Day: April 9, 2024

After Israeli police brutally assaulted Armenians in an attempt to evict them from the “Cow’s Garden” in the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate compound last week, the ANC International and the Lemkin Institute stepped up calls to protect the rights of the Jerusalem Armenian community.

“We are following with concern the steps taken by the Israeli police which violate the rights of the Jerusalem Armenian community and of the Armenian Patriarchate in the Armenian Quarter of Old Jerusalem. With these steps, the Israeli police are supporting the violence of the armed settlers and the employees of the other side of the fraudulently signed and problematic contract, violating the relevant international and local laws,” said a statement issued by ANC International.

“The violence and the complicity of the Israeli police must stop. The government of Israel must respect the rights of the Armenian Patriarchate and the Armenian community of Jerusalem with a clear stance and definite steps,” the ANC International said and reiterated its demand that “the settlement of the issue must be done exclusively on the basis of local and international laws, without the use of force or the threat of force.”

“The issue of Armenian rights in Jerusalem concerns all Armenians, therefore, any attempt to violate those rights is subject to the adequate reaction of all Armenians,” added the statement.

The Armenian National Committee-International continues to support with all its capabilities —and in cooperation with the global network of Armenian Tahd— the Armenian community of Jerusalem and the Armenian Patriarchate to protect their thousand-year-old rights,” the statement said.

The Lemkin Institute, in a follow up to a statement issued earlier this year, calls for the protection of Armenian land and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, condemning last week’s assault, by Israeli police, of Armenian community members.

“This recent assault follows the Israeli state’s repeated attempts to evict indigenous Armenians from the Quarter. Amid the ongoing provocations by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia in the South Caucasus, this attack represents another effort to compromise Armenian autonomy and sovereignty. The disturbing level of Armenophobia present in genocidal regimes from Azerbaijan to Israel is alarming and places Armenians in a state of constant peril,” the Lemkin Institute said.

“The Armenian community in Jerusalem, specifically the Patriarchate, acts as a crucial custodian of Christian holy sites in the city, representing both Christian and Armenian culture in Jerusalem. Attempts to buy land at the heart of the Quarter mirror a past scandal involving the Greek Orthodox Church, in which the Church sold two Palestinian-run hotels to foreign companies acting as a front for Jewish settlers. The sale generated uproar and concern around the globe, resulting in the ousting of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irenaios I,” it added.

The Institute highlighted that the 1,600-year-old Armenian community residing in the historic Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem has been embroiled in a tense standoff against armed settlers since last summer. The conflict escalated following the revelation that the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem had struck a previously undisclosed land lease deal with Xana Gardens, a real estate company allegedly associated with settler interests, to develop a luxury hotel in the “Cows’ Garden” area, which encompasses crucial parts of the Armenian Quarter. The community, already grappling with a significant decline in population over the years, reacted with outrage upon learning about the details of the deal.

“Wednesday’s assault took place at 11am with an incursion by Israeli police and settlers into the Cows’ Garden. No permits or court orders were shown. Subsequently, there were illegal evictions and damage inflicted on Armenian Patriarchate assets, as well as attacks targeting religious figures and native Armenians. Assaf Harel was the commanding officer overseeing the eviction,” the Lemkinm Institute said.

“The Armenian community, deeply rooted in the Old City for centuries, sees the attempted land takeover as an existential threat to its cultural heritage and identity. Residents fear that losing control over the Cows’ Garden area would jeopardize their homes and undermine the historical significance of the Armenian Quarter, which has served as a refuge for Armenians for centuries,” the statement added.

“The Armenian community’s determination to safeguard its land and heritage has garnered widespread local and international support. In response to ongoing demolition attempts and intimidation tactics by Xana Gardens and its associates, the Armenian residents have demonstrated remarkable resilience and solidarity while organizing protests, maintaining a constant presence in the disputed area, and refusing to back down despite facing arrests and threats from Israeli authorities and settlers,” the institute explained.

“The continued effort to dispossess the Armenian community from their ancestral and historic lands in Jerusalem is fueled by the same eliminationist and settler-colonial process we see throughout the West Bank. The Lemkin Institute calls on Israeli courts to immediately invalidate any deal between the Armenian Patriarchate and Xana Gardens,” the Lemkin Institute emphasized.

“Further, we demand the Israeli authorities respect the minority rights of Armenians and Christians throughout Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israel. Whether the targets are Palestinian Muslims or Armenian Christians, Israel must cease all efforts to expand Jewish settlements at the expense of non-Jews and commit to the protection of all peoples and faiths throughout the region,” the statement concluded.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Members of opposition factions in the Armenian parliament said their concerns over negotiations with Azerbaijan on border delimitation issues were not allayed by government officials after a special session held upon their initiative on Tuesday.

Representatives of the Hayastan and Pativ Unem factions wanted that the meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, who conducts negotiations on border issues with his Azerbaijani counterpart, be public. But, citing a possible disclosure of state secrets, Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan insisted that the discussions proceed behind closed doors – a decision eventually approved by the parliament’s pro-government majority.

As a result, nine out of 35 opposition lawmakers were not allowed to attend the session due to having no access to classified information.

After the closed-door session that lasted for an hour and a half member of the Pativ Unem faction Taguhi Tovmasyan told reporters that they actually learned “nothing new” on the border delimitation process.

“Under the smokescreen of secrecy the government once again tried to impart some mysteriousness to their actions. They said nothing reassuring. Our initial concerns have only grown stronger. That’s it. The concerns are that after Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.] the Republic of Armenia is in serious danger,” Tovmasyan said.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the Hayastan faction, claimed that the meeting again showed to the opposition that “there is no real border delimitation and demarcation work” and “there are no real Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations.”

“There are new demands for capitulation being presented by Azerbaijan to Armenia that the current authorities intend to yield to,” he said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his political teammates have repeatedly refuted opposition claims that Yerevan is going to cede any part of the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia to Baku.

Mirzoyan and Grigoryan did not talk to the media after the session. Prior to the meeting Grigorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that there was still no final decision on starting the delimitation process in Armenia’s northeastern Tavush province.

“The decision to start the delimitation from that part can be made when there is a consensus on the rest of the fundamental issues,” he said.

Talks about the start of the border delimitation and demarcation process in Tavush began in March when Prime Minister Pashinyan traveled to this northeastern province to meet with residents of local communities situated next to four formerly Azeri-populated villages that used to be part of Soviet Azerbaijan but have been under Armenian military control since the 1990s.

Pashinyan signaled his readiness to accept Baku’s demands for Armenian withdrawal from those villages, but did not make their handover conditional on the liberation of any Armenian territory occupied by Azerbaijani forces in the early 1990s and 2021-2022. He said Azerbaijan would go to war unless Armenia handed those territories back.

The statement prompted strong condemnation from opposition leaders and serious concern from residents of several Tavush villages that would be affected by the withdrawal. The villagers said they would lose access to their land, have trouble communicating with the rest of the country and be far more vulnerable from Azerbaijani armed attacks.

During a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reported by his office today Pashinuan said that Armenia was ready for solutions “based on the principles agreed on October 6, 2022 in Prague, May 14 and July 15, 2023 in Brussels, as well as October 5, 2023 in Granada.”

In his earlier public remarks Pashinuan would spell those key principles out, saying that they concerned mutual recognition of territorial integrity and borders, border delimitation based on a 1991 declaration signed by a dozen former Soviet republics, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, after the collapse of the USSR, and the sovereign jurisdictions of the states over transportation links passing through their territories.

“Pashinyan considered any attempt to distort these principles unacceptable,” the readout of the phone call released by the Armenian side said.

The discussions in the Armenian parliament today came amid heightened tensions at the border with Azerbaijan. The Armenian Defense Ministry released three statements during the day denying Baku’s claims that Armenian armed forces had fired at Azerbaijani army positions at the border. At the same time, the Armenian ministry accused Azerbaijani armed forces of firing at Armenian positions. Meanwhile, the Armenian Interior Ministry today reported more damage to a house in the southern village of Tegh as a result of “sporadic gunfire” by Azerbaijani forces.

Azerbaijani forces continued their attacks against Armenian border positions in the border regions, with the defense ministry reporting shots fired late Monday evening.

Azerbaijani forces fired at Armenian positions near Aravus in the Syunik Province at around 10:50 p.m. local time Monday and then later at 10:55 p.m. local time near the Khoznavar village in Syunik, Armenia’s defense ministry reported.

This follow a weekend-long attack on Armenian positions that began on Friday and laster into early hours of Sunday.

Most of these attacks are preceded by statements by Azerbaijan’s defense ministry alleging that Armenian forces were initiating the attacks. Armenia’s defense ministry has unequivocally dismissed such accusations.

Local residents have been on edge due to the ongoing attacks, which have also resulted in damage to residential buildings and businesses.

Monday’s gunfire damaged the roof and a window in a house in the Tegh village, Armenia’s Internal Ministry reported.