Wednesday,
Pashinian Defends Policy Of ‘Diversifying’ Security Ties
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks in parliament (file photo)
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has defended the policy of his
government seeking to diversify relations in the security sphere, again noting
the failure of the South Caucasus nation’s formal ally, Russia, to sell arms to
it.
Apparently implying Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine that admittedly
consumes a vast amount of armaments and resources from Moscow, Pashinian said
that the absence of arms supplies from partners was also due to “objective
reasons.”
“We are looking for other security partners. And we are looking for and finding
other security partners, we are trying to sign contracts, acquire some
armaments. This is our policy,” the Armenian leader said in parliament on
Wednesday.
Armenia recently signed military cooperation deals with France for the
acquisition of such weapons as armored personnel vehicles, radars and
short-range missiles.
Reports in media have also indicated that Armenia has signed contracts for the
purchase of several types of armaments from India, including multiple-launch
rocket systems, artillery, anti-tank rockets and ammunition, as well as mostly
recently anti-drone military equipment.
During the question-and-answer session in parliament today Pashinian again
refused to be drawn into the discussion of whether Armenia plans to formally
quit the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led defense
alliance of several post-Soviet countries of which Armenia is a member, nor
would he speak about any security alternatives to membership in this
organization.
“We are not planning to announce a change in our policy in strategic terms as
long as we haven’t made a decision to quit the CSTO,” Pashinian said in reply to
a question from an opposition lawmaker.
On Tuesday Pashinian announced that he would not attend a CSTO summit scheduled
to take place in the Belarusian capital of Minsk later this month. Earlier this
year Armenia also declined to participate in CSTO military drills, while hosting
joint exercises with the United States military in Yerevan. This and several
other moves by Yerevan drew angry reactions from Russia that has accused the
Pashinian administration of systematically “destroying” relations with Moscow.
Officials in Yerevan have not concealed their frustration with the CSTO,
considering that the Russia-led bloc has failed to fulfill its obligation to
Armenia to secure its borders and protect its sovereign territory against
incursions by Azerbaijan.
“Our most important note concerning the processes taking place in the CSTO and
our positions in this regard is that unfortunately the CSTO, with its de-jure
mandatory obligations, did not provide a proper response to Armenia’s security
challenges, and this has happened time and again,” Pashinian said, adding that
the absence of the CSTO’s proper response was also “not understandable for our
society.”
The Armenian prime minister said that the “fundamental problem” was that the
CSTO was refusing to de-jure fixate its area of responsibility in Armenia. “In
these conditions this could mean that by silently participating we could join
the logic that would question Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
We can’t allow ourselves such a thing, and by making such decisions [not to
attend CSTO gatherings] we give the CSTO and ourselves time to think over
further actions,” Pashinian said.
Tensions between Armenia and Russia rose further after Azerbaijan’s September
19-20 military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh that led to the exodus of the
region’s virtually entire ethnic Armenian population. Armenia, in particular,
blamed Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh under a 2020 ceasefire
agreement between Moscow, Baku and Yerevan for failing to protect the local
Armenians.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it “regrets” Pashinian’s latest decision not to
attend the upcoming CSTO summit, while a spokesperson for Alyaksandr Lukashenka,
the formal host of the gathering in Minsk, said that during their phone call
earlier this week the Belarusian leader warned the Armenian prime minister
against making “hasty decisions”, suggesting that he “should seriously think
over his next steps that could be aimed at disintegration.”
U.S. Says Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians Entitled To Return Home
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State (file photo).
Ethnic Armenians who left Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan took full control of
the region in a lightening military operation in September are entitled to
return home, a senior United States official has said.
During a Tuesday press briefing in Washington a journalist asked Matthew Miller,
a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, to give a preview of what would
be discussed during a congressional hearing on the future of Nagorno-Karabakh
that was planned for the next day, November 15.
The correspondent, in particular, said: “You have Azerbaijan on [the] one hand
celebrating the victory… in a town surrounded by [the] Russian army. You have
Armenia [that] is being bullied by Russia every single day, saying that [it]
won’t go anywhere… So is there any happy ending there, in your opinion?”
According to the State Department’s official website, Miller replied: “I will
just say what I said before. I don’t want to talk about tomorrow’s hearing, but
I will say that we continue to believe that people who left Nagorno-Karabakh
have the right to return home if they want to do so, and that right must be
preserved.”
More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh in the days that
followed Azerbaijan’s offensive on September 19-20. According to different
estimates, a couple of dozen ethnic Armenians currently remain in
Nagorno-Karabakh that is under full Azerbaijani control now.
Despite scaling back its peacekeeping mission, Russian servicemen still remain
in the region where they were first deployed under the terms of a
Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement that stopped a six-week war between Armenia
and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020. Under that tripartite
deal the Russian peacekeeping force would stay in the region at least until 2025.
After the exodus of the local Armenian population and before that, in conditions
of an effective blockade imposed by Azerbaijan, Armenia has repeatedly
criticized Russia for failing to fulfill its main mission, that is to protect
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population.
Officially Azerbaijan does not object to Armenians returning to Nagorno-Karabakh
and living under Baku’s jurisdiction as Azerbaijani citizens, but authorities in
Yerevan and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh point to the absence of security
guarantees for such returnees after what happened in the region during the past
several years and months.
Azerbaijan, at the same time, promotes the idea of the return of tens of
thousands of ethnic Azeris to the places where they lived in Armenia before the
conflict began in the late 1980s. In doing so Azerbaijani officials and media
often use the term “Western Azerbaijan”, suggesting that Azeris who left Armenia
lived in their “historical lands.”
Speaking at the Paris Peace Conference on November 10, Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian charged that the concept of “Western Azerbaijan” promoted by
Baku is “preparing a new war against the Republic of Armenia.”
Pashinian also stressed that about 360,000 ethnic Armenians were forcibly
displaced from Azerbaijan since the conflict began over three decades ago.
Armenian Official Sees Possibility Of Continuing Peace Talks With Azerbaijan In
Washington
Armen Grigorian, secretary of the Security Council of Armenia (file photo).
Armenia sees the possibility of continuing negotiations with Azerbaijan over a
peace treaty in Washington, a senior official in Yerevan has said.
In an interview with Public Television aired on Tuesday evening Secretary of
Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigorian reminded that Azerbaijan had refused
to attend a meeting of the two countries’ leaders that was planned to be held
with the European Union’s mediation in Brussels in late October.
“We are ready to continue negotiations in this [Brussels] format to finalize the
peace treaty and sign it by the end of the year if it is possible. There is also
a possibility of continuing such negotiations at another level, for instance, in
Washington. Armenia is ready, and let’s hope that such a meeting will take
place,” Grigorian said.
The official reminded that Louis Bono, a U.S. special envoy for
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks, recently visited the region.
“He was discussing possible meetings. Of course, it is not final, but one of the
goals of the visit was to organize a meeting,” Grigorian said.
Asked why such a meeting could not be organized in Moscow, Grigorian said: “We
go where we consider it important, where we see an opportunity at the moment and
from where we have received clear offers. I am not aware of any offers from
Moscow.”
Commenting on a series of decisions by official Yerevan to skip major gatherings
of Russia-led groupings, including the latest decision by Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian not to attend an upcoming summit of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Minsk, Grigorian emphasized that Armenia
had been asking help from the CSTO since May 2021, but did not receive the
necessary assistance to protect its sovereign territory against Azerbaijani
aggression.
“We have had numerous questions to the CSTO, answers to which we have not
received till now. And this is also the reason why Armenia does not participate
in the CSTO [sessions],” the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council said.
Earlier this year Armenia also refused to participate in CSTO military drills,
while hosting joint military drills with the United States in Yerevan.
Pashinian also declined to attend a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), a wider and looser grouping of ex-Soviet states, in Kyrgyzstan on
October 13.
These and other similar moves by Yerevan have increasingly been seen in Russia,
which dominates the CSTO, as “unfriendly.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry last week
accused Pashinian’s administration of systematically “destroying”
Russian-Armenian relations, a claim dismissed in Yerevan.
Tensions between Armenia and Russia rose further after Azerbaijan’s September
19-20 military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh that led to the exodus of the
region’s virtually entire ethnic Armenian population. Armenia, in particular,
blamed Russian peacekeepers deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh under a 2020 ceasefire
agreement between Moscow, Baku and Yerevan for failing to protect the local
Armenians.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it “regrets” Pashinian’s latest decision not to
attend the upcoming CSTO summit, while a spokesperson for Alyaksandr Lukashenka,
the formal host of the gathering in Minsk, said that during their phone call
earlier this week the Belarusian leader warned the Armenian prime minister
against making “hasty decisions”, suggesting that he “should seriously think
over his next steps that could be aimed at disintegration.”
Despite the deepening rift in relations between Yerevan and Moscow, Pashinian
has so far announced no plans to pull his country out of the CSTO or demand the
withdrawal of Russian troops stationed in Armenia.
In the November 14 interview with Armenia’s Public Television Security Council
Secretary Grigorian repeated what Pashinian and other Armenian officials have
said before, saying that “it is not Armenia that is quitting the CSTO, but it is
the CSTO that is quitting the region.”
Armenia, UK Discuss Defense Cooperation As ‘Strategic Dialogue’ Commences
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and British Minister for Europe Leo
Docherty during their meeting in London, November 13, 2023.
Armenia and the United Kingdom discussed defense cooperation among “a range of
global and regional issues of mutual concern” as part of a “Strategic Dialogue”
launched during Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan’s visit to London this
week.
According to a joint statement issued by the parties following the first session
on November 13, it was “an opportunity to mark the strong cooperation and
friendship between our two democracies.”
“With the increase globally in threats to democratic values, human rights, rule
of law and the freedoms we strive to protect our citizens, working together on
issues of mutual concern։ it is more important than ever not only to build trade
and stability, but also to protect our shared core values. We reaffirmed the
aspiration to build our partnership over the coming years,” the statement said.
Among the ways in which Armenia and the UK can work together in the future the
parties indicated several major areas, including governance and rule of law,
defense cooperation, trade and economic ties.
According to the statement, the UK “will soon begin working to support Armenia’s
border management capacities to tackle security and migration issues.”
“[It is] Armenia-UK defense cooperation, which continues to expand with
increased numbers of personnel from the Armenian military and Ministry of
Defense, and police (Ministry of Internal Affairs) personnel receiving English
Language training instruction, as well as places on UK senior and junior command
and leadership courses, and multi-national peace-keeping and mine-awareness
packages,” the statement said.
“The Ministers agreed on the absolute necessity of the establishment of peace
and stability in the South Caucasus based on the mutual recognition of
sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders on the basis
of the Alma Ata 1991 Declaration, and the opening of regional connectivity links
based on full respect of each countries’ sovereignty and jurisdiction,” it added.
UK/Armenia - Opening of the new building of Armenia's Embassy in the United
Kingdom, London, November 13, 2023.
Apart from holding talks with British Minister for Europe Leo Docherty, as part
of his November 13-14 visit Armenian Foreign Minister Mirzoyan also attended the
inauguration of a new Armenian embassy building in London. Speaking at the
ceremony, Mirzoyan described it as a “historic moment.”
“We not only open a building, but lay new foundations for deepening our
relations. We are reaffirming our commitments to deepen our political dialogue,
our economic ties, our cultural ties,” the Armenian minister said.
U․S․ ‘Developing Record’ Of What Happened In Nagorno-Karabakh
• Heghine Buniatian
James O’Brien (file photo)
The United States is developing a record of what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh
and is working on support for Armenia, James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary at the
U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, announced
during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
During the hearing on “The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh” held by the U.S. House
Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe, the high-ranking diplomat
noted that the subject of investigation is not only what happened in
Nagorno-Karabakh during September when the region’s virtually entire ethnic
Armenian population fled their homes within a matter of days after a lightening
military operation launched by Azerbaijan, but also during the months preceding
it.
“We have commissioned independent investigators, we have our own investigators
working in the field. There is information available from international
non-governmental organizations and other investigators. And as we develop the
record of what happened, we will be completely open about what we are finding. I
can’t put a timeline on this investigation, but we will inform you as we go
forward,” O’Brien said.
“The second thing we are working on is support for Armenia… I am very impressed
by the Armenian government’s commitment to reforms and diversifying
relationships that it has – economic, political, energy and security –
particularly in the Trans-Atlantic community. And I think we owe it to the
people of Armenia to help them through this difficult situation so that those
choices they have made very bravely are able to help them to make them have a
more secure, stable and prosperous future,” the U.S. diplomat added.
Speaking on behalf of the Department of State, O’Brien said that Washington
insists that Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians have complete access to the territory,
on the protection of the property and culture and that they receive adequate
information “so that they can make real choice about their future.”
Members of the Subcommittee also talked about the settlement of relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the countries hindering the
process, including Russia, should be kept away from the negotiations.
Presenting what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh, Congressman Bill Keating said that
despite months of diplomatic talks that had led to “significant progress”, in
September 2023 Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev “decided to break with the
internationally accepted and lawful diplomatic path, instead opting for the use
of military force in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“As a result of Azerbaijan’s unacceptable military action over 100,000 ethnic
Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, resettling in Armenia and leaving their
personal belongings and their livelihoods behind them. I strongly believe we
must provide humanitarian and economic assistance to displaced people in Armenia
and ensure accountability for any potential crimes committed against those
fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh or those who are choosing to remain there,” Keating
underscored.
U.S. Envoy Joins EU Mission Patrol In Northeastern Armenia
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina A. Kvien joins the EUMA on patrol to areas
of the Tavush Province. .
United States Ambassador Kristina A. Kvien has joined the European Union’s
mission (EUMA) on patrol to border areas in Armenia’s northeastern Tavush
Province, the EUMA said in an X post on Wednesday.
The EUMA published photographs showing Kvien’s visit, saying that it was
facilitated by the mission’s Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Ijevan.
The EUMA currently consisting of 100 or so observers and experts was launched at
the request of the Armenian government in late 2022 with the stated aim of
preventing or reducing ceasefire violations along the border with Azerbaijan.
Since its deployment the mission has carried out more than a thousand patrols
along the restive Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The EUMA operates from six FOBs
situated in towns of Armenia’s Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik and Tavush
provinces.
The Azerbaijani takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in September this year has raised
more fears in Yerevan that Azerbaijan will invade Armenia to open a land
corridor to its Nakhichevan exclave. Azerbaijan has also publicly raised the
issue of “Soviet-era exclaves” in Armenia.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian urged Western powers to prevent Baku
from “provoking a new war in the region” when he addressed the European
Parliament in October.
EU foreign ministers on Monday gave the green light to a proposal to beef up the
border-monitoring mission in Armenia. When the measure is submitted to the
European Commission it will need to come up with a proposal on how the EUMA can
be expanded. The decisions of the European Commission, in turn, must be ratified
by the 27 EU member states.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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