Category: 2021

Yerevan Mayor departs for St. Petersburg on official visit

Antranik Varosian

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 16:40,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The delegation of the Yerevan City Hall led by Mayor Hayk Marutyan will pay a three-day official visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, from November 29 to December 1, at the invitation of Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, the Yerevan City Hall’s press service reports.

During the visit Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan will have a meeting with the St. Petersburg Governor.

A cooperation “roadmap” will be signed between the two cities for 2021-2025.

The delegation of the Yerevan Mayor will also visit several structures of the city economy management.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Capture the Flag Information Security Contest Takes Place With Technical Support of Ucom

Jagharian Tania

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 16:53,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Оn November 27-28, 2021 with the technical support of Ucom “Capture the Flag” Information Security Contest, organized by the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF), took place at the Microsoft Innovation Center. 

Teams from the largest and well-known IT companies like «Picsart», «Krisp», «Synergy», «Webb Fontaine», «LifeTrace», «Snap LLC», «Uxtankyun» and «Armath» took part in the contest. 

“White hat hackers should have many opportunities to constantly level up their skills, exchange their experience, and respond to new challenges altogether. I am glad that EIF and Microsoft Innovation Center have hosted this event with the technical support of Ucom”, said Ara Khachatryan, Director General at Ucom.

 “It has already become a tradition to organize the “Capture the Flag” contest at least once a year, and this year we decided to hold the contest among the teams of employees of different IT companies. We were glad that Ucom as one of the telecom sphere leaders, expressed its readiness to be the technical partner within the framework of the CTF-2021”, mentioned Mari Barseghyan, project manager at Enterprise Incubator Foundation.   

Let us note that after a two-day “hot battle” between the teams, the competition was won by the “Krisp” team with the most flags, while the “Uxtankyun” and “LifeTrace” teams took 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. 

Let us add, that “Capture the Flag”(CTF) is an information security contest. During the competition, participants must find vulnerabilities, investigate viruses and other malware, find information from open sources and overcome various challenges arising in the field of cybersecurity.

Violations of fundamental rights of Armenians by Azerbaijan are systematic – Artsakh’s Ombudsman

Ani Tigranian

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 18:00,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s policy of persecution acquires an extreme degree of brutality, ARMENPRESS reports Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan wrote on his Facebook page.

“On November 26, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, within the framework of a trilateral meeting with Prime-Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Russia Vladimir Putin, assessed as “sporadic incidents” the continuing since the Trilateral Statement on ceasefire of November 9, 2020, targeted killings by the Azerbaijani armed forces of civilians and military personnel of the Republic of Artsakh. This statement by the President of Azerbaijan is nothing more than an attempt to disguise as random incidents the ongoing manifestations of the policy of widespread and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of Armenians carried out by Azerbaijan over the past decades.

Attacks on Armenians committed by Azerbaijani servicemen after the signing of the Trilateral Statement, including the murder on October 9, 2021, of a tractor driver while performing agricultural work near the town of Martakert, the execution on November 8, 2021, of civilians carrying out repair work near the town of Shushi, and numerous cases of shelling of the servicemen of the Republic of Artsakh were deliberate in nature and were carried out in furtherance of Azerbaijan’s state policy of persecution of Armenians.

Azerbaijan’s policy of persecution acquires an extreme degree of brutality, especially when the citizens of Artsakh or Armenia find themselves in the hands of the Azerbaijani armed forces. All civilians who remained in the territories of Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan during its aggression in September-November 2020 were brutally killed by members of the armed forces of Azerbaijan. In those cases where it was possible to conduct a forensic medical examination of the victims, it was revealed that these people were tortured before death. In some cases, the killings of civilians were filmed and disseminated on Azerbaijani social networks to inflict maximum psychological suffering on the relatives of those killed and to intimidate the population of Artsakh and Armenians in general. Armenian soldiers who came under the control of Azerbaijan were also subjected to severe torture, many of them were killed. Those few who survived were illegally convicted in Azerbaijan and continue to be held by the authorities of this country as hostages.

Armenians living in Azerbaijan during the Soviet period became the first victims of such a criminal policy. The deportations of Armenians from Azerbaijan organized by the local authorities in 1988-1990, and accompanied by mass killings, torture and pogroms, laid the foundation for Azerbaijan’s policy of persecuting Armenians, which continues to this day. In 1991, the Azerbaijani authorities started deporting Armenians from Artsakh as part of a large-scale military-police operation “Ring”, which became a prelude to the subsequent full-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh. The aggression against the Republic of Artsakh, which lasted several years until 1994, was an attempt by Azerbaijan to finally and completely expel the Armenians from their lands.

During the war of the 1990s, Azerbaijani soldiers tortured and killed those who fell into their hands in the same way as during the aggression in 2020. The massacre in the Armenian village of Maragha in Artsakh’s Martakert region in 1992 became one of the most tragic episodes of this policy. Fifty residents of the village were brutally killed, another 50 were taken hostage, including women and children. The fate of many of them is still unknown.

Azerbaijani soldiers distinguished themselves with particular cruelty also during the aggression against Artsakh in April 2016. Both civilians and military personnel who fell into the hands of Azerbaijani soldiers were tortured and executed, as was the case with an elderly couple in the village of Talish of Martakert region of Artsakh.

The statement of the President of Azerbaijan on the sporadic nature of the incidents in Artsakh aims to cover up their own policy of persecuting Armenians. It was the authorities of Azerbaijan, including the president of this country, who openly and deliberately encouraged any criminal acts directed against Armenians, including killings. One of the vivid examples is the elevation of Ramil Safarov, who killed a sleeping Armenian to the unofficial rank of the national hero of Azerbaijan, as well as the awarding, personally by the President of Azerbaijan, of an Azerbaijani serviceman who cut off the head of an Armenian soldier and was walking with it through the villages of Azerbaijan during the aggression in 2016. The impunity in Azerbaijan, including for the premeditated killings of Armenians, as well as rewarding of such criminals, are the most obvious evidence of the anti-Armenian hatred policy pursued by Azerbaijan at the state level.

The persecution of Armenians in the form of massacres, deportations, torture and other inhuman acts has a widespread and systematic character and is carried out by members of the armed forces of Azerbaijan and other agents of this country deliberately, pursuant to or in furtherance of the existing policy of Azerbaijan”, reads the statement of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh.

President Sarkissian meets with a group of future journalists

Aram Torosian

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 18:37,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with a group of students participating in EU-assisted “European media platform in Armenia. building reliable and professional media” program and the team working with them. The program is implemented by FactorTV in partnership with BBC Media Action and Deutsche Welle Akademie, ARMENPRESS reports the press service of the President’s Office informed.

In a conversation with future journalists, President Sarkissian, in particular, referred to the development prospects of Armenia, highlighted the creation of an open model state based on national identity, national values. “We are a global nation and the model of our country should be open”, the President said, adding that Armenia should pursue the policy of science, new technologies, high quality production, which can be exported. According to the President, for that it is important to follow the tendencies of scientific and technological development in the world, build our vision taking into account those tendencies.

“The small countries that understand their place in the future, become successful. Our only wealth are our people around the world, but we have decided not to use them. We teach the Diaspora that their only function is charity, we do not encourage the Diaspora to invest. We must create all the conditions to allow their participation in the development of our country”, the President said.

The President noted the open model of the state will also prevent emigration. “Today, many Armenians, reaching succeed, first think about leaving Armenia. If the society was open, people would not think about leaving”, President Sarkissian said, adding “For that I say today that we need to change the Constitution. It’s not important if it will be presidential of parliamentary, the important thing is that the power should be balanced. You need tools to be able to exercise restraint.”

The President also highlighted the comprehension and preservation of national identity. “The meaning and purpose of our life as a nation stem from the identity. You need to know exactly who you are as an individual or as a nation, what you live for. Identity is also the passport of the state.”

President Sarkissian urged future journalists to be committed to the values and principles of journalism, to be able to keep pace with the time, to raise journalism to a new quality through their work.

The President of the Republic also answered the questions of the future journalists.

Armenpress: Post-war situation touched upon at the meeting of the Armenian, Greek MPs

Antranik Varosian

Post-war situation touched upon at the meeting of the Armenian, Greek MPs

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 19:41,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The members of the Armenia-Greece Parliamentary Friendship Group Vladimir Vardanyan, Arusyak Julhakyan and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan on November 29 met with the Chairman of the Greece-Armenia Friendship Group of the Greek Parliament Dimitrios Markopoulos and the members of the delegation headed by him, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the parliament of Armenia.

Welcoming the guests, the Armenian parliamentarians highly appreciated the Armenian-Greek relations, highlighted the further development of the cooperation between the two parliaments and the close collaboration of the friendship groups. From the point of view of strengthening the inter-parliamentary cooperation, the joint work in the international parliamentary structures was highlighted.

Arman Yeghoyan assessed the implementation of the EU-funded Twinning Program “Strengthening of Capacity of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to Further Support the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement’s Oversight and Implementation “, which was entrusted to the Greek and Italian parliaments. The chairman of the committee noted that this program is being implemented for the first time for the National Assembly and has a great role in developing the capacity of the parliament. The parties expressed confidence that through the implementation of the program, the ties between the two parliaments will be further strengthened.

The interlocutors praised the implementation of the oversight and representational functions of the parliaments. The legislators also spoke about the centuries-old friendship and common challenges of the Armenian and Greek peoples.

The post-war situation was touched upon, and the establishment of security and stability in the region was highlighted.

The MPs also stressed the need to develop cooperation in the spheres of economy and tourism.

The California Courier Online, December 2, 2021

Emil Lazarian

1-         Israeli Cluster Bombs Sold to Azerbaijan
           Kill & Maim Innocent Armenian Civilians
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2-         Putin, Pashinyan, Aliyev meet in Sochi to Discuss Future of Artsakh
3-         Yazidi Rights Activist Sultanyan Goes On Trial in Armenia
for ‘Incitement’
4-         The Bus Of Shame:
            Azerbaijan advertises on Thessaloniki bus its occupation of Shushi
5-         Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19

************************************************************************************************************************************************

1-         Israeli Cluster Bombs Sold to Azerbaijan
            Kill & Maim Innocent Armenian Civilians
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Israeli journalist Yossi Melman wrote a lengthy critical article in
the Haaretz newspaper about Israel’s sale of banned deadly cluster
bombs to Azerbaijan to kill and maim innocent Armenian civilians in
Artsakh. The article, although published on Oct. 22, 2020, retains its
relevance given the fact that these cluster bombs were not only used
in last year’s Artsakh war by Azerbaijan, but may also be used in a
future war.

Amnesty International confirmed that Azerbaijan used Israeli cluster
bombs in the 2020 Artsakh war. These lethal bombs exploded in a
residential area near the city of Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh.

“The use of cluster bombs in any circumstances is banned under
international humanitarian law, so their use to attack civilian areas
is particularly dangerous and will only lead to further deaths and
injuries,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s acting chief
for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “Cluster bombs are inherently
indiscriminate weapons, and their deployment in residential areas is
absolutely appalling and unacceptable.”

Melman explained that “a cluster bomb is a kind of container holding a
bundle of small bombs. The mother bomb explodes at a certain height
and, over a wide area, scatters the smaller bombs, which explode a
short time later. The munitions can be launched from cannons of
various sizes, with diameters up to 155 mm, from launchers,
helicopters and planes.” Children often pick up unexploded cluster
bombs mistaking them for toys, resulting in their death or injury.

Melman wrote that he asked Israel’s Defense Ministry, the Israel
Defense Forces and the Foreign Ministry “on whether—and if so,
when—Israel supplied cluster bombs to Azerbaijan.” Not surprisingly,
he received no response.

Melman remarked that Israel’s Defense Ministry, “true to its
aggressive habits, is loath to give explanations and refuses to answer
questions it doesn’t like. It seems to have something to hide,
especially when it comes to its overly intimate relationship with
Azerbaijan.”

Melman asked a pertinent question: “Why is Israel arming Azerbaijan
against Armenia?” There would be a huge worldwide outcry if Armenia
were to transfer missiles to Hamas or Hezbollah to attack Israeli
citizens. Israel arming Azerbaijan is no different, but where is the
international condemnation of Israel?

Israel used cluster bombs on several occasions: In the 1973 war
against several Arab states, the wars on Lebanon in 1978, 1982 and
2006, and the Gaza war in 2008-09. Melman reported that “this led to a
condemnation by then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and to tension
in the United States, because the firing apparently violated the
restrictions on using cluster bombs when the weapon was supplied in
1976.”

The Winograd Committee, formed by the Israeli government to review the
appropriateness of Israel’s military actions in Lebanon in 2006,
“harshly criticized the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas,”
according to Melman. It is illegal to use cluster bombs. It is also
illegal for the United States to sell them to Israel, which in turn
illegally sold them to Azerbaijan.

Regrettably, neither the Republic of Armenia nor the Armenian-American
community complained to the American government about Israel’s illegal
transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Azerbaijan.

Melman reported that “in December 2008, the Convention on Cluster
Munitions was signed in Oslo. It prohibits the use, development,
manufacture, storage and transfer of cluster bombs, which it defines
as ‘a conventional ammunition that is designed to disperse or release
explosive submunitions’ from a container. Over 100 countries signed
the accord, which went into effect in 2010.”

Israel, however, refused to join the convention that banned cluster
bombs. Ironically, Israel was quick to condemn Syria for its reported
use of cluster bombs inside its own country. It is not clear why
Armenia refused to join the convention which would have given it a
stronger footing to condemn the illegal use of cluster bombs by
Azerbaijan and Turkey, neither one of which joined the convention. In
addition to selling cluster bombs to Azerbaijan, Israel also sold them
to Turkey, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Romania, Switzerland, Great
Britain, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela.

According to Melman, Azerbaijan was the largest market for Israeli
cluster bombs, along with various cannons and rocket launchers.
“Israel sold dual-purpose munitions components, which can also be used
in cluster bombs, in a way that let Israel bypass the convention.”

Melman reported that, a year ago, Israeli “activist Eli Joseph, who
takes part in efforts to ban weapons sales by Israel to dictatorial
regimes,” petitioned in vain Israel’s High Court of Justice,
“demanding that Baku and Jerusalem’s military connections be revealed.
Also, Joseph and his colleagues in the Jewish Heart organization
demonstrated in front of the Knesset against arms exports to
Azerbaijan, under the slogan ‘No to war crimes, no to the murder of
innocents.’” It is heart-warming to see righteous Israelis objecting
to the immoral actions of their government.

By selling lethal weapons to the murderous regime of Azerbaijan,
Israel has undermined its moral standing and has become an accomplice
to Azeri war crimes.

************************************************************************************************************************************************
2-         Putin, Pashinyan, Aliyev meet in Sochi to Discuss Future of Artsakh

(Combined Sources)—Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met
in the southern Russian city of Sochi on November 26 to outline
further steps to strengthen stability and establish peaceful life in
Nagorno-Karabakh,

The leaders looked into the implementation of two statements they
signed on November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021. Special attention was
paid to the restoration and development of trade, economic and
transport ties, according to RIA Novosti.

Putin also held separate talks with Pashinyan and Aliyev on November 26.

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to move towards starting
a process of delimitating and demarcating their Soviet-era border and
pursue unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region as
a result of Russia-hosted talks last Friday.

In a trilateral statement released after their meeting in Sochi,
Putin, Pashinyan and Aliyev said, in particular, that they have agreed
“to take steps to increase the level of stability and security on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and to work towards the creation of a
bilateral commission on the delimitation of the state border between
the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia with its
subsequent demarcation with the consultative assistance of the Russian
Federation at the request of the parties.”

The statement said that the parties also agreed “to intensify joint
efforts aimed at the earliest possible resolution of the remaining
tasks arising from the statements of November 9, 2020 and January 11,
2021” that includes the resumption of all economic and transport links
in the South Caucasus.

“We have emphasized the need to launch specific projects as soon as
possible in order to tap the economic potential of the region. The
Russian Federation will continue to provide all necessary assistance
in the interest of normalizing relations between the Republic of
Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, creating an atmosphere of
trust between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, as well as
building good-neighborly relations in the region,” the statement
added.

After their talks that, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov,
lasted for about three hours, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia also made statements for the press, in which all described the
meeting as positive.

“We have worked very constructively today. It was a deep analysis of
the current situation,” said Putin, adding that agreements had been
reached “on a number of key issues.”

“The first of them is the creation of mechanisms of the delimitation
and demarcation of the border between the two states, which we have
agreed to do by the end of this year. I hope it will be done as soon
as possible. There are no obstacles to the creation of these
mechanisms,” the Russian leader said.

Putin said that “significant progress” was also made on issues of
humanitarian nature. He did not elaborate.

He also said that the parties discussed in detail issues of developing
economic ties and primarily the issue of unblocking “transport
corridors.”

“It concerns both railway and road links. I think that here we should
thank our vice-premiers who have been working over this issue for
quite a long time now,” the Russian president said.

He said that as part of the agreements made during the November 26
talks deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will
gather in Moscow next week “to summarize some results and announce the
decisions that we have coordinated today.”

In his remarks Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed a hope
that the Sochi talks will lead to results that will make the situation
in the South Caucasus “more secure and predictable.”

“Today we had a very detailed and I would say frank conversation on
issues of border delimitation and demarcation and unblocking of
transport arteries. We openly discussed our plans, we openly discussed
issues that cause concern with both sides. The most important thing is
that the decisions that we’ve made in the issue of settling disputes,
differences will contribute to a more secure and predictable situation
in the South Caucasus,” he said.

Aliyev said that Baku also sees willingness from the Armenian side “to
create preconditions for the situation in the region to become more
predictable.”

“I have repeatedly said that in Azerbaijan we feel like turning over
the page of many years of confrontation with Armenia to begin a stage
of normal interaction,” Aliyev said. “I think our meeting will lead to
good results that won’t make us wait for too long.”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his remarks described the
meeting as “very positive,” saying that “we have, in fact, discussed
all issues of the agenda.”

“This wasn’t a meeting to hide problems. This was a meeting during
which we openly discussed all issues. I want to point out that it is
very positive that on many issues we clarified our positions, and it
turned out that on some issues we have no misinterpretations as it
would seem before this meeting. I want to say that, indeed, we stated
that in regards to the issue of the opening of all transport and
economic links in the region we have a common idea as to how these
links will work,” Pashinyan said.

The Armenian leader said that it is necessary to create mechanisms of
ensuring security and stability along the border between Armenia and
Azerbaijan before starting the process of border delimitation and
demarcation. He said humanitarian issues were also addressed during
the talks.

“On the whole, I too assess today’s talks very positively. I think
that we can expect concrete results if we manage to build on the
dynamics of our talks,” Pashinyan said.

“I reaffirm the readiness of Armenia and its government that has
received a mandate from the people of Armenia to open a peaceful era
for our country and our region. This is what we are striving for and
today’s meeting is beneficial for the realization of this agenda,” the
Armenian leader added.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

3-         Yazidi Rights Activist Sultanyan Goes On Trial in Armenia
for ‘Incitement’

By Artak Khulian

(RFE/RL Armenian Report)—An Armenia court on November 24 opened a
controversial trial against a human rights activist from the minority
Yazidi community over comments he made in an interview, despite
international concerns about his prosecution.

Prosecutors accuse Sashik Sultanian, the head of the Yazidi Center for
Human Rights, of “inciting ethnic enmity between Armenians and
Yazidis,” an ancient Kurdish-speaking religious group.

The probe against Sultanian was launched in October 2020, after he
conducted an interview with the Yezidinews.am website in June that
year.

In the interview, Sultanian said that Yazidis face discrimination,
their rights are not protected, and they are unable to develop their
culture, language, or practice their religion.

He also claimed Yazidis are underrepresented in local government
structures, Armenians seized Yazidi property, and the community is not
allowed to develop economically.

Prosecutors argue that Sultanian’s statements don’t fall under human
rights advocacy and protected speech “since all allegations mentioned
in the interview do not correspond to reality.”

Sultanian says his comments were not directed against the Armenian
people, but rather the Armenian government. The interview was deleted
on the day of publication at the request of Sultanian.

Several international and national human rights organizations have
denounced the proceedings against Sultanian as an assault on freedom
of speech that will have a chilling effect on those who stand up for
minority rights.

Armenian authorities have obligations to ensure human rights defenders
can freely carry out their activities without any restrictions,
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic said
in a letter to Armenia’s top prosecutor ahead the trial.

In June, Human Rights Watch called on Armenian authorities to drop
charges against Sultanian, saying his opinions are protected free
speech.

UN special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, minority issues, and
freedom of _expression_ have also called on Armenian authorities to drop
the case.

“It is not incitement to hatred or violence to raise human rights
concerns about the treatment of minorities,” the UN experts said in
August. “We call on Armenia to drop these criminal charges, which
appear designed simply to intimidate Mr. Sultanian and others who
stand up for minority rights.”

There are about 40,000 Yazidis in Armenia, and they make up the
largest minority group in the mono-ethnic South Caucasus country with
a population of about 3 million people.

The next hearing in the trial of Sultanian is scheduled for January 26.

Despite refusing to generally review the measure of restraint against
Sultanian, the court allowed the Yazidi activist to travel abroad from
November 30 to December 8 to attend the 14th session of the UN Forum
of Minority Issues in Geneva, Switzerland.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

4-         The Bus Of Shame:

            Azerbaijan advertises on Thessaloniki bus its occupation of Shushi

(Greek City Times)—Azerbaijan is using every means at their disposal
to normalise and promote their occupation of the Armenian city of
Shushi, which they call Shusha (Şuşa).

Thessaloniki was not spared from this propaganda effort, with a bus in
Greece’s second city promoting Azerbaijan’s occupation of Shushi.

Such a challenge did not escape the attention of the Armenian
community in Greece, who asked authorities to remove the
advertisements, something which was done without hesitation.

Although the advertisement has been removed, it does bring into
question why it was ever allowed to be displayed.

The Azeri military captured the historic Armenian city of Shushi from
local forces on November 8, 2020 during last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh
War.

Although a historically Armenian city, Shushi had a mixed
Armenian-Azeri population until the Shushi pogrom of 1920 when
Azerbaijani forces destroyed the Armenian half of the city and killed
or expulsed its Armenian population of around 20,000 people.

Due to the strategic advantage of the city, which directly overlooks
the Nagorno-Karabakh capital of Stepanakert, the capture of Shushi
became a decisive moment in the war, especially as Armenia surrendered
and Azerbaijan declared victory a few days later.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

5-         Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19

Armenia continues the fight against COVID-19, as the country continues
promoting the vaccination phase.

The U.S. State Department on July 26 warned American citizens to
reconsider travel to Armenia due to the increase in cases of the
Covid-19.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a
Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Armenia due to COVID-19, indicating a
high level of COVID-19 in the country,” said the State Department.

The State Department also urged U.S. citizens not to travel to the
Nagorno-Karabakh region due to armed conflict.

“The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S.
citizens in Nagorno-Karabakh as U.S. government employees are
restricted from traveling there,” the State Department added.

WHO, with funding from the European Union, in September supplied X-ray
equipment to 7 COVID-19 frontline hospitals – 1 in the capital Yerevan
and in 6 other cities in Armenia.

A new law came into effect on October 1, by order of the Armenian
Ministry of Health, which mandates that all workers be vaccinated;
those who are not vaccinated must submit a certificate confirming the
negative result of the COVID-19 PCR test every 14 days. Those who do
not comply with the mandate face fines and penalties.

Armenia has the lowest vaccination rate in the region and Europe, with
only about 10 percent of its population having been inoculated against
COVID-19 so far. 620,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine were donated to
Armenia by Norway with the support of the EU Civil Protection
Mechanism within the framework of the Team Europe initiative is
already in Armenia.

“The entire infrastructure is ready to carry out a large number of
vaccinations. I add that vaccination does not exclude the disease, but
reduces the risk of contagion”, Armenian Health Minister Anahit
Avanesyan reported during a recent press conference, adding that the
late entry into force of the restrictive measures was a shortcoming of
her department. According to the minister, they are currently
considering the option of requesting certification of negativity from
Covid or vaccination to enter restaurants and attend concerts.

There were 14,387 active cases in Armenia as of November 29. Armenia
has recorded 338,120 coronavirus cases and 7,535 deaths; 316,198 have
recovered.

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Courier. Letters to the editor are encouraged through our e-mail
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RFE/RL Armenian Report – 11/29/2021

Markos Nalchajian 
                                        Monday, 
Armenia Also Imposes Omicron Travel Ban
        • Robert Zargarian
Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed stock graph and words 
"Omicron SARS-CoV-2" in this illustration taken, November 27, 2021.
Armenia will temporarily bar entry of residents of South Africa and seven other 
regional states in a bid to protect its population against the new coronavirus 
variant Omicron, Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said on Monday.
The heavily mutated variant first detected in South Africa earlier this month is 
believed to be highly transmissible and potentially resistant to coronavirus 
vaccines. It now seems to be spreading around the world, leading many countries 
to impose travel restrictions.
Avanesian said the Armenian government will take similar measures affecting 
citizens of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Mozambique, 
Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
“The entry of people from these countries to the Republic of Armenia will be 
temporarily restricted,” she told a news conference.
The minister echoed concerns about Omicron’s possible ability to evade existing 
vaccines protecting people against COVID-19. Still, she made clear that the 
government will continue to encourage Armenians to get inoculated.
According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, only about 436,400 people in the 
country of about 3 million have been fully vaccinated to date.
Avanesian announced that after weeks of deliberations the government has decided 
to introduce on January 1 a mandatory health pass for entry to cultural and 
leisure venues. Only those people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or 
have had a recent negative test will be allowed to visit bars, restaurants and 
other public venues, she said.
The daily number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in Armenia 
began declining about two weeks ago after several months of steady increase that 
overwhelmed the national healthcare system. The Ministry of Health recorded 189 
cases and 21 deaths on Sunday, the lowest figures reported in weeks.
Court Extends Arrest Of Former Armenian Defense Minister
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan at a news conference in 
Yerevan, April 9, 2019.
A court in Yerevan has extended the pretrial detention of Davit Tonoyan, a 
former defense minister facing corruption charges strongly denied by him.
Tonoyan, two generals and an arms dealer were arrested by the National Security 
Service (NSS) two months ago in a criminal investigation into supplies of 
allegedly outdated rockets to Armenia’s armed forces. The NSS charged them with 
fraud and embezzlement that cost the state almost 2.3 billion drams ($4.7 
million). All four suspects deny any wrongdoing.
Tonoyan’s lawyers again dismissed the accusations as baseless on Monday in 
response to a weekend court ruling allowing NSS investigators to hold Tonoyan in 
pretrial detention for two more months. In a statement, they claimed that the 
investigators lack “professional knowledge” of weaponry and ammunition and are 
simply keen to discredit the former defense minister.
“We again want to bring the political leadership’s attention to the 
non-objective investigation conducted with regard to Davit Tonoyan,” they said.
The NSS said in September that a private intermediary delivered the rockets to 
Armenia in 2011 and that the Defense Ministry refused to buy them after 
discovering that they are unusable.
Seyran Ohanian, Armenia’s defense minister from 2008 to 2016, confirmed 
afterwards that they were not accepted by the military during his tenure. 
Ohanian, who is now a senior opposition lawmaker, said the rebuff forced the 
supplier to store them at a Defense Ministry arms depot.
Citing the secrecy of the ongoing probe, the NSS has declined to publicly 
specify the date of the supply contract subsequently signed by the Defense 
Ministry or give other details.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian appointed Tonoyan as defense minister just days 
after coming to power in May 2018. Tonoyan was sacked in November 2020 less than 
two weeks after a Russian-brokered agreement stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Some senior pro-Pashinian parliamentarians blamed him for Armenia’s defeat in 
the six-week war. The prime minister faced angry opposition demonstrations at 
the time.
New Power Plant Inaugurated In Armenia
        • Emil Danielyan
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other officials attend the 
inauguration of a newly built power plant in Yrevan, .
A German-Italian consortium inaugurated on Monday a thermal power plant built by 
it in Yerevan as part of a $270 million project approved by the Armenian 
government.
The 254-megawatt facility is expected to enable Armenia to use less natural gas 
for electricity generation. It will also diversify foreign ownership in the 
country’s energy sector.
The ArmPower consortium consists of a subsidiary of Germany’s Siemens group and 
two Italian companies. One of them, Renco, is the main engineering, procurement 
and construction contractor in the project.
Renco had supposedly launched the project in March 2017 with a ground-breaking 
ceremony attended by then President Serzh Sarkisian.
Armenia’s current government froze, however, Renco’s contract with the Sarkisian 
administration shortly after taking office in May 2018. It said the deal is not 
beneficial for the Armenian side and must be renegotiated.
The two sides signed a revised deal in November 2018. Armenian officials said at 
the time that the Renco-led consortium agreed to cut its electricity tariff by 5 
percent. That, they said, will allow Armenia to save $160 million in energy 
expenses over the next 25 years.
Armenia -- The site of a new power plant built by a German-Italian consortium in 
Yerevan, July 12, 2019.
Work on the new power plant began in earnest in July 2019 four months after 
ArmPower secured more than $200 million in loans and loan guarantees from 
several international lenders, notably the Washington-based International 
Finance Corporation (IFC).
The plant was inaugurated in the presence of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and 
Renco’s chief executive, Giovanni Rubini. An Armenian government statement on 
the ceremony said its electricity will be cheaper than power supplies coming 
from other gas-powered plants that currently meet roughly one-third of Armenia’s 
energy needs.
One of them was constructed in Yerevan in 2010 with a $247 million loan provided 
by Japan. The state-owned facility has a capacity of 242 megawatts.
Renco has done business in Armenia since the early 2000s. It was not involved in 
the local energy sector until its latest project, investing instead in luxury 
housing, hotels and office buildings. But the Italian company has built, 
installed or operated power generation and distribution facilities in other 
parts of the world.
Court Upholds Acquittal Of Kocharian
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian speaks at a news conference, 
Yerevan, October 4, 2021.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals has rejected prosecutors’ demands to overturn a lower 
court’s decision to throw out controversial coup charges that were brought 
against former President Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian and three other former officials were prosecuted in connection with 
the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan. Anna Danibekian, a district court 
judge presiding over their trial, acquitted them in early April ten days after 
the Constitutional Court declared the charges unconstitutional.
The trial prosecutors appealed against the acquittal. They demanded that the 
Court of Appeals allow investigators to charge the defendants with abuse of 
power and order Danibekian to resume the coup trial.
The Court of Appeals rejected the prosecutors’ appeal in a ruling announced late 
on Friday. One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hovannes Khudoyan, welcomed the decision.
A spokesman for the Office of the Prosecutor told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that 
the law-enforcement agency will look into the ruling before deciding whether to 
appeal to the Court of Cassation, the country’s highest body of criminal justice.
Kocharian, his former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and two retired army 
generals have said all along that the coup charges leveled against them are 
politically motivated. Lawyers representing them maintain that Danibekian’s 
decision to clear them of the alleged “overthrow of the constitutional order” 
stemmed from Armenian law.
The judge also ruled on April 6 that Kocharian and Gevorgian will continue to 
stand trial on separate bribery charges which they also strongly deny. Court 
hearings on that case resumed in July.
Kocharian, who is highly critical of Armenia’s current leadership, was first 
arrested in July 2018 shortly after the “velvet revolution” that brought Nikol 
Pashinian to power. He was set free on bail in June 2020.
The 67-year-old ex-president set up an opposition alliance in May this year. It 
finished second in parliamentary elections held in June.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

CivilNet: Will Iran-Azerbaijan tensions backfire on Aliyev’s regime?

Boris Nahapetian
CIVILNET.AM

29 Nov, 2021 11:11

Eldar Mamedov, an adviser for the Socialists & Democrats groups in the European Parliament, speaks to CivilNet’s Emilio Luciano Cricchio, in a personal capacity, about the impact of the latest tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan.

Emilio Cricchio: Azerbaijan has put customs check-points on parts of the road, which link the Armenian cities of Goris and Kapan. Those sections of the road pass through Azerbaijani controlled territory. The previous closure of this road and the arrest of Iranian truck-drivers triggered tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan. How do you think Tehran will react this time?

Eldar Mamedov: The truck drivers were released, and Tehran committed to not let its trucks go to the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. So, Baku feels it has “won”. However, Tehran also decided that it would prefer Armenia, and not Azerbaijan, as its preferred route for north-south trade. It’s a political decision that shows a displeasure with Baku, and signals Iran’s intention to balance Azerbaijan off in the long run. 

EC: In the last few months, there has been a lot of talk about tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran. There were military drills on the new Iran-Azerbaijan border. There were sabre rattling statements out of both Baku and Tehran, even the office of the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in Baku was closed. But, has the situation deescalated, it seems Azerbaijan-Iran tensions aren’t in the headlines as much. Was this just an episode or something that will continue into the future in your opinion?

EM: It is true that the tensions have dissipated, but long-term relations will remain volatile. Not only was Iran’s Supreme Leader’s office closed in Baku, but also a number of Shia clerics were detained, one of them charged with treason, and a number of Shia religious websites were closed for their supposed “association” with Iran – even though the evidence for such things is rather flimsy. Azerbaijani pro-government media outlets continue pouring anti-Iran rhetoric. 

On the other hand, in Iran there is a growing awareness of the challenge of Azerbaijan, its close relations with Turkey and Israel, and what resurgent irredentism concerning so-called “southern Azerbaijan” (Iran’s northern provinces) presents for Iran. There is growing political pressure from sectors of society, diplomatic, intellectual and security environments to take the “pan-Turkist” threat to Iran seriously. It is noteworthy that Iranian Azeris are often at the vanguard of such demands. Many of them don’t see Baku as a beacon to which they should strive to “liberate themselves from the Persian yoke”, as Azeri ethno-nationalists would have it, but to the contrary, they see it as a renegade territory that should “rejoin the Iranian motherland”, from which it was separated as a result of the Russo-Persian wars in the early 19th century. The growing prominence of such narratives is a new phenomenon which is a direct consequence of the latest spat between Iran and Azerbaijan.

EC: How does Azerbaijan’s ruling elite and population view Iran in the context of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Is Iran viewed as pro-Armenia?

EM: The ruling elite and associated journalists and opinion leaders share a negative outlook on Iran. Not only do they see Iran as essentially pro-Armenian, but also as an embodiment of everything they, the elite, don’t want to be: “oriental”, Persian, overtly Muslim and Shia. A combination of the Turkic ethnic nationalism, militant secularism and remnants of Soviet modernism that used to see Iran as a backward society predetermine the views of the Azeri elite on Iran. This attitude is also evident in attempts to minimize historical Iranian influence on culture in the Republic of Azerbaijan, including appropriating the Iranian poet Nizami Ganjevi who happened to live on the territory of contemporary Azerbaijan in the 12th century but wrote in Persian, using a musical instrument called the tar, etc.

The attitudes of the broader population are more difficult to gauge as there are no credible sociological surveys in Azerbaijan. It would be fair to suggest, however, that especially outside Baku, attitudes are not that hostile. In the villages around Baku and in the south of Azerbaijan there are still pockets of devout Shia believers who may not all sympathize with Iran’s policies, but do not share the strongly negative outlook of the elites. 

EC: How do Iranian and Azerbaijani societies perceive each other? What about the Azeri population of Iran? Are they culturally more closer to Azerbaijan or to Iran?

EM: What the latest crisis exposed is the little mutual interest and appreciation beyond the cliches. Many in Azerbaijan have difficulty understanding why Iran, for example, has relations with Armenia and why they are important for Tehran, and the reality and historical rootedness of the Armenian community in Iran. Many in Baku just assume that Iran as a Muslim country should simply automatically and unconditionally side with them in their conflict with Armenia. 

Conversely, while on the official level Iran has accepted the existence of the Republic of Azerbaijan as an independent state, there is little understanding and curiosity as to what drives its foreign policies and choice of allies. Iran has irrevocably lost the soft power struggle over Azerbaijan to Turkey. The Islamic Republic’s system of governance is not attractive to the majority of people in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In part due to American sanctions, Iran is also not seen as a promising economic partner too.  

At the same time, there is booming medical tourism from Azerbaijan, particularly southern regions, to Iran. Which is quite ironic: people from the ostensibly “modern”, secular society going to the supposedly “backward” Islamic Republic for the simplest of medical operations. 

As to the Azeri population of Iran, culturally it would be fair to say they are indistinguishable from other ethnic groups in Iran, chiefly Persians. While they share the language with their co-ethnic group on the northern side of the Araz river, their culture was shaped by the fact that they remained part of Iran after the Russo-Persian wars in the 19th century. 

EC: Many Iranian officials made references to Azerbaijan’s relationship with Israel. How does Israel fit into this dynamic between Iran and Azerbaijan?

EM: Azerbaijan’s ties to Israel are clearly a key irritant in bilateral relations. Iranian officials believe, for example, that Azerbaijan aided Israel in assassinating the nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizade in 2020. The perception of Israel expanding its hold in Azerbaijan after the Second Karabakh War in 2020 is a major concern for Iran, and one of the reasons for the recent spat between Tehran and Baku.

EC: You wrote an article, in which you said that the United States is encouraging Azerbaijan to stoke tensions with Tehran. You write “an array of Washington think-tanks sought to expand the conflict with Iran,” can you unpack this for us?

EM: I referred to a specific group of Washington think-tank pundits who for years promoted tensions with Iran, rather than the current US government. Many of these think-tanks, like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), influenced Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. They are very critical of Biden’s attempts to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran. So, they used the Armenia-Azerbaijan war to try to expand the conflict to Iran. The plan is to get Iranian Azeris excited about Azeri ethno-nationalism and incite them against the government in Tehran. Undermining Iran from within, or ideally, provoking its disintegration along ethnic lines, which would benefit Israel, according to these pundits. And Israel was always at the center of their interest in the Middle East. Azerbaijan, in this context, is seen as a useful tool in achieving these goals. 

EC: What do you think is next? You mention in the article that Iran is an expert in asymmetrical warfare, could this be a pandora’s box for Aliyev and his administration?

EM: Indeed, Aliyev’s policies are likely to backfire. Iran will probably keep trying to build up proxies or allies in Azerbaijan. So far it wasn’t very successful in this effort, but it will keep trying. Aliyev, ironically, is facilitating that task for Tehran – by systematically marginalizing the secular opposition, it opens up more space for religiously-oriented ones. Socio-economic difficulties and widespread corruption will continue to increase the pool of the disaffected. The victorious post-war euphoria can, for a while, mitigate these risks for the regime, but not indefinitely. In this context, arresting Shia clerics can be seen as a preemptive step highlighting the government’s sense of vulnerability. 

At the same time, the likelihood of bilateral tensions erupting into a full-fledged military conflagration is low – as neighbours, Iran and Azerbaijan share a lot of interdependencies. Recently prospective oil and gas related deals between Tehran and Baku were announced. It shows that, alongside tensions, there are also economic interests that might mitigate them. We have to, however, see the details of these deals more clearly. It happened in the past that Iran and Azerbaijan announced ambitious plans in the economic sphere which didn’t eventually amount to much.

EC: And finally, how do you think Armenia fits into this? There are multiple perspectives in Armenia, some believe that deteriorating relations between Iran and Azerbaijan will align Iran more closely with Armenian interests. Others believe that a new conflict or hostile relationship on Armenia’s doorstep is problematic. What do you think about Armenia’s place in all this?

EM: The Armenian experts are obviously best placed to answer this question, but I think that Armenia has really few good geopolitical options. Relations with Iran, which are traditional and historically rooted, are in any case of strategic interest to the Republic of Armenia independent of the state of Iranian-Azerbaijani relations. 

From an Armenian perspective, however, I think it would be a mistake to count too much on Iran’s problems with Azerbaijan in the long term. Relations may be tense and volatile, but there is also an element of interdependence that probably won’t let deterioration go too far.

What, in my opinion, the politically active Armenian diaspora could do in countries like the US or France is to use its influence to join forces with those organizations that promote engagement with Iran. An Iran that is fully “normalized” and integrated into the world economy would improve Armenia’s situation. It, of course, is a delicate balancing act to perform as US relations with Iran are bad, and no one wants to be made a target for supposedly “siding with an enemy”. But there are growing constituencies in the US, from the progressive left to the libertarian right, who are tired of “endless wars”, particularly in the Middle East, and are trying to shape a different US foreign policy in that region – one based on diplomatic and economic engagement rather than military dominance. I think it is in the natural interest of the Armenians worldwide to support that tendency.

By Emilio Luciano Criccio

CivilNet: SMART Debet Project with Children of Armenia Fund: What changed in the village?

Markos Nalchajian
CIVILNET.AM

29 Nov, 2021 08:11

The residents of Debet village, located in the mountains of Armenia’s Lori region have one goal: to turn it into a smart village. 

The Children of Armenia Fund, in collaboration with Debet’s municipality, has decided to give a modern boost to the village with the SMART Debet program. The community will be completely transformed in just a few years, through innovative infrastructure and new businesses. 

How is the progress so far? 

CivilNet: 211 new buses hit Yerevan’s streets

Christine Harutyunian
CIVILNET.AM

29 Nov, 2021 10:11

  • Australia’s House of Representatives unanimously adopts a resolution calling on the government to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
  • Yerevan’s municipality has acquired 211 new buses for the capital’s public transportation fleet.
  • A new 254MW thermal power plant opens in Yerevan.