Saturday, November 7, 2020
Putin, Macron Discuss Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron meet
at the Fort de Bregancon, a presidential residence in Bormes-Les-Mimosas, August
19, 2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
with French President Emmanuel Macron as Armenia reported "fierce fighting" near
a key city in the region.
During a November 7 phone call, Putin and Macron expressed serious concern over
the large-scale clashes between ethnic Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the
region and the involvement of fighters from Syria and Libya in the conflict, the
Kremlin said in a statement.
The presidents said they would continue coordinated mediation efforts, including
through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk
Group, set up in 1992 to seek a peaceful resolution.
Earlier in the day Armenian military authorities said that numerous overnight
attacks by Azerbaijani forces outside the town of Shushi (Shusha), a key
stronghold in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, had been thwarted. They said fierce
battles near the town continued during the day.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry called the claims it was shelling
Shushi "completely untrue."
The hilltop town of Shushi is located on a main road that links the region's
capital of Stepanakert with the territory of Armenia, which backs ethnic
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
At least 1,200 people and possibly many more have died in nearly six weeks of
fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Attempts by Russia, France, and the United States, which co-chair the OSCE Minsk
Group, to help reach a lasting ceasefire have so far failed.
Armenia Considers Tripling Compulsory Payments To Army Insurance Fund
• Artak Khulian
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visits a military hospital in Yerevan
where soldiers wounded during fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh are treated. October
23, 2020.
Citing an increase in the number of military casualties due to the ongoing war
in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia’s Ministry of Defense has proposed raising the size
of monthly compulsory payments to the Army Insurance Fund.
Since 2017 every working Armenian has been required to pay 1,000 drams (about
$2) per month to a special fund set up for compensations paid to the families of
soldiers killed or seriously wounded in action.
Under the compensation schemes, in addition to one-off payouts of between 5
million and 10 million drams ($10,000 and $20,000), the families of killed or
maimed army officers, contract soldiers and conscripts receive monthly pensions
ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 drams ($200-$600) for 20 years.
The ministry suggests that compulsory payments to the Army Insurance Fund be
tripped – from 1,000 to 3,000 drams ($6) beginning in January 2021.
The amendment is yet to be submitted to parliament for approval. Before that it
was put to public discussion in Armenia earlier this week.
Since the outbreak of ongoing hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in
Armenia and around the world have also been urged to increase their
contributions to the Army Insurance Fund on a voluntary basis or make donations
to it to help the families of soldiers killed or wounded in action.
So far, Armenian authorities have confirmed the deaths of 1,177 servicemen in
battles against Azerbaijan. The death toll is only expected to rise as
hostilities continue. Authorities have not provided statistics for the number of
wounded soldiers, but it is believed there may be several thousands of them.
Artak Manukian, a member of the pro-government My Step faction in parliament,
said on Friday that raising compulsory payments to the Army Insurance Fund is
needed “to mitigate the [compensation] problem and fix it in the future.”
The opposition Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia factions have not yet
presented their final positions on the bill, but representatives of both
factions said they consider it unfair that all workers should be taxed evenly
regardless of their incomes.
“It would be unfair if I, as a member of parliament with a high salary,
contributed the same amount as those who receive a minimum or average salary,”
Prosperous Armenia’s Naira Zohrabian said.
Bright Armenia faction leader Edmon Marukian also spoke in favor of gradating
the payments for workers with different incomes.
But director of the Army Insurance Fund Varuzhan Avetikian explained that the
proposal of opposition lawmakers cannot be implemented in a situation where many
citizens do not fully declare their real incomes.
Avetikian said that the fund has already started paying compensations to the
families of those killed or wounded in the current fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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