Macron, Putin holding telephone conversation
20:22,
YEREVAN, 29 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin are holding a telephone conversation, ARMENPRESS reports TASS informed, citing Agence France-Presse.
Earlier it was reported that before the conversation with Putin, Macron was to take part in talks with US President Joe Biden together with a number of European leaders.
Tuesday,
Armenia Offers ‘Immediate’ Peace Talks With Azerbaijan
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian chairs a meeting of Armenia's Security
Council, Yerevan,
Armenia said on Monday that it is willing to “immediately” start negotiations on
a peace treaty with Azerbaijan in a bid to prevent fresh Azerbaijani attacks on
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian government’s Security Council also called on the international
community to activate “containment mechanisms” in view of “the possibility of
military clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.”
“The analysis of the situation shows that Azerbaijan … is preparing the ground
to launch new provocations and attacks in the direction of Nagorno-Karabakh,
including by accusing the Armenia of unconstructive actions on the issue of a
peace treaty,” the council said after a late-night session chaired by Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian.
In a statement, it offered Baku to “immediately start negotiations on a
comprehensive peace treaty” between the two South Caucasus nations.
The statement came four days after the Azerbaijani army captured a village in
eastern Karabakh and surrounding territory, triggering deadly fighting with
Karabakh Armenian forces. Azerbaijani troops partially withdrew from the area
after the intervention of Russian peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov discussed the situation in Karabakh
with the army’s top brass earlier on Monday. He reportedly said that Azerbaijani
forces must be “ready to use modern weaponry and other military equipment at any
moment.”
Meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan’s held separate meetings
with the Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group, Igor Khovaev, as well as the
Yerevan-based ambassadors of Russia, the United States and France. The tensions
in Karabakh were high on their agenda.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Mirzoyan told Khovaev that Armenia
is ready to start negotiating with Azerbaijan on the peace treaty “within the
framework of the co-chairmanship of the Minsk Group.”
Earlier this month, Yerevan asked the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the
Minsk Group to mediate such talks after receiving a five-point formal proposal
from the Azerbaijani side. The proposal includes, among other things, a mutual
commitment to recognize each other’s territorial integrity.
Armenian Opposition Unimpressed By Yerevan’s Offer To Baku
• Astghik Bedevian
• Heghine Buniatian
Armenia - Tigran Abrahamian, a parliament deputy from the opposition Pativ Unem
bloc, at a news conference, Yerevan, January 25, 2022.
Opposition lawmakers expressed concern on Tuesday over the Armenian government’s
stated readiness to negotiate a comprehensive “peace treaty” with Azerbaijan
amid heightened tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Yerevan called late on Monday for the “immediate” start of Armenian-Azerbaijani
talks on such a treaty while saying that Baku is “preparing the ground” for
fresh military action in Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani army captured a village in eastern Karabakh and surrounding
territory last Thursday, triggering deadly fighting with Karabakh Armenian
forces. Azerbaijani troops partially withdrew from the area on Sunday.
Artur Khachatrian, a senior lawmaker representing the main opposition Hayastan
alliance, described Yerevan’s response to the escalation as contradictory and
worrying. He claimed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government signaled
readiness to make “new concessions” to Baku.
“As long as Armenia has not demonstrated what its red lines are, it will be
quite dangerous to start negotiations while being in a weak position,”
Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“They are talking about rising tensions but are not taking any serious
preventive measures,” said Tigran Abrahamian of the opposition Pativ Unem bloc.
Abrahamian accused the authorities of putting Armenia at the mercy of Azerbaijan
and Turkey.
“It’s one thing when you have a modernized and effective army and it’s another
when you pin your hopes on a supposed agenda of peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey
and take no meaningful steps to achieve it,” he said.
Lawmakers from Pashinian’s Civil Contract refused to comment on the offer to
Baku publicized after a late-night session of Armenia’s Security Council.
Responding to the offer, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that
Baku is prepared for talks on the peace treaty but expects the Armenian side to
take unspecified “concrete steps” first.
In a statement, the ministry said that the peace deal must be based on five
elements that were presented to Yerevan on March 10. Those include, among other
things, a mutual commitment to recognize each other’s territorial integrity.
Armenian leaders have said that the five-point Azerbaijani proposal is
acceptable to them in principle. This has fueled renewed opposition claims that
Pashinian’s administration is ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over
Karabakh.
Russian Peacekeepers To Boost Presence In Karabakh Hotspot
• Artak Khulian
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- A Karabakh Armenian police officer patrols as a truck of
Russian peacekeeping forces moves past him at their checkpoint outside Askeran,
November 20, 2020
The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh said on Tuesday that it
will deploy more soldiers in and around a local village that was occupied by
Azerbaijani forces last week.
In a social media post, the contingent’s command said the deployment of its
“reserve forces” is aimed at preventing the Azerbaijani army from pushing deeper
into Karabakh’s eastern Askeran district.
Azerbaijani troops captured the Askeran village of Parukh and advanced towards a
strategic mountain to the west of it last Thursday, meeting with stiff
resistance from Karabakh Armenian forces. Deadly fighting there stopped by
Saturday evening following the intervention of the Russian peacekeepers.
The peacekeepers took control of Parukh on Monday after Moscow warned Baku to
leave their “zone of responsibility.” According to Karabakh authorities,
although Azerbaijani forces withdrew from the village itself, they continue to
occupy a section of the Karaglukh mountain.
Karabakh’s Defense Army said on Monday that it is also taking “additional
containment measures” to avert further Azerbaijani advances in the area about 35
kilometers east of Stepanakert.
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, said, for his part, that the
authorities in Stepanakert keep trying to ensure a full Azerbaijani troop
withdrawal with the help of the Russian peacekeepers.
In what may have a related development, Baku unblocked on Monday supplies of
natural gas from Armenia to Karabakh.
The supplies were cut off on March 8 after a section of a pipeline passing
through Azerbaijani-controlled territory was knocked out by an apparent
explosion, leaving most Karabakh residents without winter heating and forcing
the temporary closure of local schools. Armenian and Karabakh officials say the
disruption was part of Baku’s efforts to compel Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian
population to leave the disputed territory.
Another Western Watchdog Deplores Curbs On Free Speech In Armenia
• Sargis Harutyunyan
The Amnesty International logo is seen in their office in Hong Kong on October,
2021.
Human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday criticized the Armenian
authorities for “unduly” restricting freedom of speech in the country.
The London-based watchdog singled out their decisions last year to triple
maximum legal fines for “slander” and make it a crime to insult state officials.
The decisions have been condemned by Armenian civic groups.
“The right to freedom of expression continued to be unduly restricted,” Amnesty
International said in an annual report on human rights practices around the
world. “The government introduced several legislative amendments curtailing
independent media and other critical voices.
“In March [2021,] the National Assembly increased the maximum fine for insult
and defamation to 6 million drams (approximately US$12,000). In August, another
set of legislative amendments criminalized insulting public figures, making
repeated insults punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment.”
All forms of slander and defamation had been decriminalized in Armenia in 2010.
The current Armenian government’s decision to restore criminal liability for
such offenses drew criticism from the Armenian opposition and civil society.
U.S. democracy watchdog Freedom House has repeatedly called a repeal of the
corresponding amendments to the Criminal Code, saying that they highlight a
“clear degradation of democratic norms” in Armenia. Political allies of Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian have dismissed the criticism.
Hundreds of people have already been investigated by the Armenian police and
other law-enforcement agencies under the controversial amendments. According to
state prosecutors, 31 of them were formally indicted by January 1. Most of them
are thought to have been accused of offending Pashinian or other officials.
Amnesty International also deplored “trumped-up charges” that were brought
against Yazidi activist Sashik Sultanian after he voiced concerns in 2020 over
the treatment of fellow members of Armenia’s Yazidi community.
“His trial started in August and was ongoing at the end of the year,” reads the
Amnesty report. “If convicted, he could face three to six years in prison.”
The report also says: “The Prosecutor General’s Office and state investigative
bodies failed to effectively investigate attacks and threats against NGOs and
media outlets, including looting of the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty and Open Society Foundations, in the aftermath of the
[Armenian-Azerbaijani] conflict in 2020.”
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.
PanARMENIAN.Net – The Biden Administration called for just $24 million in U.S. assistance to Armenia in the White House Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget proposal released on Monday, March 28 – $21 million less than what Congress allocated and the President approved for FY 2022 just weeks ago, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We are disappointed that President Biden’s annual budget – released in the wake of a government watchdog report documenting over $164,000,000 in U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan – flat-lines U.S. aid to Armenia at just over $24 million and fails to include any specific dollar amount for U.S. assistance to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh – Ed.),” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We look to our Congressional allies, coalition partners, and community activists to work through the foreign aid appropriations process to dramatically boost U.S. aid numbers for both Artsakh and Armenia.”
Similar to his budget request for FY2022, the President’s FY2023 budget includes $23,405,000 in foreign aid and $600,000 in military assistance to Armenia. A separate line item in the budget calls for $6,050,000 in International Narcotics and Law Enforcement spending in Armenia. Following broad-based Congressional outreach by the ANCA and the Armenian American community last year, the final FY2022 aid package for Armenia was increased to $45 million and included an additional $2 million in U.S. demining assistance for those affected by the 2020 Azerbaijan and Turkey-led attacks on Armenia and Artsakh. The ANCA has already issued calls on the White House and Congress for $50 million in US aid to Artsakh, to help resettle the over 100,000 indigenous Artsakh Armenians ethnically cleansed by Azerbaijan in 2020. To join the nationwide call to action, visit anca.org/aid.
By comparison, President Biden requested approximately $9.7 million in U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan for FY2023. This does not include additional funds Azerbaijan receives from the Department of Defense under their Section 333 (Capacity Building) programs.
According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report release in March, Azerbaijan has received over $164 million in U.S. aid under the Section 333 account, the impact of which the Departments of State and Defense failed to disclose to Congress, as required by Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act. The ANCA has called on the Biden Administration to enforce Section 907 restrictions on US aid to Azerbaijan in its fullest capacity.
PanARMENIAN.Net – The Azerbaijani military has been loudly playing mugham pieces for three days now, as well as threatening through loudspeakers, thus trying to make the residents of the Armenian village of Taghavard leave their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
According to Rudik Baghdasaryan, a local official, the villagers are getting used to the “unpleasant” music and trying to live as best they can.
“Now they have come up with something new: they say ‘abandon the village if you don’t want to suffer the same fate as Parukh’,” Pastinfo cited Baghdasaryan as saying on Tuesday, March 29.
The official said students go to school per usual, and there is no growing tension among the population.
Baghdasaryan’s comments come amid renewed violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, as Azerbaijan has stormed into the zone of the responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the area and is refusing to completely withdraw its forces from strategic heights.
The jailed opposition mayor of Goris, a community in Armenia’s Syunik Province, has been partially acquitted and released from custody.
The Syunik Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by judge Gnel Gasparyan, delivered a ruling in Arush Arushanyan’s case on Monday.
The court found Arushanyan not guilty on vote-buying charges under Article 154.2 of Armenia’s Criminal Code due to lack of evidence.
However, he was found guilty under Article 308 (abuse of office), Article 322 (arbitrariness) and Article 113 (intentionally causing medium gravity harm to health) of the Criminal Code, being forbidden to hold a position in the local government for 5 years.
Under one of the articles, Arushanyan was sentenced to 1.3 years, of which 8 months he had served, and the rest was considered suspended.
Thus, the judge ordered Arush Arushanyan’s immediate release.
https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2022/03/28/Arush-Arushanyan/2659891
The opposition mayor of Goris, a community in Armenia’s Syunik Province, who was released from custody on Monday, vowed to continue his struggle for the homeland.
“In general, I do not consider myself a political prisoner, my struggle is not for politics. We have fought and will continue to fight to defend our homeland, to liberate the territories occupied by external and internal enemies,” Goris Mayor Arush Arushanyan told reporters after leaving the court building.
Arushanyan assured that their struggle would continue “no matter what”.
“We will not have the moral right to live if we forget our compatriots who sacrificed their lives for our lands. We must remember not only our brothers who fell in the 44-day war, but also the members of the older generations who gave their lives defending our lands for thousands of years. Didn’t they want to live? The homeland is above everything else. But we have to resolve the issue of the internal enemy first, and then the external enemy,” he said.
The law on the purchase of property in Armenia allows citizens of any country to buy non-agricultural real estate in the country, Head of the Cadastre Committee Suren Tovmasyan told reporters on Monday, responding to the remarks that according to some media reports the Turks are buying real estate in Armenia.
“If I’m not mistaken, Turkish citizens have acquired 72 properties in Armenia since 2002. Most of them are apartments, others are small public facilities, etc. We don’t see any problem here,” Tovmasyan said.
“As for the purchase of real estate by Azerbaijani citizens, they must have tourist passports. That is, they come and get tourist passports from us. As far as I remember, 5-6 citizens of Azerbaijan have Armenian tourist passports,” he noted.
Tovmasyan dismissed claims that more citizens of Turkey and Azerbaijan have purchased property in Armenia in recent years.
Separately, he said that he had been on vacation for the past three weeks and had been in his native village, Pokr Vedi.
“Accordingly, I supported Garik Sargsyan so that he could win the local elections in the Vedi community, and he succeeded,” Tovmasyan said.
No major ceasefire violations were registered along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact last night and as of Tuesday morning. The operational and tactical situation remained tense, with a certain positive tendency to extinguish, the Artsakh Information Center said in a statement.
“The Azerbaijani troops remain deployed at the same combat positions on Karaglukh, adjacent to Parukh. The armed forces of Artsakh continue to take additional measures to strengthen their defensive positions and restrain the enemy,” it said.
“Work with the Russian peacekeeping command staff to prevent possible provocations by Azerbaijan and to withdraw the Azerbaijani troops to their starting positions is ongoing.
“The competent structures of Artsakh are following the situation and the actions of the Azerbaijani side by all possible mechanisms, and, if necessary, will report on further developments,” reads the statement.
The Artsakh Foreign Ministry issued the following statement on the restoration of gas supply to the country:
“On March 28, the gas supply to the Republic of Artsakh was restored through the only gas pipeline entering Artsakh from the Republic of Armenia. This month, Azerbaijan has twice disrupted the supply of natural gas to Artsakh for a lengthy period, causing a humanitarian crisis.
The humanitarian terrorism carried out by Azerbaijan has been strongly condemned by the international community, numerous calls have been made for the restoration of gas supply, and adequate political and diplomatic steps have been taken. The role of the Russian peacekeeping mission in the matter is also great.
We are grateful to all the countries and international organizations, political and public figures who, adhering to the principles of international humanitarian law and moral norms, gave an adequate assessment to Azerbaijan’s actions and took relevant steps to eliminate this humanitarian crisis.
Politicization of humanitarian issues is inadmissible and immoral, and any attempt of the kind is a challenge to the entire civilized world.”
The Matenadaran-Gandzasar Scientific and Cultural Center in Artsakh is open to visitors and operates as normal, Matenadaran-Gandzasar Director Aram Torosyan told Panorama.am on Tuesday.
The center suspended its activity after the 44-day Artsakh war. After the Azerbaijani shelling of the Ghazanchetsots (Holy Savior) Cathedral in Shushi, all its exhibits were evacuated to Yerevan.
“Over the past few days, the Matenadaran Museum Complex was closed due to gas supply problems, but, in general, its activities continue, we have visitors. Of course, the number of visitors has sharply decreased given that there are no tourist flows. Fewer people have started visiting Artsakh from Armenia as well. I urge people to come to Artsakh more often, of course we understand that there is a need for certain security guarantees. The current guarantees seem to be insufficient,” Torosyan said.
The director of the scientific and cultural center says that they plan to host book presentations and temporary exhibitions.
“About 30% of our exhibits transferred earlier to the Matenadaran in Yerevan have been returned. This is the management’s decision to return them in parts, taking into account some security concerns. We plan to get the rest back in the near future. There’s another reason why we’re not moving them back: the Matenadaran – the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan – is hosting a temporary exhibition called “Artsakh Manuscripts Art” which displays manuscripts that were brought to Armenia from the Matenadaran-Gandzasar Scientific and Cultural Center during the 44-day war. That is, the Artsakh exhibition is temporarily hosted by Yerevan’s Matenadaran,” said Torosyan.
He noted that the village of Vank in the Martakert region, near which the Gandzasar Monastery Complex is located, as well as the Matenadaran are not very close to the border with Azerbaijan, thus people are free to visit the Matenadaran whenever they wish.
“Currently, our main visitors are local residents, Russian peacekeepers, and, from time to time, delegations from Armenia and Russia,” he said.
The Gandzasar Monastery Complex is situated close to the village of Vank in the Martakert region. Artsakh’s Matenadaran branch is located in the area adjacent to Gandzasar.
The Matenadaran-Gandzasar Scientific and Cultural Center was founded in 2015. Over the years, the number of visitors to the center reached 70,000-80,000. In 2019 alone, about 19,000 people visited the center.
It stored more than 100 manuscripts, including original ones, 3 dozens of old printed books, around 3 dozens of valuable archive documents, and 700 units of Armenian studies literature.
Created back in 1902, the legendary blend ARARAT “Otborny” was the first Armenian vintage brandy, which became an opening chapter in the chronicle of triumph of the Armenian brandy-making.
In the year of meaningful anniversaries – the 135th anniversary of brandy-making in Armenia and the 120th anniversary of the first Armenian vintage brandy, Yerevan Brandy Company revives the collection version of the legendary ARARAT “Otborny” blend.
The author of the original blend is Mkrtich Musinyants, whose creative curiosity and outstanding academic background reflected the gifts of the generous Armenian nature along with its unique grape varieties in one single brandy. Soon after its very creation, the blend managed to leave the international jury members of one of the most influential French competition astonished, Yerevan Brandy Company said in a press release on Tuesday.
Being an alumnus of a prestigious French winemaking school, Musinyants’ “Otborny” served as a tribute to his homeland. The blend is a brilliant representation of the notion that the unity of Armenian nature and genuine craftsmanship create a gold benchmark that continues to inspire connoisseurs for generations ahead.
ARARAT “Otborny” features intense amber color with copper shine. Rounded and long-lasting taste plays with notes of citrus, caramel, and toffee. The ending chord of the taste completes with faded bitterness of almonds.
“The rebirth of “Otborny” brandy, first and foremost, is the credential of Yerevan Brandy Company’s historical succession. This is our homage for the heritage that we are a part of. This is also our pride for having a unique collection of spirits, which not only gives us an opportunity to recreate historical blends but also to produce collection reserves,” says Serge Khachatryan, Chief Operating Officer of Yerevan Brandy Company.
The renaissance of historical blends highlights the unique legacy of ARARAT. It also comes to underline the idea that only exceptional brands with profound history can recreate noble samples and make them collectioanal.
“Being a collection reserve, the recreated blend of “Otborny” emphasizes its organoleptic harmony more eloquently, since three additional years of post-blend aging perfectly reveals the shades of rare spirits. Working with ARARAT Vintage Range is always an incredible experience and a fascinating dialogue with different generations,” says Hamlet Antonyan, Head of Production of Yerevan Brandy Company.
ARARAT “Otborny” will enrich ARARAT Vintage Collection and will continue the stylistic solutions of the range’s packaging. The illustrations and main color design of “Otborny” glorify the unique essence of Armenian grape varieties as a symbol of irreplaceable inceptions of the bright stories.
The limited distribution of the ARARAT “Otborny” will definitely create yet another dialogue with the connoisseurs of ARARAT Armenian brandy.