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

Secretary of Security Council, US Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization

Emil Lazarian

 13:34, 8 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan held a meeting on November 8 with US Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations, U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Louis Bono.

Grigoryan and Bono discussed the efforts aimed at establishing lasting peace and stability in the region and the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process, Grigoryan’s office said in a readout. Grigoryan presented the position of Armenia in this context.

Other issues of bilateral interest were also discussed.

After Pinaka Rockets, Armenia Buys Indian Anti-Drone System To Fight Azerbaijan’s Kamikaze UAVs

Emil Lazarian
Nov 7 2023
By

 Ritu Sharma

After importing rocket launchers and missiles from India, Armenia is now importing an anti-drone system from its South Asian friend. This has come when the conflict-ravaged country is keen to learn from India on how to modernize Soviet-era defense equipment. 

Even as a fragile peace holds between the Caucasian countries, New Delhi is contemplating the supply of a fresh batch of military equipment to Armenia.

People who did not wish to be identified said Armenia has contracted to buy India-developed Zen Anti-Drone System (ZADS). The Indian Air Force (IAF) purchased this anti-drone system in 2021, and the Indian Army has ordered 20 units of C-UAS worth INR 2.27 billion (US$27.3 million). Delivery of the C-UAS to the Indian Army will commence in March 2024.

Officials who did not wish to be identified confirmed to the EurAsian Times that Armenia has contracted the Hyderabad-based Zen Technologies for INR340 crore (US$41.5 million) for the anti-drone system order that includes both training solutions and an anti-drone system.

“The Zen Technologies Anti-Drone System is a proven technology, having been inducted in the IAF and now the Indian Army opting for it. And Armenia realizes that once Indian armed forces induct it, it must be good,” the source said.

The anti-drone system from Zen Technologies works on drone detection, classification, and tracking of passive surveillance, camera sensors, and threat neutralization through jamming drone communication.

Zen Anti-Drone System, a Counter Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS), is a multi-layer multi-sensor Architecture that provides comprehensive security against drone attacks.

The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict heralded the arrival of drones on the modern-day battlefield, with Armenia acknowledging that the Turkish Bayrakter TB-2 had made the difference, forcing them to concede defeat.

The Bayraktar TB2, developed and manufactured by Baykar, a Turkish defense company, is the size of a small airplane and equipped with four laser-guided missiles. It has an endurance of 12 hours when operating 550 nautical miles from its base. This allows it to be ‘eyes in the sky’ for long periods.

Zen Technologies Limited announced that at the board meeting held on October 28, 2023, it approved the establishment of a Branch office in Armenia to tap the business opportunity in that country, including providing sales, support, and service.

Armenia, a small landlocked nation nestled in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia, has emerged as a strategic partner for India. In 2022, when India inked the deal to supply PINAKA multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRL), anti-tank munitions, and ammunition worth US$250 million to Armenia, it was seen as New Delhi taking a position in the conflict. It was the first export of PINAKA by India.

Armenia opted for Pinaka MBRLs, considered at par with the American HIMARs, for its shoot and scoot capability. The mobility is an advantage as adversary Azerbaijan has been deploying drones, including suicide drones.

While India has not confirmed publicly that it is supplying the Akash SAM system to Armenia, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) did announce it has received export orders from a friendly country.

The weapons purchased by Armenia have proven to be “very satisfactory,” the chairman of Armenia’s parliamentary committee on defense and security affairs, Andranik Kocharyan, recently stated without naming India.

“Our news media, our people are discussing all day long what weapons were brought, from what country, where it was tested. The relevant division of the defense ministry is also testing this weaponry, and the tests are very satisfactory,” said Kocharyan.

“The list of the countries is that which is being discussed, perhaps a bit more or less. That’s not what matters; what matters is that the work in that direction is proceeding successfully.”

A top Armenian security official and Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, visited New Delhi on August 28 to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. In light of this, it is said that India is contemplating the supply of a fresh batch of military equipment to Armenia.

In 2022, India stepped up as a defense supplier to Armenia, embroiled in a protracted conflict with Azerbaijan. The first consignment of weapons was delivered last year via Iran.

Armenia, reports the Economic Times, is keen to modernize its military arsenal, primarily of Soviet and Russian origin. The country wants to learn how to upgrade Soviet and Russian equipment in its inventory and integrate it with the Western system.

The dialogue with India is not just about procurement but also about potential joint ventures for local assembly of equipment and training facilities for Armenian officers.

“India possesses several Soviet and Russian-made defense equipment. It has successfully modernized Soviet and Russian-era defense items. This is very impressive,” Colonel Zhiriayar Amirkhanian, assistant to the chief of defense staff, was quoted by the Economic Times. “We in Armenia have several Soviet and Russian-designed equipment, and we want to learn from India’s experience.”

Armenia is apprehensive that Azerbaijan may take advantage of chaos and conflicts in other parts of the globe and launch a fresh military assault against Armenia.

France has also announced to send military aid to Armenia, the beleaguered country seeking to diversify its arms imports and find new allies after Russia failed to provide the nation with ordered weapons worth around US $400 million (it has not yet returned the money).

  • Ritu Sharma has been a journalist for over a decade, writing on defense, foreign affairs, and nuclear technology. Article Republished
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/after-pinaka-rockets-armenia-buys-indian-anti-drone-system/

Europe Region of Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie calls for respect of rights of NK Armenians

Emil Lazarian

 14:40, 7 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The Europe Region assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (OIF) has adopted a resolution expressing unconditional support to Armenia and particularly the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie, MP Arman Yeghoyan said in a statement on Tuesday that the resolution stresses the need for respect of the rights of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and strongly condemns all forms of ethnic cleansing and the destruction of religious and cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Over 100,000 forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh found shelter in Armenia after the September 19 Azeri attack.

EU announces more than 900 million euros in aid for Jordan

Emil Lazarian

 18:40, 7 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The European Commission has announced a €902 million ($968.2 million) aid package for Jordan during a visit by King Abdullah II to Brussels to discuss the Israel-Gaza war with European officials.

The package includes €402 million in grants and €500 million in loans by the European Investment Bank, which will support desalination projects for drinking water, reads the European Commission communiqué published in Brussels.

“I thank King Abdullah II for his critical stabilising role in the region. The EU is a strong friend and partner of Jordan and our cooperation spans many areas, from culture to water management, from refugee support to education and training. This is why I am happy to announce today that we will continue our strong support to Jordan's reform process and modernisation of its economy,” said the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

''A €185 million package focused on improving education and technical training for the youth as well as to promote Jordan’s rich cultural heritage and create sustainable jobs in the tourism sector,'' reads the document.




Armenpress: The Prime Minister, together with his wife, attends the funeral service of Matevos Asatryan

Emil Lazarian

 19:52, 7 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, together with his wife Anna Hakobyan, participated in the funeral service of Matevos Asatryan, MP from the "Civil Contract" faction of the National Assembly, in the St. Astsvatsatsin Church of Kuchak settlement of Aparan community, the Prime Minister’s Office said.




COMMENT: US, Europe, and Russia jostle for influence in the South Caucasus

Emil Lazarian
Nov 6 2023
By Zachary Weiss in Tbilisi November 6, 2023

More than a month after Azerbaijan attacked ethnic Armenians living in its Nagorno-Karabakh region, displacing 120,000 people, foreign political influence in the Caucasus is still shifting. In the recent conflict, the United States played a role for Armenia in ways it had not done in years past, while Russia’s leadership is still attempting to limit the damage from its failure in mediating the conflict.

Evolving Russian interests made Moscow unable and unwilling to prevent the conflict or help Armenia as it had previously. Russia’s ties with Armenia have loosened, partially because it is distracted by the ongoing war in Ukraine.

As the West is beginning to fill Russia’s old supportive role in Armenia in its own way, the most powerful foreign players in the Caucasus have changed their relations with regional actors, undoing 30 years of precedent.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia supported Armenia in its territorial dispute and wars with Azerbaijan, and key Western states stayed largely uninvolved, though some aided Azerbaijan. According to Krzysztof Strachota, department head for Turkey, the Caucasus, and Central Asia at the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, Russia’s weakening influence is changing power dynamics in the Caucasus, but Russia is not abandoning the Caucasus entirely.

“The last war is one more major step in the erosion of the regional order, the post-Soviet order, the order donated by Russia. Right now, the Russian influence, Russian instruments, and Russian politics are much weaker than they were two months ago, two years ago or 10 years ago,” he says.

