Author: Kevo Kalantarian

The removal of Armenian cultural monuments from Berdzor, Aghavno, and Sus settlements, which will be handed over to Azerbaijan's control on August 25, will be completed in the next week. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Lernik Hovhannisyan informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

"According to the civil defense plan, when the decision was made that the population [in the aforesaid settlements] should be evacuated, naturally the monuments as well the book fund—the libraries, the museum exhibits—[also] had to be removed," Hovhannisyan said, in particular.

According to the deputy minister, the Armenian monuments and cross-stones in the aforementioned communities have been moved to the Artsakh capital Stepanakert, there is already an agreement with the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church that some of them will be placed in the park being built near the St. Hovhannes (John) Church in Stepanakert, and the others—in the area adjacent to the St. Hakob (Jacob) Church.

"There is a proposal to place them in the park of the newly constructed building of the Artsakh State University. There are other proposals that we will consider after moving them all," Hovhannisyan added.

Reflecting on the fact that Azerbaijan has already announced the plan of turning the Holy Ascension Church in Berdzor town into a mosque, Lernik Hovhannisyan noted that they have repeatedly appealed in this regard to international organizations, but the latter’s respective responses are only statements.

"We don't see concrete practical steps—except for words. And as for the Holy Ascension Church in Berdzor and the Church of the Holy Martyrs in Aghavno [village], materials about their future fate are already circulating in the Azerbaijani media. And specifically, the project of turning the Holy Ascension Church of Berdzor into a mosque was chosen by a non-governmental organization, which I do not rule out will become the official policy of Azerbaijan," said Hovhannisyan.

Artsakh Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Hayk Khanumyan had informed the Armenian residents of Aghavno and Berdzor that they had to leave their homes by August 25.

The new agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union may be finalized in the next few months, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a joint press statement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, APA reported.

"Of course, our agenda is quite extensive. We are working on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan. We have discussed this with Madam President, and I hope that we can finalize it in the coming months. Of course, this would be an important contribution to our bilateral cooperation," he said.

Ilham Aliyev noted that the EU is Azerbaijan's main trading partner: "The implementation of our plans will certainly increase the overall turnover for the benefit of our nations. I am confident that EU-Azerbaijan relations will have a great future, and we will achieve everything we have planned," he added.

Today Aliyev and von der Leyen signed an agreement to increase gas supplies to the EU.

YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: Judge Arusyak Aleksanyan, who had [the late film] producer Armen Grigoryan arrested by her decision, submitted a petition yesterday to leave the Union of Judges, but did not note any reason [for this].

Details have become known to Zhoghovurd daily about the reasons for this move by Judge Aleksanyan. In particular, she left the Union of Judges because she has become offended by and upset with her colleagues. The thing is that after the death of Armen Grigoryan [in the courtroom during his trial], the activists publicized a photo on their social media pages and subjected the judge to harsh insulting criticism because she was the judge who sent Grigoryan to arrest. The judge was saddened that the [aforesaid] union [of judges] did not show her any support, so her staying in the union is pointless.

What is noteworthy is that the judge was heavily criticized also in the [Armenian] judicial system for the arrest of Armen Grigoryan and the interview she gave to the media. There were rumors in the [Armenian judicial] system that it would have been better if she remained silent rather than expressed such an opinion. And what had the judge said? She noted that she deeply sympathizes with the relatives [of Armen Grigoryan], and the only thing she is sorry for is that a person died.