This election is between having or not having a state, between losing or not losing the homeland. The third President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said this about the campaign of the “I have honor” bloc.

“I do not want my grandchildren or your children to hang pictures of Tat Monastery or Lake Sanaa on the wall next to a picture of Ararat in their house as a reminder of this part of the lost homeland,” he said.

Serzh Sargsyan said that because of these traitors, Armenia has lost its allies, the respect and trust of its partners. “This populist, immoral government has tried its best in only one issue, that we should be torn apart as a nation, weakened, defeated in the war, and sentenced to a slow death,” he said.

He noted that their task is to re-establish internal solidarity and block the way of deportations. “There are no two burdens, everyone must have already learned this lesson. “On one side there is a traitor capitulation with his servants, and on the other side the people are the leading forces of a healthy political field,” he said.

Serzh Sargsyan, addressing the citizens, said ․ “All those who will stand by us in the trenches of the struggle against the destructive scum from now on, and not at the moment when they will smell the smell of our victory, will join us in bringing back a lost part of the society. We will declare amnesty, not forgiveness.” , because there is nothing more precious than the homeland. “Otherwise, for me, they will remain deserters, with all the consequences,” he said.
Addressing the misguided, he said, “By voting for this traitor, you will agree to the surrender of Artsakh, and later Syunik, you will allow the war to continue,” he said.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

26 political forces – 22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

The Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has started its campaign in Armavir province. The first station is Parakar (11:00, outside Culture House), then Etchmiadzin (11:40, outside Culture house). At 13:20 the party will be in Gay village, then in Geghakert, Metsamor, Mrgashat, Pshatavan, Armavir village, Karakert. The last station will be the town of Armavir in the Square.

“Armenia” alliance led by 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has started its campaign in Syunik province from 11:00 in the Culture House of Agarak village. Thereafter, they will visit Meghri town, Kajaran and Kapan.

Alliance “With Honor” will hold the first day of its campaign in Tavush province, starting from the town of Dilijan at 12:00. Then they will return to Yerevan to hold a ceremony of the launch of the campaign.

“Shirinyan-Babadjanyan Democrats Union” will start the pre-election campaign in Armavir province.

Bright Armenia party led by president Edmon Marukyan will start their campaign in Yerevan, near the Alexander Tamanyan Statue at 11:00.

Prosperous Armenia party’s campaign will launch at Abovyan town in Kotayk province at 17:30. They will also visit Nor Hachn at 19:00.

The Democratic Party of Armenia will start the campaign in Gegharkunik province, in particular from Chambarak town at 11:00, then will visit Sarukhan, Gandzak and Gavar. The last station will be Noratus.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20.

The United States requested Poland buy armed drones from Turkey, Duvar news site reportedon Sunday, citing a parliamentary deputy with Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

AKP deputy Vedat Demiröz remarked in a parliamentary session that he heard from a “source” that Washington had urged Poland to go ahead with the purchase, according to Duvar.

“We are making a UAV sale to a European country, and they’re the ones who made the request. In fact, I heard from a source that it was U.S. officials who told Poland to buy drones from Turkey,” Demiröz said.

Poland first announced that it would be acquiring 24 Bayraktar TB2 type armed unmanned aerial vehicles from Turkey on May 22. The drones purchased will include anti-tank missiles on top of a training and logistics package. 

On May 24, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda signed a contract to purchase the drones at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who expressed his “delight” at the sale. 

Poland has become the first buyer of its combat-tested platform to a fellow NATO member state. Turkey’s TB-2 drones have distinguished themselves in the eyes of prospective customers for their success on the battlefield. Qatar, Libya and Ukraine are all currently operators of the TB-2 and others, including Pakistan and Kazakhstan, have shown interest in the system.

Source: https://ahvalnews.com/drone/us-asked-poland-purchase-drones-turkey-says-ruling-akp-mp?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1623006768

Effective immediately air companies based from Belarus cannot fly over the airspace of Greece or land at any Greek airports, was just announced by NOTAM by the Greek Civil Aviation Authority. 

As part of the implementation of the sanctions decided by the Minsk Summit for the recent incident involving the Ryanair flight on the route Athens – Vilnius , the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announces to the passenger public air directive according to which it is provided:

(a) a ban on Belarusian airlines flying over Greek airspace and landing at Greek airports; and

b) Greek airlines are instructed to avoid the Minsk (Belarus) FIR for their flights.

The NOTAM, which is already in force and lasts until July 5, 2021, follows the decision of the European Union to ban on Belarusian airlines flying in EU airspace or landing at its airports. Any airlines of the European Union are recommended to avoid the airspace of Belarus.

Exceptions

The Aviation Directive does not apply in case of forced landing or forced air transit and in case the landing / take-off or air transit is necessary for humanitarian purposes.

Exiled mafia boss Sedat Peker’s allegations concerning the involvement of political elites in Turkey in narcotic trafficking has focused attention on the country’s murky relationship with Venezuela.

Imdat Oner, a policy analyst at Jack D. Gordon Institute at Florida International University in Miami, said that from the start of Turkey’s opening to Venezuela in 2018, there were questions about the exact nature of the relationship that remain difficult to answer.

“The lack of transparency in Turkey-Venezuela relations only increases the questions that need to be asked,” Oner told Ahval News in a recent podcast.

Öner, who served as a Turkish diplomat in Latin America from 2014 to 2016, described Turkey’s opening to Venezuela as being part of a broader opening to a continent where it had few interests historically. However, relations with Venezuela took their own direction amidst an uprising in 2018 supported by the United States to oust President Nicolas Maduro from power.

During that period, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lent his verbal support to Maduro, a move that broke with his Western allies and placed him in the company of Maduro allies like Russia and China. In an analysis for the Wilson Center in 2018, Öner assessed that Erdoğan’s support for Maduro had to do with a shared antipathy towards the West as well as his 

own experience of resisting a coup attempt in July 2016.

Where Sedat Peker’s allegations take on some credibility, Öner suggests, is in the rapid growth in trade between Turkey and Venezuela, a state mired in corruption and state involvement in narcotrafficking. For Turkey to have achieved this after having a marginal presence in Venezuela relative to other powers, Oner says it would mean coming into contact with the illicit world dealings of Venezuelan officials.

It is for this reason that Peker’s allegations of dirty deals being conducted between Turkish and Venezuelan characters may have some level of credibility.

“Sedat Peker’s allegations are quite reasonable in certain respects,” Öner said, pointing to the involvement of some Turkey-based firms in violating U.S sanctions on Venezuela.

Öner adds that Peker’s allegations placed a different light on the shadowy trade with Venezuela when he accused the son of Turkey’s former prime minister Binali Yildirim of involvement with the country’s drug trade.

In a video released on May 23, Peker accused Erkam Yildirim of helping to create a new cocaine smuggling route from Venezuela to Turkey. Yildirim rejected this claim and his son filed criminal charges against Peker over it. However, Öner says if the allegations are true, it would immediately implicate Turkey’s elites in Venezuelan narcotrafficking.

“A business of narcotrafficking and allegations of a son of a former Turkish prime minister being involved totally changes the picture,” he said.

While the Yildirims reject Peker’s claims, Öner says there is reason to doubt their stories. Yildirim said that his son visited Venezuela last December only to deliver COVID-19 supplies and a second Turkish official claimed Erkam visited for “social projects”.

However, Öner said it was worth wondering why Venezuela’s government, which is keen to highlight international visits and aid deliveries to demonstrate it is not a pariah in the world, did not publicize any visit.

Further complicating the Yildirims’ story was a report in Cumhuriyet on Monday which, after examining customs records from that period, found no deliveries of COVID-19 equipment were made between October and December 2020, when Erkam Yildirim allegedly travelled to the country.

“Somehow, Binali Yildirim’s son’s visit and COVID help never showed up in any social media posts. It is never in the news of Venezuela’s local newspapers,” Öner said.

“Something is weird here. These are huge allegations, and I think the prime minister is telling a lie here to the Turkish public.”

Öner said that despite the gravity of Peker’s accusations, there has been no official investigation into them and he does not expect the Turkish government to conduct one. However, he does believe that in the absence of an official investigation, what Peker is claiming should demand more questions to be asked about the full extent of Turkey’s interactions with Venezuela.

“People need to ask questions about what actually is happening between Maduro and Erdoğan, between the Turkish and Venezuelan governments,” he said.

“Turkey has never had a relationship with Venezuela. Why, when it now has its best relationship with Venezuela, do these allegations come into the picture? That is why Sedat Peker’sallegations have some credibility.”

Source: https://ahvalnews.com/sedat-peker/mob-boss-accusations-beg-questions-about-turkeys-murky-relationship-venezuela?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1622930867

In recent years Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been relentless in his efforts to deliver on a secret promise he made to his inner circle a decade ago, which was to disrupt the NATO alliance when he had a chance and consolidate his power.

Ahead of the upcoming summit of NATO leaders on June 14 in Brussels, President Erdoğan’s track record shows that he has to some extent fulfilled his promise by driving a wedge between NATO allies and Turkey on a number of issues.

The promise was uncovered in 2011 by Turkish investigators who were probing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force network in Turkey.

“When I get a chance, I know what to do with NATO, Europe and Israel. I’m going to f*ck their mothers. NATO and the US are as terrorist as Israel,” Erdoğan, then prime minister and running the government, told his loyalist lawmakers in a private meeting.

The outrageous remarks that were uttered by Erdoğan were delivered during a conversation about the proposed establishment of a new radar base in Malatya’s Kürecik district as part of NATO’s missile defense system, which works with missile interceptors in Romania and Poland.

Erdoğan was clearly not happy with the NATO plans laid out at the 2010 Lisbon leaders summit but at the time felt he had to go along with them in the face of pressure from the military and other government agencies that considered Iran a threat to Turkey’s national security. The Turkish government had long talks with the US, in particular over naming Iran as a threat to the alliance and the possible sharing of intelligence with Israel.

Erdoğan was particularly feeling the heat domestically from the Turkish military, which supported the NATO project, and he had not consolidated enough power in his hands to overcome this resistance. In September 2011 Turkish officials signed a memorandum with the US on the deployment of the American radar in Kürecik as part of a NATO-backed missile defense system designed to protect European members of the alliance from missile threats.

Hayrettin Çakmak, a hard-core Islamist deputy from Bursa province and a suspect in the IRGC investigation, was among the attendees of the private meeting with Erdoğan. The other lawmaker was Seracettin Karayağız, a deputy from Muş province and another Islamist politician.

On October 19, 2010 both lawmakers reported what Erdoğan told them about the radar base to a senior Quds Force asset named Hüseyin Avni Yazıcıoğlu, a convicted felon who had served time on terrorism charges in connection to the Quds Force in the past. The meeting was held at a venue on Istanbul’s Çamlıca Hill, which overlooks the Bosporus. Yazıcıoğlu later compiled a report about the details of the conversation and turned it over to his handler, Naser Ghafari.

Nasar Ghafari was photographed while under surveillance meeting with his Turkish asset, Hüseyin Avni Yazıcıoğlu, a convicted felon.

The report along with dozens of other intel documents collected by Yazıcıoğlu was obtained by the police when Yazıcıoğlu’s disgruntled wife Kamile decided to blow the whistle on her husband after the two had marital problems. The police initially did not pay much attention to the wife’s allegations, and the local law enforcement in Bursa, where she first reported battery by her husband, treated the case as a simple domestic disturbance.

However, when the wife handed over documents, handwritten notes and digital materials such as flash drives, the police realized the seriousness of the matter and notified the Istanbul police counterterrorism department, which was working on a Quds Force investigation. The police conducted its own independent investigation, wiretapped the Yazıcıoğlus’s phones, ran surveillance on the Iranian handlers and other suspects and verified the wife’s allegations. To the surprise of investigators, Yazıcıoğlu turned out to be a close friend of Hakan Fidan, head of Turkish intelligence agency MIT.

Erdoğan’s private thoughts about the NATO radar base were discovered on a flash drive provided by the wife to the Istanbul Police Department in 2011. A police report dated November 25, 2011 and authorized by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court showed that IT specialists had recovered all the documents from the drive including those that had been deleted. The report, entered into the evidentiary file as part of criminal investigation No.2011/762 and pursued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, revealed that Yazıcıoğlu had collected a wealth of intelligence in Turkey.

According to the police report the document titled “FÜZE KALKANI GÖRÛŞLER.doc” was created on October 21, 2010 and accessed for the last time on July 3, 2011. A full translation of the document reads as follows:

Location: Istanbul, Çamlıca Hill.

“Date: 19 October 2010

“Seracettin Karayağız, deputy from Muş province / Hayrettin Çakmak, deputy from Bursa (and seven acquaintances]

“Seracettin Bey says Turkey had in the past turned its Iranian border area into a front line [battle] for the US, Europe and Israel. But today Turkey does won’t allow this area to become a front line and is resisting such attempts. It is even going beyond this by rapidly strengthening its ties with Iran and other neighboring countries, establishing economic, political and military relations and strengthening them.

“At this time, the US pressure on Turkey for a missile shield is not well intentioned. In the background of this demand that aims to contain Turkey lies an effort to sabotage our relations with our neighbors. As it was in the past, they want to put Turkey in a relationship of unilateral dependency [with the NATO/the West]. This situation is a trap that will destroy all the relations we have developed over the last eight years. And Tayyip Bey is aware of this, thinks the same and says the same things.

(Here, Mr. Hayrettin intervenes in the conversation and adds that Prime Minister [Erdogan] said: “When I get a chance, I know what to do with NATO, Europe and Israel. I’m going to f*ck their mothers. NATO and the US are as terrorist as Israel.”)

“Seracettin Bey: They do not want a Turkey that will be self-sustaining. It’s also important to know that stopping Iran is an important objective for them, and for that it is imperative that Turkey side with them. Moreover, Mr. Tayyip does not want to lose anything from this point forward. He wants to be influential in Africa and the Middle East. If we take a step back as the US wants on this missile shield, we would be denying what we have said and done so far. The Tayyip I’ve come to know will spoil this [NATO plan].”

In 2014, Erdoğan managed to hush up the Quds Force investigation and dismissed the police chiefs and prosecutors who were involved in the investigation, which incriminated his senior aides. In 2016, he dealt a severe blow to NATO by launching a massive purge of almost all pro-NATO staff officers including two-thirds of all generals and admirals from the alliance’s second largest army using a false flag coup as a pretext.

President Erdoğan announced that his government would not comply with US sanctions on Iran and vowed to undermine them by working with the Iranian government. In an unprecedented move, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar visited his Iranian counterpart, who was also later received in Turkey. Multiple agreements with Iran were signed including security protocols.

Erdoğan also moved closer to Russia and even purchased a long-range missile defense system despite strong objections from the US and NATO allies. He used each and every opportunity to undermine the unity in the alliance by diverging from NATO values, objectives and strategic goals, clashing with NATO allies in Libya, Syria, the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.

President Erdoğan and his associates also started entertaining the idea of cutting off the access of NATO allies to Incirlik Air Base, where US and alliance troops were deployed, as well as closing the Kürecik Radar Base.

The alleged involvement of Incirlik, where troops and military assets of the US and other NATO allies were deployed, in the military mobilization of July 15, 2016 was an important part of the government storyline in the false flag coup, with Turkish officials publicly accusing NATO allies, especially the US, of being behind the putschist attempt. There has been no evidence presented by the government to support accusations that US or other NATO allies were involved in the military mobilization that night.

In January 2018 Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on the TRT television network that he had delivered to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson the Turkish people’s demands regarding İncirlik during a meeting in Vancouver. In July 2018 Erdoğan for the first time raised the issue of closing İncirlik Air Base to the Americans, followed by similar comments from his neo-nationalist ally Doğu Perinçek.

By: Abdullah Bozkurt

Source: Nordic Monitor

Source: https://newsaboutturkey.com/2021/06/05/when-i-get-a-chance-i-know-what-to-do-with-nato-europe-and-israel-im-going-to-fck-their-mothers-erdogan/?feed_id=4332&_unique_id=60bbf423b79a4

Former Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Colonel General Onik Gasparyan, in an article published today in Armlur.am, accuses PM Nikol Pashinyan of being a cheap populist showman and warns him to tone down his empty rhetoric during the ongoing election

Gasparyan charges Pashinyan of feeding people “baseless emotional statements” to cover up the failings of the government.

There’s been an ongoing war of words between Gasparyan and Pashinyan following Armenia’s defeat in last year’s Karabakh war.

On February 25 of this year, Gasparyan and other senior commanders signed a statement calling on Pashinyan to resign. That same day, Pashinyan announced that he had sacked Gasparyan. Pashinyan said the statement by the army’s top brass amounted to a military coup attempt. Lieutenant-General Artak Davtyan replaced Gasparyan.

In the article, Gasparyan writes that he’s ready to assume all responsibility for his actions during the war, unlike Pashinyan.

“I am convinced that after the change of power, an objective investigation will be held, and each official will get what he deserves. Listen Nikol, do not go beyond the bounds of decency. I know that you are the greatest master of cheap shows, and that you cover up the absolute inability to govern the state by feeding the society baseless emotional statements,” Gasparyan writes.

Gasparyan says that Pashinyan is good at handing out political flyers to subway riders and jokes that many throw the flyers back in the prime minister’s face.

“Anyway, Nikol, thank you for not blaming me for Kennedy’s assassination,” Gasparyan writes.

Having survived being shot, stabbed, and severely beaten in his home French city of Nantes, well-known Azerbaijani vlogger Mahammad Mirzali says he’s receiving new warnings and that his life is in danger.

The threats have escalated since he gave an interview to the Armenian news outlet CivilNet on May 31 during which the popular social-media opposition activist issued a rare call for peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Mirzali, 27, told the Armenian-based interviewer only months after Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region late last year: “You are Armenian, I am Azerbaijani. Maybe there will be people in our countries who call us traitors. But it doesn’t matter what they say…. Our dialogue [now] is the germination of the first seed [of peace].”

He added: “After all, how long are we going to keep killing each other? It needs to be stopped.”

At another point in the interview, Mirzali compared his own country under authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev, with Armenia.

“To me you Armenians are happy,” he said. “At least you are free. We are crawling. [The Azerbaijani government] lied to us, saying that we won [the war against Armenia]. But where is that victory? Is it [considered] a victory that [we] let the Russian army into Nagorno-Karabakh?”

The online response to the interview has been overwhelmingly positive, but Mirzali believes the interview “infuriated” Aliyev, whose 18-year reign as Azerbaijani president is known for being undemocratic and regularly repressing any opposition or dissent.

Mirzali left Azerbaijan for France in 2016 after coming under increasing pressure from Azerbaijani authorities.

On the ground in Nantes, a series of ominous threats since the interview with CivilNet have Mirzali fearing he may be killed.

The day after the interview was published, a back window of Mirzali’s car was smashed and he says the message “this is for you” written in Turkish on a scrap of paper was left inside. Turkey and Azerbaijan share close cultural and political ties and Ankara was Baku’s main military supporter during last year’s war, which left more than 8,000 dead and led to Azerbaijan recapturing territory from Armenian forces.

The next morning, on June 2, Mirzali told RFE/RL he noticed “an Azerbaijani man speaking on the phone right outside my apartment” about 10 minutes after the vlogger’s parents left him to go shopping. He says the man took photos of him and then “walked to the door of my apartment and attempted to let himself in.”

The stranger fled before French police arrived.

Mirzali posted two tweets about the incidents, writing: “I’m feeling it. Soon enough I’ll be killed by…Aliyev’s regime. If I’m assassinated there’ll be two sides to blame. #Aliyev’s the first of course, and the other’s the #French government’s indifference.”

Mirzali has been critical of the local police, whom he said he does not trust.

While being interviewed by RFE/RL on June 3, the dissident interjected to say he had just received a text message. It was in Azeri and from an unrecognized number that said: “you should behave yourself when I’m around.”

The recent threats come just months after two violent attacks that Mirzali was fortunate to have survived.

Before dawn on October 6, 2020, Mirzali got inside his car in Nantes ready to begin his day as a deliveryman. Suddenly a man appeared from the darkness and tried to open the vehicle’s locked door. The stranger then pulled out a handgun and shot through the window, wounding Mirzali in the shoulder before the activist could drive away to safety.

