Month: June 2022

ArmInfo.The essence of the recent statements of  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the settlement of the Artsakh conflict leads to the attempt to justify  his own current policy by sharing the responsibility with Levon  Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. A similar opinion  was expressed to ArmInfo by head of the Armenian Constructive Party,  political scientist Andrias Ghukasyan.

“Thus, he is trying to demonstrate that no matter who was in his  place today, the result would be the same. I personally assess such  argumentation as primitive. The fact is that Pashinyan personally  feels that he has lost in the struggle for the self-determination of  Artsakh. At the same time, many of his statements from the rostrum of  the Parliament really correspond to political realities, with the  exception, perhaps, of his conclusions on the principles of Madrid,”  he noted.

Assessing the Madrid principles as, in fact, a program for the  secession of Artsakh from Azerbaijan, the political scientist  stressed that it was Nikol Pashinyan who rejected this program. And  today he is trying not only to completely shift the blame for the  defeat on the former authorities, but also to argue that the  principles did not correspond to the interests of Armenia and  Artsakh, and that is why he rejected them in 2019.

At the same time, according to Ghukasyan, having rejected the  principles-brainchild of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Pashinyan,  as the new leader of Armenia, did not put forward any concept of a  settlement of his own. And without putting forward an alternative,  without taking a single step towards the formation of an agenda for  the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh, today he is  only reading morals from the rostrum of the parliament.

“As for the peace agenda that Pashinyan is trying to lead the country  towards, then, arguing about the need to consolidate society around  this agenda, Pashinyan means only consolidation around himself. There  is nothing new here. By 2023, Pashinyan will have serious problems  with holding power connected solely with external factors and  reasons, including the fact that the failure of the Russian  Federation in a number of areas will inevitably affect its satellite  Armenia. In this light, society remains his only chance to stay in  power. Thus, he hopes to prove to the international community that  he, let’s say, is not a good person, but the people are consolidated  around him. Accordingly, he can continue to fulfill their wishes  now,” Ghukasyan summed up. 

ArmInfo. It is pointless to talk about what happened in the past, simply because it no longer plays a real role in today’s realities. A similar opinion was expressed to  ArmInfo by Artsakh social and political figure, publicist Vahram  Atanesyan.

“The fact, that  in 1997-98 Armenia actually failed the  stage-by-stage option for resolving the Artsakh conflict, thereby  missing the opportunity to establish peace of course, should  certainly be recorded. This is the essence of the problem, and the  rest, including Pashinyan’s statements in 2018, have absolutely no  meaning. Today we are faced with a very unfavorable geopolitical  situation, while any path towards the formation of a different  situation requires the regulation of relations with neighboring  countries,” he said.

Describing the current geopolitical situation in which Armenia and  Artsakh are today as extremely complex and full of challenges and  threats, Atanesyan noted that in such chaos, a time may well come  when no one will be worried about the fate of the Artsakh Armenians  at all. Just like today, by and large, no one cares about the fate of  the Syrians or Ukrainians. In his opinion, in such a situation,  making thunderous statements excluding this or that scenario around  Artsakh, has nothing to do with Realpolitik (from German real  ‘realistic, practical, actual’, and Politik ‘politics’, ed. note).

In this light, purely humanly, as a resident of Artsakh, not  welcoming Prime Minister Pashinyan’s latest statement, according to  which any status of Artsakh that ensures the security, freedoms and  rights of Artsakh Armenians can be considered a solution to the  conflict, Atanesyan believes that there is simply no alternative in  the current conditions.

“These conditions are the balance of power following the results of  the 44-day war, the international political situation, the inability  of the Armenian side, which won in 1994, to achieve recognition of  the independence of the second Armenian state from Baku within 26  years. Under such conditions, even ensuring the rights of Artsakh  Armenians is a prospect that still needs to be achieved, especially  against the backdrop of Azerbaijani post-war appetites,” Atanesyan  summed up.

ArmInfo. The delegation headed by RA NA Speaker Alen Simonyan, who is in Austria on an official visit, was received by Christine Schwarz-Fuchs, President of the Federal  Council of the Republic of Austria.

According to the press service of the legislative body of Armenia, in  a conversation with his coumterpart, the NA speaker noted that in  recent years, positive dynamics in the development of bilateral  relations has been observed on the political platform between Armenia  and Austria. There were active mutual visits, meetings at the level  of presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers. He added that it  is necessary to establish cooperation between the Armenian parliament  and the upper house of the Austrian parliament, since parliamentary  diplomacy plays a significant role in the bilateral Armenian-Austrian  agenda both at the federal and decentralized levels.

Alen Simonyan reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment, together with its  European partners, to expand and deepen the process of institutional  reforms aimed at further strengthening democracy, human rights and  the rule of law. In this sense, according to the President of the  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the entry into force of  the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement is a  turning point that will open up new prospects for deepening  Armenia-EU cooperation.

During the conversation, issues related to the liberalization of the  Armenia-EU visa regime, the opening of the Austrian embassy in  Armenia, the opening of Austrian visa services in Yerevan were  discussed.

Touching upon the 44-day war and the many problems caused by it, Alen  Simonyan once again welcomed the efforts of Austria aimed at  strengthening peace and stability in the region, creating an  atmosphere of mutual trust, and developing regional cooperation.

The parties also touched upon the importance of the centuries-old  Armenian community in Austria, which is a reliable bridge between the  two countries. Christine Schwartz-Fuchs proudly noted the great  contribution of Armenians to the cultural, economic and political  life of their country.

At the end of the meeting, the President of the Federation Council of  the Republic of Austria noted the importance of the visit of the head  of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, noting that it  will provide new opportunities for expanding inter-parliamentary  cooperation between Armenia and Austria.  “We are interested in a  favorable situation for people living in Nagorno-Karabakh. In this  sense, you can consider Austria as a reliable partner>, said  Christine Schwarz-Fuchs, President of the Federal Council of the  Republic of Austria.

