Author: Manouk Vasilian

Armenia’s second president says serious process to start with Russia

Manouk Vasilian
Aysor, Armenia

Besides restoration of our Armed Forces we must also try to make Russia’s military presence here more contemporary, candidate from “Armenia” bloc Robert Kocharyan said at the meeting with the supporters.

“It is possible to do it and it should be done especially taking into consideration the developments in the region,” Kocharyan said.

“We see the growing role of Turkey. When you look at the map, the only country able to become restricting factor for Turkish expansion is Russia,” Kocharyan said, adding that it is necessary to start a very serious process with Russia to strengthen its military presence here.

“But it should not be presence only,” Kocharyan said.

He also stressed the need of growing the country’s power together with the Russian base.

Actions taken against Armenians of the Shahumyan region were a real example of ethnic cleansing – Artsakh Ombudsman

Manouk Vasilian
Panorama, Armenia

“In the summer of 1992, as a result of Azerbaijani attacks, more than 20,000 Armenians of the Shahumyan region of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were forced to flee their homes, losing everything, facing many problems related to poverty, unemployment and integration, and facing widespread violations of their rights,” the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Artsakh Republic Gegham Stepanyan said in a statement on the occasion of the the 29th anniversary of the Azeri occupation of the region. 

“The actions taken against the Armenians of the Shahumyan region were a real example of ethnic cleansing, for which the Azerbaijani authorities were not held accountable,” Stepanyan said. 

The Ombudsman recalls the words of the Azeri leader saying: “If there is at least one Armenian left in Karabakh by October 1992, the people of Azerbaijan can hang me in the central square of Baku.” 

“The expulsion of the Armenian population from the region on the basis of nationality, religion and ethnicity was not clearly assessed by the international community, and the issue of restoring their violated rights was not on the agenda of negotiations. Many of the people who lost their homes were not recognized as refugees or vulnerable by the relevant international organizations and did not receive support from the international community. While the Azeri refugees were receiving huge international support, the Armenians were deprived of it,” the statement said, adding  even today, when in the fall of 2020, due to the Azeri aggression against the people of Artsakh, 40,000 Artsakh residents were left homeless, international organizations show indifference by conditioning their behavior with the status of Artsakh.

“This is a reprehensible indifference, does not follow from the principle of universality of human rights protection. The international community must express a clear position, take steps to provide legal and political assessments of the crimes committed against the people of Artsakh, and carry out further work on socio-economic reparation,” the Ombudsman concluded. 

FILM: In "Hello Mother", queer identity and Armenian tradition collide | Film of the Week

Manouk Vasilian
Calvert Journal
Text: Lucía de la Torre

Parev Mama (Hello Mother) by director Natalie Shirinian follows a first-generation Armenian-American LGBTQ+ woman living in Los Angeles. Late one night, she finds herself confronted by her traditional mother after going out with her girlfriend. The encounter forces her to embark on a difficult journey: struggling to free herself from the constraints of tradition, while still affirming her cultural identity.

Short but powerful and universally relatable, Parev Mama explores the dilema of a 30-something caught between family expectations — who see marriage and a husband as her ultimate goal — and living as a gay woman.

Set against the backdrop of the Californian sky, and infused with the deep sound of the duduk, or the traditional Armenian flute, the film is an immersive exploration of intergenerational migrant struggles, and the tension between individual and cultural identity.

Watch on Eventive.

June 20 election vote and count process to be broadcast live on Internet from polling stations

Manouk Vasilian

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 13:02, 8 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS. The voting and the count process of the June 20 snap parliamentary elections will be videotaped and broadcast live on the Internet, the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia approved the decision during today’s session.

“It’s a demand of the Electoral Code. The vote and the count process will be videotaped and broadcast live by Ucom from 1500 polling stations. This will be done in real time via a special created website. Based on the requirements of the Electoral Code, it is proposed to allow Ucom to carry out this function”, CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia Police express readiness to cooperate with all political forces during election campaign

Manouk Vasilian

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 13:15, 7 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The Police of Armenia issued a statement expressing readiness to cooperate with all political parties and alliances participating in the snap parliamentary elections during the pre-election campaign

“The Police Chief and leadership are ready to hold meetings and discussions with the heads of headquarters of parties and party blocs to hold the campaign and the elections within the law, to ensure public order and the constitutional rights of the participants”, the Police said, stating that it has all powers and capacities to prevent and reveal possible electoral frauds, encroachments against the rights of a citizen.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

26 political forces – 22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.


Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenian deputy FM resigns

Manouk Vasilian

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 17:11,

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. Deputy foreign minister of Armenia Gagik Ghalachyan has resigned, the foreign ministry told Armenpress.

The MFA said that Gagik Ghalachyan has submitted his resignation letter on May 27.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenian troops were kidnapped, not captured – Pashinyan on Azeri military’s seizure of 6 soldiers from Gegharkunik

Manouk Vasilian

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 11:40,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan commented on the May 27 incident on Armenian-Azeri border.

“Six servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces where carrying out engineering works of the border on Armenian sovereign territory, landmining works were carried out, moreover I want to specially emphasize that these works were carried out parallel with installing warning signs,” Pashinyan said, adding that these works were done to raise the level of protection of the Armenian border.

Pashinyan said the circumstances surrounding the six Armenian troops being taken captive must be determined, but he emphasized that what happened is actually a kidnapping of Armenian troops from Armenian territory.

“The ongoing processes are completely unacceptable for Armenia and incidents like this are happening because some want us to adapt with the presence of Azerbaijani forces on our territory, which can’t happen. I find it very important to emphasize over this incident that this issue should not be used for domestic political goals, I think that all attempts to use this situation against the army and armed forces must be condemned, because our troops, the army are fulfilling their function of protecting the borders of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said, adding that the ongoing situation is a direct threat to Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, a gross violation of international law, and that this is the case when Armenia must use all levers.

“I think our society must be united around our armed forces, the army and state institutions. The demand is clear, the Azerbaijani armed forces must unconditionally withdraw from Armenia’s territory, and Armenia will be sober in all situations and the management of provocations must be done maximally prudently. The armed forces must continue carrying out their functions of preserving the protection and strength of the Armenian borders and territorial integrity. As difficult as the situation is today that we are going through, emotional and unbalanced actions and statements are totally inappropriate.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Facebook Oversight Board overrules decision on user’s Armenian Genocide meme

Manouk Vasilian
The Post Millennial
May 20 2021

Facebook Oversight Board overrules decision on user’s Armenian Genocide meme

The question at hand was whether or not a meme pointing out the media contradictions of the Armenian and Turkish narrative.

The Facebook Oversight Board has ruled to overturn Facebook’s decision on a meme a user posted back in December. The question at hand was whether or not a meme pointing out the media contradictions of the Armenian and Turkish narrative.

According to the Oversight Board, back on December 24, 2020, a user posted a comment along with a meme they described as “an adaptation of the daily struggle or two buttons meme. 
“This featured the split-screen cartoon from the original two buttons meme, but with a Turkish flag substituted for the cartoon character’s face. The cartoon character has its right hand on its head and appears to be sweating. Above the character, in the other half of the split-screen, are two red buttons with corresponding statements in English: ‘The Armenian Genocide is a lie’ and ‘The Armenians were terrorists that deserved it.’
“One content moderator had flagged the comment for violating Facebook’s Hate Speech Community Standard, with another saying it violated the Cruel and Insensitive Community Standard.
Facebook removed the comment under the Cruel and Insensitive Community Standard.The user appealed the decision, with Facebook then saying the comment violated the Hate Speech Community Standard, but did not inform the user of the change of Community Standard being upheld.
The phrase “The Armenians were terrorists that deserved it” was stated as the reason why Facebook removed the comment, as it “contained claims that Armenians were criminals based on their nationality and ethnicity.”
“Facebook also stated that the meme was not covered by an exception which allows users to share hateful content to condemn it or raise awareness. The company claimed that the cartoon character could be reasonably viewed as either condemning or embracing the two statements featured in the meme,” according to the Oversight Board.
The Oversight Board stated that its members instead viewed that the two buttons meme was instead highlighting two potential contradictions.
“As such, they found that the user shared the meme to raise awareness of and condemn the Turkish government’s efforts to deny the Armenian genocide while, at the same time, justifying these same historic atrocities,” they said.
The Oversight Board rules that they would overturn Facebook’s decisions, and would require that the comment be restored.

They added that they recommend Facebook “Inform users of the Community Standard enforced by the company. If Facebook determines that a user’s content violates a different Community Standard to the one the user was originally told about, they should have another opportunity to appeal,” as well as “include the satire exception, which is not currently available to users, in the public language of its Hate Speech Community Standard.”

Parliament convenes emergency session

Manouk Vasilian

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 16:52,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian parliament is convening an emergency session at 18:30, Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan’s advisor Davit Karapetyan announced.

The emergency session is convened at the initiative of the opposition Bright Armenia LHK party to discuss the possible signing of a new document on demarcation and delimitation, announced by caretaker PM Pashinyan earlier.