Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Russia’s Lavrov Again Talks To Armenian, Azeri FMs
RUSSIA -- Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (left) meets with his
Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, August 31, 2021
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has phoned his Armenian and Azerbaijani
counterparts to discuss the implementation of Russian-brokered agreements to
stop fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and open Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the separate phone calls took place
on Monday and Tuesday “in view of the upcoming anniversary” of a ceasefire
agreement that stopped the six-week war over Karabakh.
The ministry said Lavrov “compared notes” with Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan
of Armenia and Jeyhun Bayramov of Azerbaijan with regard to easing tensions
along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and “unblocking all transport and economic
links in the South Caucasus.”
“Sergei Lavrov stressed the importance of continuing efforts aimed at political
and diplomatic settlement of the full range of issues in relations between
Azerbaijan and Armenia,” it said.
The conversations came a week after some Russian and Armenian media outlets
reported that that Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host fresh talks
between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev.
Aliqmedia.am claimed that the talks will be timed to coincide with the first
anniversary of the November 9, 2020 truce accord brokered by Putin. Citing
unnamed Armenian diplomatic sources, the publication said Aliyev and Pashinian
will sign two agreements envisaging the demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border and its opening for cargo traffic.
The Armenian government sent mixed signals in response to those reports.
Mirzoyan did not explicitly rule out last week the possibility of an
Armenian-Azerbaijani summit. But he denied that Yerevan is planning to make
far-reaching concessions to Baku.
The official Armenian readout of Mirzoyan’s phone call with Lavrov said both
ministers agreed on the need to address “humanitarian issues resulting from the
44-day war.”
“Ararat Mirzoyan stressed the need for the unconditional repatriation of
Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees as well as the preservation of
Armenian religious and historical-cultural heritage in the territories of
Artsakh that fell under Azerbaijani control,” added the statement.
Armenia’s COVID-19 Deaths Hit New Daily Record
Armenia -- Medics at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center in Yerevan,
Armenia's largest hospital treating COVID-19 patients, June 5, 2020.
Health authorities in Armenia reported on Tuesday morning 62 more deaths from
COVID-19, the highest single-day figure since the start of the pandemic.
The Ministry of Health said six other people infected with the coronavirus died
as a result of other diseases in the past 24 hours.
The country’s daily death toll hit a new record after months of a steady
increase in coronavirus cases which has accelerated in recent weeks. Health
Minister Anahit Avanesian said on October 28 that all of just over 3,000 beds
set up for COVID-19 patients at Armenian hospitals are now occupied.
More than 1,000 Armenians died in October alone. The total number of officially
confirmed coronavirus-related deaths rose to 7,746 by Tuesday morning.
The Armenian government last week ordered universities to revert to online
classes and extended school holidays until November 7 but ruled out lockdown
restrictions. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said it will instead step up its
vaccination campaign and push for greater mask wearing to try to contain the
latest wave of infections.
Less than 10 percent of Armenia’s population has been fully vaccinated against
COVID-19 so far.
Tight Mayoral Race Expected In Another Armenian City
• Karine Simonian
Armenia -- A street in Vanadzor, November 5, 2018.
Ten political parties and alliances have applied to run in a local election that
will be held in Armenia’s third largest city of Vanadzor next month.
The main election contenders are expected to be the ruling Civil Contract party
and a bloc led by Mamikon Aslanian, who served as Vanadzor mayor until last
month.
The Armenian government controversially appointed a caretaker mayor after
Aslanian’s five-year term in office expired in early October. Aslanian denounced
the decision as illegal, saying that he should have continued to run the
administrative center of the country’s Lori province until the election
scheduled for December 5.
Voters in Vanadzor and three nearby villages, which were recently incorporated
into the city, will elect a new municipal council empowered to appoint the next
mayor.
Aslanian was affiliated with the then ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK)
when the former Vanadzor council elected him mayor in 2016. He is now seeking
reelection not as a candidate of the HHK but as the leader of a newly formed
bloc bearing his name.
Armenia - Former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian (right) and Lori Governor Aram
Khachatrian.
His main rival is Lori Governor Aram Khachatrian, who tops the list of Civil
Contract’s election candidates. Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service last week,
Khachatrian claimed that Aslanian is unofficially backed and sponsored by
hardline opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament.
Two of those parties, the HHK and Hayrenik (Fatherland), make up the Pativ Unem
alliance. Hayrenik has joined the mayoral race in Vanadzor separately, while the
HHK has not fielded or endorsed any candidates. The main opposition Hayastan
alliance has also not entered the fray.
Among the eight other local election contenders are the opposition Bright
Armenia and Prosperous Armenia parties that were represented in Armenia’s former
parliament but failed to win any seats in the current National Assembly elected
in June.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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