Monday,
Turkish-Armenian Talks Due To Start In Moscow
• Tatevik Sargsian
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu attends a news conference with his Lebanese
counterpart in Beirut
Special envoys named by Armenia and Turkey will likely hold their first meeting
in Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.
The envoys were appointed earlier this month after the governments of the two
neighboring states said they will try to normalize bilateral relations.
Ankara will be represented in the upcoming talks by Serdar Kilic, an experienced
diplomat who served as Turkey’s ambassador to the United States from 2014-2021.
Kilic’s 31-year-old Armenian counterpart, Ruben Rubinian, is a deputy speaker of
the Armenian parliament.
“It seems to us that the first meeting of the negotiators will take place in
Moscow,” Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara. “The Armenian side has
expressed such a desire.”
“We want the two sides to have direct contacts before the meeting. The envoys
were appointed for a direct dialogue,” he said, adding that they should work out
a “roadmap” to a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Vahan Hunanian, said in this regard
that the two sides are discussing the possibility of holding the first round of
Turkish-Armenian talks in Moscow. No date has been set for the talks yet,
Hunanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Russia as well as the United States have welcomed the announcement of
Turkish-Armenian normalization talks. Yerevan asked Moscow last month to assist
in that dialogue.
Ankara has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan
and kept the Turkish-Armenian border closed out of solidarity with Azerbaijan.
It provided decisive military support to Baku during last year’s
Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
In recent months Turkish leaders have made statements making the normalization
of Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on Armenia agreeing to open a land
corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. They have
also cited Baku’s demands for a formal Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani
sovereignty over Karabakh.
Cavusoglu reiterated on Monday that Ankara will continue to coordinate its
Armenian policy with Baku.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained last month that the Turks
are setting “new preconditions” for establishing diplomatic relations and
opening the border with Armenia. His spokesman insisted afterwards that Yerevan
continues to stand for “normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions.”
Kocharian Remains Cautious About Anti-Government Protests
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian gives a press conference in
Yerevan, .
Former President Robert Kocharian said on Monday that it is still too early to
try to topple Armenia’s government with streets protests that were promised by
his opposition alliance this fall.
Speaking at a yearend news conference in Yerevan, Kocharian also denounced the
government’s “utter failures” in all key policy areas and the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in particular. He joined in the chorus of condemnation aimed at Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest statements on the conflict.
“It is clear that if the prime minister says that since 2016 there has not been
even a theoretical chance of Karabakh obtaining a status outside Azerbaijan then
this is the position of Armenia,” he said. “This means that Armenia has washed
its hands of Karabakh.”
Kocharian’s Hayastan alliance and other opposition groups blame Pashinian for
Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war with Azerbaijan that left at least 3,800
Armenian soldiers dead. The prime minister again charged late last week that the
six-week war was the result of peace talks mishandled by former Armenian leaders.
Kocharian pledged to bring down Pashinian’s government “through barricades or
elections” when Hayastan launched last month what it called a “nationwide
resistance” campaign with a rally in Yerevan. The bloc, which has emerged as the
country’s leading opposition force, has staged no further protests since then.
Armenia - Supporters of former President Robert Kocharian and his opposition
alliance attend an election campaign rally in Yerevan, June 18, 2021.
The ex-president said on Monday that despite what he sees as a sharp drop in
Pashinian’s approval ratings Armenians are still not willing to attend
anti-government demonstrations in very large numbers.
“According to our estimates, that drop in the approval rating has not yet
translated into a mass readiness for an active struggle in the streets,” he told
reporters. “We believe that these people [led by Pashinian] will not give up
power willingly. It will take mass street protests to oust them. Not [protests
attended] by five, six or ten thousand people but mass protests.”
“We don’t see that conditions are ripe for that today,” Kocharian went on. “And
this disappoints some of our supporters, who are ready for that struggle. They
are ready to fight, stage sit-ins, do everything. But we cannot lead those
people to such upheavals unprepared.”
“We are preparing for those mass protests. We are on that path,” he said,
hinting that the launch of a protest movement is a matter of months.
Kocharian admitted that some Armenians have also lost faith in the opposition
since the June parliamentary elections won by the ruling Civil Contract party.
“We just think -- and we hope -- that our approval ratings can recover,” he
said, adding that Pashinian’s falling popularity is irreversible.
Pashinian’s party won the snap elections with almost 54 percent of the vote,
according to their official results. Hayastan came in a distant second with 21
percent.
Karabakh Leadership Rejects Pashinian’s ‘Pro-Azeri’ Statements
Nagorno-Karabakh - The main government buildings in Stepanakert, September 7,
2019.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership has openly criticized Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian for making statements which his political opponents say
play into Azerbaijan’s hands.
In televised remarks aired late on Friday, Pashinian again blamed Armenia’s
former leaders for last year’s war over Karabakh won by Azerbaijan. He said it
was the result of their mishandling of protracted peace talks with Baku.
He reiterated his criticism of peace plans drawn up by the U.S., Russian and
French mediators since 2016. He claimed that they envisaged the eventual
restoration of Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.
Pashinian further declared that “Artsakh (Karabakh) could not have ended up
being completely Armenian.” “It was obvious during those negotiations that
Artsakh is going to have both Armenian and Azerbaijani populations,” he said.
Opposition politicians in Armenia were quick to denounce the remarks. They
claimed that Pashinian is not only trying to dodge responsibility for the
disastrous war but also preparing the ground for Karabakh’s return under
Azerbaijani rule.
Ara Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, also took issue with the remarks in
rare public criticism of Pashinian.
“The people and the authorities of Artsakh will never accept any status [of
autonomy] within Azerbaijan,” Harutiunian wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “There
can be no return to the past in terms of not only status but also demography.”
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with Karabakh President Arayik
Harutiunian in Yerevan, November 3, 2021.
He stressed that only the authorities in Stepanakert can speak for the
territory’s predominantly Armenian population.
The Karabakh parliament expressed outrage at Pashinian’s statements in a
statement unanimously adopted on Monday. It accused the Armenian premier of
“distorting the essence” of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and calling into
question the very “existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”
The statement also insisted that peace proposals made by the U.S., Russian and
French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in recent years upheld the Karabakh
Armenians’ right to self-determination.
Pashinian rejected the unprecedented criticism in two lengthy Facebook posts.
Pashinian began criticizing the mediators’ peace plans shortly after the
six-week war stopped by Russia in November 2020. In a January 2021 article, he
claimed that their most recent version amounted to a proposed “surrender of
lands” to Azerbaijan “in return for nothing.” The then Russian co-chair of the
Minsk Group, Igor Popov, bluntly denied that.
NAGORNO KARABAKH -- Teenagers sit near the 'We are our Montains' monument in
Stepanakert, January 15, 2021
Pashinian and his political allies made more such claims in the following
months. In particular, parliament speaker Alen Simonian last month described as
pro-Azerbaijani a peace accord that was drafted by the mediators and reportedly
promoted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 2016.
A Russian Foreign Ministry official hit back at Simonian early this month. The
official argued that the proposed deal stipulated that Karabakh’s
internationally recognized status would be determined through a future
referendum and envisaged firm security guarantees for its population.
“Once again compare those proposals of the co-chairs with the current situation
and draw conclusions,” the official added, alluding to sweeping Armenian
territorial losses suffered as a result of the war.
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.
Category: 2021
The California Courier Online, December 30, 2021
1- Patriarch of Istanbul Spreads Falsehoods
About Covid, Under the Guise of Religion
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Letter to the Editor
3- In The Land of Make-Believe:
Mehmet Reveals Erdogan’s New Year’s Resolution
4- Reflecting On The Life Of Humility: Deacon Hrair & Anoush Dekemejians
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
************************************************************************************************************************************************
1- Patriarch of Istanbul Spreads Falsehoods
About Covid, Under the Guise of Religion
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
In October 2021, the Patriarch of Istanbul, Sahag Mashalian, delivered
at the Holy Hovhannes Church in the Kumkape district of Istanbul a
very strange sermon full of conspiracies and fear-mongering
statements. His anti-scientific and irresponsible words were intended
to deter his parishioners from getting vaccinated against the
coronavirus, thus endangering their lives.
In his sermon, the Patriarch quoted from chapter 13, verses 16-18 of
the Book of Revelation in the Bible. I am not a theologian, but I
believe he is misusing verses from the Bible to spread falsehoods and
disinformation. The Book of Revelation, an enigmatic work by Apostle
John, has many interpretations, but linking his writings to a virus
that surfaced two thousand years after his death is senseless and
dangerous, particularly in Turkey which has the sixth highest number
of deaths in the world from the coronavirus.
The Patriarch began his sermon by referring to the following passage
of the Book of Revelation: The beast “forced all people, great and
small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right
hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless
they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its
name…. That number is 666.”
Here are excerpts from the Patriarch’s bizarre sermon which I have
translated into English:
“And whoever will not have this seal [of the beast] will not be able
to do any business, will not be able to travel, [and] will not even be
able to eat bread…. Therefore, placing a technology chip in our body,
on our hand or our forehead, we understand that it is the symbol of
perfect control. This means that wherever you go, they will know where
you are. Whatever information exists about you will be in it [the
chip]: your illnesses, your relationships, your condition, [and] your
bank accounts. It will all be in it. Your health will be in it. And
without it, you will not be able to do anything. And, of course, this
will be presented to us as progress, as a technological advantage. And
sometimes we will willingly take this chip.
“These are no longer theories. In certain European countries, this
system has started. What will we do? What will we be? When the time
comes, they will compel us to have such chips in which it’s written
666 or the name of that son of Satan. What will we do? Christians have
always spoken about this topic as a musing that it will happen in the
future. People in the future should think about it. But it has come
now. It came to our doors. In a few years, at the latest in the year
2030, this development will become a reality.
“What will we Christians do? Our church leaders, the Primates, should
speak about this issue which they do not. But the faithful at the
bottom of the church speak because the prophecy is so explicit, the
word of God is so clear that it is spoken about. And what will happen
when the leaders of the church, the Primates, those with the rank of
Bishop do not talk about it, when the people at the bottom speak about
it, then this will be spoken about in an exaggerated and redundant
manner? The church has a doctrine called eschatology. It is the
knowledge of the last days. In our faith we say that Christ shall
return. This is an integral part of our faith. Therefore, the doctrine
of the church, in a clear manner, should elucidate this topic to the
Christian communities.
“Christian leaders should get together and speak about this issue,
while it is still early. After these things happen, it will be too
late. We should now come together and talk. Church and bishopric
meetings should be held about this topic now, while we are still free
and have the ability. In a few years, we will not have that ability.
As a Patriarch, I call upon my people and church leaders to get
interested in this topic and blow the horn. Because in the Bible, for
us, for Christian leaders, there is a dreadful statement. By the mouth
of prophet Ezekiel God says: I appointed you a watchman over this
people. If you see the sword, the danger, and do not sound the alarm,
and the sword comes, then their blood will reach you. But if you sound
the alarm and say that the sword is coming, take precautions, and if
they do not do that, the sword comes, then you are free of their
blood. Therefore, for Christian leaders, a topic that is redundant or
exaggerated, when Christian leaders come together and speak about a
topic that is considered shameful, can speak about it. I commend those
who listen to us and my people within the reach of my voice: the day
has come! We can no longer postpone the eschatology. We are obligated
to apply the healthy doctrine in our days, spread the faith and
acquire the means to see what we can do….”
To show that the Patriarch’s alarming words about vaccination are not
based on religion, all we have to do is refer to the statement issued
by the Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II, about the vaccine.
According to a recent dispatch by Azatutyun.am, “The Armenian
Apostolic Church dismissed religious reasons given by its believers
refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.” The Church’s
Supreme Spiritual Council stressed that “vaccination does not pose a
spiritual danger.”
The Church also announced that Catholicos Karekin II and many other
clergymen have been vaccinated.
I hope Armenians will listen to the advice of the Catholicos and not
that of the Patriarch of Istanbul regarding the coronavirus vaccine to
save their own lives as well as the lives of those around them.
************************************************************************************************************************************************
2- Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor:
Regarding Harut Sassounian’s Dec. 23, 2021 column about Jesus, Obama,
Muhammad being Turks:
As he mentioned, back in the ‘30s Ataturk made even more bizarre
claims about Turkish accomplishments. One of his claims in the
“Sun-Language Theory” was that Turks are the father of all the nations
while Turkish is the mother of all 7,000 languages. When he makes his
outlandish claims, Erdogan is competing with his nemesis, Ataturk. He
is desperate for Ataturk’s title. Thus, probably, Greek Erdogan is
competing with probably Jewish Mustafa Ataturk for the title of “First
Father of the Turks.”
If I were a Turkish journalist, I would advise Erdogan on how to
upstage Ataturk. Since Ataturk has covered the turf here on earth,
Erdogan should claim Turks created the sun, the moon, Jupiter,
Uranus…the universe. No wonder the first male human’s name was Adam.
It means “man” in the Mother of All Languages.
Jirair Tutunjian
Toronto, Canada
************************************************************************************************************************************************
3- In The Land of Make-Believe:
Mehmet Reveals Erdogan’s New Year’s Resolution
By Jirair Tutunjian
Ahmet and Mehmet are old friends. Although Mehmet works at Ankara’s
Hon. Recep Tayyip Erdogan Historiography Authentication Institute, he
makes semi-annual visits to his remote hometown of Selcuklar in the
Turkish boondocks. During his brief visits, Mehmet makes a point to
see Ahmet at the Ataturk Bistro. Invariably, their wide-ranging and
scintillating conversations revolve around politics, particularly
Turkish.
After the traditional greetings…
Ahmet: Stretch your legs. I ordered coffee and croissant for us.
Mehmet: Tesekkurler, but I can’t have croissant.
Ahmet: Are you on diet?
Mehmet: No Turk should eat croissant. Mr. Erdogan is drafting a new
law forbidding the production of croissants. It’s in his New Year’s
resolution.
Ahmet: What else is Erdogan’s bizarre mind fuming about these days?
Mehmet: Arkhadash, listen before you mock. Back in the 17th century
when our glorious army laid siege to decadent Vienna, the wives of the
infidels paraded on the city wall’s turrets munching cookies which
were in the shape of our flag…our Crescent. They were telling our
soldiers that the Austrian gavoors would eat them alive. Eventually,
the crescent cookies came to be known by their French name…croissant.
Ahmet: Our president is deep.
Mehmet: There’s more in the president’s New Year’s resolution. You
know Yildiz Holdings owns Godiva chocolates. The original Godiva was
an immoral petty queen in England. She rode bare naked her horse
through the streets of the capital. Erdogan says the Turkish
association with the English slut should be terminated. Besides, it’s
sacrilegious to be linked to a woman whose name—Godiva—means Allah in
English.
Ahmet: Subhan Allah.
Mehmet: There’s more. You know “turkey” is a fat fowl which Americans
eat once a year. It’s embarrassing to have our country linked to the
obese bird which has more wattles than Churchill. Governments
preceding Erdogan changed the name of our country to ‘Turkiye’ to
distance us from the ugly bird. But it hasn’t worked. Erdogan will
grab the bull by the horn and remove “turkey” from English
dictionaries.
Ahmet: How will he do that? Is he going to burn millions of
dictionaries in a Nazi-style auto-da-fe?
Mehmet: No. He will host an international symposium for lexicographers
at a five-star Antalya hotel and fly—first-class– Oxford and
Cambridge dons and lexicographers to the week-long junket. A team of
5-star Michelin French chefs will ply international cuisine… Dom
Perignon, Kentucky bourbon and Scottish whisky will flow. The
professors will receive ornate kilims…backgammon sets inlaid with
semi-precious stones… autographed photos of Erdogan, and vouchers for
a week’s complimentary stay at the best Istanbul hotels.
Ahmet: As our economy tanks.
Mehmet: During their stay, the English professors will be persuaded to
expunge ‘turkey’ as the fowl’s name. They will coin a new word to
describe the ugly fowl. “Turkey” will mean our country only.
Ahmet: Efferim Padishah.
Mehmet: There’s more…Erdogan will send $10,000 checks to every
Europe-residing Turkish father who has more than four children.
Ahmet: It’s a great idea but can we afford it when a third of our
people are living below the poverty line?
Mehmet: Erdogan would say that’s thinking small. There’s more: his
last and most important resolution will shake the Muslim world to its
core. I hope you don’t have high blood-pressure.
Ahmet: Let’s hear it. I can’t stand the suspense.
Mehmet: Erdogan’s history advisors have solid proof Prophet Muhammed,
peace be upon him, is buried in Turkey and not in Saudi Arabia.
Ahmet: Cehennem…gunah islemek.
Mehmet: The Prophet (peace be upon him) was a traveling merchant. He
was killed by Nestorian gavoors who buried him in the elongated caves
of Cappadocia… Yes, the Kaabe is not in Saudi Arabia. It’s in Turkey.
Can you imagine the revenues that will be generated through haj?
Ahmed: No, but I can imagine the millions of new enemies Turkey will
give birth to…armies of Islamic terrorists…platoons of Pakistani
suicide bombers…bloody Mujahedeen of Afghanistan…the mad mullahs
of Malaysia, the mad leader of Erdoganomics has brought us to the
precipice. The Mohammed (peace be upon him) fable will push us into
bloody limbo. Waiter…the CHECK!
**********************************************************************************************************************************************
4- Reflecting On The Life Of Humility: Deacon Hrair & Anoush Dekemejians
By Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Deacon Hrair Dekmejian has given over 80 years of service to the
Armenian Church. Along with his wife Anoush (nee Hagopian), they have
been an anchor for faith for deacons, priests, bishops, and most
importantly, for the hundreds of people.
I have had the good fortune of knowing the Dekmejian family for the
past 25 years, since assuming the pastorate of the St. Gregory the
Illuminator Armenian Church in Pasadena in 1996, where they served at
the altar and in the choir. We continued to serve together as we
established the St. Peter Armenian Church Youth Ministries Center in
Glendale in 2003.
As a professor of Political Science at the University of Southern
California, Dr. Dekmejian possessed a keen understanding of
geopolitics. He was always called on by the media to give his analysis
of world events. But his love for the Church has always been first and
foremost on his list of priorities. I will never forget when the
second War in Iraq was announced. We were in the Lenten season and
holding Lenten evening vigil. When I dismissed the congregation that
night, we stepped outside the church building to a flood of lights and
cameras! A large CNN truck with antennas hoisted was humming with
reporters and technicians scrambling to find Dr. Dekmejian. Like a
seasoned pro, Dr. Dekmejian approached the reporters and proceeded to
offer his commentary with analysis about the Iraqi war. I turned to
his wife Anoush looking for some answers as to why the church grounds
had been converted to this ad hoc studio. She said, “When CNN called
for an interview, Hrair told them he was going to church that evening.
If they wanted an interview it would have to be after services.” And
so it was. That evening the world received analysis from this humble
deacon on the steps of the St. Peter Armenian Church in Glendale.
Only once did Dr. Dekmejian miss church services because he was
delayed that Sunday morning after breakfast with the King of Bahrain.
He sat with kings, presidents, and ministers.
Hrair Dekmejian began his journey in the church as an altar boy in
Aleppo, Syria in what was identified as the “Aintabtzi” church. In
1950 he came to the United States and began serving at the St. James
Armenian Church in Los Angeles, alongside Bishop Mampre Kalfayan and
Father Asoghig Ghazarian (later the archbishop of Iraq). In 1951 he
was ordained a deacon by Bishop Hrant Khatchadourian. He attended Yale
Divinity School. In 1954, Hrair married Anoush and they were blessed
with three boys: Gregory, Armen, and Haig.
In 1955 Hrair volunteered in the US Army, in intelligence at SHAPE
(Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Fountainbleu, France.
During those years, he continued to serve at the Armenian Church, this
time in Parish France, never missing a Sunday service.
Returning to the United States in 1957, he became a full-time student
at the University of Connecticut, conducting deacon services and
training choirs at churches on the East Coast. Archbishop Khoren
(later Catholicos of Cilicia) granted Hrair the title of Arch-deacon
(Avak-sargavak). In 1960 he received an MA from Boston University and
in 1964 he received his Ph.D. From Columbia.
In 1986 he moved to Los Angeles and shortly assumed the position of
the Chairman of the Political Science Department at USC. In 1997 he
invited me to be the Chaplain of the Armenian Student Association of
USC. In 2001 we held a Conference at USC dedicated to the 1700th
anniversary of Christianity. In 2005 he hosted His Holiness Karekin II
on campus where he shared his analysis of the Armenian Church and
charted a course for Armenian Church and youth in Western society.
Through his efforts the Institute of Armenian Studies was founded and
established at USC.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
Armenia continues the fight against COVID-19, as the country continues
promoting the vaccination phase.
The U.S. State Department on July 26 warned American citizens to
reconsider travel to Armenia due to the increase in cases of the
Covid-19.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a
Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Armenia due to COVID-19, indicating a
high level of COVID-19 in the country,” said the State Department.
The State Department also urged U.S. citizens not to travel to the
Nagorno-Karabakh region due to armed conflict.
“The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S.
citizens in Nagorno-Karabakh as U.S. government employees are
restricted from traveling there,” the State Department added.
WHO, with funding from the European Union, in September supplied X-ray
equipment to 7 COVID-19 frontline hospitals – 1 in the capital Yerevan
and in 6 other cities in Armenia.
A new law came into effect on December 10, by order of the Armenian
Ministry of Health, that would allow employers to fire workers who
refuse to provide proof of vaccination. Armenia has the lowest
vaccination rate in the region and Europe. Armenia began its mass
vaccination campaign in April with authorities planning to inoculate
700,000 of the country's 2.9 million citizens by the end of the year.
However, only 516,989 citizens had been fully vaccinated by Dec. 6.
620,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine were donated to Armenia by Norway
with the support of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism within the
framework of the Team Europe initiative is already in Armenia.
"The entire infrastructure is ready to carry out a large number of
vaccinations. I add that vaccination does not exclude the disease, but
reduces the risk of contagion", Armenian Health Minister Anahit
Avanesyan reported during a recent press conference, adding that the
late entry into force of the restrictive measures was a shortcoming of
her department. According to the minister, they are currently
considering the option of requesting certification of negativity from
Covid or vaccination to enter restaurants and attend concerts.
There were 5,749 active cases in Armenia as of December 27. Armenia
has recorded 344,540 coronavirus cases and 7,950 deaths; 330,841 have
recovered.
************************************************************************************************************************************************
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Armenpress: PM Pashinyan to pay working visit to Russia
PM Pashinyan to pay working visit to Russia
20:53,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will pay a working visit to the Russian Federation on December 28, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister will take part in the informal meeting of the leaders of the CIS member states in St. Petersburg.
Armenia PM Pashinyan will rule for another 10 years if opposition does nothing, says political scientist
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
09:14, 27.12.2021
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan plans to switch to a semi-presidential form of government, through constitutional reforms, and rule for another ten years as president, political scientist Armen Badalyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
"It is possible to change power in Armenia, but for that an objective must set. If there is no such objective, the opposition naturally starts writing statuses on social media and secondly, you start playing by the rules of the game drawn by the prime minister. And the prime minister has drawn the clear line: he is creating a system of one-man-rule governance, he is taking the local self-government bodies under his control, he took the Yerevan Municipality under his control. That is, we can say that the administrative resource [in Armenia] is mainly under its control. The Commission on Constitutional Reform has become active, which will publish a text of the semi-presidential system of government. The prime minister is likely to hold a referendum and get the percentage he wants—being cut off from parliamentary oversight. He will be elected president for five years, then he will continue for another five years, and ten years later it is already difficult to say who will be what, will not be; he gets a ten-year guarantee. The prime minister is now working on that process," Badalyan said.
Asked whether Pashinyan will succeed in this process, the political scientist said that if the opposition does nothing, Pashinyan will succeed in fulfilling this prediction.
"Apart from a few speeches in the NA [(National Assembly)], I do not see anything from the opposition. A march to Yerablur [Military Pantheon] in September, and a rally near the SJC [(Supreme Judicial Council)], I have not seen anything else. A change of power is possible if the opposition thinks seriously about it. Otherwise, the current leader may hold office for ten years or more," said Armen Badalyan.
Kocharyan: Armenia has washed its hands of Karabakh
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
12:13, 27.12.2021
We have received a clarity on Armenia's position on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated this during his year-end press conference Monday.
"It is already clear that if the [Armenian] prime minister [Nikol Pashinyan] says that since 2016 there was not even a theoretical possibility for Karabakh to have a status outside Azerbaijan, this is Armenia's position. This means that Armenia has washed its hands of Karabakh. With these recent statements, the prime minister, in fact, questioned the September 2 [1991] declaration of Artsakh, which has been put on the basis for the existence, formation of Karabakh. Either they do not understand what they are doing or they are doing it in a planned way, a puppet program is being implemented in Armenia.
In fact, we have a complete failure in all important domains. The most interesting thing is that when you go down from the first person, it is not clear who to ask. No one works long enough to ask something. It seems it is a deck of cards, they shuffle, divide, shuffle again," Kocharyan stated.
Ibrahim Kalin: Armenia-Turkey process will destroy arguments of Armenian diaspora in US
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
12:17, 27.12.2021
The Armenian-Turkish process will destroy the arguments of the Armenian diaspora in the United States. This was stated by the Turkish presidential press secretary during a meeting with Turkish citizens in Chicago, Anadolu Agency reported.
Ibrahim Kalin stated that the Armenian lobby in the US has made anti-Turkish sentiments part of his identity.
"A completely different process is being carried out in the Caucasus now, and the basis on which that diaspora has built all its arguments is on the verge of collapse. That is, the conflict between Armenia and Turkey, or the Armenian-Turkish conflict in the Caucasus is coming to an end. A new page in history has been opened with the liberation of Karabakh and the reintegration of that region into Azerbaijan," Kalin said.
According to him, no one else has any other expectations in this regard, and Ankara and Yerevan are taking reciprocal steps to normalize their relations.
At the same time, the press secretary of the Turkish president noted that Armenia will benefit the most from this settlement.
"The normalization of relations with Turkey will be a great contribution for Armenia, both politically and economically, as a landlocked, economically weak country—and under the tutelage of Russia," Ibrahim Kalin said.
Ex-President Kocharyan to incumbent Armenia authorities: You have fulfilled all preconditions of Turkey
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
12:34, 27.12.2021
Turkey has always posited three preconditions before Armenia to normalize relations: The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan—including Karabakh, the unconditional return of seven regions, and not to manifest enthusiasm in connection with the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide—or in other words, passing that matter on to historians. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated about this during his year-end press conference Monday—and responding to Armenian News-NEWS.am's question on how the process of establishing relations with Turkey today differ from the respective processes of his time in office.
"Now the precondition of the ‘Zangezur corridor’ has increased. Look at what happened to those preconditions. Our approach has always been the following: We [i.e., Armenia] are ready to build relations [with Turkey] without preconditions. Even when they were talking from the border, we were saying the [Armenian-Turkish] border is open on our side, closed on the other side. What happened to those three preconditions?
Let's start with the second. Not [just] seven districts were returned, but [also] Shushi and Hadrut [cities of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)]—with a bonus. In fact, this precondition no longer exists. In connection with the Genocide, Armenia is so weak today that to think it can succeed in the Genocide recognition matter, perhaps in the distant future, but today the Armenian authorities have left that issue entirely to the offices of the Armenian National Committee. Second, such matters may be petitioned to countries that may have a some interest in punishing Turkey at one time or another. There is no other resource. In fact, two of the three preconditions have been successfully resolved for them," Kocharyan stated.
As for the precondition of recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, ex-President Kocharyan reminded that before the Brussels meeting, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the National Assembly that as of 2016, there is not even a theoretical option for Karabakh not being part of Azerbaijan.
"What does this mean? This means that yes, the first person of Armenia says that he does not see any option, any status outside [being part of] Azerbaijan. He reaffirmed it during this last press conference [of his]. Now all three preconditions [of Turkey] have been met [by Armenia]. And when they say we are ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions, it is difficult to invent a bigger hypocrisy. You have fulfilled all the preconditions; moreover, you are discussing the issue of the [‘Zangezur] corridor,’" Kocharyan said.
And reflecting on the Armenian-Turkish relations during his presidency, Kocharyan said: "In my time, yes, there were contacts. When [Turkish President] Erdogan's party won the parliamentary elections in 2002, the first [Turkish] foreign minister was Abdullah Gul. There was a multi-faceted event with him in Madrid. [Then Armenian FM] Vartan Oskanian was quite excited. He called me and said that the Turkish side was ready for negotiations without preconditions. I said, ‘Vartan, I do not believe, they are still new [in power], they are ‘hot,’ they probably have not realized that Azerbaijan will hinder them. Do not make a big fuss about it, it does not turn out that we are creating expectations.’
Gul said ‘without preconditions.’ Do you recall they were putting forward a notion that ‘We are zeroing the problems with all our neighbors?’ As a result, they had much deeper problems with all the neighbors.
After the second meeting, Oskanian told me that they were somehow retreating [from the talks]. And during the third meeting, we completely returned to where we started. This was an encouraging moment in Armenian-Turkish relations, which lasted 6-7 months, no more."
Armenia 2nd President: These authorities serve foreign interests on Artsakh issue
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
12:39, 27.12.2021
The position of these authorities on the Artsakh issue is clear to everyone. Now it's worth trying to neutralize that danger and go another way or not. Or should we just go into the current and say, this is what these people want us to go and do. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated this during his year-end press conference Monday—and when asked whether he has at least an approximate solution to the situation of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) if we imagine for a moment that the current Armenian authorities will no longer miraculously rule the country.
"The dilemma is in this. On the one hand, it is already clear what they [i.e., the incumbent Armenian authorities] want and where they want to take us. On the other hand, we say that there are other forces that will try to change this dangerous path. Should we now do [it] or not? It’s me, it’s not me, it’s someone else. It does not matter anymore. That should be our starting point. Whether we allow do to it or not. Yes, I see an opportunity to save something in this situation thanks to active diplomatic work, I see that path. These authorities will not even try to do that because these people have thought all their conscious lives the way they do today. Expectations from them are zero. Now let's change my proposal, give a chance to those people who have shown all their lives that they think differently. Yes, I see that path. It will be very difficult, we will not get what opportunity we missed without losing. But yes, in some domains we are able to correct something about the status of Artsakh, too," Kocharyan said.
Also, the second president made a historical reference to the settlement of the Artsakh issue.
"If we compare what we got [when Kocharyan to power in Armenia] in 1998 with the legacy of negotiations and what we had [when Kocharyan ended his presidential tenure] in 2008, we will see that we had achieved serious success thanks to our consistent work during that time. Same thing now; I realize what needs to be done. I cannot say one hundred percent that yes, I will achieve this; but I see a sequence of steps whereby something can be saved. These authorities will not even try because that’s how they think; this is their conviction. Apart from their conviction, whose interests they serve. I assume there is certainly a task of serving certain interests. I'm just convinced," Kocharyan said.
Armenia 2nd President: These authorities will ‘throw’ Karabakh issue into Russia’s ‘pockets’
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
Armenia 2nd President: These authorities will ‘throw’ Karabakh issue into Russia’s 'pockets'
13:00, 27.12.2021
The alternative to Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation is not to have delimitation; they do not sign. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated about this during his year-end press conference Monday.
"When they say, the alternative to delimitation is simply not to go to that process because you are in a very weak state. You have a thousand opportunities to substantiate: you do not have diplomatic relations, you do not have any bilateral relations, delimitation moves ahead nowhere without diplomatic relations. After all, when a person wears clothes, first he wears underwear, then some things, finally he wears a coat; that is, the opposite does not happen," said Kocharyan.
To a reporter’s remark that not signing a border delimitation agreement means not having a specified border with Azerbaijan, and to the question whether in that case Azerbaijan may carry out any encroachment on the borders of Armenia, the second president responded as follows: "I do not consider it right to simplify the situation in this case because we do not say there is no border. Not going to delimitation at this moment is not to say we have no borders at all, but it bears the following consequences in it: The confirmed delimitation means that you recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, which will enable Azerbaijan to tell us and Russia once and for all that ‘You have recognized my territorial integrity,’ we will say, ‘Yes,’ ‘If you have recognized, then I put a customs point in the Lachin corridor.’ What will you say? You will say, ‘It is not envisaged by the November 9 [2020] document. Yes, I will wait for 3.5 years, when the issue of continuity of the mandate of the [Russian] peacekeeping troops [in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict zone] must be discussed, then during the ‘dry’ negotiations I will say to Russia, there is no need anymore, the issue is settled, there is no problem, the peacekeepers can go.’ After 1-2 months of negotiations, you take a step back and say, ‘On only one condition: my [military] post must be here.’ They will put up that post, which will stand quietly for a few months, will watch, as it happened in [Armenia’s] Kapan [city].
We do not even control huge areas today, the danger of delimitation is to make this scenario possible. You should always put yourself in the opponent's shoes, you should ask what you will do to solve this problem, at the same time say what argument you have against it; there is none. These [Armenian] authorities want to do that so that after that they can say, ‘What do I have to do with it? The Karabakh issue has nothing to do with me anymore and I ‘threw’ it in the ‘pockets’ of the Russians.’ I am somewhat informed that such questions are happening now, they say, ‘Let them negotiate with the Russians. What does it have to do with us?”’
According to the second president, Karabakh was strong in the past, and Armenia was the guarantor of its security.
"Then speaking in place of Karabakh is one question, today not speaking for Karabakh is a completely different thing. It is simply not possible to manipulate the society in this way. Then, the voice of Karabakh should have been heard more, today the voice of Armenia should be heard more," Kocharyan added.
Robert Kocharyan: If West-Russia relations escalate further, this may cause harm to Armenia
NEWS.am
Dec 27 2021
13:10, 27.12.2021
The tension between Russia and the West has led us to a point where there is a markedly narrow opportunity for complementarism, and it almost doesn’t exist. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated about this during his year-end press conference Monday.
“During my presidency, we declared a policy of complementarism, but at the time, with regard to Russia-NATO relations, Russia had more plans with NATO than Armenia did. There was a special NATO-Russia Council. This means Armenia should orientate in a more comprehensible manner and state what it wants.
To this day, I haven’t understood the logic and course of Armenia’s foreign policy. For instance, the U.S> hosts a so-called democracy summit, and it’s clear that this is an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese project. What is Armenia doing there? This is an attempt to revitalize a trend that was rather powerful after the collapse of the USSR. At the time, the idea was that we were going to have a more predictable and safer world by democratizing the whole world, but then there were color revolutions with devastating consequences. The world has changed, and we can’t do things like this,” Kocharyan declared.
Kocharyan emphasized that if the West-Russia relations escalate further and there are extreme manifestations, this may harm Armenia, if it doesn’t have a strong army and powerful security system. According to him, the aim of the West is to remove Russia from this region or at least reduce its influence in this region essentially.
“For a rather long time, Russia would keep a distance from Armenia and Azerbaijan, and this was in Russia’s interests. However, the situation has changed in the South Caucasus after the war. I am certain that we are in a process that we can describe as geopolitical transformation in the South Caucasus. When Turkey entered the process and the Turkey-Azerbaijan tandem became totally different, it is hard to maintain equal distancing between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said. According to him, Armenia has lost the status of a country with the most combat-ready army and now it constantly needs protection.
Asked if this means that Armenia’s foreign vector needs to be geared only towards Russia, Kocharyan said the following: “Why is Armenia participating in anti-Russian and anti-Chinese events? There are several other formats in which there is no anti-Russianism. Of course, the balance needs to be maintained, but do the people who need to maintain that balance understand what that balance is?”
Kocharyan also surprisingly asked why Armenia is serving Turkey’s interests in the region.