Weekly update
29 January
This year marks the 30th anniversary of a number of significant events in the history of independent Armenia. According to news.am, despite the small time distance by historical standards, not everyone now has a correct idea of the events of those years. The respective facts and documents were discussed in the below interview to Armenian News-NEWS.am by the First Ombudsperson of Armenia, human rights activist Larisa Alaverdyan. When we talk about the CSCE (OSCE since 1995) and the UN, it is necessary to distinguish the positions of these organizations on the principle/right of peoples to self-determination. In the UN documents, the self-determination of peoples is a RIGHT, whereas in the HFA it is interpreted as one of the ten PRINCIPLES which will play its unique role in the future, proceeding from the political interests of the OSCE members.
https://news.am/eng/news/684399.html
28 January
January 28 is Army Day, a state holiday in Armenia that marks the establishment of the Armed Forces after independence from the Soviet Union. It is a day when Armenians honor their troops. In line with evnreport.com, this year also marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Army. Since the 2020 Artsakh War, these kinds of holidays have been especially difficult. With the country still reeling from the catastrophic losses, celebrating anything feels hollow. After the war, the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces, two institutions that were already unforthcoming, seem to have withdrawn further into the shadows. At the moment, no one outside of these security structures really knows what reforms have been undertaken to increase the military’s preparedness.
https://evnreport.com/opinion/it-has-to-be-said-in-solidarity-with-our-soldiers/
27 January
“In marshy fields and mountain slopes, in hard-to-reach areas overgrown with bushes, littered with mines and unexploded ordnances, dozens of men and women have been searching for and finding the remains of fallen soldiers for more than a year,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said about the consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020.About 300 people are still missing as a result of the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020. Since the ceasefire agreement was signed in November 2020, the remains of more than 1,700 people have been found and the process of identifying them and returning them to their families has begun.
https://asbarez.com/red-cross-wars-of-further-agony-in-artsakh-in-winter-months/?fbclid=IwAR3TIx3XRFoocQF7DZ9Q8v7K81aNRnas5QvVsTog5eNv4lmUSLiTQZXENKM
26 January
Congressman Frank Pallone has urged the US Department of State to use diplomatic tools to ensure the release of Armenian prisoners of war. According to armradio.am, “Spoke with State Department today, where I reiterated the need for the US to strongly and publicly support Armenia’s democracy and bring our countries closer together,” Rep. Pallone said in a Twitter post. “I urged them to use every available diplomatic tool to halt Azeri aggression and ensure the release of Armenian POWs,” he added.
https://en.armradio.am/2022/01/26/rep-pallone-urges-state-department-to-take-action-to-ensure-release-of-armenian-pows/
25 January
President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan during a meeting with an Iranian official hailed the “new wonderful opportunities” that have emerged after the 2020 Karabakh war, among them the so-called “Zangezur Corridor”—the scheme to link Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan via a road running through Armenia. In accordance with asbarez.com, Aliyev also touted “positive signals” from Armenia on the construction of roads and railways, as well as another scheme, this time the so-called “3+3” proposal by Ankara that envisions a regional bloc that includes Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Iran. The Azerbaijani leader made the remarks during a meeting with Rostam Ghasemi, Iran’s Urban Development Minister, who is also co-chair of Azerbaijan-Iran Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, according to the AzerTac news agency.
https://asbarez.com/aliyev-discusses-zangezur-corridor-with-iranian-official-touts-wonderful-post-war-opportunities/?fbclid=IwAR1WikdNA8sqD47QbxOTNg_dzgl3NT107jfpQfuy-Ww_AKs27HQOE2echg4
24 January
In a rare convergence of views, pro-government and opposition members of Armenia’s parliament on Monday dismissed the main stated reason for President Armen Sarkissian’s resignation and criticized his track record. According to azatutyun.am lawmakers representing the ruling Civil Contract party and the opposition minority in the National Assembly countered that Sarkissian was well aware of the largely ceremonial powers vested in the presidency when he agreed to become president in early 2018. Serzh Sarkisian’s political allies have been particularly critical of the current president. They have claimed that he is afraid of pushing back against what they see as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s authoritarian tendencies.Under Armenian constitution, parliament speaker Alen Simonian will take over as interim president if Sarkissian does not withdraw his resignation within a week. In that case, the National Assembly will have to elect a new head of state within the next 35 days.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31668745.html
23 January
President Armen Sarkissian unexpectedly announced his resignation on Sunday, saying that his largely ceremonial powers have prevented him from influencing government policies and confronting challenges facing Armenia. In line with azatutyun.am “The president does not have the necessary tools to influence the radical processes of domestic and foreign policy in these difficult times for the country and the nation,” added the statement. In particular, the 68-year-old head of state pointed to his inability to veto bills passed by the parliament or “influence issues relating to war and peace.” In that regard, he renewed his calls for major amendments to the Armenian constitution. Under the constitution, which was radically amended in 2015, the president of the republic is elected by the parliament. The current National Assembly is controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31667561.html
22 January
So far, the new year has taken things in very unexpected directions. Most prominently, after a fruitless year of encouraging the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to respond to the attacks on Armenia by Azerbaijan, it suddenly sprang into action for the first time ever in response to sudden massive protests in member state Kazakhstan. According to civilnet.am this means Armenian troops headed to Kazakhstan to defend strategic sites while still facing the daily threat on their borders. Some believe it was the distraction in Kazakhstan. which led to Azerbaijan’s latest attack against Armenia on January 11. Three young soldiers, Arthur Artyom Mkhitaryan (born in 2002), Rudik Rafik Gharibyan (born in 2002) and Vahan Vachagan Babayan (born in 2003), were killed in the clashes.
https://www.civilnet.am/news/647379/and-in-other-news-from-kazakhstan-to-baku-pogroms/?lang=en
Sources: news.am, evnreport.com, asbarez.com, armradio.am, azatutyun.am, civilnet.am