Israel Urges Citizens To Avoid Georgia, Azerbaijan, Citing Iran Threat
December 03, 2020 20:41 GMT
• By RFE/RL
A memorial service for Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was
killed on November 27.
Israel's government is warning that Israeli targets abroad could come under
attack by Iran, citing threats issued by Tehran following the killing of a
prominent Iranian nuclear scientist last week.
"In light of threats recently coming from Iranian officials and in light of the
involvement in the past of Iranian agents in terror attacks in various
countries, there is a concern that Iran will try to act in such a way against
Israeli targets,” according to a December 3 statement issued by the prime
minister’s National Security Council.
It advised against travel to nearby countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), and Bahrain, as well as the Kurdish
area of Iraq and Africa.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was at the heart of the country's past covert nuclear
program, was killed on the outskirts of Tehran on November 27.
No one has claimed responsibility, but Iranian officials have blamed the killing
on Israel, an exile opposition group, and Saudi Arabia.
A top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Iran will
give a “calculated and decisive” response.
Israeli officials have declined to comment on the killing, while the Iranian
opposition group and Saudi Arabia have denied any involvement.
Elliott Abrams, the top U.S. envoy on Iran, said on December 3 that Iran is
unlikely to retaliate over the assassination before the inauguration of Joe
Biden as U.S. president on January 20, 2021, in case it jeopardizes any future
sanctions relief from the United States.
"If they want sanctions relief, they know that they're going to need to enter
some kind of negotiation after January 20, and it's got to be in their minds
that they don't want to...undertake any activities between now and January 20
that make sanctions relief harder to get," Abrams told Reuters.
Iran and its proxies have targeted Israeli tourists and Jewish communities in
the past.
Israel in recent months has signed U.S.-brokered agreements establishing
diplomatic relations with the U.A.E. and Bahrain.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
Author: Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Syunik Governor resigns
18:52,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Governor of Armenia’s Syunik Province Hunan Poghosyan has resigned on November 30, his assistant Armine Avagyan confirmed the news to Armenpress.
“Hunan Poghosyan has submitted a resignation letter, but at the moment he continues his duties until a respective decision by the government is made”, she said.
Hunan Poghosyan has been appointed Governor of Syunik in October 2018.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenian minister, US Ambassador discuss possibility of new course in defense cooperation
20:56,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan received today US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy, the defense ministry told Armenpress.
The US Ambassador congratulated Mr. Harutyunyan on appointment as the defense minister.
The defense minister briefed the US Ambassador on the implementation process of the agreements reached after the cessation of military operations in Nagorno Karabakh. As a priority, he highlighted the works on the return of prisoners of war, search for missing in action and the bodies of the dead, as well as the activities of the International Committee of Red Cross, the Russian defense ministry and the Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh.
The Armenian defense minister also stated that currently they are analyzing the military operations and assess the shortcomings which can lead to structural, decision-making procedure, strategy and legislative changes.
The opportunities of giving a new course to the Armenian-American cooperation in the defense field were discussed during the meeting. The sides agreed that as a result of additional discussions new cooperation areas and directions will be initiated based on the interests of the sides.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenian author’s Book of Adam published in Farsi
Your Arlington
Nov 28 2020
<img src=”"/images/stories/history/series/one/acf-text_375.jpg"” alt="The Armenian Cultural Foundation" class="pull-left" st1yle="border: 2px outset #ddddd4; display: block; margin: initial; float: none; width: 100%;" title="The Armenian Cultural Foundation" width="200" role="figure" height="126.93" />Preface by curator of the Armenian Cultural Foundation.Khazé Publishing of Tehran has announced the release in Farsi of Hakob Karapents’ Adami Girke [The Book of Adam], his second and most celebrated published novel.
Titled Ketabé Adam, it has been translated by Andranik Khechoumian, a celebrated Armenian writer, playwright and translator.
The book includes a preface and brief biography by Ara Ghazarians, curator of the Armenian Cultural Foundation of Arlington, and a commentary by Abbas Jahangirian, a prominent Iranian writer and literary critique.
This is the first major work of Karapents published in Farsi in the country of his birth. It provides the first opportunity for Farsi-speaking people to become acquainted with the unique literary legacy of Karapents.
Before the release of Ketabé Adam, only a smattering of his essays and sketches about his life and literary legacy had been published in the Farsi-language Armenian Payman Cultural Quarterly (no. 9/10, no. 53). The book is published on the occasion of his 95th birth anniversary.
Many years ago in answer to an interviewer’s question about writing in English, Karapents responded, “Many encourage me to write in English . . . in order to partake in the American literature, one has to be an American. I am an Armenian, a diaspora-Armenian, which is a unique creature in the history of mankind . . . I have lived for many years in America; however, I do not consider myself an American. Despite all, my Armenianness is my identity, my license to walk among the crowds and feel that I am different.”
This conviction, to which Karapents remained loyal for his entire literary career, unfortunately, for decades, deprived the non-Armenian speaking readers, English in particular, of a rich literary treasure. Karapents’ works were not fully appreciated among his people either as he wrote in Eastern Armenian in a Western Armenian speaking reality. Furthermore, his works sadly, falling victim to Cold War politics, remained inaccessible to his compatriot in Soviet Armenia, thus depriving his compatriots from a unique literary genre and scope of contemporary Armenian literature.
In the final years of his life, Karapents was finally persuaded to make some of his works available in English. He finally agreed to have some of his short stories translated into English. Return and Tiger, a collection of short stories, translated by Tatul Sonentz, was released a few of months after his passing in 1994. This was followed by the Widening Circle and Other Early Short Stories, released in 2007, a collection of seven short stories by Karapents written in 1950s.
The novel is constructed on three levels: the state of the American social order in the final decades (1980s) of the century; the current crisis of the diaspora Armenian; and the crisis of man finding himself at the end of the 20th century. The characters and plot serve as the means of linking this triad of knots together and reaching a certain truth. “Aside from flashback,” as observed by the late editor, writer and translator, Aris Sevag, “the book is written to understand life by the return trip and to live life by the road ahead, the metaphysical with the real, sometimes relying on non-existent realities which are more powerful than the real; therefore, from tie to tie, there surfaces a dry journalistic style to produce a clash between tangible and intangible realities. From this standpoint, The Book of Adam enters the self-contained current of contemporary American literature, which is a sad and nondescript visit to solitary persons and solitary communities.”
Karapents wrote The Book of Adam a little more than a decade after his first novel, Daughter of Carthage. He began writing it in mid-1980 and completed in less than a year. The book is dedicated to his wife, Alice. The second edition was released in Armenia in 2012. The book has also been adapted for the stage twice by two young Armenian dramatists, actors, and cinematographer: in Tehran (2005) under the direction of Seto Gojamanian titled “Where are we to be buried,” and in Los Angeles (2017) by Armen Sarvar titled “Yes, Adam Nourian.”
Karapents was born in Tabriz, Iran, in 1925. He moved to the United States in 1947 and studied at Kansas City University, majoring in journalism, and later attended Columbia University, where he studied psychology. For over a quarter of a century, he worked and served as the chief of the Armenian Service of Voice of America.
After his retirement in 1979, he moved first to Connecticut and later in 1989 to Watertown, where he lived until his death in 1994. He is the author of more than 900 articles in Armenian and English, short stories, novel, essays commentaries, book reviews.
This article was published Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. The writer is Ara Ghazarians, curator of the Armenian Cultural Foundation of Arlington. It was first published by The Armenian Mirror-Spectator.
Sarkissian travels to Moscow on “private visit”
11:36,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. President Sarkissian has departed to Moscow on a “private visit”, his office said in a news release on Saturday.
The Armenian president will have a meeting with “a number of representatives of Russia’s Armenian community and community organizations, during which we will address, among others, the latest developments around Artsakh and the situation in Armenia."
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Involvement of armed terrorists and mercenaries is proved by sufficient evidence – Prosecution
16:16,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The organized and coordinated involvement of armed terrorists and mercenaries is proved by sufficient evidence obtained in time of the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh and Republic of Armenia, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia said in a statement.
The military and political leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan violated the requirements of numbers of international treaties on September 27, 2020, unleashed aggressive war against the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh; preliminary investigation was initiated on the case, data were obtained on use of mercenaries, members of various terrorist groups specially recruited by Azerbaijan from the first day of the war. The latter carried out international terrorism in order to destabilize the internal state of a foreign state, by means of organizing and carrying out actions such as explosions, arson and other similar actions, continued killing people, destroying buildings, structures, roads, means of transport and communication or other property.
On that basis, according to the materials obtained on October 12, 2020, a criminal case was initiated under Article 389 of the RA Criminal Code and joined to the criminal case initiated on the case of unleashing an aggressive war against the Republic of Artsakh.
During the preliminary investigation, on suspicion of committing crimes under Article 389, Article 390, Part 1, Point 1 and Part 3, Points 1 and 2, Article 395, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code, mercenaries: Muhhrab Muhammad Al Shkher, a resident from the village of Atmi, near the city of Sarmad, a citizen of the Arab Republic of Syria, born in 1988 and a citizen of the Arab Republic of Syria, Yusef Alabet Al Haji, born on 03.05.1975 in Edlib region, Jser Al Shahur city, village Al Ziedie participating in the aggressive war unleashed by the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh were arrested on October 31, 2020 by the body conducting the proceedings.
In the scope of proper judicial procedure with sufficient evidence obtained Muhhrab Muhammad Al Shkher was charged under Article 389, Articl 34-390, Part 1, Point 1 and Part 3, Point 1, Article 395, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code and Yousef Alabet Al Haji was charged under Article 389 of the RA Criminal Code, Article 34-390, Part 1, Point 1 and Part 3, Point 1, Article 395, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against them.
In the course of the preliminary investigation, factual information was obtained about the participation of a number of other mercenaries in the actions unleashed by the military and political leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in particular Ahmad Al-Tayebi /35 years old, citizen of the Syrian Arab Republic, residence of Reyhany, Turkey/, Abu Stef Al-Hindavi /35 years old/, about Abu Diab Halabi / 30 years old/.
Decisions were made by the body conducting the proceedings on the involvement of the above- mentioned persons in a criminal case under Article 389, Article 390, Part 3, Point 1, Article 395, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code and detention was chosen as a preventive measure against the latter and they were declared wanted.
During the further preliminary investigation and in the result of operative-investigative measures undertaken, as well as urgent investigative and other judicial actions, factual data was obtained on the leader of the international terroristic group called “Sultan Suleyman Shah", Muhammad Al-Jasimin, titled “Abu Hamsha”, arab national /born in 1985/ for recruiting more than two thousands mercenaries in the Syrian Arab Republic for material compensation and transporting them to Azerbaijan to involve in the war against the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, including for leading operations in place.
Based on the above, a decision was made օn November 8, 2020 regarding Muhammad Al-Jasimi to initiate a criminal case against him under Article 38-389, Article 390, Part 3, Points 1 and 2, Article 395, Part 3, Points 1 and 3 of the RA Criminal Code. Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against the latter, he was declared wanted. The preliminary investigation is underway.
Objective evidence prove the presence of extremist terrorists and mercenaries, members of international terrorist groups during the whole time of the war in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, their active participation in the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and war crimes against the people of Artsakh. After the adoption of a joint trilateral statement on finishing the military actions by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, there is no information about their withdrawal from the conflict zone.
Moreover, according to the published information, measures are being undertaken to locate the terrist groups and the mercineries living in the northern part of the Syrian Arab Republic to the territories occupied by Azerbaijan. If this information is true, it may be assessed as a step aimed at concentrating terrorist groups in the region, thereby increasing the threats against the population of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, as well as against the security, stability and relative peace of all countries in the region.
The Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia reaffirms its readiness to expand cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral forms in order to prevent new terrorist acts and establishment of new terrorist centers in the region, as well as it tries to detect such attempts and identify the persons involved in them to make them liable.
Armen Ghevondyan appointed Deputy FM
17:54,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. By the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Armen Ghevondyan has been appointed Deputy Foreign Minister.
ARMENPRESS reports Armen Ghevondyan was the Ambassador of Armenia to Belarus prior to the appointment to the new post.
Ucom expands free access list of educational websites
17:09,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Emphasizing of the importance of education for middle and high school students both in the Republic of Armenia and those who moved from Artsakh, as well as the provision of affordable internet access, Ucom has expanded the list of educational resources with free access for the subscribers of U!Prepaid, Ucom Universal and Universal Plus tariff plans, Ucom told Armenpress.
In particular, following the request of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, Youth and Sports from November 21, 2020 the subscribers of Ucom's u1000, u1500, u2000 and u3000 prepaid tariff plans, as well as Ucom Universal and Universal Plus postpaid service subscribers will not pay for any internet usage when visiting Google Classroom and Microsoft Team websites. The same regulation has been in place for months for the following websites: zoom.us, armedu.am, emis.am, kahoot.com and etwinning.net.
The company also reminds that until November 30th inclusive, the subscribers of the mentioned tariff plans will not be charged for internet use when benefiting from Twitter, Skype, Zoom, Viber, WhatsApp applications.
Crisis in Armenia: Helping those displaced by conflict
Alamaba Baptist
Nov 24 2020
More than 150,000 refugees have been displaced by the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. (Photo courtesy of Mission Eurasia)
The bombs started falling in once peaceful communities. People — mostly women, children and the elderly — began running for their lives as their homes were destroyed. Fathers, brothers and sons stayed behind to defend their land.
On Sept. 27, a longstanding land conflict boiled over between Armenia and Azerbaijan as Azerbaijani military launched air raids and artillery attacks on the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The result has been an unfolding humanitarian crisis, with as many as 150,000 Armenian refugees seeking food, shelter and life’s necessities.
Vazgen Zohrabyan, pastor of Abovyan City Church in Armenia, and Sergey Rakhuba, president of Mission Eurasia, recently spoke with TAB Media about the crisis.
“We were shocked. No one was expecting that [the conflict and subsequent humanitarian crisis] would take place now. Here we are. We have this big challenge, but this is also a big opportunity for us to reach out to the people and help them,” said Zohrabyan.
Because missionaries from his church had served in Nagorno-Karabakh just a week before the fighting broke out, “Pastor Vazgen became the nationally known leader in Armenia,” Rakhuba said.
Today, the Armenian pastor tries to coordinate refugee relief efforts throughout his country, which has a population of about 3 million.
Churches have become “the main source of life and hope in the society,” Rakhuba said.
A social media message posted by Zohrabyan reached some 2,000 Armenians seeking refuge in his city of about 40,000 people, nearly 200 miles away from the conflict.
His church of about 200 has helped those refugees find shelter, with about 50 refugees being housed in the church building itself.
Other churches throughout Armenia are also taking in thousands of refugees.
As Zohrabyan speaks with the refugees, he begins to understand their desperation.
“A family who reached our church from the war zone couldn’t speak for a day,” he said. Zohrabyan was expecting two cars of refugees, but only one car arrived. “We asked, ‘Where is the other car?’ They couldn’t answer; they couldn’t speak. The next day they explained that a drone hit the first car, and the people in the car were killed, and they saw it all.”
Mission Eurasia seeks to help meet the most urgent needs of refugees, primarily food and shelter, Rakhuba said. Also as the weather turns colder, clothing is an urgent need. Armenian churches are doing what they can do in crisis relief, he said, but “Armenia is not a wealthy country. It is strong; it is faithful; it is a Christian-based country, but they need help.”
Mission Eurasia is helping train volunteer counselors and is distributing copies of the Gospel of John and the New Testament, along with a prayer guide.
Rakhuba is calling on Christians worldwide to join aid efforts. For more information on how to help, including a link to TAB Media’s conversation with Zohrabyan and Rakhuba, visit tabonline.org/armenia.
Russian Deputy FM comments on developments in Armenia following armistice
13:14,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Moscow believes that the ongoing protests in Armenia won’t lead to destabilization in Nagorno Karabakh and won’t jeopardize the implementation of the provisions of the statement signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, RIA Novosti reported.
“We think that the developments taking place in Armenia won’t lead to destabilization of the situation which would threaten the signed statement,” Russian Deputy FM Andrey Rudenko told reporters.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan