Author: Maghakian Mike

Next meeting of Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan deputy prime ministerial working group to take place in near future- Zakharova

Maghakian Mike

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 16:18,

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, ARMENPRESS. The next session of the Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan deputy prime ministerial working group dealing with unblocking of transportation communications in the region will take place in the near future, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing.

She said that Russia considers the high-level trilateral agreements as a base for moving forward the process of settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and continues the active work with Yerevan and Baku in all directions, including in the unblocking of economic and transportation ties, the launch of the demarcation process of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the agreement over a peace treaty.

“The communication unblocking issues were discussed during the April 26 meeting of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. An agreement has been reached with the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides on holding the next session of the trilateral working group chaired by the deputy prime ministers in the future. As for border issues, contacts are planned in Baku by the end of this week at a foreign ministry level”, she said.

Zakharova said the Russian side records that Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to meet halfway with each other, and informed that trilateral contacts are being developed on this topic.

“It’s obvious that the real work in different formats gives a result. We are in the existing formats and see that the work is underway there. We attach great importance to the formats and fulfillment of the documents which together give a real result. Civilians, economic operators and the region in general feel that result”, she said.

Vienna will host next Armenia-Turkey meeting, says Cavusoglu

Maghakian Mike
PanArmenian
Armenia –
– 17:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has revealed that the third meeting between the special representatives of Yerevan and Ankara will be held in Vienna.

Apeaking on NTV, Cavusoglu said that concrete steps will be taken along with confidence-building measures.

“Our special representatives are in contact. The third meeting will again be in Vienna.”

Weighing in on the meetings being held in a third country, Cavusoglu said that there is no reason why they are not held in Turkey or Armenia and urged Yerevan to take more “bold steps.”

“You (Armenia) might be under pressure. This is not an easy process. We see that part of the diaspora is not supporting this normalization, especially the diaspora in France and the United States. Is there still a need to meet a third country? From one side you say relations should normalize, borders should be opened, on the other side you do not dare to meet in Turkey or Armenia,” Cavusoglu said, according to Daily Sabah.

“If you can’t come to Turkey to meet, how will we take steps on other issues?” he asked, saying that Turkey had proposed meeting in Yerevan but Armenia insisted on a third country.

He also mentioned that Turkey supports the normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Ukrainian Charge d`Affaires in Armenia has no evidence of use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Karabakh war

Maghakian Mike
ARMINFO
Armenia –
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.Ukraine has not supplied weapons to Azerbaijan since 2014, Ukrainian Charg‚ d’Affaires in Armenia Denis Avtonomov told reporters in Yerevan on  Thursday. 

Fake news has been disseminated about Ukraine’s military supplies to  Azerbaijan, including Javelin, in exchange for fuel. 

“That man has no idea of arms control. No weapon can be supplied to  anyone without the producer’s permission if you want to cooperate  with that country in the future, without punitive sanctions imposed  on you. The issue of using ammunition containing white phosphorus is  constantly being raised. I would like to say that Armenia and  Azerbaijan accused each other of using such ammunition during the  Karabakh war. I have not seen any evidence,” Mr Avtonomov said. No  government agencies are making any comments.  However, he is ready to  discuss the issue if anyone has any information. 

Mr Avtonomov also reported a number of pieces of fake news  disseminated during the hostilities in Ukraine, particularly false  reports on alleged transportation of Arab mercenaries through Armenia  and Armenia putting its fighters (military aircraft) at Russia’s  disposal. He said he was laughing at the routes the fighters  allegedly flew along to reach Russia. Mr Avtonomov also pointed out  one more false report on an Armenian serviceman allegedly involved in  the hostilities in Ukraine. That man turned out to be a looter. 

“A banner on the Kiev Bridge in support of Russia’s army during the  first days of the war, a ‘show’ in the Victory Park in support of  Russia, unfolding a banner in ‘Z’ in Artsakh – are these not fakes?”  Mr Avtonomov said, adding that Armenian society has nothing in common  with that “show.” 

