Category: 2021

As a result of the 44-day war in Artsakh in 2020, numerous churches, natural and historical monuments, museums in Artsakh fell under the control of Azerbaijan. Its devastating consequences can be seen in the footage filmed and spread on social media by the Azerbaijanis.

The Artsakh Public TV reports that in order to support the mission of preserving, regaining and monitoring cultural property, the Public Council of Cultural Heritage has been established in Artsakh recently. The council gave assurances in a statement that they will do everything possible to achieve tangible results.  

Armenian opposition lawmakers demand clear explanation from the authorities over the newly emerged document related to Artsakh and Syunik Province of Armenia.

“Yesterday a new document concerning Artsakh and Syunik emerged on the Internet, and we demand clear explanation from the authorities over its content,” MP Taron Simonyan from the opposition Bright Armenia Party told a briefing at the National Assembly on Friday.

He said only the text of the document has been published, adding it seems not to bear any signatures.

“If any government member has signed it, it means an anti-national step has been taken, which is also a gross violation of the law,” the lawmaker said, at the same time adding the document is not legally binding.

“According to the Armenian Constitution, in order to be legally binding, such documents must be sent to the Constitutional Court and afterwards be debated at the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the points in the document prove that a concrete action had already been taken by December 18. It is anti-national move that the clauses of the document simply destroy the state policy related to the issue of Artsakh’s self-determination, which has been pursued for decades,” the MP said.

Simonyan next addressed reports of the alleged removal of the Garegin Nzhdeh statue from Artsakh’s Martuni as demanded by Azerbaijan.

“That statue has not been unveiled yet. I would like to make it clear that this is an issue related to our national identity. No country, except Artsakh and Armenia, has the right to decide on any matter related to our culture. Moreover, the right of nations to self-determination presupposes cultural self-determination. This makes it mandatory that each nation decides for itself what heroes and cultural values it should have. We have no room for compromise in this matter. No nation can trample on our dignity. No country will respect us if we concede any issue related to our national identity,” the deputy stated.   

Not everyone is to blame for the outcome of the recent war in Artsakh, Armenian MP Edmon Marukyan from the opposition Bright Armenia Party told a briefing at the parliament on Friday.

“What are those who have performed their duties sacredly guilty of?” the lawmaker asked.

The deputy stated there are specific persons responsible for the situation and reiterated their call for the formation of a fact-finding commission to look into the events of the 44-day war.

“Every day you are asking the opposition if we consider ourselves guilty? Yes, we admit it. The manipulations that everyone is to blame except for the prime minister, the ministry of defense and the generals have to stop. Remember, not everyone is to blame, there are specific perpetrators, therefore we propose to set up a fact-finding commission to identify and hold them to account,” he said.

The lawmaker also unveiled what problems he faces when participating in closed, confidential meetings.

“I take part in a meeting of the Security Council, after it ends, you, journalists, ask me 100 questions, of which I can answer only 5. It turns out that, possessing this information, I cannot share it with you, and here a gap occurs. For this, for example, a document has now been published regarding David Bek-Goris section of the road. We submitted an inquiry [to the authorities] to find out whether it is genuine or not. During these three days, there should have been either confirmation or denial of the text, but there has been nothing That is the problem, what else do you expect from the current authorities?” he said. 

Artsakh Presidential Chief of Staff Artak Beglaryan told Hetq on Thursday that Artsakh will certainly have some sort of defense force, regardless of what it is formally called.

Beglaryan said the local force will ensure the security of the Artsakh people in parallel with the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the region.

“Naturally, Azerbaijan would very much like to see no armed people in Artsakh. I think it would very much like to see no Russian peacekeepers. Azerbaijan’s wishes in this respect do not matter,” said Beglaryan.

He admitted that the identification of war dead has taken longer than desired and that the main problem remains DNA identification of the bodies.

Hundreds of bodies have not been identified yet.

Beglaryan said that rumors are circulating in Artsakh that Azerbaijani troops have already buried some of the Armenians killed in the recent war.

The Staff of the Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman headed by the acting Ombudsman Arsen Sarajyan visited on Thursday the village of Shosh of Askeran Region to get acquainted with the work carried out to restore normal life in the community and to assess the situation of protection of citizens’ rights.   

As the Ombudsman’s Office reported, zccording to the head of the community, necessary works are being carried out to return the population of the community to their places of residence; more than half of the residents have returned.

As a result of the hostilities, most of the agricultural lands of the community came under the control of Azerbaijan which creates serious problems in terms of employment in the community. Demining works are being carried out in the community, awareness measures are being taken among the population to avoid the contact with explosives that threaten life and health.

Since January 11, the school has been operating, and the kindergarten will resume its activities next week. Public concerns have been raised about the safety of children attending school as it is located near the ”Karmir Shuka-Shosh” road and children have to cross the road in order to get to school which is occasionally crossed by Azerbaijani convoys.

The Ombudsman’s Staff got acquainted with the issue on the spot and witnessed the transit of Azerbaijani convoys accompanied by Russian peacekeepers. Although school attendance is organized by the RA police, however in order to make safety of children more controllable, there’s an objective need to establish a patrol near the school and the kindergarten to exclude other persons from entering the area.

For security reasons, it’s important to promptly establish a night lightning system in the community, the source said. 

“For months we had no idea what was going on in Armenia’s Syunik province,” Vazgen Manukyan, the candidate for the PM’s post from opposition Homeland Salvation Movement told reporters at Liberty Square in Yerevan. 

“We were often told that the authorities are paralyzed as a result of which we witnessed Syunik incidents. However, as it turned out, a new capitulation deal had been signed behind our back,” Manukyan said, commenting on the border demarcation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Syunik. 

“The situation exacerbated after the decision to restrict the reporters entry and free reporting from the scene,” said Manukyan, adding there is a reasonable suspicion that apart from the six provisions, there are other agreements. 

“Developments are underway we are not aware of. Our motherland continues its path to destruction,” said Manukyan.