Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Armenia-Azerbaijan Treaty Not Enough For Peace, Says Aliyev
• Siranuysh Gevorgian
Azerbaijan -- President Ilham Aliyev speaks at an international forum in Baku,
December 6, 2023.
An Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty would not be enough to preclude another war
between the two countries, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Wednesday.
“I hope that it will not take long to reach an agreement,” Aliyev said during a
forum in Baku organized by his administration. “But I want to point out that a
peace treaty does not fully guarantee peace. We know of many peace treaties that
were annulled and we know of countries that have lived without such treaties.”
“We know very well what is happening in Armenia and we know very well that
Armenia has bad advisers in European capitals … That is why we need to have
guarantees that there will be no more wars between the two countries and that
Armenia fully accepts the new status quo,” he added, according to Azerbaijani
media.
Aliyev did not elaborate on the safeguards against Armenian “revanchism” that
would satisfy him.
Armenian leaders have said, for their part, that they want clear international
guarantees for Baku’s compliance with the peace treaty. They have suggested that
Aliyev is reluctant to sign the kind of agreement that would preclude
Azerbaijani territorial claims to Armenia.
Aliyev twice cancelled EU-mediated talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian planned for October. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov
similarly withdrew from a November 20 meeting with his Armenian counterpart
Ararat Mirzoyan that was due to take place in Washington. Baku accused the
Western powers of pro-Armenian bias and proposed direct negotiations with
Yerevan.
Mirzoyan deplored Baku’s “refusal to come to meetings organized by various
international actors, including the U.S. and the EU” when he addressed last week
an annual conference of the top diplomats of OSCE member states. Bayramov
countered that Yerevan itself is dragging out talks on the peace treaty.
Aliyev echoed that claim on Wednesday. He said that the Armenian side took more
than two months to respond to most recent Azerbaijani proposals on contentious
provisions of the treaty made in September. He said the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry is now examining the written replies sent by Yerevan on November 21.
“After that, it would be appropriate for the foreign ministers to meet,” he said.
The Azerbaijani leader said nothing about his next meeting with Pashinian.
Pashinian Signals No Strategy On Karabakh’s Future
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian shares a word with Foreign Minister
Ararat Mirzoyan during a parliament session, December 6, 2023.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted on Wednesday that his job is to secure
Armenia’s future as he was pressed by an opposition leader to explain his policy
on Nagorno-Karabakh following its depopulation and capture by Azerbaijan.
“What is Armenia’s strategy regarding the future of Artsakh within the framework
of your ‘There is a future!’ [pre-election] programs?” Seyran Ohanian, the
parliamentary leader of the opposition Hayastan alliance, asked during the
Armenian government’s question-and-answer session in the National Assembly.
Pashinian replied that he wants to strengthen Armenia’s security and
sovereignty. He again blamed former Armenian governments for the loss of
Karabakh and claimed that unspecified forces used the Karabakh conflict to
undermine Armenia’s independence.
“You are again trying to distort or manipulate things by not answering the
question,” countered Ohanian. “Whatever you say … it is during your rule that
Artsakh was depopulated and it is during your rule that negotiations [with
Azerbaijan] were stopped because of your contradictory statements and actions.
And now you are doing nothing to take back our historical territory of Artsakh
or at least negotiate for that purpose.”
“As prime minister of Armenia … my objective is the future of Armenia … The
Constitution of the Republic of Armenia gives me responsibility for the future
of the Republic of Armenia and I am focused on that issue,” said Pashinian.
He described as “ingratitude” critics’ claims that Yerevan “left Karabakh alone”
after the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
Pashinian’s government stopped championing the Karabakh’s right to
self-determination in April 2022. A year later, Pashinian declared that it
recognizes Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan and will only strive to protect the
“rights and security” of the Karabakh Armenians through the Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace treaty and other international mechanisms.
Armenian opposition leaders say that this policy change paved the way for the
recent Azerbaijani military offensive that restored Baku’s full control over
Karabakh and forced its practically entire population to flee to Armenia. Alen
Simonian, the Armenian parliament speaker and a top Pashinian ally, said last
week that a peace treaty currently discussed by Baku and Yerevan should not
contain any special provisions on Karabakh and the return of its ethnic Armenian
residents.
Armenian Defense Spending Set For More Modest Rise In 2024
Armenia - Armenian soldiers stand at a military base against the backdrop of
Mount Ararat, December 31, 2022.