Changing Russian influence could mean that the West can form new relations with regional actors, according to Strachota. “A weak Russia doesn’t mean that Russia is powerless. From the Western perspective, weakening the post-Soviet system, weakening the Russian donation, creates more space for the states in the region. It creates more space for the West and the Caucasus’ relations.” 

Despite Russia’s failure to mediate the September war and prevent the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Karabakh, it still holds leverage over the small nation in the South Caucasus. Russia supplies Armenia with natural gas. Armenia is also dependent on Russia for trade, and Moscow has investments into important parts of the Armenian economy, including mining, transportation, and financial industries. It can use this leverage to disrupt Armenia’s growing ties to the West.

Western entities like the United States and the European Union, on the other hand, have new influence and leverage over Armenia. The United States sent the head of the United States Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, as the September conflict was ongoing, along with millions of dollars of aid.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan is looking to the West more for support; he has also attacked Russia, calling Armenia’s reliance on Moscow for military support a mistake and joining the International Criminal Court, which has called for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With Russia out of favour as a peace broker, new peacemakers are stepping in to fill the void, according to Strachota. “The USA is somehow needed in the region, by Armenia, and by Azerbaijan.” Strachota noted that their official policy is to avoid more conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and to establish a sustainable peace in the region.

Efforts by American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European allies are vital for this effort. They can “clearly communicate to Azerbaijan to avoid open aggression towards Armenia,” Strachota says. He adds, “helping Armenia in this current situation is important because right now Armenia is extremely weak without external guarantees for its security.”

Political guarantees from the West in partnership with Azerbaijan are the best way to ensure that sustainable peace is achievable. Another tool the West can use is sending peacebuilding and aid missions to Armenia as a deterrent. Anything that the West can do to encourage peace is important, as Armenia alone lacks the leverage to prevent Azerbaijan from further aggression. These tactics are likely what has deterred Azerbaijan from further aggression, according to Strachota, as some have feared Azerbaijan would attack Armenians again to connect Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan, which the south of Armenia separates. 

The United States may not have a strong incentive by itself to prevent conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but reducing Russian influence in the region has long been its goal. Much of Europe is more reliant on Azerbaijani energy than ever as it struggles to find energy sources aside from Russia. This reliance limits how much Europe will be realistically able to push back on Azerbaijani aggression towards Armenia, so its peacekeeping efforts are the best it can do to stabilise the region.

Russia itself cannot easily undo the strengthening ties between Armenia. Instead, it must wait, according to Strachota. “Russia wants to stop, or to push out the West from the region.” That means weakening Pashinyan’s grip on power over time, with the goal of a new leader of Armenia coming to power that does not protest against Russian failures by siding with the West to the same degree as Pashinyan. At this moment, according to Strachota, “it’s not the time for a very assertive active politics of Russia in the Caucasus because it seems to be risky for Moscow”. That time could come soon, though.

Russia’s efforts to undermine the West in the region could even mean improving relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. By changing its relationships with Azerbaijan for better relations and shifting from a peacekeeping role with Armenia, it would drive a wedge between Russia and the West in a way that would punish them for supplanting Russia as a peacemaker.

The United States, Europe, and Russia are all trying to take advantage of the recent conflict to cement their own influence in the region. As Armenia, and to a lesser extent Azerbaijan, are reliant on foreign support in their conflict, the steps more powerful nations take in the ongoing conflict could bring lasting peace or fuel growing tensions in the South Caucasus.

https://www.bne.eu/comment-us-europe-and-russia-jostle-for-influence-in-the-south-caucasus-298624/?source=armenia

Letters to Artsakh

Emil Lazarian
Daily Sundial, CSUN
Nov 6 2023
Brandon Balayan, Reporter • November 5, 2023

Founder and Director of the Hidden Road Initiative Nanor Balabanian received text messages from her students asking her to save them from Azerbaijan’s bombardment of Artsakh.

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic, also known as Artsakh, is a self-determined state recognized internationally as a part of Azerbaijan. A majority of its population is Armenian. On Sept. 19, Azerbaijan launched an attack on the republic, which displaced over 100,000 people and ended with the agreement to dismantle all government institutions by Jan. 1, 2024.

