Author: Emil Karabekian

Chess: Champions Chess Tour Finals: Levon Aronian defeated by Teimour Radjabov

Emil Karabekian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 29 2021

In the fifth round of the Champions Chess Tour Finals (online), Levon Aronian competed with Azerbaijani Teimour Radjabov and lost four matches 1.5-2.5.

The Armenian chess grandmaster was defeated in the second match, and the other matches ended with ties.

In the previous four rounds, Aronian was defeated by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura, outscored Vladislav Artemiev and Dutch chess player Anish Giri.

In the sixth round, Aronian’s opponent will be Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

Situation at Charles Aznavour Square in Yerevan is tense, police are apprehending demonstrators

Emil Karabekian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 18 2021
15:38, 18.09.2021

The situation at Charles Aznavour Square in Yerevan escalated and police officers started apprehending the demonstrators.

One of the demonstrators took the microphone and declared that the demonstrators wouldn’t leave the street and would continue to fight for police officers’ children as well, no matter how much the police try to apprehend them. “If you are ready to serve the Republic of Turkey, we are not ready,” the demonstrator added.

Afterwards, the police and demonstrators clashed, and police officers apprehended a few participants.

The gathered are shaming the police and chanting “yanichar, Turk”, “Nikol, traitor”. An old man who was participating in the demonstration started feeling bad when the police were trying to apprehend him.

A large number of police officers and policemen in red berets are overseeing the demonstration.

On September 21, a concert dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Armenia’s Independence will be held at Republic Square in Yerevan. Earlier, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had declared that “a vivid and scaled event will be held on Independence Day and will also be dedicated to the memory of those who fell in the war”.

Former MP: During Pashinyan’s ‘peace era’ these Turkic-speaking savages will burn our houses

Emil Karabekian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 10 2021

Arman Abovyan, a former MP representing the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction, shared on Facebook a video of Azerbaijani soldiers setting fire to gardens and fields on Armenian territory.

“This video clearly shows how Azerbaijanis deliberately set fire to gardens and fields on Armenian territory.

“Whereas, the Armenian authorities are going to open the border and establish brotherly ties with these Turkic-speaking barbarians,” he wrote.

“One thing is for sure: during the formation of Pashinyan's "peace era", these Turkic-speaking savages will burn our houses with the same zeal.

“There is a future … enjoy it!" Abovyan said.

More women than men getting coronavirus vaccines in Armenia – Health ministry

Emil Karabekian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 6 2021

As of September 5, 303,325 coronavirus vaccination doses have been administered in Armenia. Out of the total number, 195,290 people have received one dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 108,035 have received both shots, the Ministry of Health reported on Monday. 

According to the ministry update, more women than men are getting coronavirus vaccines in Armenia. The statistics show that women made up 53.1% of those who had received the first shot and 50.3%  - for both shots.   

The reasons for the difference is perhaps explained by the fact that women make up the majority of the workforce in the public education sector, which had earlier mandated for getting vaccines starting from October 1, alternatively to present  a negative PCR test result every 15 days. 

Biden’s State Department Drops the Ball on the South Caucasus

Emil Karabekian
The National Interest
Sept 6 2021

Biden may talk about recalibrating U.S. policy to face future threats but, in the South Caucasus, his State Department is not only dropping the ball but actually playing into Putin’s hands.

by Ara Papian

The world focuses today on the chaos in Afghanistan. Some of this concern may be misplaced: The threats caused by the Taliban pale in comparison to those posed by China and Russia. Despite President Joe Biden’s rhetoric, his administration appears no more willing to counter Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions than President Donald Trump’s was before him.

Consider Armenia: it has now been almost a year since Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev’s forces, backed by Turkish Special Forces and Islamic fighters from Syria, launched a surprise attack on Nagorno-Karabakh. They managed to annex a large chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh, not only due to their own military prowess but also because of the hapless leadership of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Sadly, 105 years after the start of the twentieth century’s first genocide, ethnic Armenians again had to abandon their towns and villages under the genocidal threat by the same regional actors.

The ensuing ceasefire was more a victory for Russia, however, than it was for Azerbaijan. Putin fulfilled his long ambition to insert Russian troops in the South Caucasus from where they can further deter or subvert democracy or pro-Western movements. Aliyev sacrificed sovereignty; he cannot make a move without the approval of his Russian benefactors and business partners.

Today, the Russian leader seeks to force Armenia to open a corridor across its sovereign and undisputed territory between the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan proper. He also seeks to impose upon Armenia a demarcation and delineation agreement with Azerbaijan based on the administrative borders imposed by Joseph Stalin between the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) and Azerbaijani SSR.

American diplomats rotate postings every two to three years and so institutional memory is shallow. Many within the U.S. State Department accept the legality of the borders that former Soviet states inherited upon the fall of the Soviet Union and shrug off the Azerbaijani conquest of Nagorno-Karabakh because they mistakenly believe it was Azerbaijani territory.

There is no reason why Washington should accept Stalin’s borders, however. Legally, Washington never fully recognized the 1920 Soviet annexation of Armenia. The United States hosted an Armenian embassy in Washington through 1933 and, in 1959, designated Armenia as a “Captive Nation.” Azerbaijan itself has de jure rejected those borders by declaring itself a legal successor of the first Azerbaijani Republic rather than of Azerbaijan SSR. On August 30, 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a declaration stating, “On the Restoration of the State Independence of the Azerbaijani Republic.” Subsequently, on October 18, 1991, it adopted a Constitutional Act “On the Restoration of the State Independence of the Azerbaijani Republic,” which declares in Article 2 that “the Azerbaijani Republic is the successor of the Azerbaijani Republic that existed from May 28, 1918, to April 28, 1920.” Therefore, the Soviet administrative borders cannot be considered the legal basis for the international borders between the present-day Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijani Republic.

The Commission for the Delimitation of the Boundaries of Armenia, which met in London as an official sidebar conference to the Paris Peace Conference, assigned Nagorno-Karabakh as well as a large part of “Lower” Karabakh to be part of the Republic of Armenia based on demography prior to Armenia’s partition between Soviet Russia and Kemalist Turkey. President Woodrow Wilson subsequently included the commission’s findings in Document No. 2 in Annex I of his Nov. 22, 1920, Arbitral Award. This indicated official acceptance of the legality of Armenia’s claims over its historic territory in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The State Department should call out the Kremlin’s inconsistency: Putin justified Crimea’s annexation in both Russia’s historical control and the local population’s right to self-determination, not on the basis of Soviet administrative borders. At the downfall of the Soviet Union, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to reverse Stalin’s actions and to succeed from Azerbaijan and join Armenia. To allow Putin’s demarcation to go forward effectively forces Armenia to relinquish its claims to Nagorno-Karabakh because of Stalin’s gerrymandering of borders.

Putin’s policy is multi-pronged, however. The Russians encourage new tensions on Armenia’s border to force greater Armenian reliance on Russia. Putin has effectively co-opted Pashinyan—who became the toast of the West when he led a 2018 people’s revolution—to accept Russian forces while he ignores continued French offers of military assistance. It is in this context that the State Department should understand the June 20 snap elections in Armenia. Rather than acting as a referendum between the past pro-Russian regime and Pashinyan, it was in effect a contest between an old coalition of Russian proxies and a new one, which is equally willing to do Putin’s bidding.

Biden may talk about recalibrating U.S. policy to face future threats but, in the South Caucasus, his State Department is not only dropping the ball but actually playing into Putin’s hands. It is not too late, though, for Biden and Secretary Antony Blinken to promote America’s strategic interests in that vital region.

Ara Papian is Armenia’s former Ambassador to Canada and a governing board member of the National-Democratic Axis (NDA), a pro-Western political movement in Armenia that advocates for a Major Non-NATO US Ally status for Armenia.

Image: Reuters.

  

Armenpress: Russia realized it was deceived by cooperating with Turkey and Azerbaijan, says political analyst

Emil Karabekian

Russia realized it was deceived by cooperating with Turkey and Azerbaijan, says political analyst

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 08:52, 7 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. A senior analyst says that Russia is lately gradually changing its emphases over the Artsakh issue towards a more pro-Armenian position after realizing that it has been deceived by Turkey and Azerbaijan by cooperating with them.

Doctor of political science, Professor Garik Keryan at the Yerevan State University told ARMENPRESS in an interview that this is happening despite the fact that Moscow has serious disagreements with its Western colleagues of the OSCE Minsk Group – France and the United States, including over the status of Artsakh.

“Russia launched its drift towards a pro-Armenian position. That is, Russia is also saying ‘you know the issue isn’t solved, we still have to determine the status’ and so on. A question arises here, why did Russia start to drift to a more pro-Armenian side, and in this regard some consensus was created between Russia, France and the United States over revitalizing the OSCE Minsk Group process. There is an answer to this question too. The Russians had made a very gross and primitive mistake by cooperating with Turkey and Azerbaijan over the Artsakh issue,”

Keryan, the head of the Chair of Political Institutes and Processes at the YSU says that as a historian and political scientist he is unable to understand how Turkey is succeeding in finding formats of cooperation with Moscow when for 300 years it has continuously deceived Russians, acted against Russian interests and backstabbed Russia every time. According to Keryan, Moscow realized this only after Ankara – without taking into account what it had received from Russia – namely the nuclear power station, the South Stream pipeline, the S-400 missile systems, as well as concessions in Syria – sent foreign minister Cavusoglu to Kiev to take part in the Crimean Platform, where the Turkish FM claimed “Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine”.

“The Crimean issue is very painful for Russians, like the Artsakh issue is for us. Crimea is sacred for them. And after so many years, when Russia finally succeeded in returning Crimea, some Cavusoglu reserves the right to announce that ‘Crimea doesn’t belong to Russia and Turkey will do everything for Crimea to return to Ukraine’. This is where Russia’s counterinfluence began, and the Russians realized that they have made a mistake when first of all they allowed the war to end with such results, and second of all allowed the infiltration of Turkish influence into South Caucasus. And they’ve been deceived in the matter of Azerbaijan also. Moscow’s main goal was to pull Azerbaijan towards the Eurasian integration zone. And every time Aliyev was bargaining by saying ‘solve the Karabakh issue and I will come’. Now they saw that after ‘solving’ it, not only didn’t he come but on the contrary they lost Azerbaijan,” Keryan said.

As paradoxical as it may seem, he continued, today there are more favorable conditions for a fundamental discussion of the Artsakh issue than before the war. The only problem is that it would be very difficult to bring Azerbaijan to the negotiations table.

“Since the only item left on the negotiations table is the issue of Artsakh’s status, it seems to me that Azerbaijan will not sit down for talks under any condition. And if suddenly the Co-Chairs were to mention the item of restoring the NKAO [Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast] territorial integrity, which would make Hadrut and Shushi come under some kind of common administrative unit, this would mean a loss of influence for them. That is why Azerbaijan and Turkey won’t go to negotiations. They will talk, delay, like the negotiations process was protracted for 26 years,” the analyst said.

Professor Keryan ruled out Azerbaijan recognizing Artsakh’s status without getting under some serious sanctions. Moreover, he argues, there are “very interesting and effective sanctions” that would give results in a few days.

Whether or not Azerbaijan would agree to restart talks under the Minsk Group format depends on Turkey’s stance, because, as professor Keryan says, the Azerbaijan Republic isn’t an independent country for a long time now, it is rather a Turkish protectorate.

