Category: 2023

Rep. Sherman calls for U.S. humanitarian aid to Artsakh families under Azeri blockade

Nyrie Kalashian
Panorama
Armenia – March 9 2023

Congressman Brad Sherman, who spearheaded the launch of U.S. aid to Artsakh in FY98, on Wednesday testified in support of direct U.S. humanitarian assistance to Artsakh families under the Azerbaijani blockade.

“The people of Artsakh have lived in that region for thousands of years. Joseph Stalin made that region a part of Azerbaijan, rather than Armenian. The result has been a terrible conflict including what is now a three-month blockade of the Armenians living in that region,” Rep. Sherman said.

“They desperately need humanitarian assistance, and I hope you are generous in providing humanitarian assistance for the people of Artsakh,” he added.

Cairo: FM, Armenian Counterpart Hold Talks in Cairo

Manouk Vasilian
March 9 2023
Nada Mustafa

Egypt's Foreign Minister (FM) Sameh Shoukry received on Thursday his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, at the ministry headqurters in Cairo. 

At the outset of the meeting, Shoukry welcomed his Armenian counterpart, praising the deep historic relations between both countries, which are based on solid popular support. 

Moreover, FM stressed that his country considers Egypt as a second home for Armenians, adding that the Armenian authorities are in the process of taking measures to name one of the streets of the capital after the name of Egypt. 

In turn, Shoukry welcomed this kind gesture within the framework of relations between the two countries.

On the other hand, both ministers agreed on the importance of enhancing economic cooperation and trade exchange, especially in the field of medicines. They also discussed a proposal to launch a direct flight between the two countries to contribute to increasing and facilitating the movement of businessmen and the tourist flow.

On the developments of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt's firm position regarding the importance of resolving disputes by peaceful means in order to preserve people's capabilities and protect lives. 

At the end of the meeting, the two ministers agreed on the importance of maintaining the pace of communication to follow up on bilateral cooperation programs and proposals, as well as to intensify consultations on international issues of common interests.

Cairo: Shoukry proposes forming Egyptian-Armenian Business Council

Manouk Vasilian
Egypt – March 9 2023
Ahram Online , Thursday 9 Mar 2023

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry proposed on Thursday the formation of a Joint Business Council between Egypt and Armenia for the purpose of developing bilateral cooperation as well as holding a Businessmen Forum on the sidelines of the sixth round of the Joint Committee.

Shoukry’s proposal came during a press conference in Cairo with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.

Both sides stressed the importance of the sixth round of the Joint Committee for economic, scientific and technical cooperation which will be held in Egypt in mid-2023.

The committee will be co-chaired by Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation and the Armenian Minister of Economy.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said that the two ministers also discussed launching a direct flight between the two countries to increase and facilitate  movement of businessmen and tourists.

Both Shoukry and Mirzoyan highlighted the deep historical relations between the two countries, with the Armenian minister saying that Armenians consider Egypt a second home.

During his meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Yerevan in January, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan spoke of the role of the Armenian-Egyptian community in boosting relations between the two countries.

He expressed gratitude for the special care that Armenians receive in Egypt.

Khachaturyan added that Armenians would never forget the welcome they received in Egypt after surviving genocide back home.

Mirzoyan revealed on Thursday that Armenian authorities intend to name a street in the capital after Egypt.

He said he hoped that an Egyptian official will attend the opening of the street.

Shoukry, for his part, welcomed the gesture.

The Egyptian foreign minister recalled the successful visit of President El-Sisi to Armenia, the first official visit of an Egyptian president to the country since establishing diplomatic ties about 30 years ago.

Speaking of Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis, Shoukry reaffirmed that Egypt firmly believes in resolving disputes through peaceful means to preserve people's capabilities  and protect lives.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/1234/491432/Egypt/Foreign-Affairs/Shoukry-proposes-forming-EgyptianArmenian-Business.aspx

Beirut: PM Mikati visits Armenian Catholic Patriatch

Karapet Navasardian
Lebanon – March 9 2023
NNA – Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday visited Armenian Catholic Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, in the presence of Caretaker industry Minister, Georges Bouchikian, MP Jean Talouzian, and Beirut Armenian Archbishop Georges Assadourian.

https://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/en/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9/600062/mikati-visits-armenian-catholic-patriarch

Music: Local composer’s ‘An Armenian Trilogy’ documentary to premiere on DPTV

Aram Torosian
March 9 2023
Local composer’s ‘An Armenian Trilogy’ documentary to premiere on DPTV
By GARY GRAFF |
PUBLISHED: March 8, 2023 at 12:07 p.m. | UPDATED: March 8, 2023 at 12:08 p.m.

