Author: Mike Maghakian

Azerbaijan’s attempts to carry out fortification works in territory of Armenia prevented – Defense Ministry

Mike Maghakian

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 12:56, 5 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces have recently repeatedly attempted to carry out fortification works on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the border areas of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian ministry of defense said in a statement, adding that all these attempts have been prevented on time by the respective actions of the Armenian units.

The ministry informs that on June 3 the Azerbaijani armed forces attempted to carry out certain land works with a tractor in the border area of Armenia. After the warning shots of the Armenian units, these works have been stopped. A clear demand was presented to the Azerbaijani side to rule out repetition of similar attempts.

“Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani armed forces continue carrying out engineering and fortification works in the territories where their military bases are located, without crossing the border of Armenia. As these territories and the movement carried out there by the Azerbaijani troops are visible in Verin Shorja and Kut villages of Gegharkunik province, this raises the concern of the local population, which is reflected in the Ombudsman’s report”, the Armenian defense ministry said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia acting health minister on citizens’ demand for her resignation

Mike Maghakian
News.am, Armenia
June 2 2021
Armenia acting health minister on citizens' demand for her resignation
23:48, 02.06.2021

I’m not going to touch upon whatever they say to me. This is what acting Minister of Health of Armenia Anahit Avanesyan said in an interview on Armenian Public Television, touching upon the demand for her resignation.

“I’m a politician, and I can be sharply criticized in the political field, but I’m talking about forensic doctors and sanitary doctors who have worked very hard, and we can’t overlook their dedicated work by referring to one case,” she said.

Today citizens of Armenia held a protest in front of the Ministry of Health with the demand for the resignation of acting Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan.

Ombudsman: Decisions on Armenia’s borders should also be based on protection of villagers’ rights

Mike Maghakian
Panorama, Armenia

Archival documents show that in the Soviet period, there were cases in the border disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan when the Azerbaijani authorities participated in official discussions, but at the same time carried out attacks on Armenian villagers, seized their lands and then turned those lands into a subject of discussions (the villages of Barana, now Noyemberyan, Koghb, Koti, Dovegh and others), Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan said in a Facebook post late on Sunday.

“For example, despite the order of the Central Executive Committee of the Transcaucasian Federation on April 28, 1923, which provided for the handover to the Ghazakh district of only 5,000 dessiatines [an archaic land measurement] of land of the Shinikh-Ayrum region, the Gazakh land construction group deliberately drew up a completely different plan, ignoring this decision.

“In parallel, the local authorities of Azerbaijan illegally seized more lands from the territory of the Armenian SSR than envisaged by the decision. In particular, by intimidating a local forester, they seized some 7,000 dessiatines of land, increasing their "land acquisition" to 11,800 dessiatines and making it a subject of discussion.

“Let me bring another example: starting from May 1922, the disputes and final work of the commissions on the border regions of Tavush, Karvansaray (Ijevan) and Ghazakh constantly delayed, since the Azerbaijanis seized most of the lands belonging to the Armenians but located in their territories and refused to return them. This, in turn, made it difficult for the villagers to use their pastures, forests and water resources,” the ombudsman wrote.

Citing the archival documents, Tatoyan said, in general, prehistory of disputes between the villages of these regions confirms that disputes often arose because of large Azerbaijani landowners who used to sell their lands to Armenians and then unreasonably demand them back. Whereas, the authorities of Soviet Armenia did not respond adequately to such steps of Azerbaijanis to prevent violations of the rights of Armenian peasants.

“These facts, as lessons learned, should be taken into account to prevent violations of the rights of Armenia’s border residents nowadays.

“Along with security and other components, decisions on the borders of the Republic of Armenia should also be based on the protection of the rights of villagers and the protection of human rights in general, excluding any mechanical approach,” he said. 

Azerbaijani soldiers must leave Armenian’s territory, says Armenian defense minister

Mike Maghakian
TASS, Russia
May 28 2021
The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been tense since May 12 when Armenia’s defense ministry said that Azerbaijani armed forces had tried to carry out "certain activities" in a border area in Syunik Province in a bid to "adjust the border"

YEREVAN, May 28. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s troops must leave Armenia’s sovereign territory, the Armenian defense ministry quoted acting Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan as saying during his meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu.

"Harutyunyan informed his Russian colleague about the details of the infiltration of Azerbaijani armed groups into Armenian territory and actions of the Armenian armed forces. He stressed that Azerbaijan’s provocations carried out under false pretexts of "adjusting the border," were absolutely inadmissible and the Azerbaijani troops must leave Armenia’s sovereign territory immediately," it said.

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has been tense since May 12 when Armenia’s defense ministry said that Azerbaijani armed forces had tried to carry out "certain activities" in a border area in Syunik Province in a bid to "adjust the border." On Thursday, Azerbaijan said that six Armenian soldiers had been taken prisoner when trying to cross the border and commit an act of sabotage. The Armenian side confirmed that its soldiers had been taken prisoner but stressed they had been undertaking engineering work in the border areas of Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province. Yerevan has slammed the incident as abduction and turned to the European Court of Human Rights.

Armenian parliament majority MP: Based on my information, Russia has made an proposal to Armenia

Mike Maghakian
News.am, Armenia
May 20 2021
16:04, 20.05.2021

Based on my information, the Russian side has made a proposal to Armenia to set up a joint trilateral commission to discuss issues related to delimitation and demarcation. This is what leader of the ruling My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Lilit Makunts told reporters after she was asked if she was aware of the document on which acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a statement today.

“Again, based on my information, the Armenian side has responded by saying that there can be an opportunity to set up a task force or consider the creation of a task force only if the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan vacate the territory of Armenia, “she said.

Asked if it is safe to assume that the content of the document only concerns the formation of a commission that will deal with the adjustment of borders, Makunts said there is no word about the transfer of territories, based on her information.

Asked why the document isn’t being made public, if it is in Armenia’s interests, Makunts said if there are negotiations, only the relevant body is authorized to talk about them.

Touching upon the question whether the National Assembly will discuss the matter, Makunts said time will show. Makunts was also asked about the outcomes of Armenia’s petition to the Collective Security Treaty Organization and said the foreign minister will provide details soon. As for her assessment of Russia’s response to the situation, Makunts said Armenia can in no way accept the fact that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan infiltrated into the territory of the Republic of Armenia and doesn’t view this within the logic of demarcation.

Who should the West work with in Armenia?

Mike Maghakian
May 21 2021

by Guest Contributor

The tragic events in and around Armenia have been developing faster this month than we could ever imagine.

After the painful defeat in the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) war, Armenia has been trampled by the black triangle of Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan since November 2020.

This black triangle has been quite successful with intervening in the domestic
affairs of Armenia and perpetrating political cleansing with an attempt to erase the political arena of Armenia from any Armenia-centric political forces who would come together and fight the capitulation in the 2020 war and the very triangle.

The post-revolutionary government of Armenia (since 2018) has thus become a puppet-servant of this triangle driving the country into an abyss.

Ironically, the government has called parliamentary elections in June while Azerbaijan
has advanced into the territory of Armenia in Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces thus violating the very territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia.

Moreover, as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Armenia has applied for military support but never got any help except neutral statements.

Put short, the black triangle and its servant Armenian government are playing havoc with the entire Armenian nation directing it to another wave of territorial losses and genocide.

In order to step back from the edge of an abyss, hundreds of Armenians both in Armenia and in the Armenian Diaspora have formed different political, educational, social initiatives trying to put a halt to the country’s collapse.

This process should have already gained attention in the West, especially in France and the United States of America, as well as India and Iran who have expressed their will to support the restoration of the territorial integrity of Armenia.

Those great and regional powers have also shown some interest in helping Armenia to revive its civilizational and geopolitical role of the wedge between Russia-Turkey, the buffer between the East and the West.

The biggest mistake the aforementioned Western powers, the USA and France in particular have made since the 1990’s vis-a-vis the establishment of closer ties with the Armenian people has been their continuous focus on the political parties of Armenia and even of the Armenian Diaspora.

While it has always been clear that the culture of the political parties has never been well-rooted within the Armenian nation since the birth of the first Armenian parties in the late 19th century, the West has never diverted from that party-centric policy through its diplomatic missions, corporations and special services.

Those political parties, which number almost 100 in a country of 2.5 million people, lack deep and fundamental knowledge of big politics or 3G-s: good governance, geopolitics, globalisation.

Here is why the West, who has an immense soft power in Armenia, cannot drive the black triangle and particularly Russia out of Armenia and take geopolitical control of it, thus connecting the Black Sea, Georgia, Armenia and then Iran and the Persian Gulf.

The political parties are so far from well-established ideological backgrounds that
they easily get into the political traps made by the special services of the black triangle and other malign powers, as well as their servant governments of the Republic of Armenia since 1991.

It is of utmost importance to change that myopic political agenda if the West truly wants to achieve any positive geopolitical gains in Armenia and hinder the Russo-Turkish empire from getting formed by helping Armenia to reestablish its wedge-buffer status in the region.

The latter is an attainable goal and there is good news for the West: the new generation of the Armenians in Armenia and Diaspora who are fed up with those amateur political parties have already teamed up in network structures, organisations, initiatives and movements.

The advantage of those networks is their readiness to face the harsh realities in and around Armenia and undertake pragmatic foreign and domestic policy as they are free from different “-ism”-s.

Those networks combine people from diverse backgrounds and experiences and possess astoundingly huge potential energy which needs some moral and political support to reshape itself into the needed kinetic energy.

As the founder of the pan-Armenian Network State movement, I see that historical chance of building a sustainable bridge between the Armenians in Armenia and Diaspora with the support of the Western powers and thus institutionalise them all into one structure that I call the World Armenians.

Uniting the World Armenians, the Network State will then possess the overwhelming
amount of wealth (97% of the Armenian capital which exceeds 100 billion USD is in the
Armenian Diaspora according to some Armenian and non-Armenian sources) and intellectual capacity (at least 5 million Armenians in the Diaspora may join the Network) to stand strong in the Highlands, destroy the black triangle of Russia-Turkey-Azerbaijan and build up itself as a robust civilizational and geopolitical wedge between Russia and Turkey, between Turkey and Azerbaijan (the so-called Turkish world).

Time is running, the West has to act as another political trade at Armenia’s expense and the loss of Armenian factor in geopolitics will have the same repercussions for mankind as the Fall of Constantinople.

Network State’s World Armenians are ready to take a grip on Armenian politics and work with partners to pacify the malign powers.

Vahram Ayvazyan is the founder of the Network State movement. He is an International
Relations and Genocide scholar, startup founder and a Climate Reality Leader, personally
trained by former US vice president Al Gore.

AGBU Press Office: AGBU Adds New Insights on Coping with Crises in Second Resilience Summit

Mike Maghakian 
AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Website: 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.agbu.org__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!6EPshaosljb60mV66OBjDd32s-S9Y4-zBsod11uRWSgQjqkUpVN1B-r1jvc6Rg$
 
  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  
Friday, 
  
AGBU Adds New Insights on Coping with Crises in Second Resilience Summit

Building on the success of its first Resilience Summit held in February 2021, 
the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), in collaboration with the American 
University of Armenia (AUA), joined forces with the Armenian Psychiatric 
Association (ArPA) to organize a second online conference with a focus on recent 
events in the homeland under the theme Armenia: Coping with Challenging Times. 

