Category: 2021

“Repatriation Week” event planned for Diaspora Armenians wishing to continue their lives in Armenia

David Nargizian

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 19:18, 7 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. From December 13-19, the Republic of Armenia Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs is organizing “Repatriation Week”. The week-long events are planned for those Diaspora Armenians who wish to continue their lives in Armenia, are thinking about repatriation or are simply unaware of the possibilities of returning to their homeland, ARMENPRESS was informed from the  office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia.

Repatriation Week will be held for the first time, and along with online and offline events, there will also be a photo and video story series telling the unique stories of repatriates.

The live broadcast in Western Armenian on December 13 will focus on Armenian communities in the Middle East and include a discussion with repatriates from Lebanon, Syria and Kuwait.

On December 14, repatriates from Argentina and Uruguay will talk about professional growth opportunities in Armenia in the Spanish language.

On December 15, repatriates from France and Belgium will talk in French about the quality of life in Armenia and the Armenian lifestyle, in general.

On December 16, the Russian-language panel will feature Armenian repatriates discussing the challenges that come with both individual and family repatriation, and the possibilities of overcoming them.

On December 17, Young Repats Networking Night will be held at AGBU Armenia, which will include wine, refreshments and making new social and professional acquaintances.

On December 18, repatriates and remote workers from the United States, Canada and Germany will present the opportunities and advantages of remote work from Armenia for everyone in the English language. 

The week will conclude with a holiday event for children from repatriated families on December 19. All event updates can be found at the following link: https://bit.ly/3rFdx4r


Putin, Biden start talks through video-conference

Emma Nadirian

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 19:27, 7 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States of America have started their bilateral talks through video-conference, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS.

Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will discuss the situation over Ukraine, NATO enlargement to the east, strategic stability, and the agenda of bilateral relations. Regional security issues can also be discussed.

Spokesman for the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that Putin-Biden talk can last long. According to him, the conversation will last “as long as necessary”.

UN’s top court rules Armenia, Azerbaijan must avoid escalating long-time feud

Hambik Zargarian
Press TV, Iran
Dec 7 2021
Tuesday, 5:26 PM  [ Last Update: Tuesday, 5:47 PM ]

An Armenian soldier (file photo)

Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have issued an order for Armenia and Azerbaijan to prevent racial hatred and avoid aggravating their dispute, more than one year after they fought a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The  ICJ, which has its seat in The Hague, made the ruling on Tuesday upon a request by Armenia for emergency measures against Azerbaijan.

“Both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve,” said the ICJ’s chief judge, Joan Donoghue.

The court also said that Azerbaijan must “protect from violence and bodily harm” all prisoners from last year’s conflict.

The two countries fought a six-week war in November 2020, which claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides.

The ICJ also ordered Azerbaijan to “prevent the incitement of racial hatred and discrimination including by its officials and institutions” against Armenians.

Russia calls for Armenia-Azerbaijan border demarcation amid tensions

Russia has also voiced readiness to continue assisting both the central Asian nations in maintaining stability in the region.

Baku was also ordered to prevent the “vandalism and desecration” of Armenian cultural heritage, including churches.

Last year’s war, which ended with a Russian-brokered deal, left Azerbaijan largely in control of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ceasefire ended the war but tensions remain high between the two sides, and the accord left many questions unsettled, including the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenians who still live there.

Even before the conflict, Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was populated by ethnic Armenians.

UN’s top court tells Armenia and Azerbaijan to cool feud

Ekmekjian Janet
South China Morning Post, Singapore
Dec 7 2021
Agence France-Presse

Published: 12:44am, 8 Dec, 2021

The UN’s top court ordered rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday to prevent racial hatred and avoid aggravating their feud following last year’s war between the Caucasus arch-foes.

Azerbaijan was also told to protect Armenian prisoners from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to stop the desecration of Armenian cultural heritage, including churches.

The former Soviet republics had both made tit-for-tat requests asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to take emergency measures against alleged breaches of a treaty banning racial discrimination.

“Both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve,” ICJ chief judge Joan Donoghue said.

The court’s orders – which are binding even though the ICJ has no real means of enforcing them – are pending a full case on the row that could take years to resolve.

The ICJ was set up after World War II to resolve disputes between United Nations member states.

Tensions have simmered for years over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region of Azerbaijan that broke away from Baku’s control in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Conflict erupted in autumn last year, claiming more than 6,500 lives. It ended in November with a Russian-brokered ceasefire under which Armenia ceded territories it had controlled for decades to Turkish-backed Azerbaijan.

Judges on Tuesday ordered Azerbaijan to “protect from violence and bodily harm” all Armenian prisoners from the conflict and ensure they are treated lawfully, following allegations of mistreatment.

Azerbaijan must further prevent the “vandalism and desecration” of Armenian cultural heritage including churches, it said.

Baku had already ordered the removal of wax mannequins of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan’s so-called Military Trophies Park, which Armenia had requested due to their “Armenophobic features”, the court said.

The ICJ further ordered both Azerbaijan and Armenia to “take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination” against the other.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visits Yerablur military cemetery in November to pay his respect at the graves of the fallen soldiers during the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Photo: PAN Photo via AP

In Azerbaijan’s case the order involved “officials and institutions”, whereas for Armenia the court mentioned “organisations and private persons”.

The ICJ however threw out a bid by Azerbaijan to make Armenia stop laying landmines and to hand over maps of mines, saying that it was not covered by the anti-discrimination treaty.

During hearings in October Armenia and Azerbaijan both accused the other of breaching a UN treaty at the centre of several ICJ cases, the International Convention on All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Armenia accused Azerbaijan during those hearings of fuelling a “cycle of hate” while Azerbaijan meanwhile accused Armenia of “ethnic cleansing”.

Azerbaijan said on Saturday it had freed 10 Armenian soldiers captured last month during fresh fighting, following Russian-mediated talks.

Armenia in exchange passed on maps of mine fields.

The swap came after Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian agreed to ease tensions last week at a rare meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.

World Court also tells Armenia not to racially discriminate against Azeris

Ani Basmajian
National Post, Canada
Dec 7 2021
Author of the article:
Publishing date:

Dec 07, 2021  •  3 hours ago  •  < 1 minute read  •   Join the conversation

AMSTERDAM — World Court judges on Tuesday issued an urgent decision ordering Armenia to prevent racial discrimination against ethnic Azeris on its territory in a case brought by Azerbaijan.

The decision is the second on the same topic on the same day, as earlier the court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, issued an almost identical ruling in a case brough by Armenia against Azerbaijan. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Why meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in Stockholm was canceled

Greg Madatian
Dec 7 2021


    JAMnewsYerevan

The meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov did not take place in Stockholm. The possibility of the minister’s meeting within the framework of the OSCE Foreign Ministers Council was first announced by the representative of the EU Foreign Ministry Luc Divin. Later this information was confirmed by the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

On December 2-3, both ministers participated in the 28th OSCE Ministerial Conference where the next round of negotiations was supposed to take place. Previously, Mirzoyan and Bayramov met in New York, Minsk and Paris.

Yerevan did not comment on the reasons for the canceling of the meeting of the foreign ministers.

After Mirzoyan’s working visit to Sweden, the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vahan Hunanyan only said that there would be no meeting with Bayramov, and stressed:

“The Armenian side has never avoided meetings within the framework of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process under the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs”.

Earlier, back in Stockholm, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan also once again reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to negotiations on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict within the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, as it was before the last war.

The Azerbaijani side refused to participate in the meeting, press secretary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva reported, accusing the Armenian side of disrupting the negotiations:

“A few hours before the meeting scheduled for December 3, the Armenian side carried out a provocation. In particular, information was disseminated about the illegal visit of Armenian parliamentarians to the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Thus, in response to this provocation on the part of Armenia, the Azerbaijani side did not consider it expedient to participate in the meeting of the ministers of the two countries in Stockholm”.

The statement refers to the visit of Armenian deputies to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. On December 3-5, a delegation of the National Assembly of Armenia participated in joint parliamentary hearings there.

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Andrew Schaffer (USA), Igor Khovaev (Russia), and Brice Rockfoy (France) made a statement expressing their readiness to organize a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan:

“The Co-Chairs regret that it was not possible to hold a joint meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan under their auspices in Stockholm. They express their readiness to host such a meeting as soon as circumstances allow to continue discussions begun in New York in September and in Paris in November”.

The visit of the Armenian deputies was just an excuse for Azerbaijan, political scientist Benjamin Poghosyan believes.

He says that the canceled meeting between Mirzoyan and Bayramov was a consequence of the unproductive meeting of the leaders of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan on November 26, which its participants assessed as “extremely useful”, as well as the subsequently failed talks between the vice-prime ministers of the three countries.

Here is everything we know so far about the President of Russia, Azerbaijan and Prime Minister of Armenia’s trilateral meeting in Sochi, as well as expert commentary on the latest trilateral statement that was signed there

Azerbaijan began to react more sharply to the visits of Armenian officials to the unrecognized NKR after the end of the second Karabakh war.

Baku condemned such visits of former Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan and former Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan, assessing them as an attempt to provoke tensions. Moreover, after Arshak Karapetyan’s visit to NK, in addition to statements, the Azerbaijani side took actions that exacerbated the already tense situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Resignation of Armenian Defense Minister can be linked to the recent escalation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, experts believe

According to Benjamin Poghosyan, the Armenian authorities were asked not to travel to NKR:

“The demand was put before Pashinyan, and he agreed to it, I think, about 13 months ago, on November 8-9, 2020 [when the trilateral agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh was signed. Since then Pashinyan has never visited Nagorno-Karabakh – JAMnews]”.

According to the political scientist, Azerbaijan uses “military blackmail and pressure” to make Armenia recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and obtain a corridor that would run through the southern territories of Armenia to its exclave Nakhichevan:

“This policy of military blackmail will continue until Armenia agrees to Azerbaijan’s demands, or the Armenian armed forces demonstrate that Azerbaijan’s military blackmail does not work”.


Miss Universe PH Beatrice Luigi Gomez’s fun moments with Miss Armenia Nane Avetisyan draw reactions from netizens

Boshkezenian Garik
Dec 7 2021
By Izel Abanilla
Published On: December 7, 2021, 02:12 PM
Miss Universe PH Beatrice Luigi Gomez gets cozy with Miss Armenia Nane Avetisyan.

Netizens could not help but notice and react to Miss Universe Philippines Beatrice Luigi Gomez’s fun moments with fellow candidate, Miss Armenia Nane Avetisyan, while exploring the beauty of Eliat, Israel, ahead of the 70th Miss Universe competition.

A video of Gomez and Avestiyan uploaded via the Miss Universe organization’s official Twitter showed the latter riding on Luigi’s back for a piggyback pose.

With Gomez being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, netizens could not help but inject color into their closeness.

Some even jokingly reminded the country’s representative that the goal to bring is the fifth crown and not another love life.

In November 2021, Beatrice and her girlfriend Kate Jagdon broke up. The DJ artist-entrepreneur confirmed this in an Instagram story, saying that they have gone through some difficult times because of the break-up but still wished the beauty queen the best of luck in her journey.

Prior to that, Kate congratulated Beatrice for winning the Miss Universe Philippines title.

Beatrice hailed from Cebu and was crowned Miss Universe-Philippines 2021 held at the Hennan Resort Convention Center in Panglao, Bohol, in September 30.

Get to know more about the country’s representative to the 70th Miss Universe pageant in this gallery:

Azeri president threatens force to open corridor through Armenia

Arsine Chaltikian
Iran Front Page
Dec 7 2021

By IFP Editorial Staff -December 7, 2021

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has once again threatened to use force to establish a corridor through southern Armenia to connect his country with the Autonomous Nakhchivan Republic.

“Armenia and the whole world saw during the war that no one could stop us. I asked them to give a date for the return of our lands. I say the same thing now. Tell us when the Zangezur corridor opens without any problems,” Ilham Aliyev told Radio Free Europe.


In a statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned Aliyev’s remarks as a threat to Armenia’s territorial integrity. The statement said that the latest comments by the Azeri president contradict the understanding reached between Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during talks hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on November 26.


The concept of a new corridor called Zangezur between Nakhchivan and the Republic of Azerbaijan has become a bone of contention between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.


Armenia insists that it will not allow any change in regional borders and has categorically rejected the idea of creating new corridors in the southern parts of the Caucasus.


Tensions are simmering between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia. The two neighbors agreed to a ceasefire at their border on November 16 following the deadliest clash since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which resulted in the liberation of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s territory from Armenian occupation.

The UN’s top court will rule on the Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute. 0

Bedik Zaminian
Dec 7 2021


BY GEORGE MACKIE ON DECEMBER 7, 2021

The UN’s top court will rule on the Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute.

The UN’s top court will rule on Tuesday on Armenia and Azerbaijan’s tit-for-tat pleas for emergency measures to reduce tensions following last year’s war between the Caucasus arch-foes.

Both former Soviet republics accuse the other of racial discrimination after a six-week struggle in autumn 2020 over Azerbaijan’s separatist province of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In September, the rivals each petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is based in The Hague’s Peace Palace, to take action against the other while a full case is resolved, which could take years.

The ICJ’s top judge, Joan Donoghue, “will deliver her order on the Republic of Armenia’s request for the indication of provisional measures” at 1400 GMT, the court said in a statement.

It will issue a decision on Azerbaijan’s case shortly after that.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established after World War II to settle disputes between UN member nations. Parties who agree to have their issues adjudicated by the court are bound by its decisions, but the court has no means of enforcing them.

After the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian territory of Azerbaijan, broke away from Baku’s rule.

Last year, more than 6,500 people died in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It came to an end in November when Armenia relinquished regions it had ruled for decades to Turkish-backed Azerbaijan, thanks to a Russian-brokered truce.

Armenia and Azerbaijan both accused the other of violating a UN convention, the International Convention on All Forms of Racial Discrimination, during hearings in October (CERD).

Azerbaijan is accused of indoctrinating generations of people into a “culture of dread, of hatred of anything and everyone Armenian,” according to Armenia.

They asked judges to order the immediate release of Armenian prisoners of war and the closing of Azerbaijan’s “Military Trophies Park,” where wax dolls of Armenian warriors with “exaggerated Armenophobic traits” are displayed, according to them.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of planting landmines as part of a “ethnic cleansing” effort.

It claimed that when Azerbaijani citizens tried to return home following the “liberation” of Nagorno-Karabakh last year, they discovered the area had been “carpeted” with landmines by Armenia.

Following Russian-mediated discussions, Azerbaijan claimed on Saturday that it has freed ten Armenian soldiers detained last month during fresh combat.

In exchange, Armenia provided maps of minefields.

The trade came after President Ilham Aliev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian of Armenia agreed to reduce hostilities for the time being. The Washington Newsday Brief News is a daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C.


World Court orders Azerbaijan to prevent incitement of racial hatred against Armenians

George Mamian
Dec 7 2021
Tue, 7 December 2021

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Judges at the International Court of Justice examining Armenian allegations that Azerbaijan breached a convention against racial discrimination on Tuesday ordered Azerbaijan to prevent incitement of racial hatred against Armenians and protect Armenian prisoners of war.

The court has yet to rule on a similar case from Azerbaijan’s side, who filed a countersuit alleging violations of the same U.N. anti-discrimination treaty.

In October last year, Azeri troops drove ethnic Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a ceasefire.

The court said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan under the U.N. anti-discrimination treaty must “take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred and discrimination including by its officials in public institutions targeted at persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin”.

In addition presiding judge Joan Donoghue said Azerbaijan must protect from violence and harm “all persons captured in relation to the 2020 conflict who remain in detention” and must “prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage”.

The emergency measures are part of tit-for-tat cases filed at the World Court in September where both Armenia and Azerbaijan claimed the other country has violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), to which both states are signatories.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alex Richardson, William Maclean)

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/world-court-orders-azerbaijan-prevent-152610034.html

Read also:

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/crime-pmn/world-court-orders-azerbaijan-to-prevent-incitement-of-racial-hatred-against-armenians

https://www.metro.us/world-court-orders-azerbaijan/

https://kdal610.com/2021/12/07/world-court-orders-azerbaijan-to-prevent-incitement-of-racial-hatred-against-armenians/

https://wincountry.com/2021/12/07/world-court-orders-azerbaijan-to-prevent-incitement-of-racial-hatred-against-armenians/