NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM – Chairman of the Majilis of the Kazakh Parliament Nurlan Nigmatulin has met with Armenian President Armen Sarksyan, Kazinform cites the press service of the Majilis.
At the meeting, the Kazakh Majilis speaker expressed confidence that the strengthening of political dialogue and all-round Kazakh-Armenian interaction will facilitate the practical implementation of the agreements reached during the recent talks between the Armenian President and First President of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. According to him, Kazakhstani parliamentarians will provide legal assistance needed. On his part, the Armenian President noted the role of Kazakhstan in global processes, calling international and interfaith accord one of the main achievements of the country.
11:56, 5 June, 2021
YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament of Armenia from the ruling My Step faction Sergey Atomyan has submitted a resignation letter, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan said in a statement.
The lawmaker submitted his resignation letter on June 4.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenian’s caretaker health minister on Thursday said she is not planning to step down after the authorities were accused of showing disrespect to the bodies of Armenian soldiers killed during last year’s war in Artsakh by keeping them in degrading conditions at a morgue in the town of Abovyan.
Anahit Avanesyan told reporters in the parliament that she has already publicly apologized to soldiers’ families and specific action has also been taken since then, including dismissal of some individuals.
"An investigation will be carried out, the circumstances will be revealed and all those responsible for the incident will be held to account according to the law," she said.
Asked whether she considers herself guilty in connection with the incident, Avanesyan said she responded to it immediately, offered her apologies and stressed the need for bringing all those responsible for the process to account.
"It was probably unusual for me to apologize. Maybe there has never been such a practice. I have apologized for the pain caused to the relatives [of the killed soldiers]. But I would like to reiterate that the act committed by an individual should be assessed within the framework of that act and in relation to that very person. A specific incident should not be attributed to the whole institution,” she said.
The Sardarabad monument (Photo by Matthew Karanian)
This year, as we mark Armenian Independence, it is more reminiscent of 100 years ago when Russia and Turkey colluded to quash Armenia and the aspirations of all Armenians of exercising their right to independence and self-determination.
For 44 days last fall we watched as Moscow and Ankara, once again, conspired and by aiding Azerbaijan and abating some of the most gruesome human rights violations, made another attempt of robbing Armenia of its independence and Armenians of their dignity and right to determine their own fate.
On Armenia’s sovereignty is in jeopardy and its very existence is threatened. Artsakh has been reduced to a fraction of its size; Ankara has a foothold in Aghdam along the tenuous line-of-contact with Artsakh; 1,000 Azerbaijani troops are camped out in Armenia; more than 200 prisoners of war and captives are being tortured by the Baku regime; and just this week six soldiers were taken hostage and one was killed by Azerbaijani forces.
How did we get here?
First and foremost, Armenia’s “strategic ally,” Russia, has abandoned its commitments to Yerevan. At every turn when Russian leaders boast of Moscow’s—and more specifically President Vladimir Putin’s—role in brokering a ceasefire in Karabakh, Armenia is forced to relinquish and surrender something—usually territories—while Azerbaijan is allowed to advance its destructive and aggressive policies.
Armenia’s Western “allies” talk a good game, but are short on action. During the war, France sounded the alarm about Ankara deploying mercenaries and pledged to broker peace, while the United States stood by and watched Artsakh burn. In the current border standoff, France, has again stepped up its rhetoric, while the U.S. is still practicing its false parity and has chosen to assist Azerbaijan enabling it to continue its killing spree.
Armenia’s leaders have also played their part in hastening this reality due to their opaque and misguided understanding of the concept of independence.
When Armenia declared independence in 1991, its leaders began a fire sale of Armenia’s key infrastructure—electricity, gas, communications, transport, IT—making Armenia solely dependent on Russia. Taking a page from the Soviet playbook successive governments looked at the population as being dispensable—and at times disposable—in their self-serving mission to amass personal wealth at any cost and at the expense of the people.
The current regime has treated Armenia’s independence as theater—or a reality show— replete with selfie sticks and props and has squandered the people’s trust that brought it to power. For 44 days, the regime, headed by the prime minister, lied not only to the population of Armenia but the entire Armenian nation by painting an optimistic outcome for the war despite the mounting causalities and reports of brutal attacks. On November 9, with one signature and hardly any remorse, the prime minister not only surrendered territories in Artsakh but, through his self-absorbed arrogance, paved the way for the crisis to reach such a point where foreign troops have encroached and have decamped on Armenia’s sovereign territory.
In 1918 Armenians were also left to their own defenses, but instead of clamoring they banded together and at all costs fought valiantly and established the Independent Republic of Armenia, shattering 600 years of tyranny and oppression. Those leading the effort, namely the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, were fully cognizant of the stakes, but they marshaled the people toward victory in Bashabaran, Gharakilise and Sardarabad. That same resolve shepherded our nation to another victory when Artsakh was finally liberated in 1994.
May 28, 1918, the day Armenia declared independence and established the first Republic of Armenia, has always been the “Phoenix rising from the ashes” moment that has inspired and emboldened generations of Armenians to take action and advance our national aspirations, making it an individual—and collective—struggle for each and every Armenian.
During the dark Soviet years, celebrating May 28 meant recommitting ourselves to the ideal of independence and working harder to realize our dream of an independent Armenia. When that day came on September 21, 1991, we, as a nation, rejoiced and pledged to do our utmost to strengthen our homeland and May 28 became that pillar upon which our homeland rested.
The great poet Paruyr Sevak made the clarion call when he urged all generations to know themselves from Sardarabad. This past year has shown that in order to emerge from our current national predicament we have to not only know ourselves but define ourselves by Sardarabad.
We are humbled by those who sacrificed their lives for our nation and bow our heads to their memory.
08:17,
YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenia marks the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918.
Celebrations are not planned for this year's Republic Day, but the leadership of the country will visit the Sardarapat Memorial to honor the memory of the fallen heroes who gave their lives for independence and freedom.
On May 28, 1918 the Armenian people restored their independence – which was lost over 9 centuries earlier – with the triumphant victories in the fierce battles of Karakilisa, Bash Abaran and Sardarapat.
The Battle of Sardarapat shaped the destiny of Armenia. The whole nation, who survived the genocide, joined forces and entire families, including women, children and elderly, were fighting alongside soldiers.
With this victory, Armenian troops were able to stop the Turkish invasion to Transcaucasia and save Armenia from total destruction.
The First Republic of Armenia lasted only two years: in December 1920 the Red Army entered Yerevan and the country was sovietized.
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, accompanied by clergymen, on Friday visited the Sardarapat Memorial on the occasion of Republic Day.
After laying flowers at the memorial, the Catholicos recited the Lord's Prayer.
Karekin II visited the Sardarapet Memorial again unaccompanied by high-ranking officials.
On April 24, the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Catholicos had visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan unaccompanied by state officials.
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The Armenian militaries captured today tried to cross the Azerbaijani border aiming to mine the road, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD) has stated. In its turn, the Armenian MoD has refuted this version, stating that the contract soldiers were captured in the territory of a military unit located in the Gegarkunik Region.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today six servicemen were captured in the border Gegarkunik Region. According to the Armenian MoD, they performed some engineering works there; Azerbaijan insists that the detainees are scouts.
At about three o'clock in the morning, the Armenian militaries tried to cross the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the direction of the Yukhary Airym village of the Kelbadjar District of Azerbaijan, says the message posted today on the website of the Azerbaijani MoD. "Armenian soldiers were surrounded and taken prisoners while trying to mine the road leading to the border positions of the Azerbaijani Army," says the message.
The six Armenian soldiers were surrounded by Azerbaijani servicemen during engineering works they performed in the Gegarkunik Region, the Armenian MoD has stated in its turn. They were detained in the guarded territory of the military unit; they did not cross the Azerbaijani border, the MoD has explained.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 10:48 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
By Trend
The Territorial Construction and Planning Center of Azerbaijan and Chapman Taylor company have signed a contract worth 3.9 million manat ($2.29 million), Trend reports with reference to the ‘Electronic Procurement’ portal.
According to the portal, the winner of the tender announced by the Territorial Construction and Planning Center of Azerbaijan for the preparation of a master plan for the city of Shusha has been determined.
To remind, the Azerbaijani city of Shusha was liberated from Armenian occupation following the 44-day Armenia-Azerbaijan Second Karabakh war from late Sept. 27 to early Nov. 2021.
"According to the decision of the tender commission, Chapman Taylor became the winner of the tender,” the portal noted.
YEREVAN. – In recent days, cases are being recorded when individuals, various officials, and media representatives try to enter the Syunik and Gegharkunik [Provinces’] border areas in the direction of which the provocations of the Azerbaijani armed forces took place. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has noted this in a statement.
"Due to security consideration, we convincingly call to refrain from traveling to the mentioned areas, where the RA Armed Forces is carrying out military service around the clock.
As it was announced earlier, in the absence of a peaceful solution to the situation, the RA Armed Forces reserve the right to resolve the issue by any means, including by force. In this case, the presence of civilians can only hinder the Armenian units from fully fulfilling the tasks before them.
The RA Police and the RA MOD Military Police forces carrying out service on location have been instructed to exclude the entry of civilians to the mentioned areas.
We urge to approach these restrictions with understanding, and not to create unnecessary problems for the armed forces," the MOD statement also reads.