Day: June 13, 2024
Iranian Dissident Sepehri Sentenced To Further 18 1/2 Years For Comments About Israel Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The Armenian Relief Society Central Executive has launched the “Hearths of Hope” program to support families from Artsakh by providing them with homes in villages across Armenia.
This ongoing initiative is currently in its initial phase, focusing on the renovation of five two-family houses. These houses will be allocated to Artsakh families involved in agriculture and farming.
The ARS Central Executive said it is confident that the “Hearths of Hope” program will positively impact the development of Armenian villages and help curb the emigration among the people of Artsakh.
As part of the program’s progress, two houses have already been purchased in the Akhourik village, located in Armenia’s Shirak Province. These homes will soon be allocated to two large families displaced from Artsakh.
The ARS Central Executive said it remains committed to this ongoing initiative and looks forward to the continued support of compatriots.
“Together, we can provide more homes and a brighter future for the families of Artsakh,” said the ARS, urging community members to visit the organization’s website https://ars1910.org/give/ to support this initiative.
Pashinyan Vows to Not Visit Minsk As Long As Lukashenko is in Power
The foreign ministries of Armenia and Belarus recalled their respective ambassadors, setting off diplomatic row between Yerevan and one of Russia’s closest allies.
“Armenian Ambassador to Belarus Razmik Khumaryan has been called to Yerevan for consultations,” Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan wrote Thursday in Facebook post, without elaborating.
Soon after, Anatoly Glaz, a spokesperson for the Belarus foreign ministry said that his country’s Ambassador to Armenia, Alexander Konyuk, has been recalled to Minsk “for consultations.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday criticized President Aleksander Lukashenko of Belarus, who during a recent visit to occupied Shushi boasted about his government’s support to Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War.
Pashinyan told parliament that neither he not any other Armenian official will visit Belarus while Lukashenko is in power.
Visiting occupied Shushi last month, Lukashenko declared that he had not only been aware of Baku’s plans to try to take Artsakh over by force but also approved them during his meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held before the 2020 war.
Late last month, Pashinyan signaled that he was knew of two member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization that aided and abetted Baku in its war in Artsakh. He did not name those countries at the time, but on Thursday criticized Lukashenko and Minsk for what is clearly a betrayal of the CSTO’s mission.
“One of the leaders of the CSTO declares that he participated in the preparation of the 44-day war, inspired, believed and wished for the victory of Azerbaijan. After that, should I go and sit down with Lukashenko within the CSTO and discuss the issues?” Pashinyan said Thursday in parliament.
Glaz, the Belarus foreign ministry spokesperson, attempted to deflect the recall decision blame the so-called unrest in Armenia as opposition forces are protesting and demanding Pashinyan’s resignation.
“We all see what a difficult internal political situation is developing in Armenia today, how rapidly the confrontation within the country is escalating,” Glaz said. “And different people, of course, have different resistance to serious emotional stress. We can understand this. But what we don’t understand is what Belarus has to do with it.”
Meanwhile, a top diplomat in the Belarus embassy in Moscow, Alexander Shpakovsky, called Pashinyan’s statements in Thursday “impulsive,” saying that his country does not interfere in the domestic policies of other countries.
“At the same time,” Shpakovsky said in a Telegram post, “the choice of partners and allies is a sovereign affair of official Minsk, and in this case the ‘either-or’ approach is unacceptable for us. We have interacted and will continue to interact with brotherly Azerbaijan in all areas, including the military-technical one.”
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