing when I feel anger.
Months ago, I came across a video of a teacher in Azerbaijan teaching her students about their enemy: Armenia. I was outraged, of course, but unfortunately not surprised. This video resurfaced on my Instagram feed a couple of days ago, and I was even more angry with myself for not doing anything about it when I had first seen it. I continued watching it, over and over again, becoming increasingly more angry, infuriated and anxious for what they are capable of.
One of the worst things about social media is that once you are invested in something, you dig deeper and deeper for more information. So after watching this video, I wound up reading comment, after comment, after comment. The first few bothered me, I will admit, but I wish they hadn’t. I soon realized that these people, who claim themselves a nation, are so incredibly divided, misunderstood by one another and confused. One comment read, “Armenia is the attacker” while another read “we attacked you yesterday and we will do it again today and tomorrow.” And I realized, they’ve all learned the same lesson. They’ve all learned to hate.
The author with a Camp Javakhk participant named Ala (2016)
I then thought back to my own childhood…to my eight years of attending St Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School, the following six years of Saturday School, to my AYF experience, to my upbringing. There was no instance, no memory, no explicit lesson taught in any way, shape or form to make me “hate” any race… any single human being. If anything, the word “hate” was banned, as I brought up in my 2015 article. I was left to make my own judgements, create my own feelings. We try our best to pass that on to today’s youth. To ensure that they don’t grow up feeling hate and instead are able to feel the pride of their people. To wear their flag, to keep their heads up high and to never stop fighting for their rights.
I believe in the power of education wholeheartedly. Nelson Mandela once explained it as “the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” As leaders and educators in our respective communities, let us never forget how much we influence what children learn and how easily they are able to interpret our emotions, feelings and judgments. Let us never stoop so low, to their level, to teach hate. If we do nothing else, let us promise that we will always, always teach our children to take the high road.
As Armenians, I hope we never change. I hope we continue to tell our timeless stories and share them through song and dance. I hope we continue to speak our beautiful language, to be proud of ourselves. Defend ourselves. I hope we stand up to and be there for others, just as we would expect from non-Armenians when we need them most. I hope we win again. And most importantly, I hope that we never lose hope.
Ani Khachatourian is a member of the Armenian Youth Federation – Youth Organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (AYF-YOARF) Greater Boston “Nejdeh” chapter. She is an Emerson College graduate student, and she works in Special Education.
17:27,
YEREVAN, 22 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 22 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.46 drams to 484.16 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 5.37 drams to 558.96 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 6.83 drams. GBP exchange rate stood at 613.72 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 445.58 drams to 28681.32 drams. Silver price up by 17.64 drams to 319.96 drams. Platinum price up by 448.35 drams to 13589.21 drams.
Azerbaijan must end its provocative and dangerous threats to strike Armenia’s nuclear power plant, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter.
“We stand with the Armenian community against violence. Azerbaijan must end its provocative and dangerous threats to strike Armenia’s civilian nuclear power plant, and must admit international monitors,” he tweeted.
“Dialogue and diplomacy are the only paths to peace and safety for the region,” Garcetti added.
We stand with the Armenian community against violence. Azerbaijan must end its provocative and dangerous threats to strike Armenia’s civilian nuclear power plant, and must admit international monitors. Dialogue and diplomacy are the only paths to peace and safety for the region.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA)
YEREVAN, July 17. /TASS/. Armenia’s army manages to control the situation on the border with Azerbaijan and needs assistance neither from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) nor the joint Russian-Armenian military contingent, Armenian Defense Ministry Spokesman Artsrun Ovannisyan said on Friday.
“The joint Russian-Armenian contingent has its own plan of activities. At the moment, the Armenian armed forces can cope and are coping with the situation and the issue of involving either the CSTO or the joint contingent is not on the agenda,” he said.
On July 17, both sides reported that the situation on the border was relatively calm.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.
Yerevan, Armenia— A new nationwide poll of Armenia by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research shows strong support for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Despite the ongoing challenge posed by the health crisis, the Armenian public’s approval of the prime minister remains extremely high,” said IRI Regional Director for Eurasia Stephen Nix. “It is vital that the government continues to pursue policies that maintain the confidence of the public, and that it builds upon this goodwill by continuing its reform agenda.”
According to the survey, 84 percent of Armenians have either a “very” (72 percent) or “somewhat” (12 percent) favorable opinion of the prime minister. Furthermore, a majority support the government’s management of COVID-19, with 48 percent “very” and 23 percent “somewhat” satisfied with the response. When asked how state institutions have handled the pandemic, respondents expressed improved opinions of the police (65 percent), the Ministry of Health (64 percent) and the Prime Minister’s office (58 percent).
Despite these positive responses, 90 percent of citizens are either “very” (71 percent) or “somewhat” (19 percent) concerned about the economic fallout of COVID-19. “While the government has experienced high approval ratings since the onset of COVID-19, it must address these acute economic concerns in order to effectively respond to citizen needs,” Nix added.
The poll also indicates that nearly 50 percent of Armenians encounter misleading or false information regarding COVID-19 in the media “daily” or “almost daily.” While 61 percent of citizens remain either “very” (32 percent) or “somewhat” (29 percent) satisfied with the media, Armenians with higher education and those who live in Yerevan were less likely to be “very” satisfied with the media. In contrast, a majority consider government officials and health professionals to be the most trustworthy sources of information on the virus.
Methodology
The survey was conducted on behalf of IRI’s Center for Insights in Survey Research by Breavis (represented by IPSC LLC) between June 18 and June 25, 2020. Data was collected through phone interviews with 1,517 Armenian residents aged 18 or older. The response rate was 60 percent and the margin of error does not exceed plus or minus 2.5 points for the full sample. The data is weighted for region, age, gender and urbanicity level. This survey was made possible by the generous support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
IWPR Public outcry after footage emerges of officers beating man for violating lockdown. Public outcry after footage emerges of officers beating man for violating lockdown. By IWPR Civil society activists in Azerbaijan have accused the government of using the coronavirus quarantine as a means of facilitating and excusing police violence. On June 7, footage emerged of police beating and forcibly detaining a citizen who was putting out the rubbish in front of his building in the Yasamal district of Baku. They claimed he was violating quarantine rules. In the video, neighbours looking out at the scene started throwing rubbish at the police car to protest the violence. The following day, the police themselves broadcast footage of a raid at the same address in whihc they dragged out 11 people, some only half-dressed. Gular Suleymanova, a resident of the building, said that the police had not even allowed her son to put his clothes on. “My son was taken out of bed, beaten and not allowed to get dressed,” she said. “Although we said that there were children and they would be afraid, they didn't pay attention. They beat my son at the 29th police station, his eyes are black and there are signs of violence on his body. “If someone violates the quarantine or protests, they need to explain their mistakes in words or punish them in some other way. Aren't these people criminals? Such violence does not fit into any law,” Suleymanova said, adding that she had filed a complaint against the police for their actions. Javad Javadov, a lawyer providing the family with legal assistance, said that Article 25, paragraph four of the law on police prohibited officers from entering a house wthout a warrant. “The entry of police into homes violates [citizens’] right to the inviolability of the home,” he continued. “Certain conditions must be observed when the police enter the apartment.” The Yasamal operation was met with great outrage on social media, with many people using the hashtag End to Police Violence, and a number of activists and journalists launched petitions. Investigative journalist Khadija Ismayil, along with several human rights activists, signed a letter of complaint to the prosecutor general’s office over the alleged police violence. “We demand that legal action be taken so that violent police do not go unpunished,” she said. “We don't have high hopes, but we still want the new prosecutor general to do his job. If he does not, we will continue legal proceedings and complain about the inaction of the prosecutor’s office.” Well-known activists and former poitical prisoners also joined the protests. Giyas Ibrahimov, who was detained in May 2016 after he and a friend wrote “Happy Slaves’ Day” in Azeri on a monument to ex-president Heydar Aliyev, hung a banner from his roof reading “Statue Prisoner” to protest the violence. Police arrived shortly afterwards and arrested Ibrahimov, detaining him for several hours before fining him 50 manat (30 dollars) and releasing him. “I was protesting against police brutality and they were ordered to detain me... and even after being detained, struck me,’’ Ibrahimov told IWPR. Activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev said that given that people in Azerbaijan were persecuted for the slightest ctiticism or infraction of the rules – and the lack of an avenue for legitimate, peaceful protest – the outcry came as no surprise. “In many countries around the world, both government officials and law enforcement officers are attacked with eggs, tomatoes or rubbish bags when they take steps that anger citizens,” he said. “All this is happening in countries where the population has the freedom of peaceful assembly. In this case, officials think, ‘What mistakes have we made against a citizen that there is such a harsh reaction?’” Political commentator Arastun Orujlu said that the government’s goal was to completely subjugate all protest, especially among the opposition. “This pandemic period in Azerbaijan has been used for many political purposes,” he continued. “The authorities punished many dissenting, free-thinking people. There were those who were arrested and fined. For example, the police violence in Yasamal was a provocation. The police could detain the person who violated the quarantine rules and tell him to go home quietly. The government is using this period to exert pressure by showing its power,” he continued. “They know that the population is exhausted and they are intimidated. There are only political motives in events in Azerbaijan - either intimidation or protest.”
16:56,
YEREVAN, JUNE 18, ARMENPRESS. The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction chaired by judge Robert Papoyan continues examining the motion on detaining Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik Tsarukyan.
Earlier on June 17 attorney Yerem Sargsyan told reporters that the examination of the motion was postponed at the request of attorneys.
On June 16 the Armenian Parliament voted in favor of the Prosecutor General’s motion on stripping MP Gagik Tsarukyan of parliamentary immunity. 87 MPs voted in favor of the motion. The Parliament also approved another motion on depriving Tsarukyan of liberty.
On June 14 leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan was taken to the National Security Service for questioning. He stayed there until 23:30. Tsarukyan’s supporters organized a rally outside the NSS demanding to stop the actions against the lawmaker.
Earlier the NSS issued a statement according to which a company, that is included Gagik Tsarukyan’s Multi Group Concern, has caused tens of billions of drams in damage to the state.
In another statement, the NSS said it revealed numerous cases on giving bribes to voters by the Prosperous Armenia party members, as well as candidates to vote in favor of the party during the April 2, 2017 parliamentary elections.