Category: 2018

Estonian FM does not believe in change of Armenia’s strategic course

Khoyetsian Rose 
Baltic News Service / - BNS
 Friday 4:00 PM EET
Estonian formin does not believe in change of Armenia's strategic course
TALLINN, May 11, BNS - Alternation of power in Armenia may not mean a
great change of the course of the country, Estonian Foreign Minister
Sven Mikser said.
"It is clear that there is no point in pinning an excessive amount of
hope on a great change in Armenia's strategic course. It will still
continue operating in the geopolitical space that it has been given
today," Mikser told BNS on Friday.
Mikser said that it must be observed what the first steps of the new
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are.
"We are definitely dealing with a charismatic politician. What his
playing field is like in a situation, where he in reality does not
have an independent parliament majority behind him, is still to be
determined," the minister said.
The parliament of Armenia elected Pashinyan prime minister by the
pressure of the demonstrations of the opposition, even though his own
party holds a minority in the parliament.
Armenia is under the pressure of its two large Muslim neighbors,
Turkey and Azerbaijan, and must lean on the security assistance of
Russia.

The most important victory is still ahead

Hambik Zargarian
Aravot , Armenia
May 8 2018
 
 
The most important victory is still ahead
 
by Ruben Mehrabyan
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from the Russian edition of Armenia’s Aravot]
Today, on 8 May, there are all conditions to allow our country to nail down one of the most important phases of the peaceful revolution, making clear the path of our state’s further development.
 
‘Long, difficult journey’ awaiting new Armenian government
 
It is apparent that this is definitely a long and difficult journey, as the crisis has hit the whole social and state management system. This is going to be a government [formed by newly-elected Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan], which is sitting on a mine, as it not only has no majority in the National Assembly [Parliament], but it is going to have to deal with a majority [of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia – RPA], which refused to make concessions until the last moment, when it became convinced that resistance was senseless. And this was not a one-off mistake, but an incorrigible methodology. In other words, at further stages, extremely heavyweight arguments will be needed [to prove] the futility of searching an “alternative”. And early parliamentary elections are the next important stage. Their conduct and results should raise no doubts. [As a result of the elections,] a majority will take shape and it will form the government. Indeed, even in this case, it will be wrong to draw a conclusion that the crisis has been resolved.
 
One thing is evident: New Armenian leaders have and will have many sympathisers, but no allies. Armenia and the Armenian nation are sure to receive words of praise and admiration, but this is not going to be binding for anyone. There is only one path for the new government to follow to be a success: This is the path of a “resolute loner”. And progress made on the path will turn it, as well as our state, into an ally for many.
 
Armenia needs new foreign policy
 
Indeed, because of the crisis, we have found ourselves in a situation, where foreign policy will become a more important factor for our security in the time to come than even our Armed Forces, which by no means diminishes our Army’s very special role, as [analyst with the Regional Studies Centre] Davit Shahnazaryan has seasonably emphasised. The thing is that without early parliamentary elections, it is impossible to speak about capitalisation on the results of the revolution. Likewise, without a qualitatively new foreign policy, which should become a derivate and continuation of a qualitatively new domestic policy, it will be impossible to speak about foreign political capitalisation and international self-actualisation of a new Armenia, which is a daunting task.
 
I would like to reiterate: On this path, we have many sympathisers, but no allies. Apart from this, we encounter an understandable indifference on the part of many and we are sure to encounter this in the future, too, as well as less understandable apathy on the part of some, no matter how often they say that “no geopolitical issue is on the agenda”. The complex of abnormal relations, which has been established over the past few years and which is based on the corrupt logic, has made Armenia quite vulnerable and we not only reaped its consequences in the past, but will be reaping them for a rather long time to come. It is at the foreign political and security policy levels, where the declared principle of no room for monopolies in Armenia can be introduced.
 
The steps, which have been taken, are necessary at present. However, they are not going to be sufficient in the future to help Armenia to avoid external interference in these dramatic days and in addition to this, to be honoured with greetings from Moscow, Brussels, and Washington and to receive congratulation from a conditional [former Georgian President] Mikheil Saakashvili, conditional [ethnic Armenian editor of the Russia Today international network] Margarita Simonyan, and conditional [Russian opposition leader] Alexei Navalny. And although no-one in the Republic Square [in Armenian capital Yerevan, where massive rallies were staged] even thought of “exporting the revolution”, the Armenian revolution has already begun “living its own life” outside Armenia and no matter how pleasing this may be to our ambition, this is sure to turn into a new challenge for the Armenian government at the same time. In post-Soviet authoritarian countries, the Armenian tricolour has turned into a symbol of protest, which we witnessed during the protest rallies in more than 90 Russian cities on Saturday [5 May], and a symbol of disturbances for the “guards” of authoritarian regimes.
 
‘Poisonous’ reaction from Russia
 
The reality is that in the Russian Empire, Armenians repeatedly rose in arms for freedom. In 1905, Armenians were led away and embroiled in confrontations with Caucasian Tatars [Azerbaijanis] and pogroms. In 1988, [they were embroiled] in a conflict with Azerbaijan and again pogroms to be followed by a large-scale war. However, by 2018, hardly anything has remained of this “gunpowder” and the Kremlin has little choice but to prudently regard the general will of the Armenian nation. Of course, there can be no talk about sympathy, just interests, even in real politics. This is evident from the poisonous reaction, which allegedly comes from “unofficial” [TV] channels in the shape of “private opinions”, although it is clear that in the public field, which was imbedded in concrete by Putin, there can be nothing “private” or “personal”. It does not matter how promptly the Russian Embassy [in Armenia] makes a statement on official Moscow’s non-involvement, while even the Union of Armenians of Russia feels indignant at the statements regarding Armenia and Armenians by [Mikhail Leontyev, who made insulting comments on Armenia on the radio] the vice president of the Rosneft oil company, a monopolist in Russia and Armenia, which comes within the provisions of the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation proper.
 
Armenian government to ensure return of Armenians from Russia
 
This is certainly an understandable attitude on the part of Russian imperial circles. Russia is rocked and will be rocked by protests, which in many respects creates a vulnerable situation for hundreds of thousands of Armenians living there. Russia’s historic experience has shown that during major disturbances, it is local non-Russians – Armenians, Georgians, Poles, Jews, and Latvians, who come to the fore. But afterwards, irrespective of the result, this brings new bondage to their motherlands and to them proper. And the Armenian youths in Russia, who deeply sympathise with the movement developing in Armenia, as well as those staging peace protests in Russian cities, should rather remain neutral and loyal to the Russian state. This implies distancing themselves from supporting the imperial policy and repressions on the state’s part, which a number of Armenians are engaged in, as well as resisting the temptation of turning into the “Armenian factor” of protest rallies, no matter how often protesters may chant “We want like in Armenia!”
 
It is clear that Russia is not Armenia and that “like in Armenia” is not going to happen there and that instead, it will be as this has always been: Absurd and cruel, to cite a Russian classical author [Pushkin]. And Armenians might prove to be in the role of targets. As well-known Russian commentator Anton Orekh said, the distance between Moscow and Yerevan is no longer than 1,800 kilometres and the same number of light years. And the new Armenian government should take urgent steps to ensure their repatriation, as this is already a matter of national security. And on the basis of the Diaspora Ministry a new structure should be formed: The Diaspora, Repatriation, and Absorption Ministry, creating respective infrastructure to meet the challenges of learning the Armenian language and Armenian legislation, job placement or assistance in organising businesses. Experience of the kind has been used in Poland, Greece, Israel, and Germany. And of course, the organisation named Fellow Countrymen should literally be “cleansed” in Armenia, as it does not and cannot have any “fellow countrymen” here.
 
However, we will discuss this later. But today, citizens of Armenia will take part in rallies wearing while shirts… The day of tomorrow – the day of liberation of Shushi [Susa, a city in Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh], the day of victory over Fascism, Europe Day, and the birthday of the Artsakh defence army – will come bringing great hopes. Over the recent days, the Armenian people have won something an no monument will be erected in its honour and this will not be a memorial to fallen heroes and martyrs, where people will lay wreaths and bunches of flowers in even numbers [as envisioned by the tradition when taking flowers to deceased people], observing a minute of silence in tribute to their memory… No! They will bring odd numbers of flowers, smiling, laughing, and feeling proud, and will leave the place to carry on constructive work of Armenian citizens. We have had the honour of this. However, the most important victory is still ahead and this will become the victory of us all. May God help us.

Avetik Ishkhanyan publishes a list of political prisoners, demanding acquittal of Babayan, Sefilyan, and Safaryan

Antranik Varosian
Aravot , Armenia
May 8 2018
Avetik Ishkhanyan publishes a list of political prisoners, demanding acquittal of Samvel Babayan, Zhirayr Sefilyan, and Gevog Safaryan
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from the Russian edition of Armenia’s Aravot]

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said that political prisoners are going to be released. However, how to decide, who is a political prisoner? Avetik Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Committee and human rights activist, said in this connection at the Media Centre that the problem of political prisoners was a vital issue at the moment.

“Artur Sakunts [a human rights activist and the head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly] and I have already discussed this and we can say, who political prisoners are: [Political activist] Andrias Ghukasyan [detained on 29 July 2016 on charges of a role in mass unrest] has already been released. Other political prisoners are Shant Harutyunyan [detained on 5 November 2013 after he addressed his supporters in the Freedom Square and called for the seizure of the presidential palace and other key government buildings] and his companions, who were awarded a disproportionate punishment, as at the very worst, the punishment should have been administrative. It is also Hayk Kyuregyan [arrested in June 2013 and sentenced to nine-year imprisonment for shooting near a court building in Yerevan], whose punishment was excessive, because this could have been regarded as a criminal offence, but it was excessive, so this can be regarded as a purely political persecution. Ararat Khandoyan [sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for his participation in the July 2016 clashes between the police and supporters of gunmen occupying a police station in Yerevan] can be regarded as a political prisoner. The three years he was sentenced to are exaggerated. There are also Karo Yeghnukyan [detained on 22 July 2016 for having contacts with the armed group that held hostages at a police station in Armenian capital Yerevan] and now also Garegin Chugaszyan [a leader of the radical Founding Parliament organisation, who was in hiding after the Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sasun) radical opposition group seized a police compound in Yerevan in 2016 and was arrested on 24 April 2018], Zhirayr Sefilyan [sentenced on 20 March 2018 to 10.5 years in prison for planning mass riots and plotting armed seizure of buildings in Yerevan], [civil activist] Gevorg Safaryan [sentenced on 16 January 2017 to two years in prison on charges of assaulting a police officer], and Samvel Babayan [arrested in connection with an assassination attempt on the second president of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkadi Ghukasyan and sentenced to six years in prison on 28 November 2017], particularly the last three people – Sefilyan, Safaryan, and Samvel Babayan, who were convicted on the basis of a fabricated case. This group must be acquitted unlike other cases. This is my opinion,” [Avetik Ishkhanyan said].

As regards Sasna Tsrer, [a radical group that seized a police compound in Yerevan in 2016], Avetik Ishkhanyan said that the article on “change of circumstances” should be applied here and some of them should be released or released conditionally for the exception of the cases linked to the killing of policemen, where a fair legal process is necessary.

Artur Sakunts said, for his part, that the norm of early release should be applied to Shant Harutyunyan and his companions or a prosecutor should interfere in connection with new circumstances and change the case. He said that it was necessary to change the preventive measure regarding some personalities, but the whole process should be carried out on the legal basis. Releasing people without a legal approach is by no means different from imprisonment without a legal approach.

All sides are staring at each other with increasing concern in this complex battle of the Middle East by Robert Fisk

Emil Lazarian
The Independent, UK
Friday
All sides are staring at each other with increasing concern in this complex battle of the Middle East
 
by  Robert Fisk
 
 
IN THE West, it’s easy to concentrate on each daily Idrama about the Middle East and forget the world in which the real people of the region live. The latest ravings of the American president on the Iran nuclear agreement – mercifully, at last, firmly opposed by the EU – obscure the lands of mass graves and tunnels in which the Muslim Middle East now exists. Even inside the area, there has now arisen an almost macabre lack of interest in the suffering inflicted here over the past six years. It’s Israel’s airstrikes in Syria that now takes away the attention span.
 
Yet take the discovery of dozens of corpses in a mass grave in Raqqa, Isil’s Syrian “capital”. It garnered scarcely three paragraphs in Arab papers last month, yet the 50 bodies recovered were real enough and there may be another 150 to be recovered. The corpses lay under a football pitch near a hospital that Isil fighters used before they fled the city – under an agreement with Kurdish forces – and could be identified only by markings that gave only their first names (if they were civilians) or their nom de guerre if they were jihadis. Who killed them? Even less space was given to another gruesome discovery last month in tunnels beneath the Syrian town of Douma, east of Damascus. This vast stone warren of underground streets wide enough for cars and trucks was found to contain 112 bodies, 30 of them Syrian soldiers, the rest probably civilians, many killed long ago, presumably by the Jaish al-Islam group, which fought for the town for many years. Were they hostages for whom the Islamists wished to exchange prisoners? And then murdered when no deal was struck? My colleague Patrick Cockburn investigated an even more terrible mass killing outside Mosul that An Israeli statement that the Iranians had missiles in Syria was surely made in concert with the Trump administration – it came within hours, and coincidences don’t run that close in the Middle East occurred in 2014, most of the victims Shia Iraqi soldiers. We know this because Isil filmed their appalling end, shot in the head and then tossed carelessly into the blood stained waters of the Tigris, some of them floating far south towards Baghdad. History has not been kind to these lands. In 1915, when the Turks were massacring Armenians, many of the Armenian corpses drifted down the Tigris and reached Mosul – the very execution site that can be seen in the Isil video, taken 99 years later.
 
Like the vast mass graves of Europe after World War II – especially in the Soviet Union – the memory of this savagery will not be forgotten. Which is why the Iraqi authorities (largely Shia in the case of “judicial” trials that meet no international standards) have been hanging Isil suspects like thrushes on prison gallows, 30 at a time, in the south of the country. The Kurds appear to be behaving much more humanely outside Raqqa where court hearings have a modicum of justice, albeit unrecognised in the West. And so it goes on.
 
And to whom does one turn for justice? Or peace? The Russians in Syria, interestingly enough, have just started publishing a monthly newspaper for joint Syrian and Russian forces in the country. It has a touch of the old Soviet Union about it. The title is ‘Together, We Make Peace’ – which might not convince the Syrian government’s opponents – and there are photographs of Russian troops feeding refugees (flat, Arab bread), of red-bereted soldiers patrolling front lines and a very large front page photograph of both Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad.
 
Intriguingly, just below, is a colour photograph of perhaps Russia’s top soldier in Syria: General Aleksander Juravlov, much be-medalled and in his dark blue uniform, staring unsmilingly at the camera. We may hear more of him as the weeks go by. Because Russia’s presence in Syria is far from over.
 
Copies of the newspaper in Arabic also attempt to teach Syrian soldiers basic Russian – the Russian version teaches Arabic. And there’s even (in the Arabic print run) a guide to Moscow, maps of Russia and stories about World War II weapons. In the top left of each front page is another Soviet-style symbol: two hands clasped together. One hand is coloured in the red, white and black of Syria, the other in the red, blue and white of Russia. Yes, the Russians are going to be around for quite a while.
 
So are the Israelis. Their earlier attack on Iranian forces in Syria – of which there appear to be far fewer than the West imagines, although there are many pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters still in the country – came suspiciously close to the Trump announcement reneging on the US nuclear agreement with Iran. And an Israeli statement that the Iranians had missiles in Syria was surely made in concert with the Trump administration – it came within hours, and coincidences don’t run that close in the Middle East.
 
The latest overnight Israeli airstrikes, supposedly at Iranian forces in Syria after a supposed Iranian rocket attack on Israeli forces in Golan – and it’s important to use the “supposed” and not take all this at face value – must have been known to the Americans in advance. The Russians, too. And it’s clear that any Israeli plans to create a “security zone” (ie, occupation zone) inside Syria and along the border of Golan – along the lines of the “security zone”, equally occupied and patrolled by local militias, in southern Lebanon until the year 2000 – would meet with American approval.
 
SO it’s a moment when all sides are now staring at each other with increasing concern. Oddly, in all the coverage of Lebanon’s largely peaceful election last weekend, hardly anyone commented on one of the successful Shia candidates in the Baalbek-Hermel district. He’s a familiar name – Jamil Sayyed – and he used to be Lebanon’s head of general security. He was also a loyal friend of Syria.
 
The West had him locked up for three years after the enquiry into ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri’s murder but he was released without any evidence found against him. After which, General Sayyed has been a frequent visitor to Damascus. “Robert,” he said to me over coffee there some months ago. “Why do you hate me?” That was a bit of a breath-taker, and your correspondent hastened to deny any such emotion. Then came an invitation to the restaurant he owns in Beirut.
 
The point, of course, is that General Sayyed’s election means that one of Syria’s most trusted friends now has a seat in the Lebanese parliament. His speeches will be listened to with deep interest by his parliamentary colleagues. Odd, though, how we go on missing these developments. Out in the West – or Trump’s Wild West – mass graves, Russian alliances and Lebanese elections just don’t get the coverage they deserve. (© Independent News Service)
videos at

It’s time to learn some new languages!

Ani Kharatian
Plus Company Updates(PCU)
Friday
It’s time to learn some new languages!
 
 
BEIJING: Sogou has issued the following news release:
 
Typany now supports more language than ever before!
 
Hebrew, Urdu, Persian, Armenian, Slovak, Swahili, Serbian and Romanian–what is the common characteristic of all these languages? Well133; of course they are all common languages around the world133; but the most important thing is that Typany supports all these languages NOW!
 
No matter you are native speaker of these languages or currently just a starter, our newly update version of Typany Keyboard allows you to communicate with friends who speak these languages freely and without boundary. Wait133; maybe you are not that familiar with some of the listed languages? No worries folks, let’s grab some brand new knowledge today!
 
Speaking of Persian133; already feel some mysterious huh? Yep, as one of the most important Western Iranian languages which belongs to the great Indo-European language family, it is widely spoken in countries like Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Dated back to 1500 BCE, Persian has been known as one of the oldest languages in Middle East. For those funs of archeology and history, this is your time to learn Persian!
Hebrew is one of the most influential languages in the world. As a Semitic language native to Israel, it is estimated that over 9 million people speak the language worldwide from Europe to North America. Actually, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. So if you’re eager to know or investigate more into Jewish culture and society, Hebrew is a must-know language for you!
 
Urdu, another Indo-European language widely spoken in India and Pakistan, is also quite influential not only in South Asia but also around South Asian communities around the world, especially in Europe and North America. Written right-to-left in an extension of the Persian alphabet, Urdu literature has boasted of some world-recognized artists and considerable corpus.
 
Armenian is spoken primarily by the Armenian people in Armenian. Unlike its neighbor—Azerbaijani and Georgian, Armenian is the only major Indo-European language in the south Caucasus region. You may be amazed by its distinctive alphabet, which was introduced around AD 405 by an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader.
 
Serbian and Romanian are both common languages spoken in Balkan Peninsula, or to a greater extent, East Europe. Standard Serbian language uses both Cyrillic as well as Latin script, which makes it a rare example of synchronic digraphia, a situation where all literate members of a society have two interchangeable writing system available to them. Because of that, Typany supports both Cyrillic and Latin keyboard for Serbian in order to advance your typing experience! As for Romanian, a language that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin, it is predominately spoken in Republic of Moldova and Romania. If you want to explore the exotic beauty of castles and fortresses in Romania, pick up the language now!
As the lingua franca of eastern Africa, Swahili has an estimate number ranging from 50 million to over 100 million all across Africa. Heavily influenced by Arabic, Swahili could be considered as a mixed language to some degree. However, the grammatical and syntactic structure of the language is typically Bantu though Arabic influences its lexical items. Many of us are fascinated by the authentic African Savanna. By communicating with local people in Swahili, we’re sure that you would have better understanding about the great homeland of humankind!

Azerbaijani Press: Illegal ‘charter’ signed between France’s Alfortville and Armenian-occupied Lachin city of Azerbaijan annulled

Emil Lazarian 
Azeri-Press news agency (APA)
 Friday
Illegal 'charter' signed between France's Alfortville and
Armenian-occupied Lachin city of Azerbaijan annulled
The illegal 'charter' signed between the Alfortville city of France's
Île-de-France region and the Armenian-occupied Lachin city of
Azerbaijan has been annulled, Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told APA.
The 'charter' was annulled thanks to the joint work of Azerbaijan's
Foreign Ministry and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Paris with France's
relevant bodies, noted Hajiyev.
'Since 2013, Armenian lobbyists functioning in France, under the
pretext of 'twin cities', has been trying to sign illegal documents
between the occupied Azerbaijani cities and France's cities and
settlements and to promote the illegal regime in Nagorno-Karabakh by
such steps,' he said.
The spokesman recalled that on 30 June 2017, the city council of
France's Alfortville decided to sign an illegal 'charter'.
'The prefect of the Val-dé-Marne department, to which the city of
Alfortville belongs, sent an appeal (recours gracieux) to the city
council for a voluntary abolition of the decision dated 30 July 2017,
but received no answer. In this regard, the prefect of the
Val-dé-Marne department filed an appeal to court for the abolition of
the illegal 'charter',' he said.
Nevertheless, based on the decision of the city council, the mayor of
Alfortville signed the unlawful 'charter' on 20 November 2017, Hajiyev
stressed.
'On 8 March 2018, the court held the first hearing and a public
prosecutor demanded that the 'charter' be abolished due to the
violation of paragraph L1115-1 of the French General Code on Local
Self-Government (about the agreements signed by the aforementioned
bodies being in line with France's international obligations). As a
result, on 12 April 2018, the city council of Alfortville was forced
to revoke its decision (dated 30 June 2017) on signing an unlawful
'charter' ("Charte d'amitié entreAlfortville et Berdzor") without
waiting for a court decision with 41 votes for and 1 abstention,' he
said.
Hajiyev continued: 'Mayor of Alfortville Michel Gershenovitz said, 'in
order to prevent prosecution, on April 12 I asked the city council to
revoke its decision. Otherwise, this verdict would a judicial act that
could damage "artsakh diplomacy'.'
Baku welcomes the decision of the prefect of the Val-dé-Marne
department to appeal to court for the annulment of the illegal
'charter' and expects France's central executive authorities and
departments to take similar steps, Hajiyev emphasized.
In addition, Baku urges the French Foreign Ministry and other relevant
bodies of the country to take strict measures to prevent the illegal
activities of French local authorities in connection with the occupied
Azerbaijani territories, as well as the organization of illegal visits
to these lands, the spokesman added.

Sports: Henrikh Mkhitaryan: “I want to leave my name in Arsenal as a legend”

Andranik Taslakhchian
Panorama, Armenia

Armenian national football team and Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan spoke about his previous football clubs and the Arsenal transfer in an interview with FourFourTwo.

The Armenian international noted that it was thanks to his father that he got interested in football, reports Panorama.am.

“When I went to Brazil at 13 years old it was not easy being far away from your home, your parents and family, but, of course, the only thing you had to understand [was] that if you wanted to become a football player, you had to handle it,” he said.

Mkhitaryan also talked about the days spent in Metallurg and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Speaking about his transfer to Arsenal, the footballer said he was eager to play for the club since he wanted to enjoy playing attacking football. 

“I will try my best for the club to achieve as much as we can. I want to leave my name in Arsenal as a legend because it’s not easy to come to a team where you have been dreaming of playing for since you were a child,” Mkhitaryan said.  

Azerbaijani Press: Tensions in Armenia to remain if Karabakh conflict is not resolved – Azerbaijani deputy PM

Boshkezenian Garik
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
13:18 (UTC+04:00)

Trend:

The lack of awareness of the necessity of a fair settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of the forces that came to power in Armenia marks the beginning of a tragedy in Armenia, said Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minister, Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov.

Deputy prime minister noted in this regard that the tense situation in Armenia will remain if the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved and if Armenia continues to adhere to absurd statements.

“Of course, the statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will be condemned not only by Azerbaijan, but also by the mediators’ group established by the international community to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Ali Ahmadov told reporters May 12.

Deputy Prime Minister said, in general, the existence of this conflict is a serious obstacle to achieving a stable foundation for ensuring stability and tranquility in the South Caucasus.

“As for his [Armenian prime minister] visit to the regions and his statements which are inconsistent with the reality and lead to the growth of tension, I think that it will harm Armenia itself. As you can see, both Armenia and Azerbaijan held presidential election. People work, show activeness, plant trees at weekends, and demonstrate unity with the government in the post-election period in Azerbaijan. They demonstrate their deep trust in the election results,” Ali Ahmadov added.

The deputy prime minister said, all these reflect the realities of Azerbaijan.

“This is while the realities of Armenia are dissatisfaction, anxiety, and clashes. The more Armenia is far from being ready to withdraw from Azerbaijani lands, and continues to voice delusional statements, the longer the tense situation will remain in Armenia,” he said.

Ahmadov said that Armenia is in a deadlock, it has no potential for development from the economic point of view.

“The settlement of the conflict would be more in line with the interests of Armenia and would become the basis for improving their situation. If the force that came to power after this tension does not realize the need to resolve this conflict in a fair way, I believe that this is the beginning of its tragedy. If this continues, I think that in the near future the people will go out to the streets again and will demand a change of power,” Ali Ahmadov said.

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.