Author: Zhanna Nahapetian

                                        Friday, November 3, 2017

Armenia, Azerbaijan Set For More Peace Talks After Summit


 . Tatevik Lazarian


Switzerland - Presidents Serzh Sarkisian (R) of Armenia and Ilham
Aliyev of Azerbaijan begin negotiations in Geneva, 16Oct2017.

A senior official in Yerevan said on Friday that Armenia's and
Azerbaijan's foreign ministers are planning to hold fresh talks on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to try to build on understandings reportedly
reached by their presidents last month.

Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev pledged to intensify the
peace process and bolster the ceasefire regime in the conflict zone
when they met in Geneva on October 16. The U.S., Russian and French
mediators announced in the Swiss city that they will soon hold
follow-up "working sessions" with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.

Mammadyarov said earlier this week that he may meet with Nalbandian in
Moscow on November 16. The Azerbaijani minister is scheduled to meet
with the mediators there on that day. Nalbandian will accompany
Sarkisian on a trip to the Russian capital expected next week.


SWITZERLAND -- Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov,
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian
and Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian pose next to OSCE
delegates at the opening of talks in Geneva, October 16.
Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian confirmed that a
meeting of the two foreign ministers is "planned." "It will be
announced as soon as there is an agreement [on its conduct,]" he told
reporters.

Asked about the possible date and venue of the talks, Kocharian said:
"I can't tell that as long as there is no concrete agreement."

Meeting with young members and supporters of his ruling Republican
Party of Armenia (HHK) last week, Sarkisian said that a peaceful
resolution of the Karabakh dispute could only be "painful" to both
conflicting sides.

Commenting on that remark, Kocharian stressed that the Armenian
president referred to a Karabakh settlement based on mutual
concessions. "If Azerbaijan comes to its senses and if there is really
a compromise solution, then it's only natural that it will be painful
to the parties," he said. "There are no signs of that today, however."

"I will refuse to talk about any compromise because if one side not
only avoids talking about concessions but is also raising the bar,
then it's a grave mistake to talk about Armenian concessions," added
the diplomat.

Speaking right after the Geneva summit, Sarkisian again ruled out any
peace deal that would lead to the restoration of Azerbaijani control
over Karabakh. That statement angered Azerbaijani officials. They
accused the Armenian president of breaching understandings reached
with Aliyev.

Sarkisian shrugged off those accusations. "I have not uttered even
half a word about our conversation [with Aliyev] to anyone," he said
on October 26.



Armenian Ministry Working On `Repatriation' Plan


 . Ruzanna Stepanian


U.S. - Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Diaspora Minister
Hranush Hakobian (L) meet with members of the Armenian community in
Massachussetts, 31Mar2016.

Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobian said on Friday that her ministry
will propose next year a set of government measures to encourage many
ethnic Armenians living abroad to relocate to Armenia.

"We plan preparatory works on repatriation in 2018," Hakobian told
journalists. "We are going to draw up a policy concept, look into
other countries' experience and draft a law on repatriation."

"We have to be able to present Armenia's opportunities: what we can
offer them, what kind of specialists we need to invite," she said. "If
they are the kind of specialists that are needed by Armenia # we have
to think about paying them appropriate wages and creating other
conditions that would attract them. I don't think that patriotism
alone can drive repatriation."

President Serzh Sarkisian made a case for such mass immigration in a
speech delivered at an Armenia-Diaspora conference held in Yerevan in
September. He said it would help the country address its grave
demographic problems and increase its population to 4 million by 2040.

There are an estimated 8 million to 9 million ethnic Armenians around
the world. Only up to 3 million of them live in Armenia. Most of the
others reside in Russia, the United States, Europe and the Middle
East.

Throughout Sarkisian's decade-long rule, scores of Armenia's citizens
have continued to leave their country for primarily economic
reasons. Opposition politicians and other critics of the Armenian
government blame the emigration on what they see as the Sarkisian
administration's failed economic policies and unwillingness to enforce
the rule of law. Not surprisingly, they have dismissed his demographic
target for 2040 as a gimmick.

Hakobian suggested that the extremely ambitious target is based on
"appropriate calculations." She also said that thousands of Armenian
nationals as well as Diaspora Armenians immigrate to Armenia each
year. She further argued that more than 20,000 Syrian nationals of
Armenian origin have taken refuge in their ancestral homeland in the
last few years.

"A few months ago I invited repats to our ministry and 120 of them
came over," the minister said. "I expected to hear criticism and
complaints from them, but to my surprise they all have adapted [to
Armenia] well."

"They were emphasizing that the main advantage of the homeland is that
it's safe here, that their children do not risk drug addiction,
debauchery and other things in our schools," she added.

As well as announcing the planned launch of the immigration promotion
effort, Hakobian noted that she does not know yet whether she will be
reappointed to a new Armenian government that will be formed after
Sarkisian's final presidential term ends in April 2018.



Another Parliament Attack Convict Dies In Armenian Jail


 . Hovannes Movsisian


Armenia - A screenshot of TV footage of gunmen opening fire in the
Armenian parliament on 27 October, 1999.

A fourth person jailed in connection with a deadly 1999 attack on the
Armenian parliament, which plunged the country into a serious
political crisis, has died in prison.

The Armenian Justice Ministry said on Friday that, Eduard Grigorian,
who was serving a life sentence in Yerevan's Nubarashen prison,
complained of chest pains before being rushed to a nearby hospital and
pronounced dead there early in the morning.

Gor Ghlechian, the spokesman for a ministry division managing
Armenia's prisons, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that
relevant authorities will conduct forensic tests to ascertain the
cause of Grigorian's death.

A doctor by training, Grigorian was one of the five gunmen who burst
into the National Assembly and sprayed it with bullets on October 27,
1999. Then Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, parliament speaker Karen
Demirchian and six other officials were killed in the shooting spree
that thrust Armenia's government into turmoil.

The gunmen were led by Nairi Hunanian, an obscure former journalist
who accused the government of corruption and misrule and called for
regime change. They surrendered to police after overnight negotiations
with then President Robert Kocharian.

Several other men were also arrested in the following days. One of
them, Norayr Yeghiazarian, was charged with supplying weapons to the
armed group, which also comprised Hunanian's younger brother Karen and
uncle Vram Galstian.

Yeghiazarian was found dead in pre-trial detention in
2000. Law-enforcement authorities said at the time that Yeghiazarian,
an electrician by profession, accidentally electrocuted himself to
death while using a heating stove in his cell.

Galstian was found hanged in his Nubarashen prison cell in 2004 just
months after an Armenian court sentenced him, the Hunanian brothers
and the two other gunmen to life imprisonment. The prison
administration claimed that he committed suicide.

Another man, Hamlet Stepanian, was sentenced in December 2003 to 14
years in prison on charges of helping the gunmen enter the
parliament. Stepanian suddenly died in prison in 2010 of what
officials called a heart attack.


Armenia -- Former Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian (L) and parliament
speaker Karen Demirchian assassinated in the 1999 attack on
parliament.

Those prison deaths fueled more allegations of a high-level cover-up
of the parliament shootings. Some relatives and supporters of the
assassinated officials still suspect Kocharian and the current
President Serzh Sarkisian (no relation to Vazgen), who was Armenia's
national security minister in October 1999, of masterminding the
killings to eliminate increasingly powerful rivals.

Hunanian insisted throughout his marathon trial that he himself had
decided to seize the parliament and try to topple the government
without anybody's orders. But many in Armenia believe that the
ringleader and his accomplices had powerful sponsors outside the
parliament building.

Ruzan Minasian, a journalist for the "Aravot" daily who covered the
parliament attack trial, described Grigorian as the "ideological
leader" of Hunanian's group. She suggested that the former
pediatrician, who died on Friday, could have shed more light on the
shootings.

"According to the prosecution, Edik Grigorian's role was the same as
Nairi Hunanian's," Minasian said. "But he looked more composed. You
could probably call him their gray cardinal."

A Facebook account opened in Eduard Grigorian's name in 2014 promised
major "revelations" regarding the October 1999 attack. It was disabled
just as mysteriously shortly after attracting Armenian media
attention.

"Maybe he wanted to say something," Minasian told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). "Or maybe he wanted to test our mood. Why
not?"



Armenian, Indian Leaders Discuss Closer Ties


India - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian in New Delhi, 3Nov2017.

President Serzh Sarkisian called for greater Indian investments in
Armenia's economy when he met with India's Prime Minister Narendra
Modi during a visit to New Delhi on Friday.

He was also reported to tell Modi that Armenia is "strongly interested
in deepening relations with India in all areas" and giving new impetus
to "centuries Indian-Armenian friendship."

A statement by Sarkisian's press office also quoted him as saying that
the Armenian government is ready to create "favorable conditions" for
Indian investors. He suggested that they take advantage of a free
economic zone which is due to be created on Armenia's border with Iran
by the end of this year. Indian firms setting up shop there would have
duty-free access to the "huge market" of Russia and other Eurasian
Economic Union (EEU) member states, added Sarkisian.

According to the statement, Modi and Sarkisian discussed possibilities
of "active cooperation" between the two nations in various sectors
such as agriculture, food processing, information technology, tourism
and diamond processing.

On Wednesday, Modi's cabinet approved a draft Indian-Armenian
agreement on "cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters."
"The Agreement will help in the availability of relevant information
for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences," it said in
a statement. "It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure
efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries."

The volume of Armenian-Indian trade is very modest at present.

The Indian ambassador in Yerevan, Yogeshwar Sangwan, described
political ties between the two countries as "excellent" when he spoke
to RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in June. "Even in the area
of defense, we are open to cooperation with Armenia," he said.

An Armenian Defense Ministry delegation visited India in May for talks
with senior Indian defense officials. The ministry said afterwards
that the two sides reached unspecified agreements on
"military-technical" cooperation and joint training programs between
the two militaries.

Modi was cited by the Armenian presidential press office as calling
Armenia India's "reliable and important partner in the Eurasian
region."

India's arch-foe Pakistan staunchly supports Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, refusing to not only establish diplomatic
relations with Armenia but also formally recognize the latter as an
independent state.



Press Review



"Zhamanak" is unconvinced by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's
assurances that his government's draft budget for next year will help
to improve the macroeconomic situation in Armenia. The paper says that
Karapetian's predecessors also made such statements. "Everyone
submitted `development budgets' to the parliament," it says. "It's
just that so far we have only seen economic setbacks or, at best,
stagnation as a result of that `development.'"

"Prime Minister Karen Karapetian agrees with the assertion that Serzh
Sarkisian is irreplaceable as a guarantor of national security,"
writes "Haykakan Zhamanak." "Also, Karen Karapetian aspires to
[retaining] the post of prime minister after April 2018. He made such
statements at his news conference held yesterday. If Karapetian really
thinks that Serzh Sarkisian is irreplaceable as security guarantor,
then he must also say that Sarkisian must be Armenia's next prime
minister. Or else, it would mean that with his readiness to hold on to
the post of prime minister Karapetian puts Armenia's security at
risk."

"Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" reacts to a statement adopted by the
leadership of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
at its latest meeting held in Armenia. "The approximate gist of the
statement was as follows: they are not that happy with the
socioeconomic situation in the country, they will act in an
independent and pro-active manner, and they will not necessarily enter
into [another governing] coalition in April 2018," says the paper. "In
other words, horse trading has begun. True, the emphasis is put on
economic problems, but that is obviously a smokescreen."
Dashnaktsutyun, the paper speculates, is simply setting a very high
price for its acceptance of a possible compromise solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that could be agreed by Sarkisian and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

"Zhoghovurd" notes Sarkisian's remark, made in an interview with a
Russian radio station, that he had "greater expectations" from
Armenia's membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union
(EEU). The paper says neither Sarkisian nor any other Armenian leader
has publicly made such statements before.

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
 Saturday


President Sargsyan congratulates Governor General of Canada


YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
has sent a congratulatory message to Julie Payette on the occasion of
assuming the high and responsible post of Governor General of Canada,
wished her good health and future success, and peace and welfare to
the friendly people of Canada.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian
President’s Office, Serzh Sargsyan stressed that during the past
quarter century Armenia and Canada succeeded to establish friendly
relations and high level partnership based on the mutual respect and
trust of the two peoples.

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                                        Friday, 

Armenia-Kurdistan Flights Continue For Now


 . Ruzanna Stepanian


Iraq -- Vehicles drive out of the Irbil International Airport,
November 23, 2015

Weekly flights from Armenia to Iraq's Kurdistan region continued on
Friday despite the Iraqi authorities' decision to close the region's
airspace to foreign airlines in retaliation for its vote for
independence.

A plane belonging to a private Armenian airline flew from Yerevan to
Kurdistan's capital Erbil just hours before the ban imposed by Baghdad
was due to come into effect.

The ban followed the Kurdistan Regional Government's refusal to hand
over control over the airports in Erbil and another regional city,
Sulaimaniya. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority sent a notice to
foreign airlines telling them that international flights to both
cities will be suspended at 1500 GMT on Friday and only domestic
flights will be allowed.

The Yerevan-Erbil flights operated by an Iraqi company were carried on
Saturdays. According to the Armenia Airline carrier, the latest flight
was brought forward by one day at the request of its Iraqi partner.

The airline's deputy director, Gevorg Khachatrian, said the company
has no plans yet to suspend the service. "We have received no
notifications, and as of now there are no changes in our flight
schedule," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Armenia's Directorate General on Civil Aviation did not clarify
whether it will order the company to suspend the flights. "If the
airspace is closed, we will obviously decide whether or not to
continue the flights," said a spokeswoman for the government agency.

Neighboring Iran and Turkey have already said that the will comply
with Baghdad's ban on flights to and from Kurdistan. Reuters reported
that as of Friday morning two European carriers, Lufthansa and
Austrian Airlines, kept at least one flight still scheduled after the
deadline.

Iraq's Kurds overwhelmingly voted for their autonomous region's
independence on Monday in a referendum strongly condemned by the Iraqi
central government as well as Iran and Turkey.

Armenia reacted cautiously to the referendum. Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian expressed hope on Wednesday that Kurdistan and Baghdad
"will avoid tension and find ways of solving existing issues."

Yerevan has maintained cordial relations with both sides. It formally
decided to open an Armenian consulate general in Erbil in March
shortly after Nalbandian held fresh talks with Massoud Barzani, the
Iraqi Kurdish president, in Germany.

Armenia's trade with the Kurdish region and other parts of Iraq has
grown considerably in recent years. Armenian exports to the Middle
Eastern nation account for the bulk of bilateral trade which stood at
$138 million last year.



Turkish Intellectuals Risk Arrest After Trip To Karabakh


Armenia - Turkish intellectuals (left to right) Erol Katircioglu, Sait
Cetinoglu, Ali Bayramoglu and Ufuk Uras at a news conference in
Yerevan, 21Sep2017.

Authorities in Azerbaijan have issued an international arrest warrant
for four prominent Turkish intellectuals who visited Nagorno-Karabakh
last week.

Former Turkish parliamentarian Ufuk Uras, writer and political
commentator Ali Bayramoglu and two scholars, Sait Cetinoglu and Erol
Katircioglu, travelled to Karabakh via Armenia on a trip organized by
a Yerevan-based group called the National Congress of Western
Armenians.

They met with Karen Mirzoyan, the Karabakh foreign minister until this
week, in Stepanakert on September 22. Mirzoyan's press office said he
briefed them on "the history and origins" of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict and the Karabakh Armenian leadership's efforts to resolve it.

Azerbaijan's Office of the Prosecutor-General said late on Thursday
that the Turks illegally crossed Azerbaijan's internationally
recognized border and will be prosecuted under a corresponding article
of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code. It said it has asked Turkish
law-enforcement authorities to arrest and extradite them to Baku.

The Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan, Erkan Ozoral, strongly condemned
the trip on Friday. But he did not explicitly say whether Uras,
Bayramoglu, Cetinoglu and Katircioglu will be arrested in Turkey. "We
respect the legal system," Ozoral told the Azerbaijani APA news
agency.

Successive Turkish governments have strongly and unconditionally
backed Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict. Turkish Defense Minister
Nurettin Canikli reaffirmed that stance and called for "the liberation
of Karabakh" on Thursday when he visited Azerbaijan to attend joint
exercises held by the air forces of the two Turkic states.

Baku similarly issued international arrest warrants for three
pro-Armenian members of the European Parliament who travelled to
Karabakh and monitored a constitutional referendum held there in
February. None of them has since been arrested.

The three lawmakers -- Frank Engel of Luxembourg, Eleni Theocharous of
Cyprus and the Czech Republic's Jaromir Stetina -- had already been
declared personae non grata in Azerbaijan because of their previous
trips to the Armenian-populated territory. The Azerbaijani government
has also blacklisted more than 600 other non-Armenian foreigners for
the same reason.

Earlier in February, Belarus controversially handed over to Azerbaijan
Alexander Lapshin, a Russian-Israeli blogger detained in Minsk in
December. An Azerbaijani court sentenced Lapshin three years in prison
in July. He was pardoned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and set
free on September 14. The blogger called for continued Armenian
control over Karabakh the following day.



First Major Solar Plant Built In Armenia


Armenia - A newly built solar power plant in Tsaghkadzor, 29Sep2017.

Armenia's first-ever major solar power plant went on stream on Friday,
with a senior government official predicting the country's growing
reliance on renewable sources of energy.

The 0.5-megawatt plant has been built by a private company, Energo
Invest Holding, in Tsaghkadzor, a resort town 60 kilometers north of
Yerevan.

"Today is a historic day for Armenia as the first solar power plant
has been connected to Armenia's electricity networks," the Armenpress
news agency quoted Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures Hayk
Harutiunian as saying at the inauguration ceremony.

Harutiunian said 11 more such facilities with a combined capacity of
10 megawatts will be constructed in the country by 2019. "Besides, we
are holding a tender for the construction of a big solar plant with a
55-megawatt capacity," he added, according to the ARKA news agency.

Solar and wind power currently make up only a tiny share of
electricity produced in Armenia. The Armenian government has declared
the spread of these renewable sources of energy a priority.

In July, Prime Minister Karen Karapetian attended the official opening
of Armenia's first factory manufacturing solar panels used for power
generation. The government exempted equipment and raw materials
imported by its private owner from customs duties earlier this year.

The Tsaghkadzor plant is equipped with German-made solar
panels. Energo Invest Holding claims to have invested about $500,000
in its construction.

"This is a pilot project," a senior Energo Invest executive, Liana
Lobasian, told reporters. She said her company plans to build larger
solar plants that will absorb "large-scale investments."

Energo Invest is part of the Tashir Group of Samvel Karapetian, a
Russian-Armenian billionaire businessman. The Russian-headquartered
business conglomerate owns Armenia's national electric utility and
largest thermal power plant. It is also expected to start managing
soon country's state-owned power transmission network.

Karapetian was the driving force behind the recent creation by three
dozen Russian businesspeople of Armenian descent of a
multimillion-dollar investment fund that pledged to finance various
business projects in Armenia. The fund is said to be particularly
interested in hydropower and solar energy.



Press Review



"Zhoghovurd" says that the head of the European Union Delegation in
Yerevan, Piotr Switalski, may again find himself at loggerheads with
the Armenian authorities following his latest statements on changes
which they need to make in order to make Armenians eligible for
visa-travel to the EU. The paper claims that Switalski referred not so
much to visa-related changes as broader reforms needed in Armenia.

"Haykakan Zhamanak" reports and comments on a government forecast that
economic growth in Armenia will reach 4.5 percent next year. The
government expects economic recovery in Russia and higher
international prices of copper will contribute to that growth. "That
our economy and the population's living standards are painfully
dependent on the copper price and remittances from our compatriots
working abroad is not a revelation," the paper says. "All we have to
clarify is what depends on our government."

"Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" reports that a new government bill on freedom
of information has provoked strong criticism from Armenian journalists
and non-governmental organizations. The paper says that the Justice
Ministry, which drafted the bill, appears to be postponing its
submission to the government and the National Assembly for
approval. It says ministry officials have so far been unable to make
it more acceptable to the critics in line with an instruction issued
by Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian.

"Hraparak" says that President Serzh Sarkisian's decision to pardon
Vazgen Khachikian, the former head of Armenia's state pension fund who
was jailed for corruption in 2012, has not gone down well with many
people. "The extent of criticism and resentment is so high that even
sensible people did not dare to counter that at least this plunderer
spent five years in jail," the paper says. "There are so many
plunderers that remain at large, occupy posts, wreak havoc on the
state budget and get away with that."

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org