Author: Varazdat Torgomian

Armenia court orders opposition party leader to pay compensation to ambassador to US

Varazdat Torgomian
 NEWS.am 
Armenia – Feb 16 2022


16:59, 16.02.2022

A Yerevan court partially granted the lawsuit of Lilit Makunts, the Ambassador of Armenia to the US, on against Garnik Isagulyan, chairman of the opposition National Security party, obliging him to renounce his defamatory statements and confiscate from him 424,000 drams (approx. US$885) in Makunts' favor. Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned about this from the Judicial Information System of Armenia.

On December 23, 2020, Lilit Makunts had filed a lawsuit with the court against Garnik Isagulyan—and with a request to oblige him to refute the statements made at his press conferences and to pay compensation for the respective damage caused. The lawsuit refers to Isagulyan's statements that the 2018 revolution in Armenia was carried out with Azerbaijani funding.


More than 10,000 people cross into Russia from Donbas

Varazdat Torgomian

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 12:40,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. 10,356 people have crossed into Russia from Donbas amid the Russian-Ukrainian tensions, RIA Novosti reported citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

“As of 10:00, 10,356 people crossed the border, 4527 of whom are citizens of Russia, 5806 are citizens of Ukraine, and 23 are foreigners,” the source told RIA Novosti.

Earlier the authorities of Donetsk and Lugansk republics ordered evacuation of civilians into Rostov Region.

Azerbaijani forces violate rights of Armenia’s border residents on daily basis – Ombudsman

Varazdat Torgomian

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 17:27,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan had a meeting with acting UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Lila Pieters Yahia, the Ombudsman’s Office said in a news release.

Arman Tatoyan highly valued the level of cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator, the Office, and the UN agencies in Armenia, particularly UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, as well as the effectiveness of joint programs.

He said that in the past 6 years programs have been implemented relating to freedom of speech, the professional work of journalists, the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities, etc.

Human rights-related issues were discussed during the meeting. Arman Tatoyan presented the problems registered in detention sites and the judiciary.

The Armenian Ombudsman also said that the Azerbaijani armed forces are violating the rights of the border residents of Armenia on a daily basis, by grossly violating the UN demands, therefore, he emphasized that the Azerbaijani troops must be withdrawn in order to guarantee people’s normal life.

Lila Pieters Yahia thanked Arman Tatoyan for the work conducted during his tenure and for the important mission aimed at protecting human rights.

19 arrested as Armenian counterintelligence neutralizes “network of spies” activated by foreign agencies

Varazdat Torgomian

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 10:52,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The Military Counterintelligence Division of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia announced that it has neutralized a “network of agents” who were recruited by foreign intelligence agencies for espionage.

The investigation was carried out as part of a criminal case opened on espionage and state treason.

The NSS said it gathered undeniable evidence that “foreign intelligence agencies created a network of spies in the territory of Armenia and involved different servicemembers of the military.”

The spies opened fake social media accounts posing as Armenian women, and recruited their targets by luring them into believing that the online contacts would become “intimate relationships.”

The targets of the foreign intelligence agencies were over 20 servicemembers of various ranks in the Armenian military. During their contacts, the Armenian servicemembers were offered money in exchange of classified information on deployment locations of various military bases, units, command staff, defense lines, engineering structures, equipment etc. All servicemembers targeted by the intelligence agencies had the relevant security clearance to obtain the information.

The suspects gave their consent to cooperate and received payments for gathering and relaying the information.

The investigation revealed the identities of the suspects and the volume and content of the classified information that they had transferred to the foreign intelligence agencies.

19 persons were placed under arrest on suspicion of treason, with some of them confessing in their testimonies.

Armenian law envisages up to life imprisonment for state treason, however, persons who have committed state treason or espionage can be exempt from criminal accountability if they voluntarily surrender to authorities and assist in preventing further harm.

[see video]

Musk Factor: Armenian TV series create a vision of the future security technology

Varazdat Torgomian
Public Radio of Armenia
Feb 7 2022
February 7, 2022, 12:09

 1 minute read

The creative team of the sci-fi satirical comedy Musk Factor has created a concept of future security technology. The concept named GAIT, a security system that can reduce the number of crimes, aroused great interest in the world’s leading physical security company Scylla.

The futuristic technology concept was depicted by the Musk Factor team in its new illustration, which was included as NFT in the OpenSea system, and Scylla, in its turn, acquired it.

“It is a well-known fact that every person living on the planet has a unique gait, and each individual’s walking step distance is different. The uniqueness of the gait depends on one’s weight, spinal alignment, length of the limbs, posture, and many more peculiarities. The NFT shows how it is possible to identify criminals by studying and analyzing human gait data”,” says Rafael Tadevosyan, General Producer of Musk Factor series.

Scylla, a company that has firmly taken the path of new achievements, greatly values the pro-futuristic visions of Musk Factor team.

“The NFT of a futuristic security system for the Metaverse that was created by Musk Factor team immediately caught our attention and it may as well be realized in the future. Nowadays, facial and behavior recognition systems are widely used, but GAIT can become the next technology for ensuring security,” the founder of Scylla Albert Stepanyan says.

Scylla is a real-time physical threat detection solution. The company utilizes AI and computer vision to detect objects, actions and behavior anomalies. With its next-gen AI-powered solutions that have exceptional accuracy and performance, Scylla has an impressive customer portfolio worldwide.

Turkish press: Turkish army receives new Bayraktar TB2s with local electro-optical system

Varazdat Torgomian
 ISTANBUL FEB 06, 2022 – 3:34 PM GMT+3

Aselsan-made CATS seen on a Bayraktar TB2 drone in this screen grab from a video shared by Ismail Demir, Feb. 6, 2022.

The Turkish defense industry has made new deliveries of Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) to the Turkish Land Forces Command, the top defense body's head said Saturday.

In a Twitter statement, Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Chairperson Ismail Demir said the SSB had successfully delivered the Baykar-made combat drones.

He noted that the newly delivered drones are equipped with the leading defense firm Aselsan-developed Common Aperture Targeting System (CATS).

CATS is a high-performance electro-optical reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting system designed for fixed-wing and rotary-wing airborne platforms, including unmanned air systems (UASs), helicopters and aircraft.

The country’s drones were previously using electro-optic systems purchased from abroad but related embargoes on such exports led Turkish defense industry firms to develop the equipment with local resources within the country.

Last year, Canada canceled export permits for drone technology to Turkey after concluding that the country sold the equipment to the Azerbaijani military forces while fighting in the Armenian-occupied and internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey, like Canada, is a member of NATO and is a key ally of Azerbaijan, whose forces regained territory after six weeks of fighting and after three decades of illegal Armenian occupation.

However, Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said the use of the technology “was not consistent with Canadian foreign policy, nor end-use assurances given by Turkey.”

Turkey criticized the decision, saying that it expects Turkey's NATO allies to refrain from taking steps that would negatively affect bilateral relations and harm NATO solidarity.

As expressed by many military specialists and defense experts, the combat drones gave the Azerbaijani army the upper hand in detecting and destroying enemy forces and military equipment, including armored vehicles, howitzers, and Russian-made air defense systems.

Among the defense industry products that Turkey imports from Canada is the electro-optic camera system procured from the Wescam company.

Apart from using the domestically developed combat drones on its own, Turkey is also on its way to becoming among the world's No. 1 exporters in the field.

Export contracts have already been signed with 16 countries for Bayraktar TB2 UCAVs, which have completed 420,000 flight hours.

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 01/31/2022

Varazdat Torgomian 
                                        Monday, 


Envoy Reiterates U.S. Stance On Karabakh


Armenia - Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosian meets US Ambassador Lynne 
Tracy, 


The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains unresolved after the 2020 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, 
reportedly reiterated on Monday.

Tracy and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosian discussed the 
conflict, among other issues, at a meeting in Yerevan.

An Armenian government statement on the meeting said Matevosian praised the U.S. 
involvement in long-running international efforts to broker a Karabakh 
settlement.

“Ambassador Tracy concurred with the deputy prime minister: the issue of 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status is not resolved and that process must be carried out 
under the aegis of the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group,” added the 
statement.

Tracy already made such statements last year after U.S. President Joe Biden said 
Washington remains committed to facilitating a “comprehensive” 
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal together with Russia and France, the two other 
co-chairs of the Minsk Group.

“We do not see the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as having been resolved,” the 
envoy insisted on September 13 in remarks condemned by Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry echoed President Ilham Aliyev’s claims that 
Azerbaijan’s victory in the war put an end to the conflict.

