Author: Raffi Khondkarian

Armenian President, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi discuss development of bilateral relations

Raffi Khondkarian
Public Radio of Armenia
Oct 28 2021
, 10:28

 Less than a minute

On a short working visit to the United Arab Emirates, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

A number of issues related to the deepening of the dynamically developing Armenian-Emirati relations were discussed. Reference was made to regional and international developments.

In the UAE, President Armen Sarkissian met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. Issues of mutual interest were discussed.


Turkish press: Prison breaker linguist declared persona non grata in Greece

Raffi Khondkarian
  • 07:00:00

Turkish-Armenian writer Sevan Nişanyan, who has been living in Greece after fleeing a Turkish prison four years ago, has said that he has been declared “persona non grata” by the Athens administration.

“I learned the announcement of persona non grata by Greek authorities when I was trying to go back to the island of Samos [where I live] from my visit to Belgrade, Serbia,” he said in his Youtube broadcast.

According to the writer, Greek officials just said, “State secret,” when he asked the reason for the decision.  

Nişanyan estimated that “a comprehensive study he made on the Turkish and Bulgarian names of settlements in the northern part of Greece may be the reason.”

“I made researches on the etymological roots of settlements in Turkey for a decade. Then I included the neighboring countries in my research,” he said in his YouTube program.

“Most of the settlement names in northern Greece is either Turkish or Bulgarian. There are almost no Greek names,” he added.

His prediction is that “Greek authorities had a feeling of ‘What is this man doing?’ strongly.”

Nişanyan, 64, author of many books on linguistics, was given a jail sentence of 16 years and seven months for criticizing the ban on criticism of Prophet Mohammed in 2012 in Turkey. Escaping prison in 2017, he fled to

Greece and started living in Samos. 
For the last two years, he has been broadcasting a program on YouTube on Sundays. 

In his last social media post he uploaded in Belgrade, he put a photo of himself walking, saying, “Nişanyan. It is time to cruise once again.”

Government projects construction and industry to be 2022’s main growth contributors

Raffi Khondkarian

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 13:05,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS. The government projects construction and industry to be the main segment guiding economic growth in 2022, unlike the service sector in 2021, the minister of finance Tigran Khachatryan said at a joint parliamentary committee session debating the 2022 state budget draft.

He said that as of now the government’s forecast for 2021’s economic growth is around 6,5%, and 7% is the target placed in the basis of the 2022 budget. Khachatryan said the projections are accompanied by rather high inflation backgrounds of the current year.

“For next year we expect the inflation environment to return to the range defined by law, thus ensuring a more stable macro-environment,” he said.

“If this year the services were the main guiding sector for economic growth, next year it will be construction and industry. While in terms of expenditure components there will be greater impact with final consumption and export impacts.”

“In 2022 there will be a complete return to tax-budgetary rules. Current spending will not exceed tax revenues, and capital spending will be at least not less that the size of the state budget’s deficit,” he added.

The government projects capital spending to comprise 4,5% of the GDP in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank Vice Governor Nerses Yeritsyan called the 2022 state budget draft “ambitious”.

“Overall we can say that the 2022 state budget program is rather ambitious, and compared to the government’s mid-term spending program implies a significant acceleration of economic growth and potential,” he said, adding that government spending policy will be aimed at encouraging growth. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Turkish press: Turkey, Azerbaijan hold 1st joint media platform meeting

Raffi Khondkarian
Beyza Binnur Dönmez   |23.10.2021

ANKARA 

The first meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Joint Media Platform was held this weekend under the co-chairmanship of Turkey's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev.

The parties decided to establish "public diplomacy, international media, strategic communication, education, legislation and regulation, digitalization and internationalization committees," Turkey’s Communications Directorate said in a statement Saturday.

The meeting, which was held in Istanbul with the theme of "Rooted Past, Strong Future," was attended by top media and communications officials from both countries.

Speaking at the meeting, Altun said the joint platform, which became official with a memorandum of understanding signed last December between Turkey and Azerbaijan, is "a very valuable step for institutionalizing the field of media and communications."

He noted that during Azerbaijan’s liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian forces nearly a year ago, "important results" were achieved not only militarily and politically but also in the field of communications and the media, thanks to close bilateral cooperation.

"We place great importance on strengthening Turkey-Azerbaijan cooperation in the fight against fake news and disinformation in the fields of media, communications, and public diplomacy," he said. "We have a consensus on sharing experiences in these fields, evaluating opportunities, developing institutional capacity, and making joint efforts."

'Strong perspective, dynamic structure'

Altun called the platform "a great step forward" for Turkish and Azerbaijani media acting in concert, working effectively to inform the public of the two countries, and producing shared strategies for combating systematic disinformation and dark propaganda.

In line with the targets set by leaders of both nations, Altun said, "with a strong perspective and a dynamic structure," they will do work that brings "resounding" attention to both the peoples of Turkey and Azerbaijan as well as the international community.

Six committees formed under the platform "will have critical functions for the effectiveness and continuity of the joint work and projects" in the field of media and communications, he said.

"At a time when we face intense disinformation and dark propaganda activities against our countries, it is more essential than ever for us to cooperate and work in coordination," he said. "With these joint steps, we will do things that will show the power of our two states to future generations."

"At the same time, we will explain the unity of our countries and the power of our states to the international public through short-, medium-, and long-term strategic communications campaigns," Altun continued.

The committees, he said, "will strengthen our deep-rooted ties and contribute to the effective delivery of our just struggle to large masses."

Altun added that the two countries also plan to carry out joint projects in the field of popular culture, especially in the movie and TV sectors.

Benefitting from Turkey’s experience

Also speaking at the meeting, Hajiyev touted the communication cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan shown during last fall’s struggle that brought victory in Karabakh – liberating a large chunk of territory from Armenian occupation – and is now gaining a corporate identity through the new joint platform.

Saying that "successful results were achieved in a short time," he added: "Today, thanks to our leaders, Azerbaijan-Turkey relations have risen to such a level that they must maintain that level, take it further, and ensure that future generations carry the same feeling hundreds of years from now."

"Our joint media platform, which has become one of the important elements of the brotherhood and strategic alliance of the two countries with the will and determination of our leaders, will further boost its effectiveness by completing its institutional structuring," he added.

Hajiyev also said that Azerbaijan wants to benefit more from Turkey's experience in countering ongoing disinformation attacks against his country in social and international media.

Liberation of Karabakh

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and also violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade occupation.

On Nov. 10, 2020, the two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.


We are committed to the political course of democratic reforms – PM Pashinyan receives the CoE delegation

Raffi Khondkarian

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 19:46,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the  Head of the Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), the Permanent Representative of Sweden to the CoE, Ambassador Mårten Ehnberg and the delegation led by him. and his delegation. The delegation consists of the Ambassadors of France, Russia, Switzerland, Finland, Estonia, Andorra, Iceland to the CoE and representatives of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Greeting the CoE delegation, the PM said, “The Council of Europe has been one of our key partners in the field of democracy since 2000 and has accompanied us in virtually all of our reforms. I think we have concrete achievements in this difficult period, particularly in terms of democracy, and it is worth emphasizing especially here. Seemingly insurmountable problems were constantly registered regarding the quality of the elections, the reliability of the official results since the first days of our membership to the Council of Europe until 2018,  but, in fact, we can state that this problem has been overcome.

I would also like to emphasize that for the first time in the history of Armenia, elections have served as a tool to overcome the domestic political crisis, while in the past, elections have always been the cause of domestic political crisis, controversy and opposition. We are committed to the political course of democratic reforms, we will continue that path, and we are glad that we can count on the support of the Council of Europe on that path."

On behalf of the delegation, Mårten Ehnberg thanked the Prime Minister for the appreciation, emphasizing that the Council of Europe attaches importance to the partnership with Armenia. He noted that the delegation has had effective discussions with its Armenian partners, during the exchange of views the priorities for the effective implementation of the CoE-Armenia 2019-2022 Action Plan were recorded.

At the request of the representatives of the CoE delegation, the Prime Minister presented details on Armenia’s democratic agenda, speaking about reforms in the fields of anti-corruption, elections, freedom of speech, judiciary, penitentiaries, as well as other spheres. Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the current results show that as a result of the reforms initiated by the Government, it has been possible to create effective control mechanisms in the mentioned directions. This process continues.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister answered a number of questions of the members of the CoE delegation. The questions were about overcoming the consequences of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh, resolving humanitarian issues, ensuring peace and stability in the region, resumption of the negotiation process within the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, as well as Armenia's democratic development, importance of educational reform, strengthening of rule of law, prevention of domestic violence, promotion of state-civil society cooperation, improvement of the parliamentary system of government, etc.

Head of the Rapporteur Group on Democracy of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Mårten Ehnberg thanked the PM for the detailed reference, noting that the works testifying to Armenia's democratic progress will be presented during the discussion of the CoE-Armenia Action Plan 2019-2022 scheduled in January 2022.

Earthquake at Azerbaijan-Georgia border felt in Armenian towns

Raffi Khondkarian

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 16:05,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS. A magnitude 3,2 earthquake struck 30 km north-east from the town of Ghazakh at the Azerbaijan-Georgia border zone at 14:49, October 18.

The Armenian Seismic Protection Service said the tremors were recorded at an intensity of 4 on the MSK scale.

The earthquake was felt at MSK 2 in the Armenian towns of Ijevan, Berd and Noyemberyan, and MSK 2-3 in Shnogh.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia participates in CSTO Quick Reaction Forces drills

Raffi Khondkarian

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 16:13,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenian military servicemen are participating in the CSTO Quick Reaction Forces exercises which kicked off in Tajikistan on October 18.

A total of 500 units of military equipment and more than 4000 troops from member states are participating in the drills titled “Search 2021”, “Convoy 2021” and “Partnership 2021”.

Officers of the Armenian contingent will plan and lead the actions of the units in the joint command, the ministry of defense said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Azerbaijan asks World Court to order Armenia to hand over maps of landmines

Raffi Khondkarian
The Globe and Mail, Canada
Oct 18 2021
THE HAGUE
REUTERS
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 18, 2021
Ethnic Armenian volunteer recruits gather at a center near Hadrut, self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, where they receive their uniforms and weapons before being dispatched to the frontline, on Sept. 29, 2020.

KAREN MIRZOYAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Azerbaijan on Monday asked the World Court to order neighbouring Armenia to hand over maps it says show the location of landmines on its territory, while the judges consider tit-for-tat claims that the other side violated an anti-discrimination treaty.

This time last year, Azeri troops drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a ceasefire.

Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov told judges that the emergency measures sought were urgently needed to protect against the “dire threat” posed by what it says is Armenia’s refusal to hand over the maps.

The alleged campaign of placing landmines “is quite simply a continuation of Armenia’s decades-long ethnic cleansing operation and an attempt to keep these territories cleansed of Azerbaijanis”, Mammadov said.

Armenia’s agent before the court, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, dismissed the Azeri claims as " manufactured and defensive moves”.

He pointed out that Azerbaijan itself planted hundreds of thousands of landmines in the conflict area in the early 1990s.

Armenia has already handed over two minefield maps and “we stand ready to provide any more maps in our possession”, Kirakosyan said.

Last week, Armenia also sought emergency measures from the World Court. Lawyers for Armenia told judges then that Azerbaijan promoted ethnic hatred against Armenians.

Azerbaijan rejected Armenia’s claim and said that it was the other way around and that it was Armenia that carried out ethnic cleansing.

The requests for emergency measures are part of tit-for-tat cases filed at the World Court last month where both Armenia and Azerbaijan claimed the other country has violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both states are signatories.

The hearings on Monday and last week do not go into the merits of the cases but instead deal with requests from both sides for emergency measures while the court considers the claims.

The World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, is the UN court for resolving disputes between countries. It has yet to determine whether it has jurisdiction in this case.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-azerbaijan-asks-world-court-to-order-armenia-to-hand-over-maps-of/
Also Read
https://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2021/10/18/azerbaijan-moves-world-court-for-landmine-maps-from-armenia
https://www.cp24.com/mobile/world/azerbaijan-asks-armenia-to-stop-laying-landmines-in-second-case-to-reach-un-court-1.5627120

Lawmaker Anna Grigoryan alerts about expected concessions in Kapan

Raffi Khondkarian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 16 2021

Opposition lawmaker from "Armenia" faction Anna Grigoryan took to Facebook, alerting about new concessions expected in Armenia's southern Kapan town. 

"The advocates of the fake peace plan new concessions in Kapan. Ahead of the elections to local self-government bodies, the authorities are giving another gift to their 'educated' and 'constructive' friends in the form of conceding heights of strategic importance in Kapan," Grigoryan reported. 

In her words, according to the plan, Pela mountain will be passed to Azerbaijan's control, thus creating immediate security risks for the nearby villages. 

"Azerbaijan may not resort to new provocations as long as there are people in Armenia's leadership who concede in parts important and strategic parts of out country," Grigoryan added.