Gabriel Sargsyan defeated Iceland’s Gudmundur Kjartansson in the fifth round of the European Individual Chess Championship taking place in Slovenia, leading after four victories.
The Armenian representative with 4.5 points shares 1st-5th places.
Shant Sargsyan, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and Hayk M. Martirosyan are half a point behind the leader.
Armenia’s Malkhas Amoyan (77 kg) advanced to European Greco-Roman wrestling semifinals in Budapest.
The Armenian wrestler defeated world vice-champion, European champion and Azerbaijani athlete Sanan Suleymanov 6-5 in the quarterfinals.
Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler Malkhas Amoyan (77 kg) advanced to the European Championships finals in Budapest.
Amoyan defeated Per Albin Olofsson of Sweden 9-0 in the semifinals and will compete for the gold.
Yunus Emre Basar, the 2021 European vice-champion, will be Armenia’s opponent, who defeated Hayk Mnatsakanyan of Bulgaria 7-3 in the semifinals.
Four Armenian boxers advanced to the finals of an international tournament in Serbia.
Artur Bazeyan (57 kg), Karen Tonakanyan (60 kg), Narek Manasyan (92 kg) and David Chaloyan (+92 kg) will fight for gold medals.
Friday, April 1, 2022
Putin, Pashinian Hold More Phone Talks
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian, Moscow, July 7, 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
spoke by phone for the second consecutive day on Friday, discussing the
situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
The Kremlin reported that they continued “the exchange of opinions on
maintaining stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.” It said they both
stressed the need for “strict observance” of Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements
brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war over Karabakh.
A statement on the phone call released by the Armenian government said the two
men talked about “ongoing steps to ensure security and stability in
Nagorno-Karabakh” and the “tense situation” there resulting from last week’s
Azerbaijani incursion into the disputed territory.
Russia accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire regime after Azerbaijani
forces seized a village in eastern Karabakh and surrounding territory on March
24. They reportedly withdrew from the village on Monday but continue to occupy
nearby hills.
Putin discussed the situation in that area with Pashinian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev in separate phone calls reported on Thursday. Pashinian
told him that the Azerbaijani side may be planning “new provocations.”
Putin phoned the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders the day after the announcement
of fresh face-to-face talks between them that will be hosted by the European
Union’s top official, Charles Michel, in Brussels on April 6.
Pashinian To Name Vanadzor Mayor Despite Local Election Loss
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - The municipal administration building of Vanadzor, December 13, 2021.
Pro-government lawmakers on Friday pushed through the parliament a bill that
allows Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to appoint an acting mayor of Vanadzor,
Armenia’s third largest city where his party was defeated in a local election
held in December.
The ruling Civil Contract party 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 lost in October. But ten days
after the election, he was arrested on corruption charges rejected by him as
politically motivated.
Later in December, Armenia’s Administrative Court blocked the first session of
Vanadzor’s new municipal council empowered to elect the mayor. It cited an
appeal against the election results lodged by another pro-government party that
fared poorly in the ballot.
The appeal was subsequently rejected by two other courts. The Bright Armenia
Party responded by appealing to the higher Court of Cassation. The latter has
still not said whether it will take up the case.
In the meantime, the Administrative Court banned in January the new Vanadzor
council from holding sessions until July. Local and Yerevan-based opposition
figures accused the court of acting on Pashinian’s orders.
Amendments to an Armenian law on local government quickly passed by the National
Assembly empower the prime minister to name acting heads of communities whose
newly elected councils fail to elect mayors within 20 days after local polls.
Vahagn Hovakimian, one of the authors of the amendments affiliated with Civil
Contract, said it is aimed at addressing “disruption of normal governance” in
such communities.
“We have such a problem in Vanadzor at the moment,” Hovakimian said during a
short parliament debate held under a so-called “urgent procedure.”
Opposition lawmakers dismissed the official rationale for amending the law. They
insisted that Pashinian is doing everything to retain control over Vanadzor and
possibly other communities against the will of local voters.
Armenia - Former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian at an election campaign meeting
with voters in Vanadzor, November 23, 2021.
“We are discussing an issue which solely applies to a community or communities
where [the ruling party] failed to take power,” said Agnesa Khamoyan of the
Hayastan alliance.
“If the authors of this bill were a bit more honest they would call it a bill on
disenfranchising Mamikon Aslanian and the people of Vanadzor,” charged another
Hayastan parliamentarian.
Four other communities were also left in limbo as a result of nationwide local
elections held on December 5. Pashinian’s party was defeated or failed to win
outright there. Opposition politicians and human rights campaigners in Yerevan
accused the authorities of sabotaging the election of their new mayors to
prevent them from falling under opposition control.
In one such community comprising the town of Vartenis and surrounding villages,
police cordoned off the municipal administration building in early January to
prevent a local opposition figure, Aharon Khachatrian, from taking over as
mayor. Khachatrian finally managed to take office last month.
Deal On Karabakh’s Status ‘Still Important’ For Yerevan
• Sargis Harutyunyan
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (right) meets with his
Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau, Yerevan, April 1, 2022.
Armenia plans to bring up the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status during upcoming
talks on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by Azerbaijan, Foreign
Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Friday.
Mirzoyan also said Yerevan hopes that Russia, the United States and France,
which co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, will mediate those talks despite their
bitter standoff over the conflict in Ukraine.
“As you know, the Azerbaijani side presented some proposals [on the peace
treaty] to the Armenian side and we found those proposals acceptable while
saying that they do not fully address the whole scope of issues,” he told
reporters. “So we complemented those proposals with our own proposals by adding
that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s rights and status is key to us.”
“We hope that the co-presidency of the OSCE Minsk Group will manage after all to
organize peace talks with this agenda and with the aim of signing a
comprehensive peace treaty,” he added at a joint news conference with Poland’s
visiting Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau.
The Azerbaijani proposals cited by Mirzoyan call for a peace accord based on
five elements, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial
integrity. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian publicly stated on Thursday that
Yerevan is ready to negotiate a deal along these lines.
Pashinian did not explicitly mention the question of Karabakh’s status, speaking
instead of the need to protect “the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians.”
His remarks were construed by Armenian opposition leaders and other critics as a
further indication that Pashinian’s government is ready to recognize Azerbaijani
sovereignty over Karabakh.
Armenia - Dashnaktsutyun party leaders Armen Rustamian (left) and Hagop Der
Khatchadurian hold a news conference in Yerevan, March 10, 2022.
Armen Rustamian, a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance,
claimed on Friday that Pashinian has essentially met all Azerbaijani demands. He
noted that the Armenian government is refusing to publicize its official
response to Baku’s proposals on the peace treaty.
“We are still trying to get a copy of that text,” Rustamian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service. “I presume that if that text makes reference to Artsakh
(Karabakh), it contains very vague wordings such as protection of ‘people’s
rights.’”
“This means nothing unless we say that those rights cannot be protected if the
right to self-determination is not upheld as well,” he said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Thursday that he is encouraged by
Yerevan’s response to his proposals. Aliyev again claimed that Baku put an end
to the Karabakh conflict with its victory in the 2020 war.
Aliyev and Pashinian are scheduled to meet in Brussels on April 6 for fresh
talks that will be hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.
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.
By Vugar Khalilov
Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev has described as accurate only 25 percent of minefield maps provided by Armenia.
Hajiyev made the remarks at a conference on “Humanitarian mine action and sustainable development goals (SDGs)” jointly organized by the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Baku on April 1.
“They planted mines instead of trees in our territories. Both soldiers and civilians were killed and injured in the blasts. Unfortunately, only 25 percent of the mine maps provided by Armenia were useful,” Hajiyev stressed.
He underlined that millions of mines were planted by Armenians on Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories and Azerbaijan is working hard to clear the area of mines.
Hajiyev emphasized that the Azerbaijani regions liberated from Armenian occupation in the second Karabakh war in 2020 are the most mine-littered area in the world.
Hajiyev earlier stated that Azerbaijan faces critical issues such as the restoration and reconstruction of liberated territories, as well as the return of internally displaced persons. The threat of mines is one of the most significant obstacles in this regard, and Azerbaijan hopes for serious international support in eliminating this threat.
In his remarks at the event, ANAMA Chairman Vugar Suleymanov stated that since November 10, 2020, over 25,000 hectares of land have been cleared of mines, and over 55,000 mines and unexploded ordnance have been discovered and neutralized on the liberated territories.
Suleymanov stated that Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region ranks first in the world for mine pollution and that due to the magnitude of the problem, the Azerbaijani government prioritizes demining of the liberated territories.
“This issue is in the focus of President Ilham Aliyev, and extensive work is being done in this direction,” he said.
It should be noted that the conference, in a hybrid format, brings together key figures from the international community, mine operations operators, government agencies, and civil society to discuss the importance of humanitarian demining activities in mitigating mine threats to human life and normal living conditions.
The event will investigate the potential of humanitarian demining activities for long-term peace and socio-economic development, as well as the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 16th Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to significantly reduce all forms of violence and related deaths globally.
In particular, the significance of demining in the restoration of Azerbaijan’s liberated lands will be evaluated and information on the country’s large-scale demining activity will be provided.
ANAMA, in collaboration with partner countries, conducts demining operations on Azerbaijan’s liberated territories. The State Border Service and the Defence Ministry also demine the liberated lands.
Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.
Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan all mine maps of liberated territories as a result of talks held through the Russian Defence Ministry’s mediation on December 4, 2021.
Previously, on June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.
On July 3, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan maps of about 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines planted during the occupation of Fuzuli and Zangilan regions.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 1. State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads is carrying out large-scale work to restore road infrastructure in the Azerbaijan’s liberated territories from Armenian occupation, Trend reports with reference to the agency.
Work is also ongoing on installation of information signs indicating directions and distances to the liberated territories as an important part of this process.
Signs are being installed on the roads, including the entrances to the country, informing about the distance, along with the capital Baku, including to the historical cultural center of Azerbaijan – the city of Shusha.
Information signs were installed on the main highways at the Samur checkpoint on the Baku-Guba-state border with Russia highway, the Red Bridge checkpoint on the Baku-Alat-Gazakh highway-state border with Georgia and the Astara checkpoint on the highway Alyat-Astara is the state border with Iran.
Similar signs will be placed at the Agbend checkpoint on the Hajigabul-Horadiz-Agband-Zangazur highway, the Mazymchay checkpoint on the Yevlakh-Zagatala-state border with Georgia highway, the Bilasuvar checkpoint on the Alyat-Astara-state border with Iran, the Yalama checkpoint on the Gandob-Khachmaz-Yalama highway – the state border with Russia, the Sadykhly checkpoint on the Agstafa-Poylu highway – the state border with Georgia, also on the section of the Baku-Alat-Gazakh-state border with Georgia road.
At the same time, work is underway to install information signs indicating the distance to city and regional centers located in the liberated territories, and to replace old signs on all main roads.
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on Thursday on the prevention of Genocide authored and introduced by Armenia.
This Resolution has been traditionally authored and initiated by Armenia. While assessing the current risks and challenges, the resolution outlines the necessary joint efforts by the UN member states to prevent the scourge of genocide, including through recognition, reparation, truth, bringing perpetrators to justice and accountability.
“The Resolution enjoys wide support, which has been demonstrated through wide co-sponsorship by States from all five UN regional groups,” said a statement from the Armenia Mission at the UN.
In its current iteration the resolution addresses issues such as conflict risk analysis and conflict prevention efforts, as well as the misuse of new technologies, in particular social media platforms, as well as the dangers of misinformation spread through them.
The resolution reaffirms the need for universal ratification of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The resolution proposes to convene an Inter-sessional meeting within the framework of the UN to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention. The meeting will also discuss the role of social media platforms and their use by those seeking to spread hate leading to real-world discrimination and violence.
USC Institute of Armenian Studies #MyArmenianStory Mobile Truck flyer
LOS ANGELES—With a mobile studio in a retrofitted food truck, USC Institute of Armenian Studies is traveling throughout Southern California to encourage and invite people to record their life stories.
#MyArmenianStory is a crowd-sourced oral history project that has thus far gathered nearly 100 interviews from around the world. The purpose of the project is to record, gather, and document individual stories and reconstitute them as part of the national story. The method is simple: enlist anyone who is willing to interview and/or be interviewed to discover and record family stories and more. Everyone’s story is relevant, and together, they all make up the Armenian Story.
The Armenian experience of the 20th and 21st centuries is ingrained in the memories of the generations who lived it – California Armenians who lived in Boyle Heights, Hollywood and Pasadena, Soviet citizens who lived to see Armenian independence, and those caught in the Lebanese Civil War or the Iranian Revolution, refugees from Syria and Iraq, and so many others. These are Armenian stories that have individual value to families, but collectively, are essential history sources for scholars and creatives.
The Los Angeles County and the cities of Los Angeles, Glendale, and Pasadena celebrate Armenian heritage during the month of April and this is an opportunity to partner with city and community organizations to commemorate and remember in a way that is meaningful and lasting.
The mobile studio, housed in a bright taco truck in University of Souther California colors, can be found throughout Southern California. Individuals wanting to interview and be interviewed will be seated inside the truck, given guidelines and questions, and their conversation will be recorded.
For those interested in just being interviewed or would like to volunteer to do the interviewing, the Institute staff is ready to make a match. The testimony will be made available to the participants. And, anyone can receive detailed information and instructions on how to conduct interviews at home with loved ones, in person or remotely.
The ambition is to collect as many stories as possible for future reference as a primary source for scholars and artists interested in the global Armenian experience.
The recordings will be archived at USC Digital Libraries, and in other regional and global collections, thus accessible to researchers around the world.
While the mobile #MyArmenianStory Mobile Studio will travel for one month, the project as a whole will continue. Armenians around the world are encouraged to participate in this important initiative by interviewing and sharing their stories with the Institute. Questionnaires, guidelines and all needed information is available in English, French, Spanish and Russian, as well as Eastern and Western Armenian.
Established in 2005, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies supports multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and study the complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian experience—from post-genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia to the evolving diaspora. The institute encourages research, publications and public service, and promotes links among the global academic and Armenian communities.
For inquiries, write to [email protected] or call (213) 821-3943
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau (left) with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at a joint press conference in Yerevan on April 1
“While the attention of the OSCE is mostly focused on military actions in Ukraine, we do hope the issue of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will remain on the OSCE agenda,” Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Friday at a joint press conference with visiting OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau.
“This is especially important today as Azerbaijan is taking advantage of the geopolitical developments to continue its policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh,” Mirzoyan said. “A vivid example of this is the March 24 invasion by Azerbaijani forces in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. And this situation continues into today.”
Saying that Azerbaijan’s military incursion into Russian peacekeeper-controlled areas of Artsakh was pre-planned, Mirzoyan added that it also was breach of the agreement reached between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 9, 2020.
“This incursion and the inciting of military actions were preceded by shooting in the direction of civilian settlements and infrastructure, Azerbaijan has disrupted the functioning of the only vital gas pipeline in Nagorno Karabakh and therefore the supply of gas under the severe weather conditions,” said Mirzoyan.
“In this situations a clear response from the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the international community is becoming imperative, and the unimpeded access of international humanitarian organizations in Nagorno Karabakh is urgent for preventing a humanitarian crisis,” Mirzoyan stressed.
“We note with satisfaction that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairing countries have given a clear assessment of the latest escalation in Nagorno Karabakh, stating that it is a consequence of the movement of Azerbaijani forces,” the foreign minister said.
During the press conference, Rau said that one of the main messages he received in meeting with Armenia’s leaders was the concern over the instability of the situation in Karabakh. The Polish diplomat said he, too, was concerned about the unstable situation in the South Caucasus.
Rau stressed that the current Polish chairmanship in the OSCE contributes to all initiatives aimed at dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “Real dialogue is very important for de-escalation,” he added, calling on the parties to participate in the dialogue in good faith in order to reach a comprehensive solution to all problems.
Rau expressed hope that progress can be made, in particular, on urgent humanitarian issues, such as the release of prisoners, the exchange of information on missing persons, de-mining, and the protection of cultural property.
“The OSCE is ready to increase its participation in Armenia and implement new programs in three areas of security,” Rau noted, adding that the situation in the wider region requires activeness and proactiveness.
Mirzoyan also stressed that a year and a half after the 44-day war, Azerbaijan continues to violate international humanitarian law, as well as the November 9 statement by holding Armenian prisoners of war captive, adding that in all stages of the Karabakh conflict settlement Armenia has stood for an exceptionally peaceful resolution and continues to do so.
“As you know, Azerbaijan has transferred proposals to the Armenian side, and we have said the proposals are acceptable, noting, at the same time, that they do not fully address the whole agenda of issues. We have completed this agenda with our proposals, adding that the issue of the rights of people of Artsakh and the status of Artsakh are of principled importance to us,” Mirzoyan told reporters.
“We expect that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship will be able to organize peace talks in the near future with a view to signing a comprehensive peace treaty. We are consistent in this issue and committed to the trilateral statements of November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021,” Minister Mirzoyan said.
He reiterated Armenia’s willingness to take steps in strengthening stability on the border, and then start to the process of demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Noting that negotiations are underway with Azerbaijan on the opening of regional communications, “We have made proposals in this regard and are expecting a response from Azerbaijan,” he said.