RFE/RL Armenian Report – 03/29/2021

                                        Monday, March 29, 2021
FM Wants ‘Radical’ Change In Turkish Policy On Armenia
March 29, 2021
        • Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia - Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian, March 29, 2021
Turkey must end its “hostile” policies towards Armenia if it wants to contribute 
to peace and stability in the region, Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian said on 
Monday.
“In order to have real peace in our region, we expect that Turkey will seriously 
and radically change its aggressive policy and end its hostile actions against 
Armenia,” he said.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Ayvazian noted that Ankara has never 
reciprocated Armenian attempts to improve bilateral relations.
The remarks contrasted with recent days’ statements on Turkish-Armenian 
relations made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and the secretary of his 
Security Council, Armen Grigorian.
In an interview with Armenian Public Television, Grigorian pointedly declined to 
clarify whether he believes that Turkey remains an enemy of Armenia after the 
autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“If we are opting for the unblocking of the region there have to be some 
corrections in our approaches, and we are working in that direction,” he said in 
that regard.
Pashinian similarly stated on Sunday that Armenia also needs to review its 
policies towards Turkey as well as Azerbaijan. “We, the regional countries, must 
reappraise our mutual attitudes and postures,” he said.
Grigorian’s comments were denounced by opposition leaders and other critics of 
the Armenian government. They portrayed them as further proof of Pashinian’s 
desire to continue sacrificing Armenia’s national interests.
Some oppositionists went as far as to claim that the government is ready to 
thwart greater international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in return 
for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border.
Ankara shut down the border in 1993 and has refused to establish diplomatic 
relations with Yerevan since then out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It has yet 
to clarify whether a Karabakh settlement acceptable to Baku remains a 
precondition for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations after the six-week war 
that resulted in the restoration of Azerbaijani control over all districts 
around Karabakh.
Answering a question from an Armenian opposition lawmaker, Ayvazian insisted on 
Monday that he is not aware of any Turkish-Armenian talks or other diplomatic 
contacts.
During the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10, 
the Turks supported the Azerbaijani army with weapons and expert advice. They 
also reportedly recruited thousands of Syrian mercenaries and sent them to fight 
in Ankara on the Azerbaijani side.
Armenian leaders have repeatedly described the hostilities as a 
“Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression” against Armenia and Karabakh.
According to Ruben Safrastian, a Yerevan-based Turkey analyst, Turkey continues 
to pose a serious security threat to Armenia and has no intention to normalize 
relations with the latter.
“In these circumstances, I think that we would be wrong to pursue such a 
[conciliatory] policy,” Safrastian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “It would do 
us no good. It could only cause damage.”
Armenia Gets First AstraZeneca COVID-19 Shots
March 29, 2021
Armenia -- The first batch of Astra-Zeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is delivered to 
Yerevan airport, March 28, 2021.
Armenia received on Sunday the first batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine 
from the COVAX Facility, the World Health Organization’s global vaccine-sharing 
scheme.
The Armenian Ministry of Health said it will use the 24,000 doses of the vaccine 
to inoculate medical workers, care home personnel, persons aged 65 and older as 
well as younger people suffering from chronic diseases.
The ministry reportedly purchased last month 15,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik 
V vaccine. They too are supposed to be made available to “high risk” groups of 
the country’s population.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said the 
Armenian government is now trying to buy more vaccine shots when they spoke on 
Monday at a meeting of an interagency commission dealing with the coronavirus 
pandemic. A government statement on the meeting shed no light on the scale of 
further vaccine acquisitions planned by the authorities.
A deputy director of Armenia’s National Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention, Gayane Sahakian, said in December that the government has 
commissioned 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine from the COVAX Facility. But 
Sahakian and other officials indicated afterwards that the government is 
planning to finance a much more limited vaccination campaign.
Avanesian hinted in February that Armenians not included in “high risk” 
categories will have to pay for their vaccine shots. She said private medical 
centers will be authorized to carry out such vaccination.
COVAX delivered the first batch of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and 
Oxford University to Armenia as the country of about 3 million grappled with 
what health officials describe as a third wave of coronavirus infections.
The daily number of such cases recorded by Armenian health authorities has 
surged over the past month after falling significantly since November. The 
resurgence of the disease has forced the authorities to set up hundreds of new 
hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
The Ministry of Health reported on Monday morning 424 new infections and 12 
single-day deaths caused by COVID-19. According to it, the total number of 
active coronavirus cases stood at 14,287, up from 6,772 reported on March 11.
Speaking at the meeting of the government commission, Avanesian warned that the 
epidemiological situation will worsen further unless the authorities resume a 
strict enforcement of their sanitary rules designed to curb the spread of the 
disease.
The rules include mandatory mask-wearing in all public areas. Few Armenians now 
wear masks not only on the street but also in shops. Cafes and restaurants 
across the country have remained open since last May.
Pashinian Reaffirms Plans For Snap Elections
March 29, 2021
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a rally in Armavir province, 
March 28, 2021.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has reaffirmed his pledge to hold snap 
general elections on June 20.
“I am going to resign in April,” Pashinian said during a weekend visit to 
Armenia’s southern Armavir province. “I am going to resign not to leave power 
but to ensure that pre-term parliamentary elections take place. I will continue 
to perform the prime minister’s duties in the meantime.”
“If you reaffirm your mandate, I and my team will serve you much better than we 
have in the past. If you don’t, we will humbly cede the mandate to whom you have 
elected,” he told residents of a local village.
Under the Armenian constitution, fresh elections will have to be held within two 
months if Pashinian resigns and the Armenian parliament twice fails to elect 
another prime minister.
Pashinian announced on March 18 his decision to pave the way for such polls 
after talks held with the leaders of the two opposition parties represented in 
the National Assembly. They are understood to have assured him that their 
parties will not nominate prime-ministerial candidates in the event of his 
tactical resignation.
One of those parties, Prosperous Armenia (BHK), is part of an opposition 
alliance that has been holding street protests in Yerevan in a bid to oust 
Pashinian over his handling of last year’s war with Azerbaijan. The Homeland 
Salvation Movement wants the elections to be organized by an interim government. 
Still, some of its key members, including the BHK, have made clear that they 
will not boycott the vote planned by the current government.
As Pashinian toured several Armavir villages on Sunday the alliance held another 
rally in Yerevan. Its coordinator, Ishkhan Saghatelian, said the opposition 
forces will stage protests in other parts of the country in the coming weeks and 
try to topple Pashinian after he tenders his resignation in late April.
“We must turn that de jure resignation into a de facto resignation and remove 
him from power during those days,” Saghatelian told opposition supporters.
Saghatelian indicated at the same time that the parties making up the Homeland 
Salvation Movement will not opt for an election boycott if they fail to oust 
Pashinian.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.