Category: 2018

USA: The time has come for the parties to the Karabakh conflict to renounce mutual accusations and reproaches and start preparing the population for peace

Emma Jilavian
Arminfo, Armenia
Nov 9 2018
USA: The time has come for the parties to the Karabakh conflict to renounce mutual accusations and reproaches and start preparing the population for peace

 Yerevan November 9

Marianna Mkrtchyan.Response to the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on the Conflict Dealt With by the OSCE Minsk Conference, and to the Head of the OSCE High Level Planning Group As delivered by Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Macris to the Permanent Council, Vienna November 8, 2018 The United States welcomes the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, together with the Chairmanship's Personal Representative, to the Permanent Council.

As a Co-Chair country, the United States reiterates our strong support for your work, and we appreciate your steadfast engagement with the sides to advance a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We thank all of you, including the head of the High Level Planning Group, for your astute reports and updates. The United States is encouraged by recent constructive contacts by the sides at the levels of heads of state and foreign ministers. These contacts appear to be paying direct and positive dividends. All three Co-Chairs and the CiO's Personal Representative reported today a decrease in violence along the Line of Contact and in conflict-affected areas over the past two months. The sides should seize the opportunity this opening presents and find ways to move the settlement process forward. The Co-Chairs suggested a number of actions the sides can take to further reduce tensions and improve communication. The United States supports these recommendations. Likewise, the United States supports measures to reduce tensions along the Line of Contact such as expanding the monitoring capacity of the CiO's Personal Representative and establishing an investigative mechanism. The United States believes that a meeting between the Foreign Ministers can bring renewed impetus to the discussions on the implementation of these measures. Mr. Chair, this conflict has gone on far too long. It is time for the sides to refrain from mutual accusations and recriminations and prepare their populations for peace. The United States supports confidence-building measures and increased dialogue between Armenians and Azerbaijanis that can stabilize the security situation and create a more constructive atmosphere for negotiations. Those participating in dialogue must be able to do so freely, without fear of harassment or recrimination when they return home. We attach great importance to resolving conflicts in the OSCE area, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the strong engagement of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. That is why the United States has sent high-level envoys such as National Security Advisor John Bolton and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent to Armenia and Azerbaijan in recent weeks. Ambassador Kasprzyk, we welcome your assessment of the situation on the ground, and the efforts of your team to promote transparency and confidence among the sides. This work is indispensable and has our full support. We appreciate your close collaboration with the Italian Chair in supporting the Co-Chairs' mediation efforts and stabilizing the situation on the ground. The United States shares the view that there can be no military solution to this conflict. The status quo is unacceptable. The United States is committed to working with the sides to find a lasting and peaceful resolution, one based on the principles shared by participating States of non-use of force, territorial integrity, and equal rights and self-determination of peoples, as embraced in the Helsinki Final Act.

Pashinyan: We do not intend to artificially create an opposition the opposition must create itself

Suren Karakhanian
Arminfo, Armenia
Nov 9 2018
Pashinyan: We do not intend to artificially create an opposition the opposition must create itself

Yerevan November 9

Tatevik Shahunyan. Democratization of Armenia has no way back. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Astana.

"There can be no dictatorship in Armenia. The media of the republic have never been so free as now. The revolution also occurred in people's minds, they rethought their role, their relationship. The fact that foreigners in Armenia are most surprised at people is they get the impression that we are all one family. And this is the most important change after the revolution. The people rebelled against authoritarianism, oligarchy, and will no longer allow their restoration'', Pashinyan said.

He stressed that the pseudo-opposition was the most destructive phenomenon for the political system of Armenia. "I think this phenomenon began in 1998. But we will not follow this path. We do not intend to artificially create an opposition the opposition must create itself. During the upcoming elections, the people will decide who the opposition is, who is the power ", Pashinyan concluded.

Head of Ministry of Labor and Social Development: Medical care for Armenian pensioners will be provided within the framework of the introduction of Compulsory Medical Insurance s

Aram Torosian
Arminfo, Armenia
Nov 9 2018
Head of Ministry of Labor and Social Development: Medical care for Armenian pensioners will be provided within the framework of the introduction of Compulsory Medical Insurance s

Yerevan November 9

Naira Badalian. The issue of providing high-quality medical services to retirees can be resolved as part of the introduction of Compulsory Medical Insurance s. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia Mane Tindilian stated this at a press conference on November 9.

According to her, no matter how much the pension rises, she will not be able to provide them with the right to use the whole range of necessary medical services. Thus, according to the head of the social department, the issue will be resolved only after the final implementation of the medical insurance system. To note the process of phased introduction of the Compulsory Medical Insurance system started in Armenia on October 1, 2017, and state employees became the beneficiaries of the first stage of the social package.

However, on November 7, Acting Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan stated that the Compulsory Medical Insurance ssystem in Armenia can be implemented within 3-4 years. According to him, at present the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Armenia is preparing a legal framework for the introduction of the new system.

The system will be regulated by the National Fund, which will issue insurance policies. "The state is interested in ensuring that citizens are healthy and apply for medical assistance as little as possible. The state apparatus does not depend on insurance payments, while the revenue of private companies is directly related to insurance policies and the number of patients (the more, the better)" noted Arsen Torosyan. At the same time, if there is a single insurance agency, it will be possible to save on administrative expenses, which will not exceed 2% of the total budget. At the same time the Minister stressed that at present there are discussions on the question of who will be the beneficiary of the future system, all working or all citizens of the country, including children and pensioners. However, today the question remains with non-working citizens, as well as pensioners and children, since the budget is not able to take on additional burdens. Earlier, the former Minister of Healthcare Levon Altunyan stated that according to preliminary expert calculations, the compulsory health insurance policy for working citizens of Armenia who are not state employees and are not listed in the lists of the most needy citizens of the ''Paros ''social program montly will cost 6 thousand drams – sh –


Pensioners in Armenia will be able to attend plays and concerts for free

Lara Chatinian
Arminfo, Armenia
Nov 9 2018
Pensioners in Armenia will be able to attend plays and concerts for free

Yerevan November 9

Naira Badalian. Pensioners in Armenia will be able to attend plays and concerts for free. The interdepartmental agreement on the launch of the relevant program was signed on November 9th and the Acting Minister of Culture of Armenia Lilit Makunts and Acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mane Tandilian. According to Makunts, during her trips abroad, she noticed that there – abroad, it was people of retirement age who enjoyed all the benefits of life. "It is retirees who travel the most, attend cultural events, especially in European countries," she said.

The idea, within the framework of available financial resources, to provide a similar opportunity to Armenian pensioners, also inspired the head of the ministry of labor and labor, Mane Tandilyan. Heads of cultural institutions also gladly agreed to provide a certain number of tickets from each event. The number of tickets can vary from 2.5% to 20% of the seats in the hall. According to estimates, about 2 thousand pensioners can use the program monthly. Distribution of tickets between pensioners will be engaged Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

To note, as of January 1, 2018, there are 455,609 pensioners in Armenia, instead of last year's figure of 462,754 people. – sh-

Klintsevich: The United States will try to "sell a pup" countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine old but robust weapon

Babken Chilingarian
Arminfo, Armenia
Nov 9 2018
Klintsevich: The United States will try to "sell a pup" countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine old but robust weapon

Yerevan November 9

Marianna Mkrtchyan. I do not think that the United States will sell weapons to Armenia and Azerbaijan, but will carry on a conversation. This opinion on November 9 during a video bridge Yerevan-Moscow-Tallinn was declared by Member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security. Frants Klintsevich.Frants Klintsevich, referring to the prospects for selling arms to Washington Yerevan and Baku.

Klintsevich believes that in the current realities of the United States, the goal is to bring discord between Russia and its partners in the region. In this context, he recalled that Russia has repeatedly stressed that Armenia is one of the friendliest countries in the post-Soviet space, and has never betrayed it. "I don't think that the United States will sell weapons to Armenia and Azerbaijan, but they will have conversations, as this is an extremely difficult issue related to our neighbors and Russia. It is unlikely Russia will agree with this provocation. But the United States sees money in everything, therefore trying to''sell a pup'' in countries like Armenia, Azerbaijan, to Ukraine old but robust weapon, so as not to perish", he said, adding that the first attempt at writing was made, and now there will be monitoring of opinions.

In conclusion, the MP added that the United States would speculate on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to harm Russia.

To note during the visit to Yerevan, Trump's adviser on national security, referring to the possible sale of American weapons to Azerbaijan, in particular, said: "I cannot predict what the decision will be on increasing the sale of weapons. But the situation is that Armenia's most of its weapons are purchased from Russia; Azerbaijan also purchases more than 80% from the Russian Federation. This circumstance certainly does not contribute to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This fact provides a serious tool to influence the parties and does not lead to peace. We, the Americans, believe that competitiveness is the driving force. "And our weapons, in any case, are better than the Russian ones. And I believe that we should study this issue within the framework of our laws".

Russian senator pledged support to Armenia in case of US pressure on relations with Iran

Zhanna Nahapetian
Arminfo, Armenia
Nov 9 2018
Russian senator pledged support to Armenia in case of US pressure on relations with Iran

Yerevan November 9

Marianna Mkrtchyan. Permissiveness and absolute voluntarism, which the United States has demonstrated for a long time already needs to be completed, it is necessary to live within the framework of international law. On November 9, during a video bridge Yerevan-Moscow-Tallinn, Member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Frants Klintsevich, said on November 9 when answering ArmInfo's question about possible US pressure on Armenia over Iran.

"Any sovereign country, such as Armenia, has the right to be friends and have relations with those with whom it considers necessary. And no one should blame anyone in this regard. The policy pursued by the United States according to the principle is Washington's opinion, and there is a wrong opinion " it's necessary to finish it for a long time. I don't think that Armenia needs to worry much, although the pressure will be very serious and it's impossible not to take it into account. But there is also Russia – her support and her word. We must bear this in mind" -, the Russian senator said.

To note On November 5, new US sanctions against Iran entered into force. Sanctions will cover oil exports. Washington has previously announced a goal to bring exports of Iranian oil to zero and encouraged its buyers to abandon procurement. On Monday, the Finance Ministry announced that the United States will add more than 700 individuals, organizations, aircraft and ships of Iran on the sanctions list.

To recall, US President Donald Trump announced in May that Washington was withdrawing from an agreement on nuclear program with Iran. He also reported on the sanctions against Iran, including secondary ones, that is, against other countries doing business with Iran. The United States re-introduced part of the sanctions against Iran on August 7. More substantial sanctions, which will cover oil exports, entered into force on 5 November. Iran and the "six" international mediators (Russia, USA, Britain, China, France, Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached a historic agreement on resolving the perennial problem of the Iranian atom: the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan was adopted, the implementation of which would result in cancelation of previous economic and financial sanctions by the UN Security Council, the United States and the European Union.

Yerevan, Baku make conflicting statements on prisoner swap proposal

Emil Karabekian
BBC Monitoring, UK
Nov 9 2018
Yerevan, Baku make conflicting statements on prisoner swap proposal

By BBC Monitoring

Armenia and Azerbaijan have made conflicting statements on the proposed prisoner swap between the sides. Azerbaijan said it made the "humane proposal" rejected by Armenia and the latter said that there had been no such proposal from Azerbaijan and that there were no prisoners in Armenia or Karabakh.

Baku's 'humane proposal'

On 1 November, Azerbaijan's state-owned news agency Azartac reported that the country's State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons held a meeting, where its chairman Madat Quliyev said that Yerevan had not responded to Baku's "humane proposal", which implied releasing under the "all-for-all" principle persons currently held by Azerbaijan and Armenia and registered with the Red Cross. The move was said to also imply persons, who could be detained in the future, proposing to hand them over to the sides within a short period of time.

On 2 November, the Azerbaijani privately-owned pro-government website Haqqin.az quoted Ismayil Axundov, a senior official with the state commission, as saying that each party to the conflict currently had three people from the opposing side.

The report cited the commission as saying that Azerbaijan had sentenced two detained Armenian soldiers – Arsen Baghdasarov and Karen Ghazaryan – to prison terms after finding them guilty of crimes against Azerbaijani citizens. As regards yet another Armenian, called Zaven Karapetyan, his investigation has been completed and handed over to a court, the report said.

It added that the Armenian military held three Azerbaijani hostages – Dilqam Asgarov, Sahbaz Quliyev, and Elcin Huseynzada.

Yerevan says no proposal from Baku

However, Armenia denied receiving an "all-for-all" prisoner swap proposal from Azerbaijan, the Aysor.am news website reported.

On 6 November, Yerevan-based News.am quoted acting Armenian Defence Minister David Tonoyan as denying that Yerevan had received an official prisoner swap proposal from Azerbaijan. He said he had learnt about it from the media and added that there were no prisoners of war in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that the issue could be discussed if prisoners of war appeared in Armenia or Karabakh.

"This is an absolute lie. We have not received a proposal like that," the report quoted Gabriel Balayan, Armenia's acting deputy defence minister, as telling reporters on 8 November.

Balayan added that such proposals normally came in via the Red Cross. He also denied that there were any prisoners of war in his country or in Azerbaijan's Armenian-held breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"I cannot even imagine what this is all about, given the fact that there are no prisoners of war in Armenia or Artsakh [Karabakh]. We work openly. If there was an initiative like that from Azerbaijan, I believe that the Red Cross, which is in good control of the situation, realises that it is meant for domestic consumption, and there are no real grounds for it," he said.

Baku says proposal made in 2016

On 6 November, Azartac said the state commission released a statement to respond to Tonoyan. The commission said it had sent a letter to the Red Cross on 29 April 2016, proposing that an agreement be drafted on the immediate return of persons held by both sides and the return in the future, within no later than three days, of persons held hostage and corpses. The statement said the Red Cross forwarded the proposal to Armenia and work was being done on a draft agreement.

Also, the state commission was said to have met in Baku in 2017 and 2018 with an international working group for searching for missing persons and releasing prisoners of war and hostages in the Karabakh conflict zone. The two sides discussed a speedy release of persons held by the parties under the "all-for-all" principle. The co-chairs of the working group, who visited Armenia and Karabakh, delivered the proposal to Armenia's relevant agencies over the past two years and it was discussed, the commission said.

The co-chairs of the working group phoned the Azerbaijani state commission to tell it that they planned meetings with the relevant state commissions of both countries to be held in Georgia's Tbilisi in November 2018 to coordinate topics to be discussed. The Azerbaijan commission told the co-chairs that it was ready for the meeting provided the main question to be discussed would be a speedy release of persons currently held by the sides.

CSTO blocks Armenia chairmanship after row with Russia

Vardan Badalian
BBC Monitoring, UK
Nov 9 2018
CSTO blocks Armenia chairmanship after row with Russia

By BBC Monitoring

The Russia-led CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) military alliance appears to have blocked Armenian attempts to appoint another chairman after the country's previous occupant of the rotating post was dismissed.

Russian business daily RBC said on 8 November that Armenia had hoped the alliance would appoint another representative of the country as its next secretary-general after Yerevan recalled Yuri Khachaturov in a move that angered Moscow. The country's 3-year rotating chairmanship is due to run out at the end of 2019.

"Of course Armenia wants an extension. All the heads of state have said that there is only one year left [in Armenia's term] and he [a new Armenian secretary-general] will not manage to visit all these countries. Therefore we need the next secretary-general to be a proper active one, from Belarus… According to our charter, in alphabetical order the next after Armenia is Belarus," Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a summit of the bloc in Astana, Interfax news agency reported on 8 November.

Following Khachaturov's dismissal, his deputy, Russia's Valery Semerikov, was appointed as the bloc's acting secretary-general.

"A significant amount of time has been set aside for the issue of choosing a new CSTO secretary-general. The heads of state have agreed to make a final decision on the matter in St Petersburg on 6 December," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, as quoted by Interfax on 8 October.

Another CSTO summit is expected to take place in St Petersburg on that date, Peskov confirmed.

In July, Armenia called for Khachaturov to be removed from the CSTO post after he was charged with "overthrowing the constitutional order" in connection with the violent suppression of mass protests against the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.

Official results handed victory to the then President, Serzh Sargsyan, but prompted allegations of vote-rigging from the opposition. At the time, Khachaturov was a commander of the Yerevan military garrison.

In August, influential business paper Kommersant suggested that Armenia's decision to open court proceedings against Khachaturov had caused Russian authorities "particular irritation".

The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Pashinyan’s political opponents accuse him of weakening Armenia’s positions at CSTO

Ani Tigranian
Interfax – Kazakhstan General Newswire
November 9, 2018 Friday 3:45 PM MSK
Pashinyan's political opponents accuse him of weakening Armenia's positions at CSTO
 
YEREVAN. Nov 9
 
It is a failure that an Armenian representative was not appointed to the post of secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), said Eduard Sharmazanov, the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament and the press secretary for ex-president Serzh Sargsyan's Republican Party.
 
"November 8 has passed, and Armenia does not have a secretary general in the CSTO. One thing is clear: Armenia has been consistently giving up its security positions under the rule of Nikol Pashinyan. Moreover, it has already been announced that Belarus will take over this position. This is yet another obvious failure of Pashinyan's government," Sharmazanov said on Friday.
 
Pashinyan will proceed to a new stage in the fight against corruption to conceal his failure, he said.
 
"Mr. Prime Minister, one needs to fight corruption and lawlessness, but not at the expense of the security of Armenia and Artsakh [the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic]. And yes, what's more, [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev has again started talking about the return of some territories, about how Armenia should make concessions, how Artsakh belongs to Azerbaijan. I was waiting for a response from you but got silence instead of strong words," Sharmazanov said.
 
The strengthening of security and a resolution of the Karabakh issue favorable for the Armenian side remain the challenges Armenia needs to tackle, he said.
 
On Thursday, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the CSTO summit that under the organization's charter, the next secretary general should be elected from Belarus.
 
The position became vacant when Armenia recalled his representative Yury Khachaturov, who held the post for a year and a half out of the three envisaged in the charter. Russian representative Valery Semerikov, Khachaturov's deputy, was appointed acting secretary general.
 
In July, a first-instance court in Yerevan ruled to arrest Khachaturov on charges of overthrowing the country's constitutional order in 2008 and subsequently agreed to release him on bail.
 
On Thursday, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said that no decision regarding the position had been made at the CSTO summit in Astana and that Semerikov would retain this post.
 
"They will decide a little later," Patrushev told journalists on Thursday.
 
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists, "A significant amount of time was devoted to the issue of selecting a candidate for CSTO secretary general. The heads of state and government agreed to make the relevant final decision in St. Petersburg on December 6."
 
The CSTO member states are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

"Killing Orders": Clark University professor discusses Armenian Genocide

Emil Lazarian
The Gatepost: Framingham State College
November 9, 2018 Friday
"Killing Orders": Clark University professor discusses Armenian Genocide
 
by  Gordon Rupert
 
These writings have been discredited by the Turkish government because there is no copy of the original documents, and they argued there was never a bureaucrat named Naim Efendi. This claim was considered valid by many academics for years.
 
Akcam said Andonian moved to Paris after WWI to be part of the Armenian Tribunal in 1921, where he became the curator of a museum, in which his documents were placed and have since been lost.
 
There is still, however, one record of these documents that is known.
 
In the 1960s, an Armenian Orthodox priest by the name of Krikor Guerguerian was allowed access to the restricted section of the museum, where the documents were stored. He brought a camera hidden under his robes and recorded Andonian's collection of documents, Akcam said.
 
This recording ended up in the hands of Guerguerian's nephew, who moved to New York, and was kept from the public for years.
 
In 2015, Akcam gave him a call.
 
After more than 50 years, the video of these documents was released to someone who could make sense of them.
 
In the documents, Akcam found encoded messages sent within the Turkish army, talking openly about the murder and displacement of Armenians. When these were denied by the Turkish government as false codes, Akcam found the original codebooks from the years the genocide happened, several of which were released by the Turkish government, Akcam said.
 
Junior Natalie Chaprazian, an FSU student of Armenian heritage, said, "I've never been to something like this before where they have documentation proving it. We don't talk about documentation in the Armenian community because we know it happened. You don't need documentation like that. You have family that went through that. They have stories that were passed down. It's hard to see things like, 'Go hunt. Go kill,' because that's your history."
 
Akcam said he plans to release all of the documentation he found onto the internet later this year.
 
When asked about future plans, he said, "There won't be any other big documents or discoveries. We have more direct evidence in the Armenian Genocide case than the Holocaust. We don't have so many direct killing orders in the Holocaust. In the Armenian case, we have several direct telegrams that include direct killing orders."