Iran expert Vardan Voskanyan claims the surrender of Artsakh’s Berdzor (Lachin) town and the nearby villages of Aghavno and Sus to Azerbaijan will pose new threats to Armenia.
The Artsakh authorities have ordered the Berdzor and Aghavno residents to leave their settlements located within the Lachin corridor by August 25 amid strong pressure from Azerbaijan.
"If it seems to some that Berdzor, Aghavno and Sus are in some distant place, they are mistaken. They are an important part of the defense shield of our sacred homeland; by giving them away to the enemy, we bring it one step closer to our homes,” Voskanyan wrote on Telegram on Saturday.
“But apart from all this, one of the hardest things is this feeling of shame – enormous, unbearable and soul-crushing shame: the shame that some barbarians and the gang serving them are making our generations spit on our graves, because we have been unworthy of the highest title of being the master of this highland paradise, ceding it part by part to the barbarian hordes,” he said.
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) called on the Biden Administration to press Azerbaijan to end its most recent attacks on Artsakh’s Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Artsakh – assaults that killed two Artsakh defense army soldiers and injured over nineteen, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In a tweet issued just hours after Azerbaijan’s attacks, Rep. Pallone noted “this is the latest example of Aliyev threatening the people of Artsakh over absurd demands like the closing of the Lachin corridor. I urge the @StateDept and @USOSCE to condemn these actions and use every diplomatic tool available to halt Aliyev’s dangerous actions.”
Rep. Speier concurred, tweeting, “Aliyev will only stop his bloody drone strike campaign against the people of Artsakh if/when the U.S. shows leadership & strength. Pull all U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan immediately until it comes to the negotiating table.”
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian issued a live call to action on the ANCA’s Facebook and Twitter platforms urging supporters of Artsakh freedom to call the White House and urge President Biden to enforce U.S. sanctions on Azerbaijan and stop sending U.S. military arms and aid to the brutal Aliyev regime. Hamparian argued that U.S. taxpayers should not be funding Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh’s indigenous Armenian population. Hamparian also urged advocates to write their Senators and Representative by visiting https://anca.org/907 to unequivocally condemn Azerbaijan’s attack, stop military aid to Azerbaijan, and expand life-saving humanitarian assistance to Artsakh.
“To be clear, the Azerbaijani army that is today ethnically cleansing Artsakh – launching rockets and drone strikes against its indigenous Christian Armenian population – is getting U.S. military aid,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “These are our tax dollars – materially strengthening Azerbaijan’s military and morally emboldening the Aliyev regime. We are committed – as Americans and Armenians – to see this reckless program ended, Azerbaijani war crimes investigated, and Ilham Aliyev and his regime held to account.”
Putin's visit to Armenia is not planned yet. Peskov
19:49, 4 August 2022
YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Armenia is not yet scheduled, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, the press secretary of the Russian President Dimitri Peskov said, answering the question whether Putin will visit Armenia by the end of the year.
"Of course, there is an invitation, but no, now there are no clear dates," said Peskov.
On July 15th Girls of Armenia Leadership Sports Educational Foundation (GOALS) organized the final round of the Assarian National Tournament for girls aged 12 to 16.
Leading up to the final games over 80 teams of girls from across Armenia and Artsakh participated in regional competitions. Four teams each representing their regions, Lori (Stepanavan), Syunik (Goris), Shirak (Artik) and Artsakh (Stepanakert), made it to the final games hosted at the Avan Football Academy in Yerevan. Each and every single girl present at the tournament was there to win and to represent their team. After a fierce competition in the final game between Artsakh and Syunik, Artsakh came out victorious winning this year's National Tournament.
‘I am really happy about this victory. I was sure we would win because we put countless hours into practice and we were determined. As a team, we were invested 100% in the learning process. GOALS came to Artsakh two years ago, and since then we have waited for this day and it finally came”, reflected Valentina Grigoryan, a player from Artsakh.
Gagik Aghabalyan, an Armenian Football Federation executive committee member, was present at the award ceremony. In his opinion, this initiative is one of the efforts in Armenia through which we develop girls’ football, “We talk about men in football every day, yet we seldom speak about our girls. Gradually, our attitudes and stereotypes must change. Great victories start from paths like this”.
To increase girls’ participation in sports, GOALS Educational Foundation created 8 football leagues in Armenia and Artsakh. Over 1000 students are engaged in 80 football teams: not only do girls develop football skills in these teams, but also, they develop skills and knowledge in healthy lifestyle and hygiene, leadership, and social-emotional competencies, such as teamwork, sportsmanship, and mutual respect. They break stereotypes and show agency against discrimination.
‘Throughout the past couple of years, we have seen how our programs and our girls have developed. There have been many obstacles along the way and the challenges still persist, such as a common stereotype about women’s participation in sports, however with over 1000 girls now leading a healthy lifestyle and learning essential skills along the way we must be doing something right. A team sport isn’t just about being an athlete, it’s also about learning transferable skills that are not only necessary to be successful in sports, but also life. After all, life is basically a team sport”, mentioned GOALS CEO, Teny Avakian.
As stereotypical thinking, quality education issues, and the lack of financial opportunities hinder the development of young girls and women in Armenia, GOALS provides girls aged 6 to 16 with infrastructures, sports gear, coaches, training and other resources to develop and learn.
Using sports for social impact GOALS aims to help youth overcome challenges in the field and beyond. The National Tournament, which has already become a tradition, this year is named after Dr. Gary and Linda Assarian for their generous support of the GOALS Educational Foundation.
Girls of Armenia Leadership Sports (GOALS) is a non-profit, non- governmental organization operating in Armenia since 2016. It is the only sports organization in Armenia promoting gender equality through sports- primarily in rural Armenia and Artsakh- and is dedicated to empowering girls and young women across Armenia by promoting health, life and leadership skills through their participation in an all-female soccer league. GOALS’ Theory of Change is rooted in the philosophy that sport can be used as a vehicle for transforming society and expanding the possibilities of its participants. The Theory of Change can be summarized into three core activities: (1) creating safe spaces for young women and children to participate in sport, (2) educating communities and challenging existing stereotypes through sport for social impact curriculum, and (3) fostering strong partnerships with local institutions to lay a sustainable framework for our activities. GOALS provides the infrastructure, coaches, equipment and resources to create girls’ soccer leagues in rural communities across Armenia and Artsakh. Currently over 1000 girls from 80 communities participate in the organization’s activities.
The second quarter of 2022 saw a surge in the cases of physical violence against journalists and other media workers in Armenia, a new report of the Committee to Protect Freedom of _expression_ shows.
The CPFE recorded 11 cases involving 12 victims, 10 of which (11 victims) were registered during opposition protests in Yerevan and one in the National Assembly.
“It is worth noting that the number of such cases is 3 more than in the same period last year, when the country was in a hot post-war and pre-election political struggle, which, in turn, was accompanied by an increase in attacks on journalists and cameramen,” the report says.
During the period under review, 11 more cases of various kinds of pressure on the media and its representatives were identified. Eight new lawsuits were filed against journalists and media outlets, all based on insult and slander under Article 1087.1 of Armenia’s Civil Code. Half of them were brought by current and former officials.
Meanwhile, violations of the right to receive and disseminate information almost halved in April-June from the previous quarter. 24 such cases were registered, the CPFE said.
ArmInfo.By and large, the further course of the Armenian-Turkish normalization is predetermined by geopolitics, and more precisely, by serious, regional geopolitical players. Political strategist Vigen Hakobyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"In this sense, I would not focus on the content of certain statements of the Armenian authorities. One way or another, our authorities are not the main players in this process. Rather, they are in the role of being led by the main beneficiaries and interested parties of the Armenian-Turkish normalization. Negotiations are ongoing – that's the main thing. Often contradictory statements from Yerevan are also part of the technology of negotiation," he said.
According to the political strategist, the need to use such technologies arises, in particular, in periods of need to appease certain passions in society, as well as to distract some people's attention from some internal processes. According to Hakobyan, as a result of all this processes, the essence of what happened does not change. The Armenian-Turkish processes are proceeding along a pre-prepared geopolitical course.
Noting the scenario of the formalization of Armenian-Turkish relations as predetermined by the main external players, the political strategist, referring to a recent statement by representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, points to the fact that the process was initially supervised by Moscow. Against this background, Hakobyan sees the existence of an initially stipulated or accidental geopolitical consensus between the main centers of power. It is in this light that he notes the lack of counteraction to the Armenian-Turkish normalization by Russia, the US, the UK and EU countries.
The expert expressed the assumption that the only country that does not like the Armenian-Turkish normalization is Iran. "Tehran is well aware that relations with Turkey can be an alternative to relations with Iran for Armenia, and, accordingly, there is a possibility that the border with them may be closed if necessary. As Trump's national security adviser John Bolton suggested to Pashinyan in 2018," the political strategist summed up.
ArmInfo.The meeting of commissions on delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border will take place in August in Moscow. This was announced by the office of Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan at the request of the Public TV of Armenia. A specific
date for the meeting is still under discussion. The formation of such a commission was envisaged by a tripartite statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The delegation headed by the President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid will visit Armenia July 26-29.
In this regard Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has signed an order, instructing the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Head of the State Protocol Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare the program of the visit, ensure the proper organization of events during the guests’ stay in Armenia.
The Azerbaijan authorities are holding an international media forum, entitled "Global trends in media, new challenges," in the Azerbaijani-occupied Armenian city of Shushi in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
The editors-in-chief of the media outlets operating in Azerbaijan and journalists from a number of countries are attending this event, Haqqin.az informed.