new promising era New Promising Era "President" & VP Nikol Pashinian

[Yervant1]

ABC News

May 11 2024

Thousands of protesters in Armenia demand the prime minister's resignation over Azerbaijan dispute

Thousands of protesters angered by the government’s decision to hand over control of some border villages to Azerbaijan have demonstrated in the center of the Armenian capital for a second day to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan

By The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia -- Thousands of protesters in Armenia angered by the government's decision to hand over control of some border villages to Azerbaijan demonstrated on Friday in the center of the Armenian capital for a second day to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The rally in Yerevan ended in the evening without incident, but the high-ranking Armenian Apostolic Church cleric who is leading the protests vowed that they would continue.

Armenia said in April that it would cede control of some border areas to Azerbaijan. That decision followed the lightning military campaign in September in which Azerbaijan's military forced ethnic Armenian separatist authorities in the Karabakh region to capitulate.

After Azerbaijan took full control of Karabakh, about 120,000 people fled the region, almost all of its ethnic Armenian population.

Ethnic Armenian fighters backed by Armenian forces had taken control of Karabakh in 1994 at the end of a six-year war. Azerbaijan regained some of the territory in fighting in 2020 that ended in an armistice that brought a Russian peacekeeper force into the region.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the protests' leader, has called on them to “engage in peaceful acts of disobedience.”

Pashinyan has said Armenia needs to quickly define the border with Azerbaijan to avoid a new round of hostilities. Many residents of Armenia’s border regions have resisted the demarcation effort, seeing it as Azerbaijan’s encroachment on areas they consider their own.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thousands-protesters-armenia-demand-prime-ministers-resignation-azerbaijan-110118196

[Yervant1]

 

The Sentinal

May 11 2024

Editorial

 

India-Armenia strategic partnership: A counterweight to the Turkey-Pakistan-Azerbaijan axis

The burgeoning strategic partnership between India and Armenia has taken a significant leap forward, fueled by their mutual determination to bolster defence capabilities and tackle regional security threats head on.

Dipak Kurmi

(dipakkurmiglpltd@gmail.com)

The burgeoning strategic partnership between India and Armenia has taken a significant leap forward, fueled by their mutual determination to bolster defence capabilities and tackle regional security threats head on. Amidst Armenia’s long-standing conflict with Azerbaijan and Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan’s gains, the deepening ties between Armenia and India represent a pivotal shift that demands global recognition. With Armenia’s geographical proximity to India and their shared commitment to diversifying strategic alignments, this emerging alliance warrants heightened attention on the international stage.

The ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan has underscored the need for Armenia to broaden its security partnerships and enhance its military capabilities. This imperative is reflected in the country’s increased defence spending and growing collaborations with nations such as India and France. India’s involvement in Armenia’s military sphere not only bolsters the latter’s defensive preparedness but also serves as a counterweight to the influence of external actors like Turkey and Pakistan in the South Asian region. The multifaceted Indo-Armenian partnership extends beyond mere defence cooperation. It encompasses a spectrum of activities, including the exchange of weaponry, joint military exercises, and strategic consultations. These initiatives are designed to augment the defence readiness and security posture of both nations within their respective regional contexts. Through this deepening partnership, Armenia seeks to diversify its security alliances, reducing overreliance on any single partner and ensuring a more robust and resilient defence framework. Simultaneously, India’s engagement with Armenia aligns with its broader strategic interests in the region, enabling it to counterbalance the influence of rival powers and assert its role as a major player in the geopolitical landscape.

The procurement of cutting-edge armaments underscores the burgeoning defence cooperation between the nations of India and Armenia. Reports indicate an ongoing transfer of military hardware from India to Armenia, encompassing advanced systems such as multiple-launch rocket platforms, anti-armour munitions, and radar installations. Concurrently, the two countries have embarked on a series of joint military exercises and training initiatives, aimed at enhancing operational readiness and interoperability between their respective armed forces. These collaborative endeavours facilitate the reciprocal exchange of expertise and tactical proficiencies, fostering effective coordination mechanisms for potential future operations. Through these joint exercises, intelligence sharing protocols, and demonstrations of military capabilities, both India and Armenia have reaffirmed their commitment to fortifying their strategic partnership.

India’s involvement with Armenia carries significant geopolitical implications, both economic and strategic. The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), in which Armenia plays a pivotal role, presents India with an opportunity to diversify its trade routes and gain enhanced access to Eurasian markets. This development aligns with India’s strategic interests in bolstering economic resilience and maintaining a geopolitical balance in the region. Furthermore, India’s military support for Armenia underscores its commitment to preserving regional stability and acting as a counterweight to the perceived aggressive manoeuvres of the Turkey-Azerbaijan-Pakistan axis. By recognising and pursuing their mutual interests, India and Armenia have the potential to reshape the security dynamics in the South Caucasus region, challenging the dominance of larger geopolitical actors and their support for rogue states. This convergence of economic and strategic interests between India and Armenia represents a strategic realignment that could potentially disrupt the existing power dynamics in the region, reducing the influence of external actors and promoting a more balanced geopolitical landscape.

The trilateral alliance of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan represents a formidable force with the potential to disrupt the delicate balance of power in various regions. This axis, forged through shared strategic interests and military cooperation, has raised alarm bells among regional actors concerned about its far-reaching implications. At the heart of this geopolitical dynamic lies Turkey’s unwavering support for Azerbaijan during the volatile Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a stance that has fueled apprehensions about potential escalations and further destabilisation of the South Caucasus region. Concurrently, the longstanding military partnership between Turkey and Pakistan, characterised by joint defence production initiatives, training exercises, and high-level military dialogues, underscores their shared ambition to advance mutual geopolitical aspirations and exert influence on a broader regional scale. This strategic convergence of interests presents a multifaceted challenge to the security and stability of not only the South Caucasus but also the South Asian region. As this axis seeks to consolidate its power and assert its relevance, it poses a counter-narrative to the influence wielded by other regional stakeholders, setting the stage for potential confrontations and power struggles. The implications of this emerging alliance transcend mere military considerations, as it holds the potential to reshape regional dynamics, realign alliances, and ignite a complex interplay of competing interests, all vying for dominance in their respective spheres of influence.

The growing clout of the Turkey-Azerbaijan-Pakistan alliance has prompted India to bolster its ties with Armenia as a counterweight. India’s unwavering backing of Armenia underscores its determination to thwart the assertive posturing of this axis in the region. To maintain a precarious equilibrium of influence, New Delhi and Yerevan are gearing up to deepen their cooperation, shoring up defences against potential disruptions emanating from this new coalition. As tensions simmer, India’s alignment with Armenia emerges as a strategic move to preserve regional stability and check any aggressive overtures from the Turkey-led bloc.

Turkey’s position on the long-standing Kashmir dispute appears to be intricately tied to Pakistan’s support for Azerbaijan’s regional ambitions. This strategic convergence of interests between Ankara, Islamabad, and Baku can hardly be viewed as a mere coincidence. Instead, it represents a calculated attempt to shape the geopolitical landscape across the Caucasus and South Asia. Faced with this emerging alliance, the pressing requirement for a meticulously crafted multilateral defence cooperation framework becomes evident. Such a collaborative effort is crucial to counterbalance the growing influence of the Turkey-Pakistan-Azerbaijan nexus and maintain regional stability in these volatile yet strategically vital regions.

The burgeoning strategic cooperation between India and Armenia holds profound significance, heralding a new era of enhanced regional security and shared interest pursuit. As these two nations chart a course towards deepening their partnership, they stand poised to confront prevailing challenges through concerted efforts in military collaboration and strategic alignments. India’s unwavering support for Armenia underscores its resolute commitment to fostering peace and stability in the volatile Caucasus region. With wide-ranging implications that could reshape global geopolitical landscapes, this Indo-Armenian partnership carries the potential to dynamically recalibrate the regional balance of power. Simultaneously, it holds the promise of contributing substantially to the stability and prosperity of both the Caucasus and South Asian regions, ushering in a new epoch of regional cooperation and shared progress.

https://www.sentinelassam.com/more-news/editorial/india-armenia-strategic-partnership-a-counterweight-to-the-turkey-pakistan-azerbaijan-axis

[MosJan]

[MosJan]

i think Srpazan has found himself in found himself in chaos

[Yervant1]

Unjustly Condemning PM Pashinyan of Cryptic Engagement with Genocide Denial Undermines Credibility of the Lemkin Institute

By K.M. Greg Sarkissian

This article aims to better understand the statement released on May 10, 2024, by the Lemkin Institute unjustifiably “Condemning Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Cryptic Engagement with Genocide Denial.” This statement was issued in response to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s message on the occasion of the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2024. I found the Lemkin Institute’s article surprising, unnecessary and irresponsible and reading it left me seeking to understand the motivations and foundations for its claims.

As the President of the Zoryan Institute, I would like to underscore that this article does not reflect the official position of the Zoryan Institute, nor does it serve as an endorsement of Mr. Pashinyan’s message on the occasion of the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, or approval or disapproval of his performance as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. The opinions expressed herein are my own as someone who has dedicated my life to the studies of the phenomenon of genocide as a universal experience, and its relation to human rights.

At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the work undertaken by the Lemkin Institute in the field of genocide studies. In particular, I want to pay tribute to Dr. Elisa Von Joeden-Forgey, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Lemkin Institute. Dr. Von Joeden-Forgey is a former Endowed Chair in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Keene State College, Keene, NH, USA. I personally admire her dedication to the field of genocide studies and for the work she undertakes at the Lemkin Institute. We, at the Zoryan Institute, are grateful for Dr. Von Joden-Forgey’s many years of contributions including as member of faculty and acting director of the Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP), as former editor of Zoryan Institute’s Genocide Studies International journal, and finally as a formerly active Board Member.

Now as to why I was conflicted reading the Lemkin Institute’s recent article raising concerns about Prime Minister Pashinyan’s engagement with genocide denial. Genocide denial is defined as the attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of an instance of genocide. Denial itself, is an integral aspect of genocide.

In the very first paragraph of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Armenian Genocide commemoration message of April 24, 2024, Mr. Pashinyan clearly asserts the purpose of that day and concisely affirms the Armenian Genocide:

"Today we commemorate the memory of 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Meds Yeghern, who were put to the sword in the Ottoman Empire since 1915 for being Armenians."

In this paragraph, which seems to have been inadvertently excluded from the Lemkin Institute’s analysis, Mr. Pashinyan does not attempt to deny or minimize the scale of the Armenian Genocide; rather, he emphasizes four implicit affirmations of genocide recognition:

1. First, he establishes parity between the terms “Armenian Genocide” and “Meds Yeghern” allowing for their interchangeability.
2. Secondly, by affirming the loss of 1.5 million Armenians, he shows no attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of the genocide.
3. Furthermore, he acknowledges that 1.5 million Armenians were put to the sword throughout the Ottoman Empire, not just Anatolia.
4. Lastly, that these 1.5 million victims were massacred simply for being Armenians, based on national, ethnic, and religious considerations.

One wonders why the Lemkin Institute’s article does not mention this first paragraph in their analysis, which succinctly recognizes the Armenian Genocide, its magnitude, and the reasons behind it. Interestingly, examining the Prime Minister’s commemorative speech of 2023 reveals a continuum in Mr. Pashinyan’s ideas and philosophy on the subject. He approaches genocide affirmation differently from the way we, as survivors and their descendants, have over the past five or six decades, and brings the impact of inter-generational trauma to the discussion.

In 2024, he states:

"Meds Yeghern became a nationwide tragedy and grief for us, and without exaggeration, is a predetermining factor for our socio-psychology. Even today, we perceive the world, our environment, ourselves under the dominant influence of the mental trauma of the Meds Yeghern, and we have not overcome that trauma.

This means that, being an internationally recognized state, we often relate and compete with other countries and the international community in a state of mental trauma, and for this reason, sometimes we cannot correctly distinguish the realities and factors, historical processes and projected horizons."

In 2023, he stated:

"The April 24 march is perhaps the most impactful occurrence that has predetermined and is predetermining our reality, an exceptional day to think about our history, past and future. What do young parents think when walking to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial, often holding the hands of young children, or what do elderly people with more life experience think?

 

They are probably thinking about two questions. Why did the Meds Yeghern happen and what should be done to prevent its recurrence? Hundreds and thousands of works have been written about the causes of the Armenian Genocide, many reasons and motives have been revealed. As for the methodology to exclude the recurrence of such a crime, it largely depends on our understanding of the concepts of "state" and "region"."

To me, it seems that Prime Minister Pashinyan is affirming the recognition of the Armenian Genocide while simultaneously seeking ways to help deal with the trauma which has shaped Armenians and their outlook on the future – especially for those living in today’s Armenia, a sovereign state.

The Lemkin Institute article states:

"While we do not generally involve ourselves in domestic affairs of states unless there is an internal threat of genocide, we must address concerns stemming from recent statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that appear to diverge from fundamental principles of genocide prevention, genocide recognition, and transitional justice, and that directly relate to issues of Armenian national security."

In my opinion, the Lemkin Institute’s misinterpretation of the Prime Minister’s message as an internal threat of genocide has led to an unwarranted and unjustified interference in the internal affairs of the state. Consequently, their concerns were not called for.

There was no divergence from the governing principles of genocide prevention as prescribed by the Genocide Convention, which aims to prevent atrocity crimes against humanity and to understand the root causes of those crimes, particularly genocide. This is clearly the sentiment in Pashinyan’s message:

"What should we do and what should we not do in order to overcome the trauma of genocide and exclude it as a threat? These are questions that should be the key subject of discussion in our political and philosophical thinking, but this kind of point of view of dealing with the fact of the Meds Yeghern is not common among us."

By intentionally omitting the opening statement of the Prime Minister’s remarks from the article, and falsely interpreting the overall essence of Mr. Pashinyan’s statement, the writer has acted irresponsibly by politicizing the Lemkin Institute. They had neglected the statement of the Foreign Minister on the same date which clearly affirms the Armenian Genocide. At the very least, a detached, objective, and thorough analysis would have indicated reasons for not including the entirety of the message. Finally, to restore its reputation as a scholarly organization, the Lemkin Institute must issue a public apology to Prime Minister Pashinyan and the people of Armenia.

- K.M. Greg Sarkissian

President, Zoryan Institute

The Zoryan Institute is a non-profit organization that serves the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations. This is done through the systematic continued efforts of scholars and specialists using a comparative and multidisciplinary approach and in accordance with the highest academic standards.

 

To these ends the Institute undertakes and supports multi-disciplinary research, documentation, lectures, seminars, colloquia, and publications.

[Yervant1]

MediaMax, Armenia
May 14 2024


Pashinyan wants Armenia to become EU member this year


Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope today that "Armenia will be included in the European Peace Facility. We count on the support of all EU member states.”

He said this at the “From the frontline: Armenia’s defence of democracy” discussion held in the margins of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

“We are satisfied with the deployment of the EU observation mission along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. We welcome the EU’s decision to expand its capacity.

Our political position and policy is diversifying our foreign relations in all spheres. Now we are developing defense cooperation with India, France and other countries. Now we have certain cooperation with the European Union, because as I mentioned, we are happy about the deployment of the EU civilian observation mission on the border between us and Azerbaijan. Of course, it is a civilian mission, but on the other hand, in a way, it is a new factor for the security of our region. This is the first time that the European Union participates in the security agenda of Armenia in any way,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

Asked when he would like Armenia to become a member of the EU, Nikol Pashinyan replied briefly: “This year.”

https://mediamax.am/en/news/foreignpolicy/54771/

[MosJan]

 

MediaMax, Armenia

May 14 2024

 

 

Pashinyan wants Armenia to become EU member this year

 

 

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope today that "Armenia will be included in the European Peace Facility. We count on the support of all EU member states.”

 

He said this at the “From the frontline: Armenia’s defence of democracy” discussion held in the margins of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

“We are satisfied with the deployment of the EU observation mission along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. We welcome the EU’s decision to expand its capacity.

 

Our political position and policy is diversifying our foreign relations in all spheres. Now we are developing defense cooperation with India, France and other countries. Now we have certain cooperation with the European Union, because as I mentioned, we are happy about the deployment of the EU civilian observation mission on the border between us and Azerbaijan. Of course, it is a civilian mission, but on the other hand, in a way, it is a new factor for the security of our region. This is the first time that the European Union participates in the security agenda of Armenia in any way,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

 

Asked when he would like Armenia to become a member of the EU, Nikol Pashinyan replied briefly: “This year.”

 

https://mediamax.am/en/news/foreignpolicy/54771/

 

Pashinyan wants Armenia to become EU member this year - Good friend the Old former regime are putiun's Slavs

[MosJan]

[Yervant1]

Both the West and Russia used Armenia for their interests and threw it under the bus at the end, nothing new here! But we Armenians will never learn that relying on others for our security is a pipe dream with failures every single time. It's time for all to invest in security, we have enough churches and khorovats restaurants.

May 17 2024

Risky eagerness of Pashinyan centering EU/NATO membership

By

Drago Bosnic

Armenia is one of the oldest continually existing countries (and civilizations) in the world. Spanning millennia and starting with the ancient Kingdom of Urartu nearly 3000 years ago, the now small nation has been limited to the South Caucasus region, particularly after the Turks committed the Armenian Genocide, one of the worst in known history, killing up to 1.5 million Armenians (in addition to well over a million native Greeks and Assyrians). In such a long span of its undoubtedly magnificent history, Armenia most likely never had a worse “leader” than Nikol Pashinyan. A man who has been promoting closer ties with Turkey instead of Russia since the 1990s pushed his way into power through the so-called “anticorruption” agenda. Pashinyan argued that the supposedly “pro-Russian” (i.e. actually patriotic) government that was in power until 2018 was allegedly “corrupt” and that he would “make things better”.

Well, he certainly changed things since 2018. In just two years of his power, Pashinyan lost most of Artsakh (better known as Nagorno-Karabakh), the complete fall of which was prevented only by Russia’s intervention. For approximately three years, Moscow’s peacekeepers were the only thing standing between the Azeri military and the remaining population of native Armenians. And yet, instead of building closer ties with Russia in order to ensure that whatever was left of Artsakh survives, Pashinyan focused on building phantom “alliances” with the political West, particularly after the latter escalated its crawling aggression against Moscow. The Kremlin was left with a rather difficult choice – either help its historical ally which was (slowly but surely) turning into anything but, or leave Yerevan to its own devices so as not to risk derailing the strategically important rapprochement with Ankara and Baku.

Unfortunately for the Armenian people, things have only gotten considerably worse in recent months. Pashinyan, a Sorosite who came to power by insisting that the government prior to 2018 was allegedly “corrupt” and “autocratic”, turned out to be truly corrupt, while his rule is effectively a dictatorship. His brutal crackdown on protesters is unprecedented, never seen under any of the previous Armenian governments. Any opposition to Pashinyan’s dictatorial rule is being quashed, including through the suppression of free press, one of the principles of “democracy” that he was so insistent on back in 2018, when press freedom actually existed. Pashinyan, once a journalist, is now sending his henchmen to arrest other journalists who oppose his suicidal policies. And yet, no matter how bad his internal schemes are, his foreign policy is far worse. Namely, Pashinyan keeps distancing himself from Russia.

According to his assessment, Yerevan is “ready to join the European Union as early as 2024”. Pashinyan actually said so at this year’s Copenhagen “Democracy” Summit. Such a statement is not only ridiculous to anyone who knows anything about the EU’s current state, but also because of the simple fact that the troubled bloc has long been exposed as a mere geopolitical pendant of NATO. Even the most naively optimistic spectator would laugh at the idea of Armenia joining the EU in 2030, let alone 2024. To put that into perspective, the neighboring Georgia has been trying to join the troubled bloc for over 20 years. In that time, its suicidal pro-Western government managed to lose around 20% of its territory and turn Russia into an enemy, destroying their centuries-old historical alliance. It seems Pashinyan is pushing Yerevan in the exact same direction. Worse yet, he plans to ally himself with Moscow’s other enemies.

Namely, Armenia will appoint a military attaché to the United Kingdom for the first time. This inexplicable move comes at a time when the latter is essentially looking to start a war with Russia. This is even worse than trying to establish closer ties with the EU, as London has no capacity to help Yerevan in any way, be it economic or military assistance. Its only motivation is to hurt Moscow’s interests in the region. However, the Kremlin is not exactly jeopardized by this, while Armenia is the one paying the price of its government’s suicidal tilt towards the political West. Earlier, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan stated that the country is “ready to take a course towards European integration” and that “this will provide it with the greatest security”. However, in around half a decade of Pashinyan in power, Armenia’s security situation has never been this bad, perhaps even worse than during the Armenian Genocide.

Namely, the country is in serious danger of being overrun by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The opposition sees it, which is why protests have been raging for months. According to Garegin Miskaryan, Director of the Democratic Platform Foundation, the country’s geopolitical choice is the central point of contention between the Pashinyan regime and the opposition, as the former chose to focus on the political West without calculating the risks. Miskaryan believes that, in the context of a changing world order and tensions in the region, turning away from Russia is an adventure that could result in disastrous consequences. His concerns are also shared by the Armenian Apostolic Church. Namely, the Head of the northeastern Tavush diocese, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, demanded Pashinyan’s resignation, supported by everyone at a last week’s rally that involved thousands of people gathered in the center of Yerevan.

