Wednesday,
Russian, Armenian Leaders Hold Fresh Talks On Karabakh
RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian before a meeting with leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
over the Nagorno-Karabakh's future at the Kremlin in Moscow, January 11, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
spoke by phone on Wednesday as their foreign ministers met in Moscow for fresh
talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Russian-Armenian relations.
A statement by the Kremlin said Putin and Pashinian discussed “practical aspects
of the implementation” of a Russian-brokered deal that stopped the war in
Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10 as well as follow-up agreements that were
reached by them and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Moscow on January 11.
According to the official Armenian readout of the phone call, Putin and
Pashinian agreed on the need for a quick release of all remaining prisoners.
“The Armenian side expressed concern at the fact that Azerbaijan is not fully
complying with the relevant point of the joint [November] statement,” it said.
At least 100 Armenian soldiers and civilians are believed to remain in
Azerbaijani captivity. Pashinian met with some of their relatives when he
visited Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri earlier on Wednesday. The
meeting took placed behind the closed doors, and he made no public statements
afterwards.
The Kremlin statement said Putin and Pashinian also discussed “some topical
issues of Russian-Armenian cooperation.” It gave no details.
The phone call coincided with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s meeting
with his visiting Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazian.
Lavrov spoke with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov by phone earlier
in the day. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they focused on the
implementation of the January 11 agreements mostly relating to the restoration
of transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Tuesday, Ayvazian and Bayramov spoke separately by video conference with
Russian, U.S. and French diplomats co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group.
“The Co-Chairs engaged with each minister in a lengthy and substantive exchange
of views on issues related to the promotion of stability in the region, the
modalities of the mediation process, and the role of the [Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,]” read a joint statement
released by the mediators.
President Signals Lingering Concerns Over Pan-Armenian Charity
Armenia -President Armen Sarkissian (R) and Haykak Arshamian, executive director
of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, at a meeting in Yerevan, October 18, 2018.
President Armen Sarkissian announced on Wednesday plans to call an emergency
meeting of the governing board of a pan-Armenian charity two months after
criticizing the use of funds raised by it for Nagorno-Karabakh during the autumn
war with Azerbaijan.
The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund launched an international fundraising campaign
immediately after the outbreak of the war on September 27. Hundreds of thousands
of Armenians from around the world responded to its appeal for urgent aid to
Karabakh, donating roughly $170 million within weeks.
The charity headquartered in Yerevan redirected more than $100 million of those
proceeds to Armenia’s government. The Armenian Finance Ministry said on November
24 that the sum will finance the government’s “infrastructure, social and
healthcare expenditures” necessitated by the six-week war.
Sarkissian publicly criticized the donation in early December, saying that it
undermined donors’ trust in Hayastan. He said the government should consider
redefining the hefty contribution as a “loan” and eventually reimbursing the
fund.
Sarkissian also urged the government to release a detailed report on how it has
used the economic and humanitarian aid to Karabakh.
The presidential press office reported on Wednesday that Sarkissian met with
Hayastan’s executive director, Haykak Arshamian, to discuss the fund’s aid
programs in Karabakh and broader activities.
In a statement on the meeting, the office said: “President Sarkissian emphasized
the importance of efficient, responsible, and targeted spending of the funds
raised by Armenians all over the world and donated to the Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund, strictest possible adherence to project implementation procedures and
deadlines, transparency and accountability of the Fund’s activities, and trust
towards the organization.”
“President Sarkissian plans to convene a special meeting of the Board of
Trustees in the near future to discuss issues related to the Fund’s management
and activities and find solutions to them,” added the statement.
The board is headed by Sarkissian and comprises Armenia’s other top state
officials as well as Diaspora philanthropists.
Arshamian has defended the $100 million donation to the government, saying that
it was authorized by most board members. In a December 18 interview with
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, he also argued that Hayastan raised $26 million in
fresh funds for Karabakh after a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the war
on November 10.
Hayastan has implemented $400 million worth of various infrastructure projects
in Karabakh and Armenia since its establishment in 1992.
Karabakh Factions Want Official Status For Russian Language
• Artak Khulian
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Russian soldiers of the peacekeeping force man a checkpoint
on a road outside Stepanakert, November 26, 2020
Representatives of three major Nagorno-Karabakh parties have put forward a bill
that would make Russian the Armenian-populated territory’s second official
language.
The bill cites Karabakh’s history of “cultural, military and economic links”
with Russia. It says that Russian has remained many Karabakh Armenians’ “second
language of communication” since the Soviet breakup and that giving it an
official status would help to deepen ties with Russia “in all spheres.”
The bill was drafted by legislators affiliated with the Free Fatherland party of
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, and two other parties represented in
Karabakh’s parliament. The three groups together control the majority of
parliament seats.
“We are simply enabling the use of Russian as an official language in all
circles,” Free Fatherland’s Aram Harutiunian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on
Wednesday.
“We are not replacing Armenian with Russian or vice versa,” he said.
Another local lawmaker, Metaksia Hakobian, warned that her opposition Justice
party will back the bill only if it is amended to uphold the supremacy of the
Armenian language. She said its current version contradicts the Karabakh
constitution which declares Armenian the unrecognized republic’s sole “state
language.”
Harutiunian denied any contradiction. Still, he said he and other authors of the
bill are open to discussing changes in the text.
Russia’s presence in Karabakh increased dramatically after Moscow brokered a
ceasefire agreement that stopped the six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani war on
November 10. The deal led to the deployment of about 2,000 Russian peacekeeping
troops in Karabakh as well as along a land corridor connecting the disputed
territory to Armenia.
The peacekeepers have helped tens of thousands of Karabakh Armenian civilians,
who fled the fighting, to return to their homes.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.