Friday,
Ruling Party MP Says Russia Offers Border Demarcation Process ‘From Zero’
• Astghik Bedevian
Left to right: members of the Civil Contract parliamentary faction Eduard
Aghajanian, Andranik Kocharian and Artur Hovhannisian during news briefings in
parliament,
Russia has offered Armenia to start the process of demarcation and delimitation
of its Soviet-era border with Azerbaijan “from zero,” a senior lawmaker
representing the ruling Civil Contract party said on Friday.
“And Armenia has given its consent to participate in the initial stage of this
work,” Andranik Kocharian, head of the parliamentary defense committee, added
during today’s news briefings.
Another Civil Contract lawmaker Eduard Aghajanian, who heads the parliamentary
foreign relations committee, said that Russia has already been informed about
Armenia’s position in writing.
Still during a cabinet meeting on Thursday Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said
that Russia’s Defense Ministry had presented proposals on “the preparatory stage
of border delimitation and demarcation” between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He said
that the proposals were acceptable to Yerevan.
Asked to elaborate about what proposals were made to Armenia, Aghajanian said:
“It is too early to talk about their content at the moment, we are talking about
beginning preparatory work. After reaching an agreement on certain technical
issues Armenia will be ready to form a commission to start the actual work.”
What appear to be fresh Russian proposals were revealed two days after the
latest clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan along their un-demarcated border.
Armenia admitted some territorial losses in what it claimed to be Azerbaijani
aggression against its sovereign territory.
Pashinian said in parliament on Wednesday that Azerbaijan has occupied a total
of 41 square kilometers of sovereign Armenian territory since starting border
incursions last May.
Ruling party lawmakers today did not rule out that a possible exchange of
territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of Azerbaijani enclaves
that existed during the Soviet times may come up during discussions as part of
the border delimitation and demarcation process.
“At this moment I have no idea what maps will be used during the process and
what logic will be applied. I think it is too early to speak about this issue
now,” the head of the parliamentary foreign relations committee said.
A representative of the opposition Hayastan faction, meanwhile, accused
Pashinian of trying to implement some agreements “reached behind the people’s
back under the guise of ensuring peace against the backdrop of border tensions.”
“By and large, the government is trying to use what happened – the losses, the
casualties – for a false peace formula,” Artsvik Minasian claimed.
Members of the opposition Pativ Unem parliamentary faction Tigran Abrahamian (L)
and Hayk Mamijanian during news briefings in parliament,
Hayk Mamijanian, secretary of the other opposition Pativ Unem faction, claimed
that “it turns out that Armenia enters the process of border demarcation under
the threat of use of force.”
Another Pativ Unem lawmaker Tigran Abrahamian suggested that “if Azerbaijan
continues its current behavior and the Armenian authorities continue to show
their undignified attitude, in a year or two Azerbaijan will not need to
delimitate and demarcate its borders with Armenia, because the problem they
[Azerbaijanis] are trying to solve through seeming negotiations, in fact, will
have been solved through the use of force.”
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service asked Civil Contract’s lawmakers to comment on what
stage Armenia’s application to Russia for military assistance is at the moment.
Aghajanian said that Armenia had applied to Russia to restore its territorial
integrity and the problem is expected to be solved as a result of the proposed
demarcation and delimitation process.
“Russia’s military intervention is not an end in itself. The most important
issue at the moment is to ensure the inviolability of the sovereign territory of
the Republic of Armenia, and border delimitation and demarcation is one of the
tools that will ensure that result,” the pro-government lawmaker explained.
Pashinian Addresses Azerbaijan’s ‘Military Provocations’ At EEU Gathering
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (C) addressing a session of the Eurasian
Intergovernmental Council in Yerevan,
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian again accused Azerbaijan of ratcheting
up tensions in the region by means of military provocations as he addressed on
Friday a Yerevan gathering of heads of government of several former Soviet
nations making up the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
Addressing his counterparts from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan,
Pashinian said on the second and final day of the Eurasian Intergovernmental
Council’s workings in the Armenian capital that like last year’s event held
after the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh today’s event is also taking place amid
a tense atmosphere in Armenia.
“I cannot but notice that just like a year ago, when we were hosting a regular
session of the [Eurasian] Intergovernmental Council, today Armenia is facing
serious challenges threatening its security,” the Armenian leader said.
“Our region has been plunged into a new phase of tensions, which, unfortunately,
led to more loss of life. The responsibility for this lies with Azerbaijan,
whose military provocations are aimed at violating the territorial integrity of
our country, aborting the agreements reached under the trilateral statements of
November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021,” Pashinian added.
Simmering border tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan turned deadly on
November 16 as both sides accused each other of large-scale provocations and
aggression.
At least six Armenian and seven Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in the fighting
that was stopped due to a ceasefire mediated by Russia.
The new border escalation was followed by renewed international calls on Armenia
and Azerbaijan to engage in a process of delimitating and demarcating their
Soviet-era border.
Pashinian said on Thursday that a Russian proposal on the “preparatory stage” of
the border delimitation and demarcation process was acceptable to Yerevan.
Discussions at the Yerevan sessions of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council
focused on a wide range of issues related to cooperation in the post-Soviet
integrational space, including the 2020 situation in mutual trade, the
development of the agro-industrial complex, the harmonization of the positions
of the member states on the climate agenda, the EEU biosafety strategy, the
development of e-commerce, and others.
According to the Armenian prime minister’s office, documents were signed as a
result of the sessions.
It was also decided that the next sitting of the EEU Intergovernmental Council
will be held in January 2022 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Armenian Death Toll In Recent Border Clashes Rises To Six
An Armenian soldier near a military outpost along the border with Azerbaijan
(file photo)
At least six Armenian soldiers were killed in the November 16 clashes with
Azerbaijani forces along the border between the two countries, military
authorities in Yerevan said on Friday.
Shortly after a Russian-mediated ceasefire was reached on Tuesday, Armenia’s
Defense Ministry admitted one dead, saying that communication with 24 other
Armenian soldiers had been lost, while 13 soldiers had been taken prisoner by
Azerbaijan.
In a statement released today the ministry reported the names of five servicemen
killed in the clashes, including one officer, saying that the identity of
another soldier killed in the fighting could not be established yet.
“Intensive work with the mediation and participation of the Russian side is
underway to repatriate soldiers who were taken prisoner or went missing as a
result of the fighting,” the ministry said.
It added that the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as of November
19 morning remained “relatively stable and under the control of the Armenian
Armed Forces.”
Azerbaijan said that seven of its soldiers were killed and 10 others were
wounded in the Tuesday fighting that turned out to be the worst since a
Russian-ceasefire put an end to Armenian-Azerbaijani hostilities over
Nagorno-Karabakh last November in which nearly 7,000 people were killed.
The latest fighting was followed by renewed international calls on Armenia and
Azerbaijan to engage in a process of delimitating and demarcating their
Soviet-era border.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday that a Russian proposal
on the “preparatory stage” of the border delimitation and demarcation process
was acceptable to Yerevan.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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