Author: Markos Nalchajian

Russian helicopter crashed and exploded in Armenia’s Ararat region, allegedly shot from Nakhichevan

Markos Nalchajian

Russian helicopter crushed and exploded in Armenia’s Ararat region, allegedly shot from Nakhichevan

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 20:07, 9 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. The crisis management center of Ararat Province of Armenia received an alarm call that a Russian helicopter has crashed and exploded in a gorge between Yeraskh and Paruyr Sevak villages, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia.

A source told Sputnik Armenia that the Russian helicopter was supposedly downed from Nakhichevan, an Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.

Entire village catches fire in Turkey

Markos Nalchajian

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 13:02, 7 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Tepeharman village in Turkey’s Kastamonu province caught fire due to poor electrical connection, IHA news agency reports.

According to preliminary reports, more than 10 homes and a mosque were burned.

The fire broke out in one of the village homes due to poor electricity connection and was quickly spread across the village.

There are no reports on casualties and injuries yet.

The fire was neutralized today in the morning, preventing its spread to forest.

Fires, as well as forest fires, are being reported in Turkey in recent period.

 

Reporting by Sedrak Sargsyan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Putin, Erdogan ready to join efforts to solve Karabakh conflict

Markos Nalchajian
TASS, Russia
Nov 8 2020
Earlier the Turkish presidential office said that Erdogan insisted that Yerevan should be persuaded to sit at the negotiation table. He pointed out that a permanent solution to that conflict was a key factor for stability in the region
Russian President Vladimir Putin

© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call about phone talks with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at looking for a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

According to the Kremlin press office, both presidents confirmed readiness to seek peace for Nagorno-Karabakh.

“[The two presidents] focused on the situation in the zone of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Russian president informed his Turkish counterpart about a series of his telephone contacts with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Those contacts sought options for the cessation of hostilities at the soonest possible time and for finding a political and diplomatic solution. Mutual readiness to cooperate so as to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict was confirmed,” the statement said.

On Saturday, the Turkish presidential office said that Erdogan insisted that Yerevan should be persuaded to sit at the negotiation table. He pointed out that a permanent solution to that conflict was a key factor for stability in the region, according to the press release.

The Kremlin said earlier that on November 1 and 2 Putin held meaningful talks over the phone with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, discussing solutions to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with them.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians. Three ceasefire agreements have been negotiated so far, but almost immediately both sides begin blaming each other for violating the truce.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them.


Iran adds troops near Nagorno Karabakh border

Markos Nalchajian

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 18:05, 5 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Iran sends more units and armored vehicles to the border with Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports Iranian Azariha Telegram Channel posted a footage, showing the large armored column moving towards the border.

Iran has warned several times that presence of terrorists near its borders is inadmissible.




Threat facing French-Armenians is a threat for France – Ambassador

Markos Nalchajian

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 22:43, 5 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacote posted an article on his Twitter page about the enhanced patrol service at the Armenian college at Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes et du Rhône, noting that the threat facing the French-Armenians is a threat for entire France.

”Sad image, but this is a strong symbol of protection that our nation provides to all its citizens. The threat facing the French-Armenians is a threat for entire France”, ARMENPRESS reports Lacote wrote.

The authorities of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes et du Rhône decided to carry out enhanced patrol at the Armenian schools and cultural centers following the incidents of Armenians being persecuted by Turks in France.




CivilNet: Environmentalists Concerned Over Azerbaijan’s Use of White Phosphorus Munitions in Karabakh Forests

Markos Nalchajian
CIVILNET.AM

5 November, 2020 19:38

“1815 hectares of forest area have already been burned, but fires continue in various areas, and there is a tendency for rapid growth,” Artak Beglaryan, Karabakh’s Human Rights Defender, said.

A video footage released from Karabakh (Artsakh) on October 31 shows Azerbaijani forces firing white phosphorus munitions over major forests in the region. According to the Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the use of air-dropped incendiary weapons against military objectives within a concentration of civilians is simply prohibited.

