1- Prime Minister Pashinyan has no Right
To Ban an Armenian from Entering Armenia
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- President Biden Meets with Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
3- Armenian and Turkish leaders had phone conversation — the
first in 30 years
4- Pashinyan Bars French-Armenian Community Leader from Entering Armenia
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
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1- Prime Minister Pashinyan has no Right
To Ban an Armenian from Entering Armenia
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
French Armenian community leader Mourad (Franck) Papazian and his wife
were not allowed to enter Armenia last week after they arrived at the
Yerevan Airport. Papazian is a member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation’s worldwide leadership (Bureau) and the Co-President of the
Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France.
At passport control, Papazian was told to wait until they verified his
information. He had a proper French passport and did not need a visa
to enter Armenia. While he was waiting, customs’ officials were
consulting with their superiors on the phone.
Papazian was then led to an isolated room at the airport where he was
kept for several hours. Finally, National Security Service agents told
him that he was not allowed to enter Armenia.
Despite Papazian’s several requests, he was never informed of the
reason for his being barred from entering Armenia. He was expelled
from the country by placing him on the next flight to Paris.
This is an incident with serious ethical, legal, diplomatic and
national implications.
Ethically, if Armenian officials want to ban someone from entering
Armenia, they should have the minimum courtesy of telling the
individual the reason for such a grave decision. The visitor is
entitled to know why he is not being allowed to enter the country.
In terms of Armenian laws, regardless of the reason for banning
Papazian from entering the country, Armenian officials don’t have the
right to take such an action on their own, be they airport officials,
National Security Service agents or Prime Minister. Banning any
visitor, let alone a fellow Armenian, from entering the country is a
very serious decision. If Papazian had violated any Armenian laws,
airport officials could have detained him, presented the charges
against him to a judge who would have taken a legal decision based on
the evidence after listening to both sides. Is Armenia a country
governed by laws or by the vindictive decisions of the Prime Minister?
If one man can act as the executive, legislative and judicial branches
of the government, then Armenia is far from being a democratic
country. It is sad that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to
power four years ago as a democrat, is ignoring all democratic norms.
Papazian’s sole guilt is being critical of the failed regime of
Pashinyan.
In terms of European laws, Armenia violated in this case several
principles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms, which it had committed to uphold. The required
procedure is that Papazian first challenge his expulsion in a domestic
Armenian court. If he is unsuccessful there, Papazian can then take
his complaint to the European Court of Human Rights. I am certain that
the European Court will find that the Armenian government violated
Papazian’s “right to a fair trial,” “freedom of _expression_” and
“freedom of movement.” Furthermore, Papazian’s expulsion was a
violation of United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Regarding this incident’s possible negative effect on Armenia’s
relations with France, as a French citizen, Papazian has filed a
complaint with the French Embassy in Yerevan and the French Foreign
Ministry in Paris. As a well-known political activist, Papazian has
close ties with Pres. Macron of France and other high-ranking French
officials. Already, there was another unpleasant incident last May,
when Papazian accompanied the Pro-Armenian Mayor of Paris, Anne
Hidalgo, on her visit to Armenia. Since Papazian is a critic of
Pashinyan, he informed the Prime Minister’s office that he will not
join the Mayor’s scheduled meeting with Pashinyan, in order not to
create an unwelcome scene during the meeting. Without any explanation,
at the last minute, the Prime Minister decided to cancel the meeting
with the Paris Mayor. This was a major diplomatic error. Armenia can
ill afford to alienate French officials who are some of its staunchest
supporters.
In terms of the Armenian government undermining the collective
interests of the Armenian nation, it is counterproductive that while
Armenia is surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies and its very existence
is threatened, its leaders are engaged in a self-defeating action
regarding the Diaspora which only serves to further weaken Armenia.
Azerbaijan does have massive petrodollars, but Armenia has a large
Diaspora which is an unutilized asset.
I am afraid that Papazian’s expulsion, if not reversed quickly, will
have an adverse effect on Armenia’s relations with the seven-million
strong Diaspora. Armenia’s leaders, rather than coming up with
initiatives to attract more Diaspora Armenians to visit, immigrate and
invest in Armenia, are unwisely alienating them.
Since Papazian’s only guilt is that he was a critic of Pashinyan, his
expulsion could cause many other Diaspora Armenians, who are opposed
to the Prime Minister, to avoid visiting Armenia out of a concern that
they too will be stopped at the Yerevan Airport and not be allowed to
visit their homeland.
It is highly regrettable that Papazian, a man who has dedicated his
entire life to defending the interests of Armenia and the Armenia
Cause, is treated in such an offensive manner. With great sadness, he
acknowledged: “I knew that I was banned from Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Today, I am banned from Pashinyan’s Armenia.”
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2- President Biden Meets with Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)— President Joe Biden on Wednesday, July 13
touched down in the Middle East for the first time as president, for a
visit to Israel, the occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia centered on
encouraging the growing ties between Israel and Arab countries, while
resetting his administration's relationship with Saudi Arabia.
On Friday, July 15, Biden was received by representatives of the three
churches managing the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem—The Greek
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Custody of the Holy Land, and the
Armenian Patriarchate— and he met with the leaders of each church,
including Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan
Manougian. The Archbishop took the president on a tour of the church
and presented Biden with a plate and a pomegranate made of Armenian
terracotta, Chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Koryun Baghdasaryan said on social media.
During the talk with the US President, the Armenian Patriarch thanked
him for recognizing the Armenian Genocide and discussed other topics
including the preservation of Christian sites in the Holy Land..
Patriarch Theophilos III stressed the need for active American
intervention to protect the Christian heritage and presence in the
Holy Land, especially in the city of Jerusalem. The Patriarch
explained the dangers of Christian migration from Jerusalem. His
Beatitude also noted attacks on churches, clergy and Christian
faithful by members of Israeli radical groups and the attempts to
seize the properties of Jaffa Gate in a case that illustrates the
battle waged by these groups against the Christian presence in
Jerusalem. He also spoke of restricting freedom of worship against
Muslims and Christians, preventing believers from reaching their
places of worship freely, giving the example of Israeli police this
year prevented worshippers from reaching the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre on the Saturday of Holy Fire.
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3- Armenian and Turkish leaders had phone conversation — the
first in 30 years
YEREVAN (Arka)—Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone
conversation with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July
11, the Armenian government press office said.
It said Pashinyan congratulated the Turkish President on Kurban Bayram
(Islamic holiday) and the latter congratulated the Prime Minister on
the upcoming Vardavar-Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
The leaders emphasized the importance they attach to the bilateral
normalization process between their respective countries.
In this context they expressed their expectation for the early
implementation of the agreements reached during the meeting between
the Special Representatives of their countries on July 1.
This is the first telephone conversation between the leaders of the
two neighboring countries that have not had diplomatic relations for
almost 30 years and have lived with closed borders.
On July 1, special envoys of Armenia and Turkey for normalization of
relations – Ruben Rubinyan of Armenia and Serdar Kilic of Turkey –
agreed during their fourth meeting in Vienna to enable the crossing of
the land border between Armenia and Turkey for third-country citizens
visiting Armenia and Turkey respectively at the earliest date possible
and decided to initiate the necessary process to that end.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said they also agreed on commencing
direct air cargo trade between Armenia and Turkey at the earliest
possible date and decided to initiate the necessary process to that
effect.
Furthermore, they discussed other possible concrete steps that can be
undertaken towards achieving the ultimate goal of full normalization
between their respective countries.
Finally, they reemphasized their agreement to continue the
normalization process without preconditions.
The first round of talks was held in Moscow on Jan. 14, where both
parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions. The
Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second and third time in
Vienna on Feb. 24 and May 3, 2022.
Although Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia’s
independence from the former Soviet Union, the countries have no
diplomatic ties and Turkey shut down their common border in 1993, in a
show of solidarity with Azerbaijan which was locked in a conflict with
Armenia over the Artsakh region.
Turkey also refuses to recognize the Armenian genocide, committed
during 1915-1923.
In 2009, Ankara and Yerevan reached an agreement in Zurich to
establish diplomatic relations and to open their joint border, but
Turkey later said it could not ratify the deal until Armenia withdrew
from Artsakh.
In 2020, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week war with
Armenia over Artsakh which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal
that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of Artsakh.
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4- Pashinyan Bars French-Armenian Community Leader from Entering Armenia
(Panorama.am)—Co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organization in France and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Bureau member Franck (Mourad) Papazian has been banned from entering
Armenia, he said on Thursday, July 14.
“It is with great sadness that I inform you that I was barred from
entering Armenia last night,” he wrote on Facebook. “By the order of
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, I have been declared persona non grata
in Armenia.”
He said the Armenian police escorted him back onto the Air France
plane and confiscated his passport.
“I knew that I was banned from entering Turkey and Azerbaijan. Now I
am denied entry into Armenia as well,” Papazian informed.
“After 40 years of hard work for Armenia and the Armenian cause, It’s
extremely painful to find myself in such a situation. Nikol
Pashinyan’s decision once again indicates that he is not up to the
responsibilities incumbent on him.
“Pashinyan is strong when he asks his police to expel an activist of
the Armenian cause. Can you imagine this little leader talking with
Erdogan or Aliyev? Sooner or later, the Armenian people will realize
that they will have to get rid of this leader who is making every
effort to weaken Armenia. The Diaspora will also realize it. But it’s
high time to tell him to stop,” he stated.
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5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
More than 2.2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been
administered in Armenia since commencing the vaccination program a
year ago, authorities said on July 18. Armenia has recorded 423,771
coronavirus cases. Armenia has recorded 8,629 deaths; for the fifth
week, no new deaths were reported. There are 2,481 active cases;
412,661 have recovered.
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