YEREVAN. – 168 Hour daily of Armenia writes: In recent days, the RF [Russian Federation] has intensified contacts—at various levels—with Armenia and Azerbaijan’s authorities.

Another noteworthy and telling episode, which shows the attitude of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, the Kremlin towards Armenia’s government, is Putin’s telephone conversations with [Armenian PM Nikol] Pashinyan and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev.

The differences observed in the two [respective] messages posted on the Kremlin’s official website are striking in the case when the Kremlin has officially traditionally sought to maintain parity in contacts between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

First, in the messages of almost all Pashinyan-Putin telephone conversations, the Russian side notes that the telephone conversation was initiated by the Armenian side, thus emphasizing that the caller, the one expecting something from those relations, is Pashinyan. Also, the Kremlin does not give any qualifications and assessments to Armenian-Russian relations, which is a noteworthy fact.

YEREVAN. – Another 12 complete coronavirus genomes were transcribed in Armenia using the third generation sequencing, the Ministry of Health informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

The samples were provided by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention on March 18.

In contrast to the January research, COVID-19’s British strain (B.1.1.7, VOC-202012/01) was detected in 10 of these 12 samples.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Armenia is currently 194,852, and the number of deaths is 4,456.

Azerbaijan is following Turkey’s Syria playbook in seeking to erase the cultural and religious identity of areas recently captured in the disputed Nagorno- Karabakh region, Armenian news outlet Massis Post said on Thursday. 

In September, Azerbaijan launched a successful military offensive against pro-Armenia forces in Nagorno- Karabakh, regaining control of much of the territory, including the second largest settlement of Shusha. 

In a recent visit to the region, Azeri President İlham Aliyev ordered the destruction of “historical inscriptions on the Armenian churches, calling them fake”, the Massis Post said.

Turkey provided crucial military support to Azerbaijan during the conflict. And the Azeri presence in Nagorno-Karabakh has come to closely resemble the Turkish occupation of the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin in Syria, the news outlet said.

Turkey took control of Afrin in March 2018 after a cross-border incursion against Kurdish-led forces known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG). 

The region is now dominated by Turkish-backed Syrian militia groups, which are accused by the United Nations of atrocities including looting, extortion, and desecration of cultural sites. 

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group, more than 2,500 Syrian militants were also deployed by Turkey to fight alongside the Azeri armed forces in Nagorno- Karabakh. 

“One could have thought the only goal of sending the Syrian mercenaries to Nagorno-Karabakh was to instruct the Azerbaijanis in the ways of committing war crimes,” Massis Post said.

Azerbaijan now aims to “make it impossible for the uprooted people to return to their homeland,” the Armenian news outlet said. 

“Ankara has made every effort to achieve this in Syria. Baku must not be allowed to do the same in Armenia.”

Source: https://ahvalnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/ahvalnews.com/nagorno-karabakh/azerbaijan-follows-turkeys-syria-playbook-nagorno-karabakh-report?amp

The US intelligence community highlighted a cyber attack from Turkey as part of clandestine efforts to influence the US presidential election in a foreign threat report issued on March 15, 2021.

The declassified report, released by the National Intelligence Council (NIC), listed a hack by Turkish group RootAyyıldız (also referred as RootAyyildiz) on a website set up for the Biden-Harris presidential campaign as a foreign threat to the 2020 US elections.

“In November, hackers promoting Turkish nationalist themes breached and defaced a website previously established for a candidate in the US presidential campaign, according to US cybersecurity press,” the NIC stated in the report.

The defacement of the site lasted more than a day. It was a promotional website for Biden and his running mate, raising funds for the campaign and providing information. The site was later redirected to iwillvote.com in early November according to a screenshot from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

This is the first time that the NIC has listed Turkey, a NATO ally, as a country where an attempt to interfere in the US elections originated. The NIC is best known for producing National Intelligence Estimates, which are intelligence community-wide forecasts of issues and challenges facing the security of the United States. In the report Turkey was mentioned with other countries such as Russia, Iran, China and Venezuela and Hezbollah, a pro-Iran entity in Lebanon.

In November 2020, when RootAyyıldız hacked the Vote Joe website, vote.joebiden.com, the hackers posted a nationalist and Islamist message that by and large repeated the narrative often promoted by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials in Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The hackers identified themselves as “Turkish Muslim Defacer” and emphasized that they follow the Turkish president, described as “Reis” (Chief) in the posted message, and are on the path of a Turkish Islamist jihadist campaign to dominate the world. The opposition political parties were alleged to have been supported by the US, and the hackers warned of further consequences if the US did not leave Turkey alone.

