Category: 2020

Armenian army ready to defend entire border from any encroachments – Defense Ministry

Jagharian Tania
Panorama, Armenia

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was relatively calm at night, with nearly 137 shots fired on different parts of the border, Armenian Defense Ministry representative Artsrun Hovhannisyan told a press briefing on Monday, July 20.

In particular, he said, the Armenian military outposts near different villages of Tavush Province came under largely indiscriminate Azerbaijani gunfire overnight, but the Armenian troops did not return fire in most cases.

The Azerbaijani military also opened fire towards other army corps and provinces of Armenia, using grenade launchers in the direction of military posts near the town of Chambarak.

“The Armenian Armed Forces responded to the accurate shots with targeted fire and silenced the adversary,” he added.

Asked about possible sharp escalations of the border situation as Turkey and Azerbaijan are planning to launch large-scale military operations in the direction of Nakhichevan, Hovhannisyan questioned the accuracy of such reports.

“They may have some intentions, but it is too early to make a clear statement about a plan for large-scale operations. In any case, the Armenian Armed Forces are ready to defend the entire border from any encroachments,” he stressed.

Armenian military portal releases image of downed Azerbaijani drone

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia

Politics 14:00 20/07/2020Armenia

Banak.info news portal, which is specialized in covering military news, has published a photo of an Azerbaijani UAV downed by the Armenian army on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The source does not specify when the drone was shot down.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense said that 13 Azerbaijani UAVs were downed in Tavush border section.

Tigran Abrahamyan: The war is not over, we should be ready for the next attack

Manouk Vasilian
Panorama, Armenia
Politics 19:21 20/07/2020Armenia

The war is not over and we don’t know when it may resume, how it may go and what scope it may have, Tigran Abrahamyan, former advisor to Artsakh President wrote on Facebook.

“This should not, however, keep us from analyzing our mistakes, the vulnerable points and eliminate all obstacles toward solution of our global military task,” Abrahamyan said, adding this requires preparation and readiness for a worse scenario. 


David Babayan: Hatred of Armenia in Azerbaijan is so strong that Baku discredits itself with its statements

Chalian Meline
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.  Hatred of Armenia in  Azerbaijan today is so strong that the Baku authorities discredit  themselves with their statements. Artsakh President’s advisor David  Babayan stated this in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent.

Babayan noted that the statement by an official representative of the  Azerbaijani Defense Ministry about a possible missile strike on the  Metsamor nuclear power plant is abnormal in all respects.

In this context, the adviser to the Artsakh president recalled that  Ilham Aliyev’s statement about the readiness of 150 people to go to  the front as volunteers is nothing more than the attitude of people  towards the authorities of their own country. People simply do not  see the point in fighting for the Aliyev clan.  Nevertheless,  according to Babayan, Armenia and Artsakh should not forget that  Azerbaijan is a terrorist state. Baku has a very rich experience in  terrorist activities, and therefore one should not ignore their  statements. “Now in Armenia and Artsakh, we must be united and very  vigilant. And we should significantly strengthen the protection of  all our infrastructures, “concluded David Babayan. 

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund launched "Empowering Remote Border Communities" fundraising campaign

Ara Felekian
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. The Hayastan All-Armenian  Fund has launched a fundraising campaign for “Empowering Remote  Border Communities “, the official Website of Fund reports Accourding  to the source, the unwavering resolve of the fearless people of  Tavush standing strong against an unpredictable and dangerous enemy  to protect their home, their land and Our Borders. These communities  are unequivocally and strategically vital for the security of Armenia  and Artsakh. Protecting them strategically, economically and socially  is a national priority.

For years the Fund has supported these dedicated guardians of our  sovereign borders through essential infrastructural projects, the  construction of community centres, schools, kindergartens, social  housing, hospitals; with dedicated and trained medical professionals,  state of the art equipment, innovative agricultural projects, solar  energy panels and clean drinking water.

Now more than ever, this support is critically important. The  development of Tavush communities will ensure the stability and  security of our borders and in turn our country. Strong and  unassailable communities will further inspire the committed and  unwavering people of Tavush to continue to protect our ancestral  lands.

In times of peril, Armenians around the world have always stood  united and supported those most in need.  Today, the brave men and  women of our border communities need us to stand together as one  global Armenian family.

All proceeds will go to addressing the most pressing needs of these  communities; rebuilding shelled homes, providing renewable energy,  drinking water, social assistance to those effected by the most  recent escalations of the conflict, providing access to healthcare  and distance learning tools for school students.

