Author: Yeghisabet Vorskanian

Artsakh Foreign Ministry welcomes letter of 121 MEPs calling for release of Armenian POWs

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 19:43, 4 May, 2021

STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Artsakh welcomed the letter initiated by over 120 Members of the European Parliament, urging the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council to demand the release of Armenian prisoners of war held by Azerbaijan.

“We commend the letter by 121 members of the European Parliament addressed to the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council on urgent need to release Armenian Prisoners of War currently unlawfully held in Azerbaijan. We highly appreciate the position of the members of the European Parliament to voice about the violations by Azerbaijan of international humanitarian law and uphold the legal demand by Artsakh. This is an exemplary manifestation of humanism, moral values and adherence to norms and principles of international law”, the Artsakh foreign ministry said in a statement.

More than 120 Members of the European Parliament have initiated a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, President of the European Council, urging them to demand the release of Armenian prisoners of war held by Azerbaijan.

The letter has been initiated by MEPs Andrey Kovatchev (Bulgaria), Loucas Fourlas (Cyprus) and François-Xavier Bellamy (France).

In their letter the MEPs reminded that Armenia released all prisoners of war it held, remaining committed to the trilateral statement signed on November 10, 2020. “This is not the case with Azerbaijan: not only does it still hold Armenian prisoners, but it is also suspected of having made new prisoners, including civilians, after the official end of hostilities. It is difficult to precisely draw up the number of remaining prisoners and captives, due to the high number of missing persons and the lack of cooperation from the Azerbaijani side, but it would include 72 people whose captivity Azerbaijan admits, 112 people about whom Azerbaijan did not provide any information , and 61 people whose captivity Azerbaijan categorically denies, but about whom there is concrete evidence to the contrary”, the letter says.

The MEPs noted that this is not only a violation of humanitarian law, but also contradicts to Azerbaijan’s clams to move to normalization and reconciliation.

The lawmaker stated that all prisoners and detained should be released without any precondition.

They also touched upon the facts of torture, violence against the Armenian POWs and civilians, the proofs of which are often provided by their authors, who themselves publish them on the Internet.

“Armenia, a friend of Europe, has already paid a very high price in this conflict, and still has to suffer this inhuman situation: many Armenian families are awaiting to know if their children died during the war, or if they are prisoners – thus possibly threatened to die, after the ceasefire, of the conditions of their detention.

The European Union can no longer leave Armenia in this unbearable situation; we must act so that violence does not once again take precedence over the law. We are proud of the principles that bind us together: they must urge us today to bring all our weight, and use all levers at our disposal, to demand that Azerbaijan purely and solely respect international law. If Europe wishes to fulfill its commitments, it must ensure that this violation of international law in its neighborhood does not become a tragic precedent.  Otherwise, its silence and inaction will turn into historical responsibility.

As Members of the European Parliament, we ask you to act to demand the return of all Armenian prisoners of war to their country”, the MEPs said in their letter.





CivilNet: Baku Continues Persecuting Talysh Activists Even After Victory: A Talk With a Talysh Journalist

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
CIVILNET.AM

01:05

“There is no opposition or civil society in Azerbaijan – they only exist by name”, Rahim Shaliyev, a Talysh journalist says in an interview with CivilNet’s Stella Mehrabekyan. According to Shaliyev, Aliyev’s regime continues persecuting Talysh activists even after its victory in the Second Karabakh war.

Recently you have been posting about the arrest of Talysh blogger Aslan Gurbanov who was arrested by the State Security Service in July 2020. He has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a Baku court for ‘inciting national hatred,’ among other charges. In another case, Talysh singer Baloglan Ashrafov died of coronavirus on April 26. You noted that the Azerbaijani government has taken steps to prevent the news of his death from spreading. Does this all mean that even after the success in the Second Karabakh war the Azerbajani government continues to persecute Talysh people, especially those who speak up for their rights?

Such cases were also taking place beforehand. Following the removal of President Ayaz Mutallibov, all successive governments in Azerbaijan have either imprisoned or killed Talysh activists. In addition, they feel concerned whenever a topic related to the Talysh begins trending and they do their utmost to prevent it from spreading. The acceleration of the national awakening of the Talysh and certain regional developments are seriously unsettling for the current government. This is one reason. That is why they make any attempt to mitigate the consequences of any news or incident related to the Talysh. The imprisonment of Aslan Qurbanov is a warning to other such Talysh activists. They openly state this. According to my sources, Ilkin Rahimli, a member of the Internal Security Service, openly said to Aslan Qurbanov that “this is why we have arrested you – so it would be a lesson to other Talysh people.”

Just after the war it became known that prominent Talysh historian and activist Fakhraddin Abbaszade died in prison in Azerbaijan, where he was serving 16 years for treason. His family said they had been informed that Abbaszade took his own life in his cell. Talysh human rights activists called his death mysterious. What’s your take on this?

The killing of Abbaszade by the Azerbaijani government is a clear issue. However, what worried me most is that during his imprisonment and following his killing, civil society activists in Azerbaijan either openly or discreetly supported this atrocity committed by the government. There were even some students from this group who took lessons from Abbaszade when he was working at the Baku State University. I genuinely cannot understand how someone who has been educated by a teacher can support and even be glad about their imprisonment and killing. The worst part is that these individuals are the most well-known human rights lawyers, journalists and social activists in Azerbaijan. 

The character of the Azerbaijani government is very clear. Ordinary people live under constant propaganda and so we can give them the benefit of the doubt. However, the reactions we saw from activists who have been educated at the world’s leading universities regarding the Talysh issue and the killings of Armenian civilians during the war has forced us to create a separate Talysh civil society. This is because there is no room for compromise with the Azerbaijani government and civil society, apart from a number of exceptions. It is impossible to imagine a decent future with such people. They are not only the cause of the misery of the Talysh people but also the Azerbaijani people as a whole.

During the war and afterwards there were many reports of young Talysh men participating in the war, “defending,” as it was said, their motherland. It’s a well-known fact that the Azerbaijani government refuses to disclose the number of its military casualties. As someone who is outside Azerbaijan and closely follows the life of Talysh people, do you have any data or information regarding the casualties among your people?

Even if the Azerbaijani government releases the names and numbers of people who died in the war, they do not show the region from which those people went. We are nevertheless making our own calculations. We have found that around 600 soldiers from the Talysh region died in the war. According to official statistics, approximately 3,000 Azerbaijani citizens died in the war. We are still carrying out research on this matter and this number will likely rise. There are names that do not appear in the list. Around 5% of the Azerbaijani population lives in the Talysh region, however the number of soldier deaths in the war from that region surpasses 20%. There are certain details that affirm this fact. For example, there are 13 families living in the small Talysh village of Dico in Lerik, but 3 individuals died in the war from this village. Moreover, in a televised report prepared by a Turkish propaganda channel (tv100), the reporter unknowingly reported that a larger proportion of soldiers were taken to war from the Lerik and Astara regions. It is possible to conceal the facts, but such nuances eventually come to the surface.

The war had a huge psychological impact on the societies of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Artsakh. There is much talk about the end of the war and the necessity of starting a peaceful life and co-existence in the region between Armenian and Azerbaijani people. What’s your impression? Is Azerbaijani society ready for peaceful co-existence with Armenians?

I believe that the Azerbaijani and Armenian people will be able to live together. However, there is a need to develop civil society and governance in Azerbaijan so that it gives importance to human rights and democracy. Georgia and Armenia have overcome that phase. The second condition is the removal of Turkey’s influence over Azerbaijan. Turkey overtly exploits the Azerbaijani people with its political romanticism in order to benefit its own interests. I would say that this has already irritated a fair number of Azerbaijanis. The Talysh people can have a strategic role in both matters since the Talysh have never been involved in bloody ethnic conflicts with another nation. This gives them the opportunity to create a bridge between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Furthermore, once Talysh national issues begin to trend, this may open the way for the removal of far-right and religious ideologies from Turkey, such as pan-Turkism, Turanism and Jihadism. The current Azerbaijani government and Turkish intelligence  services understand this very well. This is one reason why war propaganda was more prominent in the Talysh region than other parts of the country. Nevertheless, we have no intention of being enemies with Azerbaijanis, Armenians or any other people. War is not a solution and, in the end, a general consensus must be reached. I am certain that, despite the obstacles, the Talysh people will participate in the peace process.

Let’s talk about civil society, human rights defenders and opposition in Azerbaijan. Have they undergone any transformations in recent months? How do you assess their activities during and after the war? What was their response to opening the Military Trophy Park in Baku?

There is no opposition or civil society in Azerbaijan – they only exist by name. Of course, there are exceptions. Young people raised on leftist ideals give hope. However, far-right ideals held strong among the majority of activists during the war. The funny thing is that some of these people continue to work in human rights organizations and are interested in peace projects after the war. I think that if Anton Chekhov could see this situation he would have written even more ironic stories. As for the military trophy park – this is clearly the product of a racist ideology. This cannot be a source of pride and it is a historic insult to the Azerbaijani people.

Rep. Schiff renews call for sanctions against Azerbaijan

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
Public Radio of Armenia
May 5 2021
– Public Radio of Armenia

Congressman Adam Schiff has once again called for immediate sanctions against Azerbaijan and cutting all military aid to the Aliyev regime, upon reports that Azerbaijan had killed 19 Armenian POWs.

“While we work to secure the immediate release of remaining POWs, the United States must impose harsh consequences on Azerbaijan, and those who enabled these crimes, and end the waiver that has allowed U.S. military assistance to flow to the regime in Baku,” Rep. Schiff said in a Facebook post.

“We cannot stand idly by as crimes against humanity are committed against Armenia and the people of Artsakh.My heart breaks for these 19 men and women, their loved ones, and the entire Armenian community tonight. I will always stand with them as we demand peace and independence for Artsakh. Always,” Schiff added.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 04-05-21

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 17:25, 4 May, 2021

YEREVAN, 4 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 4 May, USD exchange rate up by 0.25 drams to 520.88 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.15 drams to 625.26 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.06 drams to 6.93 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.70 drams to 722.93 drams.

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

Gold price up by 14.21 drams to 29602.27 drams. Silver price up by 0.21 drams to 433.32 drams. Platinum price up by 9.79 drams to 20397.46 drams.

TIME: What Biden’s Recognition of Armenian Genocide Means to Armenian-Americans

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
TIME Magazine
April 27 2021
BY MADELINE ROACHE

 

APRIL 27, 2021 2:55 PM EDT

Armenian-Americans have welcomed President Joe Biden’s historic declaration that the killing and deportation of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I constituted genocide as a long overdue yet positive step in reckoning with history.

“We affirm the history,” Biden said on April 24. “We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.” The statement, released on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marked the first time a U.S. president formally equated the violence against Armenians with atrocities on the scale of those committed in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Turkey, the modern-day successor of the Ottoman Empire, adamantly denies that the killings were part of a systematic plan to erase the Armenian population that would meet the U.N. definition of genocide. Authors and journalists in Turkey who use the term “genocide” have been prosecuted for “insulting Turkishness.”

The U.S. is now among 30 countries, including France, Germany and Canada, that have formally recognized the Armenian genocide, according to the Armenian National Institute. Other U.S. allies, including the U.K. and Israel, have not. Turkey’s foreign ministry said that Biden’s statement “opened a wound” in Ankara-Washington relations and “deeply injured the Turkish people,” in a statement, according to the Financial Times.

But to Armenians, the statement was a long-awaited acknowledgement of an atrocity against their people they believe has been persistently understated. Over a century later, the events are “primary identity markers” of Armenians around the world, says Mary Kouyoumdjian, a 38-year old Armenian-American composer based in New York. “It means we are constantly looking to the past. I think my generation experiences survivor guilt,” she says.

During World War One, the Germany-aligned Ottoman government accused the Armenians of treachery after suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of Russian forces. On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested several hundred Armenian leaders and intellectuals, an event seen by many as the beginning of the massacre. One and a half million Armenians were killed by soldiers and police, or died of starvation and exhaustion in long, cruel marches to concentration camps in what is now northern Syria and Iraq. About 500,000 Armenians survived, and many eventually emigrated to Russia, the U.S. and elsewhere. Turkey claims that 300,000 Armenians died of disease and hunger as they were being deported.

Kouyoumdjian’s great-grandparents and grandparents fled to Lebanon, where they mostly settled in Beirut’s Armenian quarter Bourj Hammud, a neighborhood that was established as a refuge for Armenians escaping the genocide. But during the Lebanese civil war that began in 1975 and lasted until 1990, Kouyoumdjian’s parents were forced to leave, gaining refuge in the U.S. Kouyoumdjian, 38, is the first in her family to be born in America.

For 20 years, her work has involved composing music that integrates documentary and interviews with survivors of war and genocide. She said she can’t find a way to separate herself from the people telling their stories. “A lot of these interviews become a form of processing my own family history,” she says.

Kouyoumdjian has mixed feelings about Biden’s announcement. She says it was a “relief” and has given her a “great deal of faith in the president’s commitment to human rights, over political complexities”. But she says it should have come sooner. “The fact that it took 106 years for the U.S. to say something has meant a lot of damage to Armenians around the world”, she says. The wounds of the past will not fully heal, in her view, until Turkey acknowledges the genocide.

Simon Maghakyan, a human rights activist and lecturer in international relations at the University of Colorado, Denver, says that Biden’s statement was an important step in “healing the Armenian community’s intergenerational trauma”. During the genocide, his great-grandfather, who served in the Ottoman army in World War I, fled to Syria, where he met his future wife, an Armenian refugee. They later settled in Soviet Armenia, where Maghakyan’s parents were born. In 2003, Maghakyan’s family moved to the U.S.

Simon Maghakyan’s paternal family in 1955, all gone now. On the left, holding Maghakyan’s baby father, are his great-grandparents who had survived the Armenian Genocide in Urfa (modern Turkey).

 

Courtesy Simon Maghakyan

But Maghakyan says that the U.S. recognizing the Armenian genocide “only truly matters” if the White House takes strong measures to help protect the security Armenians, including in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region over which Armenia and Azerbaijan recently went to war. “Recognizing Armenia’s past without its present is not meaningful,” he adds.

Last fall, in the latest in a series of conflicts in the region, Armenian forces clashed with Azerbaijan, which was backed politically and militarily by its ally Turkey, killing at least 6,000 Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers. Sarah Leah Whitson, former director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, wrote that propaganda in Turkish media said that Ankara would “finish off” what it started in 2015. “Many Armenians were truly convinced that Turkish forces would attempt to slaughter the population of Armenia as well,” she wrote.

A Russian-brokered peace deal that ended the six-week war required Armenia to hand control of large swathes of territory over to Azerbaijan. Many ethnic Armenians left the territories that were set to be handed over to Azerbaijan and according to the region’s nominally independent Armenian-backed government, over 40,000 Karabakh Armenians have been permanently displaced.

Maghakyan believes the U.S. should adopt measures providing humanitarian relief to displaced Karabakh Armenians, and sanctioning Turkey and Azerbaijan for their involvement in the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Many Armenians have also had to come to terms with what Kouyoumdjian and Maghakyan call “cultural genocide”. Maghakyan has been researching the erasure of Armenian culture for the past 15 years. His 2019 research, conducted independently, indicated over the past 30 years cultural and religious Armenian artefacts were covertly and systematically destroyed in an alleged Azerbaijani campaign to eliminate indigenous Armenian culture in Nakhichevan, an Azerbaijani exclave between Armenia, Iran and Turkey. Maghakyan and Sarah Pickman, a co-author of the report, found that the destroyed artifacts included 5,840 cross-stones, the earliest of which date back to the 6th century, despite a 2000 UNESCO order demanding their protection.

The genocide happened 106 years ago but Maghakyan says it is still a “modern issue” for many Armenians. He wishes the U.S. recognized the Armenian genocide and accounted for it long before he was born. “We might have overcome the intergenerational trauma by now,” he says.

Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan Resigns Before New Elections

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
Bloomberg
By

Sara Khojoyan

and

Anthony Halpin
‎April‎ ‎25‎, ‎2021‎ ‎10‎:‎33‎ ‎AM
  • Snap elections now scheduled for June 20 after resignation
  • Opposition have demanded he resign since Armenia’s war defeat 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigned to trigger new parliamentary elections, following months of opposition protests and calls from top army officers to resign over defeat in last year’s war with neighboring Azerbaijan.

The resignation of Pashinyan, 45, will begin the process of dissolving parliament ahead of elections announced for June 20. He earlier met with leaders of the parliamentary parties who agreed not to nominate a new prime minister after his resignation, compelling new elections under Armenian law. He will remain acting prime minister until the vote.

Pashinyan faced mounting demands to step down after more than 3,600 Armenian soldiers were killed in the 44-day war with Azerbaijan before he signed a Russia-brokered truce accord on Nov. 10 to halt the fighting over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The agreement required Armenian forces to withdraw from three Azerbaijani regions following territorial losses in battle that also included key areas of Nagorno-Karabakh.

While opposition forces kept up regular protests calling for Pashinyan to leave office, many of the prime minister’s supporters also joined demonstrations in support of his continued leadership.

He swept to power in the Caucasus republic in May 2018 as leader of Armenia’s “Velvet Revolution” following massive protests that prompted former ruler Serzh Sargsyan to resign.

The resignation was unrelated to U.S. President Joe Biden’s Saturday statement recognizing the mass killings of Armenians a century ago under the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. Turkey rejected the statement and denounced the move as political opportunism.

French delegation led by President of Senate to arrive in Armenia

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 10:16,

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. President of the Senate (upper house of the Parliament) of France Gérard Larcher and his delegation will arrive in Armenia at the invitation of Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan aimed at participating in the Armenian Genocide commemoration events, the Armenian Parliament told Armenpress.

The French delegation includes heads of all political groups represented in the Senate.

The delegation members will have meetings with Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, the representatives of parliamentary factions and standing committees.

Meetings are also expected with Armenia’s Prime Minister, President and Catholicos of All Armenians.

April 24 marks the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia holds talks with Russia on production of Sputnik V vaccine

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
TASS, Russia
The first batch of 15,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus was delivered to Armenia on Thursday

YEREVAN, April 12. /TASS/. The Armenian government is conducting talks with Russian partners in order to organize production of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan stated at a press conference on Monday.

"The Economy Ministry is conducting talks with our partners (from Russia – TASS) in order to begin producing the Sputnik V vaccine in Armenia. Yet this should involve a professional industrial infrastructure. I hope that our pharmaceutical companies will invest in this sphere in order to open joint production," she noted.

The minister also stated that the Sputnik V vaccine in Armenia will be used to inoculate healthcare workers, chronic patients, staff and residents of social institutions in the 18-55 age group.

The first batch of 15,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus was delivered to Armenia on Thursday morning. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the Russia-1 TV channel that Yerevan needs approximately one million doses of this preparation.

A quarantine has been in effect in Armenia since September 11, 2020. A mask regime has been introduced in the country, while all institutions, shopping centers and restaurants remain open and public transportation continues to function. In the middle of March, the Armenian prime minister stated that the situation with the spread of the infection in the country was serious and urged the population to observe anti-epidemic norms with greater vigilance. Recently, the daily growth of the infections has been surpassing 1,000. According to the latest data, the number of coronavirus infections in Armenia has reached 203,327 (approximately 7% of residents), with 3,753 fatalities.

Earlier, Russia had shipped to Armenia a batch of the Sputnik V preparation which allowed to launch vaccination of healthcare workers involved in the fight against the coronavirus on March 11. According to the latest data, as many as 600 people have already been inoculated. On March 28, the republic also received a first batch of 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine within the framework of the COVAX mechanism.

Poland to provide new humanitarian aid to Armenia for fighting COVID-19

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 13:43, 7 April, 2021

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan received Ambassador of Poland to Armenia Pawel Cieplak, the deputy PM’s Office told Armenpress.

Deputy PM Grigoryan thanked Poland for the support provided to Armenia in fighting coronavirus and introduced him on the current situation in the country caused by the pandemic and the recent war, as well as the government’s efforts on solving humanitarian and socio-economic problems.

The sides discussed the opportunities of developing the economic relations between the two countries. In this context the Ambassador expressed the readiness of the Polish government to expand the economic cooperation with Armenia.

The Ambassador informed the deputy PM about the new humanitarian aid for fighting COVID-19 which will arrive in Armenia in mid-April. The Ambassador also informed about the assistance provided to the displaced residents of Artsakh, which, he added, will be provided through an international NGO.

A number of other issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan