Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

ANN/Armenian News – The Literary Armenian News – 01/18/2020

Tatoyan Vazgen

Armeniana

It was on a Tuesday, or was it a Monday?

Our shackles were no more, loose wrists, tongues, more

The din high, patriotic slogans rose as morning bread 

Furnace of frustration bursting flames, fanfare fueled air

Loudest of speeches seldom reach the truth buried in folded muck

Frazzled by giants pounding our mountains, flying banners red or black

We are just like them, not at all! Unique! Special! Blessed! Cursed!

Sing unity, peace but know the truth of looped prisoners in a rigged trial

Civilizations parade in dreams of justice, world order, international law as 

Tanks roll over our graves, drones mark posteriors as golden crosses we bear for

Laser guided missiles to drill sense into our heirs, who flee, cower, blame, sour

No brotherly cessation of hostilities, rabid animals and their traps set for supper

All this and an elaborate artifice of a church of fake noose

A clergy of black menace within the community organ pipes

Who needs grey wolves when you have Armeniana

Fleecing one another at the door, on the way in and out once more?

Outsider, underdog, never play the responsible party

Others must clean messes left by sloppy para-solitary leaders

Bought and sold on the open market of the East and resold 

By nightfall to the Western tourists admiring tassels, branding howls.

Our ancient churches, crosses, bleed innocence from unborn generations 

Store windows entice posing naked mannequins in flickering neon lights

Plastic toys, paper trinkets imagining Paris, or NY for their broken kin

Away from their villages, barnyard animals, feudal family feuds with no end. 

Bedros Afeyan

Pleasanton, CA

12-31-2020

—
Dr. Bedros Afeyan is a theoretical physicist who works and lives in the Bay area with his wife, Marine.
He writes in Armenian and in English and also paints and sculpts.
He is the current editor of The Literary Armenian News at https://groong.org/tlg/
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Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijan must be released and returned to Armenia – Ombudsman

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 14:58, 8 January, 2021

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia considers absolutely condemnable the politicization of this humanitarian and human rights issue concerning captives, and even remotely connecting these matters of human rights related to any territorial issue, or for that matter, the obvious attempts of the Azerbaijani authorities to exploit these matters for political purposes.

Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan made a statement which says:

    "1. Armenian servicemen captured and held prisoners by the Azerbaijani military must be released and returned to Armenia.

This must be done immediately and without any preconditions.

  1. It is absolutely impermissible that Section 8 of the Tripartite Declaration of November 10, 2020 does not specify a date for the exchange or return of the prisoners of war or others who are otherwise detained and are held in captivity.

But this does not mean that it is permissible for Azerbaijani authorities to continue violating international human rights standards and humanitarian agreements. The return of the prisoners of war is artificially delayed; the accurate numbers are not disclosed; and, even attempts are made to present a smaller number than the real number. All the while, the torture and inhumane treatment of these prisoners continue to take place, as evidenced by the purposeful publication of videos attesting to that; and, the recovery of the bodies of the deceased are being circumvented.

I have already stated that the studies, complaints addressed to Armenia’s Human Rights Defender, reports, as well as 24/7 of the Defender’s Office confirm that these acts are aimed at causing mental suffering to the families of those still in captivity, intended as a means of playing with the emotions of the Armenian society, and aimed at causing and raising tensions in our country.

  1. The statements of the Azerbaijani authorities that they are not prisoners of war, but rather, they are terrorists who have been arrested, grossly violate the post-war humanitarian processes and international human rights requirements. These statements are in direct contradiction with the requirement of Section 8 of the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020.

They are “Prisoners of War” by status, period!

Similarly, all these demands and adherence must also apply to the exchange of the bodies of victims and for the search and rescue of those who are still missing.

  1. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia considers absolutely condemnable the politicization of this humanitarian and human rights issue, and even remotely connecting these matters of human rights related to any territorial issue, or for that matter, the obvious attempts of the Azerbaijani authorities to exploit these matters for political purposes”.

Turkey arrests two ex-civil servants in Hrant Dink murder case

Tatoyan Vazgen
Panorama, Armenia

Jan 7 2021

An Istanbul court on Wednesday ordered that two former intelligence officers be remanded in custody over the 2007 killing of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Anadolu Agency reported, citing a judicial source.

Heavy Penal Court no.14 in Istanbul issued interlocutory order and found Volkan Sahin and Veysal Sahin guilty of knowing the murder of Hrant Dink beforehand, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Citing evidence against the two, the court ordered that arrest warrants be issued to nab Volkan Sahin and Veysal Sahin as "they spent short time under detention," the source added.

Dink, then editor-in-chief of the Armenian newspaper Agos, was shot dead outside his office on January 19, 2007.

The judicial control order for Ali Oz, former gendarmerie command, and Ecevit Emir were lifted by the court, while they are still banned from leaving the country.

Emre Cingoz, another defendant in the case, was banned to leave Istanbul, while his judicial control was released and his ban on leaving the country continues.

The next hearing of the case will be held on January 8.



Armenian President tests positive for COVID-19

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 15:34, 5 January, 2021

YEREVAN, JANUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has celebrated New Year holidays in London with family and grandchildren, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

On January 3 the President has underwent a successful leg surgery, however, he showed symptoms for the novel coronavirus. The result of his test for the coronavirus was positive.

The Armenian President will temporarily work remotely.

Turkish press: Turkey’s defense industry comes out on top in annus horribilis for other sectors

Tatoyan Vazgen
 ISTANBUL DEFENSE 
JAN 03, 2021 3:04 PM GMT+3
An Azerbaijan army Bayraktar TB2, a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle, is displayed during a military parade to mark the victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 10, 2020. (Turkish Presidential Press Office / Handout via Reuters)

Humanity has undergone and still is trying to overcome a horrible year, one that could easily be dubbed our annus horribilis. Besides health care, almost all sectors have taken their share of the hit from the COVID-19 pandemic that sent shock waves around the world. But one sector, the defense industry, was among those that kept growing.

The Turkish defense industry, in particular, not just completed several critical projects but with the use of its products in recent conflicts, made headlines in local and international media throughout the year. It is now looking ahead with even more ambition.

One of the primary motives behind the rapid progress of Turkey's defense industry, which maintained growth last year, is the sanctions on the country in the recent past. Instead of remaining idle amid the sanctions, Ankara fostered a defense industry from scratch now capable of exporting products worldwide while also driving the development of cutting-edge systems, like unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

These UAVs have been used by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in recent conflicts in neighboring Syria against terrorist elements and the brutal Bashar Assad regime. They've also seen action in war-torn Libya and were used by the Azerbaijani army in Nagorno-Karabakh. This use has raised questions about whether the relatively cheaper aircraft may eventually replace expensive advanced fighter jets. The answer is no, not entirely.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Sabah, Turkish defense analyst Hakan Kılıç said he expects a clear-cut task sharing between UAVs and manned aircraft in the future.

"I think, in the near future, UAVs will even replace electronic jamming aircraft, while the tasks of manned systems will focus on carrying anti-radiation and cruise missiles, heavy bombardment and air to air missions," he said.

Further explaining the tasks of both vehicles and the missions that have been carried out by the UAVs in the field, including the ones dubbed global, Kılıç said drones can perform almost all of the tasks executed by larger aircraft "when air superiority is established" and that they "can operate under the air umbrella provided by combat aircraft."

For example, he continued, we saw the most recent example of this in Operation Spring Shield – a cross-border military operation kicked off on Feb. 27, 2020, by the TSK against Syrian regime elements – in retaliation for an attack that killed 33 Turkish soldiers.

"If Turkish F-16s did not intercept the warplanes of the Assad regime with their beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM) by conducting a combat air patrol (CAP) mission along the border, Turkish UAVs Bayraktar TB-2 and Anka-S would not have been able to operate in the region," he said.

Through cooperation, these two armed UAVs, manufactured by Baykar Makina and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), performed a first in history, with the support of electronic jamming elements. They executed "suppress enemy air defense (SEAD)" missions and "destroy enemy air defense (DEAD)" tasks "normally requiring F-16s."

However, Kılıç continued, "Would this have been accomplished if the F-16s did not remotely protect the Turkish UAVs in the Syrian airspace without entering the country's airspace due to military and political obstacles?"

"If the two Syrian SU-24 and one L-39 warplane that came to hunt the Turkish drones were not downed by our F-16s, how would the UAVs protect themselves?" he rhetorically asked, pointing out the unavoidable cooperation between fighters and UAVs.

"Many Russian-made Syrian air defense missile systems were destroyed by the drones this way," Kılıç said. The destruction of the Russian systems, video footage of which was published later, continued in Nagorno Karabakh as well. There, the drones were used by Baku, who has previously purchased them from Turkey, and the air defense systems were deployed by Armenia, who were fighting an already losing battle on occupied Azerbaijani lands.

"Furthermore, in Azerbaijan, the TB-2 destroyed an Armenian Scud-B ballistic missile while on the launch vehicle (TEL), thus making history as the first ballistic missile launcher destroyed by a UAV in the history of war," Kılıç added.

David Babayan appointed Foreign Minister of Artsakh

Tatoyan Vazgen
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 4 2021

President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan as signed a decree, relieving Masis Mailyan of the post of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

According to another presidential decree, David Babyan was appointed to the post. He will step down as Advisor to the President of the Republic of Azrtsakh.

By another decree, Vahram Baghdasaryan was relieved of the post of Minister of Finance of the Artsakh Republic due to transfer to another job, and Grigory Martirosyan was appointed Minister of State and Finance of the Republic of Artsakh.


Captured Armenian servicemen should be immediately returned to Armenia–Ombudsman on Aliyev’s remarks

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 11:16, 2 January, 2021

YEREVAN, JANUARY 2, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has commented on the statement made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev over the Armenian servicemen who are currently in the Azerbaijani captivity.

“Yesterday, on December 31, 2020, the President of Azerbaijan, when talking about Armenian servicemen being held in captivity in their country, stated that they are not prisoners of war. He also stated that they are arrested and qualified them as terrorists.

As the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, I specifically declare that the mentioned statement and other similar statements are in gross violation of the post-war humanitarian process and the international human rights protection standards. The statement by the President of Azerbaijan also directly contradicts the requirement reflected in point 8 of the trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020 which concerns the exchange of prisoners of war or persons who are in other way deprived of liberty.

The Armenian servicemen captured by Azerbaijani soldiers should be immediately released and returned to Armenia. This must be done immediately and without any precondition since they have the status of prisoners of war.

During and after the war activities, the Azerbaijani authorities have constantly violated international human rights standards and humanitarian commitments by artificially delaying the return of prisoners of war and captives and not reporting the real number of prisoners of war and captives, during this whole process Azerbaijani authorities have continued torture and inhuman treatment, they have been publicizing videos on torture and inhuman treatment in a targeted way, obstructing exchange of bodies, etc.

The studies and reports of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia confirm that the aim of all these is to cause mental suffering to the families of the prisoners of war, to play with emotions of the Armenian society and generate tension in Armenia.

The monitoring clearly confirms that, in the case of the Azerbaijani authorities, it is necessary to always act with specific guarantees that will ensure full implementation of their humanitarian commitments and inviolability of international human rights standards.

Thus, I draw the attention of international community and particularly international bodies with human rights protection mandate to the mentioned statement of the President of Azerbaijan to exclude any violation of the humanitarian process and ensure strict compliance of the process with international human rights standards”, the Ombudsman said in a statement.

Sports commentator Karen Giloyan appointed deputy minister of education, science, culture and sport

Tatoyan Vazgen

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 10:33,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Sports commentator Karen Giloyan has been appointed deputy minister of education, science, culture and sport of Armenia.

The respective decision has been signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Karen Giloyan has long served as head of the sports department at the Public TV.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan