Wednesday,
French Senate Calls For Karabakh’s Recognition
France -- French senators stand during a moment of silence in tribute to the
victims of French Senate Calls For Karabakh’s Recognitionexplosions at the
airport and metro in Brussels, March 22, 2016.
In a resolution hailed by Armenia, France’s upper house of parliament, the
Senate, called on the French government on Wednesday to recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.
The resolution also describes the recent war in Karabakh as an Azerbaijani
aggression supported by Turkey and foreign mercenaries. It urges Azerbaijan’s
withdrawal from territory seized during the six-week fighting stopped by a
Russian-mediated ceasefire on November 10.
The measure introduced by five pro-Armenian senators was passed by 305 votes to
1 despite being opposed by the French government. A government representative
warned before the vote that it would undermine France’s role as one of the three
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group trying to broker a solution to the Karabakh
conflict.
Armenia was quick to welcome the resolution, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
calling it “historic.”
“Artsakh’s international recognition is entering the international agenda,”
Pashinian wrote on Facebook.
For its part, the Armenian Foreign Ministry expressed hope that the French lower
house and other foreign parliaments will pass similar measures.
Karabakh’s independence from Azerbaijan, declared in 1991, has not been
recognized by any country, including Armenia.
Predictably, Azerbaijan condemned the Senate resolution. President Ilham
Aliyev’s office dismissed it as a mere “piece of paper” that cannot influence
the Karabakh negotiating process or the situation on the ground.
Aliyev repeatedly accused Paris of pro-Armenian bias during the six-week war.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov echoed those claims in an
interview with the French weekly Le Point published earlier on Wednesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Azerbaijan’s military action in
Karabakh shortly after the outbreak of the war on September 27. Macron has been
even more critical of Turkey’s strong political and military support for Baku.
Armenian PM Dismissive Of Opposition Protests
• Astghik Bedevian
• Gayane Saribekian
ARMENIA - People attend an opposition rally to demand the resignation of
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan following the signing of a deal to end
the military conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh, in Yerevan, November 18, 2020
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian dismissed on Wednesday opposition demands for his
resignation, saying that they are not backed by most Armenians.
“I think that the question of a government formed by the people can only be
resolved by the expression of the people’s will. The fact is that the calls
voiced by the opposition are not receiving the backing of the Armenian society,”
he told the TASS news agency in an interview.
Pashinian again signaled no plans to hold in the coming weeks or months fresh
parliamentary elections demanded by the Armenian opposition. He said he will
focus instead on the implementation of a six-month plan of government actions
aimed at “restoring stability” in Armenia in the wake of the war in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“After that we will consult with our society, people and political forces and
make a decision regarding further events and steps, regarding what to do next,”
he said.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian gives a speech in the Armenian
parliament.
Pashinian’s 15-point “roadmap” and ongoing cabinet reshuffle have been dismissed
as a gimmick by opposition parties. More than a dozen of them launched street
protests in Yerevan following the announcement of a Russian-brokered ceasefire
that stopped the fighting in Karabakh on November 10.
The opposition forces blame Pashinian for the Armenian side’s defeat in the war
with Azerbaijan. They are seeking his resignation, the formation of an interim
government and conduct of snap parliamentary elections.
Pashinian’s political allies note that only a few thousand people have attended
the anti-government rallies.
Organizers of the protests include Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party
(BHK), former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian’s Fatherland
party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). Their most
recent rally was held in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on Saturday.
Pashinian is also facing resignation calls by other opposition groups, some
prominent public figures and intellectuals. President Armen Sarkissian has
likewise called for fresh elections, saying that they are need to “save the
country from upheavals.”
Meanwhile, Vanetsian said that the opposition will continue to hold rallies and
“civil disobedience actions” in Yerevan and other parts of the country.
“We are going to use all instruments allowed by the law,” the former security
chief told reporters. “All of Nikol Pashinian’s actions are aimed at prolonging
his rule by another. He has no other goals. He wants to keep and enjoy power.”
Vanetsian also said that his party and its opposition allies will name soon an
interim prime minister which they believe should govern the country until the
pre-term elections. He refused to say who that candidate will be.
“I can only say that someone who doesn’t have popular support cannot be prime
minister,” he added.
Vanetsian spoke as he visited a Dashnaktsutyun leader, Gegham Manukian, and a
former Constitutional Court judge, Kim Balayan, holding a hunger strike outside
the main government building in Yerevan to demand Pashinian’s resignation.
Pashinian’s press secretary, Mane Gevorgian, emerged from the building to talk
to Manukian and urge him to end the hunger strike.
Pashinian Sees Longer Russian Military Presence In Karabakh
• Heghine Buniatian
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Russian peacekeepers patrol a checkpoint on the road leading
to the Dadivank Monastery in the Kalbajar region,
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian suggested on Wednesday that Russian peacekeeping
forces will likely remain in Nagorno-Karabakh for more than five years envisaged
by a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war on
November 10.
The nearly 2,000 Russian soldiers are deployed along the current Karabakh “line
of contact” and a road connecting the enclave to Armenia. The ceasefire
agreement says that the peacekeeping operation can be repeatedly extended by
five more years if Armenia and Azerbaijan do not object to that.
“Guarantees of security and stability in the region have to be created during
the five-year period. But the Karabakh conflict is a prolonged one, so I do not
believe that the presence of Russian peacekeepers will be confined to one
five-year period,” Pashinian told the Russian TASS news agency in an interview.
“The five-year period is the beginning of a process and … the possibility of its
automatic extension is envisaged,” he said. “The main thing at the moment is to
ensure stability in Nagorno-Karabakh and the security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s
citizens, and I think and hope that the Russian peacekeepers will manage to
accomplish this mission.”
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Armenian servicemen pose for a picture with Russian
peacekeepers as they leave a region outside the town of Kalbajar, November 23,
2020
The truce accord, which formalized significant territorial gains made by
Azerbaijan during the six-week war, says nothing about Karabakh’s future status,
the main bone of contention. This is expected to be a key focus of
Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations which Russia, France and the United States
hope will resume soon.
Pashinian made clear that Armenia’s position on Karabakh’s internationally
recognized status has not changed after the war. Successive Armenian governments
have maintained that the disputed territory’s predominantly ethnic Armenian
population should be able to fully exercise its right to self-determination.
By contrast, Azerbaijan insists on a full restoration of its control over
Karabakh. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said earlier this month that Baku
will not even agree to grant Karabakh an autonomous status.
Aliyev’s foreign minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, praised Russian mediation efforts in
an interview with the French weekly Le Point published on Wednesday. Bayramov
also emphasized the fact that the Russian peacekeepers were deployed to Karabakh
with Baku’s consent.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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