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Author: Ani Basmajian

Caucasian Heritage Watch confirms the destruction of another Armenian cemetery in Nagorno-Karabakh

Ani Basmajian
Panorama, Armenia
July 3 2021
 

Society 17:30 03/07/2021NKR

Caucasian Heritage Watch (CHW) confirms the destruction of another Armenian cemetery in the village of Sghnakh, as first reported by Monument Watch. The Organisation has shared satellite imagery on its Twitter, showing the area was bulldozed in connection with road construction.

Monument Watch reports that the cemetery was founded in the mid-18th c. and remained in use until Armenians evacuated the village following the fall 2020 war. Satellite imagery indicates that the destruction took place between April 12 and June 18. 

As the source detailed this is the second historic cemetery destroyed along the new Fizuli-Shushi road, after Mets Tagher. CHW calls on Azerbaijan’s authorities to stop the destruction of cemeteries and act as stewards of all cultural heritage on their territory. 

His Holiness Aram I asks Pope Francis to contribute to the release of Armenian POWs

Ani Basmajian
Public Radio of Armenia
July 3 2021
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His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, has spoken about the consequences of Artsakh War, especially the return of Armenian captives, with His Holiness Pope Francis.

The conversation was held on the sidelines of the meeting of Lebanon’s religions leaders in the Vatican.

His Holiness reminded that Azerbaijan’s illegal approach to prisoners of war goes counter to the provisions of international law. Catholicos Aram I expressed his warm gratitude to His Holiness Pope Francis for addressing the issue of captives and asked him to raise the issue again at a convenient time to contribute to the return of the captives as soon as possible.

The Patriarch also discussed the issue with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

His Holiness briefed the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Vatican Garen Nazarian on the above-mentioned meetings.

Political analyst: Doctor Armen Charchyan is first ‘political prisoner’ in Armenia in post-election period

Ani Basmajian
Panorama, Armenia
July 2 2021

Political analyst Andranik Tevanyan, who heads the Political Economy Research Institute, considers famous doctor Armen Charchyan, the director of the Izmirlian Medical Center, the first “political prisoner” in Armenia in the post-election period.

Charchyan, a member of the opposition Armenia bloc, was arrested on June 23 after being charged with electoral offence. He was taken to hospital shortly after a first instance court in Yerevan issued the arrest ruling.

Speaking to reporters outside the Court of Appeals which was hearing the defense appeal against Charchyan’s arrest on Friday, Andranik Tevanyan indicated the authorities are “cracking down on those who help other people, such as doctors.” He also pointed to media reports alleging famous surgeon Artavazd Sahakyan has been forced to resign.

“So, it turns out that there is a future in Armenia, but without doctors,” he said.

Separately, the political analyst stated the June 20 snap elections have been rigged.

“The authorities, that were reelected, are not legitimate, since the elections have been rigged,” he said, adding the Constitutional Court is yet to rule on the matter.

Tevanyan stressed the need for political changes in Armenia, adding otherwise the problems facing the country will further deepen.

‘Armenia’ bloc to apply to Constitutional Court with demand to annul results of elections in coming days

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
July 1 2021
'Armenia' bloc to apply to Constitutional Court with demand to annul results of elections in coming days
20:42, 01.07.2021

In the next few days, ‘Armenia’ bloc will apply to the Constitutional Court of Armenia with the demand to annul the results of the elections held on June 20. This is stated in the press release issued by ‘Armenia’ bloc, which won seats in parliament following the June 20 snap parliamentary elections. The statement also states the following:

“The bloc garnered nearly 300,000 votes and will definitely stand up for those votes and won’t betray its voters. Our struggle will continue.

The permissiveness of these authorities needs to be restricted. We need to prove that these authorities represent the most corrupt government in Armenia.”

American-Armenian Aram Shatakhtsyan included in Forbes’ list ’30 under 30′

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
American-Armenian Aram Shatakhtsyan included in Forbes' list '30 under 30'
15:30, 29.06.2021

The Forbes magazine has published their '30 under 30' list.

Aram Shatakhtsyan, who lives in California, is among the young people in the Entrepreneurship, Technology field. The 29-year-old businessman is the co-founder of the CodeSignal platform, which aims to find, develop, advance technical and technological talents. 

The platform raised $ 12.5 million from investors.

The experts of the magazine considered over 15,000 candidates, out of which 600 candidates were selected in 20 different nominations. 30 young people were included in each nomination.

https://news.am/eng/news/651355.html

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Aram Shatakhtsyan
Cofounder
CodeSignal
San Francisco, California
CodeSignal cofounder Aram Shatakhsyan wants to help hiring managers 'go beyond resumes' when evaluating mostly technical candidates. Formerly called CodeFights, the platform has raised $12.5 million and sells tests and interviewing tools to help assess engineers and has launched a 'Coding Score,' which it describes as the 'credit score equivalent for the technical recruiting market.' Thousands of customers like Uber, Quora and Postmates have used the service.

Azerbaijani press: Azerbaijan ready to accept UNESCO, UNCHR missions in Karabakh

Ani Basmajian
22 June 2021 13:08 (UTC+04:00)
723

By Vafa Ismayilova

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has said that Azerbaijan is ready to accept UNESCO and UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) missions, the Foreign Ministry reported on June 22.

She made the remarks to comment on the latest developments related to Azerbaijan's invitation to the UNESCO mission to visit war-affected territories in line with the 1954 Hague Convention "For the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict".

"We are currently awaiting a response from both organizations to complete the work related to the visit," Abdullayeva said.

She noted that following the telephone conversation between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, numerous video conference meetings were held between Azerbaijan and UNESCO in the past months.

