Author: Shushan Frangulian

Ancient Armenian church in Turkey’s Kars in danger of disappearing

Shushan Frangulian
News.am, Armenia
Oct 22 2021
(PHOTOS)
13:26, 22.10.2021

The ancient Armenian church in the Kaleici district of Kars, Turkey, is in danger of disappearing once and for all, Turkish media reported, according to Akunq.net.

This house of Christian worship is known also as the "Russian Church" because it was once used by the Russians, too.

The walls of this church have collapsed, while treasure hunters have dug holes inside.

The local residents stress the need to save this place of Christian worship.

CivilNet: Armenia’s ruling party defeated in three major local elections

Shushan Frangulian
CIVILNET.AM

18 Oct, 2021 07:10

On , Armenians in several villages, towns and cities headed to the polls to vote in local elections. In a major blow, the ruling Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was defeated in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri, as well as in Goris in the southern region of Syunik. The ruling party did however secure victories in Dilijan, Tegh and Tatev.

Footage shows Azerbaijani forces targeting Armenian positions in Artsakh

Shushan Frangulian
Public Radio of Armenia
Oct 15 2021
, 15:47

 Less than a minute

Artsakh’s Defense Army has shared footage showing the Azerbaijani armed forces targeting the Armenian positions in Artsakh.

The Armenian positions near the Nor Shen settlement in Artsakh’s Martuni region were shelled from Azerbaijani positions deployed in the vicinity of the village.

The shots were fired so openly that they were recorded by cameras installed on the Armenian side.

The video not only proves the provocative behavior of the enemy, but also clearly shows that the Armenian side is committed to the agreement reached on the highest level and pose no threat to the Azerbaijani military.

We should never allow the authorities to eliminate the environment for the freedom of speech and pluralism – opposition lawmaker

Shushan Frangulian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 15 2021

"There is a situation in Armenia where restrictions on the freedom of speech and human rights are put on everyone regardless of their status," lawmaker from opposition "I have Honour" faction Anna Mkrtchyan stated on Friday during a discussion entitled "Toward dictatorship. Setback from rights."

In the words of Anna Mkrtchyan, the main tools used by the acting leaders of Armenia serve to establish favorable environment for them through pressures and even physical violence. 

"The authorities do not conceal there is no separation of power in the country. The judicial and court processes in Armenia do not proceed in line with Constitutional provisions and legislation. Authorities openly state they have no limitations to exercise their will and power to launch prosecutions no matter there are grounds for that or not. The closure of the topic of pluralism in Armenia will prolong the rule of these leaders as they managed to come to power though manipulations, lies and falsehoods and they are able to form a society incapable for resistance to poser no danger to their rule," said Mkrtchyan.

Farewell ceremony for Armenia’s President held at Italian Presidential Palace

Shushan Frangulian

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 17:24, 7 October, 2021

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Farewell ceremony was held today at the Italian presidential palace for President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian.

Sarkissian was received by President of Italy Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace.

“The Presidents once again highlighted the high level of the Armenian-Italian relations and stated that the two countries have many common interests, big cooperation potential and a great wish to constantly strengthen the bilateral friendship”, the Armenian President’s Office said in a statement.

President Armen Sarkissian has been in Italy on a state visit since October 5.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

PACE to debate report on humanitarian impact of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday

Shushan Frangulian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 27 2021

The autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) starts in Strasbourg on Monday, 27 September to run through 30 September in a hybrid format. The PACE is set to debate Paul Gavan’s report on "The humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan" on the first day of the session.

In the draft resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly regrets the tragic humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is a conflict which has seen two major outbreaks of war, the first from the end of 1991 to 1994, and a 6-week war in 2020.

In his report, Paul Gavan has shared information he gathered during his visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The draft resolution says during the recent 6-week war, over 3 900 Armenian and 2 900 Azerbaijani military were killed or went missing, and there were many civilian casualties. Over 91,000 Armenians and 84,000 Azerbaijanis were initially displaced.

The main issues covered include, the dead, missing and wounded; prisoners of war/alleged captives; allegations of crimes, war crimes and other wrongful acts; landmines and unexploded ordnance; displaced persons; border tensions; cultural heritage; hate speech.

Recommendations are directed to Armenia and Azerbaijan on steps to help solve the humanitarian consequences in the short and long term and move towards a process of peace and reconciliation. The international community, including the Council of Europe, is encouraged to help both countries.

The Assembly recalls that both Armenia and Azerbaijan committed themselves, upon their accession to the Council of Europe in January 2001, to use only peaceful means for settling the conflict. Therefore, the 6-week war in 2020 constitutes a breach of these commitments and should be duly addressed by the Council of Europe.

The PACE believes that the Council of Europe has an important role to help both Armenia and Azerbaijan tackle the humanitarian consequences of the conflict between the two countries.

The Assembly therefore invites the Committee of Ministers to take into account the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, when preparing new Action Plans for Armenia (2023-2026) and Azerbaijan (2022-2025) and show flexibility in on-going action plans and adapt them to the consequences of the conflict.

The Committee of Ministers is invited to pay particular attention to the needs and rights of displaced persons and issues surrounding their return, confidence building measures for all affected communities, and measures necessary to build tolerant societies and tackle hate speech.

Incidentally, 29 amendments to the draft resolution have been submitted, most of them by Azerbaijan, which are to be discussed and put to a vote in the PACE.

Sports: Columbus Crew’s Lucas Zelarayan declares for Armenian national team

Shushan Frangulian
Sept 28 2021
By Dylan Butler @Dylan_Butler

Lucas Zelarayan always has a trick up his sleeve, especially when stepping up to take a free kick.

But the Columbus Crew midfielder perhaps offered his biggest surprise yet when announcing on Tuesday that he's joining the Armenian national team.

The 29-year-old playmaker, who has Armenian roots, was born in Argentina and never represented either country at any level.

Now, after negotiations with the president of Armenia's football federation and their national team coach, Zelarayan will feature for the European country in October's World Cup qualifiers against Iceland and Romania.

“I have made a very important decision for me – to play for Armenian national team. It wasn’t a decision made in one day, it was a well-thought step. I have spoken to the FFA president Armen Melikbekyan and the national team head coach Joaquin Caparros during the last year. They presented the program of the federation to me,” Zelarayán told the FFA official website.

“I knew about my Armenian roots, but I haven’t had close relations with the Armenian community in Argentina. That’s why I needed time to make this important decision. After discussing everything with my family in September I made a decision to join the Armenian national team. Now I am excited about it. I am aware of the big goals this team wants to achieve and I am ready to do my best to make this happen. I am happy to join the Armenian national team during this important period and I hope to have new achievement with the national team,” he added.

Armenia are second in UEFA Group J with 11 points from six matches, four points behind group-leading Germany. The top squad directly qualifies for the World Cup, while the second-place side advances to the playoff stage.

Zelarayan has been among MLS' most electrifying players since signing with Columbus as a Designated Player out of Liga MX's Tigres UANL. Aside from leading the Crew to the 2020 MLS Cup title, he also took home MLS Newcomer of the Year honors.

Through 41 games with Columbus, Zelaryan has 13 goals and eight assists.

Exhibition on 2020 autumn war attracts Yerevan townspeople

Shushan Frangulian
Caucasian Knot, EU
Sept 28 2021

The exhibition opened on September 27 at the Yerevan Painters' Union displays photos made by Mikael Nazarenko at the frontline. According to the photographer, the aim of the exhibition is to show the "peaceful side" of the war.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on September 27, marked one year since the start of the Karabakh war in 2020.

The full-scale combat actions took place in Nagorno-Karabakh in the period from September 27 to November 9, 2020. The "Caucasian Knot" has released a map marking the deployment of peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. Another map prepared by the "Caucasian Knot" indicates what territories Azerbaijan got after the autumn war.

The author of the exhibition, Mikael Nazarenko, a war veteran, a photographer by profession, also makes films. The exhibition started with screening of his documentary "1080 Hours", most of which was filmed in the frontline during the war. The rest of the film, in particular interviews with servicemen, was made already after the war.

In his comment to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Mikael Nazarenko has noted that he wanted to show the "peaceful side" of the war at the exhibition. "Peace can be found in every, even the most terrible phenomenon. During the war, I decided to capture a 'calm time,' to show soldiers' life in such a tense situation," the author of the exhibition has noted.

Asmik Badalyan, one of the visitors, has found it important that the author managed, "while being in this hell, to find moments of calmness and capture them."

"It is important to see all this, to realize and find the power to live on. We must look into the future, build this future ourselves, because we owe this to those guys who gave their lives for us," Badalyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 28, 2021 at 03:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

See earlier reports:

Relatives of people killed in Karabakh war share their memories on anniversary of beginning of combat actions, Armenia: IC updates Karabakh war casualties, Analysts criticize Armenian authorities' passivity on anniversary of start of last autumn war.

Author: Armine Martirosyan; Source: CK correspondent

Source: 
© Caucasian Knot

Advocate: Baku is keeping Armenian captives hostage in order to achieve political goals

Shushan Frangulian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 27 2021
21:38, 27.09.2021

The Armenian captives serve as an additional leverage for Azerbaijan to achieve its political goals. This is what advocate Siranush Sahakyan, who represents the interests of Armenian prisoners of war in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said during the Armenian News-NEWS.am’s TALK TIME show.

According to her, the complete solution to the issue of return of Armenian captives is linked to political issues. “Based on the example of exchange of captives for mine maps and the conversation between Aliyev and Erdogan’s wife, it is clear that Azerbaijan is keeping the Armenians as hostages. Since there are political issues that remain unresolved, the Azerbaijani side is delaying their repatriation because there are still issues related to borders, demarcation, the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and other issues,” she said, adding that the Armenian authorities aren’t making serious allegations against Azerbaijan on international platforms.

The Azerbaijani threat to Armenia’s borders

Shushan Frangulian
France 24
Sept 17 2021
By:Luke SHRAGO|Achren VERDIAN|Abdallah MALKAWI
16 min

Ten months after the defeat of Armenian forces against Azerbaijan in the war for control of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia is seeing its border regions come under threat from Baku. According to Yerevan, hundreds of Azerbaijani soldiers have entered Armenian territory since mid-May 2021, particularly in the Syunik and Gegharkunik border provinces. The situation is sparking concern and even panic in Armenia, particularly in villages close to the frontier, where incidents are frequent. Our team on the ground reports.

Watch the video at the link below