Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

Russian Prime Minister thanks EDB’s Tigran Sargsyan for COVID-19 travel app project

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 11:40, 5 February, 2021

ALMATY, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin expressed gratitude to the Deputy Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Management Board Tigran Sargsyan for the creation of the “Travel Without COVID-19” application that is used in restarting travel following the pandemic-related shutdown. 

“I’d like to thank our colleagues, Nikolai Podguzov, Tigran Sargsyan, for such a quick and active work,” Mishustin said at the Almaty Digital Forum 2021 in Kazakhstan, addressing EDB Management Board Chairman Podguzov and his deputy Tigran Sargsyan.

Mishustin noted that Russia, Armenia and Belarus have already joined the program and expressed hope that Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will also do so soon.

The Travel without COVID-19 program features a mobile app which shows the traveler’s COVID-19 test result in the form of a QR code, which is used when crossing border.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia defense minister does not respond to question about captives in Azerbaijan

Tatoyan Vazgen
News.am, Armenia
Feb 5 2021
13:12, 05.02.2021

YEREVAN. – Contact [Gevorg] Altunyan, [Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia] for all questions, and I will answer all those questions. Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan stated this Friday in response to the reporters' questions in the National Assembly.

The minister did not respond when he was asked his view on the statements that Armenia had not had a true army for 30 years.

Harutyunyan also did not answer the question as to whether he considers it normal that Shushi city of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is called "Shusha."

The minister also did not respond to the question about the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan, as well as the rumors about the dissolution of the Artsakh Defense Army.

UAV crews of the Russian-Turkish Centre exercise control over the observance of the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Tatoyan Vazgen
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 4 2021

The personnel of the Joint Russian-Turkish Centre continues to fulfill the tasks of monitoring compliance with the ceasefire and military operations in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Russia Defense Ministry reported on Thursday. 

According to the source, Russian military personnel are monitoring the ceasefire using unmanned aerial vehicles Forpost and Orlan 10.

It is noted that the servicemen of the Joint Centre continuously receive images from unmanned aerial vehicles to the control center, where all movements of military equipment, personnel are analyzed, and all facts of crossing the line of contact of the parties are recorded.

The duty shifts of the Joint Centre collect, summarize and check information on violations of the agreements reached, consider any complaints on issues or problems related to the failure of the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to comply with the agreements reached.

Republican Party of Armenia vice-president: Why is the EU calling for return of 57 Armenian POWs, if there are more?

Tatoyan Vazgen
News.am, Armenia
Jan 29 2021
17:49, 29.01.2021

Vice-President of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan posted the following on his Facebook page:

“Why is the European Union calling for the return of 57 Armenian prisoners of war, if there are actually more prisoners of war?

It’s good that the EU is calling on Azerbaijan to immediately return another 57 Armenian servicemen.

It’s bad that the EU isn’t indicating a specific number when Armenia actually has more data regarding the number of prisoners of war based on the sources of the Human Rights Defender, human rights activists or Davit Shahnazaryan.

It’s very bad that Armenia failed to present the real picture of the situation to the EU, and the EU is apparently guided by Azerbaijani sources.

Mariinsky Theater to dedicate performance to Armenian opera singer Gegham Grigoryan

Tatoyan Vazgen
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 28 2021
– Public Radio of Armenia

The Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg will dedicate The Queen of Spades performance to the memory of opera singer, People’s Artist of Armenia Gegham Grigoryan (1951-2016).

Valery Gergiev timed the performance to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the singer’s birth, the press service of the theater reported.

“Gegham Grigoryan was invited to the Leningrad stage in the late 1980s. As a leading soloist, Grigoryan was engaged in most of the opera premieres of the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theater, went on tour and took part in the recording of the operas The Queen of Spades, Sadko, Iolanta, Prince Igor, War and Peace, The Power of Destiny. The performances of Gegham Grigoryan as Herman in The Queen of Spades are memorable for the St. Petersburg audience,” said the press service.

The part of Lisa in the performance will be performed by the singer’s daughter Asmik Grigorian, who has already sung at the Mariinsky. A major achievement in her career was her performance in the Salzburg production of Richard Strauss’s Salome at the 2018 Festival. For this work, the International Opera Prize and the German magazine Opernwelt awarded her the title of “Singer of the Year.” Tenor Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov, whose repertoire at the Mariinsky Theater includes a dozen roles, will perform as Herman.

Mikayel Minasyan: Lilit Makunts set to be appointed Armenian ambassador to US

Tatoyan Vazgen
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 23 2021

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has decided to appoint his My Step bloc’s leader Lilit Makunts Armenian Ambassador to the US for her “special merits”, Armenia’s former Ambassador to the Vatican Mikayel Minasyan said on Telegram on Saturday.

"Even if we assume that Makunts is not a bad person, there is no doubt that Makunts is an incompetent politician, furthermore, an incompetent diplomat,” Minasyan noted.

“Evidence of her ignorance is her foreign policy failures at various levels, including in inter-parliamentary relations. But it was Makunts whom Nikol Pashinyan entrusted to head first the Ministry of Culture, and then his faction. Makunts, known for being Nikol’s English teacher, has only one merit – Nikol believes in her unconditionally. That is why, sending her to the United States, he decided to kill two birds with one stone: to rescue her from a sinking ship and use her in a dirty game between the two superpowers [Russia and the US].

“Nikol’s political team managed to stray in power before Biden’s inauguration. It was decided to send Lilit Makunts after the State Department “cookies”, which the velvet revolutionaries dreamed of so much. It seems to them that dilettante Makunts will be able to save Armenia in the wake of the conflict of superpowers’ interests. Her expected appointment is a blow not only to the Armenian-US, Armenian-Russian relations and Armenia's image, but also to our existence as an independent country…

“Two days ago, the Soros circles were ordered to step up anti-Russian rhetoric and start flirting with the United States. The decision to appoint Makunts will be the formalization and institutionalization of the geopolitical chaos which Nikol is drawing Armenia into.

P.S. Incidentally, Nikol Pashinyan has pledged to reconsider the practice of appointing individuals who are not considered career diplomats to the posts of ambassadors,” the ex-ambassador wrote. 

Search operations for bodies of fallen troops resume, says Artsakh

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 10:50,

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The search operations for the bodies of fallen servicemen and missing in action have resumed in the battle zones on January 21, official of the State Emergency Service of Artsakh Hunan Tadevosyan told Armenpress.

“After yesterday’s pause the search operations have resumed today in the directions of Hadrut, Drakhtik and Jrakan (Jabrayil).

So far, a total of 1247 bodies of fallen servicemen and civilians have been found as a result of the search operations”, he said, adding that the parents of missing servicemen also participate in the search operations.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Canada’s DM Sajjan briefed on potential Canadian military training for Armenia

Tatoyan Vazgen
Journal Pioneer, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Jan 21 2021
Premium content
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen, Postmedia News ([email protected])
Sajjan briefed on potential Canadian military training for Armenia | Canada | News | The Journal Pioneer

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was briefed last year about plans for the Canadian Forces to train Armenian military personnel but his officials say such instruction won’t proceed.

Fighting broke out in September between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. During the six-week conflict, Turkey supported Azerbaijan with military aid, including drones equipped with Canadian surveillance equipment. A ceasefire was brokered by Russia.

Nine months before the conflict, National Defence policy advisors outlined to Sajjan the potential for Canadian military training for Armenia. They asked the minister for a decision on the matter, according to a briefing note prepared for Sajjan.

But Sajjan’s spokesperson Floriane Bonneville said there are no plans to conduct training with Armenia.

More than 5,500 people were killed during the fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Russia has sent around 2,000 military personnel to monitor the peace deal.

Azerbaijan’s military forces had the upper hand during the war with its use of more advanced technology. Among that equipment were Israeli-made drones and the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone which carried missiles and were used to destroy infantry positions, armoured vehicles, trucks

Armenian forces shot down a Bayraktar drone and displayed the Canadian-made equipment on the aircraft. The equipment was manufactured by L3 Harris Wescam in Burlington, ON.

The Canadian Forces has ongoing training missions in Latvia and Ukraine. It also has around 500 military personnel operating in various Middle East nations as part of efforts to counter the Islamic State of Iraq. That insurgency has been largely defeated, according to military officers, and the Canadian mission is scheduled to end March 31.

In a recent interview with the Canadian Press, Sajjan refused to say whether the mission would be extended. Canada has been involved in Iraq since 2014 and the mission has cost taxpayers more than $1 billion.

(Updated with new comment from Defence Minister Sajjan’s office)

Russian peacekeepers conduct demining works in Martakert

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 11:16,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS. The specialists of the International Mine Action Center of the Russian defense ministry continue demining works in the territory of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), the Russian defense ministry reports.

This time the demining works are being carried out in Martakert town.

In the course of demining and clearing the territory of explosive objects in Nagorno Karabakh, Russian peacekeepers use modern robotic systems.

The engineering units of the Russian peacekeeping forces have already cleared nearly 551 hectares of land, 205,3 km long roads. Over 23,7 thousand explosive devices were found and neutralized.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

New report reveals organized hate speech and animosity towards Armenians in Azerbaijan

Tatoyan Vazgen
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 17 2021
New report reveals organized hate speech and animosity towards Armenians in Azerbaijan – Public Radio of Armenia

The Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh have published a joint ad hoc public report on Organized Hate Speech and Animosity towards Ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan.

“President of Azerbaijan and other authorities speak of the entire Armenian people and population of Armenia with open threats of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan says.

“They openly insult the dignity of the Armenian people, incite hostility, they do it to humiliate the personal dignity of every Armenian in the world, every person living in Armenia,” teh Ombudman says.

The monitoring of the staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia confirms that this is a policy of deep state hatred and enmity towards Armenians. It is institutional in nature and is based on ethnicity and, in some cases, religious affiliation.

New report reveals organized hate speech and animosity towards Armenians in Azerbaijan – Public Radio of Armenia

The Ombudsman draws attention to the fact that the Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan often compare the war of September-November 2020 with the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and the massacres of Armenians in Baku. In particulate, he reminds of the praise for the organizers and perpetrators of those atrocities, including members of the Caucasus Islamic Army, in the speeches of December 10 (during the military parade in Baku).

Another issue the Human Rights Defender points to is that during this war, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces use the same words and expressions as the President of Azerbaijan when torturing Armenian soldiers and civilians, beheading them alive, mutilating the bodies of the victims and committing other atrocities.

Moreover, he says, the expressions of the President of Azerbaijan and other public figures became slogans inspiring atrocities against Armenians in this war (for example, “Azerbaijani soldiers chase them like dogs”, “Armenia is a worthless country … it is an artificial state created on the ancient lands of Azerbaijan,” “Azerbaijan is coming to end Armenian weddings,” etc.).

“In other words, the real causes of these war crimes are obvious. Moreover, the Azerbaijani military are proud of the atrocities, well aware that they will only be encouraged and praised for it in their own country,” ARman Tatoyan says.