Author: Lara Antonian

Letter to Editor of The Guardian (UK): Nagorno-Karabakh and Ramil Safarov by Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the UK

Lara Antonian
The Guardian, UK
LETTER TO EDITOR
Nagorno-Karabakh and Ramil Safarov

Azerbaijani ambassador Tahir Taghizade responds to a recent article

Nagorno-Karabakh is not a “disputed territory” as described in your article about the case of Ramil Safarov (Relatives of Armenian axed to death by Azeri officer call for justice, 25 May). It is an integral, internationally recognised part of Azerbaijan which, together with seven other regions of Azerbaijan, has been occupied by Armenia for more than 25 years. More than a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). In 1993 the United Nations security council adopted four resolutions demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the territory of Azerbaijan. These resolutions are yet to be implemented.

Ramil Safarov was forcibly expelled as a child from his home town, Jabrayil, which is also under Armenian occupation. His extradition from Hungary – where he had already served eight years in prison – to Azerbaijan was done on a legal basis, and it is the constitutional right of the head of any sovereign state to pardon its citizens. While Azerbaijan is calling for justice for its refugees and IDPs, Armenia employs all instruments and platforms to solidify its occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories.
Tahir Taghizade
Ambassador of the Republic of to the UK

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/28/nagorno-karabakh-and-ramil-safarov

Leopard caught on camera in Syunik Province

Lara Antonian
Panorama, Armenia
Society 10:37 16/05/2020Armenia

Camera traps have captured a leopard in Arevik National Park in Syunik province on May 13. As Zangezur biosphere SNCO reported on its Facebook page, the new image was obtained from the cameras installed in the park.

The Caucasian or Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), is one of the most endangered species living in the Caucasus. This leopard subspecies can be found in the South Caucasus countries, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Some experts estimate there are less than 1300 leopards left in wild.

Armenian PM calls to strongly abide by anti-epidemic rules, as Covid-19 cases grow

Lara Antonian
Public Radio of Armenia

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has strongly urged citizens to abide by anti-epidemic rules to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Speaking live through Facebook today, the Prime Minister said “any of should take up personal responsibility by strongly following the recommendations.”

“Unfortunately, I see people shaking hands and chatting to each other without keeping the social distance and wearing masks,” he said, adding that “this can lead us to a serious problem.”

The Prime Minister stressed that any of us has a chance not to get infected and not to infect other by following three main rules: keep social distancing, avoid touching the face without disinfecting the hands and use only disinfected and clean tableware.

The call comes in the wake of growth in the number of coronavirus cases in the past week.  

“Since coronavirus is going to be with us for at least a year, we have to learn to live side by side with the virus,” PM Pashinyan said. Therefore, he said the restrictions have been eased to allow the economy to recover, which will, in turn, leaded to improved social conditions.

He warned, however, that there could be a return to stricter measures should the growth rate be maintained.

The Prime Minister noted that a total of 73 billion AMD has been distributed as part of the government’s rescue package, benefiting  1.1 million people.

Armenia has so far confirmed 3,718 cases of Covid-19, 1,500 people have recovered, 48 deaths have been reported.

Ex-president Kocharyan’s lawyers filed 14 complaints with ECHR

Lara Antonian
Panorama, Armenia

The defense team of former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan has filed 14 complaints with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Hayk Alumyan, one of Kocharyan’s lawyers told Ria Novosty news agency.

The defense team of Kocharyan who faces charges of overthrowing the constitutional order, demand to change the detention measure of their client. They had earlier filed motions to administrative and civil courts to free him from pre-trial detention amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawyers pointed to the ex-president’s health condition and the fact that in his 60s the former is in high risk group to contract the virus.

“The defense team of Kocharyan has filed 14 complaints with ECHR, 10 of which have been registered for review,” Alumyan said.

The agency reminds that the ex-president has been placed in custody for about two years, pending trial. He is charged with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order during the March 1-2, 2008 post-election events in Yerevan, but strongly denies any wrongdoing. Kocharyan and his defense team strongly denies any wrongdoing and consider the charges as political persecution.

Number of coronavirus cases in Armenia grows by 138 in past 24 hours, reaching 3,313, death toll increases to 45

Lara Antonian
Aysor, Armenia

The number of coronavirus cases grew by 138 in the past 24 hours, reaching 3,313 the Center for Control and Prevention of Diseases reported on Sunday.

According to the center, a total of 1,325 patients have recovered, 1,928 are getting treatment.

The coronavirus death toll reached 45.

Fifteen coronavirus patients died from other illnesses.

Artsakh Foreign Ministry Memorandum on Khojaly events distributed at UN

Lara Antonian
Arminfo, Armenia
May 6 2020

ArmInfo. A memorandum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), addressed to the Secretary General of the organization on March 27, 2020 in connection with the ongoing attempts by Azerbaijan to falsify the events that occurred in February 1992, was distributed at the United Nations as an official document. Khojalu from Azerbaijani armed forces. ArmInfo was informed about this in the press service of the Artsakh Foreign Ministry. The document provides arguments confirming that the actions of the Artsakh Republic self-defense forces aimed at neutralizing the shelling and firing positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces located in Khojaly, as well as at unblocking the Stepanakert airport, were caused by absolute military necessity and were consistent with the norms and principles of international humanitarian law.     "On the contrary, the Azerbaijani side during the above-mentioned events committed gross violations of a number of norms of international humanitarian law. In particular, the Azerbaijani authorities decided not to evacuate the civilian population in order to maintain a military-strategic position. The use of civilians by Azerbaijani troops as a human shield to provide themselves with cover is not only a gross violation of international humanitarian law, but also, in accordance with article 8 (2) (b) (xxiii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Code of court amount to war crimes.     The tragic combination of the following circumstances is the deliberate violation by the Azerbaijani side of the norms of international humanitarian law, the struggle for power within Azerbaijan and the resulting lack of unity of command in the Azerbaijani armed forces  led to the fact that there were human casualties, despite all the protective measures taken by the Artsakh self-defense forces, including, in particular, an early warning about the operation and the creation of humanitarian corridors.     In order to escalate anti-Armenian hysteria and cultivate hatred of Armenians in Azerbaijani society, Azerbaijan continues to pursue a policy of falsification and misinformation, spreading false allegations regarding the events that occurred when Khojaly was liberated from Azerbaijani armed groups, "the NKR MFA reported in the statement.   

Armenpress: Armenia registers largest two-year Democracy Score improvement in history of Freedom House’s report

Lara Antonian

Armenia registers largest two-year Democracy Score improvement in history of Freedom House’s report

Save

Share

 10:43, 6 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia registered the largest two-year Democracy Score improvement in the history of the Freedom House’s Nations in Transit 2020 report.

The report is dedicated to the democratic developments in 29 post-Soviet Eurasian countries. It says “the score has reached its highest-ever point for Armenia, with improvements related to elections and corruption in the latest edition”.

According to the report, a national consensus in favor of political change, the rule of law, and the elimination of systemic corruption formed the basis of Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution. “This public demand provides a historic opportunity for democracy’s advocates inside and outside the country”, the report says.

“Major transformations driven by public demands for better governance have been under way in Armenia and Ukraine. Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will now face the difficult challenge of managing expectations, maintaining trust, and restructuring corrupt systems without contravening democratic norms”, the report says.

Freedom House urges to invest heavily in programs in Armenia that support the rule of law and strengthen independent institutions, including comprehensive judicial and police reforms. “Both the United States and the EU have stepped up support, but their programs should also focus on maintaining social cohesion and addressing political polarization. Overcoming these challenges could be the key to success for any other reforms”, according to the report.

The report highlights that a growing number of leaders in Central and Eastern Europe have dropped even the pretense that they play by the rules of democracy. They openly attack democratic institutions and are working to restrict individual freedoms.

“Many leaders in this region are no longer pretending to care about democracy or the rule of law,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “It is time for European leaders who are committed to freedom to address the crisis in their own neighborhood. The coronavirus crisis has created an inflection point, after which things could become much worse, or democracy could be revitalized,” said Abramowitz. “We hope that this experience will illustrate the importance of transparent and accountable governance and catalyze new demands for change.”

Armenpress: We continue working as two equivalent partners – Armenian FM about relations with Russia

Lara Antonian

We continue working as two equivalent partners – Armenian FM about relations with Russia

Save

Share

 18:41, 6 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan reaffirms that relations with Russia were and remain one of the priority foreign policy directions of Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports Mnatsakanyan said during parliament-Cabinet Q&A session, answering the question of an MP from ‘’Luminous Armenia’’ Party about the recent announcement of Russian FM Sergey Lavrov.

‘’We have Armenian-Russian relations, which are quite saturated, and we have history based on all the principles of allied relations, which are reflected in many legal documents and have very concrete applications. These relations are about numerous spheres, starting from security sphere. Our Government has announced numerous times that these relations were and remain one of the key foreign policy directions of Armenia. And in this spirit we continue working with our Russian partners'', he said.

The Minister noted that naturally, there are different questions from the Armenian side, Russian side, but there is no need to make drama out of that. ''We are speaking about relations, which are not necessarily to start and end with toasts, each side has its questions and priorities. But all these are relations of partners and allies.  And we worked and will work in that way, as two equivalent partners, friends and allied countries'', he said.

The MP noted that no one questions the strategic relations with Russia, but the question is who were the announcements of Lavrov addressed to.

''The question came from an Azerbaijani source, as long as I remember, and the answer was addressed to the Azerbaijani source'', Mnatsakanyan responded.

Sergey Lavrov particularly said in his announcement that they actively discuss the proposals presented at the meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in Moscow, which are about ''step-by-step'' solution.

Reporting by Anna grigoryan, Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

102 new cases of COVID19 in Armenia

Lara Antonian

Save

Share

 11:09, 7 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 7, ARMENPRESS. 102 new coronavirus cases, 50 recoveries and 2 deaths have been recorded in Armenia in the past 24 hours, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The total cumulative number of infections reached 2884, of which 1185 have recovered.

The number of active cases stands at 1648.

The latest fatalities were 78- and 66-year-old patients with underlying health conditions, healthcare authorities said.

The total number of fatalities has reached 42.

Reporting by Lilit Demuryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia among world’s 10 countries with military burden of 4% or more of GDP

Lara Antonian
Panorama, Armenia
April 27 2020

Global military expenditure is estimated to have been $1,917 billion in 2019, the highest level since 1988, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The total was 3.6% higher in real terms than in 2018 and 7.2% higher than in 2010, the Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019 reveals.

Armenia’s military spending grew slightly last year to make up 4.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP), making it one of the 10 countries with a military burden of 4% or more of GDP in the world.

Armenia ranks sixth on the list, which also features Oman (8.8%), Saudi Arabia, (8%), Kuwait (5.6%), Israel (5.3%), Jordan (4.7%), Lebanon (4.2%), Algeria (6%), Azerbaijan (4%) and Pakistan (4%).

Of the 149 countries for which SIPRI has military burden data for 2019, 10 allocated 4% or more of their GDP to the military, 13 had a military burden of 3–3.9% of GDP, 24 had a military burden of 2–2.9%, 65 had a military burden of 1–1.9%, and 34 allocated less than 1.0% of their GDP to the military. Three countries do not have a military and therefore have no military burden: Costa Rica, Iceland and Panama, the report says.

The world’s top five military spenders include the US, China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia.