Author: Zhanna Nahapetian

Aeroflot to resume regular flights to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, India

Zhanna Nahapetian
TASS, Russia
Feb 9 2021

At the same time, Aeroflot also increased the frequency of flights to Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Minsk (Belarus), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), and Cairo (Egypt)

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. In February, Aeroflot will resume regular flights from Moscow to Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan), Baku (Azerbaijan), Yerevan (Armenia), and New Delhi (India), the airline said on Tuesday.

At the same time, Aeroflot also increased the frequency of flights to Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Minsk (Belarus), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), and Cairo (Egypt), and opened flights from St. Petersburg to Minsk.

Deputy Minister of Transport Igor Chalik said earlier that Russian airlines will increase passenger traffic by about 52% in 2021 to around 105 mln people. He added that Russian airlines may carry around 30 mln passengers on international flights in 2021, up by 57% compared with 2020. "We expect the results of 2021 to be even higher than in 2019 on domestic flights, whereas on international flights -to amount to roughly 60% [of 2019 level], meaning around 30 mln passengers,"he said, adding that in terms of financials this year is expected to be better for air carriers than 2020.

Russian airlines carried 69.24 mln passengers in 2020, a decrease of 46% compared with the previous year, according to the data provided by the Federal Aviation Agency. Meanwhile, airlines carried slightly over 13 mln people on international destinations in the period, down by 76.2%, whereas on domestic destinations the passenger flow decreased by 23.1% to 56.15 mln passengers. 2019 was a record year for Russian carriers as they carried 128.1 mln passengers, up by 10.3% compared with 2018.

Artsakh tightens the rules for entry of foreigners

Zhanna Nahapetian
Public Radio of Armenia
Feb 9 2021

For security reasons, the entry procedure of foreign citizens to the territory of the Republic of Artsakh in the post-war conditions has been updated, the Ministry of Foreign Affair informs.

Citizens of foreign countries willing to visit the Republic of Artsakh must first apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to obtain a permit. The procedure applies both to foreign citizens who need an entry visa, and to citizens of visa-free countries.
 
For security reasons, information about applications will also be transmitted to the Russian peacekeeping forces.
 
The foreign national will be notified, when the applications are approved. They will then need to get their visas at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Artsakh in Yerevan and travel to Artsakh.

As for the timing, corresponding work is being carried out to improve the mechanism. The entry permit is issued within 3 or 4 working days. Sometimes the process may take longer, in which case the foreign national who submitted the application will be notified about the delay.
 
The mechanism is already in progress. In recent days, representatives of a number of foreign media and international organizations have arrived in the Republic of Artsakh under this procedure.

No reason for Turkey to keep Armenia border closed – FM

Zhanna Nahapetian
Public Radio of Armenia
Feb 10 2021

There is no reason for Turkey to keep the Armenian border closed, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said at a Q&A session at the National Assembly.

He reminded that the blockade was imposed because of the status quo in Artsakh, which has now changed through use of force.

As for the joint Azerbaijani-Turkish drills in Kars, he said any military exercise a cause of concern. “On one side we see such manifestations, on the other hand we see different messages coming from Turkey. While it’s accepted practice in diplomacy to speak through messages, I think it’s to proceed from messages to actions,” the Foreign Minister said.

According to him, the new post-war situation poses new challenges, but also opens up new opportunities.

“As a state, as a government and as a society we should strive to deescalate the situation, which will, in turn, contribute to the strengthening of the security environment,” he noted.

Minister Aivazian stressed that the strengthening of the security environment in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh the priority for us has been and remains a priority. 

Extremists plan to build a school in Armenian/Azerbaijani war zone

Zhanna Nahapetian
Mission Network News
Feb 10 2021
By Kevin ZellerFebruary 10, 2021

Azerbaijan (MNN) — Last year, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody war in the Southern Caucuses. Now, a group called the Grey Wolves has promised to build a school in this war-torn area. Unfortunately, the international community recognizes the Grey Wolves as a terrorist organization.

The Grey Wolves are a far-right organization with ties to Turkey. It is a paramilitary group that advocates using violence to advance nationalist causes. France has banned the organization from operating in the country and other countries are considering similar action.

A derelict military vehicle from the first war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. (Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Joel Griffith of the Slavic Gospel Association says Armenia and Azerbaijan have a history of warfare, tracing back to the end of the Soviet Union. In the first war, which lasted from 1988-1994, Armenia took control of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region. “In the most recent conflict that broke out late last year, Azerbaijan came down and took back some territory. And they were able to reach (with some international mediation) a peace agreement. With this new wrinkle being thrown in with the Grey Wolves, it remains to be seen what that’s going to do. It is a troubling development.”

SGA works with churches in this region. They help local Christians provide humanitarian aid to those in need, showing the love and hope of Jesus. Learn more about these programs and get involved here.

Pray this good news would prevail over extremist ideology. Griffith says, “If this actually does come to fruition, and this kind of a school opens up, you’re obviously going to have a lot of ideology that can be very deadly coming out of a place like that. And who knows what impact that’s going to have on the churches of the days ahead. I don’t think it’ll be a good one, because this ideology tends to be very anti-Christian as well.”

Pray the Grey Wolves will not be able to build a school in a region already ravaged by violence. Pray that instead, the Gospel would bring peace and wholeness to the land.

Asbarez: Rep. Sherman Demands Answers from U.S. Ambassador to Baku for Congratulatory Statements on Azerbaijani Aggression

Zhanna Nahapetian

February 4,  2021




WASHINGTON—Senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member Brad Sherman (D-CA) demanded answers from U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenberger following reports that the U.S. envoy congratulated the Aliyev regime for “restoring its territorial integrity” and pledging U.S. funds to rebuild on occupied Artsakh lands, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

Rep. Sherman’s concerns followed news accounts in Azerbaijani press describing Ambassador Litzenberger’s January 27th meeting with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov.

In a strongly worded letter to Ambassador Litzenberger, Rep. Sherman asked the U.S. envoy to explain:

— Is it the policy of the United States to commend Baku on its successes as a result of the
recent war, which was initiated by Azeri aggression?

— Is it the policy of the United States to encourage investments in Azerbaijan meant to marginalize Artsakh?

Rep. Sherman noted that Amb. Litzenberger’s reported remarks, which have not been refuted by the U.S. Embassy in Baku, run counter to statements by Secretary of State Antony Blinken made during his confirmation process.  In response to inquiries by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ed Markey (D-MA), Secretary Blinken noted: “In light of the recent outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Biden-Harris administration will review our security assistance to Azerbaijan. If the circumstances warrant, the Biden-Harris administration will be prepared to suspend waivers of requirements under section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. If confirmed, I look forward to working with Congress and the Secretary of Defense to determine the appropriate level of assistance to meet the security needs of Armenia and the region.”

Commenting to Asbarez News last week regarding Amb. Litzenberger’s reported remarks, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian stated, “We are troubled by unconfirmed reports that our Ambassador in Baku is celebrating Azerbaijani aggression and – even worse – enlisting Americans in the commercial exploitation of indigenous Armenian lands.  In light of published accounts characterizing his comments in this regard, Amb. Litzenberger should set the record straight – explaining whether he is in fact pushing U.S. investments in areas of Artsakh seized by Azerbaijan,” added Hamparian.

The full text of Rep. Sherman’s letter to Amb. Litzenberger is provided below.

February 3, 2021

H.E. Ambassador Lee Litzenberger
U.S. Embassy Baku
111 Azadlig Ave
AZ1007 Baku, Azerbaijan

RE: Remarks, Meeting with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov

Dear Ambassador Litzenberger,

As you are aware, Azerbaijani and Turkish forces initiated an unprovoked attack against Armenia on September 27, 2020, leading to six weeks of devastating fighting that killed an estimated 5,000 people and forced more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee from the Karabakh region. As a result of the intense fighting, a Russia-backed ceasefire was agreed to, which has resulted in an untenable situation for Artsakh’s long-term security and stability.

According to a press statement issued by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Economy on January 27th, in a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, you congratulated Azerbaijan for “restoring its territorial integrity” and expressed the United States’ readiness to take part in rebuilding lands that recently came under Baku’s control as a result of the war.

The United States is an active member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group process. U.S. engagement in the OSCE process is necessary to find a permanent settlement to the Artsakh conflict that protects the security of Artsakh and helps to ensure another war does not break out. I appreciate the statement Secretary Blinken gave during his confirmation hearing to this end.

Ambassador Litzenberger, your remarks to Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister are extremely concerning, and are all together out of step with Secretary Blinken’s statements to date. Thus, I would appreciate responses to the following questions:

— Is it the policy of the United States to commend Baku on its successes as a result of the
recent war, which was initiated by Azeri aggression?

— Is it the policy of the United States to encourage investments in Azerbaijan meant to marginalize Artsakh?

I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,

Brad Sherman
Member of Congress

Opposition Bright Armenia Party MP: Authorities not dealing with Karabakh issue at all

Zhanna Nahapetian
News.am, Armenia
Feb 3 2021
14:25, 03.02.2021

In the context of racial segregation of Armenians, Azerbaijan is at the highest level. This is what deputy of the ruling My Step bloc of the National Assembly of Armenia Vladimir Vardanyan said in parliament today.

The MP said people in Azerbaijan stay true to Armenophobia and racism and particularly stated that Azerbaijan committed several violations of international law during the war and continues to commit them by not returning prisoners of war and torturing them.

Vardanyan said the Armenian side is also raising other issues such as the deployment of mercenaries in the region, adding that Armenia has actively launched international legal procedures and just recently, an interstate complaint was submitted to the European Court of Human Rights against Azerbaijan.

In his turn, deputy of the opposition Bright Armenia Party Taron Simonyan declared that the incumbent authorities aren't dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue at all. “Revise your policy on Nagorno-Karabakh and realize that there is no Armenia without Nagorno-Karabakh and vice versa,” Simonyan stressed as he addressed the representatives of the incumbent authorities.

‘We didn’t prepare for 5th generation war in time’ – Armenian ex-MoD

Zhanna Nahapetian
JAM News
Jan 25 2021
    JAMnews, Yerevan

Former Minister of Defense of Armenia David Tonoyan gave an interview with Armenian outlet Mediamax, analysing the situation in which the country’s Armed Forces found itself during the second Karabakh war.

“We did not manage to prepare for a ‘contactless’ war with the use of 5th generation weapons”, he said, noting that there had been an ‘insufficient assessment of the risks of direct involvement in military operations of Turkey, the massive involvement of mercenaries and the complete blocking of supply routes’ to Armenia.

David Tonoyan resigned on November 20 – 10 days after the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a trilateral agreement on the cessation of hostilities. He was replaced by main adviser to the prime minister of Armenia, Vagharshak Harutyunyan, who in 1999-2000 had already served as defense minister.

David Tonoyan spoke about his sensational statement “new war – new territories” which caused outrage in Azerbaijan back in March 2019, about readiness for war and about his personal shortcomings in the course of the hostilities.

“The statement ‘new war – new territories’ was a response to Azerbaijan about the intention to solve the Artsakh problem by military means.” This is how the former Minister of Defense commented on the accusation that his statement played the role of a trigger for the start of the second Karabakh war.

He made the comment in March 2019, right after the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting in Vienna. The minister was then on an official visit to the United States.

“As Minister of Defense, I say that I have paraphrased the formula ‘ territories for peace into the formula ‘new war – new territories,’ Tonoyan said then.

The minister also stated that the Armenian side would not yield anything to Azerbaijan.

“No matter how much Aliyev and some Armenian politicians repeated, this statement could not have been the reason for the failure of the negotiations and the start of the war. By the same logic, the war could start any day, since the Azerbaijani leadership was constantly talking about a military solution to the conflict. Moreover, for decades the world has ‘ignored’ President Aliyev’s statements that Yerevan is a historic Azerbaijani territory”.

Army readiness

“We didn’t have time to prepare for a ‘contactless’ war using 5th generation weapons,” Tonoyan said during an interview.

Meanwhile, in April 2019, the minister said that “if necessary, we can create chaos behind enemy lines.”

The former minister argues that the creation of such units and their training in operations on enemy territory, the replenishment of weapons with high-precision missile systems and other undertakings could lead to conceptual changes in the army:

“In my vision of the development of priorities in the defense and Armed Forces […] I noted that a large-scale process of rearmament of the Armed Forces […] had begun, but we were at the beginning of the road.”

