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Category: 2021

Congressman Schiff urges State Department to pressure Azerbaijan to abide by ceasefire

Lilit Nahapetian
Panorama, Armenia
July 29 2021

Congressman Adam Schiff condemned Azerbaijan’s latest attack against Armenia, killing 3 Armenian soldiers.

“Reports that Azerbaijani Armed Forces violated the ceasefire agreement with Armenia, killing three Armenian soldiers and seriously wounding two others at the border are alarming. If true, this would constitute yet another deadly act of aggression by Azerbaijan that, if allowed to escalate, could result in further violence, death, and destruction,” he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

“We must acknowledge the fact that continued United States assistance to the Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan provides no disincentive to their aggression and poses an imminent threat to Armenians. I’m urging the Department of State and Secretary Blinken to speak out about the events of the last 24 hours, and pressure Azerbaijan to abide by the ceasefire. The United States should never provide military funds or support to a country that routinely violates human rights and encroaches on the independence of its neighbor. It’s time for accountability,” Schiff said.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said later on Wednesday that four Armenian servicemen had been wounded in the Azerbaijani attack.

An agreement on restoring the ceasefire on the Gegharkunik section of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border was reached at the mediation of the command of Russian peacekeeping forces on Wednesday. The ceasefire went into effect at 10am local time.

However, the Azerbaijani forces again violated the ceasefire early on Thursday, opening fire at the Armenian positions, as a result of which another Armenian soldier was injured. The situation on the border area was calm as of 9:30am.

House passes Pallone Amendment, cutting U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan

Yeghisabet Arthur
Panorama, Armenia
July 29 2021

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to restrict U.S. foreign military financing and training assistance to Azerbaijan, passing a bipartisan, ANCA-backed amendment led by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and twenty of his House colleagues, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The Pallone Amendment states, “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act [H.R.4373] under ‘International Military Education and Training’ and ‘Foreign Military Financing Program’ may be made available for Azerbaijan.”

The provision does not block discretionary military equipment, which may be transferred by the Department of Defense under U.S. laws Section 333. The ANCA is working with Senate and House Members of the Armed Services Committee to address those concerns by strengthening Section 907 restrictions on U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan.

Frank Pallone welcomed the House passage of the amendment.

“Amidst ongoing Azerbaijani aggression in the region, I am proud this funding bill includes unprecedented support for Armenia and sends a clear signal to Azerbaijan that the United States will not tolerate authoritarian regimes that threaten peace and stability,” he said.

One Armenian soldier injured as Azerbaijani forces again fire on Armenian positions – Defense Ministry

Ara Felekian
Panorama, Armenia
July 29 2021

The Azerbaijani military once again opened fire at the Armenian positions stationed in the Gegharkunik section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on Thursday, at around 8:40am, the Defense Ministry of Armenia reports.

A short shootout followed. The Azerbaijani fire stopped after the actions taken by the Armenian army units.

One Armenian serviceman sustained a gunshot wound as a result of the July 29 provocations, the ministry said.

As of 9:30am, the situation was calm, it added.

Azerbaijan violates ceasefire, again opens fire at Armenian positions in Gegharkunik – Defense Ministry

Edgar Tavakalian
Panorama, Armenia
July 29 2021

On Thursday, July 29, at around 3am, the Azerbaijani troops, violating the ceasefire agreement reached the day before, again resorted to provocation opening fire from firearms at the Armenian positions in the Gegharkunik section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, in the direction of Karvachar.

In an official statement, the Defense Ministry of Armenia said after the retaliatory actions of the Armenian side, the fire stopped.

As of 7am, the situation was calm, there were no shootings.

An agreement on restoring the ceasefire on the north-eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border was reached at the mediation of the command of Russian peacekeeping forces on Wednesday. The ceasefire went into effect at 10am local time.

Three Armenian servicemen were killed and four others were injured as a result of the military operations launched by the Azerbaijani forces. One of the injured soldiers is said to be in critical condition.

World-renowned tenor Joseph Calleja performs Spendiaryan’s ‘Oh Rose’ with Armenian State Symphony Orchestra

Ani Basmajian
Panorama, Armenia
July 29 2021

Culture 11:23 29/07/2021Armenia

The June 18 concert performed by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and celebrated Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja at Dubai Opera was highly acclaimed by the audience.

At the recommendation of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and its conductor Sergey Smbatyan, famous Armenian composer Alexander Spendiaryan’s romance “Oh Rose” (Ay Vard) was also included in the concert program along with famous arias and overtures and was brilliantly performed by Joseph Calleja exclusively for this concert evening. It is worth noting that the world-famous opera singer performed the romance in the year marking the great composer’s 150th anniversary, the State Symphony Orchestra said in a press release on Thursday.

The Armenian State Symphony Orchestra presents works by Armenian composers regularly on stages around the world. One of the most essential missions of the orchestra is the promotion of Armenian classical music among celebrated musicians by introducing different works into their repertoires.

Joseph Calleja is an awaited guest at most outstanding opera houses across the world. He performs with prominent orchestras at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, as well as opera houses in Los Angeles, Vienna, Frankfurt and elsewhere. His repertoire includes leading arias of over thirty operas, while his performances of the Duke from “Rigoletto” and Alfredo from “La Traviata” by Verdi, Rodolfo from Puccini’s “La Boheme” and others are among the most beloved pieces by the worldwide audiences.

Protests near Armenia government against residential building near large research institute

Aram Torosian
News.am, Armenia
July 29 2021
12:59, 29.07.2021

On July 29, a protest action is held near the building of the Government of Armenia. Its participants are protesting over the decision to build a residential structure on the territory of the Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Pharmacology of the Academy of Sciences.

“There is no need to build a residential building on this territory, after that the institute will be liquidated and various residential buildings will be built. This institute has expensive equipment, it is sensitive, any construction work is dangerous for it. They want to build a multifunctional residential building on the territory of the pool,” protester Susanna Tosunyan said.

Another protester explained in detail what was the matter. According to him, back in 2017, the territory of the basin located on the territory of the institute was illegally alienated.

“Since then, 10-15 owners have changed who wanted to build a residential building. The meaning of our today’s action is that no one has comprehensively studied the risks that the institute may be exposed to after such a decision,” he said.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 07/29/2021

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Thursday, July 29, 2021
Armenia To Buy 500,000 More Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines
July 29, 2021
        • Tatevik Lazarian
Canada - Empty vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) 
vaccine are seen at The Michener Institute, in Toronto.
The Armenian government said on Thursday that it will buy 500,000 doses of 
coronavirus vaccines soon to step up its vaccination campaign which has made 
slow progress so far.
The government allocated about 3.5 billion drams ($7.3 million) for the purchase 
of 300,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and 200,000 doses of another 
COVID-19 jab developed by China’s Sinopharm corporation.
A government statement said that they will be shipped to Armenia through the 
World Health Organization’s global COVAX Facility scheme. It gave no concrete 
time frames for their delivery.
According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, the country of about 3 million has 
received a total of 272,460 doses of AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Coronavac 
vaccines to date.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said 
only about 163,000 vaccine shots have been administered since the launch of the 
government’s immunization campaign in April.
The official figure stood at just over 131,000 on July 19 and more than 152,500 
on July 26, suggesting that roughly 3,000 Armenians are inoculated on a daily 
basis at present.
The vaccination process progressed much more slowly until this month. Avanesian 
expressed hope that it will accelerate further after the delivery of the new 
batches of vaccines.
The minister at the same time reaffirmed government plans for administrative 
measures designed to encourage people to get vaccinated. In particular, she told 
reporters, public sector employees as well as workers of companies providing 
public services may soon be required to take regular coronavirus tests at their 
own expense in case of refusing vaccination.
An opinion poll commissioned by the U.S. International Republican Institute and 
released in April suggested that 71 percent of Armenians do not want to get 
vaccinated.
Avanesian insisted on Monday that public attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines 
have changed significantly since then. But she said many people are in no rush 
to get them because of relatively low coronavirus infection rates recorded by 
Armenian health authorities since the beginning of June.
The minister reiterated on Thursday that the daily number of coronavirus cases 
is now rising slowly but steadily and that the vaccines are essential for 
preventing another wave of infections this fall.
The Ministry of Health reported that 233 people tested for the coronavirus in 
the past day, up from less than 100 cases a day routinely recorded in June. It 
also registered 10 more deaths directly or indirectly caused by COVID-19.
U.S. House Curbs Military Aid To Azerbaijan
July 29, 2021
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are sworn in on the House floor on 
the first day of the new session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, 
U.S. January 3, 2017.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted late on Wednesday to restrict U.S. 
military assistance to Azerbaijan because of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
A bipartisan amendment co-sponsored by about two dozen pro-Armenian lawmakers 
blocks any such aid that can be provided under Washington’s Foreign Military 
Financing and International Military Education and Training programs.
“This bill sends a clear signal that we will not aid or tolerate authoritarian 
regimes that threaten peace and security, especially when those actions are 
aimed at a fellow democracy,” said congressman Frank Pallone, the main author of 
the measure hailed by Armenian-American lobby groups.
“The House today took a principled, bipartisan stand against Azerbaijan, 
overwhelmingly voting down U.S. military aid in response to Baku’s 
ethnic-cleansing of Artsakh (Karabakh) and ongoing aggression against Armenia,” 
said Raffi Hamparian, the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America 
(ANCA).
“This amendment sends the right message that Azerbaijan will not be rewarded for 
its hostile actions against the Armenian people,” said Mariam Khaloyan of the 
Armenian Assembly of America.
Nagorno-Karabakh - U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone (R) and Tulsi Gabbard meet 
officials in Stepanakert, 20Sep2017.
The bill does not bar the U.S. Department of Defense from continuing to transfer 
military equipment to Azerbaijan.
The U.S. Congress had banned any kind of direct assistance to Baku through 
Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act passed in 1992. But a decade later it 
allowed U.S. administrations to waive the ban to help Azerbaijan’s military and 
security agencies.
The administration of former President Donald Trump significantly increased the 
security aid to Baku, reportedly providing over $100 million worth of equipment 
and other assistance to Azerbaijan’s State Border Guard Service in 2018-2019 
alone.
Azerbaijani border guards also participated in last year’s Armenian-Azerbaijani 
war in Karabakh. Many of them are now deployed along Azerbaijan’s border with 
Armenia where serious cross-border skirmishes have been a regular occurrence for 
the last two months.
During the autumn war, then Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden urged 
the Trump administration to freeze U.S. aid and “stop the flow of military 
equipment to Azerbaijan.”
But Biden too waived Section 907 in April this year three months after being 
sworn in as U.S. president. The U.S. House expressed concern over the waiver on 
Wednesday.
U.S. Urges Armenia, Azerbaijan To De-Escalate Violence
July 29, 2021
U.S. -- State Department spokesperson Ned Price pauses while speaking during a 
media briefing at the State Department in Washington, July 7, 2021
The United States has condemned the latest deadly skirmishes on the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to take 
“immediate steps to de-escalate the situation.”
“The United States condemns the recent escalation of violence along the 
international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the State Department 
spokesman, Ned Price, said in a statement issued on Wednesday after three 
Armenian soldiers were killed in border clashes with Azerbaijani troops.
Philip Reeker, the acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and 
Eurasian affairs, expressed concern at the deadly fighting in a phone call with 
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. The latter blamed Armenia for the 
escalation.
The Armenian military says that the fighting broke out when Azerbaijani troops 
tried to capture one of its border outposts in Armenia’s northeastern 
Gegharkunik province.
Tensions in Gegharkunik’s border zone steadily increased over the past week. The 
U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, visited the mountainous area on Monday.
“Continued tensions along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border underscore the fact that 
only a comprehensive resolution that addresses all outstanding issues can 
normalize relations between the two countries and allow the people of the region 
to live together peacefully,” said Price.
He said Baku and Yerevan should “return as soon as possible to substantive 
discussions under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to achieve a 
long-term political settlement to the conflict.”
In a joint statement released in April, the U.S., Russian and French mediators 
co-heading the Minsk Group likewise called for renewed talks on a “comprehensive 
and sustainable” resolution of the Karabakh conflict based on their pre-war 
peace proposals.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday again accused Baku of 
continuing to ignore the mediators’ appeal.
Armenia Seeks More Russian Troop Deployments On Azeri Border
July 29, 2021
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - An Armenian solider at an army outpost on the border with Azerbaijan, 
July 22, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian proposed that Russia deploy more troops along 
Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan after Armenian and Azerbaijani forces stationed 
there again exchanged fire early on Thursday.
Tensions rose further in recent days at border sections separating Armenia’s 
northeastern Gegharkunik province from the Kelbajar district handed back to 
Azerbaijan after the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Three Armenian soldiers were killed and four others wounded there early on 
Wednesday in what the Armenian military described as a failed Azerbaijani 
attempt to capture one of its border posts in the mountainous area. Baku accused 
the Armenian side of provoking one of the worst armed incidents reported in the 
Karabakh conflict zone after the six-week war.
The heavy fighting stopped later on Wednesday after the two sides reached a 
ceasefire agreement brokered by Moscow.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijani forces breached the truce 
and again fired at its troops on Thursday morning. It said an Armenian army 
officer was wounded as a result.
“Contrary to efforts of the Armenian government and the international community, 
the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is not stabilizing,” said 
Pashinian. “Azerbaijan is carrying on with aggressive rhetoric and actions while 
ignoring the international community’s proposals aimed at a political and 
long-term settlement of the conflict.”
“Given the current situation, I think it makes sense to consider the deployment 
of Russian border guard outposts along the entire Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” 
he said at the start of a weekly meeting of his cabinet. “It would enable us to 
carry out border delimitation and demarcation without a risk of armed clashes.”
“We are going to discuss this subject with our Russian partners,” added 
Pashinian.
A Russian military post on a highway running along the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
border.
Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, already deployed army soldiers and 
border guards to the South Caucasus country’s Syunik province late last year to 
defend it against possible Azerbaijani attacks. Syunik borders districts 
southwest of Karabakh which were retaken by Azerbaijan during the war stopped by 
a Russian-brokered ceasefire in November.
A senior Armenian official said on July 7 that Russia has begun preparations for 
a similar deployment to Gegharkunik’s volatile border areas. Moscow has still 
not publicly confirmed that.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to comment on Pashinian’s proposal. 
The RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as telling reporters that Moscow is 
making continuous efforts to strengthen the ceasefire regime and help Yerevan 
and Baku take confidence-building measures.
Asked whether Russia is ready to deploy border guards along Armenia’s entire 
border with Azerbaijan, Peskov said: “Contacts with Yerevan are going on. I have 
nothing to add.”
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.

Azerbaijani press: Baku, Oklahoma state mull smart village project in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands

George Mamian
29 July 2021 12:15 (UTC+04:00)
616

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan’s Transport, Communications and High Technologies Minister Rashad Nabiyev and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt have discussed the smart village project being implemented in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the digital transportation concept that is being developed currently in Azerbaijan.

Governor Stitt arrived in Baku on July 26 for a week-long trip to promote and expand Oklahoma’s strategic partnerships with Azerbaijan. He was received by President Ilham Aliyev on July 27.

Earlier, the governor also held a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, where the sides discussed US companies’ involvement in the reconstruction of Azerbaijan’s territories liberated from the Armenian occupation.

Additionally, during the meeting with Azerbaijan’s Defence Minister Zakir Hasanov, Stitt stressed his commitment to expanding the current military cooperation with Azerbaijan.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan has developed successful bilateral relations and cooperation with various US states, including Oklahoma (cooperating since the early 2000s). Oklahoma National Guard and the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry have been cooperating for about 20 years.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the US amounted to $260.2 million in the first half of 2021. In addition, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $660.8 million in 2020.



Turkish press: Armenia seeks greater Russian presence on Azerbaijan border

Khondkarian Raffi
 ISTANBUL EUROPE 
JUL 29, 2021 11:42 AM GMT+3

A member of the Russian peacekeeping troops walks by a tank near the border with Armenia, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Nov. 10, 2020. (Reuters Photo)

Armenia has reiterated its request for Russian military support. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday proposed that Russian border forces be stationed along the length of its border with Azerbaijan amid rising tensions between Yerevan and Baku, the TASS news agency reported.

Armenia and Azerbaijan accused each other earlier on Thursday of flouting a Russian-backed cease-fire that both sides had accepted the previous day to halt deadly clashes over their joint border, which Yerevan wants to be demarcated.

“Given the current situation, I think it makes sense to consider the question of stationing outposts of Russian border guards along the entire length of the Armenian-Azeri border,” Pashinian was quoted as saying at a government meeting.

He said that Yerevan was preparing to discuss that proposal with Moscow and that the move would allow work to be carried out on the demarcation and delimitation of the border without the risk of military clashes.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry said earlier that Azeri troops had opened fire on Armenian positions at the Gegharkunik section of the border in the early hours of Thursday morning, prompting Armenia to return fire.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said that Armenian forces had opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers in the direction of a village in the Kelbajar region, and had thrown hand grenades. It said its forces returned fire in a statement.

The cease-fire was called on Wednesday after one of the deadliest border incidents since last year’s six-week war between Armenian forces and Baku over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding areas.

Armenia said that three of its soldiers had been killed, with four of them injured. Azerbaijan said that two of its soldiers had been wounded.

In fighting from last September to November, Azerbaijani troops drove Armenian forces out of swathes of territory they had controlled since the 1990s in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh region, before Russia brokered a cease-fire.

A simmering border dispute between the two has since flared up, with both sides accusing each other of separate incursions into each others’ territory in recent months, highlighting the fragility of the cease-fire.

Armenia has frequently called for military support from Russia. In a fresh attempt of expanding its sphere of influence in the Caucasus region, Russia in May occupied two new sites in the south of Armenia near the Azerbaijani border as an “additional security guarantee” following last year’s conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

It also said it would continue to mediate and provide advisory assistance aimed at reaching an agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as the two countries look to settle border disputes that are nearly three decades old.

However, the one-sided and partial attitude of Russian military elements deployed in the Karabakh region to monitor a cease-fire deal signed in November in favor of the Armenian side has raised eyebrows in Azerbaijan.

Ankara has pledged its full support to Baku in its efforts to liberate its lands from Armenian occupation. Following the Nov. 10 signing of a Russia-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution, Turkey agreed with Russia that its troops would also monitor the cease-fire. Ankara and Moscow signed an agreement to establish a joint observation center in Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible.

Highlighting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Ilham Aliyev proposed a six-country platform for peace in the region in the postwar period, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş said Wednesday that Ankara and Baku are sincere and determined to create an environment where all countries of the region –Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Iran and Georgia – will solve their problems among themselves and make economic gains together.