Friday,
Trump Hails ‘New Era’ In Armenia
• Emil Danielyan
U.S. -- President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Florida State
Fairgrounds Expo Hall in Tampa, July 31, 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump has praised mass protests that led to regime change
in Armenia in May and said his administration stands ready to help the new
Armenian government implement sweeping reforms promised by it.
“Armenia has much to celebrate this year,” Trump wrote to Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian in a congratulatory message on the 27th anniversary of the South
Caucasus country’s independence marked on Friday.
“A peaceful, popular movement ushered in a new era in Armenia, and we look
forward to working with you to help you execute the will of your people to
combat corruption and to establish representative, accountable governance, rule
of law buttressed by an independent judiciary, and political and economic
competition,” read the message publicized by Pashinian’s office.
“I look forward to further strengthening the partnership that began between our
countries one hundred years ago,” it said.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo similarly saluted “remarkable changes” in
Armenia. “The peaceful popular movement that transformed the government has
ushered in an exciting new chapter of Armenian history,” he said in a written
statement on the country’s Independence Day.
The U.S. State Department closely monitored the Pashinian-led protests that
brought down in late April Armenia’s previous government headed by Serzh
Sarkisian. During the political crisis it repeatedly urged Armenia political
factions to embark on dialogue.
Trump expressed Washington’s readiness to work with the new authorities in
Yerevan on “the many areas of mutual interest” when he congratulated Pashinian
on becoming prime minister in May. Pashinian said afterwards that he would like
to “strengthen and expand” U.S.-Armenian relations.
The two leaders chatted briefly at a NATO summit in Brussels in July. Pashinian
hoped to hold his first talks with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly in New York which he will address next week. Armenian Foreign Minister
Zohrab Mnatsakanian said on Thursday that such a meeting is extremely unlikely.
Pashinian campaigned for Armenia’s withdrawal from a Russia-led alliance of
ex-Soviet states and closer ties with the European Union when he was in
opposition to the Sarkisian government. However, he ruled any change in
Armenia’s traditional foreign policy orientation immediately after coming to
power.
Both Trump and Pompeo also stressed the importance of a peaceful settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “The coming months bring opportunities to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which would create even more
possibilities for U.S. –Armenian cooperation,” said the U.S. president.
For his part, Pompeo urged the conflicting parties to “resume intensive
negotiations as soon as possible.”
The U.S. as well as Russia and France have long been spearheading international
efforts to broker a compromise solution to the Karabakh dispute.
Pashinian Seeks Fresh Mandate In Yerevan Polls
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at an election campaign rally
in Yerevan, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has urged Yerevan residents to vote
overwhelmingly for his political team in Sunday’s municipal elections, saying
that its landslide victory is critical for forcing snap parliamentary elections
in Armenia.
The My Step alliance dominated by Pashinian’s Civil Contract party is widely
expected to win a majority in the new city council that will fill the vacant
post of Yerevan mayor. The margin of its victory remains an open question,
though.
“I want to stress that by voting for the My Step alliance in these elections
you will also vote for the dissolution of Armenia’s current National Assembly
and the holding of pre-term parliamentary elections,” Pashinian told a campaign
rally held in the city’s Arabkir district late on Thursday.
“I want to get your mandate to negotiate with the parliament, the parliamentary
forces on the date and the venue of the pre-term parliamentary elections,” he
said. “It is very important that you give me a strong mandate in the Yerevan
council elections so that I go and solve that issue.”
Pashinian controls only a handful of seats in the current 105-member parliament
that appointed him as prime minister in May after weeks of street protests that
toppled Armenia’s previous government. Snap elections are therefore seen as
crucial for his political future.
Under the Armenian constitution, they can be called only if the prime minister
steps down and the parliament fails to choose his replacement.
Pashinian indicated that in his push for the parliament’s dissolution he will
resort to the kind of popular pressure which he put on lawmakers when they
first refused to elect him prime minister on May 2.The parliament majority
reluctantly accepted his candidacy six days later, after renewed protests and
road blockades paralyzed much of the country.
The Pashinian government’s policy program approved by the parliament in June
says the general elections should be held by June 2019. Pashinian on Thursday
again did not give possible election dates.
Some senior lawmakers from former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK), which has the largest parliamentary faction, have spoken out
against the idea of fresh polls.
Leaders of other parliamentary forces, which are represented in the government,
implicitly threatened this week to reconsider their support for such a vote
after being harshly criticized by Pashinian during the Yerevan mayoral race.
The premier on Wednesday warned them not to go “against the people.”
CSTO Head Concerned Over Truce Violations On Armenian-Azeri Border
KYRGYZSTAN -- Yuri Khachaturov, appointed CSTO Secretary General, at an
informal meeting of the heads of state of the Collective Security Treaty
Organisation (CSTO) member countries, in Bishkek, April 14, 2017
Yuri Khachaturov, the secretary general of the Russian-led Collective Security
Organization (CSTO), on Friday effectively blamed Azerbaijan for the latest
upsurge in ceasefire violations along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Over the past week the Armenian government and military accused Azerbaijani
forces of opening fire at several villages in Armenia’s northern Tavush
province close to the border. An Armenian soldier serving there was shot dead
earlier this week.
Khachaturov expressed “serious concern” over the escalation, calling for an
immediate end to fighting in the “zone of the CSTO’s responsibility.” In a
written statement, he warned against any “increase in threats to the security
of the Republic of Armenia, a CSTO member state.”
In a clear reference to Baku, Khachaturov also denounced “bellicose rhetoric”
which he said is undermining international efforts to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The Azerbaijani government did not immediately react to the statement.
Khachaturov, 65 is a retired general who was the chief of the Armenian army’s
General Staff from 2008-2016. Russia, Armenia and four other ex-Soviet states
making up the CSTO appointed him as secretary general of the Russian-led
defense pact in April 2017.
The new Armenian government moved to replace Khachaturov as CSTO secretary
general after he was charged and nearly arrested in late July in connection
with the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan.
Russia strongly criticized the Armenian authorities’ decision to prosecute him.
A Kremlin official called it a “colossal blow to the image” of the CSTO.
Following the criticism Khachaturov was allowed to return to Moscow and
continue to perform his CSTO duties for the time being. It remains unclear
whether Russia, Belarus or Kazakhstan will agree to the appointment of another
Armenian secretary general.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” says that 27th years ago to the day Armenians voted for secession
from the Soviet Union in a referendum what was followed by the declaration of
Armenia’s independence. The paper notes that that popular euphoria subsequently
gave way to disillusionment as the newly independent nation faced grave
economic and security challenges. “We managed to emerge victorious from all
that thanks to the resilience, national unity and stubborn struggle of our
people.” The paper sees similarities between the popular moods now and in
September 1991, saying that after a long break Armenians again feel that they
are the masters of their country.
“If 27 years on we still need to explain to us and our children what
independence is all about and why we need it, then we have done nothing except
talking during these 27 years,” “Zhamanak.” The paper admits that the
independence period has also seen “enormous achievements.” “Despite this, one
thing is obvious: independence is still not ours seeing as every September 21
we try to make ourselves believe that we are independent,” it says.
“Aravot” believes that the Armenian state must be based on “liberal values”
such as tolerance, love and mutual respect. “These principles must be
complement by a meticulous compliance with laws and widespread intolerance
towards those who flout them,” editorializes the paper.
“Hraparak” says that Sunday’s municipal elections in Yerevan are a unique
opportunity to end the culture of electoral fraud in Armenia. “We have all the
grounds to expect that there will be fair and honest elections this time around
and those who receive most votes will win,” editorializes the paper. It also
says that Yerevan citizens should think carefully before deciding whom to vote
for.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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