Dan Yessian released “The Freedom, The Fear and The Faith: An Armenian Trilogy” nearly eight years ago, and it’s remained a high point in a career that’s full of awards and achievements.

In 2014 the Farmington Hills-based composer was asked by his church priest to write a piece commemorating the centennial of the genocide in which 1.5 million Armenian families were murdered by the Turkish Ottomans. Yessian created an evocative three-movement, 22-minute duet between piano and violin, composed on one of the late Burt Bacharach’s old pianos. It was performed in 2017 by the Armenian Philharmonic and became the subject of a documentary by Yessian that will have its broadcast premiere at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 12, on Detroit Public Television (Channel 56).

“My objective was to musically interpret the feelings of my grandparents, whose stories reflected their escape from Turkey,” explains Yessian, 78, founder of Yessian Music, which also has offices and studios, run by his sons, in New York, Los Angeles and Hamburg, Germany. And while most of his composing work is shorter form for commercial clients, “An Armenian Trilogy” allowed him to stretch himself beyond that.

“This is the culmination of all my musical experience,” Yessian notes. “It was quite a feat for me in trying to make something interesting enough that would portray what (the genocide) was — which I never thought I’d be capable of doing. So this is something I could leave for my family, and for posterity, per se. It’s a passion.”

Yessian will appear during Sunday’s broadcast of the documentary, interviewed by DPTV’s Fred Nahat. The “Trilogy” itself is available via Amazon, iTunes and Spotify.


Artsakh president replaces three ministers

Karapet Navasardian
Panorama
Armenia – March 9 2023

President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan on Wednesday signed a number of decrees to replace cabinet members.

According to the decrees, Hrant Safaryan was dismissed as Minister of Agriculture and Georgi Hayriyan was named his replacement, the presidential office said.

Armen Mangasaryan was sacked as Minister of Social Development and Migration to be replaced by Vahram Arakelyan.

Aram Sargsyan was dismissed from the position of Minister of Urban Development. The performance of the minister’s duties was temporarily entrusted to Deputy Minister Azat Hambardzumyan.

According to the government decisions approved earlier by Harutyunyan, Georgi Hayriyan was dismissed from the position of the Chairman of the Water Committee of the Artsakh Republic, the duties were temporarily assigned to First Deputy Chairman of the Committee Ararat Khachatryan. Vahram Arakelyan was dismissed as Deputy Minister of Social Development and Migration of the Artsakh Republic.

Exploring The Complexities Of The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Nyrie Kalashian

March 8 2023


  • Alessia Canuto
  • March 8, 2023

On Sunday, five people were murdered in a gunfight between Azerbaijani soldiers and Armenian police officers in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area of Azerbaijan where most of the population is Armenian. Three of the fatalities were Armenian police officers, and the other two were Azerbaijani soldiers.

The incident occurred when the Azerbaijani army stopped an Armenian police vehicle on the Lachin corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Azerbaijani activists who claim to be protesting against unlawful mining extraction have been blocking the road, which the army claimed the Armenian police were not authorized to use, since December. The Armenian police car was allegedly moving weapons to some remote regions of the country, according to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence.

The Armenian foreign ministry dismissed these claims as rubbish and claimed that the vehicle contained service weapons and some paperwork.

The territorial dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh has embroiled the South Caucasus for many years. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars for control over the region, resulting in thousands of deaths, beginning in the late 1980s when the majority-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast territory inside the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic stated its intention to leave Azerbaijan and join Armenia. Whereas Armenia, a mostly Christian nation, views Nagorno-Karabakh as a cultural and historical bulwark, Azerbaijan, a country with a considerable Muslim population, has traditionally seen the region as a part of its territory, and the two parties have been locked in fierce competition since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute quickly became violent, killing tens of thousands, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, and devastating most of the area’s infrastructure.

After a truce in 1994, the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, supported by Armenia, gained control of most of the disputed region. But the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan persisted, and fights have broken out intermittently over the years. In September 2020, Azerbaijan further worsened the area’s tensions when it mounted a significant military effort to retake the region, handily winning the 44-day conflict and taking control of large chunks of the disputed territory, including several important cities and villages. When another round of fighting broke out in September 2022, Russian peacekeepers were sent to keep an eye over the situation, and Armenia did agree to a ceasefire. However, the article “Upholding the Ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” published by the International Crisis Group Q&A, explains that although a ceasefire for the 2022 conflict was reached, violent crimes continue unabatedly.

The Nagorno-Karabakh war is intricate and multifaceted. Historical and ethnic rivalries, territorial disputes, and geopolitical concerns have all contributed to its protracted nature, and the involvement of foreign powers with interests in the region, such as Russia, Turkey, and Iran, has also intensified the conflict. Despite the formidable challenge of resolving these tensions, however, Armenia and Azerbaijan must come to compromise and make concessions in order to peacefully resolve their dispute, which has brought about great suffering for the local population and shaken the South Caucasus as a whole. The international community can be vital in facilitating dialogue and assisting attempts to end the confrontation, but long-lasting peace in the area can only happen with continuous work and a dedication to communication.

Newspaper: Total propaganda on subject of Karabakh ‘reintegration’ into Azerbaijan

John Hovhannisian
News.am
Armenia – March 9 2023
10:16, 09.03.2023

Past daily of Armenia writes: While at the highest level in Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] there are insinuations about the possibility of the presence of some forces or individuals who consider the proposal of [Artsakh’s] integration into Azerbaijan acceptable, in the last two months intensive propaganda is being carried out in Azerbaijan regarding the so-called "reintegration" of Artsakh. The Azerbaijani propaganda machine is trying to circulate theories of "reintegration" and coexistence on the public platform and discourse through various "experts."

It is clear that all these "experts" are sazandars of the [Azerbaijani] authorities, although in dictatorial Azerbaijan it is difficult to imagine someone who has a real independent or, even more, an oppositional view. In particular, as a result of our study, we found out that [these] Azerbaijani "experts" try to present everything as a matter regulated exclusively in the domain of Azerbaijan, specifying their "ways and roads." It is noted that the initial dialogue with the Armenians of Artsakh should be started within the framework of representatives of the NGO sector and civil society, emphasize that Artsakh is dominated by theories from the non-government sphere of Armenia and the [Armenian] diaspora, which, according to them, allegedly "affect the real opinion of the people of Artsakh and constrain them."

It is noteworthy that, in their propaganda claims pushed forward, the Azerbaijani circles emphasize that the anti-Azerbaijani statements coming from Armenia should not be taken seriously (it is about the positions of the opposition), as "they have nothing in common with the opinion of [Armenian PM] Pashinyan's administration." By the way, it is specially noted that it is mainly these opinions that harm the "reintegration" of Artsakh and the so-called "peace" process.


Armenia proposes Iran-Black Sea corridor for Indian traders

Emil Lazarian
India – March 9 2023


Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
SECTIONS
Armenia propo
Synopsis
  New Delhi: Armenia has proposed a Persian Gulf-Black Sea corridor to connect
Indian traders with Russia and Europe. 
The offer was made last week by a visiting Armenian team comprising senior
officials and experts. It came at a time when Armenia's foreign minister Ararat
Mirzoyan was also visiting India. 
The proposed corridor-which will run parallel to the International North-South
Transport Corridor (INSTC)-will aim to connect Mumbai with Bandar Abbas in
Iran and then Armenia and onward to Europe or Russia, bypassing Azerbaijan
with whom India has lukewarm ties amid its close association with Turkey and
Pakistan. 
Armenia, whose ties with India have witnessed an upswing in recent years buoyed by defence exports from here, has
sought Indian investments for the corridor in the Armenian territory, sources in the Armenian government indicated to
ET. 
Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, India's trade with Russia has increased manifold via the INSTC that
connects Mumbai with Russia via Iran and the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan is a key element under INSTC but has been slow
in completing an infrastructure link under INSTC. Historically, Armenia shares strong political and business ties with
Iran. 
"As the new cold war disrupts Russia-West economic and political relations, any large-scale transit of cargo passing the
Russia-Europe border looks too risky for the international logistic and insurance companies," Benyamin Poghosyan,
founder and chairman of Yerevan, Armenia-based Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies and senior
research fellow at APRI-Armenia, told ET.

"At the same time, India's need for additional trade routes to reach Europe circumventing the Suez Canal remain valid. In
parallel to the discussions around INSTC, Iran in 2016 put forward a new international transport corridor project,
Persian Gulf-Black Sea, which should connect Iran with Europe via the South Caucasus. The negotiations were paused
during the Covid pandemic, but all potential participants of the project-Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and
Greece-expressed their interest in participating." 

The Persian Gulf-Black Sea corridor fits well into India's plans as it looks for additional routes to reach Europe,
circumventing the Suez Canal and avoiding the negative impact of Russia-West confrontation. The corridor itself may
connect Iran with Georgia via either Armenia or Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have railway and highway
connections with Georgia, and Azerbaijan has a railroad up to the Azerbaijan-Iran border. 
There is a missing link of some 165 km inside Iran (the Rasht-Astara line) to connect Azerbaijani and Iranian railways. In
January 2023, Russia and Iran agreed to launch the construction with Russian funding. Azerbaijan also has a highway
connection with Iran, Poghosyan explained .  
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/armenia-proposes-iran-black-sea-corridor-for-indian-traders/articleshow/98526297.cms?from=mdr
ses Iran-Black Sea corridor for I ..

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/armenia-proposes-iran-black-sea-corridor-for-indian-traders/articleshow/98526297.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Aliyev admits Azerbaijan’s gross violation of ‘non-use of force’ principle

Markos Nalchajian
News.am
Armenia – March 9 2023
12:43, 09.03.2023

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has admitted his country’s gross violation of the principle of "non-use of force." He made this confession at the 10th Global Baku Forum themed “The World of Today: Challenges and Hopes.”

According to him, "Azerbaijan made a lot of effort to resolve the conflict with Armenia in a peaceful way."

"Conflicts can be resolved in two ways: peaceful and non-peaceful. We [i.e., Azerbaijan] made a lot of effort to resolve the conflict with Armenia peacefully, despite the fact that a humanitarian crisis arose in Azerbaijan as a result of the Armenian occupation, more than 1 million Azerbaijanis were left homeless, became refugees and forced settlers," Aliyev said, presenting exaggerated numbers.

The leader of Azerbaijan noted that "the OSCE Minsk Group wanted the Karabakh conflict to be frozen forever. In 1992, immediately after the outbreak of the conflict, the OSCE created the Minsk Group. But, unfortunately, during 28 years, the Minsk Group did not achieve any results. And at the end of the negotiation process, it seemed to us that they just wanted to freeze the situation. They wanted this conflict to be frozen forever. But we did not agree. We did what we deemed necessary, using our right to self-defense, the UN Charter, specifically the article. We liberated our territories by force; it was our legal right."

"The people of Azerbaijan have a moral right to take revenge, and I can understand that. But the essence of my words is that we took revenge on the battlefield. Unlike the Armenians, we have not committed any war crimes. We did not commit genocide, unlike the Armenians. And we took revenge on the battlefield. And now, the time for peace has come," Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani leader said that immediately after the war, in November 2020, Azerbaijan took the initiative to start peace negotiations and submitted five principles that could be the basis for signing a peace treaty with Armenia.

“We hope that the international players who are trying to assist in this matter will convince Armenia not to miss this opportunity,” Aliyev added.

At the same time, he claimed that Azerbaijan wants peace.

“We do not want another war. And we believe that it is possible to achieve peace,” he said.

There are no obstacles to achieving peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Azerbaijani president claimed.

“What was agreed between Azerbaijan and Armenia in October of last year, in particular, regarding respecting each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, actually shows that there is no obstacle to achieving peace,” he said.

Also, Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country.

"Therefore, I am sure that the life of the Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan will be much better than during the occupation. Every conflict has its history, its dynamics, and its end. But the important thing is that disputes between countries are resolved on the basis of international law, territorial integrity, and sovereignty cannot be changed by force."