RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/12/2021

                                        Tuesday, 


Putin, Pashinian Again Discuss Regional Developments


Russia- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian meet in Moscow, 


Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met 
in Moscow again on Tuesday for talks that apparently focused on the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

An Armenian government statement said they discussed “ongoing developments” in 
and around the conflict zone, efforts to shore up stability in the region and 
the implementation of Russian-brokered agreements to establish transport links 
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russian-Armenian relations were also on the 
agenda, added the statement.

Neither the government nor the Kremlin announced any agreements reached by the 
two leaders.

“We will talk in a formal and informal setting -- have lunch together, discuss 
current affairs, talk about prospects,” Putin told Pashinian in his opening 
remarks at what was their fourth meeting in less than a year. He said they will 
talk about a short-term and long-term “settlement in the region.”

“Unfortunately, we still cannot speak of a full stabilization of the situation 
in our region,” Pashinian said for his part. He stressed that Russia continues 
to play the “key role” in international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart Arshak 
Karapetian also met in Moscow on Monday.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said they discussed Russian-Armenian military 
ties, the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and “a number of issues 
relating to regional security.” It did not elaborate.

The Russian Defense Ministry issued no statements on Shoigu’s latest talks with 
Karapetian.

Putin also said on Tuesday that he wants to “compare notes” with Pashinian with 
regard to next month’s summit of ex-Soviet states, including Armenia, Azerbaijan 
and Russia. The leaders of all three countries are expected to attend it.

Both Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed readiness 
earlier this month to meet with each other. Their most recent face-to-face 
meeting was hosted by Putin in Moscow in January.



Karabakh Refugees Protest In Yerevan

        • Nane Sahakian

Armenia - Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh protest outside the main government 
builing in Yerevan, September 9, 2021.


Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh again rallied outside the main government 
building in Yerevan on Tuesday to accuse the Armenian authorities of neglecting 
their grave socioeconomic problems.

The nearly 100 protesters are former residents of Karabakh’s southern Hadrut 
district occupied by Azerbaijani forces during last year’s war.

More than 10,000 ethnic Armenians lived in the district before the outbreak of 
the six-war in September 2020. Virtually all of them fled their homes, taking 
refuge in Armenia as well as other parts of Karabakh.

The Karabakh authorities have provided some Hadrut refuges with temporary 
accommodation and pledged to resettle others since a Russian-brokered ceasefire 
stopped the hostilities last November.

The majority of those refugees remain in Armenia where they rent cheap 
apartments, huddle in temporary shelters or live with their local relatives. The 
Armenian government for months supported them with monthly cash handouts meant 
to cover their accommodation expenses.

The mostly unemployed protests rallying outside Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
office said the government stopped providing the modest financial assistance in 
August.

“They promised to at least pay our rent,” said one man. “But we haven’t gotten 
anything for the last two months. How should we live?”

“We have no homes, no accommodation, and they are now depriving us of hope for 
the future,” complained another protester. “They don’t even take care of our 
daily needs.”

The government is said to be planning to launch a new aid program whereby every 
underage refugee will receive 50,000 drams ($104) a month for housing expenses. 
Adults will be eligible for half that amount. It is not yet clear when the 
government will approve the new scheme.

Citing security concerns, many former Hadrut residents are also reluctant to 
move to other rural areas in Karabakh close to the new Armenian-Azerbaijani 
“line of contact” around the disputed territory.

“We lost everything, from homes to handkerchiefs,” said one woman. “Should I 
endanger the lives of my children? Of course not.”

Other refugees point to a lack of available housing in Karabakh.



Ex-President Sarkisian’s Foreign Trips Probed

        • Marine Khachatrian

Armenia - Former President Serzh Sarkisian addresses supporters outside a court 
in Yerevan, March 18, 2021.


An Armenian law-enforcement agency has launched a formal investigation into the 
legality of private trips to Germany taken by former President Serzh Sarkisian 
during his decade-long rule.

Citing information provided by Armenia’s Civil Aviation Committee, the 
Yerevan-based Union of Informed Citizens (UIC), said last month that Sarkisian 
used a government plane to travel to the German resort town of Baden-Baden on at 
least 16 occasions from 2008 through 2017.

In a written complaint submitted to state prosecutors, the non-governmental 
organization claimed that the flights were financed by taxpayers’ money 
illegally and without any justification. The Office of the Prosecutor-General 
ordered the Special Investigative Service (SIS) to look into the claims.

The SIS announced on Tuesday that it has opened a criminal case in connection 
with what it called a possible abuse of power. It said at least some of 
Sarkisian’s flights to Germany appear to have been carried out in breach of 
official rules and procedures for the use of the government jet.

A spokesperson for the law-enforcement body told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that 
investigators have not yet identified any suspects in the case.

A lawyer for Sarkisian, Amram Makinian, dismissed the inquiry as a publicity 
stunt organized by the current Armenian government. “This is the most baseless 
criminal case I’ve ever seen,” he said.

Makinian insisted Sarkisian did not violate any laws or regulations. He said the 
ex-president had simply taken advantage of “social security guarantees” given to 
high-ranking government officials by Armenian law.

Sarkisian, who co-heads one of the opposition groups represented in Armenia’s 
current parliament, admitted earlier this year spending vacations in 
Baden-Baden. But he flatly denied allegations that he visited the world-famous 
German resort for gambling purposes.

Sarkisian’s political allies have repeatedly accused law-enforcement authorities 
of targeting him and his relatives on government orders.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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