Author: Meline Chalian

Peace treaty to be smooth sailing after Yerevan recognized Baku’s integrity — Aliyev

Meline Chalian
 TASS 
Russia – May 25 2023
According to Ilham Aliyev, the lack of such recognition was the main factor keeping the sides from reaching an agreement

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that following Armenia's recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, the issue of negotiating a peace treaty will be that much easier.

"I think that after the recent statements of the Armenian leadership on the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, as well as the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan with the use of specific figures for the territory of the Azerbaijan Republic, the issue of agreeing on other items of the peace treaty will be much easier," he said at the opening of talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

According to Aliyev, the lack of such recognition was the main factor keeping the sides from reaching an agreement.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik on May 17 that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan's sovereignty within its borders of 86,600 square kilometers, which includes Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that the settlement should be reached via dialogue. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the breakup of the Soviet Union, but which was primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Renewed clashes erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the document, Azerbaijan and Armenia maintained the positions that they had held, while a number of districts were handed over to Baku and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin Corridor. Later, the three countries’ leaders adopted several more joint statements on the situation in the region. Last year, Azerbaijan and Armenia began peace treaty talks.

Armenian authorities arrest suspected criminal syndicate member behind smuggling of ton of cocaine from Ecuador

Meline Chalian

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 16:26,

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS. A suspect has been arrested by Armenian authorities in the investigation into the thwarted smuggling of over a ton of cocaine from Ecuador.

The National Security Service said in a statement on May 24 that a member of a criminal syndicate has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit drug trafficking and drug smuggling.

The suspect, identified only by initials M. GH., is the Head of Imports and Acquisitions Department of Mrgeni – a fruit importing company.

Armenia recognizes 86.6 thousand km2 of Azerbaijan and expects Azerbaijan to recognize 29.8 thousand km2 of Armenia. PM

Meline Chalian

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 18:01,

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS.  Armenia reaffirms the agreement recorded in Brussels, according to which it recognizes 86.6 thousand square kilometers of Azerbaijan and expects that Azerbaijan will also reaffirm that it recognizes 29.8 thousand square kilometers of Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced during the parliament-Cabinet Q&A session.

Hripsime Grigoryan from Civil Contract Party asked why Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and specifies the territorial dimensions.

"Why 86.6 thousand and 29.8 thousand, because from here the next question arises: what is that territorial integrity that we recognize? Azerbaijan has a very clear narrative, it says that Armenia does not recognize its territorial integrity, that is, if it does not recognize that Azerbaijan is 86.6 thousand square kilometers, then they do not recognize that Armenia is 29 thousand 800 square kilometers. And that conversation is happening in front of the international community. And when Azerbaijan continuously attacks Armenia, and, of course, we are in contact with the international community, they say that Armenia does not recognize their territorial integrity either, attacked or is attacking them. Suppose, Armenia does not recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and if Azerbaijan attacks, the CSTO will come and stand by Armenia. CSTO said during and as a result of these attacks: "I will come and stand by your side, but I will just send 30 very strong observers," said the Prime Minister.

Pashinyan emphasized that a decision must be made. "We can say that we do not recognize Azerbaijan's 86.6 thousand square kilometers, and in our opinion, Azerbaijan is not 86.6 thousand square kilometers, but 45.7 thousand square kilometers. They will say that in their opinion, Armenia is not 29.8 thousand square kilometers, but 8700 square kilometers. And yes, I reaffirm from this podium that Armenia reaffirms the agreement recorded in Brussels, that Armenia recognizes 86.6 thousand square kilometers of Azerbaijan, and I expect that Azerbaijan will also reaffirm that it recognizes 29.8 thousand square kilometers of Armenia", said the Prime Minister.

Over 100 Artsakh patients deprived of access to media care in Armenia

Meline Chalian
Panorama
Armenia – May 16 2023

Russian peacekeeping forces on Tuesday facilitated the transfer of nine severely ill patients from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia, the Artsakh Health Ministry said.
Medical evacuations were previously carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The ICRC had to suspend them on 29 April after Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor, the sole road in or out of Artsakh. The supply of medicine to Artsakh has also been suspended.

“More than 100 patients have been deprived of access to medical aid in Armenia due to the impossibility of their transportation in recent weeks. 25 of them require urgent transfer to Armenia,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Why We Love the Dallas Suburbs

Meline Chalian
Dallas –
Looking to plan the perfect day trip? Or are you looking to start a brand-new life? Here’s a list of 11 suburbs in Dallas’ surrounding areas that are worth a visit.
By Zac Crain, Mike Piellucci, Brian Reinhart, Tim Rogers, and Kathy Wise | 
  • 2021 population: 133,251
  • Population growth over the past 10 years: 9%
  • Median home sale price: $410,000
  • School district demographics: 18% Black, 55% Hispanic, 11% White, 11% Asian
  • T.E.A. school grade: B (88 out of 100)
Carrollton’s biggest growth spurt was in the 1980s, during which the population more than doubled and much of the city’s infrastructure was developed. Things have slowed down a bit in the last few decades, but the city is still rapidly improving itself, adding parks among its rolling hills and building on its reputation as one of Dallas’ most diverse and inclusive suburbs. According to a 2021 U.S. Census estimate, 28 percent of residents here are foreign born, a higher percentage than in Dallas, Richardson, Frisco, Addison, Farmers Branch, and Lewisville, and just a fraction shy of Plano.

If you want to understand Carrollton’s diversity and its appeal to residents from around the world, look to its houses of worship. On a single block of Old Denton Road, you’ll pass one of North Texas’ largest mosques, a Vietnamese Christian church, and a Syrian Orthodox church. Around the corner is St. Mary’s Orthodox Church of India. (Yes, India has an Orthodox community that traces its roots back to Christianity’s first century.) Just south of downtown is the Sri Guruvayurappan Hindu Temple.

The city’s new crown jewel, though, is St. Sarkis Armenian Orthodox Church, on the border with Plano. Consecrated in April 2022, the church and adjoining community center were designed by architect David Hotson and project architect Stepan Terzyan, a member of the congregation. The result is a warmly minimalist mixture of Armenian architectural tradition and geometric calm. On the exterior, 1.5 million centimeter wide icons form a dazzling tapestry. Like snowflakes, the icons are unique, as each represents a victim of the 1915-1917 Armenian genocide and provides a silent protest to the persecution that continues in the Caucasus today.

The town square was platted more than a century ago, in 1900, but the last few decades have brought restoration and upgrades. DART now operates along the old Dallas-to-Denton rail line. Bike trails connect the station to a variety of neighborhoods. Downtown itself, sitting in the shadow of an enormous new I-35 overpass, crams in traditional antiques malls alongside an ax-throwing joint, a Cane Rosso location, and the acclaimed 3 Nations Brewing Co., which pulls its many taps inside a restored 70-year-old grain shed.

https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2023/may/why-we-love-the-dallas-suburbs/




Music: Third Annual Day of Armenian Music to Feature Noted Armenian Composer, Artur Avanesov

Meline Chalian


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In 2013, the Armenian Music Program was launched at UCLA with a single ensemble-in-residence, the string quartet VEM. The ensemble performed on campus and conducted a few outreach programs in what were admittedly modest beginnings.

A lot has changed in ten years. 

When the program hosts its third-annual Day of Armenian Music on May 26 at Schoenberg and Lani Hall, it marks just how far the program has come. The program now has two ensembles-in-residence that conduct educational outreach in the Los Angeles community. They also perform, record, and tour regularly across the United States and the world.

“I am very proud of how the Armenian Music Program has developed,” said Movses Pogossian, professor of violin and the program’s director. “Being able to preserve and amplify Armenian musical traditions in all their forms, whether classical or folk or jazz, has been so rewarding. It is really stimulating to work with all of these musicians and artists.”

The Day of Armenian Music features two primary events. The first is a number of workshops and performances with an educational focus. Students from local Armenian schools will be able to participate in a dance workshop, and will be treated to a concert in Schoenberg Hall by the Armenian Music Program’s resident Lernazang Ensemble featuring legendary folk singer Hasmik Harutyunyan. 

“I am sure our audience will appreciate seeing Armenian folk instruments such as the double-reeded duduk or the stringed kamancha performed live by masters Emmanuel Hovhannisyan and Vardan Baghdasaryan” said Melissa Bilal, the associate director of the Armenian Music Program.  The concert will also showcase the 2022-23 recipients of the VEM Fellowship for the Study and Performance of Armenian Music, Adam Frary and Max Ary. 

The day will culminate in a concert at 5:00 p.m. featuring the day’s special guest, pianist and composer Artur Avanesov. The concert will be preceded by a “meet the artist” session, a panel including Avanesov and UCLA composer Ian Krouse.

“Avanesov’s music is beautifully transparent, always impeccably crafted, and transcending both the performer and the listeners alike into a joyful state of wonder from the beginning to the end” said Pogossian.   

Artur Avanesov

A highly regarded composer, Avanesov was born in 1980 in Moscow and trained in composition at the Yerevan State Conservatory in Armenia from 1997-2002. His music, both his compositions and work as a piano performer, can be found on the Deutsche Grammophon label and Albany Records, along with others. 

The concert will be performed by the VEM Ensemble, with special guest Varty Manouelian, violinist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a lecturer in violin performance at the School of Music.  It will feature premiers of work by Avanesov and Jahan Raymond, who was the winner of the 2023 Tigran Mansurian Competition. Concert program will also include works by Khosrovitukhd, Koharik Gazarossian, and Edward Mirzoyan as well as a folk song collected by Mihran Toumajan arranged by VEM cellist Niall Tarō Ferguson. 

“The Day of Armenian Music reflects our aspirations for creating a vibrant Armenian music scene on UCLA campus,” said Bilal. “We are looking forward to spending a whole day sharing music and dance with our enthusiastic audience of all ages.”

https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/third-annual-day-of-armenian-music/









Turkish Press: ​Azerbaijan says talks with Armenia in US moved ‘one step forward’

Meline Chalian
Turkey –

Azerbaijan says talks with Armenia in US moved ‘one step forward’


No final agreement but there was headway in negotiations, says Azerbaijani foreign minister


16:48 . 10/05/2023 Wednesday

Azerbaijan on Wednesday said the process of normalization of ties with Armenia moved “one step forward” in the US last week.


“Over the course of four days in Washington, we had rather intensive discussions around the peace treaty,” Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters in Baku.


Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan took part in peace talks in the US capital between April 30 and May 3, with meetings at the White House and State Department.


In a statement after the sessions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said, "both demonstrated a sincere commitment to normalizing relations and ending the long-standing conflict between their two countries," adding that "with additional goodwill, flexibility, and compromise, an agreement is within reach."


Despite not agreeing to a final deal, Bayramov said there was headway. “We've gone one step further. We must approach this process realistically … Azerbaijan constantly demonstrates commitment to the peace process,” he added.


“The approaches of the Azerbaijani side are unchanged and consistent: we are in favor of normalizing ties with Yerevan. Unfortunately, contradictory statements are heard from Armenia from time to time,” Bayramov said.


Commenting on the forthcoming meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels on May 14, Bayramov said they will become an integral part of the normalization process.


Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.


Most of the territory was liberated by Baku during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization.


Tensions between the neighboring countries increased in recent months over the Lachin corridor, the only land route giving Armenia access to Karabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh residents ‘tricked’ into passing Azerbaijani checkpoint

Meline Chalian
May 1 2023
 1 May 2023

ByAni Avetisyan
An Azerbaijani border guard inspects a vehicle at the checkpoint on the Hakiri Bridge. Image via ITV.

The authorities in Stepanakert have accused the Russian peacekeepers of tricking residents of Nagorno-Karabakh into passing through the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, falsely promising that they would not have to undergo checks by Azerbaijani border troops.

The accusation comes after footage appeared to show Armenian vehicles passing through the checkpoint, with Azerbaijani border control officers inspecting their vehicles and documents. 

‘As can be seen from the presented footage, people’s border crossing is organised in a neat and polite manner’, Azerbaijan’s ITV reported from the scene. 

‘Thus, the claims of the Armenian officials regarding the “ethnic cleansing” of the Karabakh Armenians and the “blocking” of the Lachin road are nothing more than false propaganda’, the pro-government media went on. 

Residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have largely been blocked from entering or exiting the region since mid-December, when Azerbaijani-government-supported ‘eco-activists’ blocked the Lachin Corridor near Shusha (Shushi).

The Azerbaijani government and the protesters themselves insisted they were independent and demonstrating against environmental damage in Nagorno-Karabakh. Photo: Trend.

Despite the 2020 ceasefire agreement stipulating that the corridor be controlled by the Russian peacekeeping force, on 23 April, Azerbaijani border troops moved in to set up a checkpoint on the corridor at the Armenian border.

Soon after, the eco-activists announced they were ending their action. However, on 29 April, the authorities in Stepanakert said the protesters had been replaced by Azerbaijani police near Shusha as well.

Mounting criticism of Russia

Shortly after the video of the inspection appeared online, Nagorno-Karabakh officials dismissed it as a ‘cheap show’. 

‘The people are from villages near the checkpoint under double blockade and were travelling with the support of peacekeepers, with guarantees of not being bothered’, Artak Beglaryan, an adviser to the State Minister, wrote on Twitter late on Sunday. 

Beglaryan referred to the villages of Mets Shen, Hin Shen, Lisagor, and Yeghtsahogh in the Shusha region of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

The villages were cut off from the rest of Nagorno-Karabakh after the blockade near Shusha began, and are now separated from Armenia by the new customs checkpoint.

[Read on OC Media: The villages of the Lachin Corridor face ‘double blockade’]

Nagorno-Karabakh’s State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan also issued a statement on Sunday, stating that residents stuck in Goris ‘turned to Russian peacekeepers’, who assured them in advance that ‘there will be no control interference by Azerbaijanis’. 

Nersisyan said the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh were waiting for the Lachin Corridor to again be ‘controlled exclusively by Russian peacekeepers’.

Yerevan has also criticised Azerbaijani control over the corridor, calling on Russia to ‘finally fulfil its obligation’ under the 2020 ceasefire agreement and to lift the blockade of the Lachin Corridor. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzyan stated last week that Armenia would not take part in the negotiations over the status of the Lachin Corridor, placing responsibility on Russia. 

Moscow has remained mild in their criticism of the checkpoint and the blockade of the Lachin Corridor since 12 December.

Russia’s failure to regain control of the corridor has led to growing criticism in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. 

The authorities in Stepanakert have avoided directly criticising Russia. 

But an apparent shift on 30 April, the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Ministry mentioned the support and participation of Soviet forces in the 1991 Operation Ring, which saw the forcible displacement of Armenian residents of several villages in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. 

The authorities in Stepanakert declined to issue a statement on the anniversary of the start of the operation last year, and their statement in 2021 mentioned only the Azerbaijani authorities as responsible. A statement by the Armenian Parliament in 2021 also did not mention Russia, triggering criticism from some in Armenia, and accusations of ‘falsifying’ history. 

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

https://oc-media.org/nagorno-karabakh-residents-tricked-into-passing-azerbaijani-checkpoint/

Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs Continue Negotiations in US

Meline Chalian
Egypt – May 3 2023
By Ahmad El-Assasy

Aykhan Hajizada, a spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Trend that talks between Jeyhun Bayramov of Azerbaijan and Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia are still ongoing in the US.

Today's meetings have already started. The discussions will go on tomorrow. Unknown is the precise period when the negotiations will end, he continued.

A peace pact is the primary subject of negotiations, according to prior statements by Hajizada.

Jeyhun Bayramov, the foreign minister of Azerbaijan, met with Ararat Mirzoyan, the foreign minister of Armenia, and Anthony Blinken, the secretary of state of the US, on May 1 in the US.

The two countries' foreign ministers then met bilaterally at the NFATC (Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Centre).