The virtual event, hosted by AGBU’s Armenian Virtual College (AVC) on April 30 
and May 1 was aimed at helping Armenians in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora 
deal with their collective and respective psychosocial traumas caused by the 
global pandemic and the 44-Day War in Artsakh in 2020. With so many dimensions 
to these crises—personal, political and economic—there was much ground to cover 
during the two days of multiple panel sessions with distinguished discussants 
from across the Armenian world. While the first Summit was conducted in English, 
this time the event was presented in Armenian, along with simultaneous English 
translation. It also offered participating psychiatrists an opportunity to earn 
professional development credits.

Attracting over 200 attendees from 26 countries to this “heroic undertaking,” as 
one attendee described it, the forum provided professional advice and 
inspirational guidance on an array of related topics—from severe ongoing trauma, 
cumulative stress, intergenerational trauma and posttraumatic growth to breaking 
stigma, the impact of mass media on mental health, helping children avoid 
internalizing a victim identity, and promoting emotional and spiritual healing 
and recovery. 

In her opening remarks, AGBU Director of Education Natalie Gabrelian set a 
positive tone: “Once again, the Armenian nation finds itself in a battle for 
survival against enemies both visible and invisible. However, we should not 
despair, as our centuries-long struggle has shown that we are the embodiment of 
resilience. It is extremely important for us to be able to find light in the 
darkness, to live in peace, with faith, hope and love.” 

On behalf of the Armenian Psychiatric Association, Dr. Armen Soghoyan expressed 
readiness to work alongside AGBU to mobilize the professional community for the 
critical task of exploring the programs and mechanisms by which to develop a 
national level of resilience, as a basis for future security, development, and 
prosperity of the nation.
 
The first session How to Deal with Severe Ongoing Trauma was moderated by Dr. 
Arman Danielyan, a pediatric psychiatrist from San Francisco (USA). Speaking 
about recent research conducted among soldiers fighting in the 44-day war, 
discussant Dr. Samvel Sukiasyan, director of the “Stress” Mental Health Clinic 
at the ArtMed Medical Recovery Center in Yerevan, noted, “Combat trauma is not 
just a form of stress, it is a mental, physical, social and moral trauma that 
affects a person on different levels, undermining their physical and social 
wellbeing.” In turn, Dr. Shushan Kalantaryan, a licensed marriage and family 
therapist in the Los Angeles area, shared her experience with positive cognitive 
behavioral therapy (CBT) as an effective method for rehabilitating those with 
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). During the war, Dr. Kalantaryan led a 
team of mental health professionals from abroad in a humanitarian relief mission 
to provide direct mental health assistance for soldiers, survivor families, and 
refugees in Armenia.
 
For the session on Intergenerational Transmission of New Trauma and 
Posttraumatic Growth, Dr. Rita Soulahian Kuyumjian, a clinical psychiatrist and 
Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in 
Canada and Dr. Khachatur Gasparyan, chair of the Medical Psychology Department 
at Yerevan State Medical University and clinical director of the INTRA Mental 
Health Centre, addressed the unresolved grief associated with the historic 
trauma of the Genocide. Describing it as an obstacle to developing resilience, 
they discussed ways to overcome intergenerational trauma with post-traumatic 
growth. In noting the Diaspora’s important role in building national resilience 
during the 2020 war and now in its aftermath, Dr. Gasparyan referred to the 
Armenian Earthquake of 1988, saying, “Just like after the earthquake, once again 
it was proven that the Diaspora is the source of our resilience.” Both had 
worked together in the aftermath of the earthquake to bring needed psychological 
care to children and families in the devastated region.

Dr Kuyumjian concluded with a call to action. “The time has come for us to 
re-evaluate ourselves, to wisely estimate our political reality, not to put 
ourselves above our enemies and not to underestimate them, and to continue to 
fight for our existence without despair.”

In considering the needs of the youngest generation, panelists Dr. Violet 
Hovsepian Mesrkhani, a clinical psychologist from the US and Dr. Lilit 
Karapetyan, a psychologist at the Psychosocial Recovery Center in Armenia, 
shared their expertise in the session on Helping Children Avoid Victim Identity, 
moderated by educator and non-profit director Nanor Balabanian. Balabanian had 
moved to Armenia from the US just a day before the war broke out and has since 
helped open temporary schools in several shelters for displaced children in 
addition to working with soldiers on their path to recovery.  

According to Dr. Mesrkhani, “Victim identity is a learned behavior developed in 
response to trauma, and it can also be “unlearned.” The panelists emphasized the 
role of parents in identifying the symptoms and helping children find the inner 
strength to overcome victim identity.
 
Summarizing the first day of the Resilience Summit-Armenia, Marietta 
Khurshudyan, CEO of the Armenian Psychiatric Association, and co-founder and 
host of the “Hogebanali” psycho-educational television program, along with Dr. 
Yervant Zorian, AGBU Central Board Member and Founding President of the AGBU 
AVC, agreed that lifelong learning is an effective means of developing 
resilience. “We cannot change the past, the history of our people, but we can 
always change the future. Today’s discussions were about the future,” noted 
Khurshudyan. Referencing participant demographics spanning young and old with 
equal participation from Armenia/Artsakh and the Diaspora, Dr. Zorian noted that 
“today’s psychological health issues, trauma and post-traumatic recovery are 
important for people of different ages, for our entire nation.”  
 
Whereas the first day of the Summit offered more professional guidance aimed at 
strengthening the expertise of professionals working with individuals and 
families in Armenia and Artsakh, the second day’s agenda was designed to appeal 
to and inspire hope in a broader audience.  
 
Dr. Varduhi Petrosyan, professor and dean of the AUA Turpanjian School of Public 
Health opened the proceedings, which began with a panel on Cumulative Traumas 
and Resilience, moderated by Yelena Sardaryan, senior counselor and coordinator 
of the counseling and disability support services at AUA. Discussant Dr. Levon 
Jernazian, a licensed clinical psychologist from California, posited, 
“Resilience is one of the ways to adapt to change. It starts with the truth.”

Dr. Garine Papazian-Zohrabian, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist from 
Montreal (Canada), who had carried out her dissertation research in Artsakh 
during the 1990s, maintained that “resilience is a changing quality, so as a 
society, we are able to take steps to develop resilience in individuals, 
families, and society in a state of collective psychological trauma.” 
 
Dr. Jernazian described the Armenian reality as “living in a critical moment 
when we have to make a choice—either one of development, towards healthy 
national psychology, one that does not wait for outside support and does not 
rely on imaginary friends, or choosing to adopt the psychology of a victim, 
based on the idea that we cannot move forward until the issues of the past are 
resolved and the wounds of the past have healed.”
 
Fellow panelist Dr. Lara Tcholakian, who has been living in Armenia for the last 
17 years, made this observation: “A century ago, our forefathers who survived 
the Genocide didn’t have the resources we have today. While we have various 
means and better platforms of expression, such as social media, we still fail to 
use these tools to express ourselves and engage in a constructive conversation.”
 
The next session tackled the topic of Mass Media and Mental Health. Maria 
Titizian, editor-in-chief of “EVN Report” (Armenia) led the discussion with 
Jirair Jolakian, co-founder and director of “Nor Haratch” Weekly in France and 
Lara Setrakian, journalist and CEO of News Deeply, currently based in Armenia. 
Jolakian pointed out the lack of analytical, critical and independent media in 
today’s Armenia and the need for responsible journalism. “Media outlets are the 
expression of the mental health [of a society]; they are a microphone. A 
mentally healthy society also has a healthy media system.”
 
Setrakian had words of advice to those overwhelmed by the daily stream of 
negative information and fake news. “We can build a platform for better dialogue 
within the Armenian information ecosystem. Go on a news diet. Watching the news 
is not part of your responsibility. Whatever you do, make sure the news you are 
using is helpful to you.”
 
The third panel Breaking Stigma explored how those suffering with mental health 
issues fail to seek professional help, which leads to deteriorated health, an 
inability to work and an increased economic burden on the society. Moderator 
Marietta Khurshudyan, Dr. Armen Soghoyan and actress, producer and social 
activist Arsinée Khanjian stressed the importance of how all our returning 
soldiers, regardless of their age, should find help through therapy. “It will be 
helpful not only for yourself, but also to your family, your loved ones, your 
children, mothers, fathers,” urged Khanjian. 
 
In a move toward inner reflection, the session called Finding Light in the 
Darkness was moderated by Keghani Mardikian, MSW, RSW, trauma specialist from 
Canada now living in Armenia since the war. Dr. Ruth Kupeian, counselor at AUA, 
and Rev. Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan, dean of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary at the 
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, shared their wisdom. “Suffering is inevitable. 
The way we deal with the hardships determines whether there is darkness within 
us,” said Fr. Mesrop. “We must accept life as it is and try to find the light of 
God in the darkness.” 

Continuing the theme, actor, artist and writer Vahe Berberian spoke about Faith, 
Hope and Love as the core axis of life, and how they are vanishing from today’s 
world. “Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. Let’s love one 
another, be forgiving of one another and be helpful to one another as much as 
possible.” 
 
In closing the event, Dr. Zorian noted that the solid participation over the two 
days of discussions proved the need for such conversations. “There is still a 
lot for us to do as individuals, as families, as a community and as a nation. 
This was just a two-day chapter in our long journey,” concluded Dr. Zorian.

To that end, the resources and advice from both Resilience Summits are 
accessible on the AVC platform. Please register to watch the recordings at 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.avc-agbu.org__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!6EPshaosljb60mV66OBjDd32s-S9Y4-zBsod11uRWSgQjqkUpVN1B-qQp2QM2A$
 .

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the world’s largest non-profit 
organization devoted to upholding the Armenian heritage through educational, 
cultural and humanitarian programs. Each year, AGBU is committed to making a 
difference in the lives of 500,000 people across Armenia, Artsakh and the 
Armenian diaspora.  Since 1906, AGBU has remained true to one overarching goal: 
to create a foundation for the prosperity of all Armenians. To learn more visit 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.agbu.org__;!!LIr3w8kk_Xxm!6EPshaosljb60mV66OBjDd32s-S9Y4-zBsod11uRWSgQjqkUpVN1B-r1jvc6Rg$
 .


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Armenia President signs law on declaring amnesty for male citizens who avoided fixed-term military service

Mike Maghakian
News.am, Armenia
17:59, 17.05.2021

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian today signed the law on declaring amnesty for persons who avoided regular military call-up for fixed-term military service or alternative military service, as reported the Staff of the President of Armenia.

According to this law, amnesty shall be declared for male citizens of the compositions of privates having attained the age of 27 and reserve officers having attained the age of 35 who avoided compulsory military service or alternative service and male citizens suspected, accused of committing a criminal offense to avoid fixed-term military service or alternative service or convicted of committing the criminal offense.

Incompetent regime ruling in Armenia possesses neither internal nor external tools to ensure Armenia’s territorial integrity

Mike Maghakian
Panorama, Armenia

The Executive Board of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) expressed on Thursday its concern over the situation in Syunik province in Armenia, specifically the illegal crossing of the RA state border by the Azerbaijani armed forces and their advancement of 3.5 kilometers into the  Sev Lich area.   

"The Executive board notes that these developments came as a result of criminal inaction of Armenia's capitulant leadership, failure to properly assess the situation, the deep crisis in the state management and security as well as the destructive consequences of the recent Artsakh war," the statement issued by the party said. 

It added that the case of violation of the RA territorial integrity poses risks for escalation, and the authorities fail to undertake necessary measures to prevent and neutralize the existing risks. 

"As a result, Azerbaijan is expanding the tools for pressure on Armenia to create favorable ground for new concessions from Armenia and puts forward new demands. The  incompetent regime ruling in Armenia possesses neither internal nor external tools to ensure Armenia's territorial integrity," the statement said, adding every day the regime stays in power, brings dangers threatening Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian people increase.