Friday, 

New Armenian Government ‘Committed To Compromise On Karabakh’
Մայիս 25, 2018
        • Karlen Aslanian
        • Lusine Musayelian

Armenia - Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian, 21 May 2018.

Armenia’s new government is committed to a compromise solution to the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and hopes that it will be achieved “very soon,” 
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian said on Friday.

“We all hope that a Karabakh settlement will happen very soon,” he told 
reporters. “But the settlement must reflect our interests, aspirations and 
goals. Obviously we are talking about a compromise but at the heart of it must 
be … the right to self-determination and the security of the people of Artsakh 
(Karabakh).”

In that context, Mnatsakanian reaffirmed Yerevan’s readiness resume peace talks 
with Baku which were interrupted by a recent presidential election in 
Azerbaijan and regime change in Armenia. “The key task now is to maintain the 
dynamic of negotiations,” he said. “We are ready to get involved [in the peace 
process.]”

Mnatsakanian, who was appointed as foreign minister less than two weeks ago, 
said Yerevan remains “in constant touch” with the U.S., Russian and French 
mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group. He also pointed to his phone 
conversation last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the 
upcoming visit to Armenia by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

One day after taking office on May 8, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called for 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s direct involvement in the peace process. He said Azerbaijan 
must directly negotiate with not only Armenia but also Karabakh’s ethnic 
Armenian leadership.

An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman indicated on May 22 that this is not a 
precondition for Yerevan’s renewed contacts with Baku.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Friday rejected Pashinian’s 
calls and ruled out any talks between his government and “the separatist regime 
in Karabakh.” The new Armenian leadership’s insistence on them would mean that 
it “wants to put an end to the peace process,” he warned.

“I have told [the mediators] that such a proposal is ridiculous,” Mammadyarov 
said in a speech delivered at an international conference in Baku.

Mammadyarov met with the Minsk Group co-chairs in Paris on May 15. The 
mediators said they discussed with him “modalities for moving the peace process 
forward.” They are expected to visit Yerevan in June.




Yerevan Hails Progress Towards New Russian-Georgian Trade Routes

        • Heghine Buniatian

Georgia - Armenian and other heavy trucks are lined up on a road leading to the 
Georgian-Russian border crossing at Upper Lars, 6May2016.

The Armenian government praised Georgia and Russia on Friday for moving closer 
to opening new Russian-Georgian transport corridors that would facilitate cargo 
shipments to and from Armenia.

Russian and Georgian negotiators reported further progress towards the 
implementation of a 2011 agreement to that effect after a fresh round of talks 
held in Prague on Thursday.

The agreement calls for reopening two roads connecting Georgia to Russia via 
the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The two sides 
have contracted a Swiss company, SGS, to set up special customs checkpoints on 
the administrative boundaries of the two territories.

The chief Russian negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, said 
they agreed to set up a joint task force that will try to work out practical 
modalities of operating the new trade routes. Those include issues such as 
“where and how the customs checkpoints will be functioning,” Karasin told 
RFE/RL in Prague.

“This is serious work which will probably take several months,” he said.

“We are now entering the phase of the agreement’s implementation,” Karasin’s 
Georgian opposite number, Zurab Abashidze, said for his part. He said the 
Georgian government supports the launch of the new corridors.

Landlocked Armenia’s trade with Russia, its leading commercial partner, is 
mainly carried out through the sole Russian-Georgian border crossing at Upper 
Lars. Traffic along that mountainous road is periodically blocked by bad 
weather, especially in winter months. Hence, Yerevan’s strong interest in 
having alternative trade routes.

Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian welcomed the “positive movement” 
in the long-running Russian-Georgian talks. “We highly appreciate the parties’ 
readiness and efforts to implement that agreement extremely important to us,” 
he wrote on Facebook.

Avinian also said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the matter with 
Russian President Vladimir Putin at their May 14 meeting in Sochi.

Incidentally, Pashinian is scheduled to visit Tbilisi and meet with Georgia’s 
leaders next week.




Parliament Majority ‘Not Gearing Up For Snap Elections’

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - Deputies from the Republican Party of Armenia attend a parliament 
session in Yerevan, 22 May 2018.

Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is not yet 
making contingency plans for fresh parliamentary elections sought by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian, a senior HHK figure said on Friday.

Vahram Baghdasarian, who leads the HHK majority in the current Armenian 
parliament, commented evasively on Pashinian’s calls for such elections to be 
held this fall.

“We will move forward along the constitutional path,” Baghdasarian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).He said the HHK will formulate its 
position only after the parliament minority allied to Pashinian formally moves 
to force snap elections.

Asked whether he thinks holding them this autumn is realistic, Baghdasarian 
said: “For the moment, we are preparing for the 2022 elections of the National 
Assembly.”

Other senior HHK lawmakers have spoken out against the idea of snap polls in 
more explicit terms. They have also indicated their opposition to major 
amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code which are also demanded by Pashinian 
and his political allies.

Baghdasarian said that the parliament majority is “ready to discuss” such 
amendments if they are put forward by the three other parliamentary forces: the 
Yelk alliance, the Tsarukian Bloc and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 
(Dashnaktsutyun).

But he stressed the fact that the code was most recently amended ahead of the 
April 2017 elections by consensus. He also claimed that “everyone was happy” 
with the conduct and results of those elections which gave a landslide victory 
to the HHK.

Critics say that the former ruling party won them thanks to widespread vote 
buying and abuse of administrative resources. They say its victory was also 
facilitated by a complicated and controversial system of electing the National 
Assembly.

Yelk, Tsarukian and Dashnaktsutyun want to change that system so that Armenians 
vote only for political parties or blocs, rather than individuals candidates, 
in the next elections.

Under the Armenian constitution, pre-term elections will have to be called if 
the prime minister resigns and the parliament twice fails to elect a new 
premier or if the government’s policy program is not approved by most lawmakers.




Russian-Armenian Ties ‘Unaffected’ By Regime Change


RUSSIA -- Armenian new prime minister Nikol Pashinian (L) meets with Russian 
President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, May 14, 2018

The recent change of Armenia’s government resulting from mass protests has not 
had a negative impact on Russia’s close ties with the South Caucasus state, a 
senior Russian diplomat said on Friday.

“We did not stop or slow down cooperation [with Armenia,]” Deputy Foreign 
Minister Aleksandr Pankin told the TASS news agency. “When [Russian President] 
Vladimir Putin met with the new prime minister of Armenia [Nikol Pashinian] it 
was confirmed that everything will be preserved. The vector and the dynamics 
[of bilateral relations] remain the same.”

“All projects relating to financial, commercial, investment and humanitarian 
interaction remain on the table,” he said. “So there is no deviation or scaling 
back.”

Putin and Pashinian met in the Russian city of Sochi on May 14 almost a week 
after the latter was elected prime minister following weeks of protests that 
brought down the previous premier, Serzh Sarkisian.

Pashinian assured Putin that Armenia will remain allied to Russia during his 
tenure. “Nobody has cast doubt and, I think, will cast doubt on the strategic 
importance of Russian-Armenian relations,” he said.

The new premier also praised Moscow’s “balanced” and “very constructive” 
reactions to the protest movement led by him.

Moscow closely watched the dramatic events in Armenia sparked by Sarkisian’s 
attempt to extend his decade-long rule. In their public statements, Russian 
officials avoided taking sides in the standoff that led to Sarkisian’s 
resignation on April 23.

Pashinian has since repeatedly stated that he will not pull Armenia out of the 
Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The 
42-year-old former opposition leader had previously criticized Armenia’s 
membership in both Russian-led blocs.


Press Review


“Aravot” says Armenians are not quite impressed with financial abuses revealed 
by the National Security Service (NSS). “People expect former ministers, 
parliament deputies, oligarchs and the like to end up behind bars,” comments 
the paper. It disagrees with this popular sentiment and urges the new 
government to take “unpopular but necessary steps.”

“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says the newly appointed members of the government have 
still not explained in detail what they are going to do. Instead, they are busy 
exposing abuses allegedly committed by their predecessors, says the paper. 
“This situation cannot last long,” it says. “Scenes are not enough. The people 
also need bread.”

“Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on a substantial increase in tax revenue promised 
on Thursday by Davit Ananian, the new head of the State Revenue Committee 
(SRC). “At first glance this is a pretentious statement,” writes the paper. 
“What happened in Armenia was a revolution and revolutions usually cause some 
shocks which initially have a negative impact on tax collection. But such a 
prospect is unlikely in Armenia because of the nature and essence of the 
revolution.” It argues that the recent dramatic events have not led to 
“economic shocks in the country.” “In these conditions, the new government has 
adopted a clear policy of not merging with business and put in place new rules 
of the game, especially for big business. This is a guarantee of a sizable 
reduction of the shadow economy in Armenia, which will mean a certain rise in 
tax receipts.”

“Zhoghovurd” reports that in a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev released on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump spoke of an 
opportunity to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the months ahead. “It 
is evident that the developments in Armenia have somewhat delayed the process 
of the Karabakh conflict resolution,” writes the paper. “But at the moment the 
top priority for Pashinian’s government is not so much the Karabakh issue as 
the conduct of fresh elections and completion of regime change in Armenia.” 
Trump’s statement is therefore “incomprehensible,” it says.

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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