Author: Vanyan Gary

Adana massacre of 1909: Long before the 1915 genocide of Armenian Christians, Ottomans had massacred thousands, over a mere rumour

Vanyan Gary
India –
  • Sanghamitra |

The Armenian Genocide, a series of systemic killings, and organised extermination of the minority population of Christians during the Ottoman Muslim rule in the region of Armenia is one of the most horrific state-sponsored genocidal events of the 20th century.

Usually, the Armenian Genocide refers to a series of massacres of the Armenian Christian population carried out by officials of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 onwards. The genocide began in 1915 and lasted until 1923, killing an estimated 1.5 million Armenian Christians, among other minority Christian groups.

However, years before 1915, a tragic event in Adana in April 1909 displays how the Ottoman Empire was prejudiced against the Christians under their rule and how an entire population was branded the enemy of the state, and subjected to tragic, horrific murder on an enormous scale.

The population of Armenian Christians under Ottoman rule in Western Asia has been subjected to multiple events of atrocities and massacres over centuries. In 1895, Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II ordered the killing of the Armenian population after Armenian groups demanded equal rights for minority Christians under the Islamic Ottoman regime.

Beginning in the fall of 1895, Hamid II’s officials and irregular militia started attacking Armenian villages and settlements and killing the general population with impunity. By the spring of 1896, an estimated 300,000 Armenians were killed. Rapes and forced conversions were rampant too. This was the initial stage in what was to be decades of violence and massacres for the Armenian people living under the Ottoman caliphate.

The large-scale violence against the Armenian population was a turning point, marking the beginning of a pattern of violence and persecution that would continue for decades, culminating in the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The region of Adana (Adana Eyalet) was located in the region of southeastern Anatolia, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Around 1909, a rumour started reading that the Armenians living in the region are planning a revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Unlike the Hamiddian massacre, this event was carried forward by local Ottoman officials and Islamic groups, with motives of the social and economic devastation of Armenian and other minority groups.

Adana region in Ottoman Empire, Modern Turkey

The violence began on April 14, 1909, when Muslim mobs began attacking Armenian neighbourhoods in Adana and its surrounding areas, burning homes and businesses, and killing Armenian civilians. The violence quickly spread to other Christian communities, including the Greeks and Assyrians. The Ottoman authorities were either unable or unwilling to stop the violence, and in some cases, even encouraged it.

Over 1300 Assyrians and hundreds of Greeks and Syrian Christians were also killed. Beginning on April 14, Muslim mobs instigated and aided by Islamic clerics and Ottoman officials, started raiding villages and killing anyone and everyone from the minority communities.

Images of devastation and torture in the Adana massacre in 1909, via @ResearchWing and @HistoryfyToday

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Armenians and hundreds of Greeks and Assyrians were rounded up, tortured, raped and killed. People were carved with knives and shops and homes were gutted in the fire.

The massacre was fuelled by a combination of factors. Religious intolerance against minority Christians, economic competition, and Ottoman government policies all played a role. The Ottoman Empire was in a state of decline, and the rise of fanaticism mixed with ‘nationalist’ sentiments towards the Empire was fuelling hatred against Christians who were perceived as being sympathetic towards the Russian State.

Socio-economic differences between the Muslim Turks and Armenians were also one of the reasons. Though the general Armenian population was not particularly rich, some Armenian Christians had found success. This was used as a trigger to incite the Muslim mobs against the population, branding the Armenians as traitors of the Ottoman Empire because of their religion.

In the months prior to the massacre, rumours began to circulate that Armenians were plotting to take over the Ottoman Empire with the support of European powers. These rumours were spread by Ottoman officials and Muslim leaders, who used them to stoke fears and fuel anti-Armenian sentiment. Even after the April 14 massacres, Ottoman officials and soldiers kept spreading the claims that it was the Armenians who had attacked Muslims.

The Committee of Union and Progress, or CUP, was a political party that emerged in the late 19th century in the Ottoman Empire, on the promise of a centralized and modernized Ottoman state. In the years before 1909, the CUP had gained significant influence in the Ottoman government, with many of its members holding key positions in the Empire. Anti-Armenian sentiment often formed a key rhetoric of the CUP.

It is said that many CUP members were actively and directly involved in the Armenian massacre, some members even helping to fuel the rumours that the Armenians are plotting to overthrow the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Empire, whose officials and soldiers were active and willing perpetrators of large-scale violence against minority Christian groups, never acknowledged their roles. Despite reports of widespread atrocities against Armenian civilians, Ottoman officials never took any decisive action to stop the massacre. As the violence continued unabated and got widely reported, the Ottoman government finally sent troops to stop the violence, but that proved to be futile too. Because they were mostly Ottoman Muslim troops who often participated in the violence against minorities.

A book by Rouben Paul Adalian mentions that a total of 24 churches, 16 schools, 232 houses, 30 hotels, 2 plants, 1429 cottages, 253 farms, 523 shops, 23 mills and many other public buildings were burnt in Adana alone.

