Author: Maral Takmazian

Artsakh ready to observe humanitarian truce on reciprocal basis – Foreign Ministry

Maral Takmazian

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 22:49,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh has issued a statement over the ceasefire truce, expressing readiness to observe it on reciprocal basis. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of MFA Artsakh, the statement runs as follows,

‘’We welcome the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries and of the Republic of Armenia towards ceasefire and de-escalation of tension in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict zone. The Republic of Artsakh confirms readiness to observe the humanitarian truce on a reciprocal basis, in line with the Moscow Statement of October 10, 2020, and agreement reached on ’’.

Armenian Americans March for Artsakh in Pasadena

Maral Takmazian
Pasadena Now
Oct 16 2020
By EDDIE RIVERA | Photography by JAMES CARBONE
Published on Friday, | 5:30 am

Hundreds of local Armenian Americans packed Centennial Plaza in front of Pasadena City Hall Thursday evening to protest the recent attacks by Azerbaijan and Turkey on the Artsakh region of Armenia.

The event was organized by a group of Pasadena-area clergy and community organizations that have coalesced to decry the recent violence by staging four days of activism.

Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh, straddles Armenia and Azerbaijan and has been governed as a de facto independent republic controlled by ethnic Armenians since 1991.

The disputed area exploded with violence in the latest outbreak of fighting on Sept. 27.

“We are very upset, because not only are we dealing with war and our countrymen are dying in the hundreds, but we are also dealing with the extreme indignation of a media blackout here in the United States,” said one of the rally organizers, former City Council candidate Boghos Patatian.

Thursday’s crowd, estimated by police to be as many as 600 but described by attendees as in the thousands, heard speeches before moving the short distance westward to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Old Pasadena’s Memorial Park.

The gathering at City Hall was also attended by a number of local leaders and elected officials, including State Senator Anthony Portantino, PUSD Board Members Roy Boulghourjian and Scott Phelps, and PUSD Board President Patrick Cahalan, along with Mayor Terry Tornek and Councilmember Victor Gordo.

Tornek told the crowd, “We are here in solidarity with you tonight,” and said “the City of Pasadena stands with its Armenian-American community in these difficult times, and mourns for the innocent victims of military aggression.”

Councilmember Victor Gordo emphasized his own immigrant roots, and said, “I know what it’s like to live in the United States and have family elsewhere that you worry about.”

“These are 150,000 people in the historic area of Armenia wanting to live in peace,” said State Senator Anthony Portantino, “And I am proud to stand on the steps of the City Hall in Pasadena to yell as loud as I can, and condemn these actions, and call for the U.S. Government to call the Minsk Group together, to call French peacekeepers, and Russian interests, and come together to make a lasting peace.”

Following the presentation and speeches at City Hall, the group walked south on Garfield to Colorado Boulevard where they proceeded west on Colorado Boulevard, eventually ending up at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Memorial Park, where they heard prayers from Armenian faith leaders.

The newly-formed Pasadena for Artsakh group is planning a series of events through Saturday to bring light to the issue.

The organization is also planning a fundraising dinner at 7 p.m. Friday at the Hovhannes and Hripsime Jivalagian Youth Center, 2242 E. Foothill Blvd.

A town hall meeting on the conflict will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Hovhannes and Hripsime Jivalagian Youth Center, according to Pasadena for Artsakh.

Finally, a car wash and breakfast-to-go event will take place Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., also at the Hovhannes and Hripsime Jivalagian Youth Center.

For more information, Patatian and the Pasadena for Artsakh Leadership Council can be reached at (626) 818-9004.

See also:

Pasadena’s Armenian Community Decries Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, Calls for U.S. Action

Locals Decry Broken Ceasefire in Armenia, Azerbaijan Conflict

https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/armenian-americans-march-for-artsakh-in-pasadena/

Aliyev’s statement on capturing Hadrut is “total lie”, says Artsakh

Maral Takmazian

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 17:38, 9 October, 2020

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev’s statement on his military having captured the town of Hadrut in Artsakh is a “total lie”, Artsakh presidential spokesperson Vahram Poghosyan told ARMENPRESS.

