Author: Ani Basmajian

Asbarez: Armenia Honors its Fallen Heroes

Ani Basmajian

December 19,  2020



Armenians honored their fallen heroes at Yerablur National Cemetery

  • Opposition Forces, Relatives of Fallen Soldiers and Veterans Clash with Police
  • National Salvation Movement Holds Rally and March to Requiem Mass

After living through 45 days of war and 40 days after the end of the military hostilities in Karabakh, the people of Armenia on Saturday mourned the estimated 3,000 soldiers who perished during the Artsakh War and remembered those missing in action and who are still being held captive by marching to the Yerablur National Military Cemetery to honor their memory.

The procession to Yerablur kicked off a three-day mourning period that coincides with the traditional remembrance 40 days after a death.

Thousands took part in a procession of torches to Yerablur on Friday evening, in an solemn event spearheaded by the National Salvation Movement, which has been leading demonstrations in Yerevan demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who signed the November 9 agreement, along with the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan, which ended the war, but stipulated the forced surrender of historic Armenian territories in Artsakh, and as become evident since, certain ares in Armenia-proper.

Heavy police and national security officials formed a wall at the entrance of the Yerablur Cemetery, where relatives of soldiers, Armenian Armed Forces veterans and opposition forces had come together to form a human chain and prevent Pashinyan and his entourage from entering the pantheon, saying that he, who is responsible for such grave losses, should not be allowed to hamper the day of national mourning.

Chaos ensued at Yerablur, according to several Armenian media reports, when Pashinyan and his entourage of government officials who were being guarded by heavily armed security detail reached the military pantheon Saturday afternoon, where thousands had already gathered. Angry protesters chanted “Nikol traitor!” while some Pashinyan supporter shouted back, “Nikol, prime minister.

Riot police deployed to Yerablur on this national day of mourning, pushed back the protesters and scuffles broke out with police and between protesters and Pashinyan supporters.

Armenian media captured photos and videos of Pashinyan’s adviser Robert Ghukasyan beating up a mourner at Yerablur.

At 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the National Salvation Movement organized an opposition rally and a march to the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, where a requiem Mass was said in memory of fallen soldiers.

Officiating the Mass was Primate of the Artsakh Diocese Archbishop Parkev Matirosyan.

“Martyrs are the most praised and the most bright in heaven, because they went to their death on their own volition, in order to secure their eternity through their passing,” said Archbishop Martirosyan.

“Today by commemorating our fallen children, we must realize and bring to life their dreams,” added Martirosyan. “We must be able to make wise decisions… and only through unity and our national abilities can we create our future.”

TURKISH press: Report: Misinformation over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict spread mostly through Twitter

Ani Basmajian
 İSTANBUL EUROPE 
DEC 17, 2020 12:44 PM GMT+3
People greet Azerbaijani servicepeople riding in military vehicles during a parade marking Azerbaijan's victory against Armenia in their conflict for control over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in Baku on Dec. 10, 2020. (AFP)

The recent Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has witnessed the spread of a massive amount of misinformation on social media, mostly through Twitter, a report revealed on Thursday.

According to the most recent report by Teyit (Confirmation), a Turkish organization that examines the credibility of any suspected data, during the 44-day-long conflict, a total of 33 instances of misinformation have gone viral, mostly through eight different social media platforms and 28 websites. The report – prepared by Sayyara Mammadova, Seçil Türkkan and Ali Osman Arabacı – examined suspected information that has been reported to them and/or they came across. In total, the misinformation in question has been spread through 170 different shares. Eight of every 10 shares were spread through social media, reaching 1,723,532 interactions in total. The misinformation was shared in eight different languages, including Azerbaijani Turkish, Armenian, Russian and Turkish.

About 46% of the misinformation was spread through Twitter, which is followed by Facebook with 24% and Instagram with 17%. Telegram, a texting application that is quite popular in Azerbaijan and Armenia, which enabled the spread of only 3% of the misinformation, has a 14% share of the overall interaction by itself, showing the power of the platform in reaching people.

The 28 websites that have taken part in the spread of the misinformation have done so by making fake news based on the fake data. The number of daily visitors to these websites sharing fake news is determined as 27,936,730. This number is more than double the number of the populations of Azerbaijan and Armenia combined.

The report also revealed that the most common type of misinformation during the war was caused by improper association. For instance, 69,9% of the information and footage that are shared with the claim of coming from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were actually scenes from other places that were improperly associated with the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"The periods of conflict and war, when the emotions are quite intense, enable a proper environment for the misinformation to spread in a very intense and fast manner. In this report, we wanted to show the 44-day-long conflict's reflections on the digital media through misinformation," Mammadova was quoted as saying by the Demirören News Agency (DHA). She added that the report shows the necessity of a new information ecosystem where media literacy is highly developed.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, and the Armenian Army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, violating several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from occupation.

The two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

Turkey and Russia signed an agreement for establishing a joint center to monitor the cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh immediately after the peace deal, and the two countries will work together there, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Nov. 11.

Around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under the terms of the deal and are expected to stay in the region for at least five years.

The Turkish Parliament overwhelmingly approved the deployment of Turkish peacekeeping troops to Azerbaijan. The mandate will allow Turkish forces to be stationed at a security center for one year as part of an accord between Ankara and Moscow to monitor the implementation of the cease-fire, which locked in territorial gains by Azerbaijan.

In this respect, the work of the Turkish troops in the region has already started. Turkey's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that 136 members of the Special Mine Detection and Clearance Team (OMAT) began clearing mined areas in Nagorno-Karabakh that were liberated from Armenian occupation.

"Clearing of mines and handmade explosives continues in (territories of) Karabakh which were heroically and selflessly liberated from Armenian occupation by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It said the Turkish specialist troops will also train Azerbaijani soldiers in mine detection and clearance techniques and tactics.

Artsakh President’s meeting with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs cancelled at Armenian initiative

Ani Basmajian

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 15:48,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. The meeting between the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and the President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan has been cancelled at the initiative of the Armenian side, President Harutyunyan’s spokesperson Vahram Poghosyan told ARMENPRESS.

“The meeting of the Co-Chairs and Arayik Harutyunyan was cancelled at the initiative of the Armenian side. The reason of the cancellation is the incomplete format, especially given the fact that the Russian Co-Chair isn’t participating in the regional visit,” Poghosyan said.

The American and French Co-Chairs - Andrew Schofer and Stéphane Visconti -  of the OSCE Minsk Group arrived in Armenia on December 13 after visiting Azerbaijan. On December 14, they met with the Armenian FM Ara Aivazian. A meeting with the Armenian Premier Nikol Pashinyan is underway. The Russian Co-Chair – Igor Popov – is not participating in the visit.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian, Russian defense chiefs discuss Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire violation

Ani Basmajian
TASS, Russia
Dec 13 2020
On December 12, Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces delivered a strike on the villages of Hin Tager and Htsaberd, the Armenian Defense Ministry’s press service said

YEREVAN, December 13. /TASS/. Armenian Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunyan, who is paying a working visit to Russia, met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to discuss ceasefire violations in Nagorno-Karabakh’s Hadrut Province, the Armenian Defense Ministry’s press service said on Sunday.

"On December 12, Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces violated commitments under the November 9 trilateral statement by concentrating additional personnel, military hardware and heavy artillery, and delivered a strike on the villages of Hin Tager and Htsaberd of the Hadrut Province in Artsakh (in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic)," the press service said.

"Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunyan, who is currently on a working visit to Russia, discussed this issue during his meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu," the statement said.


Reports: Azerbaijan has taken control of Hin Taghlar village in Artsakh

Ani Basmajian
Panorama, Armenia

Dec 12 2020
Politics 19:19 12/12/2020NKR

Mediaport Telegram channel reports the Azerbaijani forces have taken control of His Taghlar village in Hadrut region of the Artsakh Republic. Citing own sources from Artsakh, the source insists, fights are underway for Khtsaberd village at present.  

"As our sources from the Defense Army confirm, the recent press statement about the Azerbaijani resumed attacks on the settlements aimed at preparing the public for the news the village has been ceded to the enemy," the source said. 

To note, the Artsakh Defense Army released a statement, saying the Azerbaijani side has resumed attacks on His Taghlar and  Khtsaberd villages of the Artsakh Republic. 

Parliament calls on international community to contribute to return of Armenian POWs from Azerbaijan

Ani Basmajian

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 16:30, 8 December, 2020

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament adopted a message addressed to the international community and organizations over the return of the Armenian prisoners of war and captured citizens from Azerbaijan, calling on to demand Baku to immediately hand over the POWs to the Armenian side and stop torture and inhuman treatment against them.

The message was adopted following the Parliament’s urgent debate which was held in a closed-format.

Main rapporteur, head of the opposition Bright Armenia faction Edmon Marukyan proposed to adopt the message and read the text:

“The National Assembly of Armenia,

Based on the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1949 Geneva Conventions on Prisoners of War, the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other international agreements on international law of human rights and humanitarian law, customary international law, principles of right recognized by civilized nations,

Taking into account the commitment of the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to return all persons who are in captivity, as well as the bodies,

Recording that the Azerbaijani side is artificially prolonging the process of the return of POWs and bodies, is obviously hiding the real number of prisoners of war, captured and other detained persons, is continuing ill, inhuman treatment, tortures, physical and psychological sufferings against them,

Strongly condemning the video recording and spreading of the torture and inhuman treatment by the Azerbaijani side through its armed forces in media outlets and social networks,

Taking into account the widespread and systematic policy of the Azerbaijani authorities on spreading organized hatred against ethnic Armenians, is addressing the international community – the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Committee Against Torture and the Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe, the European Committee on Prevention of Torture, the International Committee of Red Cross and other international and national organizations dealing with human rights, as well as individuals, inter-parliamentary organizations, as well as the Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group.

And the National Assembly calls on

to urge Azerbaijan to immediately hand over the prisoners of war, captured and other detained civilians to the Armenian side,

to urge Azerbaijan to stop torture, inhuman and ill treatment against prisoners of war, captured and other detained civilians,

to oblige Azerbaijan to stop the Armenophobic policy in all spheres of public life, such as in educational facilities, in public remarks of public, military and political figures, in media outlets, social networks, etc”, the statement says.

The message was adopted unanimously, with 100 votes in favor.

The full text of the statement is available in Armenian.

 

Edited and Translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

TURKISH press: France’s Karabakh resolution is ‘disaster’: Erdoğan – Turkey News

Ani Basmajian
  • News
  • Turkey
  • Diplomacy
  • 10:39:00

The Turkish president on Dec. 5 termed a French parliament resolution on Upper Karabakh a “complete disaster.”

“The decision taken the previous day in the parliament of France, the co-chair of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, is a complete disaster beyond the scandal,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of a newly built motorway in eastern Turkey via video link.

A so-called French resolution to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state was adopted on Dec. 4.

Erdoğan noted that Azerbaijan did not attack anyone or anyone’s lands, and it just liberated its own lands that had been occupied by Armenia for nearly 30 years despite UN and OSCE resolutions.

“It [Azerbaijan] did this by remaining within the framework of legitimacy, not by targeting civilians and civilian settlements like Armenians,” Erdoğan stressed.

Referring to the French resolution, he said that such an attack on the sovereignty rights of a state is “unacceptable”.

“We hope that the international public will react to this approach, which is dangerous and will threaten all states, initiated by France,” Erdoğan said.

The Turkish president also warned that Europe would get the most damage from this distortion, as it owes its current political unity to “a very bloody and dark period of struggle.”

Turkish weapon systems

Speaking at the delivery ceremony of Turkey's first indigenous helicopter engine, the country’s National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar praised Azerbaijan’s victory and noted Turkish weapons’ contribution to the fight.

“The heroic Azerbaijani army, carried out the 'One Homeland Operation' with great success and liberated Karabakh from the 30-year-long occupation of Armenia in 44 days with the contribution of our indigenous and national weapon systems,” Akar said.

He said the Turkish systems’ decisive effects on the course of the operation are being discussed all over the world.

Upper Karabakh

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted Sept. 27, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation.

The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement Nov. 10 to end fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

The truce is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have been withdrawing in line with the agreement.

Three stamps dedicated to historical and cultural monuments of Armenia put into circulation

Ani Basmajian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 30 2020
Three new postage stamps dedicated to the theme “Historical and cultural monuments. Historical and cultural monuments of Armenia” have been put into circulation.

“HayPost” CJSC has issued a donation coupon for 120 AMD attached to three postage stamps with the nominal values of 240, 330 and 350 AMD. The 120 AMD donation value will be directed to the preservation of the historical and cultural monuments of Armenia. 

The postage stamps have been printed in “Cartor” printing house in France with the print-run of

10 000 pcs each. The author of the postage stamps’ design is designer Vahagn Mkrtchyan.

The postage stamp with the nominal value of 240 AMD depicts the Agarakadzor Bridge (XIII c. A.D.) located in Vayots Dzor Region. The bridge is situated on the Arpa River, 2.5 km west of Agarakadzor village. The single arch bridge maintained until 1970’s.

The postage stamp with the nominal value of 330 AMD depicts the Monastery of Marmashen (X-XI cc. A.D.) located in Shirak Region. The monastic complex of Marmashen is situated on the left bank of the Akhuryan River. The monastic complex is one of the best complexes of the Armenian architecture. The main church of the complex was built by Vahram Pahlavouni in 988-1029.

The postage stamp with the nominal value of 350 AMD depicts Yererouyk Basilica (VI c. A.D.) located in Shirak Region. Yererouyk is a three-nave basilica, having three double cruciform pillars, two-story rooms in each corner and rich decorative carvings.



Iranian media and Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Ani Basmajian
Modern Diplomacy
Nov 28 2020

By Elchin Hatami

Freedom of the press and the Media are both considered the fundamental pillars of Democracy across the globe.  However, some authoritarian regimes restrict and ban the media and freedom of speech.  These regimes establish and monitor their broadcasting system and media activity. The Iranian regime’s nature is authoritarian and dictatorial, and the country is ruled based on Shiite ideology and Persian nationalism. Security forces, especially the Iran intelligence ministry, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have a robust interconnection with media. Through cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, security agencies can monitor the media and the press.  Undoubtedly, Iran’s state-driven media have to pursue and consider the procedures based on ideological and national interests, focusing on the Shiite religion rules and Persian nationalism. The Iran State Press and media and other foreign opposition news media stood by Armenia and refused to hold a neutral position during the second Nagorno-Karabakh (Internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory) conflict lasting September 27th to November 10th, 2020.

We first need to analyze why the Iranian media holds discriminatory policy and behavior toward the Republic of Azerbaijan.  One of the main reasons is the large population of Turks who reside in Iran. They live mainly in Northwestern regions whom Turkish activists call South Azerbaijan. It is estimated that approximately 30 percent of Iran’s population is Turkish. Iranian officials assume the potent, rich, and attractive the Republic of Azerbaijan can influence Azerbaijani Turks and reinforce their desire to secession from Iran.  One example is a November video report named the “Nagorno-Karabakh War” and shared by Mashregh News, an analytical website affiliated with IRGC, which served as a pretext for Iran’s disintegration. In October, thousands of Azerbaijan Turks from cities like Tabriz, Ardabil, Zanjan, and Tehran gathered to support Azerbaijan and protested to criticize Iran’s aids in Armenia.  Unfortunately, security forces cracked down on these demonstrations and arrested dozens of protesters. Of course, Iran’s state-run media organizations avoided discussing arrest details of the demonstrations, and some, like the IRIB, went as far as distorted and misrepresented the nature of the protests in favor of the government.  The Iranian media using mostly the Persian language represented and conveyed the sovereign and independent Azerbaijan as the major threat to the religious, totalitarian, and Persian-centered government’s interest and security.

  Another important factor impacting Iranian state media policy against Azerbaijan in the recent battle of Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s strategic relations with Turkey and Israel. Turkey has been a long-time political rival of Iran regionally. This is the reason why Iran will not tolerate the presence of Turkey in the Caucasus. The Iranian media spread misleading news and inaccurate information against Turkey, which mobilized the Jihadi fighters to go to the battlefield of Nagorno-Karabakh.  Naturally, the Iranian media had no supporting evidence to back up their claims in the news. Furthermore, on November 1st, IRIB interviewed Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in deceptive statements claimed terrorists and possibly Zionists participated in the conflict and diverted the issue to those governments involved.  Since then, the war is now over, and there is still no reliable documents or evidence to support his allegations. Propaganda and hate speech against Israel and Jewish people have been a dominant headline in Iranian media since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Due to Iran and Israel’s deep hostility, the Iranian government cannot endure Israel’s presence and strong ties with neighboring countries. Recently, the government news agency, Fars News, published an article by Ehsan Movahedian about the economic consequences of the recent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Iran. The author emphasized that Israel’s permanent presence in Iran’s northwest border could be a significant threat for the Islamic Republic and create ethnic tensions. Similarly, on November 17th, Mashregh News posted an article about the second war of Nagorno-Karabakh and its effects on Iran’s geopolitical capacity in the energy sector.  In a similar theme, Ministry of Intelligence expert Ahmad Kazemi claimed that in the second Karabakh War, Turkey’s primary aim, The Republic of Azerbaijan, and Israel was to occupy the 42-kilometer border strip between Iran and Armenia by implementing the exchanging corridors in their plan. Kazemi concluded that opening the transit corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan is the American and England idea to restrain China, Russia, and Iran in the coming decades, to strengthen the concept of the Great Turan and Pan-Turkism. The transparent distress and concern of Iranian officials and experts reflected in the media indicated the government’s objective to disrupt the November Russian-brokered truce deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan that was signed between 3 countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Elchin Hatami is a human rights activist and was born in Azerbaijan, Iran, whose activities are mostly based on ethnic rights in Iran. He holds a master's degree in sustainable agriculture from the University of Tehran and currently lives in Chicago, USA.

Like Iran state media, Iranian overseas opposition media had a similar consensus about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Most of them deliberately distorted and censored the region’s realities and war facts in favor of Armenia in their articles and news. Iranian opposition media such as the BBC Persian, Radio Farda, and Iran International TV describe Nagorno-Karabakh as an Armenian-populated region. They refrain from elaborating on ethnic cleansing, which caused the displacement of one million Azerbaijani people from Karabakh and surrounding areas by Armenian troops during the first war in the 1990s. In the same media, Shusha was announced as an occupied city by Azerbaijan and not as a liberated city. Stemming from their Persian-centric nationalist views, they deem the awakening and empowerment of Northern and Southern Azerbaijanis as a serious threat to national security and unification in Iran.

In most cases, the Iranian media does not analyze events and issues impartially. Comparatively, they evaluated regional problems and national issues influenced by ideological interest and Persian nationalism. In the recent Nagorno-Karabakh battle, the Iranian media supported Armenia by spreading fallacious news and misleading information against Azerbaijan, like Israeli forces’ deployment in Iran’s Northwest border and transferring terrorists to the front lines of the war. Not surprisingly, the media attempted to deceive the public opinion by making accusations to justify Iran’s support for Armenia. Although Iranian Journalists and media activists thought that their anti-Azerbaijani actions would strengthen national security, contrastingly, their destructive activities did not contribute to national unity but instead intensified the ethnic division between Azerbaijani Turks and Persians in Iran. Consequently, with the continuance of the Iranian media’s destructive policies, without considering the Turks’ demands in Iran, maintaining stability, national solidarity, and territorial integrity will be a prominent issue in the future.