Sunday, 

Sarkisian Congratulates Iran's Rouhani On Election Victory


Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (R) greets his Iranian counterpart
Hassan Rouhani at a Yerevan airport, 21Dec2016.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian emphasized the friendly nature of
his country's relations with Iran and hoped for a new level of
cooperation as he congratulated President Hassan Rouhani on winning a
second term in office in an election held in the Islamic Republic on
May 19.

Rouhani beat his main challenger, conservative ex-prosecutor Ebrahim
Raisi in the first round of the election by polling over 50 percent of
the vote.

In his congratulatory message to Rouhani, Sarkisian, as quoted by his
press office, expressed confidence that during the Iranian president's
tenure "the friendly neighborly Iran will continue to develop upward,
bringing its considerable and important contribution to the
establishment of regional peace and stability."

"I am hopeful that through our joint efforts, the traditionally warm
and friendly Armenian-Iranian relations will continue to develop and
strengthen in all areas, registering a qualitatively new level of
cooperation between our peoples," Sarkisian said.

"I wish you excellent health, success in all your undertakings, and I
wish lasting peace and prosperity to the friendly people of Iran,"
reads the congratulatory message of the Armenian leader.

Sarkisian and Rouhani discussed ways of deepening economic ties
between the two countries when the Iranian president paid a visit to
Armenia late last year. Those include cooperation in the energy and
transportation spheres as well as a tax-free zone in Armenia for
Iranian manufacturing firms.

Sarkisian also praised Iran for its balanced position on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.



Election Body Rejects Appeal By Opposition Party Over Yerevan Vote


 . Anush Muradian


Armenia -- Central Electoral Commission rejects Yerkir Tsirani party's
appeal, Yerevan, 21May2017

Armenia's Central Electoral Commission on Sunday approved the final
results of the May 14 municipal elections in Yerevan, rejecting the
appeal filed by an opposition party that particularly alleged
large-scale vote buying and pressure on people to vote in favor of the
ruling party.

The governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) officially got over 71
percent of the vote, with the opposition Yelk (Way Out) alliance
getting 21 percent and the opposition Yerkir Tsirani party receiving
some 8 percent of the vote.

All three forces participating in the election made it to the
65-member Council of Elders of Yerevan where they will have 46, 14 and
5 representatives, respectively.

Following the ballot in which Yelk also alleged vote buying in favor
of the HHK, only Yerkir Tsirani formally applied to the CEC, demanding
that it annul the election results.

The party led by outspoken government critic Zaruhi Postanjian claimed
large-scale fraud was committed during the election by the HHK with
the assistance of police officers that included vote buying, guidance
of voters, as well as violence against Postanjian and her proxy.

Postanjian, who ran for mayor in the elections, personally went to one
of HHK campaign offices located in incumbent mayor and top HHK
candidate Taron Markarian's home district of Avan on the day of the
voting to expose what she claimed was a vote buying scheme. Along with
her daughter, Lilit Drampian, who also acted as her proxy, she was
forced out of the HHK premises by police officers called in by ruling
party activists.

In a statement released on May 15 Postanjian claimed violence was used
against her and her daughter, who suffered a concussion. She also
deplored the lack of immediate response from appropriate
law-enforcement bodies to the incident. Two criminal cases were later
launched by the Special Investigation Service in connection with the
incident.

In its application the opposition party also alleged that
election-related documents kept at the safes at electoral precincts
had been tampered with in favor of the HHK.

During today's meeting of the CEC Postanjian accused the body of
failing to properly notify the party about the date and time of the
hearing.

Tigran Mukuchian, the head of the CEC, insisted, however, that
Postanjian and Yerkir Tsirani were notified by phone in due
time. Mukuchian said that in its application the party did not attach
any proof of its claims that could become a basis for annulling the
results of the Yerevan elections. Eventually, the CEC rejected Yerkir
Tsirani's appeal and approved the final results of the elections.

Postanjian went on to allege that Mukuchian was acting under pressure
as she said one of her party's representatives was notified about the
CEC meeting late on Saturday and could not make it to Yerevan from
Gyumri early in the morning.

"We will turn to the court," Postanjian said, stressing that Yerkir
Tsirani will continue to struggle "to create a movement of national
resistance that will topple the current regime."



Press Review

(Saturday, May 20)

"Haykakan Zhamanak" tries to understand why in their statement on the
most recent ceasefire violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone
the American, Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
decided to clearly put the blame on Azerbaijan: "This is an
unprecedented reaction. Even during the April 2016 war the
international mediators and the individual co-chair countries
refrained from defining Azerbaijan as an aggressor, even though they
surely could not have failed to notice, due to their satellite
equipment, that it was Azerbaijan that had launched an offensive along
the perimeter of the line of contact# What has changed? The thing is
that if the Minsk Group had not made such a targeted statement, having
received such data from one of the parties, it would have put its
mandate and further activities in doubt."

"168 Zham" assesses the latest statement of the OSCE Minsk Group as
one of the most serious successes of recent years and even decades in
the settlement of the Karabakh conflict: "Finally, the Minsk Group is
calling things by their proper names... It is not an exaggeration to
say that this was a slap by the international community in the face of
Azerbaijan, which is doing and will be doing everything in order to
scuttle the agreements reached after the April 2016 war during
meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg... It is hard to say how far
this is the result of Armenian diplomatic efforts and how far it is
the reflection of the current global geopolitical developments. It is
important, however, to keep this result and take the initiative. And
this should become the number one task for Armenian diplomacy."

"Zhoghovurd" comments on the process of the formation of standing
committees in the newly elected Armenian parliament. The daily, in
particular, writes: "Armenia has become so dependent on the Kremlin
over the past decade that even the existence of a parliamentary
committee on European integration should be regarded as a serious
achievement. It is another matter whether this was done after
permission obtained from the North or as a result of political
courage, for which in the near future the Armenian authorities are
certain to get some `fraternal' slaps. Given the nominal presence of
this committee and its actual inaction in the past, it can be said
that this can become a small bonus for the Armenian authorities in
order to win the favors of EU officials promising tens of millions in
loans. After all, the Kremlin understands that if it gives no money to
its outpost, then at least it should not close the opportunity for it
to get money from another channel. Otherwise, there may be some
uncontrolled developments."

Assessing the speech of President Serzh Sarkisian during the first
meeting of the new parliament, "Hayots Ashkhar" writes: "The speech of
the president at the first meeting of the National Assembly of the
sixth convocation was an important one from the point of view of
expectations for the coming years in the sphere of economy, social
development and other areas. The speech sets out the basic tasks that
must become the basis for the future governments' programs. Judging
from the president's speech, both in the economic and social spheres
strict and high demands are being put forward, and the fulfillment of
these demands should create conditions for the formation of a new
quality of economic and social environment in Armenia."

(Tigran Avetisian)

Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org