Wednesday,
Yerevan Mayor’s Office Blocked By Opposition Protesters
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - Opposition supporters block the main entrance to the Yerevan mayor's
office, .
Armenian opposition leaders and their supporters blocked the building of the
Yerevan mayor’s office on Wednesday as they continued their daily rallies
demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation.
The building’s four entrances remained blocked for more than an hour, preventing
municipal administration staff from leaving it. Riot police repeatedly warned
the protesters that the blockade is illegal but did not try to disperse them.
Ishkhan Saghatelian, the main speaker at the more than weeklong protests,
dismissed the warnings, saying Pashinian used the same tactic when he swept to
power in 2018. He accused the municipal administration of intimidating its
employees sympathizing with the Armenian opposition.
Saghatelian promised more such blockades after the crowd marched to the city’s
France Square, the scene of an opposition tent camp set up on May 1. Speaking at
a late-night rally held there, he said the opposition will disrupt the work of
central and local government bodies in a bid to create “diarchy” in the country.
Saghatelian said the organizers of the “civil disobedience” campaign also hope
to attract bigger crowds in the coming days. “We must increase the number of our
actions and their participants,” he told the crowd.
Earlier in day, the opposition organized several simultaneous processions of
cars that drove slowly through various parts of Yerevan to try to drum up
greater popular support for the campaign.
Pashinian, who is accused by Armenia’s leading opposition forces of planning to
make sweeping concessions to Azerbaijan, has rejected demands for his
resignation.
Armenian Airline Banned From Turkish Airspace
• Sargis Harutyunyan
• Tatevik Sargsian
Armenia - A FlyOne Armenia plane takes off from Yerevan's Zvartnots airport,
March 17, 2022.
Turkey has banned an Armenian airline from flying to and from Europe through its
airspace.
The private carrier, FlyOne Armenia, reported the ban earlier this week. It said
it has cancelled its regular flights to Paris and another French city, Lyon, as
a result.
The Turkish civil aviation authority gave no reason for the ban. It has yet to
respond to a request for comment filed by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Stepan Payaslian, a senior official from the Armenian government’s Civil
Aviation Committee, said on Wednesday that FlyOne Armenia appealed to it for
help.
He said the committee could not directly contact the authorities in Ankara
because of the absence of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. It
therefore forwarded the airline’s request to the Armenian ministries of foreign
affairs and infrastructures as well as the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), added Payaslian.
“We have not yet received a reply,” Payaslian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The official said that the Turkish ban is “incomprehensible” given the fact that
FlyOne Armenia is still allowed to fly to Istanbul.
FlyOne Armenia and a private Turkish carrier launched Yerevan-Istanbul flights
in February following the start of Turkish-Armenian negotiations on normalizing
relations between the two neighboring states. Turkish officials touted that as a
major step towards the normalization.
Turkey had banned all Armenian aircraft from its airspace in September 2020
three weeks before the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over
Nagorno-Karabakh. Although Armenia did not retaliate against the move, Turkish
planes reportedly stopped flying over Armenia during the six-week war.
FlyOne Armenia was set up last year by Armenian and Moldovan investors.
According to Armenian media reports, it is controlled by individuals linked to
Khachatur Sukiasian, a wealthy businessman and lawmaker representing Armenia’s
ruling Civil Contract party.
Sukiasian has been a vocal advocate of Armenia’s rapprochement with Turkey and
Azerbaijan.
Pashinian Touts Armenia’s ‘Balanced’ Foreign Policy
Netherlands - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at Clingendael
Institute in The Hague, .
Armenia will continue to seek simultaneously good relations with Russia and the
West despite their intensifying standoff over Ukraine, Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian indicated during an official visit to the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Dutch think-tank, Clingendael Institute, Pashinian said Russia
remains Armenia’s “strategic ally.” He stressed at the same time that his
government is deepening ties with the European Union because “the EU is
Armenia’s main partner in the sphere of democratic reforms.”
“The world order is changing before our eyes, and nobody knows what it will look
like in the end,” Pashinian said, clearly alluding to the war in Ukraine. “For
countries like Armenia, these are the most dangerous times. This must be noted
and understood.”
“It is not easy for us to pursue a balanced [foreign] policy but we are doing
everything to succeed in that endeavor,” he added, according to the Armenpress
news agency.
Armenia, which is a member of Russian-led military and trade blocs and hosts
Russian troops on its soil, has refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, let alone joining Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to strengthen political,
economic and security ties between their countries when they met outside Moscow
last month. Pashinian spoke of “common challenges” facing Armenia and Russia at
a separate meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Armenia Scraps COVID-19 Health Pass
Armenia -- Customers at a cafe in Yerevan, May 4, 2020.
Amid record-low coronavirus cases in Armenia, health authorities in Yerevan have
formally abolished a mandatory health pass for entry to cultural and leisure
venues which has been barely enforced in recent months.
The Armenian government introduced the measure on January 22 during an
Omicron-driven wave of coronavirus infections. Only those people who have been
vaccinated against COVID-19 or have had a recent negative test were supposedly
allowed to visit bars, restaurants, museums, theaters or other public venues.
The measure proved ineffectual, however, as most restaurants, bars and other
private entities stopped requiring visitors to produce evidence of their
vaccination or a negative test result one or two weeks after its introduction.
Very few of them were fined for their non-compliance.
Nevertheless, the country’s COVID-19 infection rate has steadily and
significantly declined in the last three months. The Armenian Ministry of Health
has reported an average of several cases a day this month, sharply down from a
record high of 4,500 cases registered on February 2.
The ministry announced on Wednesday that the health pass will no longer be in
force starting from Thursday because of the “relatively stable epidemiological
situation.”
The ministry earlier scrapped a mandatory testing requirement for travellers
entering Armenia.
The Armenian authorities have recorded more than 10,300 coronavirus-related
deaths since the start of the pandemic. Less than half of the country’s
population has been vaccinated against the disease.
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.
Author: Nahapetian Zhanna
Armenian government does not clarify how it became recipient of 15% ZCMC shares – Azatutyun
Panorama
Armenia – May 3 2022
See also Government’s refusal to provide data on suspicious ZCMC deal is baseless and illegal, lawyer says
Azatutyun, RFE/RL’s Armenian service, has reflected on the transfer of 15% shares of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) to the Armenian government, saying the latter refuses to clarify how it became the recipient of the stake.
“The government does not clarify whether it became the recipient of 15% of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine due to donation or, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said a few weeks ago, as a result of recovering the stolen funds,” Azatutyun says.
Earlier in April, Pashinyan said 15 billion drams were paid to the state budget during the investigation of the ZCMC case.
“The Republic of Armenia, the people are the owner of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine. Doesn’t this mean that we are bringing back what’s been looted? This too is the return of the stolen assets,” Pashinyan said.
However, the government provided a different explanation for several months before Pashinyan’s statement. It was officially announced that Armenia’s mining giant had been sold and the new owner decided to detonate its 15% stake to the Armenian government immediately after the deal.
Azatutyun submitted an inquiry to the government in a bid to reveal how it gained 15% ZCMC stake – through donation or the recovery of stolen assets as Pashinyan claimed. However, the prime minister’s office didn’t give a straight answer to the question, only stating that the question is related to the criminal case being investigated by the State Revenue Committee and data on ZCMC is confidential, thus it cannot be shared.
Azatutyun also sent an inquiry to the State Revenue Committee, but no response has been received to date.
Earlier in March, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee Rustam Badasyan announced at the cabinet meeting that unprecedented 15 billion drams were returned to the state budget as part of the case into the mining company’s failure to fulfill its tax obligations. Badasyan, however, said nothing about the return of shares.
On the basis of the evidence obtained during the criminal probe, the former director of ZCMC was charged and the latter confessed to the crime. The company was obliged to pay 15 billion drams, which it made no objections to, he said.
The 15 billion drams were paid by former ZCMC Director Mher Poloskov, after which the criminal case against him was stopped.
“The following question arises: if the issue of tax evasion is settled, what is the criminal case based on which the prime minister’s office refers to, refusing to provide data on the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine?” RFE/RL’s Armenian service wrote.
“The main question why the new ZCMC owner – Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko’s GeoProMining Armenia – decided to make a lavish donation and transfer 15% of its shares to the Armenian government also remains unanswered,” it added.
Azatutyun also submitted a request to GeoProMining Armenia to find out whether the company has any expectations from the government in exchange for the donation. The company has not yet responded.
CivilNet journalist Mkrtich Karapetyan, who has sent three requests to the prime minister’s office to see the donation document, has also been denied access to it. The government has denied his requests, arguing that it is a trade secret. The journalist has sued the government over the case.