The translated version of the message is as follows:

“We made the ablution [used here as a means to clean oneself to get ready to be martyr in jihad] before and set out on a journey, we said our own funeral prayer, we sharpened our blade for our brother. We made our pledge to the Great Sultan [late Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, an authoritarian ruler revered by Islamist circles in Turkey]. We will kill for Reis [Chief – President Erdoğan] anybody who sets their eyes on our [Turkish-Islamic] cause.

“Damn those who live for money and fame, greetings to those who live for the Islamic cause. From here, I warn the US-backed, so-called [opposition] political parties like the CHP [main opposition Republican People’s Party], HDP [pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party] and the Iyi [conservative/nationalist Good] Party.

“We’ll be your nightmare if you don’t take your hands off my [Turkish] state, my nation. We will make you afraid of walking in the street [in shame] by revealing your most private conversations.

“RootAyyıldız is not a group or organization but a patriot who fights alone. We hail anybody who fights for Turk and Islam. May Allah be our help. We do not use social media. Don’t be fooled by fake accounts.”

The hackers also posted a picture of President Erdoğan and Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II on the defaced website.

A caption below the picture read: “We are the ones who stopped the tanks with our bare hands on the night of July 15 [2016 failed coup]. We are those who killed death that night. We have been waiting for Archers’ Hill for 15 centuries [a reference to a scene in the Battle of Uhud fought by the Muslim Prophet Muhammad]! We are the keepers of that red [Turkish] flag that will never abandon its shadow on us.”

Archers’ Hill has often been mentioned by the Turkish president in his campaign rallies, especially when he wanted to appeal to the younger generation in a bid to convince voters to stick with him. Muslim archers in the battle left their designated spot on the hill during the campaign, defying Muhammad’s orders. That led to a surprise attack by the enemy, who exploited the archers’ absence in a key area and caused disarray among Muslim ranks by the cavalry offensive.

RootAyyıldız is believed to have connections to elements of the Turkish government, specifically with intelligence agency MIT and the police department. Its attacks on foreign governments, entities and individuals have coincided with the growing noise among Turkish officials who leveled harsh criticism and threats against such foreign governments, entities and individuals.

President Erdoğan enjoyed a personal relationship with Donald Trump and was concerned that the Biden presidency would prove to be challenging in promoting his agenda. The pro-government media was cheering for Trump while bashing Biden during the campaign. It was not surprising to see that a hacker group linked to his government wanted to send a message by hacking Joe Biden’s campaign website.

RootAyyıldız also targeted the Greek government and institutions during heightened tension between the two countries in August 2020. The official website of the Bihar Education Department in India was hacked in August 2019 by RootAyyıldız, which posted messages in praise of Pakistan and Islam. In October 2020 the group hacked the Armenian Football Federation’s website during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and posted messages in support of Azerbaijan.

Source: https://nordicmonitor.com/2021/03/us-intelligence-community-marked-turkish-cyber-attack-on-bidens-campaign-site-as-a-bid-to-influence-us-elections/

Nordic Monitor

Turkish military intelligence asked a judge to block Nordic Monitor’s Twitter account, claiming that an article published by the Swedish-based news outlet could taint the reputation of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

Ankara 3rd Criminal Court of Peace Judge Mustafa Gürbüz granted the request that was filed on March 26, 2021 by the TSK’s General Staff Intelligence Directorate and ordered a block of Nordic Monitor’s Twitter account two days later. The judgment, numbered 2021/4105, was sent for enforcement to Twitter and Internet service providers in Turkey.

The complaint filed by the TSK came after Nordic Monitor had published a classified military document that exposed how the Turkish military listed 131 islands, islets and rock formations in the Aegean Sea whose status was disputed with neighboring Greece and prepared plans to take them over during a conflict.

The secret document, a PowerPoint presentation with 16 slides, included a map with the disputed locations marked. The presentation appears to have been prepared by the War Academies. The secret document was found buried in the annexes of a case file in Izmir.

The judge did not bother hearing arguments from either Twitter or Nordic Monitor and ruled as requested by the Turkish military. The decision to censor a news article is yet another indication of how the the Turkish judiciary has become a tool in the hands of the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after a massive purge of more than 4,000 judges and prosecutors on fabricated charges.

The judge’s rubber-stamp order asking Twitter to remove the news article and cut off access to Nordic Monitor’s Twitter account: 

The criminal justice system has often been abused by Erdoğan to persecute government critics, leading to the imprisonment of nearly 200 journalists, a world record. Some 180 media outlets critical of the government were seized and shut down in 2016, while many news websites were blocked in Turkey.

Twitter said it would not take any action on the judge’s order to block Nordic Monitor’s account for the time being. Most court orders asking the US-based Twitter to suspend, cancel or block users originate in Turkey.

According to Twitter’s Transparency Report covering the January to June 2020 period, Turkey issued 513 court orders for removal requests in addition to 3,812 other legal demands (orders by police, prosecutors’ offices or regulatory bodies). Twitter said Turkey, which had historically been the highest requester until the previous reporting period, ranked fourth this period with 10 percent of global legal demands. Turkey had 91 percent of all censorship requests in the form of court judgments in the July 1, 2018-Dec. 31, 2018 period.

A slide from secret PowerPoint presentation shows Turkish military plans for islands, islets and rock formations in the Aegean Sea: 

Nordic Monitor has previously been hit with similar Turkish court judgments. On January 31, 2019 a court in Ankara ordered a block on Nordic Monitor’s story that exposed how the Turkish judiciary in January 2019 authenticated a leaked voice recording that revealed top Turkish officials debating a plot to stage a false flag incident in order to intervene militarily in Syria.

The decision to block Nordic Monitor’s Twitter thread was made by Judge Ali Keles of the Ankara 2nd Penal Court of Peace a day after the government of President Erdoğan filed a petition to that effect. The judge’s order cited “national security” as justification for his decision, which ordered Twitter to remove or block access to the content.

The article that was referenced on Twitter was titled “Turkish court authenticates audio that revealed spy agency MIT’s false flag in Syria,” published on Nordic Monitor’s website in January 2019. The article reveals how a Turkish court confirmed the authenticity of a leaked audio clip in which top-ranking Turkish officials are heard discussing the possibility of an intervention in Syria in a false flag operation conducted by Turkish intelligence agency MİT .

In the leaked recording then-Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, then-Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and then-Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler are heard discussing military operations in Syria in Davutoğlu’s foreign ministry office on March 13, 2013.

Fidan says in the recording: “If needed, I would dispatch four men to Syria. [Then] I would have them fire eight mortar shells at the Turkish side and create an excuse for war.”

Another incident in which a Turkish judge ordered a block against Nordic Monitor on Twitter took place when Nordic Monitor published an article on systematic failures and troubles with drones that were domestically manufactured by Turkish firm Baykar, whose owners include Selçuk Bayraktar, President Erdoğan’s son-in-law.

The revelations, documented in a classified Turkish military document, were published on May 11, 2019 and exposed how the government covered up problems with the Bayraktar drone system when ground data terminals frequently malfunctioned, with the problem resuming shortly after they returned to service following repair.

Erdoğan’s son-in-law never challenged the documents or the substance of the report, but instead he — through the Turkish president’s lawyer, Ahmet Özel — claimed in his legal complaint with the Istanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace judge on May 17, 2019 that his rights had been violated.

Judge Mustafa Kolay issued his verdict on the same day under decision No. 2019/3966, agreeing with the plaintiff’s claim that the article contained statements insulting Bayraktar and as such his rights had been violated. The article identifies Erdoğan’s son-in-law only once as the chief technology officer for Baykar, which manufactures the drones.

The Turkish Internet Law was criticized for its shortcomings by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, which said in an opinion on June 15, 2016 that the law was not in line with European norms. “The only measure provided for in Law No. 5651 is the measure of access-blocking/removal of content which is the most severe measure possible on the Internet,” the commission emphasized. It added that “[the] Law does not provide for any other measure, less intrusive than blocking/removal, as for instance, requirement of ‘explanation’ from the interested party [content provider, website owner, etc.], ‘response’, ‘correction’, ‘apology’, ‘content renewal’, ‘access renewal’ etc.”

Source: https://nordicmonitor.com/2021/04/turkish-military-rushes-to-censor-news-article-on-leaked-invasion-plans-for-islands-in-aegean/

GLENDALE – On April 1, Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Armen Baibourtian met with Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo at the historic Pasadena City Hall. Deputy to the Mayor Vannia De La Cuba also participated in the meeting.This meeting was the first since the election of Victor Gordo as Mayor of the city of Pasadena and the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. Taking the opportunity, Ambassador Baibourtian congratulated Mayor Gordo on assuming this important position. In his turn, Mayor Gordo expressed his delight that the city where he holds the office has a tangible Armenian population. He mentioned that the local Armenian-American community have made great contribution to the development of the city.Ambassador Baibourtian and Mayor Gordo discussed several ideas and concepts for initiating new cooperation programs, the implementation of which would enable to elevate the mutual cooperation to a new level. It was mutually agreed to promptly proceed to the first steps in that direction. The interlocutors decided to hold their meetings on a regular basis.Victor Gordon was elected Pasadena’s third Citywide-elected Mayor on November 3, 2020. He has been a member of the Pasadena City Council since 2001.The world-renowned Caltech’s (California Institute of Technology) 37 Nobel Laureates have brought 38 Nobel Prizes home to Pasadena.

ԼՈՍ ԱՆՋԵԼԵՍՈՒՄ ՀՀ ԳԼԽԱՎՈՐ ՀՅՈՒՊԱՏՈՍ, ԴԵՍՊԱՆ ԱՐՄԵՆ ԲԱՅԲՈՒՐԴՅԱՆԸ ՀԱՆԴԻՊԵՑ ՓԱՍԱԴԻՆԱՅԻ ՔԱՂԱՔԱՊԵՏ ՎԻԿՏՈՐ ԳՈՐԴՈՅԻ ՀԵՏ
ԳԼԵՆԴԵՅԼ – Ապրիլի 1-ին Լոս Անջելեսում ՀՀ գլխավոր հյուպատոս, արտակարգ և լիազոր դեսպան Արմեն Բայբուրդյանը հանդիպեց Փասադինայի քաղաքապետ Վիկտոր Գորդոյի հետ։ Հանդիպումը տեղի ունեցավ 145 հազար բնակչություն ունեցող Փասադինայի քաղաքապետարանի պատմական շենքում։ Զրույցին մասնակցում էր քաղաքապետի տեղակալ Վանիա Դե Լա Կուբան։Այս հանդիպումն առաջինն էր Փասադինայի քաղաքապետի պաշտոնում Վիկտոր Գորդոյի ընտրվելուց և համավարակի պատճառով կիրառվող սահմանափակումներից ի վեր։ Դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը, առիթն օգտագործելով, շնորհավորեց քաղաքապետ Գորդոյին պատասխանատու պաշտոնին անցնելու կապակցությամբ։ Քաղաքապետ Վիկտոր Գորդոն իր հերթին ուրախություն հայտնեց, որ պաշտոնավարում է հայաշատ քաղաքում, որտեղ ամերիկահայերը մեծ ներդրում ունեն քաղաքի տարբեր ոլորտների զարգացման գործում։Դեսպան Բայբուրդյանը և քաղաքապետ Գորդոն քննարկեցին համագործակցության մի քանի գործնական ծրագրերի գաղափարներ, որոնց իրագործումը հնարավորություն կտա փոխգործակցությունը նոր մակարդակի բարձրացնել։ Որոշվեց առաջիկայում առաջին քայլը կատարել այդ ուղղությամբ, ինչի մասին լրացուցիչ կտեղեկացվի։ Զրուցակիցները պայմանավորվեցին իրենց  հանդիպումներին պարբերական բնույթ տալ։Վիկտոր Գորդոն քաղաքապետ է ընտրվել 2020 թվականի նոյեմբերի 3-ի համաքաղաքային ընտրություններում։ Նա Փասադինայի քաղաքային խորհրդի անդամ է 2001 թվականից։Փասադինայում գտնվող աշխարհահռչակ Կալիֆորնիայի տեխնոլոգիական ինստիտուտը քաղաքին հատուկ պատվի է արժանացրել Նոբելյան մրցանակի 37 դափնեկիրներ տալով։

It’s clear that Armenia was in a better state during the administration of Robert Kocharyan and that the use of his experience is very important in the current situation. This is what former Minister of Defense of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Seyran Ohanyan told yerkir.am.

