Month: June 2022

Opposition leaders and supporters on Friday staged a protest outside the Armenian presidential palace in central Yerevan hosting a CSTO summit.

Demonstrators demanding Nikol Pashinyan's resignation marched towards the presidential palace from France Square in the morning to tell the CSTO foreign ministers that the current authorities have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Armenia and Artsakh.

Opposition MPs made statements and protesters chanted anti-Pashinyan slogans near the palace heavily guarded by police officers.

“Today, we communicated a clear message,” Hayastan bloc MP Gegham Manukyan said. “Every delegation [visiting Armenia] now realizes that the situation in Armenia has changed and one should not make long-term plans with those in power."

He reiterated that there is a political crisis in Armenia, which the Resistance Movement is striving to resolve. Afterwards, Manukyan urged protesters to return to France Square to plan their further actions.

Opposition leader and deputy parliament speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan on Friday accused the Armenian authorities of plotting to cede to Azerbaijan the Berdzor (Lachin) road linking Artsakh and Armenia.

Speaking at a briefing in France Square in central Yerevan on Friday, he said that Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev “have seemingly reached an agreement”, as a result of which Armenia will lose control over the Berdzor road.

"A bypass road is being built to Stepanakert, which is expected to be commissioned in two or three months. If it happens, we will completely lose control over the Berdzor district, Aghavno and a number of other Armenian villages," Saghatelyan noted.

“Most importantly, our all communications, including the electricity and gas networks, will be taken over by Azerbaijan. As a result, we will become totally dependent on Azerbaijan and there will be no Armenians left in Artsakh,” he said.

Saghatelyan promised to address the issue in detail at the next opposition rally.

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) issued a statement on the adoption of the annual progress report on Turkey by the European Parliament on Tuesday. The full statement is provided below.

"The European Parliament (EP) adopted its annual progress report on Turkey. As in the past 6 years, the EP calls on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide, referring to its resolution adopted on 15 April 2015 on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.

Thus, the European Parliament:

– urges Turkey to commit to a genuine reconciliation between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, including settling the dispute about the Armenian Genocide and fully comply with its obligations to protect Armenian and other cultural heritage;

– calls on the EU and its Member States to examine the possibility of banning the right-wing extremist movement “Grey Wolves” in EU countries;

– urges Turkish authorities to increase their efforts to effectively address the dire situation of Armenians and other minorities in the country;

– is concerned that Turkey’s foreign policy in recent years contradicts the common goals of the EU’s foreign and security policy, especially with regard to the Caucasus;

– considers that Turkey is persistently further from EU values and standards.

The EAFJD welcomes the EP report, in particular, the aspect concerning the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Nevertheless, the EAFJD considers that the European Parliament should have clearly criticized Turkey’s destructive role in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, as it did in its last year’s report.

While evaluating the process of the ongoing dialogue between Turkey and Armenia, the EP and the EU should urge Turkey to refrain from putting any preconditions, in particular, relating the process of the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and thus serving the interest of the third party , i.e. Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, until now the Turkish intentions during a dialogue have been either an imitation and or aimed at imposing its own will – a process which has little to do with genuinely coming to terms with its own past .

We will continue keeping these issues in the focus of our attention."

Delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border must start only after Azerbaijan pulls out its forces from Armenian’s sovereign territory they occupied in May 2021, opposition leader and deputy parliament speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan told reporters in Yerevan’s France Square on Friday.

He reiterated that a border delimitation and demarcation process cannot be carried out amid threats of force by Azerbaijan.

“This process must be launched only after the Azerbaijani troops withdraw from Armenian’s sovereign territory. Otherwise, it would be a forced process rather than a part of peace talks,” he said, pointing to the government’s failure to protect Armenia’s interests.

Saghatelyan accused the authorities of holding behind-the-scenes talks where "no red lines are set".

“Obviously, a process is taking place behind our back, where everyone is involved, except for us and the people,” he added.

Opposition leader and deputy parliament speaker Iskhan Saghatcelyan on Friday dismissed claims that the protest movement aimed at forcing Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet to resign is dying down.

“The Resistance Movement cannot die down under any circumstances, because the suspension or fading of the movement would mean a defeat for the Armenian people,” Saghatcelyan, who represents the Hayastan bloc, told a briefing in Yerevan’s France Square on Friday.

He highlighted that daily marches and rallies held as part of the civil disobedience campaign launched on 2 May attracted some 50,000 people.

“It’s a purely Armenian and nationwide movement and will definitely succeed,” the lawmaker said.

As one of its key achievements, he stressed that the “whole world now knows that Armenians are not going to concede defeat and are not ready for new concessions [to Azerbaijan].”

Also, he said talks are underway between the opposition and various public and political forces to give fresh impetus to the protest movement.

“There can be no retreat in any case. All our discussions focus on how to expand the movement, fix the mistakes and move forward with greater vigor. We believe that what we have done so far has been very effective, but a new strategy is needed now. Thus, changes are possible in our steps,” Saghatcelyan said.

The State Migration Service of Azerbaijan has not extended the work permits of the editor-in-chief of the Sputnik Azerbaijan website and the producer of the press center, according to Azerbaijani media reports.

The work permit of Veronika Antonova-Trizno, editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan, and her husband Pavel Antonov, producer of Sputnik Azerbaijan's press center, expired on June 6.

Chief of the Public Relations Department of the State Migration Service Elnur Kalantarov confirmed the report.