RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/05/2017

                                        Thursday, October 5, 2017

Armenian Parliament Ratifies New Defense Accord With Russia


 . Ruzanna Stepanian


Armenia - Russian Air Force officers and a combat helicopter at the
Erebuni airbase in Yerevan, 12Mar2016.

The National Assembly overwhelmingly ratified on Thursday a
Russia-Armenian agreement on a joint military force that was first
formed in Armenia more than a decade ago.

Under the agreement signed late last year, "the united group of
troops" is tasked with "ensuring military security in the region" and
thwarting or repelling possible foreign aggressions against Armenia or
Russia.

The joint contingent comprises troops from the Russian military base
in Armenia and an Armenian army corps. It has been led by Armenian
army generals since its creation in 2001.

The Armenian parliament backed the treaty, ratified by Russia's
parliament this summer, by 87 votes to 7. All of those seven deputies
represent the opposition Yelk alliance.

Yelk's representatives said during Wednesday's parliamentary debate on
the issue that the accord will limit Armenia's sovereignty and put its
armed forces under Russian control. Leaders of the pro-government
majority in the parliament dismissed those claims.

Eduard Sharmazanov, a deputy parliament speaker and the spokesman for
the ruling Republican Party (HHK), insisted on Thursday that the
Russian-Armenian military force will boost Armenia's security. He said
it will defend the country in case of a military attack by Turkey or
Azerbaijan.


Armenia -- Eduard Sharmazanov, the spokesman for the ruling Repubican
Party of Armenia.
"If a tense situation erupts on Armenia's borders and if Armenia
appeals to its allies -- Russia and the [Collective Security Treaty
Organization] -- they will be obliged, under the CSTO statutes, to
intervene and defend Armenia," Sharmazanov told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). "The same will be true for that military
force, if necessary."

Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian confirmed during the parliament
debate that the mandate of the Russian-Armenian unit covers only
Armenia's internationally recognized territory, meaning that it will
not be required to intervene in possible hostilities in
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sharmazanov dismissed statements by pro-Western opposition figures
that Russia cannot be trusted because it has sold billions of dollars
worth of offensive weapons to Azerbaijan in the past decade. He
insisted that there is still no alternative to Armenia's close
military ties with Russia. "If we don't create this united military
force, what can we create in its place?" he said.



Armenian Lawmakers `Brawl' After Bitter Debate


 . Astghik Bedevian


Armenia -- Parliament deputies Nikol Pashinian (L) and Artashes
Geghamian.

Nikol Pashinian, an outspoken opposition lawmaker, claimed to have
been physically assaulted by a pro-government colleague in the
Armenian parliament on Thursday after publicly deriding his
pro-Russian views.

Pashinian said that Artashes Geghamian attacked and punched him in a
corridor of the parliament building in Yerevan. "I successfully
defended myself," he wrote on Facebook. "And I shined my shoes with
him a couple of times."

Geghamian, who represents the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK), denied attacking Pashinian. "If I punch someone, rest assured
that they will be taken to hospital because I had practiced boxing for
three and a half years," he told reporters.

Asked about red spots on Pashinian's face, Geghamian said: "He
probably blushed with shame seeing as he makes ludicrous statements."

Earlier in the day, the two men bitterly argued during a parliament
debate on Armenia's military cooperation with Russia. Pashinian, 42,
mockingly reminded Geghamian of his Communist past as he deplored the
67-year-old's strong support for close ties with Moscow. "You had
better speak of Marxism and Leninism," he said.

"Watch your mouth," shot back Geghamian.

Pashinian challenged the ruling HHK to react to "this hooligan act"
when he addressed the National Assembly later in the day. He linked
the alleged incident with a recent statement by the HHK's
parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, seemingly threatening
opposition figures with violence.

"This is a very serious issue, and we intend to pursue it till the end
so that we can draw conclusions regarding the mode of our further work
here," added one of the leaders of the opposition Yelk alliance.

Geghamian is a former opposition leader who was one of the main
candidates in Armenia's 2003 presidential election. He subsequently
pledged allegiance to President Serzh Sarkisian, whom he had for years
harshly criticized. Geghamian was reelected to the parliament on the
HHK ticket in April.



Government Formalizes Delay In Highway Upgrades


 . Sargis Harutyunyan


Armenia - The Yerevan-Ararat highway is upgraded as part of the
North-South transport project, 2Feb2014.

The Armenian government formally acknowledged on Thursday a two-year
delay in the reconstruction of two major national highways as part of
an ambitious project to upgrade the country's transport
infrastructure.

Work on the two highways stretching almost 100 kilometers from
Ashtarak, a town 22 kilometers west of Yerevan, to Armenia's second
largest city of Gyumri was due to be completed this year in line with
the government's agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The
Manila-based bank is financing it with two loans worth over $250
million.

Officials in Yerevan admitted earlier this year that these roadworks
have fallen behind schedule. Some of them blamed Spanish and Chinese
construction firms that were contracted to carry out them.

The government formalized this delay by extending its deadlines for
expanding and refurbishing the two roads to September 2019. Transport
and Communications Minister Vahan Martirosian gave no reasons for the
decision when he spoke at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan on Thursday.

The roadworks stem from the government's North-South transport project
aimed at upgrading Armenia's main highways stretching over 550
kilometers to Georgia and Iran. Only two highways connecting Yerevan
to the towns of Ararat and Ashtarak have been completed to date,
costing $60 million in ADB funding. Their total length of is just over
30 kilometers.

Martirosian insisted on September 26 that the government is committed
to rebuilding the remaining road sections mainly passing through the
mountainous Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces in the country's
southeast. He estimated that this will require as much as $1.5 billion
in funding, a figure equivalent to roughly half of the Armenian state
budget.

Martirosian said the government hopes to attract the investments from
private firms, rather than seek more loans from the ADB or other
international lenders. That would lead to the creation of Armenia's
first-ever toll roads, he said. The minister gave no possible dates
for the project's completion.

Silva Adamian, who coordinates a team of civic groups monitoring the
project's implementation, was highly skeptical on that score. "We will
not have that [reconstructed] road in full," she told RFE/RL's
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "We may get parts of it, but that
won't happen anytime soon. If we have something by 2025, it will be
very good."



Press Review



"Zhamanak" reaffirms its strong opposition to a new bilateral
agreement on a joint Russian-Armenian military force in a commentary
on Wednesday's parliamentary debate in Yerevan on its
ratification. The paper claims that Yerevan's continuing heavy
reliance on Moscow for defense and security is based on wrong
geopolitical calculations.

"Aravot" maintains that in 2013 Armenia could have signed an
Association Agreement with the European Union and thus avoided joining
the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). At the same time, the
paper questions the wisdom and timing of the opposition Yelk bloc's
calls for Armenia's exit from the EEU, saying that neither the
authorities nor most ordinary citizens support this idea. "We must
also take into account the fact that relations between the West and
Russia have further deteriorated in the last four years. Do we really
need to get willy-nilly involved in that tussle?" it says. While
calling Armenia's membership in the EEU an "unpleasant reality," the
paper says that it is not the root cause of the country's problems.

"Zhoghovurd" quotes Agriculture Minister Ignati Arakelian as saying
that a sharp increase in the prices of meat in Armenia is only
temporary. "There will be a [price] decrease later on," he
says. "Everything changes. The prices cannot remain unchanged." The
paper dismisses this explanation as "inadequate."

"Hayots Ashkhar" looks at suggestions that with their strong push for
the holding of a meeting of Armenia's and Azerbaijan's presidents
later this year the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group are indicating that they have "prepared something for the
parties" which has to do with their "fundamental interests." "It is
evident that the Karabakh conflict is the only conflict in the region
where major differences between the countries leading the OSCE Minsk
Group do not impede discussions on the Madrid Principles drawn up by
them before," writes the paper.

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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