Monday, 

Expert Says Rouhani's Reelection In Iran Suits Armenia


 . Artak Hambardzumian


Iran -- Newly re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures
after delivering a televised speech in the capital Tehran, May 20,
2017

Iran's reformist President Hassan Rouhani's reelection is good for
Armenia, since it means that the implementation of the agreements
reached between the two neighboring countries recently will not be
delayed, an expert in Yerevan believes.

"We will not have any loss of time," Vartan Voskanian, who specializes
in Iranian studies, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am),
commenting on Rouhani's May 19 victory in the Islamic Republic's
presidential election.

"We will have the same team [in Tehran] that is committed to
developing relations with Armenia," he added.

Rouhani beat his main challenger, conservative ex-prosecutor Ebrahim
Raisi in the first round of the election, polling nearly 57 percent of
the vote and winning another four-year term as president.

"There are certain processes within Iran, but one should not expect
any political upheavals or post-election developments," said
Voskanian. "The population in Iran is generally satisfied and even
representatives of the team opposed to Rouhani have recognized the
results of the election. Iran's supreme spiritual leader has blessed
by these results," the expert explained, concluding: "In fact, the
elections in Iran are over."

Some Iranians visiting Armenia also went to cast their ballots at
their country's embassy in Yerevan on Friday. Talking to RFE/RL's
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), most of them said they had voted for
continued reforms.

Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian over the weekend congratulated
President Rouhani on his victory in the presidential election,
emphasizing the friendly nature of Yerevan's relations with Tehran.

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.

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.



Opposition Faction Cries Foul Over Parliament Committees Formation


 . Ruzanna Stepanian


Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian addresses the newly elected
National Assembly, Yerevan,18May,2017

The opposition Yelk faction in the Armenian National Assembly claimed
on Monday it was deprived of the opportunity to lead a standing
committee following what the alliance of three parties believes was an
unfair approach shown by the parliament majority.

Edmon Marukian, a representative of the nine-member faction, insisted
that Yelk could have its member lead a standing committee dealing with
human rights, but at the suggestion of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia's (HHK) the number of standing committees had been reduced
from 12 to 9, with the committee in question merged with the one on
state and legal issues where a majority representative was to be
elected as head.

In the current distribution of leadership roles in the Armenian
parliament the regulations apply the so-called D'Hondt method under
which opposition parties also get to participate in some leadership
roles proportionally to their representation. Senior officials in
Armenia have argued that this change in the electoral code that became
possible after the country's constitutional transition to a
parliamentary form of government will make it possible to increase
dramatically the role of the opposition in state governance.

On Saturday, representatives of the HHK were elected heads of six of
the committees, while the second largest parliamentary bloc of tycoon
Gagik Tsarukian that had declared itself an opposition faction got
leadership positions in the remaining three committees.

Many observers in Armenia challenge the opposition credentials of the
Tsarukian alliance, arguing that in many cases representatives of this
faction will go along with the majority during the parliament debate
and votes, which was also manifested during the election of parliament
speaker and his deputies (the Tsarukian alliance got the position of
one deputy speaker) last week.

Marukian believes that the changes in the Constitution and the
Electoral Code eventually did not make any difference as the real
opposition did not get any advantage. He said that "one thing is
written in texts, but another thing is the reality."


Armenia- MP Edmon Marukian is a guest at Azatutyun's News Center, 23
January 2015
"De jure we had the right [to have a committee head] under the D'Hondt
method, but de facto that committee was dissolved," Marukian said. He
stressed that the kind of approach by the HHK "nullifies" whatever
President Serzh Sarkisian was saying about the increased role of
political parties and the opposition in his address to lawmakers last
week.

Vahram Baghdasarian, the leader of the HHK parliamentary faction,
however, disagrees with the kind of assessment by his opposition
colleague. He believes that the Tsarukian bloc "is also an
opposition".

"This was not the HHK that regulated this distribution of leadership
positions, this was the result of the application of a formula," said
Baghdasarian, criticizing Yelk for "being after a committee head's
position".


Armenia -- Parliament majority leader Vahram Baghdasarian gives an
interview to Azatutyun.am, Yerevan, 18May,2016

Baghdasarian also disagreed with assessments that the human rights
committee was "dissolved". He said that simply it will be part of the
committee on state and legal issues and will also be in its name.



Armenia, Azerbaijan Exchange Blame Over Karabakh At Black Sea Summit
In Istanbul


 . Tatevik Sargsian


Turkey -- Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan poses with member
countries' representatives during the 25th anniversary summit of the
Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in Istanbul,


Representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations over the
conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh during the 25th anniversary summit of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) held in Istanbul on Monday, with
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voicing objections to the
speech of the Armenian deputy foreign minister.

Representatives of about a dozen countries participating in the
organization, including Armenia, made speeches at the opening of the
summit. According to Turkey's Dogan news agency, in a clear reference
to Armenia Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Oktay Asadov said in his
speech that "one of the members of the organization has not abandoned
its toxic ideology."

Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Ashot Hovakimian, responding to
Azerbaijan's representative, was quoted as saying that "the
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation is not a place for
voicing accusations."

Turkish President Erdogan, for his part, reportedly agreed with this
statement of the Armenian representative, but added, addressing his
words to him: "No representative here has voiced accusations or
assessments. It was you who fully dedicated your speech to political
assessments."

According to the official website of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, in his speech at the BSEC summit Hovakimian criticized
Azerbaijan for its belligerent policies and for torpedoing peace
efforts of Armenia and international mediators in resolving the
protracted Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Accusations, war rhetoric and unilateral maximalist demands cannot
resolve the conflict. It is possible to achieve progress in the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict if Azerbaijan abandons its
policy of the use of force and engages in good faith in the
negotiations within the framework agreed by the OSCE Minsk Group," the
Armenian diplomat, in particular, said.

The Armenian ministry reports that the BSEC summit in Istanbul adopted
an anniversary declaration where it reaffirmed the economic nature of
the organization.



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
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