Author: Greg Madatian

Heavy clashes take place on front line – Artsakh continues neutralization of subversive groups

Greg Madatian

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 22:20,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS.  Heavy clashes take place on Artsakh-Azerbaijan front line, ARMENPRESS reports representative of MoD Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a press conference.

''Intensive military operations continued today along the entire front line.  Azerbaijanis started bombing in the northern direction early in the morning, some military operations took place, but they were less intensive compared to the southern direction. Azerbaijan launched dozens of attacks in the south in the direction of Sanasar. Intensive military operations continued along the entire day and still continue'', Hovhanisyan said.

Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that the Defense Army of Artsakh continues detecting and neutralizing the Azerbaijani subversive groups. Hovhannisyan added that those groups try to avoid clashes and prefer to flee from the places they have been detected.

Asbarez: CNN’s Amanpour Used Baku’s Talking Points to Blame Armenia

Greg Madatian

October 25,  2020




CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour interviews Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Oct. 23

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

After the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Friday, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed Yerevan’s top diplomat, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan about the meeting with his U.S. counterpart, as well as the conflict.

Yet from the onset of the segment, it was obvious that the venerable journalist, who is CNN’s chief international anchor, was out to bait Mnatsakanyan and paint a picture of Azerbaijan’s military aggression against Artsakh as somehow being Armenia’s fault.

The segment, which aired on Amanpour’s eponymous program on CNN International, begins with footage of emergency crews and soldiers clearing the wreckage of a bombed building. We all have seen this footage, in its varying forms, as being the Azerbaijani city of Ganja, the site of what official Baku alleges was an Armenian attack directed at civilians. This same footage is also interspersed throughout the segment over Mnatsakanyan’s comments of the toll this aggression is taking on civilians.

Then Amanpour begins citing various United Nations resolutions adopted in 1993 and 2008—the very documents that Baku has been waving around to disregard the Karabakh conflict settlement efforts of the OSCE Minks Group co-chairs. She then cites Azerbaijan’s repeated claims of “occupied territories,” which have emboldened it to resolve the conflict through military force aided by Turkey and its military and jihadists fighters.

To convince viewers of her approach to this issue, Amanpour calls Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan a “nationalist” and refers to his statement in August, 2019 in Stepanakert that “Artsakh is Armenia,” prodding Mnatsakanyan to address her allegation that Armenian nationalism is somehow behind Azerbaijan’s military aggression. At this point in the interview, Mnatsakanyan tells Amanpour that she is taking statements out of context, after which, of course, the interview was timed out and ended.

At the beginning and the end of the segment, Amanpour announced that an invitation was extended to Mnatsakanyan’s Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov who was unable to commit.

“Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan tells me ‘the civilians are dying’ and blames Azerbaijan – but is he pushing for unification with Armenia?” This is the tagline that Amanpour used to promote her interview with Mnatsakanyan on social media.

Throughout the past couple of decades Amanpour has gained a reputation for being an expert in global affairs due to her “cutting edge” reporting from international conflict zones and “hard-hitting” interviews with global leaders, like the late Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi. Yet on Friday she was not interviewing a world leader under whose reign hundreds of thousands were sent to their deaths. Although, since clearly she was following the Azerbaijani script, perhaps she thought Mnatsakanyan was the second coming of Gaddafi.

For three decades now, the international press has covered Artsakh as an oversimplified territorial conflict, at the center of which are “ethnic Armenians” who are living in “what is Azerbaijan.” A journalist of Amanpour’s caliber should have at least done her research, if not shown an iota of “objectivity.” But when, all along, her approach was to blame Armenia and prop up Azerbaijan, none of the facts on the ground matter.

I am not going to delve deeply into another interview Amanpour conducted Friday with Ivo Daalder, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO. Daalder warned that “there’s a possibility of an escalation of this conflict that could lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and Turkey.” In that segment, Amanpour, again using footage from the Azerbaijani defense ministry, paints Armenia as a “servant” to its Russian “master.”

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Amanpour has ignored Armenians in her coverage of global affairs.

In 2008, CNN premiered a documentary called “Scream Bloody Murder” anchored by Amanpour. There she offers a gripping look at genocide throughout history and those who witnessed and warned a deaf world about such atrocities. However, she neglected to mention the Armenian Genocide as the first such event.

After thousands of Armenians demonstrated in front of the CNN building in Los Angeles this month demanding that the cable news channel provide fair coverage of the current military aggression by Azerbaijan, the channel’s leaders were baffled by the protesters and their demands. Of course they would be if they have entrusted their “fair” coverage to their chief international anchor.

U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan warns its citizens of kidnapping and terrorism risks

Greg Madatian

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 22:35,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. Embassy in Baku has warned its citizens and foreigners about kidnapping and terrorism risks, ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the Embassy.

''The U.S. Embassy in Baku has received credible reports of potential terrorist attacks and kidnappings against U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in Baku, including against hotels such as the J.W. Marriott Absheron, as well as potentially other locations in Baku.  U.S. citizens are advised to exercise heightened caution in locations where Americans or foreigners may gather.

Actions to Take: 

  • Exercise caution and remain vigilant.
  • Avoid crowds.
  • Keep a low profile.
  • Be aware of your surroundings.
  • Stay alert in locations frequented by foreigners.
  • Monitor local media for updates''.

On October 23 the U.S. Embassy in Turkey issued a similar statement.




Ex-lawmaker who joined Artsakh military amid Azeri attack killed in action

Greg Madatian

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 11:21,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Former lawmaker Davit Matevosyan, who joined the Artsakh military amid the Azeri attacks, has been killed in action, his daughter announced on social media.

“My father, who dedicated his life for building the free and happy Armenia, has died for Armenia,” Hermine Matevosyan said.

Davit Matevosyan was 60 years old.

He served in the Armenian parliament as a nonpartisan lawmaker from the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) faction in the mid-1990s.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

CivilNet: Paris Mayor: "I’m in favor of self-determination and Armenia must be supported in this struggle"

Greg Madatian
CIVILNET.AM

03:50

If the only solution to the current conflict is the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state, then there is no need to delay this, stated Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in an interview with Nouvelles d'Armenie Magazine on October 19. 

On October 15, twenty two members of the French parliament demanded that the National Assembly of France pass a resolution recognizing Nagorno Karabakh's independence. When asked about this initiative, Mayor Hidalgo answered that she understands the approach taken by parliament members.

"If the only solution to the current conflict is the recognition of Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state, then we should not hesitate to accept that. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that only the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs can bring peace and security to the region. Therefore, I do not want to hinder France's efforts to find a solution peacefully. I am in regular contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is working effectively and pragmatically to end the conflict and allow Armenians to live in peace and security in Nagorno-Karabakh as well as in Armenia. I share the ideas of the French government, which, together with the other Minsk Group Co-Chairs, seeks to end the clashes and return to negotiations. Personally, I am in favor of self-determination and that Armenia must be supported in this struggle," stated the mayor of Paris.  

The Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France, and the US, was created by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1992 to spearhead efforts for a peaceful solution in the Karabakh conflict.

CivilNet: Statement of the Harvard Club of Armenia about the Azeri and Turkish aggression against Artsakh and Armenia

Greg Madatian
CIVILNET.AM

18:16

We are the members of the Harvard Club of Armenia actively involved in all aspects of life in the Republic of Armenia, in a wider Harvard alumni community, as well as internationally.

With this letter we want to bring to the attention of the Harvard community the recent war of Azerbaijan against the Armenians of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

On 27 September, Armenians in Artsakh / Nagorno Karabagh, woke up to a large-scale military aggression launched by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan did not join the UN SG Guterres 2020 March call for global cease-fire in light of Covid-19 and subsequently, the UN resolution adopted in June. Instead it launched a relatively small-scale military attack on Tavush, a North-Eastern region of Armenia in July that was neutralized by Armenian defense forces within a week. However, the current military aggression is full-fledged and long-planned.

Since Azerbaijan started exploiting oil and gas pipelines in mid-2000s, it started investing significant percentage of their profits in armed forces, aiming to strengthen them and achieve military solution of Nagorno Karabagh conflict. Along with frequent violations of cease-fire, it intensified militaristic maximalist propaganda, achieving the level of violent hate speech against Armenians.

Turkey has been providing political support to Azerbaijan based on the slogan “one nation in two states”, promoted officially by the leadership of both countries. This time Turkey is providing direct military support to Azerbaijan – there is evidence of Turkish-owned F-16 fighter planes, Turkish military in Azerbaijan, as well as thousands of jihadist terrorist mercenaries recruited by Turkey from Syria and trapped in Azerbaijan with promise of financial awards.

Azerbaijan is using Israeli drones, Belarussian and Russian ballistic missiles, cluster munitions and other heavy artillery, many prohibited in line with international humanitarian and customary law since they indiscriminately attack civilian population and infrastructure and cause human suffering. There are already dozens of casualties and hundreds of wounded amongst civilians, several hundred killed and much more wounded military. Civilian areas, Stepanakert – the capital of Artsakh, many towns and other residential areas have been under constant bombardment. Women, children and elderly are in bombshells, kindergartens, schools and churches are shelled. And it is not only Artsakh – Armenian region Vardenis has been under fire since last week, and drones were destroyed by Armenian Air Defense not far from Yerevan, Armenian capital.

The population of Artsakh is 140,000 and that of Armenia – 2.9mln, while the population of Azerbaijan is 10mln and that of Turkey – 83 mln supported by thousands of jihadists. Therefore, it did not make sense for Armenians to start this war as the Turkish-Azeri propaganda states. Neither the continuation of hostilities is in the interests of Armenians in Artsakh. However, Aliyev regime keeps adding new conditions to the calls of ceasefire coming from all corners of the world, most importantly OSCE Minsk group co-chair countries (France, Russia and US) and their presidents.

Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey have started the war and Armenians are defending themselves. If Azerbaijan and Turkey put their weapons down first, the war will stop, and there will be peace. If Armenia and Artsakh put their weapons down first, there will be a new Armenian Genocide.

Artsakh that has been historically Armenian, was given to the Soviet Azerbaijan by Stalin and has declared independence still in 1988 entitled for it in line with both Soviet Constitution and international law. It has established its government and parliament through democratic elections but has since been under permanent existential threat. As it was in case of Kosovo and East Timor, Artsakh should be entitled the right for self-determination through the principle of remedial recognition by the international community.

Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression have become possible inter alia due to wrongful legal and historical narrative promoted by Azerbaijan and largely adopted by many stakeholders, including some countries and international organizations, directly or indirectly benefiting or being influenced by Azerbaijani oil-fueled propaganda and direct bribing.

It is therefore time for us to rethink this approach and make a recourse to the jus cogens principles of public international law, such as self-determination, prohibition of use of force, etc. The people of Artsakh, currently fighting at the frontline of international terrorism, have earned their right to determine their political, economic and legal system, their faith and the faith of future generations by blood. It is now time to recognize this right and thereby stop future violence and yet another humanitarian disaster.

We call on all our colleagues, faculty, alumni, current students and all other member of Harvard community to demonstrate leadership, actively break the wall of ignorance and silence.  We call the entire Harvard community to take strong stand against Turkey’s deployment of international terrorism, grave human rights violations and Turkey’s military expansionism.  International community shall join our call and force immediate removal of Jihadist Militants from Azerbaijan.

We plea to Harvard community in USA to condemn the Azeri-Turkish attempt of military solution to this conflict and call upon their congress representatives for bipartisan support of Resolution for Armenia (H.Res 452), Resolution for Artsakh (H.Res 190) and Resolution for Denouncing Azeri & Turkish Aggression on Artsakh (H.Res 1165).

We ask the entire world to follow suit with Government of Canada and Condemn and Stop supply of military equipment and weapons to Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Armenia and the International Community are currently doing everything possible to protect civilians in Artsakh and provide aid for relief from consequences of humanitarian disaster.  Anyone who wants to contribute to international relief efforts please visit All Armenia Fund at www.himnadram.org

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/condemn-aggression-turkey-and-azerbaijan-against-artsakh-armenia

‘Imagine Caucasus becoming another Syria?’: Armenia’s president pleas for urgent international support

Greg Madatian
CNBC
Sept 30 2020
 
 
Emma Graham@THEMMAGRAHAM
KEY POINTS

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian issued a stern warning to the international community on Wednesday, as tensions flare between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“Imagine Caucasus becoming another Syria?” Sarkissian told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble from Yerevan.

“The international community has to realize that if you don’t interfere now, then Caucasus will become another huge problem,” Sarkissian cautioned.

Fighting broke out on Sunday between former Soviet republics Armenia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus, a disputed region that provides transit routes for oil and gas to world oil markets.

The clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region are the worst since the 1990s. The mountainous enclave is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but it has been under de facto Armenian control since the early 1990s. It declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991.

The fighting entered its fourth day on Wednesday, with Armenia’s president saying there had been nearly 100 deaths so far. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan declared martial law on Sunday.

On Tuesday evening, Armenia’s defense ministry said that a Turkish F-16 shot down an Armenian warplane over Armenia, killing the pilot.

Turkish communications director Fahrettin Altun said the claim was “absolutely untrue,” according to state broadcaster TRT. Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, has called on the “entire world” to stand with Azerbaijan.

The fighting risks involving outside players vying for influence in the region, not a new concept for the Caucasus region, which is made up of south-eastern Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The strategically important stretch of land bordering the Caspian Sea has been fought over for centuries.

Turkey has offered its full support to Azerbaijan. Ankara has also sent Syrian rebel fighters to join their forces against Armenia, The Guardian reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. CNBC has been unable to independently verify these claims.

Armenia has described this perceived aggression as unwelcome. Many Armenians link Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan to the 1915 genocide of ethnic Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

“If you look at activities of (the) current Turkish government, they have problems 360 degrees around them,” Armenia’s Sarkissian told CNBC.

He said Ankara faced challenges in the Mediterranean, Greece, Libya and Iraq. “They are creating problems everywhere.”

A spokesperson for Turkey’s government was not immediately available when contacted by CNBC. 

Azerbaijan is the 24th largest crude oil producer in the world and supplies about 5% of Europe’s oil and gas needs, according to the IEA.

The country has three crude oil export pipelines and two main gas export pipelines, attracting international attention to the wider South Caucasus as a key artery for oil and gas from Azerbaijan into Turkey and onto wider Europe and beyond.

Despite fears this crucial infrastructure could be at risk, Sarkissian said concerns about disruption had been exaggerated.

“They are saying there’s a threat to international energy pipelines, which is absolute nonsense,” Sarkissian said. He pointed out the pipeline had been in place for 20 years and “there’s absolutely no threat to energy.”

If we had “the intention of shooting the pipeline, we’d have done that 20 years ago, but not now,” Sarkissian said.

Oil prices were mixed on Wednesday, as rising coronavirus cases amplified concern about global fuel demand.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $40.51 a barrel during afternoon deals, down 0.6%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate stood at $39.70 a barrel, up more than 1% for the session.

 
 
 

Newspaper: Armenia Constitutional Court crisis just beginning

Greg Madatian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 26 2020

10:36, 26.09.2020
                  

Armenian troops participate in inauguration of Caucasus 2020 military exercises

Greg Madatian

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 17:59,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Troops of an Armenian Armed Forces unit participated on September 19 at the opening ceremony of the Caucasus 2020 strategic command-staff military exercises at the Russian Kapustin Yar training range.

The flags of the participating countries were ceremonially raised at the inauguration.

The drills involve counterterrorism and joint operation scenarios.

Caucasus 2020 involves around 80,000 troops, 250 tanks, 450 infantry vehicles, 200 artillery and rocket systems and other equipment.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan