Author: Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Identity of Azerbaijani who killed Artsakh resident is known

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 4 2021
15:49, 04.12.2021

Within the framework of cooperation with the prosecutors of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Artsakh, it was found out that the murder of Artsakh citizen Seyran Sargsyan was committed by Azerbaijani citizen and soldier, Private David Rahimzade. This is noted in a statement issued by the Artsakh Prosecutor's Office.

A criminal case was launched at the Artsakh Police in connection with this case, and it was transferred by the Prosecutor's Office to the Artsakh Investigative Committee for investigation.

The Russian peacekeepers are currently negotiating to hand over Seyran Sargsyan's body to the Artsakh side.

As per the aforesaid statement, The Azerbaijani side once again distorted the circumstances of this criminal case and presented this premeditated murder as a stopping of the attack by an Artsakh citizen on their military position.

But the Artsakh side has evidence, including a full video documenting the actions of a group of Azerbaijani servicemen forcibly and violently abducting the aforementioned Artsakh national from a neutral zone, and moving him to an Azerbaijani military base by holding him by the legs and arms.

The video and other evidence will soon be provided to the Russian side, too, to form an accurate and complete picture of the real circumstances of this incident.

Artsakh National Security Service on Friday issued a statement that the Azerbaijani military had entered the neutral zone near the town of Chartar in the Martuni region of Artsakh, and used violence against Seyran Sargsyan (born in 1956), a resident of this town and a cattle breeder. Then he was taken to an Azerbaijani base, where he was killed.

Two more Armenian soldiers’ remains found after search operations in Jrakan

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 23 2021

Artsakh rescuers found the remains of two more Armenian soldiers as a result of their search operations for the 2020 Artsakh war casualties on Tuesday, November 23.

The remains were retrieved from the Jrakan (Jabrayil) region occupied by Azerbaijan, the State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh’s Interior Ministry reported.

Their identities will be established after a forensic medical examination, it said.

Since the end of hostilities, the bodies of 1,700 servicemen and civilians have been found during the search operations or handed over to the Armenian side.

Latest Azeri aggression against Armenia was attack on democracy, Speaker Simonyan tells French counterpart in Paris

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 16:33,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan had a meeting with his French counterpart Richard Ferrand in Paris.

Simonyan and Ferrand discussed the latest deadly Azerbaijani attack on Armenia, the Armenian parliament’s press service said in a press release.

Simonyan told Ferrand that the latest attack is the continuation of Azerbaijan’s consistent policy of capturing and occupying territories of the Republic of Armenia, which began on May 12 of this year when the Azerbaijani military invaded into the provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik.

Simonyan emphasized that this was also an attack on democracy.

The discussion also focused on the events which took place after the 2020 war in Artsakh and the challenges facing the security and stability of Armenia and the region. Simonyan thanked France for the great attention in the issues of repatriating the Armenian prisoners of war and civilians who are held in Azerbaijan as hostages, the rights of refugees of Artsakh and the protection of the historical-cultural heritage under Azeri control. He highlighted the 2020 December 3 passage of the Resolution on Protection of Christian Communities of Europe and the East and Armenian People in the French parliament. The Armenian Speaker of Parliament said that the resolutions passed by the French Senate and National Assembly are an important milestone for a fair resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and strengthening of France’s active role in this process.

The President of the National Assembly of France Richard Ferrand reaffirmed that France was and remains a friend to Armenia regardless of the geographical distance.

Simonyan and Ferrand were pleased to note the strong inter-parliamentary cooperation, pointing out the role of the parliamentary friendship groups of the two countries in continuously developing the ties.

At the end of the meeting the sides underscored the importance of joint efforts for the continuity and enhancement of cooperation between Armenia and France in various sectors.

Speaker Simonyan is in France at the invitation of the President of the French Senate Gerard Larcher. During the two-day visit, Simonyan and his delegation will participate in the Armenia One Year Later conference, hosted by Larcher.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia informed UN Security Council President about Azerbaijani aggression – MFA spox

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 11:12, 17 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has informed the President of the United Nations Security Council about the November 16th attack of Azerbaijan on Armenia’s sovereign territory, MFA spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said in a statement, in response to the questions of media outlets.

“The Armenian Foreign Ministry has already informed the President of the UN Security Council about the current situation. We would like to note that the use of all tools of international law and diplomatic practice is being considered for protecting Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”, he said.

The spokesperson also added that Armenia is in direct and multi-level contact with its ally Russia. Mr Hunanyan reminded that yesterday the Armenian Prime Minister and the Russian President held a telephone conversation during which Nikol Pashinyan presented the situation to Vladimir Putin. “In this context, the leaders of the two countries discussed the possible joint steps the implementation of which is enshrined by a bilateral legal-contractual base and is in accordance with the allied relations”, Vahan Hunanyan said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Spitting incident shows racism, hate in Jerusalem, church says

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
Nov 19 2021
This still image taken from security camera video shows a man who spat several times and waved his middle finger outside the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem. The video was posted to Facebook Nov. 14, 2021 by Yisca Harani. The Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has urged Israeli police to thoroughly investigate the incident. (CNS photo/screen capture Facebook)

By Judith Sudilovsky • Catholic News Service • Posted November 18, 2021

JERUSALEM (CNS) — The Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem urged Israeli police to “seriously investigate” a Nov. 15 incident in which a young Orthodox Jewish man spit several times at the entrance of the patriarchate, then angrily gestured with his middle finger toward a surveillance camera.

“Unfortunately, similar insulting acts, which are an _expression_ of racism and anti-Christian hate, have been taking place frequently, especially by religious Jews against Christian clergymen at the Old City, mainly but not only at the Armenian Quarter,” the patriarchate said in a statement sent to journalists Nov. 17. “We urge the police to seriously investigate these insulting acts and bring those who committed them to justice.”

The video image shows the man, who is wearing a backward baseball cap and walking a dog, and is accompanied by another religious man wearing a dark sweater, purposefully walk up to the front gate of the patriarchate and spit twice, then make deliberate eye contact with the surveillance camera and spit three additional times with more emphasis.

Then he faces the camera again, gestures with the middle finger of one hand and puts the finger of the other hand over it to form the sign of a cross, in what the patriarchate said was “a clear act of insult.”

Armenian clergy are often the targets of such spitting attacks as religious Jews use a main road of the Armenian Quarter of the Old City as a passageway to the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter rather than walk through the crowded market streets of the Muslim Quarter.

“We use this opportunity to assure our readiness to cooperate with religious and civilian authorities for endorsing coexistence based on mutual respect to all people,  regardless of differences in religions, ethnicities and nationalities,” the patriarchate said.

https://catholicphilly.com/2021/11/news/world-news/spitting-incident-shows-racism-hate-in-jerusalem-church-says/

Newspaper: Officers with higher rank than major not allowed to combat positions during recent hostilities in Syunik

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
News.am, Armenia
Nov 19 2021
07:44, 19.11.2021

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: During the recent hostilities in Syunik [Province], the military with higher ranks than a major were not allowed to go up to the [combat] positions—the hotspots of the operations.

This information was confirmed by the military at 2 different positions, adding that when the servicemen of the special regiment of the MOD [(Ministry of Defense)] as well as of the foreign intelligence tried to go up to the positions at the most crucial moment of the hostilities, they were banned, saying that they have the order of the newly appointed minister of defense, Suren Papikyan: not to allow those with a higher rank than a major.

It is already known that the authorities have turned down the assistance of the 102nd [Russian] military base located in the RA. And when Gorin, the commander of the second corps of the [Russian] military base located in Syunik, tried to provide assistance on location—to go up to the combat positions—, he was not allowed either.

It is noteworthy that in the previous day [PM] Nikol Pashinyan was stating from the NA [(National Assembly)] tribune that they could not give an order not to shoot, "not giving such an order is high treason."

But how can one describe the ban on experienced high-ranking military personnel from going up to the [combat] positions? Maybe they explain this, too, with the care for them? After all, their participation [in the aforesaid hostilities] could have considerably changed the balance of power.

Arabologist: Photo of map of Turkic world shown by Erdogan and Bahceli is simply a gift for Armenian diplomacy

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
News.am, Armenia
Nov 19 2021
18:12, 19.11.2021

The photo of a map of the Turkic World shown by leaders of the Turkey’s ruling coalition Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Devlet Bahceli is simply a gift for Armenian diplomacy to shape solidarity abroad in order to disrupt the Turkish-Azerbaijani “Zangezur corridor” project. This is what Arabologist Armen Petrosyan wrote on his Facebook page today.

“This map, which is considered the peak of objectification of the pan-Turkism ideology, clearly outlines all the countries and directions with respect to which #Ankara has led a targeted policy for years, and in the future, it will lead this policy more actively in order to implement the “Great #Turan” or “Turkic axis” program in the current conditions. The map features territories from the Balkan peninsula, #Russia, #Iran, #China, #Mongolia, parts of #Syria, #Iraq, and includes Turkic-speaking countries (#Azerbaijan, #Kazakhstan, #Kyrgyzstan, #Uzbekistan). And, most importantly, the key to this plan is in Syunik Province of Armenia — the alleged “Zangezur corridor”, which is called for ensuring unobstructed connection between all the sections of the plan.

The only thing Armenian diplomats, Armenians lobbying abroad and their partners need is to have in their smartphones the photo attached to the Facebook post and the map of Armenia and, during their work-related conversations and in their public speeches, clarify, with substantiated, that Armenia, weakened after the war, is incapable of suspending the prospective Turkic plan that may pose a threat to all the countries indicated on the map at the same time or in sequence in the visible future, based on the examples of seizure of #Artsakh and the possible seizure of the “Zangezur corridor”.”

Baku not refuting attack on peaceful civilians in Artsakh, but putting blame on Yerevan

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
News.am, Armenia
Nov 9 2021
18:50, 09.11.2021

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has made another immoral and unreal statement, blaming the Armenian side for the incident that took place near Shushi.

Yesterday an Azerbaijani soldier invaded the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and shot four workers repairing a water pipeline, leaving one dead and three wounded.

After contemplating for a day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan put the blame for the incident on the Armenian side in general and on Armenia in particular. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdulayeva declared that Azerbaijan allegedly has nothing to do with the incident and that “Russian peacekeepers are usually reported before launching any operation in this territory, and the operation is carried out with the accompaniment of the peacekeepers. This time, the Russian peacekeepers were not informed and didn’t participate in the operation which, of course, entails serious questions. That day, an event was held in Shushi and attended by the President of Azerbaijan and state officials, and it is known that in such cases enhanced measures are taken for security in the territory. Realizing this, repair of any water pipeline in a site that is the closest to the territory does not fit in any logic.”

The tolerance and silence of the international community with regard to the tremendous number of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Azerbaijan have obscured the brains of Azerbaijani officials so much that they aren’t even going out of their way to try to refute the fact that there were attacks on peaceful civilians. All this is happening in the context of the statements on the willingness of Azerbaijan to establish ‘an era of peace’ in the region.

Over 60 thousand doses of Moderna vaccine arrive in Armenia

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 19:27, 9 November, 2021

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. 60,700 doses of Moderna vaccine have arrived in Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports the Ministry of Health informs.

The batch of vaccines was donated to Armenia by the Slovak Republic within the framework of the European Union "Population Protection Mechanism".

This vaccine is used against COVID-19 for people over 12 years.

Why is Azerbaijani language taught in Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenian in Azerbaijan?

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Nov 4 2021


    JAMnews

    Yerevan

Armenian language taught in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani – in Nagorno- Karabakh

The Genesis Armenia Foundation announces the opening of the Center for Azerbaijani Studies in Nagorno-Karabakh where Azerbaijan studies and the Azerbaijani language will be taught. A week ago, information appeared that the Armenian language will now be taught at the Azerbaijan State Economic University.

Expert opinion: what caused the interest, and why the conflicting parties decided to study Armenian and Azerbaijani languages.

The Genesis Armenia Foundation considers the opening of the Center for Azerbaijani Studies as a project of strategic importance.

As stated on the official website of the foundation, “Genesis Armenia” is a non-partisan initiative, a research analytical center. Its goal is to consolidate the intellectual potential of Armenia in the field of international relations, security, economy, business, industry, technology, education, culture, healthcare and the environment.

It is reported that the new center is equipped with the necessary teaching equipment and didactic materials:

“At the first stage, more than a dozen young people will study the Azerbaijani language and study Azerbaijan for free. The goal of the program is to prepare an educated generation which knows their national and state interests well”.

The Foundation announces that this initiative involves overcoming military and political challenges, training specialists in the Azerbaijani language who “will be able to use their skills to neutralize information and propaganda threats” and ensure security.

Azerbaijani language course participants

It is known that the Armenian language course at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics is intended for researchers. It is designed for 6 months. This is the initiative of the Center for Economic Research of Armenia operating in Azerbaijan.

According to Azerbaijani media, the course will be taught by Huseyn Askerov, a lecturer at the Department of Caucasian Studies at the Azerbaijan University of Languages. He told reporters that after the second Karabakh war, more and more Azerbaijanis want to learn the Armenian language:

“I can’t manage enrolling everyone who wants to learn Armenian in my schedule, although we really need such specialists”.

Armenian publications, referring to Azerbaijani sources, report that, in particular, employees of the state security services of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, border guards, and journalists have signed up for the courses. But only students of the university where they take place can participate free of charge, for the rest the classes are paid.

Azeriologist Taron Hovhannisyan says that interest in the study of Azerbaijani in Armenia and Azerbaijan was observed immediately after the proclamation of the republic, there were simply passive and active stages. In both countries, an increase has been observed since 2010:

“First of all, this was due to the need to study, understand the policies of the other side, the trends that are manifested there, as well as security considerations. It is no coincidence that in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, the language of the other side is studied by the employees of the security forces and the national security services”.

According to Taron Hovhannisyan, the opening of the Center for Azerbaijani Studies in Nagorno-Karabakh is also associated with the objective necessity of training specialists.

Regarding the interest in Armenian in Azerbaijan, the expert believes that perhaps this is due to the demonstration of some positive signals in the field of normalization of relations.

However, based on the statements of the Azerbaijani authorities about their intention to completely return the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh under their control, the specialist is more inclined to view the interest in Armenian in this context:

“The state policy is as follows: they are trying to show that they are allegedly ready to live peacefully with the Armenians as part of the Azerbaijani state, although its actions prove the opposite.

Baku will continue to work in this direction. For propaganda purposes, Azerbaijanis will try to convince Armenians that they can return and live in the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, which came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the last war – for example, in Hadrut”.