Berdzor mayor presents details amid vague situation

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 10:36, 1 December, 2020

BERDZOR, DECEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Many of the residents of Berdzor are currently in the town, Mayor Narek Alexanyan told ARMENPRESS amid a vague situation over the town’s fate.  The Lachin corridor, linking Armenia with Artsakh, runs through Berdzor, which in turn is located in the Kashatagh province – which has come under Azeri control under the terms of the Karabakh armistice. But the fate of the town remains vague.

According to the mayor, the Russian peacekeepers told them yesterday that they have to lower the flag of Artsakh, and that the flag of neither side should be raised there.

“Nevertheless the Russian peacekeepers didn’t specify whether or not the Azeri armed forces would enter Berdzor. It’s possible that women and children have left the town due to safety concerns, but many have stayed. Regarding the rumors alleging that only 200 residents should remain in the town as service staff for the peacekeepers – I don’t have any information on this. Anyhow, right now the number of residents who stayed in Berdzor is a lot more than 200. I myself am in Berdzor,” the mayor said.

The Russian peacekeepers are now stationed in Berdzor, while the local residents are waiting for further developments.

Reporting by Van Novikov; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Azeri football official declared wanted by Armenian authorities for inciting genocide

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 15:20,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Committee of Investigations of Armenia has placed the Azeri Qarabağ football club’s PR manager Nurlan Ibrahimov on a wanted list on charges of inciting ethnic and racial hostilitydirectly or publicly inciting genocide and endorsing or justifying genocide and other crimes against peace and safety of humanity.

A Yerevan court has issued an arrest warrant for Ibrahimov.

On November 26 UEFA announced that it has banned for life the Azeri football official for “racist behavior” and Qarabağ football club was fined 100,000 euros.

During the recent Artsakh war, Ibrahimov had made a statement on social media calling for the killing of "all the Armenians, old and young, without distinction".

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Telethon 2020 raises $22.9m

Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 26 2020

The 23rd Annual Thanksgiving Telethon took place in Los Angeles on November 26th with the slogan of Unity, Strength and Faith.

“Out of respect for the solemn mood of our nation and the lives lost in the defense of our Homeland the Telethon took place over 4 hours instead of the previous years’ 12. The Armenians of the US in their unity and commitment to the people of Artsakh raised $22,990,898,”  the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund said.

“In light of recent developments in Artsakh and Armenia, all proceeds of Telethon 2020 will be directed to supporting 100,000 displaced individuals and the families of our fallen soldiers who lost their lives to protect the sovereignty of both republics,” said Armenia Fund USA President Maria Mehranian.

Since September 27th the Armenian community of the United States has been one of the most active in fundraising for the support of the Homeland. Prior to the Telethon, the community had already raised close to $ 80 million and over 100tons of humanitarian aid including medical equipment and supplies as well as other essential items.

Fundraising Phonethons have also been taking place in various Armenian communities in Europe and will continue around the world through to the end of the year. On November 22nd the Annual Phonethon took place in France by the Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s partner organization Fonds Armenien de France which so far has raised over $3.13 million.

https://en.armradio.am/2020/11/27/telethon-2020-raises-22-9m/

Cabinet appoints new Governor of Kotayk

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 11:59,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. A former member of the Public Services Regulatory Commission, Mesrop Mesropyan, was installed as Governor of Kotayk Province by the Cabinet on November 26.

The office of the Governor of Kotayk was vacant since June, when Romanos Petrosyan stepped down to assume the position of Environment Minister.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia’s economic activity index declines 6.7% in 10 months

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 13:22,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s economic activity index has declined 6.7% in January-October 2020 compared to January-October 2019, according to the data released by the Statistical Committee.

Industrial production volume grew 0.5%. The construction volume declined 13.3%. 12.5% decrease was registered in the trade turnover, and the volume of service has dropped 12.8%.

Consumer price index grew 0.9%.

Electricity production increased 1.7%.

Decline was also registered in external trade turnover volumes – 11.4%. The export decreased 4.4% and the import -14.9%.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

President Sarkissian pays working visit to Jordan

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 19:57,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian’s short working visit to Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has kicked off.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, Armen Sarkissian continues meetings with heads of different Arab states to reaffirm Armenia’s readiness for friendship and cooperation.

Following the welcoming ceremony, President Sarkissian had a private conversation with King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, followed by an extended-format meeting.  

King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein enjoys great reputation in the Islamic world, is the Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites, and the protector of the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Saluting the Armenian President’s visit, the King of Jordan said that the two countries are linked with firm friendship and historical ties. The King recalled with warmth his official visit to Armenia in February of this year.

President Sarkissian thanked for warm reception and words of support, as well as the readiness to further develop the relations between the two countries. ‘’There is mutual trust and we can work for the future’’, President Sarkissian said, adding that difficult periods show who are one’s sincere friends.

Referring to the opportunities for deepening bilateral relations and using the existing potential more effectively, the President of Armenia and the King of Jordan expressed readiness to give new impetus to bilateral cooperation. According to them, the two countries have a lot in common, they are the bearers of ancient civilizations, highlight and value human resources. Jordan, like Armenia, has made human potential its main driver of development.

The interlocutors shared the opinion that Armenia and Jordan can successfully cooperate particularly in the fields of the modern technologies, education, science, health, food security, tourism, and Jordan's experience in working with IDPs can be instructive for Armenia.

During the meeting the sides also referred to the joint efforts in the struggle against coronavirus.

President Sarkissian briefed the King of Jordan on the consequences of the Azerbaijani-Turkish military aggression against Artsakh and the situation in that context. The Jordanian side noted that it used its ties and reputation in the international arena to contribute to the peace efforts.

Paris pushing for “international supervision” of Karabakh ceasefire

Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 20 2020

France wants international supervision to implement a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict amid concerns in Paris that Russia and Turkey could strike a deal to cut out Western powers from future peace talks, the presidency said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Moscow co-chairs the Minsk group overseeing the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute with Washington and Paris, but they were not involved in the deal signed by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to end six weeks of fighting.

“The end of the fighting should now allow the resumption of good faith negotiations in order to protect the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure the return of tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes in recent weeks in good security conditions,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office said after calls with the Azerbaijani president and Armenian prime minister.

“We want the Minsk Group to play its role in defining the surveillance (of the ceasefire),” a French presidential official told reporters.

The source said Paris was pushing for “international supervision” of the ceasefire to allow the return of refugees, organize the return of foreign fighters, especially from Syria, and to start talks on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

TURKISH press: Future of US-Turkey relations at stake as Pompeo visits Istanbul, avoiding Ankara

Before U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo embarked on a seven-nation blitz tour – with stopovers including France, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Saudi Arabia – both the American and international media questioned the “true purpose” of Pompeo’s visit to Istanbul. Pompeo went to the Turkish metropolis to hold talks on religious freedom, with the recent reversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque a topic high on the agenda in talks with religious figures, including Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Greek Orthodox Christian leader.

Some experts were perplexed with Pompeo’s Istanbul visit and wondered why America’s top diplomat did not visit Ankara where he could call on Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, instead of just religious figures in Istanbul.

To clear the air, the U.S. State Department held a special press briefing before Pompeo started his visit, with two senior diplomats explaining the purpose of Pompeo’s visit to Istanbul and not Ankara. One of the diplomats explained that Pompeo’s Istanbul visit would concentrate primarily on religious freedom issues. It had also been difficult for Pompeo to meet Turkish interlocutors because of scheduling issues resulting from their travel.

Responding to this explanation from State Department officials as to why Pompeo was not meeting Erdoğan and other high-ranking officials, the Turkish Foreign Ministry described Pompeo’s meetings in Istanbul with religious figures as “extremely inappropriate.”

Pompeo, speaking anonymously, did not seem enthusiastic about visiting Ankara for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and had instead asked Çavuşoğlu to come to Istanbul to meet him, according to Turkish sources.

But in a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry also had some blunt words to convey to the United States on the issue of religious freedom purportedly being addressed by the secretary of state: “It would be more advisable for the United States to look in the mirror first and to show the necessary sensitivity to human rights violations such as racism, Islamophobia and hate crimes in its own country.”

U.S.-Turkey tensions have intensified in recent years even though U.S. President Donald Trump played down differences with Turkey over a host of issues, including the acquisition of Russian S-400 defense systems.

Turkey has been excluded from the internationally developed F-35 program after its decision to acquire the S-400 missile defense systems from Russia. The F-35 program is managed by the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office, with the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy are all procuring and operating F-35s.

Turkey’s role in the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict was also criticized by some U.S. lawmakers who said that Turkish involvement exacerbated the conflict. U.S. politicians are empathetic toward the sizeable Armenian population in the U.S.

On the other hand, Turkey was clearly annoyed by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passing resolutions to officially recognize the 1915 Armenian events as “genocide.”

With Trump set to move out of the White House in January, Turkish diplomats are not sure how the next president, Joe Biden, will view Turkey. Many analysts on both sides are wary about how the relationship will evolve under Biden.

U.S. observers noted that Erdoğan took a little longer than other European leaders to congratulate Biden – and also thanked Trump in a separate message. After all, it was Trump who seemed to support Erdoğan when he was criticized by fellow NATO members for cozying up to Moscow. Trump had also resisted pressure from the U.S. Congress to impose sanctions against Turkey.

But the Biden years could create challenges for Turkey. The U.S. and the so-called core members of the NATO alliance could see Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 as an affront, constituting a violation of U.S. laws and also compromising NATO’s defense systems.

Indeed, U.S. senators were indignant when Turkey test-fired the system last month, ignoring their warning that the test-firing would attract sanctions against Turkey.

Çavuşoğlu, addressing a gathering of Turkish ambassadors in November, urged the U.S. to get over its opposition to the S-400 because the issue was a foregone conclusion. But U.S. experts believe that Biden may face pressure from within the Democratic Party to impose sanctions against Turkey over the S-400 issue and Turkey’s growing ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) offers a legal basis for Biden to fall back on for imposing sanctions. The U.S. Treasury Department has so far not taken any action against Turkey, even though a New York court jailed a senior official of the Turkish state-owned Halkbank official in 2018 for violating sanctions against Iran. In early 2021, Halkbank is, again, going to face charges in a New York court for alleged sanction violations.

The U.S. has been slow, so far, to take action against Turkey whose strategic location – sharing borders with Iran, Iraq and Syria – helped it avoid sanctions; another factor that helped Turkey to dodge sanctions is that it hosts a radar base allowing the U.S. military to operate from its Incirlik Air Base.

But some Americans are also warning that Turkey is “not entirely indispensable” and should not “test American and NATO patience.”

However, others say that Turkey is stoutly confident of its “indispensable position” within NATO, which will enable it to avoid sanctions, particularly with Biden likely to take a tough stance against Moscow. Experts say that Erdoğan has skillfully played the U.S. against Russia and vice versa.

However, if the U.S. did impose sanctions, Turkey might move closer to both Russia and China, but this will in turn ostracize Turkey from the Western camp.

To strengthen their bilateral relationship, both Washington and Ankara will need to navigate through the complex maze of ties which seemed to face a downward turn because of a failed military coup in 2016. Turkey had accused the U.S. of being involved in the deadly July 15 coup attempt in the country. During that time, Biden was the vice president and denied any U.S. role in the coup plot of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

Repairing and strengthening relations is necessary on both sides, which will need to work conscientiously toward that goal. Biden knows Turkey well; he visited Ankara as vice president to defuse tensions with Turkey following the aborted coup. If Turkey patches up its differences with the U.S. and the Western alliance, it can benefit from its NATO membership and its existing ties with the U.S. and European allies, sparing itself the disruptions the changes in the existing arrangements can cause.

*New York-based op-ed contributor, expert on foreign affairs and global economics

None of the troops are returning armed, Pashinyan says on manipulations

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 11:09,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says the manipulations around his latest statement on November 15 are “absolutely inappropriate”.

“Understandably we are all rather tense now,” he said at an online press conference on November 16.”Regarding my yesterday’s statement I can say that a number of reactions showed how manipulative mechanisms are put to action especially during this period of tension.  What did I say in that statement, I said ‘I am waiting for you in Yerevan’”, the PM said, referring to his statement addressed to servicemen at the frontline. “This sentence gave grounds to many to say that allegedly it contains calls for civil war and clashes. If our dearest countrymen pay attention, after the well-known events one can see even on the internet that many of these servicemen are being demobilized and are returning to their families, and many of these people, groups and detachments are addressing messages to me, saying they want to meet me, and I found it necessary to publicly respond to them, saying that I will organize a meeting with them and we will discuss issues with them,” the PM said.

Speaking about the last sentence of his statement, he said that it contains a rather harsh terming, but that this terming was used yesterday also by official bodies.

“I wrote – ‘to finally solve the issues of those whining under walls’. Sure, this is a rather harsh terming, but taking into account that even official bodies use this phrase in their statements, I used it. This means that after the return of the frontline troops and during the conversation with them I will finally close the talks which are actively being generated, which allege that the Armenian military-political leadership has been involved in some kind of a conspiracy and so on. Who else if not the frontline troops know the answer to this question? It is very important for me to talk with these men, to hear their assessments,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan stressed that none of the troops is returning with their weapons, and that he has had a discussion with the Military Police Chief in order to rule out such cases.

“In this situation I find the manipulations regarding my yesterday’s statement to be absolutely inappropriate. I believe that the demobilized troops, the soldiers who are returning from the frontline are also entitled to have their opinion, and I don’t believe there is anything condemnable that they want to meet with me. They are the ones who bear the truth about the events, and if it turns out that a conspiracy has happened, then let those guilty be punished,” the PM said.

He said that in no way can the country’s leader call for civil war or clashes, and stressed that the law enforcement agencies have all opportunities to prevent potential clashes.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Clashes take place in Artsakh’s Shushi and nearby areas – Artsrun Hovhannisyan

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 18:56, 8 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Representative of the Defense Ministry of Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan informs that clashes take place in Shushi city of Artsakh and nearby areas, ARMENPRESS reports Hovhanisyan wrote in his Telegram Channel.

‘’Wait for official information, refrain from assessments’’, Hovhannisyan wrote.