ArmInfo. Armenian Human Rights Defender Kristine Grigoryan criticized the international community’s for its disproportionate and inadequate response to the facts of  torture and ill-treatment of Armenian servicemen and civilians during  and after the 44-day war in Nagorno- Karabakh in the fall of 2020.

Thus, the Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of  Armenia reports, in part, “On June 22, Human Rights Defender of the  Republic of Armenia, Ms. Kristinne Grigoryan made a video statement  during the interactive dialogue with Special Rapporteur on summary  executions held within the framework of the 50th regular session of  the UN Human Rights Council (June 13 – July 8 ).

During the dialogue, in her statement the Defender highly appreciated  the work of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or  arbitrary executions stressing the need for further strengthening the  mandate and allocating more resources.

The Defender reflected on the response to torture, extrajudicial and  summary executions of Armenian civilian captives and PoW during and  after the 2020 hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh, which has been  inadequate and insufficient to say the least creating preconditions  for extrajudicial and arbitrary executions in other ongoing  conflicts.

Summing-up the Speech, as a guarantee of effective implementation of  the mandate the Defender stressed the imperative of visiting the  regions and territories more by Special Rapporteur emphasizing the  need for better understanding on the ground.

Highlighting the role of national human rights institutions as a  valuable partner to the Special Rapporteur, Defender Grigoryan  expressed her willingness for partnership.”  

ArmInfo. The OSCE Minsk Group’s further activities hardly have any prospects, Alexey Malashenko, Senior Researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International  Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), said in an  interview with ArmInfo. 

“I consider the statements on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship  made by Karen Donfried and Maria Zakharova in this context. This is  nothing but intricate diplomatic swordplay in the present strained  geopolitical situation. Nothing else should be expected at the  current stage,” he said. 

On June 22, Karen Donfried, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for  European and Eurasian Affairs, stated in Yerevan that, despite the  broken off contacts with Russia, the USA was willing to continue  cooperation in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the OSCE  Minsk Group.

In response, Maria Zakharova, Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry  of Foreign Affairs expressed her doubts about the sincerity of that  statement. According to her, if Washington and Paris really  appreciated thee Minsk Group, they would not have disregarded the  mandate approved by all the member-states. 

In this context, Mr Malashenko believes that all the latest talks  about the OSCE Minsk Group are an “artificial political agenda” both  for Washington, Paris and Brussels and for Moscow. And this agenda  enables the parties to convey certain messages to each other in the  best-case scenario or, in the worst-case scenario, seriously damage  the opponent’s international reputation. 

“In fact, fierce rivalry is taking place for mediation in settling  the Armenian-Azerbaijani problems now.  And the West is seeking to  gain the upper hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. And  neither party is capable of thinking of what the OSCE Minsk Group’s  activities could be. Clearly, it is causing damage to the peace  process itself, and the lack of results is evidence thereof. And to  resolve the current situation the mediators should abandon the policy  of escalating the regional region,” the expert said.

ArmInfo. In the autumn 2020, Moscow badly miscalculated the potential of Turkey and its President Recep Erdogan, Professor David Hovhannisyan said in an interview with  ArmInfo. 

“The scenario of the 44-day war was initially well thought out. And  it was the condition for Moscow’s consent to Azerbaijan’s aggression  against Artsakh. Under that scenario, the Azerbaijani army was  capturing the territories it actually captured – halting its advance  from time to time,” Mr Hovhannisyan said. 

And the Russian scenario was developing until Erdogan intervened in  the Russian game, which brought about a change in the situation,  especially toward the end of the war. And Moscow had to resort to  rather radical ways of persuasion to prevent the theater of war  ‘going beyond the set bounds,’ which resulted in Azerbaijan downing a  Russian helicopter gunship in Armenia’s territory. 

And Moscow has now realized its miscalculations and is seeking to  remedy the resultant situation, which is a rather difficult task to  accomplish. And Moscow major miscalculation was thinking that the  Turkish president had nothing to do in that “from the first.”  However, toward the end of the end of the war it was clear that, to  put it mildly, it was far from being the truth.

“Russia’s current problems in Artsakh are being exacerbated by the  fact that Erdogan is to be reckoned with as Russia’s ally, albeit one  of convenience, on the other platforms. And the obviously conflicting  strategic interests are not at all an obstacle to tactical  cooperation between Ankara and Moscow for common advantage, with each  of them interpreting this advantage in their own way. This  necessitates tactical agreements on various problems in different  places of the Greater Middle East,” Mr Hovhannisyan said. 

ArmInfo.There is some progress in the activities of the tripartite working group on the opening of communications in the South Caucasus, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov stated  at his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. 

“As for regional issues, we are ready to do everything possible to  facilitate the implementation of the three documents signed by the  three leaders in November 2020, January and November 2021. According  to our assessment, there is some progress in the activities of the  tripartite working group on the opening of communications. We are  discussing the issues to be agreed with the Armenian side. It seems  to me that a general idea is being formed on how to solve the problem  of organizing this work so that there are no artificial obstacles to  the movement of cars with maximum comfort. Russia will help in this  until the results are achieved. I do hope that this will happen soon.  We are also ready to provide consulting services on the work of two  commissions established for the delimitation and demarcation of  borders in Azerbaijan and Armenia in accordance with other  agreements. There are specific proposals on this. I would be glad to  discuss them with you.

“You mentioned the normalization of relations, the peace agreement  and provisions of the future agreement submitted by you. By the way,  we have heard that the Armenian side, Prime Minister Pashinyan, is  ready to hold talks on this issue. We are ready to help here with the  consent of Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Mr Lavrov said.