Wednesday,
Karabakh Speaker Defends Calls For Kocharian’s Release
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan (L) and his Karabakh counterpart
Ashot Ghulian hold a news conference in Yerevan, .
Calls for Robert Kocharian’s release from custody voiced by Nagorno-Karabakh’s
present and former leaders reflect public opinion in the Armenian
ex-president’s native region, the speaker of the Karabakh parliament said on
Wednesday.
In a joint letter to Armenia’s Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian sent last week,
Karabakh President Bako Sahakian and is predecessor Arkadi Ghukasian said
Kocharian should be freed at least until a verdict in his trial. They cited his
“huge contribution” to the Armenian victory in the 1991-1994 war with
Azerbaijan.
Davtian’s office said in response that he is no longer in a position to grant
such requests because the case has already been sent to a court in Yerevan.
The Karabakh leaders made a similar appeal to the court on Tuesday on the
second day of Kocharian’s high-profile trial. They said they can guarantee that
the ex-president will display “appropriate behavior” and not obstruct justice
if set free.
Nagorno-Karabakh -- Armenian President Robert Kocharian (L), newly inaugurated
Karabakh President Bako Sahakian (C) and his predecessor Arkadi Ghukasian walk
in Stepanakert, September 7, 2007.
The presiding judge responded by saying that both Sahakian and Ghukasian must
come to the court and personally offer such guarantees. According to
Kocharian’s lawyers, both men are ready to do so.
Ashot Ghulian, the Karabakh speaker, sought to justify those appeals during a
visit to Yerevan. “I think that what has been presented and said is enough to
understand that we are talking about not influencing the trial but changing the
[pre-trial] arrest,” Ghulian said after holding talks with Armenian parliament
speaker Ararat Mirzoyan.
“I want us to view that as being the result of purely humanitarian and friendly
relationships,” he told reporters. “I’m sure -- and you probably also know that
-- that there is such sentiment in Artsakh (Karabakh) and it’s impossible not
to react to that sentiment.”
Ghulian noted in that regard that Karabakh’s three leading parliamentary
parties jointly urged Kocharian’s release in late December, three weeks after
the latter was again taken into custody on charges stemming from the 2008
post-election violence in the Armenian capital. One of those parties is led by
the speaker.
Nagorno-Karabakh -- Supporters of Armenia's arrested former President Robert
Kocharian demosntrate in Stepanakert, December 22, 2018.
Born and raised in Karabakh, Kocharian governed the Armenian-populated
territory from 1992-1997. He denies the charges as politically motivated.
Armenia’s current government and law-enforcement bodies deny any political
motives behind his prosecution.
Kocharian’s continuing imprisonment provoked last week a war of words between
Vitaly Balasanian, a senior Karabakh security official, and Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian. Balasanian criticized
the Armenian authorities for not heeding the current and former Karabakh
presidents’ appeals.
Mirzoyan, who is a key Pashinian ally, dismissed talk of mounting tensions
between the authorities in Yerevan and Stepanakert. But he did rebuke
Balasanian, implying that the retired army general is already gearing up for a
presidential election that will be held in Karabakh next year.
“I can understand that the pre-election period has already started in Artsakh
but I would suggest that our partners don’t get ahead of events,” Mirzoyan told
at a joint news conference with Ghulian. “With regard Mr. Balasanian’s
statements, I would call for statements made in front of TV cameras to match
assurances made in the absence of TV cameras.”
U.S. Envoy Hails Democratic Change In Armenia
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy addresses members of the American
Chamber of Commerce in Yerevan, .
Armenia has become more democratic than ever before since last year’s mass
protests that brought down its former government, the U.S. ambassador in
Yerevan, Lynne Tracy, said on Wednesday.
Tracy praised the current Armenian authorities for holding “free, fair and
democratic” parliamentary elections in December and combatting corruption.
“I don’t need to tell you that democracy in Armenia is stronger than ever,” she
said, addressing members the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia (AmCham).
“And as the events of last spring showed us, change starts with and is driven
by Armenians.”
“I plan to continue to support the Armenian people as they make choices to
develop and solidify their democracy in a way that bolsters the rule of law and
protects human dignity,” she said.
“I am especially encouraged by the government’s efforts to root out corruption
and promote transparency,” Tracy went on. “This will help level the playing
field and signal to the international community that Armenia is a country that
respects the rule of law and is open for business. This is particularly
important given the strong potential for improved U.S.-Armenian economic
relationship.”
In a September 2018 letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, U.S. President
Donald Trump praised the “velvet revolution” and expressed readiness to help
the new Armenian government implement sweeping reforms promised by it. U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo similarly saluted the “remarkable changes” in
Armenia.
Belgium - U.S. President Donald Trump and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian talk during a NATO summit in Brussels, 11 July 2018.
Pashinian complained in March, however, about Washington’s “zero reaction” to
democratic change in his country. He seemed unhappy with the fact that there
has been no significant increase in U.S. economic assistance to Yerevan since
the revolution which brought him to power.
Tracy countered afterwards that in 2018 the United States provided $26.7
million in assistance to Armenia in addition to an ongoing $66 million aid
program implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The U.S. ambassador again cited these figures in her latest speech. She also
emphasized that overall U.S. assistance to the South Caucasus nation has
totaled over $2 billion since 1992. And she confirmed that Washington will
allocate up to $16 million in fresh aid to Yerevan this year.
U.S. and Armenian government delegations announced an agreement on that aid
allocation last week after holding talks in Yerevan described by them as
“strategic dialogue.” The U.S. delegation was led by Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State George Kent. Tracy described the talks as “fruitful and frank.”
Armenia’s Ties With Russia, West ‘Not Mutually Exclusive’
U.S. - Armenian soldiers are trained at a Kansas National Guard facility in
Salina in July 2017.
The alliance with Russia does not prevent Armenia from forging close ties with
the United States and the European Union, a senior U.S. diplomat insisted on
Wednesday.
“We understand that as a reality of geography and history Armenia maintains
strong ties to Russia,” said U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy. “But I think most
Armenians agree with me that the Armenian-Russian relationship should not and
does not preclude Armenia from also pursuing strong, mutually beneficial
relations with the United States, the European Union, and other partners.”
“And while Armenia’s geography and history link it to Russia, your values
connect you to the West,” Tracy stressed in a speech delivered in Yerevan.
“These relationships are not mutually exclusive. Foreign affairs is not a
zero-sum game,” she added, echoing statements made by her predecessor, Richard
Mills.
Armenia - Russian soldiers march in an Armenian military parade in Yerevan,
21Sep2016.
Successive governments in Yerevan have sought to complement Armenia’s
membership in Russian-led defense and trade blocs with close partnership with
the Western powers. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has essentially stuck to
this foreign policy strategy since he came to power one year ago. He had
previously called for Armenia’s withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union.
Tracy said that although Washington and Yerevan “do not agree on everything”
they deal with issues of mutual interest through an “open and honest dialogue.”
She praised Armenia’s continuing participation in the NATO-led missions in
Afghanistan and Kosovo.
The envoy also made clear that the U.S. will continue to work together with
Russia in trying to broker a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. The two nations as well as France co-chair the Minsk Group of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
“Today I am more encouraged than ever with the Minsk Group process,” Tracy said
in reference to high-level Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations held in the last
several months. “It has been a long road and there are no easy solutions. But
the events of recent months have led me to believe that progress is possible.”
Press Review
“Zhamanak” reports that the current and former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh
have “redirected” their calls for former President Robert Kocharian’s release
from Armenia’s Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian to a court in Yerevan. In their
letter to Davtian, they said Kocharian should be able to attend the May 9
celebrations of Karabakh’s main public holiday. The paper calls that argument
an “emotional ploy,” saying that the Karabakh leaders continued to seek
Kocharian’s release even after the celebrations. They are simply showing
“political support for their friend or partner,” it says.
“Aravot” says the appeal to Davtian was “wrong from both the legal and
political standpoints.” “By law, only the court can make such a decision, and
yesterday the leaders of Artsakh seemingly corrected that mistake by presenting
a guarantee to the court,” writes the paper. “As far as politics is concerned,
Armenian public opinion is presently very hostile to Kocharian and our citizens
have reason to have such sentiment.” The paper is also critical of what it sees
as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s decision to “threaten Karabakh’s leadership
with a revolution.” “We all should be interested in stability in the Republic
of Artsakh,” it says.
“Zhoghovurd” reports that top European Union officials and the foreign
ministers of ex-Soviet states involved in the EU’s Eastern Partnership program
failed to adopt a joint statement after meeting in Brussels earlier this week.
“Baku refused to sign the declaration because it made no mention of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,” explains the paper. “This principle was
mentioned in [Eastern Partnership] documents adopted previously. But this time
European leader rejected Baku’s demands and worded the document the way they
had planned to.” The paper claims that the EU did not reckon with Armenia’s
position on the issue until now because the former Armenian authorities “had no
legitimacy” and were regarded as corrupt. “It was easy for international
organizations to exert pressure on them,” it says. “The situation has changed
since the velvet revolution.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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