Friday, June 21, 2019
Armenia, Azerbaijan Urged To Observe Ceasefire
June 21, 2019
• Emil Danielyan
U.S. -- Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanian of Armenia and Elmar Mammadyarov
of Azerbaijan and international mediators meet in Washington, June 20, 2019.
U.S., Russian and French diplomats urged the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict to prevent further ceasefire violations when they mediated fresh talks
between Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers in Washington on Thursday.
The three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group said the talks focused on recent
armed incidents around Karabakh and “core issues of the settlement process.”
Neither they nor the conflicting parties reported major progress towards a
long-awaited peace accord.
“Noting with regret recent casualties, the Co-Chairs urged the sides to take
immediate measures to restore an atmosphere conducive to peace and favorable to
substantive talks,” the mediators said in a joint statement.
“They called on the sides to reaffirm their commitment to observe the ceasefire
strictly and to refrain from any provocative action, including the use of
snipers and engineering works along the line of contact and the international
border,” they added.
According to the statement, Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanian and Elmar
Mammadyarov agreed on the need to “reduce the risk of escalation” and pledged
to meet again “in the near future.”
The Armenian service of the Voice of America quoted Mammadyarov as saying after
the meeting that the mediators presented the two ministers with “additional
substantive proposals.” He did not disclose them.
Mammadyarov also told reporters that the two sides continue to disagree on
details of a peace formula which he said has been advanced by the United
States, Russia and France for the last 15 years.
It calls for Armenian withdrawal from virtually all seven districts around the
former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast which were fully or partly occupied
by Karabakh Armenian forces during the 1991-1994 war. In return, Karabakh’s
predominantly ethnic Armenian population would determine the disputed
territory’s internationally recognized status in a future referendum.
A statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also said that the co-chairs
put forward “results-oriented proposals” at Washington but did not elaborate.
It described the meeting as “positive.”
For its part, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said the mediators “shared ideas
aimed at pushing the peace process forward, including in the humanitarian
sphere.” Speaking to journalists in the U.S. capital, Mnatsakanian stressed the
importance of strengthening the ceasefire regime in the conflict zone and thus
creating an “appropriate environment” for a peaceful settlement.
Truce violations along the Karabakh “line of contact” escalated in late May and
early June after several months of unusual calm. They had decreased
significantly since Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev first met in September. The two leaders also talked on
four other occasions in the following months, raising some hopes for progress
in the protracted peace process.
Mnatsakanian and Mammadyarov have also negotiated on a regular basis. Ahead of
their talks in Washington the two ministers met separately with U.S. National
Security Adviser John Bolton and senior U.S. State Department officials.
Constitutional Court Keeps Working Despite Challenge
June 21, 2019
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- The Constitutional Court building in Yerevan, June 21, 2019.
The chairman and six other members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court continued
to meet and make decisions on Friday despite being effectively declared
illegitimate by their newly elected colleague Vahe Grigorian.
Grigorian was sworn in on Thursday two days after the Armenian parliament
approved his appointment to a vacant seat in the court. In an ensuing speech,
he said that under constitutional amendments which took effect last year the
Constitutional Court now consists of “judges,” rather than “members,” as was
the case until April 2018.
He said that only he and Arman Dilanian, who was elected by the parliament last
year, can be considered judges and make decisions. What is more, Grigorian
declared that because of Dilanian’s absence from the country he will take over
as acting chairman of the Constitutional Court on Friday.
A senior pro-government parliamentarian, Nikolay Baghdasarian, similarly stated
that Hrayr Tovmasian, who has headed the court since March 2018, is no longer
its chairman. But some opposition lawmakers cited a constitutional provision
which they say makes it clear that the court members appointed before 2018 can
continue to perform their duties until they turn 65.
Tovmasian, who was previously a senior lawmaker representing the former ruling
Republican Party of Armenia, appeared unaffected by Grigorian’s statement as he
entered the Constitutional Court building in Yerevan on Friday morning.
“As you can I see, I’m going to work,” Tovmasian told reporters when he was
asked about the statement. He declined to comment further.
Armenia -- Hrair Tovmasian, the newly elected head of the Constitutional Court,
speaks in the parliament, March 21, 2018.
Felix Tokhian, a veteran member of the court, seemed to defend his legitimacy,
saying that “there is no legal dispute.” Two other judges, Alvina Gyulumian and
Arevik Poghosian, refused to comment on Grigorian’s claims.
Gyulumian did note, though, that unlike Grigorian, she believes “the
Constitutional Court is not in crisis.” She also made clear that she does not
intend to resign.
Poghosian said afterwards that the 9-member court held a “working discussion”
attended by Grigorian but that it did not address his unexpected declaration
because the new judge did not bring it up. “If he does, naturally we are
colleagues and we’ll see what he says,” she said.
However, Grigorian, who enjoys the backing of the ruling My Step alliance, told
journalists later in the day that he has discussed the matter with Tovmasian
and other members of Armenia’s highest court. He said the discussions were
“constructive” but did not elaborate.
“After they are over I will answer all questions,” he added. “I find it wrong
to make any comments now.”
Grigorian also said that he “he did not participate” in any formal decisions
made by the Constitutional Court on Friday.
In particular, the court decided to hold hearings and rule on two appeals
lodged by Armenia’s indicted former President Robert Kocharian. The latter has
challenged the legality of his arrest and coup charges brought against him last
year.
Armenia -- Supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian block the entrance to
the Constitutional Court building in Yerevan, May 20, 2019.
Kocharian was released from custody on May 18 five days after the start of his
trial. The decision made by a district court angered many allies and supporters
of the Armenian government who hold the ex-president responsible for the 2008
post-election bloodshed in Yerevan. Armenia’s Court of Appeals is scheduled to
uphold or overturn it on June 25.
On May 20, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian promised a sweeping reform of
Armenia’s judiciary, saying that it remains linked to “the former corrupt
system.” The announcement came as Pashinian’s supporters blocked the entrances
to all court buildings in protest.
Asked about the Constitutional Court’s latest decisions on the Kocharian case,
Grigorian replied: “It’s a decision of the court. I won’t comment on it. When
it’s published we’ll see.”
Large Loan Sought For Ending Yerevan’s Transport Woes
June 21, 2019
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia - An overcrowded public transport minibus in Yerevan, October 16, 2018.
The Yerevan mayor’s office revealed on Friday that it has asked the Armenian
government to borrow at least $100 million for a complete overhaul of the
city’s deteriorating system of public transport.
Ever since the mid-1990s, the system has been dominated by minibuses belonging
to private companies. Few of them have invested in their fleet of aging
vehicles in the past decade. The minibuses as well as a smaller number of buses
provided by the municipality have become even more overcrowded as a result.
A British transport consultancy, WYG, was contracted by Yerevan’s former
municipal administration in 2016 to propose a detailed plan to revamp the
transport network. Then Mayor Taron Markarian essentially accepted the
proposals in 2017, pledging to replace the battered minibuses with new and
larger buses by the end of 2018.
Markarian was forced to resign last summer following the “velvet revolution”
which brought down Armenia’s former government. His successor, Hayk Marutian,
said after taking office in October that the city’s long-suffering commuters
will have to wait for at least two years. He told WYG to conduct further
research on the volume of passenger traffic and bus fares that would have to be
set in the Armenian capital.
Marutian’s first deputy, Hrachya Sargsian, did not mention WYG proposals when
he answered questions from opposition members of the city council concerned
about Yerevan’s lingering transport woes. He told them that the municipality
needs more than $100 million to buy 820 modern buses.
Sargsian said it has proposed that the government raise the money from external
sources. He said that one-fifth of the required funding could come in the form
of grants provided by foreign donors.
Sargsian insisted that the new transport network would not only recoup these
investments but also operate at a profit. The municipality would need between
two and three years to create such a network, he said.
Hripsime Arakelian, a council member representing the opposition Prosperous
Armenia Party (BHK), was unconvinced by this plan. She argued that it would add
to the country’s increased debt burden.
Tehmina Vartanian, a councilor representing the opposition Luys bloc, echoed
that concern. She accused the municipality of having done little to solve one
of the city’s most serious problems.
Press Review
June 21, 2019
Lragir.am says that in their statement issued after Thursday’s meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers the U.S., Russian and French
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group again did not mention the 2016 agreements on
international investigations of ceasefire violations in the Karabakh conflict
zone. According to it, some observers expected Yerevan to seek to revive those
agreements at the Washington meeting. “Azerbaijan is against that because it
would thereby effectively recognize Artsakh’s borders,” writes the online
publication. It wonders if Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian raised the
matter with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and the Minsk Group
co-chairs in Washington. It worries that Yerevan may have again agreed to “save
Ilham Aliyev’s face.”
“Aravot” cites Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian as saying during a court
hearing that $18 million was transferred to the bank account of former
President Robert Kocharian’s son Sedrak in 2007-2009. He was aged 26-28 at the
time. “Presumably that young man did a very profitable business if he made such
a huge profit,” the paper comments tartly. “He definitely did not deal in
weapons or drugs to make so much money. Nor is Sedrak a shareholder in
transnational corporations. We can only add that he started displaying his
remarkable business acumen when his father still held the post of president of
Armenia. A country where the average monthly salary did not exceed $300.”
“Zhoghovurd” comments on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s strong praise of his
government’s performance in 2018. The paper says that his statement is bound to
prompt criticism from opposition figures and other critics of the government.
It defends the government, pointing to official statistics which shows that the
Armenian economy grew by 7.1 percent in the first quarter of this year.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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