Thursday, Armenia, Turkmenistan Pledge To Boost Ties . Emil Danielyan Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (R) and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov meet in Yerevan, 24Aug2017. President Serzh Sarkisian called for the launch of "large-scale" joint economic projects by Armenia and Turkmenistan after meeting with his visiting Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on Thursday. The two leaders pledged to deepen economic, political and cultural ties between their ex-Soviet states and presided over the signing of several Turkmen-Armenian agreements after talks held in Yerevan. "Our relations date back to the Middle Ages," Berdimuhamedov said in his opening remarks at the talks. "We are happy that we are continuing that today and serving as an example for younger generations in our countries." Sarkisian, for his part, described Turkmenistan as a "reliable partner" with which Armenia would like to forge closer relations in a wide range of areas. "The [Turkmen] president and I paid special attention to promising avenues of developing economic cooperation," he told reporters after the talks. "I am convinced that with joint efforts we can advance large-scale projects underpinned by modern manufacturing and new jobs, and a broader development of the national economies," Sarkisian went on. "Mr. President [Berdimuhamedov] said during our negotiations that he is now thinking about projects worth not millions but billions [of dollars.] We are buoyed by that and will definitely work in that direction." Berdimuhamedov did not mention any concrete projects in his statement to the press. He said only that his official visit to Armenia, the second in five years, will lay the groundwork for closer bilateral ties in areas such as energy, transport and agriculture. Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (R) and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov meet in Yerevan, 24Aug2017. Sarkisian also cited the energy sector. "We agreed to continue developing productive cooperation in this area," he said without elaborating. Hydrocarbon-rich Turkmenistan was Armenia's principal supplier of natural gas until the Armenian government signed a long-term deal with Russia's Gazprom monopoly in the late 1990s. Early this year, the Armenian government indicated its desire to resume imports of Turkmen gas via neighboring Iran. Prime Minister Karen Karapetian discussed such a possibility with Turkmenistan's Energy Minister Charymyrat Purchekov in Yerevan two weeks before visiting the Turkmen capital Ashgabat in March. Karapetian met with Berdimuhamedov during that trip. The issue was also on the agenda of Sarkisian's August 6 meeting in Tehran with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. Visiting Yerevan last December, Rouhani said Iran is ready to serve as a transit route for Turkmen gas supplies to Armenia. Sarkisian and Berdimuhamedov already pledged to boost bilateral commerce when they met in Ashgabat in 2014. Turkmen-Armenian trade, which stood at a modest $22.7 million in 2013, has continued to shrink since then, however. According to Armenian government data, it plummeted by 33 percent to $12 million in 2016. Sarkisian blamed this decline on "unfavorable developments in global markets." "We hope that the implementation of today's agreements will help to rectify the situation," he said. Turkmenistan has maintained cordial relations with Armenia under both Berdimuhamedov and his late predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov. By contrast, its rapport with Armenia's arch-foe Azerbaijan has long been strained due to a dispute over a big oilfield in the Caspian Sea. Berdimuhamedov sought to ease those tensions when he visited Baku two weeks ago. The autocratic Turkmen leader, in power since 2006, was full of praise for Armenia on Thursday, thanking Yerevan for supporting his country in the international arena. A joint communique issued by him and Sarkisian, makes a veiled reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh. It calls for "solely peaceful solutions to existing conflicts." U.S. Names New Karabakh Envoy . Artur Papyan Armenia - The U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland, at a news conference in Yerevan, 27 March 2017. Richard Hoagland, the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, announced late on Wednesday that another career diplomat will replace him next week as Washington's chief mediator in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks. The new envoy, Andrew Schofer, has previously held a senior position in the U.S. mission to the Vienna headquarters of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He will formally start performing his new duties on Monday. Speaking to Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists in Washington, Hoagland insisted that Schofer's appointment does not indicate any change in U.S. policy towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Hoagland was named by the State Department to serve as Minsk Group co-chair "on an interim basis" in late December. He replaced another career diplomat, James Warlick, in that position. As well as announcing Schofer's appointment, Hoagland publicized the six key elements of a framework Karabakh peace accord which has been advanced and repeatedly modified by the U.S., Russian and French mediators over the past decade. The proposed settlement calls for Armenian withdrawal from virtually all seven districts around Karabakh that were fully or partly occupied by Armenian forces in 1992-1993. In return, Karabakh's predominantly Armenian population would determine its internationally recognized status in a future referendum. The conflicting parties continue to disagree on some crucial details of this peace formula. The statement circulated by Hoagland says that "the sides should commit to determining the final legal status through a mutually agreed and legally binding expression of will in the future." "The occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh should be returned to Azerbaijani control," it adds. It also says: "There should be a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh. It must be wide enough to provide secure passage, but it cannot encompass the whole of Lachin district." Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Thursday downplayed the significance of Hoagland's statement. According to the Armenpress news agency, Nalbandian said that the U.S. mediator simply reaffirmed what has for years been stated by the three mediating powers. Nalbandian also dismissed suggestions that Hoagland's move was timed to coincide with Wednesday's talks between the Armenian and Russian presidents, which touched upon the Karabakh issue as well. He said that Hoagland simply gave a farewell interview to Armenian and Azerbaijani reporters. Armenian Lawyers To Go On Strike . Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Lawyers for arrested radical opposition members argue with security guards at the entrance to a district court in Yerevan, 26Jul2017. More than a hundred Armenian lawyers will go on strike next month to protest against controversial security checks on attorneys representing radical opposition members in three ongoing trials. The lawyers for Zhirayr Sefilian, the jailed leader of the Founding Parliament movement, and his three dozen loyalists who seized a police station in Yerevan last year have been required to not only walk through metal detectors but also show objects kept their bags to security guards before entering courtrooms. The lawyers say this procedure amounts to a search not allowed by Armenian law. Many of them have repeatedly refused to comply with it and been barred from attending court hearings. They have accused the authorities of deliberately subjecting them to such checks to ensure that the trials continue in the absence of defendants and their attorneys. Armenia's Judicial Department insists that the security "inspections" do not constitute searches and are therefore legal. Still, the head of the department, Karen Poladian, and the chairman of the national bar association, Ara Zohrabian, said earlier this month that the procedure will be changed to address the lawyers' concerns. In particular, their bags will now be checked by court guards in a separate room if a metal detector repeatedly signals the presence of metal objects in them. The defense lawyers involved in the high-profile trials rejected this supposedly compromise solution as inadequate. They said on Thursday that they and dozens of other lawyers have decided to go on a one-day strike on September 13 to demand a more radical change of the security procedure. "We won't attend court sessions scheduled for that day," one of them, Yervand Varosian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azautyun.am). Hayarpi Sargsian, who represents one of the arrested opposition gunmen standing trial, said the lawyers could take more strike action if the authorities reject their demands on September 13. The Chamber of Advocates, which regulates the legal profession in Armenia, comprises more than 1,800 lawyers. Its spokesperson, Tsovinar Khachatrian, said the bar association is ready to provide logistical assistance to its protesting members despite not endorsing their demands. Government Considers New Firefighting Equipment After Wildfires . Anush Muradian Armenia - Minister for Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan coordinates firefighting efforts at the Khosrov nature reserve, 14Aug2017. Minister for Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan said on Thursday that his agency may receive new and more powerful firefighting equipment after this month's wildfires that burned hundreds of hectares of forests in Armenia. The fires erupted in a wooded area in the Vayots Dzor province and the Khosrov Forest State Reserve southeast of Yerevan in the space of two days. The Khosrov blaze was particularly serious, with the Armenian government asking Russia for urgent assistance after firefighters and other emergency workers failed to contain it on their own. A heavy water-dropping plane sent by the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations played a key role in the firefighting efforts. Tonoyan admitted that the Armenian Rescue Service, which is part of his ministry, was not well equipped to quickly extinguish the fires. "Of course, technical equipment, special vehicles transporting personnel and army helicopters used [in the operation] did not allow us to respond adequately," he said. "Rugged terrain and strong winds were also a factor." "Certain conclusions regarding increasing the extent of our equipment have been drawn and presented to the president and the prime minister," Tonoyan told a joint news conference with Environment Minister Artsvik Minasian. He did not specify the type of machinery requested by his ministry. Armenia - A wildfire in the Khosrov Forest Reserve, 14Aug2017. Rescue Service officials complained during the forest fires that it is practically impossible to deploy their fire engines on steep mountain slopes forming the Khosrov reserve and Vayots Dzor landscapes. Tonoyan dismissed environmentalists' claims that his emergency services did not react to the fires fast enough, while acknowledging shortcomings in their work. "Only those who don't work make no mistakes," he said. One of Tonoyan's deputies, Davit Karapetian, promised last week that the Ministry for Emergency Situations will "learn lessons" from what were the worst forest fires in Armenia in decades. Minasian said, meanwhile, that the United Nations Development Program has already pledged to help Armenia acquire some firefighting devices. He did not elaborate, saying only that a corresponding agreement will be signed in Yerevan on September 1. "As regards heavy equipment, Mr. Tonoyan and I have a good idea which we won't make public now," added Minasian. "God willing, we will succeed and you will attend the opening ceremony." According to the latest government estimates released by Minasian, at least 250 hectares of woodland were burned in the Khosrov reserve. The environment minister announced that he will initiate personnel changes in the reserve administration and set up "rapid-reaction teams" tasked with preventing fire outbreaks in various Armenian forests. Government Considers New Firefighting Equipment After Wildfires . Anush Muradian Armenia - Minister for Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan coordinates firefighting efforts at the Khosrov nature reserve, 14Aug2017. Minister for Emergency Situations Davit Tonoyan said on Thursday that his agency may receive new and more powerful firefighting equipment after this month's wildfires that burned hundreds of hectares of forests in Armenia. The fires erupted in a wooded area in the Vayots Dzor province and the Khosrov Forest State Reserve southeast of Yerevan in the space of two days. The Khosrov blaze was particularly serious, with the Armenian government asking Russia for urgent assistance after firefighters and other emergency workers failed to contain it on their own. A heavy water-dropping plane sent by the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations played a key role in the firefighting efforts. Tonoyan admitted that the Armenian Rescue Service, which is part of his ministry, was not well equipped to quickly extinguish the fires. "Of course, technical equipment, special vehicles transporting personnel and army helicopters used [in the operation] did not allow us to respond adequately," he said. "Rugged terrain and strong winds were also a factor." "Certain conclusions regarding increasing the extent of our equipment have been drawn and presented to the president and the prime minister," Tonoyan told a joint news conference with Environment Minister Artsvik Minasian. He did not specify the type of machinery requested by his ministry. Armenia - A wildfire in the Khosrov Forest Reserve, 14Aug2017. Rescue Service officials complained during the forest fires that it is practically impossible to deploy their fire engines on steep mountain slopes forming the Khosrov reserve and Vayots Dzor landscapes. Tonoyan dismissed environmentalists' claims that his emergency services did not react to the fires fast enough, while acknowledging shortcomings in their work. "Only those who don't work make no mistakes," he said. One of Tonoyan's deputies, Davit Karapetian, promised last week that the Ministry for Emergency Situations will "learn lessons" from what were the worst forest fires in Armenia in decades. Minasian said, meanwhile, that the United Nations Development Program has already pledged to help Armenia acquire some firefighting devices. He did not elaborate, saying only that a corresponding agreement will be signed in Yerevan on September 1. "As regards heavy equipment, Mr. Tonoyan and I have a good idea which we won't make public now," added Minasian. "God willing, we will succeed and you will attend the opening ceremony." According to the latest government estimates released by Minasian, at least 250 hectares of woodland were burned in the Khosrov reserve. The environment minister announced that he will initiate personnel changes in the reserve administration and set up "rapid-reaction teams" tasked with preventing fire outbreaks in various Armenian forests. Press Review "Haykakan Zhamanak" is unhappy with the fact that President Serzh Sarkisian's latest visit to Russia coincided with the 27th anniversary of a declaration of independence that was adopted by Soviet Armenia's parliament in 1990. The paper points to speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin deliberately invited Sarkisian to his summer retreat in Sochi on that day in order to "humiliate Armenia and emphasize its not being independent." Lragir.am reports that the outgoing U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Richard Hoagland, on Wednesday publicized the key elements of a framework peace agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh which Armenia and Azerbaijan have been discussing for more than a decade. "The elements publicized by him are not new," comments the online publication. It is nonetheless surprised by the timing of Hoagland's statement, saying that it came as Putin and Sarkisian discussed the Karabakh conflict in Sochi. In an interview with "Aravot," a pro-Western Armenian analyst, Anush Sedrakian, claims that Russia will try to thwart an agreement on "enhanced partnership" between Armenia and the European Union which is due to be signed in November. "Russia cannot fail to try to scuttle the signing of the agreement between Armenia and the EU," she says. But, she says, Russia is now weaker than it was in 2013 when Sarkisian decided to make Armenia part of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union at the expense of an Association Agreement with the EU. Sedrakian specifically cites economic sanctions that have since been imposed on Moscow by the EU and the United States. She is also hopeful that a statement on the issue made by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian this week means that Yerevan is really determined to sign the new deal with the EU. (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