SHIITES HIT THE FAN

[Yervant1]

DOWNED HELICOPTER PILOTS' FUNERAL IN YERABLUR PANTHEON - VIDEO

15:20 25/11/2014 >> SOCIETY

The burial of crewmembers of Nagorno-Karabakh Armed Forces' MI-24
helicopter has started in Yerablur Military Cemetery of Yerevan.

The crew included Major Sergey Sahakyan, Senior Lieutenant Sargis
Nazaryan, and Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, top military officials,
citizens and intellectuals are attending the funeral ceremony.

On Saturday, the Armed Forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic carried
out a special operation at the crash site of the Nagorno-Karabakh's
Mi-24 helicopter downed by Azerbaijan on November 12. As a result
of the operation, the body of one crew member, the remains of two
pilots as well as some parts of the helicopter were removed from the
crash site.

http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2014/11/25/erablur/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdjjYSok3mw

[Yervant1]

PILOTS OF THE DOWNED HELICOPTER LAID TO ETERNAL REST AT YERABLUR PANTHEON - VIDEOS

18:50, 25 Nov 2014

Alisa Gevorgyan
Public Radio of Armenia

The three pilots of the downed helicopter were laid to rest at Yerablur
Military Pantheon today in accordance with military tradition.

"We're determined to return all those who fell on the path to Armenia's
freedom." This statement Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan made just
a few days ago first of all referred to the pilots of the helicopter
shot down by Azerbaijani armed forces during a training flight. After
days of useless calls by the international community to provide access
to the crash site, the NKR armed forces had to undertake a special
operation to retrieve the bodies of the crew members.

"November 22 became the proof of this resoluteness. Bowing before the
memory of our fallen pilots, we at the same time express gratitude
to the participants of the special operation to retrieve their bodies.

The death of Major Sergey Sahakyan, Lieutenant Sargis Nazaryan and
Lieutenant Azat Sahakyan was yet another demonstration of the illogical
and irresponsible policy of the adversary," Minister Ohanyan said at
Yerablur today.

The Minister said 2014 was a hard year. The downing of the helicopter
during a training flight was the continuation of Azerbaijan's
provocative actions that started on January 20, 2014. He added that
Azerbaijan fails to make conclusions from the worthy resistance the
Armenian Forces show every time.

"The rival today pays for the short-sighted and miscalculated steps
and the authorities still have to respond for the losses in their
own army, which they could avoid," the Defense Minister said.

Remind that that the crew members of the helicopter were posthumously
awarded "For Courage" Medals by NKR President Bako Sahakyan. NKR
Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan handed the medals to their families
today.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/11/25/pilots-of-the-downed-helicopter-laid-to-eternal-rest-at-yerablur-pantheon/

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77aM_Bu658c#t=549

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSydx_UJez8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77aM_Bu658c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdjjYSok3mw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apm4w7wOHCU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6ui41PDdRg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAw7jGGaJ0#t=29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSl4oqXEdLw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1Hi_tFTCQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S4-JobW6So

[MosJan]

yevs yereq nahatak ... Astavts Hogin Lusavori Bolor anmegh Nahatakneri .. Zinvorin Uj Ta turqi jivaghits erkir molorak@ maqrelu ..

[Yervant1]

PROSECUTION MUST BE STARTED OVER DOWNING OF ARMENIAN HELICOPTER - ZHIRAIR SEFILYAN

15:49 * 26.11.14

The participant in the Nagorno-Karabakh war of liberation Zhirair
Sefilyan believes that the Azerbaijani armed forces shot down the
Armenian helicopter being well aware of the Armenian leadership's
decision not to resume hostilities.

"This very fact is enough for the enemy to behave with impudence
because they know whatever they do, Armenia's authorities will not
punish them. I disagree with the opinion that our pilots made a mistake
because there were two crews there and the helicopters were flying
very low, with good visibility. I have no doubts about our pilots'
professional level," Mr Sefilyan said.

There is a procedure in case of border violations.

"The enemy is supposed to issue a warning before taking actions. But
the Armenian helicopter was flying in the neutral zone."

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/11/26/sefilian-armenia/

[Yervant1]

SHOT TOLERANCE, OR WHAT IS AN EVIL FOR PEOPLE IS A NORM FOR AZERBAIJANIS

http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1629:-shot-tolerance-or-what-is-an-evil-for-people-is-a-norm-for-azerbaijanis&catid=3:all&Itemid=4

Wednesday, 26 November 2014 16:54

The situation with the Mi-24 military helicopter of the NKR Defense
Army, downed by the Azerbaijani forces during a training flight, kept
the people in Armenia and Artsakh in tension for ten days.The entire
period, the Azerbaijani military units were intensively firing the
crash site, impeding the Karabakh party's access to the helicopterand
recovery of the bodies of the three crewmen.

Even the calls by the UN, OSCE, EU, the ICRC, and other organizations
upon Azerbaijan to provide access to the helicopter crash site for
recovering the bodies of the crewmen were helpless.

Official Baku ignored the appeals of international structures,
therefore the NKR authorities had to resort to special measures. On
November 22, it was reported that the NKR Defense Army units had held
a special operation, recovering the remains of the crewmen from the
crash site. On November 25, the crewmen's bodies were buried with
military honors. The situation was finally resolved, and it seemed
that one could put anend, but ...

... However, it is too early to put an end. The matter is not now
the twists and turns of this tragic story, and it is not either its
military and political aspects related to the complex geopolitical
situation in our uneasy region. I would like to talk about the
humanitarian, or more precisely, the moral component of this
situation, although, I admit, any talks about morality as related
to Azerbaijan aresenseless and useless. However, it is impossible to
ignore this issue. The events related to the downing of the Karabakh
helicopter, like a litmus test, have againdisplayed the anti-human,
or more strictly, the brutish essense of the currentruling regime in
Azerbaijan. They have proved once again that this country has no right
to be a member of a civilized community, as it violates the laws and
norms of human coexistence in the most blatant and cynical way. Even
a war,with all its brutal essence, cannot serve as an excuse for
inhuman and criminal acts. If war is an evil disgracing the humanity,
then there are things worse than war, and they disgrace the humanity
even more. The criminal acts by the Azerbaijani leadership can be
fully attributed to these "things".

We will not dissect the short history of this, I may say, state
artificially created on the Anglo-Turkish bayonets just at the
beginning of the last century. Let's refer only to the last twenty
five years, that is, the current stage of the Karabakh Movement.

Azerbaijan, in spite of all international and moral norms, launched
its entire state apparatus of repression and unleashed a full-scale
war against the people of Artsakh who had legitimately exercised their
right to self-determination and establishment of a sovereign state
- the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Sowing death and destruction, the
criminal authorities of Baku attempted to drown in blood the people of
Artsakh, to expel it and deprive of the homeland. Do you remember the
famous saying of the prominent French writer and humanist of the 19th
century, Victor Hugo, "A Turk has passed here - there is death and ruin
everywhere"? Unfortunately, this phrase has not lost its urgencytoday,
in the 21st century. The anti-Armenian policy of Azerbaijan, in its
ugly andopenly racist and fascist manifestations, clearly testifies
that modern Turks havenot moved far from their wild progenitors.

Azerbaijan's actions in the events around the downed Karabakh
helicopterbecame a quintessence of the Armenian-hateful policy of its
leadership. Official Baku, which likes to squeal about international
law in all the corners, hastrampled the legal rules of the Geneva
Convention providing humane attitude tothose wounded and deceased.

Thus, the head of the working group of the State Commission on
Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons stated with bragging
that "if Azerbaijan considers it necessary, it will allow recovering
thebodies of the Armenian pilots of the downed helicopter". Please note
- this wasstated by a representative of the State Commission dealing
with purely humanitarian issues. Is it absurd? For the people with
a sound state of mind, it is. For the current Azerbaijani society,
it is a norm.

It should be explicitly admitted that the prerogative in establishing
such irrational and unreasonable norms, reflecting the extreme
level of moral degradation of the Azerbaijani society, belongs to
President Aliyev. Today, theanti-Armenian propaganda has no limits in
Azerbaijan, even at the highest level. It is noteworthy that the events
related to the downed helicopter took place against the background
of the international conference in Baku entitled"Strengthening of the
religious tolerance: the Azerbaijani model, the challenges in the OSCE
region and beyond it". In his address to the participants, Aliyev,
without batting an eye, hypocritically uttered, "Azerbaijan, which
is known today in the world as a model of tolerance, is consistently
taking the necessary initiatives and making corresponding appeals
for the establishment of inter-civilization dialogue, guarantee of
peace and security around the world". Moreover, at a meeting with
members of the Supreme Religious Council of the Caucasus Peoples,
participating in the conference, he said the following: "The human
and religious norms cannot be violated even in a war". He uttered it,
without any wish even to think over the apparent discrepancy between
his words and blasphemous deeds.

The fact that the "model of tolerance", ignoring the calls by the
international community to display elementary humanity and to allow
recovering the bodies of the crewmen to bury them under the laws of
Christianity, was intensively firing the helicopter crash site did not
trouble Aliyev at all. By the way,it could not trouble him, because
humanity, tolerance, and morality have longbeen shot in this country.

These are the realities of present-day Azerbaijan, of which the
international community should draw the necessary lessons.

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper

[Yervant1]

16:48 29/11/2014 » REGION

Yeni Musavat: Armenophobia becomes nation-wide activity in Azerbaijan

Armenophobia in Azerbaijan has reached such an extent that for a easy stay in this country one needs only to accuse someone that he is either "Armenian" or has "pro-Armenian views." At the same time, no one needs any proof, you just have to blame a person to become the favorite of the power, reports the Azerbaijani newspaper "Yeni Musavat", referring to the topic of anti-Armenian state propaganda in Azerbaijan.

