Tuesday,
Yerevan Denies Azeri Claims On Karabakh Peace Talks
U.S. -- Foreign Ministers Zohrab Mnatsakanian of Armenia and Elmar Mammadyarov
of Azerbaijan and international mediators meet in Washington, June 20, 2019.
Official Yerevan denied on Tuesday Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov’s claims that international mediators presented him and his
Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanian with a Nagorno-Karabakh peace plan at
their meeting held in Washington last week.
The U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group said the
June 20 talks mediated by them focused on recent ceasefire violations around
Karabakh and “core issues of the settlement process.” In a joint statement,
they urged the conflicting parties to “strictly” observe the ceasefire.
“The co-chairs presented official documents [on the conflict’s resolution] in
Washington,” Mammadyarov told a news conference in Baku on Monday. “We have to
work on them for one or two months.”
In Mammadyarov’s words, the peace proposals are based on another joint
statement which was issued by the mediators on March 9.
That statement stressed that “any fair and lasting settlement” must involve
“return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control;
an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh providing guarantees for security and
self-governance; a corridor linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh; future
determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally
binding expression of will.” The mediators have favored this peace formula,
also known as the Madrid Principles, for more than a decade.
“The Azerbaijani foreign minister’s claims do not correspond to reality,” said
Anna Naghdalian, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. “Such an approach
is unconstructive and it undermines the seriousness of the negotiating process.”
In written comments, Naghdalian said the Azerbaijani “disinformation” suggests
that Baku does not intend to heed the mediators’ calls. In that regard, she
deplored Mammadyarov’s remark that the absence of truce violations on the
frontlines is not necessary for holding “substantive negotiations” on a
peaceful settlement.
According to the Turan news agency, Mammadyarov also said that the two sides
will “seriously analyze” the peace plan before another meeting of the foreign
ministers expected this year. He said Baku disagrees with some of its
provisions but did not elaborate.
The top Azerbaijani diplomat similarly stated earlier that a Russian version of
the Madrid Principles was on the agenda of his previous meeting with
Mnatsakanian which was held in Moscow on April 15 in the presence of Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. That claim was also dismissed by Yerevan.
Armenian Court Sends Kocharian Back To Jail
• Naira Bulghadarian
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian attends a hearing at the Court of
Appeals, Yerevan, June 12, 2019.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals overturned on Tuesday a lower court’s May 18
decision to release former President Robert Kocharian from prison pending the
outcome of his trial stemming from the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan.
Kocharian arrived at a prison in downtown Yerevan two hours later. When a
limousine carrying him to pulled up outside the prison building he briefly got
out of it to hug his son Levon and wave to several dozen supporters who
demonstrated nearby.
“Are you waiting for me to say something?” Kocharian told reporters that
approached him. “I think you could see that there is neither law nor order,” he
said before entering the prison.
Kocharian seemed to have anticipated the decision made by a Court of Appeals
judge, Armen Danielian. In a statement released earlier in the day, the
ex-president’s office said he, his lawyers and family members will boycott the
announcement of the decision because Danielian cut short the court hearings on
June 20. The lawyers say that they were thus unable to present detailed
arguments against their client’s renewed arrest.
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian waves to supporters demonstrating
outside a prison in Yerevan, .
A district court in Yerevan ordered Kocharian released from jail after
receiving “personal guarantees” from Nagorno-Karabakh’s current and former
president to the effect that he will not obstruct the trial if freed.
The court of first instance also decided to suspend the trial and request an
important clarification from the Constitutional Court. It cited a “suspicion of
discrepancy” between the Armenian constitution and coup charges brought against
Kocharian.
Prosecutors appealed against both decisions denounced by many supporters of the
current Armenian government. Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian personally
appeared before the Court of Appeals last week to make a case for sending
Kocharian back to prison.
Kocharian as well as two retired generals stand accused of illegally using
Armenian army units against opposition protesters in the wake of a 2008
presidential election marred by fraud allegations. Eight protesters and two
police servicemen were killed in street clashes that broke out in Yerevan on
March 1, 2008. Kocharian handed over power to his preferred successor and
official election winner, Serzh Sarkisian, after completing his second
presidential term in April 2008.
Earlier this year, Kocharian was also charged with bribe-taking. He denies all
accusations leveled against him as politically motivated.
In a televised interview aired late on Monday, the ex-president again blamed
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for the 2008 bloodshed and the criminal charges
brought against him.
Pashinian was one of the key speakers during February-March 2008
anti-government protests organized by Levon Ter-Petrosian, the main opposition
presidential candidate. He has denied any political motives behind the
prosecution of Kocharian and other former officials.
Armenian Lawmaker Denies Voting Against Russia In PACE
FRANCE – A session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in
Strasbourg, April 25, 2017
A senior Armenian pro-government lawmaker said on Tuesday he did not vote
against reinstating Russia in the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) contrary to voting results reported by the human rights body.
The PACE voted on Monday to restore Russia’s voting rights which were revoked
in 2014 following Moscow's takeover of Crimea and its backing of militant
separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's delegation to the PACE
walked out in protest, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy voiced his
"disappointment" with the decision.
The decision was backed by 118 members of the Strasbourg-based assembly,
including two of the four members of the Armenian delegation: Naira Zohrabian
and Edmon Marukian. The latter are affiliated with Armenian opposition parties.
The two other Armenian members of the PACE, Ruben Rubinan and Hovannes Igitian,
represent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance. According to
voting results posted on the PACE website, Rubinian voted against the
pro-Russian measure, while Igitian did not vote at all.
Armenia -- Ruben Rubinian, chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign
relations, speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, March 10, 2019.
“My vote was registered as a vote against, rather than for [Russia’s voting
rights,] for technical reasons,” Rubinian claimed in a Facebook post. He said
he made a statement to that effect on the PACE floor on Tuesday morning.
Rubinian, who is the chairman of the Armenian parliament’s foreign relations
committee, said he “welcomed the Russian delegation and its head Pyotr Tolstoy
that returned to the PACE.”
“Much to the chagrin of some doomsayers, no problems whatsoever arose with our
Russian colleagues and we are now considering organizing an acquaintance
party,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Armen Ashotian, the deputy chairman of the former ruling
Republican Party, denounced the Armenian vote in the PACE as a “disgrace.”
“Pashinian’s efforts to break up the Russian-Armenian strategic alliance could
cost our country dearly,” he charged.
Armenia Looks To Cash In On Russia-Georgia Flight Ban
• Artak Khulian
Georgia -- Georgian and Russian passenger jets at Tbilisi international airport.
Armenia is hoping to become a transit route for Russian tourists travelling to
neighboring Georgia after all passenger flights between Russia and Georgia are
suspended next month.
President Vladimir Putin temporarily banned Russian airlines from flying to
Georgia on Friday following an outbreak of unrest in Tbilisi triggered by the
visit of a Russian lawmaker. The Kremlin also told travel agencies suspend
tours to Georgia from Russia.
The Russian Transport Ministry imposed at the weekend a similar ban on Georgian
airlines carrying out flights to Moscow and other Russian cities.
The punitive measures, effective from July 8, are bound to hit the Georgian
tourism industry, a major sector of Georgia’s economy. More than one million
Russian tourists visited the South Caucasus country last year.
Georgia’s leading airline, Georgian Airways, announced on Monday that it is
planning to carry out Tbilisi-Moscow flights via Yerevan “without any
additional charges” for passengers. It said the connection time at Yerevan’s
Zvartnots airport will be less than one hour.
The flights between Yerevan and Moscow will presumably be carried out by
Georgian Airways’ sister airline, Armenia Air Company. The Georgian carrier’s
founder, Tamaz Gaiashvili, holds a major stake in the company.
Armenia - A passenger jet at Yerevan's Zvartnots international airport,
10Apr2017.
Georgian Airways currently flies to Yerevan on a daily basis. A senior official
at Armenia’s Civil Aviation Department, Stepan Payaslian, said on Tuesday that
the company could carry out two Tbilisi-Yerevan flights a day after the Russian
ban comes into force next month.
The Armenian airline’s deputy director, Gevorg Khachatrian, said earlier that
it is planning to double the number of its daily Yerevan-Moscow flights.
Hakob Chagharian, a civil aviation adviser to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian,
confirmed that Georgian Airways is planning to use Armenia as a transit route.
“Its flights will be carried out through Gyumri or Yerevan’s Zvartnots
airport,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Chagharian said two other, smaller Armenian carriers have also expressed
readiness to cash in on the Russia flight ban.
It is not yet clear whether Russia’s leading airlines flying to Georgia could
team up with them for that purpose. Chagharian suggested that they may well
reach a transit deal with Azerbaijan’s state-run national airline instead.
According to Payaslian, the Civil Aviation Department is also looking into
other transit options for people travelling from Russia to Georgia. “The
options include bringing passengers from Georgia to Armenia by bus and vice
versa, and then having them flown from Yerevan or Gyumri,” he said.
Press Review
Lragir.am reacts to an interview with former President Robert Kocharian aired
by an Armenian TV channel late on Monday. The publication dismisses Kocharian’s
claims that for the current Armenian authorities Karabakh seems to be a
“burden” which they want to shed. It suggests that Kocharian thus tried to make
a “psychological influence” on people in Karabakh and even help one of the
potential candidates in a presidential election that will be held there next
year.
“Zhoghovurd” sees an ongoing government “operation” to force the resignation of
Hrayr Tovmasian, the chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court, as part of a
“process of cleaning up the courts.” The pro-government paper says it became
obvious that Tovmasian’s “days are numbered” when a newly elected member of the
court, Vahe Grigorian, staked claim to the court chairmanship last week. It
says that even though Tovmasian is not willing to resign yet his and other
Constitutional Court judges’ exit is only a matter of time.
“Zhamanak” reports that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe
discussed the Armenian Constitutional Court crisis at a weekend meeting in
Strasbourg. A statement released by the commission on Monday said its members
asked the commission president, Gianni Buquicchio, “follow the situation
closely with a view to making, if appropriate, a public statement in this
respect.” The paper notes that the move followed controversy caused by Vahe
Grigorian’s statement. It says that for now the Venice Commission is “refusing
to take a position on Grigorian’s statement and the resulting situation.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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