Monday,
More Refugees Return To Karabakh
• Sargis Harutyunyan
• Gevorg Stamboltsian
ARMENIA -- Ethnic Armenians look out from a bus window as they return to
Stepanakert from Yerevan, Novemebr 16, 2020
Hundreds more ethnic Armenian refugees have returned to Nagorno-Karabakh nearly
one week after a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement stopped the
Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, on Sunday alone 475 of them arrived
in Stepanakert from Yerevan in a convoy of 19 buses escorted by Russian
peacekeeping forces deployed in the Karabakh conflict zone in line with the
agreement.
Like other refuges, they were bused through one of the two main highways
connecting Armenia to Karabakh. It passes through the Kelbajar district that has
been Karabakh Armenian control since 1993.
Under the truce accord announced on November 10, Kelbajar was due to be placed
back under Azerbaijani control by Monday. Baku said at the weekend that it has
agreed to delay Armenian withdrawal from the mountainous district until November
25.
An RFE/RL correspondent witnessed on Monday numerous cars, buses and trucks
moving along the Kelbajar road. They transported refugees and their possessions
back to Karabakh.
There were also signs of a return to normality in Stepanakert and other Karabakh
towns and villages severely damaged by Azerbaijani air strikes and shelling. The
streets of Stepanakert were visibly filled with more people than during the
six-week war.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- A Russian military helicopter Mi-8 patrols military vehicles
of the Russian peacekeeping forces as they move on the road toward Stepanakert,
November 14, 2020
After Kelbajar’s handover to Azerbaijan the other highway passing through the
Lachin district will become Karabakh’s sole overland link with Armenia. Its
sections close to the Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha) were the scene of fierce
fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the final days of the war.
The Russian peacekeepers are being deployed along the Lachin corridor and the
current Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” in and around Karabakh. The
Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that they have started clearing the road
from landmines and wreckage of military hardware destroyed during the fighting.
“The road is being prepared for the return of the refugees,” said Colonel Alexei
Polyukhovich, the deputy commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
Armenian Prime Minster Nikol Pashinian predicted, meanwhile, that the Lachin
road will likely be reopened to traffic “in the coming days.” Pashinian also
said that more than a thousand Karabakh refugees have returned home in the last
several days.
According to authorities in Stepanakert, the war displaced at least 90,000
Karabakh Armenian civilians making up around 60 percent of the territory’s
population. Most of them took refuge in Armenia.
Another Oppositionist Freed
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia- Vahram Baghdasarian speaks to journalists after his release from
custody, Yerevan,
A court in Yerevan ordered on Monday the release of another opposition figure
arrested on coup charges at the weekend.
The suspect, Vahram Baghdasarian, is a senior member of former President Serzh
Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).
Baghdasarian, former National Security Service (NSS) Director Artur Vanetsian
and another man, Ashot Minasian, were charged with plotting to assassinate Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian and overthrow Armenia’s government following the war
with Azerbaijan. They all reject the accusations as politically motivated.
The court refused to allow the NSS to keep Baghdasarian under arrest pending
investigation into the alleged coup plot. Vanetsian was freed by another judge
late on Sunday.
By contrast, Minasian was remanded in pre-trial custody. The NSS claimed on
Saturday to have found large quantities of weapons in a property belonging to
him.
The security service went on to publicize what it described as audio of
Minasian’s wiretapped phone conversations with Baghdasarian and another
oppositionist, during which they blamed Pashinian for the unsuccessful war and
seemingly discussed ways of assassinating him and seizing power.
Speaking shortly after his release, Baghdasarian claimed that the recordings
were doctored and “taken out of context” by investigators.
“I have nothing to hide and made this clear in the court,” he told reporters
before joining another anti-government rally held in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on
later in the day.
The former ruling HHK and Vanetsian’s Hayrenik (Fatherland) party are among 17
opposition groups that launched on November 10 street protests against the terms
of a Russian-mediated ceasefire agreement that stopped the Karabakh war. They
accuse Pashinian of capitulating to Azerbaijan and demand his resignation. The
prime minister has dismissed the accusations.
Armenian Foreign Minister Sacked
RUSSIA -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes his Armenian
counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanian (L) during a meeting in Moscow, October 21, 2020
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said he has decided to sack Foreign Minister
Zohrab Mnatsakanian as the Armenian parliament discussed on Monday his
administration’s handling of the war with Azerbaijan.
Pashinian gave no clear reason for the move as he spoke at an emergency session
of the National Assembly boycotted by opposition lawmakers. He did not say who
will replace Mnatsakanian.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, indicated shortly
afterwards that Mnatsakanian himself has decided to step down. She posted on her
Facebook page a copy of a letter of resignation signed by Mnatsakanian.
Earlier in the afternoon, Naghdalian publicly contradicted Pashinian’s comments
on Shushi (Shusha), Karabakh’s second largest city captured by Azerbaijani
forces during the war stopped by a Russian-mediated ceasefire on November 10.
Speaking at a news conference in the morning, the prime minister claimed that
peace proposals made by U.S., Russian and French mediators in recent years
called for the restoration of Azerbaijani control over Shushi.
“The issue of giving up [Karabakh Armenian control of] Shushi was not raised
during any stage of the peace process,” Naghdalian wrote on Facebook.
Mnatsakanian himself did not immediately comment on his unexpected exit. He
spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone as recently as on
Sunday. They discussed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Mnatsakanian, 54, is a career diplomat whom Pashinian appointed as foreign
minister after coming to power in the “Velvet Revolution” of April-May 2018. He
is the first member of the Armenian government to lose his post after the
six-week war.
The terms of the truce brokered by Moscow sparked street protests in Yerevan,
with Armenian opposition groups accusing Pashinian’s government of capitulating
to Azerbaijan and demanding his resignation. They were due to continue the
protests on Monday.
Pashinian again rejected the opposition demands. Speaking during the
question-and-answer in the parliament, he also skirted a question about the
possibility of snap general elections in the country.
Pashinian Under Fire Over ‘Inflammatory’ Appeal
• Lilit Harutiunian
ARMENIA -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during his address to
the nation in Yerevan, Armenia November 12, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has provoked a storm of criticism and defections
from his political alliance with what critics see as a call for a violent
response to opposition groups demanding his resignation.
In a late-night Facebook post, Pashinian praised Armenian soldiers remaining on
the Nagorno-Karabakh frontlines and voicing vocal support for his administration
amid opposition protests in Yerevan sparked by the outcome of the war with
Azerbaijan.
“Guys, you are right. I am waiting for you in Yerevan,” he wrote, calling on
them to help him “sort out” his “whimpering” detractors.
Opposition and public figures were quick to condemn the statement. Armenia’s
human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, added his voice to the condemnations on
Monday.
Tatoyan noted that in recent days pro-Pashinian combatants, most of them
mobilized army reservists and volunteers, have circulated video messages
containing death threats and hate speech against the prime minister’s political
opponents. Pashinian effectively endorsed those threats with his Facebook
statement, he said.
Armenia -- Deputies from the My Step bloc attend a parliament session in
Yerevan, September 9, 2019.
The statement also prompted three pro-government members of the Armenian
parliament to announce overnight that they will leave Pashinian’s My Step
alliance.
“Our political team is making one mistake after another,” one of the lawmakers,
Taguhi Tovmasian, wrote on Facebook. “Instead of admitting and correcting our
mistakes, mitigating the situation through dialogue and thereby trying to ease
tensions in our country, we are taking steps undermining foundations of the
state.”
Pashinian’s controversial appeal also led to the resignation of Varag Siserian,
the top aide to Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian. Siserian said he has also
decided to terminate his membership in the ruling Civil Contract party, the
dominant component of My Step.
Pashinian responded by accusing critics of misinterpreting his statement.
Speaking at a news conference held on Monday morning, he insisted that he did
not advocate any violent acts and simply wanted to show his appreciation to the
soldiers staunchly supporting his administration.
ARMENIA -- People attend an opposition rally to demand the resignation of
Armenian Prime Minister following the signing of a deal to end the military
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, in Yerevan, November 13, 2020
Pashinian said he plans to meet those servicemen in Yerevan in an effort to end
opposition allegations that his decision to accept a Russian-mediated ceasefire
agreement with Azerbaijan amounted to high treason. “I must also say that nobody
returning from the frontlines with weapons,” he added in that regard.
The premier went on to accuse the Armenian opposition and Tatoyan of not
condemning violent mobs that ransacked government buildings in Yerevan and
severely beat up parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan immediately after the
announcement of the ceasefire agreement early on November 10.
The truce stopped the six-week war during which Azerbaijan made significant
territorial gains in and around Karabakh. It also triggered street protests by
Armenian opposition groups demanding Pashinian’s resignation.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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