Thursday, Ruling Party Raps Armenian Church • Anush Mkrtchian Armenia – Catholicos Garegin II blesses worshippers after Easter mass at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan, April 9, 2023. A pro-government lawmaker hit out at the Armenian Apostolic Church on Thursday after its supreme head, Catholicos Garegin II, lamented “deepening intolerance” in Armenia and defended his earlier calls for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation. Garegin implied earlier in the day that the “fatherly appeal” made by him in the wake of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh is still valid. “Sadly, we can see that the situation in our country remains perilous and worrying,” he told several media outlets in a rare interview. “Also, wrong and unacceptable statements are made … with regard to the status of Artsakh (Karabakh). Also worrying is the disunity, discord and spirit of intolerance deepening among our people, and in this sense we have a lot of work to do.” Garegin appeared to allude to Pashinian’s latest comments on the Karabakh conflict condemned by the Armenian opposition and Karabakh’s leaders as pro-Azerbaijani. Armenia - Maria Karapetian, a parliament deputy from the ruling Civil Contract party, July 27, 2022. Maria Karapetian, a parliament deputy representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, responded by accusing the Armenian Church of meddling in politics and refusing to accept the supremacy of the state authorities. “Maybe it would be a better solution not to talk about any political topic at all and to talk only about spiritual topics,” she said on the parliament floor. Karapetian also denounced Garegin’s homily read out during the Easter mass at Yerevan’s Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral on April 9. In that message, Garegin expressed concern at what he described as the erosion of “national-spiritual security of our people” and threats to “centuries-old sanctified traditions and our value system.” “Indeed, when justice and truth cease to be the core of our undertakings and activities in state and public life, we will continue to face manifestations of pilatism,” he told hundreds of worshippers in what looked like a thinly veiled attack on the government. Armenia – Catholicos Garegin II leads Easter mass at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan, April 9, 2023. The ancient church, to which the vast majority of Armenians belong, enjoyed strong government support until the 2018 “velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian to power. His frosty relationship with Garegin has increasingly deteriorated since then. Garegin and other senior clergymen joined the Armenian opposition in calling for Pashinian’s resignation following Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war. The prime minister openly attacked them when he campaigned for the June 2021 parliamentary elections. Pashinian and members of his government have since boycotted Christmas and Easter liturgies led by Garegin. They have also effectively excluded the Catholicos from official ceremonies to mark major national holidays and remembrance days. Armenia, India, Iran Mull Transport Corridor Armenia - Senior Armenian, Indian and Iranian diplomats meet in Yerevan, April 20, 2023. Senior diplomats from Armenia, India and Iran explored the possibility of creating a new transnational transport corridor during first-ever trilateral talks held in Yerevan on Thursday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that they discussed “issues relating to regional communication routes” and broader “prospects for trilateral cooperation in various fields.” “The parties agreed to continue the trilateral consultations aimed at closer cooperation,” it said in a statement. No other details of the talks were reported. Meeting in Yerevan in October 2021, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar called for an Armenian-Indian transport link that would pass through Iran and its Chabahar cargo port in particular. India has built and operates two terminals at the Gulf of Oman port to bypass Pakistan in cargo traffic with Iran, Afghanistan and central Asian countries. The Indian government has also proposed Chabahar’s inclusion in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project initiated by Russia, Iran and India in 2000. The project envisages a 7,200-kilometer-long network of maritime and terrestrial routes stretching from Mumbai to Moscow. Mirzoyan suggested after the 2021 talks with Jaishankar that Indian companies use Chabahar for cargo shipments to not only Armenia but also neighboring Georgia, Russia and even Europe. According to Indian media reports, an Armenian government delegation promoted this idea when it visited New Delhi in early March. Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reportedly backed the ambitious project during a July 2022 trip to Yerevan. Armenia has long maintained a cordial relationship with Iran and has deepened its ties with India in the last few years, notably through a series of contracts signed with Indian arms manufacturers. All three nations have reported significant increases in their trade with Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions against Moscow. Pashinian Responds To Karabakh Criticism • Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses the National Assembly, April 18, 2023. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian complained on Thursday that his statements are often misunderstood by Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaders after they accused him of effectively siding with Azerbaijan. Pashinian made clear on Tuesday that his administration unequivocally recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He also said he is ready to sign an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal that would commit the two South Caucasus states to recognizing each other’s Soviet-era borders. In a joint statement issue on Wednesday, the five political groups represented in the Karabakh parliament said Pashinian’s remarks are “consistent with the position of official Baku.” They again accused him of undermining the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination which was for decades supported by international mediators. Responding to the criticism, Pashinian said: “We need to delve into issues because if we don’t thoroughly understand their essence we will always make mistakes and we already did. This is what my statement was all about. I respect and appreciate the views of Artsakh’s National Assembly but what I said is a different thing.” “They usually misunderstand me [in Stepanakert] and it’s possible that they misunderstood me this time as well,” he told reporters. A Karabakh opposition figure, Davit Galstian, dismissed the explanation when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Our self-determination was formalized by the [Karabakh] Supreme Council in 1991 and Armenia’s authorities must reckon with that and at least not relegate the Karabakh Armenians’ self-determination to the background,” he said. “Yet in his speeches Nikol Pashinian tries to … trample underfoot our right to self-determination.” Karabakh leaders have repeatedly criticized Pashinian ever since he signaled in April 2022 his readiness to “lower the bar” on Karabakh’s status acceptable to Armenia. Pashinian and his entourage also stopped making references to Karabakh’s self-determination in their public statements. Armenian opposition leaders have been even more critical of Pashinian’s latest pronouncements. Oskanian Also Rejects Pashinian’s Claims About Karabakh Peace Plans • Anush Mkrtchian Armenia - Former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian speaks at a conference of his ORO opposition alliance in Yerevan, 25Feb2017. Former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian has joined the Armenian opposition in accusing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of grossly misrepresenting international peace proposals on Nagorno-Karabakh made before the 2020 war with Azerbaijan. Speaking in the Armenian parliament earlier this week, Pashinian again claimed that the so-called Madrid Principles jointly drafted by the United States, Russia and France essentially recognized Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan. Opposition leaders and other critics brushed aside his claims, saying that Pashinian is simply trying to justify his readiness to agree to the restoration Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. They argue that the framework peace accord, originally put forward in 2007 and repeatedly modified in the following decade, on the contrary upheld the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination. The latter would be able to determine the dispute region’s internationally recognized status in a future referendum. Oskanian, who served as Armenia’s foreign minister from 1998-2008, made the same point in a 30-minute video message posted on Facebook late on Wednesday. He portrayed the Madrid Principles as a key diplomatic achievement of the Armenian side squandered and renounced by Pashinian. Oskanian insisted that the U.S., Russian and French mediators “effectively recognized that Karabakh is not a part of Azerbaijan and that the people of Karabakh must decide their future through a referendum.” “I really don’t understand Nikol Pashinian’s logic here,” he said. “Maybe Nikol Pashinian should be asked to explain the logic behind his desire to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan based on mutual recognition of the two countries’ territorial integrity.” Pashinian likewise alleged last October that the peace plans largely accepted by former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian called for Armenia’s “capitulation” to Azerbaijan. The Russian Foreign Ministry bluntly denied similar claims made by him in 2021. Opposition Lawmakers Forced Out Of Armenian Parliament Armenia - Security guards use force against oppositon deputies occupying the parliament rostrum, . A group of opposition lawmakers were forcibly removed from Armenia’s parliament on Thursday after occupying its podium in protest against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The incident happened after one of those lawmakers, Taguhi Tovmasian, refused to leave the rostrum after finishing her speech during a heated debate on the parliament floor. “I will not allow you to again spread lies, cast doubt on Artsakh’s being Armenian or the history of the Armenian people from the country’s number one podium,” declared Tovmasian, who heads the parliament committee on human rights. “Enough is enough. Sober up and accept your share of responsibility,” she said, urging like-minded members of the National Assembly to join her protest. About a dozen other opposition deputies heeded her appeal. Parliament speaker Alen Simonian responded by ordering security officers to force the oppositionists out of the parliament auditorium. The officers working for the State Protection Service (SPS), an agency providing bodyguards to Pashinian and other high-ranking state officials, executed the order after a 4-minute scuffle with the mostly female deputies. The SPS chief, Sargis Hovannisian, was on hand to oversee the use of force condemned by the two opposition blocs represented in the parliament. “They are now not allowing us to return to our workplace,” Tovmasian told reporters after the chaotic scene. “This is a blatant violation of the law, human rights and deputies’ rights.” The debate, which began on Tuesday, was meant to center on the implementation of the Armenian government’s five-year policy program approved by the parliament’s pro-government majority in 2021. Pashinian’s remarks on the conflict with Azerbaijan proved to be its main focus. Pashinian made clear that his administration unequivocally recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and is also ready to sign an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal that would commit the two South Caucasus states to recognizing each other’s Soviet-era borders. Opposition leaders portrayed this as further proof of their claims that Pashinian is helping Baku regain full control over Karabakh. Karabakh’s main political factions also denounced the Armenian premier. Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.