Thursday, June 3, 2021
Armenian Foreign Ministry Still In Limbo
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Outgoing Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian addresses Armenian Foreign
Ministry staff, Yerevan, May 31, 2021.
High-ranking officials from the Armenian Foreign Ministry were conspicuously
absent from a cabinet meeting and a parliament session on Thursday, raising more
questions about their relationship with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian stepped down on May 27 following an emergency
meeting of Armenia’s Security Council which discussed mounting tensions on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Ayvazian was formally relieved of his duties on Monday hours after addressing
the Foreign Ministry staff at a farewell meeting. He hinted that he decided to
quit because of disagreeing with government decisions which he believes could
put the country’s sovereignty and national security at risk. He did not go into
details.
The ministry said on Thursday that the ministerial duties are currently
performed by one of Ayvazian’s four deputies, Artak Apitonian.
Neither Apitonian nor any other Foreign Ministry official attended a weekly
meeting of Pashinian’s cabinet.
Also, ministry officials initially did not take part in a parliamentary debate
on the execution of Armenia’s 2020 state budget relating to the work of the
national diplomatic service. Their absence forced the leadership of the National
Assembly to twice postpone the session scheduled for Thursday morning.
The session went ahead only after the head of the Foreign Ministry’s financial
department arrived in the parliament.
Mikael Melkumian, a deputy representing the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party,
wondered why the ministry did not send one of the deputy ministers instead.
Ruben Rubinian, a senior pro-government deputy, replied that parliament speaker
Ararat Mirzoyan has received a letter from the ministry saying that they are too
busy to address lawmakers and answer their questions.
Taguhi Tovmasian, another opposition parliamentarian, claimed that all four
vice-ministers have decided to step down. She said they do not want to bear
responsibility for Pashinian’s “treasonous” efforts to resolve the border
dispute with Azerbaijan.
At least one of the vice-ministers, Gagik Ghalachian, did tender his resignation
on May 27. Ghalachian on Thursday declined to comment on his move, referring all
inquiries to the Foreign Ministry’s press office.
In written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, the office said that
Apitonian, Ghalachian and the two other vice-ministers are “continuing to
perform their duties.” It did not explain why none of them attended the cabinet
meeting or the parliament debate.
Speaking at the May 27 meeting of the Security Council, Pashinian called for the
deployment of international observers along contested portions of the frontier
where Armenian and Azerbaijani troops have been facing off against each other
for the last three weeks.
Some opposition figures and other critics of Pashinian denounced the proposal,
accusing him of failing to defend the country against foreign aggression and
plotting to cede Armenian territory to Baku. The prime minister and his allies
deny that.
Ayvazian’s remarks gave Pashinian’s detractors more ammunition. An Armenian
government spokeswoman challenged the outgoing minister on Monday to publicly
clarify “who, where and how was going to take some steps or to make decisions
contradicting our country’s national and state interests.”
Central Bank To Revise Armenian Growth Forecast
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- Workers at a newly opened textile factory in Yerevan, Novemer 1, 2019.
The head of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA), Martin Galstian, said on Thursday
that it will revise upwards its economic growth forecast for 2021 made earlier
this year.
The CBA predicted in March that the Armenian economy will grow by 1.4 percent
after shrinking by 7.6 percent last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and the
war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Galstian said the bank now expects faster growth. He declined to specify its
revised projections to be publicized soon.
“For example, in the first quarter [of this year] our indicator of economic
activity was down by 2 percent, rather than 6 percent which had been forecast by
us,” he said. “Services are doing better than expected … and there are more
incoming cash remittances and a number of other factors.”
Galstian reported at the same time that the number of Armenian companies and
households seeking commercial bank loans has fallen despite the unfolding
economic recovery.
The CBA governor suggested that many Armenians may be holding back on major
expenditures planned by them for now.
“That is, people who planned on buying a new washing machine or a TV set may be
waiting for their revenues to recover [to pre-crisis levels] before applying
[for a loan,]” he said.
Galstian also cautioned that consumer price inflation in Armenia could rise
further in the months ahead due to external factors. “Prices in the global
commodity markets are continuing to grow, which will have some impact on
Armenia,” he said.
According to official statistics, annual inflation already reached 6.2 percent
in April, well above a 4 percent target set by Armenia’s government and the CBA
for 2021. Galstian admitted last month that the authorities will likely fail to
meet the target.
The higher-than-projected inflation was driven by rising good prices. Government
data shows particularly drastic increases in the cost of mostly imported staple
foodstuffs such as cooking oil and sugar.
Armenian Vice-Speaker Insults Opposition Lawmaker
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Deputy parliament speaker Lena Nazarian speaks at a workshop in
Yerevan, February 12, 2019.