Even an investigation carried out by the Ottoman government after the massacre was found to be horribly biased against the Armenians. No meaningful steps were taken to prevent similar incidents in the future and the perpetrators were never brought to justice. Most of the officials involved went unpunished. Hence, the massacre only paved the way for future atrocities at a grander scale against the Armenians, eventually leading to the 1915 genocide that killed millions of them.

The remnants of the hatred and legacy of violence between the two ethnic groups continue even today, in the form of the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Turkey’s open support to Azerbaijan against the Armenians.

Iran’s Policy and Messaging of the West in the South Caucasus

Vanyan Gary
 Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan Opinion 0

The 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war has significantly altered the power balance of the South Caucasus, effectively dismantling the 1994-2020 security architecture. Experts and academic circles still debate who won or lost due to the war. However, almost all agree that Iran is among the losers. The 2020 war increased Turkey’s influence in the region, apparently brought Azerbaijani armed forces under complete Turkish control and made Azerbaijan and Turkey much closer to the realization of a century–long dream of establishing a direct land corridor. Even more worrisome for Iran was the appearance of Israel in the newly-captured territories along the Azerbaijan–Iran border. Azerbaijan has cultivated strong defense and security cooperation with Israel since the early 2010s. However, the control by the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh Republic of 135 kilometers of borders with Iran gave Tehran flexibility and confidence that those areas would not be used for anti-Iranian activities. The 2020 war changed that situation dramatically, as Azerbaijan allowed Israel to enter those territories under the pretext of reconstruction activities and the establishment of smart villages. 

Iran believes that by inviting Israel to exploit Azerbaijani territories, Baku has changed the balance of power in the region and assumed an overt anti-Iranian position. In the last two years, Iran has issued several warnings to Azerbaijan, primarily via organizing military drills along the Azerbaijan–Iran border. The beginning of 2023 saw relations hitting a new low, after the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran was attacked, and Azerbaijani law enforcement bodies arrested “Iranian spies in Azerbaijan” almost on a daily basis.

The two countries share significant economic interests, including the launch of the North–South International Transport corridor, which connects India with Russia via Iran, and one of the routes passes via Azerbaijan. Iran and Azerbaijan are actively negotiating with Russia to launch an energy corridor, which will connect the electrical grids of three countries and allow them to export/import electricity. They recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan via Iran through the construction of a railroad and highway in Iran along the Araks river (so-called alternative Zangezur corridor) and bridges from Azerbaijan to Iran and from Iran to Nakhichevan. It is challenging to assess whether these economic projects prevent bilateral relations from further deterioration. However, recent developments, including an assassination attempt on an Azerbaijani MP in Baku and statements from Azerbaijan that Iranian special services were behind this attack, did not bode well for bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to voice its objections to the so-called Zangezur corridor to connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan via Armenia. Iranian authorities probably do not believe the Azerbaijani side’s explanations that the corridor will have no extraterritorial features and will serve only economic purposes. Tehran thinks that even if the corridor will be under de jure Armenian control, it will open the way for the gradual expansion of Azerbaijani and Turkish presence and later influence in Syunik, bringing Syunik under at least de facto Turkish/Azerbaijani control. Iran categorically rejects any changes to the border and the geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus (the possible further incursion of Azerbaijani troops into Armenia). The potential for geopolitical changes should be a message to Armenia that Yerevan should significantly revise its foreign policy, moving away from Russia toward closer cooperation with the US and the EU. Not surprisingly, Iran de facto criticizes the deployment of European observers in Armenia, emphasizing that regional powers should solve regional problems while external actors will only deteriorate the situation. In this context, Iran supports the 3+3 mechanism, which should include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Russia, as a tangible platform for bringing peace and stability to the South Caucasus. The first meeting of this format at the level of deputy foreign ministers took place in Moscow in December 2021, albeit without the participation of Georgia. Iran is working with Russia to convene the second meeting in Tehran by the end of 2023.

As Armenia–Azerbaijan peace negotiations reached an apparent deadlock due to the Azerbaijani position of taking everything, many seek to understand what may happen next. Some argue that Azerbaijan may launch a large-scale attack against Armenia similar to the aggression of September 2022 or undertake military action in Nagorno Karabakh. Others believe that Azerbaijan does not need any military escalation and will pursue “salami tactics,” taking favorable heights along the Armenia–Azerbaijan border and the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, while continuing to strangle the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh through the blockade and waiting until November 2025 to push out Russian peacekeepers. Currently, Azerbaijan has many options and may choose any of them or try to combine several methods. Any Azerbaijani move envisages military pressure on Armenia. Yerevan urgently needs to increase its armed forces’ capabilities if Armenia wants to prevent the complete loss of Nagorno Karabakh and counter Azerbaijani pressure inside Armenia. In this context, many wonder what Iran’s role will be in case of large-scale Azerbaijani attack against Armenia. It is very challenging to predict Iran’s exact actions, but Iran has other options short of direct military engagement. Iran may supply weapons to Armenia, offer joint military drills with Armenian armed forces and establish a small permanent military presence in the Syunik or Vayots Dzor regions of Armenia. These options will have a significant negative impact on Armenia’s relations with the US, the EU and NATO. However, before warning Armenia about the negative consequences of military cooperation with Iran, the collective West should offer alternatives. The deployment of 60 to 65 civilian observers along the 1,000 kilometer Armenia–Azerbaijan border and talks that arms supplies are not possible because Armenia is a member of CSTO and an ally of Russia are not helpful. Everyone clearly understands that Armenia cannot leave the CSTO and cancel its 1997 agreement with Russia without exposing itself to imminent threats, which the West cannot counter. Thus, the discussions that we will not supply you arms because you are a CSTO member state, while you should not have military cooperation with Iran, and in case of Azerbaijani aggression, no Western military intervention is possible, and even the EU/US sanctions against Azerbaijan are not guaranteed because of growing EU–Azerbaijan economic cooperation sound like bad advice. 

If the West is unable or disinterested in convincing Azerbaijan to accept the Western presence in Nagorno Karabakh to secure the fundamental rights of Armenians when or if Russian peacekeepers leave and is unable to push Azerbaijan to move its troops out of occupied Armenian territories, all calls to Armenia not to have even minimal military cooperation with Iran receive at least mixed perceptions in Armenia. With that being said, Armenia should deepen its cooperation with Tehran, as Iran continues to counter Azerbaijan.

  •  Bio
  •  Latest Posts
Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan is the founder and chairman of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies and a senior research fellow at APRI – Armenia. He was the former vice president for research – head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense Research University in Armenia. In March 2009, he joined the Institute for National Strategic Studies as a research Fellow and was appointed as INSS Deputy Director for research in November 2010. Dr. Poghosyan has prepared and managed the elaboration of more than 100 policy papers which were presented to the political-military leadership of Armenia, including the president, the prime minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Poghosyan has participated in more than 50 international conferences and workshops on regional and international security dynamics. His research focuses on the geopolitics of the South Caucasus and the Middle East, US – Russian relations and their implications for the region, as well as the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. He is the author of more than 200 academic papers and articles in different leading Armenian and international journals. In 2013, Dr. Poghosyan was a Distinguished Research Fellow at the US National Defense University College of International Security Affairs. He is a graduate from the US State Department Study of the US Institutes for Scholars 2012 Program on US National Security Policy Making. He holds a PhD in history and is a graduate from the 2006 Tavitian Program on International Relations at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.


Under Netanyahu, violence against Christians is being normalised

Vanyan Gary

April 9 2023

Never have Israeli attackers felt more emboldened than under the new government, Christian leaders say.

By Steven Davidson
Published On 9 Apr 2023

Jerusalem – Nothing about the attack or what happened since surprised Miran Krikorian. The Armenian owner of Taboon and Wine Bar in the Old City of Jerusalem was not surprised to receive a call the night of January 26 that a mob of Israeli settlers was attacking his bar in the Christian Quarter and shouting “Death to Arabs … Death to Christians.”

It didn’t surprise him how little effort the police made to catch the perpetrators; after some press about the attack and a lack of arrests, police told him two months later they detained three of the suspects among the mob. But they also asked for his surveillance video, despite the videos being already online and surveillance cameras omnipresent in the Old City.

“You have cameras over here that can show the underwear that someone is wearing, so how come you’re asking for my footage two months later?” asked Krikorian.

It was easy for him to identify many of the perpetrators himself – they went online and gave his restaurant a 1-star review minutes after the attack – but when he went to the police station that night, the officer there scolded him: “Don’t bother me too much.”

A couple of days later, Armenians leaving a memorial service in the Armenian Quarter say they were attacked by Israeli settlers carrying sticks. An Armenian was pepper-sprayed as settlers scaled the walls of the Armenian convent, trying to take down its flag, which had a cross on it. When Armenians chased them away, the settlers began shouting: “Terrorist attack,” prompting nearby border police to draw their guns on the Armenians, beating and detaining one of them.

“Instead of [the soldiers] calming or condemning [the settlers], I was looking into the eyes of the soldier and telling him to calm down,” one of the attacked Armenian youth told Al Jazeera.

Hostility by fundamentalist Jews towards Jerusalem’s Christian community is not new, and it is not just Armenian Christians who suffer from it. Priests of all denominations describe being spat at for years. Since 2005, Christian celebrations around Holy Week, particularly Holy Fire Saturday, have brought military barricades and harsh treatment from soldiers and settlers alike, with the number of worshippers allowed inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre drastically limited, from as many as 11,000 historically during the Holy Fire ceremony to now 1,800 since last year, with authorities citing safety concerns.

But since Israel’s new government – the most right wing and religious in its history – came to power, incidents against Christians in Jerusalem have reportedly become more violent and common. At the beginning of the year, 30 Christian graves at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery were desecrated. In the Armenian Quarter, vandals spray-painted “Death to Arabs, Christians and Armenians,” on the walls.

At the Church of the Flagellation, someone attacked a statue of Jesus with a hammer. Last month, an Israeli came to the Church of Gethsemane during Sunday religious services and tried to attack the priest with an iron bar. Being spat and shouted at by Israelis has become, for some Christians, “a daily occurrence”.

Most of the time, victims of these incidents say little is done by police to catch or punish attackers.

“My fear is that these perpetrators are known, but they enjoy impunity,” said Munib Younan, bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. “That’s the reason they are doing this.”

Church and community leaders note that police do little to investigate, and dismiss or minimise the religious and ideological motivations behind these attacks, typically saying the perpetrators suffer from mental illness.

“The man who tried to [throw] tomatoes in our Church of Gethsemane in 2020, it was the same – he was taken for a while, and then he was declared mentally ill. So, what can we do?” remarked Friar Francesco Patton, custodian of the Holy Land.

Forced to take matters into his own hands, Patton, who is tasked with protecting some 80 sites in Jerusalem, says the Franciscans have reluctantly set up cameras in all corners of their holy sites, which are becoming more closed off from the public due to the persistent attacks.

“This is not the Franciscan spirituality … of welcoming,” he said. “But we have to take care of the [holy] places and people who come to pray and worship.”

Ideologically, the primary source for this targeting of Christians and their holy sites comes from the education of certain ultra-religious Jewish groups, according to community and church leaders. Most attacks come from a small minority of teenage yeshiva students, they say.

“Their mind is obsessed with the ‘Messianic syndrome’. They want to take over the whole land,” said Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem. “When you see young people, 15 or 16 years old, and they do all sorts of things and they’re not afraid, someone is behind it.”

The targeting of Christian symbols – especially the cross, with harassers often calling Christians “pagans” or “idol worshippers” – isn’t new either, but never have the attackers felt more emboldened than under the new government. After a recent spitting incident, an argument ensued, and the settler flashed his gun at the Christians. As a friend of theirs put it, the message was clear: “I can do anything I want and claim self-defence.”

“The minister of national security is a lawyer who used to defend extremist Jews attacking Christian and other sites,” said one Armenian youth who says they were attacked in January, referring to Itamar Ben-Gvir. “What do you expect when the highest-ranking official in the equation is the most extremist?”

All of this is happening “in the grips of the most serious crisis between Israel and the churches since 1948”, said Daniel Seidemann, a Jerusalem lawyer intimately involved in discussions with state and institutional delegations. “Nobody is talking to the churches.”

This comes as the Israeli government continues to seek to transform Christian sites at the Mount of Olives into a national park — which church officials say will strip their rights as owners of these sites and hand them over to settler interests.

Church statements are growing more direct, at times fiercely critical of the government. “What we call the status quo, the balance between the different [communities] … now is not any more respected,” declared Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s Christian population has been threatened for years – it is currently about 10,000, or just over one percent of the city’s population, compared with a quarter of the population a century ago. Many have left, seeking a more secure future elsewhere as the empowerment of far-right religious figures such as Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich only tears Jerusalem apart and marginalises Christians further.

Church leaders describe a situation where religious issues are becoming more politicised, while political issues are driven more intensely by religious zealotry. “These people want to change the political conflict in Jerusalem into a religious one where nobody is a winner except extremists,” said Bishop Younan of the Lutheran Church.

“Religion should forgive, should invite to peace, to concord, to reconciliation, to forgiveness,” added Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate. “But when religion becomes ideology, this is what happens: hatred.”

Christians have been emigrating from the Holy Land for economic and security reasons for decades. After big waves of emigration caused by the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 war, there has been a steady trickle of Christians leaving. Efforts within the community to preserve the Christian presence in Jerusalem, including careful ownership of properties by churches and others, have helped the Christian population in Jerusalem stabilise somewhat.

But residents already dealing with high costs of living ask themselves if they should endure the verbal and physical assaults to maintain the Christian presence, or emigrate.

“We are the weakest one, so maybe it’s a way of accelerating the emigration to leave the country,” said Krikorian, the bar owner, who personally “love[s]” living in the Old City. “It’s working. Honestly speaking, it’s working.”

Community mobilisation has been difficult with what can be a fragmented community divided among 13 churches. Gabi Hani, 53, a Palestinian Christian Jerusalemite who owns Versavee Restaurant near Jaffa Gate in the Old City, commends the increased visibility and statements of church leaders recently but believes a clear vision is still lacking.

“I think we are a bit lost,” said Hani. “We don’t have a single leader to provide a kind of unified strategy. But people defend themselves, and just to stay here is already the winning strategy.”

Palestinian and Armenian Christians feel ignored by the world, and for church officials engaging in the diplomatic arena, the response often rings hollow. “[Foreign countries] are shy,” said Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate. “Americans are the strongest because there is a special relationship between Israel and the United States. But Europe is shy – they talk, but without exerting any pressure.”

