Category: 2022

The Armenian Government, which came to power through anti-government street protests in 2018, has agreed to send troops to help quell anti-government protests in Kazakhstan as part of a joint ‘peacekeeping mission’.

On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) would send forces to Kazakhstan ‘for a limited time’ to ‘normalise and stabilise’ the situation. 

Armenia has held the rotating chair of the Russian-led military bloc since September 2021.

In the announcement, Pashinyan claimed, without evidence, that the protests across Kazakhstan were the result of ‘external intervention’. 

According to reports, dozens of protesters and 12 police officers have died in clashes between protesters and security forces in Kazakhstan, while hundreds have been wounded. The protests erupted on 4 January against an increase in gas prices, however, protesters’ demands quickly expanded to include political reforms.

The CSTO agreed to send military aid at the request of Kazakhstan’s authoritarian government following consultations between Armenia with the treaty’s other member states.

Kazakhstan’s request was made on the basis of Article 4 of the CSTO charter, which covers members’ obligation to mutual defence.

According to the security bloc’s official statement, peacekeeping troops from all member states are set to join the mission — Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. According to Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik Armenia, over 70 Armenian service members will take part.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement, saying that it was following events in Kazakhstan ‘with concern’. 

Pashinyan’s statements as CSTO chair and his decision to send troops to Kazakhstan were not well-received in Armenia.

On social media, many were quick to point to the irony of Armenia’s involvement in a mission to quell anti-government protests, hearkening back to the revolution that thrust the country’s ruling party, Civil Contract, into power in 2018.

Others have argued that Armenia should not take part in the mission in response to the CSTO’s inaction following the May 2021 Armenian-Azerbaijani border clashes, or even Kazakhstan’s support to Azerbaijan in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Following the May clashes, Armenia addressed the bloc citing Article 2 of its treaty, calling for the coordination of positions and measures among its members states to eliminate ‘emerging threats’.

The organisation responded only that it was ‘closely following developments’ and ‘if necessary, actions will be taken’ under the bloc’s treaty and charter.

https://oc-media.org/armenia-sends-troops-to-quell-kazakhstan-protests/

If you're crossing Greek and Roman ruins off your list, then Armenia and its ruins should be next on your list.

Today Armenia is a small post-Soviet country in the Caucasus mountains. In antiquity, Greater Armenia was much later and has existed off and on in different forms since long before the Roman Empire existed (and long after).

Despite being largely forgotten, Armenia is very much worth a visit and is full of things to see and do in its small but ancient land. Believe it or not but Armenia is filled with archeological mysteries and even has its own Stonehenge.

During Roman times there was an Armenian state in this greater region. At times it was an independent client state of the Roman Empire, sometimes it was influenced by the powerful Parthian Empire and the succeeding Sasanian Empire. These empires were the counterweights to the Roman Empire and were centered in modern-day Iran. For periods of time parts of Armenia were part of the Roman Empire – and briefly, all of it was.

For most of this period, it was a buffer state and a bone of contention between the powerful Roman and Parthian/Sasanian Empires.

• Greater Armenia: Was Often An Independent Client State of Rome

In 114 AD Emperor Trajan was able to conquer and incorporate the independent Greater Armenia into the Roman Empire. Later on, it was divided between the Romans and the Sasanians. It would go on to be a battleground between the surviving Eastern Romans (Byzantines) and the Sasanians.

• Roman Province: Armenia Was A Providence Of Roman From 114-117 AD

As Armenia was the frontier of the Roman Empire, there are some Roman ruins to be found. The ruins one finds here are about as far into the ancient frontier as one can find.

The Temple of Garni is a Greco-Roman colonnaded temple in Armenia. Today it is the most famous pre-Christian structure in Armenia.

Then the temple was built, Greater Armenia was a client state of the Roman Empire. It is linked to the Armenian king Tiridates I's visit to Roman in 66 AD. There he was crowned by Roman emperor Nero (that Nero).

• Funded: The Temple Was Likely Funded by Roman And Built With Roman Craftsmen

The Armenian city of Artaxata had been destroyed by the Roman general Gnaeus Domitus Corbulo. So Nero provided 50 million drachmas and Roman craftsmen to rebuild.

It is built on top of an earlier Uratian temple (Urartu is considered the first Armenian state that existed in the 9th century BC).

• Where: Around 30 Minutes Drive From The Capital Yeveren
• Admission Fee: 1500 Armenian Dram (About $3.50)
• Built: Around 76 AD

The militarization of the once occupied Azerbaijani lands by Armenia has once again been proven with tens of thousands of guns, ammunition, and explosives being found in those territories post-liberation during 2021.

The Internal Affairs Ministry of Azerbaijan revealed this week the number of military firearms and equipment collected in the positions and strong points abandoned by the Armenian forces in the liberated lands. The findings include a total of 225 assault rifles, 102 grenade launchers, 68 machine guns, 64 anti-tank and anti-personnel guided missile systems, 10 mortar installations, 8 air defense systems, 721 grenades, 129 mines, and tens of thousands of shells and cartridges of various calibers.

The large number of abandoned weapons and ammunition in the territories kept under illegal occupation by Armenia for nearly three decades testifies to the heavy militarization of those lands despite UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate withdrawal of the occupant forces.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began with Yerevan’s illegal claims for the internationally recognized and historical lands of Azerbaijan. The conflict intensified following the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991 when Armenia launched a full-fledged military campaign against Azerbaijan. The hostilities, known as the First Karabakh War, lasted until a ceasefire was reached in 1994. Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories, namely the Karabakh (Garabagh) region. Over 30,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis were killed and one million others were expelled from their lands in a brutal ethnic cleansing policy conducted by Armenia.

The Azerbaijani army restored Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over the occupied lands in the 44-day-long counter-offensive operations from September 27 through November 9, 2020. Azerbaijani forces liberated more than 300 settlements, including the cities of Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Zangilan, Gubadli and Shusha from nearly a 30-year-long illegal Armenian occupation. Armenia also returned the occupied Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin districts to Azerbaijan as part of its obligations it took under the tripartite agreement signed on November 10, 2020, by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

The post-war military findings in the liberated lands, including a military fortification in the Aghdam district, showed that so-called peace aspirations of Armenia were completely false. The two-story bunker that was built at 415 meters above sea level in Aghdam was used by Armenian forces as a command post over the years of occupation and during active warfare in 2020. The fortification was found to be equipped heavily with weaponry and ammunition, as well as modern navigation and observation devices, including visual and thermal cameras. The metal installment was reportedly able to accommodate up to 100 army personnel in multiple rooms and was designed to stand against long-term ground and aerial attacks.

The fortification in Aghdam was part of the so-called “Ohanyan line” – a complex system of military facilities established in 1994–2020 with the personal participation of Armenia’s former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan. The militarized corridor, which comprised complex military trenches, long and short-range firing positions, anti-tank trenches, wire fences, mixed minefields (both anti-personnel and anti-tank), and command posts, measured nearly 200 kilometers in length along the former line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.

Azerbaijani forces broke the “Ohanyan line” completely during the 44-day counter-attack operations. The fall of the heavily militarized fortifications along the frontline was said to have a crucial impact on the retreat of the occupant Armenian forces.