Author: Samvel Nahapetian

                                        Tuesday, September 7, 2021


Two Armenian Soldiers Freed By Azerbaijan


Armenia - A view of an area in Armenia's Syunik province where Armenian and 
Azerbaijani troops are locked in a border standoff, May 14, 2021. (Photo by the 
Armenian Human Rights Defender's Office)


Azerbaijan released on Tuesday two Armenian soldiers who went missing near the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border in July.

The soldiers, Aramayis Torozian and Artur Nalbandian, were flown to Yerevan from 
Baku by a Russian military plane.

The Russian Sputnik news agency reported that they were freed in exchange for an 
Azerbaijani serviceman arrested in Nagorno-Karabakh late last month. It said the 
prisoner swap was brokered by Major-General Rustam Muradov, the outgoing 
commander of Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Karabakh.

According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, Nalbandian and Torozian disappeared 
in thick fog early on July 14 after a military vehicle driven by the latter 
headed to a disputed portion of the border located in Armenia’s Syunik province.

The soldiers were believed to have strayed into Azerbaijani-controlled 
territory. Authorities in Azerbaijani never issued any statements on their 
capture and whereabouts.

The incident occurred in a border area where Azerbaijani forces reportedly 
advanced several kilometers into Armenian territory in May. They have since been 
locked in a standoff with Armenian troops.

Dozens of other Armenian soldiers remain in Azerbaijani captivity. Most of them 
were taken prisoner in Nagorno-Karabakh shortly after last year’s 
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.

Many of these POWs have been given lengthy prison sentences in recent months in 
trials condemned by the Armenian government. Yerevan regularly demands their 
unconditional release, saying that they are held in breach of a Russian-brokered 
agreement that stopped the six-week war. Baku says the agreement does not cover 
them because they were captured after the ceasefire took effect in November.



Armenia Deplores Turkish-Azeri Drills Near Karabakh


A Russian peacekeeper stands guard on a road in the town of Lachin on December 
1, 2020.


Official Yerevan criticized Azerbaijan and Turkey on Tuesday for holding joint 
military exercises near Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced the start of the exercises on Monday, 
saying that they are taking place in the Lachin district which was mostly 
retaken by Baku shortly after last year’s war over Karabakh.

A 5-kilometer-wide stretch of the district currently serves as the sole overland 
link between Armenia and Karabakh. It is controlled by Russian peacekeeping 
forces deployed in the disputed territory under the terms of a Russian-brokered 
agreement that stopped the war last November.

The Defense Ministry in Baku said the drills are aimed at improving the 
interoperability of Azerbaijani and Turkish troops “during combat operations.” 
It did not specify the number of soldiers involved in them.

“We regard the conduct of the Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises near the 
borders of Armenia, Artsakh (Karabakh) and the Lachin corridor as an action 
damaging de-escalation steps … and undermining efforts to establish a lasting 
peace, security and stability in the region,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry 
spokesman, Vahan Hunanian, said in written comments.

There was no public reaction to the drills from Moscow.

The recently appointed Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Igor Khovayev, 
held talks in Yerevan with Armenia’s and Karabakh’s leaders on Monday.

Turkey provided decisive military assistance to Azerbaijan during the war. 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev thanked Ankara for that aid when he and his 
Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited in June the Karabakh town of 
Shushi (Shusha) captured by the Azerbaijani army in November.



Armenia’s Former Chief Prosecutor Arrested

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Outgoing Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian speaks with journalists, 
Yerevan, September 13, 2013.


Aghvan Hovsepian, Armenia’s former prosecutor-general, was arrested on Tuesday 
on a string of corruption charges denied by him.

Hovsepian, 68, served as prosecutor-general from 1998-1999 and 2004-2013. He 
went on to become the first head of a newly created law-enforcement agency, the 
Investigative Committee, in 2014. He ran the committee until the 2018 “velvet 
revolution.”

The Special Investigation Service (SIS) said Hovsepian was charged with bribery, 
money laundering and illegal entrepreneurial activity. It claimed that he also 
misappropriated properties worth 800 million drams ($1.6 million) while in 
office.

A statement by the SIS did not specify the source of a 190 million-dram bribe 
allegedly paid to Hovsepian or name “a number of companies” which it said were 
illegally managed by him during his tenure.

“In the interests of the criminal case, we cannot give other details at this 
point,” a spokeswoman for the law-enforcement agency, Marina Ohanjanian, told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Hovsepian’s lawyer, Gagik Khachikian, said his client strongly denies the 
accusations carrying up to 12 years in prison and will challenge his arrest in 
court.

“Aghvan Hovsepian is in a combative mood,” Khachikian wrote on Facebook. 
“Naturally he does not accept the accusations. I am convinced that all the 
bubbles will quickly burst.”

Hovsepian used to be one of Armenia’s most powerful state officials. As chief 
prosecutor, he played a major role in a government crackdown on the opposition 
launched after the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan. Dozens of opposition 
members, including Nikol Pashinian, were jailed on controversial charges at the 
time.

Hovsepian resigned in June 2018 one month after Pashinian swept to power as a 
result of mass protests that toppled the country’s former leader, Serzh 
Sarkisian.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 

                                        Monday, 

Kocharian Gives Up Parliament Seat


Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian shakes hands with supporters during 
an election campaign rally in Yerevan's Nor Nork district, June 9, 2021.


Former President Robert Kocharian on Monday announced that he will not after all 
take up his seat in Armenia’s new parliament and will cede it to another member 
of his Hayastan alliance which finished second in the June 20 elections.

In a written appeal to supporters, Kocharian said he does not want to join the 
National Assembly because he has always been a “man of the executive branch.” He 
said “thousands” of his supporters also think that the former president of 
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh “must not tempted by a parliament deputy’s mandate.”

“After all, people voted for me as the Alliance’s candidate for the post of 
prime minister,” Kocharian wrote on his Facebook page.

The 66-year-old ex-president, who had ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, went on to 
emphasize that he will remain the top leader of the country’s leading opposition 
force and keep fighting for the realization of its objectives.

“I am convinced that that it is now better to cede my seat to my teammates, each 
of whom will definitely make a good deputy,” he said.

Kocharian announced his decision two days after the Constitutional Court upheld 
the official election results which gave victory to Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. The court thus rejected separate appeals 
lodged by Hayastan and three other opposition groups.

Like those groups, Hayastan has alleged serious irregularities which it believes 
seriously affected the outcome of the snap polls.

Kocharian’s bloc has still not officially stated whether it will accept its 29 
seats in the 107-member parliament. One of its leading members, Ishkhan 
Saghatelian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Monday that the decision will be 
announced on Wednesday.

Kocharian indicated earlier that he believes his bloc should not boycott the 
National Assembly and give up “additional and substantial levers” to challenge 
Pashinian’s government.



Armenia Reports ‘Intense’ Gunfire On Azeri Border


Armenia - An Armenian soldier stands guard on the border with Azerbaijan's 
Nakhichevan exclave, 14 May 2016.


The Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces of again opening fire on Monday 
evening at its positions along a section of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan 
where deadly fighting was reported last week.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said its troops deployed outside the village of 
Yeraskh bordering Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave came under heavy gunfire 
after two days of relative calm. It said no Armenian soldiers were killed or 
wounded in the resulting “intensive shootout.”

A ministry statement warned that continued Azerbaijani truce violations would 
meet with a “tough reaction” from the Armenian side. “Azerbaijan’s 
military-political leadership bears full responsibility for the escalation of 
the situation,” it said.

Both sides reported last week fighting in the area about 70 kilometers south of 
Yerevan. One Armenian soldier was killed there on Wednesday as a result of what 
Yerevan called an Azerbaijani attempt to move closer to an Armenian border post.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry blamed the Armenian side for the skirmishes 
which also left at least one Azerbaijani soldier wounded.

At a meeting held in Baku earlier on Monday, Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir 
Hasanov reportedly ordered Azerbaijani army units to thwart Armenian armed 
“provocations” along the border between the two countries. Echoing a recent 
statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, he said they must be prepared 
for another war with Armenia.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Baku on Saturday of planning to provoke 
“new military clashes in Karabakh and along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.” He 
pointed to the armed incidents at the Yeraskh-Nakhichevan border section.

The skirmishes reported there came amid a continuing military standoff along 
other portions of the frontier where Azerbaijani troops reportedly advanced 
several kilometers into Armenian territory in May.



Russian, Armenian Militaries Conclude Fresh Talks


Armenia - Colonel-General Sergei Istrakov (C), the deputy chief of the Russian 
military’s General Staff, and other Russian officers conclude "staff 
negotiations" with their Armenian counterparts, Yerevan, July 17, 2021.


High-ranking Russian and Armenian military officials have concluded another 
round of negotiations aimed at deepening the already close defense ties between 
their countries.

Colonel-General Sergei Istrakov, the deputy chief of the Russian military’s 
General Staff, presented the results of the four-day “staff negotiations” to 
Armenia’s top army general, Artak Davtian, in Yerevan on Saturday.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Istrakov, Davtian and other officers present 
at the meeting discussed “further directions of Russian-Armenian military 
cooperation.” It said the two sides also signed “memorandum of cooperation.”

The ministry reported no details of agreements reached during the talks.

Istrakov also met with Davtian and Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian 
earlier in the week.


Armenian - Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian (C), the chief of the Armenian 
army's General Staff, and other officers conclude "staff negotiations" with a 
visiting Russian military delegation, Yerevan, July 17, 2021.

A Russian military delegation headed by Istrakov already held weeklong “staff 
negotiations” with the Armenian army’s top brass in January. Harutiunian said 
afterwards the talks were aimed at “assisting us in the reform and modernization 
of Armenia’s armed forces.”

Harutiunian and the chief of the Russian General Staff, General Valery 
Gerasimov, discussed what the Armenian Defense Ministry described as ongoing 
“large-scale reforms” of Armenia’s armed forces in a July 8 phone call.

They also spoke about the upcoming round of Russian-Armenian defense talks which 
the ministry said will focus on “bilateral programs and actions aimed at 
deepening Russian-Armenian military cooperation.”

The Armenian government moved to step up that cooperation shortly after the 
six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire last 
November. Moscow has since deployed troops in Armenia’s Syunik province 
bordering districts southwest of Karabakh retaken by Azerbaijan during and after 
the hostilities.

Yerevan requested additional Russian troop deployments along Armenia’s border 
with Azerbaijan after Azerbaijani forces reportedly crossed several sections of 
the frontier and advanced a few kilometers into Syunik and another Armenian 
province, Gegharkunik, in May.

The situation at those border sections was also on the agenda of Gerasimov’s 
call with the Armenian defense minister.



Ruling Party Designates New Armenian Parliament Speaker

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan 
(C) and his deputy Alen Simonian (R) arrive for the Armenian government's 
question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, Yerevan, March 3, 2021.


The ruling Civil Contract party confirmed on Monday reports that it will install 
one of its leading members, Alen Simonian, as the speaker of Armenia’s newly 
elected parliament.

The party headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will control 71 seats in the 
107-member National Assembly and be in a position to appoint its leadership.

“I don’t know if he nominated himself or anybody else nominated him, but as a 
result of votes, the party has decided that Alen Simonian will be our candidate 
for chairman of the National Assembly,” Hrachya Hakobian, Pashinian’s 
brother-in-law and a member of the outgoing parliament, told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.

Hakobian said he does not know whether Ararat Mirzoyan, the outgoing parliament 
speaker and another close Pashinian associate, himself chose not to continue to 
hold the position.

Mirzoyan kept a low profile during the recent parliamentary election campaign, 
raising more questions about his relationship with Pashinian. It is not yet 
clear whether he will be appointed to another position in the legislative or 
executive branch.

By contrast, Simonian attended virtually all campaign rallies by the prime 
minister. The 40-year-old is one of the outgoing parliament’s three deputy 
speakers.

According to Hakobian, the ruling party has also designated two of the new 
parliament’s three vice-speakers: Ruben Rubinian and Hakob Arshakian. Both men 
are affiliated with Civil Contract.

Rubinian is currently the chairman of the parliament committee on foreign 
relations, while Arshakian is Armenia’s former minister of high-tech industry. 
The latter resigned in March after assaulting a journalist at a restaurant in 
Yerevan.

The new Armenian parliament is expected to hold its inaugural session on August 
2.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.