Since yesterday, Facebook users have been sharing excerpts from the correspondence with Hovik Aghazaryan, deputy of the “Civil Contract” faction of the National Assembly, in which it can be seen how the deputy of the ruling faction curses the users who write to him and their relatives in response to citizens’ criticisms.

It should be noted that the users were angered by Aghazaryan’s post in which he apologized, according to him, to the international civilized society, that he “did not completely eradicate the manifestations typical of wild and cannibalistic tribes from the nation.”

Aghazaryan apologized yesterday for burning the flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the opening ceremony of the European Heavyweight Championship.

We asked a member of the CP to comment on the inappropriate behavior, but Aghazaryan said that his page was probably hacked, he said that he was not the author of the comments.

“For several hours, my friends have been calling me, asking what’s going on, I heard from them. I didn’t log into my page during the weekend, I organized a gathering with my student friends in Kanakeravan, I don’t deny that the post is mine, but I didn’t use the messenger. Perhaps someone used my messenger at the same time, maybe my page was hacked, I asked my assistant to change the password,” Aghazaryan said. When asked who could use his page, “What do I know?” Aghazaryan was angry.

As you know, members of the National-Democratic Pole (NDP) Council in the USA, Jirayr Sefilyan and Ara Papyan, are holding meetings with current and former US officials and representatives of the Armenian community,

with the aim of strengthening NDP ties with the mentioned circles. In order to organize the meetings with American official circles, NDB has involved the famous Livingston Group as a specialized mediator of state public relations and communication. Taking advantage of the transparency provided by the legislation regulating lobbying activities in the USA, a certain group of Diaspora Armenians is trying to discredit the cooperation between the NDB and the Livingstone Group, presenting the latter as a pro-Turkish organization. In all of this, they allegedly rely on the fact that it provided public relations and communications brokerage services to the governments of Turkey (until 2008) and Azerbaijan (until 2009). It should be noted that there is not a single large lobbying organization in Washington that does not represent Turkey or Azerbaijan. The latter have worked with all well-known American mediation organizations, including the Livingstone Group. It is also necessary to mention that in fact, in 2020, the Livingstone Group refused to sign the contract offered to them by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war. The cooperation of the Livingstone Group with the NDB is managed by Elias Gerasolis, a well-known Greek lobbyist in Washington, formerly director of legislative affairs at the American Hellenic Institute, and the Livingstone Group represented and represents Greek interests as well. NDB is honored to be represented in Washington by such a prestigious organization as the Livingstone Group, one of the best in its field, to advance the important agenda of strengthening US-RA relations. Instead of spreading conscious misinformation, we advise the well-known circle of diaspora to think about their activities aimed at distracting our public from the most important agenda of restoring the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia (including Artsakh) and strengthening security and directed by the Kremlin for decades. People who live in “glass houses” should not throw “stones”. Council of the National-Democratic Pole, 15. 04. 2023 c. Yerevan Write to Vahe Gasparyan:

Lusine Shahverdyan

Samvel Babayan, the former commander of the Artsakh Armed Forces, and former Secretary of the Security Council, who moved to Artsakh in mid-February, is active. For about a month and a half, Babayan and his party members have been carrying out an active “campaign” although not publicly, meeting with different sections of the public, consulting with political and public sector representatives, visiting villages, schools, various institutions, trying to create an atmosphere of public support. create around them.

It’s no secret that after the 44-day war, the attitude of a large number of Artsakh citizens changed towards Babayan, who was active in bunkering and closely cooperating with the RA authorities. The image of the hero and eternal “commander” somewhat faded. S. After the war, Babayan left Artsakh and came to Armenia, but his and the RA authorities’ waters did not flow in the same stream, and 2 years later he returned to Artsakh again with ambitions to assume a role here. And for that, of course, first you need to have public support, which is what Babayan is trying to do with his activism.
However, our Artsakh sources say that Babayan has not been able to restore the previous attitude towards him, because they consider him Nikol Pashinyan’s man and they cannot forgive him for joining the Pashinyan camp. Moreover, Babayan criticizes both Nikol Pashinyan and Arayik Harutyunyan during his contacts with people, saying that they are not taking the right steps to get Artsakh out of this situation, at the same time, he does not specify what he wants to do, how he imagines it. the way out of the situation. in one place he says that he imagines the fate of Artsakh in strengthening and challenging the Azerbaijanis, in another environment he advances the Pashinyan line of reintegration and peaceful coexistence with Azerbaijan. In other words, it plays on two strings, which does not create confidence among people.

Nevertheless, when meeting people, he tries to convince them that first of all, he needs to solve the internal problems, to strengthen himself inside, to have power himself, to implement a plan to get out of the situation in a short time. Our sources say that Babayan aspires to the post of state minister, who also heads the operational headquarters formed after the blockade. And in order to take office, he must form a public demand.

Time will tell whether Babayan will succeed or not, however, according to our sources in Artsakh, a wide consolidation is not forming around him. A few days ago, the press wrote that the teaching staff of one of the schools rejected Babayan’s offer to visit them. According to some news reports, Babayan’s one-time teammates, the proxies of his party in the previous elections, prevented Babayan and his party members from entering the villages of Martakert. Despite this, in the last few days, his supporters have been visiting houses and handing out invitations to people about the meeting expected in the coming days, which has been scheduled at the “Nadezhda” wedding hall in Stepanakert. Babayan has planned to organize an impressive gathering, which will become the business card to bring his ambitions to a practical stage.

According to our information, Babayan’s team intends to set up tents in Stepanakert’s Revival Square after April 26, hold round-the-clock gatherings, criticize the authorities for inaction, and even directly demand: give me that position and 100 days, and you will see the results. In political circles, they believe that Babayan will succeed only if there is an agreement between Araik Harutyunyan and Pashinyan on this issue. And if we take into account that Babayan took over the meat business of Artsakh, then there is a high probability that he was sent to Artsakh by Pashinyan himself, that is why Arayik Harutyunyan meets Babayan’s wishes.

Let’s remind that before the war, in 2019, Babayan organized a signature collection in Artsakh to make constitutional changes, he wanted to become the president, and now the process is almost the same, just the name of the position has been changed: not president, but minister of state. Especially since there was a precedent for this in Artsakh, the current Minister of State Gurgen Nersisyan once received the position of the chief prosecutor of Artsakh by striking a tent and doing actions.

HG: Let’s note that the circles close to the government of RA have started a campaign against State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan in recent days, and yesterday the former Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Hayk Khanumyan wrote that “the post of Artsakh State Minister is occupied by a narcissistic misunderstanding”. And the situation in Artsakh continues to be very tense, with completely closed roads. And the Russian peacekeepers are no longer playing any role and cannot control the insolence of the Azerbaijanis.

Ամբողջական հոդվածը կարող եք կարդալ այս հասցեով՝ : https://hraparak-am.translate.goog/post/32637ea68ea030da710e2f15ffb24b33?_x_tr_sl=hy&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

© 2008 – 2021 «Հրապարակ օրաթերթ»

The fact of burning the Azerbaijani flag in Yerevan during the opening of the European Weightlifting Championship has caused intense discussions on social networks.

Some of the Armenian users are excited about the démarch made by the famous stylist Aram Nikolyan, noting that similar actions, as a form of protest, take place in different corners of the world, the other part has the diametrically opposite point of view and claims that burning a flag is embarrassing our country. the country’s sports reputation, implies sanctions by international sports structures and that will additionally inflame the anger of Azerbaijanis, endangering the lives of Armenian soldiers standing on the border.

Leaving aside the fairness and reasonableness of both opinions, let’s talk about some facts.
First of all, since years, by virtue of a sad tradition, in Azerbaijan or Turkey, as well as in important international sports competitions with the participation of athletes from those countries, as a rule, Armenian athletes have been subjected to various humiliations, they have been attacked, insulted, stones thrown, etc. For example, in 2011 During the World Boxing Championship held in Baku in October, a group of Azeris attacked Armenian athletes. Gassed Azeris one by one entered the sports complex intended for holding competitions and, occupying places as close as possible to the ring, waited for the performance of the Armenian athlete. When our boxer and trainers appeared near the ring, the Azeris hit them with stones, shouting: “Armenians, leave, shame on the inviters, Karabakh or death” etc… The fight was stopped, the Armenians left the hall.

The head of “Karabakh Liberation Organization” Akif Naghy stated. “We have been preparing for several days and knowing that Armenians will enter the ring today, we decided to stone them. Our goal is to prevent Armenians from participating in competitions. If our voice is not heard, more extreme measures will be taken.”

In 2015, after the victory of Karabakh athlete Ashot Danielyan at the Sambo World Cup held in Moscow, the Azerbaijani athlete ostentatiously bowed during the playing of the Armenian national anthem.

It was due to the racist, anti-Armenian propaganda prevailing in Azerbaijan and Baku’s failure to provide sufficient security guarantees that in May 2019, a decision was made in London that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not participate in the final match of the Europa League as part of “Arsenal”, which will take place in Baku.

In 2022, the representative of Turkey caused a scandal at the European U20 weightlifting championship in Durres, Albania. He refused to shake the hand of declared champion Garik Karapetyan (96 kg) after the playing of the Armenian national anthem.

In March of this year, during the under-23 European wrestling championship in Bucharest, Karapet Manvelyan, competing in the 55 kg weight category, defeated Rahim Hasanov from Azerbaijan with a score of 7:1. After losing, the representative of the neighboring country showed dirty behavior by hitting the Armenian wrestler, after which he was disqualified.

As for the protest actions that took place in major championships at the international level, they are so numerous and multi-layered that it is impossible to summarize them all in one publication. But let’s remember a few.

In 2016 A representative of the Belarusian delegation to the Paralympic Games was stripped of accreditation for demonstratively carrying the Russian flag during the opening ceremony of the Games. The International Paralympic Committee officially announced that the athlete violated the ban on making political gestures.
In 2022 In March, the Kosovo Athletics Federation expressed its dismay at the absence of the flag of the team’s only representative, 1500 meter runner Gresa Bakraki, at the World Winter Championships in Belgrade. Due to security reasons, the organizers of the tournament decided not to fly the flag of Kosovo, including not to reproduce it in the protocols of the official website of World Athletics. Serbia (like Russia and more than 70 countries) does not recognize the independence of Kosovo. The organizers noted that displaying the symbols of that territorial unit could provoke riots in the capital of Serbia.

During the live broadcast of the 4th round of the final match between the Russian Tamara Tansikkuzyna and the Polish Natalya Sadovskaya at the 2021 World Chess Championship in Poland, one of the employees of the organizing committee of the tournament removed the Russian flag and the sign with the name of the athlete representing the Russian Federation from the table. Let’s remind that Russian athletes cannot perform under the national flag in the world, European and Olympic championships, and the national anthem cannot be played in their honor. The employee who removed the flag was Jacek Pawlicki, the former president of the European Chess Federation.

The given examples are not at all to promote or justify them, moreover, there is no desire to condemn, because the concepts and manifestations of human freedoms, democracy, free speech, etc. are always contrary to the accepted rules of the sports world. As in big sports, we are dealing with small and large human outbursts and spontaneous actions everywhere.

Do Aloya

Ամբողջական հոդվածը կարող եք կարդալ այս հասցեով՝ : https://hraparak-am.translate.goog/post/06e92872b8e6bedde9e3568a7e74baf8?_x_tr_sl=hy&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

© 2008 – 2021 «Հրապարակ օրաթերթ»

How about replacing you and Pashinyan with the bench of Donkeys?

Replacing the Armenian army on the border with Azerbaijan with border guard troops should be part of the final settlement. Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan stated this during Thursday’s joint news conference with visiting OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani. Mirzoyan noted this when asked whether Azerbaijan was changing its army with border guards, and what was connected with the recent infiltration of the Azerbaijani military into Armenia territory.

The Armenian FM noted that in all countries the functions of border protection are assigned to border guards, and there are many differences between the training and even the equipment of the army and the border guard troops.

According to Mirzoyan, handing over border protection to border guards will considerably reduce the probability of new conflicts, including infiltration.

“This is not a new idea. We have proposed before, and now the withdrawal of [army] troops [from the border] is being discussed. I will disclose the secret. This is part of the draft peace treaty [with Azerbaijan]—at least from our side. We attach importance to the introduction of that mechanism. There is such a mechanism in some parts of the border. Experience shows that the probability of clashes in those sectors is lower,” said Mirzoyan.

At the same time, however, the Armenian FM recorded the continuation of aggressive rhetoric and policy by Azerbaijan.

On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, from 2 – 4 PM PST, the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region Education Committee in partnership with LAUSD’s Kelly Gonez will host an event for all community members in remembrance of the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide called, “Remembering the Armenian Genocide: Memory & Remembrance to Awareness & Action”

The event will feature remarks from Board Member Gonez and Representatives of the ANCA Western Region’s Education Committee, a gallery of student artwork and submissions, student performances, and informational booths. Students and educators who have displayed extraordinary works and dedication to teaching important historical event will be recognized at the event as well. 

The event will take place at Mt. Gleason Middle School (10965 Mt. Gleason Ave., Sunland, CA 91040). 

For additional information about the event, visit the ANCA-WR Education Committee website. 

Please RSVP to Anna Gasparyan (818) 745-4555 by Monday, April 17th.

“The government has made another big deal with the “Euroasphalt” company owned by Karlen Simonyan, the brother of the Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan.

An expense that is not considered a purchase “with the procedure” 23 days ago, the Ministry of Territorial Management and Infrastructure signed an agreement of about 79 million drams with Karlen Simonyan’s company for the major repair of the Aintap-Mkhchyan-Artashat-Aygevan highway. The point is that the construction of the mentioned road section has already been completed and it is not clear from this agreement for what purpose the Government gave so much money from the state budget to Alen Simonyan’s brother without announcing a tender. Deputy Minister of Regional Administration and Infrastructures Narek Manukyan promised MediaHub 3 days ago to clarify the big deal, but until now there has been no response. We are informed from the official website of the Ararat regional administration that the major repair works of the M-2 national highway Aintap-Mkhchyan-Artashat-Aigevan were completed in February, the contract value of which was around 1.7 billion drams. Alen Simonyan’s brother’s company won the competition announced for the overhaul of some parts of this road by offering only 500,000 drams less. The authorities should explain to the public how it was decided to conclude an agreement of about 79 million drams with the NA Speaker’s brother’s company under the “procedure” that is not a purchase expense and why they did not give preference to the competitive method, as required by the law.”

Source: MediaHub

Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that three people were electrocuted in Babil during the storm. Another two were killed by lightning strikes in the Kurdistan Region, according to Arabic news reports. 

Data from AccuWeather still showed precipitation over parts of Iraq Thursday evening local time, especially in the north.

Why it matters: Flooding is a regular occurrence in Iraq and late March saw flooding throughout the country. 

At the same time, Iraq is also experiencing desertification. The situation has worsened in recent years, and Iraq is often described as one of the most at-risk countries in the world to climate change. Iraq experiences relatively high water insecurity thanks to a lack of rainfall and poor water management.

The heavy rain has some potential benefits, despite the dangers. The water levels in eastern Iraq’s al-Azim reservoir rose 30%, the Kurdish Iraqi news outlet Rudaw reported on Thursday. 

Know more: Other parts of the Middle East were also affected by the heavy rains this week. Iranian officials said they urged people in Lorestan province in the west to evacuate due to the flood risk, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Wednesday. 

The Rahma reservoir in Jordan is also filled, Jordanian news outlets reported on Tuesday. 

Iraq is contending with both heavy rains and increasing desertification.

Severe floods in Iraq this week have left several dead as the country faces considerable other environmental risks. 

The heavy rain that began on Tuesday has affected several parts of the country, including the Kurdistan Region, the northern city of Kirkuk, the capital of Baghdad and the central Babil province. The rain continued Wednesday and Thursday, causing severe flooding. 

“Azerbaijan’s actions are provocative and contradict the statements made as a result of the meetings held on October 6, 2022, in Prague and October 31, 2022, in Sochi. In terms of the political assessment of the border situation,

I think that the message spread by the EU the previous day is important, where the borderline of 1991 is emphasized, we are talking about the administrative border line that existed between the Armenian and Azerbaijani SSR, which was transformed by the Almaty Declaration on December 21, 1991 is the state border. The EU statement emphasized that this borderline should be respected.” Prime Minister Pashinyan announced this at the government session a little while ago.

“The statement emphasizes the withdrawal of the armed forces of both sides from the border to a safe distance, as a reliable guarantee of the stability of the situation. I consider it necessary to emphasize that Armenia is ready to take such a measure along the entire border line of Armenia-Azerbaijan in 1991. We have expressed our readiness in this regard since 2021, and such an action follows the logic of the Prague and Sochi agreements. Azerbaijan’s destructive approach prevents such a solution. “Azerbaijan systematically demonstrates its practice of not fulfilling the agreements reached on international platforms,” ​​he said.

One of the two Azerbaijanis who had crossed the border of Armenia three days ago was found by three youths from Achanan village of Syunik Province. Armenian News-NEWS.am contacted one of these youth, Gor Ohanjanyan, who told us the details of this incident.

“My friend and I had left the village, and were going to the city—Kapan. On the way we saw him in a Turkish [i.e., Azerbaijani] military uniform. We stopped, asked questions, and understood that he is a Turk [i.e., Azerbaijani]. Then my other friend Ashot came, we all stood up. We caught [him], then the police came and asked us what we were doing here, why we caught [him], etc.,” said Gor, in particular.

Also, he described the condition in which this Azerbaijani was found.

“He was wet, in a dirty condition. There were bullets, masks with him, he had mixed ammunition. There was a phone as well in his hand; it was the phone of the person who was found murdered in the [Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum] Combine [guard post],” said Gor.

According to the statement of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Armenia, on Monday between 1am and 2am, a serviceman of the armed forces of Azerbaijan was found and detained in the territory of Armenia. There was another soldier with him, and the search for him continued for three days.

Azerbaijani media, citing the MOD of that country, had reported the disappearance of two Azerbaijani servicemen. It was said that they had gotten lost in the direction of Nakhichevan due to bad weather and low visibility.

These Azerbaijanis were in Bnunis village of Syunik Province, and they had knocked on the door of a local resident’s house. The first detained Azerbaijani was found in Ashotavan village.

Local residents told that these Azerbaijanis had knocked on the door of a local resident’s house for a long time, the landlady had opened the door, seen masked soldiers, closed the door, and called the police. The Azerbaijani, who was caught by the locals, was in civilian clothes.

Bununis and Ashotavan villages are quite far, about 20km away, from the Azerbaijani positions,.

Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan had stated in parliament Wednesday that according to the information they have, the second Azerbaijani soldier had said in the border village not long after crossing the border that he had regretted it and wanted to return.