Thursday, September 2, 2021 Russia ‘Ready’ To Facilitate Turkish-Armenian Rapprochement • Aza Babayan RUSSIAN -- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova gives a press conference in Moscow, July 1, 2021 Russia expressed readiness on Thursday to help Armenia and Turkey normalize their relations, saying that would boost peace and stability in the region. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Moscow took note of a recent “exchange of positive signals” between Yerevan and Ankara. Zakharova recalled in that context Russia’s stated support for the 2009 protocols on normalizing Turkish-Armenian ties. “Now too we are ready to assist in a rapprochement between the two neighboring states based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests,” she told reporters. Ankara never implemented those protocols, continuing to link the establishment of diplomatic relations with Yerevan to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As a result, Armenia’s former government annulled the Western-brokered agreements in early 2018. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian spoke on August 27 of “some positive signals” sent by the Turkish government of late and said his administration is ready to reciprocate them. Commenting on Pashinian’s remark the following day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said regional states should establish “good-neighborly relations” by recognizing each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “If Yerevan is ready to move in that direction Ankara could start working on a gradual normalization of relations with Armenia,” he said. In that context, Erdogan was understood to echo Azerbaijan’s demands for a formal Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh. Eduard Aghajanian, a senior lawmaker representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract, responded by saying earlier this week that Armenia will not accept any Turkish preconditions for improving bilateral ties. “Unfortunately, Erdogan’s statement contained points resembling preconditions, which do not help to launch that [normalization] process at all,” Aghajanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. Turkey completely closed its border with Armenia in 1993 out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It provided Azerbaijan with decisive military support during last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Health Minister Sees Falling Vaccine Hesitancy In Armenia • Narine Ghalechian ARMENIA -- People prepare to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a mobile vaccination center in Yerevan, July 19, 2021 Although vaccine hesitancy remains widespread in Armenia, many more of its citizens are now willing to get inoculated against the coronavirus, Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said on Thursday. Avanesian cited a recent opinion poll showing that the proportion of Armenians ready take coronavirus vaccines has risen to over 40 percent from just 10 percent in March. “This testifies to a change in public opinion,” she said during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “But of course we still have a lot to do in terms of combating disinformation and other vicious phenomena.” The Armenian government’s immunization campaign launched in April has made slow progress so far, with less than 5 percent of the country’s population fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as of August 29. Avanesian told fellow cabinet members that the process accelerated significantly this week. She said Armenian health workers administered a record 6,227 vaccine shots on Wednesday, raising to almost 294,000 the total number of inoculations. The increase may have to do with the health minister’s decision late last month to require many public and private sector employees refusing vaccination to take coronavirus tests twice a month at their own expense. Among those covered by the directive are civil servants, schoolteachers and workers of private firms involved in the services sectors of the Armenian economy. Armenia - Health Minister Anahit Avanesian holds a briefing after a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, September 2, 2021. The government is keen to speed up the vaccination process amid a steady increase in coronavirus cases which began two months ago and is now putting the national healthcare system under growing strain. The Armenian Ministry of Health recorded on Wednesday 636 cases and 21 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 reported in months. The government has pledged in recent weeks to toughen its lax enforcement of anti-epidemic rules, notably mandatory mask wearing inside buses, shops and offices. Avanesian acknowledged that the rules are still ignored by most Armenians. “Yes, we do have room for improving our enforcement,” she told journalists. Armenian Government Shuns Karabakh Anniversary Events • Gayane Saribekian Nagorno-Karabakh -- The parliament building in Stepanakert, September 7, 2018. Armenian government officials declined to attend on Thursday official ceremonies in Stepanakert to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Armenia was represented in the ceremonies instead by a multi-partisan delegation of its parliament led by deputy speaker Ruben Rubinian. A government spokesman told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Pashinian did not travel to Karabakh on the occasion because he is currently on vacation. Armenia’s Minister of High-Tech Industry Vahagn Khachaturian said, however, that the prime minister and members of his cabinet shunned the low-key celebrations for political considerations. “A political decision was made Don’t look for other reasons,” Khachatrian told reporters. He did not elaborate. Tigran Abrahamian, an opposition member of the parliamentary delegation visiting Karabakh, deplored the absence of Armenian government officials, saying Pashinian did not want to anger Azerbaijan. “If we accept the rules of the game dictated by Azerbaijan we will accelerate and complete the loss of Artsakh (Karabakh),” Abrahamian said, referring to Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war over Karabakh. Pashinian last visited Stepanakert during the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire in November. The premier congratulated the Karabakh Armenians on the anniversary of the proclamation of their republic, not recognized by any country, in a statement issued on Thursday. He reiterated that the Karabakh conflict remains unresolved and that Yerevan will continue to champion a settlement based on the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated that Azerbaijan essentially ended the conflict with its victory in the war. He has said that Yerevan should therefore recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh through a “peace treaty” proposed by Baku. Other Armenian politicians, notably the Karabakh-born former Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian, also issued statements on the occasion. Sarkisian again blamed Armenia’s current leadership for the outcome of the war. “We would have won had they not discredited and purged our armed forces and replaced experienced commanders with conformists prior to the 44-day war and ineptly managed the war,” he charged. 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.