Azeri Family Seeks Political Asylum In Armenia

[Yervant1]

http://asbarez.com/App/Asbarez/images/asbarez_01_460x101.jpg

Friday, January 31st, 2014

 

 

Azeri Family Seeks Political Asylum In Armenia

http://asbarez.com/App/Asbarez/eng/2014/01/4E307E27-7972-492B-8B2E-093BD8E9662C_w640_r1_s.jpg

The Armenian-Georgian border crossing at Bagratashen

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—A five-member Azerbaijani family has asked authorities in Armenia to grant them political asylum, claiming persecution by security services at home, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said on Friday.

In a statement the NSS unveiled some details of the case, in particular, suggesting that 37-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan Javid Orujev, his wife and three children applied to the Armenian side at the Bagratashen checkpoint at the Armenian-Georgian border on January 29.

According to the NSS, Orujev was under pressure from Azerbaijan’s special services ever after marrying a Baku resident of Armenian origin. In particular, he had been forced into trying to obtain data about Armenia and its Diaspora through the relatives of his ethnic Armenian wife, identified as 30-year-old Roya Mirzoyeva, and for that purpose he also unsuccessfully tried to become a resident of a European country.

It is also reported that at present, the UN Yerevan office and the State Migration Service of Armenia are dealing with the matter.

There was no official reaction from Baku as of Friday afternoon.

Cases of Armenians and Azerbaijanis seeking political asylum in the opposite country have also been reported in the past.

Thus, an Armenian man together with his wife and three children fled to Azerbaijan in 2010 allegedly escaping prosecution in Armenia. The Armenian side considers this family to be prisoners held in Azerbaijan.

The latest case comes amid a row over a 77-year-old Armenian civilian who is being held in Azerbaijan as a ‘saboteur’ after apparently straying into enemy territory in the borderland where he lives. The family of Mamikon Khojoyan and his fellow villagers say he suffers from a mental disorder and must have lost his way when going to his vineyard not far from the volatile border with Azerbaijan in the northeast of Armenia.

Military authorities in Baku insist, however, that Khojoyan acted as a guide for Armenian troops planning to carry out a cross-border incursion. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry claimed earlier that Khojoyan was wounded and detained on Tuesday after Azerbaijani forces repelled the “sabotage-reconnaissance group.” Some Azerbaijani news reports said, however, that the resident of Verin Karmiraghbyur, a village northeastern Armenia, was in fact detained by Azerbaijani villagers and handed over to military authorities.

The Armenian Defense Ministry has laughed off official Baku’s claims.

Khojoyan was paraded on Azerbaijani television on Thursday. He was shown sitting on what looked like a hospital bed, with his right arm in a cast, and talking to the ANS channel. “I broke my arm but I’m fine now,” he was quoted as saying. “My arm is now healing. They are taking good care of me.”

 

[hagopn]

"My arm is now healing." Sounds "good to me". Make sure he eat that khash (qalla p-a-cha-) after a good daily beating during that "good old hospitality interrogation" session.

Edited January 31, 2014 by hagopn

[Yervant1]

AZERI EXPERTS CATCH BAKU IN LIE: ELDERLY ARMENIAN CAPTIVE NOT INFILTRATED SPY

January 31, 2014 - 16:52 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan's capture of an elderly Armenian, dubbed a
member of an "Armenian commando group" came as another one in a series
of increased tensions at the frontline, BBC Russian service said.

As Azeri media claimed earlier, "a 65 year-old member of an Armenian
commando group, injured in a diversion attempt, was detained at the
contact line near the village of Alibeili, Tovuz region."

Novosti-Armenia said the Defense Ministry refuted Azeri claims,
noting that no soldier at the military units stationed near the region
indicated was absent from service.

According to Panorama.am, the head of Verin Karmraghbyur village
reported local resident Mamikon Khojoyan missing, with the search
currently under way.

As the the Armenian Police spokesperson Armen Malkhasyan noted,
the 77-year-old, who suffered from a mental disorder, lived alone
and was under medical observation.

The villagers last saw Khojoyan near the settlement of Maflar. Their
description of the captive matched the photo of a man posted on
Azeri websites.

Baku is describing the elderly Armenian as a subversive agent, which
does not mean it's true, Azeri analyst Zardusht Alizadeh said, citing
previous cases where Armenian captives were accused of espionage with
no proof at hand.

