Category: 2022

Armenians in North and East Syria are reviving their culture

Emil Lazarian
   
Kurdish Press, Belgium July 14 2022
Armenians in North and East Syria are trying to revive their culture through Armenian language courses. The students emphasize the importance of preserving Armenian culture and spreading it and say that they are happy with this opportunity provided by the Autonomous Administration.
 NEWS  14 Jul 2022, Thu – 10:44 2022-07-14T10:44:00 HASSAKA,HANAR IBRAHIM

The Armenian Community Council of North and East Syria launched the first Armenian language courses this June. The Council tries to teach Armenians the Armenian language and train teachers. The course will last 3 months and will be taught 4 hours a day.

25 people who participated in the courses stated that this course is an important step for the Armenian language and culture. They also expressed their happiness with this opportunity after they were deprived of it due to the policies of assimilation and genocide that were carried out against them.

Patil Girigor said: "This course is very important for the revival of Armenian culture and its preservation. Especially after we were deprived of it due to the previous systems. This course is very important for us so that we can speak our language like other groups."

Hayik Sosiyan also expressed his happiness and said: "This is the first time we are participating in Armenian language courses. This happened thanks to the Autonomous Administration, which gave us the opportunity to learn our language after many years of deprivation." Sosiyan explained that the Armenian culture and language were disappearing due to the massacre of 1915 by the Ottoman state and the racist policy in Syria.

Students call on the Autonomous Administration to include the Armenian language in official teaching materials so that the Armenian language can spread.

With the beginning of the July 19th Revolution, Armenians also took their place in the revolution. Side by side in the same trench with other components, they defended the region. The revolution gave Armenians the opportunity to gain their rights and actively participate in the administration.

https://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/armenians-in-north-and-east-syria-are-reviving-their-culture-h31762.html

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Armenian News note: You can watch the video report in Arabic at this link: 
في ظل الإدارة الذاتية لشمال وشرق سوريا.. الأرمن يحيون ثقافتهم المندثرة 

Iran welcomes Azeri-Armenian FMs meeting: envoy

Vicken Chmshkian
Mehr News Agency, Iran

TEHRAN, Jul. 17 (MNA) – Iran welcomes the meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyed Abbas Mousavi wrote on his Twitter page.

"The I.R. of Iran supports any process/initiative that leads to lasting peace, stability and security in the region. Bilateral talks and intra-regional dialogues ( 3+3 Mechanism / Iran-Russia-Turkey+Azerbaijan-Armenia-Georgia) are the best for a long-term stability and cooperation in the South Caucasus", the ambassador noted, according to the Azerbaijani Trend news website.

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Georgia for their first bilateral meeting since 2020 when thousands died in a conflict over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, Euro News reported.

The meeting between Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Tbilisi comes months after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels.

The pair met to "advance discussions" on a peace treaty between the countries.

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/189181/Iran-welcomes-Azeri-Armenian-FMs-meeting-envoy

Housing prices surge in Yerevan as Russians flock to Armenia because of war

Emil Lazarian

Tenants in Armenia’s capital are starting to feel the effects of the war in Ukraine on their rent, as they are now competing with a flow of Russians that have made Yerevan their new home.

Since the war started, hundreds of thousands of Russians fled their country, and Armenia was one of their top destinations.

Many Russians moved to Armenia because their language is widely spoken in the country, and they can travel to it without visas or passports.

But this increase has caused rent to surge.

According to Vage Daniyelian, a real estate agency manager in Yerevan, "We've had many clients coming from Russia starting from March. Ukraine and Belarus as well, but the main wave is from Russia."

Tenants in Armenia’s capital are starting to feel the effects of the war in Ukraine on their rent, as they are now competing with a flow of Russians that have made Yerevan their new home.

Since the war started, hundreds of thousands of Russians fled their country, and Armenia was one of their top destinations.

Many Russians moved to Armenia because their language is widely spoken in the country, and they can travel to it without visas or passports.

But this increase has caused rent to surge.

According to Vage Daniyelian, a real estate agency manager in Yerevan, "We've had many clients coming from Russia starting from March. Ukraine and Belarus as well, but the main wave is from Russia."

https://www.euronews.com/2022/07/17/housing-prices-surge-in-yerevan-as-russians-flock-to-armenia-because-of-war

Armenian News note: Watch the video report at the link above

Tbilisi Hosts Meeting Between Azerbaijani, Armenian Foreign Ministers

Ani Kharatian
 Civil Georgia


17/07/2022 – 13:29

On July 16 the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, and Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Georgia to meet with each other in a meeting hosted by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss stability and peace in the region. The pair also held separate meetings with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili.

The Georgian MFA welcomed the visit and underscored “its commitment to contribute, through joint efforts, to peace and stability in the region.”

The Ministry expressed hope that through “concerted efforts to ensure peaceful coexistence in the South Caucasus and stable development of the region, it will become possible to solve various issues on the agenda, create positive dynamics and develop the potential of the region.” 

The Armenian Foreign Ministry stated after the meetings that a wide range of issues was discussed aimed at “normalizing” relations between the two nations.

During the meeting, Minister Mirzoyan reiterated the significance of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for achieving sustainable peace and underscored the need for using the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship towards this end. The Armenian FM stressed the need to resolve humanitarian issues regarding the release of Armenian prisoners of war and the issue of missing persons.

For its part, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry highlighted the need to fully implement the Trilateral Statement, signed by leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, for “building good neighborly inter-state relations” between the two. Minister Bayramov also raised the issue of people who remain missing from the Azeri side after the conflict.

Both Ministers expressed gratitude for Tbilisi hosting the meeting and interest in continuing dialogue between their countries.

Meetings with Georgian PM

Prior to the meeting, both the Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs had the opportunity to meet with PM Garibashvili to discuss relations in the country and Georgia’s Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative, a platform it proposed for confidence-building in the South Caucasus with the participation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, the U.S., and the EU.

The Georgian PM underscored the need to “bolster the dialogues positive dynamic further” while meeting with Minister Mirzoyan. The pair also discussed how to build on areas of economic and bilateral trade.

With FM Bayramov, PM Garibashvili discussed the situation in the region and relevant challenges. The pair also touched on developing Georgia’s relationship with Azerbaijan, especially in the areas of transportation and energy.

US Secretary of State: meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs in Tbilisi a “positive step”

Elizabeth Jabejian
Georgia –

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Sunday called the inaugural meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan, in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi as a “positive step” for regional dialogue.

In his tweet, Blinken called direct dialogue “the surest path” to resolve differences between the two sides in the region.

The meeting between Bayramov and Mirzoyan came amid the Georgian Government's Peaceful Neighbourhood Initiative for the South Caucasus, a platform for facilitating talks between the regional states. 

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili also held meetings with the Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers on Saturday.

Darchiashvili said the meeting between Bayramov and Mirzoyan meant Georgia was playing an “important role” in ensuring peace and security in the region, and highlighted the role of Garibashvili in the creation of the mediation platform.


Secretary Antony Blinken
@SecBlinken

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United States government official
.@bayramov_jeyhun and @AraratMirzoyan took a positive step today, meeting in Tbilisi. Direct dialogue is the surest path to resolving Azerbaijani and Armenian differences.

Azerbaijani press: Signal received about bomb planted in house of first president of Armenia

Kevo Kalantarian
Armenia Materials  23:55


BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. The police received a signal about a bomb planted in the house of the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The information was confirmed by the press secretary of the ex-president Arman Musinyan, Trend reports citing Armenian media.

Police officers, sappers and cynologists arrived at the scene, Ter-Petrosyan's house was cordoned off.

The bomb signal in the house of the first president of Armenia .turned out to be false: no dangerous items were found as a result of the check.

Turkish press: Azerbaijani, Armenian top diplomats meet in Georgian capital for peace talks

Karapet Navasardian
Handan Kazanci   |16.07.2022

ISTANBUL

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday as part of peace talks between the two South Caucasus countries.

Accompanied by their respective delegations, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan met in Tbilisi, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The top officials from Azerbaijan and Armenia also held meetings with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili.

The Georgian foreign minister welcomed the meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in a bilateral format, the statement said.

According to the statement, Georgia expressed hope for peaceful coexistence in the South Caucasus and stable development of the region.

Georgia reiterates “its commitment to contribute, through joint efforts, to peace and stability in the region,” the statement added.

“Very proud to see Tbilisi being a venue for a meeting,” Darchiashvili said on Twitter, adding: “Feel confident that our joint efforts to build peace and stability in the region will yield results.”

Meanwhile, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two “sides discussed the implementation of previously undertaken commitments and exchanged views on further possible steps.”

For its part, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two ministers discussed a wide range of issues pertinent to the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“Bayramov highlighted that based on the post-conflict realities (that) emerged after the resolution of the armed conflict between the two states, all efforts need to be directed towards making progress in building good-neighborly inter-state relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the statement added.

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

A tripartite agreement was brokered by Russia to bring an end to the war in November 2020.




Turkish press: FMs of Azerbaijan, Armenia convene for bilateral talks for 1st time

Lara Antonian
 TBILISI, GEORGIA JUL 16, 2022 – 12:52 PM GMT+3

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (L) is welcomed by the President of the European Council Charles Michel (C) ahead of a meeting at the European Council in Brussels, Belgium, May 22, 2022. (EPA Photo)

The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers held bilateral talks for the first time since the 2020 war between the archrivals over the Karabakh region.

Held in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the talks are expected to build on an agreement the Caucasus countries' leaders reached under EU mediation in May to "advance discussions" on a peace treaty.

"This is the first meeting between the ministers, and we hope that it will bring in a result," Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday.

The atmosphere was tense ahead of the meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov as both countries' defence ministries traded accusations of initiating a shootout at their shared border.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars – in 2020 and in the 1990s – over Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh, which was illegally occupied by Armenia. In December, the two countries appointed special envoys to help normalize relations, a year after Armenia lost to Turkey's ally Azerbaijan.

Six weeks of fighting in autumn 2020 claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of Azerbaijani territory it had illegally occupied for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the fragile truce.

Following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, increasingly isolated Moscow may be losing its status as a primary mediator in the conflict.

Turkey and the European Union have since led the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalisation process, which involves peace talks, border delimitation and the reopening of transport links.

Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels in April and May and European Council President Charles Michel has said their next meeting is scheduled for July or August.

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. The ensuing conflict claimed around 30,000 lives and the mass displacement of Azerbaijanis.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

After the Nagorno-Karabakh region was liberated from the illegal Armenian occupation this past November, it entered a period of economic revival thanks to new transportation links.

According to the cease-fire deal, all transportation lines that were closed due to the Karabakh conflict will reopen. This brought the Zangezur corridor to the forefront.

Ruling Civil Contract faction will not apply to Constitutional Court to strip opposition MPs of parliamentary mandates

Andranik Taslakhchian
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenia – July 14 2022
July 14, 2022, 20:12

 1 minute read

The Civil Contract faction of the National Assembly will not take the case of stripping opposition MPs from parliamentary mandates to the Constitutional Court, Armenpress reports.

The issue was discussed today at the sitting of the National Assembly Board. Speaking to reporters after the sitting, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan cited several reasons for the decision.

First, he said, the issue can be considered solved after the removal of opposition MPs from their positions at the National Assembly.

Another reason, according to Rubinyan, is the respect for the people’s votes. Furthermore, he said, the country needs political stability and solidarity now.

Finally, he said, the opposition is wrong thinking that the ruling faction will turn to the Constitutional Court, thus providing them with a “lifeline” to escape.

At the same time, Ruben Rubinyan noted that the issue will emerge again if the opposition MPs fail to show up during the next session of the National Assembly.

The opposition MPs have not attended the sitting since launching series of protests against the incumbent government.

The ruling Civil Contract faction earlier removed Ishkhan Saghatelyan from Armenia faction from the position of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. Vahe Hakobyan was dismissed as Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs. Armen Gevorgyan, in turn, resigned as head of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration.