THE ARMENIAN MIRRORc SPECTATOR Since 1932 Volume LXXXXII, NO. 6, Issue 4698 AUGUST 28, 2021 $2.00 Ararat Mirzoyan Appointed Foreign Minister YEREVAN (RFE/RL) – Former Arme- At a May 31 farewell meeting with Pashinyan signed a decree on August 19 nian Parliament Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan the Armenian Foreign Ministry staff, reappointing Grigoryan as secretary of the has been appointed foreign minister by Ayvazyan signaled strong objections to Security Council. a decree signed August 19 by President Pashinyan’s policies relating to the Na- The government has not yet given any Armen Sarkissian upon the proposal of gorno-Karabakh conflict and national se- reasons for the reshuffle. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. curity. Explaining the reason for the delay in The post of Armenia’s foreign minister In mid-July Pashinyan relieved Armen the appointment of the new foreign min- remained vacant since late May when Ara Grigoryan of his duties as secretary of the ister, Ruben Rubinyan, a deputy speak- Ayvazyan resigned over apparent poli- Security Council. Grigoryan was later ap- er of the new Armenian parliament and cy disagreements with Pashinyan. All of pointed first deputy foreign minister act- senior figure in the Pashinyan-led Civil Ayvazyan’s four deputies followed suit. ing as foreign minister. see APPOINTMENT, page 4 Armenian Chess GM Elina Danielian Wins Europe’s Russia Dismisses Aliyev’s Call to Stop Individual Women’s Championship Arming Armenia By Haykaram Nahapetyan MOSCOW (RFE/RL) — Supplying Mirror-Spectator Video Correspondent weapons to other countries is Moscow’s sovereign right, a Russian Foreign Minis- IASHI, Romania — For the first time a wom- try spokeswoman said on August 19 when an grandmaster from Armenia has scored such a asked to comment on Azerbaijani President high-level victory: Elina Danielian became Europe’s Ilham Aliyev’s call to stop arming Arme- top woman chess player, winning the European In- nia. dividual Women’s Championship. The tournament In an interview to CNN Turk television kicked off in Romania’s Iashi (Jassy) on August on August 14 the Azerbaijani leader argued 9, played in 11 rounds, and finished on August 20. that while the Armenian people and their Among 117 players representing nearly 30 European leadership “have put up with the defeat” countries, Danielian came out first with seven victo- in last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh war with ries, four draws, and 0 defeats. Her opponents repre- Azerbaijan, continuing to arm Armenia ap- sented the notable women chess players of Ukraine, pears “illogical.” Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and other nations. Aliyev referred to the August 11 state- Elina was born in 1978 in Baku and left Soviet ment by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Azerbaijan because of anti-Armenian pogroms. Shoigu about the start of military supplies Melik Khachian, the Armenian-American coach to Armenia made during a meeting with his of the US Women’s National Chess Team, shared a Armenian counterpart Arshak Karapetyan similar fate and had to leave Baku in late 1988. He in Moscow. knew Elina from Baku, where she started her chess “We expect that Russia will stop arming career attending the classes of an Armenian coach. Armenia, we don’t see it at the moment,” “The European championship is a hardcore tourna- Aliyev said. ment. This was an awesome result. It’s always hard At a news briefing on August 19, Maria to play against the new generation because they Zakharova, an official representative of the are very motivated. They have stamina. This was Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Russia an unbelievable challenge,” said Khachian during a has supplied weapons not only to Arme- Zoom-based communication. nia, its key military and political ally in the see CHESS, page 4 South Caucasus, but also to Azerbaijan. “It is Russia’s sovereign right, and the Russian side always takes into account the Displaced Women from Artsakh Find Home in need to maintain a balance of military pow- er in the region,” she said. A Small Weaving Studio in Southern Armenia In an apparent reference to Aliyev’s re- By Lilit Shahverdyan GORIS, Armenia — “That’s how we became cent statements Zakharova also said that Special to the Mirror-Spectator refugees for the second time,” sums up Milena bellicose rhetoric does not help settle the Ordiyants, a 39-year-old Armenian woman re- situation, stressing that Moscow’s uncondi- cently displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). tional priority remains the implementation In her four decades, this woman has been forced to move twice, once from Baku of the trilateral agreements of the leaders (Azerbaijan) to Berdzor (Nagorno-Karabakh) and ultimately, finding temporary of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia from residence in Goris (southern Armenia). Due to the skills in carpet-making she November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021. acquired in her younger years, she is now getting back on her feet, supporting her The official representative of the Russian family financially and sharing her know-how with the women of her new commu- Foreign Ministry stressed that high-level nity. It´s a new awakening after a dreadful nightmare. contacts with Yerevan and Baku contin- On the morning of September 27, 2020, Baku launched a major offensive ue on a regular bases. As for the mostly non-public nature of these negotiations, Milena against Nagorno-Karabakh, continuing the longest-running unresolved dispute on Ordiyants the territory of the former Soviet Union. she said: “Simply, [publicity] may real- at work see WEAVING, page 3 ly get in the way of achieving sustainable see DISMISSAL, page 4 GYUMRI YEREVAN CALIFORNIA Ars Musica Brings Sasha Zaitseva: Ani Khodaverdian Grand Concert Harp Armenia in My Empowers, Educates, and to Gyumri Heart Inspires through Telo Jan Page 3 Page 10 Page 8 2 SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2021 ARMENIAN MIRROR-SPECTATOR ARMENIA NEWS from ARMENIA 83 billion Drams in Aid to Removal of Opposition Lawmaker Sparks Artsakh So Far, Pashinyan Says Brawl in Armenian Parliament YEREVAN (Arka) —The gov- YEEVAN (RFE/RL) — Security guards ernment of Armenia has released so removed an opposition lawmaker from the far about 83 billion drams to finance parliament after she challenged Prime Min- various social-oriented programs ister Nikol Pashinyan during his presenta- in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), tion of a five-year government action plan Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday, August 24, sparking a brawl said on August 24 when presenting in the chamber. his government’s plan of actions Before putting her question to Pashin- designed for 2021-2026. yan, Anna Mkrtchyan, a member of the op- Earlier, the government in Yere- position Pativ Unem faction, criticized the van pledged to allocate more than prime minister for entering the parliament 175 billion drams to Artsakh to chamber with his bodyguards, something finance various social programs. that she said was unprecedented for Arme- The beneficiaries of one of the pro- nia’s National Assembly. grams are about 104,000 residents Mkrtchyan said that the presence of of Artsakh, who have been receiv- whom she described as “okhranniks” ing monthly payments of 68,000 (guards) using a Russian word in the par- drams. liament chamber was now a reality that re- Under another program, the Ar- mained unseen for the public at large. menian government is assisting the Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan in- government in Nagorno-Karabakh terrupted the opposition lawmaker, called to meet its financial obligations and on her to exercise restraint and formally compensate for property losses of reprimanded her. legal entities resulting from last au- During a debate in parliament earlier this Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan tumn’s 44-day. month Simonian had already once repri- The third program includes as- manded Mkrtchyan for speaking impolite- Abrahamyan, inquired from Prime Minis- would say that they even reacted softly,” he sistance to building houses for fam- ly about the prime minister and calling him ter Pashinyan what he thought about the said. ilies who lost their homes during a defeatist, depriving her of the floor and remarks made by his fellow party mem- Mkrtchyan reacted to the prime minis- the war. ordering her removal from the chamber. bers against Mkrtchyan. Pashinyan replied ter’s words from her seat, after which Par- Another Pativ Unem lawmaker, Tigran that his partisans reacted with restraint. “I liament Speaker Simonian ordered security Armenia Reports Record guards to remove the opposition lawmaker Daily Covid-19 Cases from the hall. “I ask the security to escort Ms. Mkrt- YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN. chyan out in accordance with Article 52 of Net) — The number of confirmed the Rules of Procedure,” said Simonian, coronavirus infections in Armenia announcing a 20-minute break. grew by 537 to reach 238,422 on The entry of security guards into the the morning of August 24, accord- chamber sparked a brawl between them ing to the Health Ministry. and representatives of Pativ Unem and the Fresh figures also revealed that other opposition faction, Hayastan. 226 more people recovered, six When the session resumed, Hayastan’s patients died from Covid-19, while lawmaker Artur Ghazinyan accused Pash- one person carrying the virus died inyan of provoking the incident with his from other causes in the past 24 remarks. Pashinyan later dismissed that ac- hours. cusation repeated by another Hayastan fac- So far, 224,719 people have re- tion member Artsvik Minasyan, saying that covered, 4,768 have died from the security guards and the parliament speaker coronavirus in the country, while have been doing their duty. 1,148 others carrying the virus MP Anna Mkrtchyan have died from other causes. Armenia Plans to Attract Armenian Ministry Vows ‘Consequences’ For Officers Responsible For Army Deaths More Women into Military YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — The army of- published yet.