Uzeir Jafarov, an Azerbaijani military analyst, also dismissed the
official Azerbaijani version of Khojoyan's capture. "That man has
nothing to do with the sabotage group," he told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani
service. "He is an old man who seems to have health problems. There
is not a single sign that the Defense Ministry's claims are true."

"The Defense Ministry had better explain why Khojoyan was caught
by ordinary [Azerbaijani] villagers," said Jafarov. "What were the
Azerbaijani soldiers stationed in that area doing?"

Over the last 2 days, Azeri Ministry of Defense stood by its claims
that Khojoyan is a saboteur. However, at present, Baku has slightly
changed its version of the events. The elderly man is now described as
a part of the commando group - a guide well familiar with the area -
captured in a botched diversion attempt.

The head of the village of Alibeili, however, refuted the report,
noting that Khojoyan was spotted by one of the villagers and further
detained by Azeri soldiers who took him to Baku.

Azeris remain true to their traditional scenario of capturing an
Armenian, a soldier or nor, coming up with a suitable legend, and
interviewing him to "prove" the legend. Nothing's different this time.

ANS TV channel, greedy for such conversations, interviewed a
77-year-old Armenian hostage.

Khojoyan was shown sitting on a hospital bed, with his right arm in a
cast. "I broke my arm but am fine now," he was quoted as saying. "My
arm is now healing. They are taking good care of me." According to
Azeri media, Khojoyan gave ambiguous information, sometimes presenting
himself as a special service agent, and sometimes a wine-grower.

Journalists seem to make no allowances for the mentally challenged
elderly man. Also, previous footage shows Khojoyan with an unbroken
arm at the time of his capture. It's beyond doubt that the Azeri side
forced the elderly man into giving the "necessary statement."

According to Aysor.am, representatives of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) Armenian Office visited Khojoyan's home
village of Verin Karmiraghbyur.

"ICRC representatives travelled to the village to clarify some
details about Khojoyan and promised to send an inquiry to their
colleagues in Baku," the village administrator Kamo Chobanyan told
Aysor.am. As he noted, Khojoyan's grandchild handed a letter to the
ICRC representatives.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/175410/

[Yervant1]

77-YEAR-OLD ARMENIA CAPTIVE WENT MAD AFTER DEATHS OF HIS WIFE, SON AND GRANDCHILDREN

February 01, 2014 | 00:51

YEREVAN. - A 77-year-old Armenia man who is being held in Azerbaijani
captivity has gone mad after deaths of his wife, son and grandchildren,
head of Verin Karmraghbyur village Kamo Chobanyan said.

Mamikon Khojoyan lost his wife when she was only 55 years old. His son
died at the age of 35, Kamo Chobanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. His
two grandchildren were killed in a car accident in Russia, another
grandson died of illness.

The old man's son tried to take him to Russia where he lives, but
Mamikon escaped. He was found several days later in Moscow.

Chobanyan said the claims that Mamikon has a winery and cars are
untrue.

A 77-year-old citizen of Verin Karmraghbyur village appeared in
Azerbaijani captivity on January 28. The man has mental disorder.

Nevertheless, Azerbaijani side tried to present him as "a saboteur"
and then as a "guide". ICRC representatives have not been given a
permission to visit the captive, although he had already given "an
interview" to ANS television.

News from Armenia - NEWS.am

[Yervant1]

The Azeri seeking shelter from Armenia with his family is the
bodyguard of President Ilham Aliyev's brother


February 1 2014 According to our sources, on January 29, the person
arriving to Armenia through Baghratashen Custom's checkpoint, with his
family (wife and 3 children), and seeking for a political asylum in
our country, introduced himself as a bodyguard of the President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev's brother. He said to respective services of
Armenia that pressure had been exerted on him in Azerbaijan, and that
Armenia is the most secure country for him and his family.


Voskan SARGSYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2014/02/01/163609/

[Yervant1]

Even in Baku people scoff at statement of Azerbaijani Ministry of
Defense on 77-year-old ''Armenian saboteur''

16:59 01/02/2014 >> SOCIETY


The statement of the Azerbaijani Minister of Defense on the detention
of 77-year-old "Armenian saboteur" on 28th of January, 2014 causes
laughter and disbelief even in Baku. Note that the citizen of Armenia,
Mamikon Khojoyan on that day crossed the state border and ended up in
the area controlled by Azerbaijan.

The article published in Azerbaijani News portal Haqqin.az titled
"Saboteur-77-year-old madman Mamikon" accompanied with the photos of
the detainee says, "The Azerbaijani Media circulates the photos of
Armenian saboteur who appears to be older than 65! It's time already
for the Azerbaijani News Agencies really to learn how to work without
such blunders. Now look at that saboteur! One doesn't know whether to
laugh or cry! What can I say? There is nothing to add; these photos
say everything."

It's noteworthy that earlier the Azerbaijani Media reported that the
Armenian citizen was detained by local residents who handed him over
the military. The Secretary of Azerbaijani State Commission on
prisoners of war, hostages and missing persons Shahin Sailov informed
the journalists that Khojoyan is a civilian. He was detained in
Alibeili village of Tovuz region of Azerbaijan and handed over to the
military.

Later, in the statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense
77-year-old man turned out to be a "conductor of subversive group" and
he was no longer detained by the civilians, the residents of the
border village but by the Azerbaijani military. Furthermore in initial
reports of Azerbaijani Media there was no word about the fact that
Khojoyan was wounded, whereas the latest statement of the Ministry of
Defense claims that the detained man is wounded.

Famous Azerbaijani political observer Rauf Mirkadirov in his article
"Very funny situation amid local engagements and human losses"
published on the website of Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo brings
forward the words of Vagif Dyargakhli, the head of the Press service
of the Ministry of Defense that the detained 77-year-old Mamikon
Khojoyan "is a saboteur and is well aware of the topography."

Mirkadirov quotes Kamo Chobanyan, the headman of Verin Karmiraghbyur
village of Tavush region of Armenia who stated that the detainee
77-year-old Mamikon Khojoyan is a resident of the village who suffers
from mental illness and is registered at the specialized clinic.

"At noon the villagers saw him carrying a bucket. They asked him where
he was going and he answered "to pick grapes." How there can be grapes
in the winter? The gardens are situated eight km far from the village,
thus he went down and accidently crossed the border," Chobanyan said
that he himself learnt about what happened from the Azerbaijani Media
when saw the photos of his fellow villager.

Mirkadirov therefore calls for the respect for Azerbaijani servicemen,
who are claimed to have a "victory" over "old-man saboteur."

"Don't you think that the Armenians could have found a younger scout-
saboteur who would have been familiar with the topography? This is not
serious: 77-year-old half dead man. Secondly, it turns out that the
Armenians don't respect our army at all as they send 77-year-old men
to fight against us. Gentlemen, we should respect our own army! I
don't think that our soldiers there at the forefront every day risk
their lives for the reports of similar kind like their victory over
old man saboteur...Besides, the old man was noticed, detained and headed
over by the similar villagers but from our side. This is not a tragedy
but a very funny situation..." Mirkadirov sums up.

On its turn, political scientist of Baku, Zardusht Alizadeh in an
interview with the Azerbaijani service of British Broadcasting
Corporation BBC said: "the Azerbaijanis present the poor Armenian as a
saboteur but this doesn't mean that it is the truth."

Alizadeh noted that this kind of cases when the detained Armenian
citizens were accused of espionage as well happened before. "But there
was no evidence," the Azerbaijani political scientist added.

http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2014/02/01/mamikon/
http://media.pn.am/media/issue/175/410/photo/175410.jpg

 

The Armenian "James Bond"

Edited February 3, 2014 by Yervant1

[Yervant1]

18:30 07/02/2014 » SOCIETY

Turan: Many people whose rights are violated in Azerbaijan intend to ask Armenia for asylum

“The Azerbaijani authorities keep a strange silence about the unprecedented escape of the whole family of Azerbaijanis to Armenia,” Azerbaijani News Agency reports noting that 39-year-old Azerbaijani with his wife and three children appealed to the Armenian authorities on the Armenian-Georgian border asking for political asylum.
The official Baku doesn’t comment on reports released by the Armenian mass media that the family had to run away from the country because harassments towards the wife of Javit Orujev who is of Armenian descent were carried out.
The attempts of Turan to get information from the Azerbaijani authorities how such kind of thing could have happened have so far failed. None of the Ministries of Azerbaijan (The Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) gave comments about the measures being taken in this situation.
It is reported in the article that the migration experts state that if a citizen lives the country, he loses his permanent residence status but cannot be deprived of citizenship automatically. At the same time international organizations would appeal to Azerbaijan asking about the family of Orujevs.
“Note that one of the high cards of the official propaganda of Azerbaijan is that the country is tolerant and patient where there is no religious or ethnic intolerance,” Turan reads.
“The authorities continuously speak about peaceful coexistence of Armenians in Azerbaijan the number of which equal to 15-30 thousand. Nevertheless, the fact that the citizens of Azerbaijan have decided to ask for asylum in Armenia speaks about extreme dissatisfaction with their own government,” Turan states.
As the News agency notes, so far many people whose rights have been violated in Azerbaijan announced about their intentions to seek asylum in Armenia
On 31st of January, 2014 the Press Centre of National Security Service of Armenia reported that on 29th of January a citizen of Azerbaijan, Baku resident Javit Orujev appealed the checkpoint of Bagratashen (Armenia-Georgia border) and asked for political asylum for himself, his wife and three young children. He explained his decision by the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities carried out persecutions against him because his wife Roya Mirzoeva, resident of Baku is of Armenian descent.
Unable to withstand inhuman oppressions, the pressure of Azerbaijani special services and realizing how dangerous the situation is for himself and his family Orujev made an unsuccessful attempt to settle in one of the European countries, but after he was deported back to Baku the pressure by Azerbaijani special services increased even more.
Caught in such a desperate situation and feeling the real danger that threatened his family Javit Orujev appealed to the authorities of Armenia with a request for political asylum.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

Our spy ( ) returns home, mission accomplished!

19:36 04/03/2014 » SOCIETY

Mamikon Khojoyan returned to Armenia in care of Armenian officials

A citizen of Armenia (Mamikon Khojoyan, Panorama.am) who had been interned in Baku, Azerbaijan, returned to Armenia today under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The man was placed in the care of Armenian officials on the road between the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh and the Armenian town of Ijevan, at the international border, the ICRC press department reports.

ICRC delegates had visited the man prior to his repatriation in order to assess the conditions in which he was being held and the treatment he received. Representatives of the organization had also been in contact with his family in Armenia.

Acting as a neutral intermediary and in accordance with its mandate, the ICRC facilitated this repatriation in conjunction with the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities.

On the basis of its mandate under the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC has been working in the region since 1992 in connection with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Source: Panorama.am

 

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN VILLAGER DIES AFTER AZERI CAPTIVITY

By MassisPost
Updated: May 20, 2014

YEREVAN -- Mamikon Khojoyan, a 77-year-old resident of an Armenian
border village, died on Tuesday more than two months after returning
home from captivity in Azerbaijan with what appeared to be serious
injuries.

Khojoyan, crossed into Azerbaijan from his Verin Karmiraghbyur
village in Armenia's northern Tavush region in unclear circumstances
on January 28. He was detained by Azerbaijani villagers and handed
over to military authorities.

The authorities in Baku claimed afterwards that Khojoyan was part of
an Armenian commando squad that attempted to carry out a cross-border
incursion. The Armenian military and Verin Karmiraghbyur residents
dismissed these claims, saying that he suffered from mental disorders
and strayed into Azerbaijani territory by accident.

The elderly man was set free and repatriated to Armenia with the help
of the International Committee of the Red Cross on March 4. He was
immediately hospitalized. An RFE/RL correspondent who was allowed to
visit Khojoyan at a Tavush hospital saw wounds all over his body.

Doctors there suggested that he was injured in Azerbaijani custody.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry denied that he was tortured.

Khojoyan underwent further treatment in Yerevan before returning
to Verin Karmiraghbyur last month. According to Kamo Chobanian, the
village mayor, his health condition sharply deteriorated a week ago.

"The torture suffered in captivity has had its effects," he said of
the villager's death.

Just days after Khojoyan's release, another Verin Karmiraghbyur
resident crossed the border with Azerbaijan and was detained in
similar circumstances. The 23-year-old Arsen Khojoyan was freed a month
later. He assured journalists in Yerevan that he was not ill-treated
in detention.

http://massispost.com/2014/05/armenian-villager-dies-after-azeri-captivity/