Category: 2017

BAKU: “Armenia tries to maintain status quo in Karabakh conflict via provocations, sabotage”

Boshkezenian Garik
Trend, Azerbaijan
July 7 2017
7 July 2017 16:20 (UTC+04:00)

    • Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7

    By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:

    Yerevan tries to maintain the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by systematically committing provocations and sabotage, said Italian Senator Maria Rizzotti.

    Addressing a Senate meeting, Rizzotti pointed out the crimes Armenian armed forces commit against Azerbaijani civilians, and condemned the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, the Italian Embassy in Baku told Trend July 7.

    The Armenian armed forces, ignoring the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to change the status quo via substantive talks on the conflict, killed a two-year-old girl and her grandmother, the senator said.

    Noting that Armenia systematically and deliberately attacks civilians of Azerbaijan, Rizzotti assessed these actions as a gross violation of all norms and principles of international law and international conventions.

    Armenia ignores all UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict and Yerevan’s latest provocation is aimed at maintaining the status quo, she said, adding that the presence of the Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijani territories is the main obstacle to resolving the conflict.

    On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanly village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

    The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

    The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

    BAKU: TEAS director sends letters to world’s famous editions over Armenian atrocities in Fuzuli

    Alex Nanijanian
    APA, Azerbaijan
    July 7 2017
     
     
    TEAS director sends letters to world’s famous editions over Armenian atrocities in Fuzuli
     
     
     
    The world media has many reports on firing by the Armenian armed forces of the civilian population in the village of Alkhanli of Fuzuli district and killing of Sahiba Guliyeva and her two-year-old granddaughter Zahra Guliyeva.
     
     
     
    To inform the international media, Lionel Zetter, director of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS), has sent the letters to such famous editions as “The Times”, The Guardian, “The Economist” and “New York Times”. It ran:
     
     
     
    “With so many conflicts raging around the world, the ongoing Armenian–Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh receives little coverage. Your newspaper is an honourable exception to that rule.
     
     
     
    Armenian armed forces located close to the ‘contact line’ regularly fire on the peaceful Azerbaijani population. On 4 July 2017, two inhabitants of the Alkhanli village of the Fizuli region – two-year-old Zahra Guliyeva and her grandmother, Sahiba Guliyeva – were killed by mortar fire directed from Armenian-occupied land. This was in direct contravention of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and other international agreements, which defend the rights of civil society and forbid the targeting of civilians.
     
     
     
    The perpetrators of this atrocity should be prosecuted, either by the Aremnian authorities or by the International Criminal Court. It is now 29 years since Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions were occupied by Armenia, and it is time for them to obey the four outstanding UN Security Council Resolutions and withdraw their troops.
     
     
     
    In a letter addressed to “The Economist”, it is emphasized that the South Caucasus and Caspian Basin regions have enormous economic potential.
     
     
     
    This potential will never be fully realised unless a lasting peace can be negotiated between Azerbaijan and Armenia. A recent atrocity has underlined this fact. Armenian armed forces located close to the ‘contact line’ regularly fire on the peaceful Azerbaijani population. On 4 July 2017, two inhabitants of the Alkhanli village of the Fizuli region – two-year-old Zahra Guliyeva and her grandmother Sahiba Guliyeva – were killed.
     
     
     
    The Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory has served to destroy the Armenian economy. With no natural resources of its own, it could have benefited from the BP-led Azerbaijani hydrocarbons boom, which has resulted in the country becoming the leading economy in the CIS. However, due to the conflict with Azerbaijan, all pipelines have been forced to detour to avoid Armenian territory and the country remains reliant on the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant. This uses a Soviet-era design without a containment vessel that is identical to that at Chernobyl. Furthermore, borders are closed with two of Armenia’s neighbours – Azerbaijan and Turkey – leaving it totally reliant on Russia. It continues to host Russian military bases on its territory.
     
     
     
    International institutions should call for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. They should not ignore the fact that Armenia killed members of the Azerbaijani civilian population – children, women and the elderly – and should pressurise Armenia to end its illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territory”.
     
     
     
    On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanli village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district. As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, was injured.  
     

    BAKU: Azerbaijani army strikes leave 3 Armenian soldiers wounded – Armenian sources

    Emil Lazarian
    APA, Azerbaijan
    July 7 2017
     
     
    Azerbaijani army strikes leave 3 Armenian soldiers wounded – Armenian sources
     
     
     
    Armenian sources have confirmed that three soldiers—Robert Gasparyan (1969), Ambarsum Arutyunyan (1997) and Bahe Badalyan—have been wounded as a result of the strikes by the Azerbaijani army on Armenian military units that were ready for combat.
     
     
     
    Azerbaijani armed forces have inflicted precise strikes on Armenian army positions in order to prevent another planned provocation by Armenia and to avenge the civilians killed in Fuzuli”>Fuzuli district’s Alkhanli village, the country’s Defense Ministry said earlier.
     
     
     
    “As a result of the strikes carried out in Fuzuli”>Fuzuli-Khojavend direction, according to preliminary information, a large number of Armenian forces were eliminated, and several pieces of military equipment and other military facilities of the enemy were destroyed,” the ministry said.
     

    BAKU: MPs, senators, ex-ministers urge Macron to put pressure on Armenia

    Chmshkian Vicken
    Trend, Azerbaijan
    July 7 2017
    7 July 2017 15:19 (UTC+04:00)

  •             

    • Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7

    Trend:

    A number of former and current officials of France sent a letter to President of France Emmanuel Macron and pointed out the July 4 shelling of the Alkhanli village in Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district by the Armenian armed forces, which resulted in the killing of a two-year-old child and her grandmother.

    The letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, was sent by:

    Former minister, Member of the European Parliament Rachida Dati

    Former minister, Senator representing Upper Rhine department at the French Senate Jean-Marie Bockel

    MP Jean-Pierre Door, Loiret department

    MP Jerome Lambert, Charente department

    MP Jean-Luc Reitzer, Upper Rhine department

    MP Andre Villiers, Yonne department

    Senator Andre Reichardt, Lower Rhine department

    Senator Nathalie Goulet, Orne department

    Senator Jerome Bignon, Somme department

    Senator Eric Dolige, Loire department

    Senator Sylvie Goy-Chavent, Ain department

    Senator Alain Houpert, Cote-d’Or department

    Senator Christian Namy, Meuse department

    Senator Alain Vasselle, Oise department

    Former MP, President of the French Association of Friends of Azerbaijan Jean-Francois Mansell

    Former MP, Mayor of Claye-Souilly Yves Albarello,

    Former MP, Mayor of Arcachon Yves Foulon,

    Former MP, Mayor of Houdan Jean-Marie Tetart

    Former MP, Georges Fenech

    In the letter, the abovementioned people noted that Armenia has been violating international law for 25 years.

    The letter, which contains information about the expulsion of one million Azerbaijanis from their homes as a result of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by the Armenians against Azerbaijanis and the Khojaly genocide, states that 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands is occupied by Armenian armed forces.

    They reminded about the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council and General Assembly on the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from the Azerbaijani territories, and urged the French president to exert pressure on Armenia to fulfil those resolutions.

    The letter is as follows:

    “Mr. President,

    The 25-year occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent districts, by Armenia, adds to the prolonged violation of international law and the fact that tears of the families of countless victims of this unresolved conflict, both among civilians and the military, to which the world remains indifferent, continue to flow.

    The killing of two-year-old Zahra and her grandmother by the Armenian side on July 4 once again reminded to more than one million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, who were expelled from their homes, from their land, and who became victims of ethnic cleansing, about the terrible Khojaly genocide, where hundreds of people were killed en masse, and about the pain from the occupation of the native lands.

    The time has come when negotiations are needed to achieve sustainable peace in the unstable world we live in, because if Azerbaijan runs out of patience, the whole region can engulf in flames.

    As you know, the primary basis for the conflict settlement was defined in resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), adopted by the UN Security Council, and 62/243 of the UN General Assembly.

    These resolutions require complete, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

    Unfortunately, due to the non-compliance with these resolutions, the Azerbaijani territories are still under occupation.

    The situation today is very clear – the international community has resolutions, adopted in the course of voting, and the OSCE Minsk Group, which is charged with resolving the conflict.

    The time has come to put an end to the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories and the status quo, which have been going on for 25 years.

    International law should be applied everywhere. This is an unconditional factor of the regional and international security. It is important that pressure is immediately exerted by the international community, including France, for Armenia to fulfill the UN Security Council resolutions in the shortest possible time.

    France, like Russia and the US, has been a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group since 1997. There seems to be no assurance from its partners, in connection with their strategic and tactical reasons, on mobilization to resolve the conflict.

    In order to stop the protraction of intermediaries and given the inadmissibility of the conflict resumption, we ask you, Mr. President, to immediately react in accordance with the authority of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair and a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

    France is capable of carrying out active political activities in the Caucasus as well.

    Balanced political, economic and friendly relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan enable us to listen to each of the two states. After that we only need strong political will.

    Wouldn’t it be appropriate if at the beginning of a new five-year mandate that began with the motto of the return of France to the international stage, the French initiative, related to manifestation of respect for human life and compliance with international law in the Caucasus, was put forward?

    Believing in your will to put forward fair initiatives to restore peace in the Caucasus, we express our great respect for you, Mr. President.”

    BAKU: OSCE PA urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to start substantive talks

    Garnik Zakarian
    Trend, Azerbaijan
    July 7 2017
    7 July 2017 19:07 (UTC+04:00)            

  •             

    • Baku, Azerbaijan, July 7

    Trend:

    Despite objections of the Armenian delegation, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has adopted another important proposal of the assembly’s Vice President Azay Guliyev.

    A draft resolution on enhancing mutual trust and cooperation for peace and prosperity in the OSCE region was discussed at a meeting of the OSCE PA General Committee on Political Affairs and Security held July 7 in Minsk.

    According to the amendment introduced to paragraph 24 of the resolution at the suggestion of Azay Guliyev, the OSCE PA, speaking with deep regret at the lack of progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, urges the parties to immediately start substantive negotiations on finding a lasting solution to the conflict as soon as possible, and calls on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to double efforts to this end.

    In his speech, Guliyev noted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the OSCE Minsk Group, but it is regrettable that this institution has not yet achieved any results.

    OSCE PA Annual Session will continue its work until July 9.

    The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

    The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

    Film: Jack Poghosyan: ‘Uruguayan film festival supported by minister of Armenian descent’

    Emil Lazarian
    Aravot, Armenia
    July 7 2017

    Uruguayan Film Festival will be held in Armenia for the second time, informed Argentinian actor, journalist and filmmaker Jack Poghosyan, who is also the founder of “Cinemateca Armenia” project of Armenian film display in Argentina.

    “The film display will be launched in June 5, the film entitled “The Crowd” will open the Uruguayan Film Festival. It is wonderful that we have Uruguayan films in Yerevan. There is no other city in the world to display Uruguayan films annually. I am also very proud that the main sponsor of  Uruguayan Film Festival is the Ministry of Tourism of Uruguay in the face of the Minister of Armenian descent, Mrs. Liliam Kechichian. The films will be displayed at Malyan Theatre, the entrance is free”: informed Jack Poghosyan. As stated by him, in whatever is done in the framework of “Cinemateca Armenia” project, in Armenia and Buenos Aires, one can participate 10% free of charge.    

    “Very few dialogues are present in Emiliano Mazza and Monica Talamas’s “The Crowd”, the film has English subtitles and is understandable”: informed Jack Poghosyan. According to him, “The Crowd” is a documentary film which tells of the events evolving in Uruguay. The film “speaks” of the bursts which occur within the crowd when it undergoes a crisis, seeks for wonders and hopes.”

     

    Gohar HAKOBYAN

     

    Music: Armenian violinist Ani Batikian performs with London Phoenix Orchestra

    Khondkarian Raffi
    Public Radio of Armenia
    July 7 2017
    16:17, 07 Jul 2017

    On Thursday 29th June 2017, the talented and award-winning Armenian violinist Ani Batikian performed in a concert with the London Phoenix Orchestra, conducted by Lev Parikian at the prestigious venue of Cadogan Hall near London’s Sloane Square. Themed as “The Art and Folk Music of Eastern Europe”, the evening consisted of pieces selected to convey how folk dances and art inspire a composer’s music.

    The works included the “Little Suite” by Polish composer Witold Lutosławski, based on dances from the south of Poland, followed by Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D Minor, which uses thematic elements from Armenian folk melodies, and Modest Mussorgsky’s orchestral arrangement of “Pictures at an Exhibition”. The concert also included the world première of a commissioned orchestral piece with violin solo written by Ani Batikian’s composer husband, Roland Roberts, inspired by marine painter Hovhaness Aivazovsky’s most famous painting “The Ninth Wave”.

    It was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the artist’s birth being celebrated this year. Batikian’s performance of Khachaturian’s violin concerto was inspiring and flawless, showcasing her remarkable skill and art as a violinist. Throughout Khachaturian concerto Ani was able to hold the audience’s attention, enthralling them with her enchanting performance and captivating with the sweet sound of Montagnana violin, worth almost £900,000 and lent by Ingles & Hayday, Sotheby’s violin experts.

    Roland Roberts’ composition, in the Russian Romantic style with Armenian elements, beautifully conveyed the story of Aivazovsky’s painting, taking the listener on a journey from the calm before the storm to a dynamic crescendo as the sailors face the battering waves. The symphonic orchestra powerfully displayed a palette of colours and possibilities alongside the expressive beauty of a solo violin. Aivazovsky’s most famous painting now has a dedicated composition to accompany it.

    The audience was enraptured by the piece with the composer taking stage beside his wife at the end. The musicians of the London Phoenix Orchestra, founded in 1924, played with much passion and skill under Parikian’s guidance as conductor. The event was sponsored and co-organised by the Tekeyan Cultural Association of London

    Sports: Armenia placed 73rd in FIFA World Ranking

    Karagyozian Lena
    Public Radio of Armenia
    July 7 2017
    16:34, 06 Jul 2017

    Armenia is placed 73rd (down from 68th) in a fresh FIFA World Ranking published today.

    Germany have capped a sensational week on the international stage by returning to the top of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for the first time since being knocked off the top spot exactly two years ago.

    Following their 1-0 win over Chile (7th, down 3) in Saint Petersburg, the newly crowned FIFA Confederations Cup champions have narrowly overtaken Brazil (2nd, down 1) and leapfrogged Argentina (3rd, down 1). European neighbours Poland (6th, up 4) also have cause to celebrate, having risen to their best-ever ranking.

    Tourism: Tigranakert continues to be one of main touristic centers of Artsakh’s

    Markos Nalchajian
    Aravot, Armenia
    July 7 2017
     
     
    Tigranakert continues to be one of main touristic centers of Artsakh’s
     
    During this period of the year, an unprecedented growth in the number of tourists visiting Tigranakert has been recorded. According to the latest data, as compared to the previous year, the growth has amounted to 220% and as compared to 2015 – 70%, informed the Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Artsakh Sergey Shahverdyan. “The total number of tourists visited Artsakh has also increased compared to the previous year by 40%, and to 2015 – by 20%. The mainstream of the foreign tourists comes from Russia, USA, and European countries”, he noted.
     
    As stated by him, there is no question of tourist infrastructures in Artsakh and the current conditions are sufficient for the existing flow of the tourists. Referring to such activation of tourism, Sergey Shahverdyan has conditioned the situation by the following factors: “The increase of the visiting tourists is primarily conditioned by the factor of the efforts made by the National Committee of Tourism of Armenia, which is directed at involving Artsakh in tourist directions actively. In parallel with it, in the case of the Russian tourists, the opportunity to enter Armenia via domestic passport has served as a stimulation”, reported the deputy minister and added that throughout the season, a continual flow of tourists is to be expected.
      
    Davit ABAGHYAN
     

    Music: Golden Apricot’s "Let there be light" award to be granted to renowned Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian

    Emil Lazarian
    Panorama, Armenia
    July 7 2017

    Outdoor events are integral part of the 14th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Aram Sukiasyan said at a press conference on Friday, adding that this year outdoor film screenings will be held in numerous corners of the city.

    “Apart from Swan Lake, outdoor screenings will also be held at Cascade, Charles Aznavour Square, the areas near Gai Statue in Nor Nork district and Hayastan cinema in South-West District, as well as at Lovers’ Park and Liberty Square, with silent movie screenings to be held at Swan Lake area. In general, multi-genre and multi-style films will be screened,” the deputy mayor said.

    Mr. Sukiasyan added that concert programs will also be held Charles Aznavour Square starting at 21:30.

    Harutyun Khachatryan, General Director of the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, in his turn noted that this year the festival features a very rich program.

    Reflecting on the “Let there be light” award granted in the framework of the Golden Apricot Film Festival by the Armenian Apostolic Church, he informed that this year it will be awarded to People’s Artist of Armenia, renowned composer Tigran Mansurian.

    Asked whether the two films telling about the lives of the LGBT members have been removed from the festival program, he informed that the films have been removed given the public dissatisfaction over the matter.