RFE/RL Armenian Report – 06/20/2017

                                        Tuesday, 

EU Envoy Rejects Criticism From Armenian Government


 . Nane Sahakian
 . Astghik Bedevian


Armenia - Piotr Switalski, the head of the EU Delegation in Armenia,
speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, 20Jun2017.

The head of the European Union mission in Armenia, Piotr Switalski,
dismissed on Tuesday the Armenian authorities' angry reaction to his
public criticism of the conduct of the country's recent parliamentary
elections.

Switalski questioned on June 15 the "credibility" of the
government-controlled Central Election Commission (CEC), saying that
it should be expanded to comprise civil society representatives. He
also decried vote buying and other irregularities reported during the
April 2 elections and suggested that the country's complicated
electoral system should be revised.

Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian and the ruling Republican Party
(HHK) responded by accusing Switalski of meddling in Armenia's
internal affairs.

Switalski denied the accusations, saying that his "friendly and
constructive" comments were in tune with earlier statements made by
other European officials. "There are issues where we, as the European
Union, not only have the right but also the duty to speak up," he told
a news conference. "We do it because our Armenian partners accepted
certain arrangements for our engagement."

The envoy argued that proper conduct of elections is among political
reforms which the Armenian authorities undertook to implement in
return for financial assistance provided by the EU. "These financing
agreements are not imposed," he said. "They are negotiated and agreed
upon by the two sides."

Early this year, the EU provided the Armenian authorities with more
than $7 million for the purchase of special electronic equipment used
during the parliamentary elections. In her official reaction to the
vote, the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the
voter authentication devices and web cameras installed in Armenian
polling stations minimized serious fraud such as multiple voting.

An April 4 statement by Mogherini's spokesperson deplored "credible
information about vote-buying" and voter intimidation reported by
European election observers. Still, it concluded that the official
election result, which gave a landslide victory to the ruling HHK,
"reflects the overall will of the Armenian people."

Switalski similarly said that the EU funding led to "some
improvements" in the electoral process. "We live in an interconnected
world," the diplomat went on. "We must accept that there are
mechanisms, conventions, treaties, working arrangements which enable
others to express their views on what happens in one or another
country."

"We are very glad that so many ordinary Armenians understand this
without my lectures or other educational efforts. And I'm not
surprised because Armenians # perfectly understand that threats to
[their country's] sovereignty lie somewhere else, and not in our
friendly support," he stressed without elaborating.


Armenia -- Armen Ashotian, a leader of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia, speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan.

Meanwhile, a senior HHK figure, Armen Ashotian, stood by the
government criticism of Switalski's comments and insisted that the
legislative polls were democratic. "Everyone could point to Europeans'
growing skepticism towards European institutions," he told RFE/RL's
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "But no Armenian official would allow
themselves to talk about that with their European partners because
they consider challenges facing European institutions an internal
European affair."

"I would warn against setting an artificial election agenda now
because we have already written and turned that page together," he
said. "So let's talk about the future and our tasks ahead, instead of
revising something that is already a political reality."

Ashotian, who chairs the Armenian parliament's foreign relations
committee, also expressed confidence that the public spat will not
undermine Yerevan's efforts to forge closer ties with the EU. The
upcoming signing of a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement
will raise the EU-Armenia relationship to "a new level," he said.

The agreement will also demonstrate that "it's possible to build the
European type of a state even in the Eurasian economic area," claimed
Ashotian.



Charges Against Babayan Eased


 . Sisak Gabrielian


Armenia -- Former Karabakh Army commander Samvel Babayan speaks to
RFE/RL in Yerevan, 17Oct2016

Law-enforcement authorities have somewhat reduced criminal charges
levelled against Samvel Babayan, a retired army general close to an
Armenian opposition alliance who was controversially arrested in
March.

Babayan's lawyer, Avetis Kalashian, revealed on Tuesday that he no
longer stands accused of smuggling weapons into Armenia. He is only
facing accusations of illegal arms "circulation" and money laundering,
Kalashian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Kalashian did
not elaborate, promising to comment on the case in detail later on.

Babayan will risk up to 11 years in prison if found guilty of the
revised charges. The initial criminal case against him carried up to
13 years' imprisonment.

Babayan was arrested on March 21 hours after Armenia's National
Security Service (NSS) claimed to have confiscated a Russian-made
surface-to-air rocket system. The NSS alleged afterwards that the once
powerful general, who was Nagorno-Karabakh's top military commander
from 1993-1993, paid two other men to smuggle the shoulder-fired Igla
systems from Georgia.

The arrest came about two weeks before Armenia's parliamentary
elections. Babayan was unofficially affiliated with the opposition ORO
alliance led by former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and two other
opposition politicians. ORO condemned the criminal case as politically
motivated.

Kalashian said that his client continues to insist on his
innocence. The lawyer also said that the criminal investigation into
the case has been completed, meaning that Babayan will go on trial
soon.

The only other arrested suspect in the case is Sanasar Gabrielian, a
longtime friend of Babayan's who also actively participated in the
Karabakh war. He too is accused of illegal arms possession, a charge
partly accepted by him.

"He wanted to acquire weapons for the army by legal means," said
Gabrielian's lawyer, Karapet Aghajanian. He said his client's only
wrongdoing was to "deal with other individuals who did not live up to
his hopes." The lawyer did not elaborate.

Later in March, police in Georgia arrested an Armenian citizen wanted
by the law-enforcement authorities in Yerevan as part of the same
smuggling case. It emerged on Tuesday that the man identified as
Robert A. has not been extradited to Armenia yet. The Office of
Prosecutor-General claimed that the Georgian authorities have still
not responded to an Armenian extradition demand.



EU To Help Syrian Refugees In Armenia


Armenia - Ethnic Armenian migrants from Syria at a meeting with
Armenia's Prime Minister Karen Karapetian in Yerevan, 29Mar2017.

The European Union announced on Tuesday 3 million euros ($3.3 million)
in financial assistance to thousands of ethnic Armenian citizens of
Syria who have taken refuge in Armenia in the last few years.

The allocation is part of the EU's fresh 275 million-euro aid package
for millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and
other countries.

The European Commission said the sum set aside for Syrian Armenians
living in their ancestral homeland will support them "by enhancing
access to health and psychosocial services, improving housing
conditions, increasing access to economic opportunities, and by
facilitating the integration of schoolchildren and students." A
statement by the EU's executive body gave no further details.

Syria was home to an estimated 80,000 ethnic Armenians before the
outbreak of the devastating civil war there five years ago. Only up to
10,000 of them reportedly remain in the war-ravaged country now.


Armenia -- A Syrian Armenian family from Aleppo arrives at Yerevan
airport, 25Oct2016.
More than 16,000 Syrian Armenians have fled to Armenia alone. Many of
them have been struggling to make ends meet in the
unemployment-stricken country.

Armenia's cash-strapped government has been unable to provide them
with significant material assistance. Nor has it managed until now to
attract large-scale assistance to the migrants from external
sources. The EU funding is the biggest foreign aid allocation to them
to date.

Drawing on their business experience in Syria, some Syrian Armenians
have opened small businesses such as restaurants and manufacturing
firms in Armenia,. The Armenian government has encouraged that
entrepreneurship by subsidizing business loans extended to them by
local commercial banks.

Dozens of firms set up by Syrian Armenians demonstrated their products
and services during a German-sponsored fair held in Yerevan in May
2016. The four-day exhibition was aimed at facilitating their economic
integration in Armenia.



Press Review



"Zhoghovurd" reports and comments on a statement which the American,
Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group issued on Monday
at the end of their latest tour of Armenia, Karabakh and
Azerbaijan. "It is evident that the conflicting sides are not sincere
in their statements on a compromise solution to the conflict," writes
the paper. "Otherwise, they would not have attempted to torpedo the
peace process with different methods and would have really opted for
mutual concessions." The paper says that Azerbaijan is particularly
disinterested in a peaceful settlement. It says this is why the
mediators again effectively blamed Baku for ceasefire violations.

But as "Haykakan Zhamanak" points out, the mediators stopped short of
explicitly condemning Baku for the deaths of four Armenian soldiers
late last week. The paper claims that the statement is a "victory for
Azerbaijan." It further speculates that the mediators' claim that the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are ready to "resume political
dialogue" amounts to pressure on Serzh Sarkisian. It suggests that the
Armenia is hardly eager to meet with Ilham Aliyev in the coming weeks
or even months.

"Azerbaijan is really preparing for war," writes "Hraparak." "More
seriously than it did before the April 2016 war, say official
circles."

"Aravot" reacts to a rift among the five members of Yerevan's newly
elected municipal assembly representing the radical opposition Yerkir
Tsirani party led by Zaruhi Postanjian. "If this party really wants to
change something in the capital, it must definitely cooperate with
[the opposition bloc] Yelk and the [ruling] HHK," editorializes the
paper. "Or else, there will be only scandals and screams with no
results whatsoever. Those who stand for such cooperation are not
traitors if their agreements are public and principled."

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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