Author: Ophelia Vardapetian

Residents of Akhavno and Berdzor reproach authorities for demanding urgent evacuation

Ophelia Vardapetian
Caucasian Knot
Aug 11 2022
After being resettled from the Lachin corridor, residents of the communities of Akhavno and Berdzor will receive apartments in Nagorno-Karabakh or certificates for housing in Armenia, the authorities promise. Residents themselves are dissatisfied with the requirement to evacuate in a short time.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 5, residents of the communities of Akhavno, Sous, and the city of Berdzor (the Azerbaijani name is Lachin, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”) were required to leave their houses by August 25, since the Lachin corridor would be handed over to Azerbaijan. The residents of the community of Akhavno opposed the resettlement.

Aida Avakyan, a mother of many children from Akhavno, hopes that the authorities will fulfil their promise and issue compensation on time, and her family will not be huddled in rented apartments for a long time.

“During the war, we did not run away, as many did, but lived here with pride in order to save our village, the place where our children were born. And now our authorities are rushing us, evicting us, instead of fighting for us,” the mother of many children said.

Similar opinions were expressed by other residents of Akhavno. “I don’t understand why there is such a rush, why no one defends our rights to a peaceful life in their home?” Rita Smbatyan expresses her bewilderment.

Anush Gogchyan, a resident of the village, expressed her indignation at being forced to leave her house and land. The woman said that her family would go to Armenia and try to use the financial assistance promised by the authorities to settle there and start a farm.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 03:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:
Demand to resettle outrages Akhavno villagers, Baku analysts assess prospects for return of Lachin under Azerbaijan’s control, Forced migrants from Nagorno-Karabakh call for easier allocation of housing in Armenia.
Source: Caucasian Knot

Seven UK cities make shortlist to host Eurovision 2023 song contest – BBC

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 14:52,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The shortlist of UK cities that could host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest has been revealed, the BBC reports.

Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield will vie to stage the event in May.

Twenty cities expressed an interest, the BBC said, and those not making the shortlist include London and Belfast.

The UK was chosen to host the contest after organisers decided it could not be staged by Ukraine, the 2022 winners.

The BBC said the seven-strong shortlist was based on the cities’ ability to show they have “the capacity, capability and experience to host an event of this scale and complexity”.

Parents of soldiers killed during 44-day war protest in front of RA Defense Ministry

Ophelia Vardapetian
ARMINFO
Aug 10 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.Parents of servicemen killed during the 44-day war held a protest action in  front of the building of the RA Ministry of Defense since the morning of August 10.

They demand a meeting with RA Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan  andcommander of the 4th regiment of the 5th defensive region of  Martakert Pavlik Kyaramyan, who is blamed for the death of their  sons. They are outraged that Pavlik Kyaramyan was awarded the “Combat  Cross” medal of the first degree.

After two hours of protest, the situation in the department  escalated. According to the parents, this happened after the defense  department informed them that Suren Papikyan was not there and did  not have time to meet with them. The protesters are outraged that no  one has received them for about two hours now.

Let us add that during the war 37 servicemen of the 4th regiment of  the 5th defensive region of Martakert were killed, more than half of  the soldiers were buried a year after the war. 

Russia records 16,325 daily COVID-19 cases, 60 deaths — crisis center

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 14:25, 9 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 9, ARMENPRESS. Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 16,325 over the past day to 18,746,886, TASS reported citing the anti-coronavirus crisis center.

As many as 2,574 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, up 105.6% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients increased in 70 regions, while in nine regions the figure decreased. The situation remained unchanged in six regions. A day earlier, 1,252 people were rushed to hospitals.

Moscow’s COVID-19 cases surged by 4,781 over the past day versus 5,241 cases a day earlier, reaching 2,868,715, according to the anti-coronavirus crisis center. St. Petersburg’s COVID-19 cases increased by 2,639 over the past day versus 2,642 a day earlier, reaching 1,572,775.

COVID-19 recoveries

Russia’s COVID-19 recoveries rose by 13,092 over the past day, reaching 18,061,168, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Tuesday.

A day earlier some 8,721 patients recovered.

COVID-19 death toll

Russia’s COVID-19 death toll rose by 60 over the past day, reaching 382,846, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Tuesday.

A day earlier 45 COVID-19 deaths were registered.

Military action is “retaliation”. Azerbaijan announced the destruction of Armenian targets in the Nagorno-Karabakh region

Ophelia Vardapetian
Aug 4 2022
August 4, 2022 

 

Arzu

Azerbaijan announced on Wednesday that its army had occupied positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave and destroyed Armenian targets, sparking fears of a resurgence of the Azerbaijani-Armenian war in a military operation dubbed “revenge”. Armenian population.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said the Azerbaijani army had “established control over several high positions”, including in the mountains, AFP quoted, adding that Azerbaijani troops were strengthening their occupied positions.

Both camps had earlier reported the deaths of at least two Armenian fighters and an Azeri soldier in the outbreak of violence, according to Agerpres.

Russia, which brokered the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 war and deployed a peacekeeping force in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire in the Saribaba region.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow was taking “measures to stabilize the deteriorating situation” in the region.

According to the version of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, its troops were targeted by gunfire in Latsin district, a buffer zone between the Armenian border and Nagorno-Karabakh, so it launched a retaliatory operation, hence the name “retaliation”. This one.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh province, which has a majority Armenian population, since the 1990s. Their last battle, in the fall of 2020, resulted in around 6,500 deaths and was halted by a ceasefire negotiated by Russia in the face of imminent defeat by Armenian troops.

According to the agreement concluded at that time, after the war in the early 90s, Armenia had to cede part of this province and the surrounding Azeri territories to Azerbaijan.

Armenia has traditionally had close ties with Russia, including its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in autumn 2020, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan asked Moscow for the CSTO to intervene because Armenian forces outnumbered the capabilities of the Turkish-backed Azeri army.

The Kremlin – which views Pashinyan as a pro-Western politician who came to power after a “color revolution” – denied at the time that the Nagorno-Karabakh region was not Armenia’s territory, an internationally recognized fact.

Publisher: AC

RPA: ‘By surrendering Artsakh, we won’t live’ approach a guarantee for Armenian people’s security

Ophelia Vardapetian
Panorama
Armenia – Aug 5 2022

The Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) on Friday released a statement on the latest Azerbaijani attack on Artsakh, again rejecting the Armenian authorities’ “peace agenda” as “empty manipulation”.

The party denounced the ruling team’s foreign policy as “adventurous and treacherous”.

“It is reprehensible that all the mediation efforts made by the Russian Federation, the European Union and other international actors have failed to stabilize the situation in Artsakh and Armenia, prevent hostilities and neutralize threats to civilians as a result of the incompetence of the current leadership. It is doubly reprehensible that the Armenian people are not well informed about the behind-the-scenes agreements made behind their backs by the capitulant head of the Armenian government and his team,” the RPA said.

“International actors praising Armenia’s “democratic reforms” have no desire to contain Azerbaijan’s aggression, while the unclear relationship with the strategic ally that began after the 2018 seizure of power has contributed and is contributing to the situation.

“The issue of the Berdzor corridor, which the latest Azerbaijani violence is attributed to, is yet another evidence of the Armenian authorities’ reckless and treacherous policy. Under the trilateral statement of November 9, the sides agreed to design a new road passing through the Berdzor corridor within 3 years, and did not undertake to build a route outside this corridor,” the statement said.

The RPA states the “criminal inaction” to restore the combat readiness of the Armenian army, the rejection of Armenia’s status as a guarantor of Artsakh’s security and the steps to disarm Artsakh amid the bellicose actions and rhetoric of Azerbaijan are an “obvious manifestation of a defeatist policy.”

“The insidious view “let’s surrender Artsakh in order to live well” has led to a new series of losses, once again confirming that the “by surrendering Artsakh, we won’t live” approach is, in fact, a guarantee for the Armenian people’s security.

“The Republican Party of Armenia expresses its condolences to the families and friends of the deceased soldiers and wishes speedy recovery to those injured in the recent fighting.

“The only way out of the current situation is the immediate resignation of the current government, which would make it possible to negate all the promises made behind the back of the Armenian people and to restart the negotiation process, confirming the foreign policy agenda of Armenia with its strategic ally and partners,” the statement added.

Only specific military units are included in the declared partial mobilization. Artsakh Information Headquarters

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 18:16, 5 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Information Headquarters, taking into account the various public discussions regarding the partial military mobilization, has issued a clarifying message.

ARMENPRESS reports, the message particularly reads,

“Taking into account the various public discussions about the partial military mobilization, we consider it appropriate to come up with an additional clarification.

Due to the increased tension in the line of contact in the recent days, there has been a need to recruit separate military units and military or civilian positions. For that reason, by the decree of the President of Artsakh, a partial mobilization was declared, which, unlike the general mobilization, is a mobilization of a part of the armed forces of the state based on the specific situation and the tasks of the armed forces at the given moment. In each case of a partial military mobilization, the scale of military mobilization and the degree and number of subjects involved are determined by the competent authorities.

Therefore, only specific military units are included in the declared partial mobilization, and only the citizens attached to those units receive notifications. This means that those who have not received notification, there has been no decision for mobilization for their military units. The notifications were sent to all persons attached to the given military units, without any discrimination, including officials, who are involved in military service.

Armenia submits to ECHR new interstate complete complaint against Azerbaijan

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 15:09, 2 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, ARMENPRESS. On July 27, 2022, Armenia submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) a new interstate complete complaint against Azerbaijan, the Office of the Representative of Armenia on International Legal Issues said in a statement.

The complaint particularly relates to the violation of rights of civilians of Artsakh as a result of the Azerbaijani aggression launched in the direction of Artsakh’s Khramort and Parukh villages this year, the real threats made by Azerbaijan towards the residents of border villages of Artsakh, as well as the cases of use of force by the Azerbaijani armed forces against the civilians of Artsakh in 2021-2022, as a result of which the person’s right to life has been violated.

Kotayk Governor, Iranian Ambassador discuss cooperation opportunities in a number of areas

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 15:53, 2 August 2022

YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, ARMENPRESS. Governor of Kotayk province Aharon Sahakyan received Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri and his delegation.

Commenting on the meeting, the Kotayk Governor said on social media: “I fully share the belief of Mr. Ambassador that our province has huge potential and opportunities, and we should strengthen and make closer the mutual contacts and cooperation as much as possible, by turning these opportunities into real actions. Discussions were held on a number of directions. We have outlined the directions and areas which will serve as a link for establishment of relations between the province and the different province of Iran”.

The sides particularly highlighted the fields of tourism, agriculture, education, culture, sport, etc.

The possibility of organizing exhibitions in Kotayk province and any province of Iran was considered.

The necessity of conducting exchange of experience was emphasized.