Author: Arbi Tashjian

Turkey says U.S. recognition of Armenian genocide ‘outrageous,’ says will respond in time

Arbi Tashjian
Global News, Canada

By Dominic Evans and Orhan Coskun Reuters
Posted 2:27 pm

U.S. President Joe Biden’s declaration that massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide is “simply outrageous” and Turkey will respond over coming months, Turkey’s presidential spokesman said on Sunday.

Biden broke on Saturday with decades of carefully calibrated White House comments over the 1915 killings, delighting Armenia and its diaspora but further straining ties between Washington and Ankara, both members of the NATO military alliance.

“There will be a reaction of different forms and kinds and degrees in coming days and months,” Ibrahim Kalin, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman and adviser, told Reuters in an interview.

Kalin did not specify whether Ankara would restrict U.S. access to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which has been used to support the international coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, among measures it may take.

– National | Globalnews.ca

After other Turkish officials swiftly condemned Biden’s statement on Saturday, Erdogan would address the issue after a cabinet meeting on Monday, Kalin said. “At a time and place that we consider to be appropriate, we will continue to respond to this very unfortunate, unfair statement,” he said.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces in World War One, but denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute genocide.

– National | Globalnews.ca

For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide stalled in the U.S. Congress and most U.S. presidents have refrained from calling it that, held back by concerns about straining relations with Turkey.

– National | Globalnews.ca

But those relations are already troubled. Washington imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defences, while Ankara has been angered that the United States has armed Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria and not extradited a U.S.-based cleric Turkey accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

Navigating those disputes will now be even harder, Kalin said. “Everything that we conduct with the United States will be under the spell of this very unfortunate statement,” he said.

Kalin said Turkey’s parliament is expected to make a statement this week. Analysts say lawmakers may hit back rhetorically against Biden by classifying the treatment of Native Americans by European settlers as genocide.

Read more: Canada cancels export permits for drone technology to Turkey

As well as limiting access to Incirlik, Turkey also has options to reduce military coordination with the United States in northern Syria and Iraq or scale down diplomatic efforts to support Afghan peace talks, said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the German Marshall Fund research group in Ankara.

In reality, though, Erdogan’s options are limited as he is already battling one of the highest rates of daily COVID-19 cases globally and has seen the lira currency fall close to all-time lows against the dollar last week.

“This is a difficult period for Turkey and it’s not a time when Turkey wants to pick a fight with anyone, let alone the United States,” Unluhisarcikli said.

Kalin said U.S. officials had told Turkey the declaration would not provide any legal basis for potential reparation claims.

– National | Globalnews.ca

Nevertheless, Erdogan told the U.S. president when they spoke by phone on Friday, their first conversation since Biden took office three months ago, that it would be a “colossal mistake” to go ahead with his statement.

“To reduce all that to one word and try to implicate that Turks were involved, our Ottoman ancestors were involved in genocidal acts, is simply outrageous,” Kalin said.

“It’s not supported by historical fact.”

After Biden acknowledges Armenian genocide, Israel stops short of doing the same

Arbi Tashjian
Times of Israel
<img height="1" width="1" st1yle="display:none" src=”"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=272776440645465&ev=PageView&noscript=1" />

By TOI staff and Agencies
| The Times of Israel

<img height="1" width="1" st1yle="display:none" src=”"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=272776440645465&ev=PageView&noscript=1" />

Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it recognized the “terrible suffering and tragedy of the Armenian people,” but stopped short of recognizing the early 20th century massacres carried out by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

“In these days in particular, we and the nations of the world have the responsibility to ensure that events like this do not again occur,” it said in a statement.

The statement came after US President Joe Biden recognized the Armenian genocide, the first American president to do so.

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid praised the move, saying that it was “an important moral statement by Biden.”

“I will continue to fight for Israeli recognition of the Armenian Genocide, it is our moral responsibility as the Jewish state,” Lapid added.

Biden’s move was a watershed moment for descendants of the hundreds of thousands of dead as he defied decades of pressure by Turkey.

Biden had informed Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the decision a day earlier.

“We remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said. “We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.”

The statement is a massive victory for Armenia and its extensive diaspora. Starting with Uruguay in 1965, nations including France, Germany, Canada and Russia have recognized the genocide, but a US statement has been a paramount goal that proved elusive under previous presidents.

Members of the Armenian- American community join religious leaders at a religious ceremony remembering the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Montebello Armenian Genocide Monument in Montebello, California, Saturday, (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Erdogan, in a statement to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, said debates “should be held by historians” and not “politicized by third parties.”

“Words cannot change or rewrite history,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Biden’s statement. “We will not take lessons from anyone on our history.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry on Saturday night summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield to protest Biden’s use of the term.

Meanwhile, Armenian Americans celebrated the news, saying the recognition was long overdue.

His action came after decades of activism, most of which was centered in California, home of the largest Armenian community in the nation.

“He’s the first American president to have the guts to talk about it. I never understood why the US waited this long when they knew the truth about what happened. It’s amazing and I’m very happy he did what he did,” said Varoujan Kioudjian, 74.

He was among hundreds of people who streamed to a hilltop monument in Montebello, about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, to mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Armenian-Americans hold a rally to commemorate the Armenian genocide in Beverly Hills, California, Saturday, (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Dressed in black for the solemn ceremony, they laid flowers around a tomb and said prayers for the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in the events beginning in 1915 known as Metz Yeghern.

Kioudjian said for as long as he can remember his late father, whose parents were killed in the genocide and who grew up in an orphanage, took him to memorials and demonstrations every April 24. That was the day in 1915 when Ottoman authorities began arresting Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul.

“The day April 24 comes around, tears flowed from his eyes, from his heart. It was that sad,” he said.

The White House had avoided using using the term genocide for decades for fear of alienating Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. Biden followed through on a campaign promise to make human rights a central guidepost of his foreign policy. He argued last year that failing to call the atrocities against the Armenian people a genocide would pave the way for future mass atrocities.

Biden’s call with Erdogan was his first since taking office more than three months ago. The delay had become a worrying sign in Ankara; Erdogan had a good rapport with former president Donald Trump and had been hoping for a reset despite past friction with Biden.

Armenian-American march to a rally to commemorate the Armenian genocide in Beverly Hills, California, Saturday, (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Erdogan reiterated his long-running claims that the US is supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria who are affiliated with the Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK. The PKK has led an insurgency against Turkey for more than three decades. In recent years, Turkey has launched military operations against PKK enclaves in Turkey and in northern Iraq and against US-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters. The State Department has designated the PKK a terrorist organization but has argued with Turkey over the group’s ties to the Syrian Kurds.

According to the Turkish government statement after the call, Erdogan also raised concerns about the presence in the United States of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup attempt. Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, denies involvement in the coup.

Biden, during the campaign, drew ire from Turkish officials after an interview with The New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkey’s opposition against “autocrat” Erdogan. In 2019, Biden accused Trump of betraying US allies, following Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, which paved the way for a Turkish military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish group. In 2014, when he was vice president, Biden apologized to Erdogan after suggesting in a speech that Turkey helped facilitate the rise of the Islamic State group by allowing foreign fighters to cross Turkey’s border with Syria.

Alberta, Canada, Unanimously Passes Regulation Recognizing the Armenian Genocide and Different Genocides

Arbi Tashjian
     

By

 CanadaDailyNewswire

 -

The Alberta Legislative Assembly recently passed a law unanimously recognizing the Armenian Genocide and other genocides, while the government declared April the Month of Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention.

Bill 205, sponsored by MLA Peter Singh of the United Conservative Party of Alberta, was passed on March 22, 2021 after its third reading, and received royal approval on March 26, 2021.

The bill, titled Genocide Commemoration, Condemnation and Prevention Act, encourages the government to develop strategies to prevent and combat the root causes of genocide, to recognize the effects of genocide on individuals from various ethnic and religious communities in Alberta to remember the victims and raise awareness of genocides that have taken place around the world.

In addition, the draft law stipulates that “within one year of the entry into force of this law, the minister must prepare a report detailing the strategies and proposed measures that the government undertakes to implement in order to achieve the objectives of this law.”

With the passage of Law 205, Alberta is the second province in Canada, after Quebec, to pass a law recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

The Canadian Senate recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2002, followed by the House of Commons in 2004 and the Government of Canada in 2006. On April 24, 2015, on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the House of Commons passed unanimously Motion-587. Declaration of April as the Month of Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention in Canada.

The Armenian National Committee of Canada is extremely pleased with the passage of Bill 205 and thanks the Prime Minister of Alberta the Hon. Jason Kenney, MLA Peter Singh and all members of the Alberta Legislative Assembly for their position of principle and unwavering commitment to truth and Justice.

  https://canadadailynewswire.com/2021/04/16/alberta-canada-unanimously-passes-regulation-recognizing-the-armenian-genocide-and-different-genocides-public-radio-of-armenia/  

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/14/2021

Arbi Tashjian 
Alliance With Russia ‘Key To Armenia’s Security’
April 14, 2021
        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia -- Russian and Armenian troops hold joint military exercises at the 
Alagyaz shooting range, September 24, 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday that Russia’s military presence 
in Armenia is vital for his country’s national security and could become even 
stronger soon.

“We must note that the Armenian-Russian military alliance is pivotal for 
ensuring the external security of the Republic of Armenia and it is cemented by 
several dozen strategic treaties and mutual defense obligations,” Pashinian told 
lawmakers in Yerevan.

He stressed the importance of a joint military contingent comprising Russian 
troops stationed in Armenia and a Russian-Armenian air-defense system.

“According to the logic of the agreements that formed these two systems, an 
attack on Armenia means an attack on Russia, and the two countries must jointly 
confront external challenges,” he said.

Accordingly, Pashinian indicated Yerevan’s interest in the expansion of the 
Russian military base headquarters in Gyumri. In that context, he said Russian 
and Armenian officials are holding “quite productive discussions” on a possible 
deployment of more Russian troops to Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province.


A Russian military post on a highway running along the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
border.
Syunik borders Iran as well as districts southwest of Nagorno-Karabakh which 
were retaken by Azerbaijan during and after a six-week war stopped by a 
Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10. Russia deployed soldiers and border 
guards there late last year to help the Armenian military defend the region 
against possible Azerbaijani attacks.

Pashinian discussed bilateral military ties with Russian President Vladimir 
Putin during an April 7 visit to Moscow. He said after the talks that Russia is 
helping Armenia reform its armed forces after the autumn war in Karabakh.

The Armenian Defense Ministry announced late last month that a high-level 
Russian military delegation will visit Armenia soon for further talks on the 
defense reforms.

A delegation led by Colonel-General Sergei Istrakov, a deputy chief of the 
Russian military’s General Staff, held weeklong negotiations with the Armenian 
army’s top brass in Yerevan in January.



Pashinian Blames Predecessors For Karabakh War Outcome
April 14, 2021
        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Astghik Bedevian
        • Gayane Saribekian

Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks in the Armenian parliament, 
Yerevan, April 14, 2021.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday blamed former Presidents Serzh 
Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian for Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war with 
Azerbaijan, sparking uproar from his detractors.

“Using the Karabakh issue to come to power in 1998, the Sarkisian-Kocharian duo 
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process and squandered our victory in the 
first Artsakh war over the next 20 years,” he charged.

Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Pashinian accused the two ex-presidents of 
illegally enriching themselves and turning Armenia into a “mafia structure” 
during their rule. He said they have no moral right to brand him a “capitulator” 
and “traitor.”

“While Azerbaijan bought spy satellites the [former] Armenian authorities bought 
plots of lands on Greek islands, in Europe and everywhere where that was 
possible,” he said in a speech which lawmakers from his My Step bloc greeted 
with a standing ovation.

The session was boycotted by the main opposition Prosperous Armenia Party’s 
parliamentary group but attended by other opposition deputies. Some of them 
accused Pashinian of seeking to dodge responsibility for the outcome of the war 
which left at least 3,500 Armenia soldiers dead and led to sweeping Azerbaijani 
territorial gains.

They also condemned their pro-government colleagues’ rapturous applause as 
inappropriate.

“They are creating new standards for morality, which is called My Step’s 
morality,” said Taron Simonian of the opposition Bright Armenia Party. “As if 
these heavy losses and misfortunes … were not enough, they are underlining their 
political leader’s extreme ineptness.”


Armenia -- Gor Gevorgian, a parliament deputy formerly affiliated with the 
ruling My Step bloc, speaks during a session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, 
April 13, 2021.

Gor Gevorgian, a presently independent lawmaker who left My Step right after the 
war, told Pashinian on the parliament floor: “As a member of a post-war 
country’s parliament, I am ashamed of this hand clapping because we have 
thousands of casualties, captured compatriots and fresh graves. You should have 
tried to rein in your teammates.”

“Who are you?” Pashinian shot back. “Where have you come from? I won’t bother to 
answer your question.”

“We applaud people who believe in the future of Armenia and Artsakh,” he added.

Representatives of Sarkisian and Kocharian issued, meanwhile, strongly-worded 
rebuttals of Pashinian’s accusations.

Eduard Sharmazanov, the spokesman for Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia 
(HHK), said the war and its outcome were the result of Pashinian’s “foolish, 
nonsensical and spontaneous” policy on the Karabakh conflict.

“The wartime commander-in-chief who is responsible for 5,000 [Armenian combat] 
casualties and during whose rule we lost more than 10,000 square kilometers of 
land … blames everyone except himself,” Sharmazanov told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.

Sharmazanov said Pashinian mishandled not only the war but also negotiations 
with Azerbaijan mediated by the United States, Russia and France.

In that regard, he dismissed Pashinian’s fresh claims that peace proposals made 
by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group during 
Sarkisian’s rule were not favorable for the Armenian side. He argued that 
earlier this year the group’s Russian co-chair, Igor Popov, accused Pashinian of 
misrepresenting those proposals.

A spokesman for Kocharian, Bagrat Mikoyan, scoffed at Pashinian’s “panicky” 
remarks, saying that they are further proof that the prime minister is “losing 
power.”

Sarkisian and Kocharian had led Karabakh during its successful 1991-1994 war 
with Azerbaijan. Like virtually all Armenian opposition groups, the 
ex-presidents have held Pashinian responsible for the Armenian side’s defeat in 
the 2020 war and demanded his resignation.


Armenia -- Riot police block a sreet adjacent to the parliament building in 
Yerevan during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's speech in the National Assembly, 
April 14, 2021.

Sarkisian’s HHK is a key member of an opposition alliance that launched 
anti-government street protests in Yerevan immediately after the hostilities 
were halted by a Russian-brokered agreement on November 10. Pashinian has 
pledged to hold snap general elections in response to the protests.

In his latest speech, Pashinian also strongly denied allegations that he is the 
one who ordered in early October an Armenian military counteroffensive in 
Karabakh that proved disastrous and greatly facilitated Azerbaijan’s subsequent 
victory.

The embattled premier further dismissed the former Armenian army chief Onik 
Gasparian’s claims that three days after the outbreak of the 2020 hostilities he 
warned Pashinian that Armenia and Karabakh are heading for defeat and that the 
war must be stopped as soon as possible. He insisted that Gasparian made a 
statement to the contrary at a September 30 meeting of his Security Council.

Gasparian stood by his claims and accused the prime minister of “shamelessly 
distorting facts” in comments to Armlur.am made later on Wednesday.

The general was controversially sacked as chief of the Armenian army’s General 
Staff after initiating a February 25 statement by the army top brass that 
accused Pashinian of misrule and demanded his resignation.



U.S., Russia, France Urge Renewed Talks On Karabakh Settlement
April 14, 2021

Armenia -- The U.S. and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and other 
diplomats meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Yerevan, December 
14, 2020.

The United States, Russia and France have called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to 
resume negotiations on a “comprehensive and sustainable” resolution of the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Diplomats from the three world powers co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group expressed 
readiness late on Tuesday to facilitate such talks, including with renewed 
visits to the conflict zone.

In a joint statement, they noted “with satisfaction” the conflicting sides’ 
compliance with the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped last year’s 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war while calling for “additional efforts” to stabilize the 
situation. They said that includes the release of Armenian prisoners of war and 
civilians still held in Azerbaijani custody.

“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,” says the statement.

“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 underscore their readiness to resume working visits to the 
region, including Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas, to carry out their 
assessment and mediation roles,” added the mediators.

Their joint statement came just hours after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
again said that Baku resolved the conflict by winning the six-week war. Aliyev 
said the Minsk Group co-chairs should therefore deal now not with a Karabakh 
settlement but other issues such as the post-war demarcation of the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

By contrast, Armenia has repeatedly stated that the conflict remains unresolved 
and that the Minsk Group should continue its mediation efforts.

The group’s U.S. and French co-chairs, Andrew Schofer and Stephane Visconti, 
most recently toured the region and met with Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian in December. Their Russian colleague, Igor Popov, missed the 
trip because of a coronavirus infection.

Aliyev and Pashinian met in Moscow in January for trilateral talks hosted by 
Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Kirit Velani: We will fail If we don’t keep the people in Armenia

Arbi Tashjian
MediaMax, Armenia

It may seem unbelievable, but a businessman and physicist Kirit Velani, who is British by nationality and Indian by origin, has an Armenian passport now. An Armenian flag hangs in the corner of his house, and a huge painting of Ararat hangs on his living room wall. Velani is the CEO of FMD K&L Armenia biotechnological center. His office network employs more than 342 people, 99.9% of whom are Armenians, only Kirit Velani’s assistant – Yuqi.Wei is not Armenian.

 

Banks.am has decided to find out what has been keeping Kirit Velani in Armenia for five years now.

 

Dogs from Yerevan streets

 

“They will become therapeutic dogs, helping kids and veterans with disabilities”

 

We are entering the home of Kirit Verani, soaked in rain and late for 40 minutes. In front of the house, we hear barking coming from inside. When the door opens, 3 big dogs start to look at, us discomposed.

Kirit Velani

Photo: Mediamax

“Don’t be afraid. They are not dangerous at all. I took them from the streets and adopted them. We have a plan – they are going to be therapy dogs for children and veterans with disabilities. I am sure that just a visit to these dogs will make them feel good,” says Kirit, petting the dogs and talking to them in Armenian.

 

How life brought me to Armenia

 

“Here you can have a large amount of medical, pharmaceutical, mathematical talents. But no one can utilize it”

 

“I was retired, I had a few medical issues in the past, and I decided: “Enough is enough, you should be satisfied with life.” It was in 2014. I focused on looking up to the kids.

 

They were teenagers going to university. Once, I went to a few quick cups of coffee sessions with my kids and found that I didn't have anything in common with them. I was a little older. I decided to change something in my life. I went to China with my wife, who was working for some company. I offered my services in China because my background is IT physics – but it was not much of a call in China, because it is the head of the game when it comes to that,” tells Velani.

Kirit Velani

Photo: Mediamax

Kirit says a lot of things changed in January 2015. He was sent to Armenia for an arrangement that one of their clients has made. He came from the UK, after Christmas, and discovered that the contest office, the government offices were shut. He started to study Armenia and the daily life of Armenians and discovered a new Cuba. A few months later Kirit opened his first office in Yerevan.

 

“At first we had 18 employees. Seeds were planted. Our business is a clinical research organization that supports the insurance sector, focused on the drug industry, providing mathematical professionals, so the drugs get to market. Good professions for us are very important. Now we have 350 employees. Our work is very productive.”

 

Armenian passport

 

“In 2019, they took me to a lovely room where I got my Armenian passport. I was happy”

 

Kirit Velanii is proud and happy to have an Armenian passport and Armenian citizenship. When he talks about Armenia and Armenians, he uses the pronouns “we”, “us”.

 

When he talks about Ararat or something Armenian, his eyes start to shine and he speaks with a big smile on his face.

 

“I felt great. I felt over the moon. Then I bought a house and I felt so happy because I thought, “This is mine now, this is my retirement and my grandchildren will enjoy this, my family will enjoy it eventually.”

 

Office stays quiet

 

“We just work. It's fine to stay quiet when you just expand”

 

FMD K&L is a large international contractual research organization.

 

It provides services for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical devices.

 

The company worked with the last two governments in Armenia and in the words of Kirit, it “did not meet any serious problem”.

He is sure that Armenia is a country of huge potential, where people don't realize it.

 

For him and his company, the environment where his employees work is very important. That's why Kirit decided to open up a kindergarten and a gym inside the office.

 

“Imagine 342 employees – 275 female and 67 male,  in one place, earning good salaries above the average here.. Our philosophy has been very focused on what I can do and what the company can do for the employees. We've decided to take another big office and opened a kindergarten, and I'm very proud of that, because I and my wife were driving 1.5 hour every day to take kids to kindergarten and to take them from there. We opened up and I am glad for that design because parents are very close to their kids.

 

Can you imagine being able to just walk downstairs and go to kindergarten and hug your kid, then just walk 2 minutes back to your desk and carry on looking at peace of mind?

 

It all helps us to produce good quality work for clients and they can actually give us more work and that means we recruit more people. I am so proud of my people.”

 

Heart attack and Armenian doctors

 

“The fundamentals of medicine are extremely good in Armenia”

 

In Kirit’s opinion, Armenians may not have the huge amounts of money to put in health service, public health system like the western one, but the fundamental groups of doctors in Armenia are wonderful. He was convinced of this based on personal experience.

 

“A few years ago, I had a heart attack before going to the UK and went straight to the hospital. The doctor takes one look and says that I need to fix 3 stents. I objected. Then I got a clear message from him that if I didn't recover so well, I would come back to Armenia and I would have another heart attack. His words were prophetic and I realized that there are very strong professionals working here.”

 

Mission is investment

 

“It's not about money and fixing things. It's about people. If we cannot keep the people inside then we will fail”

 

One of the front pages of the official website of the company reads in huge letters: “There is no better place to come to work than Armenia.” Kirit not only sincerely believe in this but also tries to do everything to bring Armenian brains living abroad to Armenia.

 

One of Kirit Velanii’s missions was a demonstration to bring investments and Armenian brains.

“Can you imagine I've been able to persuade people to repatriate back in charming ways? One Canadian with 14 years of experience in Canada now decided that he wants to bring up his family here.

 

We have a consultant, who says that she's actually a U.S. national and had never been to Armenia but decided to give up everything and move to Armenia. She speaks Western Armenian, and not everyone understands her, but she enjoys her stay here and right now works with Veterans Affairs, and wounded soldiers.

 

We cannot afford to pay her the money she is earning in the USA, but we can make her part of our life.”

 

Kirit is sure that these are the seeds that make more money come into Armenia. He reminds me of Fredrik Idestam, Eduard Polon, Leo Mechelin – the 3 Finns who made Finland popular in the whole world.

 

“These guys created Nokia, and actually they could take the whole Finland and make it great. Each of us is able to do something like that here. It's hard work, it's hard to start, but it's possible.”

 

The mission during the war

 

“When the war began on Sunday, on Monday night we thought about how the company could contribute to the war effort”

 

“We converted our offices into 2 homes and started to create living conditions to host families.

 

Our first family came. Sunday to Wednesday.

 

And then it was clear that we were not prepared correctly, because we did not take into account that they would come only with their clothes and phone, and they lost their homes. We focused on finding and collecting more clothes, buying more food and more hygiene items.

 

We met them and after a few days, I ran to the friends and brought 50 more beds. Our staff worked so hard, so diligently. They went to the buildings prepared, moving desks, putting folding beds, getting all of this, and when the first families came, it wasn't just the one family that came at 3:00.

We started to think about accepting more and more people․ I decided to buy a big mansion in front of my house to accept all of them. After all, we have hosted in total 132 people from Artsakh from October 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021 and met all their household needs։ food, clothes, warm rooms, and classes for children.

 

Also, my sons raised USD 36,000 to donate to the Hayastan All Armenian Fund. Each of them contributed about USD 8,000. Also, my brothers raised money and sent it to fund.

 

I was very proud of them, they backed me fully and they understood the situation and the importance of their activity.

 

At the moment, we are thinking about opening a branch center in Artsakh. We want to do everything to help the people of Artsakh return to normal life, have jobs, and earn money. There are also a few programs that we are developing with a few NGOs and thinking to provide the Artsakh teenagers with the required professional education and quick jobs”.

 

Lusin Mkrtchyan

 

Photos: Emin Aristakesyan


Azerbaijanis fire at farmers working at fields of Karabakh village

Arbi Tashjian
News.am, Armenia
17:56, 11.04.2021

Recently, the Azerbaijanis fired at the farmers who were working at the fields of Sarushen village in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Artsakh MP Metakse Hakobyan informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

"During broad daylight, they fired at the people working at the field; specifically, in the direction of the tractor working at the field. In my view, the enemy is putting pressure to take control of the road leading to Shushi [town]," she said.

Sarushen is a border village, and Azerbaijanis travel to Shushi every day from nearby this rural community.

The village has been completely resettled after the recent war.

Armenia to receive another batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine soon

Arbi Tashjian
TASS, Russia
April 7 2021
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Armenia grew by 1,025 in the past 24 hours, reaching 198,989 since the start of the pandemic

YEREVAN, April 7. /TASS/. Armenia will receive another batch of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in the near future, the country’s Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan told reporters on Wednesday.

"We continue to inoculate [people] with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. Since we have a small amount of the drug, we will receive another batch in the near future, and, of course, we will increase the number of vaccinations," she noted.

Vaccination with Sputnik V is carried out on a voluntary basis among medical workers involved in the fight against COVID-19. In total, 600 people have been inoculated since March 11, when vaccination with Sputnik V began.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Armenia grew by 1,025 in the past 24 hours, reaching 198,989 since the start of the pandemic.

Armenia imposed lockdown restrictions on September 11, 2020. On January 11, they were extended by another six months. Face masks are mandatory, while all organizations, shopping malls, restaurants and public transport continue operating. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan earlier said that the coronavirus situation in Armenia was serious urging citizens to abide by anti-epidemic rules.

On March 28, the first 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Armenia under the COVAX scheme.

Some agreements were violated, says senior lawmaker on failed PoW repatriation flight

Arbi Tashjian

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 13:17, 9 April, 2021

YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. The Chair of Parliament’s Defense and Security Committee Andranik Kocharyan believes that the reason behind a failed transfer of PoWs is that some agreements have been violated.

Kocharyan was speaking about the arrival of an aircraft which was supposed to repatriate Armenian PoWs from Azerbaijan but landed without them in Yerevan on April 8.

“Of course they didn’t know anything,” Kocharyan told reporters when asked whether or not the Armenian government was aware that the aircraft wasn’t carrying any prisoners. “I assume that Muradov was on board the aircraft,” he said, referring to the Russian peacekeeping mission’s commander in Nagorno Karabakh Lt. General Rustam Muradov. “And this means that there were agreements which have been violated. If there were no agreements, then why would the aircraft fly there.”

He said he doesn’t know the reasons of the failure but assumes that Azerbaijan is once again trying to change the “rules of gameplay.”

Kocharyan says he believes that Azerbaijan is not releasing the PoWs with the intention to cause tension in Armenia. “We will continue the process of returning prisoners in different ways,” he said. The lawmaker reminded that this issue was raised during the latest Pashinyan-Putin meeting in Moscow. “This was a step where we clearly saw that Russia tried to contribute its participation in the solution of the issue. This is why Lt. General Muradov departed to accompany the prisoners back to Armenia.”

Andranik Kocharyan reiterated that the repatriation of the prisoners will be completed, because this issue is the primary obligation of the government.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

1,524 bodies of killed servicemen and civilians found in search operations after the Karabakh war in 2020

Arbi Tashjian
Panorama, Armenia
March 30 2021

The search and rescue operations for the casualties of the Nagorno-Karabakh war will continue on Tuesday in Jrakan (Jabrayil) and Varanda (Fizuli) directions, the Artsakh State Service of Emergency Situations reported. 

As the Service added, search operations were conducted since November 13 in occupied territories of Artsakh, including all city and village communities, combat posts, mountainous and forest areas. 

Since November 13, 1,524 bodies of fallen troops and civilians have been recovered from the former areas of combat operations, according to the Service.

Artsakh Foreign Ministry comments on stone throwing attacks by Azerbaijani side on civilian vehicle

Arbi Tashjian

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 15:08,

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh has commented on the recent attacks by the Azerbaijani side with stones on the Armenian civilian vehicles.

Armenpress presents the MFA’s comment:

“Over the past week, the Azerbaijani side has twice resorted to provocations aimed at preventing the resumption of normal vital activity of the population of the Republic of Artsakh. On March 25 and 29, 2021, the Azerbaijani side targeted with stones civilian vehicles moving along the Karmir Shuka – Stepanakert and Stepanakert – Goris highways. Moreover, in the second case, a vehicle carrying the remains of those deceased during the military aggression of Azerbaijan, Turkey and international terrorists against Artsakh was attacked.

Such provocations against the civilian population of Artsakh testify that either Baku does not control the Azerbaijani armed units in the occupied territories of Artsakh, or the Azerbaijani authorities deliberately and purposefully undermine the stability in the region and the peacekeeping mission carried out by the Russian Federation. The actions of the Azerbaijani side blatantly violate the norms and principles of international law.

In this regard, we consider it necessary stress that these incidents are also a consequence of the illegal presence in the occupied territories of Artsakh of Azerbaijani armed units and international terrorist groups under the patronage of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The provocative actions of the kind deserve the strongest condemnation, and the organizers and perpetrators must be punished appropriately. Impunity and inaction are fraught with unpredictable consequences for peace and stability in the region”.