Wednesday, May 5, 2021
U.S. Welcomes Release Of More Armenian POWs
U.K. -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a joint news conference
with his British counterpart at Downing Street following their bilateral meeting
in London, May 3, 2021
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday praised Azerbaijan for
repatriating on Tuesday three Armenian prisoners of war and expressed hope that
others will be freed as well.
“The U.S. welcomes Azerbaijan's release of three Armenian detainees,” tweeted
Blinken. “We call on both parties to fully and expeditiously complete the
exchange process for all prisoners, detainees, and remains, and to respect their
obligations to ensure the humane treatment of detainees.”
The U.S., Russian and French diplomats co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group also
called for “the return of all POWs and other detainees” in a joint statement
issued on April 13.
No Azerbaijani POWs or civilians are known to be held in Armenia or
Nagorno-Karabakh at present.
Yerevan says that more than 100 Armenians remain in Azerbaijani captivity. It
insists on their immediate and unconditional release, citing the terms of a
Russian-mediated agreement that halted the Armenian-Azerbaijani war on November
10.
Baku claims that they are not covered by the agreement because they were
captured after it took effect on November 10. Azerbaijani officials have branded
them as “terrorists.”
The European Union last week called on Azerbaijan to free all remaining Armenian
prisoners “as soon as possible” and “regardless of the circumstances of their
arrest.”
Ter-Petrosian Seeks Electoral Alliance With Other Ex-Presidents
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian is interviewed by Armenian Public
Television in Yerevan, 21Mar2017.
In a dramatic move, Levon Ter-Petrosian on Wednesday publicly urged Armenia’s
two other former presidents, Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian, to team up
with him and jointly try to unseat Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in forthcoming
parliamentary elections.
He said Pashinian’s reelection would spell further trouble for the country
reeling from its defeat in last year’s war with Azerbaijan.
In an article posted on Ilur.am, Ter-Petrosian revealed that he proposed such an
electoral alliance at a March 25 meeting with Sarkisian and Kocharian. He said
Kocharian rejected the offer on the grounds that it would upset a
Kocharian-backed alliance of Armenian opposition parties trying to topple
Pashinian.
“As regards Serzh Sarkisian, he did not express any opinion,” wrote the
76-year-old politician who had served as Armenia’s first president from
1991-1998.
“Today I am publicly repeating my proposal to the second and third presidents of
Armenia,” he said, calling it “probably the only way to avoid new disasters.”
“It is incumbent on all Armenians to realize that the reproduction of
Pashinian’s regime is much more dangerous for Armenia than even possible or
hypothetical threats emanating from Azerbaijan and Turkey,” he said.
The offer is significant given the long history of mutual antagonism between
Ter-Petrosian on one side and Kocharian and Sarkisian on the other.
Ter-Petrosian ran in a disputed 2008 presidential election in an unsuccessful
attempt to prevent the handover of power from Kocharian to Sarkisian. He was
highly critical of their policies and track records.
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and his predecessor Robert Kocharian
visit Gyumri, 7 December 2008.
The three ex-presidents met in October for the first time in decades to discuss
ways of stopping of the Karabakh war. Ter-Petrosian and Kocharian offered to
jointly travel to Moscow for urgent talks with Russian leaders.
Pashinian reportedly refused to authorize them to negotiate on behalf of his
administration. He later questioned the sincerity and seriousness of the
ex-presidents’ initiative, prompting angry reactions from them.
Kocharian turned down Ter-Petrosian’s proposal through his chief spokesman,
Viktor Soghomonian.
“As regards the proposal to jointly participate in the pre-term parliamentary
elections, we have already chosen a different format of participation, which we
will announce very soon,” Soghomonian wrote on Facebook.
Soghomonian confirmed that Kocharian also rejected the idea during the March 25
meeting with Sarkisian and Ter-Petrosian. He criticized the latter’s “unilateral
disclosure of details of the non-public meeting.”
Kocharian is expected to form and lead an electoral alliance with two opposition
parties. He makes no secret of his desire to return to power.
Sarkisian did not immediately react to Ter-Petrosian’s extraordinary appeal. His
Republican Party of Armenia is planning to join forces with the Fatherland party
of former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian to participate in
the snap elections expected in June.
A draft joint statement by the three ex-presidents which Ter-Petrosian claimed
to have proposed on March 25 says that none of them is “aspiring” to hold any
position in Armenia’s next government.
Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian (L) and Nikol Pashinian at an
opposition rally in Yerevan, May 31, 2011.
Like other opposition figures, all three men blame Pashinian for Armenia’s
defeat in the six-week war. Ter-Petrosian said in March that Pashinian must step
down and “at least temporarily” leave the country to end its post-war political
crisis. The prime minister reacted scathingly to that statement.
Pashinian scoffed at Ter-Petrosian’s latest initiative when he spoke in the
Armenian parliament later on Wednesday. He claimed that his former political
mentor is now hoping to carry out a “kleptocratic revolution” in the country.
“The only thing that Levon Ter-Petrosian succeeded in doing with great precision
during his political career was to bring Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian to
power and to keep them in power,” he said.
Pashinian played a major role in Ter-Petrosian’s 2008 opposition movement and
spent nearly two years in prison as a result. He subsequently fell out with the
ex-president and set up his own party.
Former Army Chief Prosecuted After Criticizing Pashinian
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Colonel-General Movses Hakobian, chief of the Armenian army's General
Staff, visits an army recruitment center in Yerevan, 8 January 2018.
Law-enforcement authorities have brought criminal charges against Movses
Hakobian, Armenia’s former top general, nearly six months after he accused Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian of mishandling the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The charges stem from his claims made at a November 19 news conference in
Yerevan held more than a week after Russia brokered an Armenian-Azerbaijani
agreement to stop the war.
Hakobian claimed that disastrous decisions made by Pashinian allowed Azerbaijan
to make sweeping territorial gains. In particular, he said, three days after the
outbreak of the hostilities on September 27 Pashinian stopped the reinforcement
of Armenian army units with reservists drafted as part of a military
mobilization. He said many of the volunteers sent from Armenia instead were
poorly trained and could not help frontline troops struggling to repel
Azerbaijani attacks.
The Karabakh-born general also criticized arms acquisitions carried out by
Armenia’s current leadership. He singled out the purchase of Russian Su-30SM
fighter jets and second-hand air-defense systems, saying that none of them
proved useful in the latest war.
Pashinian strongly denied the allegations through his spokeswoman. She said
law-enforcement bodies “must investigate all statements made by Mr. Hakobian.”
The National Security Service (NSS) said this week that Hakobian has been
charged with a disclosure of state secrets. It gave no details of the
accusations.
Hakobian did not say whether or not he will plead guilty when he spoke to
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday. “Let them investigate,” he said. “If I’m
guilty I will be punished.”
Hakobian also stopped short of calling the charges politically motivated. “I did
not criticize [the government,] I just pointed to shortcomings.”
Hakobian, 55, is a prominent veteran of the first Karabakh war of 1991-1994. He
was the commander of Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army before serving as chief of
the General Staff of Armenia’s Armed Forces from 2016-2018. Pashinian sacked him
shortly after coming to power in May 2018.
The prime minister went on to appoint the general as Armenia’s chief military
inspector. Hakobian resigned from that post the day before his November news
conference.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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