The situation along Armenia’s eastern border and the Line of Contact around Nagorno-Karabakh has been tense over the recent period, a spokesperson of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense has said, commenting on the past days’ frontline skirmishes.
Speaking to Tert.am, Artsrun Hovhannisyan noted that the adversary launched active armed raids especially in the direction of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia’s north-eastern region of Tavush. “Azerbaijan’s activity was expected, as we had earlier announced,” he told our correspondent.
As for the international calls for maintaining the ceasefire, Hovhannosyan said that Azerbaijan disrespected them all. “The reaction to the adversary lasted long enough to curb the [aggression],” he added.
Asked about additional efforts to restrain Azerbaijan, the spokesperson said he doesn’t see any need to take more action. In his words, the international organizations’ calls are effective.
Azerbaijani aggression tantamount to Nazi policies
Azerbaijan’s aggressive stance on Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is comparable to nothing more or less than the Nazi German policies in the concentration camps, says a spokesperson for the Nagorno-Karabakh president.
“It is nothing else but a manifestation of fascism; absolutely no difference from what they [the Nazis] did in Buchenwald and Austwitz,” David Babayan told Tert.am, commenting on the past days’ deadly violations of ceasefire.
Babayan described the aggression as the continuation of the Turkish-Azerbaijani genocidal policies against Armenia “given especially that they use Turkish weapons.”
He promised an adequate counteraction against the country. “The enemy will not be able to keep us in terror. On the country, it is falling into its own trap and doing everything possible to later see the Artsakh flag swaying on top of Aliyev’s presidential residence,” he added.
OLIGARCHY New bodyguards of aggression Roupen Hayrapetian
An Armenian businessman was the victim of an aggression on August 16 in Yerevan and was hospitalized for serious injuries. Arsen Avetisyan, the main shareholder of the Armenian national airline Air Armenia, which is going through a period of financial turmoil, attributed the attack to Hayrapetian henchmen, an oligarch linked to the government and known for its violence who heads the Federation Football of Armenia (FFA).
The businessman was attacked near a Yerevan restaurant sinister reputation, since three years before, bodyguards R. Hayrapetian it had beaten a man to death. Speaking to reporters from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from a broken nose and other serious injuries, A. Avetisian said that the attack occurred during a meeting with R. Hayrapetian in FFA headquarters on 15 August. “
R. Hayrapetian grabbed my hand and when I tried to free myself, someone started to hit me, “said the businessman broadcast on RFE / RL (Azatutyun.am) , adding that he could not see the face of her attacker who then struck him that he was already on the ground. “They then carried me elsewhere and Hayrapetian was still there and continued to talk to me,” continued the victim has not explained the motives of the altercation, reserving his explanations at a later response.
At the same time, his wife, Izabella Melkumian, sent an open letter to President Serzh Sargsyan in which it indicates that R.Hayrapetian and his bodyguards had kidnapped her husband after having molested. The attackers reportedly asked the officer of Air Armenia, the private airline which had just announced the conclusion of an agreement with a financial institution may rely on the waves, to sign a debt of gratitude to a very significant amount the powerful oligarch.
This letter has fueled speculation in the Armenian media that remind that the airline had to cease its activities, due in large accumulated debts.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015,
Gari © armenews.com
Gari © armenews.com
Thousands of Yemeni protest in Sana’a condemn Saudi deadly military aggression
Thousands of Yemeni protesters have poured into the streets of the capital, Sana’a, to condemn the Saudi deadly military aggression against their country as a violation of international law.
In a mass rally on Friday, the Yemeni demonstrators waved national flags and carried large banners while calling on the international community to probe crimes committed in their country by the Saudi regime and prosecute the perpetrators of the atrocities.
The protesters reiterated that the Yemeni people are capable of resolving their own problems peacefully.
They also hailed efforts by Iran, Russia, China and several other countries to stand behind the people of Yemen.
Meanwhile, sporadic protests were also held in other parts of the Arab country, including the southeastern city of Taiz.
The demonstrations were held as Saudi jet fighters targeted several parts of Sana’a during rallies in al-Matar street.
Saudi Arabia started its air campaign against Yemen on March 26 without a UN mandate in a bid to restore power to the country’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
A spokesperson for the Yemeni army, fighting alongside Ansarullah fighters, said on Friday that at least 1,000 people, including 200 children, have been killed in Saudi airstrikes.
The military official added that 15,000 others have been also injured since the start of Saudi military campaign.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on April 7 that more than 540 people had been killed in Yemen since the military conflict began in the Arab country in mid-March.
Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman, noted that the death toll was related to the period between March 19 and April 6.
Yemenis take to streets to condemn Saudi aggression against their country
March of unity
Yemeni people have taken to streets to in Bab al-Yemen district of the capital, Sana’a, to condemn Saudi aggression against their country and voice their support for resistance.
Yemeni protesters chanted slogans against Saudi regime, in favor of Houthi movement’s Ansarullah revolutionaries.
Similar demonstrations were also held in Yemen’s cities of Ta’izz and Amran with protesters calling for the boycott of goods made by countries engaged in Saudi-led aggression of Yemen.
Protesters also chanted slogans against the US, Israel, and Saudi regime describing Saudi regime as an ally of Israel, which is implementing US-Israeli agenda.
The demonstrators called on all people around the world to condemn the barbaric Saudi aggression, urging all global organizations and entities to do their responsibility against the Saudi aggression.
One demonstrator grabbed the microphone and cried, “Where are the free people of the world? Where are the free people of Saudi Arabia to come out to protest against their government atrocities?”
The demonstrators said they will stand together to defend the unity of Yemen and the sovereignty of their nation.
“From Sana’a to Qatif, the revolution will not stop,” they chanted, referring to the city of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia.
“This million-man turnout come in order to declare to the world that we are not afraid of any incursion, we resort to God, the God will give us victory, God rewards he whom he wants,” a protester said.
Calling for popular mobilization against Saudi aggression against Yemen, the protesters also condemned international silence over Saudi crimes in their country.
They also asked for international probe into unauthorized Saudi aggression of Yemen.
Senior members of the Ansarullah movement, which currently controls most parts of Yemen, read statements to the demonstrators, ensuring them that Saudi Arabia will certainly pay for its attacks on Yemen.
They said the Saudi war on Yemen is against all ethical and Islamic principles.
“It is shedding the bloods of Yemenis without taking into consideration any ethics, any humanitarian principle,” a Houthi official told the gathering, adding that instead of targeting people and civilian infrastructure, the Saudi-led attacks should have been focused on the Palestinian cause and targeted the Israeli regime.
Another Houthi member said that the Yemenis are not frightened by the ongoing attacks, saying that they will stand against the Saudis with steadfastness.
Iraqi protesters slam Saudi aggression against Yemen
Iraqis hold a portrait of the leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi,
Thousands of people have held separate demonstrations across Iraq in protest against the ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen.
On Tuesday, Iraqi protesters carried portraits of the leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, as they converged on the landmark Firdous square of the capital, Baghdad, to voice their resentment at Riyadh’s onslaught against its impoverished southern neighbor.
A similar rally was also staged in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, where people held banners and flags to show their anger at the Saudi airstrikes across Yemen.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein has warned that Yemen is on the brink of complete collapse amid Saudi-led aerial assaults against the country.
“The country seems to be on the verge of total collapse,” the UN official said in a statement released on Tuesday.
He also expressed worries about the fatalities caused by the air raids, saying the situation in Yemen “is extremely alarming, with dozens of civilians killed over the past four days.”
According to figures published by Zeid’s office, over 90 civilians have been killed and nearly 370 injured since March 26, when the Al Saud regime unleashed deadly air raids against Yemen in an attempt to restore power to fugitive Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries. The Yemeni parliament did not approve his resignation.
Gradually, as the Yemeni government failed to provide security and properly run the affairs of the country, the Ansarullah fighters started to take control of state matters to contain corruption and terror.
The fugitive president fled Aden to the Saudi capital city of Riyadh after Ansarullah revolutionaries advanced toward Aden, where he had sought to set up a rival power base, and withdrew his resignation.
The Houthis, however, say Hadi lost his legitimacy as president of the country after he escaped the capital in February.
Armenian Americans share accounts of Azerbaijani aggression with Congress
powerful remarks by Anna Astvatsaturian
WASHINGTON. – Armenian American activists, many with roots in Baku, took part in a capacity-crowd Capitol Hill briefing and two-day series of Congressional meetings, sharing with Members of Congress, for the first time, their harrowing family accounts of Azerbajiani aggression against the Armenian populations of Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad and advocating for robust U.S. assistance to ensure a brighter future for the free citizens of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The ANCA sponsored Capitol Hill program, titled: “Nagorno-Karabakh – A Generation After Anti-Armenian Pogroms: The Challenge of Promoting Peace and Developing Democracy,” featured powerful remarks by Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, a lawyer, lecturer, and author of ‘Nowhere, A Story of Exile,’ and Dr. Alina Dorian, an internationally respected public health expert and advocate who has worked for decades to strengthen and expand public health programs in Nagorno Karabakh. Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone Jr. opened the program by offering warm words of welcome, and ardent support for an independent Artsakh.
Joining Dorian and Turcotte as ardent spokespeople for Nagorno-Karabakh independence were Vitaliy Dadalyan, Marat Khoudabakhshiev and Julia Papiyan, who traveled from Utah, California and Michigan, respectively, to share their family stories of persecution in Baku during the late 1980’s. In some 40 meetings with key Senate and House leaders, Members of Congress were moved by their accounts of courage and survival and inspired by the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s commitment to democracy and economic development. ANCA Western Region Advisory Board Member Garo Madenlian, Esq. and ANCA-WR Legislative Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan joined the ANCA Washington DC team in facilitating Congressional outreach efforts and sharing the broad range of Armenian American community priorities.
“The Baku Armenian community was well represented this week in Washington by these remarkable young men and women,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “They delivered powerful messages of both remembrance and resolve across Capitol Hill, educating Members of Congress about the atrocities committed against their families a generation ago, and – just as importantly – demanding that American leaders stand up for Artsakh’s, freedom, stand against Azerbaijani aggression, and stand with all those seeking a fair and enduring regional peace.”
More U.S. Congressmen condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression
Members of Congress continue condemning Azerbaijan’s latest escalation of anti-Armenian aggression, in the form of its introduction of surface-to-air missiles in a fatal attack this week on an unarmed helicopter flying over Nagorno Karabakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“The downing of an Armenian helicopter today is an indefensible aggressive action that threatens to undermine the fragile ceasefire and plunge the region back into violence,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) announced, just hours after the November 12th Azerbaijani attack. “Azerbaijan must immediately cease all such attacks and provocations and commit to concrete progress in the Minsk Group talks.”
In a statement, Rep, Judy Chu explained “I am deeply troubled by the latest evidence of Azerbaijan’s continued aggression with their attack on an apparently unarmed helicopter. The people in Nagorno Karabakh deserve and desire peace, but Azerbaijan’s disregard for the 1994 ceasefire threatens both sides with conflict.”
“Azerbaijan should be held accountable for engaging in violence and not in peaceful negotiations,” commented San Fernando Valley, CA Congressman Brad Sherman, tweeting in solidarity with the Armenian Youth Federation #ArtsakhStrong social media campaign raising awareness about Karabakh freedom and opposing Azerbaijan’s increasing aggression.
In less than two hours, the AYF Western U.S., Eastern U.S. and Canada-led effort generated over 2,500 unique tweets viewed over 500,000 times on Twitter. Facebook and Instagram participation was robust as well. Participants were creative with their messaging, focusing on Artsakh history and the escalating campaign of Azerbaijani aggression. An AYF infographic on the helicopter attack called on the “international community to pursue sanctions on Azerbaijan.”
Just months after the California legislature adopted legislation in support of Karabakh self-determination, state-level elected officials issued strong statements against Azerbaijan’s most recent attacks.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the families of Major Sergey Sahakyan, and the 2 members of the Artsakh Air Force,” said Assemblyperson Adrin Nazarian. “It is unconscionable that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces would shoot down an unarmed helicopter, during a routine exercise, in an unprovoked attack against Artsakh. In order to regain peace in the region, Azerbaijan needs to prove themselves as an equal partner of peace and immediately cease all aggregation against the people of Nagorno Karabakh.”
CA Board of Equalization Member and Controller Elect Betty Yee shared her concerns regarding the most recent attack. “When life is threatened anywhere and citizens are left in fear, the possibility of peace becomes less hopeful. I join my elected colleagues around the world in denouncing this act of violence against Armenia. May peace reign within the borders, and may violence against any people and nation be condemned.”
Assemblymember Marc Levine tweeted, “If shown to be true, this unprovoked attack has the potential to destabilize an already unstable situation.”