The Armenian government is planning to increase its defense expenditures by 7
percent to 554 billion drams ($1.38 billion) next year, Finance Minister Vahe
Hovannisian said on Wednesday.
“As a result, our defense spending will be equivalent to 5.3 percent of GDP,
down by 0.3 percentage points from 2023,” Hovannisian told the Armenian
parliament as he presented the government’s draft state budget for 2024.
He said that 42 percent of 695 billion drams in capital spending planned by the
government in 2024 will also be channeled into national defense. This presumably
includes the construction of new barracks, other military installations and
border fortifications.
Armenia’s defense budget was projected to soar by as much as 46 percent this
year. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on November 16 that his government
will keep increasing it for purely defensive purposes.
“I’m sure that all of our neighbors realize that we do not intend to attack
anyone,” he said in an apparent effort to reassure Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani government spending on defense and national security is reportedly
due to total $3.5 billion this year. President Ilham Aliyev said recently that
Azerbaijan’s will continue its military buildup despite its victory in the 2020
war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Baku has denounced India, France and other foreign nations for selling weapons
to Armenia. Meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in
Moscow on Tuesday, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov reportedly said
that “efforts to arm Armenia pose a threat to regional peace and stability.”
Pashinian’s Party Scraps Power-Sharing Deal In Gyumri
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
Armenia - The Mayor's Office in Gyumri.
Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party on Wednesday pulled out of a power-sharing
agreement with a political group that won most votes in municipal elections held
in Gyumri two years ago.
The country’s second largest city was run Samvel Balasanian, a local
businessman, until October 2021. Although Balasanian decided not to seek another
term in office, a newly created bloc bearing his name participated in the
elections and garnered 36.6 percent of the vote, giving it 14 seats in the
33-member city council empowered to elect the mayor.
In a serious setback for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Civil Contract finished
second with 11 seats. The remaining eight seats were distributed among three
opposition groups.
In line with the power-sharing deal, the new Gyumri council appointed the
Balasanian Bloc’s Vardges Samsonian as mayor and two Civil Contract members as
deputy mayors.
In a statement, Pashinian’s party said both vice-mayors will step down because
it has decided to end its alliance with the Balasanian Bloc. It said vaguely
that Civil Contract does not want to be part of what it called “shady
governance.”
Armenia - Vardges Samsonian attends a public discussion in Gyumri, October 15,
2019.
The statement did not clarify whether the party will try to oust Samsonian
through a vote of no confidence or force a fresh election in Gyumri. Civil
Contract representatives in Yerevan said the party will reveal its further steps
during a news conference on December 11.
The Balasanian Bloc and Samsonian did not immediately react to the development.
A spokeswoman for the Gyumri mayor told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the bloc
will make a statement in the coming days.
The three other groups represented in the city council also did not rush to
officially comment on Civil Contract’s move. One of them, the Zartonk bloc,
controls four seats in the council. Its leader, Vartevan Hakobian, did not rule
out the possibility of teaming up with Civil Contract or the Balasanian Bloc.
Armenia - A session of the municipal council of Gyumri, February 6, ,2023.
Narek Mirzoyan, a council member affiliated with former President Serzh
Sarkisian’s Republican Party, accused Armenia’s political leadership of seeking
to “destabilize” local communities run by elected opposition mayors. Mirzoyan
pointed to Tuesday’s controversial ouster of the head of a major community in
neighboring Lori province comprising the town of Alaverdi and two dozen other
towns and villages.
The mayor, Arkadi Tamazian, lost his narrow majority in the Alaverdi council
after one of its members representing his Aprelu Yerkir party defected to Civil
Contract in July. Pashinian’s party capitalized on the defection to replace
Tamazian by its local leader amid serious procedural violations alleged by the
Armenian opposition and some civil society members. Hundreds of police officers
were deployed in Alaverdi on Tuesday to help the party install the new mayor.
Levon Barseghian, a veteran civic activist based in Gyumri, linked the end of
the local power-sharing arrangement to the Alaverdi power grab, saying that
Pashinian and his political team are no longer willing to tolerate opposition
control of local governments across Armenia. He said they may now use “promises,
blackmail or political bribes” to try to co-opt other members of the Gyumri
council and gain a majority there.
“Everyone must bear in mind yesterday’s events in Alaverdi,” Barseghian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Yerevan Chided For Snubbing Russian-Mediated Peace Talks
North Macedonia - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shares a word with
spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a news conference, during the OSCE Ministerial
Council meeting in Skopje, December 1, 2023.
