2023 October 12

Daily news wrap-up

Oct/12/2023: News-Mews
by ar_david_hh

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6 minutes

Armenia urges UN World Court to impose interim orders on Azerbaijan for ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, demands withdrawal of Azerbaijani army from civilian settlements

ARMENIA: We have been warning for many months that Azerbaijan was preparing an ethnic cleansing. On September 19, Azerbaijan launched a massive attack on Nagorno-Karabakh. Then, for the first time in 9 months of blockade, Azerbaijan cynically opened the Lachin corridor for the Armenians to leave the region where they had lived for centuries.

There are no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh now. And if this is not ethnic cleansing, then what is ethnic cleansing?

Azerbaijani representative will say that his country is ready for peace and so on. But he said the same thing 9 months ago. Then the blockade started. There was a brutal attack, because of which Armenians were forced out of the land of their ancestors.

Azerbaijan will declare that it is ready for the return of Armenians, but they said the same thing after the 2020 war. Not a single Armenian was allowed to return to the occupied territories after 2020.

Azerbaijan will promise to respect the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. But They voiced similar promises before. However, this did not prevent it from violating international conventions.

Ethnic cleansing and attempts to erase the Armenian trace in the region, as it happened in Nakhijevan, can be stopped only if the interim measures of the UN World Court are applied. Nothing other than targeted and unequivocal provisional measures protecting the rights of ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will suffice. //

[list of demands,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/271299) [article,](https://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenia_urges_un_top_court_to_impose_new_interim_orders_on_azerbaijan_for_ethnic_cleansing_of_nagorn/) [full video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6n4IHz7bSg) [article,](https://factor.am/699555.html) [video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdpCWe8TzE)

thousands of Nagorno-Karabakh refugees have left Armenia for other countries // programs are underway to assist refugees and keep them in Armenia

PASHINYAN: Records show that 2,500 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have left Armenia for other countries, possibly to visit their relatives abroad. We hope this is temporary and they will return once they overcome the state of shock. *In the event* they cannot return to Nagorno-Karabakh, our policy is to create conditions for the forcibly displaced persons to remain in Armenia, to live, work and study here. Soon we will launch programs related to demographics, housing, etc.

We are in touch with international donors who have agreed to help the forcibly displaced persons. All donations must be received and processed fully transparently.

I must also note the feedback we have received from our international partners regarding the organizational work to host the refugees. They are surprised that we were able to receive an influx of 100,000 refugees within a span of just 3 days. They described it as "unprecedented", and were surprised by our ability to house and assist people so quickly. Keep in mind that we did not have any plan because the depopulation of Nagorno-Karabakh was never on our table. Everything was organized within hours and days. I'd like to thank every mayor, the workers at the Humanitarian Center, Cabinet members, NGOs, and volunteers for their dedicated work, a work that's still in progress. We ask volunteers to continue to help assess the needs of refugees by making in-home visits. The state employees could not have handled this alone. //

The Government discussed various programs to support the refugees, employment for teachers, etc. A teacher from Nagorno-Karabakh who becomes a teacher in Armenia will receive a 30% bonus.

The Government is currently transferring hundreds of dollars in emergency cash assistance, lump sum and monthly, to bank accounts created for each refugee.

4,600 refugee students will receive financial assistance to attend universities or colleges in Armenia. 13,000 lower-grade students have already enrolled in Armenia.

Refugees who worked in the medical field may not qualify for work in Armenia because Nagorno-Karabakh did not have the same standards *(minimum experience hours, study credits)* recently implemented in Armenia, so the government has decided to waive that requirement until 2025.

On Thursday the Government approved a $68 million package to provide various types of assistance over the next 6 months. Around $100 million has been allocated as of right now.

[more,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaQ_E48FYsQ) [article,](https://www.civilnet.am/news/754069/մոտ-2500-արցախցի-դուրս-է-եկել-հայաստանից․-փաշինյան/) [article,](https://arka.am/en/news/society/by_the_end_of_next_week_some_90_000_karabakh_refugees_expected_to_receive_lump_sum_assistance_/) [video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivAQ7dC3qE) [article,](https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1121821/)

Russian FM Lavrov about Armenia-Russia relations

REPORTER: There is a crisis in AM-RU relations and a growing anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia. Are we approaching a point of no return?

LAVROV: The flaming of anti-Russian sentiment is being done artificially. Many NGOs have been created in Armenia over the past years. There were in addition to many that already existed. These NGOs are being created to harm the AM-RU relations and to promote Western interests in the South Caucasus through Armenia.

These attempts are somewhat successful but we are deeply convinced that the vast majority of Armenian people are interested in the development of centuries-old brotherly relations with the Russian Federation. *["Russian Federation" did not exist "centuries" ago, dipshit. But I digress.]*.

I'd like to bring to your attention that PM Pashinyan [gave an interview](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/174xilz/pashinyan_discloses_secrets_during_interview/ ) a few days ago in which he clearly stated that Armenia is not changing its foreign vector. We hope this position will prevail despite the attempts to drag Armenia into another direction. //

[video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng4i6HSd3TQ)

PACE urges Azerbaijan and few other members to investigate spyware abuse

The countries: Poland, Hungary, Greece, Spain and Azerbaijan.

Citing “mounting evidence” that Israeli-made Pegasus spyware has been used for illegitimate purposes by several members, the PACE has urged five governments to provide information on their use of such spyware within three months, and fully investigate all cases of abuse.

PACE also asked Israel, a PACE observer state, on how it ensures that Pegasus is not exported to countries where it could be used to violate human rights.

[article,](https://pace.coe.int/en/news/9243/five-member-states-must-investigate-spyware-abuse-says-pace) [article,](https://factor.am/699603.html)

PACE finds strong evidence that Azerbaijan used Pegasus spyware during conflict with Armenia

PACE: Recent reports have disclosed Pegasus's use in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, against 12 persons working in Armenia, including an Armenian government official, in what appears to be an example of transnational targeted surveillance. //

[article,](https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1121839/)

PACE adopts a resolution against Azerbaijan's military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic cleansing

Armenia's delegation: PACE notes that there are reasonable suspicions of ethnic cleansing and that almost the entire population has left their homeland due to the threat of physical destruction and the long-standing anti-Armenian policy of the Azerbaijani government.

PACE urges the Committee of Ministers to launch relevant procedures in response to the serious breach of statutory obligations by Azerbaijan. In the event Azerbaijan refuses to respect its obligations, PACE could challenge Azerbaijani's mandate; Azerbaijan's membership in PACE could be suspended. //

[full,](https://factor.am/699880.html) [video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHvF3aIoRFs?t=6224)

dozens of photos and stories about Armenia in 1919 (courtesy of National Archives and rferl)

Photos depicting Kars when it was still Armenian, the Hrazdan river flowing through unrecognizable Yerevan, armed warriors on camels, and more.

[article with images,](https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-america-1919-mission-us-mandate/32631297.html)

Euro 2024: Armenia's national soccer team loses the match against Latvia: 2:0

Croatia 10 pts

Turkey 10

Armenia 7

Wales 7

Latvia 3

Next: Armenia vs. Walves on November 18

[article,](https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1121865/) [wikipedia,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2024_qualifying_Group_D)

Armenia's birth rate in January-August 2023 was the highest in 5 years: Pashinyan

The population rose by 7,150 in January-August.

PASHINYAN: This is a very important development for Armenia. It is the highest since 2018. The state assistance programs aimed at improving demographics have undoubtedly played a role here, including the reforms in the healthcare sector.

It's also worth mentioning that we have the lowest death rate in that period.

We have a significant reduction in stillbirths. The overall quality of medical service has improved, including thanks to higher wages and larger state subsidies to medical centers for pet-patver. There is also a new leasing program that allows medical centers to acquire modern equipment.

We must focus on reducing deaths caused by traffic incidents. It actually declined last year but unfortunately, we witnessed several large incidents this year. Even without them, the situation would have been unacceptable. //

INTERIOR MINISTER: Statistics show that traffic deaths are disproportionately higher in regions with staffing [police] shortages, for example in Syunik. We expect to see a significant drop after the introduction of the new Patrol Service in the 4 remaining provinces. //

PASHINYAN: When we created the Patrol Service, at the time the goal was for the rollout to be "smooth". We didn't want them to jump right in and write lots of tickets, we wanted the emphasis to be on warning and prevention. But this issue with traffic deaths makes it clear that there should be no leniency towards violating drivers. We have Soviet-era cargo trucks that lack reflective materials for nighttime driving. We still have to work with communities to properly paint the lane dividers and install safety signs. We have a massive problem here that needs to be addressed. //

[video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHLAXmcQVtQ) [article,](https://www.armenpress.am/arm/news/1121800/) [video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzp-UrPjnbk)

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/176gzee/oct122023_newsmews/

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