Vakhtang Siradeghyan

Non-fulfillment of Aliyev’s demand to set a deadline for giving the Zangezur Corridor to Azerbaijan may presumably lead to a new war. As this requirement is not stated in the first and second tripartite declarations, it may be the result of verbal agreements. The only way to not fulfill the demand and at the same time avoid the war is the resignation of the person holding the post of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. During the regular question-and-answer session with the members of the government in the National Assembly, the deputy of the “Armenia” faction Arthur Ghazinyan asked Nikol Pashinyan whether he would resign in exchange for not giving the “Zangezur Corridor”.

Instead of giving a very clear and concrete answer, Nicole resorted to manipulation, accusing the opposition MP of being an Azeri agent on the basis of developing foreign narratives in Armenia. Can you imagine the person the former head of the National Security Service (or rather the chief’s deputy) used to use the nickname “Jackal” accusing the opposition member of being an enemy agent? How can you not remember the common saying that the thief is the first to call ․ “Catch the thief!” It is not enough, he advised going to court, where they will prove what he said. He added that “no criminal case can change what I said.” Of course, he can not change, because law enforcement agencies are in his pocket today. But after the change of government, I’m afraid that not only will they change, but they will also reveal what “Jackal” the former head of the NSS was talking about.

But this article would have been incomplete if I had not referred to its continuation in connection with the above. When Nikol’s second answer to Arthur Ghazinyan’s question was heard, I thought that the next questioner from the opposition should continue the topic, even if it was his turn to ask another question. And so it happened, the next was Artsvik Minasyan, who lightly referred to the previous question and answer, and then asked his question about the captives. His question was also on the agenda, especially in the context of the confession made by the person holding the post of NA Speaker in the French Senate. But I think it could have been passed on to another opposition MP, and he should have started the short Ghazinyan-Pashinyan dialogue.

And in general, not only the “Hayastan” faction but also the two opposition factions can work out a joint policy in terms of questions and answers with the members of the government. It is in this format that the implementation of the idea put forward by the third President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will appear.

Remind me ․ It was not about coming to power, but about the need to remove Nikol Pashinyan from power. And when several people keep alternating on the same topic, Nikol Pashinyan can not continue the manipulative shout for a long time. And in the case of each individual question, when the topic changes, he seems to be refreshed and continues his speech with new strength. Keeping the same topic is about the same as keeping someone working or thinking about the same issue for a long time. The human brain loses its focus and focuses on another subject.

And when the other person constantly forces you to return to the previous topic, the latter can allow a lot of “mistakes”. And the more these mistakes are made, the lower the reputation of the latter will be among the zombie masses of the society. Losing the support of those masses, Nikol Pashinyan will also lose power. I think this may be the way to implement the idea put forward by Serzh Sargsyan.

by Stephan Pechdimaldji

Dole’s support for Armenian-American issues also went beyond genocide recognition.

For millions of Americans, Bob Dole was the epitome of American exceptionalism, a leader who represented and reflected the qualities that make the United States the envy of the world. He was part of the Greatest Generation who served the United States for close to eighty years with distinction and honor. From the battlefields of World War II to the halls of the U.S. Senate, Dole left an indelible mark on U.S. history that continues to reverberate to this day. A politician and statesman from a bygone era, it is one of the reasons why there has been a cacophony of voices honoring him and the life he lived in the wake of his passing earlier this month.

But for thousands of Armenian Americans, Dole was also something else. He was a friend and champion of our causes, particularly the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. As a grandson to survivors of the Armenian Genocide, I always wondered why a U.S. Senator from Kansas would be such an unyielding advocate for an issue that had little to do with his state or constituents. But then I learned how Dr. Hampar Kelikian, a proud Armenian American surgeon, did a great deal for him after he was wounded in World War II. He performed seven operations and refused to accept any payment. It was during this period that Dole learned about the Armenian Genocide because Kelikian was an Armenian Genocide survivor himself.

