ANI | Updated: Apr 28, 2021 13:23 IST
Amsterdam [The Netherlands], April 28 (ANI/Sputnik): The lawsuits against Turkey suspended earlier in US courts are expected to be resumed after the United States recognized the fact of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire, Inge Drost, spokeswoman of the Abovian Armenian Cultural Association in the Netherlands, told Sputnik.
She also said Turkey was annoyed and understood the importance of genocide recognition by the US.
April 22, 2021
The Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, in an announcement on Thursday called on Azerbaijan to release Armenian prisoners of war and other captives “without delay.”
The PACE Monitoring Committee expressed its concern over the fact that not all persons detained in the context of recent Nagorno Karabakh war have been exchanged. It called on Azerbaijan to ensure that all Armenian detainees are released without delay into the care of the Armenian authorities.
“The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the developments since the trilateral statement of 9-10 November 2020 are of great importance to the Council of Europe and have been closely followed by the Monitoring Committee. In coordination with other relevant committees, it has heard from representatives of both countries as well as independent experts, and the co-rapporteurs for Armenia and Azerbaijan have regularly made joint statements on the developments taking place,” said the announcement.
“The committee is convinced that the national parliaments of both countries can and should play an important role in the urgently-needed confidence-building measures, the reconciliation process and the resumption of concrete peace negotiations between the parties. It therefore welcomes the progress made with the implementation of the Trilateral Statement but expresses its concern about reports that not all persons detained in the context of this conflict have been exchanged. In addition, the committee considers that both parties should reinforce their cooperation and communication aimed at de-mining the concerned areas, with a view to ensuring the safety of civilians,” added the statement.
“The committee reiterates that the clear intention of Article 8 of the Trilateral Statement was the exchange of all detained persons, without distinction as to the status of these people assigned by one of the parties. Underscoring the concerns expressed by the European Court of Human Rights with respect to 188 Armenians allegedly captured by Azerbaijan, the committee calls upon Azerbaijan to ensure that all Armenian detainees are released without delay into the care of the Armenian authorities,” explained the PACE committee.
“In the view of the committee, the establishment of an independent international mission responsible for investigating the conflict and allegations of human rights and humanitarian law violations during the recent hostilities is essential to create an environment that is conducive to reconciliation and the establishment of genuine peace. Cultural heritage is important to all parties to the conflict, and the urgent establishment of the necessary mechanisms to ensure its protection and renovation is a priority. The committee has therefore charged its Sub-Committee on Conflicts between Council of Europe Member States to explore more in detail concrete mechanisms for resolving these two issues,” said the statement.
“Finally, the committee calls on both parties to constructively engage with the relevant international institutions, in particular the OSCE Minsk Group, with a view to fully implementing the Trilateral Statement, and to start the peace negotiations,” the statement concluded.
Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Friday that he intends to recognize the 1915 massacres and forced deportations of Armenians as genocide, sources familiar with the conversation told Reuters.
The State of Idaho has recognized the Republic of Artsakh and proclaimed a Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, reports the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region,.
The proclamation was signed by Brad Little, Governor of Idaho.
Azerbaijan has received a letter from Russia’s Ministry of Defense saying that Iskander missiles were not fired during the war in Nagorno Karabakh.
This was stated by Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev in an interview to AzTV. He though added that Baku is not satisfied with the response.
“I have read the letter. It says that the Russian side has not confirmed the firing of the ballistic missiles. In essence, it is not the full answer to our letter as the key question of our inquiry was how Armenia got Iskander-M deadly missiles,” Aliyev stated.
April 13, 2021
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in Yerevan in 2019
MOSCOW/PARIS/WASHINGTON—The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group–Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States–released the following statement on Tuesday:
The Co-Chairs note with satisfaction the consolidation of the ceasefire, and are closely monitoring the implementation of the agreement reached by the parties on 9 November 2020.
The Co-Chairs welcome the significant achievements with regard to the return of the remains of the deceased, and the ongoing progress with regard to the resettlement of those displaced by the conflict, provision of humanitarian assistance and adequate living conditions, as well as constructive discussions aimed at unblocking transportation and communication lines throughout the region.
The Co-Chairs remind the sides that additional efforts are required to resolve remaining areas of concern and to create an atmosphere of mutual trust conducive to long-lasting peace. These include issues related to, inter alia: the return of all POWs and other detainees in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law, the exchange of all data necessary to conduct effective de-mining of conflict regions; the lifting of restrictions on access to Nagorno-Karabakh, including for representatives of international humanitarian organizations; the preservation and protection of religious and cultural heritage; and the fostering of direct contacts and co-operation between communities affected by the conflict as well as other people-to-people confidence building measures.
Having in mind the terms of their OSCE mandate and the aspirations of all the people of the region for a stable, peaceful, and prosperous future, the Co-Chairs stress that special attention should be paid to the achievement of a final comprehensive and sustainable settlement on the basis of the elements and principles well-known to the sides.
In this respect, the Co-Chairs call on the parties to resume high-level political dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs at the earliest opportunity. They reiterate their proposal to organize direct bilateral consultations under their auspices, in order for the sides to review and agree jointly upon a structured agenda, reflecting their priorities, without preconditions.
The Co-Chairs also express their strong support for the continuing activities and possible expansion of the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office (PRCiO) and call on the sides to provide full access and support to its efforts. The Co-Chairs underscore their readiness to resume working visits to the region, including Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas, to carry out their assessment and mediation roles. In this regard, the Co-Chairs remind the sides of the requirement to provide unimpeded access and maximum flexibility of movement with regard to the Co-Chairs’ travel itineraries, in accordance with their mandate and previous practice.
While blamed for losing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Pashinyan has mended ties with Putin and could regain trust.
Few political leaders are as embattled as Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Many in the South Caucasus nation blame him for the humiliating defeat in last year’s war with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Thousands of protesters, top generals and political opponents urged him to resign, while thousands of grieving families of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh flooded Armenia.
The grey-bearded 44-year-old has said he would step down later in April.
In a March 18 Facebook post, after much pressure to do so, Pashinyan announced a snap parliamentary vote in June as the “best way out” of the crisis.
But the resignation and vote are far from heralding Pashinyan’s political demise.
The My Step coalition he heads looks likely to win the election – and vote him in as prime minister again, according to a Gallup International Association poll held in late March.
Almost a third of voters are ready to cast their ballots for My Step, which now holds 75 percent of seats in Armenia’s unicameral parliament.
Meanwhile, Pashinyan’s main opponent, Robert Kocharyan, a former separatist leader who served as Armenia’s president in 1998 – 2008, trails far behind with less than six percent.
During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as Armenia suffered losses, Pashinyan moved away from his pro-Western sympathies to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin as Armenia’s supreme international backer – and kingmaker.
On April 7, his almost four-hour meeting with Putin looked like a successful campaign stop – and a kowtow. He attentively listened to Putin, who assumed a mentor’s tone while talking to him in a Kremlin tea-room.
“We effectively discussed all the matters,” Pashinyan told a Russian broadcaster after the meeting. “Yes, I am very satisfied.”
Pashinyan negotiated the supply of Russian-made anti-coronavirus vaccines, discussed the construction of a nuclear power station that will be crucial for resource-poor Armenia, and secured Moscow’s help in the release of up to 200 Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan.
“The Kremlin fully controls the situation in Armenia, and premiere Pashinyan is no longer a threat to Moscow the way he was in the first years of his prime-ministerial work,” Emil Mustafayev, an analyst based in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, told Al Jazeera.
In an op-ed published in the Kommersant daily on April 8, Moscow-based analyst Sergey Strokan wrote: “The former leader of Armenia’s ‘colour revolution’ became an example of how a bad boy transformed into a politician who finally understood who is who and how much things are.”
“Colour revolutions” are what the Kremlin hates and tries to suppress.
The term dates back to the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia and the 2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
Both deposed pro-Russian leaders in favour of pro-Western ones, and the Kremlin still insists the West financed them.
To prevent a possible “colour revolution” in Russia, Putin toughened election laws, stifled the opposition and launched youth movements that were trained how to disperse protest rallies.
To stave off such uprisings in ex-Soviet republics, Moscow boosted its soft power and provided loans and arms to prop up Kremlin-friendly leaders such as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
But Pashinyan landed in the prime minister’s seat after leading an exemplary “colour revolution”.
The series of street protests in 2018 attracted up to 100,000 people in the nation of 3.5 million, and deposed a powerful clique of mainly pro-Russian officials.
After Pashinyan came to power in 2018, many believed he would lead Armenia westward.
“There were many discussions among experts that the new democratic government of Armenia, with many overtly anti-Russian officials in its ranks, will gradually decrease Armenia’s dependence on Russia,” Yerevan-based analyst Benyamin Poghosyan wrote in an op-ed published by the KarabakhSpace.eu news website on April 12.
But “now, Armenia is more dependent on Russia than ever,” he concluded.
The conflict killed thousands on both sides, and according to a Russia-brokered truce, a huge chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh went back to Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan did not arrive in Moscow empty-handed.
In an apparent attempt to appease Putin, he let his worst political enemy off the hook.
One day before his departure to Moscow, Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled to drop “coup” charges against Kocharyan – almost 13 years after he ordered to use violence against a street rally organised by Pashinyan, who was then a popular publicist.
Eight protesters and two police officers were killed during the 2008 crackdown, and Pashinyan was later sentenced to seven years in jail. He was amnestied after serving one year.
After the charges were dropped, Kocharyan immediately started forming an opposition coalition to run in the June 20 vote.
The coalition does not have a name yet, and its ratings are low now, but if Kocharyan manages to win or secure a sizeable fraction in parliament, the result will not be bad for the Kremlin either.
“With him, the team he formed while serving as Armenia’s president for 10 years, will return,” Yerevan-based political analyst Boris Navasardian told Al Jazeera.
The Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, took part on Friday in an action in the yard of Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert dedicated to the International Day of Monuments and Sites.
The Ombudsman presented the international legal agenda for the protection of cultural monuments, as well as the work carried out by the Artsakh Republic Ombudsman's staff during and after the war documenting cases of vandalism of the cultural property in the occupied territories of Artsakh and cooperation with international organizations in the field.
In his speech, Gegham Stepanyan mentioned that according to international legal rules, damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind, therefore each state shall protect cultural values in its territories or outside it, even during military occupation.
He stressed that in the current situation when, in fact, the Armenian side does not have the opportunity to defend its cultural property, the international community should assume that responsibility and make Azerbaijan to abandon its policy of distorting the history.
09:58,
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) released the following statement on April 13, Armenpress reports citing the OSCE website.
“The Co-Chairs note with satisfaction the consolidation of the ceasefire, and are closely monitoring the implementation of the agreement reached by the parties on 9 November 2020. The Co-Chairs welcome the significant achievements with regard to the return of the remains of the deceased, and the ongoing progress with regard to the resettlement of those displaced by the conflict, provision of humanitarian assistance and adequate living conditions, as well as constructive discussions aimed at unblocking transportation and communication lines throughout the region.
The Co-Chairs remind the sides that additional efforts are required to resolve remaining areas of concern and to create an atmosphere of mutual trust conducive to long-lasting peace. These include issues related to, inter alia: the return of all POWs and other detainees in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law, the exchange of all data necessary to conduct effective demining of conflict regions; the lifting of restrictions on access to Nagorno Karabakh, including for representatives of international humanitarian organizations; the preservation and protection of religious and cultural heritage; and the fostering of direct contacts and cooperation between communities affected by the conflict as well as other people-to-people confidence building measures.
Having in mind the terms of their OSCE mandate and the aspirations of all the people of the region for a stable, peaceful, and prosperous future, the Co-Chairs stress that special attention should be paid to the achievement of a final comprehensive and sustainable settlement on the basis of the elements and principles well-known to the sides.
In this respect, the Co-Chairs call on the parties to resume high-level political dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs at the earliest opportunity. They reiterate their proposal to organize direct bilateral consultations under their auspices, in order for the sides to review and agree jointly upon a structured agenda, reflecting their priorities, without preconditions.
The Co-Chairs also express their strong support for the continuing activities and possible expansion of the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office (PRCiO) and call on the sides to provide full access and support to its efforts. The Co-Chairs underscore their readiness to resume working visits to the region, including Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding areas, to carry out their assessment and mediation roles. In this regard, the Co-Chairs remind the sides of the requirement to provide unimpeded access and maximum flexibility of movement with regard to the Co-Chairs’ travel itineraries, in accordance with their mandate and previous practice”, the statement says.