Among these displaced were 42 English students of the Hidden Road
Initiative (HRI). To show support to their students, CSUN’s HRI chapter held their event at the East Conference Center on Oct. 12, sending personalized letters to the forcibly displaced students.

HRI is a charitable non-profit organization that aims to provide educational and leadership opportunities for students living in remote villages in Armenia through annual educational summer camps, scholarship opportunities, and development projects. HRI has chapters at CSUN, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSB and UCSD.

The CSUN and UCLA chapters divided up the students and are both writing letters. CSUN’s members are writing to 13 students, some of which are a part of the same family.

Lily Chakrian, President of CSUN HRI, said the goal of the event was to show their students that they have advocates from across the world while also fundraising for the Artsakh Family Fund. Chakrian said she is one of the few executive members who has not been to Artsakh.

“It’s really hard because I haven’t been able to see and I don’t– can’t imagine what they’re going through and what they’re experiencing,” Chakrian said.

This fund was created by HRI in response to the displacement of Armenians from Artsakh. There is a $300 minimum donation which would sponsor a displaced family and would help cover living expenses for their initial months in Armenia. The organization has currently raised about $18,000, according to documents provided by HRI. The letters will be delivered by a HRI executive board member to Armenia in November.

Balabanian said although the scale of the displacement is unprecedented, she has experienced this in the past.

“I experienced the 2020 war and I was in Artsakh when we were all deported,” Balabanian said. “I [also] had to help students flee from Akhpradzor from the Sept. 2022 attacks.”

It is a persistent cycle of displacement that has not ended.

Nana Grigoryan, a former HRI student from Kolkhozashen, was in Artsakh while Azerbaijan was imposing its blockade. She applied and was admitted to an international baccalaureate in Israel, and had her tuition covered with the help of a fundraiser by Kooyrigs NGO, a nonprofit that “provides resources to the global Armenian network through launching community projects, implementing educational initiatives and amplifying marginalized voices.”

She was able to reach Armenia from Artsakh with the help of the Red Cross, and prepared to leave for university. Grigoryan began attending the university but was displaced due to the recent Israeli-Palestinian war, and has returned to Armenia.

Balabanian said the most they can do right now is to create communities so they can speak with one another, and these virtual English classes have been a space for this.

Every Saturday, HRI holds its English classes through Zoom. Students first go through a 30-minute thematic lesson and then break off into Zoom rooms with their personal teachers. This past Saturday, the class focused on words associated with fall, and started their class with an Armenian nursery rhyme, “My dear, it is fall!”

Balabanian said HRI currently has between 80-100 teachers, who are mostly from the U.S., and they teach about 120 students a week.

All of HRI’s students from Artsakh have been displaced and are receiving support from HRI’s Artsakh Family Fund for housing and immediate aid.

For now, these students can learn and live in peace and not under bombardment.

https://sundial.csun.edu/176746/news/letters-to-artsakh/

The California Courier Online, November 9, 2023

Emil Lazarian

The California
Courier Online, November 9, 2023

 

1-         FBI
Investigates Links Between

            NYC Mayor’s
Campaign and Turkey

            By Harut
Sassounian

            Publisher,
The California
Courier

            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

2-         Israeli
Settlers Invade Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem
Patriarchate

3-         AAF Delivers
$486,000 of Medicines for Artsakh Armenians in Armenia

4-         Letters to
the Editor

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

1-         FBI
Investigates Links Between

            NYC Mayor’s
Campaign and Turkey

            By Harut
Sassounian

            Publisher,
The California
Courier

            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

 

Mayor of New York City Eric Adams seems to have a special
affinity for Azerbaijan and Turkey. We will
soon find out if that special relationship has overstepped the bounds of
legality.

A year ago, I wrote an article about Mayor Adams who
notoriously had declared: “After I retire from government, I’m going to live in
Baku.”

The New York Daily News published an article in 2021 under
the title: “NYC mayoral candidate Eric Adams accepted foreign travel to
countries with a history of corruption.” The article disclosed that “Brooklyn
Borough President Eric Adams has accepted thousands of dollars in travel and
other perks from China, Turkey and Azerbaijan, three countries with a
well-documented history of suppressing their citizens.”

Adams recently acknowledged that he had traveled to Turkey eight
times. In August 2023, he boasted during a Turkish flag-raising ceremony in Manhattan that there were probably no other mayors in New York City history who had visited Turkey as
frequently as he has. In August 2015, the Turkish government paid thousands of
dollars for then-Brooklyn Borough president Adams to visit Turkey for six days where he signed a sister
city agreement with Istanbul’s
Uskudar district. The Turkish consulate paid up to $4,999 for his airfare,
hotel stay and ground transportation, according to Adams’
disclosure with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB). The New York
Daily News reported that in 2016, “Azerbaijan’s
tourism ministry paid up to $4,999 for Adams to visit its capital Baku for four days,
according to the borough president’s COIB disclosure.” Adams has held
fundraising events for his campaign in the Azeri and Turkish restaurants Baku Palace
and Ali Baba in New York City.
On Sept. 19, 2023, Mayor Adams attended an event hosted by President Erdogan’s
wife Emine at the Turkish House in New
York City.

Last Thursday, 10 FBI agents raided the home of the Mayor’s
chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, to investigate “whether Mayor Eric Adams’s
2021 election campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal
foreign donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York
Times.” The 2025 reelection campaign of Adams
paid Suggs’ company nearly $100,000 for fund-raising and campaign consulting
services.

“Investigators sought to learn more about the potential
involvement of a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey, as well as a small university in Washington, D.C.,
that also has ties to the country and to Mr. Adams,” the NYT reported.
“According to the search warrant, investigators were also focused on whether
the mayor’s campaign kicked back benefits to the [KSK] construction company’s
officials and employees, and to Turkish officials.” The City news website
reported that 84 donors, most of them employees of KSK Construction Group,
whose founders are from Turkey,
had contributed over $69,000 to the Mayor’s campaign. However, “multiple people
listed in Adams 2021 campaign donation records as KSK employees either said
they did not donate to Eric Adams or refused to state whether they had ever
donated,” The City reported.

During last Thursday’s raid, the FBI searched for records of
travel to Turkey and documents linking the government of that country and its
intermediaries to the Adams campaign, seizing three iPhones, two computers and
various files from Suggs’ home. Investigators also sought documents regarding Bay Atlantic
University, a Turkish-owned university
in Washington, D.C. that opened in 2014. In 2015, Adams
“visited one of the school’s sister universities in Istanbul, where he was given various
certificates and was told that a scholarship would be created in his name,”
according to the NYT.

Last Thursday, the New York City Mayor, who had traveled to Washington, D.C. for
meetings with Senior White House, Members of Congress and other mayors,
abruptly cancelled his meetings and returned back to New York City the same day as the FBI raid.

The NYT reported: “The [search] warrant suggested that some
of the foreign campaign contributions were made as part of a straw donor
scheme, where donations are made in the names of people who did not actually
give money. Investigators sought evidence to support potential charges that
included the theft of federal funds and conspiracy to steal federal funds, wire
fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, as well as campaign contributions by foreign
nationals and conspiracy to make such contributions.”

In July, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted
seven individuals who fundraised for the Mayor’s 2021 campaign on multiple
counts, including conspiracy and bribe-taking and conspiracy to funnel illegal
donations, according to the NYT.

The FBI investigation has not targeted Adams
personally. He said that he “had no clear knowledge, direct or indirect, of any
improper fundraising activity—and certainly not of any foreign money.”

But if it is proven that he had conspired with the Turkish
government to receive illegal campaign funds, the Mayor may have to retire in Baku or Istanbul
much earlier than he expected.

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************
2-         Israeli Settlers Invade
Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem
Patriarchate

 

JERUSALEM—On
November 5, around 3 PM, a group of Israeli settlers entered the Armenian
Quarter’s Goverou Bardez (Cows’ Garden) where the Armenian community was having
a peaceful sit-in to prevent the further illegal demolition of the interior
walls of the Cows’ Garden.

Danny Rothman and George Warwar, business partners who head
Xana Capital, backed with about 15 armed settlers and attack dogs, demanded the
expulsion of Armenians. Warwar, himself a Christian Arab, also made threats to
Armenians: “I will get you, one by one!”

The settlers were also active, announcing that the Armenians
are all “Goys [non-Jews] and when the Messiah comes, [they] will all die.”

The Armenian community refused to back down and stood firmly
on the Patriarchate’s property. Israeli Police arrived on the scene to defuse
the situation, which prompted more settlers to arrive in a show of force.

Save the ArQ Movement community leaders Hagop Djernazian and
Setrag Balian and the legal team, led by Chicago
lawyer Karnig Kerkonian, convened an emergency meeting and a member of the
team, Eitan Peleg, arrived on scene to negotiate the stand down.

The Armenian Patriarch His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan
Manougian also arrived on the scene and stood side by side with the Armenian
community of Jerusalem,
along with priests and bishops. The community stood strong, with 200 members in
unity to prevent the takeover and save the Armenian Quarter.

The Israeli settlers left the premises. The members of the
Armenian community remained on site.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem sent a letter on
October 26, 2023 informing Xana Gardens Ltd. of its intent to cancel the lease
agreement signed on July 8, 2021 regarding the Armenian
Gardens in the Old
City, Jerusalem, Fr Aghan Gogchian, Chancellor at
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

A lease had earlier been signed by the Armenian Patriarchate
that would hand over 25% of the quarter to a commercial entity for a 99-year
lease. The reported intention was for the Jewish developer to build a luxury
hotel on some of the land that is currently a parking lot, but is on prime real
estate nestled just within the Old
City walls.

Though signed in 2021, the deal became reality in April of
this year when Xana Capital took over the parking lot and placed signs
announcing its ownership, sparking protests in the Armenian Quarter against the
Patriarchate.

Both the Palestinian Authority and Jordan noted that the
patriarch’s “dealings constituted a clear violation of relevant international
covenants and decisions, which aim to preserve the status quo in Jerusalem and protect the
authentic Jerusalemite Armenian heritage.”

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************
3-         AAF Delivers $486,000 of
Medicines for Artsakh Armenians in Armenia

 

GLENDALE—The
Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF) in partnership with Direct Relief of Santa Barbara
delivered $486,000 of emergency aid to Artsakh Armenians this week by an air
shipment.

This valuable and timely shipment included medicines,
medical supplies, emergency medical packs, emergency medical kits and several
pallets of hygiene products. The shipped products will help many of the more
than 100,000 Armenians of Artsakh who were forced to leave their homes in
Artsakh.

Through the years, Direct Relief has donated to AAF tens of
millions of dollars of life saving medicines, medical supplies and equipment
for Armenia
and Artsakh. In the first 10 months of this year alone, Direct Relief has
donated $27 millions of much needed medicines to Armenia.

“AAF values and appreciates very much this long-standing
partnership with Direct Relief,” said Harut Sassounian, President of AAF.

In the past 34 years AAF has delivered to Armenia and
Artsakh a total of over $1 billion worth of humanitarian aid on board 158
airlifts and 2,568 sea containers.

For more information, call the AAF office: (818) 241-8900;

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

4-         Letters to
the Editor

 

Dear Editor:

 

With great interest, I read Harut Sassounian’s November 2
column regarding the Azerbaijani hostages at Gaza, communicated to President Biden by Ms.
Melissa Zukerman recently. Unfortunately, it is quite a task to identify
individuals like Ms. Zukerman, who spearhead self-serving lobbying efforts
during these tragic times. And, that with the false premise of influencing the US foreign
policy. It takes time and journalistic savvy to pursue such leads as the one
you spotted. Thank you for your efforts in unraveling the falsified letter
which in reality was never endorsed by the celebrity signatories.

 

Zorik Mooradian

Tarzana,
Calif.

 

Dear Editor:

 

I was in Yerevan
when the UN fact-finding committee visited Karabakh/Artsakh after 30 years of
absence from the region and reported: “Why did these residents voluntarily
leave their homes? We don’t see any signs of Ethnic Cleansing….”

This kind of double standard statement is most insulting. We
should not let the UN get away with it. I suggest we make a big fuss and
embarrass the UN. After nine months of blockade and all sorts of attacks and
harassment, the UN has been ignoring and remaining totally silent about
Artsakh’s plea, but now it is screaming about the Israeli and Palestinian
conflict.

We have many institutions such as newspapers, organizations,
churches, TV stations, etc., to mobilize and raise hell.

 

Armine Koundakjian

Studio City,
Calif.

 

Dear Editor:

 

I just returned from my second annual Medical Mission in Yerevan and Giumri, (In
the past we used to go to Artsakh) and I was appalled to read on the front page
of the October 26 issue that the newly elected Mayor of Yerevan had spent
$220,000 for his Inauguration Party.

It is shocking to know that his family, friends, and party
members did not stop him and allowed this to happen. Especially because
currently, we have about 120,000 Artsakh refugees in Armenia, and the only thing many
have are the clothes they wear and their documents.

These people desperately need every cent that they can get,
especially when a country like United
States gave only $11.5 million. Following
that in Yerevan when an American of Armenian
descent approached the US
Ambassador and told that she was ashamed to be a tax paying American, the
Ambassador’s response was that since it was at the end of the year there was
small amount of money left in the treasury. A short while later when the
horrendous Israeli massacre happened, United States immediately allocated
$11 billion and then it doubled the sum and continues to increase. While in
Artsakh’s refugee case even though the donation was measly, the sum remains the
same.

On my last day, we visited and spoke to four refugee
families in Vanatsor. They all said the same; the Russian Peacekeepers instead
of defending them, they instructed to immediately leave otherwise they would
face massacres, rape, torture, and imprisonment.

In summary, shame to Mayor Avinyan. Even though his
inauguration coincided with the 2805-th Anniversary of the establishment of Yerevan, the oldest
continuously inhabited city of the world. He had no right to waste so much
money. Now I wish and hope that this will not be the start of a wasteful,
trivial, and ineffective mayorship.

 

Bedros Kojian

Orange, Calif.

 

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California Courier Online provides readers of the Armenian News News Service with a
few of the articles in this week's issue of The California Courier. Letters to
the editor are encouraged through our e-mail address, .
Letters are published with the author’s name and location; authors are required
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Armenpress: Former Member of Parliament Aragats Akhoyan arrested

Emil Lazarian

 10:36, 7 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Former Member of Parliament Aragats Akhoyan has been arrested on suspicion of incitement to violence, the Investigative Committee has said.

Authorities said on Tuesday that the former MP made a call to violence through his Facebook page.

A court has approved a one-month pre-trial detention for Akhoyan on charges of incitement to violence.

Armenia’s Central Bank presents approaches to regulation and control of virtual assets

Emil Lazarian

 18:29, 6 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Central Bank has unveiled its approaches to regulation and control over the issuance and turnover of virtual assets (crypto-assets).

The statement issued by Armenia’s Central Bank said that the central Bank is monitoring the developments in this area both in Armenia and globally in order to adequately respond to the risks arising along with the emergence of virtual assets.

"In 2018, the Central Bank issued a statement on virtual assets, informing the public about the high risk and danger of transactions with them. With the increasing turnover of virtual assets in recent years, a number of related problems have become evident," the statement reads.

''These problems include

– the growth of individuals’ investments in virtual assets occurs with insufficient protection of their interests, with unfair preservation of funds and unsatisfactory transparency of information, liquidity and pricing;

– the virtual assets market is characterized by a high degree of interconnection of different cryptosystems, vulnerable structures of vertical integration of functions accumulated in one organization or group, inappropriate management systems, significantly high level of liabilities, containing, among other things, clashes of interests of other persons and financial stability risks;

– the anonymity of virtual asset transactions and the volume of cross-border transactions increase the associated money laundering and terrorist financing risks;

– a number of services provided by virtual assets are similar in content to traditional financial services and therefore should be regulated by the same legislation, but in fact they operate outside the existing legislation, which creates an unequal competitive environment for traditional financial service providers.

International standardization organizations (IOSCO, FSB, IMF, BIS, FATF) have expressed a clear position, giving importance to the need for uniform and comprehensive regulation of virtual assets by all countries, due to the non-localized (virtual) nature of the virtual asset market and cross-border turnover.

''Taking into account the above, as well as global developments related to this sector, the Central Bank has initiated activities to develop and implement an effective model for comprehensive regulation and control of virtual assets.

For effective regulation, the Central Bank will adopt the principle of "same activity, same risk, same regulation", whereby virtual asset service providers offering services similar to traditional financial activities should be regulated in the same manner.

Regulation will allow for an adequate response to existing and potential risks in virtual assets, while creating a clear legal framework for the development of related innovation and technology,'' reads the statement.