Author: Talar Tumanian

Armenpress: Nagorno Karabakh village home targeted in latest Azerbaijani shooting

Talar Tumanian

 09:37,

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani troops opened gunfire at a residential house in the village of Chankatagh in Nagorno Karabakh.

The homeowner, Zori Arakelyan (born 1983), contacted local police at 19:25, June 22 and said that his home was targeted by sporadic automatic gunfire from Azerbaijani military positions, the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement.

Investigators arrived at the scene and documented damages on the roof which resulted from the shooting. Authorities were assessing the damages.

French President approves pantheonization of Missak Manouchian

Talar Tumanian

 13:06,

YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. France and Armenia share a common history and ancient ties, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu tweeted after meeting Armenian Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan.

“France and Armenia share a common history and ancient ties. At a time when the President of the Republic has decided to transfer Missak Manouchian to the Panthéon, honor to receive [Armenian Defense Minister] Suren Papikyan to keep the friendship and the defense relationship alive,” Lecornu tweeted.

Missak Manouchian, an Armenian poet and fighter in World War II, will enter the French Pantheon mausoleum and join an elite group of France's revered historical figures, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, June 18.

Known as being "pantheonized," the rare tribute is reserved for those who have played an important role in the country's history.

He led a small group of foreign Resistance fighters against the Nazi occupation, carrying out attacks on German forces and acts of sabotage in Nazi-occupied France in 1943. Macron said Manouchian "embodies the universal values" of France and "carries a part of our greatness."

In 1944, the group, which included a number of Jews, was put out of action when 23 of its members were rounded up and sentenced to death by a German military court. Manouchian was shot by the Nazis on February 21, 1944. By entering the Pantheon, Manouchian will become both the first foreign and communist Resistance fighter to be awarded the honour. Manouchian will enter the Pantheon alongside his wife Mélinée, who survived him by 45 years and is buried alongside him at the Ivry-sur-Seine cemetery.

Macron paid tribute to Manouchian's "bravery" and "quiet heroism" in a statement Sunday, as well as to other foreign Resistance fighters. Other major French figures to be reburied in the Pantheon include Victor Hugo, Voltaire and Marie Curie, Le Monde reported.

Manouchian arrived in France in 1925 after surviving the Armenian Genocide.

Nearly 100 people injured in northern Argentina protests

Talar Tumanian

 11:06,

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. Nearly 100 people were injured in northern Argentina on Tuesday as protesters clashed with police in Jujuy province over a proposed ban on certain forms of demonstration, AFP reported.

Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to suppress the protests.

Tuesday's demonstration was called by groups representing Indigenous people and workers against a change to the provincial constitution that would prohibit protest-related road blockades and other "disturbance to the right to free movement of persons and the improper occupation of public buildings" in Jujuy, according to AFP.

According to media reports, 96 people – including 66 police officers – sought medical treatment in the provincial capital of San Salvador de Jujuy.

The text of the provincial constitution had initially also sought to modify Indigenous land rights, but this was abandoned at the last minute after widespread protests.

Jujuy province is governed by conservative Gerardo Morales.

On his Twitter account, Morales blamed the policies of President Alberto Fernandez and his deputy Cristina Kirchner for the "extreme violence" in Jujuy.

Fernandez retorted the Jujuy reform was at odds with Argentina's national constitution and urged the provincial government to stop its "repression."

Armenian Resistance fighter joins France’s Pantheon greats

Talar Tumanian

Armenian Resistance fighter joins France's Pantheon greats

This fresco shows French-Armenian Missak Manouchian, who was executed by Nazi forces in 1944

An Armenian poet and communist fighter in World War II will enter the Pantheon mausoleum and join an elite group of France's revered historical figures, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday.

Known as being "pantheonised", the rare tribute is reserved for those who have played an important role in the country's history.

Missak Manouchian, who arrived in France in 1925 as a stateless refugee after fleeing violence, later joined the communist Resistance during World War II.

He led a small group of foreign Resistance fighters against the Nazi occupation, carrying out attacks on German forces and acts of sabotage in Nazi-occupied France in 1943.

Macron said Manouchian "embodies the universal values" of France and "carries a part of our greatness".

In 1944, the group, which included a number of Jews, was put out of action when 23 of its members were rounded up and sentenced to death by a German military court.

Manouchian was shot by the Nazis on February 21, 1944.