On march 31, 2020, the Artsakh Defense Army and the Azerbaijani armed  forces used weapons containing white phosphorus, which are banned by  the Geneva Convention. 

On Novembr 6, 2020, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and the  Human Rights Ombudsman of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) published an ad  hoc report on the use of incendiary ammunition of mass destruction  (incendiary weapon) containing chemical elements (possibly white  phosphorus) against Artsakh by the Azerbaijani armed forces.   

Opposition in Armenia rallies against govt’s land handling

Maghakian Mike
Global Times, China
April 6 2022
By AFPPublished: Apr 06, 2022 04:56 PM

   

Azerbaijani soldiers film Azeri military trucks moving through the town of Lachin on Tuesday. Azerbaijani soldiers and military trucks rolled into the final district given up by Armenia in a peace deal that ended weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Photo: AFP

Several thousand opposition supporters rallied on Tuesday in the Armenian capital Yerevan to denounce the government’s handling of a territorial dispute with arch-foe Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Long-contested between the Caucasus neighbors, Karabakh was at the center of an all-out war in 2020 that claimed more than 6,500 lives before it ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement.

The pact saw Armenia cede swathes of territories it had controlled for decades in what was seen in Armenia as a national humiliation, sparking weeks of mass anti-government protests.

Waving Armenian and Karabakh flags, protesters filled the capital’s central Freedom Square on Tuesday evening, with many shouting anti-government slogans.

They then marched through downtown Yerevan, vowing to block traffic in the streets later in the evening.

The rally was held on the eve of a summit in Brussels between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

“The government is ready to give away Karabakh to Azerbaijan,” Gegham Manukyan, a leader of opposition Dashnaktsutyun party told AFP at the rally.

“We have gathered here to draw red lines which no Armenian government must cross while dealing with Azerbaijan.”

“Many in Armenia rule out an option of Karabakh being part of Azerbaijan.”

During their talks on Wednesday – mediated by the European Council President Charles Michel – Aliyev and Pashinyan are expected to discuss the start of negotiations on a “comprehensive peace treaty.”

Project SAVE launches series on the power and art of photography

Maghakian Mike
March 28, 2022 Guest Contributor Announcements 0

BOSTON, Mass. — Project SAVE Photograph Archives is excited to announce a presentation by Armenian photographer 4Plus Photography Collective co-founder Nazik Armenakyan whose photographs have appeared in The New York Times, Der Spiegel and Le Monde. Her presentation on Saturday, April 9 is part of Project SAVE’s brand new series “Conversations on Photography.”

“When I was living in Armenia, 4Plus struck me as one of the most innovative and high-quality initiatives there,” said Project SAVE executive director Dr. Arto Vaun. “They’re an all-female group of  photographers whose work is consistently extraordinary and impactful. I’m so pleased to help introduce their photographs and mission to a wider audience.”

“Conversations on Photography,” which was launched last month, is a virtual forum where photographers, artists, archivists and researchers can present and discuss the impact, beauty and relevance of photography. The inaugural speaker was Tatiana Cole, the photograph conservator at the Boston Athenaeum.

Project SAVE is also working on a complete overhaul of its website and photograph database; the team is also preparing for the launch of the Project SAVE Artist Residency. “It’s an exciting time of change and transition for us,” Vaun said. “Project SAVE is  growing both literally in terms of staff and photo collections, but also in terms of vision and scope. I’m looking forward to widening our reach and welcoming new supporters and lovers of photography.”




The State Duma will respond to Azerbaijan’s announcement of declaring Russian MP internationally wanted

Maghakian Mike

The State Duma will respond to Azerbaijan’s announcement of declaring Russian MP internationally wanted

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 18:19, 30 March, 2022

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s announcement of declaring international search for Russian State Duma deputy Mikhail Delyagin will receive a corresponding response from the Russian legislature. , ARMENPRESS reports the first deputy head of the commission on international relations Alexei Chepa told “RIA Novosti”.

“This is an emotional, wrong action. We will respond to that statement, we will try to take concrete steps now to calm down our partners,” he said.

Mikhail Delyagin had called on Russian peacekeepers to strike at Azerbaijan’s oil fields for disobeying.

In response to that statement, the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan filed a criminal case against him. Mikhail Delyagin was declared internationally wanted through Interpol.




Upcoming: "We wait for your return: A love letter to Armenia"

Maghakian Mike
DIG BOSTON
April 1 2022

WRITTEN BY SHIRA LAUCHAROENPOSTED APRIL 1, 2022FILED UNDER: VISUAL ARTS

American photographer and storyteller Winslow Martin will present a night of visual art, music, and imagery during an event, “We Wait for Your Return: A Love Letter to Armenia.” With the help of award-winning Armenian composer Astghik Martirosyan and a five-piece band, Martin will present the show on May 7, at Black Man Auditorium at Northeastern University, at 8 p.m. According to a media release, “The images from We Wait For Your Return form a remarkable tapestry, one photo a probing portrait, the next a poignant still life, another an extraordinary photo that features a distinctive Armenian landscape, challenging and rewarding the viewer with the use of composition and light. Winslow connects each image in We Wait For Your Return through his storytelling, taking audience members a spiritual and artistic journey from his first meeting with Father Dajad Davidian at a Watertown church, through the deepening of their friendship, as it played out across their adventures together in Armenia.”

Martin is known for documenting everyday life and historical events in Armenia, which he has done for the past 20 years. He hopes to bring more attention and support to the country today, and he aims to share his stories and images from Armenia to a broader audience.

“I fell in love with Armenia and I want to, in this performance, somehow give back to them,” said Martin. “When you are a photographer you reach a point when the work isn’t just about you, and the photography, and your viewers. It is about what you owe to the people who so graciously opened their doors to you. You have to give back something because they have given so much of themselves.”

Register for the event here.

MP: Azerbaijan tries to break the backbone of Armenian-held part of Artsakh

Maghakian Mike
Panorama
Armenia –

Tigran Abrahamyan, an Armenian MP from the opposition With Honor faction, says that many people have no idea of the territorial and strategic significance of the village of Parukh and the adjacent Karaglukh height in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) partially occupied by Azerbaijani forces at this point.

“During its recent advance, Azerbaijan managed to occupy a territory in the Karaglukh area that is many times bigger than the entire administrative territory of Parukh,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

Abrahamyan underscores that various sections of the Karaglukh mountain “pose a bigger strategic threat that Parukh.”

“The Azerbaijanis used Parukh as a staging post, and immediately after the invasion they built bypass roads to break through to various parts of Karaglukh, set up and fortify positions, ensure uninterrupted supplies for themselves and then create new problems for the livelihood of Artsakh,” he stated.

“If Azerbaijan gets away with it and does not withdraw its troops to their initial points, an unprecedented situation will be created to break the backbone of the part of Artsakh that is currently under our control,” the lawmaker said.

‘It makes me sick’: Armenian genocide victims wonder where money from settlement went

Maghakian Mike
March 24 2022
BY JUSTIN RAYSTAFF WRITER 

MARCH 24, 2022 5:30 AM PT

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, March 24. I’m Justin Ray.

When reporters Harriet Ryan and Matt Hamilton were investigating last year the influence that Los Angeles lawyer and “Real Housewives” figure Tom Girardi had at the State Bar of California, they came upon a tantalizing piece of information.

An agency investigator had sneaked into the bar’s headquarters on a weekend in 2015 and snapped photos of a confidential case file of a complaint against three L.A. attorneys for “moral turpitude,” according to a draft lawsuit by bar lawyers.

Their search to unmask the attorneys’ identities led them to a world far from the boozy lunches and glamorous parties of (now bankrupt) Girardi and his (now estranged) wife, Erika Jayne.

The case file concerned the Armenian genocide, the slaughter that claimed the lives of an estimated 1 million and scattered hundreds of thousands of refugees across the the globe.