Through this budding friendship with Kelikian, Dole learned about the first genocide of the twentieth century, when more than 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman Turks, an event that Turkey still denies to this day. That experience had a lasting impact on Dole that would help inform his political beliefs as a U.S. senator and U.S. presidential candidate. As a public official, he made it clear that America needed to be on the right side of history. His fight for recognition of the Armenian Genocide culminated in 1990 when he sponsored and tried to pass Senate Joint Resolution 212, legislation that would properly recognize the Armenian Genocide by the United States, but faced strong opposition from Turkey, President George H.W. Bush and Robert Byrd, the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate.

Taking his fight to the Senate floor, Dole made an impassioned speech where he said, “For the one million Armenians in this country, the wounds have been open for almost 75 years, and the hurt is not going to be able to heal because the world has not faced up to the truth of the suffering of the Armenian people in this period of 1915-1923 … because the world stood by and did nothing.”

The resolution was ultimately rejected but it did not deter Dole from using his position in government to raise awareness around the Armenian Genocide and other crimes against humanity. It is why Dole became a primary advocate for Bosnians during the 1990s when he helped support President Bill Clinton’s unpopular plan to send American troops to Bosnia to prevent ethnic cleansing in the region. He saw what was happening and did not want history repeating itself with another Armenian Genocide. Those deeply rooted beliefs played a significant role in the senator’s formulation of American foreign policy towards Bosnia from 1992—1995.

And despite his best efforts, Dole was not successful in getting the United States to recognize the Armenian Genocide while serving as a public official. However, his advocacy did pave the way for President Joe Biden’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide earlier this year, calling it long overdue and a proud and historically significant moment for the United States. In many ways, U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide does not happen without Bob Dole.

Dole’s support for Armenian-American issues also went beyond genocide recognition. After a devasting earthquake struck Armenia in December 1988, Senator Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, traveled to Armenia to see the damage firsthand while spearheading relief efforts and securing millions of dollars in U.S. aid.

And when Azerbaijan launched pogroms against Armenians living Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku in 1990, a harbinger of Azerbaijan’s unprovoked war against Armenia last year over Nagorno-Karabagh, Senator Dole won congressional approval for the U.S. government to allocate nearly $5 million to help private voluntary organizations resettle thousands of displaced Armenians.

For me personally, Dole was my unsung hero. He did more for Armenian-Americans than any other public servant in U.S. history. While many politicians push for such causes in search of votes and money, Dole did it because he truly believed it. A rare and diminishing commodity in Washington, DC today.

While I never met the Senator in person, we did correspond over the years through letters and email where I would take every opportunity to thank him for his service to our country and the Armenian American community. He was a larger-than-life public official who was authentic and vulnerable at the same time. He stood for his principles and was a champion for the underdog. In many ways, his disability made him stronger, not weaker. Armenian-Americans lost a great and loyal friend. He will be missed.

Stephan Pechdimaldji is a communications strategist who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s a first-generation Armenian American and grandson to survivors of the Armenian genocide.

YEREVAN, December 9, /ARKA/. About 50% of respondents of a public opinion survey do not trust Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The results of the survey conducted in November 2021 by the Armenian office of GALLUP International Association, were unveiled today by its head Aram Navasardyan.

Speaking at a news conference, Navasardyan said the results of the poll showed that 14.7% of the respondents fully trust Pashinyan, 24.9% rather trust him and 10.9% rather distrust him, while 39.4% of respondents do not trust the Prime Minister at all (in a 2018 survey only 3.5% of respondents did not trust Pashinyan at all).

Citizens were also asked to evaluate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s style of work. As positive it was assessed by 9.5% of respondents, rather positive by 28.6%, rather negative by 14.9%, and completely negative by 31.3%.

“If we compare with September 2018, then only 3.9% of respondents said they assessed the prime minister’s work rather negatively, and 2.4% said they assessed it completely negatively,” said Navasardyan.

The current Armenian authorities are trusted by 7.8% of respondents, rather trusted by 21%, rather not trusted by 14.3%, and completely not trusted by 46.2%. “In other words, about 60% said that they don’t trust the authorities,” he said. 

At the same time, 35.4% of the respondents evaluated the work of the new government of Pashinyan completely negatively. 15.3% think the authorities’ performance is rather negative, 24.5% rather positive and 6.2% totally positive.

Navasardyan drew attention to the fact that when comparing the data, the increase in negative responses is quite obvious: in 2018, some 4.6% of respondents assessed the government’s work completely negatively (the indicator has increased almost eightfold in the 2021 November survey).

Respondents also evaluated the work of individual ministers and government agencies. According to the survey, human rights defender Arman Tatoyan (scored 4.1 points out of 5, emergency situations minister Andranik Piloyan (3.1 points) and foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan (3 points) enjoyed the highest ratings. Finance Minister Tigran Khachatryan got the lowest ranking (2.2 points).

When asked about whether their expectations from the 2018 velvet revolution came true over the past three years, 46% of the respondents answered that they were not at all justified. 3.2% said their expectations were fully justified, 33.7% considered their expectations partially justified and 10.2% partially unjustified and 7% of respondents found it difficult to answer.

Also, some 45.4% of the respondents think that there are political prisoners in Armenia, 24.1% do not think so. Among the political prisoners, the respondents named Goris mayor Arush Arushanyan (65.2%) and an MP from the opposition Hayastan bloc Armen Charchyan (30.6%).

The citizens were also asked if parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, which bloc or party they would vote for. Thus, 25% of respondents would vote for the Civil Contract of Prime Minister Pashinyan, 14.4% for Hayastan bloc, 3.3% for another opposition bloc Pativ Unem, while 20.2% of the respondents found it difficult to answer the question.

To remind, on Wednesday, the families of captured soldiers took to the streets to protest outside the government building and central Baghramyan Avenue over the comments of Alen Simonyan about prisoners of war (POWs). Simonyan came under fire after calling Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan deserters. In a scandalous video recording that emerged online on Tuesday, he can be heard saying that many of them “laid down their arms, ran away and got lost”, ending up in captivity. “Those POWs don’t exist for me anymore,” he said.

At the initiative of the Speaker of the National Assembly, a meeting was held with relatives and family members of missing and captured soldiers on Wednesday. According to the parliament press service, 10 people took part in the meeting with Alen Simonyan, mostly mothers of the soldiers. 

According to the reached agreement, no details from the meeting are communicated. 

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, The International Court of Justice, presided over by Joan Donoghue, has published the decision over Armenia’s application on taking interim measures over Armenia vs. Azerbaijan case.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from “Lurer” program of the Public TV, the Hague Court demanded Azerbaijan to prevent the spread of racial hatred against Armenians.

According to the first point of the decision, Azerbaijan must ensure the security of those taken captive during or after the Artsakh war and guarantees their equality before the law.

It should take measures to prevent the spread of racial hatred against people of Armenian descent, including by officials and state bodies. It should take all necessary measures to prevent and punish all cases of vandalism and acts of desecration of Armenian cultural heritage, including churches, other places of worship, monuments, natural sites, cemeteries, and other artifacts.

The court called on the parties to refrain from actions that can complicate the work of the court.

On September 16, 2021 the Republic of Armenia filed a lawsuit to the UN International Court of Justice against the Republic of Azerbaijan, accusing Baku of violating the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The ruling Civil Contract Party (CCP) suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday’s Council of Elders elections in Aparan, Armenia.

It is noteworthy that this happened with a record high voter turnout of 64.7 percent.

According to the Central Electoral Commission data, as a result of the processing of all ballots cast in this now-enlarged community, 66.69% of voters voted for the Karen Yeghiazaryan bloc of opposition parties. The latter’s only opponent, the CCP, received 33.31% of the votes.