“If you want to know whether or not Azerbaijan will sit down for negotiations, you ought to change your question – will Turkey sit down for negotiations or not? And Turkey, as you know, doesn’t give a damn about anything. When needed, they even go against the Americans, and America is unable to do anything. That’s why I assume that they’d either delay the talks, or deceive, or simply opt out at all,” he said.

Moscow announced on September 2 that it is supporting the activation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs work over the Karabakh settlement based on the existing mandate. The new Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group then visited Baku and Yerevan for talks.

 

Interview by Aram Sargsyan

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Single-component Sputnik Light vaccine authorized in Armenia

Emil Karabekian

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 15:24, 6 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Ministry of Healthcare has approved the Russian single-component Sputnik Light vaccine against coronavirus, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a statement.

“Sputnik Light vaccine based on human adenovirus serotype 26 is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine. Immunization with Sputnik Light will help Armenia to significantly reduce the infection rate in the country and create herd immunity in a short time frame. In February 2021 the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine was also approved in Armenia”, the statement says.

​Armenian FM, Russian Co-Chair emphasize the need to resume the Karabakh peace process

Emil Karabekian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 6 2021

Armenian FM, Russian Co-Chair emphasize the need to resume the Karabakh peace process

 September 6, 2021, 15:19 1 minute read

Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received the newly appointed Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev.

The interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, emphasizing the importance of resuming the peace process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Minister Mirzoyan expressed the support of the Armenian side to the joint statements of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs after the 44-day war, where the need for a stable and lasting settlement of the conflict based on well-known principles and elements is emphasized.

Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the urgency of addressing priority humanitarian issues. In this context, the Foreign Minister stressed the need for the unconditional repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages held in Azerbaijan.

Tehran: Iran FM underlines need to respect borders in Caucasus

Emil Karabekian
Tehran Times, Iran
Sept 1 2021
  1. Politics
September 1, 2021 – 18:51

TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Tuesday underlined the need to preserve internationally recognized borders in the Caucasus region days after clashes erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia that led to the blocking of a strategic Armenia road used by Iranian merchants. 

The remarks were made during a phone conversation between Abdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov. 

The Azerbaijani foreign minister has telephoned his Iranian counterpart to congratulate him on winning Parliament’s vote of confidence to become Iran’s new top diplomat.

Abdollahian thanked Bayramov, saying Iran is ready to expand ties with the Azerbaijan Republic in all areas including assistance with reconstruction efforts in the liberated areas [in the Karabakh region].

Amir Abdollahian also stressed the need for respecting internationally recognized borders, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. 

He said all disputes in the Caucasus region should be resolved peacefully.

The Azeri foreign minister also called for increasing cooperation with Iran and asked for the Islamic Republic’s help with the rebuilding of the liberated areas [of Karabakh].

Bayramov also called for transit cooperation with Iran and briefed the Iranian foreign minister on the latest developments in the Karabakh region.

Abdollahian and Bayramov invited each other to visit Iran and the Azerbaijan Republic, respectively, in as short a time as possible. They expressed hope the visits will happen soon.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a similar statement. “On August 31, 2021, a telephone conversation took place between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hossein Amirabdollahian. Minister Jeyhun Bayramov congratulated his Iranian counterpart on his appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran and wished him success in his activities,” the Azerbaijani statement said. 

It added, “Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stressed the existence of relations based on the principles of friendship and cooperation that have deep historical roots, broad-spectrum bilateral cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Iran, and noted that a number of projects have been successfully implemented by the two countries. The sides also exchanged views on the current situation in the region and some issues of bilateral cooperation.”

Bayramov also invited his Iranian counterpart to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan, according to the statement. 

In July, Iran expressed concern twice over continued border clashes between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, which claimed lives on both sides and aroused concerns in neighboring countries in the South Caucasus region.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh expressed concern over the continuation of border clashes between the border guards of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Khatibzadeh expressed regret over the deaths and injuries of the two countries' nationals, and called on both parties to show self-restraint.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry said at the time that three of its troops were killed and two more were wounded in clashes with Azerbaijani forces on the border between the two ex-Soviet nations, which have been locked in a decades-long tug-of-war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, AP reported. 

Azerbaijan announced that two of its troops were wounded. The two South Caucasus nations once again blamed each other for the latest flare-up which came on the heels of another clash a week earlier. Azerbaijan said Armenian forces opened fire at its positions on the Kalbajar section of the border. The Armenian military said its personnel was attacked by the Azerbaijani forces.

Khatibzadeh underlined the necessity of the peaceful settlement of border disputes between Baku and Yerevan.

He stressed that the two countries must overcome the tensions and clashes, and respect the internationally recognized borders.

The spokesman further emphasized the necessity of establishing sustainable peace in the South Caucasus region as soon as possible, and expressed Tehran's preparedness to provide any kind of assistance for the establishment of sustainable peace in the region.

On July 27, a few days before the start of border clashes, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov had a telephone conversation.

During this phone call, the two sides conferred on the latest developments in bilateral relations and regional issues.

Earlier on July 27, Khatibzadeh expressed regret over the casualties resulting from sporadic border clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia, urging the two neighbors to exercise restraint. 

In reaction to the continuation of sporadic border clashes between border guards of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Khatibzadeh expressed sorrow over casualties on both sides, and called on the two countries to exercise restraint, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a deadly war last year in September over the Nagorno-Karabakh region which resulted in the latter retaking large swathes of the region. After the war, which lasted for 44 days and was ended thanks to a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal, Azerbaijan and Armenia clashed from time to time in border areas but the clashes soon subsided with both sides accusing each other of firing first.

Tensions between the two countries over the region have been simmering since the end of a war in the 1990s and last year's escalation of violence was the deadliest in two decades. More than 5,000 people lost their lives and tens of thousands were displaced.

The peace deal brokered by Moscow saw Armenia forced to cede significant territory to Azerbaijan.

Both countries have repeatedly accused each other of violating the terms of the agreement since it came into force on November 10.

In addition to his conversation with Bayramov, Abdollahian also received a phone call from Croatia’s top diplomat Gordan Grlic Radman who has phoned Abdollahian to congratulate him on winning the Iranian parliament’s vote of confidence.

Abdollahian and Radman discussed Iran-Croatia ties and also the Islamic Republic’s relations with the European Union.

During the telephone conversation, the foreign ministers of Iran and Croatia underlined the need to expand ties between Tehran and Zagreb in all areas.

They agreed that deals signed by the two sides regarding investment, customs cooperation and also cultural cooperation must be put into practice.

Abdollahian also outlined Iran’s stance on the nuclear talks in Vienna. He said it’s not Iran’s policy to hold talks for the sake of talks, noting that any negotiations must exclusively focus on fulfilling the nation’s interests.

Abdollahian said the U.S. should know it can only use respectful language when talking to the Iranian people.

50 Diaspora professionals join the Armenian Government

Emil Karabekian
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 3 2021


September 3, 2021, 19:29

 1 minute read

Another 50 highly qualified Diaspora Armenian professionals from 20 countries are joining the Armenian Government.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs has commenced its 2021 iGorts program, which, for the second year in a row, will allow Diaspora Armenian professionals to work in Armenia’s state administration system.

Today program director Liana Simonyan introduced the new iGorts participants to the agencies where they will work.

Experienced American-Armenian professional Marina Nercessian (Boston University) and Syrian-Armenian Hagop Makdis (Aleppo University) joined the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports.

Estonian-Armenian Alina Ovanesso (University of Tartu) and Russian-Armenian Arevik Margaryan (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) will work at the Ministry of High-Tech Industry.

American-Armenian Vahe Avagyan (Columbia University) and Russian-Armenian Argishti Ginoyan (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) joined the staff of the Central Bank of Armenia.

The professionals will arrive throughout September and join in the work of about 20 state agencies. The professionals will work in those departments for one year, implementing programs and developing strategies and new ideas.