He said Aliyev’s statements are “from the genre of non-science fantasy.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

CivilNet: Facebook Cracks Down On Massive Network of Fake Activity Connected to Azerbaijan’s Ruling Party

Maral Takmazian
CIVILNET.AM

9 October, 2020 10:04

Facebook has cracked down on a massive network of fake activity connected to Azerbaijan’s ruling party. The site has removed more than 1,000 accounts and close to 8,000 pages.

Weeks after firing the whistleblower who called for Facebook to take action against the fake users, Facebook removed the troll farm connected to Azerbaijan’s President.

“This network appeared to engage individuals in Azerbaijan to manage Pages with the sole purpose of leaving supportive and critical commentary on Pages of international and local media, public figures including opposition and the ruling party of Azerbaijan, to create a perception of wide-spread criticism of some views and wide-spread support of others,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook security policy.

In an explosive internal memo obtained by BuzzFeed News, Sophie Zhang said Facebook was ignoring manipulation of its platforms by corrupt political parties and heads of government.

In Azerbaijan, Zhang found a large network of inauthentic accounts used to attack opponents of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and his ruling New Azerbaijan Party.

“This network posted primarily in Azerbaijani, and also in Russian and English. Their comments frequently touched on local and regional news and events, politics, government policies, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenia’s actions during past escalations in Nagorno-Karabakh, praise of President Ilham Aliyev and the New Azerbaijani Party, criticism of the opposition party and leaders accusing them of treason, and denials of human rights abuse allegations in Azerbaijan,” Gleicher said.

Tbilisi: Georgia’s National Security Council on Karabakh Developments

Maral Takmazian
Civil Georgia
Oct 3 2020

The National Security Council (NSC) of Georgia convened on October 3 in connection to the renewed Armenia-Azerbaijani clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh, stated that “since the inception of escalation, [Tbilisi] temporarily suspended the issuance of permits for transiting military cargo through its territory in the direction of both countries, be it by air or land.” The NSC said the decision “was duly communicated to both sides.”

The Council stated, however, that “civilian goods and cargo are transited through Georgia safely, without obstacles, in all directions, including to Azerbaijan and Armenia,” adding that “the intensity of freight transport is high, and it has not changed since the resumption of the armed conflict.”

The NSC noted that since the escalation of the conflict, Georgia has not and will not impose any restrictions for the purposes of civilian cargo air transportation.

Noting that Georgia continues meeting its international obligations with due diligence, including in relation to its neighbors, Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Council said, “Georgia’s transit function is an important factor for the economic functioning and development of both said countries, and that, naturally, serves Georgia’s interests as well.”

The NSC also highlighted that “we should not allow that, amid the crisis between Azerbaijan and Armenia, certain destructive elements in or outside of Georgia cast shadow over our friendship and historic experience.” 

Georgia, the Council underlined, “has always prided itself on the peaceful coexistence of Georgians and different ethnicities, including Azerbaijanis and Armenians, which is our common achievement requiring great care and shared commitment.”

The National Security Council of Georgia also reaffirmed its readiness to contribute, in any form, to the defusing of tensions, including by facilitating dialogue and hosting a meeting of representatives of the conflicting sides in Tbilisi, if need be.

“It is our common interest to promptly stop the military confrontation and restore the peace in the region,” the statement noted.

NSC is an eight-member advisory body chaired by the Prime Minister. The rest of the permanent members include: Defense, Interior, Foreign and Finance ministers, heads of State Security and Intelligence services, and Chief of the Armed Forces. The role of its Secretary is currently assumed by Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri.

Renewed Azerbaijan/Armenia conflict a new threat to Russia’s delicate balancing act with key player Turkey

Maral Takmazian
RT – Russia Today
Sept 28 2020

By Paul Robinson, a professor at the University of Ottawa. He writes about Russian and Soviet history, military history, and military ethics.

Azerbaijan has never forgotten its 1990s humiliation at the hands of Armenia. Now stronger than its sworn enemy, and emboldened by Turkish support, Baku’s assertiveness is creating a headache for Moscow.

Russian president Vladimir Putin once complained that communist leader Vladimir Lenin had placed a ‘time bomb’ under Russia. He had in mind the introduction of the federal principle after Lenin’s Bolsheviks took power in 1917. Lenin gave national minorities their own republics within the Soviet Union. In so doing, he created a situation which allowed those republics to secede from the Union once communist power collapsed.

Soviet federalism brought other problems. The communists granted autonomy to the larger nationalities in the form of 15 ‘republics.’ Smaller nationalities also got autonomy, but of a different form – so-called ‘autonomous republics’ and ‘autonomous regions.’ When the union fell apart, fully-fledged republics got independence, but the autonomous republics and regions within them did not.

READ MORE: Baku showcases infantry & artillery in action as Azeri-Armenian border fighting sees opening of second ‘propaganda front’ (VIDEO)

Unsurprisingly, many of the smaller minorities were not too happy with this somewhat arbitrary outcome, and attempted to secede from the seceding republics. The result was several wars, the first of which took place in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, after it attempted to secede from Azerbaijan and join with Armenia. The war ended in an Armenian victory. Not only did the Armenians drive the Azeris out of Nagorno-Karabakh, but they also captured a swath of Azeri territory linking Armenia with the breakaway region.

Nagorno-Karabakh became a de-facto independent state, albeit one recognized by nobody and entirely dependent on Armenian support. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has never abandoned its claim to its lost province nor to the territories seized by Armenia. The result has been occasional military clashes between Yerevan and Baku over the past 30 years.

This weekend, violence once again flared up on the front lines between the Armenian and Azeri forces. The Armenian government announced that it had repulsed an enemy offensive and issued a video showing the destruction of several items of Azeri military equipment. The Azeri government, in turn, accused Armenia of attacking it, and declared that it had launched its own counter-offensive in which it had ‘liberated’ several villages. Armenia has now mobilized its army. Many fear the outbreak of all-out war.

One explanation for the recent flare-up may be that Azerbaijan feels much stronger than it did when it suffered its defeat at the hands of Armenia 30 years ago. The Azeri economy, benefitting from substantial oil reserves, has outgrown that of its neighbor, as has the Azeri population – there are 10 million Azeris compared with only three million Armenians. Azerbaijan has invested heavily in its military and may feel much more confident about its prospects should matters escalate further.


Another explanation may be the support Azerbaijan is receiving from its primary ally – Turkey. Following this weekend’s clashes, Turkish president Recep Erdogan called on ‘the entire world to stand with Azerbaijan in its battle against invasion.’ Such Turkish support may embolden the Azeri leadership not to back down if things begin to get out of hand.

Russia has officially adopted a position of neutrality in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, and called on all sides to settle their differences peacefully. This has meant supporting the status quo. Since that status quo favours Armenia, in reality this position has meant supporting Armenia, a posture reinforced by Armenia’s membership of various multilateral initiatives sponsored by Russia, notably the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union.

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh thus indirectly pits Russia against Turkey. It also undermines a common narrative that claims that Russia seeks to undermine democracy and promote authoritarian forms of government. After all, Russia’s ally Armenia is a democracy whereas Turkey’s ally, Azerbaijan, is not.

Nagorno-Karabakh is not the only location where Russian and Turkish proxies are clashing. In Syria, Russia has been backing the government of Bashar Assad while Turkey has been propping up the anti-Assad rebels in Idlib province. And in Libya, Russia is said to support rebel general Khalifa Haftar, while Turkey recently sent substantial aid to the government forces in Tripoli to help drive Haftar’s troops away from the capital.


Russia has good reasons, therefore, to regard Turkey as a spoiler, undermining Russian influence in the Caucasus, Middle East, and North Africa. But Russia isn’t the only state that Turkey has irritated in recent years. Turkey currently has poor relations with fellow NATO members, and this provides an opportunity which Russia can exploit for its own advantage. Economic opportunities also beckon in Turkey, as seen by the recent Turkish decision to purchase Russian-made S-400 air-defense missiles.

Consequently, whenever Russia and Turkey have clashed in recent years, the Russian government has sought to rapidly calm things down. Unsurprisingly, it is now taking the same approach regarding the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. On the one hand, Russia needs to stand by its Armenian ally. On the other hand, it wishes to avoid an escalation which would bring it into conflict with Turkey. A restoration of the ceasefire and the status-quo ante thus serves it best. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore issued a statement declaring that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was “intensively conducting talks to induce the parties to immediately cease firing and start negotiations to stabilize the situation.”

For now, this approach may work. In the longer term, though, economic and demographic considerations mean that power in the Southern Caucasus will likely continue to shift in Azerbaijan’s favor. As it does, Russia’s balancing act vis-à-vis Turkey could become increasingly difficult to maintain.



‘Azerbaijan was wrong, we were right’: Armenian PM on logic of July battles

Maral Takmazian

‘Azerbaijan was wrong, we were right’: Armenian PM on logic of July battles

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 17:31,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers the September 14 statement of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs constructive and logical.

“It [the statement] is in accordance with the visions of the Armenian side on resuming or continuing the negotiation process. We have principles in the negotiation process, we have recorded these principles, but we have also stated that we do not consider these principles as a precondition, we have stated that we will not negotiate if these issues are not solved. Because if all these issues are solved, there is no need to negotiate. Negotiation aims at solving these issues, it doesn’t need to start after the solution of these issues”, the PM said during a Q&A session in the Parliament, in response to the question of independent MP Arman Babajanyan.

The PM said in his view Azerbaijan has preconditions, as it says that Karabakh must be exclusively a part of Azerbaijan. He said that before the July battles Azerbaijan was making militaristic statements which are not in line with the negotiation logic at all.

“But I think that the position of the international community is very clear: the Karabakh issue has exclusively a peaceful, negotiated solution, but the July battles changed the following logic: we were stating that no one can talk to Armenia and Artsakh with the language of force, Azerbaijan was stating that they would solve the Karabakh issue by force within 24 hours. It turned out that Azerbaijan was wrong, we were right”, the Armenian PM stated.

He also informed that no meeting is scheduled between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, discussions are in process.

On July 12, 2020, Azerbaijan unleashed an attack on the border with Armenia, in the direction of Tavush province, targeting not only the Armenian military positions, but also the civilian settlements. But all attempts of Azerbaijan resulted in failure as the Armenian Armed Forces confidently pushed back all the attacks and took the situation under full control.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Chess: Armenia’s Levon Aronian the sole leader at Chess 9LX Champions Showdown

Maral Takmazian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 13 2020
Armenia’s Levon Aronian the sole leader at Chess 9LX Champions Showdown

Armenia’s Levon Aronian is the sole leader of the Chess 9LX Champions Showdown after winning all three games on the second day o fthe tournament.

Aronian is half a point ahead of Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So.

In the post-game interview, Aronian remarked that he spent more time preparing and doing tactics before the games and felt that he was playing “with more passion.”

He still has his work cut out for him as he faces Garry Kasparov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Magnus Carlsen on the final day.

Ten of the world’s elite remotely fight it out for a total prize fund of $150,000, playing nine rounds of Chess 960 or Fischer Random games over three days.

Chess 960 is a chess variant, the original concept for which was pioneered by the late American World Champion Bobby Fischer, where the pieces on the first and last ranks are shuffled. Some 960 unique positions are possible, which explains the name.



RFE/RL Armenian Report – 09/02/2020

Maral Takmazian 
                                        Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Former Police Chief’s Properties Investigated
        • Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - Vladimir Gasparian (L), the chief of the Armenian police, argues with 
a protester in Yerevan, 26Jun2015.
Law-enforcement authorities have launched a criminal investigation into a luxury 
compound belonging to Vladimir Gasparian, a former chief of the Armenian police.
The Investigative Committee said on Wednesday that the properties located on the 
northern shore of Lake Sevan may have been built and officially registered in 
violation of Armenian laws strictly regulating construction in the 
environmentally sensitive area.
In a statement, the law-enforcement body said a government agency registered the 
entire compound in January 2018 despite suspicions that some of its 14 houses 
and other structures had been built illegally. It said the registration was 
controversially recommended by the leadership of the state-run Sevan National 
Park (SNP).
Vahe Gulanian, who ran the SNP at the time, categorically denied breaking any 
laws or government regulations when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service. He 
described the Investigative Committee statement as “flawed.”
The statement said that the Investigative Committee is conducting a criminal 
investigation into forgery and failure to prevent illegal construction and 
seizure of public land. It has not charged anyone so far.
A spokeswoman for the committee said investigators have not questioned Gasparian 
as part of the inquiry.
A lawyer for Gasparian, Tigran Atanesian, scoffed at the probe in a short 
Facebook post. “Don’t you know other heroes?” wrote Atanesian.
According to the Investigative Committee statement, the criminal case was opened 
as a result of an ongoing separate investigation into Gasparian’s threats voiced 
against RFE/RL reporters last month. The former police chief accosted and 
threatened them with violence as they filmed his compound while collecting 
material about illegally built villas along the Sevan coastline.
Obstruction of news reporting and other journalistic work is a criminal offense 
in Armenia.
Gasparian headed the national police service from 2011 to 2018. He was sacked 
immediately after the “Velvet Revolution” of April-May 2018 that toppled the 
country previous government.
In September 2018, Gasparian was charged with abusing his powers to benefit 
people working for former President Serzh Sarkisian’s brothers. He denies the 
accusations.
Yerevan Slams Turkey's Ban On German Military Flights To Armenia
Germany -- The Airbus A310 of the Federal German Air Force named Theodor Heuss 
at the military section of Tegel Airport in Berlin, 24Jun2011
The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday reports that Turkey has 
refused to allow a German military transport aircraft to fly over its airspace 
en route to Armenia.
The plane was due to pick up Armenian soldiers and transport them to Germany for 
further training preceding their deployment in Afghanistan.
Some 120 Armenian servicemen serve in Afghanistan under German command as part 
of a NATO-led multinational force. The Armenian military rotates them on a 
regular basis.
The German magazine “Der Spiegel” reported on Friday that the Airbus 310 
aircraft of the German Air Force was on its way to Yerevan in late July when 
Turkish air traffic controllers unexpectedly refused, without any explanation, 
to give it overflight permission. The plane had to return to a German military 
airfield as a result, it said, adding that the Armenian soldiers were flown to 
Germany over Russia’s airspace in mid-August.
“As far as I know, the Defense Ministry did not refute that information,” said 
Anna Naghdalian, the spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
“It is condemnable that Turkey now also obstructs NATO-led and UN-led 
peacekeeping operations based on its anti-Armenian positions,” Naghdalian told 
reporters. “We have raised this issue with our international partners through 
diplomatic channels.”
Armenia -- A German army general gives medals to Armenian soldiers serving in 
Afghanistan.
Ankara has not denied the “Der Spiegel” report. According to the report, the 
German military, the Bundeswehr, regards the Turkish move as a “deliberate 
provocation” by a NATO member state.
The German plane was reportedly not allowed to fly over Turkish territory just 
days after the outbreak of heavy fighting on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, 
Turkey’s closest regional ally. Ankara blamed Yerevan for the weeklong 
hostilities, which left 17 soldiers dead, and voiced support for Baku in 
unusually strong terms.
The Armenian government responded by accusing the Turks of trying to destabilize 
the region, undercutting international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict and posing a serious security threat to Armenia.
Karabakh Leader Sees No Peace Deal With Azerbaijan
Nagorno Karabakh -- Karabakh President Ara Harutiunian airs a live video message 
on Facebook, Stepanakert, May 29, 2020
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unlikely to be fully resolved in the 
foreseeable future, Ara Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, said on Wednesday.
“The likelihood of resolving this problem within decades is very low,” 
Harutiunian told a news conference in Stepanakert. “We don’t see that happening.”
“That is why through strengthening our army we should force the enemy to reckon 
with the Armenian force of Artsakh (Karabakh) and maintain the status quo until 
major geopolitical developments that could lead to some temporary or rather 
partial resolution of the Karabakh conflict,” he said. “A full resolution is not 
possible.”
The Karabakh leader said that the international community has already brokered 
such an interim solution to the conflict in Kosovo, an Albanian-populated former 
province of Serbia recognized as an independent state by most Western nations.
Harutiunian spoke to reporters on the 19th anniversary of Karabakh’s declaration 
of independence from Soviet Azerbaijan which came just four months before the 
breakup of the Soviet Union and was followed by a bloody Armenian-Azerbaijani 
war for the territory.
Azerbaijan never recognized the legality of that declaration. It continues to 
consider Karabakh an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan occupied by 
Armenia.
Harutiunian’s remarks came amid efforts by international mediators -- and Russia 
in particular -- to revive the Karabakh peace process following the recent heavy 
fighting at a volatile section of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that both Yerevan and 
Baku now seem interested in further easing tensions and resuming peace talks 
mediated by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. He 
stressed that the talks should continue to focus on a framework peace accord 
which was first put forward by the mediators in 2007 and has been repeatedly 
modified since then.
The mediators’ so-called Madrid Principles call for a phased settlement that 
would start with Armenian withdrawal from virtually all seven districts in 
Azerbaijan proper fully or partly controlled by Karabakh Armenian forces. In 
return, Karabakh’s predominantly Armenian population would be able to determine 
the dispute region’s internationally recognized status in a future referendum.
Red Cross Still Seeking Access To Armenian POW In Azerbaijan
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia - The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, at a news 
briefing in Yerevan, December 20, 2018.
Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have 
still not been able to visit an Armenian army officer who was captured by 
Azerbaijani troops late last month, officials in Yerevan said on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the ICRC office in Yerevan, Zara Amatuni, told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian service that the ICRC is continuing its “dialogue” with relevant 
Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities regarding the officer, Gurgen Alaverdian. 
She would not say when the Azerbaijani side could allow ICRC representatives in 
Baku to meet and speak with Alaverdian.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry also reported continuing efforts to arrange such a 
visit. “Given the sensitivity of the issue I won’t give other details,” said the 
ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian.
The Azerbaijani military claims that Alaverdian was taken prisoner during a 
failed Armenian commando raid on one of its frontline positions north of 
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian Defense Ministry strongly denies this, saying 
that Alaverdian simply lost his way on August 22 due to poor weather.
Yerevan has said that Baku’s treatment of the Armenian serviceman constitutes a 
serious violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention on prisoners of war. It has 
specifically decried an Azerbaijani Defense Ministry vide shows the serviceman 
saying in broken Armenian that he led a special army unit that planned to carry 
out “sabotage” attacks in Azerbaijan. It says he was clearly forced to read out 
a written text badly translated into Armenian.
The Azerbaijani authorities brought a string of criminal charges against 
Alaverdian following the release of the video last week.
Naghdalian deplored this and other “trumped-up” criminal cases brought against 
Armenian citizens held in Azerbaijani captivity.
“I want point out in this regard that two citizens of Azerbaijan have crossed 
into Armenia in the course of this year alone,” she told a news conference. 
“Unlike Azerbaijan, Armenia has not prosecuted them or portrayed them as 
prisoners of war and fully respects their dignity and human rights.”
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Constitutional Reforms commission considers lowering voting age in Armenia

Maral Takmazian
ArmenPress, Armenia
Aug 21 2020
 
 
 
 13:04,
 
YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. The Specialized Commission for Constitutional Reforms is discussing the option of lowering the voting age in Armenia, member of the commission Daniel Ioannisyan said during an online discussion.
 
“Three potential scenarios are being discussed,” he said. “One of the scenarios is to leave the [voting age] as it is, that is 18. I am not in favor of this option. The other scenario implies lowering the age to 16 or 17. The third scenario is to give parliament the liberty to decide the voting age for any given election. We give citizens aged 16 the right to form a family, to participate in assemblies, to work, and why can’t they have the right to vote also?”
 
According to Ioannisyan the commission has so far clearly agreed on two items – that Armenia must remain a parliamentary republic and that the “stable majority” mechanism should be scrapped.
 
The commission is also looking into possible reforms in the mechanism of election of the President, the referenda, and the formation of a government if the “stable majority” system is abolished.
 
The commission is expected to deliver the Constitutional Reforms bill to the Prime Minister by September 1, 2020.
 
Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan