Monday,
Mediators Say ‘Reducing Tensions’ Key Ahead of Armenian-Azerbaijani Summit
Մարտ 10, 2019
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) meeting with the co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group in Yerevan, February 20, 2019.
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International mediators brokering a peaceful solution to the protracted
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to
refrain from statements and actions “suggesting significant changes to the
situation on the ground” ahead of their summit talks expected soon.
In a statement published on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s (OSCE) official website, Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group Igor Popov, of
Russia, Stephane Visconti, of France, and Andrew Schofer, of the United States,
welcomed the commitment of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to meet soon under the auspices of the
Co-Chairs.
The Co-Chairs said that working closely with the two countries’ foreign
ministers, they “have been making preparations for this important leaders’
meeting”, which will be the first direct contact between Pashinian and Aliyev
conducted under Co-Chair auspices.
The Co-Chairs underlined the importance of “maintaining an environment
conducive to productive discussions and continue to assess positively the
recent lack of casualties on the front lines.”
“The Co-Chairs also welcome some initial steps being taken in the region to
prepare the populations for peace and encourage the sides to intensify such
efforts. At the same time, the Co-Chairs reiterate the critical importance of
reducing tensions and minimizing inflammatory rhetoric. In this context, the
Co-Chairs urge the sides to refrain from statements and actions suggesting
significant changes to the situation on the ground, prejudging the outcome of
or setting conditions for future talks, demanding unilateral changes to the
format without agreement of the other party, or indicating readiness to renew
active hostilities,” the mediating troika said.
Pashinian and Aliyev traded accusations in their public statements earlier this
month just days after the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the
OSCE Minsk Group announced that the two leaders had agreed to meet soon for
further talks.
Speaking in parliament on March 6, the Armenian prime minister dismissed Baku’s
offers to grant Karabakh a high degree of autonomy, insisting that “the people
of Nagorno-Karabakh have a right to self-determination and must be able to
exercise that right.” The Azerbaijani leader claimed, for his part, the day
before that “Yerevan is not showing a serious desire to conduct substantive
negotiations and is trying to impede a Karabakh settlement by all means.”
Referring to “some contradictory recent public statements on the substance of
the Minsk Group process”, the Co-Chairs reiterated that “a fair and lasting
settlement must be based on the core principles of the Helsinki Final Act,
including in particular the non-use or threat of force, territorial integrity,
and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples.”
“It also should embrace additional elements as proposed by the Presidents of
the Co-Chair countries in 2009-2012, including: return of the territories
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; an interim status for
Nagorno-Karabakh providing guarantees for security and self-governance; a
corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; future determination of the final
legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will;
the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their
former places of residence; and international security guarantees that would
include a peacekeeping operation.”
In their statement the Co-Chairs further stressed their view that “these
principles and elements must be the foundation of any fair and lasting
settlement to the conflict and should be conceived as an integrated whole.”
“Any attempt to put some principles or elements over others would make it
impossible to achieve a balanced solution,” the mediators said.
“The Co-Chairs are prepared to meet with the leaders and foreign ministers of
Armenia and Azerbaijan at any time, and call on the leaders to resume
negotiations in good faith at the earliest opportunity. Continuous and direct
dialogue between Baku and Yerevan conducted under the auspices of the Co-Chairs
remains an essential element in building confidence and advancing the peace
process. The Co-Chairs will also continue to discuss, as appropriate, relevant
issues with the interested parties directly affected by the conflict,
recognizing that their views and concerns must be taken into account for any
negotiated solution to succeed,” Popov, Visconti and Schofer emphasized in
their joint statement.
“The Co-Chairs stress that they remain fully committed, in accordance with
their mandate, to helping the sides find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
The Co-Chairs also express their full support for the impartial and critical
monitoring work undertaken by the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairperson-in-Office and his team.”
Armenian PM In Karabakh For Security Council Meeting
• Ruzanna Stepanian
• Heghine Buniatian
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinian meeting with Karabakh leader Bako Sahakian,
Stepanakert,
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh where
he is to chair a meeting of Armenia’s Security Council planned for tomorrow,
his press service said on Monday.
According to the Armenian Government’s Information and Public Relations
Department, Bako Sahakian, the leader of Karabakh, will also be present at the
meeting.
Officials have not yet published details relating to the agenda of the Security
Council’s meeting, promising to do so later.
It is also unclear why Prime Minister Pashinian has decided to hold the meeting
of Armenia’s Security Council in Nagorno-Karabakh.
David Babayan, a spokesman for the Nagorno-Karabakh president, promised to
provide details after the meeting is held.
“Don’t think that something extraordinary happened and that’s why he
[Pashinian] came. This is a planned working visit not focused on anything
extraordinary,” Babayan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Pashinian is visiting Stepanakert two days after international mediators
seeking to broker a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict issued a
statement ahead of planned Armenian-Azerbaijani summit talks.
The United States, Russian and French co-chairs of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group welcomed “some initial
steps being taken in the region to prepare the populations for peace and
encourage the sides to intensify such efforts.” At the same time, they
reiterated “the critical importance of reducing tensions and minimizing
inflammatory rhetoric.”
“In this context, the Co-Chairs urge the sides to refrain from statements and
actions suggesting significant changes to the situation on the ground,
prejudging the outcome of or setting conditions for future talks, demanding
unilateral changes to the format without agreement of the other party, or
indicating readiness to renew active hostilities,” the mediating troika said.
The statement came days after Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
traded accusations in their public statements in the context of their vision of
the settlement of the protracted conflict.
Also, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Miroslav Laichak is expected to arrive in Armenia
on a two-day visit on March 12. Laichak already traveled to Baku last week,
stating in the Azerbaijani capital that he considered the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be one of the priorities of his chairmanship.
Incidentally, on Monday the Azerbaijani army launched large-scale military
exercises that will continue for five days and will involve up to 10,000
troops, 500 tanks, 300 missile systems, aircraft and other heavy materiel.
According to an official statement, the troops will carry out an offensive
plan, trying to defeat the conventional enemy in a number of directions. It is
reported that new weapons acquired by Azerbaijan in recent years will also be
used during the current military exercises.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said the drills “do not contribute to the creation
of an environment conducive to peace.”
Some Workers Protest Against Planned Tax Reform
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- A protest near the Government’s building against the upcoming
amendments to the Law on State Duty. 11March,2019
Workers and owners of a number of companies involved in different sectors held
protests on Monday against a planned reform of the tax legislation that they
claim will hit their industries hard.
The separate protests at the central government office in Yerevan included
workers of Hay Cola, an Armenian company producing carbonated drinks, and
owners of pawnshops and currency exchange offices.
Hay Cola employees demanded the revision of planned tax code provisions,
according to which excise taxes will be applied in relation to carbonated
beverages containing sugar, flavor and odor additives.
According to the company’s director Tigran Hovsepian, if the changes are
adopted, hundreds of workers will become unemployed amid falling sales.
Hovsepian said that the tax burden will only slightly affect companies working
in the more expensive segment of the beverages market as prices for their
products are expected to rise by only some 11-15 percent. “It is the sales in
the ‘economy’ segment of the market that will definitely suffer terrible
losses,” he claimed.
The reason for the protest by owners of pawnshops and currency exchange offices
is the draft amendments proposed by the Central Bank in the law on state
duties, which, if approved, will sharply raise the annual rate of fees paid in
these areas.
Under the bill, in the case with pawnshops, the state duty will amount to 6
million drams (about $12,300) instead of the current 100,000 drams (over $200),
and in the case with currency exchange offices their owners will pay 3 million
drams instead of the current $50,000.
“About 80 percent of today’s currency exchange points do not have sufficient
profits to be able to pay that kind of fee. It makes this business
unprofitable,” one of the demonstrators told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
While the protesters were waiting for Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian to
come out and listen to their demands, Deputy Parliament Speaker Alen Simonian,
who represents Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract Party, came to
meet with the protesters.
“I cannot answer [your questions] now. But I promise that I will discuss all
this with my colleagues. I will discuss it not only at the National Assembly,
but also with representatives of my political team. I will tell them that there
is such a problem,” Simonian said.
Senior NATO Official Visits Armenia
Armenia -- NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and
Central Asia James Appathurai in Yerevan. 11March, 2019
James Appathurai, NATO deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs
and the secretary general’s special representative for the Caucasus and Central
Asia, arrived in Armenia on Monday for an annual NATO Week event held this year
on March 11-15.
While in Yerevan the NATO representative also held meetings with a number of
senior Armenian officials, including President Armen Sarkissian.
At a meeting with Sarkissian in Yerevan, Appathurai described Armenia as a
“stable and trustworthy partner.”
Appathurai and Sarkissian also underlined Armenia’s effective participation in
a number of NATO-Armenia projects, including in international peacekeeping
missions, the Armenian president’s press service said. Matters relating to
regional and international developments were also discussed, it added.
While in Yerevan the NATO representative also met with Defense Minister David
Tonoyan and Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian.
During the meeting between Tonoyan and Appathurai a number of issues related to
Armenia-NATO cooperation, in particular, the course of events planned for the
Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) and Planning and Review
Process partnership, their summary and assessment, as well as planning for the
coming years were discussed.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry’s official website, the sides
stressed the importance of Armenia’s participation in NATO’s peacekeeping
missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan as a major contribution to international
security.
Issues related to regional security were also discussed at the meeting, the
official report added.
Later, Armenian Foreign Minister Mnatsakanian and Appathurai discussed
prospects of continued political dialogue between Armenia and NATO as part of
the IPAP, the process of reforms in the defense and security areas, cooperation
in emergency situations, science and a number of other areas of mutual interest.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s official website, Mnatsakanian and
the NATO secretary general’s special representative exchanged views on a number
of regional and international issues.
At the request of Appathurai, Minister Mnatsakanian presented “Armenia’s
foreign-policy priorities, the approaches and principle-based position of the
Armenian side in the matter of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.”
At a press conference later on Monday the NATO official said that during his
meetings with Armenia’s defense minister and foreign minister they also
addressed the recent sending by Armenia of a humanitarian mission to Syria,
including sappers and medics.
Appathurai said both ministers clearly presented the political and humanitarian
reasons for the Armenian government to take that step.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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