Russia on Wednesday rebuked Armenia for ignoring its recent offers to organize
more negotiations with Azerbaijan and warned that Yerevan’s current preference
of Western mediation may spell more trouble for the Armenian people.
“We have sent invitations to the [two] countries to meet in Moscow and on the
sidelines of multilateral negotiations in third countries,” said Maria
Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. “Baku has always confirmed
to us their readiness to hold such negotiations. Unfortunately, we cannot say
the same about our Armenian partners. Perhaps they believe that their new
advisers from Paris, Washington and Brussels will be able to offer something
more interesting, better, more effective.”
Zakharova said that Armenian-Azerbaijani summits organized by the European Union
in October 2022 and May 2023 did not end well for the Armenian side.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian unconditionally recognized Azerbaijani
sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh during those summits. Moscow claims that he
thus legitimized Azerbaijan’s September 19-20 military offensive that forced
Karabakh’s entire population to flee to Armenia.
“There may be a repeat of that,” Zakharova told a news briefing. “Now, posing as
its best friends, they [the West] will give Armenia advice that will then lead
to another surprise.”
“We really don’t want the people of Armenia to be again deceived by their
purported Western friends,” added the Russian official.
Spain - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and
French President Emmanuel Macron in Granada, October 5, 2023.
The Armenian government has denounced Moscow for its failure to prevent, stop or
even condemn the Azerbaijani military operation. Pashinian said in October that
Russian peacekeepers were “unable or unwilling to ensure the security of the
Karabakh Armenians” contrary to the terms of a Russian-brokered ceasefire that
stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
EU Council President Charles Michel similarly charged that “Russia has betrayed
the Armenian population” of Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani takeover of the region deepened a rift between Yerevan and
Moscow. Pashinian accused the Russians of not honoring their security
commitments to Armenia, while the Russian Foreign Ministry said that he is
systematically “destroying” Russian-Armenian relations.
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.
Author: Emil Lazarian
“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS
Armenpress: Aras Ozbiliz seeks to bring back great players like Mkhitaryan to national team if elected FFA president
09:10, 7 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Retired footballer Aras Ozbiliz has said he’s running for the Football Federation of Armenia presidency in order to utilize his experience and bring benefits to the Armenian football, and make sure that the best players, like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, return to the national team.
In an with Armenpress, the 33-year-old former Armenia midfielder said that the country needs a national development plan for football.
“I can bring huge benefits to Armenian football with the experience that I have amassed over the years. I see my work only through maintaining the principles of transparency and fairness,” he said when asked on his plans if elected FFA president during the December 23 vote.
“I will reveal my plans regarding the Football Federation during an upcoming press conference. I can’t say that I will be able to change everything in a couple of years, but I think that we need a national football development plan, which won’t be taken from some other country, but will rather be designed to match our uniqueness. Armenian football needs global changes,” Ozbilis added.
There’s been a lot of talk in the sports community that Inter Milan’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was formerly the captain of the Armenian national team, is endorsing Ozbilis for the FFA presidency.
“I am grateful to Henrikh Mkhitaryan for always supporting me both in word and deed. I’ll say this, if elected, I won’t spare effort to have players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan play in the Armenian national team until the end of their career. Perhaps we don’t fully realize that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a great football player. Small countries like Armenia must cherish players like Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Henrikh is the example and proof that it is possible to have global stars from Armenian football. We must do everything possible to use, for example, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s experience, talent and connections for our development,” Aras Ozbiliz said when asked on Mkhitaryan’s support.
Reminiscing on his career in the Armenian national football team, where he played in over 40 matches, Ozbilis said he was honored to be part of the team. “It was a great honor to play in the Armenian national team. Our generation really brought together a good team, and we were like one big family. Playing with the national team’s shirt is a completely different feeling. I miss the team, but I am still by their side, but now as one of their top fans,” he said.
Asked on the toughest and best players he faced on the field during his career, Ozbilis mentioned Ricardo Quaresma, Adriano, Pepe, Costa, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan himself.
“Honestly, I didn’t like playing against smaller [built] players, because they were a lot faster,” Ozbilis said laughingly. “It was really difficult for me to play against Patrice Evra.”
Asked to name the greatest footballer of all time, Ozbilis said it’s Lionel Messi.
The full is available in Armenian.
