Russia and Turkey are negotiating over the conclusion of a long-term agreement on natural gas transit, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak told reporters today, TASS reports.
According to him, the task force discussed the issues of the Russian Gazprom Export and the Turkish Botash within the scope of the Russian-Turkish mixed intergovernmental commission.
The Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan reflected on another example of the loss of territories as a result of disregarding the rights of village residents and their normal life requirements during border disputes.
The Ombudsman reminds that as a result of the inconsistency of the policies by Soviet Armenia, the entire disputed territory of Shinikh-Ayrum region (11.659 “desyatinas”) was declared as a part of the Azerbaijani Kazakh Uyezd, and the disputed territory of the forest (4.000 “desyatinas”) – as a part Dilijan in the Armenian SSR. Meanwhile, under the decision of April 28, 1923 of the commission on land dispute resolution of uyezds within the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee (CEC) from, a land with an area of 5000 “desyatinas” in the region of Shinikh-Ayrumi was handed over from Dilijan Uyezd to the Kazakh Uyezd.
"As a result of this unfortunate decision for Armenia and especially for the rural population, the village of Bashkend, a part of the Armenian SSR (later with an Armenian title – Artsvashen), appeared in the Kazakh Uyezd: it was decided to detach a section of a land (summer pasture) that would have territorially connected the village with Dilijan. Nevertheless, this was important precisely in terms of the rights of Armenian population of Bashkend.
Ultimately, during the session of the presidency of the Transcaucasian Central Executive Committee on February 18, 1929, it was decided to reaffirm the agreement of January 11, 1927, and to link Bashkend with Armenian SSR with a narrow land section.To execute that decision, 45 border signs were installed in forest areas of Shinikh-Ayrum during 1929," wrote Tatoyan.
According to the decision of the Central Executive Committee, it was planned to allocate a part of the lands of Shinikh-Ayrum region for the use the residents of Bashkend village. However, in 1929, the offer to provide at least 0.75 hectares of land per capita was rejected by the decision of the July 20 sitting of the presidency of the Executive Committee, citing scarcity of land.
Moreover, The Azeri authorities incited their sections of the population to write imaginary protests against the Armenian SSR, thus provoking more problems. Usually wedged in the territory of Armenia, the Azeri villages began to try to expand at the expense of the Armenian villages as usual.
"In the 1920s, Soviet Armenia lost territories and one of the reasons was that human rights and the rights of the peasants were not at the basis of the decisions, in that sense there was a lack of consistency of policies. It was not taken into consideration that the solution to any border dispute should be based on the degree to which the normal life of the border population is ensured. Of course, the Soviet leadership did not take that into consideration either," Tatoyan wrote.
16:26, 21 June, 2021
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. Bright Armenia party has issued a statement over the snap parliamentary elections held on June 20.
“Dear compatriots.
Bright Armenia party thanks for every vote and assures that every vote given to us will continue to serve for the benefit of the Republic of Armenia.
But we would like to note the following about the snap parliamentary elections:
Being a pro-state parliamentary force, Bright Armenia party, putting the domestic political stability and peace above everything else, has did the maximum to overcome the post-war crisis in the country, for which the only opportunity was the early parliamentary election.
Bright Armenia party stands steady in its position that election is a way for the citizens of Armenia to decide what kind of government should be formed and lead the country in the future years.
Bright Armenia party respects the people’s decision and announces at the same time that it will continue keeping the issue of restoring the internal political solidarity, unity on the agenda and reaffirms the conviction that the only way of overcoming the challenges facing our country is the national unity.
Bright Armenia party wishes productive work to the political forces elected to the parliament, for the welfare of Armenia.
Bright Armenia party will continue playing its participatory role in all ongoing political processes in Armenia and will prepare for the local self-government elections expected in autumn”.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenian lawmaker urges Council of Europe to suspend Azerbaijani delegation’s powers
09:59, 22 June, 2021
YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament of Armenia Naira Zohrabyan has again raised the issue of the Armenian prisoners of war illegally held in Azerbaijan during the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, calling on the CoE to take concrete actions, rather than to make statements which do not lead to any consequences.
The lawmaker called on the CoE to suspend the Azerbaijani delegation’s powers and freeze the European bank accounts of the family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and that country’s political elite. She stated that the solution of the Armenian POW issue is possible only by imposing tough sanctions against Baku.
“Especially today when hatred and intolerance have become a serious issue in Europe and politicians have a great responsibility to keep away politics from populism, lie, manipulations and tools unacceptable in the fight against political opponents, our today’s discussion is more than relevant. Yes, the politician must have a mandate to freely exercise his right to speech, which, however, can’t avoid red lines. When the President of Azerbaijan is calling Armenians liars and says that for 30 years Artsakh has been in the hands of monsters, wild animals, when announces that he will expel Armenians from Artsakh like dogs, when the mannequins of Armenian servicemen are displayed at the Baku filthy park, I am more than convinced that racism ad Armenophobia cannot be considered as freedom of speech and must be prevented”, she said, adding that if the European organization doesn’t apply sanctions on Azerbaijan, there is a great fear that many Armenian mothers will no more hug their sons.
“I ask you again: why don’t you suspend the Azerbaijani delegation’s right to vote, why you don’t urge the international organizations to freeze the European bank accounts of Aliyev’s family and his clan. I have talked to the boys who have been repatriated two weeks ago. They saw hell in Baku prison. And I will urge daily to apply concrete sanctions on Azerbaijan, as this country could become the last graveyard of Europe and the European values”, the lawmaker said.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Preliminary results for Armenia's June 20th snap parliamentary election suggest that the Civil Contract party won with 58 percent of the vote — a victory for current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose position in the government to be determined during the first session of the parliament. As is customary, Pashinyan resigned from his seat ahead of the June 20 election but has since declared victory for his party, urging his supporters to gather in the main square of the capital Yerevan on Monday evening. Around 50 percent of Armenia's 2.6 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the Sunday election.
The election was not entirely without incident. On Sunday night, Armenia's general prosecutor office reported a total of 319 violations observed and documented during the voting day and said it has opened six criminal investigations, as reported by the BBC.
The Central Election Commission said elections were largely in line with national legal norms. According to RIA news, nationwide turnout stood at 49.4 percent when polls closed at 16:00 GMT.
The era of rigged elections in Armenia is over, Pashinyan said, thanking the police, the national security service for ensuring this. “The government in Armenia, moving forward, will be formed through the will of the people.”#ArmVote21
— EVN Report (@evn_report) June 20, 2021
Though Pashinyan was heavily criticized for the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, his landslide victory is a testament to his overall popularity.
Pashinyan remained true to his commitment that in #Armenia governments can be formed only via people’s vote. Despite enormous pressures after war, virtually all ‘elites’ demanding his resignation, incl church, threat of military coup, he withstood them & made #ArmVote21 possible.
— Mika (@unzippedblog) June 19, 2021
Pashinyan rose to power after leading a revolution in 2018, promising economic reforms and ousting the previously dominating oligarchs and monopolies. However, his popularity suffered in November 2020 when the country lost the Nagorno-Karabakh war with its neighboring Azerbaijan. The war ended with a Moscow-brokered cease-fire which restored Baku's sovereignty over a swath of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts and was largely seen as a failure for Pashinyan.
In the following months, as recriminations grew over the PM's handling of the war, he stepped down, as required by law, to allow an election to take place while remaining the country's leader. Polls ahead of the Sunday vote predicted Pashinyan's victory despite his tarnished popularity. As Pashinyan addressed his supporters rallying in Yerevan at the city's central Republic Square on June 17, the former PM said, “The people of Armenia will certainly and undoubtedly win with a crushing percentage [of votes,]. And yes, everything is decided because the people of Armenia have already decided everything in their minds, hearts, and souls.”