The Armenian scouts march through the Old City of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023. Scout leader Hagop Djernazian appears on the left [Lucien Lung/Al Jazeera]

Finding someone to take the lead on protecting Christians can be tricky. Speak to community members, and they will call for churches or foreign states tasked with protecting Christian sites – like Belgium, France, Italy, Jordan, and Spain – to take more action. Speak to church leaders, and they say there is little they can do beyond making statements and communicating their deepening concerns to foreign states. Ask diplomats, and they say they are following the lead of church officials – a circle of finger-pointing responsibility that results in little action.

“There’s more consciousness of the issues,” said one diplomat in Jerusalem. “Some key people have played a role there on the church side, but it hasn’t been effective. Although, what diplomatic action here has been effective?”

Other issues afflicting Jerusalem and the region at the moment – including violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Israeli government’s proposed judicial amendments – are higher priorities for diplomatic missions. However, according to a diplomat speaking off the record, threats against church property are one of the few areas where there can be pushback in the US, even from Republicans against Israel’s efforts to Judaise Jerusalem.

But those involved in diplomatic discussions say violence against Christians is unlikely to be the animating force for foreign missions.

Christians in Jerusalem are starting to increase engagement within and between communities. Following the violent incidents towards the Armenian community – victims of a disproportionate number of attacks because their quarter is adjacent to the Jewish Quarter – they started a WhatsApp group to alert each other of threats or incidents.

Hagop Djernazian, 23, leads the Armenian Scouts. He has been engaging Scout groups across denominations, organising joint camps for the first time. As a show of solidarity, he brought the Orthodox Armenian Scouts to last week’s Catholic Palm Sunday. Ten Scout groups joined the procession, double the participation from last year.

“The new generation is growing up with the idea that Christians must cooperate with each other in the city to keep the Christian presence,” said Dzernian. “If we keep saying that we will work alone, we will lose in the end.”

In the wider context of government efforts to Judaise Jerusalem, a solidarity of “others” is likewise reinforced. “Christians, Muslims, Arabs, Armenians – they include us in one package,” said Dzernian.

Many community members and leaders like Latin Patriarch Pizzaballa expect the violence to continue or worsen in the weeks ahead. Some Christians, inevitably, will leave. But through the pressure, a collective identity is strengthening – both as part of the longstanding “mosaic” of Jerusalem’s multiethnic, multireligious character, and as Christians in the Holy Land.

“Occupation makes people very cold, very separate. ‘I am [Syriac], I am Catholic, I am Orthodox, I am Evangelist’,” remarked Hani the restaurant owner. “But with the threats, the violence, the vandalism, now the people are coming together. The churches are waking up. We were blind for 50 years, but no more.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/4/9/under-netanyahu-violence-against-christians-is-being-normalised








“Azerbaijan allowing exit from NK, prohibiting entry”: blockade continues

Vanyan Gary
April 5 2023
  • JAMnews
  • Yerevan

New procedure for leaving NK for Armenia

“From now on it will be possible to leave Artsakh for Armenia in case of emergency,” State Minister of the unrecognized NKR Gurgen Nersisyan said. Entry and exit will be organized by the Russian peacekeeping contingent. Anyone needing to leave will first have to contact the RMK Interaction Center and obtain permission.

The new procedure for leaving the Nagorno-Karabakh region was approved after Azerbaijan banned a group of Armenians from entering. Peacekeepers spent five hours unsuccessfully negotiating with the Azerbaijanis blocking the road. Those barred from entry said that “the Azerbaijanis intimidated people in cars by breaking into one of them and openly threatening people.” It is reported that four women had problems with their health and had to be transported to hospital.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized republic issued a statement saying that “Azerbaijan’s criminal actions are becoming increasingly threatening in nature and scale.”

Armenian media reported that on April 4, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, 27 civilians tried to return from the city of Goris to the territory of NK. Azerbaijanis declaring themselves environmental activists who have blocked the Lachin corridor since December 12, 2022, stopped a car near the city of Shushi [Azerbaijanis call it Shusha] and denied them entry. Only four women, who apparently were ill, were allowed through and brougth to a hospital.

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The state minister of the unrecognized republic stated that the rumors about the evacuation of local residents to Armenia by Russian peacekeepers is “another manifestation of Azerbaijan’s information attacks” and do not correspond to reality. Gurgen Nersisyan recalled that from the beginning of the blockade of the Lachin corridor, people have been deprived of the opportunity to travel to Armenia, and now they will be able to travel only “in case of emergency.” The transportation process will be organized through Russian peacekeepers “in order to protect citizens from possible Azerbaijani provocations” on the blocked section of the road.

He said that the representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in NK will continue organizing the transportation of people with health problems who need specialized medical care.

Units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces tried to advance in the direction of heights adjacent to the Stepanakert-Lisagor road

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the unrecognized NKR described the actions of Azerbaijanis in the Lachin corridor in April as “psychological terror and intimidation of women, children and the elderly.” The statement says that the citizens who remained in Armenia due to the blockade of the only road were not allowed to reunite with their families:

“This egregious incident clearly demonstrates that the Azerbaijani authorities have embarked on the next level of practical implementation of their criminal plan to carry out ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and expel its people from their historical homeland.

These intentions were publicly announced by the President of Azerbaijan on January 10, 2023 in an interview with the Azerbaijani media. Subsequently, the Azerbaijani political leadership repeatedly repeated the threat that the inhabitants of Artsakh should either submit to the Armenophobic authorities of Azerbaijan or leave their homeland.”

The statement emphasizes that “Azerbaijan operates with absolute impunity”:

“The inaction of the international community in the face of such serious violations of human rights is tantamount to tacit approval, if not complicity in the inhumane actions of official Baku. Urgent and decisive action by the UN Security Council, which has the appropriate mandate and tools, is an absolute necessity for the immediate end of the illegal blockade and the suppression of the ongoing crimes of Azerbaijan before the eyes of the international community.”

The Prime Minister of Armenia stated that the agreement will be based on “written documents” with agreements that the parties worked out “at the highest level”

State Minister’s adviser and former Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan gave details of the incident, which he learned from those denied entry. He wrote on social networks that the Azerbaijanis “intimidated people in cars by breaking into one of them and openly threatening them,” and also put forward a precondition of “accepting Azerbaijani citizenship.”

Four women allegedly lost consciousness during this incident. According to the information received by Beglaryan, the peacekeepers called an ambulance and transported them to a hospital:

“The Azerbaijani side did not allow the peacekeepers to call and use the Artsakh ambulance and tried to transport patients to the hospital of Shushi, a city now under the control of Azerbaijan. However, people began to protest and demanded that the patients be transferred to Stepanakert [Azerbaijanis call this city Khankendi].

In the context of the state policy of racial/ethnic discrimination and hatred in Azerbaijan, as well as its regular manifestations, the international community must understand the level of existential threats to the people of Artsakh under any form of control by Azerbaijan.”

The Office of the Ombudsman of NK has issued a new report on the consequences of the blockade

According to information provided by MK Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, Azerbaijan “violated an earlier agreement with the Russian peacekeeping forces on the return of the inhabitants of Artsakh, and the negotiations came to nothing.” Of the 27 people who were heading home, 23 returned to Goris.

He recalled that from the beginning of the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Baku has claimed that the road is open:

“This incident proves the essence of the false and fabricated statements of the Azerbaijani leadership, the obvious and undisguised lies and the misleading of the international community. Moreover, by allowing people to leave Artsakh in various ways, but forbidding entry, the Azerbaijani authorities are openly pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing.”

According to the Ombudsman, the reason for Azerbaijan’s failure to comply with calls of the international community and the decision of the International Court of Justice is

  • “the emerging situation of permissiveness,
  • disrespect, disregard for the peacekeeping mission of Russia,
  • the absence of targeted and practical punitive actions on the part of all interested international actors.”
https://jam-news.net/new-procedure-for-leaving-nk-for-armenia/

Large-scale potato planting carried out in Artsakh’s Berdashen

Vanyan Gary
Panorama
Armenia – March 31 2023

A large-scale potato planting has been carried out in the Berdashen community of the Martunu region in the Republic of Artsakh, the head of the community, Georgi Poghosyan, told Artsakhpress, adding that in Berdashen potatoes have been sown on such a scale for the first time.

"As a part of a charity program, 6 kilograms of seeds were provided to a family. In addition, the villagers also benefited from the appropriate state support and programs of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund," the head of the community said.

The arable lands of the community are mainly irrigated with artesian water, but problems arise during power outages. According to the official, only 12-13 percent of the community's arable land is irrigated.

"If we increase the artesian wells, then we can get enough harvest, which we can even export," Pogosyan said.

He noted with satisfaction that in 2022, a reservoir was built in accordance with modern standards, thanks to which an intensive garden of about 200 hectares is being established in the village.

“We have already planted and are growing pineapple, pomegranate, as well as persimmon tress,” the head of the Berdashen community said, noting that spring sowing continues. In addition, they have already planted vegetable crops, in particular, cucumber, watermelon and onion.

The War the U.S. Media Ignores

Vanyan Gary
April 31 2023

BY NICK AKGULIAN

 

MAR. 31, 2023

Imagine spending more than three months of this winter with empty grocery store shelves, lack of medicines at the local pharmacy, and a shortage of every other daily basic good needed. Imagine living with no heat for much of the day and night in frigid temperatures, no fuel in the car to travel to a doctor's appointment or to a place of employment, no internet to perform work and school tasks, or to communicate with loved ones. For one-hundred days and counting, this has been the reality for the 120,000 people living within the borders of a beautiful mountainous territory called Nagorno Karabagh, an historically Armenian populated enclave which lies within the borders of present-day Azerbaijan, adjacent to the country of Armenia.

I had the good fortune to live and work alongside the people of Nagorno Karabagh for several months late last year while engaged in a health care project. They are a hardworking, generous, religious people, many living a traditional mountain village life on a land they have been tied to for centuries. They are a people who have endured two wars since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the last in 2020, when the country of Azerbaijan supported by Turkey and other regional powers, unleashed a 44-day attack on the area that took the lives of over 5000 of their men and women. Each day during our village clinic sessions, stories were told of loved ones lost or badly wounded, displacement from homes or towns, loss of livelihood, and much more. Because Azerbaijan now occupies all the land surrounding Nagorno Karabagh, many of the clinics were conducted within view of Azerbaijan military posts, a source of constant anxiety for the population given the periodic attacks on the villages. Rather than being angry, bitter or desiring revenge, the refrain I heard repeatedly from the people was, “we simply want to live in peace.”

Instead, on Dec. 12, 2022, Azerbaijan began a complete blockade of the only road connecting Nagorno Karabagh to the country of Armenia and the outside world, placing a stranglehold on an entire population in attempt to remove them from their ancestral homeland. During this time, Azerbaijan has also repeatedly disrupted the gas and electricity supply to the area, as well as internet service. As a result, hospitals and clinics cannot supply needed services. Schools have closed. Food is being rationed. Businesses are shuttered. Organizations such as Genocide Watch and the Lemkin Institute have issued repeated warnings of genocide. Our own State Department, along with the European Union, United Nations, the World Council of Churches, the Vatican, Human Rights Watch and many others, have called for an end to the blockade, yet the humanitarian crisis continues.

While the horrific events in Ukraine are rightly covered vigorously by the press and are a regular focus for our politicians, the above story, also taking place in the former Soviet Union, has largely remained out of the media. It also has not triggered actions by our elected officials similar to those taken against Putin and Russia for its gross human rights violations. To make matters worse, the hard-earned tax dollars of every Wisconsin and US worker is flowing into the hands of the Azerbaijan leadership responsible for this attempt at ethnic cleansing. While our country defends democracy and human rights in Ukraine against a brutal dictator, we are in effect doing the opposite in Nagorno Karabagh by using our dollars to support and reward a dictator who inflicts suffering on a people governed by democratic principles.

Our politicians, the media, and the global community can and must do better. We as citizens can do our part by contacting local and national media to request they report on this story, in hopes that shining a light on the blockade will assist in ending it. Likewise, we must relentlessly contact our politicians—including the White House, State Department, Senators Baldwin and Johnson, the Congressional Representative of your district—until they speak up forcefully against Azerbaijan for its conduct, and back those words with all necessary actions to end the blockade and secure a lasting future for these people in their homeland. Our demands should include an immediate end to the handing over of dollars we work so hard for, to a government intent on committing genocide.

Through these actions, we can do our part to end the blockade, bring peace to the people of Nagorno Karabagh, and avoid adding another tragic chapter to human history.

Nick Akgulian, MD, is a long-time family physician in the Racine area who has spent several years abroad on health care projects in Belize, Armenia and most recently Nagorno Karabagh.


Azerbaijan is falsely accusing Armenia of arms deliveries to NK to legitimize its possible escalation, warns Pashinyan

Vanyan Gary

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 11:25,

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the latest Azerbaijani invasion into the area of responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh.

“Last week’s developments around Lachin Corridor, which links Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia,  are the following. Azerbaijan not only continued its illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor, but also carried out yet another invasion into the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh. The Russian Defense Ministry recorded the fact of the invasion in a statement, which says – On March 25, 2023 the units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, in violation of clause 1 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, crossed the line of contact in the Shushi region and occupied the 2054 height and began engineering works. A demand on implementing the terms of the trilateral statement, suspending the engineering works and pulling back troops to their original positions has been presented to the Azerbaijani side.” Thus we can record that Azerbaijan is not only not implementing the February 22 decision of the International Court of Justice on ending the illegal blockade of Lachin Corridor, but is further escalating the situation by taking actions to block internal transport connection in Nagorno Karabakh. From the [unnamed] 2054 [meter] height Azerbaijan has direct vantage point over the track connecting Stepanakert with Hin Shen, Mets Shen and several other villages,” PM Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan mentioned that Azerbaijan explains its actions by falsely accusing Armenia of transferring military cargo and personnel to Nagorno Karabakh.

“This is a totally untrue statement, which perhaps wouldn’t be worthy of special attention if there was nothing else. The information on military shipments is a propaganda lie aimed at creating the legitimacy for a possible escalation,” Pashinyan warned.

The ‘Doing Digital’ Forum brings the cutting-edge trends and best practices in digital transformation to Armenia

Vanyan Gary

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 14:20, 13 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, ARMENPRESS. The first "Doing Digital – Exploring Digital Future" Forum will be held in Yerevan on April 5. The Forum’s founder and organizer is SPRING PR Company, co-organizer – Ameriabank. The “Doing Digital” Forum aims to explore the latest trends and best experience in digital transformation and establish Armenia as a leading digital hub and enhance the country's competitiveness. The event’s innovation partner is Visa, investment partner – Apricot Capital.

The event features Chris Skinner as a keynote speaker, a renowned global expert in fintech and digital transformation. He is the founder of the financial services consultancy firm The Finanser Ltd. and the author of several books on financial technology and banking, including "Digital Human", "Digital Bank", "The Future of Banking", and "ValueWeb".

Skinner is a frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences and events, where he shares his insights on the latest developments in fintech and the future of digital transformation. The Doing Digital forum provides a unique opportunity to host him in Armenia.

The Forum will bring together government officials and professionals from various industries, including finance, banking, telecommunications, and technology.

15+ top speakers from Armenian and international entities, such as Singapore University of Social Sciences, Forbes, Visa, Apricot Capital, Revytech, Hexens, Beta Financial Technologies, ICDT Global, as well as RA Government, SPRING PR Company and Ameriabank, will share their insights on digital business and technology through keynote speeches, panel discussions, and visionary speeches.

The upcoming event will focus on how digital transformation fosters business growth and innovation. Participants will explore strategies for adopting new technologies and gaining a competitive edge and best practices for data protection and cyber security risk management. The forum's esteemed speakers and panelists will also delve into the latest trends in cryptocurrencies, the Metaverse, and NFTs, examining their potential benefits and associated risks.

The event is open to all interested in digital transformation, including business leaders, IT professionals, entrepreneurs, startups, investors, government officials, PR, marketing, and sales executives.

SPRING PR is an award-winning PR and research company founded in 2009 specializing in strategic communications, reputation management, events organization, and research. The company cooperates with a number of local and international large, medium, and small enterprises, state institutions, non-governmental and charitable organizations.

SPRING PR is a part of the global PR community, with professional involvement in such reputable international organizations as the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Over the years, SPRING PR and its team have received top awards and recognition, including C4F Davos Awards (Communication for Future Davos Awards), IPRA Golden World Awards, and Eventiada IPRA Golden World Awards. In 2021 for the first time in the history of Armenian PR companies, SPRING PR was announced among the winners of “The IPRA Golden World Awards – 2021,” considered the field’s Oscar. SPRING PR co-founders Nvard Melkonyan and Tatevik Simonyan were named the “Global PR Leader of the year” at the exchange4media PR & Corp Comm Women Achievers Summit and Awards 2022 and were included in the global list of 50 Influential Communications Leaders 2022.

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Ameriabank is a leading financial and technology company in Armenia, a major contributor to the Armenian economy, with assets exceeding AMD 1 trillion. In the course of digital transformation, it has launched a number of innovative solutions and platforms going beyond the banking-only needs of its diverse customer base, thus creating a dynamically evolving financial technology space.

Ameria was the first in Armenia to create ecosystems for businesses and individuals, giving one-window access to a range of banking and non-banking services, including Estate.ameriabank.am, Automarket.ameriabank.am, Sme.ameriabank.am.

As a truly customer-centric company, Ameria aims to be a trusted and secure financial technology space with seamless solutions to improve the quality of life.




CSTO Secretary General agrees that Aliyev’s latest speech ‘contradicts the Prague and Sochi statements’

Vanyan Gary

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 13:38,

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS. The visiting CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov has concurred during a meeting with a top Armenian official that the latest speech by the Azerbaijani leader “contradicts the Prague and Sochi statements”.

Tasmagambetov, the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), who is now in Armenia on a two-day trip, met with the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan on March 17 in Yerevan.

“Armen Grigoryan presented the current situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The sides also discussed the recent statement made by the Azerbaijani President, noting that it contradicts the Prague and Sochi statements,” Grigoryan’s office said in a readout.

Grigoryan also congratulated Tasmagambetov on his appointment as CSTO Secretary General. They discussed the situation in the CSTO area of responsibility, and the Secretary General reported on the situation regarding the delimitation between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on March 16 made false claims and bellicose statements against Armenia during the Organization of Turkic States summit.

Aliyev referred to the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia under the fictitious name “Western Azerbaijan”.

In a statement on Friday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry warned that Aliyev’s speech was “a clear manifestation of territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia and preparation of another aggression.”

Pashinyan again calls for urgent int’l fact-finding mission in Nagorno Karabakh to prevent genocide

Vanyan Gary

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 11:29, 9 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday again called for the deployment of an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor, emphasizing the increasing urgency for doing so in context of the latest Azerbaijani provocations.

Pashinyan made the remarks during the March 9 Cabinet meeting where he spoke about the Azerbaijani ambush in Nagorno Karabakh (NK) on March 5 that left three NK police officers dead and one wounded.

“In this context the deployment of an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor is becoming more and more urgent in order to prevent a new aggression by Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan’s explicit preparations for committing ethnic cleansing and genocide against the people of Nagorno Karabakh, which are manifested by the non-compliance with the rulings of international courts, closure of the Lachin Corridor and launching military provocations and acts of terrorism,” PM Pashinyan said.

PM Pashinyan reiterated Armenia’s commitment to the peace agenda and aspiration to achieve peace in the region.