Aliyev repeated those claims in early January. He also mocked the Minsk Group 
co-chairs and questioned the wisdom of their continued activities.

“They must not deal with the Karabakh conflict because that conflict has been 
resolved,” Aliyev told Azerbaijani television.

A senior Russian diplomat said a few days later that the U.S., Russian and 
French mediators should be able to resume their visits to Nagorno-Karabakh as 
part of their peace efforts. Armenian officials backed that statement.

The co-chairs had for decades travelled to Karabakh and met with its ethnic 
Armenian leadership during regular tours of the conflict zone. The visits 
practically stopped with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the 
subsequent outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war.

The mediators planned to resume their shuttle diplomacy after organizing talks 
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in New York in September. 
The trip has still not taken place, however.



Armenian Judge Faces Arrest After Freeing Oppositionist

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia -- The main entrance to the National Security Service building in 
Yerevan.


Armenian law-enforcement authorities have moved to arrest a judge just days 
after he ordered the release of yet another jailed opposition figure.

A spokesman for Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian said on Monday that he has 
asked Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to allow the National Security 
Service (NSS) to indict and arrest Boris Bakhshiyan, who works at the court of 
first instead of Syunik province.

He refused to reveal the accusations which the NSS wants to bring against 
Bakhshiyan, citing the “secrecy” of the investigation and the need to show 
respect for the judge.

Aleksandr Azarian, the chairman of the Union of Judges of Armenia, expressed 
serious concern over the criminal proceedings, linking them to Bakhshiyan’s 
professional activities.

“We will closely monitor further developments and come up with an appropriate 
statement if necessary,” Azarian said in a statement.


Armenia -- Ashot Minasian.

As recently as on January 26, Bakhshiyan agreed to grant bail to Ashot Minasian, 
a prominent war veteran and opposition activist arrested on December 1.

Minasian and three other opposition figures were charged in November 2020 with 
plotting to kill Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and overthrow his government. 
The NSS claimed to have found large quantities of weapons and ammunition in a 
Syunik property belonging to Minasian.

Later in December 2021, the NSS dropped the coup charges strongly denied by all 
four men. But Minasian remained accused of illegal arms and was not set free 
until last week’s decision made by the Syunik judge.

Bakhshiyan also freed last fall two local government officials from Syunik 
affiliated with the main opposition Hayastan alliance. They were arrested last 
summer on separate charges rejected by them as politically motivated.

Erik Aleksanian, a trial attorney critical of the Armenian government, said 
Bakhshiyan is prosecuted because he freed the oppositionists. He claimed that 
the authorities want to punish him for those decisions and discourage other 
judges from thwarting politically motivated criminal cases.

Prosecutor-General Davtian’s spokesman, Gor Abrahamian, denied that. Speaking 
with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Abrahamian said that the move to arrest 
Bakhshiyan has nothing to with Minasian’s release and that it stems from “an 
incident that occurred much earlier.”

In recent months, Armenian opposition groups, lawyers and some judges have 
accused the authorities of seeking to increase government influence on Armenian 
courts under the guise of judicial reforms. The authorities deny this, insisting 
that the reforms are on increasing judicial independence in the country.

A controversial government bill enacted last year empowered the Armenian 
Ministry of Justice to demand disciplinary action against judges by the Supreme 
Judicial Council (SJC), a state body overseeing Armenian courts.

In a joint statement issued in early January, a dozen judges, among them 
Azarian, accused Justice Minister Karen Andreasian of abusing that authority to 
try to bully them and their colleagues known for their independence.



Minister Set To Become Armenia’s New President

        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia - Economist and opposition politician Vahagn Khachatrian speaks at a 
seminar in Yerevan, April 30, 2013


High-Tech Industry Minister Vahagn Khachatrian on Monday effectively confirmed 
reports that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has offered him to become Armenia’s 
next president.

The largely ceremonial post became vacant after President Armen Sarkissian 
unexpectedly announced his resignation on January 22, citing a lack of 
constitutional powers. Sarkissian’s successor is to be elected for a seven-year 
term by the Armenian parliament controlled by Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.

Pashinian indicated on January 23 that he will replace Sarkissian by a figure 
loyal to him but did not name any candidates. Armenian media outlets reported 
over the weekend that the prime minister and his political team have decided to 
nominate Khachatrian.

Khachatrian did not deny the reports when he spoke with journalists. He said he 
meets the qualifications of the job spelled out by the Armenian constitution.

“In these circumstances I could presumably be on the list [of presidential 
candidates] given that I’m a member of the current government and the [ruling] 
political team,” he said.

Under the constitution, Sarkissian will be formally relieved of his duties 
unless he withdraws by Monday night his resignation letter submitted to the 
National Assembly. In that case, parliament speaker Alen Simonian will serve as 
interim president of the republic pending the election of a new head of state, 
which should happen by the beginning of March.

Khachatrian, 62, is an economist who had served as mayor of Yerevan from 
1992-1996 during former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s rule. He was a staunch 
political ally of Ter-Petrosian until agreeing to join the government last 
August.

Ter-Petrosian has been highly critical of Pashinian since Armenia’s defeat in 
the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, branding the premier as a “nation-destroying 
scourge.” The ex-president has also slammed several members of his entourage who 
took up senior state positions over the past year.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Pakistan plays spoil-sport in Armenia’s relations with its neighbours

Varazdat Torgomian
Jan 30 2022
by PAUL ANTONOPOULOS

Why Pakistan is a cause of concern for Armenia?

Primarily, it is a regular supplier of arms and ammunition to the Azerbaijani armed forces since its inception as an independent nation following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Secondly, Pakistan is the only State which has not recognised Armenia, to show its solidarity with Turkey and Azerbaijan, since its independence from the Soviet Union.

In exchange these countries support Pakistan at international forums on conflicting issues, including its removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) ‘grey list’ and Kashmir.

Pakistan’s partnership strengthened with Azerbaijan in 2017 when the former signed a contract for the purchase of 10 PAC MFI-17 Mushshak training aircraft, whose delivery was made in 2018.

Vice versa, Azerbaijan is also negotiating with Pakistan for the purchase of JF-17’s ‘Block 3’ variant, originally designed by China with Russian-made RD-33 engines.

This came out to be a road-block for both parties as any JF-17 deal needs a clearance from Russia before exporting it to a buyer country.

This will continue until China replaces the RD-33 engine from indigenously developed one.

There arises a question on why Pakistan is antagonised with Armenia and supports Turkey and Azerbaijan. One of the simple replies to this is that Armenia enjoys good relations with India, a distressing point for Pakistan.

It, thus, embroiled a tri-lateral relationship with Turkey and Azerbaijan to offset any growing association with its neighbours.

During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Pakistan overtly maintained its support to Azerbaijan.

It’s direct and/or indirect actions towards Armenia poses the risk of developing conflicting issue into a war.

Russia had rightly warned that the involvement of Turkey or other nations might spark World War III if the hostilities in Karabakh are not addressed.

The growing trilateral cooperation between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan in terms of defence ties would only result in a tense West Asia as their alliance would weaken Armenia until major powers like Russia stands tall for it.

Armenia’s position is more secure only because of the deployment of a Russian military base and its membership into the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and in the Eurasian Economic Union.

Pakistan is a staunch supporter of Azerbaijani position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, whilst Turkey provides training to Azerbaijani military officers at their institutes and give first-hand experience in combat operations against militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

To counter the alliance or to balance its position, Armenia needs to carry out more strategic alliances with Russia and others to hold joint military drills to enhance troop capabilities in war-like situations.

Armenia considers the cause of its defeat in November 2020 war to the trilateral alliance of Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan but it feels that there is a scope to reset relations and normalisation.

To take Turkey on board, the first round of talks between Turkey and Armenia began in Moscow on January 14, 2022 with the possibility of launching commercial flights between Istanbul and Yerevan by the first week of February 2022.

Of late it is seen that Armenia is willing to amend its ties with Pakistan as well.

Armenia delivered a message to Pakistan to initiate a dialogue without contradicting its good and deep relations with India.

Earlier, Pakistan was not replying to Armenian overtures but with Turkey working on advancing the dialogue, it may soon consider the proposition of having diplomatic relations.

Time will tell whether Pakistan maintains its position of not recognising Armenia as an independent State to appease Turkey or would initiate dialogue on behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bil Salman who was approached by the former Armenian President in October 2021 to reach out to Pakistan.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/01/31/pakistan-armenia-neighbours/

Armenia’s president tenders surprise resignation

Varazdat Torgomian
eurasiaNet.org
Jan 24 2022
Ani Mejlumyan Jan 24, 2022

Armenia’s president, the last high-ranking official to have not been directly appointed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has unexpectedly tendered his resignation.