His main rival was former president Robert Kocharyan, whose Armenia Alliance came second, securing a little over 20 percent of the vote:
Results from all polling stations in Armenia are in:
Civil Contract – 53.92%
Armenia Alliance – 21.04%
I Have Honour coalition – 5.23%#ArmVote21— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) June 21, 2021
Robert Kocharyan's defeat was attributed to his murky past. “Accused of presiding over a heavy crackdown on protests after a disputed election in 2008, when at least 10 people were killed, and has also faced investigation over bribery allegations,” Kocharyan was viewed as an embodiment of the past, and a government that was ousted in 2018 revolution.
The third coalition was headed by Armenia's former President, Serj Sargisian. A total of 21 parties and four alliances took part in the election (the original list included 22 parties, but one party withdrew before the vote). There were a total of 2,623 candidates, including 965 women (37 percent).
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights interim report, published on June 8, 2021, detailed how Armenia's electoral system works.
Voters will elect a minimum of 101 members of parliament for a five-year term, under a newly adopted closed-list proportional system in one nationwide constituency. The system incorporates a representation threshold and compensatory mandates aimed at guaranteeing a stable majority while ensuring an opposition representation of at least one-third of all seats. The change, adopted in April 2021, from the previous two-tier proportional system, in which candidates were elected from a single national list and 13 open territorial lists, had been advocated for by many political parties and civil society organizations.
The organization released its final report on Monday, June 21 that indicated an overall positive and peaceful election despite minor incidents “of party or alliance proxies interfering in the process, frequent overcrowding, general disregard for COVID-19 protection measures, tension or unrest, isolated indications of vote buying and pressure on voters.”
Similarly, the report concluded that the vote count was assessed positively in most polling stations with”very few significant procedural errors or serious violations” even though the IEOM observers noted: “In a number of TECs, poor organization, insufficient space and overcrowding negatively affected the process and transparency.”
According to the most recent projections, “Pashinyan’s Party will maintain its two-thirds majority in the Armenian parliament with 71 out of 105 seats. The Armenia Alliance will receive 27 seats, and the I Have Honour coalition — despite not passing the 7% threshold for electoral coalitions — will receive 7 seats, as a minimum of three parties or blocs must enter parliament.”
As Armenia goes to polls, things to know about the landlocked country's diverse culture and troubled history
Agence France-Presse
Armenia on Sunday holds snap parliamentary polls that the reformist Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called to defuse a political crisis sparked by last year's military defeat to arch-foe Azerbaijan.
Here are five things to know about the troubled history and ancient culture of the landlocked country in the South Caucasus.
National humiliation
Armenia last year fought a six-week war with Azerbaijan for control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The hostilities, which claimed about 6,000 lives, ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia cede swathes of territories it had controlled for decades to Azerbaijan.
Russia deployed 2,000 peacekeepers to the mountainous region, cementing its influence over ex-Soviet Armenia, whose security largely depends on Moscow's military and diplomatic backing.
Armenians saw the agreement as a humiliation and stormed the main government building in protest. Prime Minister Pashinyan called polls Sunday to defuse the political crisis.
Great Crime
When World War I broke out in 1914, Armenia, which for most of its history has been controlled by foreign powers, was divided between the Ottoman and Russian Empires.
During the war, Ottomans massacred and deported more than 1.5 million Armenians, who dubbed this most tragic event in their history as Meds Yeghern, or the Great Crime.
Armenia has long sought international recognition of the bloodletting as genocide — a claim fiercely rejected by Turkey but supported by many other countries, most recently by the US under President Joe Biden in April.
Star-studded diaspora
The Armenian diaspora that spread across the world in the wake of the 1915 massacres is now vast — estimated at around eight to 10 million people — some of them the most famous in the world.
Social media superstar Kim Kardashian, the late singer Charles Aznavour, Hollywood's Cher and France's football World Cup-winning striker Youri Djorkaeff all have Armenian roots.
The politically influential diaspora is strongest in Russia (1.5 million), followed by the United States (1.3 million) and France (400,000).
Some have appointed themselves unofficial ambassadors of Armenian causes, like Kardashian, who has been outspoken on the issue of the genocide.
Armenia's economy has struggled since the Soviet collapse and money sent home by Armenians abroad has aided the construction of schools, churches and other infrastructure projects, including in Nagorno-Karabakh.
First Christian country
In the fourth century, Armenia became the first country in the world to officially embrace Christianity — two decades ahead of the Roman Empire.
The Bible was translated into the Armenian language in the fifth century.
Armenia's preeminent cultural institution, the Matenadaran museum, houses the country's national treasures — the vast collection of ancient manuscripts that cover almost every sphere of Armenia's ancient and medieval science and culture.
Written in the distinctive Armenian alphabet created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the collection was added to UNESCO's list of protected documents in 1997.
National symbols
Armenia is an ancient biblical land where the Book of Genesis says Noah's Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat after the Great Deluge.
Now inside Turkey, Mount Ararat is regarded by Armenians as a national symbol and features on the country's coat of arms and banknotes.
Another national symbol is "Armenian cognac" — a brandy distilled from the abundant vine varieties cultivated in the fertile Ararat valley.
Like many Armenians three years ago, Artyom Muradyan hoped the reformist prime minister would turn around the country’s fortunes after decades of poverty and corruption.
Instead, he says, Nikol Pashinyan led the small South Caucasus nation into a disastrous war and ceded swathes of territory to Azerbaijan last year.
On Sunday, the 24-year-old former soldier — who fought in the six-week conflict together with his elder brother and father — will cast his ballot for an electoral bloc headed by Pashinyan’s top rival.
“He gave us so many promises,” Muradyan told AFP at his home in the north of the capital Yerevan. “He could not deliver on those promises and he gave away our lands.”
More than 6,000 people were killed in the war over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia’s humiliating defeat sparked protest rallies and calls for Pashinyan to resign.
The 46-year-old former newspaper editor has instead called early parliamentary polls in the hope of defusing the crisis and renewing his mandate.
But many Armenians say they no longer trust him and fear he might cling to power.
– ‘Idiot’ –
Muradyan’s father Marat fumes when he speaks about Pashinyan, who was hailed as a hero after spearheading a wave of peaceful protests against the old elites in 2018.
“He’s an idiot,” said the 51-year-old truck driver, taking a drag on his cigarette. He questioned Pashinyan’s economic track record and made fun of his “hysterical” campaign during which he brandished a hammer at rallies.
“This is a hammer that belongs to the people, and on June 20 it will fall down on your empty heads,” Pahshinyan declared at one of the rallies, addressing opponents.
The Muradyans are backing the electoral bloc of Pashinyan’s main rival, ex-president Robert Kocharyan, who led the country between 1998 and 2008 and counts Russia’s Vladimir Putin among his friends.eck with Kocharyan’s electoral bloc, called simply Armenia.
Unlike Muradyan and his family, many in Armenia remain undecided in the tight race, and some say they will stay home on Sunday.
Aram Petrosyan says he does not think the election will change anything.
“I will not vote. I don’t want to be lied to again,” the 62-year-old chess tutor told AFP on the sidelines of a tribute to fallen soldiers at Yerevan’s National Library.
His 22-year-old son and 35-year-old son-in-law both fought in the Karabakh war. The son-in-law, father of two grandchildren for Petrosyan, was killed in October and the family located his body only in January.
Some grieving parents told AFP they are not interested in politics and do not want to discuss the upcoming election.
Artyom Muradyan, who served in an artillery unit, said his country was traumatised, with many voters feeling betrayed.
“They don’t know who to trust,” he said.
– ‘Everyone lost someone’ –
Alisa Yaylakhanyan breaks down in tears when she talks about the recent past and her hopes for the future.
“Everyone lost someone last year,” she told AFP at a cafe in central Yerevan. Several of her friends had died in the war.
The 24-year-old designer backed Pashinyan’s electoral bloc in an election in 2018 but is now enthusiastic about Kocharyan, who hails from Karabakh and was its leader in the 1990s.
“When he was in power, those were the best years,” she said, referring to his decade-long stint at the helm of Armenia.
“When he was president, we did not have a massive war.”
Yaylakhanyan also praised the 66-year-old veteran politician for his tight links with Russia and accused Pashinyan of seeking closer ties with arch-enemy Azerbaijan and its backer Turkey.
A poll released by MPG, a polling group affiliated with Gallup International, last week showed Kocharyan’s bloc leading narrowly with 24.1 percent to 23.8 percent for Pashinyan’s party.
Satenik Muradyan, Artyom’s mother, said she was not sure she would want to live in Armenia if Pashinyan remains in power.
The past few months have been tough, the 48-year-old said. When her two sons and husband went to the front, she could not eat or sleep.
“I’ve always been happy with my country,” she said. “I have never before wanted to leave.”
The leader of "I'm Honored" pre-election bloc Artur Vanetsyan alerts about unlawful actions launched by law enforcement against the representatives and supporters of the bloc. In Vanetsyan's words, since early morning, the representatives of the National Security Service (NSS), Special Investigation Service (SIS) and the Police, have been detaining the members of the bloc and taking them to police stations, keeping for hours.
"They are simply intimidating our members. Unreasonable searches are conducted at the offices of the bloc and apartments of our members. As those searches have brought no results, the law enforcement officers state in private conversations that they have been instructed to isolate the members of the bloc today and tomorrow. The capitulant, who used to pretend as mad, will not get away with this," Vanetsyan said.
At least 20,000 supporters of Armenian opposition candidate Robert Kocharyan packed a central square in the capital Yerevan on Friday, ahead of snap parliamentary polls this weekend.
Armenia’s reformist Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the early election in an effort to defuse a political crisis after a disastrous war with Azerbaijan last year.
He is hoping to renew his mandate but is in a tight race with former president Kocharyan.
On Friday evening supporters of Pashinyan’s main rival, including decorated war veterans, massed in the capital’s Republic Square waving flags and chanting “Kocharyan!”
Kocharyan appeared to have mobilised about the same number of supporters — or even slightly more — than his rival managed at a rally the day before, according to estimates by AFP reporters who witnessed both events.
The rally for Kocharyan, who was in power between 1998 and 2008 and counts Russian leader Vladimir Putin among his friends, was the last campaign event ahead of the snap parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Polls show Pashinyan’s party neck-and-neck with Kocharyan’s electoral bloc, and political analysts say the election result is hard to predict.
Many at Friday’s rally said they could no longer trust Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018 on pledges to oust old elites but led the small South Caucasus country into a war with arch-enemy Azerbaijan that claimed more than 6,000 lives.
“We lived well when Kocharyan was president,” said one supporter, Emma Khachaturyan, 50.
“Pashinyan is a traitor,” she added, referring to the prime minister’s controversial agreement that ceded swathes of territory to Azerbaijan after the six-week conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.
Businessman and former soldier Mger Palyan, 47, said Kocharyan understood the needs of the military.
“I was in the army when he was president. He always worked and was true to his word,” Palyan said.
A poll released Friday by MPG, a polling group affiliated with Gallup International Association, showed Kocharyan’s bloc leading narrowly with 28.7 percent to 25.2 percent for Pashinyan’s party.
17:05,
YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Food Safety Inspection Body has made a clarification over the photos of Heineken beer which appeared on social networks and media, showing that the Azerbaijani flag is printed on the beer bottles.
“Heineken is an official partner of EURO 2020. On this occasion the flags of all countries, where the games will take place, have been printed on the bottles of this brand.
The Food Safety Inspection Body has examined and revealed that the batch of that brand has been produced in Russia and has been imported to Armenia based on the Customs Union rules of procedure and in full accordance with the requirements of our country’s legislation”, the statement reads.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan