Category: 2020

TURKISH press: South Caucasus: Another win for Russian-Turkish cooperation, another failure for West

Emil Lazarian
 OP-ED 
DEC 08, 2020 12:05 AM GMT+3
Men interact with a Russian peacekeeper in the town of Lachin, Azerbaijan, Nov. 30, 2020. (AFP Photo)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said France and the United States are suffering from “wounded pride” against the background of Moscow’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh cease-fire deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Paris’ request to Moscow to clarify the “ambiguity” regarding the cease-fire agreement and Turkey’s role in this agreement reveals the French dissatisfaction with its own marginalization.

In this renewed crisis, France appeared to be a toothless tiger, playing no decisive role in the region. It only has an extremely limited diplomatic range to apply any pressure. Neither the European Union nor Paris was able to stop the battles between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in his capacity as co-chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, tried to exploit the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis and take the lead to assert himself as a true leader of all Europe.

It cannot be denied that the tripartite agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in Karabakh was a shock to the West in general, especially Paris. Everyone was confident that Russia and Turkey would face off in the South Caucasus, but, instead, the opposite happened.

Moscow and Ankara prevented the participation of Western parties that are outsiders to the region. Tense statements continued between Russia and the U.S., and verbal escalations also carried on between Macron and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on multiple aspects.

In addition, no one should forget the difficult situation inside France, especially regarding the yellow vest movement, recent protests against a new media law and Macron’s statements related to Islam.

The second Karabakh war revealed, among many other things, the importance of cooperation and coordination between Turkey and Russia, which we had already seen in Syria. Many attempts have been made to repeat it in Libya. Turkey’s position on the South Caucasus conflict, however, differs greatly from that of Washington and Paris, who call for freezing the conflict without resolving it and this matter is not new, as Turkey has never been an instant player in the Caucasus region.

Ankara declares its position clearly, fully standing by its “brother” Azerbaijan, in order to regain its occupied lands, unlike the rest of the parties that declare their neutrality in this conflict while supporting this or that party from behind the curtain.

In a remarkable statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Turkey has never hidden that it supports Azerbaijan in Karabakh.

A 1988 CIA report titled, “Unrest in the Caucasus and the Challenge of the Nationalists,” declassified in 1999, said Turkey’s pro-Azerbaijani approach worried the White House and was seen to lead to a conflict between NATO and Russia.

Washington’s tendency toward Armenia stems largely from its desire to pressure Turkey, not related to Armenian-Turkish relations as much as to American-Turkish disputes in the Middle East, which were exacerbated after 2013 in the Syrian wars, through the support of the administration of former President Barack Obama for the YPG, the Syrian extension of the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization by NATO, the European Union and the U.S. This move by Washington threatened the interests of a NATO member state. Later, Turkish-U.S. relations were further strained by the issue of extradition of U.S.-based Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) Fetullah Gülen, who masterminded the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. Armenia’s cooperation with Russia and Iran, in the meantime, has been seen as a serious challenge to U.S. position in the Caucasus.

It is also difficult to view the French diplomatic move on the Caucasus conflict only as a product of the influence of the Armenian lobby in France, especially when we notice that Macron opposes Ankara and sides with Athens in the Mediterranean and on the complex Cyprus issue. We see the same opposition to Turkey in the confrontation in Libya and through Paris’ support for separatist terrorism in Syria, which threatens the territorial integrity of the country and also poses a threat to Turkey and other countries, including Russia in the southern and northern Caucasus.

The second Karabakh war also revealed serious problems in the Western alliance. In fact, today we cannot talk about one Western position, not only on the South Caucasus but on the issue of Western sanctions against Russia and Libya. At the same time, the media is still circulating the statements Macron made about the clinical death of NATO, which elicited a strong response, whether from Erdoğan or U.S. President Donald Trump, who considered France the country most in need of NATO.

Russia managed to stop the second Karabakh war after its mediation in the signing of an agreement that is seen today as a historic agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in coordination with Turkey, bearing in mind that the files related to Armenia are an important red line in Ankara’s agenda.

Putin’s speedy action and his direct role in organizing talks between Armenians and Azerbaijanis were crucial and his mediation led to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers with the participation of Turkey in monitoring the cease-fire.

Macron discussed with Putin during a phone call on Nov. 7 the continuation of large-scale battles between Baku and Yerevan, and they reached a mutual commitment to continue mediation and coordination efforts between Russia and France. Macron was shocked to learn just three days after his phone call with Putin, Russian peacekeepers were present in Karabakh.

Macron suffered a second shock in another phone call with Putin six days after the cease-fire agreement, in which the Kremlin announced in an official statement that the phone call took place because “Russia and France are co-chairs of the Minsk Group.”

Lastly, remember the headline issued by the French media late last June, announcing “a heavy defeat” for Macron in the local elections and know that the French president today is between internal defeats and external setbacks, without forgetting the fact that Macron’s external setbacks harm all of France.

*Researcher in Russian and Turkish affairs, political adviser

TURKISH press: EU must distance itself from French aggression, Greek maximalism

Bedik Zaminian
 COLUMNS 
DEC 08, 2020 12:05 AM GMT+3
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (L) and European Council President Charles Michel arrive ahead of talks in Brussels, Belgium, March 9, 2020. (Photo by Getty Images)

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Azerbaijan and the European Union leaders summit will be the top items on Turkey’s foreign policy agenda this week.

The Turkish leader’s trip to Baku, shortly after Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia, has immense symbolic value. The liberation of that country’s sovereign territory after three decades of occupation was undoubtedly a major accomplishment. It is no secret that Ankara’s unwavering and multidimensional support was instrumental in that victory.

The ease with which Azerbaijani forces managed to get past Armenia’s strongly reinforced line of defense was a historical military accomplishment. In this regard, Erdoğan certainly deserves to join his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, in celebrations.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, however, remains unresolved. The status of Armenian-controlled lands has not been finalized, as France attempts, through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, to block the Turkish-Russian agreement.

Still, the lesson to draw from the latest war is that Turkey is key to stability in the Caucasus. That the region has been Russia’s backyard since the Soviet era and that Moscow, in fact, is unhappy with Ankara’s level of involvement there are hardly meaningful arguments.

If Moscow desires regional stability, it has no choice but to work with Turkey. That is the only way to create a process that will bring about peace, stability and cooperation among Caucasian nations, including Armenia. Again, stability in the Caucasus will have a positive impact on the Black Sea and Central Asia.

The second item on Turkey’s agenda will be the EU summit on Dec. 10-11. Having resisted the urge to sanction the Turks in October, the EU now threatens to punish Ankara. Greece and Austria, led by France, are calling for sanctions on Turkey over the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus.

European leaders have not taken advantage of the last two months to promote dialogue between Turkey and Greece. Germany still seeks to block efforts to derail the EU’s cooperation with Turkey. Again, Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, recently said that Europe was prepared to use all tools at its disposal – which suggests that minor sanctions could be on the table.

For the record, I do not expect that possibility to end what Michel called the cat-and-mouse game.

The trans-Atlantic alliance’s future remains unclear, and the West’s policy on Russia is still in the making. Therefore, there must be peace and calm between Ankara and Brussels. Both sides need to do their homework to make that happen.

Erdoğan made clear his political position by saying that “we belong in Europe.” That does not mean that Turkey intends to make concessions in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean. EU leaders must distance themselves from French aggression and Greek maximalism.

Instead, they ought to promote Germany’s rational and conciliatory tone. The ball is in Brussels’ court. It’s time to make a strategic decision to end the game of cat and mouse to the advantage of shared interests.

TURKISH press: An overview of Turkish foreign policy as 2020 ends

Vorskanian Yeghisabet
 OP-ED 
DEC 08, 2020 12:05 AM GMT+3
An Azerbaijani soldier holds a Turkish national flag as he celebrates the transfer of the Lachin region to Azerbaijan’s control, in Aghjabadi, Azerbaijan, Dec. 1, 2020. (AP Photo)

The balance of the world is changing rapidly, and the ability of medium-sized or developing countries such as Turkey to keep up with this change is becoming more critical every day. First, we should note that the orientation that we have observed in recent years is gradually strengthening. We are going through a period when the share of military tools and methods in the running of foreign policy is gradually expanding.

Additionally, in this process, where nationalism and populism are strengthened, economic struggles grow quickly and globalization loses ground. This strengthens introverted and anti-alien tendencies.

In today’s international system, which leads states to doubt each other, wars between great powers have already settled into focus, perhaps not direct wars through military means but through technology, culture, information and trade.

Admittedly, if crises and wars surround you on all sides, and you also face essential challenges in terms of your fundamental rights and interests, you cannot have the luxury of accepting and tolerating what is happening with a naive approach.

The fact that Turkey acts with increasing self-confidence and independence in its relations with the world is a situation that every citizen of the Republic of Turkey will welcome with applause. However, when we look at the overall picture, it would be to go beyond the boundaries of reality to say that everything is working within an ideal framework in Turkey’s foreign policy. As in 2019, 2020 has been very challenging for Turkey. From the point of view of Turkish foreign policy, it seems that there will be many issues that will be inherited by 2021 from 2020. Along with the pandemic and natural disasters such as the earthquakes in eastern Elazığ province and western İzmir province and the avalanche disaster in eastern Van province, Turkey continued where it left off without taking a step back in its foreign policy.

The current situation of Turkish foreign policy is one of the most challenging, serious and problematic periods not only in recent years but also probably the entire Republican period in general. At this point, we can address some of the issues that remain in our minds in 2020.

Regional disputes

The Eastern Mediterranean tension and rivalry are the main issues. Turkey has taken necessary and significant steps in 2020 to address this issue, which involves global actors along regional ones, especially Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and France.

The drilling ships such as Yavuz and Fatih that enable Turkey to conduct drilling activities on its continental shelf began to operate.

In the meantime, the agreement signed with Libya to limit maritime jurisdiction prevented our country from being squeezed into a narrow area along its coast in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey has increased drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea with its domestic ships in the last two years. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also announced that Turkey had made the most extensive natural gas discovery in its history in the Black Sea.

Although the amount discovered will increase further in the days ahead, there is also talk of important news in the Eastern Mediterranean on the horizon.

The tension on the morning of Sept. 27 between Azerbaijan and Armenia over occupied Nagorno-Karabakh soon turned into a conflict. After a long struggle, Armenian President Nikol Pashinian announced that they had suffered a bitter defeat.

The biggest supporter of Baku’s insistence on reclaiming its occupied territories was undoubtedly the Turkish government and its citizens. The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading newspapers, wrote a comprehensive analysis of the influence of Turkey by stating that drones and missiles worked for Azerbaijan against Armenia and announced to the world that Azerbaijan has a bigger advantage with the support of Turkey, both diplomatically and militarily.

The new president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was announced after two rounds of elections. Former TRNC President Mustafa Akıncı entered the election as the favorite but lost to former Prime Minister Ersin Tatar, the candidate supported by Ankara. Although the election has been widely discussed, one of the most talked-about issues has been the issue of the closed town of Maraş (Varosha). In northern Cyprus, a part of Maraş, which had been closed for settlement since 1974, was opened for public use. This situation has especially disturbed the Greek side, or the circles close to the Greek Cypriot administration. Nevertheless, neither the TRNC nor the Turkish government retreated from this step, and Erdoğan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli even visited this area after the elections.

The COVID-19 impact

The coronavirus outbreak, which first appeared in December 2019, soon became the No. 1 agenda item of global public opinion. The outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Due to the pandemic, many countries including Turkey implemented strict security measures. Economic activity slowed or even halted under the restrictions, while international borders were closed for a while around the world. Millions of people have closed their homes because of curfew restrictions and quarantine practices. In this process, Turkey, which has been one of the significant examples for many countries with its health infrastructure, also received public appreciation for its humanitarian assistance throughout the world.

The Idlib attack

In early February 2020, 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by the Russian-backed Damascus regime in Idlib, Syria. After the attack, NATO convened an extraordinary meeting at Turkey’s request, but no results were achieved. Turkey has increased its effectiveness in the region and has tried to respond to the attack both on the front and diplomatically. It opened its European doors to migrants, especially unsettling the European Union and Greece. As Greece resorted to measures to block the entry of migrants into the country, tense relations between Turkey and Greece were further strained. Thousands of migrants flocked to the borders, and Greek forces’ inhumane responses cost some migrants their lives.

The French position

However, if you name the biggest problem Turkey faced in its 2020 foreign policy, there will surely be only one answer. Whenever Turkey takes any responsibility in the international arena, France is the first country to try to block it. As Turkey shifted the balance in Libya, France became the most important supporter of Libya’s putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar. France was again the first country that sent its support to Armenia against Azerbaijan and accepted the declaration of independence for Nagorno-Karabakh in its Senate. French President Emmanuel Macron openly criticized Turkey’s gas exploration efforts and TRNC policy and openly supported Greece’s standard policies with the Greek Cypriot administration.

Turkey’s regional achievements in Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, the TRNC and recently Nagorno-Karabakh can be seen as a defeat for France in terms of two aspects.

First, Turkey is becoming a serious obstacle and competitor in France’s policies in the Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa. Secondly, this can be considered a military, diplomatic, commercial and strategic defeat from the point of view of France.

A diplomatic occasion

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, a Turkish ambassador assumed the presidency of the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in the period of 2020-2021. The election of Volkan Bozkır, the former EU minister and the chairperson of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission in Ankara, will play a valuable role in determining the issues to be discussed at the UNGA, focused on Turkey. Turning this situation into an opportunity may be the first step that Turkey will take in the coming years. The outcome of this development will soon be apparent.

In the light of all these events, Turkey needs to repair some relations by taking more firm steps, increase its number of friends and conduct its relations with the outside world in diversity and balance by pursuing policies aimed at both the West and the East. The noble questions that need to be asked here are who pushes the issues to military methods, whether military methods are really needed, to what extent space is opened for diplomacy and to what extent a correct route is drawn that will provide diplomatic solutions to foreign policy. Turkey has had to face severe problems and has taken foreign policy steps that prioritize its own interests in the face of difficult actors such as the U.S. and Russia.

It also proved that it is an independent country and that it can stand up and move forward in the face of pressure, as in the cases of Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean. After the coronavirus pandemic, new areas of opportunities have been opened up in Turkish foreign policy. In addition to its growing number of embassies, Turkey has already increased its capacity to operate abroad in recent years with institutions such as the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and the Maarif Foundation of Turkey. Now Turkey needs to recognize this crisis as an opportunity and shape these institutions in a more coordinated way according to the new global realities.

*Ph.D., teaching assistant at the Global Development Institute (GDI) at the University of Manchester

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
*Ph.D. candidate in Development Policy and Management at the Global Development Institute, School of Environment, Education and Development at the University of Manchester

CivilNet: “The tombstones of our relatives remain on the Azerbaijani side"

Emma Nadirian
CIVILNET.AM

8 December, 2020 03:54

Click CC for English. 

The residents of Martuni’s Taghavard village in Karabakh formed a detachment and began defending their homes during the war. After the fall of Hadrut, Azerbaijani forces moved towards Martuni’s border villages. They entered Taghavard and attempted to advance their position.

Today, a section of the village called Kaller Taghavard remains Armenian, while the other half is under Azerbaijani control. Some of Taghavard’s residents have already returned to their homes. CIVILNET is visiting them in the village.

Asbarez: AMAA’s Artsakh Centers and Kindergartens Reopen

Emma Nadirian

December 7,  2020



During the recent Artsakh war, hundreds of families from Artsakh took refuge in Armenia. Along with other organizations, the Armenian Missionary Association of America took care of these families in its multiple facilities.

On November 15, eight employees and ministers from AMAA Armenia and the Evangelical Church of Armenia left for Stepanakert to restore and prepare the AMAA’s war-torn office and the sanctuary of the Evangelical Church of Armenia. For the first time since September 27, a Worship Service was held in the Church.

Today, AMAA’s kindergartens are fully operational in Stepanakert, Askeran and Martakert. The “Shogh” Day Center in Askeran has also opened its doors to serve the children of Artsakh.

Gayane Yeghiazaryan, Social Worker of “Shogh” Day Center, and Sarik Gasparyan, Camp Director of Bedrosian Camp in Shushi, took care of 30 elderly people who found refuge at these centers, feeding them and taking care of all their basic needs until October 29, when they were evacuated.

These are difficult times for our people of Armenia and Artsakh. We mourn the loss of Shushi, Hadrut, Karvajar and other regions of Artsakh. But we also realize that we must move forward and do everything possible to support the restoration of our beloved Artsakh.

Founded in 1981, the Armenian Missionary Association of America serves the religious, educational and social needs of Armenian communities in 24 countries around the world including Armenia and Artsakh. For additional information, you may visit www.amaa.org.

AMAA’s to Distribute 12,000 Gift Bags for Children in Armenia and Artsakh

Liana Toganian

December 7,  2020



5 hours ago

The Armenian Missionary Association of America will distribute 12,000 bags of Christmas gifts during this Christmas season to our children in Armenia and Artsakh.

The staff of the AMAA’s Avedisian School in Yerevan along with the School’s 10th and 11th graders worked tirelessly for four consecutive days under the auspices of the AMAA and the staff of the Christian Education Department of the Evangelical Church of Armenia. They sorted the gifts, grouping them and filling the bags to bring some joy to our children, who are deprived of their carefree daily lives due to the war and have found themselves in insecure social conditions.

Since the early 1990s, every Christmas the AMAA’s Christmas Joy Program has brought many smiles and fun celebrations to thousands of children and their families throughout Armenia and Artsakh who need it more than ever this year. From music and dancing, to Christmas plays and visits from Santa, Christmas is a happy and blessed time of the year. You may still join us and be a part of sharing God’s love and help to bring Christmas Joy to our precious children in the Homeland and Artsakh. For some, the toys and gifts may be the only Christmas presents they receive, as their families cannot afford to spend what little income they have on these items.

For as little as $15 you can still help the AMAA continue bringing the spirit and joy of Christmas directly to these children. Please visit our website at www.amaa.org to donate to the Christmas Joy Program.

Founded in 1981, the Armenian Missionary Association of America serves the religious, educational and social needs of Armenian communities in 24 countries around the world including Armenia and Artsakh.

Current and Former Belgian Lawmakers Visit Artsakh

Emil Lazarian

December 7,  2020



On the initiative of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) a delegation of the Belgian French-speaking Friendship circle with Artsakh visited the republics of Armenia and Artsakh from December 2 to 6.

The delegation was comprised of the member of the Brussels Parliament Emmanuel De Bock, major of Jette commune Hervé Doyen, journalist and former Senator Josy Dubié, former President of the Brussels Parliament Julie de Groote, former Senator and the coordinator of the Friendship group André du Bus.

The main purpose of the visit was conveying the friendship and solidarity of the members of the friendship circle to the people of Artsakh devastated after the war imposed on them by Azerbaijan, supported by Erdogan’s Turkey and his mercenaries. The participants of the delegation were deeply saddened to witness the painful and destructive consequences of the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh.

The delegation was accompanied by the EAFJD Executive director Heghine Evinyan, EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian and the representative of CDCA Belgium Peter Petrossian.

Upon the arrival in Artsakh on 3 December, the members of the delegation held meetings with political representatives of Nagorno Karabakh, in particular with the Deputy-minister of Foreign Affairs Felix Khachatryan, the Minister of Urban Construction Aram Sargsyan, members of the National Assembly from the Friendship group with Belgium, as well as with the municipal representatives of the town of Martuni, which had been particularly affected by the war.

During the meetings, the members of the delegation reiterated their commitment to the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh as the only means to reach a peaceful and lasting resolution to the conflict and properly guarantee the physical security of the people of Artsakh and their right to live a dignified life. The delegation also suggested its assistance in the reconstruction of a heavily affected school in Artsakh.

Members of the delegation were impressed to see how the people of Artsakh were carrying out the clean-up of the streets and the reconstruction of the sites damaged by the bombardment as well as the refurbishment of the affected schools.

“We are impressed by two things. First, the tragedy the refugee and displaced families are going through, some are still without news from their father, husband or son, for them the future remains dark and uncertain. Then the extraordinary resilience demonstrated by the population of Artsakh who has already started the reconstruction works without any complaint and in all dignity,” the coordinator of the Friendship group André du Bus said.

The delegation also met with the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan, who presented evidence and the details of violations of the international humanitarian law and war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani side, that include the use of prohibited arms against the civilian population of Artsakh and on civil infrastructures, namely churches, schools, hospitals, kindergartens and residential houses.

During the meeting with the representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross the questions related to the humanitarian aid, return of the refugees and issues of the return of the prisoners of war and the remnants of the Armenian servicemen that remain on the territories now controlled by Azerbaijan, which is deliberately delaying their return were discussed.

The delegation also visited and observed the damage caused to the maternity ward in Stepanakert, targeted by Azerbaijan as well as the destruction of residential areas in the towns of Martuni and Stepanakert. The participants also had an emotional exchange with refugees that returned from Armenia and internally displaced people from the regions of Hadrut and Shushi.

“After the visit of the member of the Belgian Federal Parliament Georges Dallemagne during the war and the Parliament’s voting on the resolution condemning the Azeri-Turkish aggression and calling for immediate retreat of the Azerbaijani forces from Artsakh, this visit of the Friendship circle is another powerful gesture from our Belgian friends in support of the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh. We hope to materialize this solidarity with aid on the ground aimed at improving even a little the post-war life of the people of Artsakh,” said EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian.

President Says Hayastan Fund’s $100 Million Donation to Government Must Be Paid Back

Emil Lazarian

December 7,  2020



President Armen Sarkissian

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—President Armen Sarkissian has criticized a pan-Armenian charity for donating to Armenia’s government most of $170 million raised by it for Nagorno-Karabakh during the recent war.

Sarkissian said the unusual move undermined donors’ trust in the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. He urged the government to release a detailed report on how it has used the economic and humanitarian aid to Karabakh.

Hayastan launched an international fundraising campaign immediately after the outbreak of the war on September 27. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians from around the world responded to its appeal for urgent aid to Karabakh and its population severely affected by the fighting. They donated roughly $170 million to Hayastan within weeks.

It emerged afterwards that the charity headquartered in Yerevan redirected more than $100 million of those proceeds to the government. The Armenian Finance Ministry said on November 24 that the hefty donation will finance the government’s “infrastructure, social and healthcare expenditures” necessitated by the six-week war.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Sarkissian’s office revealed that he objected to the financial contribution approved by most members of Hayastan’s board of trustees headed by the Armenian president. It said he believes the decision left the fund’s donors suspecting that “their trust has been abused.”

According to the statement, Sarkissian has sent a letter to the board members arguing for “urgent steps” that should be taken before the donors’ “trust in the Government and the Fund has been finally lost.”

“Consequently, according to the President, the Government must submit a clear, detailed, and transparent report on the expenditures made with the transferred sums of the Fund, and this must be done in the most public way,” the presidential office said.

Sarkissian also called for an “urgent international audit” of the Hayastan Fund. He said that in case of “negative” findings” of the audit the government should redefine the hefty donation as a “loan” and pledge to eventually reimburse the fund.

“The return of the funds, transferred by the Government to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, can significantly change the situation and become a guarantee of restoring the confidence in the Fund,” added the statement.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office and the Hayastan management did not immediately react to Sarkissian’s concerns and proposals.

Later in November, Hayastan Fund raised in the United States and France $26 million in fresh funds for Nagorno-Karabakh. It attracted the bulk of the donations pledges during an annual telethon broadcast from Los Angeles.

Hayastan Fund has implemented $370 million worth of various infrastructure projects in Karabakh and Armenia since being set up in 1992. Its board of trustees mostly comprises Armenia’s political leaders and prominent Diaspora philanthropists.

Socialist International Committee Discusses Artsakh War

Maral Chavushian

December 7,  2020



The Socialist International Committee for the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea held an online meeting on Dec. 5

The Socialist International Committee for the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea held an online meeting on Saturday with the participation of member parties from countries across the region. Included in the agenda of the meeting was discussion about the Artsakh war and Azerbaijan’s aggression toward Armenians.

On the theme of peace and conflict resolution, significant attention was given to the recent conflict in the South Caucasus, and the meeting listened to the perspectives of participants from both Armenia and Azerbaijan on this subject.

Shaghig Maroukhian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia described the actions of Azerbaijan as a large scale aggression planned and coordinated with military and political support from Turkey. She called the attacks a blatant violation of the 1994 ceasefire agreement.

She accused the government of Azerbaijan of recruiting terrorist mercenaries from Syria and Libya, and of immediately violating two ceasefires agreed during October. The ARF called into question the November 10 ceasefire agreement and supported protests against the Armenian prime minister and the installation of an interim government.

ARF representative and SI Vice-President Mario Nalpatian considered that a just peace had not been reached, but outlined his party’s commitment to the values and principles of the SI and readiness to work toward fulfilling those goals in the South Caucasus.

Araz Alizadeh, co-chair of the committee and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan described the conflict as a “patriotic war which all Azeri political parties had supported, resulting in Armenian forces leaving territory they had occupied for the first time since 1993.”

Responding to reports of Turkish involvement in the war, he denied the presence of Turkish armed forces in Azerbaijan. His position was that Azerbaijan had not at any point attacked the territory of Armenia. He also claimed that his party did not want war.

In remarks on the resolution of conflicts, SI Vice-President Alexander Romanovich of the Just Russia party highlighted the personal role of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in reaching a ceasefire agreement. He regretted the number of on-going conflicts in the CIS, referring to the situations in Moldova and Ukraine, and expressed his belief that conflicts could only be solved through negotiations with international support from the United Nations.

The SI meeting also discussed the global COVID-19 pandemic and the response in the regions covered by the committee, as well as tensions in Belarus, Transnistria and Kazakhstan.

In concluding remarks, SI secretary general Luis Ayala underlined that the SI had made the resolution of conflicts a part of its identity everywhere and would continue to bring together its member parties in search of common ground, compromise and cooperation. Democracy continued to be a major challenge in the region, he said.

He considered that as a political family the SI is truly involved in this region and is getting results. He paid tribute to social democrats across the region who were working for democracy and progress, improving the situation with hard work and perseverance, and expressed his pride that members of this political family were at the forefront of these efforts.