In a statement released on November 4, Armenian environmental rights groups warn that Azerbaijan is making the area uninhabitable for people as well as animals.

“We, the environmentalists of Armenia and Artsakh (Karabakh), are compelled to speak out now to decry and condemn Azerbaijan’s deliberate use of white phosphorus to destroy forest ecosystems and protected areas of Artsakh, near the communities of Shushi, Martakert and Askeran,” the statement says.

Per Reuters, white phosphorus munitions can be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings.

“The destructive effects of phosphorus on people, plants, and animals have caused many international organizations to forbid its use against civilian populations or the natural environment. Phosphorus burns intensely, causing severe injuries to people and animals. It is resistant to traditional methods of extinguishing fires, and its traces can remain in soil for many years, causing further damage to ecosystems affected by the fires.

The peaceful ethnic Armenians of Artsakh have lived in their ancient and beautiful sacred forests for thousands of years. The forests supply fuel, food, clean air and clean water. They serve as habitats for many native species of animals, including the endangered Caucasian Leopard, Europe’s last big cat. It is apparent that if Azerbaijan has decided it cannot capture this territory, it will make it uninhabitable. We can not tolerate such an outcome.

We call upon all citizens of the world who care for the natural environment to speak out against the wanton destruction of Artsakh’s forests by Azerbaijan’s illegal use of white phosphorus weapons,” say the signatories of the statement.

Signatories:
Armenia Tree Project
Former RA Deputy Minister of Environment Vardan Melikyan
Armenian Environmental Network
My Forest Armenia
FPWC (Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets)
Paros Foundation
Green Lane Ngo
Yerevan Botanical Garden
EcoLur Informational NGO
Eco Hub Foundation
EcoTeam NGO
Tapan Eco Club
Ark Armenia NGO
Armenian Progressive Youth NGO
Third Nature NGO
Tree of Life CSO
Araks Center Charitable NGO
Institute of Botany after A. Takhtajyan
Armenian National Agrarian University

Armenia, Azerbaijan Vow to Avoid Targeting Civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Markos Nalchajian
Voice of America
Oct 31 2020
By VOA News
Updated 08:29 PM

Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to refrain from targeting residential areas in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region that has left hundreds of people dead.

The agreement was reached Friday during talks in Geneva between the foreign ministers of the two countries, along with representatives from France, Russia and the United States.

Armenia and Azerbaijan promised to “not deliberately target civilian populations or nonmilitary objects” and to exchange the bodies of fighters as well as exchange lists of prisoners of war.

The deal falls short of a cease-fire after three previous cease-fires failed. The most recent one was brokered in Washington last Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and followed two previous failed cease-fires negotiated by Russia.

Russia, the United States and France co-chair the Minsk Group, set up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1992 to mediate the conflict.

The ongoing fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted September 27 and has killed hundreds of people, marking the biggest escalation since a 1994 cease-fire over the breakaway region.

The predominantly ethnic Armenian territory declared its independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union, sparking a war that claimed the lives of as many as 30,000 people before a 1994 cease-fire.

According to AP, Azerbaijani forces pushed farther into Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday.

Many observers are concerned fighting could expand into a wider conflict involving Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which considers the region to be in its sphere of influence.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for Turkey to be invited to the talks.


For some in West Fargo, new Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict stirs memories of war

Markos Nalchajian
In Forum
Oct 25 2020
Written By: C.S. Hagen | Oct 25th 2020 – 5am.


WEST FARGO — Growing up in Azerbaijan, Kamala Gasimli’s fondest memories are of her family’s farm blooming with walnut, fig and pomegranate trees, and the sweetest tomatoes she’s ever eaten. In the warmer months she woke up every morning with a flower on her pillow, placed there by her father.

Her last memory of her mountainous homeland is the flames, and terror.

“Everything was in the fire, there was fire everywhere and when I looked back, I could see how everything was burning,” Gasimli said before tears left her speechless.

At 19 years old, she and her family members packed themselves into a pickup truck and fled from the Nagorno-Karabakh village of Jabrayil to Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. War between Armenia and Azerbaijan had broken out, making her family refugees.

Sadly for Gasimli and her husband, Azer Akhmedov, who now live in West Fargo, war has erupted again along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Two weeks ago, Azerbaijan began reportedly attacking districts around the Nagorno-Karabakh region with precision missile strikes, and has taken some areas back that were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era, according to news reports.

Although Gasimli and her husband do not want war with Armenia, they’re hopeful that one day soon they can go back to visit.

“For 27 years I have not seen my village, and I dream of my village every single month,” said Akhmedov, a local university professor. “Now my village is liberated as of October 4 — 27 years after it was invaded.”

Tensions in the region go back thousands of years. Times of war and conquest were followed by peace, with Azerbaijanis and Armenians living quietly as neighbors. The most recent violence has centered on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which lies within Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Two years of war followed the Soviet Union’s collapse, and tensions disintegrated into a series of pogroms against Armenians. The ethnic violence in the 1990s sent Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, an Armenian, and her family, running for their lives from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital city.

Turcotte wrote about her life on the run from 1993 to 1994 in a childhood diary. Later, she transformed her diary into a book entitled “Nowhere, a Story of Exile.”

“I wrote it from the heart when I was sitting in Wahpeton, North Dakota,” said Turcotte, who once lived there but now lives in Maine. “I became a refugee because of the same aggression we’re seeing now.”

Her fondest childhood memories are of her family and the Armenian community in Baku. “That’s one thing they took away that can’t be quantified. We are spread all over the world. The cousins I have in Russia are now strangers to me,” Turcotte said.

There’s little that Armenians and Azerbaijanis seem to agree on, but both sides do agree that religion, as Azerbaijan is mostly Muslim and Armenia is mostly Christian, is not the main reason for the current hostilities.

Turcotte said she has family who are fighting on the front lines. She knows they’re still alive, but she said she has friends, one a diplomat and another an opera singer, who have been killed because of recent violence.

Since Sept. 27 when the conflict began, she said she’s gotten about three hours of sleep a night.

“Imagine how you felt on 9/11. That is how we feel every day since September 27,” Turcotte said. “I’ve raised more than $100,000 for refugees and for sleeping bags for troops and medical aid for victims. I’m constantly working, and I’m not stopping until they stop bombing.”

Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte. Special to The Forum

The U.S. embassy in Armenia has called for a cessation of hostility, and for a return to the negotiating table. Another life-threatening issue in the two countries is the coronavirus, which is spreading faster because of the conflict.

Fariz Huseynov left Azerbaijan to come to the United States for education reasons and is now a professor who lives in West Fargo.

As a child, Huseynov’s chess teacher was an Armenian in Azerbaijan. Huseynov, too, doesn’t want war, but feels that Armenia has been breaking promises for 30 years.

“Our government says we’re not fighting Armenia, we’re fighting to get our lands,” Huseynov said.

Like Akhmedov’s family, Huseynov is following the conflict online and through information from the military.

Akhmedov said the Azerbaijani military is winning and is more technologically advanced with the use of precise military strikes by drones. “I don’t want to see the Armenian army being destroyed. It doesn’t feel right when these people could have lived,” Akhmedov said.

Three decades ago, it was the Azerbaijani fighters who suffered defeat, which left a scar on the country’s psyche.

“Because of those losses, people couldn’t fight for their rights. They realized that democratic ideas had such a huge hit because we lost our lands, and Western world didn’t help get our lands back through peace,” Akhmedov said.

“Both sides have their truths and both sides have aspirations,” he said. “We used to live together; peace will happen again.”





President of Artsakh addresses open letter to Russia’s Putin

Markos Nalchajian

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 16:23,

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan has addressed an open letter to President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

The letter is posted on Arayik Harutyunyan’s Facebook account:

“Dear Mr. President,

The Artsakh-Russia relations have a history of centuries. Russia is perceived in the historical memory of the Artsakh people as a brotherly country which has always assisted this part of Armenians at all difficult moments.

The Artsakh-Russia ties have been exercised in the most direct way especially during the flourishing period of the Artsakh principalities and melikdoms, of which there is a lot of factual evidence.

For more than a century (in the 19th century and in the 10s of the 20th century) Karabakh has been part of tsarist Russia. That historical period was marked for Karabakh by long-term peace, repatriation and economic development. The cultural life has also developed. It’s noteworthy that in the second half of the 19th century Artsakh’s administrative-political center Shushi has become one of the key spiritual, cultural and economic centers in the Caucasus.

At the same historical period a whole unity of Artsakh-Armenians, such as Valerian Madatov, Hovhannes Lazarev, Lazar Serebryakov, Mikayel Loris-Melikov, Vasily Behbutov and others, played a key role in the military-political and public life of the Russian Empire.

These ties also continued in the Soviet period. During the Great Patriotic War, nearly 90,000 Armenians from the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and historic Artsakh participated in the war, half of them dedicated their life to the defense of the homeland. Artsakh was capturing one of the leading positions in the USSR in terms of number of USSR heroes and knights of Order of Glory per capita.

The five ethnic Armenian USSR marshals were from Artsakh – Hovhannes Baghramyan, Ivan Isakov, Hamazasp Babajanyan, Armenak Khanperyants (Sergey Khudyakov), Sergei Aganov. More than 30 generals and thousands of officers have been distinguished with their military talent.

Anastas and Artyom Mikoyan, Ivan Tevosyan, Andranik Iosifyan, Nikolay Yenikolopov, Mikayel Tariverdiyev and many others were from Artsakh.

The Artsakh-Russia close ties continue till today. A large part of nearly 3 million Armenians living in Russia are from Artsakh, among them there are many people forcibly displaced from Artsakh due to the Azerbaijani genocidal and ethnic cleansing policy carried out in late 1980s and in the 1990s.

I would like to specifically emphasize that Russia has exercised its policy in support of the principle of the non-use of force or threat of force and the peaceful settlement of conflicts enshrined by the international law, during all phases of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement. Russia is acting in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement process both in the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format and in a separate role. The Republic of Artsakh highly values Russia’s mediation efforts, active role and decisive mission at all phases of the conflict settlement, especially in the reaching of the 1994 trilateral ceasefire agreement. Russia also played a decisive role during the escalation of the conflict on April 5, 2016: an agreement by Russia’s mediation has been reached in Moscow on cessation of hostilities and restoration of ceasefire, in accordance with the 1994 ceasefire agreement.

We highly value Russia’s and in particular your diplomatic efforts aimed at stopping the aggression and large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh. I also want to inform you that your assessments on the current situation voiced during your speech at the Valdai club met a great reaction in the Republic of Artsakh and among all Armenians.

You have stated in your speech: “This conflict started not as an inter-state conflict and a fight for territories, it started from ethnic confrontation. Unfortunately, this is a fact: brutal crimes were committed against the Armenian people in Sumgait, later in Nagorno Karabakh. We must take this into account”. Unfortunately, till now Azerbaijan continues its genocidal policy.

Dear Mr. President,

You are the personality and the head of state who has a huge reputation in the world and in our region. Taking this into account, I ask you to make all possible efforts to stop the war in the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict zone and resume the political processes”, the President of Artsakh said in his letter.

 

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

TURKISH press: Early elections in Turkey out of question, AK Party spokesperson says

Markos Nalchajian
 ISTANBUL ELECTIONS 
OCT 14, 2020 9:34 AM GMT+3
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson Ömer Çelik speaks to reporters following a Central Decision and Executive Board meeting at the party headquarters in the capital Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 13, 2020 (AA Photo)

The ruling party spokesperson ruled out holding snap elections in Turkey, saying that they are not on the government’s agenda.

“Early elections are out of the question for the People’s Alliance. Mr. Bahçeli has expressed that the People’s Alliance’s candidate is Mr. President. The party chairman who was not even aware of the opening of Varosha (Maraş) calls for snap polls. What will snap polls do?” Ömer Çelik said Tuesday after a party meeting in the capital Ankara. He was responding to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s call to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairperson Devlet Bahçeli to urge snap elections.

Çelik said that the elections will take place in their scheduled time in 2023.

Noting that eliminating the possibility of snap polls was one of the aims of the presidential system, Çelik said the system aimed to make sure that the government and municipalities specialized in their jobs under the scope of the authorities given to them by the people. This was done with the goal to rid the state of a series of burdens that set it back.

“The elections will be held on time,” Çelik concluded.

Çelik also called on countries to avoid double standards in favor of Armenia regarding its recent clashes with Azerbaijan and a cease-fire agreement.

“The cease-fire calls of those who do not raise their voices against Armenia, which is a rogue state, is to put the cruel and the suffering in the same equation, to view the occupying and the occupied (state) equally,” Çelik said.

“This is also a clear violation of the law,” he added, underlining that this attitude shows a double standard.

He stressed that the Minsk Group, which was set up in 1992 by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), tries to manage the process by considering Armenia and Azerbaijan on equal levels, but the two countries are not equal as Armenia is occupying Azerbaijani territory.

“The party that clearly violates international law, including the 1949 Geneva Convention, is the Armenian side,” he said.

“Armenia attacked the Azerbaijani army and civilians like a rogue state,” he said, reiterating that Turkey stands with Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people in every step they take to defend their territories against Armenia’s aggression.

Reminding that Azerbaijan wants Turkey to be at the negotiation table, he said those who really want the conflict to be resolved must also want Turkey to be involved in talks to find a solution and Turkey is ready for this.

Following meetings in Moscow on Oct. 10, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a humanitarian cease-fire so that the conflicting sides could retrieve bodies left on the battlefield in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and conduct a prisoner exchange.

Clashes broke out on Sept. 27 when Armenian forces targeted civilian Azerbaijani settlements and military positions in the region, leading to casualties.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

Some 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory has remained under illegal Armenian occupation for around three decades.

Four U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and two U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions as well as many international organizations demand the withdrawal of the occupying forces.

The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S. – was formed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict but to no avail. A cease-fire, however, was agreed to in 1994.

Many world powers have called for a new cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku’s right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia’s occupying forces.

Touching on recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, Çelik said Turkey always views the negotiation table as the best option but will fight uncompromisingly in the field against those who do not want negotiations.

“There is nothing to achieve here through bullying and imposition. Greece needs to understand this,” he added.

He reiterated that Turkey wants to resolve all issues in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean through diplomacy but always has an answer for those who want to use diplomacy for breathing room and to exploit it to create an organization there against Turkey.

Renewed efforts of the Oruç Reis seismic research vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean will be within the Turkish continental shelf hundreds of kilometers away from the Greek mainland, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

It urged Greece to withdraw its maximalist demands, end military drills that escalate regional tensions and establish a sincere dialogue through exploratory talks.

In August, Turkey resumed energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean after Greece and Egypt signed a controversial maritime delimitation deal, spurning Turkey’s goodwill gesture in halting its search.

Declaring the Greek-Egyptian deal “null and void,” Turkey authorized the Oruç Reis to continue activities in an area within Turkey’s continental shelf.

Turkey has consistently opposed Greece’s efforts to declare an exclusive economic zone based on small islands near Turkish shores, violating the interests of Turkey, the country with the longest coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Ankara has also said that energy resources near the island of Cyprus must be shared fairly between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Greek Cypriot administration of southern Cyprus.

Çelik also touched on Turkey’s anti-terror Claw operations and said those who carried out terrorist attacks against Turkey’s security forces and citizens are infiltrating the country from the lands of neighboring states.

The center of gravity of these operations is the Sinat-Haftanin, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk regions in Iraq he said, adding “We are fighting strongly to eliminate the threats of those positioned here against our country and our security forces.”

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU –has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG/PYD is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.