Category: 2017
Paylan Says, ‘Human Bones Were Found’ at Van Cemetery where Toilets were Built
Garo Paylan
ISTANBUL—Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) visited the Armenian cemetery in Van, where local government authorities have built a public bathroom facility.
According to the Istanbul-based Agos Armenian newspaper, Paylan spoke to local residents and inspected the site, saying that wherever he touched, “human bones were found.”
“Wherever I touched, human bones were found. There is no doubt anymore that this territory used to be an Armenian cemetery,” he said.
“A Muslim chapel, a toilet and a café are built on the cemetery. It is sad that we were not able to protect the remains of our ancestors,” added Paylan who explained to Agos that the site was an Armenian neighborhood dating back to the Urartu period, 850 century BC.
The area in question is in the Erdemit district of the Van province, where late last month a public beach was opened.
Edremit is situated on the coast of the Lake Van, approximately 11 miles from the city of Van. The current name of Edremit originates from Armenian name of Artamet, which literally means “Near the Fields” in Armenian, as it lies near grape fields and apple trees the line the coast of Lake Van.
Artamet was founded as a small town at the shores of Lake Van in Tosp district of Vaspurakan province, in the middle of Historical Armenia. Throughout history, the city has had several names: Artemida, Zard, Artashessyan, Avan, Artavanyan, and Edremit. In the 10th century, Artamet was known as a feudal city with a population of 12,000. It was renowned for the best apples in Armenia.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Artamet boasted approximately 500 households, 435 of which were Armenian. After the first Hamidian Massacres of 1894–1896, the Turkish population grew and Turks soon outnumbered the Armenians.
Prior of the Armenian Genocide, Artamet had 10 Armenian churches and a Greek church. Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other local Christians were almost entirely killed or driven out between 1915 and 1923. After the legal owners were massacred, thousands of their historical monuments were annihilated as well.
According to Agos, world-renowned Armenian artist, Arshile Gorky, was born in Erdemit. The newspaper added that a water fountain that was restored on Gorky’s property in 2015 by the Edremit municipality has been removed and water to the fountain was cut off.
Armenian soldier killed in Karabakh by Azeris
YEREVAN, August 14. /ARKA/. An Armenian serviceman of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) defense army was killed today morning by Azerbaijani fire, the Artsakh defense ministry reported.
It said on August 14, at about 11:00 am the servicemen, Arman Movsisyan, born in 1998, received a deadly gunshot wound from the enemy fire. To investigate the details of the incident, an investigation is being conducted, it said.
“The Artsakh defense ministry shares the bitter grief of the loss and expresses its support to the members of the family of the killed serviceman, his relatives and colleagues,” the report says. -0-
Israeli Suicide-drone Maker Carried Out Live Demo on Armenian Army Targets, Complaint Says
Aug 13 2017
Israeli Suicide-drone Maker Carried Out Live Demo on Armenian Army Targets, Complaint Says
Israeli Defense Ministry probes allegation that Azerbaijan asked Aeronautics Defense Systems to demonstrate drone on military target. When the drone operators refused, managers attempted to carry out the test. The company denies the allegation
Gili Cohen
13.08.2017 | 14:05
The Defense Ministry is examining whether the Israeli firm Aeronautics Defense Systems was asked to actually demonstrate the use of an armed unmanned aircraft in the Central Asian republic of Azerbaijan against a military position of the neighboring country of Armenia, with which Azerbaijan has a border dispute. The Israeli company denies the allegation.
The Defense Ministry recently received a complaint alleging that after a team from Aeronautics Defense Systems came to Azerbaijan seeking to finalize a contract for the sale of company’s Orbiter 1K unmanned aircraft, they were asked to deploy the aircraft, armed with explosives, on a military position of the Armenian army.
The existence of the complaint was reported Sunday by the Israeli daily paper Maariv. For its part however, Aeronautics Defense Systems strongly denied that its staff carried out such a mission, saying that it was carried out by the purchaser of the aircraft, and the company “never carries out demonstrations [of the operations of the drone] on live targets, and that was true in this case as well.”
