Thursday, Azeri Defense Chief Visits Israeli Arms Companies . Emil Danielyan Azerbaijan - Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov. Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov has visited the headquarters of Israeli defense companies and met with their top executives during an official visit to Israel, one of Azerbaijan's main arms suppliers. The visit comes in the wake of Israeli authorities' decision to halt exports to Azerbaijan of "suicide" drones manufactured by an Israeli company accused of attacking an Armenian army position with them recently. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Hasanov familiarized himself with weapons and ammunition manufactured by "leading enterprises" of the Israeli defense industry. It did not name those firms. In a statement cited by Azerbaijani news agencies, the ministry said Hasanov discussed with their chief executives "military-technical cooperation" between the two countries. It did not elaborate. Hasanov met with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the start of his visit on Monday. Official Azerbaijani sources said the two men discussed bilateral ties and "regional security." The Israeli Defense Ministry issued no statements on the talks. Lieberman, whose party is a junior partner in Israel's coalition government, is a staunch backer of close ties with Baku. He has repeatedly made pro-Azerbaijani statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. ISRAEL -- Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks during the International Institute for Counter Terrorism's 17th annual conference in Herzliya, September 11, 2017 An Israeli drone manufacturer, Aeronautics Defense Systems (ADS), said late last month that the Israeli Defense Ministry's export control agency has at least temporarily banned it from delivering a $20 million batch of Orbiter 1K unmanned aircraft to a key foreign client. In a statement, ADS did not specify the buyer of the sophisticated weapon carrying special explosive payload. But it did attribute the ban to an ongoing inquiry conducted by the Israeli agency. The Israeli newspaper "Maariv" reported on August 13 that the agency launched an investigation after receiving a formal complaint stemming from ADS's commercial dealings with the Azerbaijani government. It said ADS representatives traveled to Azerbaijan this summer to finalize a contract for the sale of Orbiter drones to the Azerbaijani military. The paper claimed that two Israeli drone operators working for the company rebuffed Azerbaijani officials' demand to demonstrate the use of the deadly drone by hitting the Armenian position. But other, more senior ADS executives agreed to launch the deadly craft on the target, according to "Maariv." ADS denied the report. According to Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian-backed Defense Army, the Azerbaijani military most recently attacked its frontline positions with a suicide drone on July 7. The commander of an army unit stationed in northeastern Karabakh said in early August that two of his soldiers were lightly wounded in the incident. Armenia's Deputy Defense Minister Davit Pakhchanian last week praised the reported ban on drone sales to Baku but said Israel must be "consistent" in preventing its citizens' direct involvement in Azerbaijani military operations. Pakhchanian claimed that Israeli arms dealers have repeatedly struck Armenian targets at the behest of Azerbaijani officials. The Azerbaijani army heavily used similar suicide drones manufactured by another Israeli company, Israel Aerospace Industries, during the April 2016 war in Karabakh. Baku had bought the Harop drones as well as air-defense and artillery systems and anti-tank rockets as part of multimillion-dollar defense contracts signed with Israeli firms. Armenia has long expressed concern at the Israeli-Azerbaijani arms deals, saying that they undermine international efforts to end the Karabakh conflict. Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian (R) and Israel's Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi sign bilateral agreements after talks in Yerevan, 25Jul2017. The drone scandal was exposed by the Israeli paper more than two weeks after Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi visited Yerevan in an apparent bid to improve his country's frosty relationship with Armenia. Hanegbi met with Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and other senior Armenian officials. In what may be a related development, a group of Israeli parliamentarians arrived in the Armenian capital earlier this week. They include two deputy speakers of the Knesset. One of them, Tali Ploskov, chairs an Israel-Armenia parliamentary "friendship group." Her Kulanu party is also represented in the Israeli government. The Israeli delegation met with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Wednesday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the two sides "exchanged views on a number of regional issues." It gave no details. Sarkisian Should Extend His Rule, Says Ally . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Former parliament speaker Galust Sahakyan speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, 14Sep2017. President Serzh Sarkisian should stay in power after serving out his second and final presidential term in April, a deputy chairman of his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) said on Thursday. "He must continue to govern our country, there is no other person [qualified for that role,]" Galust Sahakian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Even during the rule of [former Presidents] Levon Ter-Petrosian and Robert Kocharian there were people capable of being presidents," he said. "We don't have such people [except Sarkisian] now." Sahakian, who is a former speaker of the Armenian parliament, insisted that this is the dominant view within the HHK. But he was careful not to say that Sarkisian must necessarily extend his rule by becoming prime minister in April 2018, when Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic. "I'm not saying yet that his candidacy must be nominated for the post of prime minister," the veteran HHK figure went on. "What I'm saying is that Serzh Sarkisian must keep directing all kinds of actions of our country." Sahakian also claimed in that regard that the Armenian parliament will be more powerful than the prime minister under the parliamentary system of government. "I think that the National Assembly, not an individual, will be the strongest entity because the prime minister can be changed once in every six or even three months," he said. Sarkisian has still not clarified whether he plans to become prime minister or stay in government in another capacity. He stated in July that "it doesn't matter" who will be Armenia's prime minister after the end of his decade-long presidency. Sarkisian said in March that he would like to "play a role, in some capacity, in ensuring the security of our people" after April 2018. EU Envoy Cautious On `Political Prisoners' In Armenia . Artak Hambardzumian Armenia - Piotr Switalski, the head of the EU Delegation in Armenia, speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, 8May2017. The head of the European Union Delegation in Yerevan, Piotr Switalski, on Thursday declined to back claims by Armenian opposition and civil society groups that there are political prisoners in Armenia. Switalski said EU representatives regularly discuss with relevant Armenian officials the fate of individuals who have been imprisoned on what opposition and civic groups consider politically motivated charges. "I very much appreciate the fact that law-enforcement authorities always find time to discuss such sensitive topics whenever we express such a desire," he told reporters. "The European Union does not always necessarily share the views of non-governmental organizations. On such issues, we are mainly guided by decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights." "As you know, there are no people in Armenia who are qualified by [the Strasbourg court] as political prisoners," stressed the envoy. The individuals considered to be political prisoners by critics of the Armenian government are mostly members or supporters of radical opposition groups. Switalski was also careful not to endorse the opposition Yelk alliance's calls for Armenia to leave the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). "Armenia is a free country where everyone has the right to express their views," he said. "We are following debates [on the Yelk initiative] but it's totally up to Armenians." Accordingly, he would not be drawn on implications of Armenia's possible exit from the Russian-led bloc for its relations with the EU. "As long as [Armenia's] decisions are not hostile to the European Union I am happy with them," he said. "I see no unfriendly actions taken by Armenia with regard to the EU in the past. We have no serious disagreements with Armenia." The EU and Armenia plan to deepen their relations through a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement which is due to be signed in November. Opposition Bloc Wants Parliament Probe On Eurasian Union . Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Mane Tandilian, a parliament deputy from the Yelk bloc, speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, 14Sep2017. The opposition Yelk alliance called on Thursday for a parliamentary inquiry into consequences of Armenia's membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Representatives of the pro-Western bloc proposed the creation of the ad hoc parliament commission after the pro-government majority in the National Assembly rejected its demands for the country's exit from the trade bloc. Yelk put forward last week a draft parliamentary statement saying that the Armenian authorities must embark on a "process" of invalidating their accession treaty with the EEU. The statement says that EEU membership, effective from January, 2015, has hurt the country's economy and security. Mane Tandilian, one of Yelk's nine deputies in the 105-member parliament, said the parliament commission would scrutinize costs and benefits of EEU membership and present them to the public. "Public support is very important on this issue," she told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "The public was apathetic when we jointed the EEU. The reason for that was that the public was not aware of what we missed out on." Tandilian referred to the Association Agreement with the European Union which Yerevan negotiated shortly before President Serzh Sarkisian opted in 2013 to join the Russian-led bloc instead. "I don't think that economic growth in Armenia would have been faster had we signed the Association Agreement," said Gagik Melikian, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). Still, Melikian said that the HHK's parliamentary faction will consider the idea of setting up the parliamentary commission. He expressed confidence that such an inquiry would only prove that Armenia needs to be part of the EEU. The HHK's junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), is also strongly opposed to Armenia's exit from the bloc comprising Russia and four other former Soviet republics. A Dashnaktsutyun leader, Armen Rustamian, claimed that the Yelk initiative could actually jeopardize the upcoming signing of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a less ambitious alternative to the Association Agreement. Rustamian made clear at the same time that his party supports a public debate on the issue. "And that debate will happen," he said. Press Review "Haykakan Zhamanak" says that while Prime Minister Karen Karapetian was right to say this week that Armenia needs a "developed, competitive and innovative economy" he is wrong to think that it can be built without breaking up economic monopolies in the country. The paper says that large-scale foreign investment will not flow into the Armenian economy unless it is completely liberalized by the government. "Hraparak" says that the ruling Republican Party (HHK) did not "appropriately" mark on Wednesday the first anniversary of Karapetian's appointment as prime minister, which coincided with his government's latest question-and-answer session in the parliament. "The session showed that Karapetian's positions have weakened so much that parliament speaker Ara Babloyan did not even try to forcibly bring in his `troops,'" writes the paper. It says that about half of the members of the HHK's parliament faction were not in attendance. "Zhoghovurd" claims that Karapetian and his aides say things have improved significantly over the past year. The paper points to Karapetian's Wednesday remark that Armenia has achieved this year the best macroeconomic indicators in the region. "The failed authorities would do anything for [political] shows," it says. "Aravot" says that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "propaganda machine" is trying to justify the Soviet "totalitarian system" and deny mass repressions committed during the Communist era. "But this is the Russian citizens' problem," editorializes the paper. "If they are prepared to be brainwashed in this way let them take those baits. What are we to do with that? We think that the Kremlin will be offended by a Yerevan exhibition held in memory of victims of the Bolshevik repressions." The paper wonders if the open-air exhibition was stopped by the Armenian government for fear of Moscow's negative reaction. (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