Friday, December 8, 2023
Armenian Official Hopes For U.S. Pressure On Baku
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Sargis Khandanian of the ruling Civil Contract party attends a session
of the National Assembly, Yerevan.
A senior Armenian lawmaker expressed hope on Friday that the United States will
press Azerbaijan to agree to fresh U.S.-mediated peace talks with Armenia.
“We hope that our U.S. partners will make sufficient efforts and maybe also put
pressure on Azerbaijan so that negotiations continue in Washington,” said Sargis
Khandanian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign
relations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to host talks between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington on November 20.
However, the Azerbaijani side cancelled them in protest against what it called
pro-Armenian statements made by James O’Brien, the U.S. assistant secretary of
state for Europe and Eurasia.
O’Brien visited Baku and met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and
Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov earlier this week. He said he told them that
Blinken still “looks forward to hosting” the top Armenian and Azerbaijani
diplomats soon. It is not yet clear whether he reached with them any agreements
to that effect.
In what may have been a related development, a U.S. special envoy for the
Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks, Louis Bono, met with Foreign Minister Ararat
Mirzoyan in Yerevan on Thursday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said Mirzoyan
reaffirmed his readiness to meet with Bayramov in the U.S. capital.
His meeting with Bono coincided with the announcement of an Armenian-Azerbaijani
agreement to exchange prisoners and take other confidence-building measures. The
United States and the European Union were quick to welcome the deal. They said
they hope that it will facilitate an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by
them.
Khandanian cautioned, however, that implications of the prisoner swap, agreed as
a result of direct contacts between Baku and Yerevan, should not be
overestimated. The two sides have only solved a “humanitarian issue” and it
remains be seen whether they can make similar progress on other fronts, he said.
In recent weeks, Baku has repeatedly accused the Western powers of pro-Armenian
bias and proposed direct negotiations with Yerevan.
Armenian Government Issues Jobs Data On Karabakh Refugees
Armenia - Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh ride in a truck upon their arrival at
the border village of Kornidzor, September 27, 2023.
Over 5,350 ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh have found jobs in Armenia but
thousands of others remain unemployed more than two months after fleeing their
homeland following an Azerbaijani military offensive, a senior Armenian official
said on Friday.
News agencies quoted Ruben Sargsian, a deputy minister of labor and social
affairs, as saying that about one thousand of them have been hired by Armenian
schools, colleges and other educational institutions. More than 1,800 others now
work for local entities involved in services, manufacturing and construction,
Sargsian told a news conference. He said nothing about the occupations of other
officially employed Karabakh refugees.
More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians making up Karabakh’s virtually entire
remaining population fled to Armenia in late September as Baku regained full
control of the region after two days of fighting that left hundreds of soldiers
from both sides dead. Most of them have since struggled to find new housing and
sources of income. In Sargsian’s words, 3,737 refugees had the official status
of an unemployed person as of December 4.
Armenia - Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh walk along the road from
Nagorno-Karabakh to Kornidzor in Syunik region, September 26, 2023.
According to Karabakh’s exiled leadership now based in Yerevan, some 6,000
Karabakh Armenians have left for other countries, mainly for Russia, for these
reasons. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on November 23 that their
out-migration from Armenia has essentially stopped not least because of various
aid programs implemented by his government.
“I have repeatedly said that our policy on our sisters and brothers forcibly
displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh is as follows: if they are objectively unable or
unwilling to return to Nagorno-Karabakh we will do everything to have them stay
in Armenia,” he said.
However, many refugees complain that Armenian ministries, law-enforcement
agencies and local government bodies are rejecting their job applications on the
grounds that they do not have Armenian citizenship or are not registered in
permanent places of residence in the country.
Pashinian and other government officials declared in October that the refugees
are not Armenian citizens despite the fact that virtually all of them hold
Armenian passports. Some legal experts disputed those claims.
Armenia - Newly arrived refugees from Nagorno Karabakh register at a government
aid center in Kornidzor, September 26, 2023.
“I don't know anyone in my circle who has landed a job in the [Armenian] public
sector,” Armen Petrosian, a former martial arts coach who worked at the Karabakh
ministry of education and sports until the exodus, told the Hraparak newspaper
on Friday.
Petrosian said that he applied for corresponding jobs at the Yerevan mayor’s
office or sporting schools administered by it but was told that the municipal
administration is “not an employment center.” He accused the Armenian government
of “doing everything” to reduce the number of the Karabakh refugees. Many of
them blame Pashinian for the restoration of Azerbaijani control over their
homeland and its depopulation.
Earlier this week, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinian told municipal officials to be
“a bit more active” in helping Karabakh Armenians find jobs. But it is not clear
whether he encouraged them to hire refugees.
West, Russia Hail Armenian-Azeri Prisoner Exchange
Two flags of Armenia and Azerbaijan fluttering in the wind.
The United States, the European Union and Russia have praised Armenia and
Azerbaijan for agreeing to swap prisoners held by them and to take other
confidence-building measures.
Under the agreement announced late on Thursday, Azerbaijan will free 32 Armenian
prisoners of war in exchange for Armenia’s release of two Azerbaijani soldiers
and support for Baku’s bid to host the COP29 climate summit next year.
“This commitment represents an important confidence building measure as the
sides work to finalize a peace agreement and normalize relations,” Matthew
Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman, said shortly after the announcement.
EU Council President Charles Michel was also quick to welcome the deal, calling
it a “major breakthrough in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.”
“I now encourage the leaders to finalize the Armenia-Azerbaijani peace deal [as
soon as possible,] tweeted Michel.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its “satisfaction” with the prisoner
exchange the following morning.
“This contributes to mutual strengthening of trust and opens up new
opportunities for furthering the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization process in
line with the comprehensive trilateral agreements reached by the leaders of
Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020-2022,” said Maria Zakharova, the ministry
spokeswoman.
Zakharova specifically hailed Yerevan’s stated support for the holding of the
COP29 in Baku. She said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special climate
envoy has “held contacts with Baku and Yerevan aimed at reaching a common
understanding” on the UN climate summit.
The chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign relations, Sargis
Khandanian, stressed, meanwhile, the deal is the result of direct negotiations
held by Baku and Yerevan. He gave no details of those talks.
Khandanian also said the release of the prisoners is “a matter of hours or
days.” The Azerbaijani government publicized overnight the list of the 32
captives that will be repatriated by it. Most of them were taken prisoner in
Nagorno-Karabakh in December 2022 just weeks after a Russian-brokered ceasefire
stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
According to Yerevan-based human rights groups, Baku held at least 55 Armenian
captives as of Thursday. They included 41 POWs, six civilians and eight current
and former leaders of Karabakh arrested following Azerbaijan’s September
military offensive in Karabakh. The Karabakh leaders are not covered by the
latest deal.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
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Month: December 2023
Armenpress: U.S. urges Azerbaijan to seek durable peace with Armenia
10:14, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. continues to engage with Azerbaijan to urge them to seek a durable peace with Armenia, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.
Speaking at a press briefing, Miller said that Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien’s upcoming trip to Azerbaijan doesn’t mean that the U.S. is backpedaling from its policy that, as O’Brien himself said earlier in November ‘nothing will be normal with Azerbaijan after the events of September 19 until we see progress on the peace track’.
“No, not at all,” Miller said when asked whether O’Brien’s trip is a departure from newly announced policy. “We never said that we’re not going to continue to engage with Azerbaijan. That would be against our interests as the United States of America. We think it would be against the interests of peace and security in the region for us to just drop all of our diplomatic engagements with Azerbaijan. We continue to engage directly with both Azerbaijan and Armenia to make clear – for example, in the case of Azerbaijan – where we have concerns. We’ve been concerned with the recent trend of detaining journalists. We continue to urge them to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all, something that I’ve spoken to from this podium in the past. And we also continue to engage with them to urge them to seek a durable peace with Armenia, and that’s something that will continue to be the focus of our diplomatic engagements.”
Miller added that human rights is always on the table for the United States of America when they have these sorts of diplomatic engagements.
Authorities envisage 47,3 billion AMD in support for NK forcibly displaced persons
10:44, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government has envisaged 47,3 billion drams under the 2024 budget for assistance programs for the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh, Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan told lawmakers on November 6.
He said that this figure is just a part of the entire assistance.
The assistance includes support projects in education, employment, social protection, accommodation and other areas.
Authorities are currently discussing additional support measures.
The reserve fund of the 2024 budget is envisaged at an unprecedented level of 156 billion drams, the minister said at the 2024 budget debates.
Speaking about international support for the NK refugees, the minister said that the EU, France and China have pledged to provide budgetary support funds, and upon receiving them the authorities will either reduce the projected deficit of the budget or plan additional urgent spendings.
Finance Minister presents 2024 defense expenditures
10:53, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government has envisaged 554 billion drams for defense expenditures under the 2024 budget, finance minister Vahe Hovhannisyan has said.
“The Ministry of Defense expenditures in 2024 amount to 554 billion drams. This will be a seven percent increase compared to the 2023 defense spending, and as a result the 2024 defense spending will amount to 5,3% of GDP, decreasing by 0,3 percentage point compared to 2023,” he said in parliament during debates of the 2024 state budget.
Asked to elaborate on the decrease against the GDP, the minister said, ” When we say it has decreased 0,3 percent, it doesn’t mean that the money has decreased, it’s just that our revenues are growing faster than the expenditures that we have decided to allocate for the defense sector.”
2024 state budget revenues projected at 2 trillion 723 billion AMD
11:21, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The amended version of the 2024 state budget draft envisages 2 trillion 723 billion drams in revenues and 3 trillion 206 billion drams in expenditures, Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan told lawmakers.
Revenues will amount to 24,9% of GDP.
Expenditures increased by 189,3 billion drams compared to the earlier version.
Capital expenditures will amount to 695 billion drams (27% more compared to 2023).
42% of 2024 capital expenditures will be directed to the defense sector.
The deficit will amount to 483 billion drams (4,6% of GDP), however, the debt-to-GDP ratio will remain unchanged at 48,3%.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair calls on Biden Administration to hold Baku accountable for NK ethnic cleansing
12:09, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Senator Ben Cardin has called on the Biden Administration to hold Azerbaijan accountable for the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s indigenous Armenian population.
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Cardin stated he is "deeply concerned that Azerbaijan could take further military action to achieve additional political gains, particularly in regards to the so-called Zangezour corridor."
The Senator called on Blinken to ‘continue to work with international partners and organizations to support accountability for the Aliyev regime’s actions.’
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair also warned that Azerbaijan has been seizing and destroying Armenian cultural property in pursuit of its efforts to erase Armenian history and culture.
220 applications approved in state-funded home building project in border towns
13:13, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The government has so far approved 220 applications for the state-funded home construction program in border towns.
Gayane Gharagyozyan, an official from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, said at a press conference that the state works with banks to provide up to 16 million drams in loan for building a house in a border town. The entire amount is subsidized by the state and people signing up for the program don’t have to make any expenses.
Most of the applications come from Tavush and Syunik provinces.
The government expects that some of the forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh will also start applying for the program, Gharagyozyan, the Coordinating Advisor of Individual Functions of Structural Divisions at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said.
The program was introduced in 2022.
U.S. wants to make sure it can help those in need around the world, including ethnic Armenians – Blinken
14:47, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The U.S. wants to make sure that it can help those in need around the world, including ethnic Armenians, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
“And then there are people in need around the world, throughout the world, whether it is ethnic Armenians, whether it’s Rohingya, whether it’s Sudanese – you name it, we want to make sure that America is there to help them,” Blinken said at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition 2023 Tribute Celebration.
He made the remarks in the context of ongoing debates in the U.S. Congress around additional funding for Ukraine and Israel, as well as various humanitarian goals.
Armenia expects international support to implement Crossroads of Peace project – Arayik Harutyunyan to EU Ambassador
14:55, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office Arayik Harutyunyan has met with Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos.
Harutyunyan thanked Ambassador Maragos for the efforts aimed at intensifying partnership and expressed hope that the mutual commitment to deepen Armenia-EU cooperation will contribute to the swift implementation of expected initiatives, Harutyunyan’s office said in a readout.
Speaking about the problems of the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh, Harutyunyan attached importance to the EU’s continuous support for addressing the needs of the refugees.
Harutyunyan and Maragos exchanged ideas about the course and prospects of cooperation between Armenia and the EU, and discussed the regional developments, security developments and the course of the reforms undertaken by the Armenian government. In this context, the sides discussed strategic communication, the imperative of introducing and developing it as an institution and looked into the opportunities and mechanisms for studying and localizing the best experience of the EU.
Chief of Staff Arayik Harutyunyan presented the Crossroads of Peace project to Ambassador Maragos and said that the government of Armenia expects effective support from all international partners in implementing this important regional initiative.
An agreement was reached to jointly make efforts to make the current Armenia-EU partnership more effective.
Armenia’s absence at CSTO PA session won’t impact plans on unified air defense system, says Russia
16:08, 6 December 2023
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s absence at the CSTO PA meeting won’t impact the decision on creating a unified air defense system, the Russian foreign ministry has claimed.
“Their physical absence doesn’t overall hinder the process of agreeing adoption of collective documents, which in many cases they join,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told reporters when asked whether Armenia’s refusal to take part in the CSTO PA session will have any impact on the plans to create a unified air defense system.
The 16th plenary session of the CSTO PA Council will take place on December 19 in Moscow.
The Armenian delegation in the session.
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