As noted in the article, Armenophobia in Azerbaijan has become a nation-wide exercise: a bad man there is simply called "Armenian".

The paper writes that if Azerbaijanis do not call one another "Armenian", then it means that they are afraid for their ties abroad, but that does not indicate that the person is supposedly tolerant or has digested the peaceful ideology or has advanced views. "Cases of no-Armenophobia are only a result of obligations towards the West. If a person will show hatred towards Armenians, the West would not cooperate with him," the newspaper concludes.

According to Azerbaijani media recently in articles and stories about Armenia and the Armenians published in the press the insulting speech, swearing and unflattering remarks is increasing. In early November, the head of the Examining Division, programming and analysts of the National Television and Radio Council of Azerbaijan Tavakkyul Dadashov in turn called on Azerbaijani media to continue using insulting speech in the articles about Armenia.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

 

Political Déjà Vu All Over Again

By Garen Yegparian on November 26, 2014

You might not have noticed that 2 years ago, after 30 years of “service” in the House of Representatives, Armenian Genocide denier Dan Burton of Indiana slithered over to the Azerbaijan America Alliance as its new chairman of the board.

Besides years of services rendered to the government of Turkey, Burton pulled an unusual stunt shortly before leaving office. In December 2012, as a lame-duck congressman in a lame duck session of Congress, he held a hearing on “Iranian Influence in the South Caucasus and the Surrounding Region,” which included as speakers people who have promoted Azerbaijan, most notably Brenda Shaffer. You might recognize that name. This is the person who wrote in the New York Times about Azerbaijan without revealing her ties to SOCAR, the Azeri oil company. Interestingly, Shaffer did not disclose her SOCAR ties to that congressional hearing, either.

Of course, there couldn’t possibly be a connection between Burton’s boon to Baku and his board position, right? There’s nothing unseemly going on, right? Dirty Dan was just conducting the people’s business, right?

Well, here’s an alert. The same thing may be happening with another lame duck congressman, Steve Stockman of Texas. He ran for Senate against an incumbent from his own party, got trounced in the primary election a few months ago, and decided to retire. He has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in a criminal investigation. Even the famously innocuous House Ethics Committee has been investigating allegations that Stockman accepted campaign contributions from two staffers and falsified payroll records to hide them.

So how is Slippery Steve trying to curry favor with his potential future employers? Unlike Burton, he hasn’t (yet) convened a hearing. But he has audaciously proclaimed, “It is unfortunate that the latest increase in tensions resulted in the downing of the helicopter of the armed forces at Armenia, which was violating the airspace of Azerbaijan. The loss of life in this incident was regrettable but the Armenian command bears much responsibility for ordering the helicopter into Azerbaijani territory,” according to an Azeri news source. That’s pretty shameless, considering the helicopter was, at worst, flying above or near the no-man’s-land between Artsakh’s and Azerbaijan’s forces.

Both of these unethical boot-lickers are examples of why, besides specifically Armenian concerns, we must also be engaged in the political world to maximize the extent of decent behavior among our elected representatives. Otherwise, the revolving door between government and the vilest of lobbyists will continue to worsen the lives of everyone. It will spin and spit out anyone pursuing an issue, a cause, legislation. Such decent citizens will be relegated to near oblivion by electeds whose only concern would become the lining of their own pockets.

Then we’d have daily déjà vu of despicable political behavior.

Get or stay involved, please.

 

[Yervant1]

Biggest Secret of Special Operation

Haikazn Ghahriyan, Editor-in-Chief
Comments - 29 November 2014, 14:29


The U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern has revealed several
details on the special operation of the Armenian armed forces to
recover the bodies of the crew of downed helicopter. He said the
embassy was following the developments attentively and consulting the
Department of State after every meeting with the ministers and deputy
ministers of defense and foreign affairs. The purpose was to
understand what happened and start work with the sides to avoid an
escalation.

Heffern told News.am he had been impressed by how important it was to
the minister to return the bodies of the three pilots to their
families to bury them with dignity and expressed his respect for his
ability to get this work done, adding that Minister Ohanyan has asked
for one thing - a statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to urge
Azerbaijan to help return the bodies of the soldiers.

Note that after the special operation the spokesman for the U.S.
Department of State Radtke announced that the United States was
following attentively the operation of the Armenian armed forces. And
the French Ambassador Charpentier had announced on the eve that France
will do everything to return the relics of the Armenian pilots. The
other co-chair - Russia which is in a close military and political
relationship with Azerbaijan - did not make any statement.

The minister of defense Seiran Ohanyan said the Armenian armed forces
carried out the special operation without waiting for the outcome of
diplomatic efforts. And his spokesman said there are secrets which
they cannot reveal.

One circumstance becomes clear from the words of the U.S. ambassador
which is highly important in the world. Heffern says he was impressed
by the importance of return of bodies of three pilots for the
minister. This is the humanitarian aspect, the human-centered approach
to the situation.

This is an acknowledgement of the new quality of the Armenian armed
forces when the armed forces are able to resolve not only military
issues but also put forth universal values - legitimize the special
operation. This language is understood by the civilized world and is
followed by large-scale international support that enables preventing
tension and losses.

Perhaps this is the greatest secret of the special operation.

It was proved that the Armenian armed forces have grown from purely
military skills to a political factor and an adequate international
partner whose special operation is admired by the civilization pole.
The Armenian army is growing from the stereotyped "power generates
right" to the philosophy of an adequate civilization "awareness of
right generates power".

Power generates right is the self-excuse of weak, defeated, conformist
societies. The philosophy "awareness of power generates right" is the
belief of strong, progressive societies which are aware of their
rights and responsibility.

The Armenian armed forces have upheld another important circumstance.
There is always an alternative, and the alternative is the faith in
one's own self, the ability to make sovereign decisions and adequacy
to the logic of global processes. This is appreciated in the world.

>From this point of view, a dangerous gap has occurred in Armenia the
political and economic systems of which never became adequate to this
logic, pushing Armenia into anti-civilization projects, leaving the
rare of the Armenian army and state bare.

Interestingly, Heffern made his statements after meetings with
different parliamentary groups. He is said to have inquired about the
Eurasian integration, and the Armenian members of parliament told him
that there is no alternative. There is no alternative from the grave
only, the old Russian saying is.

There is no alternative to those who are not capable of creating it.

http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/comments/view/33278#sthash.P4tpXO9T.dpuf

[Yervant1]

Return of the killed airmen remains was a step worth of respect, U.S.
Ambassador stated

Saturday 29 November 2014 10:03
Photo: PAN Photo

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern


Yerevan /Mediamax/. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern said that
Armenia was able to return the remains of the 3 killed airmen, which
is a "respectful step".

While answering the questions of Mediamax and News.am, U.S. Ambassador
stated that they have followed the developments around the dawned
helicopter very carefully, having a continuous consulting with
Washington.

"What impressed me the most from my meeting with the Armenian Minister
of Defense was the fact that he was focused on retrieval of the
remains of the three killed airmen. And that's exactly what he was
able to do. I have a great respect for him for his focus on that, and
for his ability to get that done", John Heffern noted.

The ambassador told that 3 days after the dawning of the helicopter
Armenian Defense Minister asked the Co-chairs to urge Azerbaijan to
assist with the retrieval of the remains.

"I've talked on the phone to [u.S. Co-Chair] James Warlick, later we
have talked to his French and Russian counterparts. And, probably the
next day the co-chairs issued a statement. I was pleased that we were
able to do the specific thing that the Minister had asked us to do. I
don't know whether the co-chairs have helped with that. But we were
able to do what Mr. Ohanyan asked us to do",- concluded Heffern.

http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/region/12437/

[Yervant1]

THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR DOWNED ARMENIAN HELICOPTER

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments - 04 December 2014, 23:32

Recognizing constitutionality and ratifying in parliament the agreement
on membership to the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia completed
the legal part of the Eurasian Odyssey. All the participants of this
process have not only promoted the Russian imperial project imposed on
Armenia but also assumed responsibility for all the incidents on the
border of Armenia and Artsakh with Azerbaijan, particularly three of
which have been the most brazen encroachments of Azerbaijan on the
Armenian side since the ceasefire.

I mean the reconnaissance war of Baku in August, the sabotage in the
usually calm and stable direction of Nakhijevan which took the lives
of two Armenian soldiers and the incident of the Armenian helicopter
shot down on in Artsakh on November 12 which took the lives of three
members of the crew.

Those were unprecedented encroachments which Azerbaijan made as soon
as Armenia announced about its likelihood to join the Customs or
Eurasian Union.

In addition, after this statement it was announced that Armenia
has thus become more secure. Security was also the argument of the
government and non-governmental forces playing the last chord of
membership to the Eurasian Economic Union in the National Assembly.

In the meantime, the existing situation indicates the opposite, and
as soon as Armenia announced about its membership and thus became
more secure, Azerbaijan increased the losses of the Armenian side.

If since September 3, as well as implementation of the roadmap of
membership to the Eurasian Economic Union Armenia has become more and
more secure, especially with Russia's support, how come Azerbaijan
started threatening the security of Armenia and Artsakh more brazenly?

Hence, by surrendering to the Eurasian Union Armenia has not become
safer. Furthermore, security threats have increased which, by the
way, are supported by weapons supplied by Russia which is referred
to as the guarantor of Armenia's security, as well as the process of
establishment and strengthening of strategic relations with Azerbaijan
and its elder brother Turkey.

This means that the participants of the legal and political processes
of membership to the Eurasian Union assume responsibility for all those
unprecedented encroachments and losses on the border that started on
September 3 and served reinforcement of the Russian-Turkish-Azerbaijani
triangle.

http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/comments/view/33289#sthash.5f07aJS2.dpuf

[Arpa]

The burning question is. What are we waiting for? Shall we wait till the fan-rotor hits the shiit?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/AH-64D_Apache_Longbow.jpg

Origin=This expression alludes to the unmissable effects of shit being thrown into an electric fan. It appears to have originated in the 1930s. I can't say better than 'appears' as the earliest citation of it that I can find is in the 1967 edition of Eric Partridge's

Partridge lists the phrase as Canadian, circa 1930,

"Wait till the major hears that! Then the shit'll hit the fan!"

Edited December 5, 2014 by Arpa

[Yervant1]

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY COULDN'T TOLERATE THE ATTEMPTS OF AZERBAIJAN TO REPLACE THE RULE OF LAW WITH THE RULE OF OIL, ARMENIAN FM SAYS

Thursday 4 December 2014 23:46

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated that "the
international community couldn't tolerate the attempts of Azerbaijan
to replace the rule of law with the rule of oil".

In his address in Basel in the framework of OSCE Ministerial Council,
the Armenian minister stressed that "Azerbaijan is continuously
rejecting all proposals, all versions of the basic principles of the
settlement Nagorno Karabakh problem".

"Azerbaijan is not only abstracts confidence-building measures, but
also periodically organizes provocations along the line of contact,
drastically raising the tension on the ground", - Edward Nalbandian
said.

He underlined that the more the international community appeals to
the sides of the conflict to prepare populations for peace and not
for war, the more we hear from the Azerbaijani leadership increasing
bellicose warmongering, anti-Armenian hate-speech, persecution of
those civil society activists who pursue confidence building and
reconciliation projects.

The minister called the OSCE member states' attention to the
Azerbaijani military budget, noting that it "almost 30 times increased
in a decade since actual president inherited his father as a president
of Azerbaijan".

"The absolutely disproportionate military spending and acquisition
of excess armaments by Azerbaijan poses a serious threat to regional
and international stability and security.", - Nalbandian stressed.

In Nalbanidian's words, the recent shooting down by the Azerbaijani
armed forces of the helicopter of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense
Army during a training flight, which took the lives of three young
servicemen, is Baku's latest criminal provocation.

"Baku continues to oppose itself to the international community,
which was once again demonstrated by its reaction to the statement
of the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs on the helicopter shooting", -
Edward Nalbandian said.

http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/karabakh/12494/

[Yervant1]

ASALA FIGHTER CALLS FOR STRONG REBUFF TO AZERBAIJANI AGGRESSION

16:18 * 12.12.14

Armenia's reaction to any Azerbaijani aggressive acts must be twice
as strong and effective, an ASALA fighter said today, considering
the national army's potential powerful enough to rebuff the adversary.

"Aggression by Azerbaijan is something we have always witnessed, but
there were increasingly many incidents in the past year. This can be
said to be a warlike situation. The Azerbaijani side has always proved
that it does not believe in any diplomatic efforts and is trying to
settle matters with the army's help," Vazgen Sislian told reporters.

Asked whether he thinks that the Armenian side managed to properly
retaliate against last month's tragic shooting of an Armenian
helicopter, Sislian said he doesn't find that the reaction adequate.

"It wasn't the reaction I expected, but by bringing [the pilots']
bodies, [the Armenian military] proved that they are able to infiltrate
through the enemy's territory to cause it harm and later return,"
he added.

Noting that the war over Nagorno-Karabakh isn't over de facto, the
ASALA fighter said it isn't surprising at all when soldiers are at
times killed on the border. He called for a higher degree of vigilance
by the army command. "Although I know that our commanders are well
trained, it is important to train also younger soldiers and always
explain to them that the country is in a warlike situation," he added.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/12/12/asala/1534200

[Yervant1]

ONLY WE CAN RESOLVE OUR PROBLEMS

http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1646:-only-we-can-resolve-our-problems&catid=5:politics&Itemid=17
Friday, 12 December 2014 17:54

The Aliyev clan is knocked out

The language of Azeri propagandists is frozen. More precisely,they are
in mourning - shakhsey-vakhsey ... The reason is known to thewhole
world - in the night of November 22, the NKR Defense Army special
forces held a special operation, resulting in the recovery of the
remains of the crewmen of the helicopter downed by Azerbaijan.

Ten days, the downed helicopter remained in the so-called neutral
territory, and for the entire time the enemy kept intensively
firing the area with different-caliber arms, impeding the Armenian
party's recovery of the crewmen bodies. International structures used
different diplomatic means to call on our neighbors for humanism. The
Azerbaijani party ignored the ICRC initiative to start a dialogue
between the parties to the conflict. As stated by the RA and NKR
Defense Ministers, those in the neighboring state haven't understood
either the diplomatic language or the appeals for humanism.

