Category: 2020

BY LAR TABAKIAN

I never heard the boom, but I felt it—from the voice quivering chants on Wilshire Blvd. to every held breath as I refreshed my Twitter feed.

With each bomb dropped on Artsakh’s capital city of Stepanakert, Armenians in every corner of the world felt it, deep in their core. Within the hearts of diasporans and natives alike, lives a sense of pain, anger, and loss that we know all too well. The recent attacks on Artsakh are not an isolated incident. This conflict is not every day international diplomacy, but rather, an attempt at the end result that Armenians have battled against for centuries: extermination. As young Armenian-Americans, we ask ourselves, with the events that took place over 105 years ago, “Why did the world stand by and watch? Why didn’t anyone do anything?” Today, we ask ourselves these same questions as we battle Azerbaijan and Turkey’s inhumane war crimes on civilians, churches and communities.

Isolated from our motherland, one cannot help but feel useless in the grand scheme of things. Local and national protests and rallies fall on deaf ears, call-to-action graphics on Instagram are left unshared and broken promises by empty politicians remain unfulfilled.

Seeing numbers rise every hour, not being able to walk alongside our brothers and sisters on the front lines, anything less than risking one’s life for the survival of our people, our country, seems somewhat trivial. But despite this overwhelming sense of despair, Armenians around the globe have come together, with a universal question: “What can I do?” The answer: a lot.

In light of these attacks, we have seen every Armenian, in every country, begin to do their part—blockading truckloads of Turkish weapons in Georgia, halting traffic on freeways in Los Angeles, camping out in front of the European Union building in Brussels. The fire that has been ignited in all of us has spurred endless forms of activism. With every handmade earring purchased, military backpack shipped, poncho delivered, and petition signed, we are beginning to be the change we seek. Armenians have discovered, after countless tragedies, that the common denominator to victory is ourselves. Above all else, we are united, we are passionate, and we are willing to fight in every way we can. Perhaps most of us will not pick up a gun and head to the trenches, but we will pick up a pen and write to our representatives, we will pick up a sign and join the picketing line, and we shall pick up our wallets and donate to the cause. With opportunities to get involved, raise awareness and take action abound, we as Armenians must harness the lessons of our past, and throw the full force of our support behind the young heroes living, crying and dying for the same cause our ancestors laid down their lives for.

This is our Sardarabad. This is our battle, and like our forefathers, we will win.

Lar Tabakian is a senior at the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met on Monday with senior members of several Armenian opposition groups, including the former ruling Republican Party, to discuss the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

The meeting was held behind the closed doors and Pashinyan made no public statements afterwards.

Pashinyan’s press office said he briefed them on diplomatic and other steps taken by the Armenian government in response to the “war unleashed by Azerbaijan with Turkey’s backing.”

It said he also answered questions asked by the representatives of the Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress and several other opposition parties not represented in the parliament.

“The representatives of the political forces presented their observations and proposals regarding the fight against the enemy and further actions,” the office added in a statement.
Participants of the meeting also gave few details.

“We made very clear what we think now,” the ARF’s Ishkhan Saghatelyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “I just cannot publicize that given the martial law and things that cannot be disclosed at this point.”

Saghatelyan said his party disagrees with Pashinyan’s Karabakh-related policy but declined to elaborate. “We have many concerns which we voiced in a very clear and direct way,” he said.

Pashinyan held a separate meeting on Sunday with senior lawmakers representing his My Step bloc and the two parliamentary opposition parties, Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia. Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan also attended it.

“It was an open conversation,” My Step’s Arman Yeghoyan said on Monday. “The prime minister answered all questions.”

“It’s a war and the situation is very difficult,” said Bright Armenia leader Edmon Marukyan. “The fate of our state and each of us is now being determined on the battlefield.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which is tasked to mediate the exchange of bodies and captives under the humanitarian ceasefire agreement reached Saturday aimed at halting the fighting in Artsakh, said earlier this week that it would not be able to conduct its mission until the ceasefire agreement is honored.

On Tuesday, the ICRC Eurasia Regional Director, Martin Schüepp, issued a statement, calling for the enforcement of the ceasefire, saying the organization estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the fighting, which has entered its third week.

Below is the complete text of Schüepp’s statement.

Today, we are more than two weeks into a period of intense violence as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict escalates. We estimate there are hundreds of thousands of people affected across the region.

Civilians are dying or suffering life-changing injuries. Homes, businesses and once-busy streets are being reduced to rubble. The elderly and babies are among those forced to spend hours in unheated basements or to leave their homes for safety.

On top of this, healthcare facilities, health workers and ambulance services are straining to cope or even suffering reported direct attacks in places. There is upheaval, loss and fear in communities on both sides of the line of contact.

It is our deep hope that the humanitarian ceasefire agreement will be abided by and will translate into meaningful relief for these people.

As such, the International Committee of the Red Cross remains ready to facilitate the handover of bodies of those killed in action and the release of detainees. The sides must agree on a format between themselves. We are in continuous discussions with them, passing proposals back and forth. Operational and logistical arrangements must be in place and the safety of our teams guaranteed, for the operation to begin.

We are not involved in the political negotiations. Our role is strictly humanitarian, as a neutral intermediary. We have long-standing experience of this in conflicts worldwide. In terms of our response, we are working in the region to alleviate the suffering of those caught up in this. We are distributing emergency cash assistance and hygiene kits to hundreds of families, providing emergency medical kits to hospitals and forensic support to authorities, and doing field assessments where we can.

And we are working closely with the Armenian Red Cross and the Azerbaijani Red Crescent as they respond to this emergency. We project that at least tens of thousands of people across the region will need support over the next few months.

To this end we have issued an emergency appeal of an additional 9.2 million Swiss Francs and have already started to receive generous donations from governments, for which we are very grateful.

I will leave you with the experience of one mother who spoke to us – she described how as a child she sheltered in basements and spent nights in the forest to escape the fighting.
Almost 30 years later, she is once again forced to do the same thing, this time with her little daughter – barely 2 years old – and her elderly parents, who had once protected her all those years ago. There are many more like her and for all their sakes we must be there to support and facilitate meaningful humanitarian action where we can.

While in Moscow on an official visit, Armenia’s Foreign Minister met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to discuss the humanitarian ceasefire agreement reached on Saturday and potential future Karabakh settlement talks.

Mnatsakanyan met in person with the Russian and the U.S. co-chairs, Igor Popov and Andres Schofer, who were accompanied by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The French co-chair, Stephane Visconti joined meeting remotely.

Mnatsakanyan told the mediators tasked with achieving a settlement to the Karabakh conflict, that despite the humanitarian ceasefire agreement reached early Saturday morning, following intense 11-hour discussions, Azerbaijan continues large-scale military attacks on Artsakh, deliberately targeting the civilian population centers.

Mnatsakanyan specifically emphasized the need to introduce mechanisms on the ground to ensure that the ceasefire is observed and to strengthen the fragile truce.

Kasprzyk and Schofer, the U.S. co-chair, also held a separate meeting with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they discussed “possible steps” aimed at implementing the ceasefire agreement.

Russian Foreign Minister announced Monday that co-chairs held similar discussion with the Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov on Thursday in Geneva. Reuters reported last week that representatives of Russia, France and the U.S. introduced proposals that would kick start the Karabakh settlement negotiations, with elaborating on details. The news reported that Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev had accepted the proposals.

Following the meeting with Mnatsakanyan, the co-chairs issued a statement, in which they urged the sides to implement the provisions of Saturday’s humanitarian ceasefire agreement.
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“The Co-Chairs note with alarm the continuing violence in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The Co-Chairs call on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to take immediate steps to execute in full the obligations of the sides according to the October 10 Moscow statement, in order to prevent catastrophic consequences for the region,” said the statement.
“The Co-Chairs reiterate that civilian casualties are unacceptable under any circumstances. The Co-Chairs call on the sides to implement the humanitarian ceasefire immediately to allow the return of remains, prisoners of war, and detainees, and appeal to the sides to agree urgently upon a ceasefire verification mechanism,” added the mediators.

The co-chairs announced that after meeting with Mnatsakanyan and Bayramov, they are “working with the sides on the substantive issues of the Nagorno Karabakh political settlement process in order to reach a negotiated solution.”

The drone crash could expose Israel’s military technology secrets to Iran

Resident of a village in northwestern Iran’s region woke up Tuesday to find a military drone had crashed in the vast farmlands in Parsabad-Moghan county of the country’s Ardebil province, reported Armenpress.

Behrouz Nedayi, the region’s deputy governor, told the IRNA state news agency that there were no damages as a result of the crash.

This is the second drone to land in Iran’s territory since Azerbaijan began aggressively attacking Artsakh on September 27.

Photos of the wreckage of the almost intact drone quickly surfaced on social media, prompting experts to assert that the UAV in fact was an Israeli-made Harop attack drone, which can be armed.

The Harop drone, manufactured by the state-run Israeli Aerospace Industries, has been widely—and indiscriminately—used by Azerbaijan forces, who, aided by Turkey-backed jihadists, have been attacking Artsakh for more than two weeks

Armenia’s military experts, including specialists at the military-analytical site razm.info, conducted their own study of the photos and confirmed that the drone that crashed in the farmlands of Iran was, in fact, a Harop kamikaze drone.

It seems Azerbaijan has gifted Iran Israel’s sough-after military technology.

Iran is known to be leading manufacturer of drones in the region. There is no doubt that Iranian expert will forensically study the crashed drone to glean its state-of-the-art technology.

While Iranian officials have expressed serious concerns about the recent military activity spilling into its territory, there is no doubt that Tehran will not kick a gift horse in the mouth.