Category: 2021

ANCA congratulates Biden, outlines Armenia-related priorities

Garo Vardanian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 20 2021
– Public Radio of Armenia

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has congratulated Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America.

“We join with our community, coalition partners, and Congressional allies in encouraging the Administration to engage constructively and cooperatively on U.S. policy priorities impacting Armenia, Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), Eurasia, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Greater Middle East,” ANCA said.

“In light of the past Administration’s passivity and the aggressive intervention of hostile regional powers, the United States must now pivot toward a pro-active approach that protects and promotes the Artsakh Republic’s security; holds Baku and Ankara responsible for their war crimes and ongoing hostility; strengthens the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Partnership, and; locks-in permanent U.S. Executive Branch remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” ANCA added.

Urgent Biden Administration attention – in its first days in office – is required to restore stability, promote peace, and check Aliyev and Erdogan’s genocidal pan-Turkish plans:

— ASSISTANCE FOR ARTSAKH/ARMENIA: An emergency $250 million humanitarian assistance package to meet humanitarian needs and safely and sustainably return Armenian refugees to their homes in Artsakh, and a new Millennium Challenge compact to support high-tech education in Armenia.

— MILITARY AID/SALES TO AZERBAIJAN/TURKEY: Full enforcement of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act; suspension of all U.S. military and security assistance to Azerbaijan and Turkey, and; the denial of all new arms-export licenses to both Azerbaijan and Turkey.

–– SANCTIONS: Global Magnitsky and other statutory sanctions against the Aliyev and Erdogan regimes for the serious human rights abuses they committed during Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh, including the use of Foreign Terrorist Fighters recruited by Turkey.

— INVESTIGATION INTO U.S. PARTS IN AZERBAIJANI DRONES: A joint State Department, Pentagon, and Department of Justice investigation into U.S. parts discovered in Turkish drones used by Azerbaijan to attack Artsakh.

— RELEASE OF PRISONERS: U.S. leadership in securing Azerbaijan’s release of Armenian civilians and soldiers, many of whom have been tortured, mutilated, and murdered on social media.

— PROTECTION OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES: A high-profile U.S. role in documenting, monitoring, protecting, and preserving Armenian churches and other holy and cultural sites in areas currently under Azerbaijani military control.

— RECOGNITION OF ARTSAKH: U.S. recognition of the Artsakh Republic’s independence as an urgent remedial action required for the very survival of the Christian Armenian population of this ancient Armenian land.

— RESET OF U.S.-ARMENIA RELATIONS: An upgraded strategic partnership focused on concrete economic and military cooperation that supports and sustains the security of both Armenia and Artsakh.

Thorny path towards peace and reconciliation in Karabakh

Albert Nalbandian
Modern Diplomacy
Jan 20 2021
January 20, 2021

By Gulshan Pashayeva

On January 11 the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a deal to develop cross-border transportation routes and boost economic growth to benefit the South Caucasus and the Wider Region. This meeting took place two months after the Moscow-brokered armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended a 44-day war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

This ethno-territorial conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has drawn dividing lines between Armenia and Azerbaijan for almost 30 years. Some estimates put the number of deaths on both sides at 30,000 after the First Karabakh war before a ceasefire was reached in May 1994. As a result of this war, one fifth of the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan was occupied and the entire Azerbaijani population of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Agdam, Fizuly, Jabrail, Gubatli and Zangilan) was forcibly expelled by the Armenian armed forces. Incidentally, due to sporadic frontline skirmishes and clashes, both military personnel and civilians have been killed along the Line of Contact, devoid of any peacekeeping force, since 1994.

Over the years, Armenia and the separatist regime that emerged in the occupied Azerbaijani territories refused any final status short of independence for Nagorno-Karabakh and tried to preserve this status quo and achieve international security guarantees on the non-resumption of hostilities while avoiding the withdrawal of its armed forces from the occupied territories and preventing the safe return of expelled Azerbaijani inhabitants to their permanent places of residence. However, such a policy, in its turn, polarized the region and reduced to naught any meaningful regional cooperation between the three South Caucasus states.

The Second Karabakh war, which took place from September 27 to November 9, 2020, and the subsequent Russia-brokered peace deal on November 10, significantly changed the facts on the ground and created a new political reality that replaced the “no war, no peace” situation that had been hanging over the region for almost 30 years. As a result of this war, more than 6,000 soldiers died on both sides in fighting.

This war came to an end because of a clear victory for Azerbaijan, which has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Owing to the humiliating defeat of Armenia,the myth of the invincibility of the Armenian armed forces has been shattered and the Prime Minister of this country has been under continuous pressure from the opposition to step down.

Thus, after the Second Karabakh war, the pendulum has swung from devastating war towards actual peace. The question, is, however, whether the conflicting parties will be able to achieve lasting peace in the coming years: How can a relationship that has been completely destroyed owing to this protracted armed conflict and previous wars be restored?

The fate of all inhabitants of both the highlands and lowlands of Karabakh, irrespective of their ethnic origin, is crucial in this context. Security arrangements for the Armenian minority residing in this area are currently organized through the deployment of 1,960 Russian peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the implementation of the trilateral statement signed by the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Russian Federation on November 10 (hereafter, the trilateral statement). At the same time, the return of the former Azerbaijani inhabitants to their permanent places of residence previously occupied by the Armenian armed forces is envisaged by the trilateral statement and the UNHCR has been assigned to oversee this task.

It is paramount that Azerbaijan has to demonstrate a policy of “strategic patience” in the coming years to entice the Armenians of Karabakh region into closer incorporation through attractive political, economic, social, and other development.

On the other hand, Armenia has to concentrate on its own internationally recognized sovereign territory. Today, it is important that this country changes its external minority policy and withdraws its territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a next step, both Armenia and Azerbaijan can recognize the territorial integrity of one other.

Such rapprochement can lead to the opening of the borders between Armenia and Turkey and Armenia and Azerbaijan, which would increase economic opportunities for landlocked Armenia. It can thereby contribute to regional stability, development, and trans-regional cooperation among the three South Caucasian states. At the same time, it would create an enabling environment that could be more conducive for future dialogue and interactions between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

We must face the fact that a stable equilibrium between these two nations has never previously been achieved. However, despite ups and downs, there was peaceful coexistence between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Karabakh as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan’s respective minorities in Azerbaijan and Armenia. This protracted conflict has, however, led Armenians and Azerbaijanis to live in parallel realities for almost 30 years.

In light of the recent past, we cannot soon reconcile our different narratives. It is a long process; however, reconciliation is not only an outcome, it is also a process. Although the gestation period might be long, the process of reconciliation itself can be extremely rewarding.

In fact, the Armenian and Azerbaijani inhabitants of Karabakh have lived together in this region in the past. However, for almost 30 years this was impossible. Will and determination should be put to good use in order to arrive at such a peaceful coexistence once again.

Polish politician offered 50,000$ to cancel publication of a brochure on Azerbaijani war crimes in Karabakh

Lena Karagyozian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 20 2021

Polish politician Tomasz Lech Buczek says that Azerbaijan has offered 50,000$ for canceling the publication of brochure on Azerbaijani war crimes against Armenians in the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Buczek has shared the screenshot of a message received from an Azerbaijani social media user, reading: ""The Azerbaijani government will give you $50,000, if you don't publish the publication about Azerbaijani crimes. If interested, please post a photo of Baku on January 25th on Facebook." 

"President Aliyev probably heard about my publication?" My response to Baku is: "Release the Armenian prisoners of war," Buczek wrote in an accompanying message to the screenshot. 

To note, Buczek  earlier organized a fund-raising campaign for publishing the brochure. He said that the brochure would be the world's first printed publication on Azerbaijan's war crimes against the Armenian population in Karabakh in 2020. 

The publication specifically details the tortures and inhuman treatment of Armenian war prisoners held in Azerbaijan. 

President Alijev probably? heard? about my publication. I received a proposal for not publishing Azerbaijani war crimes…

Posted by Tomasz Lech Buczek on Tuesday, January 19, 2021

 

Iran’s Foreign Minister to visit Armenia next week

Vanyan Gary
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 20 2021
– Public Radio of Armenia

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is scheduled to travel to Baku, Moscow, Yerevan, and Tbilisi next week, Mehr news Agency reports.

“I plan to travel to the Caucasus and Russia. I usually do not announce, but I think the dates of trips to Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia and Georgia have been set,” said Zarif. 

“We are also in talks with Turkey. Last night, I had a good telephone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu,” he added. 

“I intend to travel to countries that can work together to help the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis and the situation of peace and stability in the region,” the Iranian FM noted.

Previously,  Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would meet and hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow on January 26.

The Iranian and Russian foreign ministers are expected to continue exchanging views on international issues including the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh and also Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as well as the situation in Syria, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf region, she added.

Armenia’s FM – Shushi is Armenian cultural center

David Nargizian
Aysor, Armenia
Jan 20 2021

Shushi is Armenia’s cultural center, Armenia’s foreign minister Ara Aivazian stated today at the NA.

“Irrespective of who says what we do not agree with the allegations that Shushi may become Turkic cultural center. We are sure the international community will assist us in this issue,” Aivazian stated.

It has been reported earlier that during the phone conversation with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev secretary general of the Turkic Council Bagdad Amreyev stated that in 2022 Shushi will be declared cultural capital of Turkic world.

Number of Armenian casualties in war not to surpass 4,000 – Vice PM

Jack Hunanian
Aysor, Armenia
Jan 20 2021

The number of victims in war circulated by different circles do not correspond to reality, Armenia’s vice prime minister Tigran Avinyan stated at the NA today.

“They are exaggerated. So far we have 3,439 retrieved bodies of which 766 have not been identified yet,” he said, adding that the final list will be published.

The vice PM stated that there are missing as well but added that he would not state the concrete number of either missing or victims.

“After we will have the final number it will be presented in a full report by the Ministry of Defense. The number of casualties will not surpass 4,000,” he said.

 

Polish politician offered $50,000 to refuse from publishing a brochure on Azerbaijan’s war crimes against Armenians

Meline Chalian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 20 2021
– Public Radio of Armenia

Polish politician Tomasz Lech Buczek says he was offered $50,000 for canceling the publication of a brochure on Azerbaijani war crimes against Armenians. 

Buczek shared a screenshot of a message he received from an Azerbaijani user reading “The Azerbaijani government will give you $50,000, if you don’t publish the publication about Azerbaijani crimes. If interested, please post a photo of Baku on January 25th on Facebook.”

“President Aliyev probably heard about my publication?” My response to Baku is: ‘Release the Armenian prisoners of war’,” Buczek captioned the screenshot.  

Buczek earlier announced a fundraiser to publish the brochure that would be the world’s first printed publication on Azerbaijan’s war crimes against the Armenian population in Artsakh.

The publication specifically details the tortures and inhuman treatment of Armenian war prisoners held in Azerbaijan. 

Tomasz Lech Buczek, author of “The Cry of the Armenian Mother, Genocide in Sumgait, 1988” has also initiated the establishment of a civilian committee for recognizing the independence of Artsakh.

Armenians hail Paphos street name change

Emil Lazarian
Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Jan 20 2021
20th January 2021

The Armenian and Pontian Greek communities of Cyprus hailed Paphos municipality’s decision to rename Talaat Pasha Street near the municipal market to Justice Street by removing the name of the mastermind of the Armenian Genocide.

The street is in the former Turkish Cypriot neighbourhood of Moutallos, on the intersection of Petrakis Miltiadous and Afroditis streets, a stone’s throw away from the old municipal market.

Talaat was the Interior Minister during the final days of the Ottoman Empire who planned and oversaw the execution of the massacres that culminated with the killing and death marches of 1.5 mln Armenians starting from April 24, 1915.

“Those who planned and executed genocides have no place in street names,” said an announcement by the municipality, shared on social media by Mayor Phedon Phedonos and Armenian Representative Vartkes Mahdessian.

The decision brought an outpouring of support on the mayor’s Facebook page, with many praising him for his courage and boldness.

The renaming was described “symbolic with meaning”, while others said it was “an example that needed to be imitated by other municipalities,” such as with Ankara street and Istanbul street in Limassol, especially after all Greek street names have been defaced in the Turkish occupied north.

Justifying the name change, the municipality said it took the decision after a request from the Armenian community of Paphos and the town’s Pontian Greeks.

It said the move reaffirmed the respect towards street and place names in the town as a product of co-existence with the Turkish Cypriot community.

And said that it could not ignore the matter “especially in the light of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by tens of nations around the world and by the international academic community, as well as the discussion underway about the genocide of the Greeks of Pontus.

“Talaat Pasha’s leading role in the planning and execution of these genocides is documented through the study of historical facts.”

Paphos municipal council unanimously decided to delete Talaat’s name from a street name and by a majority decided to rename it ‘Justice Street’.

“The struggle we are waging for justice in Cyprus is an element that must unite Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike.

“It is noteworthy that there are many Turkish and Turkish Cypriot intellectuals who also describe and record Talaat Pasha as a hideous politician and a ruthless man.”

The Armenian National Committee of Cyprus welcomed the street name change, especially as the Cyprus parliament passed the Genocide Denial bill in 2015.

Talaat was assassinated by Soghomon Tehlirian in Berlin in 1921 as part of Operation Nemesis, a campaign of retribution killing Ottoman and Turkish leaders involved in the Genocide as well as Azeri murders of Armenians in 1918.

Armenians Displaced By Post War Demarcations

Emil Lazarian
IWPR – Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Jan 20 2021

Some villages have been divided in two by new boundaries.
By Manya Israyelyan

Armenian officials warn that citizens within the state borders of Armenia risk displacement due to the arbitrary way post-ceasefire boundaries are being designated.

As well as parts of Karabakh, the November 9 deal transfers seven regions surrounding the breakaway republic back to Azerbaijan.

It remains unclear how the border is being decided, given large discrepancies between Soviet-era demarcations – when such internal boundaries were largely meaningless – and current facts on the ground.

So far, demarcations in the southern and northern regions of Syunik and Gegharkuniq have reportedly been carried out by Azerbaijani officials using GPS or Google maps, with military personnel dispatched to tell locals that they had to leave their land and homes.

Human rights ombudsman Arman Tatoyan told reporters on January 12 that the demarcation process was violating the rights of Armenian citizens as well as impinging on the country’s internationally recognised borders. 

He pointed to specific examples of cases under dispute, for instance in the village of Shurnukh in Syunik, now divided by a narrow road into an Armenian and an Azerbaijani part. One villager he named as Styopa Movsisyan had had his home and farm split between the two.

“Border demarcation without proper research and working commissions is a violation of international law,” Tatoyan said. 

Tatoyan highlighted other cases in Shurnukh, Vorotan, Agarak Yeghvard and elsewhere in which locals had lost both their homes and hundreds of acres of agricultural land. In Gegharkunik, investors also lost property including the Sotk gold mine, most of it now under Azerbaijani control.

He said that all those concerned had the right to compensation from the Azerbaijani authorities.

Shurnukh village chief Hakob Arshakyan said that 12 families – comprising 37 people – had been displaced, all of whom had property certificates issued by the administrative headquarters in Goris during the Soviet era.

He said that the villagers had complained to officials in Yerevan as well as local lawmakers.

In late December, Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan travelled to Syunik to meet residents and was met by furious protestors.

Narek Ghahramanyan, a lawmaker from the ruling My Step party, who comes from Syunik and represents the area, said that he saw no human rights violations inherent in the demarcations.

“Those are state borders, ratified by the Republic of Armenia’s National Assembly back in 2010. Who violated their rights? The border?” he asked.

Tigran Khzmalyan, co-chair of the European party of Armenia, said that the demarcation was provisional and that the issue could eventually be brought back into the circle of international law and Minsk Group.

“I reiterated more than once that [Russian president Vladimir] Putin was working in collusion with the Azeris and especially Turks,” he said. “That was a humiliating trade for us.”

Political commentator Armen Chibukhchyan said that it was concerning Russia was willing to accede to Azerbaijani demands for control over Armenian territories and strategic positions. 

“It raises eyebrows that the Russian president called that process a demarcation, but demarcations assume totally different procedures,” he said, adding that introducing international rather than Russian peacekeepers into Karabkah would have reduced the risks of territorial loss and kept the Minsk Group more involved in the process.

Moscow, he continued, was consistently serving Azerbaijan’s best interests “at our expense”.

“Russia’s attempt to share [its influence over] Azerbaijan with Ankara while consistently trying to avoid escalations with the latter will inevitably play down Armenian interests,” he concluded.

Moscow says Armenia has provided incomplete list of prisoners, Yerevan responds The office of the Deputy Prime Mini

Babken Chilingarian
JAM News
Jan 20 2021
    JAMnews, Yerevan

The issue of returning Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan remains the highest on the Armenian public agenda, but information about how many persons remain detained by the Azerbaijani side since the end of the second Karabakh war remains undisclosed.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov stated that the Armenian side provided lists of prisoners “not immediately and not [that were] not complete”.

Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan’s office explained that the exact number of the prisoners is confidential and should not be released, “given the hypersensitive nature of the issue.”

However, the lists of confirmed detention of Armenian persons have been constantly updated and presented to partners, as the search parties continue and new information comes in.

The de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ombudsman of Armenia have sent letters to international bodies on the issue of the return of Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan and the protection of their rights.

Lavrov’s statement

Minister Lavrov said that initially, the Armenian side had struggled to compile accurate lists of people who disappeared and the people they wanted to be released from captivity, and, therefore, these lists were incomplete.

At the same time, Lavrov mentioned that Moscow wants to make every effort possible to “finally resolve the issue of the return of Armenian prisoners”.

Why data on prisoners is not published

“Armenia approaches any issue related to prisoners of war with full responsibility. It refrains from taking any action that can harm the process of the quick and safe repatriation of our compatriots”, the statement of the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan read.

The statement also said that at the moment, as the search parties for the bodies of the deceased servicemen continue, information about the prisoners of war has been provided to partners on a regular basis, and in several stages:

“Moreover, in December, the Russian side and the Red Cross were presented with full lists”, the deputy prime minister’s office said.

Appeals to international authorities

On the issue of the return of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians who are still in Azerbaijan back to their homeland, the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh have sent letters to the specialized bodies of the UN and the Council of Europe, as well as to the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office.

“The letters, in particular, note that Azerbaijan violated the November 9 trilateral agreement by attacking and occupying the villages of Khtsaberd and Khin Tager in the Hadrut region of the Republic of Artsakh and taking 64 servicemen prisoner. Subsequently, the Azerbaijani authorities announced their intention to initiate criminal proceedings against the prisoners of war, which is a gross violation of international humanitarian law”, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.

The letters also say that Azerbaijan is delaying the return of prisoners on purpose. In doing that, Azerbaijan is violating its own obligations under a trilateral ceasefire agreement signed by the heads of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan in November 2020.

Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan presented the same issue to OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. In his official letters, Ombudsman Tatoyan is not only talking about prisoners of war but also about captured civilians:

“The return of the prisoners was to be ensured immediately after the cessation of hostilities. This is a universal standard, and it should be implemented automatically. Deviation from this course of action violates human rights and international humanitarian law, including the third Geneva Convention of 1949.

Consequently, paragraph 8 of the tripartite agreement [on the exchange of prisoners and other detainees] of November 9, 2020, is autonomous. It should never depend on the fulfilment of other points of the agreement”.

The Azerbaijani side believes that the Armenians captured after November 9 are not prisoners.

Meanwhile, in the opinion of the Armenian Ombudsman, the ceasefire agreement should be applied to all situations that have arisen both before and after this – “as long as there is an objective need to protect human rights, due to military actions.”