Author: Ophelia Vardapetian

Armenian people will undoubtedly embark on the path of building the country of our dreams, acting prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a congratulatory message on Republic Day.

“With sober and well-balanced decisions, we will be able to stand up for the defense of our state, our sovereignty, independence; we will not let the enemy achieve its goals,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan stated that sovereignty and independence can never be at stake.

The message reads:

Dear compatriots,

I congratulate us all on Republic Day.

This holiday marks our nation’s unwavering will power to fight for independence and freedom. It embodies our people’s age-old desire to have an independent statehood.

The Armenian people faced a mortal danger in those days of 1918. Catastrophe seemed inevitable. We seemed on the verge of being deprived of our legitimate right to building sovereign statehood on our native land and living in our homeland. In the meantime, inspired by Aram Manukyan’s fighting spirit and immense will power, the people’s overwhelming strength enabled us to check the enemy’s advance, reinstate once and for all our inalienable right to sovereign statehood in the heroic battles of Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Gharakilisa.

Dear compatriots,

The heroes of Sardarapat, Bash-Aparan and Gharakilisa – Aram Manukyan, Tovmas Nazarbekyan, Movses Silikyan, Dro, Nzhdeh, Daniel and Poghos Bek-Pirumyans, Yazidi cavalry unit commander Djahangir Agha, the Armenian Army, militia, and the clergy became the builders of Armenia’s independence. The inhabitants of our border villages continue the noble cause of Aram Manukyan, Tovmas Nazarbekyan, Movses Silikyan, Dro, who are standing firm on their native land.

In difficult times, the Armenian people have always been able to unite, to be one fist, to mobilize all their forces for the sake of defense, sovereignty and statehood.

I am convinced that today we must act with the same spirit, from Yerevan to the border villages, as one family for the safety of our dear Homeland.

With sober and well-balanced decisions, we will be able to stand up for the defense of our state, our sovereignty, independence; we will not let the enemy achieve its goals. Our sovereignty and independence can never be at stake. And as Aram Manukyan said in the days of despair in 1918, “Let us all get down to work and we will have the upper hand!”

Resolving the current situation is a priority today, after which the Armenian people will undoubtedly embark on the path of building the country of our dreams. So let us get to work together!

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) welcomes the urgent resolution of the European Parliament (EP), demanding the unconditional release of all the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and captives, still illegally detained by Azerbaijani. The joint cross-party resolution which was co-signed by 47 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), representing the five biggest political groups in the parliament, was adopted earlier today by an overwhelming majority. The voting took place after the plenary, where several MEPs firmly condemned the Azerbaijani barbaric behavior towards the Armenian POWs and called on the EU to take an active part in the process of their release.

The European Parliament expresses deep concern about the reports on the degrading conditions, the inhuman treatment and torture of many Armenian hostages by the Azerbaijani authorities. Moreover, the EP is calling on Azerbaijan to strictly respect the international humanitarian law, according to which the ill-treatment of POWs is a war crime.

Furthermore, the Parliament raises the issue of the Azerbaijani refusal to cooperate with relevant international organizations such as the ICRC and calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to stop prohibiting the access to the Armenian prisoners for the representatives of these organizations or other lawyers, doctors and human rights defenders. In addition, the resolution calls on the Azerbaijani government to fully cooperate with the ECHR by providing an exhaustive list of all persons held in its captivity and detailed information on their conditions of detention and state of health. As a Member state of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan is supposed to comply with the interim measures of the European Court of Human Rights. Something that the Azerbaijani authorities have failed to do.

In addition to the Armenian POWs issue, the resolution criticizes the latest intrusion of the Azerbaijani armed forces in the Armenian sovereign territory and the violation of its territorial integrity as well as of international law. The EP also deplores the increased level of hate speech and anti-Armenian state policy in Azerbaijan, particularly the opening of the so-called “Trophy Park” in Baku and urges that it be closed without delay.

The European Parliament reiterates its full support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and their mandate to find a sustainable peaceful solution for the conflict based on the OSCE 2009 Basic Principles, including the right for self-determination of the peoples. To conclude, the resolution also highlights the urgent need to send humanitarian assistance and to ensure the security of the Armenian population and its cultural heritage in Nagorno Karabakh.

Commenting on the resolution, EAFJD president Kaspar Karampetian stated: “With the resolution adopted by the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EEAS have an additional powerful instrument in their possession to act more concretely and use all their political and diplomatic leverage for the return of all the Armenian captives. It is an absolute disgrace that the Azerbaijani authorities are using this humanitarian issue as a bargaining chip for more geopolitical or territorial gains. The rights of the Armenian POWs to be treated humanely and to be released regardless of the circumstances of their detention are guaranteed by international conventions signed also by Azerbaijan. Since the end of the war, Azerbaijan is violating all of them”.

“It is also important that with the resolution the European Parliament clearly criticizes the ongoing violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia by Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani invasion must be firmly condemned by the international community,” concluded Karampetian.