` Monday, September 4, 2017 Armenia Skips U.S.-Led Military Exercises In Georgia . Anush Muradian Georgia -- U.S. soldiers take part in the joint NATO-Georgia military exercise 'Agile Spirit 2015' at the military base of Vaziani, outside Tbilisi, July 21, 2015. Just weeks after participating in U.S.-led military exercises in neighboring Georgia, Armenia avoided sending troops to similar multinational wargames that began there on Sunday. The annual "Agile Spirit" exercises taking place near the Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe involve around 500 troops from the U.S. Marine Corps and some 1,000 soldiers from Georgia, Azerbaijan and four other countries. Both the U.S. and Georgian militaries said last week that Armenia will also take part in the two-week drills. "Armenia was due to participate in the military exercises, but unfortunately it abandoned that intention a few days before their start," a spokesman for the Georgian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "I don't know what the reason for that is." The official added that the Armenian military was due to send three medics to the drills. Armenia's Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian acknowledged on Monday that Yerevan planned to take part in the Akhaltsikhe drills. He insisted, however, that "Armenia never officially stated that it will definitely participate." "In any activity, certain revisions are always possible," Zakarian told reporters. "You should not see anything extraordinary in that." Zakarian would not be drawn on reasons for the change of plans, saying only that they are not "political." He specifically denied that Armenia dropped out of the U.S.-led drills under pressure from Russia, its key military ally. Yerevan has long maintained very close military ties with Moscow both through bilateral arrangements and membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Nevertheless, it has deepened defense cooperation with the U.S. and other NATO member states since the early 2000s. Georgia -- The flags of countries taking part in the Noble Partner 2017 military exercise, 30Jul2017 Some 30 Armenian soldiers took part in larger U.S.-led exercises that were held near Tbilisi as recently as in the first half of August. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the 2,800 troops participating in the drills codenamed "Noble Partner" during an August 1 trip to Georgia. According to the U.S. military, the latest maneuvers are designed to enhance "U.S., Georgian, and regional partner interoperability and strengthen understanding of each nation's tactics, techniques and procedures." In July, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin criticized exercises frequently organized by NATO in Georgia, saying that they undermine regional security. Incidentally, Armenia's arch-foe Azerbaijan dropped out of the "Noble Partner" drills but chose to participate in the "Agile Spirit" wargames. Armenian Website Rejects `Russian Demand' . Artak Hambardzumian Russia -- Businessman Ruben Tatulian, 8Apr2014. An Armenian civil society group said on Monday that Russia's state media regulator wants it remove from one of its websites a story on the alleged arrest in the Czech Republic of a controversial Russian-Armenian businessman. Like several Armenian media outlets, the Union of Informed Citizens (UIC) reported that the businessman, Ruben Tatulian, and three other men were detained in the Czech resort of Karlovy Vary in May during a gathering of crime figures from the former Soviet Union. Tatulian strongly denied the information, however. He circulated a purported letter by the Czech police certifying that he was not taken into custody or placed under investigation. The UIC leader, Daniel Ioannisian, said his watchdog has received a letter from Roskomnadzor, the Russian government agency that monitors and regulates the Internet, demanding the removal of the story on Tatulian's alleged arrest from the UIC's Russian-language website, Armrus.info. He said Roskomnadzor cited a Russian law on protection of personal data. Ioannisian made clear that the UIC will reject the demand. "The Russian Federation's laws are not valid in Armenia," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Roskomonadzor's decisions therefore cannot be binding for Armenian entities, he said "That report does not contradict Armenia's laws or journalistic ethics ... and we have decided that we will not remove it," stressed Iovannisian. Armrus.info and other Yerevan-based publications described Tatulian as a crime figure nicknamed "Robson" who entered the Czech Republic with an Armenian diplomatic passport. The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed at the time that Tatulian, who is not known to have been involved in any diplomatic activity on behalf of Armenia, holds such a passport. But the ministry declined to clarify why and how he had received it. According to Russian media, Tatulian is based in the Black Sea city of Sochi and has extensive business interests as well as strong government connections in southern Russia. He was among three dozen ethnic Armenian entrepreneurs who set up in January an investment fund to finance various business projects in Armenia. In a joint statement, they also voiced support for Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. Armenian Defense Chief Visits China China - Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and his Armenian counterpart Vigen Sargsian inspect an honor guard at a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, 4Sep2017. China's Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and his visiting Armenian counterpart Vigen Sargsian reportedly agreed to deepen military ties between their countries when they met in Beijing on Monday. "The sides concurred that it is necessary to step up efforts to deepen Chinese-Armenian cooperation in the area of defense, especially given the existence of potential for that," the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement on their talks. "They reached an agreement to intensify mutual contacts." The two ministers signed after the talks an agreement on the release of 10 million yuans ($1.5 million) in fresh Chinese military aid to Armenia. Earlier in the day, Sargsian visited the Beijing headquarters of the China Poly Group, a state-owned business conglomerate engaged, among other things, in exports of Chinese-made weapons. The Defense Ministry said he and top Poly Group executives "expressed readiness to continue active discussions on prospects for mutually beneficial bilateral defense cooperation." No details were reported. China - Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and his Armenian counterpart Vigen Sargsian sign an agreement in Beijing, 4Sep2017. Chinese-Armenian military ties appear to have already deepened in the last several years. A top Chinese military official, Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, visited Yerevan in April for talks with Sargsian as well as the chief of the Armenian army staff, Lieutenant General Movses Hakobian, and Deputy Defense Minister Davit Pakhchanian. The latter oversees the Armenian defense industry. "Agreements were reached on expanding cooperation and implementing a number of mutually beneficial projects in the area of defense," the Armenian Defense Ministry said at the time. Sargsian's predecessor, Seyran Ohanian, paid an official visit to Beijing in December 2013 less than two years after two states signed an agreement on "military and military-technical cooperation." News reports said in 2011 Armenia has acquired Chinese AR1A multiple-launch rocket systems with a firing range of more than 100 kilometers. Yerevan did not officially confirm that, though. So far the Armenian military has demonstrated only WM-80 rockets systems that were supplied by China in the late 1990s. China's President Xi Jinping and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian apparently discussed defense issues at their March 2015 talks in Beijing. A 5-page joint communique released by them after the talks said the two nations will "continue their practical partnership in areas such as mutual visits by military delegations, training of military personnel, and provision of military aid." The declaration also said Xi and Sarkisian noted "mutual understanding on issues relating to pivotal interests and concerns of the two countries." Defense Minister Sargsian was cited by his press office as telling Chang that Armenia supports China's increased role in "confronting contemporary global challenges." Press Review (Saturday, September 2) Citing official data on the numbers of children who were born in Armenia in 2011 and went to school for the first time on September 1, "Haykakan Zhamanak" estimates at that least 2,500 young families have left the country in the last six years. "Through simple mathematical calculations, it is not hard to imagine the real scale of emigration from Armenia," the paper says. "September 1 has become a real race among our parents over who will buy more expensive clothes for their children, who will drive their children to school in a more luxurious car, and who will give a more spectacular bouquet [of flowers] to the teacher," writes "Hraparak." "Outside the schools, there is commotion, a multitude of filming parents, a parade of principals and teachers who have just come from hair salons. But should this academic holiday be really marked in this way? Was it really impossible to think of rituals or traditions that would give their participants a sense of spiritual satisfaction?" "Hayots Ashkhar" notes that Armenian opposition groups have traditionally predicted heated political autumns in the country but have made no such forecasts this time around. "One of the reasons for that is the absence of an opposition field," Artur Ghazarian, a political analyst, tells the paper. "General elections [held in April] have caused defeated political forces left out of the new parliament to die down # I therefore expect no political storms on our political arena. Instead, there is a different danger. Certain geopolitical processes are now unfolding from the East to the West, and that tension could result in a storm at some point." "In recent months Armenia has been rocked by a spate of criminal stories and accidents," writes Lragir.am. "There have been a number of high-profile murders, including a mass shooting. There are practically daily news reports about incidents involving the use of firearms # What is going on? Does this mean the entry of practices of the globalized world into Armenia or just a series of coincidences?" (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