Author: Toneyan Mark

Armenian student on shortlist for $100k Global Student Prize 2021

Toneyan Mark
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 10 2021


September 10, 2021, 14:57

 3 minutes read

Nazeli Ter-Petrosyan, a 16-year-old student at Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex, Yerevan, Armenia, has been included in the top 50 shortlist for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2021, a new $100,000 award to be given to one exceptional student that has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers and on society beyond.

Nazeli, shortlisted for the Global Student Prize 2021, was selected from over 3,500 nominations and applications from 94 countries around the world.

The Varkey Foundation launched the Chegg.org Global Student Prize earlier this year, a sister award to its $1 million Global Teacher Prize, to create a powerful new platform that shines a light on the efforts of extraordinary students everywhere who, together, are reshaping our world for the better. The prize is open to all students who are at least 16 years old and enrolled in an academic institution or training and skills program. Part time students as well as students enrolled in online courses are also eligible for the prize.

Together, the Global Student Prize and the Global Teacher Prize will tell inspirational stories from both sides of education. The prizes will shine a spotlight on the great work teachers do in preparing young people for the future and the amazing promise some of the brightest students are showing in their learning and far beyond.

Chegg.org has partnered with the Varkey Foundation to create the new Global Student Prize. Lila Thomas, Head of Chegg.org, said:

“In this age of COVID, students like Nazeli have shown great courage to keep studying and keep fighting for a better future despite huge obstacles. The Global Student Prize has been launched to shine a light on their stories and listen to their voices. After all, it is their dreams, their insights and their creativity that will help solve some of the greatest questions humanity has ever faced.

“Our finalists this year have a made a huge impact in areas from the environment to equality and justice, from health and wellbeing to education and skills, from youth empowerment to ending poverty.

“We were so inspired by the achievements of these extraordinary students throughout the world that applied for the inaugural Global Student Prize that Chegg chose to double the value of the prize to $100,000.”

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, said:

“Congratulations to Nazeli for reaching the final 50. Her story clearly highlights the importance of education in tackling the great challenges ahead – from climate change to growing inequality to global pandemics. It is only by prioritizing education that we can safeguard all our tomorrows. Education is the key to facing the future with confidence.”

Nazeli Ter-Petrosyan, a student at American University of Armenia, Yerevan, in June graduated from “Mkhitar Sebastatsi” Educational Complex where she has been teaching programming skills to her peers since the 6th grade. From the very start, Nazeli had such a passion for computing that she wanted to share her knowledge with everyone by teaching seminars, conducting workshops, and blogging for a general audience. By 10th grade, she was teaching robotics to 4th- and 5th-graders, and continues to do so today.

Nazeli has also lent out her skills to public-benefit organizations in need of support. In 2018, she created a website and provided free tech support for the NGO Delure, which provides juridical support for victims of violence, soldiers, and socially vulnerable people. Since September 2020, she has volunteered as a 3D modeler for the NGO Youth Opportunities, where she is designing and modeling a future learning center. At the age of just 14, she received the Armenian Prime Minister’s Best Student award for achievements in IT, and most recently, she won entrance and is now studying in the most competitive university in Armenia at the age of just 16 – despite the obstacles of coronavirus lockdowns and a second Artsakh war in the country.

Applications and nominations for this year’s student and teacher prizes opened on Tuesday 2 February and closed on Sunday 16 May. Students who applied for the Global Student Prize are being assessed on their academic achievement, impact on their peers, how they make a difference in their community and beyond, how they overcome the odds to achieve, how they demonstrate creativity and innovation, and how they operate as global citizens.

Following today’s announcement, the top 10 finalists of both the Global Student Prize and the Global Teacher Prize will be announced in October this year. The winners of both prizes will be chosen from the respective top 10 finalists by the Global Student Prize Academy and the Global Teacher Prize Academy, made up of prominent individuals. The winners are due to be announced at an awards ceremony in Paris in November. 

Should Nazeli win the Global Student Prize, she would like to use the funds for a variety of purposes. First, she would donate money to a foundation in her country that helps injured and handicapped soldiers. Second, she would support startups whose ideas and goals are similar to her own, to acquire further experience in the startup world. Third, some funds would be used for international volunteering and workshops, for example volunteering to teach English in Asian monasteries. Finally, part of the money would be used to pay her tuition for university.

Arts expo in Moscow to honor Armenian Declaration of Independence anniversary

Toneyan Mark

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 10:49, 8 September, 2021

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. An exhibition of paintings by Armenian artists will be opened in Moscow on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Armenian Declaration of Independence, the Armenian Embassy in Russia said.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition will take place on September 18 at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy center’s Armenia pavilion.

The exhibition will include the works of Vahagn Galstyan, Levon Abrahamyan, Andrey Shugarov, Suren Safaryan, Armine Tumanyan, Peto Poghosyan, Tigran Hakobyan, Arev Petrosyan, Aram Mashuryan, Tigran Asatryan, Armen Vahramyan, Artur Sharafyan, Ashot Tadevosyan, Karen Movsisyan, Lilit Soghomonyan, Ashot Khachatryan and Vardan Voskanyan.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Turkish press: Turkey, Azerbaijan launch joint military drill in Azerbaijan’s Lachin

Toneyan Mark
Burak Dag   |06.09.2021


ANKARA 

Turkey and Azerbaijan on Monday launched a joint military drill in Azerbaijan's Lachin region that was liberated from Armenian occupation last year, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The joint exercise is being held under the Agreement on Military Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey, the ministry said in a statement.

The exercise aims to improve interoperability and combat coordination as well as the commanders' military decision-making and unit controlling skills, it noted.

"During the exercises, special attention was paid to improving the skills of using modern military equipment and other military means in difficult terrain," the statement added.

Ban on Turkish imports boosts Armenian fashion

Toneyan Mark
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 31 2021
Karine Ghazaryan Aug 31, 2021

Last December, a prominent spot on Yerevan’s central Abovyan Street was home to an outpost of the Turkish fast-fashion chain Mavi. 

But following a ban on Turkish imports into Armenia, a reaction to Turkey’s extensive support for Azerbaijan in last year’s war, Mavi is gone, replaced by a homegrown substitute: Prime, a new Armenian label selling hipster reinventions of everyday basics. The store is packed with sweatshirts, jeans and T-shirts of all shapes and sizes. A selection of accessories – handmade by one of the salespeople – hangs on the wall. 

Before the ban, clothing comprised the single largest category of Turkish imports to Armenia. Local production of textiles had been slowly growing for years, but has been kickstarted by the embargo.

“The ban helped a lot,” said Elen Manukyan, the co-founder of the Fashion and Design Chamber, a non-profit aimed at supporting and promoting Armenian designers. As Turkish clothing has disappeared from the Armenian market, local producers started offering a broader variety of products instead of the usual assortment of underwear and socks. “In addition, the war changed people’s attitude towards Armenian-made products. Consumers started prioritizing Armenian things,” Manukyan told Eurasianet.

The Fashion and Design Chamber supports local designers by helping them access investment, training, and international fashion shows. The government has helped, too, providing tax cuts to major textile investors.

Over 100 large and small companies are engaged in the sector. Still, the activity is a far cry from Soviet days, when Armenia exported clothing throughout the USSR and textiles employed 150,000 people, a quarter of the workforce, compared to around 8,000 today. 

The Armenian government first developed a strategy to promote development of the industry in 2013. The plan drew attention to unused potential manufacturing capacity and projected double-digit growth. Production has indeed grown significantly, with output value tripling between 2015 and 2019 (data for 2020 is not yet available).  

But many challenges remain. Armenia used to source most of the fabrics from Turkey. And while the embargo does not apply to raw materials such as cotton, experts predict that the Armenian textile industry’s sourcing map will have to change. Another serious challenge, = Manukyan says, are undeveloped business skills and poor schools.

“Universities do not have the necessary technical equipment and curricula are outdated,” she said. “But little by little we have educated the domestic consumer; they have started buying Armenian. Designers also have changed their attitude and now work on mass production to offer affordable clothing.” 

That change is easy to see on Yerevan’s streets: Whereas Armenian-made clothing used to be restricted to a few haute couture offerings, more recently mid-size brands offering cheaper but unique clothing have come on the market. 

Some of these labels emphasize Armenian culture – shirts adorned with letters of the Armenian alphabet, Christian symbols, ornaments from classical Armenian art – to attract customers from the large global diaspora. 

Other new designers try to appeal to local youth by reinterpreting symbols from popular culture. One, Light Affect, has built an identity around the image of “qyarts” – members of a subculture of powerful, semi-criminal street thugs from the 1990s and early 2000s, which have been transformed from objects of fear to that of ironic mockery.

(Light Affect)

Another brand with a similar aesthetic, Prime, features stylized illustrations of Armenia's landscapes. Some of Prime’s T-shirts feature famous mountains and hiking boots. The company also has a line of shirts with Soviet cars – retro models much older than the brand’s target audience.

(Prime)

Designer brands with higher price tags have a harder time getting a foothold in the Armenian market, where most consumers have little to spend. Vahan Khachatryan, an Italian-trained co-founder of the Fashion and Design Chamber, sells haute couture clothing worn by celebrities. Others – like LOOM Weaving, which focuses on knitted items or ZGEST, known for its dresses – offer mid-range prices, yet the cost of a single item can be comparable with Armenia's monthly minimum wage.  

Some small designers work together, setting up stores under the slogan “Made in Armenia.” One such shop, 5concept on Yerevan’s central Sayat Nova Avenue, offers clothing by dozens of Armenian labels, most of which are too small to afford their own boutiques. 

Manukyan of the Fashion and Design Chamber is optimistic that Armenian-made clothes will soon be a significant force in the local market.

“Six or seven years ago there were only individuals who worked with custom orders. And factories would just take orders from Russia, sew and ship,” she said. “Now we have serious brands, and new names emerge every day. The [design] field is very active, and it goes hand in hand with textiles because the number of factories is growing, too.”

 

Karine Ghazaryan is a freelance journalist covering Armenia.

  

Australian Egyptian Forum Council Calls for Recognition of Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocide

Toneyan Mark
AINA – Assyrian International News Agency
Sept 1 2021
Syndicated News
http://www.anc.org.au
Posted 2021-09-01 14:08 GMT

The Australian Egyptian Forum Council has joined a growing number of organisations in Australia calling on the Federal Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

The Australian Egyptian Forum Council is an organisation representing the interests of the Egyptian-Australian community in New South Wales. They promote Egyptian heritage and culture in Australia, and aim to encourage and develop good relations with other communities, working towards the spirit of a multicultural Australia.

Related: The Assyrian Genocide

The President of the Australian Egyptian Forum Council, Mr Amir Salem, has written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison in support of the Armenian-Australian community's call urging for Federal recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

"We believe that Australia, as a nation that upholds the values of human rights and justice, should be next in recognising the Armenian Genocide," wrote Mr. Salem. "Accurate characterisation of the events as Genocide will ensure the healing of open wounds for current and future generations of Armenian-Australians living with this trauma."

In April this year, Prime Minister Morrison, who called for Federal Australian recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a backbench MP in 2011, failed to correctly characterise the crimes of 1915 in his 2021 statement, despite acknowledging Australia's first major international humanitarian relief effort to aid the "dispossession, deportations and deaths" suffered during the events.

The Australian Egyptian Forum Council joins prominent religious, political, ethnic and youth organisations who have written to Prime Minister Morrison calling on him to stand on the side of truth and justice on the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, including the Jewish Australian community, the Arab Council of Australia, the New South Wales Young Liberals, the New South Wales Ecumenical Council representing 16 churches, Christian Charity Barnabas Fund Australia, Kurdish Lobby Australia, as well as from numerous prominent academics and former politicians.

In addition, over 20 ministers, shadow ministers and parliamentarians representing all sides of politics conveyed condolence messages to the Armenian-Australian community. Their messages contradicted Prime Minister Scott Morrison's statement that recognised "dispossession, deportations and death" — as well as Australia's first international humanitarian relief effort to assist surviving orphans — but failed to correctly characterise as genocide the 1915 murders of over 1.5 million Armenians, and over 1 million Assyrians and Greeks.has added to the pressure the Australian Government has faced leading up to and following this statement, with countless communities and political figures joining calls for recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides.

Mr Salem also referenced the connection between Armenian survivors of the genocide and his country of origin, Egypt.

"We are celebrating the Cosmopolitan City of Alexandria, where the Armenian community formed an essential part of the diversity of Alexandria," he wrote. "Egypt was a safe haven for many Armenians seeking refuge from the atrocities they experienced under the Ottoman Empire."

The ANC-AU is grateful for the support of the Australian Egyptian Forum Council, who have called on the Australian Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide.

"Armenian-Australians thank Mr Amir Salem and the Australian Egyptian Forum Council for joining a growing list of organisations that have called for Federal recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Australia," said ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian.

"Many Armenians who survived the genocide found safe haven in Egypt, and we are grateful for the continued support from their community in Australia," Kayserian added.

Armenpress: President Sarkissian congratulates newly-elected President of Estonia

Toneyan Mark

President Sarkissian congratulates newly-elected President of Estonia

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 21:10,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 31, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian sent a congratulatory message to newly-elected President of Estonia Alar Karis.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President's Office, the message runs as follows,

''I am convinced that your activity as the President of the country will further strengthen the partnership between Armenia and Estonia for the benefit of our countries and peoples.

Armenia attaches great importance to the continuous strengthening of friendly relations and constructive dialogue with Estonia, and I hope that due to joint efforts the warm Armenian-Estonian relations will continue to develop and strengthen both bilaterally and multilaterally’'.

Op-ed: Armenia-Iran route was closed after the incident on border with Azerbaijan

Toneyan Mark
Aug 26 2021
    JAMnews, Baku-Yerevan

On the evening of August 25, Azerbaijan announced an offense carried out by Armenian soldiers on the Azerbaijani border guard. It was reported that the incident took place on the border of the two countries.

The Azerbaijani side claims that the serviceman was wounded in the chest after being attacked by two Armenian servicemen. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan denied this information.

After the Kapan-Goris road was blocked, the ombudsmen of Armenia and Azerbaijan made statements in which they accused the other side of provocations.

Part of the road connecting the Armenian cities of Kapan and Goris passes through the territory of the Gubadli region, which came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the second Karabakh war.

The issue of the state border between the two countries remains unresolved.

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The press service of the Azerbaijan State Border Troops stated that:

“On August 25, at about 15:45, two Armenian servicemen attacked the Azerbaijani border guard Ruslan Shiraliyev who was serving at the border-combat point of the Gubadli border division, located in the direction of the Gerus-Kafan road section near the Ashagi Jibikli village of the Gubadli region.

During the hand-to-hand fight, the Azerbaijani border guard was wounded with a bayonet knife in the chest area.

The press service informs that, having seen his colleagues heading to the Azerbaijani border guard, the Armenian servicemen fled into the forest:

“Private R. Shiraliyev was immediately evacuated to the military hospital of the State Border Service and nothing threatens his life at the moment.

All responsibility for what happened lies with the Armenian side, an adequate response will be given to this provocation”.

The office of the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan also reacted to the incident:

“We strongly condemn such provocations of the Armenian side, which are aimed at creating new hotbeds of conflict by killing people and aggravating the situation on the border, we remind them to understand and fulfill their obligations under international law and the tripartite statement”.

The information that an attack was committed against an Azerbaijani soldier does not correspond to reality, said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during his address to parliament on August 26.

The head of government noted that the Armenian side expects evidence from Baku to confirm this information:

“If there is any, let them hand it over to us and we will investigate it”.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia also made a refutation. The ministry’s report says that the reports of the Azerbaijani border service about two Armenian servicemen allegedly attacking and wounding an Azerbaijani soldier in the southeastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border does not correspond to reality:

“This information is an absolute falsification and another misinformation of the Azerbaijani side. There was no such incident with the participation of the military personnel of the Armenian Armed Forces”.

Part of the Kapan-Goris road passes through the territory of the Gubadli region of Azerbaijan

The National Security Service of Armenia reported that on August 25, at about 23:00, the Azerbaijani side blocked the Karmrakar-Shurnukh section of the Kapan-Goris interstate road, which connects Armenia with Iran. According to the SNB, work is underway to restore traffic on the highway.

The Ombudsman of Armenia said that Russian border guards were also involved in the negotiations. Thanks to them, according to Arman Tatoyan, it was possible to evacuate civilian vehicles.

The Ombudsman also said that the highway was blocked by about 50 Azerbaijani servicemen ․ He considers the actions of the Azerbaijani side to be criminal:

“These are criminal actions: the free movement of people, the entire civilian population, including children, women, and the elderly is limited. We receive numerous messages from citizens, all of them have been verified”.

According to the human rights defender, it is impossible to consider issues related to the state border only from a military-political point of view. It is necessary to assess such provocations from the point of view of protecting the rights of civilians and Arman Tatoyan regards this incident as a planned crime against the civilian population.

Hours later, the Ombudsman said that the Azerbaijani military also blocked the Goris-Vorotan highway, an interstate road that ensures the movement of civilians:

“The criminal actions of the Azerbaijani military violate the right to free movement of people. Their very presence on these roads is a violation of people’s right to life and other internationally guaranteed vital rights”.

Nikol Pashinyan stated that the blocking of the Goris-Kapan road section by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces contradicts the agreements with Armenia and Russia.

He stressed that Syunik is not cut off from Armenia and regardless of the situation, the work of the government is aimed at regulating and guaranteeing transport links.

“Strategically, this issue will be resolved by the construction of the North-South road. But not completely. Work has also begun to improve roads in Shurnukh and Vorotan communities and it will be accelerated”.

With the construction of the North-South route, Armenia can become a transit country. From the north, it will connect Armenia with Georgia and provide it access to the Black Sea and European countries. From the south, the highway will connect the country with Iran. The construction of the highway began in Armenia in 2012. In 2019, the road was to be fully completed and commissioned, but so far about 20% of the highway has been built. The European Union will provide financial assistance of 600 million euros for the construction of the most difficult sections of this road.

Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan commented on the actions of Azerbaijan. In his opinion, Baku thus carries out “transport unblocking of the region”.

According to him, the Armenian government presents the agreement on the opening of transport communications as an achievement, as a “long-term guarantee of peace”, as well as a mutually beneficial economic opportunity.

“Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is not interested in unblocking transport. They have no problem opening roads. They have all the roads necessary for the normal development of Azerbaijan (except for the “Turkish corridor”). There is not and cannot be any kind of transport hub with Armenia of military and economic importance for Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan, the word “unblocking” means two things:

  1. Opening a road to Nakhichevan / Turkey with a special status through Syunik (to which the Armenian authorities agreed on November 9 [within the framework of the trilateral statement of the heads of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh, signed in the fall of 2020] but which so far we have been resisting successfully.
  2. Turkish control over all interstate external roads in Armenia.

At the moment, we have only two roads connecting us with the outside world, which are not yet nominally under Turkish control. One through Tavush to Georgia, the other through Syunik to Iran. The latter has been completely controlled by Azerbaijan since last night. After the surrender of the enclaves of Tavush, our road with Georgia will also be under their control. As a result, we will not have an unblocking, but a complete blockade.

Now imagine that Armenia fulfills the requirements of Azerbaijan: it gives a corridor, enclaves, in exchange for which Azerbaijan allows Armenian cars to go to Iran or Russia (in fact, this has almost no positive economic benefit, but let’s imagine it happening for a moment). Azerbaijan is blocking the road at any moment in order to extort new concessions from Armenia […], at any moment, as it was last night. “Armenian unblocking” in Azerbaijan means “complete blockade of Armenia”, because of which Armenia will lose the opportunity to develop independently”.



Azerbaijani forces block key road through southern Armenia Azerbaijani forces hav

Toneyan Mark
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 26 2021
Karine Ghazaryan Aug 26, 2021

The road between the Armenian cities of Goris and Kapan, near the Azerbaijani village of Eyvazli. Azerbaijani soldiers closed this section of the road on August 26, the Armenian authorities reported. (photos: Joshua Kucera)

Azerbaijani forces have blocked two sections of a major road through southern Armenia, Armenian officials have said, following what Azerbaijani officials said was an attack on an Azerbaijani soldier in the area.

Azerbaijani troops blocked the road near the villages of Karmrakar and Shurnukh at about 11 pm on August 25, Armenia’s National Security Service reported. The country’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, wrote on Facebook that the road was blocked by 50 or more Azerbaijani soldiers.

“Russian border guards, Armenian border guards conducted negotiations on the spot to open the road, and through their efforts civilian cars were taken out of the roadblock,” Tatoyan wrote. “This is a pre-planned and an openly hostile act. It is a crime against the civilian population of the Republic of Armenia.”

 

At noon the next day, Tatoyan reported that another section of the road further to the north, near the village of Vorotan, also was blocked. That road remains closed as of the time this article was published. Negotiations are expected to continue but the Azerbaijani side has not presented any demands, Gevorg Parsyan, the mayor of the region’s capital Kapan, told RFE/RL.

Following the end of last year’s war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan regained control over large swathes of its territory, many of which abut or straddle Armenia’s main north-south artery through the region of Syunik. Azerbaijani border guards have since set up several border posts along the road, in sections where the road crosses into Azerbaijani territory, but until now have for the most part maintained a passive posture. Both of the sections they blocked appear to be in what both sides now effectively treat as Azerbaijani territory.

Azerbaijani authorities have yet to comment on the road blockage, but hours before they reported that an Azerbaijani soldier had been stabbed with a bayonet by two Armenian soldiers near Ashaghi Jibikli, which lies on the Azerbaijani side of the border between Karmrakar and Shurnukh.

Armenia denied the allegations, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on Azerbaijan to hand over what evidence it had about the alleged incident.

In an August 26 address to parliament, Pashinyan said that a 21-kilometer section of the road crossed what he called “disputed territories” in some parts. He recited the text of a December agreement according to which Russian border guards would help ensure the security of the road, with Armenian and Azerbaijani border guards also on their respective sides.

He added that alternative roads in that area are being upgraded and that the issue will be for the most part resolved when the construction of a new North-South transport corridor, crossing the entire territory of Armenia, is finalized.

While many Armenian residents of the region have been alarmed by the presence of Azerbaijani border guards, as well as prominently placed Azerbaijani flags and signs reading “Welcome to Azerbaijan” on the sections of the road in their territory, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said they have nothing to worry about.

Aliyev told journalists in February that the "welcome to Azerbaijan" sign on the road was "there to make Armenians driving through that road feel safe in Azerbaijani territory."

The road closure took place amid simmering tensions between the two countries, including regular skirmishes and exchanges of fire.

On August 25, an Azerbaijani soldier was detained in the town of Martakert in Nagorno-Karabakh. Police in the de facto republic reported that the soldier, Jamil Babayev, was found in a house in the town; he was charged with illegal border crossing and threatening the residents of the house, which included children.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry confirmed that Babayev had crossed the line of control, and reported that Babayev had “voluntarily” left the psychiatric department of Ganja Hospital. "It is believed that our serviceman crossed into the territory controlled by Russian peacekeepers," the statement said.

Two days earlier, Armenia's Defense Ministry reported that Senior Lieutenant Artur Davidyan had left his position, crossed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory due to poor visibility and got lost. He has not been found yet. The ministry did not report which part of the border Davidyan had crossed. 

 

Heydar Isayev contributed reporting.

Karine Ghazaryan is a freelance journalist covering Armenia.

4 more soldiers’ bodies found in Artsakh search operations

Toneyan Mark
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 2 2021

Artsakh rescuers on Monday found the remains of 4 more Armenian soldiers as a result of their search operations for the 2020 war casualties.

The remains were retrieved from the Varanda (Fizuli) region, the State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh’s Interior Ministry reported.

The bodies are yet to be identified through a forensic medical examination.

The State Service of Emergency Situations will provide further information on the upcoming search operations.

Since the end of hostilities, a total of 1,623 bodies of Armenian soldiers and civilians have been found and recovered from the Artsakh territories temporarily occupied by Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day war unleashed by it.

Military forces of Azerbaijan, Armenia clash in Nakhichevan

Toneyan Mark
Mehr News Agency, Iran
Aug 2 2021

TEHRAN, Aug. 03 (MNA) – For the second consecutive day in a row, Ministry of Defense of Republic of Azerbaijan issued a statement, announcing the border conflict with Armenia in Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan.

"On August 2, at about 03.27 a.m., the Armenian armed forces' units from the positions near Arazdeyen village of Vedi region using small arms subjected to fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the direction of Heydarabad settlement of Sadarak region of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Azerbaijan reported no casualties and said it responded with retaliatory fire, Anadolu news agency reported.

"Currently, the situation in this direction is stable, our units control the operational situation," it added.

Relations between the two countries of Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been deteriorated since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and ended on Nov. 10 with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenia's nearly three-decade occupation.

A joint Turkish-Russian center was established to monitor the truce. Russian peacekeeping troops have also been deployed in the region.

MA/PR