All statements, according to the minister, were made taking into account the predictability of possible enemy actions and regional developments:

“The Armenian side yielded in an unequal confrontation in all respects. But this does not give anyone the right to play with the national dignity of our people. This psychologically exhausting political nightmare should be stopped and instead of imposing an inferiority complex on people, mistakes should be analysed, lessons learned and worked out. We paid a very high price, thousands of young people gave their lives for the Motherland and the protection of our interests, and defeatist speeches defile their memory.”

Main mistakes

“During the war, I did not manage to overcome the ambiguity in the organization of the command vertical between the Prime Minister – the Ministry of Defense – the General Staff and the resulting obstacles. In particular, in those issues related to mobilization, the role and functions of the Security Council, functions and official relations between the Armed Forces of Armenia, the Defense Army and the President of Artsakh, the organization of self-defense in Artsakh and the evacuation of the population.”

Tonoyan explained that according to the new 2015 Constitution, during a war, the Minister of Defense is actually excluded from the planning and conduct of hostilities, since these powers are vested in the Commander-in-Chief and Chief of General Staff:

“Nevertheless, as I said in my message of November 20, I am ready to bear my share of the responsibility.”

About the statement of the chief of the General Staff

David Tonoyan also commented on the statement of Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan, who, on the fourth day of the war, at a meeting of the Security Council, warned that in two or three days it would be necessary to take measures to end the war, otherwise Armenia’s military resources would soon be exhausted and the conditions for the negotiation process would become less favorable:

“The Armenian Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces sincerely and selflessly did more for the sake of victory than they could. And the analysis of the General Staff, made on the basis of cold calculation, was agreed upon with me.”

Photo taken during the second Karabakh war

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Armenia’s first president meets Russia’s ambassador, discusses issue of return of POWs kept in Azerbaijan

Zhanna Nahapetian
Aysor, Armenia
Jan 25 2021   

Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan hosted today in his house Russia’s ambassador to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin.

It has been reported that during one and a half hour conversation the interlocutors touched upon a number of issues of mutual interest in the pre-context of the Armenian-Russian relations, including the urgent necessity of the return of prisoners of war kept in Azerbaijan which will promote the improvement of public moods both in Artsakh and Armenia and specifu the future steps for normalization in the region.

 

Valadao to serve as co-chair of Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues

Zhanna Nahapetian
Hartford Sentinel
Jan 26 2021
  • Contributed Report
  • Jan 26, 2021
  • Jan 26, 2021
| News | hanfordsentinel.com

WASHINGTON — Tuesday, Congressman David G. Valadao was named a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.

“Armenia is a nation so many of my constituents know and love,” said Congressman Valadao. “During my time in Congress, I introduced several resolutions formally recognizing the Ottoman Empire's deportation and extermination of over two million Armenian people and, after years of Armenian-American advocacy for this cause, the House and the Senate finally passed H.Res. 29, Affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide. However, my fight on behalf of my Armenian-American constituents must continue. Armenians living in Nagorno Karabakh recently faced attacks from Azerbaijani forces in violation of their decade-old ceasefire agreement. This kind of aggression is unacceptable and must end immediately. I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress on this issue and other issues of importance to the Armenian-American community as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. We must continue to advocate for the Armenian people and encourage the new Administration to maintain and strengthen relationships between the United States, Armenia, and Artsakh.”

“The ANCA welcomes Congressman Valadao’s leadership on the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues,” remarked Armenian National Committee of America Chairman Raffi Hamparian. “The fact the Congressman Valadao was named to the powerful House Committee on Appropriations earlier this month – which controls all federal spending – will make him an even more important ally for the U.S. humanitarian aid package we are seeking to secure for the heroic people of Artsakh,” the ANCA Chairman added.

Congressman Valadao joins co-chairs Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., Congressman Gus Bilirakis, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, and Vice-Chair Adam Schiff.

US Secretary of State, OSCE Chair discuss Karabakh peace process

Zhanna Nahapetian
Public Radio of Armenia
Jan 30 2021

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ann Linde to discuss how to address the ongoing post-election crisis in Belarus, and advance the Minsk Group Co-Chair process to help Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiate a lasting and sustainable political settlement, the State Department informs.

Secretary Blinken expressed U.S. support for Sweden’s OSCE Chairpersonship and its focus on achieving progress on the OSCE region’s protracted conflicts, strengthening climate security, and defending democratic principles. 

He thanked Foreign Minister Linde for Sweden’s strong commitment to defending OSCE principles.