Thursday,
Putin Urges Respect For Karabakh Truce Accord
• Aza Babayan
RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual end-of-year news
conference, held online in a video conference mode, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state
residence outside Moscow,
The parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must respect the Russian-brokered
agreement to stop the Armenian-Azerbaijani war and not try to change the status
quo, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
“We agreed within the framework of the trilateral statement [issued by the
leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on November 10] to stop hostilities,”
Putin told a marathon news conference held outside Moscow. “And, what is very
important, we agreed that the parties will stop at the positions where they were
when our trilateral statement was signed.”
“Everybody must stop there,” he added, answering a question about whether
Armenian forces should also withdraw from Karabakh in addition to surrounding
districts recaptured by or handed over to Azerbaijan.
Some officials and commentators in Baku claimed earlier this week that the
ceasefire agreement requires Armenian forces to pull out of Karabakh as well.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry dismissed those claims.
The Armenian side accused Baku of violating the ceasefire agreement after
Azerbaijani forces captured at the weekend the last two Armenian-controlled
villages in Karabakh’s Hadrut district which was occupied by them during the
six-week war. Russian peacekeepers intervened to stop further fighting in the
area.
Putin expressed hope that there will be no more truce violations in the conflict
zone and that the parties will resume peace talks mediated by the Russian,
French and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The truce accord says nothing about Karabakh’s future status. Putin reiterated
that it must be determined in the future.
“The status of Karabakh itself must remain unchanged. That is, the status quo
must be fixed along with the mandatory creation of communication possibilities
between Armenia and Karabakh,” he said.
Putin noted that Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan “from the international legal
standpoint.” “But the situation is much more complex than the normative
postulates … The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh had taken up arms to protect
their life and dignity,” he stressed.
Armenian Troop Redeployment Sparks Protests
• Susan Badalian
Armenia -- Protesters block a road in Syunik province,
Hundreds of residents of Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province bordering
districts recaptured by Azerbaijan during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh blocked a
highway on Thursday to protest against Armenian troop redeployments resulting
from the Russian-brokered ceasefire.
The Azerbaijani army mostly regained control of the Zangelan and Kubatli
districts southwest of Karabakh and approached Syunik during the six-week war
stopped on November 10. Some internationally recognized parts of the two
districts close to Syunik’s capital Kapan and other communities have remained
under Armenian control until now.
Armenian army units began pulling back from those areas and redeploying much
closer to the Syunik settlements on Thursday, sparking angry protests by local
residents concerned about their security.
Hundreds of them closed a section of the main Syunik road to demand a halt to
the troop withdrawal. The protesters said that Azerbaijani forces will now be
stationed dangerously close to their communities.
“Our security won’t be guaranteed,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“How can we be sure that their snipers won’t shoot at us from there?”
Kapan’s Mayor Gevorg Parsian also voiced serious concerns. Aysor.am quoted
Parsian as saying that the “unfortunate order” issued to Armenian troops will
leave Kapan without a vital “security zone.”
The troop redeployments also raised questions about the safety of the highway
connecting Kapan to another provincial town, Goris. Some of its sections
straddle the Soviet-era Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Syunik Governor Melikset Poghosian talked to the protesters and tried to allay
their fears. He said that the security risks resulting from ongoing
delimitations of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border can be minimized.
The protests erupted as Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian toured Syunik to
discuss practical modalities of the troop redeployment with local military
commander and provincial authorities.
In a statement on Harutiunian’s visit, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced
that more Russian border guards will be deployed at “some sections of the Syunik
border.” It gave no other details.
Harutiunian visited Moscow and held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei
Shoigu at the weekend.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
insisted on Wednesday that Armenia will not lose any inch of its internationally
recognized territory as a result of the border delimitations. “The borders are
being demarcated on the basis of Soviet-era maps,” he said.
Kocharian Visits Moscow
Դեկտեմբեր 17, 2020
December -- Former President Robert Kocharian greets supporters during his
trial, Yerevan, February 25, 2020.
Former President Robert Kocharian flew to Moscow on Thursday on what his office
described as a three-day private visit.
The office gave no details of the trip, and it was not clear whether Kocharian
was scheduled to meet with any Russian officials.
Russian media reported that the board of directors of a major Russian
corporation, AFK Sistema, will hold a regular meeting on Friday. Kocharian has
been a board member since 2009.
The 66-year-old ex-president, who governed Armenia from 1998-1999, has not been
able to attend any Sistema meetings since being arrested in July 2018 on coup
charges rejected by him as politically motivated. He was most recently released
from jail on bail in May this year.
Russia has criticized the criminal proceedings launched against Kocharian.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made a point of congratulating
him on his birthday anniversaries and praising his legacy.
Weeks after the outbreak of the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kocharian and
another former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian, offered to visit Moscow to meet
with Russian leaders as Armenia’s “special envoys.” Their planned trip was
cancelled in disputed circumstances.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian questioned late last month the sincerity and
seriousness of the ex-presidents’ offers. The latter responded by accusing
Pashinian of blatantly lying about their hopes to try to stop the war.
Earlier this month, Kocharian joined the Armenian opposition in blaming
Pashinian for the Armenian side’s defeat in the war and demanding his
resignation. He charged that Pashinian’s government made the war “inevitable”
with reckless diplomacy and miscalculations of Armenia’s military potential and
needs. Pashinian rejected the criticism.
Government Approves More Aid Programs For Karabakh Refugees
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia -- Labor and Social Affairs Minister Mesrop Arakelian at a cabinet
meeting in Yerevan, .
The Armenian government approved on Thursday two temporary employment programs
for residents of Nagorno-Karabakh who fled to Armenia during the recent war with
Azerbaijan.
In particular, it pledged to create public works jobs for the ethnic Armenian
refugees remaining in the country. A government statement did not specify how
many of them will be covered by the scheme. It said only that they will be able
to work for up to three months and receive 8,000 drams ($15) a day.
The government will also offer to finance paid internships for unemployed
refugees willing to gain work experience in new fields. It will pay each intern
100,000 drams a month and compensate their employers for all resulting taxes.
“These are short-term programs that do not encourage permanent work … because
more long-term employment encouragement programs are planned in Artsakh
(Karabakh). They will enable Artsakh citizens to have stable incomes,” Labor and
Social Affairs Minister Mesrop Arakelian said during a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan.
The government also announced three-month financial assistance to families in
Armenia and Karabakh temporarily hosting Karabakh Armenians who lost their homes
during the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10.
They will get 30,000 and 45,000 drams respectively for every person hosted by
them.
According to authorities in Stepanakert, at least 90,000 civilians making up
around 60 percent of Karabakh’s population fled their homes during the war. Most
of them took refuge in Armenia. At least 40,000 Karabakh Armenians have
reportedly returned home over the past month.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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