In March, Mirzali survived a daylight stabbing attack in the center of Nantes that left him with wounds so severe he lost about three liters of blood and underwent six hours of surgery.

The vlogger has 268,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, Made In Azerbaijan, and some of his videos have racked up millions of views. The videos are often harshly critical of Azerbaijan’s ruling Aliyev family, particularly the president and his wife — the country’s vice president — and highlight alleged corruption in the oil-rich Caucasus country.

Jeanne Cavelier, from the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), told RFE/RL that her organization is in close contact with Mirzali.

“He’s scared and couldn’t sleep [on the night of June 2],” she said. “We strongly support his case, his life is in danger because of his publications. We know the Baku regime’s methods, which does not hesitate to harass, kidnap, and silence any critical voice — even beyond its borders.”

Headquartered in France, RSF vowed in a June 3 article that “If anything happens to blogger Mahammad Mirzali, we will hold Ilham Aliyev personally responsible.”

The vlogger says he has reached out to Human Rights Watch to seek help in relocating but has not received a response.

An unnamed spokesperson for the media watchdog told RFE/RL: “We are aware of the case but have not been in touch with [Mirzali] directly. We do call on the French authorities to ensure his safety and swiftly investigate any attacks against him.”

Asked why he continues to speak out against the Azerbaijani authorities, Mirzali says: “Our country and my family are persecuted by the Azerbaijani government, is it possible to remain silent? I have spoken out so far and will continue to [do so], even if it results in death.”

On May 2, Azerbaijani opposition activist Bayram Mammadov was found dead in Istanbul in an apparent drowning just days before he was due to visit Azerbaijan.

BBC Turkish reported an investigation had been launched. Some Azerbaijani activists are not ruling out foul play and questioned the idea the 25-year-old Mammadov fell into the sea or may have committed suicide.

• Amos Chapple

FRESNO – On May 28, Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles Ambassador Armen Baibourtian paid a working visit to the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno area is the first place in the U.S. West Coast where the Armenian community has taken root. Armenians have settled here since the 1880s. Presently, 50 thousand Armenians live.The three-day visit was organized by the Honorary Consul of Armenia in Fresno Berj Apkarian.

First, a meeting was held with local Armenian religious leaders, where Ambassador Baibourtian met with the spiritual pastors of the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Evangelical Churches in Fresno. Topics pertinent to enhancing a closer cooperation between Armenia and the Diaspora for the benefit of the Homeland were discussed.On the same day, the Consul General visited the Fresno Armenian Ararat Cemetery, and paid tribute to peerless writer William Saroyan at his grave. Ambassador Baibourtian also took part in a Talent Show initiated by the “Daniel Varuzhan” branch of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society. Later on, the Consul General toured the Charlie Keyan Armenian daily school greeted by Dr. Houri Kalamakerian along with the staff and got first-hand information about the school and its activities.Ambassador Baibourtian met with the leaders of all major Armenian organizations and political parties in Fresno, including ARF, ADLP, Knights of Vartan, Hamazkayin, AGBU, ARS, Keyan School, Tekeyan, Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, Mousa Ler, and XXX. Discussions were held in relation to areas of cooperation with the Consulate General of Armenia in Los Angeles. Ambassador Baibourtian expressed his gratitude for the financial-humanitarian support of the Armenian community of Fresno to Artsakh during the 44-day war. The role of the Armenian community in the context of the Homeland-Diaspora dynamics was discussed.During the visit, Ambassador Baibourtian visited Yettem and its St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church. The Consul General was hosted by Rev. Fr.  Mashtots Keshishian and the Parish Council Chairman Mayron Sheklian. Ambassador Baibourtian also visited two Armenian Evangelical churches (Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church and First Armenian Presbyterian Church) in Fresno. A. Baibourtian met with Senior Pastors Rev. Nerses Balabanian and Rev. Greg Haroutunian as well as members of the parish councils, who presented the mission and activities of their churches. Ambassador Baibourtian also visited the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Fowler, which was founded in 1910 and is considered to be the oldest Armenian church in California. The Consul General was received by Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Gomidas Zohrabian and the members of the Parish Council. Armen Baibourtian attended the Divine Liturgy, after which he took part in the lunch with parishioners.On May 29, on the occasion of the Armenian Republic Day, Ambassador Baibourtian gave a talk at St. Paul Armenian Apostolic Church titled “The Armenian Nation’s Aspiration for the Independent Statehood and its Realization”. The event was organized by Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Director of the Center for Armenian Studies at California State University in Fresno and co-sponsored by Berj Apkarian, Honorary Consul of Armenia in Fresno. Rev. Fr. Ashod Khachadourian of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in Fresno, Rev. Fr. Yessai Bedros of St. Paul Armenian Apostolic Church in Fresno, Rev. Fr. Gomidas Zohrabian of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church in Fowler, and Rev. Fr. Mashdots Keshishian of the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Yettem conducted a ceremony of the blessing of the Armenian flag and prayers for the Republic of Armenia.In an interview to Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian for the “All ThingsArmenian” program of the local radio, Ambassador Baibourtian spoke about this visit, activities of the Consulate General, as well as many topics pertinent to Artsakh and Armenia.

ԼՈՍ ԱՆՋԵԼԵՍՈՒՄ ՀՀ ԳԼԽԱՎՈՐ ՀՅՈՒՊԱՏՈՍ, ԴԵՍՊԱՆ ԱՐՄԵՆ ԲԱՅԲՈՒՐԴՅԱՆԻ ԱՅՑԸ ՍԱՆ ՀՈԱՔԻՆ ՀՈՎԻՏ ԵՎ ՖՐԵԶՆՈ
ՖՐԵԶՆՈ – Մայիսի 28-ին Լոս Անջելեսում ՀՀ գլխավոր հյուպատոս, արտակարգ և լիազոր դեսպան Արմեն Բայբուրդյանն աշխատանքային այց կատարեց Սան Հոաաին հովիտ և վարչական կենտրոն Ֆրեզնո։ Ֆրեզնոյի շրջանն առաջին վայրն է, որտեղ արմատներ է գցել ԱՄՆ արևմտյան ափի հայ համայնքը։ Հայերն այստեղ հաստատվել են դեռևս 1880-ական թվականներից։ Այստեղ այժմ բնակվում է 50 հազար հայ։Եռօրյա այցը կազմակերպել էր Ֆրեզնոյում ՀՀ պատվավոր հյուպատոս Պերճ Աբգարյանը։ Դեսպանի առաջին աշխատանքային հանդիպումը կայացավ կրոնական գործիչների հետ։ Ա․ Բայբուրդյանը հանդիպեց Հայ առաքելական և հայ ավետարանական եկեղեցիների հոգևոր հովիվների հետ։ Հանդիպմանը քննարկվեցին Հայաստան-Սփյուռք սերտ գործակցության թեմաներ՝ ի բարօրություն հայրենիքի։ Նույն օրը ՀՀ գլխավոր հյուպատոսն այցելեց Ֆրեզնոյի հայկական գերեզմանատուն, հարգանքի տուրք մատուցեց Վիլիամ Սարոյանի շիրիմին։  Այցի առաջին օրը դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը մասնակցեց նաև Համազգային հայ կրթական և մշակութային միության Դանիել Վարուժան մասնաճյուղի նախաձեռնած Տաղանդների շոուին, որը կազմակերպվել էր ՀՀ անկախության տոնի առթիվ։ ՀՀ գլխավոր հյուպատոսին հյուրընկալեցին նաև Չառլի Քեյան ամենօրյա հայկական դպրոցում։ Արմեն Բայբուրդյանը շրջայց կատարեց կրթօջախում։ Նույն օրը դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը հանդիպում ունեցավ Ֆրեզնոյի բոլոր հայկական կազմակերպությունների և կուսակցությունների ղեկավարների հետ։ Քննարկվեցին ՀՀ գլխավոր հյուպատոսության հետ համագործակցության ուղղությունները։ Դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը երախտագիտություն հայտնեց 44-օրյա պատերազմի օրերին Ֆրեզնոյի հայ համայնքի՝ Արցախին ֆինանսական աջակցության համար։ Քննարկվեց նաև հայ համայնքի դերը և գործունեության ուղղությունները Հայրենիք-Սփյուռք համատեքստում։Դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը այցի շրջանակներում եղավ նաև Եդեմ քաղաքում, որտեղ այցելեց Սբ․ Մաիրիամ Աստվածածին Հայ առաքելական եկեղեցի։ Գլխավոր հյուպատոսը հյուրընկալվեց քահանա Մաշտոց Քեշիշյանին և ծխական խորհրդի նախագահ Մայրոն Շեքլյանին։ Այցի ընթացքում դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը եղավ նաև Հայ Ավետարանական երկու եկեղեցիներում (Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church, First Armenian Presbyterian Church): Ա․ Բայբուրդյանը հանդիպեց եկեղեցական խորհուրդների անդամների և վերապատվելիներ Գրեգ Հարությունյանի և Ներսես Բալաբանյանի հետ, որոնք ներկայացրին Հայ ավետարանական եկեղեցիների գործունեությունը։Դեսպան Բայբուրդյանն այցելեց նաև Ֆաուլեր քաղաքի Սբ․ Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ Հայ առաքելական եկեղեցի, որը հիմնադրվել է 1910 թվականին և համարվում է Սան Հոաքին հովտի ամենահին հայկական եկեղեցին։ Գլխավոր հյուպատոսին հյուրընկալեցին Տեր Կոմիտաս Զոհրաբյանը և խորհրդի անդամները։ Արմեն Բայբուրդյանը ներկա գտնվեց սուրբ պատարագին, որից հետո մասնակցեց ընդունելությանը՝ ծխականների հոծ ներկայությամբ։Աշխատանքային այցի շրջանակում դեսպան Բայբուրդյան Ֆրեզնոյի Սբ․ Պողոս Հայ Առաքելական եկեղեցու տարածքում կազմակերպված միջոցառմանը՝ նիրված Հայաստանի Հանրապետության տոնին։ Հոգևոր հայրերն իրականացրին դրոշի օրհնման արարողություն և հանրապետական մաղթանք։                                                                 Գլխավոր հյուպատոսն որպես բանախոս հանդես եկավ ծավալուն ելույթով՝ <<Հայ ժողովրդի անկախ պետականություն կերտելու նվիրական իղձերը և դրանց իրականացման ճանապարհը>> խորագրի ներքո։ Միջոցառումը կազմակերպել էին Ֆրեզնոյում Կալիֆորնիայի պետական համալսարանի Հայագիտության կենտրոնի ղեկավար, պրոֆ․ Բարլո Տեր-Մկրտչյանը և Ֆրեզնոյում ՀՀ պատվավոր հյուպատոս Պերճ Աբգարյանը։Այցի արդյունքների, ինչպես նաև Արցախին և Հայաստանին առնչվող շատ թեմաների մասին դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը խոսեց տեղական ռադիոալիքի “All Things Armenian” հաղորդման շրջանակում պրոֆ․ Բարլո Տեր-Մկրտչյանին տված հարցազրույցի ընթացքում։

Eleven Armenian soldiers received various degrees of bodily injuries during a skirmish with Azerbaijani servicemen in Syunik region’s Khoznavar village, reports Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor.

According to various telegram channels, about 30 Azeris were also injured during the fight.

According to the Armenia’s Prosecutor, on May 20, at roughly 10 AM, a group of Azerbaijani servicemen crossed the state border into Armenia’s Khoznavar village and advanced roughly 1.5 km. They claimed that the territory belongs to Azerbaijan and threatened to open fire if Armenian soldiers came close. 

The advancing Armenian servicemen were able to successfully push the Azerbaijani troops back to their starting positions. 

On the evening of the same day, at around 9:10 PM, Azerbaijani servicemen again crossed into Armenia, which was followed by a skirmish with Armenian servicemen on the border. Eleven Armenian soldiers were injured in the fighting, and the Azerbaijani soldiers again retreated.

Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor has opened a criminal case.

On May 12, the Armenian government confirmed that about 200 Azerbaijani troops had crossed the border into Armenia in various parts of Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces. Negotiations between representatives from the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments to resolve the issue, slated for May 19, fell apart after the Azerbaijani side failed to attend. As of now, the situation remains unchanged.