Author: Talar Tumanian

Armenian union member at medical center, two accompanying persons apprehended

Talar Tumanian
News.am, Armenia

20:35, 29.04.2020
                  

Member of Adekvad Union Artur Danielyan was transferred to Erebuni Medical Center after his incident with Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan, as reported human rights activist Ruben Melikyan to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“The two people who were with Artur Danielyan were apprehended and taken to the central police station,” Ruben Melikyan said, adding that police officers apprehended Artur Danielyan on the way to the medical center and transferred him to the medical center at their initiative. According to the human rights activist, Danielyan needs to undergo a surgery.

As reported earlier, Konstantin Ter-Nakalyan, one of the members of Adekvad Union, posted on his Facebook page a photo of Artur Danielyan and wrote the following:

“Alen Simonyan attacked Artur Danielyan, who was walking on the street.”

In his turn, independent MP Arman Babajanyan wrote on his Facebook page that Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan had been attacked.

Ukraine denies Armenian genocide, refers instead to ‘tragic events of April’

Talar Tumanian
RT – Russia Today

28 Apr, 2020 21:04  
<img src=””https://cdni.rt.com/files/2020.04/xxs/5ea8970020302779c065dbe2.jpg” class=”media__item ” alt=”” />
The eternal flame of the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial in Yerevan to commemorate the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire. © Sputnik / Asatur Yesayants
Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar has urged government agencies to refrain from using the term ‘genocide’ when referring to the slaughter of Armenians a century ago, as it would go against Kiev’s political interests.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1922. Bodnar outlined reasons for refusing to recognize the events as genocide in a letter to government officials, which was subsequently leaked on Facebook by a member of the Verkovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament.

According to Bodnar, these events do not fit the UN definition of genocide, which constitutes “actions committed with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, any national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such.” 

His letter, however, confirmed that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry made that determination mainly for strategic reasons. It argued that modern Armenia is a close ally of Russia, and may vote for resolutions in international bodies hostile to the interests of Ukraine. Kiev has been at odds with Moscow ever since 2014, when an elected government was overthrown in a US-backed coup, prompting three regions of Ukraine to declare independence and one of them, Crimea, to rejoin Russia.

Another thing pointed out in Bodnar’s letter is that the Armenian issue is an “extremely sensitive topic” for Ukraine’s key strategic partner in the region, Turkey. Although the Turkish republic began in 1923 by disavowing its Ottoman past, it has maintained ever since that what happened to the Armenian, Greek and other Christian populations during WWI and its aftermath was not genocide.

Bodnar’s position was blasted on social media as outright genocide denial, with some Twitter users pointing out the irony and hypocrisy of Kiev insisting that the 1932 famine amounted to a Soviet genocide of Ukrainians.

The ‘Holodomor’ has been a similarly controversial topic in the world, with Ukrainian nationalists claiming that the famine was a direct and deliberate attack on them, even though the famine affected other parts of the Soviet Union as well, due to a combination of bad weather and strict agricultural collectivization policies. 

Russia is among the 29 countries that have officially recognized the Armenian genocide as of 2020. While both chambers of the US Congress have adopted resolutions recognizing the genocide, during the 2019 crisis over Turkey’s invasion of Syrian territories held by US-backed Kurdish militias, the White House has not signed off on them, so they do not have the force of law.



Azerbaijani Press: Russia Voices Support for “Phased Solution” to Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Talar Tumanian
Caspian News, Azerbaijan

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, April 2019, Mosow / Caucasus.Liveuamap.Com 

    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for continued negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and voiced Russia’s support for a “phased solution” to resolve the long-standing conflict.

    In a roundtable discussion with local diplomats on April 21, Lavrov addressed the crucial steps to settling the conflict, which include conditions outlined in the document adopted during the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Moscow in April 2019 and the liberation of occupied Azerbaijani lands.

    “I believe that at the first stage – the solution of the most pressing problems, the liberation of a number of districts around Nagorno-Karabakh and the unblocking of transport, economic and other communications,” Lavrov told participants of the Public Diplomacy Support Fund n.a. A.M. Gorchakova during the event, according to Russian media.

    “We started to agree, we need to agree. This is what we are seeking as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.”

    The joint statement between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow reaffirmed the countries’ intentions to continue their efforts to find a political end to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It has also addressed a further stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone, in particular during agricultural activities, the adoption of measures for allowing families access to relatives held in custody in the respective detention centers on both sides and implementation of concrete work on establishing contacts between people, including through mutual visits of media representatives.

    Russia, along with the US and France, has been co-chairing the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which aims to help Armenia and Azerbaijan find a political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, the shuttle diplomacy over the last 26 years has not yielded any tangible results or progress in bringing the conflict to an end.

    Lavrov’s remarks were met with a fierce backlash from his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who rejected the phased settlement idea in a statement saying Armenia is not considering any compromise on the matter of liberating occupied Azerbaijani territories.

    “There has never been and will not be concessions, the Armenian side will by no means be guided by an approach that implies a threat to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Mnatsakanyan said, according to 1news.az. “At the same time, the Armenian authorities do not have a mandate from the people of Artsakh [Armenian population of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region].”

    In response to the Armenian minister’s remarks, the Foreign Ministry of Russia issued a statement on Friday explaining that the issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement should be considered within the framework of the existing format.

    The statement reads that Russia’s position as a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group has been repeatedly communicated in joint statements by the top leaders of Russia, the US, and France, adding that the position is based on the fundamental principles of the Helsinki Final Act, including the principles of the non-use of force, territorial integrity and the right to self-determination.

    “Among the elements of the settlement contained in these statements are the return of the territories located around Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh by the will of the population,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Haqqin.az.

    “As for the documents and proposals that were considered and are being considered, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov listed them,” the statement added.

    The 62-page Helsinki Final Act of the OSCE sets the main principles of guiding relations between the participating states, including sovereign equality, respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty, refraining from the threat or use of force, inviolability of frontiers, territorial integrity of states, peaceful settlement of disputes, and others. The Madrid Principles, one of the peace settlement instruments proposed for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2007, is based on the fundamental principles outlined in the Helsinki Final Act.

    Armenia has violated the principles of the Act with encroaching on Azerbaijan’s territory following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Armenia’s full-fledged military aggression against Azerbaijan led to bloody war until a ceasefire in 1994. Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts – Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli, and Zangilan were occupied, 30,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were killed and one million was displaced by Armenia as a result of the war.

    Political analyst, head of the Atlas Research Center in Baku, Elkhan Shahinoglu says the phased resolution format is an opportunity for Armenia to free itself from the ongoing economic isolation.

    “Armenia is under the influence of Russia. In the current difficult situation with the spread of the coronavirus, Armenia needs more help and support from Russia. In fact, in these difficult times, the ‘step-by-step solution’ plan is a chance for Armenia,” Shahinoglu told Caspian News.

    “Armenia is already in a difficult economic situation due to the coronavirus, its borders are completely closed and it is unknown when it will open. Armenia’s readiness for reconciliation with Azerbaijan and Turkey gives it the prospect of escaping the war it fears and joining regional cooperation. However, it is difficult to say that Yerevan will use this opportunity,” Shahinoglu added.

    Lavrov’s comments came on the same day that the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia held a virtual meeting to discuss next  steps in negotiations to resolve the ongoing conflict. Although the meeting failed to produce any tangible progress, both ministers agreed that the two countries should resume political negotiations as soon as possible with the aim of reaching a solution to the conflict pursuant to the joint statement issued in Geneva on 30 January 2020.

    Make A Virtual Pilgrimage to Dzidzernagapert

    Talar Tumanian

    Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Monument was lit in orange and red in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on Thursday

    With the global coronavirus crisis and the guidelines imposed to curtail its spread, Armenians around the world are turning are fining innovative—mostly digital—ways to commemorate of the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on Friday.

    Armenia’s Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs is calling on all Armenians around the world to make a virtual pilgrimage to the Dizidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan and collectively commemorate the Armenian Genocide.

    “On April 24, we will all have a unique opportunity to collectively make a digital pilgrimage to the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide memorial,” said a statement from the High Commissioner’s office on Thursday.

    Beginning at 8 a.m. Armenia time (9 p.m. PST on April 23) on April 24, Armenians from the Diaspora can send a message from abroad to 0037433191500 phone number. On the same day, starting at 10 p.m. (11 a.m. PST) Armenia time the names of the people who sent a message will be projected on the columns of the memorial. A cultural tribute program will incorporate classical and traditional music, which will be broadcast live until dawn.

    On April 24, starting at 10 a.m. (11 p.m. PST April 23), the Republic of Armenia President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the National Assembly, and the Catholicos of All Armenians will visit Dzidzernagapert. The Armenian government will lay 105,000 flowers at the eternal flame of the memorial, on behalf of all Armenians. The procession and the ceremony will be available live on the High Commissioner’s Facebook page.

    Armenia officially kicked off the 105th anniversary commemorative events at 11 p.m. local time on April 23 when church bells across Armenia tolled for three continuous minutes, and street lights were turned off in Yerevan and other regions. Raphael Patkanian’s famed song, “Come My Nightingale” (Ari im sokhak) played across the country as Armenians directed their collective gaze to the Dzidzernagapert memorial hill, from where a purple light shot up to illuminate the night sky in the nationwide—and collective—commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

    EU to provide over 456,000 USD assistance to mitigate negative impact of coronavirus on agriculture

    Talar Tumanian

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     18:49,

    YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS.  The European Union will provide 456,500 EUR assistance to Armenia to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus crisis in the agricultural sector.

    It will be allocated from the budget of the EU Green Agriculture Initiative (EU-GAIA) in Armenia project, funded by the European Union and co-funded by Austrian Development Cooperation, ARMENPRESS was informed from the EU Green Agriculyure Initiative.

    This was announced at the meeting of the first Advisory Board of the EU-GAIA project, during which the plan of immediate measures to support farmers and producers at the outbreak of COVID19 was approved.

    The list of specific activities offered by the project includes provision of two-wheeled tractors and seedlings, capacity building of government staff, provision of inputs, small agricultural equipment and tools, support to the post-harvest facilities, publishing booklets about existing programs of the Ministry of Economy, awareness of the safety rules of the virus during production, technical assistance (consulting with the help of remote professionals and the development of business models) to agriproducers – potential recipients of Government’s financial support with special focus on vulnerable groups.

    According to the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan, the proposed actions are in line with the goals of the Sustainable Agriculture Development Strategy of the Government in a crisis situation; that is, to make Armenia’s agriculture more efficient and resilient in the context of green economy development.

    The presented short-term and medium-term measures will be financed within the framework of the EU-GAIA project current intervention logic and budget. The measures are aimed especially at the most socio-economically vulnerable groups in the current situation in the target regions of the project. The events were proposed and will be implemented by the Austrian Development Agency and the United Nations Development Programme in Armenia.

    The meeting of the EU-GAIA Advisory Board was chaired by Gonzalo Serrano De La Rosa, Head of the EU Delegation Cooperation Section, and Andrea Baggioli, International Aid / Cooperation Officer of the EU Delegation in Armenia. The meeting was attended by the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan, the RA Deputy Minister of Environment Vardan Melikyan, Governor of Tavush Hayk Chobanyan, Governor of Shirak Tigran Petrosyan, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Nature Protection of Lori Marzpetaran Artyom Shahverdyan, Head of the Austrian Development Cooperation’s office in Yerevan Gerhard Schaumberger, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Armenia Dmitry Mariyasin, Project Manager Pascal Bokkers, UNDP Project Coordinator Karen Harutyunyan and other representatives.

    To summarise the results of the Advisory Board meeting, Andrea Baggioli recalled how the EU-GAIA intervention also considers climate change mitigation and adaptation measures: introduction of climate resilient seeds, sustainable management of natural resources and protection of biodiversity, promotion of resource-efficient (energy-efficient) technologies and renewable energy. To this respect, the Deputy Minister Melikyan’s proposal could well fit into a comprehensive assistance to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the agricultural and environment sector in Armenia: to launch the discussion on using large-scale tree planting in riparian zones and windbreaks, as a means of immediate socio-economic assistance to vulnerable groups; and to create synergies between the agricultural interventions and the water treatment plan in Sevan Lake region.

     

    EU Green Agriculture Initiative in Armenia is funded by the European Union (€ 9,7 million) and co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation (€ 2 million). The project is implemented by the Austrian Development Agency and UNDP Armenia. The Government counterpart of the project is the RA Ministry of Economy. EU-GAIA project will support the development of sustainable, inclusive, innovative and market-based agribusiness particularly in the northern Marzes of Armenia – Shirak, Lori and Tavush. The project will be implemented over the course of three years.

    The Member States of the European Union have decided to link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders.




    Pashinyan congratulates people of independent and democratic Artsakh on completing elections

    Talar Tumanian

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     14:05,

    YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the people of Artsakh on completing elections, stating that Armenia continues close cooperation with Artsakh for reaching common goals.

    “I congratulate the people of independent and democratic Artsakh on completing elections. They mandated authorities to further strengthen the security of Artsakh and represent it in the peace process. We continue our close cooperation with Artsakh to reach our common goals”, Pashinyan wrote on Twitter.

    The voting in the second round of the presidential election was held in Artsakh on April 14. According to the preliminary results, Arayik Harutyunyan was elected President of Artsakh with 88% of votes. The other candidate, current foreign minister Masis Mayilyan received 12% of votes.

    Reported by Norayr Shoghikyan

    Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




    The Maragha Massacre: the other face of the coin in the Karabakh War

    Talar Tumanian

    28 years after the Maragha Massacre the hope to return to the homeland is still alive

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     13:32,
    YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. April 10 marks the 28th-anniversary of the Maragha massacre, one of the most frightful pogroms committed by the Azerbaijani military against peaceful Armenian inhabitants during the Artsakh Liberation War.

    Maragha was one of the largest and richest villages in Artsakh before the war – several factories operated, and viticulture was developed in the village. After the pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad, attacks on the civilian Armenian population were highly increased in scope, forcing most of the locals to leave their native villages. On April 10 of 1992, Azerbaijani Defence Ministry, Internal Affairs Ministry and OMON forces (Special Purpose Police Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan) launched an attack on 118 civilians who were unable to leave Maragha. Staying there for only 5-6 hours, Azerbaijani units brutally killed about 50 people and took almost as many civilians as hostages, including 29 women, 9 children, as well as disabled people among them. Subsequently, it became possible to rescue some of these people, including all the children, yet the fate of 19 hostages still remains unknown.

    ***
    Starting from 1989, the tension in Maragha was highly increased; the village was under constant shelling and the civilians were in a state of fear because of the attacks towards their properties and cattle, as well as themselves and their families. Maragha and the surrounding villages were systematically raided by Azerbaijani armed forces. In the aftermath, some of the residents of the village had to leave their houses and temporarily settle in other regions of Artsakh.

    The village was located in the Martakert region of the NKAO and starting from 1954 to 1992, Maragha and Margushevan, a village located in the vicinity of Maragha, were united under a soviet farm named Leninavan. According to the 1989 Soviet census, Leninavan had 5000 population. The number of people living in Leninavan was highly increased after the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and other Armenian settlements. Those who survived the pogroms found shelter in different towns and villages of Artsakh, including Leninavan. Despite the lack of data related to the number of refugees living in Leninavan, assumably, it was quite a large number since the eyewitnesses state that a separate block of houses was built for them.

    The first attacks on Maragha and Margushevan took place on February 25-26, 1992. The locals had already formed self-defence units in order to protect the village under the command of Roma Karapetyan. Thanks to the organized self-defence, the villagers were able to avoid distractions in the village.

    The main attack was carried out on April 10, 1992, when the Defense Ministry Units of Azerbaijan along with the units of the Internal Affairs Ministry and the OMON forces attacked the village 3 times in a row, without any success. The April 10 attack on Maragha was carried out by not only a manifold but also a big number of armoured vehicles, including tanks. The self-defence units had to retreat as they did not have appropriate military equipment to deliver a counterattack. According to eyewitness accounts, 118 peaceful inhabitants remained in the village on the day of the attack, staying in the underground shelters that were built by the residents in advance.

    The eyewitness accounts state that the Azerbaijani military forces destroyed and burned the houses, practically razed everything to the ground and brutally killed the locals without any discrimination within a few hours. Roma Karapetyan and other members of the self-defence unit recall seeing Azerbaijani soldiers carrying swords. After liberating the village, they noticed Christian crosses marked on almost all of the corpses.

    Over 50 people including 9 children and 29 women were taken captive. Subsequently, it became possible to rescue some of these people, including all the children, yet the fate of 19 hostages remains still unknown.

    Larisa Alaverdyan, an expert of the special Commission of the RA Supreme Council on Artsakh issues at the time, made a great contribution to this issue. She organized the hostage exchange process and collected their memories of Azerbaijani captivity.

    Shahin Taghiyev, the commander of “Gurtulush” military unit, one of the units that perpetrated the massacres in Maragha is one of the first national heroes of Azerbaijan. The impunity of the organizers and the perpetrators of those crimes contributed to enrooting Armenophobia as a state policy the outcome of which was shown off during the Azerbaijani aggression against the people of Artsakh in April 2016.

    Lucy Poghosyan




    Sports: Rising basketball star Gary Chivichyan planning to be first Armenian in NBA

    Talar Tumanian
    Public Radio of Armenia
    April 8 2020

    Gary Chivichyan, a rising basketball star, who currently plays for Pacific Tigers, the University of Pacific Men’s basketball team, strives to become the first Armenian to make it into the NBA.

    “The plan right now is I want to be the first Armenian to ever make it into the NBA. I’m headed towards that route. I’m working towards that route,” he told the ESPN.

    “The plan right now is I want to be the first Armenian to ever make it into the #NBA. I’m headed towards that route. I’m working towards that route.” –@PacificMensBB senior @GaryChivichyan with @VeniceMase & @LAIreland

    Good luck to our #710SeniorShoutout! pic.twitter.com/lULOwfljox

    — ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) April 7, 2020

    According to CloutNews, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Chivichyan was the only Armenian basketball player in Division 1 this past season. Chivichyan, who is keen to share that he is of full Armenian descent, is prideful of his heritage and accomplishments as a pure Armenian; and has become one of the most significant advocates for competitive sports and its benefits in the community.

    Chivichyan finished his senior year at the University of The Pacific, ranking second in points scored on a deep team which had a 13-man rotation. The team’s fortunes improved dramatically in the current year upon Chivichyan’s arrival. Gary is regarded as a possible NBA prospect due to his elite-level shooting and the ability to score the ball at will.

    National Basketball team. His goal is to become a role model for the Armenian youth.He is dedicated to continuing on his upward trend.

    Armenia PM: We have 1,400 beds for coronavirus patients

    Talar Tumanian
    News.am, Armenia
    April 7 2020

    11:50, 07.04.2020

    Only a fraction of the beds for patients with the coronavirus are being used. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this Tuesday on Facebook livestream.

    “The tension in the healthcare system has eased a bit; the system has adapted,” he said. “As of today, we have 1,400 beds for the coronavirus [patients], but only half of them are in use, which means we are not very tense, and we can say that it is also good because we have seen a reduction in very severe cases; two people who were very severe are in a better condition.”

    According to the Prime Minister, if the statistics decrease, the government will start conducting a strategy of easing the current state of emergency in Armenia.

    “Statistics tell us that our policy of restrictions may be effective,” Pashinyan noted. “And please maintain the restrictions more strictly and seriously during this week so that we can start adopting a strategy of easing the regimen from Monday, if the statistics gives an opportunity for such a thing.”

    Armenia Coronavirus Response Task Force to acquire 100 ventilators, 60,000 test kits

    Talar Tumanian

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     12:00, 31 March, 2020

    YEREVAN, MARCH 31, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian healthcare authorities will be supplied with 100 ventilators, 60,000 coronavirus test kits, face masks, protective suits, goggles and other equipment in the coming days, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan said at the meeting of the Armenia Coronavirus Response Task Force chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

    Torosyan also briefed about the coronavirus cases in the country and the health condition of the patients.

    Measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus, the management of the epidemiological issue, as well as issues related to the restrictions on movement and business activities were discussed, the government’s press service said.

    The PM tasked the officials to draft a respective government decision taking into account the recommendations and observations made during the meeting.

    Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan