Author: Ani Tigranian

Armenian PM explains “what could have been different” and calls for unity to solve urgent issues

Ani Tigranian
Public Radio of Armenia

Nov 29 2020

In a lengthy post on Facebook, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has explained what could be an alternative to the current situation and outlined the urgent issues to be solved now:

Of course, it makes a lot of sense to go back and answer the question, what would have been different if it had not been this way.

So, the Armenian side stated at the highest level and publicly that in 2011 in Kazan Armenia was ready to hand over the 7 regions in exchange for an interim status and a further referendum on the status of Karabakh, but Azerbaijan did not agree and put forward new demands.

There is a video proving this, it is available on the Internet. In other words, back in 2011 Armenia undertook to hand over the 7 regions and was ready to sign an agreement on that, but Azerbaijan put forward new demands.

What demand scould have been put forward by Azerbaijan? For example, to remove the status of Karabakh from the agenda altogether, not to grant the Lachin corridor a special status. The issue of Shushi, by the way, is not in not among these new demands, because it is also resolved by the Madrid principles, which the Armenian side accepted in 2007 as a basis for negotiations. It clearly states that the population of Nagorno-Karabakh must have the same proportion as in 1988. In other words, there should be 90% and more of Azeri population in Shushi.

So, we have had this situation since 2011, and since 2013 Azerbaijan has been going to military escalation. In 2013-2015, the escalation with the logic of subversive actions reached its peak, leading to the four-day war in April 2016.

Azerbaijan formulated its above-mentioned demands, regardless of the document put on the table by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The demands of Azerbaijan and their fulfillment by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs became a priority because the alternative was war.

Assuming the post of the Prime Minister of Armenia in 2018, I have naturally took note of this. And in this situation, let’s understand what was the alternative to what happened?

The alternative was to address the people and say we either have to hand over the 7 regions without the status of Karabakh, or there will be а war. What вould people say? They вould have said ‘no, we will stand up and fight for our homeland.’ And the war would start and it would turn out that Armenia started a war.

Had I said no, we have to surrender, people would have said “Nikol is traitor” and another war would have started.

At any stage, including during the Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises, I could go to the Turks and say, “Let’s solve the issue without war.” They would have said “give a specific schedule when you hand over the territories.” If I signed, people would have said “Nicole the traitor”, if I didn’t signed, war would have started.

As of 2018, the Karabakh issue was a deadlock, from which there was only one way out – unconditional handover of territories, without guaranteeing that Azerbaijan would not make new demands. And in the context of these new demands, increasing the likelihood of war again.

Many now say that we needed to work more closely with our friends. But who said that the friends had a different vision of resolving the issue? Isn’t it obvious now that that vision completely coincides with the one described above?

What have we done? We have prepared for war as much as possible. Now it turned out that we were badly prepared. But what are we badly prepared for? The July battles showed that we were not poorly prepared to fight against Azerbaijan. But Turkey, mercenaries, this is another story that will still be talked about.

They say we had to stop the war sooner. The price to stop the war sooner was the same. Handover of 7 districts. If handing over 3 districts in the conditions of a deadly threat to the loss of Shushi and Stepanakert is a betrayal, how could the handing over of 7 districts in relatively better conditions not be a betrayal?

Well, what should we do now? We must stabilize the situation and not make it worse. The most important issue now is the issue of captives, missing persons and those who have possibly sheltered somewhere, which must be resolved very quickly.

But let’s look at this issue through the eyes of the opposite side. He sees that the delay in this issue allows the conflict to deepen inside Armenia, even to start clashes inside, the mini-manifestations of which have already taken place.

Relatives of our soldiers, dear ones, will they accelerate the solution of the issue of prisoners and missing people in these conditions? Of course not: On the contrary, they will prolong it as long as possible, rubbing their hands and waiting for what new disasters this will lead to inside us.

You will ask a very right question: what should we do, not fight? Definitely fight, fight stronger, but not against each other, but together. For the solution of the issue. The solution of the issue will accelerate only in one case. if everyone understands that there will be no internal conflicts over this issue.

Who is guilty of what and what responsibility he will have to bear will definitely be established. But now we need to focus on solving the problem together, not fighting each other. I am convinced of this.

https://en.armradio.am/2020/11/29/armenian-pm-explains-what-could-have-been-different-and-calls-for-unity-to-solve-urgent-issues/

Pastor at St. Gregory Armenian Church tests positive for coronavirus

Ani Tigranian
KMPH —  Fox 26, CA
Nov 22 2020
 
 
 
by Marie EdingerSunday, November 22nd 2020
 
FOWLER, Calif. (FOX26) — A Pastor at the St. Gregory Armenian Church of Fowler has contracted the coronavirus.
 
Pastor Rev. Fr. Gomidas Zohrabian says he received his positive test Friday.
 
In a statement Saturday, the pastor says he likely contracted the virus after being exposed in Los Angeles.
 
To keep everyone safe and make sure they quarantine properly due to possible exposure, St. Gregory Church will be closed for the next week. Sunday services and weekly services are both cancelled.
 
 
 

Google Arts & Culture as an Agent of Ethnic Cleansing

Ani Tigranian
HyperAllergic
Nov 13 2020
After Azerbaijan declared victory following six weeks of brutal conflict, the state has gained control of the Armenian-governed area of Artsakh, increasing fear of erasure of the millennia-old Armenian monuments in the area.
by Nevdon Jamgochian
A contextual screenshot of the opening page of Google Arts & Culture’s “The Albanian-Christian Architecture of Karabakh” featuring Gandzasar monastery. (screenshot by the author for Hyperallergic)

Editor’s note 11/13/2020 7:00pm EST: Since the publication of this article, the original page for “The Albanian-Christian Architecture of Karabakh” on Google Arts & Culture is no longer accessible. But there appears to be individual pages still accessible on mobile and elsewhere.

On November 10, while the world was focused on the US elections and COVID-19 miseries, the state of Azerbaijan declared victory in the first full-scale, state-on-state war in the modern era. This six-week, brutal conflict will give Azerbaijan control over most of the Armenian-governed area of Nagorno Karabakh, known to Armenians as Artsakh.

In addition to the anticipated removal of ethnic Armenians when the final batch of territories are handed over by December 1, there is a growing fear of erasure of the millennia-old Armenian monuments in the area. 

There is a reason for this fear; as reported in Hyperallergic, Azerbaijan has destroyed 89 Armenian churches, 5,840 intricately carved cross-stones called khachkars, and 22,000 tombstones in one of its territories, Nakhichevan, from 1997 to 2006. These irreplaceable monuments were dated from as far back as the early Christian period, and perhaps before.

David Zakarian, faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford, explained in an email that there are thousands of unprotected and inadequately documented ancient Armenian monuments in the recently conquered territory of Nagorno Karabakh. These include khachkars, monasteries, and churches that have been in use longer than almost any religious buildings in the world. 

The Google Arts & Culture site is currently providing support for this cultural erasure. The site hosts a fictitious history of the region written by the authoritarian Azerbaijani regime, which invites the destruction of any monuments that do not conform to state ideology. 

The Azerbaijani government has embraced a national identity that states that Azeris are the region’s original inhabitants, despite the lack of any non-Azerbaijani academic support for this claim. Echoing the Turkish “Language of the Sun” theory that every language on Earth is descended from Turkish, Azerbaijan claims that they are descended from a Caucasian Albanian race who predates all people, including Armenians, in the region by 500 to 3,000 years.  

Thomas de Waal, an expert on the Caucusus who has published several books on the region that often do not please Armenians or Azerbaijanis, wrote as a summation of this theory, “Nobody believes the Caucasian Albanian theory outside [of] Azerbaijan.” 

In an email, Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, lecturer at the Aix-Marseille Université, elaborated on why Azerbaijan has falsified the history of the Caucusus and why this inaccuracy is causing destruction. He said:

[…] looking how Armenia and Georgia have been competing for their ancient past, Azerbaijan, which is a new polity, also wanted to get one [an ancient history]. […] It is under these conditions that the myth about Caucasian Albania as the direct ancestor of the Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan appeared and was propelled […] one has to prove that the Albanian past of Azerbaijan has no Armenian traces on it… 

That is, with Soviet encouragement, Azerbaijan invented a history of themselves in the ancient past. This falsified history has driven state policy to make this deceptive account real by literally destroying evidence that indicates otherwise.

Ominously, Azerbaijan also declared the monuments in Nakhichevan as Caucasian Albanian before destroying them.

Screenshot of Google Arts & Culture’s virtual Karabakh page featuring art that depicts the 1990s Nagorno Karabakh war (see the boots and gun). The message is that Armenians have trampled and destroyed the culture of the area. (screenshot by the author for Hyperallergic)

The only significant support of this destructive mythology outside of Azerbaijan is found on Google Arts & Culture’s site, on its “Virtual Karabakh” page. This resource was made by “The Virtual Karabakh’ Information – Communication Technology Centre … by decree of President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” On it, one finds page after page of artifacts from Nagorno Karabakh, which are a strange mishmash of sentimentality (“The woman is a symbol of beauty, elegance and innocence. The woman in this painting represent loyalty. They remember loved ones lost at the frontline [e.g. killed by Armenians]”). This schmaltz is accompanied by a painting of presumably Armenian soldiers smashing Azeri cultural artifacts, and innocuous pictures of Azeri costumes and rugs from the 19th century. However, propaganda about the Caucasian Albanian heritage of the region constitutes the bulk of the site. Most of these are in the section titled “The Albanian-Christian Architecture of Karabakh,” which, in picture after picture of Armenian monasteries, churches, and other ruins, the site expounds how they are absolutely not Armenian. There have been no Armenians in the area, according to this site, except as recent aggressors. It should be mentioned that Caucasian Albanians have no connection to current day Albania.

Countries all have their own national fantasies, but history has shown repeatedly that a national mythology of victimhood at the hands of a minority is a bloody one. Google Arts & Culture’s implicit endorsement of this counterfactual history gives significant support to the process of ethinc cleansing.

Before taking possession of the historical sites in Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijanis had posted on social media that they would decide what element of monuments to destroy and preserve, based on their idea of history. 

Jasur Abdullayev tweeted,  “Rest assured Azerbaijan will keep them [monuments] safe and clean […] We will inspect antique stones apart from Chirches [sic] and expertise whether they are really antique or forgery made after 1992.”

Simon Maghakyan, researcher and cultural rights defender, believes that the destruction will happen gradually in Nagorno Karabakh. He feels that Azerbaijan will renovate the recently bombarded Armenian cathedral in Shushi built in the 19th century and present it as a beacon of Azerbaijani tolerance, as this does not interfere with the national mythology that falsely claims Armenians settled in the regions in roughly the 19th century. In fact, the ancient historian Strabo affirms the presence of Armenian-speaking peoples in Nagorno Karabakh in the second century BCE. He also thinks that well-known buildings will be preserved for now, under the fiction of Caucasian Albania. With the thousands of Armenian inscriptions on these buildings dating back millennia being immediately removed. Lesser known sites face destruction as will the better-known ones eventually as happened in Nakhichevan.

Seconding this opinion is Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, who believes that this is already happening. He explained in an email:

My colleagues…tell me that as soon as the Armenian identity of a writing on a church or on a stone is ascertained, it is eliminated. The underlying ambition is to fabricate an Albanian past of Azerbaijan, while eliminating from it everything Armenian. This will match the Azeri version of the history of the region: Caucasian Albania with no links to Armenia. In other words, an Armenian church without the Armenian inscriptions, crosses or symbols is a kind of monuments suiting the Azeris in their claim of Caucasian Albanian ancestor. When Aliev [the dictator of Azerbaijan] and his people declare of their intention to preserve historical monuments, they mean precisely this.

Google Arts & Culture’s mission statement is “…to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere” However, this site is promoting state propaganda that aids in irreparable loss to the world’s heritage. It is true that even if Google Arts & Culture pulled the website down tomorrow, it will not slow the destruction. Art historians, archaeologists, and activists know that the only thing that can impede complete erasure of thousands of years of history is attention from the world, and they believe not allowing Azerbaijan to use Google to bolster its claims is a first step. They have been encouraging people to register a complaint with Google Arts & Culture regarding hosting a site that encourages hate and destruction through their feedback.

Azeri officials contacted have not responded to queries, and Google has not responded to questions about the profile on its Arts & Culture platform aside from sending mission statements.

https://hyperallergic.com/601492/google-arts-culture-as-an-agent-of-ethnic-cleansing/?fbclid=IwAR2jWkEXt-TjJJfB69GdPK_dYnJZCxluUO2NSvKpRDID0NWmOhRwWg44eqw

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 11/11/2020

Ani Tigranian 
                                        Wednesday, 

Parliament Majority Suggests Opposition Clarify Its Position Before Challenging 
Truce Deal


Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (C) talks to deputies from the 
majority My Step faction during a parliament session, Yerevan, September 16, 
2020.

The ruling parliamentary My Step faction has issued a statement in which it 
calls on the opposition parties to clarify their position on several issues 
before discussing the legality of the statement on ending the war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh signed by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.

On November 11, the two opposition factions in Armenia’s National Assembly – 
Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia – initiated a special session of 
parliament to discuss the document that has largely been branded by the 
opposition as an act of surrender.

It followed a day of street protests staged by 17 opposition parties, including 
Prosperous Armenia, during which demonstrators also called for the resignation 
of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

In its statement My Step suggested that before challenging the deal the 
opposition parties should “very clearly declare to all Armenians and the world 
that they support the abolition of Russian mediation; support the withdrawal of 
Russian peacekeepers from the line of contact; stand for the continuation of the 
war.”

“After that, the opposition forces should also present a proposed roadmap for 
victory in the renewed war,” the ruling faction said, adding that accepting the 
announced conditions in the current situation was the only way to avoid the 
total loss of Nagorno-Karabakh and thousands of human lives.

At the same time, My Step said it believes that the public should receive 
answers to all questions that concern it. The faction also said that it is not 
going “to take part in any sessions aimed at destabilizing the situation” in 
Armenia.

“Honoring the glorious memory of the military servicemen and volunteers who 
participated in the fighting and died in the heroic battle of Artsakh [the 
Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh], sharing, with deep sorrow, the pain of 
families, friends and relatives of the victims, taking into account the internal 
political events in Armenia and Artsakh that followed the military actions and 
the truce, the My Step faction declares: the current analysis of the military 
operations provides grounds to ascertain that the Armenian people with its joint 
efforts fought, in fact, not only against Azerbaijan, but also against one of 
the largest armed forces in the world, an army with ultra-modern weapons and an 
unlimited human reserve, mercenary terrorists and special forces recruited from 
different countries. During the 45 days of the war, outstanding heroism was 
shown along the entire front line, thanks to which it was possible to prevent 
the unleashed genocidal crime of the enemy against Armenians,” My Step’s 
statement reads.

The ruling faction emphasized that “the pan-Armenian potential was involved in 
the logistical support of the army during the hostilities.” “The hostilities 
were taking place in parallel with major geopolitical events conditioned by 
security challenges that led to the failure of all international efforts to 
establish a ceasefire regime, including numerous attempts by the three 
co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group,” My Step said.

The two parliamentary opposition factions had collected enough signatures to 
convene a special session of parliament, however, as leader of the Bright 
Armenia faction Edmon Marukian said, a meeting of the National Assembly Council 
was to take place before convening the session, which, however, did not take 
place. Of My Step lawmakers only Deputy Speaker Lena Nazarian had come to 
parliament.



Armenian Opposition Seeks Special Session Of Parliament Amid Political Tensions


ARMENIA -- A priest stands next to police guarding the National Assembly during 
a protest against an agreement to halt fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, in 
Yerevan, 

Two opposition factions in the Armenian parliament have initiated a formal 
process to convene a special session to discuss the current situation created 
after Yerevan signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to end a six-week war over 
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Bright Armenia faction said that they also want to discuss the legality of 
the deal that requires Armenia to make heavy concessions.

The other faction, Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), joined Bright Armenia's 
initiative.

BHK members along with representatives of nearly two dozen other opposition 
parties have led street protests demanding that Pashinian step down as soon as 
possible over the deal he signed with Azerbaijan to end a six-week war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh that the opposition largely views as an act of surrender.

Thousands of protesters staged a rally in Liberty Square in Yerevan earlier on 
Wednesday despite a ban imposed on gatherings while martial law introduced at 
the start of the war in late September is in place.

A group of demonstrators, including some opposition politicians, were briefly 
detained by police.

Demonstrators then went to the government office in the city’s main Republic 
Square before marching towards the National Assembly building. Police had 
cordoned off the areas before the arrival of demonstrators.

Leaders of the protest called on members of the parliamentary majority faction, 
My Step, to come to parliament so that a special session could be convened. They 
said that the removal of the prime minister should be on the agenda of this 
session.

Ishkhan Saghatelian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 
(Dashnaktsutiun), said that they were giving Pashinian until midnight to resign 
and set the same deadline to the parliament majority to convene a special 
session. Otherwise, he said, the opposition will present its further steps “to 
solve the matter until the end of the day tomorrow.”

Earlier on Wednesday the loose alliance of 17 opposition parties announced the 
establishment of a “national salvation committee.”

Meanwhile, leaders of several of the parties, including Hayrenik’s Artur 
Vanetsian and the BHK’s Gagik Tsarukian, were summoned to the National Security 
Service during the day.

Armenia’s police on Tuesday warned that holding rallies continues to be banned 
in the country, which has been under martial law since the latest fighting broke 
out in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27.

Speaking on state television, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian did not rule 
out that the current government could resign, but warned against any “coup” 
attempt.

“I want to assure all of the political forces that are trying to catch fish in 
murky waters in conditions of martial law that there will be no tolerance in 
this matter,” the deputy prime minister said.

He said that the time for looking for those responsible in a domestic political 
process will still come.

Armenia’s Special Investigation Service said late on Wednesday that a criminal 
case has been opened in connection with the rally held in violation of the law.



Armenian Police Clash With Protesters Angry About Truce Deal


People clash with police during a protest against an agreement to halt fighting 
over Nagorno-Karabakh, Liberty Square in Yerevan, Armenia, 

Armenian riot police clashed with demonstrators who had gathered in the capital 
amid anger over Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s decision to sign an agreement 
with Azerbaijan to end more than six weeks of fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Thousands of protesters filled Yerevan’s Liberty Square calling for Pashinian’s 
resignation despite a ban imposed on street rallies while martial law is in 
place.

The crowd chanted “Nikol is a traitor” amid attempts by police to prevent the 
gathering.

Ahead of the demonstration, the government warned the opposition against 
attempting a “coup” as tensions grew in the Caucasus nation after Pashinian 
signed a Russian-brokered agreement to end the fighting between Azerbaijan and 
ethnic Armenians in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

The announcement of the cease-fire deal early on November 10 sparked angry 
protests in the Armenian capital with demonstrators storming government 
buildings and parliament.

Representatives of 17 opposition parties called for Pashinian to step down, 
blaming him for what they described as heavy concessions Armenians had to accept 
as part of the deal.

Addressing the Yerevan rally, Ishkhan Saghatelian, a leader of the Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun), charged that “the war was brought to 
us” by Pashinian and “his inconsistent policies.”

“Throughout the war he showed inaction and treachery,” Saghatelian added.

Other politicians at the rally, including Artur Vanetsian, former director of 
the National Security Service who currently leads the opposition Hayrenik 
(Homeland) party, also called for Pashinian’s resignation in their speeches.

The rally then continued near the government building where police had formed 
cordoned off by police. The leaders of the protest then also called for a 
special session of parliament to be convened and marched towards the National 
Assembly building where police had also put up cordons.

The opposition parties announced the establishment of a “homeland salvation 
committee” amid reports that some of their leaders, including Vanetsian, 
ex-President Serzh Sarkisian, who leads the former ruling Republican Party of 
Armenia, and leader of the largest parliamentary opposition party, Prosperous 
Armenia, Gagik Tsarukian had been summoned to the National Security Service.

Saghatelian said they were giving Pashinian until midnight to resign and also 
were giving the parliament majority until midnight to convene a special session 
to consider the removal of Pashinian from power. Otherwise, he said, they will 
present further steps by which they will "solve" the matter tomorrow.

Armenia’s police on Tuesday warned that holding rallies continues to be banned 
in the country, which has been under martial law since the latest fighting broke 
out in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27.

Speaking on state television, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian did not rule 
out that the current government could resign, but warned against any “coup” 
attempt.

“I want to assure all of the political forces that are trying to catch fish in 
murky waters in conditions of martial law that there will be no tolerance in 
this matter,” the deputy prime minister said.

He said that the time for looking for those responsible in a domestic political 
process will still come.



Armenian Opposition Stages Rally, Demands Pashinian’s Resignation


Protesters wave an Armenian national flag during a protest against an agreement 
to halt fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, in Yerevan, Armenia, 

Nearly two dozen Armenian opposition parties staged a rally in Yerevan on 
Wednesday afternoon demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

The demand has been made over a Russian-brokered agreement with Azerbaijan to 
stop a six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh largely viewed by Pashinian critics as 
an act of surrender.

Representatives of 17 opposition parties, including tycoon Gagik Tsarukian’s 
parliamentary Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), reiterated their call for the 
prime minister to step down, blaming him for what they described as heavy 
concessions Armenians had to accept as part of the deal.

Speakers at the rally attended by thousands in Liberty Square were addressing 
the crowd that was chanting “Nikol is a traitor” amid attempts by the police to 
stop the gathering.

Scuffles broke about between demonstrators and the police that had warned the 
organizers of the rally that it was illegal under the current martial law that 
was introduced at the start of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in late September.

Under the provision of martial law political gatherings are banned in the 
country.

Ishkhan Saghatelian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 
(Dashnaktsutyun), described Pashinian as the one responsible for the war.

“The war was brought to us by Nikol [Pashinian]. It was due to his inconsistent 
policies. He had spoiled our relations with our strategic allies, with the 
Russian Federation, with Tehran, isolated us from the entire world because of 
his lies and his being distrusted. And throughout the war he showed inaction and 
treachery,” Saghatelian said.

“Beginning from this moment there is no government in the Republic of Armenia. 
The government must resign so that we can save Armenia and Artsakh (the Armenian 
name for Nagorno-Karabakh),” he added.

Saghatelian called on the parliament majority to convene a special session of 
parliament to remove Pashinian from power.

Other politicians at the rally, including Artur Vanetsian, former director of 
the National Security Service who currently leads the opposition Hayrenik 
(Homeland) party, also called for Pashinian’s resignation in their speeches.

The opposition parties announced the establishment of a “national salvation 
committee” amid reports that the National Security Service has been summoning 
their leaders, including Vanetsian and ex-President Serzh Sarkisian, who leads 
the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia.

Political tensions in Armenia grew early on November 10 when Pashinian announced 
a deal with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev under which Armenian forces would 
withdraw from much of the territory they controlled before the start of the war, 
with Russian peacekeepers deployed in the remaining part where ethnic Armenians 
live. He said it was the best possible option in conditions of a series of 
defeats suffered by the military in the battlefield.

The news about the deal triggered street disturbances in Yerevan, with angry 
mobs breaking into the government and parliament buildings during early hours of 
the morning on Tuesday.

Mobs ransacked offices and smashed windows in an outburst of anger. Parliament 
Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan was injured in a mob attack and was hospitalized, 
drawing a sharp rebuke from the government.

