Category: 2021

Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has always been proud of the religious and cultural monuments in its territory, considering them part of its historical and cultural heritage. The people of Artsakh are also concerned about the preservation of Russian religious and cultural heritage monuments. This is noted in the statement disseminated by the Embassy of Armenia in Greece. The statement continues as follows, in particular:

It is noteworthy that the state budget of the Artsakh Republic envisages expenditures for the preservation and restoration of historical and cultural monuments every year, as the domain of preservation, study, and use of historical and cultural monuments is one of the most important and special domains of the history and culture of the Artsakh Republic.

The Russian Holy Mother of God Church is located in Gevorgavan precinct of the Martuni region of the Artsakh Republic. The church was built more than 100 years ago by immigrants from Russia. It is made of limestone, yellowish in appearance. It has two entrances, which open from the west and north sides. There are more than two dozen windows. The parishioners of the church were Russian settlers. In 1989, the restoration work of the church began, which was interrupted due to the [military] aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, during which the church again suffered great damage. Before the start of the war in 2020, the government of the Artsakh Republic was working on a project to restore the church and was looking for a sponsor to start the restoration work.

Thus, the propaganda material disseminated by an Anastasia Lavrina and the Azerbaijani Embassy in Greece in Greek translation about the Armenian side’s alleged "encroachments" on the Russian Orthodox religious heritage in the territory of the Artsakh Republic is another provocative, groundless, and false disinformation. It aims to spread hatred towards Armenians and try to drive a wedge in the relations between Armenia and its relatives. The country [i.e., Azerbaijan] that deliberately destroys cultural monuments is trying to cover up, with baseless accusations, the numerous cases of vandalism committed by it.

Despite the rulings of the International Court of Justice, Azerbaijani officials continue to spread targeted racial hatred [against Armenians] and do not take any steps to stop the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage.

Turkish Minister of Transport and Communication Adil Karaismailoglu says flights to and from Armenia and Turkey will resume soon.

According to AirTurk’s website, the Turkish minister stated that the Turkish Pegasus airline company is making preparations for flights to Armenia and stressed that there is also an Armenian airline company that would like to carry out flights. The flights between Turkey and Armenia will resume soon after being terminated for two-and-a-half years.

President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Arayik Harutyunyan today attended the regular session of the National Assembly during which the bill on the 2022 State Budget of Artsakh was considered in the second reading.

In his concluding speech, President Harutyunyan touched upon the activities carried out in 2021, noting that the relative stability that is being maintained through the Defense Army and the Russian peacekeeping contingent has provided the opportunity to solve a number of vital issues and launch projects that will help ensure progress.

Harutyunyan also talked about the mid-term expenditure programs for 2022-2025 and stated that the key issue of Artsakh has been and remains demography, adding that improvement of the demographic situation will be the aim of all the programs to be implemented in the coming years. The head of state also touched upon the launched and future housing projects and added that his ‘apartment for each family’ program is still in effect.

The President of Artsakh also talked about foreign policy and security issues. “I believe the presence of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh needs to be guaranteed and termless until there is no longer a need for its presence, and the need and opinions of the people of Artsakh need to be key factors since we the people of Artsakh are the main beneficiaries of the peacekeeping mission,” Harutyunyan said, noting that the consistent capacity-building and strengthening of the Defense Army, police and the National Security Service are another major direction on the path to ensuring proper security.

The head of state said Artsakh will continue the struggle for unconditional recognition of the exercise of the right of the people to self-determination and the return of the seized territories. “We support a peaceful settlement of the conflict where our major and unwavering goal is to achieve international recognition of Artsakh’s independence based on the right to self-determination, and this will pave the way for implementation of the ultimate goal of the Artsakh movement,” he said.

The law on the 2022 State Budget was adopted with 18 votes ‘in favor’ and 11 votes ‘against’.

The Fifth Turkish Column is very active in Armenia; it intoxicates all spheres of life, including the relations with the Armenian Diaspora. This is what High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs under the Prime Minister of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan said today.

“After the war, unfortunately, for political considerations, certain organizations of the old Diaspora became hostile towards Armenia, and it was very wrong on their part. Those organizations have been monopolists in the relations with Armenia for many years. However, now we are going to renounce this approach and work with all organizations and individuals. We are even ready to work with those who have had a bad attitude towards Armenia after 2018,” he stated.

Sinanyan clarified that President of the Association of Armenian Lawyers of Russia Shahen Petrosyan, who was awarded a medal in the past and which caused the discontent of other Armenians who provided assistance during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, was either at the Embassy of Armenia or was providing assistance every day during the war. Sinanyan added that he and others have made tremendous contributions.

Armenia is interested in the maintenance of centers for Armenian studies abroad, but it has limited resources. At the same time, the Armenian government needs to prepare qualified Armenologists, Turkologists and Azerologists who will also work abroad. This is what High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs under the Prime Minister of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan said today.

“What I am concerned about is the fact that we Armenians don’t know our enemies well. We need to know them so that we can understand how to fight against them. We have been living with them since the 11th century, but we still don’t understand who we are dealing with. We haven’t done that to this day, and this is why we constantly receive blows from them,” he added.

The official noted that one of the key objectives is to make the voice of the Armenian Diaspora heard more. “In this sense, there is an idea to create a bicameral parliament. There are also other solutions, and it is necessary to hold a discussion on all this,” he emphasized.

Sinanyan informed that the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs has created a closed database showing the data of Diaspora Armenians who can make investments for Armenia’s development. “Out of the 50 specialists who arrived in Armenia through the “iGorts” program for Diaspora Armenians, more than half of them have repatriated to Armenia. Out of those repatriates, 14 have been hired to work in the public administration system. One of the participants moved to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh),” he said, adding that Armenia will set up a center for integration of repatriates that will provide services in Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, Russian and English under the one-stop shop principle.

I am certain that Armenia won’t build its relations with Turkey at the expense of the interests of the nation. This is what High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs under the Prime Minister of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan said today.

According to him, even though normal relations with neighbors arises from Armenia’s security, those relations must not be built at the expense of the honor, future and identity of the nation. “Until this moment, I haven’t seen any sign that Armenia has been in a process with Turkey that has been at the expense of our national issues and the history of our nation.

I won’t be able to convince Armenians abroad to support the process of normalization of relations with Turkey, if the latter overlooks certain facts and truths that it is obliged to acknowledge, if we want to have normal relations,” he stated.