Author: Lara Antonian

Armenia presents its tourism potential at leading Russian travel show

Lara Antonian

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 12:18,

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has presented its tourism potential at the Moscow International Travel & Tourism (MITT) trade show which took place in the Russian capital from March 16 to 18, the ministry of economy told Armenpress.

20 tour companies from Armenia participated in the exhibition with the support of the Tourism Committee of the ministry of economy.

The leading international travel and tourism trade show in Russia and the CIS has been attended by 1500 companies from 229 countries.

One of the first visitors to the Armenian pavilion was the head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova who met with acting chair of the Tourism Committee of Armenia Alfred Kocharyan to discuss the bilateral cooperation prospects.

During those three days the Armenian pavilion managed to attract the interests of the Russian visitors and others with its various offers for tourism – adventure tourism, gastro tours, wine directions, Yerevan and provincial festivals, real experiments, etc.

The Armenian Embassy in Russia had a contribution to the unique presentation of the Armenian pavilion at the trade show.

On March 17 Armenian Ambassador to Russia Vardan Toghanyan hosted the representatives of Armenia on the sidelines of their visit in Moscow. The Ambassador highlighted presenting Armenia’s tourism potential at these difficult times and strengthening the Armenian-Russian ties.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

“Step Toward Home” two-week program launches in Armenia

Lara Antonian

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 13:53,

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. The Republic of Armenia Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs launched “Step Toward Home” 2021, a two-week, educational and informative summer program in Armenia intended to preserve and develop a national identity among Diaspora-Armenian youth ages 13-18, the Office of the High Commissioner told Armenpress.

The two-week, camp-style program will commence from June 21 – August 14 in 4 phases to serve 4 different cohorts of participants from all over the world. Each phase will be jam-packed with exciting activities, such as Armenian language courses in both the Eastern and Western dialects, informative visits to historical and cultural monuments, museums, academic institutions and rural communities, cultural events, among others.

“Applications are now open to young men and women from the Diaspora who are not Armenian citizens, with the exception of dual citizens, and will close one week before the beginning of each phase. Those interested in participating should apply quickly to join their desired phase. All in-country costs for the 14-day program are paid for by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, including camping, room and board, sightseeing, meetings, etc. However, participants are responsible for their own airfare to and from Armenia as well as two-week travel insurance.

If you would like to apply to the “Step Toward Home” program, please find the application here. For any questions about the program, email [email protected] or call +374 10 515-517”, the Office said.

About the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs

Established in 2019 within the Office of the Prime Minister, the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs is responsible for developing and implementing the strategies and policies for Armenia-Diaspora relations, including supporting and encouraging repatriation, ensuring smooth societal integration for repatriates, and mapping the Diaspora’s potential. The Office is made up of a diverse team of individuals, some of whom represent Diaspora communities from around the world. To learn more about our activities and programs, visit diaspora.gov.am/en, follow us on social media at @DiasporaGovAm or email us at .



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National Council of Churches of Christ calls on US authorities to negotiate release of Armenian POWs

Lara Antonian

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 11:58,

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS. The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) calls for the United States to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid for the people of Artsakh who were forced to flee their homes during the unprovoked attack by Azerbaijan and Turkey that displaced more than 50,000 ethnic Armenians in the region. 

“We plead for the United States to actively negotiate the safe return of Armenian soldiers and citizens who are being held in violation of the ceasefire agreement signed on November 9, 2020. We also urge the broad recognition of the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century by all political and faith leaders throughout the United States”, NCC said in a statement.

NCC applauded the letter signed by 101 Members of Congress that was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to stress the importance of addressing the “ongoing humanitarian crisis in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh).” 

“We call on President Biden and the Secretary of State to take direct action and negotiate the release of all Armenian soldiers and civilians held by Azerbaijan. Even though the ceasefire agreement mandated that Azerbaijan must free all Armenian prisoners of war and apprehended citizens, Azerbaijan has refused to abide by the agreement. An unknown number, believed to be over 200 Armenians, continue to be held captive. Many were captured after the military hostilities ended”, the statement says.

The Council also condemned the destruction of the churches and religious monuments by Azerbaijan during the conflict.

“As Armenians continue to be displaced and killed, we call for the President to keep his pledge and formally recognize the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, in order to further the US commitment to human rights”, the statement added.

What of Armenia? by David Davidian

Lara Antonian
March 10 2021
10/03/2021 Conflicts International Affairs
David Davidian
This article, more-than-a-tweet length, attempts to explain the cause and effect on Armenia of the Azerbaijani offensive against the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and outlying areas. Identifying the actual topic is a challenge since what transpired last fall in the southern Caucasus has multiple overtones; a US/NATO-Russia rivalry, Turkish-Russian rivalry-cooperation, an Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, staging a Turkish-Iranian conflict, or all of these.

David Davidian

None of us have official government documents, if any exist, nor do we know covert plans and agreements of the players. Thus, we will make our assessments using facts, some a generation old, some the results and effects of events during the past three years, and hard facts on the ground. For the sake of time, we will spare the reader roadmaps used to draw formal hypotheses but will adhere to accepted tenets. Just as there are competing narratives for why the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan, the same is true for the case of the war on Armenia. As such, we state facts, submit hypotheses and ask the hard questions in an attempt to make sense of events in the southern Caucasus region leading up to September 28, 2020, the Azerbaijani offensive, Armenia’s submission, and the end game.
Readers can peruse the Internet and review Armenia’s history and its people from its existence as an ancient empire to a Soviet republic. The decapitating effect of the Turkish genocide of the Armenians during WWI was the most significant social discontinuity in the Armenians’ history, worse than what occurred during the Mongol invasions. Armenians barely had enough critical mass to become a constituent Soviet republic in December 1936. Previously, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian peoples were constituent members of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, each a federated member. We will pick up on selected events occurring since the fall of the Soviet Union as such incidents directly affect events today. Azerbaijanis lived in Armenia, Armenians lived in Azerbaijan, Georgians generally resided in Georgia. The largest concentration of Armenians in what became the Azerbaijan Republic lived in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh. As the disintegration of the Soviet Union proceeded, rather crude forms of nationalism began to surface. In Georgia, it was Georgia for the Georgians! Armenians and Azerbaijanis exchanged populations with each other. Many Armenians from Baku escaped pogroms with just the clothes on their backs to Russia or as refugees to Western countries. By 1990 fighting between Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, volunteers from Armenia, and the Azerbaijani army became fierce. By May of 1994, an armistice effectively allowed Armenians to exercise sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions. Azerbaijan has always claimed Nagorno-Karabakh as an internationally accepted part of the Azerbaijani state.
Armenia’s political scene was characterized by its first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan (LTP), promulgating a philosophy that if a state doesn’t overtly appear militaristic it will not appear to be a threat to its neighbors. While it is laudable that a country is unilaterally friends with its neighbors, such a strategy does not work in the real world. Security must never be subservient to an ideology. Further, during the reign of LTP, oligarchs were allowed to reign free and develop mainly in reaction to seventy years of Soviet rule. It is a “false dilemma” that if communism is evil, liberal democracy and capitalism are good. Worst of all, during first few years of Armenia’s independence, was the dismantling of Soviet military technology, science, and research and development (R&D). This was characterized by the wholesale dumping of the contents of factories and other facilities to neighboring countries like Iran and sold by the ton. This theft was done without any plan or vetting. Privatization vouchers were purchased from an unsuspecting population en masse by the neo-oligarchs. Armenia was emptied of technology and equipment that could have been used in its self-defense or nascent defense industry. Human capital was equally neglected as the disappearance of industries and emigration grew.  Until this time, Soviet Armenia’s contribution to Soviet theoretical sciences, technologies, spacecraft control, and IT infrastructure had been larger per capita than most Soviet republics.
Armenia’s current Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, is a disciple of LTP. According to LTP, peace with Azerbaijan is “the main prerequisite for Armenia’s and Karabakh’s security, economic development and improved demographic situation.” LTP’s demagoguery never stated upon whose terms such peace was/is based. Pashinyan’s views include the internationalization of the very southern parts of Armenia.
Armenian’s potential continued to be squandered by every successive government. What passed as Armenian diplomacy was essentially business-related, not policy-related. The demands of the 21st Century and Armenia’s precarious geopolitical location demanded a grand strategy centered on security, not in fulfilling oligarchic egos, as was the case. The Armenian Diaspora was actively shunned based on the widespread attitude that the Diaspora was unwanted competition. This unwritten policy went so far as to question who should be considered a “true” Armenian. This policy parallels that of how Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan were viewed and treated. It was not only the far-flung Armenian Diaspora that was vilified. Armenian refugees from Baku were some of the most highly trained Armenians in the region. Armenians were looked down upon in Azerbaijan, yet these Armenians held professional positions within a repressive environment – an achievement in its own right. It is inexcusable to have demolished such human capital because these Russian-speaking “Baku mafia” refugees would be competing with emerging local Armenian monopolies.
Excuses were always generated as to why such human capital could not be integrated into Armenian society and state-building. The situation in Armenia was like that of Italy before Garibaldi. Given that national security was absent from the public agenda, Armenia plodded along as if it were a Luxembourg in an otherwise tame Europe. The deficiency of a national grand strategy, centered around security, ultimately allowed Azerbaijan to capture much of Nagorno-Karabakh and isolate what remains from Armenia proper. Moreover, this Azerbaijan initiative is not finished, as we shall hypothesize.
Armenia continued along on a status-quo policy with regards to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh exercised sovereignty over their affairs, while Azerbaijan claimed this region based on internationally recognized borders as a Soviet state. It made little difference what government was in power since Armenia’s independence for no serious attempts at an indigenous response were made in reply to the increase in Azerbaijan’s procurement of high-technology military equipment, nor regarding their training and military alliance with Turkey. For well over a decade, Turkey was on the path of widening its influence through both soft and hard power. In contrast, for Armenia, buying or otherwise procuring Russian arms was not a policy, but a directive. Since the early 2000s, Turkey became NATO’s attack dog, eventually nipping at Syria’s Assad’s ankles, playing both friend and foe to Russia, and acting as a potential catalyst in the dismantling of the Iranian regime.
The latest government in Armenia was ushered in under a platform of eliminating Armenia’s oligarchs and corruption. Pashinyan’s platform might have been a trendy slogan, but little or nothing was done to retrieve the claimed billions of dollars usurped from Armenia by its own corrupt elements. In fact, Pashinyan’s government’s modus operandi was to go after those entities, either in government or private domains, that had any affiliation with the previous PM, Serge Sargsyan. No attempts were made to ascertain the culpability or competency of those dismissed from imortant positions. Even the game of chess was frowned upon since Sargsyan was a chess advocate. What slowly became clear was that Pashinyan was placing incompetent people in positions of power. While these new appointees may have been otherwise ordinary, well-meaning people, most lacked experience. The Ministries of Education, Health, and Civil Aviation were among those whose inexperience was most evident. In time, Pashinyan began a push to unseat jurists on the Constitutional Court, replacing them with his preferences. At the time, this latter effort of Pashinyan seemed out of place considering all the other issues facing Armenia. Perhaps Pashinyan expected constitutional battles.
The strategic dismissals and appointments ordered by the Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan reached a peak about a year ago. On September 16, 2019, the following two individuals were dismissed.
– National Security Service Chief Artur Vanetsyan
– Chief of Police ValeryOsipyan
In February 2020, the following Major Generals were dismissed:
– Military Police Chief Artur Baghdasaryan
– Army’s Personnel Department Chief Aleksan Aleksanyan
The following announcement was made in June 2020:
– Lieutenant General Onik Gasparyan was appointed as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces
– Colonel Argishti Kyaramyan was appointed Director of the National Security Service.
– Colonel Vahe Ghazaryan was appointed Chief of Police.
Interestingly, appointing inexperienced individuals to government positions makes it easier for transgressions to take place. It is not as if the Armenian Constitution has multiple levels of checks and balances. When experienced high-ranking military personnel are replaced, with them go years of experience. However, while these dismissals/appointments could be above suspicion, all were performed without transparency. Along such lines, one may ask many questions: Why did Armenia purchase Russian SU-30M military jets without military armaments?
It has been theorized that without losing a “fight,” the Armenian public would never stand for any Armenian government or that of Nagorno-Karabakh to cede land to Azerbaijan. Does this mean that Pashinyan knew the outcome of Fall 2020’s Second Karabakh War in advance? It might. It is not out of the question considering Pashinyan has done nothing to reduce tension within Armenia since the November 9, 2020 “Capitulation.” In stark contrast, he has exacerbated a tenuous situation in Armenia. A few examples include his attempt at firing Onik Gasparyan, Chief of the General Staff less than a month ago; his claim that Armenian-purchased Russian Iskander missles are ineffective military weapons; and his inflammatory public processions surrounded by supporters bussed in from other cities. When scores of high-ranking Armenian military officers demanded he step down, Pashinyan claimed an army coup d’etat was taking place. There was no coup d’etat. When Pashinyan used the term coup d-etat, the Turkish FM came to Pashinyan’s defense. Simply stated, Turkey came to the defense of Armenia because Pashinyan must deliver on the November 9, 2020 “Capitulation.”
The most noteworthy occurrence during and after the Artsakh War is the lack of the required number of Armenian soldiers to secure borders and citizens, especially in the southern third of the country. It is southern Armenia that the Azerbaijani President Aliyev claims as Azerbaijan lands, regardless of being internationally recognized as Armenia. On March 8, 2021, Azerbaijani President Aliyev stated, “Armenia tries to prevent the execution of the Zangazur [the Azerbaijani term for this part of southern Armenia] corridor now. But it will not be able to achieve it. We will make them. We will achieve all our desires, just as we expelled them from our territories.” Other than a direct threat, Aliyev admits to past and future ethnic cleansing of Armenians. See Zangezur on the map below. We read reports daily about villagers who come face to face with Azerbaijani soldiers demanding Armenians relinquish land with no Armenian soldiers present. This lack of border protection is not arbitrary. That is, at a minimum, an army must protect borders. If the army isn’t present, either that army lacks manpower (which is not the case in Armenia), it lacks funding (doubtful if Pashinyan can bring out many hundreds of police to protect his political appearances), or somebody doesn’t want to place soldiers at border positions. The question many ask is why the lack of border security?

Azerbaijani Map showing southern Armenia as part of Greater Azerbaijan

The Bigger Picture
 As a NATO member, Turkey is in a cultural and military position to play roles the US is unwilling to take on; in Syria against Assad; in Libya; in northern Lebanon; and perhaps in other lesser-known locations. Turkey takes gambles the US won’t directly take. During the middle of the Second Karabakh War, NATO’s official website posted, “Turkey is a valued NATO Ally.” Turkey’s role was clear in its active support of Azerbaijan conquering Nagorno-Karabakh, with direct praise from NATO.
An Iranian red line counters Aliyev’s hubris. On January 27, 2021, Iranian FM Javad Zarif stated, “Our red line is the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, on which we’ve clearly expressed ourselves.” Aliyev’s hubris finds its roots in Turkey’s ever-present thread that takes advantage of any event it can use to expand influence. Those events include; the 1932 Turkish acquisition of Lesser Ararat in a land swap with Iran, the Turkish annexation of the Syrian Alexandretta region in 1938. The French Mandate granted this region as a bribe in exchange for Turkey’s promise not to enter WWII on Germany’s side. Turkey signed the German Turkish Treaty of Friendship on June 18, 1941, anyway. Turkey used the excuse of a Greek coup d’etat in Cyprus to occupy that sovereign state’s northern half in 1974. Turkey used the Syrian Civil War as an excuse to occupy much of Syria’s northwest and Syria’s northern regions. US President Trump finally gave Turkey the green light in Syria. NATO’s support for Turkey’s role in defeating the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh only encourages Turkey to take further steps in what appears to be a pan-Turkic expedition.
Informed speculation forces us to make these observations, questions, and hypotheses.
– Turkey and Azerbaijan just finished their Winter 2021 Combined Joint Live Fire Exerciseadjacent to Armenia’s border. Turkey is still engaging in reconnaissance at the Armenian border and building up military capabilities in Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhichevan. Such maneuvers are expensive. What threat is this training supposedly preparing to counter? If there is no threat, what offensive capability is being prepared and against whom?
– Other than Azerbaijan supplying half of Israel’s oil supply, Azerbaijan hostsIsraeli intelligence-gathering stations. There are diplomatic rumors that Israeli fighter jets are either stationed in Azerbaijan or can be, if necessary.
– Suppose Azerbaijani President Aliyev goes forward with his threat to attack Armenia and create a connection between the lands it captured from Nagorno-Karabakh last fall, through southern Armenia, to their exclave of Nakhichevan, considering the seeming lack of Armenian Army units in southern Armenia. In that case, Iran will take such a move as an existential threat. Iran may be more convinced of such danger with Turkey raising the ante (or afalse flag operation) in the increasingly militarized region of Nakhichevan.
– If Armenia’s borders are violated, Russia will be CTSO alliance-bound to defend Armenia. However, one must consider the dynamics of the November 9, 2020 “Capitulation” signed by Armenia. Without knowledge of annexes agreed to between the parties, the big question is: What did Azerbaijan receive in the form of assurances that allowed it to agree to have Russian peacekeeping forces on land they have continuously claimedas their internationally recognized land? We can only speculate. However, ever since the signing of the November 9, 2020 agreement, Baku has consistently used all opportunity to reference transport routes across Armenia between Azerbaijan and Nakhitchevan. Is this a reminder to the parties that a quid pro quo exists? We don’t know, but this is a question that must be asked.
– If Azerbaijani and Turkish forces capture southern Armenia, will what remains of Armenia, having been so self-emasculated, have little choice but to become an official governate (as in “gubernia”) of Russia? Is this the quid pro quo Baku agreed to when allowing Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh? Or more precisely, what caused Azerbaijan’s offensive to stop where it did, just short of the Nagorno-Karabakh capital of Stepanakert? This is a question with no official response.
– Will tensions in Armenia bring the country to the brink of civil war, allowing Azerbaijan to march across southern Armenia?
– The Republic of Georgia, which allowed its airspaceto be used for the transport of Turkish troops and arms, ISIS fighters, and Israeli arms, might find a Russian presence on its southern border if Armenia were forced to accept Russian protectorate status.
– Is NATO planning on using its attackdog, Turkey, to force Iran into a confrontation, giving the illusion of an ethnic Azerbaijani insurgence in the Iranian provinces of East and West Azerbaijan? While Iran is busy with Turkey, Israel could destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Of course, if this were to happen, Israel will have to defend itself or preemptively attack the Iranian-friendly Hezbollah in Lebanon simultaneously. Since any form of P5+1 (aka the UN Security Council’s five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, + Germany) talks with Iran do not fit into Israeli interests, otherwise, the rabidly Anti-Semitic and genocidal Turkey would be the perfect
And what of Armenia? In such instances, what happens to Armenia will be considered “collateral damage.”
Yerevan, Armenia
Author: David Davidian (Lecturer at the American University of Armenia. He has spent over a decade in technical intelligence analysis at major high technology firms. He resides in Yerevan, Armenia).
Image Credit: AP
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Turkish Press: Armenian premier declares army chief dismissed

Lara Antonian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
March 10 2021
Ali Cura   | 10.03.2021
Armenian premier declares army chief dismissed

YEREVAN, Armenia

Armenia's prime minister on Wednesday nominated a replacement for the country's sitting chief of general staff, who he earlier declared to be officially dismissed.

According to a statement from premier Nikol Pashinyan's office, a Feb. 25 decree dismissing Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan became legally effective on Wednesday as President Armen Sargsyan had neither signed nor appealed it at the Constitutional Court on time.

"As such, Onik Gasparyan is legally dismissed from his post from March 10," the statement asserted. Gasparyan, along with other senior commanders, released a statement on Feb 25 calling for Pashinyan's resignation.

Separately, Pashinyan's spokesman Mane Gevorkyan on Wednesday announced that the prime minister proposed former Chief of General Staff Artak Davtyan returns to the post.

The official proposal was forwarded to the president, the statement noted.

President Sargsyan on Wednesday appealed to the Constitutional Court to review the legality of Gasparyan's dismissal, his office said in another statement.

Gasparyan accused Pashinyan of violating the constitution with his dismissal and said on social media he would continue to serve the country and nation.

Coup attempt and unrest in Armenia

Pashinyan had blasted the military's call for his resignation as a coup attempt and urged his supporters to take to the streets to resist.

He later announced Gasparyan's dismissal on Facebook.

The unrest follows the end of a military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan last fall, widely seen as a victory for the latter.

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

During the six week-conflict, which ended with a Russian-brokered truce, Azerbaijan liberated several strategic cities and nearly 300 of its settlements and villages from Armenian occupation.

Before this, about 20% of Azerbaijan's territory had been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.

* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk

Armenpress: Presidency debunks reports alleging Sarkissian secretly visited Azerbaijan

Lara Antonian

Presidency debunks reports alleging Sarkissian secretly visited Azerbaijan

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 14:08, 9 March, 2021

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian’s Office is denying media reports alleging that he secretly visited Azerbaijan on November 17th in 2020.

The presidency said that this information is “an explicit lie and disinformation.”

“The president hasn’t been in Baku neither on that day, nor on any other day,” the presidency said.

It further mentioned that on November 17th, 2020, Sarkissian was hosting in his office the new Canadian ambassador to Armenia for the latter’s presentation of credentials.

The presidency called on news outlets to refrain from spreading “absurd, explicitly fake information and statements of persons of unknown origin.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Pashinyan congratulates diplomats on their professional day

Lara Antonian

 19:37, 2 March, 2021

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan issued a congratulatory message on the professional day of diplomats, noting that Armenia's future achievements in the international arena are particularly conditioned by the effectiveness of the work of the diplomats, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the PM’s Office.

''Dear diplomats,

I congratulate you on your professional day. In today's complicated global atmosphere, your role and mission for our state become more and more important. The degree of your responsibility is great, the expectations from you are also great.

Despite the blows of the war, we must be able to stand up, understand the causes of our past failures, and move forward to achieve our goals. Our future achievements in the international arena are particularly conditioned by the effectiveness of your work.

I am confident that you will fulfill your mission and service with honor'', reads Nikol Pashinyan's congratulatory message.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 02/24/2021

Lara Antonian 
                                        Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Nine Sentenced Over 2016 Attack On Armenian Police Station
February 24, 2021
        • Narine Ghalechian

Armenia - Gunmen occupy a police station in Yerevan, 23July2016.

An Armenian court gave on Wednesday prison sentences ranging from about 5 to 25 
years to nine key members of an armed anti-government group that seized a police 
base in Yerevan in July 2016.

The defendants and two dozen other gunmen stormed the base to demand that then 
President Serzh Sarkisian free Zhirayr Sefilian, the jailed leader of their 
radical opposition movement, and step down.

The gunmen, who took police officers and medical personnel hostage, laid down 
their weapons after a two-week standoff with security forces which left three 
police officers dead.

All but two members of the armed group called Sasna Tsrer were set free pending 
the outcome of their trials shortly after Sarkisian was toppled in the 2018 
“Velvet Revolution” led by Nikol Pashinian.

The two other members remained behind bars because of facing murder charges 
denied by them.


Armenia - Relatives of police officers killed in a standoff with opposition 
gunmen attend a remembrance ceremony in Yerevan, 28Sep2016.

The court convicted one of them, Smbat Barseghian, of murdering Colonel Artur 
Vanoyan and Warrant Officer Yuri Tepanosian and sentenced him to 25 years in 
prison.

But it found the other defendant, Armen Bilian, not guilty of the killing of the 
third police victim, Warrant Officer Gagik Mkrtchian.

The presiding judge, Mesrop Makian, said that prosecutors did not provide 
sufficient evidence in support of the accusation. He said they must order a new 
investigation into the circumstances of Mkrtchian’s death.

Bilian was released from custody despite being convicted of other criminal 
charges and sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison.

Bilian remained unrepentant about the deadly attack, saying that he and his 
comrades waged a legitimate struggle against Sarkisian. “We still have a lot to 
do to have justice established in Armenia,” he told reporters after his release.

The seven other defendants were sentenced to between 6 and 8 years. They were 
found guilty of illegal arms possession, hostage taking and seizure of state 
buildings.


Armenia -- Members of an armed group that seized a police station in Yerevan in 
2016 stand trial, November 11, 2017.

The defendants continued to deny the accusations and said they will appeal 
against the verdict. All of them except Barseghian will remain at large at least 
until higher court rulings on their planned appeal.

Varuzhan Avetisian, the Sasna Tsrer leader who got a 7-year jail term, has 
repeatedly defended the armed attack on the police facility located in Yerevan’s 
southern Erebuni district.

Some relatives of the slain policemen present in the courtroom were also not 
satisfied with the verdict.

Tepanosian’s wife said his convicted murderer should have been sentenced to life 
imprisonment. “May all members of this group be tried by God,” she said.

The 2016 attack was condemned by the United States and the European Union. “We 
abhor the actions of Sasna Tsrer and others who use violence or who threaten to 
harm others to serve their political agenda,” Richard Mills, the then U.S. 
ambassador to Armenia, said in 2018.



Armenian PM Accused Of Lying About Russian Missiles
February 24, 2021
        • Aza Babayan
        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia - The Armenian military demonstrates Iskander missile systems during a 
parade in Yerevan, 21Sep2016.

Russian pro-government lawmakers and pundits strongly condemned Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday for implying that Armenia's most advanced 
Russian-made missiles proved useless during the recent war with Azerbaijan.

In an interview with the 1in.am news service aired late on Tuesday, Pashinian 
responded to former President Serzh Sarkisian’s claim that the Armenian military 
did not adequately use its Iskander missiles against advancing Azerbaijani 
troops because of wrong government orders.

Sarkisian made the claim earlier this month as he harshly criticized Pashinian’s 
handling of the the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on 
November 10.

“Let him ask why the fired Iskander did not explode or why it exploded by, say, 
10 percent,” Pashinian hit back without elaborating.

Pashinian went on to suggest that the sophisticated missile system might be 
outdated. Asked whether it could have indeed malfunctioned, he said: “I don’t 
know. Maybe it’s a weapon of the 1980s.”


Armenia - Prime Minister NIkol Pashinian is interviewed by 1in.am, February 23, 
2021.

The remarks provoked a storm of criticism in Russia which supplied several 
Iskander systems to Armenia in 2015. Senior members of the State Duma, Russia’s 
lower house of parliament, attacked Pashinian in unusually strong terms.

“The Iskander is a highly precise weapon, which has repeatedly been proved 
during military exercises,” said Viktor Zavarzin, the deputy chairman of a State 
Duma committee on defense and security.

What Pashinian said about the missile is a “complete lie,” Zavarzin told the 
Govorit Moskva radio station.

Another Russian lawmaker, Dmitry Sablin, mocked the Armenian premier and 
questioned his competence.

“A bad dancer is hampered by other things. This popular saying best describes 
the Armenian prime minister’s claims about the use of the Iskander in the last 
war and its being obsolete,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Sablin as saying.

Vladimir Solovyov, Russia’s leading political talk show host, and other 
pro-Kremlin commentators likewise denounced Pashinian’s remarks widely 
circulated by the Russian media.


RUSSIA -- A Russian Iskander-K missile is launched during a military exercise at 
a training ground at the Luzhsky Range, near St. Petersburg, Septtember 19, 2017

Pashinian also came under fire from his political opponents at home.

“How can 10 percent of a missile explode and the remaining 90 percent not 
explode after hitting a target?” said Seyran Ohanian, a retired general who 
served as Armenia’s defense minister during the acquisition of Iskander missiles.

“I think that [Pashinian] is very far from being qualified to make judgments 
about them,” Ohanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

But Andranik Kocharian, a senior lawmaker representing the ruling My Step bloc, 
dismissed the criticism, saying that Pashinian’s statement must be seriously 
investigated. “If Mr. Pashinian’s suspicions turn out to be correct we must 
review everything,” he told reporters.

Asked whether the remarks could damage Russian-Armenian relations, Kocharian 
said that Sarkisian’s claims are more “dangerous” for Armenia’s national 
security.

With a firing range of up to 500 kilometers, the Iskander is known for its 
precision and ability to overcome modern missile defense shields. Russia 
prompted serious concerns from the United States and other Western powers when 
it deployed such missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea in 2018.



EU To Keep ‘Working With Russia’ On Karabakh Peace
February 24, 2021
        • Harry Tamrazian

Armenia -- Toivo Klaar, the European Union’s special representative for the 
South Caucasus, meets with Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian, Yerevan, 
February 22, 2021.

A senior European Union diplomat has praised Russia for stopping the autumn war 
over Nagorno-Karabakh and said that despite mounting tensions with Moscow the EU 
will continue to work with it in facilitating a peaceful resolution of the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Ties between Russia and the West have deteriorated further of late due to the 
arrest and prosecution of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. On Monday EU foreign 
ministers agreed to sanction four senior Russian officials close to President 
Vladimir Putin in response to Navalny’s jailing.

Moscow warned earlier this month that it is ready to sever ties with the EU if 
the 27-nation bloc hits it with fresh economic sanctions.

Toivo Klaar, the EU’s special representative for the South Caucasus, was asked 
about the sanctions’ possible impact on EU-Russia cooperation on the Karabakh 
settlement when he spoke with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service after meeting with 
senior Armenian officials in Yerevan on Tuesday.

“I think we have interacted and I have personally had many meetings in Moscow 
over the years,” Klaar said in an interview. “In the case of Nagorno-Karabakh 
and also in the case of the conflict in Georgia, we will continue to have 
contacts and work with Russia.”

“Frankly, I think that it was a great achievement to have a ceasefire and Russia 
is to be commended for the fact that it was able to achieve a ceasefire in 
November,” he said. “The deployment of the [Russian] peacekeeping forces has 
helped to bring security and that is to be welcomed. Of course, this is only 
part of the way in the sense that we have not yet a peaceful settlement, we have 
a ceasefire.”

The Armenian-Azerbaijani ceasefire agreement was brokered by Putin on November 9 
after six weeks of heavy fighting in and around Karabakh that left thousands of 
soldiers dead.


Armenia -- Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian meets with Toivo Klaar, 
the European Union’s special representative for the South Caucasus, Yerevan, 
February 23, 2021.

The agreement also calls for the restoration of transport links between Armenia 
and Azerbaijan. Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Azerbaijani counterpart 
Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian decided to set up a 
trilateral “working group” for that purpose when they met in Moscow on January 
11.

Klaar held talks on Tuesday with the working group’s Armenian co-chair, Deputy 
Prime Minister Mher Grigorian. He said they had “very good discussions on what 
is being talked about in the trilateral working group on communication links.”

“Of course, right now we are not part of this trilateral working group but with 
the outcomes of the trilateral working I’m sure that the EU will look to play a 
positive role where it can to support the opening of communication links,” added 
the diplomat.

Klaar dismissed suggestions that a lack of EU support for Armenia and its 
current government formed as a result of the 2018 “Velvet Revolution” has helped 
Russia increase its already strong influence on the South Caucasus state after 
the war.

“I don’t agree with those who say that the EU failed Armenia,” he said, pointing 
to the upcoming entry into force of the EU’s Comprehensive and Enhanced 
Partnership Agreement with Armenia signed in 2017. He also argued that the EU 
has provided “substantial” aid designed to help Yerevan cope with the 
coronavirus pandemic and humanitarian consequences of the Karabakh war.

“I do realize that the present situation is very difficult in Armenia and I have 
heard that many times over during the meetings that I have had here … But again, 
the European Union stands firmly with Armenia and with the region,” stressed the 
EU envoy.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Russia Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee hopes for stabilization of situation in Armenia

Lara Antonian

 16:50, 25 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev hopes that the current situation in Armenia will be quickly stabilized within the law, TASS reports, stating that the Russian senators are in touch with their Armenian parliamentary colleagues.

“Of course, we follow [the developments] with concern. We wish our brotherly Armenian people a quick stabilization of the situation based on the Constitution and the current legislation. We are in touch with our Armenian parliamentary partners”, Mr. Kosachev said, stating that the current situation is the internal affair of sovereign Armenia.

On February 25 the General Staff of the Armenian Forces of Armenia issued a statement, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Cabinet.

In his turn Pashinyan commented on the statement, calling it as a “military coup attempt”. He invited all his supporters to the Republic Square to discuss the ongoing developments.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Secretary General of the European Ombudsman Institute calls for release of Armenian POWs

Lara Antonian
Public Radio of Armenia
Feb 26 2021

Secretary General of the European Ombudsman Institute Josef Siegele has called on Azerbaijani to immediately release all Armenian prisoners of war and civilians held in Azerbaijan.

“Everyone deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the armed conflict should be returned immediately after the cessation of hostilities and without any preconditions,” Siegele said.

“It should be considered exclusively in the context of human rights and the humanitarian process as an international requirement which is to be automatically applied,” he added.

“Delaying the return of the Armenian prisoners of war and civilians undermined human dignity and seriously violates the fundamental requirements guaranteed by the Geneva Convention. This grossly undermines the post-war humanitarian processes and the international human rights mandates,” he noted.

Josef Siegele stressed that the release of the captives and their safe return require immediate resolution.