Azerbaijan sentences Russian blogger to 3 years in prison

WTHR (NBC)

The Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A court in Azerbaijan on Thursday sentenced a Russian blogger to three years in prison for illegally crossing the border after he made a trip to a separatist-controlled region of the country.

Alexander Lapshin was detained by police in Belarus last year and extradited to Azerbaijan where authorities filed charges against him over his trip to Nagorno-Karabakh via Armenia several years ago. The blogger’s extradition from Belarus came amid a rift between Russia and Belarus, making the Lapshin case a highly politicized matter.

Nagorno-Karabakh is officially part of Azerbaijan. Since a separatist war ended in 1994, it has been under the control of forces that claim to be local ethnic Armenians but that Azerbaijan claims include Armenian troops.

Efforts to negotiate a settlement have failed, and frequent clashes have continued. Just this weekend, separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said four of their troops were killed in fighting, and Azerbaijan said one of its soldiers was killed Friday.

The judge at the court in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Thursday convicted Lapshin of illegally crossing the border, but found him not guilty of “public calls against the state,” a second charge he faced. Prosecutors asked the court to sentence the blogger to six years in prison.

Lapshin’s lawyer, Eduard Chernin, told reporters after the ruling that his client, who also holds Ukrainian and Israeli citizenship, will appeal the verdict and hopes for extradition to one of his home countries.

In his final argument on Wednesday, Lapshin pleaded not guilty and said that he respects Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

‘We Will Not Keep Silent’: US Congressmen and Protest of Armenian Community in Front of the Residence of the Turkish Ambassador

Aravot, Armenia

“We will not keep silent,” was the motto of the Armenian, Kurdish and Yezidi communities’ protest in front of the Turkish ambassador’s residence. The demonstration was held as a protest against the incident happened right here on May 16, during which the bodyguards of Turkish President Erdogan in the United States beat the Americans who rallied against Erdogan.

“We are deeply offended that he and his bandits interfered in a peaceful demonstration”, says Congressman McGovern.

According to Congressman John Sarbanes, he would never have imagined that such a thing is possible on the American land: “This shows how deeply violence, aggression, and monarchy are rooted in Turkey”.

Despite the hot and wet weather, dozens of Americans, ethnic Armenians, Kurdish and Yezidis, came out to protest in front of the Turkish ambassador’s residence in the United States. Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Washington, who recorded the incident on May 16, said the rally is a matter of principle: “We are here today to say that Turkey has no right to deny Americans’ rights”.

According to Hamparian, Turkey has been trying to influence US policy over the years to prevent recognition of Armenian Genocide, and the incident was the climax of that policy. “Voice of America” had also asked for comments from the Turkish Embassy, but did not receive an answer at the time of the publication of the video.

More – see on  

Levon Ter-Petrosyan Asked Yeltsin for a Reward for Returning Azerbaijan to CIS

Aravot, Armenia

Russian politician, Candidate of Historical Sciences Andranik Mihranyan touched upon the settlement of the Artsakh conflict today.

He said that it is natural that there are concerns about the problem, because no one can say what the resolution will ever be, so there are some concerns. Asked what steps can be taken after St. Petersburg agreements and why the Co-Chairs are so passive, he replied that indeed, the Minsk Group does not only provide the necessary impact on Baku, but concrete steps are not taken either, probably due to their regional interests, either they do not have resources or do not have a proper influence on that country, because Azerbaijan enjoys serious support from Turkey, Pakistan.

As for the Russian side, according to Mihranyan, given the fact that Russia is trying to maintain the greatest influence in the post-Soviet countries and Azerbaijan is not a member of the EAEU, it is not a CSTO member, in any case it tries not to miss Azerbaijan and to strengthen its positions in the South Caucasus. At this stage, Russia has economic interests with Azerbaijan.

Asked whether selling weapons to Azerbaijan could trigger new tensions, Mihranyan replied, “The Azerbaijani side always provokes, creates tension, it declares publicly about using force from open platforms, but in my opinion, the war in April showed that the chairs could overlook some blitzkrieg, if Azerbaijan succeeded”.

According to Mihranyan, taking into account that last year the blitzkrieg grew into a large-scale military operation, the parties concerned, first of all, Russia interfered: “If Azerbaijan is convinced that it will succeed in blitzkrieg and strengthen its position, will achieve serious successes, then it will be possible, but large-scale military operations in the region are not profitable for anyone, especially that there are already conflicts in neighbouring countries and increasing the conflict zone is not beneficial to anyone. There is still the issue of Syria, Iraq, there are enormous problems. So, I rule out the resumption of the war”.

Journalists asked, as a figure living in Russia, whether he thinks that Russia is interested in resolving the Artsakh issue or is it beneficial for it to last for as long as possible. Andranik Mihranyan replied that yes, there is a view that Russia is creating a conflict, regulating it, it is in Russia’s interests, as if we do not know the Armenian-Azerbaijani internal problems: “Of course, Russia has interests in the region, and this conflict also serves its interests”.

Mihranyan recalled the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s meeting with Boris Yeltsin: “He said we are expecting some reward from you because we have returned Azerbaijan to the CIS thanks to our victory in Karabakh, because Azerbaijan would leave the CIS”.

Hripsime JEBEJYAN

What Should Armenia Do if Cosmonauts Land in Our Country?

Aravot, Armenia

Minister of Transport, Communication, and Information Technologies Vahan Martirosyan will present a remarkable draft at today’s Government session, according to which our country is obliged to support at any cost, if, God forbid, astronauts will have to land in Armenia.

Back in 1968 London, Moscow and Washington signed an agreement on the “Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space”, which Armenia will soon join, if at the July 20 sitting of the government we ratify the agreement.

The contract calls for any possible assistance to the astronauts in case of accident, disaster or emergency landing, and ensure the rapid and safe return of cosmonauts, as well as the return of space objects launched to the space.

According to the Minister, this agreement is aimed at promoting international cooperation in the field of peaceful exploration and use of cosmic space.

Lusine BUDAGHYAN

Even in Soviet period, Armenia’s only state language was Armenian

Aravot, Armenia

Arayik Harutyunyan, a member of the “Yelq” faction of Yerevan Council of Elders, believes that making Russian as a second state language in Armenia is a lasting process.

Let us remind: recently, during a meeting with the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Armenia to Russia, in response to a request for permission to travel to Russia with Armenian driving licenses, Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that in that case, Russian should become the second state language in Armenia.

During the discussion at “Media Centre” today, Arayik Harutyunyan recalled, that during the re-opening of foreign-language schools or before that, Russian officials had such questionings. “This is one of Russia’s foreign policy guidelines, in particular, to make the Russian language a state language in the CIS territory. Language is an important tool. In 2007, the Armenian authorities were given such a statement of question at the highest level and the Armenian authorities strongly opposed it. Such questions were raised in 2010 when the issue of reopening foreign-language schools was discussed. Now it is another attempt to understand society’s attitude to that problem. I’m glad that the public opposes clearly and strongly. This shows that concessions on this issue are unacceptable. People with different ideologies and orientations agree on this issue. Our response will be very sharp”, he said.

It should be reminded that there is no question of making Russian a second state language in the agenda of the Republic of Armenia and will not be in the near future, according to Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan.

Nelly GRIGORYAN

RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan received “Armenian Arts” of Glendale

Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.
Sincerely,
Media and PR Department:
( 374 10) 585601, internal 805
----------------------
Sincerely
Department of Press and Public Relations
( 374 10) 585601, extension 805


292. RA Minister of Diaspora received "Armenian Eagles.docx

application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document



JPEG image


IMG_3585.JPG

JPEG image


IMG_3591.JPG

JPEG image

The RA Minister of Diaspora met with the participants of the “Diaspora” summer school and the training courses of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs teachers.

Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.
Sincerely,
Media and PR Department
(+374 10) 585601, internal 805


Meeting-with-the-minister-21-07-2017.docx

application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document



JPEG image


2.jpg

JPEG image


3.jpg

JPEG image


4.jpg

JPEG image


5.jpg

JPEG image


6.jpg

JPEG image

The fourth phase of the “Ari Tun” program was completed

Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.
Sincerely,
Media and PR Department:
( 374 10) 585601, internal 805
----------------------
Sincerely
Department of Press and Public Relations
( 374 10) 585601, extension 805


295. Closing of the fourth stage of the "Ari ton" program took place. docx

application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document



JPEG image


IMG_3811.JPG

JPEG image


IMG_3824.JPG

JPEG image

ANKARA: Azeri court jails blogger for illegal Karabakh visits

Anadolu Agency, Turkey

Alexander Lapshin faces 3 years in prison for entering Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani territory

Features
archive

ANKARA

A Baku court on Thursday sentenced a blogger to three years in prison for “illegal” visits to occupied Azerbaijani territories.

The Baku Court on Grave Crimes said Alexander Lapshin had illegally entered Azerbaijan by visiting the Karabakh region, currently occupied by Armenia.

Azeri news agency APA reported that Lapshin, who holds Russian, Israeli and Ukrainian citizenship, entered Karabakh in April 2011 and in Oct. 2012

He was detained in Belarus last December; the country’s Supreme Court approved his extradition to Azerbaijan on Feb. 7.

Azerbaijan and Armenia remain in dispute over the occupied Karabakh region.

Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support, and a peace process has yet to be implemented.

BAKU: Opening of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Postponed

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition
 Wednesday
Opening of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Postponed
Baku / 19.07.17 / Turan: The opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway
will be postponed at least until the end of this year, Turan reports
referring to the results of the tripartite meeting of the heads of
customs services of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia in Baku.
Turkish Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci noted that Turkey
plans to complete the construction of the Turkish part of the railway
by the end of 2017.
"Earlier there were some problems with the implementation of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, but these problems are already behind, and
now the work continues in an enhanced mode," the Minister said.
Azerbaijan Railways CJSC reports today that on July 19 the works on
the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line are
proceeding swiftly. The company shared video images reflecting the
work carried out on the railway.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project was signed on February 7, 2007 by
Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Mikhail Saakashvili and then Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan. The foundation of the railway was laid on November
21 of the same year.
The promise of the opening of this railway in the middle of this year
was last given by the Minister of Transport, Communications and
Maritime Affairs of Turkey Ahmet Arslan.
According to the State Oil Fund, 619.8 million US dollars were
allocated for this project on October 1, 2016, including 31.5 million
US dollars during the 9 months of the last year. Azerbaijan is very
interested in the implementation of this project, since this railway
will bypass Armenia. That is why this project was not supported by
Western circles. The State Oil Fund is planning to allocate 165
million 825 thousand manat from this year's budget for this project.
-0-