Category: 2020

From Tavush to Beirut: Armenia to send 20,400 medical masks to Lebanon

Chalian Meline
Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 8 2020

The Armenian Tavush region will send 20,400 medical masks to Beirut.

“Tavush, which became the center of attention, care and humanity, was naturally one of the first to respond to the tragedy of brotherly Beirut, to bring its participation to the support of the Republic of Armenia to the friendly country and the Armenian community,” reads a post on the Facebook page of Tavush Governor’s Office.

The first plane, loaded with 12 tons medicine, medical equipment, food and other supplied, will head for Beirut tonight.

Two more planes will carry humanitarian aid to Lebanon next week.


Armenian Su-25 jet flew ‘within striking distance’ of Azerbaijani forces: Russian media

Emil Lazarian
AMN – Al-Masdar News
Aug 8 2020
By

News Desk

–

2020-08-08

0

BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:00 A.M.) – The Armenian Air Force deployed one of their fighter jets to an area where the Azerbaijani military was present along the border recently, the Russian publication, Avia.Pro, reported on Friday.

According to the Russian publication, the Armenian Air Force deployed its Su-25 jet within striking distance of the Azerbaijani forces, following an attack by the latter on Armenian drone within its airspace.

“According to sources, the reason for raising the combat aircraft of the Armenian Air Force into the sky was the attack of the Azerbaijani military on a reconnaissance drone located in the airspace of Armenia, that is, we are talking about actual aggression,” the Avia.Pro report said.

“After several passes, the stormtroopers are reported to have returned to base, indicating that collisions were avoided. Nevertheless, the aggressive actions of Baku indicate the fact that the conflict between the two countries can flare up at almost any time – from several weeks and days to several hours,” they added.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense has not commented on these claims; however, video footage of an Su-25 jet taking off from an undisclosed base was shared on several social media pages.

If this is in fact true, Armenia’s decision to deploy their Su-25 jet comes at a time when Turkey and Azerbaijan are carrying out military drills in the Azeri capital of Baku.

The joint military drills do not only involve their ground forces, but also, their aerial assets, as Turkish F-16 jets were seen flying to Azerbaijan in late July.


Armenian genocide drama comes to Netflix

Alex Jidarian
Emerging Europe
Aug 8 2020
August 8, 2020
Craig Turp-Balazs

A much-overlooked film about a much-overlooked genocide comes to Netflix this weekend, in the shape of The Promise, a 2017 movie directed by Terry George and starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale.

Set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, the film begins in Armenia in 1914 and follows Michael (played by Isaac), a man who dreams of becoming a doctor. In order to pay the fees for medical school, he weds a young woman and uses her dowry to pay for his studies in Constantinople. Once he arrives in the capital of the Empire, he falls for another woman Ana (Le Bon) who is already in a relationship with an American journalist (Chris; played by Bale) reporting on the growing tensions between Turkey and Armenia. As Michael and Ana get closer, war breaks out and the three find themselves in the middle of a terrifying situation.

For the director George, The Promise was a return to the themes of conflict and genocide he first explored in 2004’s Hotel Rwanda.

This time, the Oscar-winning Belfast-born director sets his against the backdrop of what most historians view as an undeniable act of genocide by the forerunner to the modern Turkish state, which resulted in the massacre and deportation of 1.5 million mostly Christian Armenians between 1915 and 1923.

The genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases—the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly, and the infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre. Most Armenian diaspora communities around the world came into being as a direct result of the genocide.

On its initial release in 2016, The Promise divided opinion, just as the horrific event it depicts continues to do so. The genocide was the greatest atrocity of World War I, and remains that conflict’s most bitterly contested legacy, having been met by the Turkish authorities with more than 100 years of silence and denial: admitting that it was genocide is an offence in Turkey to this day.

Some criticism labelled it propaganda, not least as it was financed by the late Armenian-American businessman and philanthropist, Kirk Kerkorian. George rejects the claims, arguing that, like all of his films, it was fastidiously historically researched.

“It’s like climate change; it’s one-sided because it’s been proven. We say, here are the facts, here’s what most historians say and it’s recognised around the world except by governments where the Turkish strategic power decide to manipulate it,” said George shortly before the film was released, on the anniversary of the beginning of the genocide, in April 2017.

“While people go on and say it’s denied, it’s just a tactic to divert away from the horror of the thing and [the fact that] that no-one was ever held accountable.”

Audiences were not impressed. The film flopped at the box office, grossing just 12 million US dollars at the box office against its 90 million US dollars budget. There were accusations that the film had been nobbled: in early 2017, tens of thousands of negative reviews were posted on the movie database IMDB from people claiming to have seen the film, even though it had not yet been released. The picture appears to have been the target of a concerted campaign by Turkish cyber trolls who hoped to destroy it before it is widely released in cinemas. They appear to have succeeded.

Film critics, however, generally praised The Promise, although were left unimpressed by the love-triangle used as a plot device.

“The movie hits its cinematic stride when events are at their worst,” wrote Glen Kenny at RogerEbert.com. “The Promise is drenched in production value and replete with ravishing shots of sunrises and sunsets, but it’s in the scenes of fleeing, of battle, and of horrendous loss that the film is at its most effective. The depiction of the savagery inflicted on Armenia is bracing. George is determined to make his story as much about the dead as about the fictional survivors. It’s in that respect that The Promise earns its unsettling honour.”

“George’s solid direction ensures that the drama is mostly involving. It also helps that the Armenian genocide is a relatively unexplored period of history and makes for a horrifying backdrop. there’s something to enjoy about its traditional brand of storytelling, devoid of any irony. There are definitely more interesting and satisfying films to be made about the Armenian genocide and this is never going to become a Titanic-sized success – but it’s a solid, if overly soapy, drama,” wrote Benjamin Lee in The Guardian.

The rest of us can make up our own minds about The Promise from August 8, when it becomes available on Netflix.

Serzh Sargsyan reflects on impact of April War on Karabakh peace process

Khoyetsian Rose
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 8 2020

Third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan answered several questions of public interest about the 2016 April War in a series of video messages posted on the official Facebook page of his office on Friday.

The five short videos entitled “Let’s talk openly: Serzh Sargsyan on the April War” are the ex-president’s first attempt of direct communication with the public ever since 2018.

Part 5:

– How did the April War affect the ongoing negotiations over the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

– I am glad that we managed to make sure that the war did not bring any benefit to Azerbaijan.

You may remember Aliyev saying that he was being urged “behind closed doors” to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. Of course, this is the most direct evidence of our diplomatic achievements.

– Was there any other improvement in the peace talks in the wake of the April War?

– The Vienna and St. Petersburg statements were among our diplomatic achievements indeed. Following the hostilities, the OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement to the effect that the 1994 tripartite ceasefire agreement remained in force.

– Do you think the Armenian side could avail itself of the mentioned diplomatic achievements?

– The Minsk Group co-chairing countries stated at the highest level that international mechanisms for border incident investigation had to be introduced in the conflict zone. This was a landmark achievement.

Now it remains to see how we could benefit from the results of the April War and why the “revolutionary authorities” neglected and failed to take advantage of the achievements we had during the Four-Day April War? 

Artsakh reports over 300 ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan in one week

Babken Chilingarian
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 8 2020

The Azerbaijani military breached the ceasefire along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact more than 300 times in the past week.

In the period from 2 to 8 August, the adversary fired around 2,800 shots towards the Artsakh defense positions from firearms of different calibers, the Artsakh Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

“The Defense Army’s frontline units control the operational-tactical situation on the frontline and continue to confidently fulfill their combat duties,” the statement read.

The Azerbaijani forces had fired nearly 1,700 shots towards the Artsakh defense positions in the previous week.


Iranian-Armenian nun among Beirut blast victims

Khoyetsian Rose
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 8 2020
Society 17:56 08/08/2020World

A nun is among the 13 Armenian victims of the Beirut explosion, Arevelk reported, citing its sources.

The nun, identified as Sophie Khosrovian, was an Iranian Armenian who served as an abbess at one of the churches in Lebanon. She was a member of the Sisters of Mercy Congregation.

The massive blast that hit the port of Beirut on 4 August has killed at least 154 people and injured more than 5,000 others.

More than 300,000 people have been left homeless in the wake of the blast.

Local authorities say the blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at a warehouse in the Beirut port for six years. 


Media Advocate: All media outlets except Public TV covered Amulsar events on Friday

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 8 2020

Public Television’s main issue of the news program did not cover the protests over Amulsar on Friday, August 7, Media Advocate initiative said in a statement.

“On August 7, Public Television’s main issue of the news program did not touch upon the events taking place around Amulsar. Yesterday was the 4th day of the activists’ protests, Amulsar was in the public spotlight all day long, journalists waited for hours along with the protesters for Lydian Armenia representatives to arrive, wagon houses were removed from the area, Jermuk residents joined the protesters. Jermuk mayor, in his turn, stated that Lidian Armenia made a mistake by placing the wagon houses. All media outlets covered the topic yesterday, except for the Public Television,” the initiative said.  

“The prime minister’s spokesperson was asked why the prime minister did not meet with the protesters, and the latter replied that he is following the events around Amulsar. As far as Petros Ghazaryan’s interview, which, follows the newscast, is concerned, it’s topic of discussion is Beirut blast for 3 days in a row. For two days, Petros Ghazryan held a live program on the events taking place in Beirut. Yesterday he hosted the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan, while the news report already mentioned that he would leave for Beirut to get acquainted with the situation on the spot. The topic of Amulsar, perhaps, is more essential and the Public TV was obliged to present it both in the newscasts and in the framework of Petros Ghazaryan’s program.

“Media Advocate initiative urges the publicly funded TV company to fully present the events of public importance and be guided not by political, but by public interest,” the statement read. 

Amulsar defenders will not allow causing irreparable harm to ecology of Armenia

David Nargizian
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 8 2020

ArmInfo.  For the fourth day, actions  against the development of the Amulsar gold mine continue. As  activist of the movement Gohar Hunanyan said in an interview with  ArmInfo correspondent, the situation is relatively calm today.

To note, these cabins were built by the company to start blasting  operations in an open mine. The houses were built under high-voltage  power grids, which is unacceptable from a safety point of view.

Hunanyan also stressed that the whole world today is fighting for the  preservation of the ecology, however, in Armenia the situation is the  opposite. “We are fighting for clean air and clean water. Jermuk is a  resort like Karlovy Vary and Kislovodsk. And it will be very  disappointing if the development of the mine has a negative impact on  the environment. The government of the country constantly says that  new jobs will be created with the development of the mine. But  ecology is much more important. The negative impact of the mine will  affect the whole country, not only Jermuk. Almost the entire city of  Jermuk is fighting for the mine not to be developed , “Hunanyan  emphasized.

The activist also noted that she moved to Armenia from the United  States, where she lived for more than 25 years, and she is very upset  that the beautiful ecology of the resort city can be destroyed in one  day.  “During the USSR, my father was the director of the Jermuk  mineral water plant. I have been familiar with the problems of the  city, its ecology since childhood. In 2019, I met with  Prime  Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. Introduced this problem to him.  I hope that the government will finally adequately respond to the  current situation. Each of our governments makes mistakes, and the  people suffer. We believe the promises, but they turn out to be a  lie, “Hunanyan emphasized. “Life or wealth? I think the conclusion is  obvious,” Hunanyan concluded.

To note, Lydian Armenia is a subsidiary of the British offshore  Lydian International. Environmentalists and ordinary citizens are  concerned that the development of the gold mine may lead to the  pollution of groundwater in Jermuk and Lake Sevan. In addition to the  water basin, the public is also concerned about the possible presence  of uranium occurrences at the mine, as evidenced by geological  exploration data from the Soviet era.  For more than a year and a  half, environmental activists have blocked the road to the mine.  Since this week, law enforcement agencies have tried to unblock the  approaches to the mine, but they failed to achieve visible results.  Jermuk activists and residents stepped up blockages on the road and  went to a sit-in protest after the company, hoping to reopen the  mine, erected bunkers and was about to start blasting the mine. 

Azerbaiyán advierte a Armenia de que su paciencia

Mary Lazarian
REDACCIÓN

 06/08/2020 09:37

Farid Gajramánov

Bakú, 6 ago (EFE).- “La paciencia de Azerbaiyán no es infinita”, afirma en una entrevista con Efe Hikmet Hajiyev, asesor del presidente azerbaiyano, Ilham Alíev, y jefe del Departamento de Política Internacional de la Presidencia azerbaiyana, al comentar el agravamiento de la situación en la frontera con Armenia.

Diplomático de carrera, Hajiyev sostiene, sin embargo, que Bakú “prefiere una solución negociada” al conflicto con Armenia, que pasa necesariamente por la liberación de Nagorno Karabaj y siete distritos adyacentes ocupados por los armenios, tal y como lo establecen varias resoluciones del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.

“Pero si no es así, Azerbaiyán, amparado en el artículo 51 de la Carta de Naciones Unidas, se reserva el derecho de defender su integridad territorial y garantizar la inviolabilidad de sus fronteras”, subrayó.

Hajiyev advirtió de que la “presencia militar ilegal de las fuerzas armadas de Armenia en los territorios ocupados de Azerbaiyán es una fuente de riesgo potencial de imprevisibles consecuencias” y denunció que la política de ocupación que desarrolla Ereván refleja una “mentalidad medieval”.

“Armenia no está interesada de ningún modo en la solución del conflicto e intenta prolongar y consolidar el actual status quo de ocupación”, insistió.

APUESTA POR EL ARREGLO PACÍFICO

Enfatizó que su país está “comprometido con el arreglo pacífico del conflicto”.

Los enfrentamientos estallaron a fines de los pasados años 80, cuando territorio azerbaiyano de Nagorno Karabaj, poblado mayoritariamente por armenios, pidió su incorporación a la vecina Armenia, tras lo cual estalló una guerra que causó unos 25.000 muertos.

Al término de los combates, las fuerzas armenias se hicieron con el control de Nagorno Karabaj y también ocuparon vastos territorios azerbaiyanos, que llaman “franja de seguridad”, para unirlo a Armenia.

“El hecho de que estemos en un proceso de negociación durante casi 30 años, que yo podría llamar de ‘paciencia estratégica’, es una clara muestra de la actitud constructiva de mi país. Pero abogamos por negociaciones sustantivas orientadas a obtener resultados”, dijo el asesor presidencial.

BAKU NO NEGOCIARÁ ETERNAMENTE

Advirtió de que Bakú no aceptará negociaciones solo en aras de negociar, para añadir que estas “no pueden durar eternamente”, ya que “el actual status quo es inadmisible y debe cambiar”.

“La paciencia de Azerbaiyán no es infinita”, recalcó Hajiyev, quien denunció que la ocupación militar se ha acompañado de crímenes de guerra y contra la humanidad, de limpieza étnica, y que más de un millón de azerbaiyanos se han convertido en refugiados y desplazados internos como resultado del conflicto.

Según el alto cargo azerbaiyano, “Armenia tiene que entender que en el siglo XXI las relaciones internacionales no puede regirse por la ley de la jungla”, y que la comunidad internacional no debe soslayar “quien es el agresor y quién es la víctima”.

Sobre las escaramuzas y la violaciones al alto el fuego que se suceden de manera intermitente desde el 12 de julio en la frontera azerbaiyano-armenia y que se han cobrado 18 muertos en ambos bandos, Hajiyev no vaciló en calificarlas de “provocación deliberada”, y “agresión” contra la soberanía y la integridad territorial de Azerbaiyán.

Ereván, en su opinión, con estas acciones persigue varios objetivos y uno de ellos es dañar infraestructuras estratégicas del corredor de transporte Este-Oeste, incluidos los gasoductos y oleoductos en el distrito de Kovuz, en el noroeste de Azerbaiyán.

Según el alto cargo, otro de los fines de los dirigentes armenios era distraer a la opinión pública armenia de los problemas internos, la precaria situación socio-económica, el acoso de figuras de la oposición y la pandemia de COVID-19, y otros problemas.

“Desde el punto de vista militar, Armenia buscaba hacerse con alturas estratégicas a lo largo de la frontera y distraer la atención de la ocupación de la región de Nagorno Karabaj y de siete distritos adyacentes”, añadió.

Y por último, indicó Hajiyev, Armenia trató de “involucrar en el conflicto a la Organización del Tratado de Seguridad Colectiva”, liderada por Rusia y de la que es país miembro.

“El Ejército de Azerbaiyán repelió todos los ataques y Ereván no consiguió ninguno de estos objetivos”, aseguró el asesor presidencial. EFE

Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijani FM holds meeting with EU representative (PHOTO)

Antonian Lara
POLITICS7 August 2020 11:32 (UTC+04:00)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 7

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with the Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Azerbaijan Kestutis Jankauskas, the ministry told Trend.

During the meeting, Bayramov noted that Azerbaijan highly appreciates mutually beneficial partnership relations with the EU. The minister expressed satisfaction with the unequivocal position of the EU in support of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The parties exchanged opinions on a number of issues on the agenda of EU-Azerbaijan cooperation, including strategic partnership in the energy sector, transport projects, solidarity and cooperation in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, and the continuation of negotiations over a comprehensive agreement that will form the legal basis of bilateral relations.

The minister informed the EU representative about the recent military provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district across the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border, the goals of Armenia which it failed to achieve by the provocation and the aggressive policy of this country, which is the source of tension in the region.

It was emphasized that Azerbaijan is committed to the principle of resolving the conflict through negotiations, and that the negotiations should be real and substantive rather than being their imitation.

Noting the inadmissibility of demonstrating an equal approach to the occupant country of Armenia and Azerbaijan, whose territories have been occupied, the minister stressed the need to withdraw the occupation forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and return the Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homeland as required by the UN Security Council resolutions.

Touching upon the issue of the escalation at the border, Jankauskas referred to the statement of the representative of the European External Action Service, and noted that the statement urges refraining from steps that could increase tensions in the region.

He stressed that EU Special Representative for the South Caucasusis closely following the situation and that the EU is interested in ensuring peace and security in the region.

The parties also exchanged opinions on other issues of mutual interest.