Friday,
New Armenian Government ‘Committed To Compromise On Karabakh’
Մայիս 25, 2018
• Karlen Aslanian
• Lusine Musayelian
Armenia - Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian, 21 May 2018.
Armenia’s new government is committed to a compromise solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and hopes that it will be achieved “very soon,”
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian said on Friday.
“We all hope that a Karabakh settlement will happen very soon,” he told
reporters. “But the settlement must reflect our interests, aspirations and
goals. Obviously we are talking about a compromise but at the heart of it must
be … the right to self-determination and the security of the people of Artsakh
(Karabakh).”
In that context, Mnatsakanian reaffirmed Yerevan’s readiness resume peace talks
with Baku which were interrupted by a recent presidential election in
Azerbaijan and regime change in Armenia. “The key task now is to maintain the
dynamic of negotiations,” he said. “We are ready to get involved [in the peace
process.]”
Mnatsakanian, who was appointed as foreign minister less than two weeks ago,
said Yerevan remains “in constant touch” with the U.S., Russian and French
mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group. He also pointed to his phone
conversation last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the
upcoming visit to Armenia by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
One day after taking office on May 8, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called for
Nagorno-Karabakh’s direct involvement in the peace process. He said Azerbaijan
must directly negotiate with not only Armenia but also Karabakh’s ethnic
Armenian leadership.
An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman indicated on May 22 that this is not a
precondition for Yerevan’s renewed contacts with Baku.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Friday rejected Pashinian’s
calls and ruled out any talks between his government and “the separatist regime
in Karabakh.” The new Armenian leadership’s insistence on them would mean that
it “wants to put an end to the peace process,” he warned.
“I have told [the mediators] that such a proposal is ridiculous,” Mammadyarov
said in a speech delivered at an international conference in Baku.
Mammadyarov met with the Minsk Group co-chairs in Paris on May 15. The
mediators said they discussed with him “modalities for moving the peace process
forward.” They are expected to visit Yerevan in June.
Yerevan Hails Progress Towards New Russian-Georgian Trade Routes
• Heghine Buniatian
Georgia - Armenian and other heavy trucks are lined up on a road leading to the
Georgian-Russian border crossing at Upper Lars, 6May2016.
The Armenian government praised Georgia and Russia on Friday for moving closer
to opening new Russian-Georgian transport corridors that would facilitate cargo
shipments to and from Armenia.
Russian and Georgian negotiators reported further progress towards the
implementation of a 2011 agreement to that effect after a fresh round of talks
held in Prague on Thursday.
The agreement calls for reopening two roads connecting Georgia to Russia via
the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The two sides
have contracted a Swiss company, SGS, to set up special customs checkpoints on
the administrative boundaries of the two territories.
The chief Russian negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, said
they agreed to set up a joint task force that will try to work out practical
modalities of operating the new trade routes. Those include issues such as
“where and how the customs checkpoints will be functioning,” Karasin told
RFE/RL in Prague.
“This is serious work which will probably take several months,” he said.
“We are now entering the phase of the agreement’s implementation,” Karasin’s
Georgian opposite number, Zurab Abashidze, said for his part. He said the
Georgian government supports the launch of the new corridors.
Landlocked Armenia’s trade with Russia, its leading commercial partner, is
mainly carried out through the sole Russian-Georgian border crossing at Upper
Lars. Traffic along that mountainous road is periodically blocked by bad
weather, especially in winter months. Hence, Yerevan’s strong interest in
having alternative trade routes.
Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian welcomed the “positive movement”
in the long-running Russian-Georgian talks. “We highly appreciate the parties’
readiness and efforts to implement that agreement extremely important to us,”
he wrote on Facebook.
Avinian also said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the matter with
Russian President Vladimir Putin at their May 14 meeting in Sochi.
Incidentally, Pashinian is scheduled to visit Tbilisi and meet with Georgia’s
leaders next week.
Parliament Majority ‘Not Gearing Up For Snap Elections’
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Deputies from the Republican Party of Armenia attend a parliament
session in Yerevan, 22 May 2018.
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is not yet
making contingency plans for fresh parliamentary elections sought by Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian, a senior HHK figure said on Friday.
Vahram Baghdasarian, who leads the HHK majority in the current Armenian
parliament, commented evasively on Pashinian’s calls for such elections to be
held this fall.
“We will move forward along the constitutional path,” Baghdasarian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).He said the HHK will formulate its
position only after the parliament minority allied to Pashinian formally moves
to force snap elections.
Asked whether he thinks holding them this autumn is realistic, Baghdasarian
said: “For the moment, we are preparing for the 2022 elections of the National
Assembly.”
Other senior HHK lawmakers have spoken out against the idea of snap polls in
more explicit terms. They have also indicated their opposition to major
amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code which are also demanded by Pashinian
and his political allies.
Baghdasarian said that the parliament majority is “ready to discuss” such
amendments if they are put forward by the three other parliamentary forces: the
Yelk alliance, the Tsarukian Bloc and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun).
But he stressed the fact that the code was most recently amended ahead of the
April 2017 elections by consensus. He also claimed that “everyone was happy”
with the conduct and results of those elections which gave a landslide victory
to the HHK.
Critics say that the former ruling party won them thanks to widespread vote
buying and abuse of administrative resources. They say its victory was also
facilitated by a complicated and controversial system of electing the National
Assembly.
Yelk, Tsarukian and Dashnaktsutyun want to change that system so that Armenians
vote only for political parties or blocs, rather than individuals candidates,
in the next elections.
Under the Armenian constitution, pre-term 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.
Russian-Armenian Ties ‘Unaffected’ By Regime Change
RUSSIA -- Armenian new prime minister Nikol Pashinian (L) meets with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, May 14, 2018
The recent change of Armenia’s government resulting from mass protests has not
had a negative impact on Russia’s close ties with the South Caucasus state, a
senior Russian diplomat said on Friday.
“We did not stop or slow down cooperation [with Armenia,]” Deputy Foreign
Minister Aleksandr Pankin told the TASS news agency. “When [Russian President]
Vladimir Putin met with the new prime minister of Armenia [Nikol Pashinian] it
was confirmed that everything will be preserved. The vector and the dynamics
[of bilateral relations] remain the same.”
“All projects relating to financial, commercial, investment and humanitarian
interaction remain on the table,” he said. “So there is no deviation or scaling
back.”
Putin and Pashinian met in the Russian city of Sochi on May 14 almost a week
after the latter was elected prime minister following weeks of protests that
brought down the previous premier, Serzh Sarkisian.
Pashinian assured Putin that Armenia will remain allied to Russia during his
tenure. “Nobody has cast doubt and, I think, will cast doubt on the strategic
importance of Russian-Armenian relations,” he said.
The new premier also praised Moscow’s “balanced” and “very constructive”
reactions to the protest movement led by him.
Moscow closely watched the dramatic events in Armenia sparked by Sarkisian’s
attempt to extend his decade-long rule. In their public statements, Russian
officials avoided taking sides in the standoff that led to Sarkisian’s
resignation on April 23.
Pashinian has since repeatedly stated that he will not pull Armenia out of the
Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The
42-year-old former opposition leader had previously criticized Armenia’s
membership in both Russian-led blocs.
Press Review
“Aravot” says Armenians are not quite impressed with financial abuses revealed
by the National Security Service (NSS). “People expect former ministers,
parliament deputies, oligarchs and the like to end up behind bars,” comments
the paper. It disagrees with this popular sentiment and urges the new
government to take “unpopular but necessary steps.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says the newly appointed members of the government have
still not explained in detail what they are going to do. Instead, they are busy
exposing abuses allegedly committed by their predecessors, says the paper.
“This situation cannot last long,” it says. “Scenes are not enough. The people
also need bread.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on a substantial increase in tax revenue promised
on Thursday by Davit Ananian, the new head of the State Revenue Committee
(SRC). “At first glance this is a pretentious statement,” writes the paper.
“What happened in Armenia was a revolution and revolutions usually cause some
shocks which initially have a negative impact on tax collection. But such a
prospect is unlikely in Armenia because of the nature and essence of the
revolution.” It argues that the recent dramatic events have not led to
“economic shocks in the country.” “In these conditions, the new government has
adopted a clear policy of not merging with business and put in place new rules
of the game, especially for big business. This is a guarantee of a sizable
reduction of the shadow economy in Armenia, which will mean a certain rise in
tax receipts.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that in a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev released on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump spoke of an
opportunity to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the months ahead. “It
is evident that the developments in Armenia have somewhat delayed the process
of the Karabakh conflict resolution,” writes the paper. “But at the moment the
top priority for Pashinian’s government is not so much the Karabakh issue as
the conduct of fresh elections and completion of regime change in Armenia.”
Trump’s statement is therefore “incomprehensible,” it says.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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