Author: Arpi Talalian

European Parliament: Guaranteeing Karabakh people’s rights, security is necessary for stable settlement

Arpi Talalian
News.am
Armenia – March 15 2023
18:45, 15.03.2023

The European Parliament has published a report on EU-Armenia relations, where the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue have been addressed, too.

It was noted that the ceasefire signed after the 44-day war in 2020 is not being observed; moreover, the ceasefire has been violated several times, leading to hundreds of casualties and the occupation of the sovereign territory of the country in the east and southeast of Armenia by Azerbaijani troops.

The report notes that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has greatly hindered the development and stability of the South Caucasus region and affects European stability more broadly.

The document reaffirms that, to be effective, the Armenia-Azerbaijan comprehensive peace treaty must include provisions that guarantee the integrity of Armenia's sovereign territory, the rights and security of the Armenian population living in Nagorno-Karabakh and other conflict-affected regions, as well as the prompt and safe return of all refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes.

The document mentions as well the blocking of civilian traffic through the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan. The EU is seriously concerned about the blockade of the Lachin corridor, calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure the freedom and security of movement through the corridor, as defined by the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, and calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve all concerns related to the operation of the Lachin corridor through dialogue and through consultation with all parties involved.

The report calls for international humanitarian organizations, especially the United Nations, to be granted access to Nagorno-Karabakh, and reminds that currently only the International Committee of the Red Cross is allowed to enter the region, which is not enough to accurately assess the conditions and needs of the local population.

The European Parliament condemns the torture of prisoners of war during the September fighting, the harassment and extrajudicial reprisals against civilians, including the elderly, in 2020 and early 2021.

The European Parliament condemns as well Turkey's expansionist and destabilizing role in the South Caucasus, including by sending Syrian mercenaries to fight for Azerbaijan against Armenia in the second Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, and believes that in order to play a constructive role in the region, Turkey should reconsider its unconditional assistance to Azerbaijan, and take tangible steps towards the normalization of relations with Armenia.

Therefore, it strongly supports  the initiative taken by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to convene and mediate bilateral meetings of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels and encourages the work on the ground of the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia.

Azerbaijan signals possible military action as Karabakh talks falter

Arpi Talalian
Lilit Shahverdyan Mar 16, 2023

Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian leaders clearly have radically different visions and objectives for the talks that seemed to begin in earnest two weeks ago. 

On March 13, the Azerbaijani presidential administration invited Karabakh representatives for talks in Baku, "to continue contacts for reintegration."

The proposal was immediately rejected by Karabakh's de-facto foreign ministry, which insisted that "such meetings should be held within an agreed and internationally recognized format" and not politicized.

Indeed, Azerbaijan sees the talks as a component of establishing sovereignty over the region while Karabakh Armenian officials refuse to engage in political dialogue without international mediators. 

The previous meetings, which took place in Karabakh and were mediated by the Russian peacekeepers deployed there, were aimed at addressing humanitarian, infrastructure, and technical issues.   

Shortly before the first high-profile meeting on March 1, both Azerbaijan and Karabakh formed working groups for the talks. MP Ramin Mammadov was identified in Azerbaijan as the person responsible for contacts with Armenians, while Karabakh's delegation was led by the head of the security council, Karen Shahramanyan.

The invitation to Baku followed a clash on March 5 which left three Karabakh Armenian police officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers dead. 

Karabakh and Armenia said it was an unprovoked Azerbaijani attack on a police patrol inside the area of the de facto authorities' control. Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said that Armenian vehicles were transporting "military equipment, ammunition, and personnel" from Armenia to Karabakh. That statement suggested that these vehicles had been trying to bypass the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Karabakh's only lifeline to Armenia and the outside world. The blockade — which Azerbaijan denies is a blockade — has been maintained by Azerbaijani government-sponsored protestors since December 12. 

Then, on March 13, Azerbaijani media published aerial footage of what was said to be Armenian vehicles transporting arms into Karabakh. Karabakh's interior ministry, meanwhile, said those vehicles carried civilians accompanied by Russian peacekeepers. 

Two days later, Karabakh police reported that three civilians came under fire from adjacent Azerbaijani combat positions while tending to their vineyards. 

The pattern of incidents has led both Armenian and Azerbaijani observers to wonder if Azerbaijan will soon escalate militarily in what it will call a response to Armenian provocation.

Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst originally from Karabakh, tweeted that the invitation for talks in Baku was a bid "to create a pretext for starting a new escalation and putting the blame on NK, perfectly knowing the 'invitation' will be rejected." 

Farid Shafiyev, chairman of the Azerbaijan government-affiliated Center of Analysis of International Relations, similarly wrote that Karabakh Armenians' refusal to continue the dialogue in Baku "indicates the high probability of tension, and Azerbaijan is not going to tolerate illegal establishment & armed groups on its territory."

Meanwhile, on March 11 Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said that Armenia was "trying to artificially create tension in the region" and that "the Azerbaijani Army will take all necessary decisive measures to halt any provocation." 

He specifically ordered a high level of army preparedness during the Novruz holiday (March 20-24).

And Azerbaijani TV stations, which uniformly support the government, have been full of rhetoric about possible "Armenian provocation" and "anti-terrorist operations" in the coming days, the foreign-based independent outlet Mikroskop Media observed.

The building tension comes amid fraught efforts to reach a comprehensive peace agreement between Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia. The main sticking point there is that Armenia insists on a separate internationally mediated peace process between Azerbaijan and Karabakh while Baku says Karabakh and the fate of its ethnic-Armenian population is a strictly internal affair.

Hikmet Hajiyev, the chief foreign policy adviser to President Ilham Aliyev, recently reiterated that message, and gave assurances that the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians would be guaranteed in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Azerbaijan, with no special privileges granted to them.

Karabakh's foreign ministry quickly responded, noting that a number of international organizations, including the OSCE Minsk Group and the UN Security Council, still have the Karabakh issue on their agenda and recalling that the UN's International Court of Justice recently ordered Azerbaijan to "ensure unimpeded movement" through the Lachin highway.

The ministry further reiterated Karabakh's readiness to continue negotiations over the comprehensive settlement of the conflict, "on the basis of the norms and principles of international law."

In remarks to a government meeting on March 16, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reiterated Yerevan's objection to Baku's rhetoric about the "reintegration" of the Karabakh Armenians, which he said amounts to an intention to commit "ethnic cleansing." He added that he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to pursue UN genocide prevention mechanisms. 

Addressing the most recent tensions, he said, "The Azerbaijani state propaganda has long been creating an information background for a large-scale attack on Nagorno Karabakh, and the trends of escalation are visible on the ground, as well."

Lilit Shahverdyan is a journalist based in Stepanakert. 

https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-signals-possible-military-action-as-karabakh-talks-falter

Armenpress: Armenian FM and Brazilian Ambassador discuss issues of regional security and stability

Arpi Talalian

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 21:01,

YERERVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan received Fabio Vaz Pitaluga, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Brazil to the Republic of Armenia on March 15.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia, the interlocutors exchanged ideas on the expanding political dialogue between Armenia and Brazil and a wide range of issues on the Armenian-Brazilian bilateral agenda. Prospects of cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including trade, high technologies and agriculture, were discussed.

During the meeting, the effective cooperation between the two countries on multilateral platforms, as well as the strengthening of inter-parliamentary ties, were also discussed.

Issues related to regional security and stability were also discussed at the meeting. Minister Mirzoyan presented the Armenia’s vision in the process of regulating relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It was emphasized that the Azerbaijani side thwarts the efforts to establish peace and stability in the region with its rhetoric and continuous provocations.

Referring to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, Minister Mirzoyan emphasized the need to fulfill the legally binding decision made by the International Court of Justice on February 22 regarding the indication of a provisional measure against Azerbaijan.

ICRC facilitates transfer of patients from blockaded Nagorno Karabakh

Arpi Talalian

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 11:28,

YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the transfer of another 16 patients from blockaded Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) to Armenia for treatment, the Healthcare Ministry of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) announced Friday.

Another 13 patient, along with their attendants, returned to Nagorno Karabakh after receiving treatment.

“Due to the blocking by Azerbaijan of the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia, 16 patients from the Republican Medical Center the Republic of Artsakh with serious diseases of the oncology and cardiovascular system as well as pathologies requiring emergency surgical interventions have been transported today, on March 10, to specialized medical institutions of the Republic of Armenia with the mediation and escort of the International Committee of the Red Cross. 13 patients, who had been transferred to Armenia for medical treatment, returned to Artsakh together with an accompanying persons. Scheduled surgeries continue to be suspended in the medical centers of the Republic of Artsakh. 2 children remain in the neonatal and intensive care unit of the Arevik medical centre. 8 patients remain in the intensive care unit of the Republican Medical Centre, 4 of them in critical condition. A total of 169 patients have been transported so far from Artsakh to Armenia with the mediation and support of the International Committee of the Red Cross,” reads the statement released by the Ministry of Healthcare.

Minister of Defense, United States Ambassador discuss development of Armenian- American cooperation in defense

Arpi Talalian

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 17:23,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan held a meeting with the new United States Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien.

Minister Papikyan congratulated the ambassador on assuming office and wished productive cooperation and success, the ministry said in a read-out.

A number of issues related to the development of the Armenian-American cooperation in the defense sector and regional security were discussed.

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border was also discussed.

Armenpress: Center for Integration of Repatriates expected to open by summer

Arpi Talalian

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 10:10,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Center for Integration of Repatriates is expected to open in the end of spring. The office of the new organization launched by the Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs will be located at 37 Hanrapetutyan Street in downtown Yerevan.

“Our main partner, the Hrayr and Anna Hovnanian Foundation, financed the whole renovation. Overall, we can say that the work in this direction is completed. We still have things to do with furnishing, then we will move there and I think that we will be able to open our doors for repatriates in the end of spring,” the coordinator of the project Margarita Baghdasaryan told ARMENPRESS.

The purpose of the new center is to facilitate the integration process for repatriates by offering a one-window access to more services.

“Our goal is to foster the swift and easy integration of repatriates in Armenia. Our work is going to be helping those who are interested in repatriation, and those who’ve already moved to Armenia, providing support, consultation from one center, given the fact that some bureaucratic issues happen elsewhere. This center will support them,” Baghdasaryan said.

She added that the launch of the new center itself shows the significance that the government attaches to repatriation.

Today, the Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs is rendering the above-mentioned services, but the new center will have an extended staff and broader range of services.

Among planned initiatives are comprehensive training courses of Armenian language, seminars on how to open a business in Armenia, the tax and customs conditions, trends in the job markets etc.

The Center for Integration of Repatriates will digitize the data of repatriates.

“Another goal of the center is to coordinate and digitize the entire repatriation process. Unfortunately, we don’t have that digitization system today, but it is under development. Repatriates will be able to create their personal accounts in the system, fill in their data and contact our staff. We’ll have the entire picture upon their arrival and will offer solutions and a response accordingly.”

In 2022, 25,000 ethnic Armenians applied for Armenian citizenship.

Most of those who moved to Armenia in the recent period are from Russia, Syria and Lebanon. Many from Australia and Argentina are also displaying interest towards moving to Armenia.

Anna Gziryan




Armenpress: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region

Arpi Talalian

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 21:46,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. A new earthquake occurred on the border between Turkey and Syria, ARMENPRESS reports, citing RIA Novosti, European seismologists reported that the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.3.

The underground tremors were registered at 21:04 Yerevan time, 9 km from the city of Antakya in Turkey and 75 km from Syrian Latakia. The epicenter of the earthquake was at a depth of 2 km. The tremors were also felt in Lebanon, Israel and Cyprus.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 02/17/2023

Arpi Talalian 
                                        Friday, 


Opposition Leader Unimpressed By Turkish-Armenian Dialogue

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia -- Opposition leader Gegham Manukian at a news conference in Yerevan, 
December 20, 2021.


A senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance downplayed on Friday 
the significance of the latest Turkish-Armenian negotiations, saying that Ankara 
is sticking to its preconditions for normalizing relations with Yerevan.

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Turkey on Wednesday as the Armenian 
government sent more humanitarian aid to residents of a Turkish city ravaged by 
last week’s catastrophic earthquake. Mirzoyan said on Thursday that he and his 
Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu agreed to speed up efforts to normalize 
bilateral ties which began a year ago.

Parliament speaker Alen Simonian claimed on Friday that the two neighboring 
states are now “quite close” to establishing diplomatic relations and opening 
their border.

“If the Turkish side demonstrates sufficient will and resolve, I think that we 
will solve that issue,” Simonian told reporters.

Gegham Manukian, a lawmaker representing Hayastan, insisted, however, that 
Ankara only made “symbolic gestures” to Yerevan.

“The Armenian authorities are trying to present those gestures to their citizens 
as historic developments,” he said. “But as the joint news conference of 
Cavusoglu and Mirzoyan showed, Turkey is continuing to condition its relations 
with Armenia by negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and to speak in the 
same language of preconditions.”

Manukian also dismissed Mirzoyan’s announcement that the Turkish-Armenian border 
could be opened to citizens of third countries before this summer. He argued 
that Turkish regions bordering Armenia are sparsely populated and attract few 
foreign tourists.

“Who is going to cross the entire territory of Turkey to reach Gyumri through 
the Margara bridge and then go to, say, Georgia, with their third-country 
passport?” he asked at a news conference.

Cavusoglu said after his talks with Mirzoyan that the assistance provided by 
Armenia could facilitate the normalization process. But he appeared to link that 
process to the outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.




Chief Of New Armenian Police Force Sacked

        • Narine Ghalechian

Armenia - Officers and vehicles of the newly established Patrol Service, 
Yerevan, July 8, 2021.


The chief of a Western-funded major division of the Armenian police has been 
sacked following an extraordinary traffic incident at Yerevan’s main square 
which sparked accusations of incompetence directed at its officers.

Colonel Artur Umrshatian has headed the Patrol Service since it was set up in 
2021 with financial and technical assistance provided by the United States and 
the European Union.

The new police force was meant to introduce Western standards in road policing, 
street patrol and crowd control in Armenia. Armenian and Western officials have 
described its creation as a key element of police reforms announced by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s administration.

The Armenian Interior Ministry gave no reasons for Umrshatian’s sacking 
announced on Thursday. The ministry’s press service refused to comment on it 
afterwards.

The development came six days after a car raced chaotically through Yerevan’s 
central Republic Square, driving on its sidewalks and nearly running over 
pedestrians. On-duty Patrol Service officers reportedly took more than 20 
minutes to stop the large SUV despite firing gunshots at its wheels. Its 
apparently intoxicated driver managed to flee the scene but was arrested a few 
hours later.

The incident was caught on mobile phone cameras and widely circulated on social 
media, prompting a wave of criticism and ridicule from many users. Critics of 
the government claimed that it exposed a lack of professionalism within the 
Patrol Service whose officers reportedly have much higher wages than other 
security personnel in Armenia.

Armenia - Colonel Artur Umrshatian.

The Armenian police did not respond to the criticism. Still, two Patrol Service 
officers were fired earlier this week. One of them, Roman Mirzakhanian, was hit 
and injured by the car during the February 10 incident.

Daniel Ioannisian, a civic activist monitoring the police, deplored the ensuing 
sacking of Umrshatian. Ioannisian said that the latter was at the forefront of 
police reforms and prevented nepotism and other corrupt practices within the 
Patrol Service.

“There is resistance [to reforms] because Patrol Service officers treat officers 
of other security bodies and ordinary citizens equally on the streets of 
Yerevan,” he said. “Just recently, for example, a National Security Service 
lieutenant-colonel was stripped of his driving license.”

Ioannisian also claimed that for the same reason the Patrol Service personnel 
are subjected to disciplinary action more frequently than officers of other 
police divisions.

Ioannisian’s Union of Informed Citizens (UIC) and two other non-governmental 
organizations strongly criticized last month Pashinian’s decision to appoint 
Vahe Ghazarian, the national police chief and his reputed childhood friend, as 
interior minister. They pulled out of a government body coordinating police 
reforms in protest.

Over the past year, the Patrol Service has also faced allegations of 
ill-treatment of citizens. In particular, its officers clashed last November 
with several residents of Vanadzor after accusing them of interfering with 
Pashinian’s motorcade. One of those residents was hospitalized as a result.




Armenian Speaker Lauds Council Of Europe After Russian Criticism


Armenia - Parliament speaker Alen Simonian (right) meets Council of Europe 
Parliamentary Assembly co-rapporters, Yerevan, .


Just days after Russia spoke out against European involvement in efforts to 
resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, parliament speaker Alen Simonian 
praised Council of Europe officials on Friday for seeking an end to Azerbaijan’s 
blockade of the Lachin corridor.

Simonian met with Kimmo Kiljunen and Boriana Aberg, co-rapporteurs of the 
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), at the start of their 
fact-finding visit to Armenia. They are tasked with monitoring Armenia’s 
compliance with its membership commitments to the Strasbourg-based organization.

The PACE did not specify the purpose of the visit in a statement issued earlier 
this week. It said only that Kiljunen and Aberg will meet with senior officials 
in Yerevan and visit three Armenian towns close to the Azerbaijani border.

The press service of the Armenian parliament said the PACE representatives 
arrived in Armenia to “familiarize themselves with the situation created as a 
result of the illegal blockade” of Karabakh’s land link with Armenia.

“We highly appreciate the work and involvement of the Assembly and you as 
co-rapporteurs,” it quoted Simonian as telling them.

Simonian praised the co-rapporteurs for urging an immediate end to the blockade 
just days after Azerbaijani government-backed protesters halted traffic through 
the corridor on December 12. He also noted with satisfaction that a PACE 
committee will release on soon a report on “humanitarian consequences” of the 
blockade.

Russia - Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin meets Armenian 
parliament speaker Alen Simonian in Moscow, October 10, 2022
Simonian’s Russian counterpart, Vyacheslav Volodin attacked the PACE and the 
European Parliament on Monday, saying that these and other Western bodies can 
only fan tensions in the South Caucasus.

“And those who make statements in the direction of European institutions may 
simply lose the country,” Volodin, who is a close ally of Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, said in what appeared to be a stern warning to Yerevan.

The European Parliament urged Azerbaijan to “immediately reopen” the Lachin 
corridor in a January 19 resolution hailed by Armenian officials. The resolution 
also condemned the “inaction” of Russian peacekeeping forces in Karabakh and 
called for their “replacement with OSCE international peacekeepers.”

The European Union also irked Moscow last month when it agreed to deploy more 
than 100 monitors on Armenia’s volatile border with Azerbaijan. The Russian 
Foreign Ministry accused the EU of seeking to “push back Russia's mediation 
efforts at any cost.”


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

CivilNet: Armenia’s ruling party loses majority of local elections

Arpi Talalian
CIVILNET.AM

26 Sep, 2022 10:09

  • The ruling Civil Contract party won in 8 out of 18 communities up for grabs in local elections, according to preliminary results.
  • Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris for “important negotiations.”
  • Armenia’s economic activity index grew by nearly 14% from January to August, according to the country’s Statistical Committee.

Artsakh ex-leader Bako Sahakyan joins President Harutyunyan in visiting war memorial on Independence Day

Arpi Talalian

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 12:16, 2 September 2022

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, together with his predecessor, 3rd President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan visited the Stepanakert Memorial and Military Pantheon to pay tribute to the memory of the fallen troops on the occasion of Artsakh Republic Day.

Harutyunyan and Sahakyan laid flowers and wreaths at the graves of the men and women who sacrificed their lives for Artsakh’s independence and freedom.

The Armenian Apostolic Church Prelate of the Diocese of Artsakh Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, Artsakh government officials, Defense Army leadership and guests from Armenia participated in the official ceremony, the Artsakh presidency said in a press release.