Author: Garnik Zakarian

                                        Tuesday, 

Armenian Speaker Rules Out Support For U.S. Sanctions Against Iran


U.S. -- Armenian parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan (C) speaks at the Atlantic 
Council in Washington, .

The United States should not pressure Armenia to cut commercial ties to 
neighboring Iran because of U.S. sanctions against Tehran, parliament speaker 
Ararat Mirzoyan has said during a visit to Washington.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank, on Monday, 
Mirzoyan said that the standoff between the U.S. and Iran is already having a 
negative impact on the Armenian economy.

“We don’t want the United States to put pressure on Armenia for joining in its 
Iran sanctions agenda,” the Armenian service of the Voice of America quoted him 
as saying. “Armenia cannot pay such a price.”

Mirzoyan argued that Iran serves as one of his landlocked country’s two 
conduits to the outside world due to closed borders with the two other Muslim 
neighbors: Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The Armenian speaker, who is a close associate of Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian, commented on the “very interesting and heated discussion” at the 
Atlantic Council on his Facebook page on Tuesday. “I informed American partners 
that our economy is suffering losses due to the sanctions against Iran and that 
we cannot stop buying Iranian gas,” he wrote.


Armenia - U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at a news 
conference in Yerevan, 25 October 2018.

Iran has supplied up to 500 million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia 
annually over the past decade. The latter pays for it electricity supplied to 
the Islamic Republic.

Iranian officials offered to expand this swap arrangement when they held talks 
with Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian in Tehran earlier this 
month. Grigorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service last week that Yerevan is 
interested in boosting Iranian gas imports.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed the U.S. sanctions with 
Pashinian during an October 2018 trip to Armenia. Bolton said Washington will 
be enforcing them “very vigorously” and that traffic through the 
Armenian-Iranian border will therefore become a “significant issue.”


Iran - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei meets with Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian in Tehran, February 27, 2019.

In November, a team of officials from the U.S. state and treasury departments 
visited Yerevan to explain the sanctions to Armenia’s government and private 
sector. Pashinian made clear afterwards that that his government will “deepen 
not only economic but also political relations” with Tehran.

Meeting with Pashinian in the Iranian capital in February, Iran’s Supreme 
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Armenia to strengthen its relationship with 
his country “contrary to what the United States wants.” Iranian President 
Hassan Rouhani likewise said after separate talks with the Armenian leader that 
the two neighbors will not allow any “third country” to undermine their cordial 
relationship.


Tsarukian Denounced By Press Freedom Groups

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia - Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian speaks to journalists 
in Yerevan, February 12, 2019.

Armenian press freedom groups have condemned Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) 
leader Gagik Tsarukian for insulting an RFE/RL reporter and demanded 
parliamentary proceedings against him.

Tsarukian raged at the reporter late last month after being asked to explain 
why he keeps ignoring summonses sent to him by a law-enforcement body 
investigating an arson attack reported in Abovian, a town near Yerevan that has 
long been his political stronghold.

About a dozen media associations were quick to deplore Tsarukian’s behavior, 
saying that he offended a journalist for the fourth time in a month. They 
demanded an apology from the wealthy businessman leading the country’s largest 
parliamentary opposition force. In a joint statement, they also said that the 
National Assembly should take disciplinary action against him.

Tsarukian sarcastically laughed when he was asked about the apology demanded by 
the non-governmental organizations.

Ashot Melikian, who leads one of those NGOs, the Committee to Protect Freedom 
of Speech, stood by their demands on Tuesday. He said the parliament has 
sufficient grounds to form an ad hoc ethics commission that would investigate 
Tsarukian’s behavior.

“Either he must reconsider his conduct or, I think, we will ensure that his 
fellow parliament deputies make an appropriate evaluation,” Melikian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

Sisak Gabrielian, a former journalist who is now a parliament deputy 
representing the ruling My Step alliance, said he wants to talk to Tsarukian 
and urge him publicly offer an apology.

“Perhaps he really doesn’t realize that his remarks contained some offensive 
elements … I think I will manage to clinch from him that apology to the 
journalists,” said Gabrielian.




Member Of Armenian Judicial Watchdog Rejected By Colleagues

        • Nane Sahakian

Armenia -- A sign at the entance to the Supreme Judicial Council.

Three officials sitting on the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) challenged on 
Tuesday the legitimacy of another member of the state body overseeing Armenia’s 
courts who was sworn in last week.

Nakhshun Tavaratsian, a controversial Court of Cassation judge, was elected to 
the SJC by fellow judges in November only to tender her resignation ten days 
later. She unexpectedly changed her mind and took an oath of office during the 
latest conference of the country’s judges held on July 11.

Tavaratsian argued that she can join the SJC because her resignation was never 
accepted. She dismissed objections voiced by some judges.

“Just because a few judges could not restrain their emotions during the 
conference doesn’t mean that my legitimacy is in doubt … I was elected and 
sworn in as member of the SJC in a manner defined by the law,” she said.

However, three other members of the SJC -- Grigor Bekmezian, Liparit 
Melikjanian and Hayk Hovannisian -- issued on Tuesday a joint statement saying 
that Tavaratsian technically joined the council in November. Citing the 
Armenian Judicial Code, they said she must be expelled from it for absenteeism.

The SJC will meet on Thursday to discuss their demands for termination of her 
duties. Its website does not list Tavaratsian among SJC members.

Senior representatives of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance 
have also expressed concern over Tavaratsian’s appointment to the judicial 
watchdog.

The veteran judge, who took the bench in 1996, could not be reached for comment.

The Armenian constitution gives the SJC wide-ranging powers, including the 
right to nominate, sanction and even fire judges. Half of its ten members are 
appointed by the Armenian parliament while the five others are chosen by the 
country’s judges.

The SJC was effectively paralyzed last month by the resignations of its 
chairman, Gagik Harutiunian, and four other members, which followed a radical 
reform of the Armenian judicial system demanded by Pashinian. The latter said 
that many judges remain linked to “the former corrupt system.”

Pashinian has repeatedly stated that he wants to make the courts “truly 
independent.” His critics claim, however, that he is on the contrary seeking to 
gain full control over them.




Press Review


“Zhamanak” reacts to the publication of a document that sheds some light on the 
Venice Commission’s response to the Armenian authorities’ efforts to reform the 
domestic judiciary. The paper says it shows that Armenia’s former leadership is 
now “closer” to the Council of Europe body than the current government. “It was 
always clear that former governing circles will use their experience and 
mechanisms of working with the commission for the sake of their political 
goals, including the goal of turning the commission into a platform for 
pressure on the authorities,” it claims.

Lragir.am notes in this regard that President Armen Sarkissian and Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian met on Monday. “Armen Sarkissian and Nikol Pashinian 
certainly have a lot to discuss,” writes the online publication. “But the 
disclosed information received from the Venice Commission served as a 
noteworthy backdrop for their working meeting. It is evident that the former 
authorities … managed to use the fact for creating a necessary impression.” It 
speculates that Sarkisian’s meeting with Pashinian was a “preparation for the 
response” to the Venice Commission. It says the authorities should also demand 
explanations from the commission regarding the information “leak.”

“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that every government effort to tackle major problems 
facing the country ends in criticism of the former authorities. “One gets the 
impression that [the authorities] fight against the past, instead of looking to 
the future,” writes the pro-government paper. “The former rulers, for their 
part, are buoyed by that and say ‘see, we are the main rivals of the 
authorities, and every person unhappy with the authorities must stand with us.’ 
There are certainly objective reasons for constantly referring to the former 
rulers. The causes of all problems lie in the past … But there is also a second 
reason for that. In effect, what is happening in Armenia is a fight between the 
new and the old. A fight not between the new and old authorities but between 
new and old models of governance.”

(Lilit Harutiunian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org