Author: Arpi Talalian

US Acting Assistant Secretary of State pays tribute to memory of Armenian Genocide victims at Yerevan memorial

Arpi Talalian

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 15:28,

YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip T. Reeker paid tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan on June 10, the US Embassy in Armenia told Armenpress.

He laid a wreath at the Memorial on behalf of the American people.

Philip T. Reeker arrived in Armenia on June 9.

He met with caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on June 10.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 

Number of eligible voters in Armenia is 2,581,093: CEC publishes number ahead of elections

Arpi Talalian
Aysor, Armenia

Armenia’s Central Election Commission has published the number of eligible voters in the Republic of Armenia.

According to it, the total number of eligible voters in Armenia included in the RA Voter’s Register is 2,581,093.

To participate in the voting the people not having registration may apply for being included in the list of voters from May 31 – 20 days before the elections.

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of shooting when tensions on the border escalate

Arpi Talalian
News Wire, Quebec, Canada
May 28 2021
Agnes Zang — May 28, 2021
| Conflict News

Baku said that after Armenian troops opened fire along the common border, Azerbaijani soldiers were injured in the Nakhchivan enclave.

Azerbaijan stated that one of its soldiers was injured after the Armenian army opened fire along the common border. Armenia has denied this accusation.

Friday’s statement marked the latest in a series of incidents between the two former Soviet rivals.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan stated in a statement that the Armenian army fired at its position in Nakhchivan from several directions, which is an Azerbaijani enclave in Azerbaijan, separated by Armenian territory.

It said that the soldier suffered a shoulder injury, received first aid and was taken to the hospital.

According to Russia’s TASS news agency, the Armenian Defense Ministry denied Baku’s claims.

After a six-week war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region last year, this long-simmering border dispute occurred.

The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. Even Armenia has a large population and until recently it was controlled by ethnic Armenians.

Friday’s clash took place the day after Azerbaijan captured six Armenian soldiers in the Kelbajar district west of Nagorno Karabakh.

Armenia stated that its troops are carrying out engineering work in the area, while Azerbaijan stated that the soldiers are part of a “reconnaissance and sabotage organization.”

Tensions escalated earlier this month when Armenia accused the Azerbaijani army of “siege” a lake shared by the two countries across its southern border.

Earlier this week, Armenia claimed that one of its soldiers was killed in a shooting incident in the Azerbaijani army. Baku denied responsibility for the incident.

Last year’s conflict ended in November, when the Azerbaijani army drove the Armenian army out of the large tracts of territory they had controlled in and around Nagorno-Karabakh since the 1990s.

Russia eventually led to a ceasefire.

The conflict caused more than 6,000 deaths on both sides and led to a political crisis in Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was widely criticized for being regarded as a humiliating failure.

Pashinyan, 45, said that he had no choice but to admit or see his country’s army suffered even greater losses.

After the crisis, under pressure from opposition protesters, he announced an early parliamentary poll.

The election is scheduled for June 20.

On Thursday, Pashinyan described the situation on the border as “tension and explosive.”

Earlier this month, he said that Armenia and Azerbaijan are negotiating the delimitation and demarcation of the common border between the two countries under the mediation of Russia.

He also said that the two governments can discuss the exchange of territories between the two countries.

Russia’s role as an intermediary between the two countries is largely at the expense of Western powers such as France and the United States.

All three are part of a mediation team that has been trying for decades to find a lasting solution to the decades-long Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but failed.

Armenia fought a war with Azerbaijan in the region in the 1990s, killing at least 30,000 people.

New type of Dutch tulip named after Armenia’s Aragats Mountain

Arpi Talalian
Public Radio of Armenia
 

A new type of white Dutch tulip has been named after Aragats Mountain on the occasion of Armenia’s Republic Day and on the eve of the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, the Armenian Embassy in the Netherlands informs.

The tulip has been developed and grown within seven years by Maveridge Floriculture Company. It symbolizes the snow peaks of Armenia’s highest mountain.

The flower-naming ceremony took place at the Maveridge headquarters, where Armenia’s Ambassador Tigran Balayan, Head of Pineacher Helps Armenia Fund Henry Boss, and Owner of Maveridge Klaas Peter De Geus signed the statement on flower-naming.

Ambassador Tigran Balayan toured the company, got acquainted with the latter’s activities and achievements. The possibilities of implementing new joint programs and establishing production in Armenia were discussed.

 

Speaker of Parliament of Armenia receives Ambassador of Argentine

Arpi Talalian

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 15:50,

YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. On May 26, Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Argentine to Armenia Mariano Vergara, the Parliament told Armenpress.

Welcoming the guest, the Speaker of the Parliament congratulated him on beginning his diplomatic mission and wished him fruitful activity: “I am sure that you will have an important contribution and will promote the development of the relations between the two countries.” Mirzoyan congratulated the Ambassador on the occasion of one of the national holidays in Argentina, May Revolution yesterday, on May 25.

According to Mirzoyan, despite the geographical big distance, the relations between the two countries are friendly, and constructive political dialogue exists. In this context, the Speaker highlighted the strengthening of the inter-parliamentary ties and the activities of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

“Mr Ambassador, you are in Armenia in a very hard period for us. You know that in the previous autumn Azerbaijan supported by Turkey and the involvement of the mercenaries unleashed war against the Armenians of the Nagorno Karabakh, during that period committing military crimes, targeting the civilian population, the infrastructures and using banned weapons. As a result, though the ceasefire regime has been established, but Azerbaijan continues violating the norms of the international humanitarian law, the provisions of the Geneva Convention, not releasing Armenian prisoners of war, suing false criminal cases towards the latter. We expect that all our international colleagues, being led by humanitarian aspirations, should immediately raise their voice and interfere into this issue,” Ararat Mirzoyan underlined.

According to the Head of the Parliament, Azerbaijan continues its Armenophobic policy and the aggressive anti-Armenian statements and actions, which shows that the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh cannot ever safely live in the part of that country: “To our conviction, the security of the NK Armenian population can be ensured exclusively by the recognition of the right to their self-determination.”

Mirzoyan also touched upon the intrusion of the Azerbaijani soldiers into Armenia’s sovereign territory and the statements of numerous countries on it, according to them, Armenia’s territorial integrity cannot be put under doubt and the Azerbaijani troops must immediately leave.

Thanking the Parliament Speaker for the reception, Mariano Vergara has noted that Armenia is an important country for Argentina, especially taking into consideration the presence of the great number of Armenians in the community. The Ambassador reaffirmed the position of Argentina on the fact that any conflict should be solved exclusively through diplomatic way: “We shall certainly respect the norms of the international humanitarian law and the provisions of the relevant Convention.”

At the end of the meeting the Ambassador conveyed the messages of the President of Argentina and the Minister of Foreign Affairs dedicated to the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Unprecedented active dialogue, successful development of economic ties – Lavrov on Armenian- Russian relations

Arpi Talalian

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 15:48,

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has no doubt that the Armenian-Russian relations will continue developing in accordance with the spirit of mutual trust, strategic and allied partnership.

“Our country is always ready to provide help to the brotherly Armenian people. The evidence of this are the mediation efforts of Russia, President Vladimir Putin personally thanks to which it became possible to stop the military operations in Nagorno Karabakh in autumn 2020 and launch a process of settling the situation in the region.

Today it can be said that the trilateral agreements of the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, which have been achieved in the 2020 November 9 and 2021 January 11 statements, overall are successfully being implemented. It, in particular, relates to the elimination of the humanitarian and socio-economic consequences of the conflict, the unblocking of transportation and economic communications in South Caucasus. The Russian support is highly appreciated by Armenian friends”, the Russian FM said during an interview to Argumenty i Fakty newspaper, asked whether Russia managed to keep the warm relations with Armenia given the latter’s unfavorable outcome in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Mr. Lavrov said the relations between Russia and Armenia are not limited to the Karabakh conflict. He said there is unprecedented active and reliable political dialogue between the two countries at the highest and other levels.

“Only this year our leaders have met twice, have held numerous telephone conversations. I visited Yerevan early May. Inter-parliamentary mutual visits are taking place.

Amid fighting the coronavirus pandemic Russia has supplied several tens of thousands of doses of Sputnik V vaccine to Armenia. We are discussing the issue of further support. We are successfully developing the trade and economic ties, which is also contributed by the regular meetings held by the chairmen of the Armenian-Russian inter-governmental commission”, he said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Russian officer: Search for missing persons, refugee issues remain most acute problems in Artsakh

Arpi Talalian
Panorama, Armenia
May 19 2021

At the Center for Humanitarian Response of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent (RPC) in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), the reception point for citizens continues to work. It also operates a hotline to collect information for the search of missing servicemen, to provide humanitarian assistance, assistance in employment and other problematic topics, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

In total, more than 3,600 people turned to the reception point for help. In particular, more than 800 requests were received by the phone hotline.

"Until now, the most acute problems are the search for missing persons, the return of property and refugee issues. We are also approached on various issues. In particular, today there was an appeal from veterans of the Afghan war about payments – that they are not yet able to receive the payments due to them. We have accepted the appeal and are trying to help them,” said Dmitry Serov, the duty officer of the reception point for citizens.

The officers on duty, who receive requests by phone or in person, must clarify the nature of the problem, find out from relatives information about the alleged area of the missing soldier, record their contact details. All requests are recorded, entered in the database and sent to the joint search groups.

In the future, the search for missing persons will be carried out by the RPC military personnel in cooperation with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides.

"I want to say thank you to the peacekeeping forces that are in Karabakh. We have done a lot of work – search operations are underway, we have set up posts to make it safe in Karabakh and to make people feel that they are protected from military conflicts,” said Artur Baghdasaryan, head of the Hadrut regional administration, who visited the reception point of the Humanitarian Response Center. "Now we want this war to end. So that our refugees all return to their native places and continue their lives in peaceful conditions," he added.

Yerevan to provide no corridor for Baku, if transport restrictions persist, says Pashinyan

Arpi Talalian
TASS, Russia
WorldMay 19, 20:11

YEREVAN, May 19. /TASS/. The Armenian authorities are not considering opening a separate corridor for Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan without both countries’ mutual lifting of transport restrictions in the region, acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday.

"Opening transport links is not simply acceptable for Armenia: this is a top priority task as Armenia will get direct railway communication with Iran and Russia under these accords. Armenia did not discuss, is not discussing and will not discuss the ‘corridor logic,’" the government’s press office quoted Pashinyan as saying.

Pashinyan noted that the work of the trilateral commission led by the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan was quite effective and constructive. Currently, work was underway on fulfilling the accords reached, he said.

"It is strange that a provocation [the incident on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on May 12] occurred at this stage. As a whole, I consider Azerbaijan’s actions as destructive. These steps are creating tension in the region," Pashinyan said.

On May 12, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that the Azerbaijani forces attempted to carry out "certain activities" in one of the Syunik border region’s districts to "adjust the border." The ministry added that the Azerbaijani troops halted their activities following some steps taken by Armenian forces.

In the evening of the same day, acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting of the republic's Security Council, during which he slammed these events as an encroachment on Armenia’s territory. According to Pashinyan, the Azerbaijani forces crossed Armenia’s state border, moving 3.5 kilometers into the country.

Following these developments, Yerevan announced it had turned to the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) over the escalation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Apart from Armenia, the CSTO includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Last autumn, after the end of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area, some seven regions surrounding the area came under Baku's control, moving the Armenian-Azerbaijani border closer to the Syunik and Gegargunik regions. Also, an agreement was reached on unblocking transport communications in the region, including a link between mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave.

Mikayel Minasyan publishes document on demarcation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Arpi Talalian
News.am, Armenia
00:33, 20.05.2021

The chief liar has led it to point where Aliyev is forcing him to affirm the agreement over the ultimatums in writing, and we Armenians, by allowing the chief liar to sit in his chair, have deprived ourselves of an election. This is what former Ambassador of Armenia to the Vatican Mikayel Minasyan wrote on his Telegram channel and posted a photo of the statement offering demarcation of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan which, according to him will be released in the next few days.

“This is the document that I had written about on Facebook.

1. These are the first provisions stated on the first page of the agreed document.

2. There is also an encrypted part (not counting the verbal agreements between Nikol [acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan] and Aliyev [President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev]).

3. Nikol has agreed to everything, but hasn’t signed it yet.

4. He has set forth three preconditions for signing: pullout Azerbaijani troops from Armenia before the elections and return at least a few prisoners of war, and write the statements on the transfer of 6 villages in a way that will be as unclear as possible so that it will be easy for him to get re-elected.

Ara Aivazian [acting Foreign Minister of Armenia] has refused to have anything to do with this document, noting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is against this.

The only way to avoid this is to get rid of Nikol as quickly as possible. This will continue so long as he remains in power,” Minasyan added.

OSCE will continue speaking out for return of all war prisoners – Secretary General

Arpi Talalian

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 18:17,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. OSCE Secretary-General Helga Maria Schmid responded to the letter of President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian over the need for an immediate return of all Armenian war prisoners and civilians kept in Azerbaijan.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, the OSCE Secretary-General that she studied the issues mentioned by President Sarkissian and submitted them to relevant OSCE bodies.

‘’I continue to follow the situation and keep in contact with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs and the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office over on that  and other related issues. I am aware that you have discussed these issues also with the Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde during her visit to Yerevan in March.

The Minsk Group Co-chairs issued a statement on April 13, 2021 where they also touch to the issues mentioned by you.  The Co-chairs noted that extra efforts are necessary to allay the existing concerns and to establish an atmosphere of mutual trust fostering lasting peace.

In this context, the Co-Chairs pointed out the issues related to the return of all prisoners of war and other detainees in line with the international humanitarian law. They, as well as personally I and other OSCE officials, will continue to monitor the situation and speak out. The OSCE institution and bodies already closely cooperate with Armenia in all three platforms.

As the OSCE Secretary-General, I hope to further develop and expand this cooperation’’, reads the letter of Helga Maria Schmid.