A deputy speaker of Armenia’s parliament on Thursday publicly insulted an
opposition lawmaker who accused the government of disrespecting the bodies of
Armenian soldiers killed in last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The incident occurred on the parliament floor amid a continuing scandal over
conditions in which the remains of some of those soldiers were kept at a morgue
in Abovian, a town just north of Yerevan.
Photographs publicized earlier this week showed them stuffed into plastic bags
lying on the ground in the morgue’s basement, which was not refrigerated to
prevent their decomposition. They caused outrage in Armenia, with many accusing
the authorities of dishonoring the fallen soldiers who have still not been
definitively identified.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian apologized to the soldiers’ families before the
morgue’s director and two other employees were fired on Wednesday.
Opposition deputies joined in the chorus of condemnation during a session of the
National Assembly chaired by deputy speaker Lena Nazarian. They claimed that the
degrading conditions were indicative of the authorities’ attitude toward the war
victims.
“What message is the state sending to soldiers in this explosive situation? That
they will end up being corpses stuffed into bags and thrown into some room?”
said Taguhi Tovmasian, a lawmaker who left Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My
Step bloc following Armenia’s defeat in the six-week war.
“This is the worst possible thing that could have happened, and I believe
apologies are not enough in this case,” she added.
“Idiot,” Nazarian muttered right after Tovmasian’s speech. She did not switch
off her microphone before uttering the insult, meaning that it was heard by
deputies and journalists present in the chamber.
Armenia -- Taguhi Tovmasian, a parliament deputy and the founder of "Zhoghovurd"
daily, speaks to reporters at the entrance to its offices, Yerevan, December 19,
2019.
Tovmasian rushed back to the parliament rostrum to condemn Nazarian and demand
an apology.
“Instead of apologizing for the fact that your government desecrated corpses …
you are responding to criticism with an insult. You should be ashamed of
yourself,” said the former newspaper editor.
Nazarian, who is a senior member of My Step, refused to apologize both during
and after the session.
“Mrs. Tovmasian must herself apologize for the fact that while being a member of
the My Step parliamentary group she acted not as a team member but as a
correspondent for her newspaper and attended the group’s meetings only for that
purpose,” the vice-speaker told reporters.
She said Tovmasian must also apologize for defecting from the ruling bloc,
blaming Armenia’s leadership for the outcome of the Karabakh war and joining a
recently formed opposition bloc running in the snap parliamentary elections
slated for June 20.
Pashinian commented on the scandal at the start of a weekly meeting of his
cabinet held on Thursday. He said he too was shocked by the images taken at the
Abovian morgue but insisted that they do not reflect the current government’s
“treatment of fallen soldiers and deceased persons in general.”
Pashinian and his health minister argued that the government has upgraded
Armenian mortuaries and forensic medicine facilities since taking office three
years ago. “We are changing the system but changing people is not that easy,”
the prime minister said, putting the blame on the fired morgue personnel.
Armenia, Azerbaijan Resume Talks On Border Dispute
• Susan Badalian
Armenia - An abandoned farm in a village in Gegharkunik province close to
Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, May 27, 2021. (Photo by Armenia's Office of
the Human Rights Defender)
Armenia and Azerbaijan have resumed direct talks with Russian mediation over a
continuing military standoff at several portions of their border.
The official Russian TASS news agency reported that representatives of the two
South Caucasus states as well as Russia met in Moscow for that purpose on
Wednesday. It gave no details.
According to Armenian press reports, the talks were hosted by Lieutenant-General
Rustam Muradov, the commander of Russian peacekeeping troops that were deployed
in Nagorno-Karabakh following last year’s Armenian-Azerbaijani war. The Hraparak
newspaper said that Muradov arrived in Yerevan on Thursday morning.
The Armenian Defense Ministry confirmed the renewed negotiations but refused to
specify their agenda or results. It said only that the three sides are planning
to hold more such meetings.
Muradov already participated in a series of talks held by Armenian and
Azerbaijani military officials after Azerbaijani troops reportedly crossed
several sections of the border three weeks ago. The talks were stopped on May
19, with Armenia continuing to demand the immediate withdrawal of the
Azerbaijani forces.
The Moscow talks came five days after Russian and Armenian defense ministers met
in the Russian capital discuss the border dispute. According to the Armenian
Defense Ministry, they agreed on “necessary steps” to resolve it. Defense
Ministers Sergei Shoigu and Vagharshak Harutiunian also spoke by phone on Monday.
Tensions on the border rose further after six Armenian soldiers were captured by
Azerbaijani forces on May 27. A senior Armenian official said on Tuesday that
Yerevan is “working around the clock” to secure their release.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan reported on Wednesday another brawl between
Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers deployed at one of the contested border
sections. It said two Armenian soldiers were injured in the clash that did not
involve gunfire.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.