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    Categories: 2017

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 10/23/2017

                                        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
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1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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