In an interview with Public Television last night Deputy Prime Minister Tigran 
Avinian warned Armenia’s opposition against attempting a coup. At the same time, 
he did not exclude that the current government could resign.



Armenian PM Defends Karabakh Deal Amid Calls For His Resignation


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has defended the Russia-brokered truce 
agreement signed with Azerbaijan that ended a six-week war over 
Nagorno-Karabakh, claiming that it helps keep territories rather than cede them.

The news about the deal early on November 10 triggered street disturbances in 
Yerevan, with angry mobs breaking into the government and parliament buildings.

The unrest unfolded amid calls of a number of opposition parties for the 
resignation of Pashinian whom they accuse of signing an “act of surrender” and 
criticize for keeping the public in the dark on the planned agreement.

“The document was signed at the moment when Shushi (Shusha) had already fallen 
and Stepanakert was under direct threat, and it was quite problematic to find 
resources,” Pashinian explained in a live broadcast on Facebook on Wednesday.

“The biggest guilt attributed to me is signing the document that says that I 
agree to hand over three districts – Aghdam, Lachin and Kelbajar – to 
Azerbaijan. It may sound odd, but that was not about withdrawing, but about 
keeping [territories], because in that period when Shushi had fallen, the 
General Staff of the Republic of Armenia Armed Forces was reporting to me that 
resources were in a rather problematic state. To put it mildly, the political 
leadership of Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] also shared that 
opinion,” the Armenian prime minister said. “What were the prospects if that 
document had not been signed at that moment? In reality, that document gave us 
what, according to military and non-military assessments, we would not be able 
to keep in that situation.”

Pashinian stressed that if military operations continued, Azerbaijan would very 
likely capture Martuni, Stepanakert and Askeran, after which Armenian defensive 
areas with thousands of soldiers would be encircled and the defense would 
complete collapse.

“At that moment we had a situation when Stepanakert was under direct threat. The 
assessment of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the president of Artsakh 
was that Stepanakert was very weakly defended or was symbolically defended. And 
if Stepanakert fell, that would leave thousands of our soldiers encircled and as 
a result we would lose everything that is fixed in this document. This is the 
whole truth,” Pashinian said.

The prime minister also brushed aside conspiracy theories about the battle of 
Shushi earlier this month that arose after conflicting accounts of the 
Azerbaijani and Armenian sides about who controls the strategic Nagorno-Karabakh 
town.

“After the fall of Shushi there were two attempts to recapture it. One attempt 
failed completely, the other detachment managed to enter Shushi. And the 
conflicting reports in the media about who controls the town were due to that,” 
Pashinian explained.



Armenian Deputy PM Warns Opposition Against Coup Attempt

        • Lilit Harutiunian

Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinian (archive photo)

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian has warned Armenia’s opposition against 
attempting a coup hours before a group of political parties critical of the 
government plans to hold a rally in Yerevan to demand Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s resignation.

In an interview with Public Television last night Avinian did not rule out that 
the current government will resign, but stressed that they will not allow a coup.

Political tensions grew in Armenia on November 10 after Pashinian signed a 
Russian-brokered truce with Azerbaijan putting an end to more than six weeks of 
fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The deal envisaging Armenian concessions in the region was perceived by many as 
an act of surrender, which triggered a night of street disturbances in the 
Armenian capital of Yerevan during which the country’s parliament speaker was 
attacked and injured by a mob.

Thousands of angry protesters stormed government buildings and parliament, with 
some demanding that Yerevan’s signature be recalled from the document announced 
early on Tuesday by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Mobs ransacked offices and smashed windows in an outburst of anger. They also 
broke into the prime minister’s residence but found no one inside. Pashinian 
said later that his residence was looted by the intruders.

The protests unfolded against the backdrop of a demand by 17 opposition parties 
for Pashinian to step down.

The loose alliance that also includes the main parliamentary opposition 
Prosperous Armenia Party plans to reiterate the demand at a rally on Wednesday.

Armenia’s police issued a warning yesterday that in conditions of the continuing 
martial law, organizing, holding and participating in rallies is banned in the 
country.

Avinian also warned that there will be no tolerance towards those political 
forces that “try to catch fish in murky waters in conditions of martial law.”

“I would like to remind you that in the 1990s, when Azerbaijan was plunged into 
internal political turmoil, the Armenian army used that opportunity quite 
effectively. I want to assure all the political forces that are trying to catch 
fish in murky waters in conditions of martial law that there will be no 
tolerance in this matter. The Republic of Armenia, our statehood are above all, 
above everyone’s ambitions,” the deputy prime minister said.

He said that the time for looking for those responsible in a domestic political 
process will still come. “There will definitely be a turn for our internal 
political discourse about who is to blame and who is responsible. If necessary, 
this government will go, a new government will be elected, but our team and I 
personally cannot allow any coup attempts,” Avinian said.



Armenian President Opens Consultations With Parties Amid Political Tensions


Armenian President Armen Sarkissian met with senior ARF members Armen Rustamian 
and Artsvik Minasian, November 10, 2020

The consultations began one day before major opposition parties plan an 
anti-government rally in Yerevan.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has been holding consultations with 
representatives of different political parties since yesterday in a bid to 
defuse current political tensions caused by Armenia’s decision to sign a 
Russia-brokered agreement with Azerbaijan to end six weeks of fighting over 
Nagorno-Karabakh at the cost of concessions.

The news of the agreement signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian early on 
November 10 triggered unrest in Yerevan as thousands of angry protesters stormed 
government buildings and parliament.

Mobs ransacked offices and smashed windows in an outburst of anger. Parliament 
Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan was injured in a mob attack and hospitalized, drawing a 
sharp rebuke from the government.

The Armenian president, who unlike the prime minister has limited powers under 
Armenia’s constitution, said later on Tuesday that he had learned about the 
agreement on ending the Nagorno-Karabakh war and its conditions from the media. 
He said he would immediately open consultations with political parties regarding 
the issue.

Later that day, as reported by his office, President Sarkissian already started 
such consultations by receiving representatives of several political parties.

In particular, Sarkissian met with senior members of the Armenian Revolutionary 
Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun) Armen Rustamian and Artsvik Minasian. The ARF 
has opposed concessions and along with 16 other political parties has demanded 
Pashinian’s resignation.

“Considering that it is the current government that is mainly responsible for 
the situation, the representatives of the ARF expressed their concern in 
connection with the existing risks, presented their vision of overcoming the 
current situation,” the office of the president said.

“It was emphasized that there should be a nationwide consensus around the 
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is an issue of national 
importance,” it added.

President Sarkissian emphasized the importance of “maintaining the country’s 
stability, public solidarity and unity.”

In another meeting Hayrenik (Homeland) party leader Artur Vanetsian presented 
his assessments and observations to the president, noting that the party has its 
own vision of the way out of the current situation, the report said.

Sarkissian, according to his office, also received members of the executive body 
of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) Vahram Baghdasarian and 
Eduard Sharmazanov, and the head of the HHK youth organization Hayk Mamijanian.

According to the report, the HHK representatives “presented their views on the 
text of the statement [signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia], 
further actions and existing risks, and also expressed concern about the 
situation in the country, making some proposals.”

On November 10, President Sarkissian also met with leader of the Heritage party 
Narine Dilbarian and senior representative Andranik Grigorian, who “stressed the 
importance of unity and solidarity, as well as maintaining internal political 
stability.”

The consultations started one day before an alliance of 17 parties, including 
the ARF, the HHK, Hayrenik, the largest parliamentary party, Prosperous Armenia, 
and others plan to hold a rally in Yerevan.

At an announced rally on November 11 the political parties are expected to 
repeat their demand for Prime Minister Pashinian to resign.

Armenia’s current martial law declared over the war in Nagorno-Karabakh bans 
public rallies and outlaws demands for the resignation of government officials.

The Armenian police warned yesterday that the gathering planned by the 
opposition parties in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on Wednesday will be a violation 
of the law.

“We urge all to refrain from organizing, holding and participating in gatherings 
and public events,” the police said in a statement.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

CivilNet: Pashinyan explains fall of Shushi and the decision to sign ceasefire

Ani Tigranian
CIVILNET.AM

08:09

In a LIVE Facebook video, entitled “My greatest sin”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the fall of Shushi and the conspiracy theories that have surrounded the event.

"The biggest sin attributed to me is the well-known document, which says that I agreed to hand over three territories – Aghdam, Lachin, Kelbajar – to Azerbaijan. In fact, it may not seem obvious, but that document was not about handing over [land], but about keeping it.

“The document was signed at a time when Shushi had already fallen, when Armenia’s Armed Forces General Staff Office was reporting to that resources were in a problematic state, and the political leadership of Artsakh shared that opinion,” said Pashinyan.

The prime minister spoke about what would have happened if the document had not been signed at that moment.

"In fact, that document gave [to Azerbaijan] what, according to the military assessment, we could not keep in that situation. And, in a situation when Stepanakert was left defenseless, if the hostilities continued, there was a very high probability that Stepanakert would also be captured, as well as Martuni and Askeran. If this happened, our third, fourth, fifth, sixth defense lines would be under siege, and thousands of our soldiers would be surrounded. This would result in a total collapse. It was on the basis of this assessment that the decision was made. And, it is not by accidental that these days there are already dozens of soldiers sending video messages from the frontlines in defense of the decision made. And why? It’s because they saw and understood the situation, no matter how bitter it is.”

Pashinyan also referred to the rumors and conspiracies about the fall of Shushi.

"Attempts were made to take back Shushi twice after it fell. One of these attempts failed completely. During another attempt, one of our detachments managed to enter Shushi. And much of the controversy in the media about Shushi was connected with this event.

“I was also told that yesterday the chairman of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan stated that allegedly on October 28, while Shushi was still standing, Russia was ready to deploy peacekeepers to Karabakh, but I did not agree then, and I only agreed when Shushi was already lost. Of course, this is absolute nonsense," Pashinyan said.

In his address, Pashinyan noted that in an October 22 interview with the Russian Ria Novosti, he had said that he was in favor of the deployment of Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh."

It’s Time for Pro-Israel Groups to Divorce Azerbaijan

Ani Tigranian
The National Interest
Nov 9 2020
 
 
 
The Jewish community should demand every country promote and respect religious freedom, but it should never use religious freedom as an excuse to turn a blind eye to other abuses.
 
by Michael Rubin
 
Much of Azerbaijan’s diplomatic prestige in Washington and success in Congress rests on two pillars: first, its embrace by Israel activists who found in Azerbaijan a strategic ally in a difficult neighborhood, and second, energy companies for whom their Azeri business nets billions of dollars.
 
Oil windfalls often corrupt countries, as both politics and diplomacy become less about accountability and more about patronage. Azerbaijan is no exception. The latest Freedom House rankings put Azerbaijan even below the Gaza Strip, Cuba, and Venezuela. While the United States, France, and Russia have joined together to condemn Azerbaijan’s military offensive and gross violations of human rights such as summary execution of prisoners and deliberate destruction of Christian cultural sites, the United Kingdom and China have banded together to defend Azerbaijan in multilateral forums. British Petroleum has lobbied the Foreign Office to take an apologetic position toward the Aliyev dictatorship, while Azerbaijan’s increasing economic partnership with China has also led to Beijing’s willingness to protect its new Belt-and-Road Initiative proxy.
 
Israel, too, has bragged that the military equipment and drones it provided to Azerbaijan has given the oil-rich dictatorship a decisive advantage over more democratic Armenia. “Azerbaijan would not be able to continue its operation at this intensity without our support,” an Israeli defense ministry official told the Asia Times on the condition of anonymity. Israel’s bargain is clear: It receives 60 percent of its oil from Azerbaijan and, in exchange, it arms Aliyev’s government.
 
Pro-Israel groups and Jewish activists have long embraced the Israel-Azeri relationship for two reasons: First, Azerbaijan is generally religiously tolerant and protects its small Jewish community. Secondly, Azerbaijan has long positioned itself against the Islamic Republic of Iran, both in terms of its official approach to the role of Shi’ism in politics, and also against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Tehran’s export of revolution. Washington-Baku relations, meanwhile, developed against the backdrop of the two states’ counter-terror partnerships in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.
 
Jewish groups can applaud Azerbaijan’s willingness to allow its Jewish community to thrive, but that should not be a reason to turn a blind eye to its abuses against Armenia. Armenia, too, protects its Jewish community. Indeed, the Jewish community should demand every country promote and respect religious freedom, but it should never use religious freedom as an excuse to turn a blind eye to other abuses.
 
While many pro-Israel strategists continue to support Azerbaijan because they believe it is opposed to Iran, they may be blind to changes underway that alter reality. So, too, are those U.S. strategists who applaud Azerbaijan’s post-9/11 counter-terror posture.
 
Firstly, Iran is on the same side as Azerbaijan in the assault on Nagorno-Karabakh. Whereas President Ilham Aliyev once stood firmly against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and, for that matter, Russian president Vladimir Putin as well, his calculations began to change because of what he interpreted to be the disinterest shown him first by the Obama administration and then by Trump’s team. Whatever Aliyev’s true beliefs—if he has any beyond the pursuit of personal power—he is a realist and recognizes he needed to make an accommodation with his more powerful neighbors. Additionally, Azerbaijan’s full-throttled embrace of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime should also raise alarm bells. Aliyev has acquiesced in almost all sectors to Erdoğan’s diktats, even to the point where Azeri officials cannot talk to Jews who have criticized Erdoğan’s own excesses. While Azerbaijan may once have aided the Mossad’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, Hakan Fidan—Erdoğan’s intelligence chief—has also exposed Israel’s anti-nuclear intelligence operatives in Iran. Just as many Israel activists were in denial about Turkey’s changes a decade ago, a naivete which Erdoğan exploited to the strategic advantage of Hamas, Iran, Russia, Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State, so too does there now appear to be a growing gap between the reality of Aliyev now versus the positions he took a decade ago.
 
Indeed, pro-Israel activists should worry about where Aliyev’s subordination of himself and Azeri sovereignty to Erdoğan ambitions. Erdoğan’s Turkey may trade with Israel, but it holds Israel in contempt. It empowers Hamas—a terrorist group that now plans attacks on the Jewish state from Turkish territory—as well as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The logic some Turkish apologists make that Turkey is anti-Iran and so the United States should hold its nose and embrace Erdoğan both shows ignorance of the multidimensionality of relations in the Middle East and fails the logic test. Hamas is Iran’s chief Palestinian client. To embrace Turkey is to also empower Iranian proxies.
 
Nor is castigation of Armenia as somehow anti-Western because of its ties to Iran and Russia entirely fair. Certainly, as some Azeri and Armenian activists have pointed out, I have called out Armenia for these issues in Congressional testimony before but, just as Azerbaijan has pivoted away from its anti-Islamic Republic and counterterror position over time, so too has Armenia changed. The year 2020 is not 2010, and countries change: After its 2018 revolution, Armenia today is substantially more democratic and westward-leaning. While Yerevan maintains close relations with Tehran and Moscow—and even hosts a Russian military base in Gyumri, seventy-five miles northwest of the capital—those relations are more reactive than proactive. Armenia might not need a Russian military base if it could be ensured that Turkey and Azerbaijan did not intend to complete the genocide the Ottomans began just over a century ago.  
 
The blockade by both Turkey and Azerbaijan of Armenian products also shapes Armenian foreign policy. It decimates the Armenian economy by raising the cost of its goods and forcing it to rely more on Iran and Russia as its economic lifeline. There is a certain irony to the argument that Azerbaijan is a better ally for the United States or Israel than Armenia because of Armenia’s ties to Russia and Iran when, aside from the fact that this need not be a zero-sum game, it is Azerbaijan’s policy which forces Armenia into their embrace. The Baku to Ceyhan pipeline, which purposely bypasses Armenia, simply amplifies these dynamics. While again it is British Petroleum’s oil interest which leads the United Kingdom to protect Azerbaijan at the United Nations Security Council and elsewhere, Armenia—even at the height of tensions with Azerbaijan—has not attacked the pipeline. This reinforces that Armenia is more a partner than an impediment and that its inclusion in the region’s oil infrastructure might have far broader diplomatic ramifications. Simply put, should the United States pressure Turkey and Azerbaijan to open trade with Armenia or join its pipeline network, then it would allow Yerevan to wean itself away from any Russian or Iranian demands which run counter to broader Western interests.
 
For decades, Israel languished in isolation. It was willing to develop ties with any country that would have it, regardless of the baggage that the country carried. Hence it was with Apartheid-era South Africa, a country whose domestic politics were noxious to any Jewish value. Israel still pays the price for its ties to that racist regime today (perhaps unfairly given how South Africa was an Arab oil client). It is no longer 1970, however. Most of the world recognizes Israel; the Israeli government no longer needs relations at any price; it can afford to raise the bar. To supply Azerbaijan with weaponry at a time when Azerbaijan is both targeting Christian villages and churches and developing its relations with China is immoral and will have a long-term cost to which Israeli officials appear blind. Furthermore, as Israel has both normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates and developed its own resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, it need not feel that it is dependent upon Aliyev for energy. Simply put, it is time for any activist who seeks to enhance Israel’s security in the region to recognize that the reality of Azerbaijan is in dissonance with its propaganda. It’s time for both Israel and the U.S. Jewish community to step away from its former Caspian ally.
 
 
Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Fighting nears key town as Azerbaijani forces advance in Karabakh

Ani Tigranian
Yahoo! News
Nov 8 2020
 
 

The clashes are getting closer every day to Shusha — a sign of how far Azerbaijani forces have advanced in their campaign to retake the region

 
AFP•November 7, 2020

Explosions sound in the distance as Kamo Hayrapetyan kneels to pray at the Holy Saviour Cathedral in Nagorno-Karabakh's historic town of Shusha.

Dressed in camouflage and white sneakers, the 60-year-old Armenian reservist lights candles and crosses himself under the partially collapsed roof of the church, which was hit by Azerbaijani rocket fire a month ago.

"They bomb us every day, it has become a habit for them," says Hayrapetyan, whose own home was destroyed in the artillery fire that has been pummelling Shusha.

"We will defend our land, we will hold out until the end. And we won't abandon Shushi," he says, using the Armenian name for the town.

An ethnic Armenian region of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Baku's control in a war in the early 1990s that left some 30,000 people dead.

Decades of stalemate, failed negotiations and sporadic clashes followed, until the heaviest fighting since a 1994 ceasefire erupted on September 27.

Nearly six weeks later, the clashes are getting closer every day to Shusha — a sign of how far Azerbaijani forces have advanced in their campaign to retake the region.

Karabakh's separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan sounded the alarm late last month, warning that Azerbaijani forces were only five kilometres (three miles) from Shusha.

"Whoever controls Shushi controls Artsakh," he said in a video filmed in front of the cathedral, using the Armenian names for the town and Nagorno-Karabakh.

– Hilltop fortress –

The hilltop town, whose cliffs make it a natural fortress, is of huge strategic importance. 

It sits on high ground over the region's capital Stepanakert and on the main road linking the city with the territory of neighbouring Armenia, which backs the separatists.

Officials in Karabakh and Armenia have reported numerous attacks to the south of Shusha in recent days.

There have been clashes in Karintak, known as Dashalty in Azerbaijan, a town at the base of the Shusha cliffs, and around the town of Lachin to the south.

Crucially, Azerbaijani forces have also reached the road that leads south from Stepanakert, through Shusha and Lachin, to the Armenian border.

This is the main road through the region and its capture would cut off the separatists' most important supply route.

It was closed for the first time on Wednesday, with Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman Shushan Stepanyan saying this was because of "search operations for possible subversive groups".

It is unclear how far — and in what strength — Azerbaijani forces have pushed in to the area around Shusha and the road, though Armenian officials have reported regular clashes and the destruction of armoured vehicles and tanks.

What is clear is that making it to the area at all represents a major gain for Azerbaijan since the start of fighting.

Azerbaijan has reclaimed swathes of territory on Karabakh's southern flank — with experts estimating Baku has retaken 15 to 20 percent of the territory it lost in Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions in the 1990s.

Much of this land is plains and the fighting will be much harder in the narrow passes and mountains where separatist forces have had years to build up their defences.

Armenian officials say any Azerbaijani gains have come at an enormous cost and claim to have killed several thousand enemy troops.


– Coffin factory –

Separatist forces have admitted to more than 1,000 fighters killed, while Azerbaijan has not released any figures on its military casualties.

Both sides have meanwhile accused the other of regularly targeting residential areas with shelling and rocket fire, with more than 130 civilians confirmed dead on both sides.

In Shusha the signs of these attacks are everywhere, from bomb craters in gardens to apartment blocks with their windows blown out.

Most of Karabakh's civilians have fled the fighting to Armenia and Stepanakert on many days resembles a ghost town, with the sound of shelling and air raid sirens ringing through empty streets.

One of the few hubs of activity is a furniture workshop that has put its usual business on hold to make coffins, a sombre reminder of the growing number of dead.

The workshop is lined with a dozen newly-made caskets, their polished brown wood gleaming in the light. 

"Unfortunately, we have to make coffins now because it is very important and in demand," says David Hayrapetyan, a 41-year-old who works in the factory, as a colleague secures a gold-coloured cross on top of a casket lid.

bur-acl-mm/jbr/wdb


 

Corsican Assembly adopts resolution on recognition of Artsakh

Ani Tigranian
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 6 2020

The Corsican Assembly has adopted a resolution on the recognition of the Artsakh Republic, the Armenian Embassy in France reports.

The Assembly has also denounced the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Artsakh and expressed support for the Armenian people’s struggle for freedom and peace.

The resolution also calls on the UN member states and the European Union to recognize the independence of Artsakh.

Azerbaijan continues bombing civilian settlements in Artsakh, killing another civilian

Ani Tigranian

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 20:29, 2 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender of Artsakh records that continuously violating the international humanitarian laws, Azerbaijan again targeted civilian settlements and infrastructures, ARMENPRESS reports, the office of the Human Rights Defender issued a statement.

As a result of Azerbaijani bombing of civilian settlements, a civilian was killed in Artsakh's Khnushinak village, Martuni region. The victim is identified as Armo Avetisyan, 53. Another civilian was wounded in Arajadzor village.

By now, 46 civilians have died and 142 have been injured by Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh.




Armenian Genocide memorial in Lyon vandalized with pro-Erdoğan graffiti

Ani Tigranian
Greek City Times
Nov 1 2020
by Paul Antonopoulos

An Armenian Genocide Memorial was desecrated on with pro-Erdoğan graffiti in France.

The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Lyon was targeted today with RTE, the initials of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, graffitied on.

Pro-Erdoğan graffiti on Armenian Genocide memorial in Lyon.

Surrounding buildings were also graffitied, including with tags of the Far Right ultra-nationalist Gray Wolves.

In fact, they are the largest right-wing extremist organization in Germany.

Pro-Erdoğan graffiti in Lyon.

The Lyon-based Centre National de la Mémoire Arménienne (Armenian National Memory Center) said a “complaint will be lodged following this abject act, concerning the memory of the French-Armenians.”

“We call on French-Armenian citizens not to give in to provocations and to not answer this type of hate call,” they concluded.

On Wednesday evening, members of the the Gray Wolves invaded the streets of Vienne to the south of Lyon.

Turkish ultra-nationalists in Viennes, France – October 28, 2020.

These extremists marched to challenge the Armenian community. They did not hesitate to chant threats like “Where are the Armenians ?!”, “Here is Turkey” and “Fuck Armenia, we are going to fuck you.”