Thursday,
Another Pashinian Statement Raises Eyebrows
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, 24May2023
Opposition leaders and other critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian have
expressed shock at his claim that Armenia needs a peace treaty with Azerbaijan
in order to legalize its borders and very existence as a sovereign state.
Pashinian made the claim on Wednesday as he defended his plans to recognize
Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh through the treaty envisaging
mutual recognition by the two South Caucasus states of each other’s territorial
integrity. He likened it to a property ownership certificate.
“Throughout its millennia-long existence Armenia has never had an ownership
certificate,” he declared. “If we manage to do what we want to do, then for the
first time in our history we will get an ownership certificate and will be not
only a de facto but also a de jure owner [of modern-day Armenian territory.] We
all … want to overcome our status of tenants.”
“His primitiveness and illiteracy is putting Armenia in danger,” charged Levon
Zurabian, the deputy chairman of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian
National Congress party.
Zurabian at the same time said, “I don’t think that Pashinian’s statements mean
anything at all because he himself doesn’t understand what he is talking about.”
Hayk Mamijanian, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Pativ Unem bloc, was more
concerned about consequences of Pashinian’s “lunacy.”
“I’m sure that Pashinian deliberately enabled neighboring countries hostile to
us to substantiate their future aggression with Pashinian’s statement made
yesterday,” Mamijanian told reporters on Thursday.
Armenia - Former Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts is interviewed by RFE/RL,
.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts also deplored Pashinian’s “shameful”
statement, saying that the prime minister questioned the legality of Armenia’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity despite the fact that Yerevan has
diplomatic relations with virtually all countries of the world.
“It is probably the first time in history that a head of state has made such
characterizations of his own state and his own people,” Adonts told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service in an interview.
“We have been a full-fledged member of the United States since declaring
independence in 1991. You can’t join the UN without an ‘ownership certificate,’”
he said.
The former diplomat also brushed aside Pashinian’s claim that “there are several
countries in the world that think they can tell us to pack our belongings and
get out of here any time they want.” He argued that even Azerbaijan did not have
any territorial claims to Armenia before its victory in the 2020 war in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Adonts and two other deputy foreign ministers of Armenia resigned in 2021 in
protest against Pashinian’s policy towards Azerbaijan.
Armenian Defense Chief Shuns CSTO Meeting
• Artak Khulian
TAJIKISTAN -- The foreign and defense ministers of Collective Security Treaty
Organisation (CSTO) member states pose for a photo during a meeting in Dushanbe,
September 15, 2021.
Armenia appeared to boycott on Thursday a regular meeting of the defense
ministers of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states,
highlighting its deepening rift with the Russian-led military alliance.
The Armenian Defense Ministry gave no reason for Defense Minister Suren
Papikian’s failure to attend the meeting held in Belarus’s capital Minsk.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials have repeatedly
accused Russia and other ex-Soviet states making up the alliance of not
fulfilling their obligation to defend Armenia against Azerbaijani attacks.
Pashinian said on Monday that he will pull his country out of the alliance “if
we conclude that the CSTO has left Armenia.” The Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, claimed to be bemused by his remarks while warning
of their potentially “dangerous” consequences.
Pashinian hit back at Zakharova later on Wednesday, saying that she “cannot be
my interlocutor.”
“My interlocutors are the president and the prime minister of the Russian
Federation,” he told the Armenian parliament. “Even the Foreign Ministry
spokesperson of a friendly and respected country like Russia cannot comment on
my statements. She should just take note of my statements.”
Earlier this year, Yerevan cancelled a CSTO military exercise planned in
Armenia. The drills are due to be held in Kyrgyzstan soon. It is not clear
whether Armenians soldiers will take part in them.
Speaking at the Minsk meeting, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed
the “importance” of Armenia’s participation in such events.
“Armenia is a member of our organization, our ally,” said Shoigu. “We are …
doing everything to stabilize the situation in the South Caucasus.”
Shoigu also reaffirmed Russia’s and other CSTO members’ readiness to send
monitors to Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. Echoing statements by other
Russian officials, he claimed that the recent launch of such a monitoring
mission by the European Union is part of the West’s efforts to drive Russia out
of the region.
Pashinian’s government has rejected the proposed CSTO mission on the grounds
that the alliance has not condemned the “Azerbaijani aggression” against
Armenia. It has given the same reason for refusing “military-technical
assistance” offered by Armenia’s CSTO allies last fall.
Armenian opposition leaders have expressed serious concern over Yerevan’s
estrangement from the CSTO, saying that it could further aggravate security
challenges facing the country.
Probe Reveals Dozens Targeted By Pegasus Spyware In Armenia
• Anush Mkrtchian
The word Pegasus and binary code are displayed on a smartphone which is placed
on a keyboard in this illustration taken May 4, 2022.
A joint investigation involving researchers from several Internet watchdogs and
rights groups has revealed that at least a dozen public figures in Armenia,
including two RFE/RL journalists, were targeted with Pegasus spyware during and
after the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Israel's NSO Group became the center of controversy after an international media
consortium in July 2022 reported that its Pegasus spyware was used in attempts
to hack smartphones belonging to more than a dozen current or former world
leaders, journalists, human rights activists, and executives in some 50
countries.
The joint investigation was conducted with Amnesty International's Security Lab,
Access Now, Canadian Internet watchdog Citizen Lab, CyberHUB-AM, and independent
mobile security researcher Ruben Muradyan. The report on the probe, released on
Thursday, said evidence points to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as the reason
for the attempted espionage between October 2020 and December 2022.
It did not specifically accuse Azerbaijan of wrongdoing, but the investigators
noted that Pegasus software has been used "extensively" by the country to target
"a wide range of journalists." More than a thousand Azerbaijani phone numbers
were “selected for targeting by a Pegasus customer,” according to them.
“We have grounds to assert that this was an Azerbaijani operation,” said Artur
Papian, an Armenian cyber security expert who also participated in the
investigation. “This cannot be asserted with one hundred percent certainty
because we can see that … the targets also included many individuals critical of
the [Armenian] authorities.”
“So there is a reasonable suspicion that the Armenian authorities could have
also done this,” Papian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The joint investigation began in Armenia when tech giant Apple sent
notifications to users in November 2021 warning they may have been the targets
of state-sponsored spyware.
It showed that Karlen Aslanian and Astghik Bedevian of RFE/RL's Armenian Service
were among those targeted in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Others targeted included Armenia’s former Foreign Ministry spokeswoman and human
rights ombudswoman as well as three outspoken critics of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian.
"It is no accident that our Armenian Service journalists targeted with Pegasus
spyware are well-known for their hard-hitting reporting," said RFE/RL President
and CEO Jamie Fly.
"I am outraged by this gross violation of their privacy and harbor strong
suspicions that the government of Azerbaijan is responsible. I am grateful to
our partners for their assistance."
"This investigation highlights the grave nature of spyware threats rippling
across civil societies in Armenia and Azerbaijan," Donncha O Cearbhaill, head of
Amnesty International's Security Lab, said for his part.
"The authorities must stop all efforts to stifle freedom of expression and
undertake an independent and transparent investigation into the attack with
Pegasus uncovered in both countries," he added.
Another Gyumri Official Prosecuted For Violent Crime
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
Armenia -- Yervand Khanamirian, a member of the Gyumri city councel, May 25,
2023.
A member of Gyumri’s municipal council affiliated with Armenia’s ruling Civil
Contract party was arrested on Thursday on charges of involvement in the
kidnapping, torture and shooting of a man.
Law-enforcement authorities say that the 50-year-old Gyumri resident had been
hired by a local businessman, Martin Toroyan, for construction work. They say
that earlier this month Toroyan beat up the worker, threw him into his dog’s
kennel and then shot him in the stomach because of suspecting him of theft.
According to the Investigative Committee, Toroyan, who is a Civil Contract
supporter, was detained at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport as he was about to flee
to Russia. The businessman posted bail and was placed under house arrest despite
being charged with attempted murder, torture and illegal arms possession.
The law-enforcement agency claims that the city council member, Yervand
Khanamirian, tried to cover up the crime before going into hiding.
“I didn’t go into hiding,” Khanamirian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service at a
regional office of the Investigative Committee. He refused to comment further.
Khanamirian’s lawyer, Aramayis Hayrapetian, rejected the “absurd” accusations.
He claimed that his client is prosecuted for driving the wounded victim to a
local policlinic.
Investigators say that the victim, who remains in hospital, tried to hide his
gun wound from doctors.
Another local council member representing the ruling party, Aghasi Matevosian,
was arrested in early February on charges of mugging a Russian couple together
with three other men. Matevosian was released from custody and moved to house
arrest in late March.
The party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian controls 11 seats in the
33-member city council. Its members also hold a number of key posts in the
municipal administration.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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