2023 November 28

Daily news wrap-up

Armenia wants to reduce reliance on Russia: U.S. State Dept. // U.S. pressured Azerbaijan & Turkey // 800,000 Armenians forced to flee Azerbaijan in 1990s must have property & safety rights restored: Ruling MP // Food blocked // Satellites // Rental income tax
by ar_david_hh

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Azerbaijan summons ambassadors of U.S., Germany, and France in latest retaliation against West for its "pro-Armenian" stance

Azerbaijan arrested investigative journalists from AbzasMedia last week after launching a witchhunt against "U.S. spies". The West criticized the persecution.

Azerbaijan summoned the Western ambassadors to complain that AbzasMedia was supposedly illegally receiving funds from organizations located in Western countries.

The U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan canceled an event dedicated to graduates of universities.

... U.S. reportedly imposed an entry ban on some Azerbaijani officials

U.S. Secretary Blinken spoke with Aliyev to discuss the issues in AZ-US relations. Aliyev told him that the recent political support that Washington provided to Yerevan was a "serious blow" to AZ-US relations.

Blinken emphasized the need for Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach peace. Blinken urged Aliyev to not block Deputy Secretary O'Brien's December visit to Azerbaijan. Aliyev agreed. In turn, Aliyev asked Blinken to lift the entry ban for some Azeri politicians. Blinken agreed.

Deputy secretary O'Brien's speech that rattled the Aliyev regime can be found in [November 15 news report](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/17w8b9j/armenia_and_us_working_realtime_to_uphold_russian/).

... Blinken spoke with Pashinyan

The U.S. supports Armenia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Blinken. The two discussed the expansion of AM-US cooperation and the fate of 101,000 Nagorno-Karabakh refugees.

... U.S. was pressuring Turkey to drop military support to Azerbaijan during the 2020 war: Turkish ruling party spokesman

According to Omer Celik, one of the preconditions for the sale of American F-16 jets to Turkey was to end support for Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. In related news: Turkey wants to buy Typhoon jets from the EU instead of the F-16 but Germany is blocking the sale.

[source,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/274570) [source,](https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-azerbaijani-president-aliyev-18/) [source,](https://hetq.am/hy/article/162383) [source,](https://factor.am/715896.html) [source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqBa_hOgFqc?t=341) [source,](https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/turkey-sought-eurofighters-after-uncertainty-over-us-f-16-buy-source-2023-11-23/) [source,](https://factor.am/715886.html)

U.S. will send an envoy to Turkey to negotiate the strengthening of sanctions against Russia

Russia is using Turkey to import large quantities of sanctioned products, notably microchips.

Bloomberg notes that 80% of Russia's "high priority" items come from China and Hong Kong. Armenia and several other countries have reduced the export of such items to Russia, starting in the second half of 2023, says Bloomberg.

[source,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/274542)

Armenia-West relations

Parliament leader Alen Simonyan met his Lithuanian colleagues and praised the level of cooperation with the EU state. He thanked Lithuania for supporting Nagorno-Karabakh refugees. Simonyan said Armenia is expecting additional support from the West to strengthen democracy.

Armenia's National Security chief Armen Grigoryan held a separate meeting with EU officials to discuss possible defense assistance to Armenia and the mission of EU border observers on the AM-AZ border.

[source,](https://factor.am/716035.html) source,

Azerbaijan must return 31 Armenian villages that it occupies fully or partially: parliament leader Alen Simonyan

Simonyan said Armenia is ready to exchange the enclaves/exclaves and is willing to show flexibility and that one possible scenario is for each party to maintain control of enclaves. In response to Azerbaijan's demands for Armenia to return "8 villages", Simonyan said Azerbaijan must return territories belonging to 31 Armenian villages.

[source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3yRp6kH638)

Armenia and Azerbaijan can sign a peace treaty within 15 days if Azerbaijan shows will: parliament leader Alen Simonyan

SIMONYAN: For the most part, the sides have agreed upon almost all principal issues, putting the main emphasis on international principles. If Azerbaijan has the political will, signing a peace treaty is a matter of only 15 days. //

Simonyan said there is no issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's self-determination on the negotiation table today and that the return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh or other parts of Azerbaijan is something that could be discussed, and physically possible, only after the signing of the peace agreement.

[source,](https://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenian_parliament_speaker_says_peace_treaty_with_azerbaijan_can_be_signed_within_15_days_if_azerba/) [source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfFSSQzZs_U?t=1585) [source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfFSSQzZs_U?t=1726)

Armenian parliament held an exhibition to display Armenian cultural heritage in Baku and other cities of Azerbaijan

Parliament leader Alen Simonyan and the ruling party MP Vilen Gabrielyan (born in Baku) organized an exhibition dedicated to Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan.

GABRIELYAN: The aim of today's event is to display the historical-cultural buildings created by Armenians in Azerbaijan.

REPORTER: 500,000 Armenians were forced to flee from various regions of Azerbaijan during the first Karabakh war. What guarantees must Azerbaijan provide in order for Armenians to return?

GABRIELYAN: The total number of refugees was over 800,000. Whether they'd like to return and live there is up to refugees, but the issue today is to restore their rights that were violated.

REPORTER: Rights to what?

GABRIELYAN: Rights to safety, the property that they left behind, and finally the right to return.

REPORTER: What about the Nagorno-Karabakh refugees who were forced to flee since 2020?

GABRIELYAN: Azerbaijan should implement similar mechanisms to guarantee the rights and safety so Armenians can return to Nagorno-Karabakh.

ALEN SIMONYAN: Armenians and Azerbaijanis lived side by side whenever there was peace, and the buildings depicted in these pictures are the proof. They are a call to take steps to achieve peace and live side by side once again.

[source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGfF-4Fusz4) [source,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/274541) [photo,](https://www.facebook.com/CaucasusHW/posts/pfbid0nAzcZMndxTfSd5PjxnVze8rXcjbQbYrWWN4dLqq2VPobfPd9FxgUb4Yg7MNKGYurl) [source,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/274606)

Russia's inaction during the 2021-2022 invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan

A "military expert" Hayk Nahapetyan claimed Armenia did not receive support from Russia's CSTO military bloc because Armenia did not declare martial law. A fact-checker says the CSTO protocols have no such requirement.

[source,](https://fip.am/23789)

Is Russia blocking Armenian cargo from entering through the Upper Lars customs checkpoint? Armenian government members call for Armenia to reduce reliance on Russia.

Context in [Monday news](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/185i1r5/universal_healthcare_terms_guilty_verdict_exgen/). Although it was reported that hundreds of trucks were stuck due to bad weather, politics was also suspected. Many drivers report that their perishable goods are left to rot because Russian agents have decided to conduct food safety checks.

PM Pashinyan's chief of staff has urged Armenian consumers across the world to buy products made in Armenia to support domestic producers. This would be an important step to improve Armenia's sovereignty, said the chief of staff.

Pashinyan's deputy chief of staff said Armenia must be independent not only politically but also economically. "The economic dependence of Armenia is often used as a tool to make Armenia politically dependent, which is what we are fighting against," he said, highlighting the importance of Crossroads of Peace as a tool to diversify Armenian product's access to the world.

There was no blanket ban on Armenian goods, however. Issues are only reported with trucks carrying products made of animal and plant origin. Only 30 out of 800 trucks are currently being held by Russian agents for sanitary inspection, with the rest of the trucks being stuck due to weather conditions, said a ranking member of Armenia's ruling party Gevorg Papoyan, adding that many food and non-food trucks were able to pass without delay. The reason this situation created an emotional response is primarily that these 30 or so trucks are carrying highly perishable goods. Papoyan says he would refrain from calling this a political retaliation by Russia unless the block lasts unusually long and becomes regular for a wider variety of goods, not just agricultural goods.

Armenia's representative to Upper Lars checkpoint says Armenia's Economy Ministry is in touch with Russia to address the issues. According to Armenia's representative, Russia recently discovered "severe violations" in one of its checkpoints so orders were issued to increase vigilance everywhere.

Armenia's parliament president, Alen Simonyan, urged the press not to rush with conclusions that this is a "political retaliation" by Russia. Simonyan has information that the delays are associated with scheduling issues between various Russian inspection bodies and that a similar issue was caused on the Russian-Azeri border. He did not rule out political motives as well but urged the public not to make premature assumptions.

[source,](https://www.civilnet.am/news/758185/լարսով-հարյուր-հազարավոր-հայերի-բարեկեցությունն-է-անցնում/) [source,](https://factor.am/716128.html) [source,](https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/274547) [source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icgXA-q6eVc)

U.S. State Department: Pashinyan has told us he wants to reduce reliance on Russia

O'BRIEN (Deputy Secretary): Prime Minister Pashinyan has been very courageous, has made clear that he wants Armenia to move forward in opening its borders and in opening its relations with the West, that it doesn’t want Armenia to be wholly dependent on Russia in the way that previous [Armenian] leaders sought to have it be. And he’s undertaken a number of reforms that are – should be very encouraging for Armenian citizens as they look to continue the sort of quick economic growth that they’ve had over the last year or two.

And I think Prime Minister Pashinyan has also been a bold voice for a peace agreement with Azerbaijan as a way of allowing Armenia to focus on its economic development, to build out its security relationships, and to expand trade from Central Asia through to Türkiye, and all of which is something we would very much like to see.

So any package that is supportive of Armenia is something to be welcomed; exactly how the EU chooses to get there will be its business. But we are committed to working with our European partners and with the government in Armenia to see that the people of Armenia are able to benefit from the reform policies that the Pashinyan government has undertaken. //

[source,](https://www.state.gov/online-press-briefing-with-assistant-secretary-of-the-bureau-of-european-and-eurasian-affairs-ambassador-james-obrien/)

U.S. wants to help make Armenia's energy sector more independent from Russia to improve sovereignty

Energy Week 2023 was held in Yerevan. USAID believes Armenia has great potential in increasing solar energy output and improving energy efficiency.

USAID: Energy is the most important sector of any country's economy. Through independence in the energy sector, a country's sovereignty can be strengthened. Today, 70% of Armenia's energy system depends on imported energy.

[source,](https://arka.am/en/news/technology/armenia_has_considerable_potential_for_clean_energy_production_head_of_usaid_armenia_/) [source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSkCD0JONmk)

Armenia's solar power plants have a higher capacity than the nuclear plant: infrastructure minister

THANOSYAN: 205 solar power plants operating in Armenia provided 450 MW of energy capacity, which is more than the capacity of the Metsamor nuclear plant (405 MW). In the first 9 months of this year, solar produced over 5% of total electricity *[smaller than nuclear's output]*, while the wind accounted for 0.02%. We plan to bring solar's share to 15% by 2030.

[source,](https://arka.am/en/news/technology/share_of_solar_energy_in_armenia_expected_to_exceed_15_by_2030/)

interview with military industry expert Avetik Kerobyan, the twin brother of economy minister Vahan Kerobyan

REPORTER: Hayasat-1 is a small satellite produced in Armenia *[not to be confused with the professional satellite Armsat-1 that Armenia released in 2022]*. It's scheduled to be released into space by SpaceX's Falcon 9 on December 1. What can you tell us about Hayasat-1?

AVETIK: It's the first satellite whose production cycle was fully in Armenia. SpaceX was scheduled to release Hayasat-1 and several other satellites tomorrow but it was delayed until Friday.

REPORTER: Who produced it?

AVETIK: Bazoomq Space Research Lab and its partners. Microchips were imported but many of the components of the satellite were made in Armenia. Hayasat-1 was fully assembled in Armenia, unlike Armtat-1 which was produced by Spanish company Satlantis and sold to Armenia. Hayasat-1's team has also built a control center in Armenia.

REPORTER: Tell us about Azerbaijan's space industry.

AVETIK: Their first satellite was purchased from France. They are actively engaged with the Turkish and Kazakh space industry today. This industry is quite developed in Kazakhstan. The satellites purchased by Azerbaijan are quite advanced.

REPORTER: How much did the Armenian state spend on Hayasat-1?

AVETIK: $0. It's a private project financed by business circles. This is an important step toward the development of internal cooperation. There is also a "clean room" for scientists.

REPORTER: How much did the entire Hayasat-1 project cost?

AVETIK: $200,000.

REPORTER: What's the difference between Armsat-1 and Hayasat-1?

AVETIK: Unlike the Hayasat-1, Armsat-1 is a multispectral and hyperspectral imaging satellite capable of gathering images for analysis. It can help analyze landscapes, condition of forests, predict how well the crops will grow, and of course be used by the military.

REPORTER: That's an imaging satellite. Can we have a communication satellite?

AVETIK: Those are a lot more expensive. They are geostationary satellites costing several hundred million dollars, without counting the cost of liftoff and the advanced equipment necessary for control on the ground. We do need one, however. We need internet satellites.

REPORTER: Are there plans to release more satellites?

AVETIK: Of course. Once you enter the space industry, there is no leaving. There are plans to release larger and more capable satellites.

[source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bktQQ-CmlKQ)

authorities plan to go after property owners who hide rent income

On paper, only 469 rental agreements were signed in Yerevan in September, and 784 in all of Armenia. Many of them are businesses that disclose their lease agreements and receive tax benefits in return.

The state complains that many apartment owners hide their rent income. The law was amended this year to increase the size of the penalty for tax evaders: 5% of property value, up to $1,200. The penalty doubles for repeated offenders.

The authorities say they will "forgive" the landlord for not disclosing the rent agreement at the time of signing it as long as they voluntarily begin to pay taxes now.

IRS's anti-shadow economy division will be tasked with combatting evasion. They could cooperate with HOA and use other methods to find evasions, such as tips from disgruntled tenants and talkative neighbors. One of the primary methods will be the monitoring of websites where property owners usually place rental ads.

👉 *Uncle Samvel is watching you.* 👈

[video,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7TCBGUgesg)

authorities pressed charges against three soldiers accused of intentionally providing false eyewitness accounts to implicate a former governor's ally

A fight broke out in 2019 between a group of soldiers led by LtCol Ara Mkhitaryan and another group some of whom had ties to the now-former governor of Vayots Dzor. The LtCol later died from his injuries.

One participant was convicted to 5 years. The second suspect, who was immediately arrested and charged after the incident, was an associate of the governor. The LtCol's friends, three soldiers, claimed he was also at the scene and participated in the assault against the LtCol After an investigation the authorities found evidence that the second suspect was not present at the scene because he arrived later, and that the three soldiers intentionally provided false information to implicate him. The authorities released him from jail and charged the three soldiers with providing false information. Today was their trial. The allegedly falsely accused man is separately suing Armenian authorities for ֏333 million in material and non-material damages.

[source,](https://www.pastinfo.am/hy/news/2022/03/23/e9qt24a2w/1368783) source, [source,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knNob_7vRuc)

NVIDIA wants to train Armenian voice AI

The American University of Armenia and NVIDIA are cooperating to train models to convert Armenian speech to text. The current database holds only 5 hours of speech, compared to 3400 for English and 145 for Georgian. They invite volunteers to contribute 5 minutes a day through the Mozilla Common Voice initiative.

[demo,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxsK4HKfSA) [source,](https://hetq.am/hy/article/162392)

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/1868c5e/armenia_wants_to_reduce_reliance_on_russia_us/