Friday, April 1, 2022
Putin, Pashinian Hold More Phone Talks
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian, Moscow, July 7, 2021.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
spoke by phone for the second consecutive day on Friday, discussing the
situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
The Kremlin reported that they continued “the exchange of opinions on
maintaining stability in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.” It said they both
stressed the need for “strict observance” of Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements
brokered by Moscow during and after the 2020 war over Karabakh.
A statement on the phone call released by the Armenian government said the two
men talked about “ongoing steps to ensure security and stability in
Nagorno-Karabakh” and the “tense situation” there resulting from last week’s
Azerbaijani incursion into the disputed territory.
Russia accused Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire regime after Azerbaijani
forces seized a village in eastern Karabakh and surrounding territory on March
24. They reportedly withdrew from the village on Monday but continue to occupy
nearby hills.
Putin discussed the situation in that area with Pashinian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev in separate phone calls reported on Thursday. Pashinian
told him that the Azerbaijani side may be planning “new provocations.”
Putin phoned the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders the day after the announcement
of fresh face-to-face talks between them that will be hosted by the European
Union’s top official, Charles Michel, in Brussels on April 6.
Pashinian To Name Vanadzor Mayor Despite Local Election Loss
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - The municipal administration building of Vanadzor, December 13, 2021.
Pro-government lawmakers on Friday pushed through the parliament a bill that
allows Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to appoint an acting mayor of Vanadzor,
Armenia’s third largest city where his party was defeated in a local election
held in December.
The ruling Civil Contract party won only 25 percent of the vote there, compared
with 39 percent polled by a local bloc led by former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon
Aslanian.
Aslanian was thus well-placed to regain his post lost in October. But ten days
after the election, he was arrested on corruption charges rejected by him as
politically motivated.
Later in December, Armenia’s Administrative Court blocked the first session of
Vanadzor’s new municipal council empowered to elect the mayor. It cited an
appeal against the election results lodged by another pro-government party that
fared poorly in the ballot.
The appeal was subsequently rejected by two other courts. The Bright Armenia
Party responded by appealing to the higher Court of Cassation. The latter has
still not said whether it will take up the case.
In the meantime, the Administrative Court banned in January the new Vanadzor
council from holding sessions until July. Local and Yerevan-based opposition
figures accused the court of acting on Pashinian’s orders.
Amendments to an Armenian law on local government quickly passed by the National
Assembly empower the prime minister to name acting heads of communities whose
newly elected councils fail to elect mayors within 20 days after local polls.
Vahagn Hovakimian, one of the authors of the amendments affiliated with Civil
Contract, said it is aimed at addressing “disruption of normal governance” in
such communities.
“We have such a problem in Vanadzor at the moment,” Hovakimian said during a
short parliament debate held under a so-called “urgent procedure.”
Opposition lawmakers dismissed the official rationale for amending the law. They
insisted that Pashinian is doing everything to retain control over Vanadzor and
possibly other communities against the will of local voters.
Armenia - Former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian at an election campaign meeting
with voters in Vanadzor, November 23, 2021.
“We are discussing an issue which solely applies to a community or communities
where [the ruling party] failed to take power,” said Agnesa Khamoyan of the
Hayastan alliance.
“If the authors of this bill were a bit more honest they would call it a bill on
disenfranchising Mamikon Aslanian and the people of Vanadzor,” charged another
Hayastan parliamentarian.
Four other communities were also left in limbo as a result of nationwide local
elections held on December 5. Pashinian’s party was defeated or failed to win
outright there. Opposition politicians and human rights campaigners in Yerevan
accused the authorities of sabotaging the election of their new mayors to
prevent them from falling under opposition control.
In one such community comprising the town of Vartenis and surrounding villages,
police cordoned off the municipal administration building in early January to
prevent a local opposition figure, Aharon Khachatrian, from taking over as
mayor. Khachatrian finally managed to take office last month.
Deal On Karabakh’s Status ‘Still Important’ For Yerevan
• Sargis Harutyunyan
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (right) meets with his
Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau, Yerevan, April 1, 2022.
Armenia plans to bring up the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status during upcoming
talks on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty sought by Azerbaijan, Foreign
Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Friday.
Mirzoyan also said Yerevan hopes that Russia, the United States and France,
which co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, will mediate those talks despite their
bitter standoff over the conflict in Ukraine.
“As you know, the Azerbaijani side presented some proposals [on the peace
treaty] to the Armenian side and we found those proposals acceptable while
saying that they do not fully address the whole scope of issues,” he told
reporters. “So we complemented those proposals with our own proposals by adding
that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s rights and status is key to us.”
“We hope that the co-presidency of the OSCE Minsk Group will manage after all to
organize peace talks with this agenda and with the aim of signing a
comprehensive peace treaty,” he added at a joint news conference with Poland’s
visiting Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau.
The Azerbaijani proposals cited by Mirzoyan call for a peace accord based on
five elements, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial
integrity. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian publicly stated on Thursday that
Yerevan is ready to negotiate a deal along these lines.
Pashinian did not explicitly mention the question of Karabakh’s status, speaking
instead of the need to protect “the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians.”
His remarks were construed by Armenian opposition leaders and other critics as a
further indication that Pashinian’s government is ready to recognize Azerbaijani
sovereignty over Karabakh.
Armenia - Dashnaktsutyun party leaders Armen Rustamian (left) and Hagop Der
Khatchadurian hold a news conference in Yerevan, March 10, 2022.
Armen Rustamian, a senior member of the main opposition Hayastan alliance,
claimed on Friday that Pashinian has essentially met all Azerbaijani demands. He
noted that the Armenian government is refusing to publicize its official
response to Baku’s proposals on the peace treaty.
“We are still trying to get a copy of that text,” Rustamian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service. “I presume that if that text makes reference to Artsakh
(Karabakh), it contains very vague wordings such as protection of ‘people’s
rights.’”
“This means nothing unless we say that those rights cannot be protected if the
right to self-determination is not upheld as well,” he said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Thursday that he is encouraged by
Yerevan’s response to his proposals. Aliyev again claimed that Baku put an end
to the Karabakh conflict with its victory in the 2020 war.
Aliyev and Pashinian are scheduled to meet in Brussels on April 6 for fresh
talks that will be hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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