Please join this critical global effort. You can donate through the  special online fundraiser created in the Fund’s website or make a  direct transfer to the bank accounts specifying the purpose of the  donation as “Empowering Remote Border Communities”  You can also donate through the local  affiliates of the Hayastan Global Armenian Fund in your country.

The names of all donors and the donated amounts will be automatically  generated on this page. A final report on the fundraising campaign  will be presented at the end of the program. 

Azerbaijani Press: Western Countries Don’t Understand Severity of Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Fighting: Experts

Emil Lazarian
Caspian News, Azerbaijan

By Nazrin Gadimova

The South Caucasus witnessed last week an uptick in bloody border skirmishes between Armenia and Azerbaijan and there is now a growing concern among some experts that Western countries do not understand the ramifications of the region’s worst outbreak of hostilities in years.

Stefan Meister, who heads South Caucasus Bureau at the Heinrich Boell Foundation, says he believes ongoing fighting between the two nations can go further.

‘‘Today’s situation shows how dangerous the conflict is and that both sides are prepared to go far,’’ Meister said in an interview with German public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle on July 15. 

‘‘It seems to me that the European Union and the West underestimate [the conflict],’’ he added.

Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops broke out on July 12 after Armenia opened artillery fire on Azerbaijani positions stationed along the international border between the two South Caucasus nations. 

According to Azerbaijan’s defense ministry, 12 Azerbaijani servicemen and a civilian have been killed since July 12. Armenia’s investigative committee said that its four servicemen was killed and 36 injured, but some believe the figures are likely to be much higher. Social media users in the country claimed that the government is deliberately hiding real numbers, which they believe is more than 30, of which seven are said to be officers.

Meanwhile, the European Union has already called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately de-escalate the cross-border tensions.

‘‘The EU urges both sides to stop the armed confrontation, refrain from action and rhetoric that provoke tension, and undertake immediate measures to prevent further escalation,’’ Peter Stano, Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at the EU External Action said in a statement issued on July 13.

Recent clashes in the South Caucasus region have also prompted reaction in Washington. On Wednesday’s press briefing State Secretary Mike Pompeo said the United States was deeply concerned about the recent deadly violence along the Armenia-Azerbaijan international border and urged the sides to ‘‘re-establish a meaningful dialogue and a ceasefire to resume substantive negotiations with the Minsk Group as co-chairs.’’

Some believe that Armenia attacked Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district, located nearly 200 kilometers north of Nagorno-Karabakh — the Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s, to put under threat major energy corridors for pipelines taking oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to global markets, including Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) mega-gas pipeline.

BTC pipeline carries oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field and condensate from Shah Deniz deposit across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. SGC is expected to pump annually 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Shah Deniz to Europe, starting sometime in 2020 after the route’s final segment kicks into high gear. In addition, SGC has already started delivering another 6 bcm per year to Turkey.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds for years over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s.

In 1991-1994, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a full-scale war that resulted in Armenia occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory, including the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region, where partial ethnic Armenian population lived side by side indigenous Azerbaijanis, and seven surrounding districts, which had been populated exclusively by Azerbaijanis. The war claimed the lives of 30,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis and displaced one million others from their homeland.

In 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions demanding the immediate withdrawal of the occupying forces from Azerbaijani lands and the return of internally displaced Azerbaijanis to their ancestral lands. All four legally binding documents go unfulfilled by Armenia to date.

Since the early 1990s, the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) co-chaired by the United States, Russia, and France spearheads international efforts for finding a durable solution to the conflict.

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power in the wake of the so-called Velvet Revolution in 2018, called for a change in the format of talks so that the self-proclaimed illegal separatist regime in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region could be party to the negotiations. In addition, during his visit to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region last year, Pashinyan said that Karabakh is part of Armenia, as well as called for the reunification of the occupied Azerbaijani lands with Armenia.

Amidst recent border clashes, officials in Baku have already accused Pashinyan of undermining long-standing peace talks chaired by the Minsk Group. An aide to the president of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev told Wednesday a Qatari state-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera that Armenia’s government has once again reaffirmed its policy of annexation of the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. 

Some experts believe the recent outbreak of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan comes amidst deep dissatisfaction in Baku with the Armenian government and its policy. 

‘‘What I see is a deep disappointment in Baku: after the Velvet Revolution in Armenia when the new leadership came to power along with Nikol Pashinyan, there were hopes that changes would come and there would be some progress. These hopes have come to an end,’’ said Meister.


Art: Today marks prominent Armenian artist Minas Avetisyan’s 92nd birth anniversary

Tambiyan Samvel
News.am, Armenia
Culture 13:03 20/07/2020Armenia

Today, July 20, marks the 92nd birthday anniversary of Minas Avetisyan, a renowned Armenian painter of the 20th century.

Born in 1928 in Armenia’s Jajur village, Minas Avetisyan, known simply as Minas, was a painter and set designer. From 1952 to 1954, he studied at the Institute of Theater and Art in Yerevan, and from 1954 to 1960, at the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

He benefited from the advice of famous Armenian painter Martiros Saryan, but developed a style of his own, with an intense use of color similar to that of Fauvism. The influence of Armenian medieval art is strongly apparent in his landscapes, self-portraits and scenes of peasant life. His work combines an uncommon and expressive richness of color with a dramatic monumentality of composition. In 1962, he had a one-man show in Yerevan, and another in Moscow in 1969. In 1972, a fire in his studio destroyed a large portion of his work.

Minas was one of those Armenian artists who put the color back into painting. “Put the color back into painting” – such an _expression_ might seem strange, but if you go into the Matenadaran and look through the yellowed pages of the ancient manuscripts there, you will understand what is meant: there on the parchment, in all their splendor, shine the bright, sonorous colors – blue, yellow, green, red… Color plays an enormous role in the work of Avetisian. Some of his pictures are unequaled in contemporary Armenian painting in the intensity of their colors.

In 1974, the artist designed the sets for Aram Khachaturian’s ballet Gayane at the A. Spendiarov Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet in Yerevan. Following his death in a car accident in 1975, a museum devoted to Minas Avetisyan opened in his native village.


Chess: July 20 celebrated as World Chess Day upon the initiative of Armenia

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia


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July 20 is celebrated as World Chess Day.

The UN General Assembly voted in December 2019 to designate 20 July as World Chess Day. The resolution was tabled by Armenia and co-sponsored by 52 other countries.

The UN invited all member states, international and regional organizations, the private sector and civil society to observe World Chess Day in an appropriate manner and in accordance with national priorities, and to disseminate the advantages of chess, including through educational and public awareness-raising activities.

The United Nations recognizes that sports, the arts and physical activity have the power to change perceptions, prejudices and behaviours, as well as to inspire people, break down racial and political barriers, combat discrimination and defuse conflict, and therefore contrabute in promoting education, sustainable development, peace, cooperation, solidarity, social inclusion and health at the local, regional and international levels.

Chess is one of the most ancient, intellectual and cultural games, with a combination of sport, scientific thinking and elements of art. As an affordable and inclusive activity, it can be exercised anywhere and played by all, across the barriers of language, age, gender, physical ability or social status.

Chess is a global game, which promotes fairness, inclusion and mutual respect, and noting in this regard that it can contribute to an atmosphere of tolerance and understanding among peoples and nations.

Chess also offers important opportunities in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, including strengthening education, realizing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and fostering inclusion, tolerance, mutual understanding and respect.

ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI BORDER CLASHES RISK A MAJOR REGIONAL WAR OR NUCLEAR DISASTER: WHERE IS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY?

Eduard Nalbandian
International Institute for Peace
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mher D. Sahakyan

The ongoing clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan started on July 12th in Tavush Province in Armenia and across the border of Tovuz District in Azerbaijan. Within four days of the outbreak of the conflict, both sides were already using heavy artillery, tanks, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Russia, the EU, the US and the OSCE Minsk Group have called for both sides to cease fighting and start negotiations. Russia also stated that it is ready to play the role of mediator if need be. In turn, the Turkish government and President Erdogan announced their support for Azerbaijan and issued threats against Armenia. Some Turkish sources have reported that Turkey sent its F-16 fighters to fly near the Turkish-Armenian border. The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs answered in a strict way, stating: “With its approaches, Turkey is a security threat for Armenia and the region, and broad regional and international cooperation is needed to counter it. It is noteworthy that in 21st century, Turkey builds its policy in our region on the traditions of kinship, justification of the Armenian Genocide and the impunity of that crime.” Armenian SU-30 SM fighters started intensively patrolling Armenian skies and S-300 anti-aircraft missile system launchers were placed near the Turkish border.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani military troops are trying to gain new positions in Tavush Province by attacking Armenian military positions, which were modernized after the 2016 war. As a result of these operations, the Azerbaijani side reported heavy casualties. General Major Polad Gashimov, Colonel Ilgar Mirzoyev, and 13 military servicemen from the Azerbaijani army were killed. Armenia has also had heavy loses, as Major Garush Hambarzumyan, Capitan Sos Elbakyan, and junior sergeants Smbat Gabrielyan and Grisha Matevosyan were killed in armed clashes on the border. The military equipment loses of Azerbaijan up to the evening of July 16th were 1 tank, 14 UAVs, and an artillery system. Azerbaijan announced that it could down an Armenian UAV, which was not confirmed by Armenia. Having so many casualties without territorial gains, the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan threatened to launch a missile strike on the Armenian Metsamor nuclear power plant. An additional interesting moment was that before this announcement, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov resigned from his post. These kind of developments are ongoing in the South Caucasus, and in this article we will try to introduce possible scenarios and make recommendations for finding ways for peace.

13th century, Haghartsin monastery, Tavush Province, Armenia

Possible Scenarios 

Scenario I:

If Turkey tries to involve its military in the war against Armenia in support of Azerbaijan, Armenia can ask for military help from its close ally Russia, especially as the 102nd Russian military base is deployed in Armenia. It could withstand a long-term regional war that could involve other powers and also threaten the peace and security of the entire world. 

Scenario II: 

If Azerbaijan tries to implement its threat to strike the Armenian nuclear plant located in Metsamor, it would instigate the beginning of a nuclear disaster that would have significantly negative impacts on Armenia and neighboring states. In fact, it would be similar to a nuclear war, and Armenia will have to strike back with its Iskander ballistic missiles, which will ruin Azerbaijani infrastructure.

Scenario III:

The international community decisively pushes both sides to commence negotiations and condemns any attempt to strike the nuclear plants of either side, stipulating that this kind of threat can be described as nuclear terrorism and as such will not be accepted. The UNSC adopts a resolution that will put an end to the military clashes and impose an arms embargo on both sides. Peacekeeping units are deployed to the borders of both sides as well as in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) until both sides find a way to resolve border disputes in a peaceful manner. A special mechanism must be invented and enforced through which any side that initiates military action will be punished by UNSC sanctions.

It is true that democratic states do not go to war against each other. The EU must continue its constructive role through which it is helping to implement the democratic transformation of the states of the South Caucasus, aided by the help of the two democratic states in the region.

It has also been very interesting to follow the protests that were taking place in the center of Baku on July 15. At first, thousands of protestors called for President Aliyev to continue a war against Armenia and not stop the military offensive started by Azerbaijan in the previous days, but when protestors started to speak about social and economic problems and issues related to the outbreak of Covid-19, police began to use force to diffuse the masses. In fact, this kind of protest could provide a good starting point for the transformation of the movement into a pro-democracy campaign, which could bring about changes in the country. As a result, if all countries in the region are democratic, it will be easier to solve ongoing problems without war or violent conflict.

Conclusion

All the above scenarios are possible if we take into consideration the fact that the current world order is changing and the South Caucasus have the potential to serve as a battlefield between Russia and Turkey, which are both competing to increase their influence in the Middle East and the South Caucasus. Turkey might seek to escalate the situation in the region by challenging Russian positions and, as a result, forcing Russia to chose between Armenia and Azerbaijan. For this reason, perhaps it would not fight against Armenia in an open way, but it might still send weapons to Azerbaijan and relocate its troops under the Azerbaijani flag and uniform, as happened in the 1990s war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

A new total war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the time of the Covid-19 outbreak would be a disaster for both nations, and here the question arises: do we have a responsible international community or not? If yes, it must immediately take following actions. First, there must be firm opposition and a concrete condemnation of threats to strike nuclear plants, which could lead to catastrophic consequences. Second, the international community must take into consideration the steps that are recommended in Scenario III of this article, which means preventing military conflict and deploying peacekeeping units in order to help build peace and security in the South Caucasus.

https://www.iipvienna.com/new-blog/2020/7/20/armenian-azerbaijani-border-clashes-risk-a-major-regional-war-or-nuclear-disaster-where-is-the-international-community?fbclid=IwAR165YNQ50q6SHkBsiCLEsK2UQhv2lc6xdT8ZzTnktSmXDUX6IKuZ6tyWZ4

Dr. Mher Sahakyan is Director of the”China-Eurasia” Council For Political and Strategic Research, Armenia; AsiaGlobal Fellow 2020/2021, Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong, China; and Advisory Board member of the International Institute for Peace, Vienna, Austria.