News.am, Armenia
Aug 11 2020
18:21, 11.08.2020
Category: 2020
Jeyhun Bayramov: ‘Armenia Continues To Disregard UN Security Council Resolutions’ – OpEd
Eurasia Review
Aug 11 2020
By Peter Tase
On July 28, 2020, Report News Agency of Azerbaijan, published a note about the speech delivered by the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Jeyhun Bayramov, delivered at the webinar on “Leveraging the Effects of the Pandemic Towards Regional Cooperation in Asia”
The following is the statement made by Minister Jeyhun Bayramov:
“Before we start our discussions, I would like to reiterate my sincere condolences to the esteemed Turkish side on the occasion of the death of Turkish soldiers in the road accident, which took place in the Mersin province yesterday. Our prayers and sympathies are with their families. And we wish the soonest recovery to those injured in the accident. Please accept my appreciation for the kind invitation extended by my esteemed colleague, Minister Çavuşoğlu. Thank the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and Rajaratnam School of International Studies for organizing this webinar. I believe that it will yield fruitful discussions on leveraging the effects of a pandemic. This event will also be a good opportunity to provide an insight into how the Republic of Azerbaijan is tackling the COVID-19 pandemic since its emergence.”
In his emblematic statement, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, emphasized:
“The COVID-19 pandemic brought a number of unparalleled challenges and disruptions that required a worldwide effort to protect public health. Countries have taken reinforcement measures on containment, prevention, and response to the pandemic’s spread under the leadership of their respective heads of state and government. Azerbaijan plays an active role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at both domestic and multilateral levels. So far Azerbaijan provided voluntary financial assistance to the World Health Organization. These funds are intended for those most in need of assistance from the regional groups of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Azerbaijan also provided assistance in the form of medical supplies and equipment to individual countries. I would also like to mention the steps taken by Azerbaijan at the domestic level. In February, an operational headquarters was created under the Cabinet of Ministers to prevent the spread of new coronavirus infection in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Since early March, education in all institutions was suspended. All mass events were postponed or canceled. Since the end of March, a quarantine regime has been in effect. It includes a series of measures of social isolation and restrictions. The evacuation of our citizens from abroad has been one of the priorities during the pandemic period.”
The effective participation of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Turkic Council has been fundamental and delivered concrete economic results in the region. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stressed the importance of the Turkic Council: “I would especially like to emphasize Azerbaijan’s active role in the framework of the Turkic Council. Azerbaijan assumed the Turkic Council’s Chairmanship on October 15th, 2019, during the 7th Summit held in Baku, to further strengthen cooperation and concerted efforts in attaining the goals and objectives of the Turkic Speaking World. Taking into account the global uncertainty caused by the pandemic as well as its repercussions, the Member States and Hungary, as the observer state, have sought a unified action in overcoming the challenges and stressed cooperation in the framework of the Turkic Council. The Extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council was held through a videoconference on April 10th, 2020, on the theme of “Solidarity and Cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic” with the initiative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev. I should stress that the Summit is the first to be held on the level of the Heads of State in tackling the pandemic.
During the Extraordinary Summit, the Heads of State emphasized their determination to expand the cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as demonstrating a firm stance in seeking solidarity for the sake of common well-being, exchange of experiences and uniting their efforts by fully mobilizing scientific, innovative, technological and medical potential.
The Heads of State of the Turkic Council agreed to establish a consultation and cooperation mechanism among their respective national crisis centers, which includes the close interaction among the ministries of health of the Member States, to share best practices, assisting each other on substantive aspects regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the instructions of the Heads of States during the Extraordinary Summit Azerbaijan – as the Chairman-in-Office of the Turkic Council – successfully organized the videoconferences of the Ministers of Health, Ministers of Transport, Ministers of Economy and Heads of Customs Administrations, Heads of the Migration Services, Health Coordination Committee, Ministers in Charge of Tourism and Health Scientific Group. These conferences proved to be effective consultation mechanisms on finding the remedies, mobilizing efforts, exploring the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the diagnosis and treatment of dangerous infections.”
Another important milestone and historic accomplishment of the Foreign Policy of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of the President H. E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, is the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the format of Contact Group; Minister Jeyhun Bayramov elaborated further on the multilateral diplomacy of Azerbaijan conducted diligently within the framework of NAM format: “I believe the continuation of Azerbaijan’s efforts on the multinational level is worthy of mention. One such instance is the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in the format of Contact Group, which was held on May 4, 2020, with the initiative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev. President Aliyev, in his capacity as the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, proposed to convene a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in response to COVID-19, via videoconference, at the level of the Heads of State and Government, which received absolute majority support from the Member States. I should underline that this proposal is also significant. It highlights the central position of the United Nations system, as well as the role of the General Assembly, as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ in mobilizing urgent actions to fight the pandemic and address its socio-economic impacts effectively.”
The decades long brutal armed aggression of Armenian Government and of the Armenian Armed Forces against the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and its repeated attacks against the innocent civilians and territories of Azerbaijan, was the main topic of Minister Bayramov’s closing statement: “Azerbaijan continues to suffer from Armenia’s aggression, as a result of which approximately 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territories are under occupation. More than a million Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their historical lands and became refugees or internally displaced persons. The four U.N. Security Council resolutions demanded an immediate, unconditional, and full withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. However, Armenia continues to disregard these resolutions and other documents of international organizations demanding to cease its occupation and aggression. While the entire world is mobilized to fight COVID-19 pandemic, Armenia resorts to provocation and diversion attempts to escalate tension. On July 12th, 2020, Armenia’s armed forces flagrantly violated the ceasefire and used artillery to fire on the positions of Azerbaijan’s armed forces in the Tovuz district, along the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As a result of the attacks, 12 service members, including one major general, of the Azerbaijani armed forces and 1 civilian, have been martyred.
Such military recklessness on the part of Armenia pursues an objective of undermining the peace talks and continuing the occupation and aggression against Azerbaijan. By doing so, Armenia’s leadership aims to escalate the situation, against the backdrop of socio-economic problems deteriorated further by the widespread of COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia, caused by its incompetent performance, and distract attention from the domestic issues in the country. The international response toward the provocation has also been overwhelming. Leading global organizations such as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States and Organization of Islamic Cooperation released statements. At the same time, the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, with the support of its 120 Member States, adopted a communique strongly condemning the attack by the armed forces of Armenia. We want to express our immense gratitude to brotherly Turkey for demonstrating resolute solidarity in this time of need.”
Sources: https://mfa.gov.az/en/news/6786/view
https://report.az/en/foreign-politics/the-heads-of-state-of-the-turkic-council-agreed-to-establish-a-consultation-and-cooperation-mechanism-among-their-respective-national-crisis-centers/
Istanbul’s Bilgi University to provide tuition discounts for graduates of local Armenian schools
Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 11 2020
Armenia ex-official: Will the West forgive PM Pashinyan for congratulating Lukashenko?
News.am, Armenia
Aug 11 2020
15:47, 11.08.2020
Amulsar gold mine operation will cause huge damage to Lake Sevan, says Armenia environmentalist
News.am, Armenia
Aug 11 2020
17:55, 11.08.2020
YEREVAN. – We are on the way to losing Sevan. Environmentalist Karine Danielyan, who is also President of the “For Sustainable Human Development” NGO of Armenia, said this Tuesday during a meeting with journalists, talking about the “flourishing” of Lake Sevan.
“The lake is turning into a swamp,” said the ecologist, adding that by losing the lake, we are also losing Armenia.
She noted that in 2017 and 2018, there was a negative balance in connection with Lake Sevan; that is, instead of rising, the water level of the lake fell, which is a blow to it. “The ‘flourishing’ shows that the swamping process has intensified.
[But] in this regard, there is a positive thing that a huge project has been developed with the support of the European Union, which all the data on Sevan, the catchment area collected. Everything is given in detail as to what to do, how to do it.”
The environmentalist noted that this project will be launched in 2021. But according to her, it is necessary to create a fund to save Lake Sevan. “However, we should not waste time and wait for 2021. It is necessary to engage in cleaning Sevan as soon as possible because if we add—to the many problems that have arisen—the problem of Amulsar [gold mine project], the blow that the lake shall suffer, there will be enormous damage. No matter how much they say they will use new technologies, the problem is that the mine is so special that it’s all the same; the risk exists, whatever technology they use,” she said.
Karine Danielyan added that it is incomprehensible to her that despite such low gold reserves at Amulsar, they want to operate a mine in that area. “The peculiarity is that when the water touches the mine, that sulfide drainage will immediately begin to form; the acidic substances that will reach Lake Sevan one way or another. This is a blow that simply cannot be allowed to reach Sevan,” the environmentalist added.
Armenia NGO head: Not only did I not insult policeman, but I also consider that the man was not policeman
News.am, Armenia
Aug 11 2020
16:47, 11.08.2020
Impact assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak on wellbeing of children and families in Armenia, June 2020
Relief Web
Aug 11 2020
- Download report(PDF | 1.07 MB)
Armenia reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 1, 2020. World Vision Armenia commenced its immediate response soon after providing food and hygiene packages to the most vulnerable families who could not afford it.
Since March, World Vision Armenia has supported more than 3,000 families in 6 marzes and in the capital Yerevan. World Vision Armenia also provided technical equipment and internet connection to the most vulnerable families.
World Vision Armenia conducted a rapid impact assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak on the wellbeing of children and families in Armenia. The assessment aims to reveal the main problems families face because of the pandemic, particularly the problems connected with meeting the basic needs of the families, organization of educational process during the pandemic, relationships within families, and more, to develop the most appropriate response.
Sports: Edmen Shahbazyan punished for displaying ‘illegal regime flag’ at UFC Vegas 5
MMA Mania
Aug 11 2020
Shahbazyan displayed the flag of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic before his fight with Derek Brunson, which upset the government of Azerbaijan.
Turkish Press: ‘Turkey-Azerbaijan drills sign of courage, defense power’
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Aug 11 2020
‘Turkey-Azerbaijan drills sign of courage, defense power’
Jeyhun Aliyev | 11.08.2020
ANKARA
Recent large-scale military drills between Turkey and Azerbaijan demonstrated the power, courage, and defense capabilities of their armed forces, according to an Azerbaijani lawmaker.
“Military partnership constitutes an important vector of the Azerbaijan-Turkey strategic cooperation,” Sevil Mikayilova, an Azerbaijani parliamentarian, told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview in the wake of recent Armenian attacks on Azerbaijani border points.
Calling the 13-day joint military exercises – which ended on Monday – a “source of pride” for both nations, Mikayilova said the drills, which included the air and ground forces, were not the first of their kind, as the two countries have been holding such exercises on a regular basis since 2015, sometimes along with neighboring Georgia.
The cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey is not directed against any other country or group, she stressed, calling them cooperation “for the sake of peace and partnership” springing from the two states’ historical and cultural roots and ethnic identity.
‘Fraternal’ ally
“For Azerbaijan, Turkey is the closest ally and fraternal country,” Mikayilova said.
She underlined that Ankara has always supported Baku’s “fair position” on resolving the Upper Karabakh issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“We are grateful to fraternal Turkey for the immediate support demonstrated during the last attacks,” she said.
Upper Karabakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, has been under illegal Armenian occupation since 1991.
“Turkey has many times stated that they regard the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a national matter, and Ankara would never change its position on this problem.”
Relations between the two brotherly countries are seen as “exemplary worldwide” and are developing at a high level in almost every sphere, she said.
Unity between Azerbaijan and Turkey lays the groundwork for all regional cooperation formats, Mikayilova said, adding that this unity promotes regional peace and cooperation.
Border tension
Following the recent skirmishes on the frontier, there is currently “a relative calm” on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but overall, the situation remains “highly tense,” she said.
The lawmaker highlighted that frequent armistice breaches on the line of contact are another “source of tension” showing how “fragile” the cease-fire agreement is.
“So we feel a colossal threat to our western borders from the side of Armenia, and a war could flare up any moment due to Armenia’s unpredictable behavior and provocations.”
Last month, Armenia attacked Azerbaijani troops in the northwestern Tovuz border region. At least 12 Azerbaijani soldiers – including two senior officers – were martyred, and another four soldiers were wounded. A 76-year-old Azerbaijani civilian also lost his life.
Azerbaijan accused Armenia of taking “provocative” actions, and Turkey warned that it would not hesitate to stand against any kind of attack on Azerbaijan.
Aims behind attack
The recent attacks on Azerbaijani positions in Tovuz were not random but had “precise aims,” said Mikayilova.
First of all, the attacks greatly jeopardized major energy and transport routes as well as strategic pipelines leading to Europe via Turkey which run through the Tovuz region, she said.
Secondly, she said, through the provocation, Armenia’s political leadership sought to distract the Armenian pubic from its ongoing social and political crisis.
“Armenia is still unable to localize largely spreading coronavirus pandemics; bad government administration ultimately resulted in a deep state power crisis.”
Also, the provocation served as a tool for Armenia to test the “outward response” to its illegal actions and gauge international support, she said.
“For instance, Armenian attacks were committed on the eve of a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] timed to be held the next day, July 13,” she said, referring to a military alliance of six post-Soviet states, including Russia.
“So Armenia’s political leadership tried to check how firm its basis in the organization is and whether it can rely on the CSTO,” she said.
But, she explained, the group’s neutral statement frustrated Yerevan, as did many other organizations and countries urging Armenia to stop its aggression.
Upper Karabakh conflict
Mikayilova stressed that the unresolved Upper Karabakh conflict is a threat to regional security and that frequent cease-fire breaches on the line of contact and official border between Armenia and Azerbaijan should raise alarms.
She said over the last quarter-century the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group has been “quite an ineffective platform” for resolving the conflict.
Co-chaired by France, Russia, and the US, the OSCE Minsk Group was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but has never shown any results.
“The OSCE Minsk Group failed to create an available mechanism or initiate any proposal to push the peace diplomacy from the deadlock. Organizing talks between the conflicting sides just for the sake of talks and making a declarative statement just for the sake of a statement could not change the status quo in the negotiation process,” she said.
Mikayilova urged the group to impose “strict sanctions” on the aggressor country – Armenia – to fulfill its international obligations.
“The OSCE Minsk Group needs to distinguish an aggressor country from a country subjected to aggression.”
Four UN Security Council and two UN General Assembly resolutions as well as decisions by many international organizations demand the withdrawal of the occupying Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.
Armenians also recently attacked diplomatic representatives of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis holding peaceful demonstrations in the US and European countries.
These assaults on people protesting Armenia’s attacks on Azerbaijan were a “brutal manifestation of national hatred and intolerance,” Mikayilova said.
Such “provocations blended with terror elements” seen recently in several countries should be a wake-up call to law enforcement bodies of these states, as these posed “real threats to security systems” on both the global and national level, she said.
The first such large-scale attack happened on July 21 in Los Angeles – with half a million Armenians, a hub for the diaspora – where a large group of Armenians attacked and injured a much smaller group of Azerbaijanis peacefully protesting Armenian aggression.
This incident was followed by a number of provocations staged against representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora and diplomatic missions in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Georgia, Ukraine, and Russia.
“This shows that Armenian Nazism has been stretching all over the world and knocks on the door of other nations,” said Mikayilova.
“Armenia should give up their Turkophobic aspirations and stop aggression against Azerbaijanis.”
Former Armenian police chief threatened to run over journalists with a quadricycle
JAM News
Aug 11 2020
- JAMnews, Yerevan
Media organizations statement
Ten journalistic organizations of Armenia issued a joint statement and demanded that law enforcement agencies seriously investigate the incident and bring the former police chief to justice.
The signatory organizations noted that “Vladimir Gasparyan, even during his tenure, was distinguished for his insolent attitude towards media representatives, and in some cases by cruelty.”
In particular, there are rumors about numerous incidents during the protests in the summer of 2015, called “Electric Yerevan”, as well as the events of 2016 in the capital’s Sari Takh quarter.
Here, by order of Vladimir Gasparyan, policemen used physical violence against more than 40 journalists and cameramen, took away and smashed cameras and video cameras.
“All of this went unpunished, and, apparently, this is the reason that today the former chief of police continues to display indecent behavior towards journalists,” the statement said.
“We are terrified by this attack”
Daisy Sindelar, President of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said in connection with the incident:
“We are horrified by this attack on journalists from our Armenian service, especially by the former police chief … The journalists were covering a topic of significant public interest when Mr. Gasparyan nearly hit them with his car, threatened to kill them and forced them to remove the footage.”