Tuesday,
Azerbaijan Accused Of Blocking More Truce Monitors In Karabakh
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - OSCE observers escorted by Armenian army officers monitor the
ceasefire regime in Tavush province bordering Azerbaijan, 16Feb, 2017
Armenia accused Azerbaijan on Tuesday of refusing to honor a recent
Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement to expand an international mission monitoring
the ceasefire regime in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
According to the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk
Group, the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers reached the agreement “in
principle” at their January 18 meeting in Krakow, Poland.
The Russian co-chair, Igor Popov, specified later in January that the deal
would allow the OSCE to hire seven more members for its small truce-monitoring
team. He said the conflicting parties and the mediators still need to work out
“some technical details” of this arrangement.
“We agreed to the co-chairs’ proposal to enhance the capacity of the team of
the personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, and that was
announced by the co-chair countries and Armenia,” Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian said on Tuesday. “Azerbaijan is still refusing to make any reference
to that agreement and to honor that agreement.”
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijani already agreed to the expansion of
the OSCE team when they met in Vienna in May 2016. The team led by Andzrej
Kasprzyk consists of a small number of officials who regularly travel to
Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to briefly monitor the parties’
compliance with truce agreements reached in 1994 and 1995.
Azerbaijan officially stated in March 2017 that it will not allow the OSCE to
deploy monitors on the Karabakh frontline “in the absence of withdrawal of the
Armenian troops from the occupied territories.” Baku has been just as reluctant
to allow international investigations of truce violations there, which were
also agreed upon in May 2016.
Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev pledged to intensify the peace
process and bolster the ceasefire at their most recent meeting held in Geneva
in October 2017. Their foreign ministers held follow-up negotiations in
December and January.
The U.S., Russian and French mediators visited Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert in
early February. They said in a joint statement that the warring sides pledged
to “continue intensive negotiations.”
Aliyev is seeking a fourth term in office in a snap presidential election
slated for April 11. The ballot will be held two days after Sarkisian completes
his second and final presidential term. Sarkisian is tipped to become prime
minister immediately after Armenia is transformed into a parliamentary republic
later in April.
Sarkisian’s Continued Rule Legitimate, Says Ally
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian visits a bookstore in Yerevan,19Feb,2018
President Serzh Sarkisian never promised that he will not become Armenia’s
prime minister after serving out his final presidential term next month,
according to a parliament deputy representing his Republican Party (HHK).
Samvel Farmanian said Sarkisian only stated in 2014 that he will “not aspire”
to the post of prime minister if the country switches to a parliamentary system
of government. That did not constitute a pledge to quit power on April 9, said
Farmanian.
Sarkisian downplayed his 2014 statement as he gave last week the strongest
indication yet that he will take over as prime minister later in April. He said
his political opponents are taking that statement “out of context.”
“I still do not aspire to the post of prime minister,” the outgoing president
claimed on March 19.He added, though, that he may well remain in power due to
grave security challenges facing Armenia.
The remarks only fueled more opposition claims that Sarkisian is not keeping
his word. Farmanian sought to disprove them, saying the president had never
explicitly said that he will not serve as prime minister.
“For example, I can assure you that I myself had not aspired to be a National
Assembly deputy but I became one as a result of circumstances and decisions
stemming from the reality,” the pro-government lawmaker told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am).
Farmanian also insisted that the ruling HHK has a legal and moral right to
install its top leader as prime minister because it won Armenia’s last
parliamentary elections held in April 2017. “We have a parliamentary majority
and that majority has the constitutional prerogative to nominate a prime
minister,” he said.
These assurances are unlikely to convince the Armenian opposition and other
critics of the Sarkisian administration. Some opposition groups have announced
plans to stage next month street protests against Sarkisian’s continued rule.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” laments the abrupt end of the “intrigue” that surrounded President
Serzh Sarkisian’s political future until his comments on Armenia’s next prime
minister made last week. “There has objectively emerged a situation in Armenia
where there are no alternative agendas or resources for forming resistance
centers inside and outside the government,” writes the paper. “On the one hand,
this keeps Armenia away from upheavals. On the other, it condemns Armenia’s
political system to stagnation.”
“Hraparak” looks at the political “vacuum” expected during the period between
the April 9 end of Sarkisian’s presidency and his widely anticipated
appointment as prime minister slated for April 17. The paper is skeptical about
some opposition forces’ hopes to take advantage of that situation. It argues
that Armenia will have a new president and a functioning parliament, both of
them loyal to Sarkisian, in that period. “After all, [political] processes have
never followed a legal pattern and governance has never been formal in
Armenia,” it goes on. “Instead, unwritten laws have taken precedence.”
“Zhoghovurd” says that Serzh Sarkisian’s decade-long rule has been bad for
Armenia’s economy and living standards. The paper cites official statistics
showing that Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product was last year worth less in
dollar terms than in 2008. It also argues that the country’s population has
shrunk by over 257,000 in the past ten years.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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