A group of L.A. attorneys — all descendants of genocide survivors — mounted class-action lawsuits two decades ago to collect on life insurance policies for victims of the genocide. They came away with settlements totaling $37.5 million, but as a new Times investigation shows, the process of delivering money to Armenian families and charities did not go as planned.

To get to the bottom of what happened, the Los Angeles Times successfully petitioned a federal judge to unseal dozens of records in the case. Reporters sifted through several of the thousands of applications for settlement money that were stored at the library at Loyola Law School. (The haunting photos that illustrate the investigation are from the archived applications and photographed by our colleague Hamlet Nalbandyan.)

The investigation describes how the litigation that carried the hopes of the Armenian community devolved into a corrupted process marked by diverted funds and misconduct.

“It makes me sick,” a relative of one genocide victim said.

[Read the story: “A ‘blood money’ betrayal: How corruption spoiled reparations for Armenian genocide victims,” in the Los Angeles Times]

Asbarez: With No End in Sight, Azerbaijan’s Gas Blockade of Artsakh Threatens Population

Maghakian Mike
by Asbarez Staff

 

 March 24, 2022

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Artsakh authorities accuse Azerbaijan of deliberately sabotaging the only pipeline that delivers gas to Artsakh

For 18 days the population of Artsakh has been deprived of natural gas as Azerbaijan continues to block the supply to Artsakh, leaving more than 120,000 people without heat in freezing temperatures.

Artsakh authorities, with the support of Russian peacekeepers, continue negotiations with Azerbaijanis to restore the flow of gas. Artsakh Foreign Minister David Babayan told Armenpress that there is still no news about potential timeframes for restoring the gas supply.

“The government of the Republic of Artsakh seeks to resolve this highly important humanitarian issue as soon as possible and we assure that we are taking all possible measures also in the diplomatic arena, which naturally aren’t subject to publicizing,” the government’s Information Center said on Thursday.

President Arayik Harutyunyan has authorized Secretary of the Security Council Vitaly Balasanyan to act as the negotiator on behalf of Artsakh, the press statement said.

In an interview with Armenpress Wednesday, Babayan said that in violation of humanitarian norms, Azerbaijan is advancing a politic of terrorizing the Armenian population of Artsakh.

Babayan reiterated that Azerbaijan intentionally cut off the gas supply, among others also for political reasons. He described Azerbaijan’s actions as terrorism against the Artsakh population in violation of humanitarian norms, or humanitarian terrorism.

“The situation is difficult, but it is what it is, we are withstanding and we will continue to withstand no matter what,” Babayan said.

At a protest in Stepanakert, women in Artsakh call on international organizations to act to avert a humanitarian crisis

On Thursday, women in Artsakh held a protest rally in Stepanakert to urge the international community to take action against Azerbaijan for causing the humanitarian crisis.

“All international organizations should take clear actions pursuant to humanitarian principles, instead of making calls,” said of the women, according to Armenpress.

The demonstrators said that right now there is a humanitarian disaster in Artsakh and the entire world knows that Azerbaijan is the perpetrator.

They warned that Azerbaijan could exploit the situation and aggravate it even more, adding that the residents of Artsakh are equally entitled to all the rights that citizens of other countries have.

“But the most painful thing is that there is no single organization, structure that is forcing the enemy to stop its atrocities,” one of the demonstrators told Armenpress, urging international organizations to deal with the issue of the security of Artsakh’s population.

“None of us wants to leave their home. Let Azerbaijan understand this, the people of Artsakh lived here and will continue living here,” she added.

The European Union expressed concern on Wednesday about the gas blockade

“The EU is concerned about renewed cuts in gas supply to Stepanakert. It is urgently needed to resume supplies to affected local population. The EU calls on authorities in control to enable it, especially in the current harsh weather,” Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU, said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Freedom House condemned the disruption of gas supply to Artsakh by Azerbaijan. 

“Azerbaijan must prevent a humanitarian crisis by restoring unhindered gas supplies to the people of Nagorno Karabakh, who have endured weeks of freezing temps without heat or hot water,” Freedom House said on Twitter.