Author: Maghakian Mike

EU monitors tell Baku which section of Armenia’s border will be monitored

Maghakian Mike
  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

EU monitors in touch with Baku

“We inform Baku about our plans a week in advance so they know where we are and what we are doing. This is also done to prevent misunderstandings and incidents,” Markus Ritter, head of the EU monitoring mission monitoring the Armenian–Azerbaijani border, said in an interview with the Swedish edition of Blankspot. He also said the information is transmitted to Azerbaijan through the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar.

After the fighting near the border village of Tekh in Armenia, some wondered whether the incident was observed by the EU mission monitoring the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and what practical steps might be expected of them. In response, the EU diplomatic service said that on the morning of April 11 the monitors “carried out another patrol” near the villages of Tekh and Kornidzor, but were not in this area when the incident occurred. They learned about the shooting in the evening from the Armenian authorities.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated that the observers have the necessary information and, according to the reporting mechanism, will report the situation to the EU Foreign Service.

On April 11, a tense situation arose near the village of Tekh in the Syunik region of Armenia. At the end of March, in the same area, the Azerbaijani armed forces improved their positions, moving 100-300 meters deep from the borders of Armenia. From these improved positions, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire on the Armenian servicemen who were carrying out engineering work.

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported 4 dead and 6 woundedwhile assuring that “as a result of the Azerbaijani provocation, the Armenian side has no positional losses.” In connection with this incident, the EU Foreign Service called on Azerbaijan and Armenia to “intensify negotiations on the delimitation of the border.”

  • “We cannot intervene”: head of EU mission on a possible offensive by Azerbaijani Armed Forces
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  • Two Azerbaijani soldiers find themselves on the territory of Armenia

A journalist from the Swedish edition of Blankspot met with Markus Ritter in the Armenian city of Yeghegnadzor, where the mission is headquartered. Ritter recalled that it was originally planned to place observers in Azerbaijan, but Baku refused to accept them.

Ritter announced that the mission is cooperating with Azerbaijan, reporting a week in advance when and in what areas patrols will be carried out. Toivo Klaar clarified that the schedule is transmitted to Baku only a couple of days before the start of each week, and not a whole week.

EU observers arrived in Armenia at the end of February this year with a long-term two-year mission. It consists of 100 people — 50 observers and 50 administrative staff. The purpose of the mission is to promote stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground and create favorable conditions for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Political scientist Gurgen Simonyan believes that “Azerbaijan undertook hostilities near the village of Tegh yesterday based on its aggressive policy.”

Political observer Hakob Badalyan finds it difficult to say whether the requirement of Azerbaijan is to provide information about the work of the mission. He recalls that the agreement on the deployment of the EU civil mission on the Armenian side of the border was reached on October 6 in Prague during the talks between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, France and the head of the European Council, and Baku agreed to cooperate with the mission only “to the extent that it will concern him.”

“It is clear that at least the coordination of work and communication with Azerbaijan was an inevitable circumstance of the work of the mission on the border of Armenia. First of all, because the EU with its monitoring mission has absolutely no intention of becoming a supporter, assisting any side of the conflict,” he told JAMnews.

According to Badalyan, the mission was carried out with the tacit consent of Azerbaijan on the condition that it would not create problems for Baku. It is possible that Azerbaijan, in turn, has an agreement not to create problems for the EU mission.

“If there is such an agreement, it is not being respected, to put it mildly. The incident in the village of Tekh is under the responsibility of the EU monitoring mission. And we need to wait for what assessment they will make on this matter.“

Badalyan thinks that a coordinated dialogue is underway between Azerbaijan and the European Union, but it has been established not only because of energy resources. He says that Baku is also a channel of communication with Iran, Russia and Central Asia, saying that there are secondary circumstances.

According to Badalyan, it is wrong to think that Armenia can offer the EU anything that “will lead to the rejection of relations or agreements with Azerbaijan” and replacing them with agreements with Armenia.

But he considers it necessary to work with the European Union on the agenda of democratic reforms, including within the framework of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. He believes that in this way Armenia should try to maximize its viability, competitiveness, economic and political weight and thereby balance the EU cooperation with Baku.

He also believes that Armenia can use its achievements in terms of democratization of the country as an argument to attract other players:

“As centers that have assumed responsibility for regulating international relations and for systems of values, they must remain true to this responsibility specifically and directly in the issue of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.”


Armenia recognized Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan with Madrid Principles in 2007, says PM Pashinyan

Maghakian Mike

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 13:49,

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that by adopting the Madrid Principles as the basis for resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in 2007, Armenia recognized Nagorno Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan made the remarks in parliament in response to a question from Hayastan (Armenia) faction MP Artur Khachatryan.

The lawmaker asked the PM to clarify why the 2022 report on the government’s program doesn’t mention the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno Karabakh when the 2021-2026 government program noted it as one of the bases for conflict resolution.

Pashinyan said that in the negotiations legacy which he received in 2018 there is no “people of Nagorno Karabakh” wording, but rather an “entire population of Nagorno Karabakh” wording. “There words are highly important. Yes, the people is a constitutive entity under the Helsinki Act and all other acts. The population isn’t a constitutive entity, meaning it is not an entity to sovereignty. And third, if we say self-determination, from whom and where are we self-determining? For example, why aren’t we saying let Armenia self-determine? Because Armenia self-determined with the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration. From whom? From the Soviet Union, because it was part of the Soviet Union,” Pashinyan said.

PM Pashinyan explained that Armenia had a concept around this issue before 2007. The concept was the following: Nagorno Karabakh, like the others, is also self-determining from the Soviet Union, and there was a narrative that Nagorno Karabakh has never been part of Azerbaijan. In 2007 the Madrid Principles emerged, which stipulated that determining the status of Nagorno Karabakh and the entire process must be agreed with Azerbaijan. “Why must it be agreed with Azerbaijan if we don’t recognize Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan? We have recognized Nagorno Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan with the Madrid Principles. I’ve said it is a problem when our negotiations content and public narrative don’t match. We’ve recognized but we didn’t say, and all wars and fighting were related to this,” he said.

PM Pashinyan added that an entity to self-determination is the one who wants to self-determine, but Nagorno Karabakh has been left out of the negotiations process in 1998. After this, the right to self-determination was simply left written in the Helsinki Final Act.

“And today I am saying, let’s decide, either we face this or let’s note what’s going to happen. I have information, I have the analysis, and I am saying, if we don’t face this reality, it’s not going to happen,” Pashinyan added.

MP Khachatryan argued that Pashinyan is equalizing self-determination with independence, whereas the Helsinki Final Act defines self-determination as something completely different. For example, the MP said, Armenia could self-determine and decide that it no longer needs a parliamentary republic and adopt theocracy. The MP argued that this is what the Helsinki Final Act is all about.

 

Pashinyan answered by saying that Azerbaijan has been saying the same thing during the entire negotiations process. “They were also saying that self-determination doesn’t mean that an independent state must exist. They were also saying that the entity to that self-determination aren’t the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh alone, the Azerbaijanis are also an entity, they were saying that the Azerbaijanis must also decide. That’s why I am speaking about the people-population wording. I’ve said back in 2019 that the negotiator of the Nagorno Karabakh issue must be a representative of the people of Nagorno Karabakh because the people of Nagorno Karabakh did not vote in our parliamentary elections, hence I don’t have a mandate. I’ve continuously and constantly expressed these positions,” Pashinyan said.

Asked about his vision of a future status for NK, Pashinyan said there can’t be any talk about a future status as long as the status it has so far isn’t stipulated in the logic of the narrative voiced by the MP.

Speaking about the MP’s observation regarding the ICJ ruling on the Kosovo issue, Pashinyan said that the ICJ had determined that self-determination doesn’t require permission from central authorities. “The Russian president also spoke about this in context of the events in Ukraine. He said that a region doesn’t have to apply to the [central authorities] for self-determination. There was a lot of discussion back then, but no one noticed that in 2007, with the Madrid Principles, we already accepted that we must do it together with them, it can’t be done unilaterally. That’s why I am saying that we’ve had a different concept before 2007,” the Prime Minister said.

Serob Bejanyan appointed Ambassador of Armenia to Malaysia on the basis of multiple accreditation

Maghakian Mike

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 19:13, 7 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. Serob Bejanyan, Ambassador of Armenia to Indonesia and Singapore, was appointed as the Ambassador of Armenia to Malaysia (residence: Jakarta) on the basis of multiple accreditation, ARMENPRESS reports, President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan signed the respective decree.

The decree was published on the official website of the President of Armenia.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/05/2023

Maghakian Mike 
                                        Wednesday, April 5, 2023
Civic Groups Also Demand Action Against Armenian Speaker
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Parliament speaker Alen Simonian (right) and his deputy Ruben Rubinian 
talk during a session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, September 8, 2022.
Several Armenian nongovernmental organizations called on Wednesday for a 
parliamentary ethics investigation into speaker Alen Simonian accused of 
spitting at a heckler in Yerevan.
One of them, the Union of Informed Citizens (UIC), demanded separately that 
prosecutors open a “hooliganism” case against him. In a “crime report” submitted 
to the Office of the Prosecutor-General, the UIC said they should also 
investigate the legality of a brief detention of Garen Megerdichian, an 
opposition activist who branded Simonian a “traitor.”
The Canadian-Armenian activist claimed that Simonian ordered his bodyguards to 
overpower him and then spat in his face after he shouted the insult in downtown 
Yerevan on Sunday. Simonian did not deny spitting at Megerdichian. He said he 
was gravely insulted and responded accordingly.
Armenian opposition leaders strongly condemned Simonian. Former President Levon 
Ter-Petrosian said on Tuesday that he must be ousted for his “unforgivable deed.”
The civic groups added their voice to the condemnations. They said the Armenian 
parliament must set up an ad hoc ethics commission to look into its 
controversial speaker’s behavior and consider taking other action against him.
“They [the ruling Civil Contract party] like to repeat that they were 
democratically elected, that the people gave them a vote of confidence,” said 
Sona Ayvazian of the Armenian branch of Transparency International. “Surely the 
people did not give them a mandate to spit at citizens.”
Civil Contract holds the majority of parliament seats and can therefore block an 
ethics probe if it is initiated by opposition deputies.
Vahagn Aleksanian, a senior Civil Contract lawmaker, did not exclude that the 
party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will discuss the NGOs’ demand. But 
he defended Simonian and complained that the civil society has not condemned 
“death threats” to the government which he said have been voiced by some 
opposition groups.
Vigen Khachatrian, another deputy representing the ruling party, disapproved of 
Simonian’s behavior while rejecting demands for the speaker’s dismissal.
“I don’t think that this is a matter of resignation,” he said. “I think that 
there should be a friendly assessment [by the Civil Contract leadership] to the 
effect that this should not happen again.”
In Aleksanian’s words, the party’s governing board did not discuss the scandal 
during a meeting chaired by Pashinian late on Tuesday.
Armenia’s Crime Rate Keeps Rising
Armenia - Prosecutors attend a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, 
Yerevan, July 1, 2022.
The number of various crimes officially recorded in Armenia soared by more than 
24 percent last year, continuing an upward trend which critics blame on the 
current Armenian authorities.
The Armenian police and other law-enforcement agencies registered a total of 
37,612 criminal offenses in 2022.
According to a report released by the Office of the Prosecutor-General this 
week, “serious and particularly serious crimes” accounted for about 16 percent 
of them. This includes 58 premeditated murders, which were slightly down from 
2021. Forty-five of them were solved, said the prosecutors.
Their report shows that Armenia crime rate was primarily pushed up by an almost 
30 percent surge in “crimes of moderate severity.”
Drug trafficking cases presumably fall under this category. Their total number 
nearly doubled to 1,717 in 2022, highlighting a growing problem in a country not 
accustomed to widespread drug abuse.
The sharp rise in such cases is widely blamed on increasingly accessible 
synthetic drugs mainly sold through the internet and, in particular, the social 
media platform Telegram. Links to Telegram channels selling such drugs can now 
be seen painted on residential buildings and other public areas across Yerevan.
The alarming trend has prompted serious concern from not only opposition 
politicians but also pro-government lawmakers. The latter criticized the police 
for not preventing it when they met with Interior Minister Vahe Ghazarian in 
late February.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have reported considerable annual increases 
in the overall crime rate since the 2018 “velvet revolution.” Critics claim that 
the country is not as safe as it used to be because its current government is 
softer on crime than the previous ones.
Karabakh Residents Barred From Returning Home
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Nagorno-Karabakh - Russian peacekeepers are seen deployed at a section of the 
Lachin corridor blocked by Azerbaijan, December 26, 2022.
Azerbaijani government-backed protesters blocking Nagorno-Karabakh’s land link 
with the outside world have not allowed Russian peacekeepers to escort 27 
Karabakh civilians stranded in Armenia back to Stepanakert.
A convoy of cars carrying them reportedly had to return to the Armenian town of 
Goris on Tuesday night after spending five hours at the blocked section of the 
sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia.
Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman and eyewitnesses said some Azerbaijanis broke 
into one of those vehicles and intimidated their mostly female passengers. Three 
Karabakh Armenian women felt and unwell and passed out as a result, according to 
them.
Karine Aghajanian, another passenger, confirmed reports that an Azerbaijani 
ambulance transported them to a hospital in Stepanakert.
“The Russians wanted to transport them in their vehicles but the Azerbaijanis 
didn’t allowed them to do that … That is why we agreed to let them do that,” 
Aghajanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday.
“It’s not that they provided medical aid, the incident happened because of 
them,” she said, speaking from Goris.
Harutiunian also accused the Azerbaijanis of trying to provoke Karabakh Armenian 
men travelling in the convoy. “Thank God, our men … restrained themselves for 
the sake of the women,” she said.
The Azerbaijani government widely publicized the transfer of the three women to 
the Stepanakert hospital. But it didn’t comment on the other Karabakh residents’ 
failure to return home almost four months after the start of the Azerbaijani 
blockade.
Karabakh’s leadership strongly condemned the Azerbaijani protesters for 
“terrorizing” the civilians during the five-hour standoff. It renewed its calls 
for the international community to help end the “illegal blockade” that has left 
hundreds of Karabakh residents stranded in Armenia and led to serious shortages 
of food, medicine and other essential items in the Armenian-populated region.
The United States, the European Union and Russia have repeatedly urged 
Azerbaijan to unblock traffic through the Lachin corridor in line with the 
Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. Baku 
has rejected those appeals, saying that the “environmental” protesters are right 
to demand an end to “illegal” mining in Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani side has allowed only convoys of the Russian peacekeepers and 
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to periodically pass through 
the road. The ICRC has evacuated dozens of critically ill patients from Karabakh 
to Armenia.
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.

Art: Armenian artist Jean Boghossian’s works take over Monte Carlo to highlight ocean pollution

Maghakian Mike
UAE –
Armenian artist Jean Boghossian’s work in Monte Carlo’s Jardins des Boulingrins. Photo: Studio Jean Boghossian
Maghie Ghali
Mar 28, 2023

When you think of Monaco, the azure Mediterranean Sea might be the first thing that comes to mind — sparkling along the French Riviera, with its glamorous holiday hotspots with sandy beaches, yacht-filled marinas and fresh sea air.

This year, the Monte Carlo Societe des Bains de Mer, which operates Monaco’s most distinctive cultural outlets, is seeking to raise awareness about climate change and marine conservation with The Sea is Green, a series of artistic initiatives to highlight the need to protect our seas.

The programme was launched earlier this month by giving Armenian artist Jean Boghossian free reign to fill Monte Carlo with several public art installations, all with a nautical flair — from detailed ceramic seashells to recycled sail cloth adorned with paintings.

Boghossian spent his childhood years living in Lebanon, then in Belgium, where he took a step back from his family’s jewellery-making business to study art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. He recently moved to Monaco, and having now lived by the sea in three different countries, the sight of it has become intrinsic to his daily life.

“I know the Mediterranean in Beirut, where all the plastics are polluting the water. People don’t respect it,” Boghossian tells The National. “And, of course, I have seen the sea in Belgium. In Belgium, the sea is brown, so we are very lucky to have the Mediterranean where the sea is blue, like in Monaco.

“I love the climate here, and I also love the fact that they are very drawn towards the ecology, to making the world a better place and to taking care that our garbage doesn’t end up in the sea,” he adds. “It so happens that my work is a kind of recycling, whether it is the sails I bought [to paint on], or the ceramics I’m showing here.”

From his balcony in Monaco, Boghossian would watch sailboats go out to sea three times a week. This became the inspiration for his first installation, combined with his trademark practice of working with paint, smoke and blowtorches — a remnant from his jewellery-designing days.

At the Jardins des Boulingrins, recycled galvanised steel plates from the Atomium in Brussels — a monument built for the 1958 World’s Fair — have been repurposed to form a regatta. The 30 triangular metal sheets, resembling sailboats, have been painted and burned, causing the paint to bubble and take on new forms and colours.

“It represents various periods of my artwork. I work with fire, so a lot of it has to do with flame and smoke pigment, as well as mixed media: liquids, paints, brushes and various techniques,” Boghossian says. “I received them as a gift in 2010 from Diane Hennebert, who at the time was the director of the Atomium, before taking over the Boghossian Foundation, which I created with my father and brother.

“At first I didn’t really know what to do with them, but since they were in my studio, I started painting them over the year,” he adds. “I already had about 12 of them, and when I told the Societe des Bains de Mer about the idea, I wanted to do more and make a whole regatta.”

A short walk away lies the Hotel Hermitage Monte Carlo — an Art Deco grandiosity with seashell motifs hidden in the ceiling plasterwork and mosaic floors, making it a fitting backdrop for Boghossian’s Shellfish series.

The sculptures feature ceramic sea snakes, bright coral — both real and ceramic — the remains of sea urchins and pastel-hued shells, like imagined reefs teeming with marine life.

Spread through the hotel, 30 ceramics evocative of seashells, waves and marine life can be seen. The works were inspired by the collection of the Seashell Museum in the nearby town of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which Boghossian bought in 2016 — when the museum closed — to preserve it.

“I bought that collection in from the owner as he was leaving to go to Madagascar. The museum is small, but the mayor was so happy that now we decided to make the museum a bigger one, and to find some donors to reopen it this year,” Boghossian says. “Before [the museum owner’s] departure he invited me to his apartment. One of the rooms was full of cases of rocks, shells and various things of the sea, but also books about shells.

“He gave me all of it as it was too costly to ship and I saw so many beautiful shells that are not in the museum, which I have now used in my sculptures,” he adds. “I used to go to the museum and I saw that shells are like precious stones; they are the beauties of the seas, while precious stones are the beauties of the earth. And they interact together very well, so I places some semi-precious stones on my sculptures too.”

The third element of Boghossian’s public installations takes viewers to the promenade behind the Monte Carlo Casino, where 18 painted flags fly five-metres-high along the corniche.

As the installations are all about ecology, the use of recycled materials was at the forefront of Boghossian’s mind. The flags are made of declassified sail cloth, reused as a canvas for his artworks and made using natural pigments, soot, smoke, ink and water to create rippling shapes and merging colour.

A similar technique can be seen up close on some displayed works on paper the Hotel Hermitage Monte Carlo.

“When the sails get old and develop holes, there are controls in place that decide that they are no longer valid for use,” he says. “They are made of plastic and various materials which they don’t know how to throw away, so I bought some to paint on them.”

Boghossian hopes that, as visitors flock to Monte Carlo for various touristic events such as the Monaco Grand Prix or the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament in the coming months, they’ll take a moment to peruse his public artworks and think about how they can help to preserve the Mediterranean Sea.

Boghossian’s public installations will be on display in Monte Carlo until May 10

https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art-design/2023/03/28/armenian-artist-jean-boghossians-works-take-over-monte-carlo-to-highlight-ocean-pollution/

Rasmussen warns of serious risk of imminent ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh, new Azeri offensive against Armenia

Maghakian Mike

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 12:13,

YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. Former NATO secretary-general (2009-14) and former prime minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the founder of Rasmussen Global international political consultancy firm, has warned that in clear violation of the 2020 trilateral statement, Azerbaijan is fueling a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and once again threatening neighboring Armenia with military aggression.

In an article for Project Syndicate, Rasmussen warned that a new Azerbaijani offensive against Armenia in the coming months cannot be ruled out.

Below is the full article published by Project Syndicate.

“All eyes are rightly fixated on Russia’s war in Ukraine. But that is no excuse for ignoring another crisis that is brewing on Europe’s doorstep. Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan are rising again, raising the prospect of another war.

Last week, I visited the Lachin corridor, the only road linking the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the outside world. Since December, access to the corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijanis under the pretext of an environmental protest. This is clearly happening with the backing of the regime in Baku.

With the “protesters” blocking all civilian or commercial traffic into Nagorno-Karabakh, Amnesty International warns that some 120,000 ethnic Armenian residents are being deprived of essential goods and services, including life-saving medicines and health care.

Under the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azerbaijan pledged to ensure free movement along the road in both directions. Recognizing that Azerbaijan is violating its commitment by refusing to lift the blockade, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an order on February 22 demanding that Azerbaijan take all steps necessary to do so. But a month has passed, and nothing has changed.

Although Russian peacekeeping forces stationed along the corridor are supposed to protect the route, they have failed to act. Unless Europe and the wider international community pressure Azerbaijan to lift the blockade, the current humanitarian crisis could become a humanitarian catastrophe.

Azerbaijan is using the blockade and other measures to strangle Nagorno-Karabakh. Residents are often prevented from returning to their homes, and gas and electricity are regularly cut off without warning or explanation. The intent, clearly, is to make life as difficult as possible for the Armenian population, and there is a serious risk of imminent ethnic cleansing. We must not divert our gaze from what is happening.

For its part, the Azerbaijani regime (and its online trolls) have continued to downplay the effects of the blockade – or even its existence. Yet they also refuse to grant international observers access to assess the situation. The first priority for the international community, then, is to send a fact-finding mission to the corridor under the auspices of the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. We must make clear that Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, will face consequences if he continues to flout the ICJ’s binding order.

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War made clear that Azerbaijan has a significant military advantage over Armenia, owing to the weapons that it has bought from Russia, Turkey, and Israel. This fact was reiterated last September, when Azerbaijan took territory within Armenia itself – including strategic positions above the city of Jermuk – after just two days of renewed fighting.

Although Armenia is still a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the regional alliance linking Russia with five nearby former Soviet states, no support was forthcoming when it requested assistance following this attack on its sovereign territory. It was left vulnerable and alone.

Making matters worse, Azerbaijan has kept its troops on Armenian territory and refused to return Armenian prisoners of war. With peace talks having stalled, there are clear warning signs that Azerbaijan believes it can achieve more through military means than through peaceful negotiations. A renewed offensive against Armenia in the coming months cannot be ruled out.

With Armenia’s traditional security provider, Russia, unable or unwilling to help, the European Union must play a greater role to preserve peace and stability in the region. Both European Council President Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron have recognized this and devoted significant political capital to the issue. Following the renewed outbreak of hostilities in September, the EU dispatched a civilian mission to Armenia to monitor the border with Azerbaijan.

But much more still needs to be done. The EU mission, which is currently deployed only on Armenian territory, should be rapidly scaled up to monitor the full length of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. European leaders need to press Aliyev’s government to allow EU personnel on to Azerbaijani territory. Of course, an unarmed EU mission would not be able to stop hostilities; but scaling up its presence would put further pressure on Azerbaijan to choose negotiation over military confrontation.

Over the last year, the EU has built increasingly close economic ties with Azerbaijan, owing to its rapid shift away from Russian gas and oil. But EU leaders need to be clear with Aliyev that he will not be allowed to act with impunity, and that Europe’s short-term commercial interests will not outweigh its values or its long-term interests in maintaining peace and stability in the South Caucasus. If Azerbaijan continues to flout its international commitments and legally binding court orders from the ICJ, it must face political and economic consequences.

Armenia is an emerging democracy in an immensely challenging neighborhood. With Russia’s influence waning, Europe must play a bigger role in the region. This is not a form of charity. Acting now to prevent another significant conflict – or even ethnic cleansing – in our backyard is in everyone’s interest.”

Armenia’s Constitutional Court rules that ICC obligations in line with national constitution

Maghakian Mike



03:02 PM,

The Armenian Constitutional Court has recognised that the country’s International Criminal Court (ICC) obligations enshrined in the Rome Statute do not contradict the national constitution, News.am reports.

The ruling was read out by the court’s President Arman Dilanyan. It enters into force immediately.

The move means that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova will not be able to enter the country as Armenian authorities will be required to detain them following the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova.

News.am notes that the Armenian government appealed to the Constitutional Court to ratify the Rome Statute in late 2022 in order to hold Azerbaijan accountable for the crimes committed in unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh.

The country signed the statute back in 1998 but failed to ratify the document after the Constitutional Court ruled in 2004 that several provisions were not in line with the national constitution that was active at the time.

The International Criminal Court headquartered in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin and Lvova-Belova on 17 March. Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”, the ICC press release reads. Lvova-Belova is suspected of the same crimes.

Hungarian authorities noted that they would not arrest Putin under the ICC order if he sets foot in the country. Hungary signed and ratified the Rome Statute that lays foundations for the ICC but the document “was not built into Hungary’s legal system”, the Hungarian prime minister’s office stressed.



SIOP Asia XV Annual Congress in Yerevan to bring together leading researchers and doctors from around the world

Maghakian Mike

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 10:41,

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS. Leading researchers and doctors from around the world will gather in Yerevan, Armenia on May 19-21 for the SIOP (International Society for Pediatric Oncology) Asia XV Annual Congress.

The SIOP Asia XV Annual Congress in Yerevan will be the second time the event is taking place in the post-Soviet region, after Moscow 2016.

Professor Gevorg Tamamyan, the Head of Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, Chairman and Professor at Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology of Yerevan State Medical University, CEO of the Immune Oncology Research Institute told ARMENPRESS that he believes the congress will become one of the most important medical science events for Armenia.

“We expect pediatric oncologists from Europe, Asia, America and elsewhere to arrive. The presidents of the international pediatric oncology union, the Asian, European and Latin American unions have already confirmed their participation. Over 120 leading experts have also confirmed participation as speakers,” Tamamyan said.

Experts from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Harvard University, and other institutions from Vienna, Italy, Belgium, Spain, China, Japan, Taiwan, India and the Middle East are expected to arrive to Armenia for the event.

Tamamyan said the congress will be “unprecedented.”

“85% of children with cancer fully recover in developed countries such as Germany, the US, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Italy, while in developing countries the figures are from 0 to 60%. Don’t be surprised about the zero, there are really countries where the recoveries stand at zero percent. Although we are a developing country, averagely 75% of our patients recover. Right now our goal is to reach the level of developed countries through everyday work,” Tamamyan said.

The Mkhitar Heratsi State Medical University in Yerevan will serve as the venue for the congress.

3 Armenian PoW’s are still being held in Azerbaijan

Maghakian Mike
March 13 2023

by ATHENS BUREAU

There are 33 Armenian prisoners of war currently held in Azerbaijan that have been confirmed and identified, Hsmik Samvelyan, press secretary of Armenian Representative for International Legal Affairs, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, presented to the Zhokhovurd newspaper.

The number presented by Samvelyan is also confirmed by the representative of Armenian prisoners of war at the European Court of Human Rights, human rights activist Siranush Sahakyan.

Sahakyan noted that besides the 33 prisoners of war, who are in the focus of the Red Cross, there are 80 “unconfirmed”, according to Azerbaijan, but actually proven cases.

“Our fact-finding was able to substantiate at least 80 additional cases of captivity, and we do not exclude that there were other cases of captivity, just by our activities we were able to substantiate it,” she noted, adding, “unfortunately, there were about 40 cases where they were killed or shot after captivity.”

“We have evidence to support that. As for the 80 mentioned, their fate is not clear.

“They may be alive, but this will be taken out of the legal field and become forcibly disappeared or killed as Azerbaijan does not confirm their captivity and does not return their bodies so as not to acknowledge the crimes committed.”

Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday that he had complained to President Vladimir Putin about “problems” with Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, warning of an escalation.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars for control of the ethnically and historically Armenian region and the latest conflict in 2020, with many war crimes by Azerbaijani troops recorded, ended with the deployment of Moscow’s forces.

“In a phone conversation with Putin yesterday, I spoke of a possible escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh and said that there are problems in the zone where Russian peacekeepers are responsible,” Pashinyan said during a press conference.

“Azerbaijan’s rhetoric is becoming more and more aggressive every day,” he said, denouncing a blockade of the Lachin corridor, which is Karabakh’s sole land link with the Republic of Armenia.

Since mid-December, a group of self-styled Azerbaijani environmental activists, often comprising of military personnel, has barred traffic in the Lachin corridor to protest what they say is illegal mining.

However, as Pashinyan highlighted on Tuesday, the disruptions along the route are a “preparation for ethnic cleansing of Armenians.”

Yerevan says that the blockade has led to a humanitarian crisis and was aimed at driving Armenians from Karabakh, something that Baku denies despite finding by human rights groups and international courts.

Armenia, which hosts a permanent Russian military base on its territory, is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that includes several pro-Moscow ex-Soviet republics — but not Azerbaijan.

Last week Yerevan refused to assume the rotating top post in the security bloc — partly in a show of frustration over the peacekeepers’ failure to prevent Karabakh’s blockade.

“It is not that Armenia is leaving the CSTO, the CSTO is leaving Armenia, which is of a great concern to us,” Pashinyan said.

At least three Armenians died in the latest border clashes instigated by Azerbaijan at the beginning of March.

“I want to underline that this happened in the zone of responsibility of Russian peacekeeping forces. This worries us,” Pashinyan said Tuesday.

Pashinyan also said that Armenia recently received Baku’s response to proposals for a full peace treaty, which Yerevan submitted in mid-February.

He noted some progress in the peace process, but said “fundamental problems” remain because “Azerbaijan is trying to put forward territorial claims, which is a red line to Armenia.”

Azerbaijanii soldiers currently occupy some 150 square kilometres of territory part of the Republic of Armenia, along the countries’ shared border.

On February 20, the European Union deployed an expanded monitoring mission to Armenia’s volatile border area as Western engagement grows in the region seen by the Kremlin as its geopolitical backyard.

Armenians largely disbelieve Pashinyan’s claims about military barracks fire, survey finds

Maghakian Mike
Panorama
Armenia –

SOCIETY 13:09 11/03/2023 ARMENIA

Some 70% of Armenian adults surveyed by the Gallup International Association distrust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s claims about the deadly fire in an Armenian military barracks in January.

Fifteen Armenian servicemen were killed and three others were severely injured in the fire that broke out in the barracks of an engineer and sapper company in a military unit in Azat, a village in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik Province, on January 19.

Pashinyan said at a cabinet meeting that the fire erupted because an officer with the rank of captain used gasoline to fuel the woodstove in the barracks.

Just 6.5% of Armenians have “a great deal” of trust in Pashinyan’s version of the fire outbreak and 12.3% have “a fair amount”, Gallup said on Friday.

18․8% of Armenian adults say they do not have much confidence and 51․7% have none at all in his claims.