Wednesday, Trump Congratulates New Armenian Leader • Sargis Harutyunyan US President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Elkhart, Indiana on May 10, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Nikol Pashinian on becoming Armenia’s prime minister and said his administration will cooperate with the new Armenian government on “the many areas of mutual interest.” “I look forward to working with you on the many areas of mutual interest for our two countries, including strengthening trade ties, democratic institutions, and regional security,” Trump said in a letter posted on the Armenian premier’s website on Wednesday. “Progress on fighting corruption, bringing all political parties together, and peacefully solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will help these efforts and ensure Armenia’s bright future,” he wrote. The U.S. State Department issued a similar statement hours after the Armenian parliament voted to elect Pashinian as prime minister following weeks of massive anti-government protests organized by him. It said Washington will “work closely” with his government. Pashinian’s chief of staff, Eduard Aghajanian, welcomed the congratulatory letter from Trump. “I think this testifies to the existence of a new kind of government [in Armenia] and its perception by the world,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Aghajanian said that a deepening of U.S.-Armenian ties is “inevitable.” “I am confident that our relations with all countries and the U.S. in particular have a very serious potential for development,” he said. “We too are ready to cooperate on the areas mentioned by the U.S. president,” added the Armenian official. Washington closely monitored the recent dramatic developments in Armenia that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian and his replacement by Pashinian. The State Department repeatedly urged Armenia political factions to embark on dialogue. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell had phone conversations with Pashinian and then Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on April 30. A few days earlier, the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Richard Mills, met with Pashinian and then acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian to try to help ease political tensions in the country. New Armenian Defense Chief Sees Closer Ties With Russia • Emil Danielyan Armenia - Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan at a meeting with senior Russian officials in Yerevan, . Armenia’s new government will maintain and even deepen close military ties with Russia, Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan said on Wednesday. The newly appointed minister met with Russia’s charge d’affaires, Andrey Ivanov, and military attaché, Major General Yevgeny Bulavintsev, in Yerevan to discuss long-running military cooperation between the two nations. According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, they discussed “ways of further developing joint interaction at the military, military-political and military-technical levels” and “mapped out upcoming tasks.” A ministry statement said Tonoyan stressed the significance of “strategic allied relations” with Russia for his country’s defense and national security. He said they “will continue to be expanded using the great potential existing in a number of areas.” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian gave similar assurances to Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met in Sochi on Monday. In particular, he reiterated that his government is committed to Armenia’s membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Pashinian told also told Putin that he was “very impressed” with Russian military hardware that was put on display at a May 9 military parade in Moscow. Russia has long been the principal supplier of weapons and other military equipment to the Armenian army. Membership in the CSTO entitles the South Caucasus state to receiving them at discounted prices or even for free. Russia -- A Russian TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher fires during the opening of the Army-2015 international military forum in Kubinka, outside Moscow, June 16, 2015 Last October, Moscow agreed to provide the Armenian government with a fresh $100 million loan that will be spent on buying more Russian weapons at internal Russian prices set well below market-based levels. It already lent Yerevan $200 million for the same purpose in 2015. The weapons acquired with the 2015 loan reportedly include, among other things, Smerch multiple-launch rocket system, thermobaric and anti-tank rocket systems, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and army radios. Armenia also hosts a Russian military base that has been reinforced with modernized warplanes, combat helicopters and new artillery systems in recent years. Successive Armenian governments have regarded the Russian troops as a crucial deterrent against neighboring Turkey, which fully supports Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. By choosing Tonoyan as defense minister, Pashinian clearly sought to underline continuity in Armenian defense policy. Tonoyan, 49, served as minister for emergency situations in the previous Armenian government and was the country’s first deputy defense minister from 2010-2017. Parliament Majority Leaders Object To Fresh Elections • Sisak Gabrielian Armenia - Deputies from the Republican Party of Armenia at a parliament session in Yerevan 28 February 2018. Senior lawmakers from former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), which holds a majority of seats in the Armenian parliament, on Wednesday spoke out against fresh parliamentary elections sought by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political allies. Pashinian called for such elections immediately after tens of thousands of his supporters demonstrating in the streets of Yerevan forced Sarkisian to resign on April 23. He said on Tuesday that he expects them to be held later this year. However, Eduard Sharmazanov, the chief HHK spokesman and a deputy parliament speaker, said that any talk of snap polls is premature now. “Pre-term parliamentary elections are called when there is a political crisis, when the government is facing insurmountable obstacles to implementing its programs,” Sharmazanov told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “We have repeatedly said that we will not be artificially impeding the work of Pashinian’s government,” he said. He also argued that Pashinian himself is in no rush to force elections within the next one or two months. Gevorg Kostanian, the chairman of a key parliament committee also representing the HHK, likewise objected to an early dissolution of the National Assembly. “If the political situation is such that government and opposition actions are only aimed at the country’s well-being, then I am deeply convinced that there is no need for fresh elections,” he said. The idea of snap polls is supported not only by Pashinian’s Yelk alliance but also the two other parliamentary minority factions: the Tsarukian Bloc and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). Both groups have received ministerial posts in the new government headed by the protest leader. Naira Zohrabian, a leading member of the Tsarukian Bloc, insisted that the current parliament has lost its legitimacy as a result of the democratic “velvet revolution.” Pashinian is therefore right to press for the holding of general elections this year, she said. Zohrabian said the HHK is reluctant to agree to the elections because it knows that it would suffer a crushing defeat. “If the two main tools for their reproduction -- administrative resources and money – are not used, then I think only those considering themselves ideological members of the party will vote for the Republicans,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “We all understand that their number will be very small.” Like Pashinian’s Yelk alliance and Dashnaktsutyun, the bloc led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian believes that the parliament must call general elections after amending the Armenian Electoral Code. Several provisions of the code are widely believed to have facilitated the HHK’s victory in the last elections held in April 2017. Under the Armenian constitution, pre-term general elections will have to be called if the prime minister resigns and the parliament twice fails to elect a new premier or if the government’s policy program is not approved by most lawmakers. Yerevan Mayor Refuses To Quit Despite Protests • Hovannes Movsisian Armenia - Protesters break into the Yerevan municipality building to demand the resignation of Mayor Taron Markarian, . Yerevan’s Mayor Taron Markarian ruled out his resignation on Wednesday in the face of continuing protests by supporters of Armenia’s new central government who accuse him of corruption and mismanagement. Markarian has been under pressure to step down since opposition leader Nikol Pashinian replaced Serzh Sarkisian as the country’s prime minister on May 8 after weeks of massive anti-government protests. Groups of Pashinian supporters have demonstrated outside the mayor’s office on a daily basis. Over 30 protesters broke into the municipality building on Wednesday morning after it emerged that trees have been cut down in a nearby public park undergoing a complete reconstruction financed by a private charity. Police officers stopped them from advancing further towards Markarian’s office. The angry protesters blocked a corridor leading to the office for nearly three hours, demanding that the mayor explain what they see as the park’s destruction and resign. They rejected a proposal by Markarian’s two deputies to vacate the building and meet with the mayor in an adjacent conference hall. Armenia - Protesters hold a sit-in inside the Yerevan municipality building, 16 May 2018. The municipal administration publicly demanded that the Armenian police take action against the intruders. The police chief, Valeri Osipian, discussed the incident with Markarian by phone afterwards. “Why didn’t they inform us before cutting the trees?” one protester told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “Why didn’t they say what they are going to do?” Alen Simonian, until now a member of Yerevan’s municipal council representing Pashinian’s Yelk alliance, backed the protesters’ demands when he arrived at the scene. He said that Markarian, who is affiliated with Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), must quit because he is part of a “political team” that has lost power in the country. Simonian also criticized Markarian’s track record. Armenia - Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian speaks to reporters outside his headquarters, . The mayor rejected these demands when emerged from the building later in the day to speak to reporters in the presence of several dozen supporters holding a counterdemonstration there.“I condemn that,” he said. “It’s clear that there was a violation of the law. The activists broke into the municipality building and tried to disrupt the normal work of the municipality.” Markarian insisted that he is not obliged to quit because of the regime change in Armenia. “All over the world it’s not common practice for a political force to try to suppress elected local government bodies after coming to power,” he said. “We will continue our work. We will make Yerevan a better place.” The HHK again won a majority of seats in the municipal council in local elections held last year. The council in turn reelected Markarian, 40, as Yerevan mayor. Press Review “Zhamanak” says that further political developments in Armenia depend in large measure on the socioeconomic situation in the country. The paper says the key question therefore is “what economic solutions the new government has.” “Even if we are talking about an interim government,” it says. “Zhoghovurd” says that regime change in Armenia has “restored people’s faith and trust in the authorities.” “But everyone knows that public sentiment can be quickly turned upside down and euphoria can fade away unless public expectations are met,” writes the paper. “Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is hardly immune to such a prospect.” It says that Pashinian must therefore not hesitate to take swift unpopular measures vital for the country. Those include the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The paper hopes that Pashinian will, among other things, accept a framework peace agreement drafted by international mediators as a basis for peace talks with Azerbaijan. “Aravot” notes that Pashinian initially planned to force fresh parliamentary elections within weeks after taking office but now seems willing to delay their holding by at least several months. The paper suggests that Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) is not interested in such polls because it realizes that it would hardly win any parliament seats. “Everyone probably knows or at least feels that the HHK elite is dreaming about and waiting for a counterrevolution every minute,” writes “Haykakan Zhamanak.” The paper edited by Pashinian’s wife Anna Hakobian says it is this hope that has so far prevented the party’s disintegration. Citing “reliable information” from HHK circles, it says Sarkisian’s political allies hope that Pashinian’s cabinet will fail miserably within two or three months. “According to our information, the counterrevolution is not succeeding in attracting a sizable following,” it says. “The apparent reason for that is an extremely low likelihood of the realization of this scenario … and many, including in the HHK leadership, understand this.” (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org