Azerbaijan: The glorious May victory

Andover Caller

The Azerbaijani army once again demonstrated and proved that it is able to successfully carry out all the tasks assigned to it. A clear example of this is the April 2016 battles, when the Azerbaijani Armed Forces liberated the heights near the village of Talysh, the point of Seysulan, and also took control of the strategic height of Lele Tepe, located aligned with  Fizuli region.

However, victories in the April battles ignited the beginning of the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian occupation. And one of these days, in the last days of May, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, after 26 years, freed  the village of Gunnut in the Sharur region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, occupied by the Armenian armed forces in 1992.

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In the course of fierce battles, the Azerbaijani army took a more favorable position, freeing the mountain “Hunut,” the hill “Agbulag” and then the mountain “Gyzylgaya” and “Mehridag” from the occupation. The village of Arpa moved to Daralayaz where the Armenians renamed it “Areni.”

The liberation of Azerbaijan’s strategic position – the “Gizilgaya” hill, allows the Azerbaijani army to control the Yerevan-Yeghegnadzor-Gerus-Lachin-Khankendi highway. In total, about 11 thousand hectares of territory have been taken under control, over eight thousand hectares of which are suitable for farming, especially for dry farming.

Going back  to history; it is worth noting that in the 90s of the last century, not only the village of Gunnut, but also the other Sharur villages of Sadarak, Khavush and Shahbulag were subjected to a continuous attack of the enemy. In 1992, the Armenian army destroyed houses, many social facilities, schools, a medical center, a library, a cemetery and a mosque in the village of Gunnut. Local residents were forced to leave their homeland  and settle in other localities.

Today, 26 years later, local residents returned to their native village of Gunnut and visited the graves of their relatives. Soon, large-scale work will begin to restore the village. It is well remembered that when the Azerbaijani Armed Forces liberated the village of Jodzhug Marjanli from Armenian occupants, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on measures for the restoration of the village.

As a result, new roads were built in the village, dozens of individual houses and other social facilities were built.

I note that this is the second defeat of Armenia in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since 2016. The first defeat is the April four-day war in 2016, the second defeat, the Victory of May  2018. Perhaps, for official Yerevan, it may be interesting why Armenia lost another battle to Azerbaijan.

Firstly, on the basis of the 5th Army Corps there is a unit known as the United Army Group (Special Forces). It was created recently. Secondly, in Nakhchivan new anti-aircraft defense systems, rockets and artillery, including the Smerch, T-300 Kasirga and T-122 Sakarya missile complexes are quartered.

Currently, Azerbaijan does not focus on quantity, but on quality, that is, the number of personnel has not changed, and the purchase of new and modern weapons that can disable most of the enemy’s manpower continues. Thirdly, joint military exercises with Turkey are held annually. Fourth, Azerbaijan’s military budget has increased 30 times , today it exceeds the entire state budget of Armenia.

What does it say?

The fact is, is that Azerbaijan today can afford to buy any modern weapon, in contrast to Armenia.

Should this be measured by force?  Isn’t it the time for Yerevan to stop and think about returning the occupied lands to Baku – Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The ruling regime of Armenia should understand two things:

1) as long as the Azerbaijani lands are under Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan will continue to purchase weapons.

2) Azerbaijan reserves the right to restore its territorial integrity.

Generally speaking, the fighting in April and May demonstrate the amount of  attention paid by the Azerbaijani president, supreme commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev to the army, the high fighting efficiency of the Azerbaijani army, and the ability of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan to liberate the occupied territories at any time.

168: Parliament approves 2017 budget performance report

Category
Politics

The parliament of Armenia voted to approve the 2017 state budget performance report.

65 MPs voted in favor and 23 MPs voted against.

Speaker of Parliament Ara Babloyan told lawmakers that at the recommendation of the government an extraordinary sitting will be held on June 19.

1 trillion 210 billion dram was planned in revenues, the adjusted plan increased it to 1 trillion 320 billion while factually 1 trillion 237 billion was ensured.

Spending was planned at 1 trillion 360 billion drams, the adjusted plan put the number at 1 trillion 561 billion and factually 1 trillion 504 billion drams was ensured.

The deficit was planned to be 150 billion drams, then 240 by the adjusted plan and it factually amounted to 267 billion drams.

ԵԽԽՎ համազեկուցողները ԱԺ-ում քննարկել են արտահերթ ընտրությունների անցկացումը

  • 24.05.2018
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  • Հայաստան
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Մայիսի 23-25-ը փաստահավաք առաքելությամբ Հայաստանում են ԵԽԽՎ մոնիթորինգի հանձնաժողովի Հայաստանի հարցերով համազեկուցողներ Յուլիա Լյովոչկինան եւ Ջուզեպպե Գալատին:


Մայիսի 24-ին նրանք հյուրընկալվել են Հայաստանի խորհրդարանում եւ առանձին հանդիպումներ ունեցել ՀՀ ԱԺ ՀՅԴ, «Ելք», «Ծառուկյան» եւ ՀՀԿ խմբակցությունների ներկայացուցիչների հետ:


Հանդիպումների ընթացքում կողմերն անդրադարձել են Հայաստանի վերջին քաղաքական զարգացումներին, բարեփոխումների իրականացման ընթացքին, մարդու իրավունքների պաշտպանությանն առնչվող հարցերի: 

Քննարկվել են նաեւ Ընտրական օրենսգրքի փոփոխությանը, Հայաստանում արտահերթ խորհրդարանական ընտրությունների անցկացմանը, նոր կառավարության ծրագրի առաջնահերթություններին վերաբերող հարցեր:

168: All governors of Armenia will be replaced – PM Pashinyan

Category
Politics

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan announced today that all the governors of Armenia will be replaced, PM Pashinyan told the reporters following the inauguration ceremony of the Cabinet members at the Presidential Residence. “I think all the governors will be replaced”, Pashinyan said.

Referring to the possibility of replacing the heads of Special Investigation Service and Investigative Committee, Pashinyan emphasized that there are some legislative problems there. “We will observe those issues in the context of the legislation”, Pashinyan said.


May 8 — The Judgment Day for Armenia?

IndraStra
May 7 2018
 
 
May 8 — The Judgment Day for Armenia?
 
 Monday,   
By IndraStra Global News Team
 
 
 
After weeks of mass street protests, arrests and the resignation of the prime minister — Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia's on the brink of ushering in a new leader.
 
The political optics of Sargsyan taking advantage of constitutional changes to move from his position as president to a new, more powerful role as prime minister sparked 11 days of street protests that ended up pushing Sargsyan to resign. Moscow, which normally views mass protests in neighboring countries as a direct threat, has been unusually restrained and says the political crisis is a domestic Armenian issue.
 
Though Armenia spent two decades after the breakup of the Soviet Union on a westward path, Sargsyan, a Republican, secured closer trade and political ties to Moscow. Do note, the members of Republican Party of Armenia (Hayastani Hanrapetakan Kusaktsutyun, HHK) have dominated Armenian politics since 1999. Also, Sargsyan has been in power either as President or Prime Minister since March 2007. He even amended the country’s constitution to remove a clause that would limit the number of terms he could be in power.
 
He allowed Russia to extend its military presence in Armenia and joined Russian President Vladimir Putin's Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). However, not so long ago, Nikol Pashinyan, a leader of the Armenian protests (who became the sole candidate after the deadline passed without any others registering), stated that Armenia's membership in Russia-led EEU poses a threat to the national security of the country. But, again, it's not guaranteed Pashinyan will become prime minister.
 
As it was expected, the National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov) sought to halt his bid. The voting was conducted on May 1 and Pashinyan was to be elected as Prime Minister. He needed 53 votes, which included six votes from the HHK. But the ruling party voted overwhelmingly against Pashinyan’s candidacy, even though he was the only candidate to be in the field.
 
This led to a large protest on May 2 where highways and streets were blocked across the nation, with laborers striking work. At Republic Square in Yerevan, the country’s capital, around 150,000 people gathered to listen to Pashinyan speak. Another round of voting was announced and it will be held on May 8, i.e., tomorrow.
 
Last week, Vahram Baghdasaryan, the head of the HHK in parliament, told Reuters that his party would support anyone on May 8, including Pashinyan, if they enjoyed the backing of one-third of lawmakers. Pashinyan, in his Republic Square address, said that he had been informed of the ruling party’s support for his candidacy for the May 8 vote.
 
Baghdasaryan's announcement also came minutes after opposition parties announced that Pashinyan had secured the support of the minimum 35 lawmakers needed to be nominated as a candidate in the May 8 vote.
 
The Tsarukian Alliance (Bargavatch Hayastan kusaktsut’yun, BHK), with 31 seats in parliament, announced that it would support Pashinyan’s nomination. Together with Pashinyan’s Yelk ("Way Out") faction, which has nine seats, that gives him support from more than one-third of the legislature.
 
However, as per Armenia's constitution, if a prime minister is not elected in the second vote on May 8, parliament will be dissolved and early general elections would be held with the HHK-led acting government in charge of the electoral process.
 
With reporting by Aljazeera, BBC, RFE/RL, The Hindu, and Reuters

Parliament obliged to be the most organized and effective body irrespective of political circumstances – Ara Saghatelyan

Panorama, Armenia
May 7 2018

Armenian parliament has a mission stabilizing the situation which is especially important in this period,
the Chief of Staff-Secretary General of the RA National Assembly (NA) Ara Saghatelyan stated today. Saghatelyan’s remarks came at a ceremony where employees of the state system were awarded the RA NA Speaker’s Letters of Acknowledgement for showing practical participation in the preparatory works of the special NA sitting dedicated to assuming the office of the President of the Republic and fulfilling their office obligations with high efficiency.

As the press department the National Assembly reported, Saghatelyan said that in the preparatory phase the specialized approach and the professionalism have created precondition the ceremony to enjoy high evaluation by the political leadership of the country, as well as by the international structures and guests.

In Saghatelyan’s words, the National Assembly staff is a body implementing professional activity irrespective of political forces and is obliged to continue being one of the most disciplined, the most organized and the most effective bodies in our country irrespective of political circumstances.

Thanking the employees for the works done and being done, Chief of Staff-Secretary General of the parliament added that the Staff of the National Assembly, being a nonpolitical body, should carry on providing equal conditions for all political forces represented in the National Assembly.

Armenia’s velvet revolution: Sold

PRAVDA, Russia
 
 
Armenia's velvet revolution: Sold
 
World » Former USSR
 
Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, without fanfare and with very little noise, has done the things that Ukraine had done by means of an armed Maidan revolution. When serving as President, Sargsyan sold Armenia to the West, having abandoned the country's national identity and social policy. The rallies in Yerevan stated as demonstrations in support for the pro-Western course, but then evolved into "pro-Russian" meetings. What can they change and why does Russia take the position of an observer?
 
On Monday, April 23, Serzh Sargsyan, the head of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, was forced to resign amid protests against his election as the prime minister. After the constitutional reform of 2015, Armenia switched from the presidential republic to a parliamentary one. As many said, Sargsyan, as president, conducted the reform to his own benefit only to keep power in his hands as long as possible.
 
Protests in Armenia began on April 14, when contrary to his promises not to nominate himself for the post of the prime minister, ex-president Serzh Sargsyan was approved on the position at a meeting of the coalition government.
 
The protests were led by opposition association Elk ("Exodus"), which calls for expanding relations with the West and stands against Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). It was the head of the Elk faction at the parliament, Nikol Pashinyan, who initially became the leader of the protests.
 
Prior to the threat of losing control over the rallies, Sargsyan held talks with Pashinyan on Sunday, April 22, at which the prime minister said that "the political force that won seven to eight percent at the parliamentary elections had no right to speak on behalf of the people." However, on Monday, April 23, the prime minister resigned.
 
Arman Boshyan, President of the Yerevan Geopolitical Club, shared his vision of the situation with Pravda.Ru.
 
"What is happening in Armenia?"
 
"The protests were growing in size through the involvement of students and schoolchildren. On Sunday (April 22 – Ed.), according to my calculations, there were 40-50 thousand people on the square, the city of Yerevan was paralysed. Many of those who are not interested in politics also joined the rallies."
 
 
"Pashinyan called it a "velvet revolution." What are its causes and what do people want?"
 
"It is believed that the Armenian government is pro-Russian, whereas the opposition is pro-Western, but this is not true. The sitting government is the most pro-Western government in the history of Armenia. Last year, the Armenian authorities signed the Istanbul Convention, which stipulates for the total rejection of national culture, the introduction of juvenile justice and gay pride parades. Armenia signed a document that Bulgaria and Hungary did not sign when being EU members. If these laws are put into practice, they may spark a civil war.
 
The authorities of Armenia also signed an agreement with the EU on comprehensive partnership, and the parliament ratified it. It goes about the closure of nuclear power plants, about the need to rename cognac to brandy, even though that's a national trademark of ours that we have left after the collapse of the USSR and deindustrialization. In a nutshell, Poroshenko did all that after the Maidan revolution in Ukraine, but the Armenian authorities did all those things quietly and underhandedly.
 
Armenia, as the EU advised, switched to the parliamentary form of government. Our president now is a British citizen, who has business and property there. The first person, who congratulated him on his election was the Queen of England. Not a single minister can now be appointed here without her generous permission. Armenian oligarchs keep their money in Western banks. There is a Russian army base in Armenia, in Gyumri, but this is all that the Russian influence is limited to in Armenia. There are also close ties between Armenia and Russia, of course, and they cannot cut them."
 
"How do you think events are going to develop?"
 
"Regardless of how the situation develops, Armenia will continue running the pro-Western destructive course. The opposition uses the strong social discontent as its primary weapon of struggle. The Armenian government refused to provide material assistance to families with many children, but adopted a law that implies financial support for those who take children away from families. It just so happens that they have money for terror, but no money for family support.
 
The rallies should have put pressure on the acting authorities, so that Armenia keeps the pro-Western course, but everything developed differently. The people are now opposed to this course, the situation has gone out of control and organisers of those protests did not expect so many people to show up. Yet, the rallies do not propagate any anti-Russian slogans – the protested wanted Sargsyan to step down."
 
First deputy chairman of the CIS committee in the Duma, Konstantin Zatulin, said in an interview with Govorit Moskva radio station that Russia in Armenia is "an observer who does not want destabilisation there." "An observer should use political means to support legal authorities, but we are not going to send our lawmakers there. Russia does not have such plans, let along the fact that such plans are unacceptable for Armenia."
 
 
See more at

Statement by United Communist Party of Armenia

Statement by the United Communist Party of Armenia:

Taking into account the political situation in the Republic of Armenia, we call on the release of detained Deputies of the RA National Assembly and immediately start negotiating. We urge law enforcement bodies to refrain from using violence against peaceful protesters.

His Holiness Aram I arrives in Armenia, voices concerns over country’s situation

Panorama, Armenia

His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, is arriving in Armenia today for a couple of hours. Speaking to Cilicia TV at the Beirut airport ahead of the flight, Aram I voiced his concerns about the situation in Armenia.

“All of us are also concerned. Just as Armenia’s strengthening and prosperity are the duty and pride of all of us, the pain and troubles of our people are ours. Therefore, we cannot stay indifferent to the issues worrying our people. We cannot stay indifferent to the developments in Yerevan streets,” the Catholcicos said. 

The said that people have the right to express their discontent and expectations in a civilized way. Aram I reminded that he himself has voiced concerns over the migration and people’s living standards, and will continue to do so if necessary. 

“This is the right and duty of every Armenian,” the Catholicos said.

His Holiness Aram I added, however, stated that bloodshed on “sacred Armenian land” is not acceptable whatever the reasons of the protest campaign are.

“Clashes between our youth and police are unacceptable. All of them are our beloved sons. There is a need to jointly discuss problems and concerns and seek ways of settling them in the spirit of love and mutual understanding. This is the correct way to resolve issues. This is what we expect form the authorities and the Armenian people,” he added.  

Sports: Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins March Player of the Month & Goal of the Month awards

Public Radio of Armenia
April 4 2018
 
 
Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins March Player of the Month & Goal of the Month awards
 
17:29, 04 Apr 2018
Photo: Getty Images
 
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has won his second consecutive Player of the Month award by topping Arsenal’s March poll.
 
The Armenia international continued his fine form in an Arsenal shirt, scoring the opener against AC Milan at San Siro before claiming a goal and assist in the win over Watford.Mkhitaryan received more than half of the votes cast, with Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka finishing in second and third place respectively.
 
Furthermore, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s opening goal against AC Milan was voted as Goal of the Month for March.
 
The Armenia international collected the ball to the left of the area, cut back inside and rifled his shot high into the roof of the net to give Arsenal the lead inside San Siro.
 
Mkhitaryan’s strike was an overwhelming winner with 63 per cent of the votes cast, with Aaron Ramsey’s finish from the same game in second place, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s against Watford in third.