Monday, Tsarukian Won't Rule Out Coalition Deal With Ruling Party . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Businessman Gagik Tsarukian speaks to journalists in the Armenian parliament, 11Sep2017. Businessman Gagik Tsarukian, who leads Armenia's second largest parliamentary force, on Monday did not rule out the possibility of reaching a new power-sharing agreement with President Serzh Sarkisian's Republican Party (HHK). He gave no indication that the Tsarukian Bloc, which claims to be in opposition to the Armenian government, would challenge Sarkisian's possible decision to become prime minister after completing his final term in April. Speaking to journalists, Tsarukian also referred to Prime Minister Karen Karapetian as his "friend" and offered guarded praise for the latter's track record. "I don't exclude anything in life," he said when asked about the possibility of a coalition agreement with the HHK. "The bottom line is that I will honor my promises to the people." Tsarukian's Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), the dominant force in his bloc, was a junior coalition partner in the Sarkisian administration from 2008-2012. The party pulled out of the government amid mounting tensions between the tycoon and the president. The discord culminated in a February 2015 standoff between the two men. Tsarukian resigned as BHK leader at the time only to return to active politics in the run-up to the April 2017 parliamentary elections. During the election campaign Tsarukian criticized the socioeconomic situation in Armenia but stopped short of openly blaming Sarkisian for it. His bloc finished second in the polls, winning 31 seats in the country's 105-seat parliament. Official election results gave a landslide victory to the ruling HHK. Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) attends the inauguration of a new fitness center in Yerevan owned by businessman Gagik Tsarukian (R), 31Oct2016. Tsarukian on Monday would not be drawn on Sarkisian's possible decision to stay in power as prime minister."I don't answer questions with `ifs,'" he said. "I will speak when the Republican Party nominates its candidate [for the post of prime minister.] That right is reserved for the Republicans." The tycoon insisted that Sarkisian's HHK won a popular mandate to continue governing the country in the April elections. He dismissed as "baseless" some opposition politicians' claims that the vote was rigged. Asked whether the Tsarukian Bloc would attempt to create obstacles to Sarkisian's appointment as prime minister, he said: "The obstacle should have been our people. If our people gave more than 50 percent of the vote to the Republican Party, the Republican Party is responsible for the country, the people, the state and its security." Sarkisian has still not clarified whether he plans to become prime minister, replace Prime Minister Karapetian with someone else or let him retain his post in April 2018. His political allies have also been vague on the subject. Asked to assess Karapetian's one-year track record, Tsarukian said: "I don't find it correct to express an opinion on my friend. When we meet, I speak of both negative and positive things. Today positive things are visible: interest rates have fallen from 25-30 percent to 8-10 percent, the number of [foreign] tourists has risen by over 25 percent." Aliyev Pardons Russian-Israeli Blogger Jailed For Trips To Karabakh Azerbaijan -- Russian-Israeli blogger Aleksandr Lapshin is escorted upon his landing in Baku after being extradicted from Belarus to Azerbaijan, February 7, 2017 Aleksandr Lapshin, a Russian-Israeli blogger jailed in Azerbaijan for travelling to Nagorno-Karabakh, was pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev on Monday after reportedly attempting to commit suicide. A senior aide to Aliyev, Ali Hasanov, said he will most likely be sent to Israel within the next few days. Hasanov also revealed that Lapshin is currently receiving medical assistance after he tried to kill himself while in Azerbaijani custody. According to Azerbaijan's Justice Minister, Lapshin attempted to take his own life on Sunday in protest a delay in his extradition to Israel. "Thanks to the vigilance of prison guards, the suicide attempt was thwarted," the ministry's Penitentiary Service said in a statement cited by Azerbaijani media. Aliyev's decree coincided with the start of Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov's visit to Israel. The 40-year-old blogger, who has Israeli, Russian and Ukrainian citizenships, was detained in Belarus's capital Minsk on an Azerbaijani arrest warrant last December. The Belarusian authorities extradited him to Azerbaijan in February, prompting strong criticism from Armenia and Russia as well as Western watchdogs like Amnesty International. Azerbaijan rejected the criticism. An Azerbaijani court sentenced Lapshin to three years in prison in July. It said he illegally crossed Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders when he travelled to Karabakh via Armenia in 2011 and 2012.Lapshin gave detailed accounts of those visits on his Russian-language travel blog. The blogger pleaded not guilty to the accusation during his trial. At the same time, he said he now understands that his trips to Karabakh offended many Azerbaijanis. Years before his arrest, Lapshin was placed on an official Azerbaijani blacklist of several hundred non-Armenian foreigners who have visited Karabakh without Baku's permission. Nevertheless, he was able to travel to Azerbaijan in June 2016 and post a series of detailed blog entries on his mixed impressions about the oil-rich country. In particular, Lapshin suggested that the Azerbaijani authorities have squandered their massive oil revenues. "Despite 25 years of oil bonanza, the country is hardly different from neighboring Armenia and Georgia in terms of socioeconomic development," he wrote. Head Of Armenian Lawyer Association Reelected Despite Criticism . Artak Hambardzumian Armenia - The chairman of the Chamber of Advocates, Ara Zohrabian, gives a press conference in Yerevan, 21Jan2014. The head of Armenia's national bar association has been reelected for another four-year term after months of strong criticism from lawyers for radical opposition members that are currently standing trial in Yerevan. The Chamber of Advocates, which regulates the legal profession in the country, comprises more than 1,852 lawyers. Just over 1,000 of them voted for its incumbent chairman, Ara Zohrabian, in an election held over the weekend. Zohrabian ran for reelection unopposed. Only 69 attorneys voted against him. Nearly 700 other members of the association did not vote at all. They included most of about 180 lawyers that plan to go on a one-day strike on Wednesday. They will protest against controversial security checks on defense lawyers involved in the ongoing trials of Zhirayr Sefilian, the jailed leader of the Founding Parliament movement, and his three dozen loyalists who seized a police station in Yerevan last year. The lawyers have been required to walk through metal detectors before entering courtrooms. They say this procedure amounts to a search not allowed by Armenian law. Armenia's Judicial Department insists that the security "inspections" do not constitute searches and are therefore legal. Zohrabian has defended the procedure, saying that the judicial authorities have legitimate concerns about a possible transfer of weapons to jailed opposition gunmen. The protesting lawyers have denounced this stance and accused Zohrabian of helping the authorities violate their rights. Zohrabian portrayed on Monday his reelection as further proof that his critics are a small minority which cannot speak for most of Armenia's lawyers. "They realize that most lawyers do not share their views," he said. "And they are very angry with that." While accusing the "estranged lawyers" of seeking to discredit him and the Chamber of Advocates, Zohrabian said he will try to mend fences with them later this week. "Even lions hunt as a group because they realize that it's easier to act together," he said. He also called the upcoming strike a legitimate form of protest that might ultimately benefit the bar association. Armenia Clarifies Stance On Troop Deployment To Syria . Sargis Harutyunyan SYRIA -- Syrian children stand next to a member of the Russian military police in Jibrin, on the outskirts of Aleppo, August 16, 2017 Armenia is ready, in principle, to send a demining team to Syria as part of a multinational "coalition" that could be formed by Russia, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan said on Monday. A top Russian military official said late last month that Armenia and Serbia have expressed readiness to join such a coalition which Russia hopes would help its troops clear landmines in the war-torn country. Moscow formally proposed its creation at the United Nations in April. The Armenian government did not immediately confirm the Russian official's statement. A spokesman for President Serzh Sarkisian said only that official Yerevan will make a statement "when a decision is made and all issues are clarified." In a written statement to RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), the Defense Ministry clarified that the Armenian and Russian militaries already held "preliminary working discussions" last year on the possibility of Armenia's participation in "humanitarian demining efforts in Syria." "During the discussions, Armenia expressed readiness to consider possibilities of becoming involved with a humanitarian demining detachment -- in case of the launch of such an initiative, the Syrian government's consent, and observance of all international legal procedures -- in those parts of Syria where there are no ongoing hostilities," said the statement. "At the moment, the Armenian Defense Ministry has no information regarding the course of the formation of the coalition, its composition and especially time frames for its deployment," it stressed. The issue was also on the agenda of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's April 2016 visit to Yerevan. Lavrov discussed possible Armenian involvement in demining operations in the historic Syrian city of Palmyra when he met with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian. "I hope that our joint initiative can be implemented," he said after the talks. It is not clear whether Sarkisian and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about Syria when they met in the Russian city of Sochi on August 23. The Armenian presidential press service said they discussed "topical international and regional issues." Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military alliance of six ex-Soviet states. Press Review (Saturday, September 9) "Zhoghovurd" is disappointed but not surprised with an Armenian law-enforcement agency's decision not to prosecute anyone in connection with a scandalous audio recording which suggested that Artak Sargsian, a wealthy pro-government parliamentarian, threatened to fire his employees if they did not help him get reelected to parliament in April. "Right from the beginning it was clear that the authorities are not going to subject anyone to even symbolic punishment and # will cover up the case instead," writes the paper. It says that Sargsian is "one of the pillars of the regime" who enjoys the backing of the chief of President Serzh Sarkisian's security detail. It says the only problem for the Armenian authorities is that they will have to give embarrassing explanations to the U.S. and European Union diplomats who expressed concern about pressure that was exerted on public and private sector employees during the parliamentary race. "Zhamanak" comments on the opposition Yelk alliance's decision to seek Armenia's exit from the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The paper has no doubts that a corresponding Yelk bill will be rejected by the pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament. By contrast, it is not certain about Yelk's real motives, wondering whether the opposition bloc is serious about the bill or is simply trying to score political points. Armenia, the paper goes on, needs a truly pro-Western political camp. "Even if Armenia does not leave the EEU, the existence of such a pole will help Armenia to make its voice heard in the EEU," it says. "People primarily complain of injustice and inequality," writes "Hraparak." "That is the main reason for popular apathy, indifference and emigration. When a person sees that the law is not equally enforced for everyone and that people do not have equal opportunities what other conclusions should they draw?" (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