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Day: April 23, 2024
On the day that Armenia began the handover of four village in the Tavush Province to Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev demanded more from Yerevan, saying that Armenia must change its constitution as a precondition to the ratification of the peace deal.
“Armenia must change its constitution, stop using Mount Ararat as a symbol and establish a land route between the eastern regions of Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan,” Aliyev told an international forum to discuss the upcoming UN Climate Summit, which will take place in Baku later this year.
“Armenians should change their Constitution. I say this not because I want to interfere in the internal affairs of another country. I say this because the Declaration of Independence, which is referenced in Armenia’s Constitution, says that the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh is a part of Armenia,” Aliyev elaborated to the forum, which included several international participants.
“How can we sign a peace treaty when they have such a reference in the Constitution? So, when I say that they should change the Constitution, it is not because I am being arrogant or belligerent, but because it is a prerequisite,” Aliyev declared.
Azerbaijan’s president went even further by demanding that Armenia take out Mount Ararat from its National Emblem. Using the Turkish name for the biblical mountain, Aliyev said, “that must be changed. They have many other mountain in Armenia. Let those be the symbol.”
Aliyev also emphasized the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” which he insisted is the ninth point in the November 9, 2020 agreement he signed, along with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
He explained that while the term “Zangezur Corridor” is not used in the Nov. 9 agreement, nevertheless the document calls for the creation of a transport link between eastern Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, which will be monitored by Russian border patrol guards.
“However, Armenia has been violating that clause for more than three years now. But, signed it [the agreement], didn’t they? Now they are trying to get rid of that provision. However, that is not possible,” said Aliyev.
“They [Armenia] are blocking the construction of the land route with the autonomous republic of Nakhichevan. Such behavior is very frustrating. Everybody knows under what conditions the agreement was signed. [Nevertheless] but bears the signature of the Prime Minister of Armenia, and it should be respected,” Aliyev added.
Before demanding that Armenia return four other villages to Azerbaijan, Aliyev framed the agreement reached Friday, which resulted in Armenia agreeing to cede four villages in Tavush, in return for nothing from Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani leader said that when left alone, without mediators advancing their own agendas, Armenia and Azerbaijan are able to reach agreements more quickly.
He also said that Baku has accepted an offer from Kazakhstan to host talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign minister in Astana. Aliyev added that, if Armenia agrees to the talks, then they can proceed, clarifying that Astana will not act as mediator but, rather, a coordinator.
“Now we have a general idea of what the peace agreement should look like. We just need to work out the details. However, of course, both sides need time,” Aliyev said, referring to the talks about a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, adding that a document may be signed ahead of the UN Climate Summit.
Senator Anthony Portantino made powerful remarks during an Armenian Genocide commemoration event at the State Capitol.
Below are his remarks.
“I am honored to have joined my colleagues to commemorate the 109th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on the Senate Floor and to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that California continues to recognize the first Genocide of the 20th Century.
Genocide recognition is more important than ever, as Armenians of Artsakh have experienced unimaginable terror – including war, illegal blockade, and ethnic cleansing. And for the first time in thousands of years, Artsakh is left without its indigenous ethnic Armenian people.
Representatives of the Armenian American community with US representatives at the Armenian Genocide commemoration event at the State Capitol
One can argue strongly that because the first genocide perpetrated against ethnic Armenians went unpunished a century ago, essentially the same violent people are repeating their illegal and inhuman acts today. Turkey and Azerbaijan continue their aggression against Armenians and Armenia with attacks on the border and repeated and regular genocidal rhetoric. There is no question that the US government should expand assistance to Artsakh’s forcibly displaced Armenians and it must do more to hold accountable those who enact such violence on a peaceful people.
We have a moral obligation to not only condemn all genocides and violations of human rights, but to also continue to demand justice – because there will not be peace without justice.