“Since everything is confidential and the government has persistently refused to provide any information for six months, this should already raise doubts. Now they say a lot of things, for example, some unconfirmed reports suggest that the state may give up its dividends in the combine or as compensation at all,” the journalist told Azatutyun in an interview.
“Nikol Pashinyan promised to act transparency when he came to power in the 2018 “Velvet Revolution. One of the key provisions of the election manifesto of the ruling Civil Agreement party was institutionalization of the fight against corruption, transparency and accountability of the government,” Azatutyun noted.
Mirzoyan, Blinken exchange ideas on starting negotiations between Armenia, Azerbaijan around peace treaty
09:44, 3 May, 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. On May 2, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in the United States on a working visit, met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Foreign Ministry said in a news release.
Ararat Mirzoyan congratulated his counterpart on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and the United States, and commended the existing level of political dialogue between Armenia and the United States.
It was emphasized that over the years the sides have established a solid partnership based on the common values of democracy, protection of human rights and the rule of law. Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the support provided by the United States to Armenia for the strengthening of democracy, sustainable development and the fight against corruption. Antony Blinken, in his turn, highly assessed the democratic reforms implemented in Armenia, and underscored the continuous support of the American side to them.
Both sides stressed the importance of resuming joint work within the framework of the Armenia-US Strategic Dialogue, the final session of which will be held on May 3 in Washington.
Prospects for the development of cooperation in areas of mutual interest were discussed. The Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the need for deepening trade and economic ties with the United States, emphasizing that there are tangible opportunities for expanding Armenian-American cooperation in the fields of high and information technologies, energy, finance, banking, civil aviation, green economy and others.
Ararat Mirzoyan highly appreciated the US principled position on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, emphasized the importance of the statement of the US President Joe Biden on the anniversary of the Genocide this year, which reaffirms the commitment of US to humanitarian and human rights principles.
The sides also touched upon the issues of international and regional security and stability.
The Armenian side presented the situation in the South Caucasus region and Armenia’s position on the processes aimed at establishing regional peace and stability. The interlocutors exchanged ideas on starting negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a comprehensive peace agreement. The Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the importance of the US mediating efforts aimed at the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Ararat Mirzoyan briefed Antony Blinken on the actions of Azerbaijan aimed at creating a humanitarian crisis in Artsakh and subjecting Nagorno Karabakh to full ethnic cleansing.
In the context of the humanitarian issues resulting from the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh, the need for repatriation of the Armenian prisoners of war and other hostages, and preserving the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories fallen under control of Azerbaijan, was emphasized.
During the meeting, reference was made to the implementation of the agreements on the establishment of the Commission on Border Demarcation and Security.
Minister Mirzoyan also briefed the interlocutor on the developments in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, stressing the readiness of the Armenian side to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey and open the border. Secretary Blinken noted that the United States fully supports the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey and signifies Armenia’s constructive efforts in that process.
At the end of the meeting, Ararat Mirzoyan and Antony Blinken signed a memorandum of understanding on Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation between Armenia and the United States.
Music: Mother’s Day Armenian Concert Takes Place Saturday Night
May 5 2022
The Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe is having a Mother’s Day Armenian Concert Saturday night.
Sponsored by the Armenian Church Youth Organization of America, the concert takes place Saturday May 7, with doors opening at 6:30 and music starting at 7 p.m., at the church, 1280 Boston Road, Route 125, in Haverhill.
Music will be provided by Margar Yeghiazaryan on vocals, Mher Mnatsakanyn playing the Duduk Clarinet, Markos Shahbazyan Dhol on Percussion and Gregham Margaryan on keyboards. The night includes meze, a variety of hot and cold dishes, and cash bar.
Tickets are $60 for adults and $40 for people age 18 and under and may be purchased at hyepointearmenianchurch.org or by calling Sarah Tavitian at 978-652-8448 or emailing [email protected].
RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/05/2022
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Russia Hopes For ‘Return To Stability’ In Armenia
RUSSIA – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, bottom, looks on as Russian President
Vladimir Putin speaks via video call during a news conference in Moscow,
December 17, 2020
In its first official reaction to ongoing anti-government protests in Armenia,
Russia expressed hope on Thursday that political stability there will be
restored soon.
“This is entirely and completely an internal affair of Armenia,” Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow. “Armenia, as you know, is our
ally, it is our partner in several integration formats very important for us.”
“Armenia is our great friend. And therefore, of course, we are interested in
seeing this difficult period end as soon as possible and a period of stability
start again,” he said.
Peskov said that the return to political stability will allow Armenia and
Azerbaijan to gradually implement their agreements brokered by Russian President
Vladimir Putin after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The agreements call for the restoration of transport links between the two South
Caucasus nations and a demarcation of their long border. Yerevan and Baku have
made little progress towards their implementation so far.
Russia accused the European Union of trying to sideline it and claim credit for
these initiatives after European Council President Charles Michel hosted fresh
talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev in Brussels on April 5. Moscow has since been seeking to regain the
initiative in the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process.
Pashinian said after the Brussels talks that the international community is
pressing Armenia to scale back its demands on Karabakh’s status and recognize
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He signaled his readiness to make such
concessions to Baku, sparking the opposition protests in Yerevan.
Armenian Military Told To Draft Opposition Protesters
• Susan Badalian
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Opposition supporters demonstrate in Yerevan, May 4, 2022.
Senior pro-government lawmakers on Thursday urged the Armenian military to call
up men participating in continuing opposition demonstrations aimed at forcing
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resign.
They held an extraordinary session of the Armenian parliament committee on
defense and security as thousands of opposition supporters blocked streets and
highways and marched through Yerevan for the fifth consecutive day. Opposition
leaders pledged to keep up the pressure on the government.
Police have arrested hundreds of protesters, most of them young men, since the
start of what Armenia’s leading opposition groups call a “civil disobedience”
campaign. All of them were set free after spending several hours in police
custody.
Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the parliament committee, suggested that
many of them evade compulsory military service or periodical call-ups of army
reservists.
“We want to see [real] citizens of Armenia among the detainees, who must have
their involvement in the army, if the political goal [of the opposition] is the
security of Artsakh (Karabakh) and Armenia,” Kocharian said during the committee
meeting.
“I am calling on Armenia’s police and the National Security Service to collect
personal data of these citizens and pass them on to the Armenian Defense
Ministry,” he said.
Other pro-government lawmakers as well as high-ranking law-enforcement and
military officials attending the meeting backed the idea.
Armenia - Andranik Kocharian is interviewed by RFE/RL, January 11, 2022
“It would be very good if well-trained young men … participated in the defense
of our borders and the borders of Artsakh,” said Ashot Zakarian, the chief of
the Armenian military police.
“We will try to pass that information on to our colleagues from the Defense
Ministry who will ascertain if those individuals are of fighting age and try to
draft them,” Artur Martirosian, a deputy chief of the national police, told the
panel, for his part.
Human rights activists condemned Kocharian’s initiative as illegal and
despicable. One of them, Artur Sakunts, insisted that the police are not allowed
to share the personal data of detainees with any other state body.
“Even if there are draft dodgers they must not be caught and taken [to the
military] from protest sites,” said another activist, Nina Karapetian. “This is
not normal. This looks like a witch hunt.”
Opposition leaders likewise scoffed at the unprecedented instructions given to
the military.
“Are there no limits to their meanness?” Ishkhan Saghatelian, the main speaker
at the ongoing protests, told journalists.
Armenia - Riot police arrest an opposition protester in Yerevan, May 5, 2022.
“There were two disabled guys without legs speaking from this podium yesterday,”
Saghatelian said, referring to participants of the 2020 war in Karabakh.
In his words, at least 40 of the protesters detained in various parts of Yerevan
earlier on Thursday are also war veterans. The police reported 92 arrests.
The opposition claimed that the authorities ordered security forces to step up
the use of force against its supporters because the anti-government protests are
gaining momentum.
“The disproportionate force used against Armenia’s citizens testifies to one
thing: Nikol has no power anymore,” said Anna Grigorian, a lawmaker from the
opposition Hayastan alliance. “Real power lies in the streets.”
Hayastan and the other parliamentary opposition force, Pativ Unem, say that
Pashinian must resign because he wants to cede Karabakh to Azerbaijan. The prime
minister rejected the opposition demands when he spoke in the parliament on
Wednesday.
Armenia Eyes U.S. Boost To Energy Security
• Sargis Harutyunyan
USA - Senior U.S. and Armenian diplomats hold a session of the U.S.-Armenia
Strategic Dialogue, Washington, May 3, 2022
A memorandum of understanding on “strategic nuclear cooperation” between Armenia
and the United States could strengthen the South Caucasus country’s energy
security, a senior Armenian diplomat said on Thursday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat
Mirzoyan signed the document after talks held in Washington on Monday. An
Armenian delegation led by Mirzoyan also met with other senior U.S. State
Department officials as part of a bilateral “strategic dialogue” launched three
years ago.
In a joint statement issued after the talks, the two sides said the memorandum
“will serve as a mechanism through which our governments can develop stronger
ties between our nuclear experts, industries, and researchers.” They gave no
further details.
Armen Yeganian, a senior Armenian Foreign Ministry official accompanying
Mirzoyan, expressed hope that this and two other US.-Armenian documents signed
in Washington “will contribute to Armenia’s energy security and independence and
the strengthening of democracy.”
“This memorandum will enable us to use, to a certain extent, American know-how
and achievements and to engage in exchanges between our scientists,” Yeganian
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Commenting on the memorandum, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on
Monday that “Armenia looks to diversify its energy supply.”
Russian nuclear fuel and natural gas generate roughly two-thirds of Armenia’s
electricity. Russia has financed the $300 million modernization of the Metsamor
nuclear power plant completed last year and expressed readiness to help the
Armenian government replace it by a new facility in 2036.
Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Hakob
Vartanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service last week that Moscow and Yerevan have
formed a task force that will explore the possibility of jointly building the
new nuclear plant.
In Yeganian’s words, Armenian and U.S. officials have not discussed a possible
U.S. participation in the ambitious project.
Armenian-Azeri Commission On Border Demarcation Still Not Formed
• Nane Sahakian
ARMINIA -- An Armenian flag flies at a new Armenian army post on the border with
Azerbaijan, June 18, 2021
Armenia and Azerbaijan have not yet formed a joint commission on demarcating
their border despite an agreement to that effect reached by their leaders, a
senior Armenian official said on Thursday.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
agreed to set up the commission before the end of April at their last meeting
held in Brussels a month ago. They said it will also be tasked with easing
tensions along the long and heavily militarized border.
The foreign ministers of the two states discussed the issue in two phone calls
in the following weeks.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said on April 25 that the two sides will soon hold
a “meeting regarding the commission.” Aliyev announced, meanwhile, that he has
already appointed Azerbaijani members of the body.
Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, said Yerevan and
Baku are continuing their “intensive discussions” on the issue.
“We have not yet found final answers to questions regarding the working group
and some other issues,” he said without elaborating.
Grigorian again met with Aliyev’s top foreign policy aide, Hikmet Hajiyev, in
Brussels on Monday. He said they also discussed preparations for separate
negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
In March, Baku presented the Armenian side with five elements which it wants to
be at the heart of the treaty. They include a mutual recognition of each other’s
territorial integrity. Yerevan said they are acceptable to it in principle,
fuelling more Armenian opposition allegations that Pashinian is ready to help
Azerbaijan regain full control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Grigorian told reporters that Armenia has also presented its own proposals
regarding the peace treaty but declined to reveal them. Baku signaled its
readiness to discuss them at the upcoming negotiations, he said.
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.
Asbarez: Istanbul Armenians Might Lose Control of Holy Savior Hospital
Istanbul’s Surp Prgich Hospital
The Armenian community of Istanbul might lose control of the Holy Savior—Surp Purgich—Hospital, a 188-year-old Armenian landmark in the community.
The concerns have escalated as elections for the hospital board are imminent and worries about a change in laws enacted in 2013 have create confusion.
For decades, the Surp Purgich Hospital, located in a suburb of Istanbul, has been regulated as a foundation, similar to a non-profit organization in this country.
However, in 2013, the Turkish government abolished the regulations governing the elections at foundations of national minorities, and new regulations have not been approved since then.
Bagrat Estukian, the editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian Agos newspaper, told Armenpress that rumors have been circulating in the community that the authorities will soon introduce the new mandates, which the community believes will not solve the problem.
“Very concerning developments are taking place,” Estukian said. “It’s about the 2013 abolition of the regulation [governing foundations], which they said was taking place because a new charter was being prepared.”
He explained that the hospital board elections have been indefinitely delayed because a new charter governing elections and other administrative matters has not been drafted.
“Now there are rumors that a new charter will be introduced. Nevertheless we won’t be able to hold elections of the executive board of the hospital. This could be an attempt to seize our biggest institution. It’s about an 188-year-old institution that is considered to be a national hospital in the community. It also has an elderly care component,” Estukian said.
The Agos editor warned that if the Armenian community is unable to hold elections of the board then they could possibly “lose the hospital as an Armenian institution.”
He explained that as an institution designated as a foundation, all Armenians in Turkey may take part in board election.
“Now, if we get deprived from this right, this would mean that this isn’t an Armenian hospital anymore,” Estukian said.
The Armenian community recently organized an online petition against any charter or regulation that would potentially prevent them from taking part in the electoral process.
Estukian added that this problem concerns all other national minorities of Turkey as well.
Asked whether or not national minorities could come together and join efforts against the regulation, Estukian said there are no developments like that yet.
Aliyev insists so-called Zangezur corridor ‘is already a reality’
News.am
Armenia – May 4 2022
Aliyev insists so-called Zangezur corridor ‘is already a reality’
18:27, 04.05.2022
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev insists that the so-called Zangezur corridor “is already a reality,” local media reported.
According to him, the construction of the Azerbaijani part of the railroad within the Zangezur corridor will be completed in 2023.
“The Zangezur corridor is already a reality. As for the railroad, our station in this direction, which is the last railway infrastructure at the moment, is Horadiz. The construction of the railroad from Horadiz to Agbend (border with Armenia) is already underway, and I am sure that it will be fully operational next year.”
Aliyev noted that the railroad “through the Zangilan region (Kovsakan) within the Zangezur corridor in the future will not only connect the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, but also become a new road for international cargo transportation”.
He also said that the “Zangilan International Airport” will operate this year.
Putin, Guterres to meet in Moscow
11:51, 26 April, 2022
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday who will come to Moscow for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, reports TASS.
This will be the first contact of the Russian leader with the UN Secretary General since the beginning of the special military operation on protecting Donbass on February 24. The last time they interacted was in a video format last May when Guterres also visited Russia. Additionally, last June, Putin sent a telegram to Guterres congratulating him on his re-election. The last time the two politicians met in a face-to-face format was in January 2020 at an international conference on Libya in Berlin.
Artsakh can never be a part of Azerbaijan, state minister reiterates
Panorama
Armenia –
The position of Artsakh’s government and people on its status remains unchanged, Artsakh State Minister Artak Beglaryan said on Saturday.
“Artsakh can never be a part of Azerbaijan. Moreover, we are all ready to face any short and long term deprivations and trials, but we will never deviate from our path,” he wrote on Facebook.
The official highlights that their stance has been publically revealed and repeatedly presented to the international community and the Armenian authorities.
“No one can afford to deviate from that course, while the Armenians who have different views should simply respect the will and right of the Artsakh Armenians to decide their own fate in their homeland,” Beglaryan noted.
“The right of the indigenous people of Artsakh to self-determination is above all other norms of international law and geopolitical interests. Meanwhile, the principle of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with the right to self-determination, which, incidentally, is enshrined in the Madrid Principles approved by the mediation mission of the OSCE Minsk Group, hence by the international community.
“To this is also added the impossibility to live under Azerbaijani rule amid genocidal policies and further existential threats, which the international community should also recognize unconditionally, as it did, for example, in the case of Kosovo.
“The path we have taken is difficult and long, but it is value-based and just, and no one has the right to betray the struggle and the spilled blood of our holy ancestors, fathers and brothers as well as to fiddle with the fate of the future generations,” the official said.
800 people prosecuted in war-related criminal cases in Armenia – Prosecutor General
12:33,
YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. Investigations into criminal cases related to the 44-day war revealed that “numerous” military servicemembers and high-ranking officers failed to fulfill their duty properly, the Prosecutor-General of Armenia Artur Davtyan told lawmakers at a parliamentary committee hearing on the prosecution’s 2021 report.
“From the beginning we adopted the following two directions: subject for investigation under the criminal cases related to the 44-day war are the war crimes committed by Azerbaijan’s military-political leadership, as well as the alleged criminal violations committed by our military-political leadership and the armed forces during war,” Davtyan added.
2150 criminal cases related to the war were investigated during 2021, he noted.
“As of yearend, criminal prosecution was carried out against 800 persons by these criminal cases, 55 persons have already been handed over to courts and respective verdicts delivered.
Investigations continue.