Author: Andranik Taslakhchian

Ex-ruling party official: There is no government in Armenia

Andranik Taslakhchian
News.am, Armenia
17:30, 18.05.2021

"There is no sovereignty today [in Armenia]. [Rustam] Muradov [commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that is stationed in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict zone] has more power than this [Pashinyan]. (…). He says, "We have applied to the CSTO.’ Why did you apply to the CSTO? "Boy, do you not have the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense, the NSS [National Security Service]?" Sharmazanov added.

Referring to Security Council secretary Armen Grigoryan’s statement that Azerbaijan tried to sow in the Armenian society that it had won the recent Artsakh war, Sharmazanov countered: "If Azerbaijan did not win, you and Nikol should have gone to Shushi to hold a festival. (…). If Azerbaijan has not won, go to Hadrut, Talish, Mataghis."

According to Eduard Sharmazanov, Nikol Pashinyan has turned Azerbaijan from a defeated into a victorious state.

As per Sharmazanov, Pashinyan managed to introduce certain disagreements within the Armenian opposition and achieve snap parliamentary elections. "Our biggest problem is indifference. I am very happy that political content is possible during these elections because there are [political] teams of the first, second, and third presidents," he added.

Eduard Sharmazanov noted that it is at least strange and ridiculous for him that First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was at the roots of the Artsakh movement and during whose tenure a victorious ceasefire was signed, equates the years from 1998 to 2018 with their following three years during which there was a defeat. "Moreover, [third President and RPA leader] Serzh Sargsyan's negotiating legacy was the best, by which the people of Artsakh were to receive a status, even independence, by a document," Eduard Sharmazanov added.

CSTO Parliamentary Assembly’s Council session to be held on July 1

Andranik Taslakhchian

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 16:47,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The session of the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly will be held on July 1, Spokesperson of the Russian State Duma, Chairman of the CSTO PA Vyavheslav Volodin said during the meeting with Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, reports TASS.

“It’s understandable that the pandemic is leaving its trace. But, it’s gradually mitigating. Therefore, I hope we will meet soon also on the sidelines of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, which will take place on July 1”, he said.

Ararat Mirzoyan and Vyacheslav Volodin discussed the Armenian-Russian relations, as well as the situation around Nagorno Karabakh. “Our relations are developing within the frames of inter-parliamentary contacts”, Volodin said, adding that the Russian President has done a lot for stopping the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

In his turn Speaker Mirzoyan noted that Armenia and Russia have special relations based on centuries-old history. “These are relations of strategic partners, allies. I am sure that no one questions that these relations will develop and strengthen more dynamically”, the Armenian Speaker of Parliament said.

The CSTO Council session is expected to be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

CSTO member states are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Post-Soviet security bloc to discuss situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border within days

Andranik Taslakhchian
TASS, Russia
After the end of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone last autumn, seven districts adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh came over to Baku’s control

MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will organize consultations on the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border within days, CSTO spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov told TASS on Friday.

"The Armenian side has informed the CSTO secretariat about its inquiry sent to the CSTO Collective Security Council Chairman and Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon. The issue of organizing consultations is being addressed now. Consultations are expected to be held within days," he said.

According to Zainetdinov, CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas had telephone talks on this matter with Armenian acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan and Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Mukhriddin.

Armenia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that Azerbaijani armed forces had tried to carry out "certain works" in a border area in the Syunik Province in a bid to "adjust the border." Following retaliatory measures, the Azerbaijani side stopped its activities and agreed to hold talks to settle the situation. Later in the same day, Pashinyan called a meeting of the country’s Security Council where he described the situation as an infringement of Armenia’s territory. He said Azerbaijani troops had crossed Armenia’s state border and moved 3.5 kilometers deep into its territory.

In a separate development, Armenia’s parliament has passed a statement on the "crisis situation in border districts" amid the incident with Azerbaijan.

The extraordinary meeting of the Nationals Assembly was broadcast live by local news portals on Friday.

"The statement on the crisis situation in border districts, especially Syunik, Gegharkunik, and Vyots Dzor Provinces, the existing problems, ways to resolve them, border protection and security problems was passed by 86 votes, with no votes against and no one abstaining," deputy speaker Alen Simonyan said.

The statement says that Armenia has the right to take proportionate steps following Azerbaijan’s provocation against Armenia’s sovereign territory. It emphasizes that Baku’s aggressive actions violate fundamental human rights committed to paper in the United Nations founding documents.

After the end of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone last autumn, seven districts adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh came over to Baku’s control and the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan was moved closer to the Syunik Province. Territorial disputes between the sides arise from time to time.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachinsky corridor that connects Armenia with the enclave. Apart from that, several districts came over to Baku’s control.

Azerbaijan wants Russia to help “sober up” Armenia

Andranik Taslakhchian
MediaMax, Armenia

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that "Azerbaijanophobic tendencies are growing in Armenia.”

“The processes that are taking place in Armenia, including the revanchist statements of various political forces about the possibility of re-occupying a part of the Azerbaijani territory, of course, are very dangerous, and first of all for the Armenian side,” Aliyev said.

“I would also like to express my position regarding what is happening in Armenia, namely, the growing tendencies of Azerbaijanophobia, which are the only factor uniting the authorities and the opposition in Armenia. The anti-Azerbaijani hysteria is already crossing all lines, and it is completely unreasonable,” he stressed.

“We very much look forward to continuing – in cooperation with Russia, our strategic partner – to actively work to normalize the situation in the region. In the military aspect, we can consider the situation normalized, but in terms of political, economic, transport and other aspects of future interaction, of course, there is a lot to be done. Naturally, we anticipate that Russia as our friend, strategic partner, neighbor, a country whose peacekeepers are currently on the territory of Azerbaijan, will continue to contribute to the reduction of tension and the prevalence of a more sober approach on the Armenian side,” Aliyev said.

US breaks taboo on Armenian genocide, Turkey angered

Andranik Taslakhchian
May 8 2021

Authorities trying to silence opposition figures through courts – Artur Vanetsyan

Andranik Taslakhchian
Panorama, Armenia
May 7 2021

"Authorities have recently started actions aimed at silencing the opposition representatives through courts," Armenia's former Chief of the National Security Service, the leader of 'Homeland' party Artur Vanetsyan has said. 

Venstayn commented on the charges brought against Ruben Vardazaryan, the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a state body overseeing the country’s judiciary. To remind, following the criminal prosecution, Vardazaryan's powers were terminated  as chairman of SJC and a court judge, pending the investigation into a criminal case. 

"Mr Vardazaryan's guilt, as I see, was that he tried to exercise his constitutional rights and capacities and the authorities didn't like that. As you know, the authorities have recently started actions to silence all members of the opposition through courts," said Vanetsyan. 

Russian FM pays tribute to memory of Armenian Genocide victims in Yerevan memorial

Andranik Taslakhchian

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 10:54, 6 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited today the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on the sidelines of his working visit in Armenia.

He was accompanied by Armenia’s caretaker foreign minister Ara Aivazian.

FM Lavrov laid a wreath at the Memorial, flowers at the Eternal Flame, honoring the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.

Thereafter, the Russian FM watered the tree he had planted in the park of the Memorial back in 2007.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Security concerns to continue shaping U.S.-Turkey relations-analyst

Andranik Taslakhchian
AHVAL News
April 27 2021

  • Apr 27 2021 08:48 Gmt+3
  • Last Updated On: Apr 27 2021 09:40 Gmt+3

U.S.-Turkey relations will likely be shaped by the security sector, not statements about the past, Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, wrote on on Tuesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday recognised the Armenian genocide, becoming the first U.S. president since 1981 to use the controversial term in reference to the killings of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during WWI.

The Turkish government and opposition strongly condemned the recognition of the genocide. Ankara acknowledges that deaths occurred, but rejects any systemic or organised effort, and the use of the term “genocide”.

“The outrage over Biden’s statement might be brief or long-lasting”, said Pierini, adding “but Turkey will not change its position and dealing with one’s past is an immensely complex process, which can only be done by the leaders and citizens of a given country”.

Pierini said that Turkey’s strong reaction will not change the official views of the United States, many European states, or Russia over the Armenian genocide.

Moreover, on April 26, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signalled a willingness to move on saying, “we now need to put aside our disagreements and look at what steps we can take from now on”.

Ömer Taşpınar, a Turkish professor at the National War College, claimed that the Turkish government was aware that Biden would use the term genocide and asked his administration to avoid any denunciatory term in the text. “Turkey is afraid of the economy, as always. It is afraid of lawsuits including the Halkbank case,” Taşpınar said.

Pierini suggested a tacit agree to disagree acknowledgement which is probably the best off-ramp.

“The central issue is the new situation created for the United States, for Europe, and for NATO as a whole, by Turkey’s deployment of Russian-made S400 missiles”.

The S400 purchase has provided Russia with three major strategic benefits, according to Pierini.

“First, it prevents a permanent deployment of U.S.-made Patriot missiles on its southern flank,” Pierini said.

“Second, it eliminates the prospect of seeing up to 120 F35 stealth aircraft deployed by Turkey—one hundred F35 on land bases, twenty F35b on the Anadolu helicopter carrier—which would have constituted an ominous challenge on its southern flank,” Pierini added.

“And third, it obliges NATO to reconsider its missile defense architecture, with Turkey’s air force being split between conventional units linked to NATO and missile defense units linked, in one way or another, to Russia”.

Turkey’s removal from the advanced stealth fighters programme will affect “the country’s standing as a military power and as a high-technology center,” the analsyt said.

“Viewed from a Western European and American security perspective, this new situation inevitably creates a significant loss of trust in Turkey, which is a major NATO partner,” Pierini wrote.

“With its historical narrative being challenged as much as its strategic relationship with NATO, Ankara will need to find some rapprochement with a U.S. administration that puts principles and strategic issues so high up on its agenda,” the analyst added.

US recognition of Armenian killings as genocide revives an old debate

Andranik Taslakhchian
EuroNews
April 28 2021

BRUSSELS BUREAU

By Bryan Carter 

The United States’ decision to recognise the deportation and killing of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire as a "genocide" has revived a long-running debate in the European Union.

There are 16 EU countries — as well as the European Parliament — that recognise the atrocities along the same lines.

Thirteen other countries around the world also do, excluding the US.

The Armenian community of Belgium welcomes this recognition but says that education about the killings and the fight against alleged denialism are even more important.

“Not every historical event needs to be recognised by every parliament to be understood as fact. The Armenian genocide simply is fact,” Nicolas Tavitian, president of the Committee of Armenians in Belgium, told Euronews.

“It is no longer a question of a campaign for political recognition, especially now that the United States has recognised it.

"It is now a question about understanding the consequences of denial and pushing back against denial and against Turkey’s aggressive policies towards Armenia,” he added.

Between 1915 and 1917, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed or starved at the hands of Ottoman Turks. Despite widespread academic consensus that these atrocities amounted to genocide, the Turkish state has always rejected this term and the number of casualties, arguing that mass killings happened on both sides.

Some Turkish residents in Brussels say however that the recognition of the killings as genocide is a political weapon wielded by the West to weaken Turkey.

“This is a political decision,” said Mesut Turkoz, a local resident. “Turkey is progressing, becoming more powerful, especially in the arms sector, so there is a bit of jealousy.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the United States’ decision but has so far refrained from taking important steps against its NATO ally. A similar attitude was observed in the past when EU countries recognised the killings as genocide.

According to Seda Gürkan, lecturer on Turkish politics at the Free University of Brussels, Turkey’s reaction to this issue is mostly emotional, and Ankara cannot really afford to respond strongly.

“Turkey is becoming increasingly lonely in international relations. Its relations with countries in the region, like Russia, Israel but also with the European Union are very problematic and the economy is very fragile. So during a period when Turkey needs its partners, desperately needs its partners, we shouldn’t expect a very strong reaction from Turkey” Gürkan explained to Euronews.

Rather than a diplomatic backlash, she argues that Turkey could use the Armenian question to stoke up nationalism domestically.

Something that could ultimately worsen its relations with the West and with the neighbouring country of Armenia.

 

Republican Party of Armenia, Fatherland Party to participate in elections in coalition

Andranik Taslakhchian

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 20:44,

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS.  The Republican Party of Armenia will participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, ARMENPRESS reports Vice President of the Party Armen Ashotyan announced after the session of the Supreme Body of the Party.

‘’Based on the discussions on possible formats of participation, a decision was made to form a coalition with Fatherland Party’’, Ashotyan said.

The Fatherland Party is led by former NSS Director Artur Vanetsyan.