“I highly respect Robert Kocharyan, and if he has decided to enter politics, I unequivocally support him because Armenia was more organized, security was on stronger foundations, the economy developed and the foundation for tourism was laid due to the knowledge and experience of Robert Kocharyan, and, of course, there have also been shortcomings during his administration,” Ohanyan said, adding that if Kocharyan invites him to run in the snap parliamentary elections and join his team, he will accept the offer.

I don’t agree with the opinion that the war is not over. The war is over, a truce has been declared, and large-scale military operations aren’t being conducted. This is what Director of the Caucasus Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan told reporters today, adding that this doesn’t mean that a new war is ruled out and that Azerbaijan isn’t taking any actions.

According to him, Azerbaijan is trying to obtain all the dividends from its victory.

“The Azerbaijani authorities are seeking to hit Armenians where it hurts the most. A lot is done for the internal audience. The loss of territories and people is what hurts us Armenians the most, and the authorities’ first direction is the occupation in Armenia’s territories and on the line of contact of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The second and third directions are the prisoners of war and the strategy on communication in the Lachin corridor. Another issue is Meghri where the Azerbaijanis will try to approve the version that Turkey needs. This is a political project, not economic,” Iskandaryan said.

As far as Armenia’s authorities are concerned, the analyst said it’s clear that something is going on behind closed doors, but if we look at the public, one gets the impression that almost nothing is happening. “However, it’s important to understand that there aren’t enough resources to advance own interests. The resources need to be regained, but there are no such opportunities now,” he concluded.

WASHINGTON, DC (barnabasfund.org) — A report from the US Department of State released 30 March 2021 has confirmed the role of Turkey in supporting Azerbaijan’s war against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices also highlight war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during the conflict, including military strikes against civilian targets and the torture and abuse of Armenian prisoners.

The report states that Azerbaijan’s invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh was conducted “with Turkish support”.

A separate resolution of the European Parliament, published 11 March, condemned Turkey’s action of sending Syrian mercenaries to fight for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Katabkah, “in violation of international law”.

After the conflict Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared, “The crescent and star embellish the skies of Karabakh now thanks to the efforts of our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters … The Azerbaijani flag flies proudly over Nagorno-Karabakh as a symbol of our martyrs’ valour.”

Turkey’s role in the conflict and the accounts of Azerbaijani brutality and abuse have raised fears about the possibility of a new Armenian genocide.

Nagorno-Karabakh  is part of the historic homeland of the Armenian people, who around 301 AD became the first Christian nation, and the region still contains many ancient churches and monasteries. Karabakh was placed within Azerbaijan by the USSR in 1923.

Azerbaijan war crimes described as “credible” and “significant”

The US Department of State also cites “significant human rights issues” perpetrated by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, including “unlawful killings, civilian casualties, and inhuman treatment”.

These include in Stepanakert the use of aerial bombardment, artillery and cluster munitions against civilian targets such as medical centres and ambulances, gas and electricity plants, sources of food and water, and “schools and pre-schools”.

In October 2020 videos appeared showing Azerbaijani soldiers mocking and then killing two Armenian civilians in the town of Hadrut, later identified as 25-year-old Yuriy Adamyan and 73-year-old Benik Hakobyan.

The report also describes as “credible” accounts of Azerbaijani abuse and murder of civilian detainees and the torture of military prisoners of war.

Following the closure of borders between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1991, the report notes, “inflammatory rhetoric” became more common. By 2020, “an entire generation had grown up listening to hate speech against Armenians”.

In March 2021 the Armenian National Commission for the UNESCO condemned the alleged demolition of a church building in Mekhakavan, Nagorno-Karabakh, describing it as “another act of cultural crime by Azerbaijan”.

A man has reportedly presented to a Melbourne hospital with blood clotting a week after having the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine.

The 44-year-old man received the AstraZeneca jab on March 22 and has since presented to a hospital in Melbourne with a very low platelet count and blood clots, 7NEWS reported, citing the ABC.

It is not yet known if the man’s clotting is related to the vaccine.

Australia’s deputy chief health officer Michael Kidd is expected to provide an update during a press conference on Friday afternoon.

This comes a week after Canada suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under age 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots.

On Friday, British regulators said they had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events after the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, 25 more than previously reported.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said on Thursday it had received no such reports of clotting events following use of the vaccine made by BioNTech SE and Pfizer.

The health officials said they still believe the benefits of the vaccine in the prevention of COVID-19 far outweigh any possible risk of blood clots.

Majority of Australians are expected to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine as it is manufactured by CSL in Melbourne.