  Top Armenian military rejects Minsk invite as he “has visited Karabakh” February 10, 2017 - 17:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A top Armenian military official has rejected an invitation to participate in the 90th anniversary of the formation of Belarusian DOSAAF as he “has visited Nagorno Karabakh.” DOSAAF is the Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Fleet. Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (Komandos), who heads the Armenian DOSAAF, is currently supervising the training of specialists in the Armenian armed forces. He is known as the "mastermind of Shushi liberation," having been named commander of the operation (dubbed Wedding in Mountains) to seize the strategic town in Karabakh. In a Facebook post, Komandos said he had to reject the invitation as he “had been to Nagorno Karabakh.” The extradition by Minsk of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan has strained diplomatic ties between Armenia and Belarus. Lapshin, 40, divides his time between Israel and a few other places. He was arrested on December 15 in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, at the request of Azeri authorities who demanded his extradition. The arrest was made one day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Lapshin was arrested following his visits to Karabakh as well as due to critical posts in his Russian-language blog against Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.   Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says.   Partner news |  Latest news Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says  David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan.Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment.Ex-President: Only removal of “defeatist” rulers can save Armenia Former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has shared a message on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.Pashinyan: We must stop searching for homeland, we have found that homeland Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has shared a message on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. |
