The “Movement -88” faction of the Artsakh Republic Parliament nominated the presidential candidature of Eduard Aghabekyan, the leader of the faction. Eduard Aghabekyan is former mayor of Stepanakert. Let us remind that earlier Artsakh National Assembly’s “Homeland”, “Democracy” and “Dashnaktsutyun” factions had nominated Bako Sahakyan’s candidature.
16:07 • 12.07.17
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has entered into a new stage, with Azerbaijan continuing to escalate the border tension in violation of the Vienna and St Petersburg arrangements, a vice president of the Armenian National Assembly said today, condemning the Azerbaijani authorities' policy of sacrificing their civilians in military operations.
“The Azerbaijani leadership has very well learned the Nazi German lessons, and they are using their population as a living shield,” Eduard Sharmazanov told a news conference.
Commenting on the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers’ recent meeting in Brussels, the parliament official said he saw the co-chairs reaffirm, yet another time, the idea of reaching a negotiated settlement.
He also highlighted Armenia's repeated calls for respecting the arrangements as an important precondition for renewing the peace talks.
“The Armenian side also said that Azerbaijan is responsible for the failure to abide by the St Petersburg and Moscow arrangements,” Sharmaznov said, calling also for active efforts by the co-chairs towards urging Azerbaijan to respect the deals reached.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2017/07/12/sharmazanov/2429250
NEW YORK—Vahé Tachjian’s book, Daily Life in the Abyss: Genocide Diaries, 1915-1918, was recently published by Berghahn Books. Tachjian is the project director and the chief editor of the Berlin-based Houshamdyan website, which aims to reconstruct Ottoman Armenians’ local history and life stories.
The cover of Daily Life in the Abyss: Genocide Diaries, 1915-1918 (Photo: Berghahn Books)
Historical research into the Armenian Genocide has grown tremendously in recent years, but much of it has focused on large-scale questions related to Ottoman policy or the scope of the killing. Consequently, surprisingly little is known about the actual experiences of the genocide’s victims.
Daily Life in the Abyss illuminates this aspect through the intertwined stories of two Armenian families who endured forced relocation and deprivation in and around modern-day Syria. Through analysis of diaries and other source material, it reconstructs the rhythms of daily life within an often bleak and hostile environment, in the face of a gradually disintegrating social fabric.
Berghahn Books is offering a limited time 50% discount code TAC948, valid through August 31, on orders placed directly through the publisher’s website.
Tachjian received his doctorate at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. His numerous articles and books examine French colonialism, Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and refugee issues in the Middle East. He is the project director and the chief editor of the Berlin-based Houshamdyan website, which aims to reconstruct Ottoman Armenians’ local history and life stories.
Praise for Daily Life in the Abyss
“Vahe Tachjian and his translator have done a great service to the recovery of the historical experience of the Armenian Genocide. The immediacy of the diaries of survivors testifies to the extraordinary suffering not only of a people displaced and destroyed but also of individuals who managed to live through and record their horrendous journey into the desert. As a gifted, sensitive, and analytical scholar, Tachjian sets the events in the larger context of Ottoman policy and the Arab world and probes the sources of strength—like family and local community ties—that Armenians deployed in their desperation. These diaries preserve the ‘authenticity of the moment,’ the deep texture of place and time, often lost in subsequent accounts. For historians, general readers, and all those interested in the possibilities of human cruelty, the depths of human suffering, and the potential of human resilience, this book is a treasure.”
– Ronald Grigor Suny, William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History and Political Science, The University of Michigan
“This is a meticulously researched and thoughtfully articulated work. It sheds new light on the situation in the Middle East, especially Syria, during World War I, and adds to our understanding of the progressive dehumanization of genocide victims.”
– Vahram Shemmassian, California State University, Northridge
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 19
Trend:
Armenia’s recent provocations on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops are deliberate and aim at escalating the situation and disrupting the negotiations, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in Baku.
The importance of changing the current status-quo, which is unsustainable and unacceptable, through substantive negotiations was emphasized at the meeting of FM Mammadyarov with OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Stephane Visconti, Igor Popov, Richard Hoagland and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.
Elmar Mammadyarov noted that in line with the proposals on the table, the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is crucial for achieving progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement.
He also mentioned the illegal activities, including establishment of settlements, destruction of cultural heritage, organization of illegal flights and other illegal economic actions conducted by Armenia in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He added that such illegal activities by Armenia seriously impede the negotiation process.
At the meeting, the sides also noted the importance of intensifying the negotiation process.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received a delegation led by EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn on June 16.
The sides held discussions on the next round of negotiations on a new Azerbaijan-EU partnership agreement, expressing confidence that the work on a draft agreement will be completed before the Eastern Partnership summit to be held late this year, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry told APA.
They announced that the next round of talks on the draft agreement will be held in July.
Mammadyarov noted that conducting constructive and intensive negotiations on the draft agreement is a positive development.
The minister said that political and trade issues were mainly discussed at this stage of the talks.
He pointed out that Azerbaijan remains a reliable partner of the EU.
Briefing on the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov stressed that this conflict is a major threat to the region.
He added that the presence of Armenian troops in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia’s policy aimed at maintaining the occupation-based status quo makes it impossible to make progress in resolving the conflict.
Mammadyarov also pointed out the importance of the European Union approaching the matter of protracted conflicts on the basis of territorial integrity and sovereignty of states within their international recognized borders, as stated in the EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy.
EU Commissar Johannes Hahn, in turn, offered his congratulations on 15 June – the National Salvation Day of Azerbaijan and noted the existence of pragmatic and practical cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan in the areas of transport, trade, connectivity, and energy.
The sides also exchanged their views on development prospects for EU-Azerbaijan relations and regional issues of common interest.
The brightest pages of the Ukrainian-Armenian history have been exhibited in the House of Architect of Kyiv within the framework of the exhibition entitled “Armenian icons of Ukraine.”
The Committee on Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine told AnalitikaUA.net that the work aimed at creating the exhibition lasted over seven months. The exposition includes reproductions of over two dozens of legendary icons from different Armenian cathedrals of Ukraine. The worshipped and crowned icons about which legends had been made up for centuries, have for the first time been demonstrated to a wide public.
The presentation was made by famous Ukrainian historian, Chairman of the Committee on Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine, Davit Davtyan.
The exhibition was attended by the representatives of the Armenian and Ukrainian clergy, Armenian Embassy in Ukraine, as well as renowned scientists, public and political figures, diplomats, etc.
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 12
By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan and Estonia have a great potential to deepen relations, especially in education and IT, Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said June 12.
He was addressing a joint press conference with Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku.
“We believe we should work to expand cooperation in these areas,” he said. “I hope that Azerbaijan and the EU will sign an agreement on strategic cooperation. The content of the agreement is very important for us. It will also have a positive impact on Baku-Tallinn relations.”
All these issues will be vital not only during the Estonian presidency of the EU, but also within the European Union in general, according to him.
“We have an ambitious agenda for the time of the EU presidency, in particular on the withdrawal of Britain from the EU [Brexit]. All issues are important from the point of view of ensuring security in Europe,” Mikser said.
Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Estonia’s FM noted that there is no military solution to the conflict.
“Peaceful conflict resolution serves the interests of the involved parties. I believe that there is no other format but the OSCE, which will be able to make every effort to resolve the conflict.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia and Azerbaijan – the two parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are closer to war than at any point since a ceasefire brokered more than 20 years ago, the International Crisis Group said.
For over two decades the two South Caucasus countries have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.
The clashes over control of Nagorno-Karabakh have intensified in the past three years and turned into a violent flare-up of the conflict last April.
The reports said any descent into all-out war could draw in regional powers, which include Russia and Turkey – closely allied to Armenia and Azerbaijan respectively.
“Since mid-January 2017, deadly incidents involving the use of heavy artillery and anti-tank weapons have occurred with varying degrees of intensity; May saw a significant increase, including reports of self-guided rockets and missiles used near densely populated areas along the line of contact,” the report notes.
Not a day goes by without Armenia’s ceasefire breaking and provocations with the use of large-caliber machine guns, mortars and other weapons. The Armenian side constantly shells Azerbaijani settlements located in the frontline regions, thus threatening the lives of peaceful Azerbaijani citizens living there.
Although the OSCE Minsk Group, chaired by Paris, Moscow and Washington, is working to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over two decades, its activities have brought no breakthrough results so far, and ICG analysts also note this.
“Efforts to ensure a lasting settlement of the conflict in the South Caucasus, which is crossed by oil and gas pipelines, failed, despite the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the ICG stated.
The ICG, which prepared its report based on the insights of analysts who spoke to residents and observers on the ground, noted in its report that the settlement process has stalled, and both sides appear ready for confrontation.
“A year after Nagorno-Karabakh’s April 2016 violent flare-up, Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer to war than at any point since the 1994 ceasefire,” the report notes. “While violence remains at a relatively low boil, any escalation quickly could spin out of control.”
Since the meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg, which took place after the April 2016 clashes, the negotiation process came to the dead end due to the denial of Yerevan to continue serious talks.
Baku has repeatedly voiced readiness to settle the conflict through direct negotiations with Armenia with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. However, the Armenian side is constantly trying to make up reasons to avoid a constructive dialogue and preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ICG report also suggested that Russia remains the most influential foreign player, but noted that the country’s role is complex: “Russia is a co-chair in the Minsk Group, but also chief arms supplier to Azerbaijan and Armenia, both of whom suspect Russia is more interested in expanding its influence in the region than in resolving the conflict.”
The report also stated that Azerbaijan – frustrated with the longstanding status quo and concerned that additional security measures could further cement it – insists that substantive discussions cannot be delayed.
Earlier, Daniel Coats, the Director of U.S. National Intelligence stated that potential for large-scale hostilities in Karabakh will remain in 2017.
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia Saturday Founder of fetal echocardiography Professor Philippe Jeanty arrives in Armenia for special courses YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. At the invitation and assistance of First Lady of Armenia Rita Sargsyan, Professor Philippe Jeanty, director of USA’s Nashville, TN Inner Vision Women’s Ultrasound hospital, has arrived to Armenia. Professor Jeanty is a world renowned specialist of prenatal diagnostics. Photometric scales designed by him are installed in all ultrasound devices around the world. The Professor will hold two-day courses on fetal echocardiography in Yerevan. The first lecture will begin on May 20. “The purpose of these lectures is to improve the skills of Armenian doctors in early diagnostics of fetal heart defects”, Karine Toghunts, president of the Armenian Association of Ultrasound Diagnostics in Gynecology and Obstetrics said. “I don’t have sufficient information as to how it’s done in Armenia, but my Armenian partners regularly send images to me, based on which I can say that everything is ok”, Professor Jeanty said. He stressed that he likes to pass on his knowledge to younger doctors. Professor Jeanty is the founder of fetal echocardiography, author of 34 textbooks on ultrasound examination in obstetrics and more than 154 publications. He is the founder of the largest educational website on prenatal diagnostics – thefetus.net.