Tuesday,
Pashinian Urges Yerevan Voters To Reaffirm Victory Of ‘Revolution’
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a rally for Yerevan mayoral
candidate Hayk Marutian, Yerevan, 10Sep2018
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called on voters in Yerevan to reaffirm
the results of last spring’s “velvet revolution” in an upcoming ballot in the
capital – the first major election in Armenia since the change of government.
Twelve parties and alliances are contesting the ballot in which Yerevan’s
municipal assembly and eventually mayor will be elected.
A pro-Pashinian alliance in the elections called My Step is led by popular
actor and producer Hayk Marutian.
Speaking at a rally launching the My Step campaign on Monday night Pashinian
said that more than just a mayoral position and Marutian’s candidacy were at
stake.
“Those who vote for My Step and for Hayk Marutian vote for early parliamentary
elections,” he said.
The holding of early parliamentary elections within a year is part of the
program of the Pashinian government approved last May.
Under the current Constitution, snap general elections can be held only if the
prime minister resigns and lawmakers twice fail to elect his or her replacement.
In the past several weeks Pashinian publicly spoke of scenarios in which former
President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) that still
dominates the National Assembly could break political agreements and try to
install another prime minister if he steps down as prime minister. As an
additional safeguard he, therefore, suggested a constitutional amendment that
would allow the parliament to dissolve itself.
Addressing the pro-Marutian rally, Pashinian warned other political parties and
groups, which he did not name, against planning a “counterrevolution.”
“Some political forces that present themselves as advocates of the revolution
are conducting negotiations with the HHK for the latter to help them with their
vote-rigging resource,” Pashinian asserted. “Come to your senses, madmen!”
The head of the Armenian government said, therefore, the September 23 vote has
an “exceptionally important political meaning.” “As at these elections people,
citizens of Armenia at polling stations should reaffirm the victory that they
registered in Republic Square…, reaffirm people’s power, the victory of the
people’s nonviolent velvet revolution in Armenia,” Pashinian underscored.
My Step’s candidate Marutian, who was one of the active Pashinian supporters
during peaceful antigovernment protests in spring, was criticizes by political
rivals last week for his remarks in which he made a division of the political
spectrum into “whites and blacks” ahead of the Yerevan elections.
“It’s a very clear situation in Armenia today. There are white forces and black
forces. I want to officially state that we are white forces, and all those who
do not want us to succeed are black forces,” Marutian said on September 2.
The remarks were swiftly construed by representatives of the former government
as discrimination against part of society that does not share the ideas of the
political team that came to power in Armenia in the wake of last spring’s
‘velvet revolution’.
Marutian later publicly regretted having used the expression. Pashinian then
weighed in on the issue, acknowledging that Marutian’s remarks were “not quite
correct.”
The HHK is not participating in the Yerevan elections. Its senior member Taron
Markarian resigned in July after serving as Yerevan mayor for seven years. The
Council of Elders could not elect a new mayor, triggering early elections.
Armenia Expounds On Planned Syria Mission
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Syria - Russian soldiers distribute humanitarian aid sent by Armenia in Aleppo,
14Feb2017.
Armenia will engage in a humanitarian mission in Syria by sending mostly
doctors and engineers, according to a senior Defense Ministry official in
Yerevan.
Following his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on
September 8 Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced a joint Armenian-Russian
humanitarian program for Syria, but did not disclose any details.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Tuesday Deputy
Defense Minister Gabriel Balayan said that the Armenian mission will be
operating in the war-torn Middle Eastern country within the framework of a 2015
UN Security Council resolution and an intergovernmental agreement with the
Syrian government.
“The non-military group will be exclusively subordinated to the relevant
department of the Republic of Armenia. We do not rule out cooperation with
Russia in some ways, but the group will operate exclusively under the flag of
the Republic of Armenia,” he said.
As for the mission, Balayan said that Armenian medics and engineers will help
civilians in Aleppo, including ethnic Armenians living in this Syrian city.
“At the request of the Syrian government we will be sending specialists who
will try to be of help to civilians,” the Armenian deputy defense minister
said, adding that Armenian sappers will help demine and destroy self-made mines
that have been stockpiled in Aleppo.
Aleppo was home to the majority of an estimated 80,000 ethnic Armenians who
lived in Syria before the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. Tens of thousands
of Syrian Armenians fled their homes since the start of hostilities in the Arab
republic. Many of the displaced Armenians took refuge in Armenia.
Speaking in Yerevan on Tuesday, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian
also confirmed that Armenian specialists in Syria will be involved “exclusively
in the humanitarian context of security.”
“The security of Armenians living in Syria is one of the major issues on our
agenda,” the top Armenian diplomat stressed.
In recent years the Armenian government sent several planeloads of humanitarian
assistance to civilians in Syria. The relief was delivered to the war-torn
country by Russian transport planes.
Receiving Syria’s ambassador in Yerevan Muhammad Haj Ibrahim last week Armenian
Parliament Speaker Ara Babloyan said Yerevan was willing to take part in the
reconstruction of Syria. He did not elaborate.
Russia, which has helped Syrian government forces to restore control over much
of the country’s territory, has been seeking greater Western involvement in the
reconstruction of Syria. The United States and its allies, however, are tying
reconstruction assistance to a process that includes UN-supervised elections
and a political transition in Syria. Washington blames Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad for the country’s devastation.
Armenian PM Condemns Wiretapping Of Top Law-Enforcement Officials
Armenia - National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian and Special
Investigation Service head Sasun Khachatrian comment on the wiretapping scandal
in a press conference in Yerevan, 11Sept, 2018
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has condemned the wiretapping and
posting of telephone conversations that took place between the chiefs of
security and investigation agencies in late July and concerned the prosecution
of ex-president Robert Kocharian and other former officials in connection with
2008 deadly post-election events.
The audio of the conversations between National Security Service (NSS) Director
Artur Vanetsian and Special Investigation Service (SIS) head Sasun Khachatrian,
both of whom have confirmed its autheticisty, was leaked to the media and
published by several news websites on Tuesday.
Based on the contents of the recording critics have accused the Pashinian
administration of reneging on its public pledge not to guide the work of the
judiciary.
In the audio Vanetsian and Khachatrian discuss particular circumstances of the
case against Kocharian, who is charged with overthrowing Armenia’s
constitutional order during the 2008 violence in which 10 people were killed.
In particular, Vanetsian says that the judge who was supposed to decide on
Kocharian’s arrest was afraid to make a decision and telephoned him to ask for
directions. In the audio the NSS chief also repeatedly warned the SIS head not
to arrest former deputy defense minister Yuri Khachaturov, who currently serves
as secretary-general of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization. Vanetsian explained that Khachaturov’s arrest could entail
“political problems.”
Reacting to the wiretapped conversations, the office of Kocharian issued a
statement today, describing the case as “a classical example of a political
vendetta.”
In a live Facebook broadcast later today Pashinian condemned the fact of the
secrete recording and posting of an audio with a telephone conversation between
two security agencies chiefs. At the same time, he put a brave face on the
situation, doubting the value of the “revelation” and its implications.
Referring to his earlier public statements in which he repeatedly said that he
would not use his office to influence the judiciary, the prime minister
emphasized that he did not say that judges, most of whom were appointed still
by the former “corrupt” system, did not continue to call and ask for guidance.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian comments on the wiretapping scandal
in a live Facebook broadcast, Yerevan, 11Sep2018
“Still at a rally in Yerevan’s Republic Square on August 17 I stated that in
general, in my opinion, the March 1, 2008 case was disclosed and that murderers
will be brought to justice,” he said. “I have said before that judges were
calling and asking what they should do, how they should decide on one matter or
another.There is no secret in it. And I have said that I refuse to give
instructions to the judiciary,” Pashinian said.
The prime minister suggested that a number of former “small and large”
officials, including Kocharian, ex-president Serzh Sarkisian, ex-prime minister
Hovik Abrahamian, ex-Yerevan mayor Taron Markarian and others, were interested
in thwarting the process of justice in Armenia. But he stressed that his
government “will not yield to blackmail.”
“The case of March 1, 2008 must be disclosed, the murderers must be brought to
justice, what has been plundered must be recovered,” Pashinian declared in a
stern tone.
The prime minister stressed that his government will continue an uncompromising
struggle against corruption and urged people to turn out in large numbers for a
campaign rally of his ally, Hayk Marutian, who is running for Yerevan mayor,
which was planned to be held in one of Yerevan’s neighborhoods on Tuesday
night. Pashinian stressed that this way people will show their support for his
government and its fight against corruption.
Later, at the rally, Pashinian described the wiretapping of the security
official as “a conspiracy and crime against the statehood of Armenia.” “I have
instructed the National Security Service, the police to find those who
organized the conspiracy within the shortest possible period of time and hold
them accountable in the strictest terms,” the Armenian premier said.
Pashinian ordered security services to start raids to “disarm oligarchs and
their so-called bodyguards” who had “imported wiretapping equipment and set up
their own special services within the state.”
Meanwhile, at a joint press conference with the SIS head held the same day NSS
Director Vanetsian said that a criminal case was launched in connection with
the fact of the wiretapping. He voiced confidence that those responsible will
be held accountable.
As for the contents of the coversation, Vanetsian said they discussed legal
issues connected with the cases of two senior former officials. At the same
time, he stressed that the fight against corruption and crime will continue.
“Money plundered from Armenia will be recovered and the murderers will appear
in court. This process is unstoppable,” the NSS chief declared.
Special Army Units Accused Of Firing At People In 2008 Post-Election Unrest
Armenia -- Tanks on the streets of Yerevan following deadly clashes, March 2,
2008
The army not only participated in quelling post-election protests in Armenia in
2008, but also fired at people and residential buildings, a top Armenian
investigator insisted on Tuesday, referring to special army units allegedly
formed by former authorities for the purpose.
Sasun Khachatrian, the head of the Special Investigative Service (SSS), held a
joint press conference with Director of the National Security Service (NSS)
Artur Vanetsian convened at short notice following a wiretapping scandal that
broke out on Tuesday.
A secretly recorded audio of telephone conversations of the two concerning the
prosecution of ex-President Robert Kocharian and other former officials in
connection with the deadly events of March 1-2, 2008 was leaked to the press by
an anonymous source in an apparent attempt to show that the administration of
recently elected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian allegedly influenced the
judiciary in related cases.
Pashinian, who came to power on the wave of last spring’s peaceful street
protests with an agenda of political reforms and anti-corruption struggle, has
brushed aside the accusations, stressing that his government “will not yield to
blackmail” and will press ahead with anti-corruption cases and reopened
investigations into alleged crimes committed by former officials.
Kocharian and several other senior former officials are accused of breaching
the constitution by ordering the use of the army to quell opposition protests
in the wake of a disputed presidential election in 2008. Ten people, including
two security officers, were killed in the violence.
The investigation of the events conducted during the 10-year presidency of
Serzh Sarkisian, Kocharian’s longtime ally and hand-picked successor, revealed
no one who could be charged in connection with the killings.
After the change of government ex-president Kocharian was arrested on July 28,
but an appeals court released him on August 13, finding that the Armenian
constitution gives him immunity from prosecution. Prosecutors have appealed the
decision at a higher judicial instance since. In the meantime, a decision has
been made not to allow Kocharian to leave Armenia pending investigation.
At today’s press conference SIS head Khachatrian disclosed some details of the
investigation, arguing that investigators have proof of the army’s involvement
in the events.
“Our investigation has already established that the army not only participated
in the events of March 1-2, 2008, but also fired in the direction of people,
apartments, that is, the army fully participated in these actions. Secondly, I
want to disclose more details that I frankly did not want to do, but today
there is an occasion for that and the public should know it. After the secret
order when it was decided to gather servicemen from different military units in
Yerevan, soldiers were in service at border posts without shifts, as a result a
very dangerous situation was created, and you know that there was an
[Azerbaijani commando] raid,” Khachatrian said.
Special Investigation Service head Sasun Khachatrian, Yerevan, 11Sept, 2018
According to the top investigator, the most disgraceful thing that happened to
the army during those days was that the country’s then leaders “turned soldier
into mercenaries and used them against the people.”
“Within the framework of the criminal case it has already been established that
in the period after February 23, [2008] and until March 7-8, [2008] oligarchs
gave money to soldiers to protect them, their property, their political
aspirations,” the SIS head said, showing an original register “with names and
signatures of soldiers and their commanders and sums of payments that were made
from [bank] accounts of oligarchs and senior officials.”
When asked whether the SIS was going to make those names public, Khachatrian
replied: “I will give the names later. Why name them now? Only for them to run
away?”
Press Review
“Haykakan Zhamanak” suggests that despite the speculation that the Russian
leadership has prohibited the country’s ethnic Armenian businessmen to make
investments in Armenia it has not found at least one such businessman who would
confirm that. “It is not difficult to guess where that speculation comes from.
During the days of the revolution representatives of the already former
government spared no effort to make an impression of having the Kremlin’s
backing in order to stop the revolution and shore up their positions. A group
of Russia-based Armenian businessmen, who had managed to establish some times
with Russian political elites, were helping them with that. That help, however,
in no way thwarted the course of the revolution, and the same group is
currently trying to economically sabotage the current government,” the paper
writes.
On the same subject “Zhoghovurd” reports, citing its own sources, that Armenian
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s meeting with ethnic Armenian businessmen in
Moscow went not quite smoothly. “Those who gathered there were mainly
businessmen tied to the former government in different ways, businessmen who
did not feel quite comfortable working with Armenia’s new government. Many of
them attended the meeting as observers. Some in private conversations with each
other said that they would no longer invest in Armenia because they feared the
new Armenian government would cause them additional headache – they don’t want
to make investments facing the prospect of being put behind bars,” the paper
says.
“If the Civil Contract party wins a majority, then I am against joining it
purely for coming to power,” Aram Sargsian, the leader of the Hanrapetutyun
party and an ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in the current parliament,
told “Zhamanak”, speaking about the prospect of early parliamentary elections.
“The issue of the Yelk alliance appears to have been closed, and the sides
involved know all too well that it is dictated by the political situation.
Regardless of the different personal and political motivations of the
participants of the alliance, the logic of domestic and external political
realities makes it more important not to preserve the Yelk alliance, which was
a mechanism formed within the logic of the former political configuration, but
to form a new logic and a new system corresponding to the new situation,” the
paper writes.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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