Category: 2017

BAKU: Notorious Israeli journalist trying to sow discord between Azerbaijan and Israel

Kanayan Tamar
News.az, Azerbaijan

Aug 18 2017

Fri 11:15 GMT | 7:15 Local Time

Notorious Israeli journalist Yossi Melman is trying to sow discord between Azerbaijan and Israel.

For several days now, the information space of Israel, as well as the South Caucasus, has been shaken by the scandalous report of Maariv-Hashavua correspondent Yossi Melman about the incident with the Israeli company Aeronautics in Azerbaijan. This information was immediately picked up by many other websites. However, none of them conducted an independent investigation. They only referred to the original source, that is, to Maariv. If they spent their efforts on the investigation, they would found that the whole story with the Israeli company and Azerbaijan is a fiction from the beginning to the end.

The author of the article, Yossi Melman, although one of the most famous Israeli journalists in the world and the author of numerous journalistic investigations and a dozen books, turned out to be a weak person and could not stand the test with money. He was fired from the Haaretz newspaper after more than 20 years of work. The same fate befell him only after a year of cooperation with Walla website for the fact that Yossi Melman took bribes in fairly large amounts. Over the years of work in journalism, he violated one of the basic requirements of journalism – social responsibility, integrity, objectivity in evaluation, ability to defend the truth.

It is also known that the Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church, created on the basis of the legacy and property of the Albanian church, has a great influence and wealth in Israel. Together with the Armenian Embassy in Egypt, led by Armen Melkonyan, who simultaneously heads the diplomatic mission of Armenia in Israel, as well as the rather large 10,000 Armenian lobby of Israel, the Armenians turned this journalist into a zealous critic and hater of Azerbaijan. Thus, from the pages of The Armenian Interest Yossi Melman has recently proposed to the representatives of Armenia that Israel had supposedly matured for work with Armenia, but the initiative must come from this state.

Even the one, who does not know much about foreign policy and the diplomatic landscape, understands that Armenians, no matter how much they work and how much money they spend, are too weak to change or at least somehow influence the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.

News.Az

Chess: Levon Aronian leads Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz with combined score

Manouk Vasilian
Panorama, Armenia

Aug 18 2017

The ten GMs have played nine rounds of Blitz chess at Rapid and Blitz competition, which is the fourth stop on the Grand Chess Tour 2017 taking place at Saint Louis, U.S.

As the Armenian National Olympic Committee told Panorama.am, after nine rounds, Armenian GM Levon Aronian took the second place in Blitz event, colleting 6.5 points. Sergey Karjakin, who scored an 8/9, is leading the section.

In combined score (Rapid and Blitz) Aronian still leads the table with 18.5 points.

The next round of blitz games will be played on Friday night.

To note, in the Blitz competition each win is 1 point, a draw is half a point.

Zartonk Daily 19.08.2017

Tatoyan Vazgen

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«Let’s wake up»in: Editing




19.08.2017.pdf

Wild animals and birds of Khosrov Forest State Reserve resettled in safe places

Torgomian Varazdat
Panorama, Armenia

Aug 17 2017

Wildfires erupted in in Khosrov Forest State Reserve on August 12, as well as in the vicinity of Artvan community in Armenia’s Vayoc Dzor Province resulted in resettling of wild animals and birds in nearby safe places, the Ministry of Nature Protection reports. 

The ministry calls for the Armenian population to be watchful and more caring and urges not to harm animals searching for safe places and shelters due to the disaster.

The hunters are also urged to avoid hunting in highlands of hunting areas of Ararat, Kotayk, Vayoc Dzor, Gegharkunik provinces within the amateur hunting period launching on August 26.

The Minister of Nature Protection instructed the State Environmental Inspectorate to establish tightened control over the aforementioned districts, keeping animals featured in Red Book of the Republic of Armenia in spotlight.

The ministry calls for acting in accordance with these requirements, by precisely briefing it on animal locomotion.

Armenia Ombudsman sends report on Azeri violence to int’l agencies

Boshkezenian Garik
PanArmenian

Aug 17 2017
– 17:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The staff of Armenia‘s human rights defender has summed up Azerbaijan‘s violence and shelling of border villages in a report based on its own fact-finding mission.

In particular, the Ombudsman‘s office has focused on Azerbaijan’s targeting of civilian populations in Armenia’s border communities with the intention to injure them.

The final results were sent to international agencies and human rights organizations.

The defender’s office is currently working to schedule meetings and discussions on violations detailed in the report.

Yerevan accuses tel Aviv in air strikes on their positions

Dabaghian Diana
The Mice Times of Asia

Aug 17 2017
By

paradox

The Ministry of defence of Israel refused to comment on the incident

The Israeli defense Ministry conducts a review in connection with the accusations against the company Aeronautics Defense Systems – manufacturer of armed drones Orbiter. The representatives of Armenia, said that the company’s employees in testing drone attacked Armenian positions in order to demonstrate its capabilities to Azerbaijan. In Aeronautics Defense Systems charges categorically reject.

About the trials in Azerbaijan the Israeli UAV Orbiter 1K and told Israeli Newspapers.

According to “Haaretz”, citing a report from the newspaper “Maariv”, the representatives of Azerbaijan, is considering the purchase of a new Israeli drones, asked staff Aeronautics Defense Systems to demonstrate the capabilities of drone kamikaze Orbiter 1K. To do this, the operators of the UAV proposed strike on positions of the Armenian armed forces near the border between the two countries.

According to the newspaper, Israeli operators refused, after which the leaders of the Aeronautics Defense Systems has equipped drones and themselves led them to the goal. The goals are not hit, but one of the drones fell 100 meters from the positions of Armenian armed forces.

In Aeronautics Defense Systems categorically rejected the accusations in the trial drones on live targets. The company said that such demonstrations have not performed ever. The attack on the Armenian positions in the Aeronautics Defense Systems called the initiative of the buyer – Azerbaijan. The Ministry of defence of Israel refused to comment on the incident, but acknowledged that under the Ministry, the Agency on control over arms export checks in connection with the accusations Aeronautics Defense Systems.

Armenian family that fled Raqqa describe years of living under ISIL: video

Adrine Hakobian
AMN Al-Masdar News

Aug 17 2017


By Leith Fadel
–

17/08/2017

BEIRUT, LEBANON (7:00 P.M.) – An Armenian family shared their experience of living under the control of self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS; formerly ISIL/ISIS) in Syria before they managed to flee, speaking from their new home in Ayn Abiad village in the northern countryside of Raqqa, Wednesday.

The family said they paid IS-imposed tax known as Jezyah in order to “be protected” as well as obeying orders to avoid punishment.

“During the time of ISIS, you had to dress up and behave in certain ways, if you didn’t fulfil the orders you would be punished according to your offence,” according to members of the family, who said that their religious rituals were banned under IS authorities.


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Months later, however, the family found themselves in the situation when they could no longer afford food and water, while having to deal with regular power shortages.

“There was no water left, no bread or electricity. The missiles were over us, all windows and doors were broken, we could not have tea, breakfast or lunch; we used to hide in the cellar.”

At last the family managed to escape to the territory liberated by the Syrian Democratic Forces in Raqqa where they started a new life in a small village outside the city.

Watch the video at

Leaked Document: Azerbaijani Forces Suffered 1,851 Casualties in 2016 April War

Kanayan Tamar
The Armenian Weekly

Aug 17 2017

By Weekly Staff on


NOTE: At the time of this article’s publication, the Armenian Weekly could not authenticate the letter in question, as was stated in the article. We have since received information indicating the letter is likely a fabrication. Washington-based writer Emil Sanamyan, whose writing focuses on the Caucasus and neighboring states, told the Armenian Weekly that the letter was likely a response to a fabricated document published by Azerbaijani sources recently. According to him, there are clear indications that the “leaked” document is not authentic, including the misspelling of the word “General” in Azerbaijani.

***

YEREVAN (A.W.)—An image of an ostensibly leaked letter on Azerbaijani Defense Ministry letterhead indicating that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces suffered 558 deaths and 1,293 wounded during the April 2-6, 2016 April War with Armenian troops has been published online.

The letter was made public on Aug. 17 by Armenian political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan on the website Russian-Armenian bilingual website voskanapat.info. It is unclear how Melik-Shahnazaryan came to have access to the document.

The image of the letter was made public on Aug. 17 by Armenian political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan on the website Russian-Armenian bilingual website voskanapat.info. It is unclear how Melik-Shahnazaryan came to have access to the document.

The letter, addressed to Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov and apparently penned by Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense Najmaddin Sadigov on April 28, 2016, indicates that 205 out of the killed soldiers were servicemen of the Special Forces of the Defense Ministry, 98 of whom were killed during military operations in Talish-Aghdara (Martakert), in the northeast of Artsakh; 32 in Fuzuli-Jabrayil, in the south; and 75 during military operations in areas in between.

In the letter, Sadikhov makes several suggestions to “eliminate the negative criticisms of the Azerbaijani society toward the armed forces” and to keep the morale and psychological spirit of the army staff high, including not transferring all the bodies of the deceased soldiers at once, and carrying out funerals of some of the soldiers at night.

Below is the English translation of the letter, as published by Yerevan-based Armenpress. The Armenian Weekly has no other information regarding the authenticity of the letter.

***

To the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General Z. Hasanov

Dear Mr. Minister,

I report to you that the total losses of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces’ staff in the period from April 2 to 6 of 2016 were 558 killed and 1293 wounded soldiers. Fifty-eight of the wounded soldiers are in critical condition. Fifty-two out of 558 killed soldiers cannot be identified.

Two hundred and five out of the killed soldiers are servicemen of the special-purpose forces of the defense ministry. Ninety-eight of them have been killed during military operations in Talish-Aghdara (Martakert), 32 in Fuzuli-Jabrayil, and 75 have been killed during the military operations conducted at central directions.

In order to eliminate the negative criticisms of the Azerbaijani society toward the armed forces, the further fall of the morale and psychological spirit of the army staff and the panic of the staff, I propose:

  1. Not to conduct the transfer of the bodies of killed soldiers of the Azerbaijani armed forces at the same time (about 60 per week);
  2. To carry out the funerals of some of the killed soldiers during the night hours under supervision in agreement with their parents;
  3. To allocate 5000 manats (approx.. $2,950 USD) from the Defense Ministry’s fund to families of the victims.

Chief of General Staff of Azerbaijani Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense Najmaddin Sadigov

[Signed]

OSCE MG preparing Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents’ meeting

Hovik Karapetian
Express Newsline

Aug 17 2017


The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs are now working to organize another summit for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict, official representative of the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova announced during a weekly briefing, adding that the Co-chairs will issue a statement on that in mid-September. “And this was the same position that was highlighted by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow in April of this year”, “Armenpress” reports Zakharova saying.

She noted that the Minsk Group co-chairs are now working on the organization of the next meeting of the presidents.

Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian stated earlier that a new meeting of Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers is planned to be held in NY. “Consultations will continue on the sidelines of the regular session of the UN General Assembly in NY in the second half of September, following which a relevant statement will be made”.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

“Now, the co-chairs are working to prepare the next meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement”.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

NAASR/Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series to Feature Dr. Henry Theriault

Garnik Tadevosian
The Armenian Weekly

Aug 17 2017

By Contributor on  

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lecture Series on Contemporary Armenian Issues will present “Setting the Agenda: Genocide Studies Today and the Place of the Armenian Genocide.” The program will feature a conversation with Dr. Henry Theriault, who was recently elected president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and is associate vice president for academic affairs at Worcester State University.

The event will take place on Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m, at the NAASR Center (395 Concord Avenue, Belmont, Mass.).

Professor Henry C. Theriault (Photo: Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Toronto)

Joining Dr. Theriault in conversation will be NAASR Academic Director Marc Mamigonian. They will discuss the state of genocide studies today and the place of Armenian Genocide studies within the field.

Theriault has served as founding co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal Genocide Studies International, and he chaired the Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group; he was lead author of its 2015 final report. His autobiographical narrative, “Out of the Shadow of War and Genocide,” was included in Advancing Genocide Studies: Personal Accounts and Insights from Scholars in the Field (2015), edited by Samuel Totten. After 19 years on the faculty in the philosophy department at Worcester State, in 2017 he became associate vice president for academic affairs there.

A scholar who has been a leading voice among of genocide studies over the past decade and more, and now as president of IAGS, a position to which he was elected in June 2017, Theriault is among those setting the agenda for genocide studies. In his IAGS inaugural address, he stated that “genocide studies has been at the forefront of recent human rights advances…. Demagogues attack the sensibilities [that] genocide studies engenders. Our work is a crucial challenge to their propaganda. IAGS must strive against this marginalization while innovatively expanding the field, especially creating space for emerging scholars particularly vulnerable to this backlash.”