Wednesday,
Yerevan Sets Terms For Armenian-Azeri Border Demarcation
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - An Armenian soldier stands guard on the border with Azerbaijan, June
17, 2021.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan confirmed on Wednesday that Armenia has set a
number of conditions for starting the demarcation of its long border with
Azerbaijan sought by Russia.
Russia as well as the United States and France, the two other co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group, believe that such a process would help to prevent deadly
fighting that regularly erupts at various sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border.
The issue was high on the agenda of talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by Russian President
Vladimir Putin in Sochi last November. Aliyev and Pashinian pledged to set up a
joint commission on border delimitation and demarcation by the end of December.
It was also agreed that Moscow will facilitate the commission’s work.
The commission has still not been formed, however. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov said last week that Baku and Yerevan have not yet bridged their
differences on the demarcation process.
Lavrov also said that Moscow has received new Armenian “proposals” regarding the
commission’s activities and will communicate them to the Azerbaijani side. He
did not disclose them.
Armenia - Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan speaks in the parliament, January 19,
2022.
Mirzoyan confirmed those proposals but gave few details. He said only that they
involve “a set of measures” designed to ease tensions on the heavily militarized
border.
“We believe that as long as there are no concrete mechanisms and concrete steps
to enhance stability and security in the border zone and to help prevent further
clashes there … that commission will have trouble working,” Mirzoyan told the
Armenian parliament.
The minister indicated that those steps should include a mutual withdrawal of
Armenian and Azerbaijani troops from their border posts and the deployment of
international observers there.
Pashinian has repeatedly advocated the idea of troop withdrawal in recent
months. It has not been backed by Baku so far.
Armenian opposition politicians and the country’s human rights ombudsman, Arman
Tatoyan, have voiced serious misgivings about the idea, saying that it could put
the security of residents of Armenian border towns and villages at serious risk.
Mirzoyan sought to dispel their concerns during his government’s
question-and-answer session in the National Assembly.
Armenia’s Army Chief, Former Defense Minister Go On Trial
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan speaks at a news conference in Yerevan,
February 12, 2019.
Armenia’s top army general, Artak Davtian, former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan
and several other men went on trial on Wednesday, accused of supplying the armed
forces with faulty ammunition.
Armenia’s top army general, Artak Davtian, former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan
and several other men went on trial on Wednesday, accused of supplying the armed
forces with faulty ammunition.
The defendants include two other generals and an arms dealer, Davit Galstian.
The National Security Service (NSS) arrested them and Tonoyan in September on
charges of fraud and embezzlement that cost the state almost 2.3 billion drams
($4.7 million).
The accusations stem from thousands of air-to-surface rockets which a company
owned by Galstian delivered to Armenia in 2011. The Armenian Defense Ministry
refused to buy most of them at the time, saying that they are unusable.
The ministry re-commissioned them after Tonoyan was appointed as defense
minister in 2018. Investigators claim that Tonoyan and the two arrested generals
arranged the deal for personal gain.
All three men deny the accusations. Their lawyers maintain that the ammunition
reportedly manufactured in 1991 was not outdated.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Lieutenant-General Davtian, the chief the
Armenian army’s General Staff, was also charged with abuse of power as part of
the criminal case.
Davtian has not been sacked despite the indictment. It remains unclear whether
he will plead guilty to the accusations.
Davtian was absent from the opening session of the high-profile trial.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and
Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian (right) attend a meeting in Yerevan.
The presiding judge, Manvel Shahverdian, accepted prosecutors’ demand that the
trial be held behind the closed door because it will feature “state secrets.”
Defense lawyers strongly objected to the decision. They argued, in particular,
that the NSS and the Office of the Prosecutor-General have already released all
details of the case.
“They have publicized everything that could be of interest to enemy states,”
said Yerem Sargsian, a lawyer representing Avetik Muradian, the arrested former
commander of the Armenian Air Force.
Tonoyan’s legal team claimed on Tuesday that by trying to bar journalists from
the trial the prosecutors want to cover up the lack of incriminating evidence at
their disposal.
The defense lawyers have also denounced the NSS for not test-firing the rockets
in question during the investigation. They say that such forensic tests would
have proved that the rockets are usable.
Armenia’s Leadership ‘Not Committed To Democracy’
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian takes part in the virtual "Summit for
Democracy" organized by U.S. President Joe Biden, December 9, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political team are not committed to
turning Armenia into an established democracy, according to a top aide to former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Levon Zurabian, the deputy
chairman of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) party, singled out
ongoing crackdowns on opposition groups that did well in local elections held in
December.
“Although the opposition won [in some local communities,] they don’t let it form
its [local] governments, using police pressure and hoping that … they can coopt
a few people and form their own government,” said Zurabian. “We saw what
happened in Vartenis, Parakar and other places.”
“Everywhere it’s clear that these people [ruling Armenia] are not prepared for
democracy,” he claimed.
Armenia - Levon Zurabian, deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress, at
a news conference in Yerevan, May 27, 2021.
In Vartenis, a small town 160 kilometers east of Yerevan, two opposition groups
won 14 of the 27 seats in the local council, enough to install their joint
candidate as head of the community that also comprises two dozen nearby villages.
The 14 opposition members of the new Vartenis council elected the candidate,
Aharon Khachatrian, as community head on December 30. However, police did not
allow Khachatrian to take office on January 4, citing a lawsuit filed by the
ruling Civil Contract Party.
Another opposition figure in Vartenis was arrested on corruption charges last
month. Opposition politicians and human rights campaigners in Yerevan condemned
his arrest, saying that it is part of a government crackdown on political
figures who defeated Pashinian’s party in some of the three dozen communities
that elected their local councils on December 5.
Civil Contract suffered its biggest election setback in Vanadzor, Armenia’s
third largest city. It won only 25 percent of the vote there, compared with 39
percent polled by a local bloc led by former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian.
Aslanian was thus well-placed to regain his post. But he was arrested on
December 15 on corruption charges rejected by him as politically motivated.
Zurabian also condemned Aslanian’s arrest. “That is not justice. They are
punishing him for defeating them,” he said.
Pashinian was among more than 100 world leaders invited to the virtual “Summit
for Democracy” organized by U.S. President Joe Biden in December. Addressing the
gathering, he pledged to “consolidate democracy” in Armenia.
Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian at a press conference in Yerevan,
June 10, 2021.
In written comments released over the weekend, Ter-Petrosian charged that
“Pashinian’s regime” is trying to “hold on to power at all costs.”
The 77-year-old former president also hit out at Armenia’s leading opposition
alliances led by two other ex-presidents, Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian.
He said that they are doing everything to “seize power” in the country.
Unlike those alliances, Ter-Petrosian’s HAK failed to win any seats in the
Armenian parliament in snap elections held in June.
All three ex-presidents hold Pashinian responsible for Armenia’s defeat in the
2020 war with Azerbaijan.
Zurabian insisted on Tuesday that Pashinian and his team lost the “moral right”
to govern the country after the six-week war.
Paris, Baku Trade Barbs Over French Presidential Hopeful’s Trip To Karabakh
• Lilit Harutiunian
Nagorno-Karabakh - French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse (center)
visits the Center for Francophonie in Stepanakert, December 22, 2021.
France’s government has denounced Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s angry
reaction to a leading French presidential candidate’s recent visit to
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Valerie Pecresse, a conservative politician emerging as French President
Emmanuel Macron’s main challenger in a forthcoming presidential election,
visited Karabakh and met with the territory’s ethnic Armenian leaders on
December 22. She was accompanied by former French Foreign Minister Michel
Barnier and Senator Bruno Retailleau of the opposition Les Republicains party
that nominated her for the presidency.
The Azerbaijani government condemned the trip as a violation of “Azerbaijan’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Aliyev went further last week, saying that Azerbaijani authorities would have
prevented Pecresse from returning to France if they had prior knowledge of her
arrival in Karabakh. He also criticized Russian peacekeepers stationed in
Karabakh for allowing Pecresse to enter the Armenian-populated territory.
Pecresse, who heads the Ile de France region of greater Paris, and many
lawmakers representing her party expressed outrage at Aliyev’s “threats” and
criticized the French government for not swiftly reacting to them.
GREECE - French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attends a news conference
following his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Athens,
November 19, 2021.
One of those lawmakers, Eric Ciotti, deplored the government’s “deafening
silence” during its question-and-answer session in the French National Assembly
on Tuesday.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian responded by saying that Aliyev’s
comments are “unacceptable in form and substance.” He said he has made this
clear to Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Paris.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry was quick to reject the criticism and accuse Le
Drian of breaching “diplomatic ethics.” A ministry spokeswoman defended Aliyev’s
remarks, saying that “illegal visits to Azerbaijani territory” are a criminal
offense and must be dealt with accordingly.
Pecresse travelled to Karabakh from Armenia where she met with President Armen
Sarkissian, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Catholicos Garegin II, the
supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Armenia - Armenian President Armen Sarkissian meets with Valerie Pecresse, a
Fench presidential candidate and head of Ile de France region, December 21, 2021.
“In Armenia, a brotherly country for France, I come to plead for the return of
peace in Nagorno-Karabakh and the strengthening of French support in the
economic and cultural areas and protection of religious heritage,” Pecresse
tweeted before flying back to Paris on December 23.
Another French presidential candidate, controversial far-right figure Eric
Zemmour, visited Armenia earlier in December.
France is home to an influential Armenian community. It was instrumental in the
December 2020 passage by both houses of the French parliament of resolutions
calling on Macron’s government to recognize Karabakh as an independent republic.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Category: 2022
Azerbaijan Continues Intimidation of Armenians in Artsakh
Jan 19 2022
01/19/2022 Nagorno-Karabakh (International Christian Concern) – Since the beginning of the new year, Azerbaijan has exchanged fire with Armenia, killing three Armenian troops, while also intimidating the region’s historically Christian civilians. Azeri troops kidnapped a 53-year-old Armenian shepherd on January 13. The man soon after returned, but his livelihood was stripped from him when Azerbaijan refused to return the 500 sheep taken at the time of the kidnapping.
On January 12, Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged fire, both claiming the other side initiated the fighting, which resulted in four total dead. According to Arman Tatoyan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, several intimidation instances have also occurred this month. In one instance, Azerbaijani servicemen pointed a gun and threw stones at a car owned by an Armenian, who also had his wife and 3-year-old inside the vehicle. Azerbaijani troops also conducted targeted shootings in the direction of Armenian territory, with one only 50 meters from a kindergarten.
During this same week 32 years ago, Armenians experienced a violent string of attacks in the Baku pogrom that resulted in nearly 100 killed and several hundred injured. For a week beginning on January 12, 2020, Azeri’s attacked ethnic Armenians living in the capital city.
Armenians displaced from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh) are still physically and mentally recovering from the war that began in mid-2020. The ongoing clashes and intimidation, despite a ceasefire in November 2020, leave the historically Christian nation in a state of uncertainty and fear.
Azerbaijan MFA falls into hysterical rage by France FM statement
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
09:02, 19.01.2022
The Azerbaijani foreign ministry has fallen into hysterical rage by the statement made by French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, in which he accused Azerbaijan of "violating diplomatic ethics."
Answering the questions of the MPs in the French parliament, Le Drian had said that Paris considers unacceptable Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statements in connection with the recent visit to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) by French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse.
"Le Drian called Ilham Aliyev's words regarding the illegal trip of French presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse to the Karabakh region unacceptable in form and content. The irresponsible and unacceptable comment of the French minister on the statement of the head of another state violates diplomatic traditions. We note with regret that the minister of foreign affairs of France, a country with a long tradition of statehood, does not understand this," said Leyla Abdullayeva, spokeswoman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.
15 years pass since Hrant Dink assassination
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
11:54, 19.01.2022
Wednesday, June 19, 2022 marks the 15th anniversary of the assassination of prominent Istanbul Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
Hrant Dink—the editor-in-chief of Agos, the only weekly published in Armenian and Turkish in Turkey—was shot dead from the three gunshots fired to his head from behind by Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogun Samast on January 19, 2007, in front of the then office of this newspaper—and on national grounds. In 2011, Samast was convicted of Dink's assassination, but questions still remain about the involvement of Turkish state security forces in the case.
In June 2007, Hrant Dink was posthumously given the award of the President of Armenia.
US official, Barzani are photographed against backdrop of Greater Armenia and Kurdistan map
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
15:02, 19.01.2022
Nadine Maenza, Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, was photographed with former President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masoud Barzani, in the latter's office, and against the backdrop of a map of Greater Armenia and Kurdistan—instead of present-day Turkey.
This photo has caused a stir in the Turkish press, and Turkish figures see a provocation against Turkey's territorial integrity in this photo.
The map in this photo was printed in 1794 in London.
Karabakh ombudsman’s office: Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian, genocidal policy has clear chronology
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
15:48, 19.01.2022
Region:Armenia, Karabakh, Azerbaijan
Theme: Politics
Theme: Politics
32 years ago, on January 13-19, 1990 a systematic and mass massacre of the Armenian population was carried out in Baku with apparent permission and support of the Azerbaijani authorities. Hundreds of Armenians were killed, dispossessed and hundreds of thousands of Armenians tortured during the week-long atrocities. The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has noted this in a statement, which continues as follows:
Armenian population of Baku and other cities were deported under the direct threat of physical existence, and found refuge in Artsakh, Armenia and other countries of the world without receiving international status and support. Over the years, Armenian cultural heritage in those areas was vandalized and desecrated, their historical value and significance were distorted by the Azerbaijani authorities being adapted to their political expediencies.
The realization, encouragement and glorification of the Armenian massacres by the Azerbaijani authorities and unfortunately by the Azerbaijani society is systematic, large-scale and has a clear chronology: in 1905 and 1918 – the massacres in Baku, February, 1988 – Sumgait and in November of the same year in Gandzak-Kirovabad, 1990s – again in Baku, Maragha, 2004 – the glorification of Ramil Safarov who axed Gurgen Margaryan, the killings of civilians and the torture of the Armenian military during April 2026 war, and Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression of 2020, are undeniable evidence of the systematic policy of Armenian massacres and its consequences.
Due to the poisoning of the society by the authorities for years, intolerance, hatred against and murder of Armenians, vandalism against Armenian cultural heritage and desecration of monuments in Azerbaijan have become not only a state but a national policy. This is a fact against which the urgency of taking measures is also enshrined in the decision of the UN International Court of Justice.
Under the false slogans of peace building in the region, Azerbaijani authorities continue to commit widespread violations of the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh creating an atmosphere of fear, despair, disrupting normal life in Artsakh, isolating the people of Artsakh from the world.
There is ample material documenting the crimes committed by Azerbaijan against the Armenians, it only takes an impartial and courageous eye to see it all and give a proper assessment. Unfortunately, these crimes have not received a clear legal assessment from the international community. This impunity is one of the focal reasons why Azerbaijan allows itself grossly violate the norms of international law, to speak with hatred about an entire nation without any fear it may be held accountable.
Guided by the most fundamental principle of the universality of human rights, pursuing the unconditional observance of this principle and restoration of justice, we will continue to demand the condemnation of the crimes against Armenians and the prevention of new crimes.
Garo Paylan concludes address in Turkey parliament in Armenian
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
17:17, 19.01.2022
Garo Paylan, the Armenian member of the Turkish parliament, on Wednesday addressed the legislature on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the assassination of prominent Istanbul Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
In his remarks, Paylan stressed that Dink's assassination is not solved to this day because of the Turkish “deep state.”
He noted that Hrant Dink was preaching peace, that preaching was influential, and therefore it was problematic for the dark forces.
Garo Paylan concluded his Address in Armenian, saying: "Live long, Hrant Dink! We will not forget you!"
Hrant Dink—the editor-in-chief of Agos, the only weekly published in Armenian and Turkish in Turkey—was shot dead from the three gunshots fired to his head from behind by Turkish ultra-nationalist Ogun Samast on January 19, 2007, in front of the then office of this newspaper—and on national grounds. In 2011, Samast was convicted of Dink's assassination, but questions still remain about the involvement of Turkish state security forces in the case.
In June 2007, Hrant Dink was posthumously given the award of the President of Armenia.
Armenian FM: All necessary conditions to be created for Demarcation Commission work
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
22:47, 19.01.2022
Necessary conditions haven't been created for the work of the Demarcation Commission, the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.
His remarks came during the meeting with MPs on January 19, while responding to the question of an MP from the ruling Civil Contract Party Taguhi Ghazaryan.
According to the minister, these conditions are now being discussed.
"The Armenian and Russian sides have repeatedly stated that they are discussing the conditions under which the aforementioned commission can begin its work. Nevertheless, it will be rather difficult to establish and, moreover, to engage this commission until there are mechanisms to increase the level of security in the border zone, aimed at preventing intentional or unintentional collisions," Mirzoyan said.
Russian peacekeeping contingent establishes order of passage through Lachin corridor
NEWS.am
Jan 19 2022
22:57, 19.01.2022
Aravot newspaper addressed the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the recent statements made by the Azerbaijani President towards the Russian peacekeepers, to whom the Azerbaijani President has questions, as well as in connection with the statement that the Azerbaijani side allegedly monitors the movement through the Lachin corridor.
Recall that the Russian peacekeeping contingent is located along the line of contact and in the Lachin corridor, in accordance with the statement of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, signed November 9, 2020 on the ceasefire and all types of military action in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. According to paragraph 6 of this agreement, the Lachin corridor is under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Azerbaijan guarantees the safety of movement of citizens, vehicles and cargoes in both directions through the Lachin corridor. The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent has established, among other things, an order for visits by foreign citizens and international organizations in the zone of the peacekeeping operation, which is well known to the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides. In particular, it is planned to notify Russian peacekeepers of such visits within a reasonable time and in a proper manner," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its response.