Author: Raffi Khondkarian

                                        Tuesday, March 7, 2023


New Probe Ordered Into Deadly Crash Caused By Pashinian’s Motorcade

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Flowers, toys, and candles on a street in Yerevan where a pregnant 
woman was hit and killed by a police car that led Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian's motorcade, April 27, 2022.


Armenia’s Court of Appeals has ordered a fresh investigation into the death of a 
pregnant woman who was hit last April by a police car escorting Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian’s motorcade.

The police SUV struck the 28-year-old Sona Mnatsakanian as she crossed a street 
in the center of Yerevan. It did not stop after the collision.

The vehicle’s driver, police Major Aram Navasardian, was twice arrested and 
freed before going on trial in November. He pleaded not guilty to the 
accusations of reckless driving and negligence leveled against him.

Mnatsakanian’s close relatives have been very critical of the pre-trial criminal 
investigation into her death, alleging a cover-up. They have pointed to 
investigators’ failure to prosecute any members of Pashinian’s security detail 
and accused them of withholding key evidence relevant to the high-profile case.

That includes audio of radio conversations among security personnel that 
escorted Pashinian on that day. The Armenian police reportedly told the 
investigators that they were not recorded due to a technical malfunction. The 
latter did not bother to check the veracity of the police claim, according to 
Raffi Aslanian, a lawyer representing the victim’s family.

In a ruling announced this week, the Court of Appeals ordered the Investigative 
Committee to properly examine the reasons for the absence of the recordings. It 
said the law-enforcement agency must do more to determine whether senior 
security officials in charge of Pashinian’s motorcade were also responsible for 
the deadly accident that shocked many in Armenia.

The investigators and prosecutors overseeing them cleared those officials of any 
wrongdoing during last year’s inquiry. Only Navasardian was indicted.

Forensic tests conducted during that probe found that the police car driven by 
Navasardian raced through Yerevan at almost 109 kilometers/hour (68 miles/hour), 
breaching a 100-kilometer/hour speed limit set for government motorcades. It 
remains unclear whether the policeman was ordered by his superiors to ignore the 
speed limit.

Under Armenian law, the prosecutors have 15 days to appeal against the court’s 
decision or launch a new probe.

Pashinian’s limousine and six other cars making up his motorcade drove past the 
dying woman moments after the accident. The prime minister never publicly 
commented on her death.

The deputy chief of Pashinian’s staff claimed later in April that the motorcade 
would have caused a traffic jam and made it harder for an ambulance to reach the 
victim had it stopped right after the crash. Opposition figures and other 
government critics brushed aside that explanation, blaming Pashinian for 
Mnatsakanian’s death.




Azerbaijan Threatens Military Action In Karabakh

        • Gayane Saribekian

Nagorno-Karabakh - Azerbaijani servicemen stand guard at a checkpoint at the 
Lachin corridor blocked by Azerbaijani protesters, December 26, 2022.


The Azerbaijani military threatened to take “resolute” actions in 
Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday two days after a shootout outside Stepanakert left 
three Karabakh Armenian police officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers dead.

It also denounced Russian peacekeepers for asserting that Azerbaijani forces 
were the first to open fire during Sunday’s deadly incident.

According to the authorities in Stepanakert, an Azerbaijani sabotage group 
ambushed a vehicle carrying the Karabakh policemen before being repelled by 
Karabakh soldiers deployed nearby.

In a statement, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry repeated its claims that its 
soldiers came under fire as they tried to check the police van allegedly 
smuggling weapons from Armenia. The Karabakh police strongly denies that, saying 
that the vehicle transported only its officers and in the opposite direction.

The Azerbaijani statement accused Armenia of continuing to send military 
personnel and weapons to Karabakh. Yerevan must stop doing that, it said.

“Or else, the Azerbaijani side, using all possibilities, will have to take 
resolute, necessary measures to disarm and neutralize the illegal armed 
formations [in Karabakh,]” added the statement.

Nagorno-Karabakh - A Karabakh police vehicle riddled with bullets, March 5, 2023.

The Armenian government has repeatedly rejected such allegations made by Baku 
even before Sunday’s deadly incident condemned by it as an Azerbaijani act of 
“terrorism.”

The sole highway connecting Karabakh to Armenia has been blocked by Azerbaijani 
government-backed protesters for almost three months. Baku has ignored 
international calls as well as a UN court order to lift the blockade.

Karabakh’s leadership has linked the weekend shootings to the March 1 meeting 
between Azerbaijani officials and Karabakh representatives during which the 
latter refused to discuss the Armenian-populated territory’s “integration” into 
Azerbaijan. According to it, shortly after the meeting Baku threatened to take 
“tougher and more drastic steps” if Stepanakert persists in opposing the 
restoration of Azerbaijani rule.

Speaking at an emergency meeting on Monday, Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh 
president, said that Baku could provoke more violence in a bid to force the 
Karabakh Armenians into submission.

Meanwhile, in Yerevan, a senior opposition lawmaker, Tigran Abrahamian, said the 
mounting Azerbaijani pressure is also the result of Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian’s “chaotic” policies.

Armenia - Tigran Abrahamian, a parliament deputy from the opposition Pativ Unem 
bloc, at a news conference, Yerevan, January 25, 2022.

Abrahamian accused Pashinian of reneging on his 2021 election campaign pledge to 
continue championing the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination. 
Pashinian is now merely seeking international guarantees for “the rights and 
security” of Karabakh’s population, he said, adding that Baku will not embark on 
a genuine dialogue with Stepanakert.

“The Armenian authorities have misled the public, saying that there is an 
opportunity for peace, a ‘peace agenda,’” Abrahamian told reporters.

“What Azerbaijan is doing now has nothing to do with Armenia’s position,” 
countered Vigen Khachatrian, a senior lawmaker representing the ruling Civil 
Contract party.

Khachatrian defended Pashinian’s controversial decision to separate the issue of 
normalizing Armenian-Azerbaijani relations from that of Karabakh’s future.

“The only thing we should probably do [with regard to Karabakh] is to step up 
the international pressure on Azerbaijan,” he said.




Away Fans Banned From Armenia-Turkey Football Games

        • Robert Zargarian

ARMENIA - Turkish national football team fans watch a pre-game training session 
in Yerevan on September 5, 2008.


Citing security concerns, European football’s governing body, UEFA, has banned 
Turkish fans from attending an upcoming match in Yerevan between Armenia’s and 
Turkey’s national soccer teams.

The two neighboring nations as well as Croatia, Wales and Latvia were drawn into 
Group D of the qualifying tournament for the 2024 European Championship that 
will take place in Germany.

Turkey and Armenia will start their qualifying campaigns at Yerevan’s Vazgen 
Sargsian Republican Stadium on March 25.

The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) confirmed on Tuesday that UEFA ordered 
it not to sell tickets to travelling Turkish fans in order to avoid “unnecessary 
tension” during the game.

For the same reason, Armenian fans will be barred from the second Euro 2024 
qualifier between the two teams which will be played in Turkey in September.

An FFA spokesman told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that UEFA imposed the bans at 
its own initiative. Neither the Armenian nor the Turkish football federation had 
requested such a measure, he said.

Armenia and Turkey played each other for the first time in Yerevan in 2008. That 
match was attended by then Turkish President Abdullah Gul and a small number of 
Turkish fans.

ARMENIA - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian (R) meets Turkish President 
Abdullah Gul (L) in Yerevan on September 6, 2008.

Gul’s landmark trip to the Armenian capital marked the beginning of a 
rapprochement between the two nations that nearly led to the normalization of 
their historically strained relations. Then Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian 
flew to Turkey a year later to watch a second game between the two teams.

“There was strong interest in that game,” said Levon Pachajian, a former Armenia 
international who played against the Turks in 2008. “A lot of journalists 
arrived from Turkey.”

Pachajian approved of UEFA’s decision, arguing that Turkish-Armenian relations 
are more fraught now than in 2008-2009 because of the 2020 war in 
Nagorno-Karabakh during which Turkey strongly supported Azerbaijan.

“We all understand that football is an emotional sport and environment where 
violence and other provocations are possible,” said the former footballer.

Ankara and Yerevan launched another, more cautious normalization process a year 
ago. It has yielded few concrete results so far.




U.S. ‘Not Competing With Russia’ On Karabakh Peace


U.S. - U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price speaks during a briefing at 
the State Department in Washington, November 2, 2022.


The United States insisted late on Monday that it is not competing with Russia 
in its efforts to facilitate an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.

The U.S., Russia and France had for decades worked together in their capacity as 
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 
That mediation format collapsed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 
Moscow and Washington have since been separately organizing Armenian-Azerbaijani 
peace talks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry again charged last month that the Western powers 
are trying to squeeze Moscow out of the South Caucasus as part of the 
geopolitical standoff over Ukraine. It said that Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements 
brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war in Karabakh will remain “the 
key factor of stability and security in the region in the foreseeable future.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a quicker implementation of 
those agreements during separate talks with his Azerbaijani and Armenian 
counterparts held last week.

India - Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia 
meet in New Delhi, March 3, 2023.

“We are not going to put ourselves against any other offer of mediation, and in 
fact we’re not a mediator. We are a partner to the two countries,” Ned Price, 
the U.S. State Department spokesman, told reporters when asked about the Russian 
peace efforts.

Price said the U.S. is only trying to “help bring about additional progress in 
relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

“We are not doing this as a means by which to compete with Moscow,” he went on. 
“We are doing this in an effort to bring about the settlement and resolution of 
a longstanding dispute between these two countries, and unfortunately a dispute 
that has consistently taken lives, just as it did on March 5.”

Price referred to a shooting incident that left three Karabakh Armenian police 
officers and two Azerbaijani soldiers dead. According to the authorities in 
Stepanakert, a vehicle carrying the policemen was ambushed by an Azerbaijani 
sabotage group that was then repelled by Karabakh troops manning nearby military 
posts.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Azerbaijani President Ilham 
Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at the Munich Security 
Conference in Munich, February 18, 2023.
Baku has blamed the Armenian side for the incident that occurred nearly three 
months after the start of the Azerbaijani blockade of Karabakh’s land link with 
Armenia.

“There can be no military solution to conflict, and the use of force to resolve 
disputes is never acceptable,” Price said of the shootings. “The only way to 
sustain peace is at the negotiating table.”

He said that Louis Bono, Washington’s new “senior advisor for Caucasus 
negotiations,” is conveying this message to Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders 
during his ongoing visit to the conflict zone.

Bono was due to meet with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan on Tuesday. 
He held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Monday.

Aliyev reportedly told the U.S. envoy that he is satisfied with the results of 
his February 18 meeting in Munich with Pashinian organized and attended by U.S. 
Secretary of State Antony Blinken.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 

                                        Monday, March 6, 2023


Karabakh Leader Warns Of More ‘Azeri Provocations’

        • Astghik Bedevian

Nagorno-Karabakh - A Karabakh police vehicle riddled with bullets, March 5, 2023.


Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership on Monday warned local residents to brace 
themselves for more Azerbaijani “provocations” following Sunday’s armed incident 
near Stepanakert that left five people dead.

“The vast majority of our people agree that we will not deviate from our right 
to self-determination and independence, and that means we are going to deal with 
various developments and situations soon,” Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh 
president, told an emergency meeting with other officials in Stepanakert.

Three of the victims were Karabakh police officers. According to the authorities 
in Stepanakert, a car carrying them was ambushed by an Azerbaijani sabotage 
group that was then repelled by Karabakh soldiers deployed nearby.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry claimed that the shootout broke out after 
Azerbaijani troops tried to search the car allegedly smuggling weapons from 
Armenia. The Armenian side strongly denied that, releasing a video of the 
shooting and its aftermath.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday that the Azerbaijani forces 
were the first to open fire at the Karabakh police vehicle and that two of them 
were killed in the ensuing firefight which it said was stopped by Russian 
peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed “serious concern” at the incident but did 
not blame either party for it.

“We strongly urge the sides to show restraint and take steps to de-escalate the 
situation,” said Maria Zakharova, the ministry spokeswoman.

Nagorno-Karabakh - President Arayik Harutiunian chairs an emergency meeting in 
Stepanakert, March 6, 2023.

Echoing a weekend statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian condemned the shootings as an act of “terrorism” which is part 
of Baku’s efforts to drive the Karabakh Armenians out of their homeland.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov accused Armenia of continuing to 
resort to “provocations” in the conflict zone despite Azerbaijan’s “peace 
efforts.”

Speaking during the Stepanakert meeting, Harutiunian warned that Baku could 
provoke more such violence in a bird to force the Karabakh Armenians into 
submission.

“We must keep fighting for a long time and there will be such situations during 
that struggle,” he said. “We need to be conscious of that and take preventive 
steps.”

The Karabakh leader linked Sunday’s bloodshed to the March 1 meeting between 
Azerbaijani and Karabakh officials which was mediated by the commander of the 
Russian peacekeepers. He said during that meeting his representatives refused to 
discuss Karabakh’s “integration” into Azerbaijan.

In his words, the Azerbaijani side warned afterwards that if Stepanakert 
persists in opposing the restoration of Azerbaijani rule Baku will not only 
continue to block Karabakh’s land link with Armenia but also take “tougher and 
more drastic steps.”

It was not clear whether the Russian peacekeepers are planning more talks 
between the two sides.




Armenian Agriculture Stagnates Despite Robust GDP Growth

        • Robert Zargarian

Armenia - A vineyard in Aragatsotn province, August 12, 2018.


Armenia’s agricultural sector remains in crisis despite double-digit economic 
growth recorded by the government last year.

Government data shows that agricultural output stagnated in 2022 in sharp 
contrast with other sectors of the Armenian economy that strongly benefited from 
soaring trade with and cash flows from Russia.

The government’s Statistical Committee reported a 5.7 percent increase in 
aggregate crop production despite significant decreases in the country’s 
vegetable and grape output.

Meat and dairy production shrunk by 5 percent. The country’s livestock 
population was down by about 10 percent, reflecting a widespread culling of 
cattle by struggling farmers.

They include Samvel Matevosian, a once affluent resident of Berkashat, a village 
in Armenia’s Armavir province bordering Turkey. Matevosian owns 60 hectares of 
pastures and farmland and a large cattle farm that used to have several dozen 
cows. Only four adult cows remain there now.

“In 2017, this and the adjacent barns were full [of cattle,]” Matevosian said 
grimly. “I’ve culled them because [animal husbandry] is not profitable anymore.”

For the same reason, he stopped cultivating his 8-hectare vineyard last year and 
is still no rush to grow other crops there.

Not surprisingly, Armenia’s imports of meat, dairy and even some vegetables rose 
in 2022.

Armenia - A cattle farm in Margahovit village, 23Oct2019

“We can say that Armenia further reduced its food self-sufficiency in 2022,” 
said Suren Parsian, an economist critical of the government.

Parsian acknowledged that “objective” factors such as fighting along Armenia’s 
border with Azerbaijan, which seriously disrupted agricultural activity in 
nearby communities, also contributed to this trend.

But he insisted that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government, which 
controversially abolished the Ministry of Agriculture in 2019, is primarily 
responsible for it. The official statistics testifies to the failure of limited 
loan subsidies and other agricultural support programs promoted by the 
authorities in recent years.

The Ministry of Economy, which is in charge of agriculture, declined to comment 
on the lack of growth in a sector that generated about one-fifth of Armenia’s 
Gross Domestic Product until recently. The sector’s share in GDP fell to below 
12 percent last year, according to the Statistical Committee.

Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian has repeatedly stated that rural residents 
unable to live off farming or cattle breeding should find other sources of 
income instead of clamoring for government support.

But for farmers like Matevosian agriculture is much more than a business. “If 
agriculture collapses we’ll all collapse too,” he warned.




Armenian, Indian Militaries Mull Closer Ties


India - Anil Chauhan (left), chief of India's Defense Staff, meets his Armenian 
counterpart, Eduard Asrian, New Delhi, March 4, 2023.


India’s and Armenia’s top generals discussed growing military ties between their 
countries during talks held in New Delhi over the weekend.

Major-General Eduard Asrian, the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, met 
with General Anil Chauhan, the chief of the Indian Defense Staff, as he and 
other senior Armenian officials visited India to attend an annual conference on 
global security.

In a Twitter post, the Indian military headquarters said Asrian and Chauhan 
discussed “identifying areas to augment defense cooperation, including 
opportunities to leverage indigenous defense manufacturing industry.”

The Armenian Defense Ministry said, for its part, that they looked at the 
“possibilities of expanding defense cooperation between India and Armenia.”

The two nations have stepped up that cooperation since the 2020 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh during which India’s arch-foe 
Pakistan strongly supported Azerbaijan. Last September, the Armenian military 
reportedly signed contracts for the purchase of $245 million worth of Indian 
multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-tank rockets and ammunition.

Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian explored more such deals during a 
subsequent visit to India. Indian media reported during Papikian’s trip that 
Yerevan is interested in acquiring air-defense systems and combat drones 
manufactured by Indian companies.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Asrian presented “security challenges” facing 
Armenia during a roundtable discussion on Indian-Armenian relations organized by 
India’s National Security Council.

New Delhi has effectively sided Armenia with in its ongoing border disputes with 
Azerbaijan. It has also expressed serious concern over the Azerbaijani blockade 
of the Lachin corridor.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and his Indian counterpart 
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also met on Saturday on the sidelines of the Raisina 
Dialogue conference. Mirzoyan briefed Jaishankar on the humanitarian crisis in 
Karabakh caused by the blockade as well as recent Armenian-Azerbaijani peace 
talks.

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the two ministers also reviewed 
growing Indian-Armenian trade and bilateral cooperation on education, culture 
and tourism.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 

                                        Wednesday, 


Armenian Tycoon Wins Government Contract Without Tender

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Khachatur Sukiasian attends a meeting of a standing committee of the 
Armenian parliament, Yerevan, January 23, 2023.


Amid growing questions about integrity in public procurement in Armenia, the 
government has awarded, without a competitive tender, another contract to a 
company belonging to the family of Khachatur Sukiasian, a pro-government 
businessman and parliamentarian.

The Armenian Interior Ministry will pay the company, SIL Insurance, about 
$500,000 to buy yearly insurance coverage for some 2,000 vehicles used by the 
national police. SIL reportedly signed earlier similar deals with other 
government agencies.

The Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that it had checked with other insurance 
firms and found out that they would charge higher fees for the mandatory 
insurance. It did not disclose those fees or explain why it did not formalize 
the procedure through a formal tender.

Armenian anti-corruption experts criticized the ministry’s decision. Varuzhan 
Hoktanian, who runs the local branch of the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency 
International, said the no-bid contract awarded to Sukiasian’s firm carries a 
“corruption risk.”

“I cannot be sure that they really sent inquiries [to other insurers,]” 
Hoktanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

“It’s hard to presume that they did that without a tender because of a lack of 
time,” said Hayk Martirosian, a lawyer advising a German company.

Armenian law allows the government not to put contracts for the delivery of 
goods or services out to competitive tender in some cases. The number of such 
government decisions has reportedly increased in recent years, prompting 
concerns from opposition figures and civil society activists.

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian inspects new Patrol Police vehicles in 
Gyumri, April 16, 2022.

Hoktanian pointed out that the government’s handling of procurements is one of 
the reasons why Transparency International downgraded Armenia’s position in its 
annual survey of corruption perceptions around the world released late last 
month.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian last week expressed concern at the downgrade and 
admitted shortcomings in his government’s stated fight against corruption. At 
the same time, he blamed Armenian media outlets accusing members of his 
political team of illicit enrichment.

Pashinian pledged to separate business from politics when he swept to power 
during the 2018 “velvet revolution.” He declared shortly afterwards that 
Armenian entrepreneurs no longer need parliament seats in order to protect and 
increase their assets.

Sukiasian and another wealthy businessman were elected to the current Armenian 
parliament on the ruling Civil Contract party’s ticket in June 2021.

Sukiasian and his extended family have reportedly expanded their business 
interests since 2018. In particular, the Hetq.am investigative publication 
reported in 2021 that a fuel importing company set up by them in 2020 has signed 
with the Armenian Defense Ministry supply contracts worth $14 million.

The tycoon could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.




Drug Trafficking Soars In Armenia

        • Narine Ghalechian

Armenia -- A photo released by the State Revenue Committee on March 3, 2021 
shows an Armenian customs officer and a sniffer dog searching through boxes 
which authorities say contained heroin smuggled from Iran.


Drug trafficking cases registered by Armenian law-enforcement authorities nearly 
doubled last year, raising serious concerns in a country not accustomed to 
widespread drug abuse.

The sharp increase is widely blamed on increasingly accessible synthetic drugs 
mainly sold through the internet and, in particular, social media platforms such 
as Telegram.

The Armenian police reported a total of 743 trafficking cases in 2022. Gevorg 
Sargsian, a prosecutor dealing with illegal drug trade, downplayed the figure on 
Tuesday, saying that it also reflects an increased number of cases detected and 
solved by the police and other law-enforcement bodies.

Sargsian claimed that his foreign colleagues are impressed with the success of 
Armenia’s fight against such crimes.

“The law-enforcement bodies of countries with much greater capacities have the 
same difficulties as the Armenian law-enforcement bodies do,” he told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service.

Critics, notably relatives of Armenians suffering from drug addiction, are 
unconvinced by these assurances, pointing to the rapid spread of banned 
substances in the country.

The walls of residential buildings and other public areas across Yerevan now 
have inscriptions showing the links to Telegram channels selling drugs. A young 
woman who asked not to be identified said her brother was one of their regular 
clients before ending up in a psychiatric hospital.

“People can buy everything on those Telegram channels,” she complained.

The Telegram logo is seen on a screen of a smartphone, April 13, 2018.

Sargsian insisted that the authorities are cracking down on the illegal online 
trade. In his words, over the last three years they have identified and charged 
over two dozen members of four criminal associations that old several million 
dollars’ worth of narcotics through social media. Two such individuals are now 
standing trial on relevant charges, added the prosecutor.

Gayane Vartazarian, a deputy director of Armenia’s main narcology clinic, said 
she is especially concerned about the growing number of juveniles and women 
using narcotics. She said the number of women who applied to the clinic rose 
from 76 in 2021 to 116 in 2022.

“I wouldn’t say that these numbers are catastrophic,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service. “But these are large numbers and they are rising.”

Some critics of the Armenian government link the alarming trend with recent 
years’ increase in Armenia’s overall crime rate, saying that the country is not 
as safe as it used to be. The total number of various crimes registered by the 
police rose by over 24 percent in 2022.




Armenian FM Visits Quake-Hit Turkey


Turkey - Foreign Ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey and Ararat Mirzoyan of 
Armenia meet in Ankara, .


Armenia’s assistance to victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey could 
facilitate the normalization of relations between the two neighboring states, 
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after holding talks with his 
visiting Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday.

Mirzoyan flew to Ankara hours after Turkey again opened a border crossing with 
Armenia to receive a second batch of humanitarian aid sent by Yerevan.

A convoy of Armenian trucks loaded with food, medicine and other relief supplies 
headed to the southeastern Turkish city of Adiyaman where a 27-strong Armenian 
rescue team has been searching for possible survivors of the quake that killed 
at least 35,000 people.

Mirzoyan visited Adiyaman and spoke with the Armenian rescuers later on 
Wednesday.

"Armenia has extended its hand of friendship, showed solidarity and cooperation 
with us in this difficult time ... We need to continue this solidarity," 
Cavusoglu told a joint news conference in Ankara with Mirzoyan.

“The normalization process in the South Caucasus region is going on. We believe 
that our cooperation in the humanitarian field will support this process,” he 
added, according to Reuters.

In that regard, Cavusoglu pointed not only to ongoing efforts to improve 
Turkish-Armenian relations but also Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.

Turkey - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan inspects an Armeian 
search-and-rescue team in Adiyaman, .

The two ministers said they discussed their governments’ efforts to normalize 
bilateral relations. In Mirzoyan’s words, they reached understandings on 
rebuilding a medieval bridge on the Turkish-Armenian border and transport 
infrastructure “in advance of a full opening of the border.” He gave no details.

Turkey has for decades made the opening of the border and the establishment of 
diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace 
deal acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed this 
precondition since the start of the normalization talks with Yerevan in January 
2022.

Turkish and Armenian officials held four rounds of negotiations before 
announcing in July that the border will be opened for citizens of third 
countries. Mirzoyan reiterated Yerevan’s hopes for the “full normalization of 
relations” and “complete opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey.”


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.