Author: Vatche Chakhmakhchian

Armenia-Azerbaijan border standoff continues, talks expected to resume

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Public Radio of Armenia

As of the morning of May 18, no changes were registered in the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border after the provocations carried out on May 12 and 13.

The situation is relatively calm, the units of the Armenian Armed Forces prevent attempts to provide logistical support to Azerbaijani servicemen that have entered the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

The situation in both Syunik and Gegharkunik regions is fully controlled by the Armenian armed forces. It is envisaged that the negotiations on the full resolution of the current situation will continue tomorrow, on May 19.

The Armenian Armed Forces emphasize the need of peaceful settlement of the issue, but note that they are ready for any development of events and stress that encroachments on the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia are absolutely unacceptable.

“The Azerbaijani military is obliged to leave the territory of the Republic of Armenia without preconditions and to refrain from such provocations from now on,” the Defense Ministry stated.

Opposition urges Armenian army to take adequate measures to protect country’s territorial integrity amid Azeri incursion

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Panorama, Armenia

The Council of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement on Saturday issued the following statement amid Azerbaijan’s incursion into Armenian territory:

“For several days, the Azerbaijani military has been occupying areas of strategic importance in Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces.

The Armenian authorities are not only unable to prevent the occupation of our territories by the enemy, but have still not managed to remove the Azerbaijani troops from these territories.

All this is a continuation of the capitulation on November 10, 2020. After the signing of the surrender document and immediately after its entry into force, the Armenian authorities, violating even this document unacceptable for us, continued to cede new territories.

Later it turned out that secret documents were signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, one of which was accidentally exposed in December 2020. Now, according to reliable information, there are also other documents signed on January 11, 2021.

On May 12, without facing the resistance of the Armenian side and breaching even the borders illegally drawn using GPS, the Azeri forces invaded and seized new territories of the Republic of Armenia which are of strategic importance. And there is no proportionate response from the Armenian authorities.

Nikol Pashinyan's motives to proceed with the criminal capitulation have no logical explanation, and the behavior of the Armenian president, who, by virtue of his position, is the head of state, protector and guarantor of the interests of our country, is also inexplicable.

The refusal of the authorities to give a commensurate response to the enemy who has invaded Armenian territory is explained by the fact that it could trigger a new large-scale war. However, the Armenian army is obliged to fulfill its direct duty to protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia.

International experience shows that a policy of concessions to avoid minor clashes is the shortest path to a full-scale war (recall the 1938 Munich Agreement).

The army has responsibilities to obey the orders of the authorities and to defend the country. However, in the event of a contradiction between these two responsibilities, the army is obliged to choose the defense of the homeland, otherwise those responsible will be held accountable sooner or later.

If the army does not assume the responsibility for protecting the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia from the encroachments of the enemy, we must initiate a process of recruiting militias so that the people can take on the task of defending the country."  

Negotiations with Azerbaijan over crossing Armenian state border to continue on May 15 – Pashinyan

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

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 20:04,

YEREVAN, MAY 14, ARMENPRESS. The negotiations with Azerbaijan over crossing the Armenian state border have finished today and will continue on May 15 at 15:00, ARMENPRESS reports caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan informed during the National Assembly extraordinary session, presenting the situation on the border.

Nikol Pashinyan also noted that the maps of the Russian 102 military base also confirm that the Azerbaijani servicemen are located inside the borders of the Republic of Armenia.

''It's very important for the international community and our CSTO partners to clarify whom belongs the territory with those coordinates. Today, the representative of the Russian 102 military base joined the negotiations with their working maps, showing that our maps and the maps in the Russian military base make our claims over the border and border coordinates unequivocal’’, Pashinyan emphasized.

Caretaker Prime Minister Pashinyan ighlighted the fact that according to the working maps of the Russian 102 military base, those territories belong to the Republic of Armenia, which means that it’s in the responsibility zone of the CSTO and the joint Armenian-Russian unit.

On May 12 in the morning the Azerbaijani armed forces crossed Armenia’s state border in the territory of Sev Lake in Syunik province and advanced up to 3,5 kilometers, trying to surround the Lake. Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this action is intolerable for Armenia, as it is an encroachment on the sovereign territory of Armenia.

So far, neither the Armenian nor the Azerbaijani side have used any weapon. The number of Azerbaijani soldiers in the territory of Armenia is about 250.




Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 10-05-21

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

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 17:18,

YEREVAN, 10 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 10 May, USD exchange rate up by 0.28 drams to 522.37 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 4.63 drams to 635.31 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 7.06 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 9.22 drams to 735.97 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 409.31 drams to 30844.09 drams. Silver price up by 11.16 drams to 459.75 drams. Platinum price up by 212.62 drams to 20892.46 drams.

Armenian military expert: We must voice our complaints to all international organizations ‘day and night’

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Panorama,  Armenia
  

Armenian military expert, Turkologist Karen Hovhannisyan calls for efforts to bring Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to account for the war crimes committed during last year's 44-day war in Artsakh.

“Baku dictator and war criminal Aliyev must become the first war criminal convicted during his lifetime. Today, we must put this issue on the agenda and voice our complaints to all international organizations day and night,” he wrote on Facebook late on Sunday.

The expert said the accusations against Aliyev should include not only the targeted attacks on civilians and hospitals in Artsakh, but also the orders for murder and destruction on religious grounds.

“The names of the killed civilian captives released a few days ago make it clear that many of these people were elderly couples, who did not manage to flee their homes, which belonged to them since the Soviet period. And those people were tortured and killed on religious grounds and for their nationality.

“In addition, there is much evidence that servicemen of Azerbaijan’s regular army not only tortured the surviving and captured Armenian soldiers, but also mutilated and burnt the bodies of the dead servicemen,” the expert said.

“Such a practice of terrorist groups carried out by the Azerbaijani forces during the martial law, that is, when Aliyev was the commander-in-chief, suggests that it was Aliyev who gave all these orders, and the videos that are repeatedly spreading on the internet are evidence of the fulfillment of these orders.

“Today we must create big problems for Azerbaijan in this regard, as well as demand the establishment of multidisciplinary expert commissions from international organizations for every inch of the border drawn using GPS,” Hovhannisyan said. 

Artur Danielyan: Propaganda aimed at ‘disintegrating Syunik’ will start soon in Armenia

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Panorama,  Armenia
       

The Founder of Adekvat Union Artur Danielyan writes on Facebook:  "The Saudi import to Turkey fell by 93.7% this year to compare with last year's data. This means, the Saudis actually cease economic relations with the Turks.

In parallel to this, the Head of Political Planning Department at the Saudi Foreign Ministry stated that there is a hope to settle relations with Iran. The two countries had broken diplomatic relations 5 years ago when in the territory of Yemen Iranian SKADs fell over the Saudis.

The Saudi official stressed that the progress is conditioned with progress possible in the Iranian nuclear deal," Danielyan wrote, adding: "In general, this means that two polars  – Israel-Russia-Azerbaijan and US-China-Iran are being formed now. This is the most serious geopolitical event of the past 500 years. And we are in the center of this. Let me be clearer, propaganda aimed at 'disintegrating Syunik' will start soon in Armenia. That propaganda will have nothing in common with Armenia. We will prevent it and that is it."

‘Gandhi statue desecration in Armenia a result of lack of understanding of Indian history’

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
The Indian Express
May 7 2021
<img src=”'https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=8738137&cv=2.0&cj=1' alt='scorecardresearch' />

Written by Neha Banka | Kolkata |

Updated: May 7, 2021 6:30:57 pm

The desecration of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Armenia is a result of a lack of understanding of Indian history and Gandhi’s socio-political contributions to India’s struggle for independence, said Karen Mkrtchyan, a member of Bright Armenia, a political party founded in 2015.

On April 29, the statue of Gandhi, installed last year on his 150th birth anniversary, was set on fire and desecrated in a park in the Armenian capital Yerevan. A 61-year old Armenian national pleaded guilty, local news reports said.

An organisation that calls itself the ‘Yerevan Alternative Municipality’ posted photos of the desecrated monument on social media, calling for the statue to be demolished, but did not claim responsibility for the vandalism.

Two days before the statue was burned and a plaque with Gandhi’s name demounted and broken, a group of protesters had also thrown eggs at the monument, with images of the broken plaque and egg shells widespread on social media platforms. Following the vandalism, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the desecration and called it a “provocation against the centuries-old Armenian-Indian friendship, dynamically developing since the independence.”

The Indian Embassy told indianexpress.com on May 5, that the statue had been jointly installed by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and local authorities in Yerevan, with India assuming responsibility for the creation and transportation of the monument to Armenia.

In a Facebook post, the ‘Yerevan Alternative Municipality’ called the Indian freedom fighter “anti-Armenian” and said “it will fight to remove the statue of the anti-Armenian figure from our capital. We ask our compatriots to show patience, to endure the presence of the statue of this anti-Armenian figure until we remove it.” Pointing to the sensitivity of matter and strong diplomatic relations between India and Armenia, the Embassy of India declined to add further comments regarding the incident.

The objections to the statue specifically have to do with Gandhi’s support for the Ottoman Empire that was disintegrating in 1920 due to the empire having been forced to concede large parts of its territory to the Allied Powers during the First World War under the clauses of the Treaty of Sèvres.

At that time, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern-day Turkey, received moral support from Gandhi for the cause of the Turkish independence movement. The brutality of the Armenian Genocide under the Ottoman Empire that lasted between 1915 to 1917, were fresh wounds when British newspapers began highlighting Gandhi’s support for Atatürk and the Khilafat movement, a pan-Islamist political protest campaign led by Muslims of British India to restore the caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate, who was considered the leader and political authority of the Muslims, and to protest against sanctions placed on the caliph and the Ottoman Empire after the First World War by the Treaty of Sèvres.

“The major shock came by with the publication of the Treaty of Sevres on May 14, 1920, in India. This treaty announced the terms of dismembering Turkey and this particular event crossed the limits of Gandhi’s humiliation and he completely lost his confidence and faith in the British sense of justice,” writes Benazir Banu, a scholar at the Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, in her research paper ‘Mahatma Gandhi and Turkish War of Independence’.

“Obviously the lack of understanding of Indian history comes into play here, because Gandhi’s support for the Khilafat movement and the Ottoman Empire was sorely intra-Indian, to bring Hindu-Muslim unity and to oppose the British rule,” Mkrtchyan said. Mkrtchyan lived and studied in India for close to a decade before returning to Armenia in 2016 and studied Indian history during his time in the country.

“Gandhi saw something sinister in every reason of the British and he had his own reasons for it. So someone with very little understanding of Indian history and the context at that time can easily misinterpret it. And of course the Genocide is a soft issue for every Armenian. So once you see that Gandhi supported the Turks, Atatürk and the Ottoman Empire, it brings about a lot of emotions in people who do not understand the context and people get very angry,” Mkrtchyan adds.

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This isn’t the first time that discussions surrounding Gandhi have come up in Armenia, albeit among small groups. Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has consistently claimed to advocate non-violence and has said that he draws inspiration from two of the most iconic international proponents of this philosophy—Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela; it was also what in part, helped him rise to power.

In 2018, Pashniyan attempted to replicate Gandhi’s Dandi March, also known as the Salt March, a deliberate attempt at tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly in pre-Independence India. Only in Pashniyan’s case, he was protesting former Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan’s attempt to hold onto power by having the Armenian Parliament elect him prime minister, despite promising not to seek that office.

That year, Pashinyan decided to walk some 193 kilometers across the country from Gyumri, the second-largest city, to the capital Yerevan. Back then, his opponents mocked Pashniyan’s imitation of Gandhi’s march and because he had worn a camouflage-pattern T-shirt during the walk despite not having served in the compulsory military conscription in the country. But his supporters said that these served as examples of his humility. To coincide with the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi, in May 2019, Armenia had also issued stamps in commemoration.

Following the vandalism of the statue in Yerevan last week, Mkrtchyan said that Pashniyan’s critics had added fuel to the fire. “They are blaming him for associating with Gandhi and that it was his initiative to install Gandhi’s statue in Armenia, because he equals himself with Gandhi. Whereas this is not true,” said Mkrtchyan. But Indian citizens in Armenia who spoke on the condition of anonymity and the Embassy of India in Yerevan told indianexpress.com that the vandalism has been widely condemned in local news reports as well as by other Armenians on social media, with “fringe elements” having been blamed for creating nuisance and needless provocation between two friendly nations.

“Being an Armenian, the (Armenian) Genocide is a big thing for me. But I will understand if someone who is leading the struggle for his own country is going to do something I may or may not like,” said Mkrtchyan. “Nobody puts up Gandhi’s statue because he was Gandhi. Political parties may come and go but Gandhi remains an important part of India’s foreign policy and soft power. He represents India.”

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Artsakh FM raises the with UN agencies the issue of forced evictions carried out by Azerbaijan in Shushi

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Panorama, Armenia
May 5 2021

Minister of Foreign Affairs of t Artsakh David Babayan sent letters on Wednesday to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and specialized bodies within United Nations regarding Azerbaijan’s policy of forced evictions in relation to the Armenian population of the town of Shoushi.

As the Artsakh Republic Foreign Ministry reported, the letters in particular state, that the forced evictions carried out by Azerbaijan in Shushi violate, directly and indirectly, the full spectrum of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of the Armenian population enshrined in numerous international instruments.

It is stressed that the policy of forceful reshaping of historical, cultural and architectural landscape in the occupied territories of Artsakh is blatant form of discrimination and xenophobia.

The letters underscore that the international community should stand against Azerbaijan’s unabated crimes against humanity committed against the people of Artsakh. Any activity by Azerbaijan in the occupied territories of the Republic of Artsakh, undertaken against the norms and principles of international law and in order to consolidate consequences of unlawful use of force against the self-determination of the people of Artsakh, should not be tolerated and should be condemned outright by the international community of states.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh invites to undertake appropriate measures to activate the United Nation’s international legal toolkit in a directed effort to gain unimpeded access of international specialized agencies to Artsakh to address these devastating and ongoing violations.

Charges brought against Movses Hakobyan prove he was right, lawyer says

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Panorama, Armenia
May 4 2021

Colonel-General Movses Hakobyan, a former head of the Military Oversight Service at the Armenian Defense Ministry, was summoned to the Investigative Committee on Monday. After the interrogation, charges were pressed against the former military official according to Article 306 of the RA Criminal Code which is divulging a state secret.

Hakobyan's lawyer Yervand Varosyan insists that the charges prove that the statements made by Hakobyan were true. 

"The charges pressed against Movses Hakobyan prove that his statements were true in the first place. Calling the statements made by him as a state secret after a lost war is ridiculous. However, the most important thing is if we accept the truth, first of all the self-declared acting commander-in-chief should be in the status of the defendant charged with more severe crimes," Varosyan wrote. 

To note, Hakobyan, who was dismissed from his post of the during the recent Artsakh war, came up with number of revelations after the war, blaming Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of ignorance, poor leadership and making disastrous decisions that allowed Azerbaijan to make major territorial gains during the war.  

‘I’m thankful it was done’: MetroWest Armenians welcome President Biden recognition of ‘genocide’

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Metro West Daily News
May 2 2021
Henry Schwan   | MetroWest Daily News

As Dr. Aram Chobanian sees it, the move was long overdue.

That is how Chobanian, 91, a Natick resident and former president of Boston University, feels about President Joe Biden becoming the first U.S. president to formally recognize the deaths of ethnic Armenians during World War I as a genocide. 

Support for President Joe Biden's "Armenian Genocide" declaration

Biden made the statement last Saturday, on a day widely recognized as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Some historians have put the death count at more than a million by the Ottoman Turks — on land which is today Turkey.

Biden's stand was a bittersweet moment for Chobanian, mixed with gratitude and sadness.

"I'm thankful it was done," he said. "Bringing it up again creates old memories, sadness inflicted on my family."

Chobanian said his paternal grandfather was killed by the Turks, and his parents eventually arrived separately in the U.S. as youngsters. They were penniless and didn’t speak a word of English. They married in 1918, worked hard and raised three sons — Edward, Keran and Aram.

“It’s the story many Armenians can tell,” said Chobanian, who is also a former dean at the Boston University School of Medicine. He served as the university’s president from 2003-06.

Justin Varteresian’s Armenian ancestors also suffered.

The Milford resident said his paternal great-great-grandmother and her daughter were forced into slavery by the Ottoman Turks. They escaped through Russia in 1918, made it to America, and eventually joined family in Worcester.

Varteresian’s maternal great-grandfather escaped the carnage, but he believes the rest of the family perished.

“It was very emotional to see that,” he said of Biden’s formal recognition. “A lot of us hoped and prayed for a really long time. For so long, past presidents refused, appeasing the Turkish government.”

For more than 30 years, Varteresian has been a member of Milford's Trinity Episcopal Church. Many Armenian families have joined the congregation through the years.

"My hope is this acknowledgement from President Biden puts the Turkish government on notice that we're keeping an eye on what's going on, and not acting in any way that endangers the lives of innocent civilians," said Varteresian.

Turkey President Racep Tayyip Erdogan immediately called on Biden to reverse his declaration.

But Anthony Barsamian, a Sherborn resident who is co-chairman of the Armenian Assembly of America — the largest, nonpartisan Armenian-American advocacy organization in the U.S., according to its website — said there is "no chance" that will happen.

As Barsamian sees it, Biden brought human rights to the forefront, sending a direct message to Turkey that it must acknowledge its past atrocities to negotiate in good faith with the United States and the rest of the world.

"Turkey is supposed to be a NATO ally, but it's not being a good ally," Barsamian said. "This sends a message that if you don't play ball by the rules, then why have you as an ally? This will have some impact."

A sore spot for many ethnic Armenians is the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, although most of it is governed by the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.

Located within Azerbaijan, the region had been controlled by ethnic Armenians for decades. Fighting broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in September over control of the region, with Turkey reportedly giving Azerbaijan militarily support. A peace deal brokered by Russia in November placed a chunk of the region under Azerbaijan's control.

Barsamain worries about the safety and security of Armenians living in the region.

“We could see another genocide in the region if people are not held accountable for their past,” Barsamian said. “If human rights is not at the top of the list in the region, then strong leaders will have a free hand to do whatever.”

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s grandparents fled Turkey during the genocide, and spent years apart in Syria and France before reuniting in Massachusetts.

"President Biden said what we have waited over a century to hear,” Koutoujian said in a prepared statement. “He acknowledged this genocide and the generational trauma associated with its minimization. He showed respect and empathy for the experience of my grandparents and all our families. That is something that should make Americans of every ethnicity proud.”

For Chobanian, the pain of the genocide lingers, although his parents persevered, and provided a stable home for their three sons.

"Somehow my parents saw a way. How they did it is really unreal," Chobanian said.