Wednesday,
Aliyev Again Rejects Armenian Proposal To Include Karabakh In Peace Talks
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (file photo)
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has again rejected an Armenian proposal on
the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh as a full party to internationally mediated
negotiations for the settlement of the protracted conflict.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reiterated the proposal at a press
conference in Yerevan on March 19, insisting that it will not constitute a
change of the current format of talks mediated by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, but rather will be the restoration of
the format that existed for several years after 1994 when Nagorno-Karabakh was
a separate party to the ceasefire agreement that put a halt to active military
operations in the region.
Aliyev, meanwhile, again referred to Armenia’s proposal as “a change in the
negotiations format,” which he said is unacceptable.
“Azerbaijan cannot agree to that. And envoys of the Minsk Group co-chair
countries made a serious statement, saying that the format of the negotiations
should remain unchanged. Similar statements were also made by high-ranking EU
officials. It is definitely a serious message to Armenia, and it also proves
that Azerbaijan’s position is getting more and more support,” Aliyev said on
Wednesday.
Speaking at yesterday’s press conference, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinian
emphasized that his statements on the need for Nagorno-Karabakh’s engagement in
the talks was not a “challenge”, but rather “an invitation to dialogue” in
which Armenia was ready to listen to Azerbaijan’s counterarguments.
“We will continue discussions on this subject with our partners and will try to
continue this discussion in the field of arguments, because negotiations are
negotiations only when we listen to each other. At least Armenia has shown its
ability to listen to its opponent, try to understand the other side, and we
expect the same from them. Where our partners consider that our position can be
viewed as excessively tough, we can soften this position, but we would expect
the same from our partners, because otherwise no conversation will take place,”
the Armenian leader said, in particular.
Meanwhile, at a press briefing in Yerevan today Armenian Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Anna Naghdalian said that the expected meeting between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders will not be “negotiations around the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement issue proper, but an endeavor to elaborate
appropriate interpretations regarding the principles and elements of the
settlement process.”
“There are different interpretations of the three principles and six elements
included in the document. Azerbaijan interprets them its own way, the Armenian
side also makes its own interpretation… Therefore, there is a need for a
meeting just to work out an appropriate interpretation for all three principles
and six elements, and only then understand how to move forward,” said
Naghdalian.
Opposition Lawmaker Sees ‘Growing Discontent’ In Armenia
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Gevork Gorgisian, secretary of the Bright Armenia parliamentary faction
There is a growing wave of social discontent in Armenia and it is dangerous if
the prime minister is not aware of it, an opposition lawmaker said on
Wednesday, commenting on the statement that Nikol Pashinian amde at a press
conference yesterday.
Pashinian, in particular, said: “There is no growing wave of discontent in
Armenia and I am saying this for the record. In the next five years we will see
if there is a growing wave of discontent in Armenia.”
Countering this statement, Gevork Gorgisian, secretary of the opposition Bright
Armenia faction in parliament, referred to a number of recent protests staged
by workers in different sectors of the economy.
“Now we are discussing the new tax legislation and there are lots of complaints
about it. Right now the National Assembly is discussing amendments to the law
on pawnshops, in which connection there are also different complaints in
society. We get complaints every day, we meet with citizens who represent
different sectors and have different issues while dealing mostly with
government institutions. And all this must be handled and something must be
done about it,” Gorgisian said.
The oppositionist claimed that daily contacts that he and his colleagues have
with citizens show that “people yet do not feel the real changes after the
revolution.”
“Very high expectations have been formed and now it is very dangerous that if
the society does not see at least some of the expectations being met, we will
face the risk of a very serious depression,” Gorgisian said.
According to the opposition lawmaker, the Pashinian government has also failed
to fight against systemic corruption.
On the contrary, Pashinian and other members of his government have repeatedly
stated that government corruption has been uprooted in Armenia.
Pashinian Congratulates Tokayev on Becoming Kazakhstan’s Interim President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev being sworn in as Kazakhstan’s interim president
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday congratulated
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on his assuming the office of Kazakhstan’s interim
president following yesterday’s resignation of the Central Asian nation’s
longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In his message published on the prime minister’s official website Pashinian, in
particular, said: “I cordially congratulate you on assuming the office of
[interim] president of the Republic of Kazakhstan. I am convinced that your
rich experience and knowledge will serve the best Kazakhstan’s further
development and progress.
“The warm friendship and mutual respect between our peoples are a solid basis
for the continuous strengthening of our inter-state relations. I express my
readiness to cooperate closely with you in bilateral and multilateral formats
for the further expansion and deepening of the Armenian-Kazakhstani relations.”
After announcing his resignation on March 19, Kazakhstan’s longtime ruler
Nazarbayev, among other foreign leaders, also had a telephone conversation with
Pashinian.
Armenia and Kazakhstan are both members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic
Union and Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Alabama Recognizes Armenian Genocide
People lay flowers to commemorate the 103rd anniversary of mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks, at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan,
Armenia, April 24, 2018
Alabama has become the 49th U.S. state to officially recognize Ottoman-era
killings and deportations of Armenians as genocide.
Kay Ivey, Governor of the State of Alabama, proclaimed April 2019 as Genocide
Awareness Month.
“We welcome this proclamation by Governor Ivey, making Alabama the 49th state
in the union to officially re-affirm this international crime against
humanity,” said Armenian National Committee of America-Eastern Region Board
Chairman Steve Mesrobian.
“This proclamation serves as a powerful reminder that truth about genocides
should never be held hostage to the denial of its perpetrators and those who
continue to profit from that crime.”
Thus, all U.S. states except Mississippi have recognized the Armenian Genocide.
Since the 1960s, the Armenian community of the United States has sought
Washington’s reaffirmation that the massacres of 1.5 million Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey in 1915 constituted genocide and its condemnation of the crime.
However, the White House leaders have generally avoided the use of the term
genocide in their annual addresses and offered their support in the
reconciliation of Armenians and Turks.
The 44th and 45th U.S. Presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, used the
Armenian expression “Meds Yeghern” in their April 24 messages.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” comments on the statement made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian during yesterday’s press conference that despite the smear campaigns
on which “former government representatives every day spend millions of
dollars, they still cannot get the support of the people.” “Indeed, the
division between the former governing force and the people only grew wider over
the past two decades and the society for years rejected that government and
last year it finally succeeded in ousting it… But still one should not
underestimate the opponent no matter how unenviable its situation is,
especially that this opponent is spending huge sums of money for
counterpropaganda against the Pashinian government,” the paper says.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” writes: “The Armenian media field is full of reports about
planned protests and expected larger-scale demonstrations. An ordinary citizen
does not understand well what is taking place in the country. What is taking
place is that on the one hand there is quite a large segment in Armenia – the
former authorities and circles linked to them – those who got richer under the
previous government and who not only lost power and their comfort in the
passing months, but also at every moment face the prospect of appearing behind
bars. On the other hand, Armenia indeed has serious socio-economic, security,
demographic and other problems to solve which serious financial means are
required. The former authorities skillfully turn into occasions for propaganda
any attempt to change something, optimize or restore justice in the tax field,
awakening anti-government sentiments in society. In other words, they from the
beginning torpedo any attempt to increase the budget.”
“Zhamanak” comments on Pashinian’s statement that Armenia is discussing with
the European Union not the issue of shutting down the nuclear power plant, but
the issue of creating equivalent capacities: “At first glance, it seems that
equivalent capacities means the same amount of energy production that would
allow closing one energy producer, having a new one, and thus not having a
shortage of production. But the issue is more than that. For example, is a
thermal power plant equivalent to a nuclear power plant? It is clear that only
production capacity and cost of production cannot be considered equivalent in
the deep sense of this word, because Armenia receives gas from abroad and in
the case with the nuclear power plant it gets the nuclear fuel once and for
quite a long period of time…There is also perhaps the most important political,
geopolitical and even military-political component that a nuclear power plant
has and no other energy producing facility has. A nuclear power plant is more
than politics as nuclear technology at present is a desirable resource even for
very developed, strong states.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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