Armenia’s opposition groups will hold a public debate on deepening social crisis in the country in central Yerevan on Wednesday evening.
The debate starts at 7:30pm, the Hayastan alliance said in a statement.
The coordinator of the discussion “Deepening social crisis: false promises and facts” is Hayastan MP Tadevos Avetisyan.
“After the debate, MPs of the Hayastan and Pativ Unem factions will communicate with people,” the statement said.
According to Azerbaijani media reports, a group of Azerbaijani "scholars" and public figures on Tuesday appealed to UNESCO regarding Yerevan's Kond district, expressing concern about the fate of the “Tepebashi” quarter.
The so-called scholars called the district “the last remnant of Azerbaijan’s national cultural and historical heritage" in Yerevan.
The reports shared below cast light on the real national culture and the cultural genocide repeatedly carried out by Azerbaijan.
The photo above shows how Azerbaijan destroys and throws into the Araks River cross stones (khachkars) of Jugha (9th-17th centuries) to erase the Armenian traces from Nakhichevan as well in 2005.
U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) have introduced an ANCA-backed bipartisan amendment to the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) calling for a report on Azerbaijan's activities during the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war, to be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Secretary of State, the ANCA reports.
The report would detail:
– the use of U.S. parts in Turkish drones used by Azerbaijan against Armenia and Artsakh
– Azerbaijan's use of white phosphorous, cluster bombs and other prohibited munitions deployed against Artsakh
– Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters during the 2020 Artsakh war.
Amendment #837 is co-sponsored by Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Congressman Andy Levin (D-MI), Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Congressman David G. Valadao (R-CA).
The ANCA is leading a grassroots effort to secure additional co-sponsors prior to next week's House Rules Committee consideration of the amendment.
NDAA amendments ruled "in order" by the House Rules Committee will be voted on by the full U.S. House.
MP Vahe Hakobyan of the opposition Hayastan bloc has denied reports that he plans to step down.
He also ruled out the possibility of quitting the Hayastan faction without giving up his parliament seat.
“The faction will make a final decision on the parliament seats in September,” the MP told Pastinfo.
Asked whether he plans to quit politics in the near future, Hakobyan said: “I won’t quit politics so long as [PM] Nikol Pashinyan stays in power. I will stay in office until he leaves.”
Earlier on Monday, Hayastan MP Artur Ghazinyan announced his decision to resign from the parliament.
Dozens of parents and other relatives of Armenian soldiers killed in the 2020 Artsakh war on Wednesday again staged a protest outside the Prosecutor General's Office in Yerevan.
They demand criminal charges against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, holding him responsible for the deaths of thousands of Armenian soldiers.
They submitted a “crime report” to the Prosecutor General's Office on April 18. The latter instructed the Investigative Committee to probe the case and decide whether or not to prosecute Pashinyan, but the law enforcement agency has still not summoned the premier for questioning.
The protesting relatives, who accuse Investigative Committee Chairman Argishti Kyaramyan of disrespecting them and failing to deliver on his promise to question Pashinyan, insisted that the case be assigned to the National Security Service (NSS).
Fallen soldier Edgar Zakaryan’s father, Sevak Zakaryan, says they do not trust the Investigative Committee chief, stressing no progress has been made in the criminal probe for more than a month.
“We want the case to be assigned to the NSS. After all, the agency is intended to serve the country, so let it identify the traitors,” he told reporters.
Another protesting relative accused Pashinyan of delaying the probe into the case.
“He must be questioned by the NSS and be held to account along with the other culprits,” the man said.
The father of fallen soldier Mkhitar Galeyan, Garik Galeyan, pointed to a climate of impunity in the legal system.
“We will fight to the end. If we don’t succeed, we will draw up a criminal procedure code and start punishing [the culprits]," Galeyan said.
Eventually, the protesters did not receive a response to their demand as no meeting was held with the chief prosecutor.
Public and political activist Edgar Ghazaryan, a former chef of the Constitutional Court staff and Armenia’s former ambassador to Poland, has posted on his Facebook page a photo of the fourth round of normalization talks between the Armenian and Turkish special envoys, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic, held in Vienna on July 1.
The photo also features Armenian Ambassador to Iran Arsen Avagyan, who attended the meeting.
“It turns out that an ambassador officially carrying out diplomatic mission in one country, whose residence is in the capital of Iran, participates in a diplomatic meeting in a third country in an effort to help normalize relations with a fourth country. This is perhaps an unprecedented phenomenon in diplomacy and a disgrace,” Ghazaryan wrote.
“An ambassador temporarily leaving his mission place notifies the host country's Foreign Ministry and diplomatic corps of his temporary absence in a special statement (notice) and in the same way notifies of his return.
“In Arsen Avagyan's case, after receiving such an official notification, the Iranian Foreign Ministry can learn from the official website of the Armenian Foreign Ministry that the diplomat accredited in their country, that is, the ambassador, is not in his country’s capital, but in the capital of a third country, participating in normalization talks with Turkey. It is a scandalous fact that raises many questions,” the politician said.
He hailed Arsen Avagyan as one of Armenia's best experts on Turkish studies.
“He has an excellent knowledge of Turkish history and the intricacies of Armenian-Turkish relations. He served as Armenia’s permanent representative to the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC, residence in Istanbul) twice in 2001-2005 and 2015-2019. In all likelihood, this was the reason why he was invited to this meeting,” Ghazaryan said.
“However, if knowledgeable and prudent people had been at the helm of government and diplomacy in Armenia, he would not have been appointed Armenia's ambassador to Iran, but rather Armenia's official representative in the Armenian-Turkish normalization process with the status of ambassador-at-large, rather than a servant to serve incompetent and uninformed Ruben Rubinyan.
“Nikol Pashinyan, who is low literate and has never had anything to do with diplomacy, does not trust professional diplomats and sends his wife and unfit teammates to foreign missions, appointing professionals as their servants in violation of diplomatic principles and norms, which by no means goes without consequences,” he noted.
Congressman Adam Schiff has introduced an ANCA-backed bi-partisan amendment to the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) calling for Azerbaijan's immediate release of Armenian POWs and captured civilians, the ANCA reports.
Amendment #698 is co-sponsored by Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA), Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Congressman Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA).
The ANCA is leading a grassroots effort to secure additional co-sponsors prior to next week's House Rules Committee consideration of the amendment.
NDAA amendments ruled "in order" by the House Rules Committee will be voted on by the full U.S. House.
Armenia’s Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan did not receive the families of the soldiers who died in the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war in the fall of 2020, arguing that they still have no new information, and discussions are underway to transfer the case.
Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am reported that a group of relatives of the aforesaid are holding a protest in front of the building of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia.
Their demand is that the criminal case filed with the Investigative Committee—and under the Criminal Code article on "abuse of official power, which has caused serious consequences"—be transferred to the National Security Service.
On June 30, a group of relatives of the aforesaid fallen servicemen had met with Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan and presented their demand.
Also, they demand that this criminal case be investigated under the Criminal Code article on "apparent high treason," and that PM Nikol Pashinyan be summoned for questioning under this article and be included in this case as a defendant.
Within the framework of the visit to Germany by members of the Armenia-Germany friendship group in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, a meeting of this delegation with the Vice President of the Bundestag, Petra Pau, took place in the German parliament.
Hayk Konjoryan, the leader of the ruling majority “Civil Contract” Faction in the NA, informs that matters aimed at the development of interparliamentary relations were discussed during the meeting.
Also, the members of the Armenian parliamentary delegation presented information about the developments taking place in Armenia and the region.
The Armenian NA delegation emphasized the need for the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict’s settlement within the framework of the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group, and reflected on the matter of Azerbaijan not returning all Armenian prisoners of war and the preservation of Armenian cultural heritage.
The vice president of the Bundestag, in turn, particularly emphasized that there is still a lot to be done regarding the implementation of the Armenian Genocide recognition resolution adopted by the Bundestag in 2016.
Also, Pau stressed the importance of Armenian-German parliamentary cooperation, and expressed readiness to assist that process.
Work on unblocking all economic and transport links in the South Caucasus continues within the framework of the trilateral group—under the co-chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. This was announced by Alexey Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"As a result of the meeting of the trilateral working group held in Moscow on June 3 as well as the contacts of the co-chairs within the framework of the St. Petersburg International [Economic] Forum, some progress was made, it became possible to bring the positions of Yerevan and Baku closer on various aspects of the restoration of transport communications.
As is known, the launch of railway and automobile communication in the region—for the benefit of Yerevan, Baku, and their neighbors—is being discussed within the framework of the trilateral working group. When concrete agreements are reached, the co-chairs will inform the media separately about the results of their work," Zaitsev added.