Category: 2020

Turkey denounces Bahrain-Israel normalization deal

Hambardsumian Paul
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 12 2020

Turkey on Friday strongly condemned the normalization agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Bahrain and Israel, saying the deal contradicts the commitments made under the Arab Peace Initiative and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Daily Sabah reported.

According to Turkish officials, the step will deliver a fresh blow to the efforts to defend the Palestinian cause and will further encourage Israel to continue its illegitimate practices toward Palestinians.

“We are concerned and strongly condemn Bahrain’s undertaking to establish diplomatic relations with Israel,” it said in a statement.

Turkey’s authorities emphasized that the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East is through a fair and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue within the framework of international law and U.N. resolutions.

“It will further encourage Israel to continue illegitimate practices toward Palestine and its efforts to make the occupation of Palestinian lands permanent,” the ministry statement said.

A gang of 30 homophobes launched a brutal attack on queer activists. Two years later, police are finally investigating

David Nargizian
Pink News
Sept 12 2020
Patrick Kelleher

A court in Armenia has ordered police to reinvestigate a 2018 case in which 30 homophobes brutally assaulted nine LGBT+ activists.

The country’s Criminal Court of Appeals has ruled that authorities failed to adequately investigate the horrific attack in Shantukh in Armenia’s southernmost Syunik province, which left two queer activists in hospital.

The ruling, which was made in August, found that the victims’ rights were violated when investigators chose to not prosecute the perpetrators in the attack.

Pink Armenia, an LGBT+ rights organisation, had previously appealed to the prosecutor and to the First Instance Court of Syunik to have the assailants prosecuted – but their concerns were rejected.

The Criminal Court of Appeal’s ruling vindicates queer activists in the country, who have spent the last two years fighting for the aggressors to be prosecuted.

In a statement, Pink Armenia said the court made its ruling after considering the “severe mental suffering” the victims experienced.

The court also found that the LGBT+ activists were targeted by the group of 30 because of their sexual orientation.

“We hope that this decision will finally force the investigation body to resume the preliminary investigation and to start examining the real motive of the crime,” the group said.

Grave of Urartian woman buried with jewelry unearthed in Van

Karagyozian Lena
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 12 2020
Society 14:35 12/09/2020Region

A grave belonging to a noble Urartian woman buried with her jewelry was found at the Çavuştepe Castle in the Gürpınar district of the eastern province of Van, Daily Sabah reported.

Since 2017, excavation works have been ongoing at Çavuştepe Castle, conducted by a team of academics led by professor Rafet Çavuşoğlu, head of the archaeology department at Van’s Yüzüncü Yıl University.

Over the course of the protracted dig, the team discovered a necropolis believed to mark the burial site of the Urartian ruling class.

Recently, this has led to the unearthing of the skeletal remains of a woman buried with a full set of exquisite jewelry. The team’s anthropologists are now set to examine the skeleton in a lab environment to determine the cause of death and the exact age of the woman.

Urartu, also known as the Kingdom of Van, is an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the historic Armenian Highlands. The kingdom rose to power in the mid-9th century BC, but went into gradual decline and was eventually conquered by the Iranian Medes in the early 6th century BC.

Armenia becoming more investor friendly – US State Department

Toneyan Mark
JAM News
Sept 12 2020

    JAMnews, Yerevan
 

Armenia has finally become attractive for investors after the Velvet Revolution in 2018, thanks to progress in the war against corruption and improvements in various areas, states a report on the investment climate in Armenia.

The US State Department notes that despite the positive developments, improvements are still needed in government institutions that help ensure a competitive environment – that is, the courts, tax authorities, structures that are responsible for government contracts, as well as law enforcement agencies.

The document states that the US has significant investments in Armenia. 

Moreover, the country has relatively solid ratings in international indices evaluating business and investment environments.

“Armenia provides various opportunities for investors. The country’s legislative policy, as well as government policy in general, is aimed at attracting investment, but the environment is not without its challenges. The main obstacles are a small market, comparative geographical isolation due to closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, weaknesses in the rule of law and the judiciary system, and a strong legacy of corruption”, states the report.

The report notes that the 2018 parliamentary elections brought out many parliamentarians “who had significant businesses in Armenia and were business owners in large sectors of the economy”.

“In general, the competitive environment in Armenia is improving, but some businesses report that major reforms are needed to increase these gains in the judiciary, tax, customs, health, education, military and law enforcement agencies,” the report said.

The State Department also recalled the situation involving the Amulsar mine, which holds the second largest gold deposit in Armenia.

Lydian Armenia, a company which was supposed to be engaged in gold mining, discovered the mine back in 2005.

Until 2012, the company was looking for investors and creating a mine development program. In the same year, Lydian and the Armenian government signed an agreement to develop the deposit, and the company received the right to operate the mine.

Protests against the development of the mine began back in 2011. In 2012, people began collecting signatures against the project. And in 2018, activists successfully suspended Lydian’s operations.

“The investment dispute in the country’s mining industry has attracted a lot of international attention and has remained unresolved for several years”, states the text.

The report also notes that American companies are concerned that the investment environment is polluted by non-compliance with intellectual property rights.

“There are concerns about the lack of an independent and strong legal system, which undermines the government’s assurances of equal treatment and transparency”.

The State Department notes that Armenia has amended its legislation protecting competition.

“Nevertheless, to ensure fair competitive conditions for the company, the efforts of one State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition are considered insufficient…It is necessary to improve the work of other state institutions that contribute to ensuring competitive conditions – in particular, courts, tax authorities and structures that are responsible for government contracts, as well as law enforcement agencies “.

The report also states that there is a continuing lack of competitiveness in local markets.

Expert opinions

Economist Hrant Mikaelyan believes that this report carried a certain political pressure.

“In this case, the author of the report is the state, so its influence cannot be ruled out”.

The expert says that the flow of investments to Armenia has been stable over the past three years:

“It amounted to $250,000,000, that is, 2% of GDP. This is a very small amount. Since the 2008 crisis, the inflow of investments to Armenia has been decreasing every year. By 2017, it had reached about $250,000,000 and has been stable since then”.

Mikaelyan believes that this report is unlikely to produce any effect.

“The news may have an impact on some hesitant investors, but not many. Large projects operate under a different logic, which these reports cannot directly influence”.


Captivity continues for Armenian soldier in Azerbaijan. What do experts on both sides have to say?

Jane Topchian
JAM News
Sept 12 2020

    JAMnews, Baku-Yerevan
 

Baku has requested that two Armenian soldiers be placed on the Interpol wanted list. Their names, says the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, were said by the Armenian officer now in captivity. The Azerbaijani servicemen who took the video of his capture have been discharged.

Azerbaijan contacted Interpol with the request to consider the soldiers, who are charged with attempted sabotage in the country, as wanted. Interpol’s response is as yet unknown.

This information was given by the Armenian officer who was captured on the Azerbaijani side of the line of contact on 23 August, 2020, says the ministry of defence.

At the same time, the Azerbaijani servicemen who captured him have been discharged from duty. They have also been charged with illegally recording the capture on their mobile phones and distributing the footage on social media.

 Yerevan refutes the accusation the officer was sent to stage a diversion, and claims that the Armenian prisoner of war is being coerced.

Lieutenant Gurgen Alaverdyan of the Armenian armed forces was captured on 23 August in the Qoranboy district of Azerbaijan. According to a statement from the prosecutor general, he admitted that he had been ordered to organise provocations and diversions including explosions, on Azerbaijani territory.

The prosecutor general also states that Alaverdyan was following the order of his commanding officer Vazgen Vartanyan and that Armenian serviceman Armen Jamalyan was to assist him. 

The court charged them, in absentia, with five counts of breaking the law of the civil codex. Then a request for an international search was submitted to the central Interpol office, reported the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s press-secretary.

While the prosecutor general was requesting an international search for the two Armenian soldiers from Interpol, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence discharged 14 Azerbaijani servicemen who had participated in the capture of Gurgen Alaverdyan.

The platoon and company commanders were also demoted.

This was first reported on social media, and then confirmed by the ministry of defence.

]The reason was the use of smartphones on the battlefield, stated the ministry in a press-release:

]”A number of soldiers have sent photos and videos with the prisoner to their relatives, which then ended up on social media”.

Military observer Asaf Guliev said in an interview with JAMnews: 

“For some years now Azerbaijan has been trying to get two of its citizens, Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, released from captivity in Nagorno-Karabakh. These two normal people have been declared saboteurs and sentenced to long-term imprisonment.

As such, the legal process and declaration of an international search for the Armenian servicemen is necessary for Azerbaijan to set a legal precedent, but it will hardly lead to their arrest.

But this kind of punishment for Gurgen Alaverdyan, the serviceman who was taken into captivity, it not the right thing to do. Yes, they broke the rules and should be punished. But they ministry should have told journalists and bloggers about it early. That way they could have avoided widespread discussion and negativity among the public.

Military expert Karen Hovhannisyan said in an interview with JAMnews:

“This is all like the Turkish model. The Turks first charged the Kurds with trying to sabotage them, and then they started ‘retaliatory military actions’.

Armenia has said from the beginning that the serviceman got lost. There was no sabotage and no attack.

It’s likely that Interpol won’t even look at Azerbaijan’s request, since the Armenians have ground enough to say that these servicemen are not members of a saboteur group”.



Armenia gets creative

Chatinian Lara
Emerging Europe
Sept 12 2020
Nikola Đorđević
A work by Yerevan-based Tatevik Harutyunyan. Courtesy Creative Armenia  

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit all sectors of society but few were as hard hit as the arts. With outdoor and indoor gatherings only now resuming under strict rules and guidelines, the initial wave of infections was a true jolt for artists, performers, and the institutions that support them. As concerts and exhibitions seemed to become a thing of the past, artists and the arts sector had to think on their feet and adapt to the new normal.

As part of this adaptation the region has seen an outpouring of what many have termed “digital solidarity”. Art venues, institutions, museums, and artists began to adopt digital platforms and ways of communication as a means of keeping art relevant in a world where everyone was staying at home to ride out a dangerous pandemic.

For Creative Armenia, an NGO based in Yerevan and Los Angeles whose mission is “to fuel a global movement of creative minds who are pushing the frontiers of Armenian culture” the pandemic came as shock. But as communications coordinator Maryam Israelyan tells Emerging Europe, they quickly recalibrated and started thinking about how they can help artists during a time of crisis.

“The pandemic has caused not so much a shift as it has an acceleration of our organisational mission and spirit. Since the onset of Covid-19, we’ve been funding and supporting creators across all art fields who are doing such exceptional work in isolation,” says Anush Ter-Khachatryan, director of programs at Creative Armenia.

Since the organisation has strong ties with the large Armenian diaspora, they were already used to doing things digitally and online. They quickly organised a special edition of their Creative Challenge competition that awards a 2,000 US-dollar prize for the best responses to a prompt. This time, of course, the prompt was Covid-related.

Armenian artists were invited to communicate their self-isolation experiences and five were selected as winners. Among them is Ani Qananyan and her short and relatable film about the daily routine in self-isolation.

Qananyan, an artist who primarily works in more traditional mediums like clay and paint, told Creative Armenia in an interview that these artists working in traditional media might need to find ways to express themselves digitally in the post-Covid word.

“I still hope that the post-Covid world will roll back to the good old times we lived in,” she remarks.

Creative Armenia didn’t stop at just awarding artists for their work. They also started the SelfQuar Experiment, a webpage showcasing some of the best submissions to the prompt in an attempt to bring visibility and exposure to Armenian artists.

It would be an understatement to call the Armenian diaspora large. According to some estimates, as many as eleven million Armenians live outside of the country, in many different parts of the world.

“The Armenian diaspora is not just a benefit for times of crisis, but also in times of prosperity,” Ms Ter-Khachatryan tells Emerging Europe.

Creative Armenia found during the pandemic that Armenian artists needed support more than ever and that cultural patrons in the diaspora were more than ready to meet the challenges of the Covid-19 “new normal”.

“For the first time we had that strange feeling that it truly didn’t matter where we lived. Logging onto one of our many Zoom calls with our Creative Armenia network members, the boundaries between Armenia and its diaspora were in fact less visible and relevant than ever,” says Ms Ter-Khachatryan.

In June, Creative Armenia organised a digital summit titled Culture.20 where thousands of people gathered together to explore the future of art with six artists, all Creative Armenia AGBU fellows. The summit dealt with the dangers and opportunities of the digital transition, from AI-generated music to virtual museum exhibits.

Ms Ter-Khachatryan says that the way art is displayed and consumed in the future will definitely change and that the digital word is here to stay even after Covid-19.

“At Creative Armenia, we can already see this trend in the kind of submissions we receive: VR projects, digital immersive theatre experiences, and online concerts are no longer outliers,” she says. “True to form, artists have been very quick to sense and adapt to the limitations and possibilities of our time.”

In many countries, government aid for the arts was late and lacking. Ms Ter-Khachatryan says that it’s hard to measure what’s enough in times of global crisis and there has been a substantial government support already given, but then also a substantial need and demand which is still outstanding.

“Creative Armenia finds itself in the role of closing that gap, regardless of how great that gap seems, or how impossible to close,” she explains.

Still, despite the crisis and some setbacks in translating in-person experiences into the digital world, Ms Ter-Khachatryan speaks of a “digital fatigue” experiences by those who are hopping from one Zoom call to the next, it seems that art and artists are adapting and the Covid-19 pandemic does not spell the end for this sector.

“In the domain of art, the home of the human imagination, nothing is impossible,” Ms Ter-Khachatryan concludes.




Azerbaijani press: Georgian expert: Resettlement of Armenians from other countries to occupied territories – contrary to international law

Tambiyan Samvel
13:50 (UTC+04:00)
562

By Trend

The resettlement of Armenians from other countries to the occupied territories is contrary to international law, Guram Markhulia, President of the “Caucasus International Center for the Study of Geohistory and Geopolitics” told Trend.

According to the expert, Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh is an occupied region, the resettlement of another population to this territory contradicts the norms of international law.

“Armenia is trying in every possible way to interest the population of Armenian origin from different countries in resettlement to Nagorno-Karabakh. They do this in order to show the world community that this territory is inhabited by Armenians,” Markhulia said.

According to him, the Armenian population leaves the occupied territories, only Armenian troops remain there.

“The Armenians have not achieved success in their resettlement policy, because only two Lebanese families have recently been resettled to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. It is clear, because no one wants to live in the occupied territories,” Markhulia stressed.

According to the expert, the foreign policy of Armenia is aimed at populating the region, but it fails and will never be successful.


Azerbaijani press: Turkish MP: UN must stop resettlement of Lebanese Armenians to occupied Azerbaijani lands

Emil Lazarian
14:12 (UTC+04:00)
587

By Trend

After the explosion in Beirut on August 4, the Armenian government, continuing its aggressive policy and violating the international law, is resettling the Lebanese Armenians to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, which has been under Armenia’s occupation for more than 30 years, Member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Shamil Ayrim told Trend on Sept. 12.

“After coming to power, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan started a very dangerous game,” Ayrim, who is also the head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group, added. “Firstly, Pashinyan settles Karabakh and the territories of seven adjacent districts with Armenians from such countries as Lebanon. Secondly, he uses them as mercenaries, and thirdly, cooperates with such terrorist organizations as Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). “

The member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly stressed that Armenia is trying to increase the population through ethnic Armenians, resettling them from abroad.

“The goal is to consolidate the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh region and Armenia’s occupation policy,” Ayrim said. “If the Armenian authorities thought about people, they would join such projects as Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars.”

“I do not think that anyone will stop those who are resettling after the recent explosion in Lebanon because there are big problems in Lebanon, just as in Syria,” member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly said. “International organizations must take action. The UN must urgently stop the resettlement of the Lebanese Armenians to the occupied Azerbaijani territories, force Armenia to comply with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.


Azerbaijani press: Ali Bakeer: Trying to strategically alter demographics of Nagorno-Karabakh region is crime against humanity

Jalatian Sonya
18:11 (UTC+04:00)
528

By Trend

Trying to strategically alter the demographics of the occupied Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is a crime against humanity, Ankara-based political analyst and researcher Ali Bakeer told Trend.

Bakeer said there have been international reports that upon the tragedy that has happened recently in Lebanon the Armenian government has decided to transfer some of Lebanese families of Armenian roots to the occupied Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

“Of course this decision will open the door to the transfer of a bigger number of families, maybe hunderds of Lebanese families of Armenian roots to the Karabakh region occupied by Armenia, which in itself is a great violation of the international law and is also a serious violation of the humanitarian law. Trying to strategically alter the demographics of the occupied Karabakh region and applying demographic engineering on the people there is a crime against humanity, so no one, no international organization will sympathize with such practice of the Armenian government or of other governments,” Bakeer said.

He emphasized that changing the demographic structure of the Karabakh is a crime and the Armenian government should be held accountable for neglecting international laws and norms that specifically deal with such an issue.

“As long as there is no pressure on that government unfortunately such illegal and criminal acts will continue. So, I think that there is a need for international community to stand up against such practices and decisions by the Armenian government, especially this one,” Bakeer said.

Bakeer once again emphasized that the whole international community knows that Karabakh is an occupied region of Azerbaijan and there is no legitimate background for Armenian government to do anything but to give up its occupation policy.

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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.


Azerbaijani press: Assistant to Azerbaijani president visits military units in frontline zone

Parkev Tvankchian
POLITICS 20:11 (UTC+04:00)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 12

Trend:

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Department for Foreign Policy Affairs of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, Deputy Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Kerim Veliyev and other representatives of the ministry have visited several military units stationed in the foremost line of the front, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

First, flowers were laid at the bust of national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, installed on the territory of the military unit, and his memory was honored.

Inquiring about the service of the military personnel who is on the combat duty, Hajiyev observed the positions of the Armenian armed forces from the command-observation post.

Then the guests visited the memorial “In memory of those who died in April Battles” erected in the city of Horadiz, laid flowers, and honored the memory of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for Azerbaijan’s independence and territorial integrity.

Having visited the foremost line of the front, the guests have met with servicemen serving in combat positions and inquired about the conditions of their service.

During the meeting, assistant to the president conveyed the greetings of the supreme commander-in-chief.

While speaking about the continuation of measures aimed at fulfilling the orders of the supreme commander-in-chief on increasing the combat capability of the Azerbaijani Army and improving the social conditions of the servicemen, Hajiyev emphasized that these issues are in the center of constant attention of the country’s leadership.

Then there was a joint lunch with the military personnel who is on the combat duty on the foremost line of the front and the conversation was held at the tea-table.

The assistant to the president has met with local residents in one of the frontline villages, conveyed the president’s greetings to them, and inquired about the needs of the population.

While expressing satisfaction with the created conditions, the villagers asked to convey their gratitude to the country’s leadership.