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    Categories: 2019

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 02/14/2019

                                        Thursday, 

Armenia Plans To Buy More Russian Fighter Jets


RUSSIA -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) and his Armenian 
counterpart David Tonoian meet in Moscow, February 8, 2019

Armenia will buy more Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets from Russia after receiving 
the first batch of such aircraft, according to Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan.

The Defense Ministry in Yerevan confirmed last week the signing of a 
Russian-Armenian contract on the delivery of four Su-30SMs to the Armenian 
Armed Forces. A ministry spokesman hinted at more such acquisitions in the near 
future.

“Yes, we will not content ourselves with the four planes,” Tonoyan told 
reporters on Wednesday. He described Su-30SM as the “best modern multirole 
fighter jet” of its kind.

The Armenian Air Force has had no fighter jets until now. It currently consists 
of 15 or so low-flying Su-25 jets designed for air-to-ground missions.


Russia - A Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighter jet

The Russian newspaper “Kommersant” reported on February 1 that Yerevan will use 
a Russian loan to buy four Su-30SMs at internal Russian prices set well below 
international market-based levels. It did not specify their total price.

The Armenian Defense Ministry has refused to disclose the cost of the 
acquisition, saying that that is “classified information.”

Tonoyan made the comments five days after his latest visit to Moscow during 
which he met with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and the head of a 
Russian government agency overseeing arms deals with foreign states.

Tonoyan’s office said that he and Shoygu discussed, among other things, 
supplies of Russian-made “state-of-the-art and precision-guided weapons” which 
would give the Armenian military “preventive superiority” over its adversaries. 
It did not elaborate.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted the “friendly and constructive character” of 
the talks between the two ministers. It said Shoygu thanked Armenia for its 
“humanitarian assistance” to Syria.

The talks came as Armenia deployed 83 army medics, demining experts and other 
military personnel to Syria.




Pashinian Wins Confidence Vote, Slams Opposition Party

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian presents his government's program to 
the parliament, Yerevan, .

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian lambasted one of the two opposition parties 
represented in Armenia’s parliament as he secured parliamentary approval of his 
government’s five-year policy program on Thursday.

In what amounted to a vote of confidence, the National Assembly endorsed the 
program by 88 votes to 40 after three days of heated debates which involved 
bitter recriminations between some opposition lawmakers and Pashinian.

The government’s action plan was rejected by the deputies representing the 
opposition Bright Armenia (LHK) and Prosperous Armenia parties. Both parties 
said that it lacks concrete socioeconomic targets that would back up 
Pashinian’s repeated pledges to carry out an “economic revolution.”

The LHK was particularly scathing about the 70-page document. Its leader, Edmon 
Marukian, said that an annual economic growth rate of 5 percent promised by the 
government is too modest.

Marukian also claimed that the government is full of “second-tier players” from 
former President Serzh Sarkisian’s administration. “With those cadres it’s 
impossible to do an economic revolution,” he said.

“My worry is that the majority of the public has started losing faith in their 
future,” said Mane Tandilian, another LHK leader who served as labor minister 
in Pashinian’s cabinet until last December.


Armenia - Nikol Pashinian (C) and Edmon Marukian (R), leaders o the opposition 
Yelk alliance, campaign for mayoral elections in Yerevan, 21Apr2017.

A furious Pashinian rejected the criticism in his final speech before the 
parliament vote. He was especially incensed by parallels drawn by the LHK 
between the current and previous Armenian governments.

“Don’t you try again to put me and them on the same plane,” he said. “Put 
yourself and them on the same plane because you were saying the same thing in 
2018.”

Pashinian recalled in this regard that the LHK refused to back him and his 
Civil Contract party when they started campaigning in March 2018 against 
Sarkisian’s attempt to cling to power. He charged that Marukian’s party, which 
holds 18 seats in the current parliament, favored instead behind-the-scene 
deals with Sarkisian and is now keen to whitewash the latter’s legacy.

“They’re saying that there was no revolution,” scoffed the premier. “Look 
around you. If there was no revolution, what are 18 of you doing here?”

The LHK, Civil Contract and another party, Republic, made up the now defunct 
Yelk parliamentary alliance which was in opposition to the former regime. 
Pashinian managed to organize last spring a successful popular movement against 
Sarkisian’s continued rule, widely referred to as the “velvet revolution,” 
without the backing of his Yelk allies.

The government program was drawn up and submitted to the parliament for 
approval last week two months after Pashinian’s My Step alliance scored a 
landslide victory in snap general elections. The LHK finished a distant third 
in those polls.




Yerevan Downplays U.S. Reaction To Syria Mission

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

SYRIA -- U.S. armored vehicles patrol in the countryside of the eastern Syrian 
Deir Ezzor province, January 31, 2019

A senior official in Yerevan insisted on Thursday that Armenia’s relations with 
the United States will not deteriorate after Washington’s negative reaction to 
the deployment of Armenian military personnel to Syria.

Commenting on the dispatch of 83 Armenian army medics, sappers and other 
servicemen to Syria last week, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that 
it does not support “any engagement with Syrian military forces” or “any 
cooperation between Armenia and Russia for this mission.”

“Russia has partnered with the Assad regime to slaughter civilians and trigger 
a humanitarian catastrophe,” it said in a statement.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said later on Wednesday that it “took note of the 
statement.” A ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian, repeated the official line 
that the Armenian deployment is “purely humanitarian.”

Ruben Rubinian, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament 
committee on foreign relations, downplayed the U.S. reaction when he spoke to 
journalists the following day.

“I don’t think that the statement by the U.S. State Department was very sharp,” 
he said. “I think that our American partners understand the logic of our policy 
and our motives.”

“Sending a team of specialists to Syria is very important for us because it is 
first of all aimed at ensuring the physical security of our [ethnic Armenian] 
compatriots living there and second of all the security of peoples living in 
Syria. So this was not a geopolitical or political or military move. This is a 
purely humanitarian move,” added Rubinian.

The official announcement of the deployment coincided with talks held by 
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his Armenian counterpart Davit 
Tonoyan in Moscow on February 8. Shoygu thanked Yerevan for its “humanitarian 
assistance” to Syria.




More Charges Brought Against Jailed General

        • Marine Khachatrian

Armenia - Retired General Manvel Grigorian speaks at a congress of the 
Yerkrapah Union in Yerevan, 18 February 2017.

An Armenian law-enforcement agency has brought more criminal charges against 
Manvel Grigorian, a retired army general prosecuted for illegal arms possession 
and embezzlement.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) said on Thursday that Grigorian now 
also stands accused of evading more than 1 billion drams ($2.1 million) in 
taxes, wasting 1 billion drams worth of public funds and extortion.

It alleged that he used threats and intimidation to dispossess in 2004 the 
owner of a petrol station in the town of Echmiadzin where Grigorian lived and 
held sway up until his arrest in June 2018.

The once powerful general was arrested when security forces raided his 
properties in and around Echmiadzin. They found many weapons, ammunition, 
medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the Armenian Defense 
Ministry. They also discovered canned food and several vehicles donated by 
Armenians at one of Grigorian’s mansions.

An official video of searches conducted there caused widespread shock and 
indignation in the country. Grigorian, who served as deputy defense minister 
from 2000-2008, denied the charges.

His lawyer, Arsen Mkrtchian, rejected the fresh accusations leveled by the SIS 
as “absurd” and “even more fabricated.” Mkrtchian said that they will “burst 
like a bubble” if his client gets a fair trial.

The trial should get underway soon. The SIS also announced on Thursday it has 
completed the criminal investigation into the high-profile case.

Also prosecuted as part of that probe are Grigorian’s wife, Nazik Amirian, and 
younger son Arman. The latter is on the run, according to the SIS.

The 62-year-old general suffers from a number of serious illnesses, reportedly 
including cancer. A district court in Yerevan ordered Grigorian’s release from 
pretrial detention on health grounds in December. He was arrested again on 
January 22 immediately after Armenia’s Court of Appeals overturned that order 
at the request of prosecutors.




Press Review



“There are definitely errors, omissions, raw and unclear provisions and the 
like in the government’s program,” writes “Aravot.” “But the overall ideology 
presented by the prime minister from the parliament podium is correct. Economic 
development is contingent on the economic and even civic behavior of us, 
citizens. In that sense, yes, even the pensioner granny must demand a cash 
receipt in any store. Everyone, including lawyers and singers, must pay taxes. 
Certain companies must not enjoy tax and customs privileges no matter what nice 
formulations they come up with to substantiate their wishes.” The paper 
believes that Nikol Pashinian’s government can “quickly sort out these spheres” 
because it is much more popular and legitimate than the previous Armenian 
governments.

“Zhamanak” comments on the corruption charge brought against former President 
Robert Kocharian. It seems to be based on incriminating testimony given by a 
well-known businesswoman, Silva Hambardzumian. The latter has said, though, 
that he has not directly implicated Kocharian in bribery. The paper sees a 
contradiction between Hambardzumian’s claims and statements made by Kocharian’s 
lawyers.

“Zhoghovurd” says that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has reverted to 
“bellicose rhetoric” on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “Aliyev has expressed 
confidence that the factor of force is becoming dominant in the world,” writes 
the paper. It says that such statements are at odds with the logic of Aliyev’s 
and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s negotiations with their 
Armenian counterparts. “If they agree to hold negotiations on the basis of … 
the Madrid Principles it means that they agree that the conflict must be 
resolved on the basis of three internationally recognized principles: non-use 
of force, peoples’ self-determination and territorial integrity,” it says. “And 
the fact that the international community constantly stresses the need to 
resolve the conflict in accordance with internationally accepted norms means 
that it cannot support only Azerbaijan’s position.”

(Lilit Harutiunian)

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