President Armen Sarkissian announced he was stepping down on January 23, in a Sunday evening message on his website. “The president does not have the necessary tools to influence the important processes of foreign and domestic policy in difficult times for the people and the country,” he said. He did not offer any specific issues on which he did not have influence, and his statement did not mention the prime minister. “This is not an emotionally driven decision and it comes from a certain logic,” he said.

Armenia’s president is a largely figurehead position, and is elected by parliament. Sarkissian became president in early 2018, just before the Pashinyan-led “Velvet Revolution.” For the most part he managed a balancing act between the new regime and the old guard who appointed him.

One of his main roles was that of a foreign investment envoy, making regular official visits to Europe, Asia and the Persian Gulf to drum up business for Armenia. His last official trip was to the United Arab Emirates, where on January 14  he met officials and business leaders to discuss a new, 400-megawatt solar energy project for Armenia.

The day before his trip, he met with speaker of parliament Alen Simonayan, reportedly about Azerbaijan and other international issues. But a source in the administration said that the meeting seemed to have been about more than that. “Alen walked in and it felt like Don Corleone was coming to give a kiss of death,” the source told Eurasianet on condition of anonymity.

The resignation plan was a tightly held secret, and many in Sarkissian’s staff only found out about it through the media, the source said: “Only people very close to him knew about the resignation.”

While his role was for the most part symbolic, Sarkissian still enjoyed the right to send critical decisions and pieces of legislation to the Constitutional Court, though he rarely did so at critical junctures.

One issue in which he failed to step in, contrary to the hopes of the opposition, was a controversial reform of the Constitutional Court itself. In June 2020, as parliament was moving to adopt an amendment that would remove several judges seen as loyal to the former regime, Sarkissian declared that he was waiving his rights to intervene in any changes to the constitution. Without presidential intervention, Pashinyan was able to get rid of the judges in what many saw as a power grab.

Following Sarkissian’s resignation, some disputed his claim that he did not have any influence. “Let me bring only one example: Was it not within your authority to appeal to the same Constitutional Court for compliance with the constitution of the unconstitutional law dissolving the Constitutional Court?” asked human rights advocate Avetik Ishkanyan in a blog post for the news site Aravot.

But while Sarkissian was distrusted by the opposition, he also had few friends in the government. Most significantly, in the wake of Armenia’s 2020 war defeat to Azerbaijan he called on Pashinyan to resign and distanced himself from the ceasefire statement that ended the war.

In February 2021, he also refused to sign off on Pashinyan’s order to fire the chief of staff of the armed forces in the wake of an extraordinary appeal by senior officers for the prime minister to resign.

“Armen Sarkissian never had the courage to tell the truth,” wrote Edik Baghdasaryan, the editor in chief of the investigative news website Hetq, in a Facebook post.

Under Armenia’s constitution, the president is elected for seven years, and in case the position is vacant it should be filled by a snap election in parliament within 35 days. In the meantime Simonyan, the speaker of parliament, will fulfill the duties as per the constitution.

Officials from the parliamentary opposition said they intend to nominate a candidate, but they have yet to choose one. “The resignation happened just a few hours ago, we need time to choose a candidate,” Artur Vanetsyan, the head of the opposition I Have Honor bloc, told Sputnik Armenia. Vanetsyan said Sarkissian’s resignation was “overdue” and that “it is clear that the former president has not exercised even the minimum powers vested in him by the constitution, in the most difficult situations for our state, in the most important processes.”

There was widespread speculation across the political spectrum that Sarkissian resigned ahead of some – not yet known – compromises that the government may be making. Armenia is now in negotiations with both Azerbaijan (over a controversial transportation project and border delimitation agreement) and Turkey (over normalizing relations).

“Regarding his resignation, the reasons could be both geopolitical and internal. There may be new documents which he is avoiding signing,” Seyran Ohanyan, the head of the opposition Armenia alliance faction in parliament, told journalists.

The ruling Civil Contract party has not announced its candidate for president.

As for Sarkissian himself, speculation immediately jumped to his future in politics, and whether he might try to form a sort of third force in Armenia’s deeply polarized politics, separate from both the government and the opposition. But he has shown little interest in domestic politics. Since serving a four-month stint as prime minister in 1996-97, he held various senior diplomatic positions, including ambassador to the UK.

 

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.