Sunday, Death Toll Rises In Armenian Market Blast Armenia - Firefighters are fighting a major blaze triggered by an explosion at the Surmalu market in Yerevan. . The death toll has risen to three people in the major explosion and fire at a Yerevan market where firefighters continued to fight the blaze late into the night, authorities said. Officials also said at least 61 people, including children, were injured after a fireworks warehouse at Surmalu, a sprawling wholesale and retail market just outside the city center, exploded on Sunday afternoon under still unclear circumstances. All injured people have been receiving treatment in hospitals in the Armenian capital, health authorities said. The Yerevan mayor’s office said a three-story building had partially collapsed as a result of the explosion, subsequent detonations and fire. It said rescue operations were underway to pull people, who may have been trapped, out of the rubble. Investigators say they will start looking into possible causes of the explosion and fire once conditions permit. A major fire at Surmalu in April 2021 destroyed several pavilions and warehouses with toys and household goods, but no casualties were reported in that fire that occurred at night. [see video] azatutyun.am/a/31987514.html Mass Evacuations In Yerevan Amid Bomb Threats The Yerevan metro was closed and people were evacuated from it after bomb threats. . Armenian authorities were evacuating people from the metro, trade centers and other major public facilities in Yerevan on Sunday evening after bomb threats reportedly made to security services. The evacuations came hours after a strong blast and fire at a local popular market killed at least one and injured more than 50 people. Authorities said the massive blaze was due to an explosion at a local fireworks warehouse. Tatev Khachatrian, a spokeswoman for Yerevan’s metro, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the work of the metro had been suspended and people were being evacuated from all 10 stations. The Ministry of Emergency Situations said that besides the bomb threat against the metro, authorities had also received alerts about explosive devices allegedly having been planted at all major military and civilian facilities, including all shopping centers, the Zoo, the National Assembly building and St. Grigor Lusavorich Church in Yerevan. Authorities say teams of engineers have been dispatched to the scenes. “Evacuations are being carried out for the safety of the population,” the ministry said. No other details were reported immediately. Later, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said that no bomb had been found in the metro after search was conducted at all stations and the metro resumed its work at 9:30 pm.. Similar bomb threats again Yerevan’s metro and other major civilian facilities and government buildings were also made in July and early August. Those alerts proved to be false, but authorities have so far not reported any progress in investigations of those cases. One Dead, Dozens Injured After Fireworks Blast Starts Fire At Armenian Market Armenia - An explosion and fire at the Surmalu market in Yerevan, August 14, 2022. At least one person has been killed and more than 50 people injured in an explosion that took place in a Yerevan market on Sunday afternoon, causing a major fire in the sprawling complex just off the city center. The Ministry of Emergency Situations says firefighters and rescuers are working on the scene at the popular market called Surmalu where both wholesale and retail trade is available. According to Taguhi Stepanian, director of an ambulance service, dozens of injured people have been taken to different hospitals in the Armenian capital. It was immediately unclear what caused the blast. Videos posted on social media showed black smoke rising from the Surmalu market where, among other things, fireworks and other pyrotechnics are sold. Levon Sardarian, a spokesman for Yerevan’s municipality, later confirmed reports that the explosion took place at the fireworks warehouse. He said rescuers were on the scene trying to pull out injured people from under the rubble after a three-storey building had partially collapsed. [see video] Reposted 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: Talar Tumanian
Turkish press: Putin, Pashinian discuss Karabakh developments
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (L) attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, April 19, 2022. (Sputnik via Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the developments in Karabakh and security issues on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in a phone call on Monday, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Kremlin last week called for restraint from both sides after Azerbaijan said its forces had foiled an Armenian attack near Karabakh, formerly referred to as Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan announced that it has regained control of several strategic locations in the Karabakh region, in a new escalation after Armenia attacked and killed an Azerbaijani soldier.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly pointed to Armenia’s failure to meet the provisions of the Nov. 10, 2020 agreement signed by the two nations plus Russia, drawing particular attention to how Armenian armed groups have not yet pulled out of Azerbaijani territories in Karabakh, said a ministry statement.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military illegally occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian Army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and around 300 settlements and villages that had been occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.
The fighting ended with a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, which was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia.
In January 2021, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It also included the establishment of a trilateral working group in Karabakh.
After the conflict ended, Azerbaijan launched a massive reconstruction initiative in the liberated Karabakh region.
In July, Azerbaijan began the process of returning its people to land recaptured from Armenian forces in what Baku calls “The Great Return.” The oil-rich country has vowed to repopulate the recaptured lands.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had for years promised to recapture lands lost in the 1990s and the first returns marked a symbolic moment for Azerbaijan.
Construction companies seriously overloaded, says PM
12:30,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting that road construction companies have problems in completing government contracts. The PM said the problem is related to the state procurement system.
“When we were discussing previously the reforms of the procurement system , an idea was voiced to take into account the overload of road construction companies in the given phase as a factor. Unfortunately, in some parts we see a situation where the companies are vigorously taking part in tenders, winning the contracts, and then having problems in completing the government orders within the deadlines. Of course, if they fail to meet the deadlines, we have mechanisms, blacklisting, bank guarantees, penalties, but we aren’t consoled by this. We don’t need to pull the bank guarantee or impose penalties, we need the road,” the PM said, adding that there is a construction boom in Armenia now and therefore construction companies are seriously overloaded.
Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan said they are trying to make several changes in the procurement system.
He said the companies bidding the lowest must be subjected to higher supervision to understand at what expense they are able to make quality work at such low prices. “The other problem is that the capacity of our country’s construction companies doesn’t meet what the government wants to do. Last year, 33 billion drams was allocated for reconstruction, but our construction companies were able to carry out only 21 billion drams of work. This year, we’ve already allocated 60 billion, but prior to doing so we’ve notified them that we are building 500 kilometers of roads and this implies that construction companies must increase their capacities all the time,’ Sanosyan said.
Karabakh authorities demand villagers quickly evacuate ahead of handover to Azerbaijan
Aug 10 2022
Aug 10, 2022
Following weeks of uncertainty about their fate, residents of three communities in Karabakh’s Lachin region have been told they need to leave their homes within 20 days as Azerbaijan prepares to retake control of the area.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Hayk Khanumyan, visited one of the affected villages, Aghavno, on August 5 and told residents that they should leave by August 25.
The handover comes as Azerbaijan is pressing Armenians to abandon the current road connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh and to instead use a new road. The three communities all lie along the old road.
Khanumyan “said that the Azerbaijanis will come and the Russians will leave [the current road] on August 25,” Mariam Hakobyan, an Aghavno resident, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. The order also affects two other communities, the village Sus and the town of Lachin.
The announcement was an abrupt change of tune from the Armenian authorities. At the end of June, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, told reporters after a cabinet meeting: “We still have time to find solutions both for the road and the residents. We still have approximately a year and a half.” That echoed earlier remarks from Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman.
The villages in question lie along the Lachin corridor, the road that links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. According to the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the entire district of Lachin was supposed to be handed over to Azerbaijan on December 1, 2020, except for a five-kilometer buffer along the corridor road patrolled by Russian peacekeepers so that Armenians could continue to travel safely between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
The truce accord also called for constructing a new Armenia-Karabakh road within three years. Azerbaijan has been constructing a road on the Karabakh side of the border and has been pushing Armenia to complete the section on its side of the border.
At the end of July, Armenian officials said they would begin that work in August. On August 2, Harutyunyan said that “the Azerbaijani side, via the peacekeepers, demanded to organize a shift to the new route as soon as possible.”
Harutyunyan’s remarks came as fighting broke out in the region just to the north of the current Lachin corridor. The escalation appeared at least in part to be an attempt by Azerbaijan to pressure Armenia to speed up the construction of the new road and the handover of the villages along the old one.
While the ceasefire statement does not say anything about the fate of civilians along the current Lachin corridor, Armenians do not feel secure remaining under Azerbaijani control and without protection from the Russian peacekeepers. In an August 5 statement, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said that the new road “was nearing completion and that Russian peacekeeping forces would be deployed on that road after its construction was completed.” He did not mention the fate of the people living along the old road.
Before the first war between the two sides in the 1990s, the area was populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis. After Armenians won control of the territory in that war, they settled the area with Armenians, some from Armenia itself and others from Armenian diaspora communities in Syria and Lebanon.
Now, those residents say they will follow the government’s orders. “What should they [residents] do? They have no other choice. Let them all die, for what?” asked the mayor of Aghavno,
Andranik Chavushyan, in an interview with news website aravot.am, said, “The state must protect its compatriots; if it doesn’t, what should the residents do?”
About 200 people now live in the affected areas, and Aghavno residents said they were confused and disappointed. “We will probably take the children out [of Aghavno], but the adults will stay until the last day, the last hour. Let’s see how they execute the handover,” one resident, Anush Arakelyan, told RFE/RL.
The Karabakh government is offering a voucher for 10 million Armenian drams ($25,000) to each household in the three communities to find a new home somewhere else.
Officials in Yerevan and Stepanakert have not publicly commented on the planned evacuation. It’s also not clear how traffic between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh will run if the existing Lachin corridor is handed over to Azerbaijan by the end of this month.
On top of the evacuation of residents, the Karabakh authorities are trying to remove more than four dozen monuments from the area, mostly from the last 30 years and dedicated to the wars with Azerbaijan.
“I consider it a mistake because we are erasing the tracks (of Armenian’s presence) with our own hands,” Lusine Gharakhanyan, an adviser to the Nagorno Karabakh de facto leader, told RFE/RL on August 8. But authorities in Karabakh also fear the destruction of the monuments if those remain under Azerbaijani control, she said.
With additional research by Heydar Isayev.
Armenia opposition bloc issues statement on latest development
ARMINFO
Aug 10 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan
ArmInfo. The Armenia opposition bloc has issued a statement on the latest developments round Artsakh.
The residents of new Armenian settlements are facing evacuation as a result of Azerbaijan’s military aggression and the Armenian authorities’ defeatist policy.
“In fact, a specific date has been fixed, August 25, an the authorities responsible for that have not even stated their position. Azerbaijan is once again violating the trilateral statement by threatening the closing of the corridor and demanding the surrender of the adjacent settlements before the dates fixed by the document of November 9, 2022.
“None of the points of the statement stipulates surrender of settlements for road construction nor does the statement contain a point under which the new the new highway is to bypass Berdzor, Aghavno and Sus.
“This situation is, in fact, a manifestation of genocidal behavior in the light of international norms. Therefore, we are witnessing further gross violations of international law and obviously illegal demands. And the Armenian and Artsakh authorities’ readiness to meet those demands at least serves as a basis for claims that we are once again dealing with agreements behind the people – ‘verbal mutual understanding.’ The announced deadline, August 25, is one more proof,” the statement reads.
The Armenian authorities’ inconsistent and vague policy results in lack of cooperation in any field – with the peacekeeping forces, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs or international agencies.
“Armenian and Artsakh are suffering daily defeat because of the authorities symbolizing defeat, facing a threat of new irreparable losses. The Armenian people must unite despite all the dividing lines the authorities are drawing. The incumbent authorities, which are serving the Turkish-Azerbaijani interests, are actually implementing a programme of Armenians’ evacuation from Artsakh,” the statement reads.
Azerbaijan has presented an ultimatum demanding resettlement of the Berdzor, Sus and Aghavno residents until August 25, planning to close the highway running along the Lachin corridor, while an alternative highway has not yet been constructed. So Artsakh is facing complete isolation. Azerbaijan’s ultimatum is in conflict with Point 6 of the trilateral statement Azerbaijan itself is referring to. The international community is silent about that. Earlier, Artsakh Minister of Territorial Administration Hayk Khanumyan discussed evacuation of the Aghavno, Sus and Berdzor residents with the Kashatagh residents and local authorities. However, the local residents will not leave.
Berdzor Mayor Narek Aslanyan reported that the Aghavno, Sus and Berdzor residents will receive housing certificates – AMD 8mln in case of moving to Yerevan and AMD 10mln in case of moving to other Armenian regions. Those wishing to purchase housing in Artsakh will receive AMD 12mln.
Under the circumstances, 56 residents of Aghavno applied to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for immediate and active interference and mediation by France and the United States for the village to be relocated in the new corridor zone (just 1,200 meters of the area) to avert a humanitarian disaster, which could deprive them of their way of life, homeland and even lives.
Men’s chess team of Armenia defeats Azerbaijan. Olympiad
Men’s chess team of Armenia defeats Azerbaijan. Olympiad
18:15, 8 August 2022
YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, ARMENPRESS. The men’s chess team of Armenia defeated the Azerbaijani national team in the penultimate round of the World Olympiad.
ARMENPRESS reports in the 10th round of the Olympiad in Chennai, India, the Armenian men’s national team competed with the Azerbaijanis and won 3:1. Robert Hovhannisyan and Gabriel Sargsyan celebrated victory. Hrant Melkumyan and Manuel Petrosyan both ended in a draw.
So far, the national team led by Arman Pashikyan celebrated 7 victories against the national teams of Madagascar, Andorra, Egypt, Austria, England, India (first and second teams), and the match with the USA ended in a draw. The Armenian team lost to the national team of Uzbekistan.
There is one more round. As of now, the Armenian team is still the leader. However, the results of the other teams are not yet known.
Armenian Assembly of America calls on UN General Assembly President to clarify his position on Armenian Genocide
ARMINFO
Armenia – Aug 6 2022
Naira Badalian
ArmInfo.The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly-AAA) calls upon His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and current Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, to affirm the Armenian Genocide following the deletion of his original statement on Twitter about his visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial (Tsitsernakaberd) and Museum-Institute in Yerevan on July 27, 2022, the Assembly reports.
It should be reminded that during his visit to Yerevan, President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid visited the Memorial of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and made a post about it in his microblog on the social network Twitter. However, a few hours later he deleted the post on the Armenian Genocide, made immediately after visiting the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex. “Laid a wreath at the Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Special thanks to Museum-Institute Director Harutyun Marutyan and Hasmik Martirosyan for a tour of the Museum”, Shahid wrote in a deleted post.
As the Assembly noted, in response, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) stated that “The UN should not be complicit in Turkey’s rejection of history. UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid was wrong for deleting his tweet and capitulating to pressure from Turkey.”
“To date, 31 countries and dozens of international organizations recognize the genocide of the Armenian people committed by the Ottoman Turkish Empire from 1915-1923, which resulted in the loss of 1.5 million Armenians and the dispossession of a nation from its three millennia-old Western Armenian homeland. The UNGA codified the crime of genocide by adopting the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”) in December 1948, heeding many of international human rights lawyer Raphael Lemkin’s ideas, who coined the term genocide in 1944 and referenced the 1915 Armenian Genocide as a seminal example of the act of genocide.
The UNGA President’s actions are demonstrative of genocide denial, which is the worst form of hate speech. To honor the 50th anniversary of the Genocide Convention in 1998, over 150 distinguished scholars and writers issued a statement to commemorate the Armenian Genocide and condemn the Turkish government’s denial of this crime against humanity. In the statement, the scholars emphasized that the “denial of genocide strives to reshape history in order to demonize the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators. Denial of genocide is the final stage of genocide. It is what Elie Wiesel has called a ‘double killing.’ Denial murders the dignity of the survivors and seeks to destroy remembrance of the crime.” UNGA President Shahid’s action undermines the international community’s trust in and responsibilities towards upholding the letter and spirit of the UN Genocide Convention. The Armenian Assembly of America urges UNGA President Shahid to issue a public explanation and retraction with respect to his deleted tweet, and affirm his commitment to recognize the Armenian Genocide and condemn its denial,”the Assemblymessage reads.
Azerbaijani Embassy attacked by Mahdi Servants Union Shia group in London
10:31, 5 August 2022
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. The Embassy of Azerbaijan in the UK was attacked, according to Azerbaijani media reports.
The attackers are members of the Mahdi Servants Union – the Twelver Shia religious group based in London, according to Azerbaijani media reports.
London police detained the assailants who stormed the embassy building.
Meanwhile, the Azeri foreign ministry requested the UK authorities to ensure the security of its diplomatic representation and diplomats.
Representatives of the US Forest Service visited the Caucasian Wildlife Refuge
14:06, 1 August 2022
YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. (FPWC Press Release) Representatives of the US Forest Service are in Armenia. They visited the protected areas of the Caucasian Wildlife Refuge (CWR) to learn about the work of the partner Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).
The primary purpose of the visit was to discuss the problems of wildlife in Armenia and the prospects for fire prevention. With the support of the US Forest Service, since 2020, the foundation has been implementing forest fire prevention, capacity building, and technical training of forest rangers in the CWR private protected area managed by the foundation, as well as a number of public awareness campaigns and events and educational programs.
Accompanied by the Director of the Foundation, Ruben Khachatryan, the partners toured the shelter, visited a nursery of native tree species, which was established in 2016 with the support of the US Forest Service, as well as learned about bear rescue, ecotourism, community development and a number of other programs. The foundation employees presented extensive information about upcoming projects to the partners.
“We are glad that we are working closely with the US Forest Service, particularly in the scope of forest fire prevention. The US Forest Service is one of the leaders in the world with its long-term experience, and the exchange of that experience will enable us to fight against wildfires more effectively,”- Ruben Khachatryan noted. He added that it is very important for colleagues to get to know all the programs implemented by the Foundation.
It should be noted that the prevention of forest fires is one of the important points of the policy adopted by the foundation, and a large educational campaign is already being carried out in this direction. In the near future, the fund will present other initiatives related to the sector.
Increased supplies from Russia to ensure required crop volume in Armenia until yearend
11:53,
YEREVAN, JULY 25, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan submitted to the Eurasian Economic Commission Armenia’s 2022 demand for individual agricultural goods, the ministry of economy said in a press release.
As a result of discussions the EEU Council members approved the indicative balances of Armenia’s 2022 demand and supply of agricultural products, developed jointly with representatives of authorized bodies of member states.
According to predictions, the volume of wheat consumption in Armenia in 2022 will amount to 377 thousand tons. To ensure food security in the domestic market, the required amount of this crop will be supplemented at the expense of increasing the supplies from Russia up to 275 thousand tons by yearend. The same goes for barley and corn, 43 thousand and 60 thousand tons respectively.
The volume of sunflower oil demand is forecast around 27 thousand tons. The required amount until yearend will be entirely ensured by supplies from Russia.