California is home to the largest Armenian American population in the US, where many of our friends and neighbors have made significant contributions to the 25th Senate District and this great state. I am honored to represent this vibrant community and stand in solidarity with all those who make our community a better place and who continue to advocate for justice.”
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NPR News: 04-23-2024 5PM EDT
Speaking to journalists on April 23, the Georgian Prime Minister stood by the foreign agents’ law and railed against its critics, including European politicians and some MEPs, accusing them of refusing transparency and interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Bizarrely, and in the face of mounting signals from the highest officials to the contrary, he asserted the law was bringing Georgia closer to Europe. PM Kobakhidze also questioned the veracity of the recently published U.S. State Department human rights report and accused foreign-funded NGOs of their “closed circle of lies.”
“Politically bankrupt speak in the name of the people“
PM Kobakhidze’s key thesis has been that those who protest the law are “politically bankrupt” and have no right to speak in the name of the people. He said the “radical opposition” party ratings have been “radically slashed,” the NGOs have “record low trust in Georgian society,” and President Salome Zurabishvili is “completely politically discredited in the eyes of the Georgian people.”
He said only the ruling Georgian Dream party speaks for the people, pointing to the opinion polls commissioned by his own party. He also prophesized that the Georgian Dream ratings would rise further once the law on foreign influence is adopted.
“People are on the side of the government, and Georgian society supports this law that has been introduced. The Georgian people support transparency,” PM Kobakhidze said, in line with the party talking point that the law is solely about transparency.
The PM downplayed the size of the protests, saying “only 350 people” had gathered on April 22 and even that “the vast majority of them were party activists,” adding that “they [the opposition] find it difficult to gather people.” The government claimed that the protests had gathered “9500 people at their peak.” This is despite the protests that have blocked the capital for the ninth day running.
Meanwhile, he claimed that “tens of thousands of people” will take to the streets to demand “more transparency from CSOs” at an April 29 rally, where the ruling party admitted it plans to ferry local officials from across the country.
Europe does not want transparency
Asked by the journalist to comment on repeated criticism by the EU High Representative Joseph Borrell, PM Kobakhidze turned the tables, saying, “They do not want transparency of funding; they fear transparency of funding,” and according to him, this is “the only reason why the statements […] are being made.” He reiterated that the opponents in Europe “presented no argument” against the law and argued there can be none since the bill has only a “positive” goal of making the CSOs more transparent. He said: “Even under these circumstances, the [critical] statements are being made, which only means that someone very much does not want transparency.”
“We would only be happy if there were as much communication as possible,” Kobakhidze said, and called out EUHR Borrell, saying that as soon as he makes statements about the law, “he automatically gets involved in political debate,” which “should be taking place inside the country.” He then insisted that only political parties in the Georgian Parliament, and not “some [people] from the outside, including partners and friends,” should be discussing the bill. [Asked if EU High Representative Borrell’s statement was “interference” in Georgian politics, Kobakhidze briefly replied: “Of course it is interference.”
PM Kobakhidze reiterated that the ruling party does not want to allow the development of processes in the country similar to those “that developed in the years of 2020, 2021, and 2022.” Without mentioning names, he accused two former ambassadors of “leading very serious processes” and “twice putting CSOs at the epicenter of revolutionary processes.”
Attacking the CSOs, PM Kobakhidze said, “There are a thousand kinds of malicious propaganda in which NGOs are involved, including drug propaganda.” He said that “society needs to have information about this, about who is financing such wrong actions.”
EU makes empty threats
Even as warnings from top EU and European officials multiply that the adoption of the law would severely hamper Georgia’s chances of advancing towards the European Union, PM Kobakhidze argued that instead of being an obstacle to Georgia’s European integration, “the adoption of this law is a necessary condition for us to move forward.”
