The families of the Armenian prisoners held in Baku have written an open letter to the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Armenia, asking the senior Canadian official on hostage issues to involve in the release of the Armenian prisoners held in Baku and to support the efforts for their immediate and unconditional release.

The full text of the letter.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
Yerevan, Armenia

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

We, the members of the families of Armenian prisoners held in Baku, welcome your historic visit to Armenia on the occasion of participating in the 8th Summit of the European Political Community. We hope that your presence will strengthen Canada-Armenia relations and contribute to peace, security and stability in the region.

With this letter, we would like to draw your attention to an urgent humanitarian problem. our relatives, 19 Armenian prisoners continue to be illegally detained in Azerbaijan. Despite numerous calls from international bodies, including the European Parliament, for their immediate and unconditional release, Azerbaijan continues to illegally detain them, prolonging the suffering of their families and undermining confidence in the peace process.

Canada has shown principled leadership in the fight against arbitrary detention and hostage diplomacy. By establishing the Institute of Senior Hostage Officials and by pioneering the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in Interstate Relations, Canada has affirmed that people should not be used as political leverage in interstate relations. With all due respect, we note that what is being done with our relatives is fully consistent with the spirit and purpose of these commitments.

Our concerns are deepened by the conditions of their detention and the serious human rights violations reported by international actors. Their trials have been widely criticized as inconsistent with fair trial principles. Azerbaijani officials have announced that they have no intention of releasing the former officials of Nagorno Karabakh. The termination of the physical presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan deprived our families of the opportunity to receive regular and impartial information about their whereabouts.

Canada’s experience gives this call a special moral weight. Canada has gone through its own reconciliation process and realized that lasting peace can be built not on denial, silence or unhealed wounds, but on truth, recognition of rights, respect, cooperation and partnership. The same principle applies here. a peace that allows people to be arbitrarily detained and their families to suffer cannot be reliable, sustainable or just.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, in your speech in Davos, you presented the principled and pragmatic vision of “value-based realism” based on human rights, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the rule of law. You mentioned Vaclav Havel’s warning about “living in a lie”. The ongoing detention of Armenian prisoners in Baku is just such a situation, which should be called by its real name and resolved.

With all due respect, we ask you to engage Canada’s senior hostage affairs official in the case of the Armenian prisoners held in Baku and support efforts for their immediate and unconditional release. We also ask Canada to use its voice, diplomatic channels and relations with the European Union, the United States and other parties to the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention to coordinate pressure on Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s commitment to peace will not inspire confidence in the Armenian public as long as Armenian prisoners remain in captivity. Their release and repatriation are indispensable to any real peace process and a vital confidence-building measure.

Your visit to Yerevan is an important opportunity to demonstrate that Canada’s commitment to ending arbitrary detention is not just words, but also action. With the greatest respect, we call on you to meet with the families of the prisoners held in Baku, listen to us and raise the issue of Armenian prisoners in your meetings with the leaders of other countries. We strongly believe that Canada can play a fundamental and constructive role in ending the suffering of our families. We thank you for your attention to this urgent humanitarian issue and look forward to Canada’s support in securing the release and safe return of our loved ones.

Free Armenian Prisoners

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Ukraine wishes only peace to Armenia and Azerbaijan, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced at the plenary session of the European political community in Yerevan.

“It is very important that Armenia stands with all Europeans today, by the way, it is the first time in 24 years that the president of Ukraine is visiting Armenia, this is really a significant fact, this shows the scale of our unity,” Zelensky emphasized.

He also referred to the Russian-Ukrainian war, stressing that the war continues to be as fierce as before.

“This summer will be the moment when Putin will have to decide what to do: expand the war or switch to diplomacy, we have to push him to diplomacy,” Zelensky said.

According to him, Russia will hold a parade with military equipment on May 9.

“If this happens, it will be the first time that they will not be able to show their military equipment, fear-mongering UAVs will buzz over Red Square. This shows that they are not strong, we should continue our sanctions against them,” the President of Ukraine announced in Yerevan.

He said that pressure on Russia should be continued.

To remind, the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, announced that on May 9, the Victory Day parade on Red Square will be held as usual.

“Of course, the parade will take place. We will properly inform about the format of the parade,” he said.

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To ensure Europe’s strategic autonomy, a greater focus is needed on the pillars on which Europe has an overdependence. According to the report of “168 Hours”, during the interactive panel discussion of the 8th European Political Community (ECC) summit held in Yerevan, the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, said this, referring to the issue of European strategic autonomy in the current security environment.

«I think that when we talk about strategic autonomy, it is not just about security, defense and energy, but these components are key, including the food aspects, but we need to talk about space as well as semiconductors, because we also need to ensure sustainable strategic autonomy in the field of defense. When we talk about, for example, semiconductors, if you are dependent on other countries, it is necessary to look at the integration of the global economy and our complete innovation system, because building our strategic autonomy requires a much greater focus on the pillars where we have overdependence. Over the past years, we have tried to reduce this overdependence. The COVID pandemic, as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine, revealed our overdependence on Russian gas. We experience the weight of our overdependence when we talk about the American umbrella for our defense and security. This is the elephant in the room“, said the French President.

Macron emphasized the need for European solidarity and greater unity in order to neutralize the risks. According to the French president, more investments and better organization are needed to achieve that goal.

According to the French president, one of the main risks of the European Union is especially the deepening of the US-China confrontation, which can reveal the above-mentioned dependencies much faster. In this context, he also referred to the situation related to the Strait of Hormuz.

«When I look at Gulf countries, Asian countries, Latin American countries and African countries, they want to have predictable partners, and sometimes our interests may not coincide, but if we implement our agenda as a predictable partner, this will make sense. I think we have a very important role to play here, also in the situation with the Strait of Hormuz. Georgia (Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, – AS) was with us when we organized this last meeting of ours, we have many Asian and African countries and we have Gulf countries, and it was very impressive to see their organization and the alignment of their agendas, and I think the United States trusts us, but the Iranians also trust us. Of course, we’re not naive about Iran, but we’re not at war with them either, which creates a context where all of this in conjunction can mean that we can provide services diplomatically, economically, financially, so that we can facilitate the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and open trade.“, said Emmanuel Macron.

The French President declares that the “hottest topic” for Europe is Ukraine, and the European Union must work together to gain strategic autonomy. Emmanuel Macron is also “very impressed” with Armenia from Nikol Pashinyan’s point of view.

«Nikol’s perspective is very impressive regarding Armenia over the last few years. Let’s be honest, 8 years ago no one would have come here, and the fact that we have so many first visits to your country is a really good indicator, because 8 years ago, this country was considered by many countries at the table as a de facto satellite of Russia, and Nicole organized the Velvet Revolution, and it decided to de-Persianize the country, and it won as a result, and it decided that peace and Europe were the primary aspiration, and it the resistance that exists in Ukraine, the strategy of Armenia, what was done in Moldova, as well as in many countries sitting at this table, shows that indeed we, as Europeans, have decided in the last few years to sound an alarm for a united awakening, and strategic autonomy is aimed at such a great power.– said the French President.

This is another cheap lie of Macron. Before 2018, French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, Francois Hollande arrived in Armenia. Moreover, in 2017, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed between Armenia and the European Union (EU), which was ratified by the parliaments of several dozen European countries. Moreover, since 2009, Armenia has benefited from the EU’s “Generalized and Complementary System of Preferences” (“GSP”), under which the EU removed customs duties for Armenia on more than 6,000 products, 40 percent of which were exported to the EU with zero customs duties. Armenia’s joining the REX system of registered exporters had a beneficial effect especially on SMEs, as the system allowed businessmen without a certificate of product origin, once registered in the REX system, to enter the EU markets and benefit from GSP privileges.

When Nikol Pashinyan came to power with his CP, from January 1, 2022, Armenia was excluded from the preferential trade regime of the European Union’s “Generalized and Complementary System of Preferences” (“GSP”).

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Vahe Davtyan writes on his Facebook page. “These days, Yerevan has turned into a place where foreign meanings sound louder than our own. Leaders came here, agendas were brought, ready-made interpretations of the future were presented. And almost imperceptibly, the main thing has been pushed into the background: what is Armenia’s place in that future?

The authorities of Armenia seem to have chosen the most convenient way: not to formulate, but to join. Not to form a line, but to move between the lines, hoping that the movement itself is already a strategy. Meanwhile, it is just a drift.

Armenia continues to be a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Russian military presence is maintained on its territory, and at the same time the European Political Community is gathering in Yerevan, discussing a security architecture where there is less and less room left for former alliances.

The authorities call it flexibility. In fact, it means avoiding choice under the guise of multi-vectoring. Yes, refusing to vote in politics is also a choice. But usually in favor of the power that formulates the rules.

Armenia accepts, organizes, accompanies, but does not shape the agenda. This is the behavior of the administrator, not the subject. Service policy.

Thus, the state loses its ability to be a source of meaning and becomes a carrier of foreign semantic structures. It ceases to independently determine what is value for itself, and begins to borrow even the evaluation criteria.

It seems that the authorities proceed from the assumption that the greater the external attention, the higher the international subjectivity. Meanwhile, attention is not recognition. It is a resource that is used as long as it is needed. Then it is forgotten.

History has repeatedly shown that small states survive not due to the number of connections, but due to a clear position. When the position is blurred, the country becomes not a bridge, but a transit yard.

And the most dangerous is the illusion that it is possible to be in several incompatible systems at the same time and not pay a price for it.

The price is always there. It’s just that it’s never announced in advance.”

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Artak Zakaryan writes: “Emmanuel Macron’s lie

French President Macron says, “eight years ago, no one would have come here.” Nikol organized the revolution (actually putting Armenia in existential danger) and many (after 8 years) came to Armenia for the first time.

Let’s not follow numerology and statistics. Let’s not list the hundreds of official and working visits of the leaders of the EU and many other countries of the world to Armenia during the first, second and third presidents.

Let’s just take Francophonie. During the presidency of Serzh Sargsyan, in 2017 it was decided to hold the 17th International Francophonie Summit in Armenia. When making that decision, French President Mr. Macron was not only not against gathering the 57 francophone leaders in the “de facto satellite of the Russian Federation”, but welcomed and supported that decision.

Dear Mr. Macron, I understand you. Do you want to clean your Nicole out of the disastrous consequences of the “velvet revolution” and restore her power again?

But please don’t do it at the expense of the Armenian people and Armenia’s victorious past. I’m sure you know better that we Armenians were respected and valued more in the world before 2020 than after.”

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Pashinyan is doing everything to present the 8th summit of the European political community as part of his campaign, Hayk Mamijanyan, a member of the “Republican” party, told reporters.

“It is also supported by some of its European owners. We have gathered to prevent this from happening,” Mamijanyan said.

He mentioned that Aliyev used to give instructions to Pashinyan over the phone.

“Today, Aliyev was arrested in Yerevan, and he was giving hate speech to people who speak about the rights of our prisoners, Artsakh Armenians. I have a question for our citizens, are they “okay” with this? Is there anyone in Armenia who considers it normal for Aliyev to give specific instructions?” asked Hayk Mamijanyan, noting that he, his friends and many other people are not “okay” with it.

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Artsakh cultural heritage ombudsman, vice-president of “Azkayin” historical and cultural NGO Hovik Avanesov warns.

Various foreign sources, figures on the days of the 44-day war in 2020 and beyond claimed that Azerbaijan used phosphorus ammunition in Artsakh, which was supplied to it by Ukraine. Of course, other sources also considered their supply by Israel likely.

President of Ukraine Zelensky in Yerevan today had a chance to deny the information circulating these years, when an Armenian journalist asked him why Kiev supplied phosphorus ammunition to Baku during the 44-day war, but he simply “ran away”. Maybe Zelensky had a reason for such behavior?

Now let’s turn to French President Macron, more specifically, the following he made during the 8th summit of the European Political Community (ECC). to the announcement. 

“Let’s be honest՝ 8 years ago no one would have come here and the fact that we have so many first visits to your country is a really good indicator because 8 years ago this country was considered by many countries around the table as a de facto satellite of Russia.”

Does the first visit also refer to France, but it is worth reminding that 2006 թվականին Հայաստան է այցելել Ֆրանսիայի նախագահ Ժակ Շիրակը, and within the framework of the visit, the opening ceremony of the French square took place, He came to Armenia in 2011 President Nicolas Sarkozy, 2014 and François Hollande visited Armenia in 2015.

 And since we were talking about visits, let’s add that in 2024 168.amthe wrote About Pashinyan’s French visits and those of Macron, moreover, at that time, in July 2021, in the booth of Azatutyun radio station, the French ambassador, in response to a journalist’s question about the specific dates of Macron’s visit, had said. “It will happen when it is most useful.”

Maybe after the depopulation of Artsakh and before the RA NA elections, this period is useful for Macron? By the way, let’s note that in 2025, French President Macron had announced that he conveyed to Nikol Pashinyan during a telephone conversation “France’s solidarity against attempts to destabilize Armenian democracy»:

We have written many times that France decided to supply arms to Armenia only after the depopulation of Artsakh.

168.am–also published: “Did the result of France-Azerbaijan military cooperation “appear” on the field of the 44-day war, or in what form was it observed?” with the text article: We have no intention of discrediting our friend France, we only present dry facts.

And since the Prime Minister of Canada is also in Yerevan, let us recall an episode revealed during the 44-day war in relation to them.

In particular, during the war, the Armed Forces of Artsakh managed to shoot down a Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 ATS. Later, the Armed Forces of Artsakh published a video, and in one of the frames երևում էր կանադական արտադրության CMX 15D օպտիկա, of which there is on Turkish-made strike Bayraktar TB2 UAVs. After this, an embargo was imposed and Turkey was forced to develop the ASELFLIR-500 optical system.

And in order to participate in the 8th European Political Community (ECC) summit, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is also in Armenia, who was in Azerbaijan a few days ago, where he made serious military or defense agreements with Aliyev, i.e., the Czech Republic followed the example of Slovakia. intends to Not only to sell weapons to Baku, but also to open a joint venture.

The international political event in Yerevan did not ignore Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who, according to Azeri sources, will leave Armenia for Azerbaijan, which will follow the visit of Azeri Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov to Italy. Baku is also strengthening defense cooperation with Italy.

It should be noted that in 2024, Italy supplied Azerbaijan with C-27J Spartan military transport aircraft, which allows to provide tactical support to the army, special forces, etc. And Azerbaijani sources promise that there will be news related to Azerbaijan-Italy defense cooperation in the near future.

As for the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agenda and relations, the summit of the European Political Community proved that there is no such thing as a mirror. For example, Aliyev ensured his participation in the meeting of European officials with a kind link, but Nikol Pashinyan is ready to visit Baku in 2028 to participate in the 12th summit of the European Political Community, which will be held there. Moreover, Nikol Pashinyan regularly accuses his opponents of making warlike and provocative statements, while during his speech, the dictator of Baku emphasized:

“In September 2023, Azerbaijan put an end to separatism in Karabakh. We turned into reality the 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council, which remained on paper for 30 years. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has the same value as the territorial integrity of any other country, and double standards in this matter are unacceptable.”

Aliyev then accused the European Parliament of harming and sabotaging the peace process.

“And the reason for this is that Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty, put an end to separatism and brought war criminals to justice.” he emphasized.

In other words, Aliyev considers the participants of the Karabakh movement, the participants of the Artsakh war, the former military-political leadership of Artsakh to be outright criminals and says that he conducted a “Nuremberg trial”, and Nikol Pashinyan does not respond in any way.

And this is despite the fact that when today’s government was an opposition, the third president of RA, Serzh Sargsyan, was accused of why he did not respond to the then president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, when he was reading the letter of the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, during the EAEU session.

On the other hand, Aliyev said today what Pashinyan is thinking and implying. And the President of Azerbaijan is right in one matter: Europe and European civilization should not resort to double standards, especially when it comes to the self-determination of nations and human rights.

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