Monday, Sarkisian Said To Stay On As Party Leader . Karlen Aslanian Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian addresses the Sixth Armenia-Diaspora Conference in Yerevan, 18Sep2017. President Serzh Sarkisian will continue to lead the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) after serving out his second and final term in April, the chief HHK spokesman said over the weekend. "The Republicans have one leader and that is Serzh Sarkisian, and Serzh Sarkisian will remain our leader after 2018," Eduard Sharmazanov told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "In what capacity? Where? The president will discuss that with the party # and we will present [a decision] after April." Sarkisian himself has declined to shed light on his precise political plans so far. In a televised interview aired in July, he claimed that "it doesn't matter" who will be Armenia's next prime minister because the country will become a parliamentary republic immediately after the end of his presidency. Sarkisian would not say whether he will replace Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. But he did praise the latter's track record. Sharmazanov was also vague on that score, saying only that the switch to the parliament system of government will end one-man rule in Armenia. "In accordance with the constitutional reform, power in the country will be concentrated in the hands of those political forces that have a majority [in parliament.] The HHK won 58 seats in Armenia's 105-member parliament elected in April. Shortly after those elections it struck a new power-sharing deal with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which won 7 parliament seats. Sharmazanov described Sarkisian's decade-long rule has been a success, saying that the president has improved the conduct of elections and human rights protection, boosted the country's security and maintained stability." But he was evasive about economic consequences of Sarkisian's presidency which Armenian opposition groups consider highly negative. Karabakh Warns Baku After `Azeri Shelling' Nagorno-Karabakh - A photograph of what the Karabakh Armenian army described as fragments of an Israeli-made anti-tank missile fired by Azerbaijani forces towards its on frontline positions, 23Oct2017. Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian-backed military threatened "painful" retaliation on Monday as it accused Azerbaijani forces of shelling its frontline positions for the first time in two months. The Defense Army claimed that they fired five mortar shells and one anti-tank rocket in northeastern Karabakh on Sunday. It released video footage purportedly showing two such shells exploding in a field and the Israeli-made Spike rocket flying over a Karabakh military facility and hitting the ground. In a statement, the Karabakh army warned that it will retaliate in a "disproportionate and quite painful" fashion if the Azerbaijani side continues such "deliberate provocations." Another statement issued by it later in the day said Azerbaijani forces fired another Spike rocket at a different section of "the line of contact" around Karabakh on Monday afternoon. It said Karabakh Armenian troops again did not shoot back "in order not to deepen tension" on the frontlines. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry dismissed the first Karabakh statement as "slander." It said that the Armenians themselves resorted to a "provocation" by killing an Azerbaijani soldier on Sunday. The ministry did not specify the frontline section where the soldier, identified as Jabbar Zeynalov, died. The truce violations were reported one week after a meeting of Armenia's and Azerbaijan's presidents held in Geneva. In a joint statement issued there, their foreign ministers and international mediators said Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev "agreed to take measures to intensify the negotiation process and to take additional steps to reduce tensions on the Line of Contact." Just three days after the Geneva summit, an Armenian soldier was killed in Karabakh by Azerbaijani sniper fire. Armenia's ruling party responded by accusing Baku of "trying to walk away" from the understandings reached in Geneva. Still, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian made clear on Friday that Yerevan will not avoid further talks with Baku. The joint statement released in Genevan said the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group will soon hold follow-up "working sessions" with Nalbandian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Babayan Friend Admits Link To Confiscated Weapon . Karlen Aslanian Armenia -- Samvel Babayan (R), Nagorno-Karabakh's former top military commander, stands trial in Yerevan, 23Oct2017. A longtime friend of Samvel Babayan insisted on Monday that he, rather than the retired army general linked to an Armenian opposition group, was behind the illegal acquisition of a sophisticated rocket system that led to their arrest in March. Babayan, who was Nagorno-Karabakh's top military commander from 1993-1993, was arrested after Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) claimed to have confiscated the surface-to-air Igla system. The arrest came about two weeks before Armenia's parliamentary elections. Babayan was unofficially affiliated with the ORO alliance led by former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and two other opposition politicians. ORO condemned the criminal case as politically motivated. Babayan, his comrade-in-arms Sanasar Gabrielian, and five other men went on trial in July. The once powerful general has repeatedly denied prosecutors' claims that he promised other suspects to pay $50,000 for the delivery of the weapon. Gabrielian also denied any connection with the weapon until now. But he said at the latest court hearing in their trial that it was he who commissioned the confiscated Igla. He claimed that he wanted to donate the launcher along with its shoulder-fired rockets to Nagorno-Karabakh's army. Gabrielian insisted that Babayan was not involved in that in any way. He said he only showed the general a photograph of the acquired Igla system because the latter "knows everything" about weapons. Babayan, he went on, told him that the rocket launcher lacks some components and is therefore not usable in its current form before advising him to hide it in a Karabakh village. Babayan did not deny this version of events at the court hearing. He said only that he warned Gabrielian that the Igla acquisition was illegal. Another defendant, Armen Poghosian, suggested in his pre-trial testimony that Babayan is most probably the one who ordered the weapon. Petrosian renounced that claim in the courtroom on Monday, however. The NSS said in July the Igla system was transported to Karabakh and hidden near a local village after it was delivered by an Armenian national who was arrested in Georgia later in March. The security agency never clarified, however, why the former Karabakh army chief sought to get hold of the rockets designed to shoot down planes and helicopters. Babayan Friend Admits Link To Confiscated Weapon . Karlen Aslanian Armenia -- Samvel Babayan (R), Nagorno-Karabakh's former top military commander, stands trial in Yerevan, 23Oct2017. A longtime friend of Samvel Babayan insisted on Monday that he, rather than the retired army general linked to an Armenian opposition group, was behind the illegal acquisition of a sophisticated rocket system that led to their arrest in March. Babayan, who was Nagorno-Karabakh's top military commander from 1993-1993, was arrested after Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) claimed to have confiscated the surface-to-air Igla system. The arrest came about two weeks before Armenia's parliamentary elections. Babayan was unofficially affiliated with the ORO alliance led by former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and two other opposition politicians. ORO condemned the criminal case as politically motivated. Babayan, his comrade-in-arms Sanasar Gabrielian, and five other men went on trial in July. The once powerful general has repeatedly denied prosecutors' claims that he promised other suspects to pay $50,000 for the delivery of the weapon. Gabrielian also denied any connection with the weapon until now. But he said at the latest court hearing in their trial that it was he who commissioned the confiscated Igla. He claimed that he wanted to donate the launcher along with its shoulder-fired rockets to Nagorno-Karabakh's army. Gabrielian insisted that Babayan was not involved in that in any way. He said he only showed the general a photograph of the acquired Igla system because the latter "knows everything" about weapons. Babayan, he went on, told him that the rocket launcher lacks some components and is therefore not usable in its current form before advising him to hide it in a Karabakh village. Babayan did not deny this version of events at the court hearing. He said only that he warned Gabrielian that the Igla acquisition was illegal. Another defendant, Armen Poghosian, suggested in his pre-trial testimony that Babayan is most probably the one who ordered the weapon. Petrosian renounced that claim in the courtroom on Monday, however. The NSS said in July the Igla system was transported to Karabakh and hidden near a local village after it was delivered by an Armenian national who was arrested in Georgia later in March. The security agency never clarified, however, why the former Karabakh army chief sought to get hold of the rockets designed to shoot down planes and helicopters. Press Review Saturday, October 21) "Zhoghovurd" comments on statements that were made by Poland's Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski during his visit to Armenia on Friday. Waszczykowski said after talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian that he is visiting Yerevan not only in his capacity as Poland's top diplomat but also as a representative of the European Union and NATO. He also said that Armenia and other countries involved in the EU's Eastern Partnership program should be eligible for eventual membership in the EU. The paper says that Russia "will fight against that prospect with all possible means." "As a result, Armenia will once again find itself at the center of a clash between big powers," it speculates with alarm. "Zhamanak" is also intrigued by Waszczykowski's reference to EU membership. The paper says that this statement is much more important than even a recent Armenian opposition motion aimed at ensuring Armenia's exit from the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). "Aravot" says that "pro-government circles" that normally justify any government initiative are quite critical of a government bill aimed at combating domestic violence in Armenia. "Is that the worst ever bill drafted by the government?" the paper asks in an editorial. "Of course not. We can presume that those people were allowed by higher echelons to speak out against the bill or that such a behavior is actually encouraged # Why the authorities are allowing the strong criticism of the bill is hard to tell." The paper also makes the point that the bill, if passed by the parliament, will hardly make a difference unless it is genuinely backed by many Armenians. (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