Much like the Speaker of the Parliament before him, the PM recalled that Georgia got the EU candidacy despite the calls from Europe to release former president Mikheil Saakashvili from detention and threats that the failure to do so would harm the EU candidacy. “27 [EU] ambassadors went to the Minister of Justice and told him that if we did not release Saakashvili, we would have to forget everything related to the European Union,” the Georgian Prime Minister said, but Georgia got the candidacy nonetheless. Kobakhidze said the same thing was going to happen with the foreign agent law. “That time, we did not release Saakashvili, and we became the [EU] candidate country, and now we are going to adopt this law and move towards the EU, the [accession] negotiations will be opened.”
When asked to comment about the forthcoming resolution of the European Parliament on Georgia, Kobakhidze said, “The resolutions of the European Parliament have lost their value for Georgian society during the past years.” He personally attacked the vice-chair of the EU-Georgian association committee, Lithuania’s former defense minister, Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP), who is particularly critical of the ruling party, saying, “Rasa cannot be the face of Europe. Rasa is […] a kind of a throwback to the Warsaw Pact [a Soviet-centric military alliance, cold-war opponent of NATO]. Such people should not represent the European Union today.”
CSOs, U.S. State Department, “odious” MEPs in “a loop of lies”
PM Kobakhidze was asked to comment on the recently released U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, in particular the part that mentions Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the opposition-leaning media outlet Mtavari Arkhi, and states that his imprisonment has been deemed “politically motivated.”
“There is a lie in the State Department report,” Prime Minister Kobakhidze said, again accusing an unnamed CSO of feeding false information to the State Department. “The State Department funded the NGO, then this NGO fed it the lie, and then this lie was found in the State Department report,” he said, adding that it was all “a loop of lies.”
Kobakhidze was asked to comment on recent calls by MEPs for the “Debidzinization” of Georgia, i.e. the deoligarchization of the country, as the term refers to the GD’s founder and honorary chairman, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. “This statement is absolutely shameful. Transparency is also needed in this.”
He took up the notion of the “loop of lies” again to say “Today, some odious European politicians have become impudent precisely because there is a kind of closed loop of lies.” He added that “this closed loop of lies” must be broken, and for this, the law on agents must be adopted.
Also Read:
Speaking to journalists on April 23, the Georgian Prime Minister stood by the foreign agents’ law and railed against its critics, including European politicians and some MEPs, accusing them of refusing transparency and interfering in the country’s internal affairs. Bizarrely, and in the face of mounting signals from the highest officials to the contrary, he asserted the law was bringing Georgia closer to Europe. PM Kobakhidze also questioned the veracity of the recently published U.S. State Department human rights report and accused foreign-funded NGOs of their “closed circle of lies.”
“Politically bankrupt speak in the name of the people“
PM Kobakhidze’s key thesis has been that those who protest the law are “politically bankrupt” and have no right to speak in the name of the people. He said the “radical opposition” party ratings have been “radically slashed,” the NGOs have “record low trust in Georgian society,” and President Salome Zurabishvili is “completely politically discredited in the eyes of the Georgian people.”
He said only the ruling Georgian Dream party speaks for the people, pointing to the opinion polls commissioned by his own party. He also prophesized that the Georgian Dream ratings would rise further once the law on foreign influence is adopted.
“People are on the side of the government, and Georgian society supports this law that has been introduced. The Georgian people support transparency,” PM Kobakhidze said, in line with the party talking point that the law is solely about transparency.
The PM downplayed the size of the protests, saying “only 350 people” had gathered on April 22 and even that “the vast majority of them were party activists,” adding that “they [the opposition] find it difficult to gather people.” The government claimed that the protests had gathered “9500 people at their peak.” This is despite the protests that have blocked the capital for the ninth day running.
Meanwhile, he claimed that “tens of thousands of people” will take to the streets to demand “more transparency from CSOs” at an April 29 rally, where the ruling party admitted it plans to ferry local officials from across the country.
Europe does not want transparency
Asked by the journalist to comment on repeated criticism by the EU High Representative Joseph Borrell, PM Kobakhidze turned the tables, saying, “They do not want transparency of funding; they fear transparency of funding,” and according to him, this is “the only reason why the statements […] are being made.” He reiterated that the opponents in Europe “presented no argument” against the law and argued there can be none since the bill has only a “positive” goal of making the CSOs more transparent. He said: “Even under these circumstances, the [critical] statements are being made, which only means that someone very much does not want transparency.”
“We would only be happy if there were as much communication as possible,” Kobakhidze said, and called out EUHR Borrell, saying that as soon as he makes statements about the law, “he automatically gets involved in political debate,” which “should be taking place inside the country.” He then insisted that only political parties in the Georgian Parliament, and not “some [people] from the outside, including partners and friends,” should be discussing the bill. [Asked if EU High Representative Borrell’s statement was “interference” in Georgian politics, Kobakhidze briefly replied: “Of course it is interference.”
PM Kobakhidze reiterated that the ruling party does not want to allow the development of processes in the country similar to those “that developed in the years of 2020, 2021, and 2022.” Without mentioning names, he accused two former ambassadors of “leading very serious processes” and “twice putting CSOs at the epicenter of revolutionary processes.”
Attacking the CSOs, PM Kobakhidze said, “There are a thousand kinds of malicious propaganda in which NGOs are involved, including drug propaganda.” He said that “society needs to have information about this, about who is financing such wrong actions.”
EU makes empty threats
Even as warnings from top EU and European officials multiply that the adoption of the law would severely hamper Georgia’s chances of advancing towards the European Union, PM Kobakhidze argued that instead of being an obstacle to Georgia’s European integration, “the adoption of this law is a necessary condition for us to move forward.”
Much like the Speaker of the Parliament before him, the PM recalled that Georgia got the EU candidacy despite the calls from Europe to release former president Mikheil Saakashvili from detention and threats that the failure to do so would harm the EU candidacy. “27 [EU] ambassadors went to the Minister of Justice and told him that if we did not release Saakashvili, we would have to forget everything related to the European Union,” the Georgian Prime Minister said, but Georgia got the candidacy nonetheless. Kobakhidze said the same thing was going to happen with the foreign agent law. “That time, we did not release Saakashvili, and we became the [EU] candidate country, and now we are going to adopt this law and move towards the EU, the [accession] negotiations will be opened.”
When asked to comment about the forthcoming resolution of the European Parliament on Georgia, Kobakhidze said, “The resolutions of the European Parliament have lost their value for Georgian society during the past years.” He personally attacked the vice-chair of the EU-Georgian association committee, Lithuania’s former defense minister, Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP), who is particularly critical of the ruling party, saying, “Rasa cannot be the face of Europe. Rasa is […] a kind of a throwback to the Warsaw Pact [a Soviet-centric military alliance, cold-war opponent of NATO]. Such people should not represent the European Union today.”
CSOs, U.S. State Department, “odious” MEPs in “a loop of lies”
PM Kobakhidze was asked to comment on the recently released U.S. State Department Human Rights Report, in particular the part that mentions Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the opposition-leaning media outlet Mtavari Arkhi, and states that his imprisonment has been deemed “politically motivated.”
“There is a lie in the State Department report,” Prime Minister Kobakhidze said, again accusing an unnamed CSO of feeding false information to the State Department. “The State Department funded the NGO, then this NGO fed it the lie, and then this lie was found in the State Department report,” he said, adding that it was all “a loop of lies.”
Kobakhidze was asked to comment on recent calls by MEPs for the “Debidzinization” of Georgia, i.e. the deoligarchization of the country, as the term refers to the GD’s founder and honorary chairman, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. “This statement is absolutely shameful. Transparency is also needed in this.”
He took up the notion of the “loop of lies” again to say “Today, some odious European politicians have become impudent precisely because there is a kind of closed loop of lies.” He added that “this closed loop of lies” must be broken, and for this, the law on agents must be adopted.
Also Read:
Armenian Police Clear Protesters, Cars From Road After Four-Day Blockade Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty