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
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