During the last meeting on June 21, Azerbaijan reiterated its readiness to accept the UNESCO mission and called on the organization to accelerate this process. In this regard, discussions were held on the UNESCO mission's visit to liberated Aghdam and Fuzuli regions and Shusha city, she said.

"In addition, I would like to note that as a result of discussions between the Azerbaijani side and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an agreement was reached on the implementation of the UNHCR mission to the conflict-affected areas of our country. Azerbaijan is fully prepared to accept the UNHCR mission," Abdullayeva added.

In its official statement in early May, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that hundreds of cultural institutions, 927 libraries with a book fund of 4.6 million, 22 museums and museum branches with more than 100,000 exhibits, 4 art galleries, 8 culture, and recreation parks, as well as one of the oldest settlements in the world in Fuzuli district – Azykh Cave, Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve have become victims of Armenian vandalism.

The scale of destruction in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories suggests deep hatred and animosity against Azerbaijanis, with many experts describing these mass destructions as genocide.

Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed the second war after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres, and historic Shusha city. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

Threatening international reporter, Azerbaijani soldiers try to conceal spread of the information about invading Armenia

Ani Basmajian

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 12:08,

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS. A reporter of an international media outlet has applied to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia that he received threats from the servicemen of the Azerbaijani armed forces near Upper Shorja village in Gegharkunik Province.

ARMENPRESS reports the Human Rights Defender of Armenia informs that the Azerbaijani servicemen who are no inside the territory of Armenia in the mentioned section threatened to kill the reporter, including by a sniper.

It has been found that the incident took place 2 kms inside the Armenian territories, where Armenian and Azerbaijani servicemen are located 600 meters away from each other. The reporter was just 100 meters away from the Azerbaijani soldiers, but the incident took place in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

While carrying out his professional activities, the journalist noticed that the servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were behaving aggressively, heard shouts, and then noticed that they were loading their weapons, holding them in his direction, threatening to shoot.

Another Azerbaijani serviceman started behaving more aggressively and irregularly, holding a sniper rifle and threatening to kill him with a shot in the face. The international journalist stopped working in order to avoid unpredictable consequences.

The journalist of the international media informed that they had a visible badge for the Azerbaijani armed forces, that they were a representative of the press, that they had observed all the rules of journalistic work.

The serviceman of the Azerbaijani armed forces tried to hamper the works of the international reporter and prevent the spread of the materials proving the invasion of Azerbaijani forces into the sovereign territory of Armenia. The reporter has also applied the ‘’Reporters Without Borders’’ international organization, which has already made a publication.

Due to the need for personal protection of the international journalist in connection with this particular incident, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia does not publish information about him, but they will be submitted to the relevant international bodies after a joint discussion with the journalist.


Azerbaijan sentences Lebanese-Armenian Viken Euljekian to 20 years in prison

Ani Basmajian
Public Radio of Armenia
June 14 2021

 

A court in Baku has sentenced Lebanese-Armenian Viken Euljekian to 20 years in prison.

Euljekjian is falsely accused of being recruited by Armenia to fight in the Artsakh war, and has been falsely charged with terrorist activities against Azerbaijan.

The Lebanese-Armenian will spend five years in jail, and will spend the rest in a correctional facility.

Viken Euljekian and Maral Najarian , were captured by the Azerbaijani forces near Shushi after the signing of the trilateral statement on ceasefire.

Maral Najarian  was released in March after spending four months in captivity.

Armenian Human Rights Defender has on different occasions called attention to the fact that the trials of the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan are a gross violations of international law.

“These trials contradict the foundations of international law, grossly violate the rights of prisoners and the missing, their families, and openly politicize humanitarian issues,” Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan says. 

Bright Armenia is the only political force that has presented anti-migration plan – Edmon Marukyan

Ani Basmajian
Panorama, Armenia

Bright Armenia Party leader Edmon Marukyan on Friday expressed conviction his party will again have the third largest parliamentary faction as a result of Sunday’s snap parliamentary elections,

"I cannot say annoying about the percentage [of the vote] now, it will become clear after the elections, but the processes are leading us to it," he told reporters during his party’s election campaign rally.

Asked whether Bright Armenia plans to stage street protests in case of not being elected to the parliament, Marukyan said such a scenario is possible only if the elections are rigged.

He reiterated their call to all parties and blocs running in the elections to refrain from post-elections protests, stressing the need to restore solidarity in the society.

Marukyan underlined the key purpose of the snap elections was to end the street protests.

The lawmaker highlighted people’s desire for unity amid the big challenges facing the country.

"People just can't stand it all any longer. The country is facing major problems and challenges; people want to come together to resolve those problems. We do what people want," Marukyan said.

He stated Bright Armenia is the only political force that has presented an anti-migration plan, highlighting the restoration of public solidarity as a key tool to stop the migration. 

Acting PM: Winner of snap parliamentary elections shall be Armenia citizen

Ani Basmajian
News.am, Armenia
14:22, 19.06.2021

I want to urge all of you to definitely go to the election precincts, make your choice, your move, and form a [new] government. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this on Facebook livestream Saturday—ahead of Sunday’s snap parliamentary elections in Armenia.

"Of course, we already see that there are some attempts to influence the election results. But we also see that it will not work because our law enforcement system is very effective in countering all cases of vote buying, illegal influence on the will of voters, and you can be sure that this practice [by the law enforcement system] will continue. So, the people's choice, voting will be clearly recorded and expressed in the form of final election records," he said.

Pashinyan emphasized that the winner of Sunday's elections shall be the citizen of Armenia. "Because his principled choice will be clearly and unequivocally recorded in the final election records. I hope and I am sure that you will go to the election precincts, make your choice, and open a new page for Armenia, finally overcoming the political crisis, the turmoil that has been formed during the last 7-8 months. And so, my call, request, urging [to you is] to definitely go to the election precincts and make a choice," Pashinyan added.