“Nikol Pashinyan, we give you an hour to resign. I am ready to meet within this hour and discuss all the conditions for resignation. You no longer have any power in Armenia,” Archbishop stated, adding: “They destroyed the entire security system, from the first day of their rule they turned the Church into a target, struck a blow at the pillars of our identity, denied the fact of the Armenian Genocide, destroyed the educational system, lost Artsakh. But most importantly, for the current authorities, in foreign relations, there is nothing to be said anywhere, not at any negotiating table.”

It should be noted that Archbishop Galstanyan certainly didn’t do this on his own, as the Catholicos (Church leader) of All Armenians Karekin II gave his blessing for the procession that the Archbishop has been leading since May 4. It started precisely in his Tavush region, when Galstanyan announced protests in Yerevan (starting from May 9) against Pashinyan’s border delimitation agreement with Azerbaijan. The heads of all other dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church joined the protest, starting processions from their respective regions of Armenia. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the governing body of the Church, stated that “[we] consider processes carried out under the pretext of border demarcation in the Tavush region of Armenia to be extremely dangerous without comprehensive and guaranteed solutions”. However, Pashinyan outright rejected the Armenian Church’s appeals.

https://weeklyblitz.net/2024/05/17/risky-eagerness-of-pashinyan-centering-eu-nato-membership/

 

[Yervant1]

Stream

May 20 2024

Must Armenia Cede Itself into Nonexistence?

By RAYMOND IBRAHIM

Published on May 20, 2024

In late 2020, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Two months later, peace was achieved on condition that the ancient Christian nation cede its ancestral lands in Artsakh, internationally known as “Nagorno-Karabakh,” to its Muslim neighbor.

The peace bought by such appeasement was fickle at best, as Azerbaijan continued its hostilities — some especially atrocious — and for nearly a year starved the Armenians of Artsakh, leading to what several human rights organizations referred to as a genocide.

Then, on Sept. 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched another large-scale military offensive against Artsakh, prompting an exodus of its beleaguered and emaciated Christian population. On Jan.1, 2024, the Armenian Republic of Artsakh was formally dissolved and absorbed into Azerbaijan.

Despite Azerbaijan’s total victory — which some thought might finally put an end to its aggression — the Muslim nation opened fire on Armenia six weeks later, killing four soldiers on Feb. 14.

As a result of Azerbaijan’s ongoing expansionism, Armenia is, once again, ceding more territory in an attempt to appease its hungry Muslim neighbor.

Never Enough, Until Your Heart Stops Beating

According to a May 5 report,

Amid ongoing tensions after the fall of Artsakh in September 2023, the Armenian government agreed to cede territory to Azerbaijan along the border in an attempt to normalize relations….

Protests erupted in Armenia, denouncing the territorial cession to Azerbaijan months after the Armenian government failed to defend its people and land during the Azerbaijani siege and conquest of Artsakh in September 2023. The ceded territory contains four villages in the Armenian Tavush Province….

In reality, no amount of appeasement short of total capitulation will ever satisfy Armenia’s powerful Muslim neighbors, namely Azerbaijan and its “big brother,” Turkey.

Inverted Truths

Appropriating Nagorno-Karabakh was only the first step in a larger project. As Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, once openly proclaimed, “Yerevan [the capital of Armenia] is our historical land and we Azerbaijanis must return to these historical lands.” He has also referred to other ancient Armenian territories, including the Zangezur and Lake Sevan regions, as “our historic lands.” Taking over those territories “is our political and strategic goal,” Aliyev maintains, “and we need to work step by step to get closer to it.”

To this, Tigran Balayan, spokesman for Armenia’s foreign ministry, said: “The statement about territorial claims of the president of Azerbaijan, a state appearing on the political map of the world only 100 years ago … yet again demonstrates the racist character of the ruling regime in Baku.”

This is a rather restrained and diplomatic way of saying that, not only are these claims absolutely false; they are — as most falsehoods nowadays tend to be — the exact inverse of the truth.

Founded After the Flood

Armenia is one of the oldest nations in the world. In fact, Mt. Ararat — which Genesis tells us is where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the Flood — lay within its original borders (an area which now belongs to Turkey). Its people, who are direct descendants of Noah’s family, founded current capital, Yerevan, in 782 BC — exactly 2,700 years before Azerbaijan came into being in 1918 (three years after Armenians experienced a genocide that sent many survivors fleeing to Southern California). And yet, here is the president of Azerbaijan waging war premised on the claim that “Yerevan is our historical land.”

Two thousand years ago, Armenia was significantly bigger, encompassing even modern-day Azerbaijan within its borders. Then the Turks and their offshoots (e.g., Azeris) came riding in from the east, slaughtering, enslaving, terrorizing and stealing the lands of Armenians and other Christians of the region in the name of jihad.

This unrelenting history of hate makes one thing perfectly clear: All modern-day pretexts and “territorial disputes” aside, true and permanent peace between Armenia and its Muslim neighbors will only be achieved when the Christian nation has either been conquered or ceded itself into nonexistence.

Anyone who doubts this should consult the Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa (d.1144). According to this nearly thousand-year-old chronicle, which is near coterminous with the events it describes, it was not until 1019 that “the first appearance of the bloodthirsty beasts … the savage nation of infidels called Turks entered Armenia … and mercilessly slaughtered the Christian faithful with the sword.”

Within 30 years, the raids were virtually nonstop. In 1049, the founder of the Turkic Seljuk Empire himself, Sultan Tughril Bey (r. 1037–1063), reached the Armenian city of Arzden, west of Lake Van, and “put the whole town to the sword, causing severe slaughter, as many as one hundred and fifty thousand persons.”

‘The Beginning of Misfortunes’

Other contemporaries confirm the devastation visited upon Arzden.

“Like famished dogs,” writes Aristakes (d.1080) an eyewitness, the Turks “hurled themselves on our city, surrounded it and pushed inside, massacring the men and mowing everything down like reapers in the fields, making the city a desert. Without mercy, they incinerated those who had hidden themselves in houses and churches.”

Eleven years later, in 1060, the Turks laid siege to Sebastia (which, though now a Turkish city, was originally Armenian). Six hundred churches were destroyed, “many and innumerable people were burned [to death],” and countless women and children “were led into captivity.”

Between 1064 and 1065, Tughril’s successor, Sultan Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri — known to posterity as Alp Arslan, one of Turkey’s unsavory but national heroes — laid siege to Ani, which was at that time the capital of Armenia. Muhammad’s siege engines’ thunderous bombardments caused the entire city to quake, and Matthew describes countless terror-stricken families huddled together and weeping.

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Once inside, the Muslims “began to mercilessly slaughter the inhabitants of the entire city… and piling up their bodies one on top of the other…. Innumerable and countless boys with bright faces and pretty girls were carried off together with their mothers.”

Not only do several Christian sources document the sack of Armenia’s capital — one contemporary succinctly notes that Muhammad “rendered Ani a desert by massacres and fire” — but so do Muslim sources, often in apocalyptic terms: “I wanted to enter the city and see it with my own eyes,” one Arab explained. “I tried to find a street without having to walk over the corpses. But that was impossible.”

Such “was the beginning of the misfortunes of Armenia,” Matthew of Edessa concludes in his account: “So, lend an ear to this melancholy recital.” This has proven to be an ominous remark; the aforementioned history of blood and tears was, indeed, just “the beginning of the misfortunes of Armenia,” whose “melancholy recital” continues to this day.

Islamic Subjugation

Why did the Turks so ruthlessly attack Armenia? What “grievance” did they have? Simply put: Armenia was Christian and the Turks were Muslim — and Islam makes all non-Muslims enemies to be put to the sword, until and unless they submit to Islam.

During the aforementioned sack of Ani, a Muslim fighter climbed atop the city’s main cathedral “and pulled down the very heavy cross which was on the dome, throwing it to the ground,” wrote Matthew. Made of pure silver and the “size of a man” — and once broken, symbolic of Islam’s might over Christianity — the crucifix was sent as a trophy to adorn a mosque in, ironically enough, modern-day Azerbaijan.

Fast forward nearly a millennium to 2020. During Azerbaijan’s latest war on Armenia, a Muslim fighter was videotaped triumphantly shouting “Allahu Akbar!” while standing atop an Armenian chapel where the cross had been broken off.

Such is an idea of what Muslim Turks did to Christian Armenians—not during the Armenian Genocide of a century ago, when some 1.5 million Armenians were massacred and even more displaced — but one thousand years ago, when the Islamic conquest of Armenia first began.

A Thorn in the Side of Islam

This unrelenting history of hate makes one thing perfectly clear: All modern-day pretexts and “territorial disputes” aside, true and permanent peace between Armenia and its Muslim neighbors will only be achieved when the Christian nation has either been conquered or ceded itself into nonexistence.

Nor would it be the first to do so. It is worth recalling that the heart of what is today called “the Muslim world” — the Middle East and North Africa — was thoroughly Christian before the sword of Islam invaded. Bit by bit, century after century following the initial Muslim conquests and occupations, it lost its Christian identity, and its peoples succumbed into the morass of Islam, so that few today even remember that Egypt, Iraq, Syria, etc., were among the first and oldest Christian nations.

Armenia — the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity — is a holdout, a thorn in Islam’s side, and, as such, can never know lasting peace from the Muslims surrounding it.

Incidentally, if all the above sounds vaguely familiar, that is because it also applies to the Arab-Israeli conflict: from the Muslim point of view, true and permanent peace can only be achieved when the Jewish nation has either been conquered or ceded itself into nonexistence.

Note: Quotes from Matthew of Edessa were excerpted from Ibrahim’s book, Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West and Sword and Scimitar, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

https://stream.org/must-armenia-cede-itself-into-nonexistence/

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Armenpress.am

Highest security guarantees provided in demarcated areas - Pashinyan

12:27, 29 May 2024

EREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. In the areas where the border with Azerbaijan has been demarcated, the highest possible security guarantee is ensured.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, addressing the journalists' questions.

He emphasized that in the modern world there is no more effective security guarantee than a demarcated border.

"If someone says that there is a more effective security guarantee on earth than a demarcated border, you should not believe it. Therefore, in those areas where we have a demarcated border, the highest possible guarantee of security is ensured," said Pashinyan.

From May 24, 2024, the border guard troops of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia protected of 1.9 km of Berkaber settlement, 4.9 km of Voskepar and Baghanis settlements of the state border of the Republic of Armenia. Protection of the 5.8 km demarcated section of the Kirants settlement of the state border until July 24, 2024 will be carried out in a transitional scheme.

 

 

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1138237.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1SfrHJI9yTGFPu3JePTy99ft-YxSrxX90KuqgLushM0vfIWCXXRJ9Y-Ec_aem_Ach1phcq4e61-FYSHEfOpMtTG1NsvHUurh1BEGBWwKqY9Biz56lCVLVNflkF_Xbl5_c1M6IqiQ4Q4HcP-Y2sQrp2

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May 29 2024

Pašinyan's resistance to all opposition

by Vladimir Rozanskij

Long under attack from opposition parties and movements and even the Apostolic Church for his policy of ‘normalising’ the conflict with Azerbaijan and emancipating himself from Russia's protection, the Armenian president categorically rules out the possibility of early elections. Kremlin keeps watch, knowing that Yerevan will not be able to do without Moscow's military and economic support.

Yerevan (AsiaNews) - The prime minister of Armenia, Nikol Pašinyan, has long been subjected to all kinds of invective and attacks at home, from opposition parties and movements and even from the Apostolic Church, but also from abroad with criticism from Baku and Moscow of his policy of ‘normalising’ the conflict with Azerbaijan and emancipating himself from Russia's protection. Several opposing MPs are calling for his impeachment after the surrender of some border villages to the Azeris, but from his Civil Accord party they reply that they take these threats ‘with humour’, and absolutely rule out the possibility of early elections.

The negotiations with the Azeris, for which Pašinyan is accused of ‘yielding to the enemy’, are paradoxically his best guarantee of defence against any attack, as observer Vadim Dubnov believes, while the street protests are slowly fading, despite the initiatives of the new leader of the Armenian protest movement ‘Tavowš in the name of the Fatherland’, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who is trying hard to unite all the oppositions to get rid of the prime minister. Even from Moscow come only rather benign warnings, beyond Pašinyan's ‘pro-European’ rhetoric, as the Kremlin knows that Armenia will not be able to do without Russia's military and economic support.

The Armenian Prime Minister's absence at the military parade in Red Square on 9 May, where all the leaders of the Csto Eurasian alliance were lined up alongside Putin, was downgraded to the need to remain in Yerevan while the street protests, animated by the archbishop of the border eparchy, were going on. Although in reality it was only a few days later, when the streets of the capital were still occupied by protesters, that Pašinyan paid a visit to Denmark, entrusting his collaborators with the control of the situation. Moreover, he was not even present at Putin's coronation on 7 May, where he merely sent his ambassador because ‘heads of state were not mandatorily signalled in the protocol of the ceremony’.

Pašinyan actually took part in the Eurasian Higher Economic Council, of which Armenia is president, but which was held in Moscow, where he met Putin personally, thus maintaining a formal rather than an effective detachment. There is also an ambiguous attitude on the Russian side: the street protests in Armenia are openly pro-Russian, supported not only by clerics, but also by people close to former president Robert Kočaryan, one of the Kremlin's closest Armenian friends. Yet they did not go beyond the outcry, with some echoes in the parliament in Yerevan.

Expressing the tension with the Russians more explicitly is Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, playing the polemical role in the game of sides. For days now he has been calling on Moscow to withdraw all ‘peacekeeping’ troops from the border areas and especially from Zvartnots International Airport on the western outskirts of Yerevan, and explicitly speaks of the alliance with Russia as a ‘strategic mistake’. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, on the other hand, limits himself to stating that ‘relations with Russia are not currently at their highest level’, also refraining from attending meetings of his Csto and CIS counterparts, leaving the prime minister free to take the positions most appropriate to the circumstances.

On the Russian side, invective against the Armenians is left to the exaggerated Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, while Putin confines himself to tepid and terse comments, as if he did not really believe in removing Armenia from his sphere of influence. All these ambiguities ultimately play into the hands of Pašinyan, who keeps repeating that ‘historical Armenia and the current one are completely different things’, trying to build a new image of the country by going up through the contradictions of the Caucasus region and the turbulence of world geopolitics, waiting to see where they will lead.

https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pa%C5%A1inyan%27s-resistance-to-all-opposition-60833.html

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just in case if you missed it  >> 

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i will still call him Srpazan.. in my Memory he is.


he was in top 5 of Contenders for Armenian catholicos. now no more. in a way catholicos all Armenians he's got rid of him

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everyone has left him to be alone with 30~40 propel. no political parties, superstars, no doctors no-one..

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May 30 2024

Pashinyan defends police action against head of Armenian church

By Ani Avetisyan May 30, 2024

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has defended police officers who tried to physically prevent Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, from visiting a national memorial on May 28.

Garegin, accompanied by senior clergy, had to break through three police cordons to lay flowers and pray at the Sardarapat memorial on the 106th anniversary of the proclamation of the first independent Armenian republic.

Pashinyan led an official ceremony at the memorial 30 minutes later, around 3 p.m. The ceremony was originally scheduled for the morning but was thought to have been cancelled after hundreds of anti-government protesters, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, gathered at the memorial on the night of May 27. The prime minister arrived unexpectedly in the afternoon.

The unprecedented police action was strongly condemned by the Echmiadzin-based Mother See of the Church, dioceses in the diaspora, opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government.

The confrontation is part of a wider conflict between Pashinyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has intensified since Armenia's defeat in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020. Senior clerics have joined the opposition in calling for Pashinyan's resignation, accusing him of territorial concessions to Azerbaijan and mismanagement that has led to existential threats to Armenia.

Pashinyan and his allies have boycotted major liturgies led by Garegin for the past three years, accusing the church of political interference. Church leaders say they cannot remain silent amid the perceived threats posed by Pashinyan's government.

Pashinyan claimed that the police officers at the memorial were trying to determine whether Garegin was there to continue "disruptive and provocative actions" initiated by his political supporters, or for some other purpose. He said they allowed Garegin through after being assured that his visit was purely ceremonial.

However, videos of the incident showed no such conversation between the officials and Garegin or his entourage. Yesayi Artenyan, head of the Mother See's press office, insisted that the police did not give any explanations or try to clarify anything, but simply blocked the way. He also mentioned that Garegin's office had informed Pashinyan's protocol service in advance about the Catholicos' visit, which was confirmed by the service.

Meanwhile, Galstanyan described the police actions as "blasphemous" as he led hundreds of people in a rally outside the interior ministry building in Yerevan on Wednesday morning. The protesters also condemned instances of police brutality against participants in the ongoing protests led by Galstanyan to force Pashinyan to resign.

Galstanyan demanded that Interior Minister Vahe Ghazaryan come out and speak to him in public, but Ghazaryan only offered to meet him in his office, which Galstanyan refused. The demonstrators blocked the entrances to the ministry building for almost five hours before dispersing.

The Armenian Church officially backed Galstanyan and his supporters in early May when they marched from Tavush province to Yerevan to protest against Pashinyan's territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. On Monday, Garegin's office announced that during the protests Galstanyan has been relieved of his 'ecclesiastical and administrative' duties at his own request, although he retained his episcopal rank.

During a protest on 25 May, Galstanyan accused the Armenian authorities of bugging his hotel room in Yerevan. He claimed that drilling noises under his floor indicated the installation of a listening device. A young woman in the room below refused to open the door and called the police, who later escorted her out. Authorities denied any wrongdoing.

https://www.intellinews.com/pashinyan-defends-police-action-against-head-of-armenian-church-327568/

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May 30 2024

 

Approaching the end game for Armenia-Azerbaijan peace

Nikol Pashinyan has taken Armenia on a long journey, and brought it close to peace with Azerbaijan. Few if any believed that he could achieve what has been done so far. It is true that Azerbaijani military superiority, the victory in 2020, and the puzzling events of September 2023, which saw the overnight collapse of the Armenian political project in Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent exodus of the entire Armenian population from the territory, in many ways pre-determined what is about to follow. But given the entrenched nationalist positions and hard-line narratives that have traditionally characterised Armenia’s political thinking, even these developments were not enough to guarantee peace. The last part of the journey had to be done in the minds of Armenians, and Pashinyan set about doing this with conviction and determination, challenging the narrative of a historical Armenia, that is only the imagination of the nationalist elites and advocating instead, "a real" Armenia with fixed border.

Over the last days, what seems to be the last spasms of resistance to Pashinyan, emerged on the streets of Yerevan in the form of a Movement called “Tavoush for the homeland”, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galastanyan. For a moment it seemed to have attracted traction of the mass of the population: a rally on 9 May was attended by tens of thousands. But then it started fizzling out. The Archbishop said that he was taking time out from serving God, to instead run for prime minister, even though technically he cannot because he has dual citizenship. Increasingly he started looking like an oddity, instead of a leader of a mass movement about to seize power. There are still those who follow him daily on the streets. Some claim that this has been the usual rent-a-crowd, that has been typical of Armenian opposition attempts at popular protests in the past. It does not take much effort to see the difference in the passion and the demeanour between these crowds, and the ones that in 2018 catapulted Pashinyan to power.

It is clear that the quest for Armenia-Azerbaijan peace is reaching some kind of end game. There are still several elements on which there is no agreement, but given the distance covered so far, these now look unlikely to constitute an obstacle for going forward. The two sides are now pondering how to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion, including in the choreography of signing a peace agreement. In the current scheme of things, this is important.

In November the South Caucasus welcomes in Baku COP29 – the biggest gathering of world leaders ever to descend on the region. Some consider that this may be a good moment for an agreement to be signed, and sealed with some dramatic big gestures. Many are now convinced this will happen. But the spoilers may still try to put spokes in the wheels, which is why the Armenian and Azerbaijan leaders need to remain focused.

 

source: This article was prepared by the editorial team of commonspace.eu. it was first published in the 30 May 2024 issue of the fortnightly digital newsletter, Karabakh Concise.

https://www.commonspace.eu/editorial/approaching-end-game-armenia-azerbaijan-peace

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Armenpress.am

 

Armenia recognizes the State of Palestine

Read the article in:العربيةEspañolFrançaisՀայերենქართულიРусскийTürkçe简体中文

2 minute read

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia has issued a statement on the recognition of the State of Palestine.

“The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing military conflict are among the primary issues on the international political agenda that require settlement. The Republic of Armenia categorically rejects the targeting of civilian infrastructure, violence against the civilian population and the hostage-taking of civilians during armed conflict, joining the international community's demands for their unconditional release.

“The Republic of Armenia has joined the resolutions of the UN General Assembly calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Furthermore, the Republic of Armenia is genuinely committed to establishing peace and stability in the Middle East and lasting reconciliation between the Jewish and Palestinian peoples. On various international platforms, our position has consistently been in favour of a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue, and we support the "two-state" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are convinced that this is the only way to ensure that both Palestinians and Israelis can fulfil their legitimate aspirations.

“Based on the foregoing and reaffirming our commitment to international law and the principles of equality, sovereignty, and peaceful coexistence of peoples, the Republic of Armenia recognizes the State of Palestine,” the statement reads.

 

https://armenpress.am/en/article/1194184?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0T_AuPbki4Q-JZX_08XzrToh6ETgntf9PXb0YNIFL1_uVkNUetbLMbEGE_aem_nI61j2Fc16-3AYSwVzdOSw

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