11:11, 4 May, 2021
STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. 6 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in the Republic of Artsakh in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,679.
50 coronavirus tests have been carried out on May 3, the ministry of healthcare of Artsakh said.
Currently, 21 infected patients receive treatment in hospitals.
On April 19 the vaccinations against COVID-19 have launched in Artsakh.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, May 6. /TASS/. Moscow and Yerevan are negotiating the production of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Thursday at a news conference following talks with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazyan.
In April, the first batch of Sputnik V was delivered to Armenia. In mid-April, Yerevan said it was in talks with Moscow about launching the production of the vaccine domestically with a view to manufacturing up to 100,000 doses per month.
April 27, 2021
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ara Aivazyan
The recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is a universal issue of humanity, Armenia’s Acting Foreign Minister Ara Aivazyan said in an interview with BBC Weekend, calling on Turkey to face its own history.
Aivazyan said President Joe Biden’s statement on April 24 makes a significant contribution to the global effort to garner recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the prevention of genocides. “Today, the US authorities have unequivocally reiterated their commitment to human rights and the principles of humanity,” Aivazyan said.
“As 106 years ago, today the Armenian people are fighting for historical justice, for a safe and dignified life in their historical homeland. We welcome the statement of President Biden by which the US clearly defines the mass atrocities committed against the Armenian people in the 20th century as genocide,” Aivazyan said, reminding that resolutions recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide were adopted by the US House of Representatives and Senate in 2019.
Commenting on the possible impact of Biden’s statement on Armenia’s relations with Turkey, the Acting Foreign Minister said: “As far as relations with Turkey are concerned, Turkey has been pursuing hostile and aggressive policy toward Armenia since the restoration of independence back in 1991. Turkey rejected the establishment of diplomatic relations, it closed border with Armenia and pursued increasingly hostile policy against Armenia. Moreover, Turkey directly got involved in the Azerbaijani aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh by dispatching thousands of foreign terrorist fighters to our region.”
“We do hope that this very important statement by the U.S. President will pave the way for dialogue and eventually to the normalization of relations. It will also contribute to the regional peace and stability,” added Aivazyan.
“I believe this creates grounds for Turkish society to face the pages of their history. And also it induces the society to question the tragic pages of their history. I believe it will also create grounds for dialogue between two neighboring countries. A schism was created between two neighboring countries and I believe this will be a very important step for normalization of our relations,” he concluded.
Azerbaijan is trying to mislead the international community and turn the legal issue of the Artsakh war prisoners into a political matter,” Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan stated at parliament on Friday. In Tatoyan’s words, in the occurred situation Armenia’s message to the international community should be that the conflict has not ended and any person held in Azerbaijan is a prisoner.
The Ombudsman stressed that no leadership in Armenia has ever spread hatred against the Azerbaijani people, while in Azerbaijan the opposite is taking place. Tatoyan reminded that neither criminal prosecution not detentions are applicable against war prisons, while Azerbaijan intentionally does the opposite to keep the Armenian public under pressure. The Ombudsman noted that the issue of the prisoners causes sufferings to the families.
“I personally met and talked to prisoners who returned from Azerbaijani captivity and have full understanding what sufferings they had passed through,” said Tatoyan, declining to publicize the accounts.
The primary task of Armenia is to show to the international community that Azerbaijan runs the same genocidal policy against Armenians that had been used by the Ottoman leaders as it constitutes with all definitions of religious and ethnic hatred.
The Istanbul-based Human Rights Association (İHD) filed a criminal complaint against far-right independent member of the Turkish Parliament Ümit Özdağ, who threatened Garo Paylan with facing the same fate as his ancestors, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported on Wednesday.
The İHD accused Özdağ, a professor of political science and currently an independent lawmaker from Turkey’s southeastern province of Gaziantep who served with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and İYİ Party in the past, of “inciting the public to hatred or hostility” in accordance with Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Komisyon olarak HDP’li Ermeni milletvekili Garo Paylan’ı ırkçı saiklerle tehdit eden Ümit Özdağ hakkında suç duyurusunda bulunduk. pic.twitter.com/fq7ZHOHwNk
— İHD-Irkçılık ve Ayrımcılığa Karşı Komisyon (@irkciliga_karsi) April 27, 2021
Paylan, an Armenian lawmaker representing the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), released a statement on Twitter on April 24 criticizing the naming of streets in Turkey after Talaat Pasha, the de facto political leader of the Ottoman Empire during World War I who is held responsible for the deportations and atrocities committed against Armenians at the time.
“We are walking on streets 106 years later named after Talaat Pasha, the architect of the genocide. We send our kids to schools named Talaat Pasha. We are living in a Turkey like what Germany would have been if there had been streets and schools named after Hitler in Germany today,” tweeted Paylan.
The message drew an angry and threatening response from Özdağ, who repeatedly targeted Paylan and the country’s Armenian population.
“Shameless, provocative man. If you are not very pleased [about living here], go to hell. Talaat Pasha did not deport patriotic Armenians but those like you who hit [Turks] from behind. When the time comes, you will and should also go through a Talaat Pasha experience,” Özdağ tweeted on Monday.
Terbiyesiz tahrikçi adam. Çok memnun değilsen çek git cehennemin dibine. Talat Paşa vatansever Ermenileri değil senin gibi arkadan vuranları sürdü. Sen de zamanı gelince bir Talat Paşa deneyimi yaşayacaksın ve yaşamalısın. Prof. Dr. Ümit Özdağ (@umitozdag) April 26, 2021
In October Paylan was also targeted in newspaper ads published by the nationalist Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies (ASAM) think tank, founded by Özdağ, for comments he made about the clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The ads claimed that Paylan “shamelessly blamed Azerbaijan and Turkey and openly backed Armenia.” Describing the lawmaker’s words as evidence of treason, ASAM called on the “independent judiciary” and the Turkish parliament to take “the necessary steps” about Paylan.
Özdağ is also known for an anti-Syrian campaign that aims to send Syrian refugees who had to flee their country and seek refuge in Turkey back home.
In an interview with the Ayıntab daily, published in Gaziantep, Özdağ claimed that “Syrians were forced to migrate to Turkey in line with a project. The powerful instruments of imperialism will change the demographic structure of the region in order to increase the dominance of different ethnic groups according to their own strategy and drag the country [Turkey] towards a catastrophic civil war. They [the imperialists] are using migration as a tool of strategic [political] engineering,” adding that “Syrian refugees, unfortunately, are a huge problem for Turkey and Gaziantep.”
“Syrians have been looming over Gaziantep like a nightmare. I can’t call it migration, which not only makes the situation more complicated but also darkens the city’s future. In fact, we are witnessing a covert invasion today,” Özdağ told Ayıntab.
In addition, Özdağ had stated during a meeting of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in October that Turkey was in danger of becoming a “Middle Eastern country.”
Sixteen judges and prosecutors from Armenia started on a training course on hate speech, organised by the PGG project “Strengthening access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate speech and hate crime in the Eastern Partnership countries” (funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe), in co-operation with the Justice Academy of the Republic of Armenia. The training course includes the translated version of the Council of Europe’s HELP course on hate speech, as well as tutored activities like case studies, analysis of national legislation, discussion on assessing cases etc. This pilot training course will be implemented in order to support legal professionals in Armenia to better grasp the concept and manifestations of hate speech, the European acquis on the topic and to become readier to tackle such cases as part of their work in Armenia.
Considering the relevance of the topic for the Armenian context, the Council of Europe carries out this training course on hate speech in Armenian during the months of April / May 2021, also to clarify the concept and its legal framework for prosecutors and judges in Armenia, preparing them to tackle the problem in their practice. At the end of the tutored course, the participants will be able to demonstrate knowledge of:
The course will run until end of May 2021.
09:44,
Converse Bank announces the launch of an online platform for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): https://sme.conversebank.am/
The launch of the platform is another step towards comprehensive banking and consulting services for our SME clients.
Last year, after having assessed the requirements of the bank’s corporate clients, Converse Bank established a designated center for financing small and medium-sized enterprises in Armenia, where entrepreneurs can not only use complex banking services, but also benefit from the consulting support to launch and develop their business.
At this stage, with the launch of an online platform for lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, Converse Bank invites entrepreneurs to fill out a loan application by following a few simple steps from the link above, thus saving time on visiting the bank.
At the moment, the platform also provides a complete turnaround of lending process within the framework of Converse Bank’s product – Converse-Fast. The list of available lending products will be expanding in the future.
Converse Bank will continue to develop new solutions for SME clients. In the near future, the bank will launch new projects aimed at supporting business.
The oversight of the Bank is performed by the Central Bank of Armenia.
19:20,
YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Member of the British House of Lords, Baroness Caroline Cox calls on the United Kingdom to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
She addressed three messages during a video statement for ARMENPRESS on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
“The first is a message of gratitude to the Armenian people who held the frontline of faith and freedom for the rest of the world”, Caroline Cox. She noted that despite the sacrifice and enormous sufferings and also living with neighbors who do not have a respect to human rights and democracy, the Armenian people remained committed to the preservation of universal values. “You are a beacon of light in a very dark part of the world”, she said.
Her second message was about anger. “The international community has allowed Turkey and Azerbaijan impunity for the violation of human rights and to perpetrate atrocities”, Caroline Cox said.
She talked about three genocides, stating that the first one took place in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, and the next two ones, according to her, are the wars by Azerbaijan against Artsakh in 1990-1994 and 2020. “The last war was full of war crimes. The Genocide Watch independent organization has defined the recent war as genocide. So, as we are commemorating the Genocide, but still continuing genocide against people. I challenge Her Majesty’s government to recognize the Genocide again and again. I am ashamed they don’t”, she said.
Caroline Cox expressed happiness over the fact that Wales within the UK has already recognized the Armenian Genocide, and added that there is a even an Armenian Genocide memorial in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
“My third message is one of love and affection. I had a privilege of visiting your nation 85 times, and many were during the previous war in Artsakh. And I also came with my colleague David Thomas during the last war. And we always return humbled and inspired by your people, your courage, your hospitality, culture and your commitment to democracy. It’s hard to think of any nation in the world of a comparable size that has contributed so much to human civilization in art, culture, education and many other areas. I promise you that we will stand with you in love, affection and gratitude. And all we can is to try to help you to achieve the justice you deserve”, Baroness Caroline Cox said.
[see video]
17:23,
YEREVAN, 16 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 16 April, USD exchange rate up by 1.00 drams to 522.20 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.20 drams to 625.49 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 6.89 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.96 drams to 719.54 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price up by 419.29 drams to 29501.84 drams. Silver price up by 5.10 drams to 429.55 drams. Platinum price up by 189.04 drams to 19962.26 drams.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called on his Canadian counterpart to review Ottawa’s defense industry restrictions against Turkey, diplomatic sources said Monday.
In a phone call, Çavuşoğlu and his Canadian counterpart Marc Garneau spoke about bilateral relations, with Turkey voicing its “discomfort” over the embargo, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
“He conveyed concerns about Canada’s stance on defense industry restrictions imposed on Turkey and requested their review,” the sources said.
The parts under embargo include camera systems for Baykar armed drones. Export licenses were suspended in 2019 during Turkish military activities in Syria. Restrictions were then eased but reimposed during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Canadian arms control group Project Ploughshares said airstrike video released by Baku at the time indicated drones were equipped with imaging and targeting systems made by L3Harris Wescam, a Canada-based unit of L3Harris Technologies Inc.
Turkey’s foreign ministry at the time described it as a double standard and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said it was not in line with the spirit of their alliance.
Turkey’s military exports to its ally Azerbaijan jumped six-fold last year. Sales of drones and other military equipment rose to $77 million in September alone before fighting broke out in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, data showed.
Last October, Canada suspended exports of some defense products to Turkey over allegations that its technology was being used in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In 1991, the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During a six-week conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages, while at least 2,802 of its soldiers were killed.
On Nov. 10, 2020, the two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
On Jan. 11, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It included the establishment of a trilateral working group on Nagorno-Karabakh.
The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces withdrew in line with the agreement.