An Armenian court has granted asylum to a queer Chechen man, blocking his extradition to Russia. 

On Monday, Yerevan’s Administrative Court ruled in favour of granting 41-year-old Salman Mukayev, a Chechen native residing in Armenia, asylum. 

The court overruled the Migration Service’s decision to reject Mukayev’s 2021 asylum application on the grounds that his life would not be in danger in Russia outside of Chechnya.

Mukayev was reportedly detained by the Russian authorities in Chechnya on suspicion of being gay in 2020. NC SOS Crisis Group, a queer rights organisation operating in the North Caucasus, stated that Mukayev was tortured by the security forces who attempted to obtain a confession that he had had a sexual relationship with a male friend. 

[Read more: Chechen faces extradition to Russia from Armenia]

He fled to Armenia after being blackmailed by the Russian authorities in Chechnya and was charged with the illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, or carrying of weapons and ammunition two weeks later.

In its ruling on Monday, the Court stated that despite not facing charges pertaining to his sexuality, Mukayev’s being queer posed a threat to his life in Russia.

It added that it based its decision on ‘objective, up-to-date, and reliable information’ and that ‘it can be reasonably assumed that LGBT people may face imprisonment and ill-treatment because of their sexual orientation’.

They cited reports of discrimination against queer people in Russia as well as the country’s designation of the ‘international LGBT movement’ as an extremist organisation.

‘From the current, objective and reliable data on the situation of the representatives of the LGBT community in the Russian Federation and the North Caucasus (including Chechnya), it can be concluded that the threat to their freedom and personal integrity is not limited to the territory of Chechnya’, read the court’s verdict.

The court’s decision to grant Mukayev asylum will come into force in one month if the Migration Service does not appeal it.

‘I don’t know what would have happened if the opposite decision was made; I am very happy’, Mukayev told RFE/RL on Tuesday.

NC SOS Crisis Group stated that after Mukayev was detained in Chechnya, the authorities released him on the condition that he helped identify other queer men in Chechnya.

Chechen security forces reportedly instructed Mukayev to contact men online and to invite them to a flat monitored by them.

Mukayev refused to comply and fled to Armenia instead, after which he was charged and placed on a federal wanted list.

In September 2021, Novaya Gazeta reported that Mukayev was barred from leaving Armenia for Europe by border place because he was wanted in Russia.

Activists in Armenia feared that Mukayev’s extradition to Russia would lead to his death.

Queer people face persecution in the North Caucasus and especially in Chechnya, where they are systematically abducted, tortured, abused, blackmailed, and killed.

In 2017, reports emerged of anti-gay purges organised by the Russian authorities in Chechnya, resulting in the detention of more than 100 people and the death of several others.

Those believed by activists to have been killed by the authorities included well-known Chechen singer Zelim Bakayev.

Chechens believed to be queer have not found safety in other regions of Russia.

In 2021, two siblings fleeing Chechnya, Ismail Isayev and Salekh Magomadov, were abducted by local police from a safe house in Central Russia and transferred back to Chechnya, where they were charged with transferring food to an illegal armed group.

In 2022, Ismail was sentenced to eight years in prison, and Salekh was sentenced to six.

https://oc-media.org/armenia-grants-asylum-to-queer-chechen/

Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Ani Ispiryan, has reportedly been detained as part of an investigation into corruption in the ministry. 

The Economy Ministry announced on Wednesday that an investigation was underway in the ministry. 

‘We consider the fight against corruption extremely important, at the same time we are guided by the presumption of innocence,’ the message stated.

Armenian media began to claim that Ispiryan and other employees of the ministry had been arrested on Wednesday afternoon. 

The Minister of Economy’s spokesperson soon after confirmed that Ispiryan had been ‘taken’ by law enforcement officers, but did not clarify the conditions of or reason for her detention. 

A day earlier, Ispiryan was dismissed from her position in a decision from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. 

Gor Abrahamyan, the spokesperson of Armenia’s Investigative Committee, neither confirmed nor denied that the former deputy minister had been arrested, when speaking to RFE/RL. 

He stated, however, that searches had been launched in 15 locations in both the Ministry of Economy and a number of personal homes in relation to two criminal cases.

‘Urgent investigative and other large-scale judicial actions are being carried out by investigators of the Investigative Committee and employees of the National Security Service,’ stated Abrahamyan.

Minister of Economy, Vahan Kerobyan, told journalists that he was not aware of the reasons for the search, but stated that investigative bodies usually entered state administration bodies in relation to cases of corruption. 

However, Kerobyan suggested that Ispiryan’s dismissal was unconnected to the investigation. 

‘Ani said a month and a half ago that her husband got a job in Holland, they are going to move and she submitted her resignation a few days before moving,’ said Kerobyan.

https://oc-media.org/armenias-deputy-economy-minister-reportedly-arrested-for-corruption/

Turkey has warned Armenia that it would suffer ‘serious damages’ if it failed to secure a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. 

The comments came from the chair of the Turkish Parliament’s Defence Committee, Hulusi Akar, during a visit to Baku on Monday. ‘[Armenia] should accept the hand of peace extended by Azerbaijan, otherwise it will suffer serious damages just like in the 2020 war’, he said. Akar previously served as minister of defence and the chief of staff of the Turkish armed forces.

In response, Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan told Armenian Public TV that Turkey could play a more constructive role by implementing an agreement to open the land border between the two countries for citizens of third countries and diplomatic passport holders. 

The comments came as tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to ratchet, with the peace process that began following the end of the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh war dragging on.

On Saturday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told local journalists that Azerbaijan had received Armenia’s latest peace proposals at the beginning of January, and was still preparing a response.

On Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan suggested the countries sign a non-aggression pact ‘if it turns out that signing a peace treaty will take longer than expected’.

He also repeated an offer to create a mutual arms control mechanism, in response to criticism from Azerbaijan of Armenia purchasing weaponry from France and India.

During his visit to Baku, Akar repeated such criticisms, claiming that certain countries were trying to equip Armenia as a ‘proxy state’.

On 29 January, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizade dismissed Pashinyan’s latest proposals as a distraction.

‘It is political manipulation to claim that Armenia takes a serious approach to the peace process’, he said, ‘taking into account that his country is pursuing a policy of serious militarisation, several billion-dollar arms supply contracts have been signed in recent years, and it has developed its military industry’. 

‘Azerbaijan, in its turn, will continue its peace and construction efforts and expects Armenia to take adequate steps, not only in words but also in deeds’, he said.

As peace talks have appeared to have stalled, diplomatic spats between the two countries have continued to appear.

On 25 January, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) announced that Armenia would be transferring eight landmine logbooks to Azerbaijan as a confidence-building measure. They said these were discovered as part of their interviews with former military personnel from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The NSS stated that Armenia had transferred around 972 maps containing the locations of landmines throughout 2021 ‘without preconditions’ and that ‘there are simply no better quality maps at Armenia’s disposal’. 

Later that day, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry stated Armenia’s intention was ‘not a humanitarian one and this step could not be considered a confidence-building measure’.

They added that the maps they had received from Armenia in the past were only 25% accurate and ‘incomplete’.

‘We have frequently pointed out that the provided maps are ineffective, incomplete, and do not accurately portray the reality on the ground’, read the ministry’s statement.

They called on Yerevan to ‘submit accurate maps’ and to provide information on the ‘fate of nearly 4,000 Azerbaijanis who have disappeared over the past 30 years, as well as the places of mass graves where Azerbaijanis are buried’.

In response, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry accused Azerbaijan of ‘continuing to manipulate the topic’, and ‘turning Armenia’s positive move into an occasion for escalation and negative rhetoric’. 

The NSS also said they had previously provided information on Azerbaijanis who remain missing and said they were willing to cooperate on this matter further.

https://oc-media.org/turkey-warns-armenia-to-accept-hand-of-peace/