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1125662.html?fbclid=IwAR1jwJ-oWHTau4OItKFwz8c3BQHbRIcI3O72eNkd9TOAJ6hnz0Kt_gtot10
Members of Parliament observe moment of silence commemorating Spitak earthquake victims
10:51, 7 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Members of Parliament held a moment of silence on Thursday to commemorate the victims of the 1988 Spitak earthquake.
The Spitak earthquake occurred on December 7, 1988 with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (Devastating).
Over 25,000 people were killed and 20,000 others injured in the quake. Over half a million people became homeless. 17% of the entire housing stock of Armenia was destroyed.
Cabinet appoints new governor of Vayots Dzor
13:13, 7 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The government has appointed Kolya Mikayelyan as the new governor of Vayots Dzor province, replacing Ararat Grigoryan.
The decision was approved at the December 7 Cabinet meeting.
French senators recommend delivering CAESAR artillery systems to Armenia
14:27, 4 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. French senators have called on the authorities to explore the possibility of sending CAESAR self-propelled howitzers to Armenia in addition to the other recently shipped weapons, according to a defense budget bill of the French Senate.
The document mentions that Armenia will receive a total of 50 Arquus Bastion armored personnel carriers. 24 of these vehicles are already being shipped, while the rest are currently in production.
Armenia recently bought Thales-made GM 200 radars and Mistral 3 air defense systems from France.
“Armenia recently signed an order for three GM200 radars from Thales and there is talk of a delivery of MISTRAL 3 surface-to-air missiles. The rapporteurs are able to indicate that 24 Bastion-type armored vehicles, produced by the French group Arquus, are being delivered to Armenia and should be joined by 26 other vehicles of the same type currently in production. The French authorities have initiated the delivery of “defensive” weapons to Armenia. This distinction between defensive and offensive weapons is in reality not very operational, as the war in Ukraine demonstrated. Let's not repeat the same mistakes by late delivering equipment that would have been necessary from the start. This is why we must respond quickly to all the requests from the Armenian authorities, particularly regarding their need for artillery. The rapporteurs recommend, in this regard, that the delivery of CAESAR artillery systems be studied as soon as possible taking into account the effectiveness of this equipment and the new production capacities of Nexter in 2024,” Senators Hugues Saury and Helene Conway-Mouret said in a recommendation for the 2024 budget.
BTA. Politicians, Academics, Experts Discuss Challenges, Opportunities of Bulgaria’s Foreign Policy Strategy
17:02, 4 December 2023
SOFIA, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS/BTA. A conference on "The Foreign Policy Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria: Challenges and Opportunities" is taking place here on Monday.
"We can all make Bulgaria a factor of stability and security in Southeastern Europe, a factor of growth, a regional innovation leader," Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Garbiel said, opening the forum. "Before getting to this clearly stated ambition, it is crucial to take into consideration the comprehensively changing world around," she added.
The participating politicians, academics, experts and journalists are discussing the development and adoption of a national strategy for Bulgaria's foreign policy.
Gabriel's idea is to hold a series of debates on the subject, her Ministry said.
The Deputy PM said that the strategy is planned to be developed as a public document spelling out the principles and the short-term and medium-term objectives and tasks of Bulgarian foreign policy. She argued that the foreign policy strategy is needed because of the radically changed international environment, growing fragmentation, overlapping crises, a different security architecture, Russia's aggression against Ukraine, hybrid actions and cyber attacks.
"We are witnessing global transformations, climate change, disrupted supply chains, digitization and migration pressure. New strategic partnerships are taking shape worldwide, with North America, Latin America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. We are clear that economic diplomacy is gaining new dimensions," Gabriel said. "Against this backdrop, the adoption of a strategic document, to be approved in advance by the National Assembly, is intended to increase the transparency, predictability and public support for Bulgarian foreign policy," the Bulgarian Foreign Minister said.
"It is important to build new strategic partnerships. Bulgaria has a lot to contribute to cultural diplomacy acquiring new dimensions," Gabriel said. She believes that the country should be better prepared to tackle disinformation and hybrid threats.
(This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.)
Armenians Navigate the Horrors of the 2023 Artsakh War
Dec 6 2023
12/06/2023 Armenia (International Christian Concern) — It has been more than two months since Azerbaijan seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. The military take-over followed nine months of brutal blockade on more than 100,000 ethnic Armenian Christians in the enclave. After the Azerbaijani take-over, the Armenian population fled to neighboring Armenia.
The stories emerging from the refugees in Armenia paint a harrowing picture of the traumatic events they witnessed in late September of this year. As Azerbaijani armed forces advanced, reports surfaced of snipers targeting civilians hunkered down in bomb shelters in the city. Additionally, there are disturbing accounts of captured Armenian soldiers facing massacres, while several individuals are reported still missing and unaccounted for during the conflict.
In the aftermath of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the presence of profound trauma has become painfully evident as men, women, and children grapple with the devastating impact of the conflict.
For women and children, the trauma extends beyond the immediate impact of the war. Suffering for nine months with such limited supplies, the chaos of fleeing Artsakh to Armenia in just 10 days, and the uncertainty of the future have left emotional wounds. Among this group, there are also new widows grappling with the pain of loss, unsure of the fate of their husbands and sons, who are either missing or confirmed dead in the conflict.
The men, particularly those aged 18 and above, who served and fought in the army bear a unique burden of trauma. Their collective sense of brokenness and defeat is palpable after losing the war, their homes and farms, and the very national project of Artsakh itself.
Amid the chaos and tragedy, personal stories of resilience and shattered faith are also emerging. Their collective sense of Christian identity – as the world’s first Christian nation – is evident. In the face of displacement from Artsakh, their primary plea to the outside world is a heartfelt request to defend not only their land but also the Christian faith of their people.
https://www.persecution.org/2023/12/06/armenians-navigate-the-horrors-of-the-2023-artsakh-war/
Armenian serviceman fatally shot by Azerbaijani fire
18:07, 4 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. On December 4, around 2:35 p.m., the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire at the Armenian combat position in Bardzruni village of Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province.
As a result of the incident Armenian military unit serviceman Gerasim Arakelyan sustained a fatal gunshot wound, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
“An investigation is underway to entirely reveal the circumstances of the incident. The Ministry of Defense extends condolences and support to the family, relatives and comrades of the serviceman,” the ministry added.
Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport visits "LOFT Meghri" center
20:51, 4 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. During his visit to the Meghri community of the region of Syunik, Armenian Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Daniel Danielyan, was hosted at the "LOFT Meghri" youth center, established with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of the Republic of Armenia.
During the visit, the minister met with the residents of the community, particularly with young people.
The possibilities of organizing new events and festivals were discussed with those responsible for coordinating cultural and youth activities in Meghri, the ministry said.
Daniel Danielyan presented the concept of establishing a community center with a youth, cultural and educational component in the near future.
“At the outset we are going to establish a similar community center in each region, which will have a positive impact on the socio-cultural life of the community and will add new quality and color to the community," noted Daniel Danielyan.
It is noted that during the meeting with the youth, Daniel Danielyan considered the possibilities of organizing new, community-specific festivals and large-scale events in Meghri, emphasizing their role and importance in activating Meghri's youth life, developing tourism, providing cultural entertainment and enhancing the attractiveness of the community.
According to the deputy minister, the "LOFT Meghri" youth center could also play a crucial role in this matter with its active involvement and young people.
Iran welcomes Armenia’s step towards peace and security
12:08, 5 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Iran welcomes the latest steps made by the Armenian government for peace and security, Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani has said.
“We support Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we support lasting and sustainable peace in the region,” the Iranian Ambassador said at a forum entitled New Regional Reality and the Crossroads of Peace.
Ambassador Sobhani spoke about the historic relations between Armenia and Iran and the good-neighborly relations between the two governments which enable the side to further develop ties.
He said that Armenia and Iran have the shortest common border which has always been a border of friendship and peace.
Ambassador Sobhani mentioned the growing trade between the two countries, and that turnover is already reaching 1 billion dollars.
“Our two countries have mutually beneficial agreements in infrastructure development and energy. We are trying to reveal untapped potential for the benefit of the relations between the two countries. Undoubtedly, the opening of transit infrastructures and connection routes will contribute not only to the development of the economic and trade relations between the two countries, but will pave the way for regional participation. We believe that connection corridors from India up to the Chabahar Port, Armenia and the Black Sea, will provide a reliable road for shipping goods to the north, to Europe. The development of this route will safeguard our countries from foreign harm. In this context, we attach importance to India’s role in the development of the Chabahar Port, and we welcome the Armenian participation in this work. I believe that if the countries have more connection routes, they will acquire a more significant role in the international arena. This is the new concept of power,” the Ambassador said.
[see video]