News.am, Armenia
Aug 14 2020
12:04, 14.08.2020
Category: 2020
Azerbaijani Jews demonstrate in Tel Aviv against Armenian aggression
The Jerusalem Post
Aug 14 2020
Activists Rally Support for Armenia, Reject Hatred
Outlook Newspaper
Aug 13 2020
hen hundreds gathered outside of the Armenian Consulate last week — an event that largely turned the corner of Lexington Drive and Central Avenue into a sea of red, blue and orange — it was not to showcase aggression or hostility.
Rather, those who gathered in solidarity with Armenia and the Artsakh Republic sang, cheered and danced in the closed-off block, to a backdrop of motorists — many of whom had decked their vehicles with flags — enthusiastically honking in support. And, as officials for local Armenian organizations shouted to the crowd last Saturday, they did so out of love for their homeland, not hatred for Azerbaijani soldiers ordered to fire upon Armenian targets throughout July.
“We are here to tell our brothers and sisters in the homeland that the diaspora stands with them,” yelled Gev Iskajyan, a member of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region’s board of directors. “We are here to exemplify the love that we have for peace, the love that we have for freedom and the love that we have for our people in the homeland. That love will never cater to hatred.”
The Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries traded artillery rounds and drone strikes starting on July 12, when Armenian troops said their adversary’s units began aiming at civilian targets along the nations’ borders. The escalation again violates a ceasefire agreement in 1994 that followed the Nagorno Karabakh war; a more substantial incursion occurred in 2016.
Photo courtesy Josh Coen
The local organization GlendaleOUT hosted a demonstration of solidarity with Armenians outside of City Hall on Tuesday, a move that highlights a shared interest of peace and human rights.
The local organization GlendaleOUT hosted a demonstration of solidarity with Armenians outside of City Hall on Tuesday, a move that highlights a shared interest of peace and human rights.
In the early days of the Soviet Union, the communist state habitually redrew borders of its republics in an effort to stoke ethnic conflicts and tamp down united resistance to Moscow. As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh region — also known as Artsakh — was carved out of Armenia and granted to Azerbaijan, where the September Days massacre of 10,000-30,000 Armenians took place in the capital city, Baku, in 1918.
The 1994 conflict arose when Artsakh voted to secede from Azerbaijan after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Though the region has retained some autonomy, it has gone virtually unrecognized as an independent nation and remains officially part of Azerbaijan as far as the United Nations is concerned. Armenian military units bolster a formal Artsakh Defense Unit.
“Artsakh is Armenia,” Iskajyan declared, to cheers. “Artsakh has always been Armenia and Artsakh will always be Armenia. To ensure that truth, the Armenian people will fight in the trenches. We will lobby governments and we will take to the streets like we are today and all the world will know that the Armenian people will not cater and will not yield to hatred.”
The recent escalation has killed more than a dozen on each side and triggered a wave of protests throughout the U.S., home to a large segment of the Armenian diaspora. The House Armenian Caucus, which includes Congressman Adam Schiff, also demanded the White House take action to stifle Azerbaijani actions.
Amid the protests, there have been reports of vandalism against Armenian schools in the Bay Area, and a march outside of the Azerbaijani Consulate in Los Angeles resulted in some hospitalizations after Azerbaijani counter-protesters sparred with Armenian marchers.
Hasmik Burushyan, whose organization Armenian Youth Federation organized Saturday’s event through its western U.S. office in Glendale, emphasized that Armenian organizations are largely calling for peace to return, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. She added that the groups take care to target the governments of Azerbaijan and Turkey when protesting — not the Azeri or Turkish people themselves.
“Our organization is never against the people of Turkey or Azerbaijan,” she said. “Our target is definitely the governments and the state-sponsored violence that Azerbaijan and Turkey work for. There are definitely some people who, unfortunately, hate people for their identities, but our organization has never condemned the people.”
Burushyan said that solidarity is important for her organization, which collaborates closely with ANCA, and that the group has worked in direct support of Syrian and Kurdish diasporas in the area in recent years. Support from outside interest groups is key as well; she highlighted a show of solidary from Tuesday this week, when members of GlendaleOUT, an LGBTQIA group, quietly demonstrated in front of City Hall to show support for the Armenian diaspora.
“Justice is for every person and every community, and we believe in working together toward a collective justice for all people,” Burushyan said. “There’s a misconception that only Armenians care about Armenia and that’s false. It was really great to see at our rally; there was a good amount of people who weren’t Armenian. It just shows that human rights and the movement behind it are for everyone.”
Armenian PM in BBC interview: Azerbaijan attacked Armenia first
JAM News
Aug 14 2020
JAMnews, Yerevan
In a recent interview with the BBC, Nikol Pashinyan says Azerbaijan attacked Armenia first during the July escalation on the border.
Pashinyan also comments during the interview on Armenia’s relations with Russia and the West, the results of his work in the last two years as prime minister, the effectiveness of the government’s fight against the coronavirus.
Key points of the interview
In response to questions from HARDtalk host Stephen Sakur, the Armenian PM touched on:
the July military exacerbation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border
Nikol Pashinyan denied the statements of official Baku that Armenia was the instigator of hostilities. He again stressed the need to “establish a monitoring system on the line of contact” so that after each escalation the international community does not hear two opposite versions of events.
The settlement of the Karabakh conflict
The Prime Minister of Armenia believes that peace cannot be achieved by unilateral actions of Armenia. He accused Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev of belligerent rhetoric and an attempt to resolve the conflict by force.
His statement “Artsakh is Armenia, period!”
“Why did I say that Nagorno-Karabakh, Artsakh [the Armenian name of the territory] is Armenia? First, Nagorno-Karabakh has been inhabited by the indigenous Armenian people for several thousand years, and, by the way, the name Artsakh is also several thousand years old ”.
The geopolitical orientation of Armenia:
“Russia is a strategic partner of Armenia in all areas, in particular, in the economy and security, and with the European Union, Armenia signed an Agreement on Comprehensive and Expanded Partnership. Yerevan receives the main support in carrying out internal political reforms from the EU. We participate in NATO peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Kosovo and Mali. In addition, we effectively cooperate with the United States in the military sphere.”
Armenia’s relations with the United States and Iran:
“We have no problems in relations with the US and Iran. And we are doing everything in our power to maintain our current good relations with both the US and Iran.”
The results of two years as prime minister after the velvet revolution of 2018
The head of government noted that last year Armenia recorded a record economic growth in Europe – GDP grew by 7.6%:
“The pandemic situation interrupted our flight, but we will continue it.”
Criticism of the opposition in his address
“Armenia is a democratic country and the opposition is free to express its opinion. I am happy that the opposition in Armenia now operates much freer than before the revolution. “
Accusations of ineffectiveness in the government’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic
“Unfortunately, the epidemic is developing all over the world. An anti-epidemic strategy has been adopted in our country. And this strategy is consistent with the conditions of our country. Let’s not rush and draw conclusions only after overcoming the epidemic. “
Participation in a banquet in Nagorno-Karabakh without a protective mask in the midst of an epidemic:
“On that day, we acted according to the rules that existed in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Social media reaction
Nikol Pashinyan’s interview with the BBC has actively seized upon by netizens of Armenian social media.
Here are some comments:
“Very weak interview: from weak English to not very strong confrontation. Apparently, Pashinyan thought that there would be nice little questions that journalists of Radio Liberty have been asking lately. But he was wrong.”
“According to Pashinyan, he and his government did everything right in the fight against coronavirus. And this is said by a person whose country is by far the leader in the region in terms of mortality and infection rates. “
“Attempts to ridicule the fact that the government has failed to cope with the fight against coronavirus seemed arrogant.”
“There was a one-sided interview. It seems that the host has set a goal to make Armenia guilty on all counts, and not to hear Pashinyan.”
Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 12-08-20
17:18,
YEREVAN, 12 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 12 August, USD exchange rate down by 0.32 drams to 485.00 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.54 drams to 570.60 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 6.64 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 2.89 drams to 632.83 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 1,655.97 drams to 30245.18 drams. Silver price down by 0.14 drams to 440.97 drams. Platinum price down by 665.05 drams to 14719.9 drams.
Commandant’s Office predicts less than 100 coronavirus daily cases from September
17:27,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Commandant’s Office of the state of emergency of Armenia predicts that new daily cases of coronavirus will be less than 100 in case of preserving the current dynamics, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Prime Minister, Commandant Tigran Avinyan announced during the special session at the National Assembly.
‘’In case of preserving the present intensity of the spread of the virus, we assume that during the first 2 weeks of September the new cases will be under 100’’, he said.
Today the Government of Armenia prolonged the state of emergency by another month, but this time numerous limitations have been eased.
Particularly, Armenia is now open for foreign travelers as the ban on entry of non-citizens is being lifted, but it is envisaged that upon entering Armenia, if the traveler isn’t hospitalized they must self-quarantine for 14 days, however there is one innovation, they can get tested during these 14 days and in case of a negative result the self-quarantine regime is changed
The nationwide ban on assemblies and strikes are also lifted and replaced with a regulation on authorization, with the condition of maintaining safety guidelines. Assemblies can take place only if participating persons wear masks and maintain 1,5 meters distance from each other.
Organizing celebrations and entertainment events are also allowed, but with a maximum of 40 participants and maintaining coronavirus guidelines.
The possibility of enforcing restrictions on shipments through the customs border is also lifted. The electronic surveillance regulation is narrowed down.
Armenia has reported a total of 40,794 cases. 33,492 have recovered, 6262 are active cases. 806 patients died from COVID-19 and 234 patients with COVID-19 died of other reasons.
Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan, Editing and translating y Tigran Sirekanyan
Time to pay more attention to economic bloc – PM Pashinyan convenes consultation
18:51,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. A consultation took place headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, addressing issues of implementing new anti-crisis measures in different economic branches.
‘’Today we have gathered to discuss our future measures to support the economy in the crisis situation. Up till now we have adopted 22 anti-crisis programs, some of which are completed, some are in process. We will make decisions based on discussions with the representatives of concrete branches, but we also have the issue of adopting a strategy of how we plan to overcome the economic crisis. We hope that the healthcare system is already near overcoming and it’s time to intensify our activities in the economic bloc’’, Pashinyan said.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, different programs were discusses, including measures to preserve jobs in crisis-hit tourism sphere.
Various proposals and observations were presented. The participants of the consultation expressed conviction that like the previous anti-crisis programs, the new one will also foster the economic restoration and development.
Summing up, PM Pashinyan tasked to finalize the programs and submit them to the discussion and approval of the Government.
Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan
Lebanese prosecution to question several Cabinet members over Beirut explosion
09:50,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 13, ARMENPRESS. The Lebanese prosecution intends to question several Cabinet members of both the incumbent and previous governments over the August 4 Beirut port explosion, Al Arabiya TV reported citing a source within the judiciary.
According to the source the prosecution will start by questioning Ghazi Aridi, the former Lebanese minister of public works and transportation. Other former ministers of finance, justice and public works will also be summoned.
171 people died and nearly 6000 were injured when more than 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded in a warehouse in the port of Beirut on August 4. Dozens are missing. Heavy damages occurred across the Lebanese capital.
The highly explosive material was stored at the facility for 6 years. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
Days after the blast many Lebanese citizens took to the streets to demonstrate against the government. The protesters accuse the ruling coalition in corruption and demand early elections and an independent probe into the blast. Two days after the protests began, PM Hassan Diab announced his government’s resignation on August 10.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Azerbaijani propaganda event in LA cancelled after Armenian community protests
10:42,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 13, ARMENPRESS. An Azerbaijani propaganda event scheduled for August 12 in Los Angeles has been cancelled after protests from the Armenian community, Asbarez reports.
Montebello City Councilmember Jack Hadjinian had earlier announced that he was resigning his position on the Board of Directors of the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation in protest of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s decision to host a forum to “discuss concerns within the Azerbaijani-American community.”
The online event, which was scheduled to take place on Wednesday afternoon and has angered the Armenian-American community, has since been cancelled.
“I can no longer support such a reckless leader as Sheriff Villanueva who continues to challenge the Board of Supervisors, and now has planned an event with a terrorist group known as the Azerbaijani Community,” said Hadjinian in a Facebook post announcing his resignation.
“The Azeris are spreading anti-Armenian propaganda and Sheriff Villanueva is giving them a platform to further extend their lies across the County of Los Angeles. I will never compromise my principles just to carry a badge or an ID card,” added Hadjinian.
Hadjinian cited several recent examples of aggression by the Azerbaijanis against the Armenian-American community, including the July 24 vandalism at the Krouzian-Zekarian Vasbouragan Armenian School in San Francisco, where the building was spray painted with crude pro-Azerbaijani graffiti.
Hadjinian, who was appointed to the board four years ago, has been a supporter of the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation, raising more than $100,000 to help disadvantaged kids by implementing many after school programs, Asbarez reported.
“I truly believe in the Foundation’s purpose and goals,” said Hadjinian in the resignation letter. “But I refuse to be associated with a reckless person as Sheriff Villanueva.”
On Tuesday afternoon, individuals who had signed up to take part in the forum received notification of the event’s cancellation, despite which announcements promoting the event were being posted on Twitter.
Environment Minister orders dismantling of illegally built structures on Sevan beaches
11:33,
YEREVAN, AUGUST 13, ARMENPRESS. The new Minister of Environment Romanos Petrosyan has ordered a clean-up operation at the Lake Sevan’s beaches to dismantle illegal structures.
Petrosyan’s spokesperson Davit Grigoryan said the process has launched.
“It was last week when Minister Petrosyan toured the shores of Lake Sevan peninsula. He ordered a speedy resolution to the recorded violations,” he said in a statement on August 13.
Workers are already dismantling and removing a café in the peninsula which a businessman had illegally built without a permit.
Minister Petrosyan had recorded 130 illegally built structures on the beaches of the lake during his visit on August 8.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan