RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/26/2021

                                        Wednesday, 

27 Parties, Blocs Seek To Run For Armenian Parliament

        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia - Representatives of the ruling Civil Contract party submit election 
registration documents to the Central Electoral Commission, Yerevan, 

Twenty-three political parties and four alliances have applied to run in 
Armenia’s upcoming snap parliamentary elections.

They all submitted the lists of their election candidates and other registration 
documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC) by Wednesday’s legal deadline 
for such applications.

The CEC has five days to process the applications. It has rarely barred 
candidates from participating in elections in the past.

Political forces will be vying for at least 101 seats in Armenia’s new 
parliament that will be elected on June 20 under the system of proportional 
representation.

Under Armenian law, the parties need to win at least 5 percent of the vote in 
order to be represented in the National Assembly. The vote threshold for blocs 
is set at 7 percent.

Only three groups -- the ruling My Step bloc and the opposition Prosperous 
Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK) parties -- cleared these thresholds in 
the last general elections held in December 2018. My Step, which mostly 
comprises members of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, won 
70 percent of the vote at the time.

Civil Contract is running for the parliament on its own this time around. 
Analysts believe that the party will struggle to retain its majority in the 
parliament and keep Pashinian in power.

Among other major contenders are the political forces led by Armenia’s three 
former presidents: Levon Ter-Petrosian, Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian.

Unlike Ter-Petrosian and Kocharian, Sarkisian is not on the list of candidates 
of his opposition bloc. He has said that he will not seek to become prime 
minister or hold any other government position in case of its victory.

By contrast, Kocharian makes no secret of his desire to return to power. He 
heads the Hayastan (Armenia) bloc which he and two opposition parties set up 
earlier this month.



Pashinian Criticizes Russian-Led Military Bloc

        • Gayane Saribekian

KYRGYZSTAN -- CSTO leaders pose for a photo prior to a session of the Council of 
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Bishkek, November 28, 2019

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian criticized the Russian-led Collective Security 
Treaty Organization (CSTO) on Wednesday for not publicly siding with Armenia in 
its ongoing border dispute with Azerbaijan.

Armenia appealed to the CSTO after Azerbaijani troops reportedly advanced into 
some of its border areas two weeks ago. Yerevan asked the military alliance to 
invoke Article 2 of its founding treaty which requires the CSTO to discuss a 
collective response to grave security threats facing member states.

The foreign ministers of Armenia, Russia, and four other ex-Soviet republics 
making up the bloc discussed the border dispute when they met in Tajikistan 
later in May. They expressed concern over the continuing tensions but did not 
issue joint statements in support of Armenia.

“The speed of CSTO actions does not satisfy us,” Pashinian said during his 
government’s question-and-answer session in the Armenian parliament. “But we 
will continue to … work with our partners and present further clarifications of 
the situation.”

Pashinian complained that CSTO member states have not formulated “explicit 
positions” on what Yerevan regards as Azerbaijani intrusion into Armenian 
territory.

“Such a position is expressed at the working level but not publicly, and we want 
clarity on this issue,” he said.

A CSTO spokesman, Vladimir Zaynetdinov, told the RIA Novosti news agency later 
in the day that the bloc’s Moscow-based secretariat “took note” of Pashinian’s 
remarks.

Zaynetdinov also cited a statement on the border crisis made by the CSTO’s 
deputy secretary general, Valery Semerikov, earlier this week.

Semerikov called for urgent “political and diplomatic” measures to end the 
crisis. He also stressed the need for a demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
border.

Pashinian noted that Yerevan could turn to the UN Security Council “if it turns 
out that the instruments of the CSTO or the treaty on the joint Russian-Armenian 
military contingent are not enough to resolve this problem.”



Armenia Insists On Conditions For Border Deal With Azerbaijan

        • Artak Khulian

Armenia - A view of an area in Armenia's Syunik province where Armenian and 
Azerbaijani troops are locked in a border standoff, May 14, 2021. (Photo by the 
Armenian Human Rights Defender's Office)

Armenia has set two conditions for embarking on a demarcation of its border with 
Azerbaijan proposed by Russia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday.

It emerged last week that Moscow has drafted an agreement on the creation of an 
Armenian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission tasked with delimiting and 
demarcating the border.

The proposal is aimed at ending a military standoff triggered by Azerbaijani 
troop movements at several sections of the frontier two weeks ago.

Azerbaijani troops reportedly advanced several kilometers into Armenia’s Syunik 
and Gegharkunik provinces. Pashinian said on May 20 that his government will 
sign the proposed deal if they withdraw from Armenian territory.

“Azerbaijani army units must pull back beyond our borders. No other option is 
discussed and can be discussed,” he insisted on Wednesday.

Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Pashinian revealed that Yerevan also wants 
Baku to release more than 100 Armenian prisoners remaining in Azerbaijani 
captivity over six months after Moscow helped to stop the war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijani side has not accepted these conditions so far, 
he said.

Baku says that its troops took up positions on the Azerbaijani side of the 
border and did not cross into Armenia.

Armenian and Azerbaijani troops continue to face off at the contested border 
portions. An Armenian soldier was killed on Tuesday in what was the first 
shooting incident reported during the two-week standoff.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday that Armenian army units 
fired at its troops deployed along the border for the past three days. Armenian 
Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian dismissed the claim as a ploy designed 
to “cover up” the killing of the Armenian soldier.

In a statement issued earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan also 
strongly denied the ceasefire violations alleged by Baku. It again threatened to 
use force to drive out the Azerbaijani forces remaining within Armenia’s borders.

Pashinian told lawmakers that Russia and the Russian-led Collective Security 
Treaty Organization (CSTO) are “urging us to resolve this issue by political 
means.” He said Harutiunian will meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergei 
Shoigu in Moscow later this week for further talks on the continuing border 
crisis.

Immediately after the Azerbaijani advances Armenia formally asked Russia and the 
CSTO for military support. So far Moscow has not publicly sided with Yerevan in 
the dispute, offering instead to act as a mediator in the border demarcation 
process sought by it.

Pashinian insisted that the Russians are committed to defending Armenia against 
foreign aggression in line the CSTO statutes and bilateral Russian-Armenian 
treaties. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly assured him 
that “Armenia’s borders are a red line for Russia”

“The unfortunate fact is that Azerbaijan has crossed that red line and I think 
it’s impossible that Russia will not fulfill its contractual obligations,” added 
the prime minister.



Iran Seeks To Ease Armenian-Azeri Border Tensions

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

ARMENIA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gestures during his 
meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan, 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reaffirmed Iran’s strong support 
for Armenia’s territorial integrity on Wednesday during a visit to Yerevan 
dominated by continuing tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Zarif arrived in the Armenian capital from Baku where he discussed the border 
dispute with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday.

“We are concerned about the escalations of the last two weeks,” he told Armenian 
Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian during their talks. “We have repeatedly warned 
that there needs to be restraint and respect for the sovereignty of [regional] 
countries.”

Zarif said the purpose of his regional trip is to help Armenia and Azerbaijan 
resolve the dispute peacefully.

“We have emphasized and continue to emphasize that internationally recognized 
borders and territorial integrity is our red line,” added the chief Iranian 
diplomat.

The tensions at several contested sections of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan 
rose dramatically after Azerbaijani troops deployed there advanced several 
kilometers on May 12-14.

Yerevan maintains that they are stationed within Armenia’s internationally 
recognized borders and must be withdrawn unconditionally. Baku says that its 
forces only took up new positions on the Azerbaijani side of the frontier.


Azerbaijan -- President Ilham Aliyev meets with Iranian Foreign Minister 
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Baku, May 25, 2021

Zarif said that he and Aliyev had a “very detailed discussion” on the issue. “I 
could feel his intention to ease these tensions and engage in a dialogue towards 
peace,” he told reporters after the talks with Ayvazian.

“We highly appreciate the fact that the foreign minister of our centuries-old 
friend and neighbor Iran and my good partner Javad Zarif has arrived in Armenia 
on a regional visit in these alarming times and circumstances,” Ayvazian said 
during their joint news briefing. “This testifies to Iran’s sincere intention to 
try to strengthen security and stability in the region.”

Zarif met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian later in the day. An Armenian 
government statement said they discussed “steps to resolve the existing 
situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.” It gave no details.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Pashinian said that relations with Iran 
are of “strategic importance” to Armenia and that his administration remains 
committed to deepening them. He said the Armenian-Iranian border has been vital 
for his country’s national security.

Mojtaba Zolnour, the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s committee on national 
security and foreign policy, also voiced strong support for Armenia’s 
territorial integrity when he commented on the Armenian-Azerbaijan border 
standoff last week.

The epicenter of the standoff is Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province 
bordering Iran and Azerbaijan. Earlier this year, Aliyev threatened to forcibly 
open a “corridor” connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave via Syunik. 
Yerevan accused him of laying claim to Armenian territory.


Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with Iranian Foreign Minister 
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Yerevan, .

Visiting Yerevan earlier this week, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban 
Development Mohammad Eslami discussed the Armenian government’s plans to rebuild 
or repair Armenian highways leading to the Iranian border via Syunik.

According to Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures 
Suren Papikian, the two sides agreed to set up a joint working group that will 
look into Iranian companies’ possible involvement in the planned roadwork.

The Iranian Mehr news agency on Wednesday quoted Eslami as saying that he is 
satisfied with his “good meetings” held in Yerevan. Zarif likewise described 
Eslami’s visit as “very successful.”

“I hope that we will manage to establish strong presence in Syunik,” the Iranian 
foreign minister told Pashinian.

Both Zarif and Eslami also said they look forward to the opening of transport 
links between Armenia and Azerbaijan envisaged by a Russian-brokered agreement 
that stopped last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh. They said Iran expects to have 
a rail link with Armenia passing through Nakhichevan.



27 Parties, Blocs Seek To Run For Armenian Parliament

        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia - Representatives of the ruling Civil Contract party submit election 
registration documents to the Central Electoral Commission, Yerevan, 

Twenty-three political parties and four alliances have applied to run in 
Armenia’s upcoming snap parliamentary elections.

They all submitted the lists of their election candidates and other registration 
documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC) by Wednesday’s legal deadline 
for such applications.

The CEC has five days to process the applications. It has rarely barred 
candidates from participating in elections in the past.

Political forces will be vying for at least 101 seats in Armenia’s new 
parliament that will be elected on June 20 under the system of proportional 
representation.

Under Armenian law, the parties need to win at least 5 percent of the vote in 
order to be represented in the National Assembly. The vote threshold for blocs 
is set at 7 percent.

Only three groups -- the ruling My Step bloc and the opposition Prosperous 
Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK) parties -- cleared these thresholds in 
the last general elections held in December 2018. My Step, which mostly 
comprises members of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, won 
70 percent of the vote at the time.

Civil Contract is running for the parliament on its own this time around. 
Analysts believe that the party will struggle to retain its majority in the 
parliament and keep Pashinian in power.

Among other major contenders are the political forces led by Armenia’s three 
former presidents: Levon Ter-Petrosian, Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian.

Unlike Ter-Petrosian and Kocharian, Sarkisian is not on the list of candidates 
of his opposition bloc. He has said that he will not seek to become prime 
minister or hold any other government position in case of its victory.

By contrast, Kocharian makes no secret of his desire to return to power. He 
heads the Hayastan (Armenia) bloc which he and two opposition parties set up 
earlier this month.


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