Author: Maral Takmazian

Armenpress: Joint statement issued on results of final session of Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

Maral Takmazian

Joint statement issued on results of final session of Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

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 10:04, 4 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. On the occasion of the final session of the Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue (May 2-3), the sides issued a joint statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

The statement reads:

“U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosted Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Washington, D.C., to launch the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue (USASD) on May 2, 2022. During the Dialogue, the United States and Armenia reiterated their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties across the breadth of the bilateral relationship.

This round of USASD discussions coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-Armenian diplomatic relations. The delegations positively assessed the status of bilateral ties and reviewed the potential for expanding our partnership. The Armenian delegation included Deputy Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan, Deputy Central Bank Governor Nerses Yeritsyan, and Ministry of Defense officials. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Dr. Karen Donfried and several leaders from throughout the Departments of State and Defense also participated in the USASD session.

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy was in Washington as well, joined by Armenian Ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts.

Further Democratic Reforms and Promote Mutual Prosperity

Assistant Secretary Donfried reaffirmed the United States would continue its robust assistance and cooperation to the Armenian government in building responsive democratic and economic institutions that both reflect our common values and deliver better governance and prosperity.

The delegations had a robust dialogue on U.S. assistance to support Armenia’s positive democratic trajectory. This includes programs to support human rights, media literacy, social protection, justice sector reforms, and the new Patrol Police Service. The delegations also discussed advancing judicial impartiality and strengthening freedom of _expression_. Mechanisms to promote mutual prosperity in the economic sphere were also a key topic of discussion, including energy cooperation and workforce development to promote and deepen bilateral trade and investment.

Towards Security, Peace, and Regional Conflict Resolution

The two delegations discussed issues related to border security, and partnership in the defense and security sector through disaster management, defense reform, medical support, and peacekeeping. The delegations exchanged views on security matters and noted the United States’ role as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which has a mandate to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Looking To Tangible Results

Minister Mirzoyan and the Armenian delegation also had constructive meetings with USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, and many others. During their time in Washington, delegation members signed a number of documents, including a Nuclear Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding that will serve as a mechanism through which our governments can develop stronger ties between our nuclear experts, industries, and researchers. The United States and Armenia also signed two joint action plans on anti-corruption and law enforcement reforms”.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/09/2022

Maral Takmazian 
                                        Monday, May 9, 2022
Armenian Opposition Protesters Face Criminal Proceedings
        • Susan Badalian
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Police detain opposition protesters in Yerevan, May 5, 2022.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have opened more than a dozen criminal 
cases against participants of daily opposition demonstrations aimed at forcing 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resign.
They say that the protesters have defied police orders to unblock roads and 
committed “hooligan” acts during the weeklong demonstrations organized by 
Armenia’s leading opposition forces.
The Investigative Committee said over the weekend that one man has been arrested 
on charges of hitting a policeman while two others indicted for burning tires at 
a blocked street intersection in Yerevan. The committee said other protesters 
may also be prosecuted for not obeying “legitimate orders” of riot police.
Elinar Vartanian, a parliament deputy from the main opposition Hayastan 
alliance, denounced the “absurd” criminal proceedings, saying that they are 
aimed at discouraging Armenians from campaigning for Pashinian’s removal from 
power. She said opposition supporters simply exercised their constitutional 
right of peaceful assembly.
The authorities have not launched such proceedings against any police officers 
accused by the opposition as well as human rights groups of disproportionate use 
of force. One policeman was caught on camera last week punching an opposition 
supporter during his arrest.
The Armenian police have said they are conducting internal inquiries into nine 
alleged instances of such misconduct. No officer is known to have been suspended.
On Friday, law-enforcement officials raided the offices of the Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) party, a key member of Hayastan, in 
Armavir province. Two local Dashnaktsutyun activists were arrested afterwards on 
charges of paying people to attend the anti-government protests in Yerevan.
Dashnaktsutyun’s governing body in Armenia was quick to condemn the arrests and 
reject the accusations, saying that they are part of government efforts to 
thwart the opposition push to oust Pashinian.
Armenia - Opposition supporters demonstrate in France Square, Yerevan, May 9, 
2022.
The Investigative Committee also claimed to have obtained evidence of vote 
buying by Dashnaktsutyun in general and local elections held last year.
“To accuse Dashnaktsutyun of vote buying is just absurd,” Artsvik Minasian, a 
senior party figure, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Monday.
Minasian claimed that the authorities are opening “false and illegal criminal 
cases” because they “realize that this liberation movement is gaining momentum.”
“This movement will not die down,” Ishkhan Saghatelian, another Dashnaktsutyun 
leader, told thousands of people who again rallied in the center of Yerevan 
later in the day. He said the protests will continue until Pashinian agrees to 
step down.
The prime minister, who is accused by the opposition of planning to make 
sweeping concessions to Azerbaijan, has rejected the demands for his resignation.
The authorities raised eyebrows last Thursday when they effectively threatened 
to have the Armenian military call up men of fighting age participating in the 
protests. Senior pro-government lawmakers said law-enforcement agencies should 
pass their personal data on to the Defense Ministry.
Armenian Judge Freed After ‘Political’ Arrest
        • Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Judge Boris Bakhshiyan speaks to journalists after being released from 
prison, Yerevan, May 7, 2022
An Armenian judge was set free over the weekend three months after being 
arrested on what he sees as politically motivated charges.
Boris Bakhshiyan was taken into custody on February 7 two weeks after granting 
bail to a jailed opposition figure.
The accusations leveled against him stem from another decision which Bakhshiyan 
made during a trial presided over by him. Prosecutors claim that the 36-year-old 
judge illegally ordered the arrest of one of the defendants in that trial.
An Armenian court twice extended Bakhshiyan’s pre-trial arrest by one month in 
March and April. Investigators did not request another extension this time 
around. The Office of the Prosecutor-General declined to give a clear reason for 
their decision to release him from custody.
Bakhshiyan, who worked in a court of first instance of southeastern Syunik 
province, was greeted by a group of fellow judges and lawyers as he walked free 
from Yerevan’s Vartashen prison on Saturday.
“Just like three months ago, I am of the same opinion and maintain that this was 
an interference in my work as a judge, and a crude one,” Bakhshiyan told 
reporters.
“I continue to maintain that the judicial decision made by me was legal and 
substantiated,” he said.
Bakhshiyan’s lawyers have denounced his arrest as government retribution for his 
January 26 decision to free Ashot Minasian, a prominent war veteran and 
opposition activist.
Minasian was arrested in December one year after being charged with plotting to 
kill Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and overthrow the Armenian government and 
illegally possessing weapons. The National Security Service dropped the coup 
charges later in December.
Armenia - The Supreme Judicial Council holds a hearing in Yerevan, July 26, 2021.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a state body overseeing Armenian courts, 
allowed Bakhshiyan’s arrest despite an uproar from many lawyers and the 
leadership of Armenia’s Union of Judges.
The chairman of the union, Aleksandr Azarian, cited Bakhshiyan’s arrest and 
suspension by the SJC in a lengthy appeal to the UN Human Rights Council, the 
U.S. State Department and international legal experts published on Friday. 
Azarian urged them to push back against what he called Armenian government 
efforts to “subjugate the judiciary.”
Other Armenian judges as well as opposition groups and lawyers have also accused 
the government of seeking to increase its influence on courts under the guise of 
judicial reforms. The authorities deny this, insisting that the reforms are 
aimed at increasing judicial independence.
Armenia’s parliament controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party 
approved in February legislation that made it easier for law-enforcement 
authorities to indict and arrest judges.
Armenia Marks WW2 Victory Day
Armenia - Armenian veterans of World War Two attend an official ceremony to mark 
the 77th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, Yerevan, May 9, 
2022.
Armenia’s leaders and ordinary citizens laid flowers at a World War Two memorial 
in Yerevan on Monday as they marked the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s 
victory over Nazi Germany.
The anniversary has remained a public holiday, officially called Victory and 
Peace Day, in Armenia after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Some 320,000 residents of Soviet Armenia, then a republic of just 1.3 million 
people, were drafted to the Soviet army during the bloodiest war in the history 
of humankind. The total number of its ethnic Armenian participants from various 
Soviet republics is estimated at more than 500,000. About half of them were 
killed in action.
In a statement issued on the occasion Pashinian praised Armenians’ “invaluable” 
contribution to the defeat of “one of the greatest evils: fascism.”
“107 Armenians were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, many of our 
compatriots fought in the armies of the allied countries, participated in the 
anti-fascist struggle of a number of countries and were crowned with glory,” he 
said. “Today we bow to the deeds and memory of our heroes, our martyrs, and we 
are proud of the heroism of our ancestors.”
Armenia - Russian soldiers march at Yerevan's Victory Park during an official 
ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, 9 
May, 2022.
Pashinian and President Vahagn Khachaturian led in the morning a wreath-laying 
ceremony at the war memorial located in Yerevan’s Victory Park. Armenian and 
Russian soldiers marched past its eternal fire during the ceremony.
Thousands of people, among them elderly war veterans, visited the memorial in 
the following hours.
Pashinian also exchanged traditional congratulatory messages with Russian 
President Vladimir Putin and other ex-Soviet leaders.
“The memory of the great past obliges us to strengthen the bonds of friendship 
inherited by us and to comprehensively develop Armenian-Russian relations for 
the benefit of the peoples of our countries,” he wrote to Putin.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Turkey’s Endgame in the Normalization Process with Armenia

Maral Takmazian
May 9, 2022 Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan Opinion 0

Serdar Kılıç and Ruben Rubinyan

The Armenia–Turkey normalization process was officially launched on January 14, 2022 when special representatives – the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador Serdar Kılıç – met in Moscow. The groundwork for this meeting began in mid-2021, when the Armenian government proposed the idea of peace in the South Caucasus and normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Armenia’s catastrophic defeat in the 2020 Karabakh war seemed to put aside one of the main obstacles to launching the Armenia–Turkey normalization process. The 2008-2009 “football diplomacy” failed mainly due to Turkey’s precondition to Armenia to return “occupied lands” to Azerbaijan. By signing the November 10, 2020 statement, the Armenian government accepted the loss of seven regions outside the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR), as well as 30-percent of territories of NKAR itself.

In late 2021, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan started to hint that Nagorno Karabakh had no chance to be outside Azerbaijan. This rhetoric accelerated in 2022 and culminated in a speech he delivered in the National Assembly on April 13. Thus, Armenia effectively accepted one of the main Turkish preconditions of the “football diplomacy” era. 

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Turkey’s policy in the South Caucasus has been to increase its influence in the region. Turkey was quite successful in reaching this goal in its relations with Azerbaijan and Georgia, but the absence of relations with Armenia prevented Turkey from influencing the entire region. Russia, the main rival of Turkey in the South Caucasus, simultaneously exerted a strong influence over Armenia through the deployment of a military base and border troops and the establishment of bilateral and multilateral defense and security cooperation. Meanwhile, Turkey’s full support to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and economic blockade of Armenia did not leave much room for Armenia–Turkey normalization prospects. The West, particularly the US, was constantly pushing for normalization between Armenia and Turkey. They hoped it would reduce Armenia’s fear of Turkey and decrease the necessity for Armenia to keep its military and security alliance with Russia. It would pave the way for the eventual withdrawal of the Russian military base from Armenia and a significant decrease in Russian influence in the South Caucasus.

As the Nagorno Karabakh issue ceases to be a serious obstacle for the Armenia–Turkey normalization process and the current Armenian government expresses its willingness to normalize relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey, conventional wisdom says that Turkey should do its best to use this window of opportunity to normalize relations with Armenia. It will open a new horizon for Turkey to increase its influence in the region and better compete with Russia. Meanwhile, the recent protest movement in Armenia should bother Turkey. Protesters are demanding Pashinyan’s resignation mainly for his administration’s willingness to recognize Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan if Baku provides relevant security guarantees. However, relations with Turkey are also part of the equilibrium. If a new government forms in Armenia, it will be less enthusiastic about normalizing relations with Turkey by accepting Turkey’s preconditions.

For Turkey, the window of opportunity to normalize relations with Armenia and decrease Russian influence in the South Caucasus may close soon. This implies that the Turkish government should make efforts to conclude the process by signing documents on establishing diplomatic relations and opening borders. However, the pace of the Armenia–Turkey process creates a perception that Ankara is not in a hurry to reach any concrete results and is interested more in the process than in the outcome. 

Rubinyan and Kılıç have already met three times, the last one in Vienna on May 3. After the May 3 meeting, the sides issued identical statements, with almost the same wording as the outcome of the first and second meeting. The statement emphasized that the special representatives reaffirmed the declared goal of achieving full normalization between countries and discussed possible steps that can be undertaken for tangible progress in this direction, reiterating their agreement to continue the process without preconditions. However, even the period between meetings showed a lack of progress. If the second meeting happened only 40 days after the initial one, the sides waited 70 days before holding the third meeting. 

The apparent lack of progress in the negotiations raises questions about Turkey’s real motives. One reason could be the change of Turkey’s strategic objective to use normalization with Armenia as a tool to weaken Russian positions in Armenia. It could result from Russia–Turkey understanding of managing their competition in the South Caucasus. Thus, if Ankara reaches some agreement with Moscow on the limits of their regional rivalry, the normalization of relations with Armenia may lose its significance for Turkey as a way to counter Russia. In this context, Turkey may believe that a potential change of government in Armenia will not create obstacles in the negotiation process. Thus, the window of opportunity will remain open for an extended period. 

Suppose Turkey does not see the normalization of its relations with Armenia as an urgent necessity to push forward its vital interests in the region while still believing that the US views this as a necessary step in the global US–Russia confrontation. In that case, it may wait for some gestures from the US to move forward. It may be some advancement in the US–Turkey negotiations on the sale of F-16 jets to Turkey or the cancellation of US sanctions on the Turkish defense industry. Regardless of the real motives of Turkey’s apparent lack of enthusiasm in making any progress in the normalization process with Armenia, Armenia should consider it while dealing with Ankara.

  •  Bio
  •  Latest Posts
Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan is the founder and chairman of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies. He was the former vice president for research – head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense Research University in Armenia. In March 2009, he joined the Institute for National Strategic Studies as a research Fellow and was appointed as INSS Deputy Director for research in November 2010. Dr. Poghosyan has prepared and managed the elaboration of more than 100 policy papers which were presented to the political-military leadership of Armenia, including the president, the prime minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Poghosyan has participated in more than 50 international conferences and workshops on regional and international security dynamics. His research focuses on the geopolitics of the South Caucasus and the Middle East, US – Russian relations and their implications for the region, as well as the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. He is the author of more than 200 academic papers and articles in different leading Armenian and international journals. In 2013, Dr. Poghosyan was a Distinguished Research Fellow at the US National Defense University College of International Security Affairs. He is a graduate from the US State Department Study of the US Institutes for Scholars 2012 Program on US National Security Policy Making. He holds a PhD in history and is a graduate from the 2006 Tavitian Program on International Relations at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.


Marukyan: There should have been half million people on streets now if people really wanted change of power in Armenia

Maral Takmazian
NEWS.am
Armenia – May 9 2022
17:06, 09.05.2022

No loss should hold us back from our national goals, building a stronger state. Edmon Marukyan, Chairman of the Bright Armenia Party and ambassador-at-large of Armenia, told this to reporters Monday at Yerablur Military Pantheon.

“We have made many mistakes, and that is why we are in this situation today. This is a great lesson for all of us to restore what was lost. There is no alternative to building a strong state. If you do not build a strong state, you will lose future wars, too, your nation can become a victim of genocide,” he said.

To the question whether he considers it possible that we can bring Shushi city of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) back during the rule of the incumbent Armenian authorities, Marukyan answered: “Nothing needs to be said, but needs to be done. When I say that a strong state should be built, everyone can see their dream in it. Now is not the time for any authorities of the Republic of Armenia—be it present, past or future—to show ambitions and boast against our enemies. Now is not the time for that, now is the time to build a strong state. If we had built that strong state after the previous victories, we would not have reached today. It is not necessary to say something, but to do something. (…). People, let’s build our state first, have a strong and effective state.”

Referring to the protest actions of the opposition, Marukyan mentioned that it is their right to hold such actions.

“The people have given them [parliamentary] opposition  mandate to act. It is clear that many of them participated in order to com to power, not working as an opposition. But it turned out that way, it is the people’s decision, this is the result. But the right of any political unit is to hold marches and demonstrations. But in the political sense I do not even see the worded issue,” he said, in particular.

According to Marukyan, the agenda of the change of power put forward by the opposition has no content.

“You have to put content with it. Less than a year has passed since we went to the change of power. We dissolved the National Assembly, we went to the elections, let them come to power. The people did not bring them to power, did not elect them. What should we do? We were not elected either. What should we do? Let’s demonstrate all day what we did not enter [parliament]?

If the actions of the current authorities really caused concern among the public, now there should have been half a million people on the streets. If this does not happen, then there is a misjudgment of the situation. If the people want a change of power, they will take to the streets and change the authorities. But it does not happen because there has just been an election and people want to live in peace.”

Armenian Authorities Block Roads, Warn Anti-govt Protesters

Maral Takmazian

May 4 2022
Wednesday, 4 May, 2022 – 17:15
Protesters block a street during an anti-government demonstration in Yerevan, Armenia May 3, 2022. (Photolure via Reuters)
Asharq Al-Awsat

Authorities blocked streets in Armenia’s capital Wednesday and warned anti-government protesters against trying to seize the country’s parliament building as they demonstrated to demand the prime minister’s resignation.


Police used cement mixers and trucks to close off roads and bridges leading to the center of Yerevan as demonstrators chanted, “Armenia without Nikol,” referring to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.


The protesters, meanwhile, used cars to block the area around pedestrian underground passageways at major intersections. They marched in at least 10 directions.


“We can speak with the authorities about only one thing – their immediate departure,” Ishkhan Saghatelyan, vice president of the country’s parliament, the National Assembly of Armenia. He also is chair of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Supreme Council.


Police arrested some of the protesters, and security officials warned them against trying to storm the parliament building. Pashinyan was scheduled to speak to parliament on Wednesday.


Anti-government demonstrations have taken place almost daily since April 17. The prime minister became a renewed target of rancor after he spoke in parliament about the need to sign a peace agreement with neighboring Azerbaijan.


The two countries have clashed for decades over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under Armenian control since early 1990s. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed control over some of the region before signing a Russia-brokered truce with Armenia.


Newspaper: Armenia PM had arrangement with ruling political team’s parliament faction

Maral Takmazian
News.am
Armenia – May 7 2022
10:09, 07.05.2022

YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: The ruling political team, the “Civil Contract” Faction of the National Assembly, had a discussion with [PM] Nikol Pashinyan before the last National Assembly-Government question and answer [session], and decided what they should do if the parliamentary opposition goes to the National Assembly.

According to the Zhoghovurd daily’s information, Pashinyan instructed the CC members not to respond in any way, not to make “remarks” and “comments” to the criticism of the opposition—even insults—coming towards them. (…).

Thus, they had decided not to stir passions and not to further anger the assembled citizens. But as we saw, the [parliament] majority MPs applauded Pashinyan’s speech [in the legislature] and chanted “Armenia” without specifying whether they are chanting the name of the [opposition] “Armenia” Faction or of the Republic of Armenia.

As for the MPs of the opposition “Armenia” and “With Honor” Factions, there was obvious ambiguity in their steps and actions. It was clear that either there was no shared decision or not everyone was aware of it. This was obvious from the behavior of the oppositionists looking at each other questioningly and clarifying questions to each other constantly in the [parliament sessions’] hall.

This Armenian pizzeria in Toronto is the home of a nearly century-old recipe

Maral Takmazian
Toronto – May 6 2022
CTV NEWS TORONTO MULTI-PLATFORM WRITER
Hannah Alberga

11:04 PM

Mamajoun is an Armenian pizzeria located in Scarborough at Warden Avenue Ellesmere Road. (CTV News Toronto/ Hannah Alberga)

For some, comfort food is a grilled cheese oozing with cheddar plunged into ketchup or a bottomless bowl of steaming hot ramen. For others, it’s lahmajoun.

“It’s quote, unquote Armenian pizza,” Mihran Boudakian, owner of Mamajoun in Scarborough, told CTV News Toronto. “Essentially, a flatbread with a meat topping.”

While lahmajoun shares the characteristic of a dough base with Italian pizza, its overlap ends there.

With lahmajoun, the dough is dusted with flour, soft to the touch, but crispy around the edges. Spiced meat is carefully patted across the surface, only leaving the outer edges of the dough naked. To eat, lemon juice is squeezed on top before the dough is butterflied inward.

“It’s in my blood, my father did it, my grandfather did it,” Boudakian said.

His family’s lahmajoun recipe dates back nearly a century to two bakeries his grandfather owned in Lebanon and Syria. At the time, the dough was mixed and portioned by hand before it was thrust into a wood-fire oven.

Growing up, Boudakian’s mother mixed the meat while his father opened the dough and evenly spread the mixture across the base. Since they could only fit three or four in the oven at a time, the process was a day-long affair.

At Mamajoun, Boudakian has commercial mixers to expedite the lengthy process, but he still spreads the spiced meat by hand, pressing it with his fingertips until the mixture is evenly distributed. Each movement is a purposeful, artistic act.

The name of his establishment, Mamajoun, is an ode to his late mother by binding “Mama” with the “joun” from lahmajoun.

“If my mom was still alive right now, she would be losing her mind. The last thing she would want me to do is open a restaurant,” he said.

Despite her disapproval, he opened the doors of their space at Warden Avenue and Ellesmere Road in 2014 with his wife Natasha Koumayan.

“When you’re joining a family-run business, all your eggs are kind of in the same basket,” Boudakian said. “This last year has been the toughest because it’s been one after another, every time I go to buy something,” he said.

Before pandemic-era disruptions strangled supply chains, Boudakian said he paid $75 for a pale of tahini. Now, that cost has climbed to $95. He said a bag of flour that once cost him $13 is now $22. “When you go through 25 bags a week,” he said. “It really, really adds up.”

Until three months ago, he resisted hiking his prices but it became impossible to hold them down. “Constantly, prices are going up. I can’t change the price of my food at that same rate,” he said.

To survive, he started venturing outside of his own establishment to showcase his food at other venues like the Oud and Fuzz in Kensington Market to attract new customers.

Some days, he said he questions if he should have travelled down the path his mother warned him against. “[But] then you have a family come in and they have a little kid and they love your food and they tell you that,” Boudakian said.

“You’re touching families and people come together at a table and you are supplying them with the food and they are having their moment and you’re part of it, even though you’re not actually there, but a little part of you is there. I guess that’s what makes it worthwhile.” 

Justice Department Defends Biden’s Right to Waive Section 907

Maral Takmazian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 May 5, 2022

 

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

President Joe Biden

The Justice Department on Thursday defended President Biden’s right to waive Section 907 and continue shipping U.S. arms and military aid to Azerbaijan, the Armenian National Committee of America reported.

In a 19-page response to a temporary restraining order filed by California-based attorney Harry Kaladjian.

On April 30 Kaladjian requested for a temporary restraining order was filed against President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which would block the waiver of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.

In the legal action, Kaladjian called for enjoining the Biden Administration from certifying the Section 907 waiver “until such time as the Government of the United States properly reports on the effects of any waiver of Section 907 pursuant to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and until the Government of Azerbaijan ceases all forms of Armenophobia.”

Kaladjian fired back at the flawed Justice Department defense of Section 907 waiver authority by filing an 11-page brief detailing how the President’s failure to enforce this law “supports Armenophonia,” and subjects Armenian Americans to “discrimination and marginalization.”

The matter remains before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division.

Kremlin commented on protests in Armenia

Maral Takmazian
ARMINFO
Armenia – May 5 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.What is happening in Armenia is an internal affair of the country, but Moscow is interested in resolving the situation as soon as possible. This was  announced to journalists on Thursday by press secretary of the  President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, TASS reports.

“This is entirely and completely an internal affair of Armenia,” a  Kremlin spokesman said, referring to opposition rallies in Armenia.

He stressed that Yerevan is an ally of Moscow. “Armenia is our ally,  it is our partner in several very important integration formats for  us, Armenia is our great friend,” Peskov said.

“Therefore, of course, we are interested in seeing this period end in  Armenia as soon as possible and a period of stability begin again,  which will allow us to gradually move towards the implementation of  those trilateral agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh, which were finalized  with the participation of the President of Russia, as well as in  general in terms of the development of our bilateral relations,” the  Kremlin spokesman said.

Since May 1, a tent city of opposition forces has been set up on  France Square, demanding the resignation of Pashinyan and his team.  The activists of the movement have been spending the fourth night on  the street, and in the morning blocking the streets throughout the  city. On May 3 and 4, regional roads were also blocked.

Today, members of the Movement are also blocking the roads of the  capital and regions throughout the day. Thus, the fourth day the city  is in a transport collapse. It is worth noting that the police use  disproportionate force against peaceful protesters. 

Armenian protesters call for PM to resign over Karabakh ‘concessions’

Maral Takmazian
May 2 2022
Opposition parties in Armenia on Monday staged protests to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resign over his policy on the long-contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Arch-foe Caucasus neighbours Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a dispute since the 1990s over the mountainous enclave in Azerbaijan predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians.

Karabakh was at the centre of a six-week war in 2020 that claimed more than 6,500 lives before it ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Opposition parties now accuse Pashinyan of plans to give away all of Karabakh to Azerbaijan after he told lawmakers last month that the “international community calls on Armenia to scale down demands on Karabakh”.

Waving Armenian and Karabakh flags and shouting demands for Pashinyan to step down, some 5,000 protesters marched on Monday evening in central Yerevan.

“We are launching a popular protest movement to force Pashinyan to resign,” parliament vice speaker and opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelyan told AFP ahead of the rally.

“He is a traitor, he has lied to the people,” he said, accusing the 46-year-old leader of wanting to hand over the contested region to Azerbaijan. “He has no popular mandate to do so.”

Saghatelyan said “protests will not stop until Pashinyan goes.”

One of the demonstrators, 53-year-old dentist Hripsime Mkrtchyan, said: “Nikol must resign. His poor policy has led to territorial and human losses.”

“Our people have never been  in such a depressed mood. We don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Earlier in the morning, public transport was disrupted in Yerevan as small groups of protesters attempted to block traffic in the city centre.

Police intervened, briefly detaining dozens of protesters.

The Union of Journalists, a media advocacy group, criticised police tactics as heavy-handed, saying there were several instances of officers punching journalists covering the protests.

On Sunday, several thousand protesters rallied in central Yerevan to demand Pashinyan’s resignation.

Under the Moscow-brokered deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the truce.

The pact was seen in Armenia as a national humiliation and sparked weeks of anti-government protests, leading Pashinyan to call snap parliamentary polls which his party, Civil Contract, won last September.

In April, Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met for rare EU-mediated talks in Brussels after which they tasked their foreign ministers to “begin preparatory work for peace talks.”

The meeting came after a flare-up in Karabakh on March 25 that saw Azerbaijan capture a strategic village in the area under the Russian peacekeepers’ responsibility, killing three separatist troops.

Baku tabled in mid-March its set of framework proposals for the peace agreement that includes both sides’ mutual recognition of territorial integrity, meaning Yerevan should agree on Karabakh being part of Azerbaijan.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan sparked controversy at home when he said — commenting on the Azerbaijani proposal — that for Yerevan “the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial issue, but a matter of rights” of the local ethnic-Armenian population.

Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflicts claimed around 30,000 lives.

(AFP)

https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220502-armenian-protesters-call-for-pm-to-resign-over-karabakh-concessions