Tuesday,
Armenian Speaker Rules Out Support For U.S. Sanctions Against Iran
U.S. -- Armenian parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan (C) speaks at the Atlantic
Council in Washington, .
The United States should not pressure Armenia to cut commercial ties to
neighboring Iran because of U.S. sanctions against Tehran, parliament speaker
Ararat Mirzoyan has said during a visit to Washington.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank, on Monday,
Mirzoyan said that the standoff between the U.S. and Iran is already having a
negative impact on the Armenian economy.
“We don’t want the United States to put pressure on Armenia for joining in its
Iran sanctions agenda,” the Armenian service of the Voice of America quoted him
as saying. “Armenia cannot pay such a price.”
Mirzoyan argued that Iran serves as one of his landlocked country’s two
conduits to the outside world due to closed borders with the two other Muslim
neighbors: Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The Armenian speaker, who is a close associate of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian, commented on the “very interesting and heated discussion” at the
Atlantic Council on his Facebook page on Tuesday. “I informed American partners
that our economy is suffering losses due to the sanctions against Iran and that
we cannot stop buying Iranian gas,” he wrote.
Armenia - U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at a news
conference in Yerevan, 25 October 2018.
Iran has supplied up to 500 million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia
annually over the past decade. The latter pays for it electricity supplied to
the Islamic Republic.
Iranian officials offered to expand this swap arrangement when they held talks
with Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian in Tehran earlier this
month. Grigorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service last week that Yerevan is
interested in boosting Iranian gas imports.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton discussed the U.S. sanctions with
Pashinian during an October 2018 trip to Armenia. Bolton said Washington will
be enforcing them “very vigorously” and that traffic through the
Armenian-Iranian border will therefore become a “significant issue.”
Iran - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei meets with Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian in Tehran, February 27, 2019.
In November, a team of officials from the U.S. state and treasury departments
visited Yerevan to explain the sanctions to Armenia’s government and private
sector. Pashinian made clear afterwards that that his government will “deepen
not only economic but also political relations” with Tehran.
Meeting with Pashinian in the Iranian capital in February, Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Armenia to strengthen its relationship with
his country “contrary to what the United States wants.” Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani likewise said after separate talks with the Armenian leader that
the two neighbors will not allow any “third country” to undermine their cordial
relationship.
Tsarukian Denounced By Press Freedom Groups
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian speaks to journalists
in Yerevan, February 12, 2019.
Armenian press freedom groups have condemned Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK)
leader Gagik Tsarukian for insulting an RFE/RL reporter and demanded
parliamentary proceedings against him.
Tsarukian raged at the reporter late last month after being asked to explain
why he keeps ignoring summonses sent to him by a law-enforcement body
investigating an arson attack reported in Abovian, a town near Yerevan that has
long been his political stronghold.
About a dozen media associations were quick to deplore Tsarukian’s behavior,
saying that he offended a journalist for the fourth time in a month. They
demanded an apology from the wealthy businessman leading the country’s largest
parliamentary opposition force. In a joint statement, they also said that the
National Assembly should take disciplinary action against him.
Tsarukian sarcastically laughed when he was asked about the apology demanded by
the non-governmental organizations.
Ashot Melikian, who leads one of those NGOs, the Committee to Protect Freedom
of Speech, stood by their demands on Tuesday. He said the parliament has
sufficient grounds to form an ad hoc ethics commission that would investigate
Tsarukian’s behavior.
“Either he must reconsider his conduct or, I think, we will ensure that his
fellow parliament deputies make an appropriate evaluation,” Melikian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Sisak Gabrielian, a former journalist who is now a parliament deputy
representing the ruling My Step alliance, said he wants to talk to Tsarukian
and urge him publicly offer an apology.
“Perhaps he really doesn’t realize that his remarks contained some offensive
elements … I think I will manage to clinch from him that apology to the
journalists,” said Gabrielian.
Member Of Armenian Judicial Watchdog Rejected By Colleagues
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia -- A sign at the entance to the Supreme Judicial Council.
Three officials sitting on the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) challenged on
Tuesday the legitimacy of another member of the state body overseeing Armenia’s
courts who was sworn in last week.
Nakhshun Tavaratsian, a controversial Court of Cassation judge, was elected to
the SJC by fellow judges in November only to tender her resignation ten days
later. She unexpectedly changed her mind and took an oath of office during the
latest conference of the country’s judges held on July 11.
Tavaratsian argued that she can join the SJC because her resignation was never
accepted. She dismissed objections voiced by some judges.
“Just because a few judges could not restrain their emotions during the
conference doesn’t mean that my legitimacy is in doubt … I was elected and
sworn in as member of the SJC in a manner defined by the law,” she said.
However, three other members of the SJC -- Grigor Bekmezian, Liparit
Melikjanian and Hayk Hovannisian -- issued on Tuesday a joint statement saying
that Tavaratsian technically joined the council in November. Citing the
Armenian Judicial Code, they said she must be expelled from it for absenteeism.
The SJC will meet on Thursday to discuss their demands for termination of her
duties. Its website does not list Tavaratsian among SJC members.
Senior representatives of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance
have also expressed concern over Tavaratsian’s appointment to the judicial
watchdog.
The veteran judge, who took the bench in 1996, could not be reached for comment.
The Armenian constitution gives the SJC wide-ranging powers, including the
right to nominate, sanction and even fire judges. Half of its ten members are
appointed by the Armenian parliament while the five others are chosen by the
country’s judges.
The SJC was effectively paralyzed last month by the resignations of its
chairman, Gagik Harutiunian, and four other members, which followed a radical
reform of the Armenian judicial system demanded by Pashinian. The latter said
that many judges remain linked to “the former corrupt system.”
Pashinian has repeatedly stated that he wants to make the courts “truly
independent.” His critics claim, however, that he is on the contrary seeking to
gain full control over them.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” reacts to the publication of a document that sheds some light on the
Venice Commission’s response to the Armenian authorities’ efforts to reform the
domestic judiciary. The paper says it shows that Armenia’s former leadership is
now “closer” to the Council of Europe body than the current government. “It was
always clear that former governing circles will use their experience and
mechanisms of working with the commission for the sake of their political
goals, including the goal of turning the commission into a platform for
pressure on the authorities,” it claims.
Lragir.am notes in this regard that President Armen Sarkissian and Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian met on Monday. “Armen Sarkissian and Nikol Pashinian
certainly have a lot to discuss,” writes the online publication. “But the
disclosed information received from the Venice Commission served as a
noteworthy backdrop for their working meeting. It is evident that the former
authorities … managed to use the fact for creating a necessary impression.” It
speculates that Sarkisian’s meeting with Pashinian was a “preparation for the
response” to the Venice Commission. It says the authorities should also demand
explanations from the commission regarding the information “leak.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that every government effort to tackle major problems
facing the country ends in criticism of the former authorities. “One gets the
impression that [the authorities] fight against the past, instead of looking to
the future,” writes the pro-government paper. “The former rulers, for their
part, are buoyed by that and say ‘see, we are the main rivals of the
authorities, and every person unhappy with the authorities must stand with us.’
There are certainly objective reasons for constantly referring to the former
rulers. The causes of all problems lie in the past … But there is also a second
reason for that. In effect, what is happening in Armenia is a fight between the
new and the old. A fight not between the new and old authorities but between
new and old models of governance.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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