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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