Tuesday,
Anti-Government Protests Continue In Armenia
• Sargis Harutyunyan
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia -- Opposition supporters demonstrate in Yerevan to demand Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian's resignation, .
A coalition of more than a dozen Armenian opposition parties vowed to force
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resign soon as thousands of its supporters
continued to demonstrate in Yerevan on Tuesday.
It sought to step up the pressure on Pashinian in the face of his continuing
refusal to hand over power to an interim government following the war in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We have been growing in number for the last several days and our ranks are
joined by more and more decent people,” Artur Vanetsian, the leader of one of
the parties making up the Homeland Salvation Movement, told the crowd marching
through the city center.
“Together we will very quickly drive Nikol, who is clinging to power, out of the
government building and he will be held accountable before the Armenian nation,”
said the former director of the country’s National Security Service.
Ishkhan Saghatelian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun),
another key member of the opposition grouping, said the protests will continue
on a daily basis and end in success soon.
“These demonstrations are multiplying our power and more people are joining us
every day,” he claimed. “As a result of these actions, we will set the stage for
Nikol’s departure in the coming days. The New Year without Nikol!”
Armenia -- Opposition supporters demonstrate in Yerevan to demand Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian's resignation, .
The opposition forces hold Pashinian responsible for the Armenian side’s defeat
in the war with Azerbaijan and say he is not capable of confronting new security
challenges facing the country. Their demands for his resignation, the formation
of an interim government and conduct of fresh parliamentary elections within a
year have been backed by President Armen Sarkissian, the Armenian Apostolic
Church and prominent public figures in Armenia and its worldwide Diasapora.
Pashinian has rejected these demands. In a televised address to the nation aired
on Monday, he insisted that he still has a mandate to govern the country and
will quit only in case of a democratic “expression of the people’s will.”
Pashinian met on Tuesday with parliament deputies representing his My Step bloc.
Participants of the two-hour meeting said it focused on the current situation in
the Karabakh conflict zone and the ruling political team’s plans to amend the
Armenian Electoral Code.
One of the pro-government lawmakers, Nazeli Baghdasarian, told reporters that
the authorities “do not rule out pre-term elections.” But she would not be drawn
on when they might be held.
Baghdasarian also claimed that the opposition does not want the polls to be held
soon because it would stand no chance of winning them.
Freed Captives Examined By Doctors
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Captives freed by Azerbaijan walk off a Russian plane at Yerevan's
Erebuni airport,
Doctors in Yerevan were examining on Tuesday the first group of Armenian
soldiers and civilians freed by Azerbaijan in a prisoner swap facilitated by
Russia.
The 30 prisoners of war (POWs) and 14 civilian captives, most of them residents
of Nagorno-Karabakh, were flown to Yerevan by a Russian plane late on Monday.
For its part, the Armenian side released 12 Azerbaijani prisoners.
All of the freed Armenians were hospitalized immediately after their
repatriation. According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, the civilians were
taken to civilian hospitals in Yerevan to undergo thorough checkups and, if
necessary, receive medical treatment.
Officials confirmed that some of the 44 soldiers and civilians were captured by
the Azerbaijani side before the recent Karabakh war stopped by a
Russian-brokered ceasefire. One of those servicemen, Arayik Ghazarian, was taken
prisoner after straying into Azerbaijani territory in August 2019.
Ghazarian’s mother was among relatives of the freed POWs who waited outside a
military hospital where the latter were examined by doctors.
“They were giving me hope, saying that if there is a prisoner swap Arayik will
definitely come back because Azerbaijan did not bring criminal charges against
him,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The November 10 truce agreement commits the conflicting sides to exchanging all
POWs and other captives held by them. Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian spoke
on Monday of “intensive” efforts to secure the release of other Armenians
remaining in Azerbaijani captivity.
Their precise number remains unclear. Armenian official say only that Azerbaijan
has admitted holding fewer Armenian POWs than were captured by it during the
six-week war.
“Some of the prisoners have been returned home but a large number of others
remain in Azerbaijan,” said Artak Zeynalian, a human rights lawyer representing
the families of dozens of POWs.
Armenian Central Bank Raises Key Interest Rate
Armenia -- The governing board of the Central Bank meets in Dilijan, January 1,
2017.
The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) raised its main interest rate by 1 percentage
point on Tuesday following a major depreciation of the national currency, the
dram.
