Armenian News... A Topalian... Azerbaijanis can live in Artsakh

PanArmenian, Armenia
March 28 2018
Azerbaijanis can live in Artsakh if they recognize its jurisdiction: president 
Azerbaijanis who used to live in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and may wish to regain control of their properties can return to Artsakh, if they recognize its jurisdiction, Karabakh president Bako Sahakyan said in an interview with The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. 

The situation of refugees in the region is often raised in international circles. 

Sahakyan said, “At present, it is Azerbaijani refugees that are chiefly talked about. We naturally are in favor of talking not only about Azerbaijani refugees but also about Armenian refugees.” 

The Karabakh president declared, concerning Azerbaijanis who used to live in Artsakh and who may wish to regain control of their properties: “We have said on multiple occasions over the course of recent years that Azerbaijani refugees naturally can return to Artsakh, to the Artsakh Republic, if they recognize its jurisdiction.” 

Sahakyan of the Republic of Artsakh visited the American capital for his first official visit on March 12 at the head of a governmental delegation for a week of political talks and meetings. 

In the interview, Sahakyan appreciated the ongoing diplomatic efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s Minsk Group, of which the United States is a leading member. 

He also said that for the peace process to be successful, Artsakh must be one of the full parties or “sides” in negotiations along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, as was initially agreed upon at the 1994 Budapest OSCE summit, and that Artsakh continues to do whatever is in its power to restore that format. 


RFE/RL Report
Azerbaijan Accused Of Blocking More Truce Monitors In Karabakh
March 27, 2018
Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia accused Azerbaijan on Tuesday of refusing to honor a recent 
Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement to expand an international mission monitoring 
the ceasefire regime in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

According to the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk 
Group, the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers reached the agreement “in 
principle” at their January 18 meeting in Krakow, Poland.

The Russian co-chair, Igor Popov, specified later in January that the deal 
would allow the OSCE to hire seven more members for its small truce-monitoring team. He said the conflicting parties and the mediators still need to work out “some technical details” of this arrangement.

“We agreed to the co-chairs’ proposal to enhance the capacity of the team of 
the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, and that was 
announced by the co-chair countries and Armenia,” Foreign Minister Edward 
Nalbandian said on Tuesday. “Azerbaijan is still refusing to make any reference 
to that agreement and to honor that agreement.”

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijani already agreed to the expansion of 
the OSCE team when they met in Vienna in May 2016. The team led by Andzrej 
Kasprzyk consists of a small number of officials who regularly travel to 
Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to briefly monitor the parties’ 
compliance with truce agreements reached in 1994 and 1995.

Azerbaijan officially stated in March 2017 that it will not allow the OSCE to 
deploy monitors on the Karabakh frontline “in the absence of withdrawal of the 
Armenian troops from the occupied territories.” Baku has been just as reluctant 
to allow international investigations of truce violations there, which were 
also agreed upon in May 2016.

Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev pledged to intensify the peace 
process and bolster the ceasefire at their most recent meeting held in Geneva 
in October 2017. Their foreign ministers held follow-up negotiations in 
December and January.

The U.S., Russian and French mediators visited Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert in early February. They said in a joint statement that the warring sides pledged to “continue intensive negotiations.”

Aliyev is seeking a fourth term in office in a snap presidential election 
slated for April 11. The ballot will be held two days after Sarkisian completes 
his second and final presidential term. Sarkisian is tipped to become prime 
minister immediately after Armenia is transformed into a parliamentary republic 
later in April. 


ARKA, Armenia
March 28 2018
More than 60 manufactures of armaments to showcase their products at ArmHiTec-2018 
More than 60 manufacturers of armaments from Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the USA and other countries will demonstrate their products at the II International Exhibition of Armament and Defense Technologies ArmHiTec-2018. 

The chairman of the State Military-Industrial Committee of the Ministry of Defense David Pakhchanyan said the exhibition will feature also a closed display of the latest Armenian military products. The exhibition will open on March 29 and run through March 31. 

He said also the priority and successfully developing areas of Armenia’s military-industrial complex are laser technology, optoelectronic systems, electronics, radar and robotic systems. 

Pakhchanyan said the exhibition ArmHiTec-2018 is aimed at strengthening Armenia's security, developing the domestic military-industrial complex and deepening cooperation with international partners. 

The exhibition ArmHiTec will be held in Yerevan for the second time. The first one was held in 2016.


Panorama, Armenia
March 28 2018
Estonian delegate held at Baku airport for 12 hours for Armenian background 
Azerbaijani authorities held an Estonian citizen of Armenian origin at Baku airport for twelve hours and sent her back to Estonia after it was found out that she had an Armenian surname. 

Karine Oganesyan, a citizen of Estonia and adviser to the Chairman of Tallinn City Council, as well as Chairperson of the Youth branch of Estonia's Centrist Party, on March 23 travelled to Azerbaijan‘s capital Baku to take part in an international pedagogical conference, Armenian Ambassador to Lithuania Tigran Mkrtchyan said in a Facebook post. 

She had officially received an electronic entrance visa and together with the Estonian delegation (as its member) left for Baku. But upon Karine‘s arrival in Baku airport the Azerbaijani authorities noticed her Armenian background and barred her from entering Azerbaijan. After keeping her for 12 hours in a special zone of Baku airport, they deported her back to Estonia. 

“This behavior once again displays the racist, intolerant nature of Baku authorities,” the Armenian envoy said. 

“Soaked with Armenophobia, they once again express cynical attitude towards the European values. I hope the Estonian side will make its own conclusions and will adequately react to this disgusting story, defending the rights of its citizen. The European structures should not stay indifferent too, since Estonia is an EU member state and Karine Oganesyan is an EU citizen. 

“And in general, if for a variety of motivations, a country is unable to receive participants and accompanying staff in international conferences, then the suitability of holding such evens in that country should be seriously revised.” 



The Armenian Weekly

March 27 2018
Renowned Armenian-American Engineer Anne Kiremidjian Awarded Prestigious John Fritz Medal
Anne Kiremidjian

Past Recipients Include Alexander Graham Bell and David Packard

The award, which is presented by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES), recognizes one individual each year for scientific or industrial achievements in the pure or applied sciences.

According to a press statement published by the Stanford University on May 21, Kiremidjian received the award for her research in the field of probabilistic seismic risk assessment and for her leadership in the classroom, educating the next generation of earthquake engineers.

“Kiremidjian’s research focuses on building resilient, sustainable cities that can withstand short- and long-term environmental stressors, including earthquakes. Through the design and implementation of wireless sensor systems, the development of robust algorithms for structural damage diagnosis and several other evaluation techniques, Kiremidjian continues to expand conversations around creating strategic civil infrastructure systems, emphasizing the importance of social, political and economic data in her findings,” reads a part of the statement released by the university.

Born to an Armenian family that moved to avoid persecution, Kiremidjian was a teenager when she came to the U.S. from Bulgaria in 1965. Her current research focuses on the design and implementation of wireless sensor networks for structural damage and health monitoring and the development of robust algorithms for structural damage diagnosis that can be embedded in wireless sensing units.

She works on structural component and systems reliability methods; structural damage evaluation models; and regional damage, loss and casualty estimation methods utilizing geographic information and database management systems for portfolios of buildings or spatially distributed lifeline systems assessment with ground motion and structure correlations.

The John Fritz Medal, which was established in 1902, is one of the highest honors awarded to engineers. Past recipients include Alexander Graham Bell and David Packard.

Asbarez.com
How Azerbaijan Distorts UN Security Council Resolutions (Part II)
BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN 
Last week, I described Azerbaijan’s distortions of two of the four UN Security Council Resolutions adopted in 1993. I will now present the remaining two resolutions:

Excerpts from UN Security Council Resolution 874, adopted October 14, 1993:
“Calls upon the parties concerned to make effective and permanent the cease-fire established as a result of the direct contacts undertaken with the assistance of the Government of the Russian Federation in support of the CSCE Minsk Group.”

“Expresses the conviction that all other pending questions arising from the conflict… should be settled expeditiously through peaceful negotiations in the context of the CSCE Minsk process.”

“Calls for the immediate implementation of the reciprocal and urgent steps provided for in the CSCE Minsk Group’s “Adjusted timetable”, including the withdrawal of forces from recently occupied territories and the removal of all obstacles to communications and transportation.”

“Calls on all parties to refrain from all violations of international humanitarian law and renews its call in resolutions 822 (1993) and 853 (1993) for unimpeded access for international humanitarian relief efforts in all areas affected by the conflict.”

“Urges all States in the region to refrain from any hostile acts and from any interference or intervention which would lead to the widening of the conflict and undermine peace and security in the region.”

Azerbaijan has violated every one of the above clauses. In addition to the frequent violations of the mandated cease-fire, the Azerbaijani forces attacked Artsakh in April 2016, causing major damage to border towns and killing civilians. By cutting off the ears of elderly Armenian villagers and decapitating several Armenian soldiers, Azerbaijan’s armed forces committed a barbaric act and a war crime!

Excerpt from UN Security Council Resolution 884, adopted November 12, 1993:

“Calls upon the Government of Armenia to use its influence to achieve compliance by the Armenians of the Nagorny Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani Republic with Resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993) and 874 (1993), and to ensure that the forces involved are not provided with the means to extend their military campaign further.”

Armenian officials usually neither respond to the Azeri accusations regarding the UN Security Council Resolutions nor try to set the record straight. The only exception was President Serzh Sarkisian’s comprehensive speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2014.

President Sarkisian stated: “While discussing the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement I cannot but address the four UN Security Council Resolutions, which were adopted during the war, that every so often are being exploited by the Azerbaijani authorities in order to justify their obstructive policy.”

“It is about those four Resolutions that demanded unconditionally as a matter of priority cessation of all military hostilities. Azerbaijan failed to comply. Azerbaijan’s own noncompliance with the fundamental demands of these Resolutions made impossible their full implementation. The Resolutions contained calls upon the parties to cease bombardments and air strikes targeting the peaceful civilian population, to refrain from violating the principles of the international humanitarian law but instead Azerbaijan continued its indiscriminate bombardments of the civilian population. Azerbaijan did not spare children, women and old persons thus gravely violating all legal and moral norms of the international humanitarian law.”

“Now Azerbaijan cynically refers to these Resolutions — refers selectively, pulling them out of context as a prerequisite for the settlement of the problem. The adequate interpretation of the UN Security Council Resolutions is not possible without correct understanding of the hierarchy of the demands set therein.”

“The Resolutions inter alia request the restoration of economic, transport and energy links in the region (UN SC Resolution 853) and removal of all obstacles to communications and transportation (UN SC Resolution 874). It is no secret that Azerbaijan and Turkey imposed blockade on Nagorno Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia from the outset of the conflict. The Azerbaijani President in his statements even takes pride in this fact promising his own public that direction would remain the priority of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.”

“The above mentioned UN Security Council Resolutions called upon Azerbaijan to establish direct contacts with Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan refused to establish any direct contacts with Nagorno Karabakh, which was a legally equal party to the Cease-fire Agreement concluded in 1994 as well as a number of other international Agreements; moreover, Azerbaijan preaches hatred towards people it claims it wants to see as a part of their State.”

“None of the UN Security Council Resolutions identifies Armenia as a conflicting party. Our country is called upon only ‘to continue to exert its influence’ over the Nagorno Karabakh Armenians (UNSC Resolutions 853, 884) in order to cease the conflict. Armenia has fully complied, and due to its efforts a Cease-fire Agreement was concluded in 1994. All UN Security Council Resolutions recognize Nagorno Karabakh as a party to the conflict.”

“Azerbaijani authorities have failed to implement the fundamental demands of the Security Council Resolutions, including abiding and sticking by the humanitarian norms.”

“Incidentally, Azerbaijan has been gravely violating this demand every now and then. Azerbaijan’s cruel and inhumane treatment of the Armenian civilian prisoners of war regularly results in their deaths. Although, I think, one shall not be surprised about it because it is the same State that suppresses and exercises the most inhumane treatment of its own people. A clear proof of it was the decision of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to suspend its visit to Azerbaijan due to obstructions it encountered in the conduct of official Baku.”

“The Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only specialized structure that has been dealing with the Nagorno Karabakh issue according to the mandate granted by the international community. While Azerbaijan is very well aware that it could not possibly deceive or misinform the Minsk Group, which is very-well immersed in the essence of the problem, it attempts to transpose the conflict settlement to other platforms trying to depict it as a territorial dispute or exploiting the factor of religious solidarity. That is ironic, since Armenia traditionally enjoys very warm relations with the Islamic nations both in the Arabic world or, for instance, with our immediate neighbor Iran.”

I would like to summarize my key points regarding Azerbaijan’s distortions of the four UN Security Resolutions:

1. The UN Security Council Resolutions were adopted in 1993 during the height of the war between Artsakh/Armenia and Azerbaijan. These Resolutions reflect the conditions on the ground at the time. Since then, the situation has dramatically changed.
2. Despite the cease-fire that was signed in 1994 between Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan, the latter keeps violating both the ceasefire and the UN Security Council Resolutions by its frequent attacks on both Artsakh and Armenia.
3. Azerbaijan opposes Artsakh’s participation in the negotiations, thus violating the UN Security Council Resolutions.
4. The Minsk Group co-chairs, composed of the United States, France, and Russia, are the official mediators of the Artsakh conflict, not the UN Security Council and not the UN General Assembly.
5. In fact, when Azerbaijan brought the Artsakh issue to the UN General Assembly in 2008, all three Minsk Group co-chairs voted against it. Azerbaijan’s proposal was adopted by a small number of States. The overwhelming majority abstained.
6. By blockading Artsakh, Azerbaijan is violating the four UN Security Council Resolutions.
7. Importantly, Armenia is mentioned in the UN Security Council Resolutions, not as a party to the conflict, but only as an intermediary to persuade Artsakh Armenians to comply with these Resolutions. Azerbaijan’s President Heydar Aliyev acknowledged this fact during his speech to the Parliament on February 23, 2001: “Four resolutions have been adopted in the United Nations Security Council…. It is written in these four resolutions that the occupational army should leave occupied lands of Azerbaijan. But there is not a word “Armenia”, that is, there are no words “the Armenian armed forces”. But in one of resolutions it is written to demand from Armenia to exert influence on Mountainous Garabagh (Nagorno-Karabakh). In reality, it is an Armenian-Azerbaijan war. In reality, Armenia has made aggression against Azerbaijan. However, nobody recognizes Armenia as an aggressor in a document of any international organization….”

Azeris who continue to distort the four UN Security Council Resolutions should follow former President Heydar Aliyev’s statement and refrain from accusing Armenia of violating these Resolutions when in fact Azerbaijan is the one not complying with them.