Category: 2021

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan has answered a question of PanARMENIAN.net news agency. The question and answer are below.

Question: Recently, Foreign Minister of Turkey Cavusoglu stated that if the peace is lasting, Turkey and Azerbaijan are ready to undertake steps aimed at normalizing relations with Armenia. Can you comment whether the Armenian side is ready to “normalize the relations”. What does this statement mean? Has any initiative been undertaken in this regard, particularly by the Turkish side?

Answer: I would not like to comment on the statements of Turkish-Azerbaijani leadership, which are not consolidated by any action. Moreover, they contradict each other. The Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises carried out near the Armenian borders in violation of relevant OSCE commitments do not attest to the fact that the Turkish-Azerbaijani leadership has peaceful intentions towards Armenia. The cessation of hostile actions against Armenia may create conditions for building trust in the region.

Gagik Jhangiryan, former Military Prosecutor (1997 – 2006) and Deputy Prosecutor General of Armenia (2006-2008) was elected on Friday new member of Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a state body overseeing Armenia’s courts. Jhangiryan's candidacy, backed by  

by the ruling “My Step” faction, was approved by 86 in favor and three against votes during the closed voting. 

Davit Khachaturian was another candidate nominated by the ruling force, who was elected with 85 in favor and one against votes. 

To note,  opposition "Bright Armenia" and "Prosperous Armenia" factions ignored the discussions on the candidates and didn't participate in the voting. 

The Supreme Judicial Council is an independent state body comprised of ten members. Five members of the Council are elected by the General Assembly of Judges, another five members — by the National Assembly.

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan on Friday applied to heads of a number of European organizations over the illegitimacy of the process of determining Armenia's state borders and gross human rights violations, he said in a statement. The full text of Tatoyan’s statement is below.

"Today I addressed the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the UN and the CoE Secretary Generals, the UN and the CoE Commissioners for Human Rights, the PACE and the OSCE PA Presidents, the ECHR President, the PACE Co-Rapporteurs on Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as other partners, including several ombudspersons and their associations with questions on the illegitimacy of the process of determining Armenia's state borders and gross human rights violations.

The letters state that the process of determining Armenia's borders with Azerbaijan is being carried out by Azerbaijan under open threats of war against the entire population of Armenia. The President of Azerbaijan speaks about the Armenian people worldwide and the population of Armenia in the language of ethnic cleansing and open threats of genocide, as does the President of Turkey. Following the example of the President of Azerbaijan, in general, public figures openly insult the dignity of the Armenian people and incite hostility on the basis of ethnicity (specific evidence is attached).

As a result, the border demarcation process in specific settlements of Syunik and Gegharkunik regions of Armenia has already led to gross violations of internationally recognized human socio-economic [property, etc.] rights and seriously endangered people's rights to life and physical immunity. The best interests of children to live and develop in a peaceful, non-violent environment have been violated. The security of the state borders of the Republic of Armenia has been endangered.

In other words, the process is unaccompanied by the requirements of the rule of law and as thus, it has absolutely no legitimacy.

Therefore, it should be stopped immediately and be subject to a fundamental review.

The letters of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia emphasize that internationally absolutely unacceptable mechanical approaches are the only methods being used in the process of determining the borders, including the use of a GPS or Google Map application of a private company. No internationally recognized criteria are taken into account.

There are no professional approaches at all, no commission work is carried out, no preliminary inventory and assessment of people's needs is carried out, and there are no proper legal bases.

In the immediate vicinity of the civilians of Armenia or in the settlements themselves [For example, in the large communities of Goris and Kapan, Syunik region, on interstate or intercommunity roads, or directly on the sidewalk, directly in the settlement], Azerbaijani soldiers, i.e. armed men, were deployed.

The tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020 or any other document does not set an accessible and predictable schedule for the people on the process of determining the state borders of the Republic of Armenia.

Due to all of this, the impermissible speed of the border demarcation process and especially the lack of proper information directly related to the rights of border residents has led to uncertainty and unpredictable situations.

The ombudsman's letters state that any human rights process must be based on the rule of law and, consequently, on internationally recognized human rights [which are also guaranteed by the Constitution within our country]. This is a fundamental principle of democracy.

It is obvious that in the current situation, the entire process of determining the borders of the Republic of Armenia as described above undermines the foundations of the international human rights system, and completely contradicts the very basic principles for which modern international law has been established since World War Two: to guarantee human rights and peace.

Individually signed letters are sent to each of the international organizations and colleagues, in accordance with the jurisdiction vested in each recipient, with each correspondence supported by detailed analysis."

Utterances recorded by the staff of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan prove that the propaganda of Armenophobia and the animosity towards the Armenian people has deep roots and high public support in Azerbaijan.

In a post on Facebook, the ombudsman shared some Armenophobic statements made by Azerbaijani cultural and sports figures during the 2020 autumn war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

“The following are statements made in 2020 by the Azerbaijani cultural and sports figures about Armenians during the September-November war. These are their words:

1) "Karabakh will be cleansed of the satanic scum of Armenian fascism. "These Armenian fascists are deprived of honor and are being annihilated in place,” said an Azerbaijani Folks Artist;

2) “Armenians are a tribe, an ethnos, which destroys itself. They are very pitiful and ungrateful creatures. "Armenians are such a liars, cowardly, greedy and hypocritical people that it is impossible to convey in words," said the People's Folks Artist of Azerbaijan;

3) "This Karabakh war is the beginning of the end of the Armenians of the world, who were created on the basis of lies, hypocrisy" — People's Artist of Azerbaijan;

4) "Our enemy is dishonorable, deceitful and unworthy. "They are barbarians, terrorists, obsessed with fascist ideas about their own superiority.”

5) "Armenians are nothing, they are people who hide in their nests like rats.” — A Famous Artist of Azerbaijan;

6) “A child of a prostitute will also become a prostitute. They are all foxes. "When the right time comes, they will show themselves," said a Member of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan about an elderly Armenian woman;

7) The Armenian people are really sick. Medicine is hopeless, it is incurable. Chronic Armenian Diarrhea.” — Winner of “Voice of Turkey” song contest;

8) “Do not call Armenians prostitutes. The prostitute sells herself, the Armenian acquires someone else," said a Lecturer at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts;

9) "We must kill Armenians, whether they are women, children or the elderly (…)" — Media head of Qarabag football club;

10) "If the human race was really created by God, then Armenians are the offspring of evil," said the Head of the Media, Public Relations and Association of the Football Federation of Azerbaijan;

These are utterances recorded by the staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. They are evidence which attest to, and prove that the propaganda of anti-Armenianism and the hostility towards the Armenian people in Azerbaijan has deep roots and high public support.

The persecution and torture of Armenians by the Azerbaijani military during this war had deep-rooted reasons; it was carried out solely because of the ethnicity of the Armenians," Tatoyan said.

The details are reflected in a 2020 joint special report of the ombudsmen of Armenia and Artsakh in accordance with the results of the monitoring carried out during the autumn war, he noted. 

Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) escort convoys of local residents and refugees every day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

In the territory of Karabakh, the length of safe public roads is increasing. Military personnel of the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensure the return of refugees to their homes.

87 refugees were transported by buses from Yerevan, Armenia's capital, to Stepanakert in the past one day.

In total, 50,390 refugees have already returned to their places of permanent residence in Artsakh, the ministry said.

Military personnel of the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensure the safe return of citizens to their places of permanent residence, provide humanitarian assistance and restore civilian infrastructure.

They also monitor the situation round-the-clock and control the ceasefire implementation at 27 observation posts, the statement added.