Friday, September 2, 2022
Armenian Opposition Vows Another Change Of Tactics
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Opposition supporterss rally in Yerevan, September 2, 2022.
Armenia’s main opposition groups announced another change of tactics on Friday,
citing the failure of their attempts to topple Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
with street protests launched in May.
“One of our main failings was that we did not manage to present the dangers
facing our county to our public,” one of their leaders, Ishkhan Saghatelian,
told opposition supporters rallying in Yerevan. “Our struggle was often regarded
as a struggle for power, a struggle for former rulers’ return [to power.]”
“We must start presenting our vision, strategy and programs about Armenia after
Nikol,” he said. “We must present our program, strategy for all areas and
directions so that people see that there is a way out and there is no chance
with Nikol [in power.]”
To that end, Saghatelian went on, the opposition Hayastan and Pativ Unem
alliances will start on Saturday “consultations” with other political forces as
well as prominent intellectuals and other public figures. They hope to “expand
and strengthen” their movement, he said.
Armenia - Opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelian addresses a rally in Yerevan,
September 2, 2022.
The opposition blocs began daily protests in Yerevan on May 1 two weeks after
Pashinian signaled his readiness to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
and “lower the bar” on Karabakh’s status acceptable to the Armenian side.
They scaled back the protests six week later after failing to unseat the prime
minister. Saghatelian cited at the time the need to “change the structure and
tactic of our resistance movement.”
Pashinian and his political allies have dismissed the opposition demands for his
resignation, saying the opposition has failed to attract popular support for
regime change.
Saghatelian on Friday again warned Pashinian’s government against making
far-reaching concessions to Azerbaijan.
Another Karabakh General Indicted
Nagorno-Karabakh -- Major-General Jalal Harutiunian (L) at a staff exercise in
Stepanakert, February 20, 2020.
Another former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh’s army is prosecuted in Armenia for
serious military setbacks suffered during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, it
emerged on Friday.
The Investigative Committee said it has indicted Lieutenant-General Jalal
Harutiunian on two counts of “careless attitude towards military service.” It
decided not to arrest him for now.
One of the accusations stems from an Armenian counteroffensive against advancing
Azerbaijani forces launched on October 7, 2020 ten days after the outbreak of
large-scale fighting. Its failure facilitated Azerbaijan’s subsequent victory in
the six-week war.
In a statement, the Investigative Committee said Harutiunian ordered two army
units to launch an attack southeast of Karabakh despite lacking intelligence and
the fact that they were outnumbered by the enemy and had no air cover. It said
he failed to “seriously examine” their combat-readiness.
The law-enforcement agency also blamed the general for poor coordination between
the units which it said also contributed to the failure of the operation. He
should have stopped or delayed the counteroffensive that left scores of Armenian
soldiers dead and 19 battle tanks destroyed, it said.
Harutiunian was also charged over the capture by Azerbaijani troops of the
frontline positions of a Karabakh Armenian artillery unit on October 12, 2020.
The Investigative Committee statement said that this was the result of
inaccurate information provided by Harutiunian to the unit. The latter lost at
least 20 soldiers and 8 howitzers on that day.
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- An Armenian soldier fires artillery on the front line on
October 25, 2020.
It was not immediately clear whether Harutiunian will plead guilty to the
accusations. If convicted, he will face between four and eight years.
The 47-year-old general was seriously wounded in an Azerbaijani missile strike
on October 26, 2020. He was appointed as head of an Armenian military
inspectorate after recovering from his wounds.
Harutiunian’s successor as Karabakh army commander, Mikael Arzumanian, was
arrested in Armenia earlier this week on different criminal negligence charges.
In particular, the Investigative Committee holds him responsible for the
November 2020 fall of the strategic Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha). Arzumanian
reportedly denied this accusation.
Armenian opposition leaders criticized Arzumanian’s arrest, saying that it is
part of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s efforts to deflect blame for the
disastrous war. They hold Pashinian primarily responsible for Armenia’s defeat.
“Nikol needs scapegoats,” Hayk Mamijanian of the opposition Pativ Unem bloc told
the Yerkir Media TV channel, commenting on the charges leveled against
Harutiunian.
Pashinian denied last year opposition allegations that he is the one who ordered
the bungled counteroffensive in October 2020. He also blamed Armenia’s former
leaders for the outcome of the 2020 war.
Yerevan Again Shuns Karabakh Anniversary Events
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Nagorno Karabakh - President Arayik Harutyunian and other Karabakh Armenian
leaders attend an official ceremony in Stepanakert, September 2, 2022.
Armenia’s government and parliament sent no official delegations to Stepanakert
on Friday for official ceremonies to mark the 31st anniversary of the
establishment of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
The ceremonies were attended instead by separate delegations of the three
political groups represented in the National Assembly. The ruling Civil Contract
party’s delegation consisted of only two parliamentarians.
“We are in Stepanakert as members of Armenia’s National Assembly,” said one of
those lawmakers, Rustam Bakoyan. “This was the decision made by the [ruling
party’s] parliamentary group.”
Bakoyan would not say why the parliament’s leadership, also affiliated with
Civil Contract, did not send an official delegation to Stepanakert as did last
year. The parliament’s press office and leaders of its pro-government majority
could not be reached for comment.
In a written statement, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian congratulated the
Karabakh Armenians on the anniversary of the proclamation of their republic not
recognized by any country. Pashinian reiterated the official Armenian line that
the Karabakh conflict will remain unresolved until the issues of the disputed
territory’s status and security are “addressed irrevocably.”
Statements to the contrary are “inappropriate,” he said, alluding to Azerbaijani
leaders’ regular claims that Azerbaijan essentially ended the conflict with its
victory in the 2020 war with Armenia.
“The Republic of Armenia will continue to support the maintenance of normal
life, security and human rights protection in Nagorno-Karabakh,” added the
statement.
Pashinian said nothing about the future status of Karabakh acceptable to
Yerevan. His political opponents and other critics claim that he is intent on
helping Baku regain full control of the Armenian-populated territory.
The Armenian premier last visited Stepanakert during the six-week war stopped by
a Russian-brokered ceasefire in November 2020.
“Artsakh (Karabakh) must continue to move along the path of independence,”
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, said in a statement issued on the
occasion.
Russian, Armenian FMs Talk After Aliyev-Pashinian Meeting
Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Russian counterpart
Sergei Lavrov meet in Yerevan, June 9, 2022.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan telephoned his Russian counterpart Sergei
Lavrov late on Thursday the day after the latest Armenian-Azerbaijani summit
organized by the European Union.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the two men discussed the
implementation of Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Moscow. They
agreed to “continue contacts in the near future,” it said in a short statement
on the phone call held “at the initiative of the Armenian side.”
According to the official Armenian readout of the call, Lavrov and Mirzoyan
discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and broader regional security.
“They exchanged thoughts on recent developments in the region,” it said without
elaborating.
Neither statement mentioned Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels of Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by
European Council President Charles Michel. It was their fourth trilateral
meeting in nine months.
Speaking just hours before the Brussels summit, the Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, scoffed at the EU’s continuing peace efforts. She
said that they are driven by anti-Russian “geopolitical ambitions,” rather than
a sincere desire to end the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“They are more like an attempt to shamelessly appropriate the laurels of
mediation [from Russia,] which is not backed up by anything,” charged Zakharova.
Russian officials earlier accused the EU of trying to use the Karabakh conflict
in the standoff over Ukraine. An EU diplomat insisted in June that the 27-nation
bloc is not competing with Russia in its pursuit of an Armenian-Azerbaijani
settlement.
A senior aide to Aliyev praised the EU mediation shortly after the latest
summit. He said Michel has been trying to facilitate an Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace treaty which Baku hopes will uphold its sovereignty over Karabakh.
Michel announced, meanwhile, that the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers
will meet in September to “work on draft texts” of such an accord.
Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin held four phone conversations in
August. They most recently spoke on Monday.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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