According to military experts' estimate, the special operations were
unprecedented on their nature and complexity and the performance was
brilliant, taking into account the enemy's intensive firing and trap,
which was successfully breached by the Armenian forces.

NKR Defense Minister Movses Hakobian informed that our side had no
one killed or injured while recovering the bodies of the crewmen,
which were passed to their relatives.

A few days before the actions, our neighbors, as usual, used their
sick imagination, circulating the hypothesis of exchanging the bodies
of the deceased Armenian pilots with the Azerbaijani saboteurs under
trial in Stepanakert. The head of the Central Information Department
of the NKR President's Office responded to this, stating to the world
that the exchange of the arrested infiltrators with the bodies of
the crew of the downed helicopter was excluded, which was followed
by the brilliant operation of our special forces.

We can approximately imagine the psychological condition of the Aliyev
clan. The state media used all the ways of misinformation to somehow
hide their shameful defeat. The Azerbaijani defense ministry spread
information about their losses at the frontline, presenting this as
the result of Armenian snipers' firing.

Besides, they spread some absurd information on behalf of certain
officials that the Armenian party allegedly gave false facts. Those
issuing illogical statements should take into account the events in
their country, in particular, the dismissal of a brigade commander
in the Azerbaijani Army after the operation by the Karabakh special
forces. But, we are more interested in the mood of the Turkish Army's
special forces commander, Major-General Aksakall, who launched
professional training for the Azeri soldiers at the forefront two
weeks earlier. Apparently, his 'skills' were quickly mastered in the
Azerbaijani Army.

That fact also is that Baku predicted the probability of the Armenian
forces' operations after the downing of the helicopter, but they
couldn't perhaps imagine such a blow. The viewpoint of the Aliyev
clan knocked out by the operations of our Army's special forces
units was indirectly introduced by former diplomat Fikret Sadykhov,
first of all, noting that <policy>>. Let's consider this introduction as Azerbaijani confession.

The continuation of Sadykhov's mind was an Azerbaijani threat - Armenia
should finally understand that the moment of curbing self-respect and
displaying political will has come, otherwise Armenians will have
new losses... As they say, no comment is needed here. Let's simply
consider the next focus of the Azerbaijani former diplomat related
to the downing of the Armenian helicopter with a Russian weapon as
evidence to a third force's involvement. Sadykhov flatly denied that
option, accusing the Armenian party of searching 'a Russian trace'
in the incident. Let's consider it their own problem why he strongly
supports the Russian party.

Another observation - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
expressed his concern about <Karabakh>>. Speaking at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretary
General stressed that, first, the Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved
by military means, and second, NATO is not directly involved in the
Karabakh conflict settlement process, it just supports the Minsk
Group processes.

A logical question arises - is NATO concerned about the NKR Defense
Army's special operation, which was carried out to recover the remains
of the deceased pilots? But, one can ignore the statement by head of
the US State Department's Media Relations Department Jeff Radtke made
with accented indifference, according to which, his department is aware
that the OSCE representative was prohibited to visit the site of the
crash of the Armenian helicopter downed by the Azerbaijanis. Total
aware of, and can say nothing more than that. They are merely aware
of that and <>.

Well, the war, however, convinced us that only we can solve our
problems, without relying on someone else. It is thanks to the
high fighting spirit and self-sacrifice of the Armenian soldiers. By
carrying out such a brilliant operation, our Army's special forces have
proved to the world that it is they that restrain Azerbaijan and not
the superpowers pursuing geopolitical interests in the conflict zone.

Ruzan ISHKHANIAN

[Yervant1]

A DO-IT-YOURSELF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN MEDIATION IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Published on Monday, 15 December 2014 13:50Category: Articles and
CommentaryWritten by Jon Inarritu and Urko Aiartza

A fatal ceasefire violation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict took
place on November 12th 2014 when Azerbaijan forces shot down an
unarmed helicopter from the unrecognised republic, killing all three
crewmembers. As a result, unprecedented tensions rose between the
sides, with Azerbaijan prohibiting the recovery of the three bodies,
which came down in the so-called "no-man's land", alarming the
international community.

Just weeks earlier, under the auspices of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, the Presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, met in Paris
reaffirming their mutual willingness to settle the conflict peacefully.

The ceasefire agreement between Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and
Armenia was signed in 1994 and the OSCE with its Minsk Group became the
only accepted framework by all sides and the international community
to settle this apparently frozen conflict. To this day, it is the
only self-regulated ceasefire in the world. However, hostilities and
regular casualties keep the conflict alive, with the number of deaths
rocketing this summer to the highest figure since the truce.

The OSCE Minsk Group and most of the international community again
chose a very mild language referring to the downing of the helicopter.

This avoidance of the obvious facts reinforces what Azerbaijan believes
is the right way to act, which includes regular shelling, ceasefire
violations and continuous threats. Therefore, Aliyev's regime also
felt correct in its decision to deny access to the crash site for
the Red Cross and the OSCE Minsk Group to recover the bodies.

Such an irresponsible attitude could have easily led to severe
consequences.

Finally, the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army launched a risky operation
and successfully recovered the three bodies registering no casualties
during the operation and thus avoided any further escalation.

A different response could have been expected, but the Nagorno-Karabakh
Defence Army limited itself to recovering the bodies, avoiding
retaliation. Paradoxically, it was this military operation that
prevented a full-scale war this time, with catastrophic consequences
for both for the region and the western oil-dependent economies. No
one can assure that we will be this fortunate next time.

In this context, the international organizations' wordings, such
as the European Union, the OSCE, and others, "...calling on both
sides...", "...appeal to the sides to avoid steps...", seem all the
more inadequate.

The international community should use a more explicit language,
as it can otherwise generate further frustration and - what is
even more dangerous - the feeling of unfairness, abandonment and
resignation, paving the way for what exactly we are trying to avoid:
a do-it-yourself solution.

We are hopeful that the tragic loss of these three lives has helped
everyone understand that especially in diplomacy; it is also important
and has advantages to call things by their name.

Jon Inarritu is a Basque Member of the Spanish Parliament.

Urko Aiartza is a Basque Member of the Spanish Senate.

http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/articles-and-commentary/1424-a-do-it-yourself-international-humanitarian-mediation-in-nagorno-karabakh

[Yervant1]

ARMENIA CLAIMS TO HAVE RETALIATED AGAINST AZERBAIJAN FOR HELICOPTER SHOOTDOWN

EurasiaNet.org
Dec 23 2014

December 23, 2014 - 1:31pm, by Joshua Kucera

Armenia has already retaliated against Azerbaijan for the downing of
a military helicopter last month, Armenia's defense minister has said,
without saying what the retaliation amounted to.

The Mi-24 helicopter was shot down November 12 near the line of contact
between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the disputed territory of
Nagorno Karabakh; Armenia says it was on a training flight, Azerbaijan
says it had crossed the line of contact and was planning an attack.

Armenia immediately promised to retaliate, but it wasn't clear how.

And on December 23, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian said it
has already happened: "A disproportionate response to the Azerbaijani
side has been given, part of the information about the operation was
given to the public. However, it wasn't appropriate to release all
of the information."

The most significant military incident since the shootdown that was
partially reported was a heavy exchange of fire, including relatively
rare mortar attacks, in early December. The de facto Nagorno Karabakh
government claimed that five to seven Azerbaijani soldiers were
killed, though that wasn't independently confirmed. Still, even that
would seem to not meet the standard of retaliation that Armenia had
been promising.

The result of the retaliation would be "massive, painful losses for
the enemy, to disturb Azerbaijani society, to sow serious doubts in the
ruling regime, to strike a blow to the reputation of the Aliyev clan,"
said David Djamalyan, an adviser to Armenia's MoD, in an interview
earlier this month.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71466

[Yervant1]

NKR FORCES THWART INCURSION ATTEMPT FROM THE AZERI SIDE

13:29, 25 Dec 2014

On December 25 at 01:30 a.m. the Azerbaijani armed forces undertook
an incursion attempt in two directions of the southeastern part of
the line of contact.

According to a report by the Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh,
the rival used weapons of different caliber, also as hand grenades.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army managed to prevent the act
of sabotage, and made the rival retreat. Casualties on the Azerbaijani
side are reported, the NKR defense Army incurred no losses.

Probe into the details of the incident is under way.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/12/25/nkr-forces-thwart-incursion-attempt-from-the-azeri-side/

[Yervant1]

Reconnaissance-in-Force: 2 Killed, 1 Wounded

Lragir.am
Country - 03 January 2015, 12:27


In the morning of January 3, at 3:15 am the enemy undertook two
reconnaissance-in-force actions in the southern and eastern directions
of the Defense Army. The front-line units took operative actions and
pushed the enemy back to its previous positions causing losses.

Unfortunately, while confronting the enemy two servicemen of the
Defense Army Karen Samvel Grigoryan and Vardan Martik Mkrtchyan were
killed. Serviceman Volodya Gagik Harutiunyan was wounded.

The NKR Ministry of Defense offers its condolences to the families,
friends and fellow serviceman of the killed soldiers. Investigation is
carried out to find out the circumstances of the incident, the
Armenian Army page on Facebook informed.


http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/country/view/33373#sthash.aZKk70K9.dpuf

[Yervant1]

Armenian MFA condemns Azeri subversive attempts

18:49, 03 Jan 2015

"We strongly condemn the subversive actions carried out by the
Azerbaijani Armed Forces during the night of 2nd - 3rd of January on
the Line of Contact with the Artsakh Defence Army which has resulted
in casualties. We express our deepest condolences to the families and
relatives of the killed soldiers," the Armenian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said in a sttement.

"With this another provocation Baku continues to implement the
continuous threats of the Azerbaijani authorities on the use of force
which are being stated even in New Year messages by the leadership of
that countr," the statement reads.

"This is a flagrant contempt towards the appeals of the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chair Countries to refrain from provocative actions and
escalation of the situation, especially on the eve of and during
religious holidays.

It is long overdue for the international community to sober the
Azerbaijani authorities acting against its calls," the Ministry said.


http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/01/03/armenian-mfa-condemns-azeri-subversive-attempts/

[Yervant1]

YEREVAN ALLOWS BAKU TAKING BODY OF THE KILLED AZERI RAIDER

YEREVAN, January 12. /ARKA/. The Armenian army allowed the Azeri side
taking the body of the killed Azeri raider, as per the international
humanitarian norms, the press secretary of the Armenian ministry of
defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan wrote on his facebook page.

On Sunday Azerbaijani troops made a raid attempt near Baganis village
of Tavush region in Armenia's north. The enemy movement was noticed
in time. The prompt response division of the Armenian army set an
ambush and neutralized the raid. One of the raiders was killed in
between the Armenian and Azeri positions. An 80-year-old Armenian
shepherd who was in the field at the time was killed in the skirmish,
according to the report.

The press secretary said tensions continued after yesterday's
incident. Armenian troops responded to all cases of shelling, he said.

-0--

http://arka.am/en/news/politics/yerevan_allows_baku_taking_body_of_the_killed_azeri_raider/#sthash.7gr3rV0s.dpuf

[Yervant1]

ARMENIA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PREEMPTIVE STRIKES- PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, January 26. / ARKA /. Speaking today at a meeting of army
brass, devoted to the 23rd anniversary of Armenian armed forces,
president Serzh Sargsyan said Armenia reserves the right to pre-emptive
strikes in case of 'dangerous amassment of Azerbaijan troops along
the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh or Armenia's border.'

"We have no reason to wage a war, we do not provoke clashes and we
never show aggression, we do not need it, however, we retaliate
and will retaliate to all provocations of the Azerbaijani side,"
Sargsyan said.

He said until recently the response of the Armenian side was
symmetrical in form and asymmetrical in terms of casualties.

"We have witnessed a lot of aggressive actions of the enemy this year.

We sustained painful losses for which we grieve. I think no one doubts
that Azerbaijan will pay dearly for the life of each of our guys.

They paid dearly, and will pay dearly in the future," said the
president.

He said the purpose of the aggressive actions of the enemy is to
create a constant tension around us by the combination of political
and military means.

"This policy is a simple blackmail, designed for the international
community rather than Armenia," said Sargsyan.

According to him, Azerbaijani authorities are ready to send to death
hundreds and hundreds of their citizens to only keep their posts,
"but we can not allow this to happen at the expense of the lives of
our citizens and our soldiers. This can not be done at our expense."

"We are convinced that the right way is to negotiate and to continue
negotiations to reach an agreement on the basis of known principles,
and this is possible only in conditions of maintaining the cease-fire
and building bridges of trust," said the president.

"I once again declare publicly- we are ready for the good and for
the bad. On my desk there are all possible scenarios. We can and must
negotiate peace with sober-minded partners, but if we are to deal with
not sober-minded enemy we must compel him to peace and will do it,"
said Sargsyan.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the
collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly
Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan, sought to secede from
Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by succeeding
referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no
permanent peace agreement has been signed.

Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been
under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh
is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued
to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with
snipers causing tens of deaths a year. -0-

http://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenia_reserves_the_right_to_preemptive_strikes_president/#sthash.7Fpsmi0R.dpuf

[Yervant1]

Azerbaijan says it shot down Armenian drone: Yereven denies report

17:38, 29 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan


Azerbaijan said on Thursday it had shot down an Armenian drone near
Nagorno-Karabakh, a report dismissed by Armenia as "absurd."

The Azeri Defense Ministry said the drone had been shot down over
Azeri territory but Artsrun Hovhannisyan, Spokesman for the Armenian
Defense Ministry, denied the report.

"Nagorno-Karabakh officially refutes this information. It is absurd," he said.

"It is clear that after heacy losses, the Azerbaijani side wishes to
present achievements as big as possible. But even lies should be
reasonable. I will not be surprised if tomorrow they down an Armenian
nuclear submarine in the air or catch an intercontinental ballistic
missile," Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a Facebook post.


http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/01/29/azerbaijan-says-it-shot-down-armenian-drone-yereven-denies-report/

[MosJan]

[Yervant1]

Interfax, Russia
Jan 29 2015


Azerbaijan shot own drone - Armenian Defense Ministry

YEREVAN. Jan 29

Armenia has denied the reports from Azerbaijan concerning the
destruction of an Armenian drone.

"According to our information, the Azeris shot down their own drone.
Our colleagues from Azerbaijan have made a mistake and new information
on that will come to light soon," Artsrun Ovannisyan, press officer
for the Armenian Defense Ministry, said on Facebook.