According to Maariv, the two Israeli operators of the craft refused to hit the Armenian position, and after remaining firm in their refusal even after threats directed against them, senior representatives of the company armed and operated the unmanned aircraft themselves. Ultimately the drones are said to have missed their targets, and no damage was caused, but according to the complaint, one of them struck at a distance of about 100 meters (330 feet) from the position.
The company’s website states that the Orbiter 1k in is capable of carrying a special 1 to 2 kilogram (2.2 to 4.4 pound) special explosive payload.
The complaint against the company was filed with the ministry’s Defense Export Controls Agency, which is responsible for overseeing the activities of the country’s defense contractors, certainly when it is demonstrating the use of such equipment.
The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which has resulted in fighting over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, has resulted in the loss of life. In the past, it had been reported that an unmanned aircraft, including aircraft of the type that crash into their targets, was seen on the attack in Nagorno-Karabakh. In that case, the aircraft was a Harop model produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. In 2016, it was reported that a Harop hit a bus and killed seven Armenians.
Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, recently said that his country had purchased nearly $5 billion worth of military equipment from Israel. On a visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Azerbaijan late last year, the Azeri president made note of the military cooperation between the two countries over many years. According to foreign reports, Israel has sold Azerbaijan radar and unmanned aircraft systems as well as Israeli Tavor rifles.
The Defense Ministry said in response: “As a rule, the Defense Ministry does not make it a practice to comment on issues involving military exports. The claim is being examined by the relevant parties at the ministry.”
Aeronautics Defense Systems stated: “Aeronautics markets its products to customers in about 50 different countries,[and] only in accordance with approval from the Defense Export Controls Agency. The operational action was carried out by the purchaser alone and on its responsibility. Aeronautics has never carried out demonstrations on live targets, and that was true in this case as well.”
Israeli Defense Company Accused of Attacking Armenian Outpost with Drone
An Israeli drone manufacturer has been accused of attempting to test one of their weapons systems on an Armenian military position on behalf of Israel’s defense partner, Azerbaijan.
The complaint was levied against Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd (ADS), an Israeli defense contractor that specializes in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and reconnaissance systems. So the complaint goes, ADS were demonstrating their Aeronautics Defense Orbiter 1K drone to Azerbaijani military leaders in Baku. The Azerbaijanis then asked the Israeli contractors to fly their drone, which was equipped as a “suicide” drone to deliver an 2-pound explosive payload, at a nearby Armenian military position.
The two ADS operators sent to demonstrate the drone refused to follow the request despite threats from their superiors, according to the complaint. Two higher-ranking members of the delegation then attempted to fulfill the Azerbaijani wish, but as they were not experienced drone operators they missed their target. No injuries or damage were reported.
The Israeli Defense Ministry issued a statement of their own, claiming that they are investigating the issue and therefore would not discuss the case. “As a rule, the Defense Ministry does not comment on issues concerning defense exports. The allegation is being investigated by relevant figures in the ministry,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.
If the test occurred as the complaint states, then ADS is in violation of Israeli law. In order to conduct a demonstration against human targets, Israeli contractors must secure permits from the Defense Ministry. As Armenia is not an enemy state of Israel, it is highly unlikely that Jerusalem would grant such a permit to ADS.
Azerbaijan has bought drones from ADS in the past, and ADS has set up an Azerbaijani subsidiary called Azad Systems to manufacture the Orbiter-3 stealth and reconnaissance drone within Azerbaijan. ADS claim to sell drones and systems to 50 nations in total.
Azerbaijan’s defense needs have increased in recent years as it clashes with its neighbor and rival Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, a 95-percent Armenian province of Azerbaijan that has de facto seceded into its own independent republic. The two nations warred over control of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 90s, and sporadic violence has broken out since then.
A 2016 clash between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh left 350 dead according to the US State Department and the Azerbaijanis, and between 650 and 1,650 killed according to the Armenians. Since then, skirmishes have frequently broken out between the two nations, often with fatal consequences. Azerbaijan reported on Monday that Armenia spent the weekend attacking their positions along the border with heavy machine guns, although no casualties were reported.
Canadian-Armenian community up in arms over Canadian defence exports to Azerbaijan
Canada’s Armenian community has launched a coordinated grassroots and
lobbying campaign to convince the Liberal government to annul export permits for
the sale of Canadian-made armoured personnel carriers to Azerbaijan, according
to Armenian community leaders.
The campaign started after Radio Canada International and CBC reported in
July that the Toronto-based manufacturer INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing
has signed
a deal with Azerbaijan’s interior ministry under which the company
has already delivered “a few” Canadian-made armoured personnel carriers (APCs)
to the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
The privately owned company has also set up a joint venture with an
Azerbaijani firm to produce APCs in Azerbaijan, which has been embroiled in a
simmering armed conflict with neighbouring Armenia since the breakup of the
Soviet Union in the early 1990s, said Roman Shimonov, vice-president of
marketing and business development at INKAS.
Chahé Tanachian, the Montreal-based president of the Canadian-Armenian
Political Affairs Committee, the lobbying arm of the Armenian General Benevolent
Union (AGBU), one of the oldest and largest Armenian Diaspora organizations,
sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to express the community’s
concerns.
“Canadians of Armenian descent and human rights activists throughout the
country are dismayed by Global Affairs Canada’s recent approval of the export of
Canadian-made armoured personnel carriers (produced by INKAS Armored Vehicle
Manufacturing) to Azerbaijan,” Tanachian wrote.
“The decision to furnish arms to a country which regularly threatens peace in
the region is one that violates all the principles that we as Canadians stand
for, and which Global Affairs Canada seeks to promote in the world.”
The controversy over the sale of INKAS APCs to Azerbaijan comes as the
government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dealing with the outcry
over revelations by Radio
Canada International that very similar armoured vehicles produced by another
Canadian manufacturer, Terradyne Armored Vehicles, were
used by Saudi security forces in their heavy-handed crackdown on a
Shia-populated town in the kingdom’s restive Qatif region, as well as the
ongoing controversy over the sale of $15 billion worth of Light Armoured
Vehicles (LAVs) to the ultra-conservative kingdom.
vehicles after recent mass protests in the town of Ismailli, 200 km (125 miles)
northwest of the capital Baku, January 25, 2013. Azeri police used tear gas and
water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding a local leader’s
resignation after cars and a hotel were torched in a night of rioting.
© David
Mdzinarishvili
Sevag Belian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada
(ANCC), one of the main groups lobbying the government on issues of concern of
the Canadian-Armenian community, said the news of the exports of armoured
personnel carriers to Azerbaijan created “great outrage” in the community.
“We reached out to the concerned governmental departments and agencies,
namely Global Affairs Canada,” Belian said in an interview with Radio Canada
International.
(click to listen to the interview with Sevag Belian)
Listen
The ANCC has also reached out to more than 50 Members of Parliament,
requesting them to make either oral or written representations to Global Affairs
to relay the message that the entire Canadian Armenian community “is absolutely
appalled,” Belian said.
The ANCC has activated a national grass roots campaign and set up a mass
email campaign appealing to the government to annul permits for the export of
Canadian-made defence equipment to Azerbaijan, he said.
The campaign has bombarded the Liberal government with over 1,200 emails and
letters, requesting a meeting with top government officials to discuss the
issue, Belian said.
Adam Austen, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland’s spokesman, said
Parliamentary Secretary Matt DeCourcey will be meeting with the representatives
of the Armenian community at the earliest possible convenience.
“Armenia is a close friend and ally of Canada,” Austen said. “We have strong
people-to-people ties and an economic relationship that benefits both countries.
We are proud to work closely with the Armenian community in Canada as well as
the Armenian government.”
However, Azerbaijan’s envoy in Canada dismissed the campaign by the Armenian
community as “hysteria.”
“The illegal presence of Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan remains a main cause for the escalation of the situation and
continues to pose a threat to regional peace and stability,” Azerbaijan’s Chargé
d’Affaires in Ottawa Ramil Huseynli said in a written statement. “In contrast,
the acquisition of armoured personnel carriers from a Canadian company does not
pose such a threat, as these vehicles are intended only for law enforcement and
civilian transport.”
Cooperation between the Canadian company and its Azerbaijani counterpart
creates jobs for Canadians, the envoy said.
“In this light, the hysteria of the Armenian community, who should put
Canadian interests above the rest, is unintelligible,” said Huseynli.
of Ismaili, 200 km (124 miles) northwest of the capital Baku, January 24, 2013.
Azeri police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters
demanding a local leader’s resignation on Thursday after cars and a hotel were
torched in a night of rioting. © Stringer
.
Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized
Azerbaijan’s human rights record and accused it of a “thorough crackdown on
dissenting voices,” as well as persistent reports of torture and other
ill-treatment perpetrated by its law enforcement agencies.
In November 2015, Azerbaijani police used Israeli-made armoured personnel
carriers similar to those produced by INKAS in a controversial security
operation that resulted in the death of six people and dozens of arrests in the
town of Nardaran, about 30 kilometres northeast of the capital Baku.
The federal government granted INKAS permits for the export of APCs despite
its own ongoing concerns over Azerbaijan’s poor human rights record. In a
statement sent to RCI earlier, Global Affairs officials admitted that Canada is
“concerned with the recurring crackdown on fundamental freedoms in Azerbaijan,
particularly with respect to journalists and human rights defenders in the
country.”
In addition, INKAS and AZCAN, its joint venture company in Azerbaijan, laud
the military applications of their vehicles in the sales pitch.
Sunday, April 3, 2016, a Grad missile is fired by Azerbaijani forces in the
village of Gapanli, Azerbaijan. © AP video
via AP
According to data collected by the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) over the last two decades, Azerbaijan has spent over $30
billion ($25 billion US) of its oil wealth to rearm and retrain its military,
purchasing high-tech weapons and munitions from Russia, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine
and Pakistan.
According to the 2016 Report on Exports of Military Goods from Canada,
Azerbaijan bought $378,705 worth of fire arms and ground vehicles in Canada.
Ottawa, however, denied a permit for the export of automatic firearms to
Azerbaijan in 2016 because it is not on Canada’s list of countries authorised
for exports of such weapons.
Belian said they cannot accept assurances from Canadian officials that
Canadian weapons being exported to Azerbaijan will not be used against civilians
or Armenian soldiers along the frontline of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“It’s a matter of principle,” Belian said. “Canada is becoming complicit in
further empowering the dictatorial regime in Baku and becoming complicit in
their efforts of suppressing the very fundamental rights that Canadian soldiers
have shed their blood for.”
cannon’s aim at artillery positions near the Nagorno-Karabakh’s town of Martuni,
April 7, 2016. © Reuters
Staff
As a full member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) Canada can play a pivotal role in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
crisis by exerting pressure on Azerbaijan to make sure it agrees to a beefed up
ceasefire monitoring regime along the frontline between the two opposing forces,
Belian said.
Canada also fully supports the OSCE’s efforts to forge a peaceful and
comprehensive settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karbakh
region, Austen said.
“We fully agree with the OSCE Minsk group that a military solution is not the
answer,” Austen said.
Russian Emergencies Ministry’s aircraft arrives in Armenia to fight wildfire
August 14, 19:49 UTC+3 YEREVAN
YEREVAN, August 14. /TASS/. The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft has arrived in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, a source in Armenia’s Emergencies Ministry told TASS on Monday. The aircraft, upgraded to combat fires, was dispatched by the Russian Emergencies Ministry upon Armenia’s request to help fight a wildfire in the Khosrov Forest national park, which broke out on Saturday.
“The Il-76 aircraft landed at Yerevan’s Erebuni airport at 19:20 local time (15:20 GMT),” the source said. Armenian First Deputy Emergencies Minister Enriko Apriamov and high-ranking officials from the Russian-Armenian Center for Humanitarian Response were present at the airport to greet Russian rescue workers.
The Ilyushin-76 aircraft will early on Tuesday join efforts to put out a major wildfire in Armenia’s Khosrov Forest State Reserve. This was the decision of Russian and Armenian specialists after they had examined on Monday the part of the national reserve in the area of Ararat, where a wildfire broke out on Saturday.
The aircraft with water dumping equipment was dispatched to Armenia on Monday at the request of Armenian colleagues requesting help in firefight efforts in the national park.
An Il-76 aircraft can dump 42 tonnes of water at a time, as well as create an 800-meter-long and 60-meter-wide fire break on a total area of about 50,000 square meters. Ilyushin-76 is rated among the biggest air tankers in the world.
Immediately upon arrival, the Russians together with their Armenian partners headed to the site of fire. They will conduct aerial surveillance, after which the Il-76 aircraft will start fighting the fire. The Il-76 aircraft is capable of dropping 42 tonnes of water on a fire site at a time, creating a water line 800 meters long and 80 meters wide, the source added. To provide water for the firefighting activities, 12 water tanks carrying 90 tonnes of water have arrived at the site.
The Ilyushin Il-76 is considered one of the largest aircraft used to combat fires. Its crew members are trained to operate in difficult circumstances and have a vast experience in fighting forest fires.
On August 12, a large wildfire broke out in the Khosrov Forest national park, located 61 kilometers away from Yerevan. The fire has covered an area of hundreds of hectares.
Forest fires rage in Armenian reserve
YEREVAN, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — A small fire that reportedly started in one of Armenia’s oldest and biggest reserves — the Khosrov Forest two days ago has now turned into a dire emergency situation “covering hundreds of hectares,” said a report of Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations Monday.
According to the ministry, around 63 rescuers, 124 soldiers, 1 helicopter and others are involved in firefighting works.
In an earlier report, the government had warned of a threat of fires due to abnormal levels of heat.
However, on Monday it became clear the South Caucasus country would not be able to battle the fire on its own as Minister of Emergency Situations David Tonoyan appealed to the Russian side for help in putting out the flames in the Khosrov Forest.
According to the latest update by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia, a Russian IL-76 aircraft, capable of dropping 42 tons of water in one go over fires raging on the ground, reached Armenia on Monday.
Startup Institute takes its tech training to Belgium, Armenia
Aug 14 2017
Report: Israeli Drone Maker Aided Attack on Armenians
According to a new report, Israeli drone maker Aeronautics Defense Systems is under investigation by the Defense Ministry’s Defense Export Controls Agency over claims one of its drones was used in an attack by the Azerbaijan government against the Armenian army.
The Times of Israel reports:
According to the report, the firm sent a team to the Azerbaijan capital Baku to demonstrate its Orbiter 1K unmanned aerial vehicle, which can be outfitted with a small explosive payload, 2.2 to 4.4 pounds (one to two kilograms), and flown into an enemy target on a “suicide” mission.
According to the complaint, while demonstrating the Orbiter 1K system to the Azerbaijani military sometime last month, the company was asked to carry out a live fire test of the system against an Armenian military position. The two countries have been been fighting a sporadic conflict for nearly 25 years, which has ramped up over the last 16 months over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Such a test would be illegal under Israeli law, as companies require a seldom-granted permit allowing them to carry out demonstrations against real targets. In this case, Aeronautics Defense Systems would be even less likely to receive such a permit, as Israel does not consider Armenia to be an enemy state.
The two Israelis tasked with the demonstration attack reportedly refused to comply. Two senior company representatives then attempted to follow through with the attack, but missed their intended target. No damage or injuries were sustained as a result.
Despite being a Muslim-majority country, Azerbaijan has been long viewed as a strong ally of Israel against any potential conflict with neighboring Iran. The Times reports Azerbaijan has purchased nearly $5 billion worth of weapons and defense systems from Israel.