The collaborationist Vichy regime later tried to discredit the group and defuse the anger over the executions in an infamous red poster depicting the dead fighters as terrorists.

By entering the Pantheon, Manouchian will become both the first foreign and communist Resistance fighter to be awarded the honour.

Manouchian will enter the Pantheon alongside his wife Melinee, who survived him by 45 years and is buried alongside him at the Ivry-sur-Seine cemetery.

– 'Quiet heroism' –

Macron paid tribute to Manouchian's "bravery" and "quiet heroism" in a statement Sunday, as well as to other foreign Resistance fighters.

Other major French figures to be reburied in the Pantheon include Victor Hugo, Voltaire and Marie Curie.

Since 2017, Macron has pantheonised three others including the French-American dancer and rights activist Josephine Baker, who became the first black woman to be honoured in the secular temple.

Baker was also just the fifth woman to be honoured with a place in the secular temple to the heroes of the French Republic which sits on a hill in the Left Bank of Paris.

The move followed years of campaigning by her family and admirers for her place in French history to be recognised.

The pantheonisation of Manouchian had been long called for by the French left, particularly the Communist Party.

On Sunday, Macron will decorate Robert Birenbaum — part of the foreign Resistance fighter group alongside Manouchian — at the Mont Valerien site where Manouchian and hundreds of other "resistants" were executed by the Nazis.

The tribute on Sunday marks part of a long series of memorials leading up to the 80th anniversary since the end of World War II, which are set to continue next year with events to commemorate the liberation of Paris.

vl/jmt/rox/imm

Car with Armenian flag vandalized with references to Pride and racial slur in Glendale

Talar Tumanian
June 12 2023
ABC 7 Los Angeles
Story by KABC • 1h ago

Ahateful act of vandalism was discovered last Friday, just days after a violent confrontation between LGBTQ activists and a group of conservative protesters outside a Glendale school board meeting.

Police say someone scratched messages referencing Pride into a car displaying the Armenian flag.

It was parked on East Lomita Avenue near Granada Street.

The markings included a racial slur on the hood.

Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Detectives say the car is undergoing forensic testing.

Anyone with information should call Glendale Police.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/car-with-armenian-flag-vandalized-with-references-to-pride-and-racial-slur-in-glendale/ar-AA1cs54M

“Azerbaijan is better seen and heard in Brussels” – Armenian political scientist

Talar Tumanian
June 12 2023
  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

Armenia and the EU

“Azerbaijan and Georgia are much more visible, they are better seen and heard in Brussels than Armenia,” the head of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security, political scientist Tigran Grigoryan, said on returning from Brussels. According to him, Armenia is absent from many important EU projects, and the country is mentioned mainly in the context of the conflict with Azerbaijan and to some extent in the context of promoting the reform process.

The political scientist dwelled in detail on the approaches of various EU actors and structures to the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, the problems that he noticed in the position of the European Union, in Armenia-EU relations.

From June 4 to 8 a small group of Armenian experts visited Brussels with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. During the visit meetings were held in various structures of the European Union, including with members of the European Parliament. There was also a closed discussion with European experts.

  • Why were the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks postponed? Opinions
  • Video from Baku with interviews of Armenian prisoners
  • “Armenia is not Russia’s ally in the war with Ukraine” – Pashinyan interview with CNN

The political scientist came to the conclusion that the EU does not intend to take responsibility for the settlement of the conflict. Grigoryan stated that among high-ranking actors and in general in EU structures there is an understanding of the realities in the context of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and awareness of the seriousness and complexity of the existing problems:

“Perhaps this is one of the reasons why it has been constantly emphasized that the EU is not a mediator of negotiations, but their facilitator. More active involvement in negotiations will also mean greater responsibility for the possible negative consequences that may arise as a result of this process.”

The head of the EU monitoring mission announced his intention to open three new points for monitoring the border with Azerbaijan. Commentary by an Armenian political scientist

The analyst believes that Yerevan made many “painful concessions” but received nothing in return:

“And all this in the conditions of the policy of creeping military aggression pursued by Azerbaijan.”

He argues that the policy of the Armenian authorities over the past year, the purpose of which was to ensure international consolidation around Armenia, has obviously failed. As a justification for his opinion, Grigoryan said that in various EU structures, the responsibility for all the failures in the negotiation process is laid on the Armenian side:

“We are also talking about the problems that have recently arisen within the framework of the format operating through the mediation of the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the failure to comply with previously reached agreements regarding the unblocking of regional communications.”

According to the political scientist, there is no such question even at the level of “theoretical discussions”.

Grigoryan says that the approach of various EU structures in relations with Azerbaijan is mostly too pragmatic, despite the fact that behind closed doors many speak negatively about Baku’s policy and the situation in this country as a whole.

A regular meeting between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia took place in Chisinau. In the end, only the date of the next negotiation was reported

According to Grigoryan, at least two of the officials who are to some extent involved in the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations and who have relevant information share this opinion.

The political scientist emphasizes that this assessment of the realities differs significantly from the optimistic statements that have been heard recently from high-ranking mediators:

“There is an awareness in Brussels that it will be an extremely difficult task to reach agreements on the most important issues in a short period of time.”

The analyst says that various EU structures and officials focus on the issue of protecting the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, but find it difficult to talk about specific mechanisms:

“In particular, there are no substantive ideas in Brussels, no substantive vision regarding a possible new format of negotiations between Baku and Stepanakert.”

According to Grigoryan’s view, the officials involved in the process are sure that without active international participation, it is pointless to talk about the security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. At the same time, in a conversation with Armenian experts, they admitted:

  • “Baku is unlikely to agree to serious international interference in issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh.”
  • “The EU does not have serious levers of influence on Azerbaijan.”

What is known about the upcoming talks in Chisinau between the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan, the expectations of Western mediators, as well as the opinion of a political scientist

High-ranking European officials were unable to give a clear answer to this question.

“Only one of them suggested that in the event of such a scenario, the EU mediation mission would most likely end,” Grigoryan said.

EU officials have no serious concerns about the possible export of Russian gas to Europe through Azerbaijan. The opinions expressed by them on this issue differed from each other, but Grigoryan classifies them in this way:

  • “This statement is not true.”
  • “Even if some amount of Russian gas is exported to the EU through Azerbaijani infrastructure, its share is small. In this sense, the possibility of exporting Russian gas to the EU through Turkey is more worrying.”
  • “There are no sanctions against Russian gas, even the EU continues to buy Russian gas.”

https://jam-news.net/armenia-and-the-eu/

Azerbaijan has launched ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh with total blockade, warns Armenian Prime Minister

Talar Tumanian

 11:28,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan’s actions once again confirm Armenia’s concerns that Azerbaijan is carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on June 16.

“The installation of an illegal checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, the disruption of power and gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh, which is ongoing for six months, have extremely escalated the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh, and if Azerbaijan was ensuring some passage through Lachin Corridor last month for its propaganda purposes, through the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers, starting yesterday this passage was also shut down and even the supplies of essential food products to Nagorno Karabakh have been suspended. That is, Nagorno Karabakh has no food supply from the outside world. The passage of citizens requiring urgent medical treatment is also banned. These actions once again confirm our fears that Azerbaijan is carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh. However in this case this is no longer a fear but already the launch of actions. What is this if not ethnic cleansing? The food, gas, electricity supplies to the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are cut off, farmers carrying out agricultural work are targeted with automatic gunfire, the possibility of movement is blocked even for critically-ill patients,” Pashinyan said.

The Armenian Prime Minister said that Armenia should increase international awareness not only among governments and organizations, but also societies.

Pashinyan reiterated that dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert within the framework of international mechanisms is extremely important for ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. “We must hope that concrete steps will be taken in this direction,” Pashinyan said.

Problematic Schengen visa appointment process risks jeopardizing outbound tourism, direct flights -travel agencies warn

Talar Tumanian

 14:47,

YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. As more and more direct flights are being launched to Yerevan from various European cities, Armenian tourists are facing the problematic Schengen visa procedure. The problem seems to be so grave that travel agencies and tour operators are calling on authorities to step in and offer support because the issue risks jeopardizing the newly launched flights.

Travel agencies say that it is impossible to book an appointment for visa application in European embassies.

Amistad travel agency is the official representative of AirBaltic in Armenia.In May 2023, direct flights from Riga to Yerevan were restored after 13 years.

Amistad founding director Armine Adamyan said that travelers who want to visit Baltic states are unable to book an appointment for visa.

“We are getting calls from travel agencies saying that they have customers who want to travel to Baltic countries but it is impossible to book an appointment in the embassies. It’s up to the embassy whether or not they’ll get a visa, but today it’s even impossible to book an appointment date for travelers to submit their papers. It turns out that there are direct flights only for those of our citizens who have visas, or those who are traveling from Baltic countries to Armenia. This certainly isn’t enough to maintain direct flights,” Adamyan said.

Meanwhile, Avarayr travel agency director Arkady Sahakyan voiced another related problem.

“Representatives of travel agencies plan to travel to Europe in September to participate in a tourism expo. You can book an appointment in the embassy only in November. Can you imagine, the expo is in September but you get an appointment for November. This bizarre situation is also a blow to the process of representation at international tourism expos,” Sahakyan said.

Armenian Tourism Federation President Mekhak Apresyan highlighted the importance of direct flights in terms of tourism development, but noted that the problems with Schengen visas create difficulties.

“All our efforts are in vain if people can’t book an appointment date at the embassies for applying for a visa. We call on our friendly European country embassies to pay attention to this issue. If there’s demand then it is necessary to take steps, increase the number of employees. After all, our citizens are having their contribution in the tourism of the given country. Otherwise, given the difficulties, our citizens prefer the countries where there’s no issue of getting a visa,” Apresyan said.

The travel agencies also expect government support.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 06/12/2023

Talar Tumanian 
                                        Monday, 


Armenian Ruling Party Member Not Prosecuted For Death Threats

        • Susan Badalian
        • Satenik Kaghzvantsian

Armenia - Civil Contract party member Suren Torosian.


A local government official affiliated with Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract 
party is prosecuted for assaulting a fellow villager but is not yet facing 
charges stemming from his recent threats to “shoot” Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s detractors.

Suren Torosian, who is in charge of utility services in Aragatsavan, a large 
village 80 kilometers northwest of Yerevan, sparked an angry demonstration there 
on June 7 after allegedly spraying a local man with tear gas and repeatedly 
hitting him with a stick during an argument. Armen Sahakian, the 24-year-old 
man, suffered a head injury and received urgent treatment in hospital.

Dozens of other Aragatsavan residents blocked a highway leading to Yerevan to 
demand Torosian’s arrest and prosecution. They were especially furious with the 
fact that Sahakian was assaulted despite suffering from serious chronic diseases.

“Is this the rule of law created by Civil Contract?” one of the protesters told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Torosian was promptly detained and charged with assault only to be set free 
hours later. Armenia’s Investigative Committee said the assault charge leveled 
against him is not serious enough to warrant his pre-trial arrest.

Armenia -- Aragatsavan resident Armen Sahakian, June 8, 2023.

The incident drew media attention to the content of Torosian’s Facebook page 
and, in particular, an angry video message posted by the official there this 
month. In that message, the ruling party member lashes out at Pashinian’s vocal 
critics, saying that he “will have their ears cut off” and “kick them in the 
face.”

“If we force a couple of such types to lie down and drag them along the ground, 
everything will get fixed … I will shoot them in the forehead,” he says.

Torosian, who got his current job after the 2018 “velvet revolution” that 
brought Pashinian to power, goes on to urge the heads of regional divisions of 
Armenia’s police and National Security Service to “drag” the prime minister’s 
detractors out of their homes.

A spokesman for the Investigative Committee said on Monday the law-enforcement 
agency has not opened a criminal case in connection with the death threats 
because it has not received a formal “crime report.”

For its part, the Office of the Prosecutor-General told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service that it will comment on legal consequences of the threats only in 
response to a written inquiry.

Armenia - Suren Torosian airs a video message on Facebook.
Civil Contract has still not reacted to its member’s public calls for violence.

The governor of Aragatsotn province encompassing Aragatsavan, who is also 
affiliated with Pashinian’s party, on Monday criticized those calls and pledged 
to initiate a “discussion” of Torosian’s conduct. “His words weren’t normal, in 
my view,” said Sergei Movsisian.

Torosian also revealed in the same scandalous video that he recently gave a ride 
to an 8-year-old boy who turned out to be a refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh. He 
said he stopped his car on a highway outside Aragatsavan and ordered the boy to 
“get out” after the latter said that his family fled Karabakh because “traitor 
Nikol gave away our lands.”

Torosian then pledged to “deal with” the boy’s parents working in the public 
sector of another rural community. “We will throw such people out of the 
sector,” he said.




Armenian Church Again Warns Against ‘Humiliating’ Peace Deal


Armenia - Members of the Armenian Apostolic Church's Supreme Spiritual Council 
pose for a photo after a meeting in Echmiadzin, June 8, 2023.


The Armenian Apostolic Church has again denounced Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s policy on the conflict with Azerbaijan and said Armenia must again 
champion Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination.

The church expressed serious concern over the “difficult situation created in 
the country's life” in a weekend statement on a regular session of its Supreme 
Spiritual Council (SSC) chaired by Catholicos Garegin II.

“It was emphasized [during the meeting] that the authorities of Armenia should 
renounce actions that violate the dignity of the nation and oppose the 
humiliating ambitions and demands of foreign enemies with realistic and 
exclusively pro-Armenian positions, resolutely defending the non-negotiable 
right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination,” it said.

“The SSC expressed its support to the people and authorities of Artsakh, noting 
also that the just right of the people of Artsakh to live freely and 
independently will find protection in all national frameworks,” added the 
statement.

The SSC held another, emergency meeting late last month. It joined Karabakh’s 
leadership and the Armenian opposition in condemning Pashinian for his readiness 
to sign a peace deal recognizing Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. It said that 
the restoration of Azerbaijan rule would leave the Karabakh Armenians facing a 
“new genocide and loss of the homeland.”

The church also openly criticized the Armenian government’s Karabakh policy last 
fall. Garegin authorized an Armenian archbishop to address an opposition rally 
in Yerevan that warned Pashinian against recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty 
over Karabakh.

Tensions between the ancient church and Pashinian have deepened further since 
then. Last month, the prime minister accused the church of meddling in politics, 
prompting a scathing response from Garegin’s office.




Baku, Yerevan Make Conflicting Statements On Transport Links

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - Russian border guards stationed in Syunik province are inspected by 
Russian Ambassador Sergei Kopyrkin, May 24, 2022.


Despite major progress reported during their most recent talks, senior Armenian 
and Azerbaijani officials made over the weekend conflicting statements on the 
practical modalities of planned transport links between their countries.

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev said that in line with the 
Russian-brokered agreement that stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh Russian 
border guards will oversee “unfettered” commercial traffic between Azerbaijan 
and its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s Syunik province. He told report.az 
that Baku, Yerevan and Moscow are now working out “technical details” of this 
arrangement.

The office of Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian countered, however, 
that he and Mustafayev reached no such agreement during their negotiations, 
including a June 2 meeting in Moscow. Citing Article 9 of the ceasefire 
agreement, it said that the planned road and rail links will be under full 
Armenian control.

The clause in question stipulates that the Russian border guards stationed in 
Armenia will “control” the transit of people, vehicles and goods between 
Nakhichevan and the rest of Azerbaijan.

The Sputnik news agency quoted Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk as 
saying in this regard on Friday that Moscow and Baku are not questioning 
Armenian sovereignty over those transit routes. Asked about the possible role of 
the Russian border guards, he said that it depends on the Armenian side.

The issue topped the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trilateral 
meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev held in Moscow on May 25.

Mustafayev, Grigorian and Overchuk met in the Russian capital on June 2 to try 
to settle what Putin called “purely technical” issues hampering the opening of 
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to commercial traffic. According to an Armenian 
government statement, they made “substantial progress” on the functioning of the 
railway leading to Nakhichevan.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Armenpress: Accompanied by peacekeepers, 8 patients transferred to Armenia, 6 returned to Artsakh

Talar Tumanian

 21:39,

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. On June 12, 8 patients from the "Republican Medical Center" of the Artsakh Ministry of Health, along with their companions, were transported to specialized medical centers of Armenia, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers and sanitary vehicles.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from Artsakh's information headquarters, 6 medical patients who were referred to Armenia for treatment within the framework of the state order, returned to Artsakh with their companions.

"During the entire siege, a total of 562 medical patients were transported to Armenia by the Red Cross and peacekeepers, of which 492 were transported through the ICRC, and 70 through peacekeepers.

12 children are in the neonatal and resuscitation department in the "Arevik" medical unit," the message says.

According to the source, 9 patients are in the intensive care unit at the "Republican Medical Center", 4 of them are in critical condition.