The CBA’s governing board increased the refinancing rate to 5.25 percent from
4.25 percent despite anticipating a sharper contraction of the Armenian economy
than was projected earlier this year.
The bank cut the benchmark rate for four times between March and September this
year as the economy plunged into recession due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the most recent rate cut it forecast a GDP decline of 6.2 percent.
Armenia’s economic outlook worsened further following the ensuing outbreak of
the war in Nagorno-Karabakh stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November
10. The domestic economy is now projected to shrink by more than 7 percent in
2020.
The Armenian dram has weakened against the U.S. dollar by almost 6 percent over
the past month. Its exchange rate had been largely stable since 2013.
The CBA board did not mention the dram’s depreciation in a statement explaining
the interest rate rise. The statement cited instead what it described as
increased inflationary pressures on the Armenian economy emanating from the
outside world.
Senior Central Bank officials downplayed the exchange rate fluctuations earlier
this month. They said the bank’s key concern is to continue to curb inflation.
The weaker dram has already pushed up the prices of some key imported foodstuffs
such as flour, sugar and cooking oil.
The International Monetary Fund praised the CBA’s monetary policy when it
approved a $37 million loan tranche to Armenia late last week. At the same time
it urged the bank to be ready to “adjust” that policy while maintaining
“exchange rate flexibility.”
Another Provincial Governor To Resign
• Karine Simonian
Armenia -- Lori Governor Andrey Ghukasian.
The governor of Armenia’s northern Lori province said on Tuesday that he will
step down because of a decision to replace him made by the country’s political
leadership.
“After the political decision made within the [ruling] team I was offered to
tender my resignation,” Andrei Ghukasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “I
accepted the decision and am going to resign tomorrow.”
“After the resignation I will stay in the team and fully support the
government,” he said, adding that he has already received new job offers but
wants to “take a little break for having a rest.”
Ghukasian linked the decision to replace him with ongoing “changes” taking place
in Armenia but did not elaborate. He said he is likely to be replaced by another
member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team.
Last week, a pro-government lawmaker representing a Lori constituency resigned
from the National Assembly, saying that he will soon take up a position in the
executive branch. The lawmaker, Aram Khachatrian, on Tuesday did not deny or
confirm his impending appointment as Lori’s new governor.
Ghukasian has run the region bordering Georgia for the last two years. He is the
third provincial governor replaced since a Russian-brokered ceasefire that
stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10.
The Armenian side’s defeat in the war sparked opposition protests and growing
calls for Pashinian’s resignation. The prime minister has refused to quit so
far, pledging instead to reshuffle his cabinet. He has replaced six government
ministers over the past month.
Armenia, Azerbaijan Begin Prisoner Swap
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Armored vehicles of Russian peacekeepers move along the road
towards Agdam from their check point outside Askeran, November 20, 2020
Armenia and Azerbaijan exchanged on Monday the first groups of prisoners under a
Russian-brokered deal that stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh last month.
Armenian officials said a Russian plane carrying 44 Armenian prisoners landed at
Yerevan’s Erebuni airport late in the evening. It was not immediately clear if
the group included only soldiers or also Karabakh Armenian civilians that were
held in Azerbaijani captivity.
“Additional information about the returned prisoners will be provided later on,”
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said in a Facebook post that announced the
start of the prisoner swap.
“The process of finding and repatriating our other compatriots who went missing
or were possibly taken prisoner is continuing intensively,” he said.
An Azerbaijani government agency announced the start of the exchange earlier in
the day. It did not say how many Azerbaijanis have been returned home.
According to news reports, the Armenian side freed two Azerbaijani men who were
detained in 2014 after crossing into the Kelbajar district which was handed back
to Azerbaijan late last month. The men subsequently received long prison
sentences after being convicted by a Karabakh court of murdering an Armenian
teenager.
The November 10 truce agreement calls for the exchange of all prisoners of war
(POWs) and civilians held by the conflicting sides.
Armenia’s and Karabakh’s closely integrated armed forces have not yet given the
official number of Armenian POWs. According to officials in Yerevan and
Stepanakert, Azerbaijan has admitted holding fewer Armenian soldiers than were
captured by it during the six-week war.
Karabakh’s human rights ombudsman said earlier this month that his office has
identified about 60 Armenian POWs shown in videos widely circulated on
Azerbaijani social media accounts.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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