Category: 2021

Armenian MP: Artsakh flag on wall near Shushi monument desecrated

Greg Madatian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 18 2021

An Artsakh flag depicted on a wall near the famous tank monument in Shushi has been desecrated in unknown circumstances, Armenian MP Tigran Abrahamyan, who represents the opposition With Honor faction, said on Friday, sharing a photo.

“Taking into account the fact that the line of contact with Azerbaijan is just above the monument, the Azerbaijanis presumably carried out an act of subversive infiltration, scraped the flag off the wall and left,” he wrote on Facebook.

The lawmaker stressed the need to reveal the circumstances in which the perpetrators crossed into the Armenian-held area.

“It can be assumed that the provocation was carried out by Azerbaijani forces, but in addition to the desecration of the Armenian symbol, it also shows the vulnerability of Artsakh's security, since the incident took place in the Armenian-controlled area near the Stepanakert-Shushi road,” Abrahamyan said.

“Taking into account the fact that we have a neighbor like Azerbaijan, such abhorrent acts are, unfortunately, expected, but our task must be to prevent Azerbaijani provocations, including incursions, by all possible means,” he added.

Artsakh people’s right to self-determination was the red line drawn with the blood and dignity of Armenian people – Serzh Sargsyan

Elizabeth Jabejian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 18 2021

The third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan spoke in detail of the Third Artsakh war and some of its circumstances and consequences during remarks at the 17th congress of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). He stressed that in 2020 the Armenian people faced a catastrophe that was unleashed by Azerbaijan with full support of Turkey behind its back. 

"I have always been in favor of compromise option for the peaceful resolution of the Artsakh issue – within a framework of red lines well perceived by us and the international community," Sargsyan stated, adding: "That red line, drawn with the blood and dignity of the Armenian people, is the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh. I have engaged in continuous negotiations for ten years on the basis of one supreme principle, which is – what are we going to get, not what we are yielding. In all the negotiation documents we have consistently developed the detailed mechanisms, processes and essential international guarantees for the implementation of the right of people of Artsakh for self-determination. I left such a package where all vital interests of our people had been fully protected, where Artsakh’s Armenianness in the future was guaranteed and it was acceptable for the international community as a whole and the co-chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group in particular. We had a strong voice in the diplomatic front and our positions were solid not only because of negotiation skills, or deep understanding of the nuances of Artsakh issue, or well-oiled work with the great powers, but also because of our glorious army, which had been victorious in the first war, and which was undergoing continuous modernisation, working on its mistakes and due to its patriotic spirit was ready to force the adversary back to the negotiation table each time after a good slap on its face in the frontline." 

Sargsyan stressed that he had never played the fool in the peace process, unlike what 'the capitulant was stupidly boasting in the internal meetings due to his provincialism.' "Instead, with other colleagues we have negotiated with sense of dignity and faithfully. Armenia has been a regional player in those years, full-fledged participant in relevant processes in the international community, a sovereign nation with strong core, legitimate aspirations and powerful army. Whereas this provincial charlatan thought that after deceiving the Armenian people he will trick the rest in the international community with similar success. A person who aspired to begin negotiations from “his own chapter”, the author of “I negotiate what I want to negotiate” cynical statement, someone who preferred to learn about the negotiation history from our enemy, who brought forward unnecessary conditions before the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, and as a result lost the support of our allies and partners, has shepherded the negotiation process to a deadlock and ruined the diplomatic trenches we digged and improved over years of intensive hard work, and brought war and catastrophe to our people as a result of all these."

Immediately after the war these capitulative authorities began glorifying our sons who were captured by the enemy, then were giving false promises to their families and relatives on the eve of the snap elections and urged them to wait for a few more months and promised to repatriate all those heroes later. A few more months passed, even a year, and having done literally nothing on their own, now they are meanly declaring that it should now be investigated in what circumstances those had been captured because possibly now they are deserters. Why did they not tell this a year ago? Why are they now blaming their own impotence onto our soldiers? Is this yet another scene in their scenario of fully undermining and discrediting our army? 

Sargsyan then raised a question that in his words has been an issue of concern for the society whether whether there had been any treason. "Yes, there was. Since they were ignorant to the extent of treason, treasonously careless, treasonously blind and deaf, treasonously anti-national and without sense of homeland and, meantime, treasonously arrogant and proud. I am sure that the whole truth about the Third Artsakh war will inevitably resurface and the state criminals will be subject to the most deserving punishment available to them. Only in that case the revenge for our sons buried in the Yerablur and other cemeteries across Armenian and Artsakh cities and towns will be taken. The pressure of their tombstones, erected to immortalize their memory in their homeland, will be a little alleviated, and the tears of those mourning their loss will not be this bitter," said Sargsyan.  

In the words of the former president, the Armenian people has got questions not only about domestic issues, which are about who, why and how caused this war. "Our people also has questions for those out of our country – which is why and how the civilized world of the 21st century has tolerated and thus indirectly encouraged the Azero-Turkish war crimes against our people, grave violations of internationally recognised human rights of those fallen victim of this aggression in Artsakh and Armenia. Thousands of irrefutable pieces of evidence have been published to testify all that."   

"New wars can and must be prevented, yet for that purpose we shall first and foremost look at the realities with open eyes and in a straightforward manner, speak about those issues honestly and be righteous when dealing with irrefutable pieces of evidence. More importantly, act before speaking, act without delay since thousands of human lives just depend on it. 

The Armenian people aspire for sustainable peace in the South Caucasus. We want stability and development based on norms of international law, mutual compromises and dignity, and not based on the ideas of those considering that the issue is resolved militarily and for good and Armenians have to be put into ghettos. 

Today, more than a year after the 44-day war, the evolving situation around Syunik and not only is very troubling. The violations of the Armenian territorial integrity are reprehensible. These events unfolded this way because of the capitulative and disgraceful authorities and their criminal inaction, wrong assessment of the situation, the deep crisis of their own making in the state governance and national security systems, as well as the calamitous situation caused by the latest war. These individuals still fail to understand, that the words of the state official and especially high-level officials are heard not only in Armenia, but well beyond our borders. There are numerous cases when the short-sighted thoughts of these individuals, as well as their stupid claims meant to cover up for the fatal mistakes made, are thereafter being used and cited against the interests of the Republic of Armenia," said Sargsyan. 

Armenia plans to spend $200 mln to restore railway section leading to Azerbaijan

Emil Lazarian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 18 2021

The Armenian government plans to restore 45 km of the Yeraskh – Julfa – Ordubad – Meghri – Horadiz section of the railway and spend $200 mln, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan has told TASS news agency

"According to preliminary estimates of experts, the indicative price of restoring sections of the railway passing through the territory of Armenia will be about $200 mln. The length of the section will total about 45 km, and the total length of the track is around 340 km," he noted, as quoted by the source. 

According to tgrigoryan, the railway route connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan will operate "under the accepted international rules for railway transportation, on the principles of reciprocity, and within the framework of the sovereignty and jurisdictions of the countries through whose territories it will pass".

Armenia plans to restore 45 km of railway section leading to Azerbaijan

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 18 2021
15:47, 18.12.2021

The Armenian government plans to restore 45 km of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz section of the railway, for which it will spend about $ 200 million, Deputy Prime Minister of the republic Mher Grigoryan told TASS on Saturday.

"According to preliminary estimates of experts, the indicative cost of restoring sections of railway tracks passing through the territory of Armenia will be about $ 200 million. The length of the section (across the territory of Armenia – approx. TASS) in aggregate will be about 45 km, and the total length of the track – about 340 km," he noted.

Ex-president says Armenian people will not beg for peace on humiliating terms

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 18 2021
17:50, 18.12.2021

Armenian ex-president Serzh Sargsyan said that the Armenian people are peaceful, but will not beg for peace on humiliating terms.

"We will not allow the traitors who surrendered the land to endlessly speculate in the name of the deceived, disappointed, suppressed by the defeat of the people, adopting anti-popular and anti-state decisions," he said.

 "The rootless populists who came to power on a wave of human emotions, expectations, inspiration very quickly forgot all their promises and attack our state with the most disgusting methods, anti-constitutional steps," he added.

"Illegal, anti-constitutional steps of the current regime take place in the conditions of cowardly behavior designed to protect the Constitution of the presidential institution, its criminal silence.

"Meanwhile, a few years ago, they would have made an elephant out of a fly, would have raised a fuss on international platforms, would have written reports, would have given interviews.

"The Armenian people are peaceful, but they will not beg for peace on humiliating terms, but will achieve a decent peace.

We will not allow the traitors who surrendered the land to endlessly speculate in the name of the deceived, disappointed, suppressed by the defeat of the people, taking anti-national and anti-state decisions," he added.

Phoney peace fails to break Armenia-Azerbaijan deadlock

Parkev Tvankchian
Dec 15 2021
Phoney peace fails to break Armenia-Azerbaijan deadlock

Since a ceasefire brought the 2020 Karabakh war to an end, peace initiatives have won only rhetorical support while the reasons driving conflict multiply.

EXPERT COMMENT

15 DECEMBER 2021

The 2020 Karabakh war was widely framed as breaking the preceding status quo of 26 years, but assessments of its transformative potential overlook the fact the war resulted in outcomes satisfying only a minority of stakeholders – Turkey and, to a considerable but ambiguous extent, Azerbaijan. Two false narratives have circulated widely which obscure this absence of consensus – that the war ‘ended’ the Karabakh conflict, and that Russia ‘won’ the war.

Two significant post-war dynamics contradict the notion that the Karabakh conflict is now resolved. The first is the widening of the spaces and issues in conflict. Azerbaijan’s restoration of sovereignty over territories it lost in 1990s surfaced the long-submerged issue of border demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani forces are now deployed across the border to occupy 40-100 square kilometres of Armenia’s territory.

Since no formal border has ever been demarcated, Azerbaijan maintains a ‘plausible deniability’ narrative about these deployments. Their purpose appears to be to compel Armenia to agree to Azerbaijani terms for a wider settlement, which include Armenia’s fulfilment of Article 9 – the final and most transformative clause of the 2020 ceasefire statement.

Russia’s intervention to bring the war to a close, and whether that was driven by grand strategy or tactical improvisation, will be keenly debated for years to come

Article 9 commits both parties to opening borders and transport links, and additionally commits Armenia to guaranteeing safe transit connecting mainland Azerbaijan and its exclave in Nakhichevan. Publicly, Azerbaijan frames this clause as a geopolitical prize allowing Azerbaijani citizens, vehicles, and goods transit using the corridor without customs checks. But this assertion of what is effectively a sovereign right of use leaves the discussion of corridors mired in a competitive understanding of sovereignty.

The second dynamic is the narrowing of active mediation efforts to focus only on issues appearing since the ceasefire. The OSCE’s Minsk Group – mandated to negotiate a comprehensive peace agreement – has struggled to reassert itself after being sidelined during the 2020 war.

Rather, the Minsk Group has become by default both the guardian of the most contested and difficult issue of all – the political identity of the Armenian population in Nagorny Karabakh – and the vehicle for this issue’s indefinite deferral to an uncertain future.

It is instead Russia’s trilateral formats of summits and a working group on infrastructure convened by the vice-prime ministers that now take the diplomatic centre stage but, despite feverish speculation, these did not result in the anticipated agreements to coincide with the end of the war’s first anniversary.

Russia’s diplomatic calendar is haphazardly subject to renewed frontline violence and competitive summitry, asserting a performative diplomacy and Russia’s dominance over other outside actors rather than a substantive diplomacy generating new agreements.

Turkey’s role is crucial because the combination of Russian and Turkish foreign policies have created a system of distinct but interconnected pressure points in the theatres where both powers are involved

Russia’s intervention to bring the war to a close, and whether that was driven by grand strategy or tactical improvisation, will be keenly debated for years to come but one popular view is Russia won the war by planting ‘boots on the ground’, excluding Euro-Atlantic actors, and securing new sources of leverage over both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

An alternative – and less ideological – view is that Turkey’s successful execution with Azerbaijan of a military operation bringing an external actor into the formerly Soviet space presented a shocking challenge to Russia’s assumed monopoly on security provision in former Soviet domains, as well as an ongoing quagmire which will continue to illustrate the limits of Russian power.

Moreover, Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh are present by mutual consent of Armenia and Azerbaijan and so, combined with the absence of a territorial proximity of their area of deployment with Russia, this introduces substantial conditionality to their presence. It is a two-way street when it comes to leverage, particularly in the relationship with Azerbaijan which is decidedly more ambivalent about Russia’s presence.

Russia’s capacity to actually keep the peace is also under constant interrogation and it has on at least two occasions taken the unusual – for this context – step of naming the party violating the ceasefire. But this had little impact in deterring either further violations or the large-scale Azerbaijani offensive witnessed on 16 November. Russia’s presence may deter the outbreak of sustained war, but it is insufficient to deter major offensives, skirmishes, or even civilian executions.

The compromised ceasefire relates to the fact that Azerbaijan can now ‘lean into’ Turkish patronage to resist Russian control. Turkey’s role is crucial because the combination of Russian and Turkish foreign policies have created a system of distinct but interconnected pressure points in the theatres where both powers are involved. Russia’s Karabakh policy – and enforcement capacity – is no longer independent of this wider system.

So, Russia must bear responsibility for a situation which satisfies no-one except possibly Turkey. It is responsible for both mediation and the containment of violence in a context where coercive bargaining has been normalized – and a wider regional context where Russia makes extensive use of coercive bargaining tactics. This is highly concerning when considering the parties’ continuing dissatisfaction with the new status quo.

The exposure of Azerbaijani society to the devastated wastelands of territory occupied by Armenian forces in 1992-3 was always going to elicit shock and trauma. And these reactions are then sustained by dozens of landmine casualties, including a reported 29 civilians, since the end of the war, but also a steady investment in enemy imagery, such as a horrific ‘trophy park’ in Baku which featured racialized waxwork caricatures of Armenian soldiers in various poses of distress – thankfully removed after Armenia and Azerbaijan both filed cases with the International Court of Justice relating to claims of racial discrimination.

Despite a decisive victory in 2020, Armenians are still presented to Azerbaijani society as a monolithic mythologized enemy to be dominated, instead of distinct real-world communities needing differentiated Azerbaijani approaches and policies. Mobilization around other ideas or values is meanwhile violently suppressed.

In late 2021 Azerbaijani forces shot dead three Karabakh Armenian civilians, reinforcing Karabakh Armenian fears that Azerbaijan has no other plan but their demographic attrition through intimidation. Azerbaijan also continues to hold an uncertain number of Armenian prisoners whose maltreatment has been attested to by human rights organizations.

 

Turkey, Armenia normalisation could occur ‘faster than expected’, says opposition deputy

Ani Kharatian
Dec 17 2021

  • Dec 17 2021 12:12 Gmt+3
  • Last Updated On: Dec 17 2021 12:14 Gmt+3

Garo Paylan, member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), told reporters on Wednesday that good faith and political will could allow for rapid normalisation in relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Paylan, who was born to an Armenian family in Istanbul, called on politicians from Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan to take responsibility “to have this window of opportunity result in peace”.

“I declare that I will take any and all responsibility in this regard, as a deputy in Turkey,” he said.

Azerbaijan, a historic ally to Turkey, has started peace talks with Armenia recently, following last year’s “tragic war”, Paylan said. “Especially in recent months, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev have been sending positive messages.”

The deputy had called a press conference following Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s comments on Monday that Turkey was appointing special representatives to kick-start a normalisation process with Armenia.

“It was a very important statement. I commend Mr Çavuşoğlu on this,” Paylan continued.

“We must decide on a road map for the normalisation, and it must start with measures to increase trust,” he said.

Çavuşoğlu also announced the start of charter flights between Yerevan and Istanbul.

“Flights starting is an important step. I believe economic relations must follow this step. And for that, the border gates must open,” Paylan said, also calling for the appointment of ambassadors from both countries.

Former ambassador to the United States Serdar Kılıç was appointed as special envoy later on Wednesday. Kılıç is known for his staunch opposition to the term ‘genocide’ being used for the events of 1915, when some 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians lost their lives.

Restart in Turkey-Armenia relations: What is Erdoğan seeking?

Emil Lazarian
Dec 17 2021
by IOANNA KLEFTOGIANNI

Turkey’s economy is in a precarious position, with the lira declining more and more everyday, reaching a record low, and intensifying instability and crisis in the neighbouring country.

Nevertheless, the specific situation was chosen by Ankara in order to “proceed with the normalisation of relations with Armenia,” as Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated in his speech to Parliament on the 2022 budget.

Çavuşoğlu said “we will soon appoint joint special representatives for the normalisation steps with Armenia. We will also start charter flights between Yerevan and Istanbul in the coming days.”

In a geopolitical quicksand, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is attempting to “open” an approach to Armenia by appointing a special envoy to Yerevan.

In the recent conflict between the two Caucasian countries, Turkey unapologetically supported the Azeri side. It should be recalled that the last attempts at a Turkey-Armenia rapprochement in 1993 failed.

International analysts wonder what Ankara intends to do with its initiative. And why now?

Does Turkey want to show the international community that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has been resolved?

It is the necessary and preconditional step before the establishment of the proposed “3 + 3” platform, a regional body comprising of South Caucasian states and their neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as Iran, Russia and Turkey.

“It is clear from the opening to Armenia that Erdoğan wants to play the role of regional ruler,” said the professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations. Center for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies at the Sotiris Roussos Institute of International Relations.

“He believes he can do it because the Armenians are in a very difficult position militarily and politically.

“The military is at its weakest point, as seen in the latest developments with the Azeris recently invading and occupying areas of Armenia and Yerevan seeking Moscow’s intervention,” said Professor Sotiris Roussos.

The Head of the Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies said “The Turkish President sees it as an opportunity to become a regional ruler, who will determine peace in this region, relations between the states, etc.”

“Erdoğan will not interfere with Georgia or other issues of the Caucasus (Ossetia, etc.)” as they are a “red line for the Russians,” he added.

The professor explained that since Armenia is “in a difficult position, obviously it will also talk to Turkey. But the talks between the two sides are not expected to lead anywhere.”

“Armenian distrust of Turkey is so great, especially after the role it played in the last war with Azerbaijan, that it is impossible for anything to really happen,” he concluded.

According to Vivi Kefala, professor of International Relations at the University of the Aegean, with the unexpected “opening” to Yerevan, Ankara is seeking “to attract public opinion, achieving a supposed success abroad.”

In addition, the professor added: “Turkey wants to play the benevolent giant of the region and therefore does everything because there is a ‘magic’ leader.”

On the other hand, if they are going to be members of the same “3 + 3” platform, obviously they will have to normalise their relations.

Undoubtedly, there is a background that has not seen the light of day. This move did not come out of nowhere, if you look at the map, you can see what happens to the oil pipelines.

“The pipelines are another reason why Erdoğan wants to normalise relations and wants to participate in this platform,” concluded the Middle East expert.

READ MORE: Professor Öztürk: Erdoğan can only stand with morphine, he’s no longer alive.

Ancient Armenian cultural and religious heritage in and around Artsakh vulnerable, Armenian Deputy FM tells Ancient Civilizations Forum

Jane Topchian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 17 2021
, 11:19

 3 minutes read

Պrotecting the cultural heritage of ancient civilizations and its transmission to future generations through continuous communication and cooperation is crucial as ever, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahe Gevorgyan said at the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Ancient Civilizations Forum.

“Cultural heritage is a driving force of identity and historical memory for societies. We strongly believe that the only way to protect global heritage is to apply a system based on the principles of dialogue, respect for cultural diversity and cultivation of peace. As a platform promoting dialogue and collaboration, this Forum, indeed, can play an essential role in meeting today’s global challenges and proposing constructive responses. The fulfillment of this objective requires joint efforts and commitment to encourage peace and sustainable development. Armenia is keen to contribute to the actions in this regard,” he noted.  

The deputy FM emphasized that “cooperation on preserving cultural heritage has a special meaning for the Armenian people, noting that we have monuments worldwide built by the Armenian communities in about one hundred countries.

“The care and attention that Armenian cultural property has been receiving are omnipresent. For instance, Iran is home to many Armenian monuments in our region. We appreciate that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken responsibility to protect them. The joint inscription of the 65 years old Pilgrimage to Iran’s Saint Thadeus Armenian Monastery on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in 2020 is the latest example of existing and effective collaboration in this regard,” Vahe Grigoryan stated.  

“The richness of our nations’ historical memory shapes the very essence of civilization and moral values of our countries. Unfortunately, the number of cases of intentional destruction of the numerous cultural heritage sites due to ethnic or religious intolerance is progressively increasing and cultural property representing ancient civilizations is particularly endangered by those who consider these artifacts and history behind them as a threat,” he added.

He stressed that as never before, protection of the artifacts of ancient civilizations requires concentrated efforts of the international community.

“Ancient Armenian cultural and religious heritage located in and around Nagorno-Karabakh is particularly vulnerable in this regard. It is with this grave concern that Armenia tries to bring different international actors together in order to rescue 1500 objects of historical and cultural property, including ancient monasteries, historic quarters, burial and archeological sites,” the diplomat noted.

He noted that there are two important undertakings that deserve to be mentioned here. 

The Deputy Foreign Minister reminded that upon request of Armenia, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to “take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration towards Armenian cultural heritage, including churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artifacts.”

“This legally binding ruling is unprecedented in many senses. In the name of justice and humanity, the world highest court made a verdict by which it protects the right of existence of an ancient civilization. This order should be implemented with the involvement of Armenian indigenous people of the region without any due and reservation,” he said.  

“We also appreciate UNESCO’s efforts to ensure the dispatching of an independent expert mission to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, which Azerbaijan, unfortunately, continues to block up to date, creating artificial obstacles for the effective engagement of UNESCO,” Grigoryan continued.

“We acknowledge that cultural heritage constitutes tourism resources and as such, appropriate tourism management can contribute to safeguarding that very heritage and promoting sustainable development. Armenia is willing to contribute to the global efforts, prioritizing the protection of cultural heritage and development of sustainable tourism, in forming respect for cultural diversity. The Republic of Armenia is currently in the process of developing a strategy for 2025 in the field of culture, which, among other aspects, addresses the conservation and safeguarding of cultural monuments,” he noted.

“We think that the close cooperation between member states of the Forum within international organizations, particularly the UNESCO, regular consultations and possible joint initiatives on issues related to the protection of cultural heritage may serve this purpose as well,” Vahe Grigoryan said.

Moreover, he said, “we see a huge potential in developing collaboration with experts from the member states of this Forum. In this regard, we welcome the outcome of the two expert meetings held in May and October 2021.” “Notably, we think that creating a committee of experts from the Forum of Ancient Civilizations will allow member states to regularly share experiences on the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, and restitution of cultural property.”

Report: Armenian government "likely" customer of Cytrox spyware

Jack Hunanian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Dec 17 2021
– 11:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian government is "likely" among the customers of the Predator spyware from North Macedonian developer Cytrox, Citizen Lab said in a fresh report on Thursday, December 16.

Researchers found that Predator was used to attack two people in June 2021. The spyware "was able to infect the then-latest version (14.6) of Apple's iOS operating system using single-click links sent via WhatsApp," according to Citizen Lab.

Given the abuse of WhatsApp for Predator targeting, the Citizen Lab shared forensic artifacts with Meta’s security team.

Meta has now taken an enforcement action against Cytrox, which includes removing approximately 300 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to Cytrox. In total, Meta has removed more than 1,500 Facebook and Instagram accounts associated with seven outfits, including Cytrox, which the company said were used for reconnaissance, social engineering and sending malicious links to thousands of victims in over 100 countries.

The Meta report too states that they believe Cytrox customers include entities in Armenia, as well as in Egypt, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Vietnam, Philippines, and Germany.

Meta found a “vast domain infrastructure” associated with Cytrox, which it said was likely used in hacking campaigns that targeted politicians and journalists, including in Egypt and Armenia.