Friday,
Armenia To Seek U.S.-Based Blogger’s Extradition
• Naira Bulghadarian
A screenshot of YouTube video posted by Vartan Ghukasian, .
An Armenian law-enforcement agency has decided to ask authorities in the United
States to extradite a controversial Armenian video blogger charged with
extortion, calls for violence and contempt of court.
The blogger, Vartan Ghukasian, is a former police officer nicknamed Dog who
emigrated to the U.S. about a decade ago. Ghukasian has attracted a large
audience in recent years with his hard-hitting and opinionated comments on
events taking place in Armenia. Videos posted by him on YouTube have been
watched by hundreds of thousands of Armenians living in and outside the country
of about 3 million.
Ghukasian is notorious for routinely using profanities, highly unusual in the
Armenian public discourse, to attack both Armenia’s current leaders and their
political foes. He signaled political ambitions when he set up last year a party
called the Public Voice.
The Investigative Committee claimed recently that Ghukasian demanded $110,000
from Tigran Arzakantsian, a businessman and fringe politician, in return for not
making damaging allegations about him and his wife. Arzakantsian refused to pay
up and complained to law-enforcement authorities instead, according to the
committee.
The blogger allegedly made similar threats to try to extort at least $60,000
from the owner of a night club in Yerevan. He was also charged with making
public calls for violence against various politicians and public figures and
disrespecting the Armenian judiciary.
A group of Ghukasian’s friends and like-minded individuals in Armenia are facing
the same charges. At least one of them is held in detention.
The Armenian police issued this week an international arrest warrant for
Ghukasian approved by a Yerevan court. The Investigative Committee said it will
ask Interpol to place him on its most wanted list and help arrange his
extradition from the U.S.
Ghukasian strongly denied the accusations in a YouTube video posted on Thursday.
He specifically dismissed purported screenshots of text messages exchanged by
Arzakantsian and a blackmailer and publicized by investigators. He said he can
prove that a phone number shown in that correspondence is not his.
The blogger also accused the Armenian authorities of trying to discredit him and
mislead the public.
Red Cross Resumes Medical Evacuations From Karabakh
• Susan Badalian
Nagorno-Karabakh - A convoy of Red Cross vehicles is seen outside Stepanakert,
January 4, 2023.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) resumed the evacuation of
critically ill patients from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia on Friday after a
one-month hiatus caused by the tightening of Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin
corridor.
The ICRC has transported scores of such persons to Armenian hospitals since Baku
effectively blocked Karabakh’s land link with Armenia in December. Only Red
Cross vehicles as well as convoys of Russian peacekeepers have been able to pass
through the road.
The ICRC suspended the medical evacuations in late April due to Azerbaijani
checkpoints that were set up on the road in what Armenia considers a gross
violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement.
The health authorities in Stepanakert announced on Friday that the ICRC helped
to transport 15 Karabakh patients to Armenian hospitals. They said 12 other
Karabakh Armenians were escorted back to Karabakh after undergoing urgent
medical treatment in Yerevan.
Several dozen other Karabakh residents are still awaiting transfer to Armenia.
Three of them are in an “extremely severe” condition, according to the Karabakh
health ministry.
Dozens of others were transported to Yerevan by the Russian peacekeepers this
month. They included Stepanakert resident Narine Danielian and her 10-year-old
son suffering from multiple illnesses.
Danielian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they reached Armenia earlier this
week in a convoy of three ambulances escorted by Russian servicemen. She said
they were stopped and had their passports checked at two Azerbaijani checkpoints.
Azerbaijan claims that the checkpoints were set up to stop the transfer of
weapons from Armenia to Karabakh.
The Armenian side has strongly denied any arms supplies. Russia and the United
States have also criticized Baku’s move.
U.S. Envoy Again Visits Armenia, Azerbaijan
Armenia - U.S. envoy Louis Bono (left) at a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian, Yerevan, March 7, 2023.
A U.S. special envoy for Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations has again visited
Armenia and Azerbaijan for further discussions on a planned peace accord between
the two nations.
The diplomat, Louis Bono, met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Foreign
Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s
Security Council, on Friday.
Pashinian’s office said he presented “the Armenian side’s approaches to
resolving the key outstanding issues.” It did not elaborate.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry reported, for its part, that Mirzoyan and Bono
reviewed the Armenia-Azerbaijan “normalization process” and the remaining
differences between the parties. It cited Mirzoyan as stressing the importance
of non-use of force, “border security” and an “internationally guaranteed
mechanism for dialogue” between Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership.
Bono met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Baku on Wednesday.
According to an Azerbaijani readout of the meeting, they discussed the draft
peace deal and the results of recent Armenian-Azerbaijani talks organized by the
United States and the European Union.
“As we’ve said, we believe that an agreement is in reach, and we continue to
press the two parties to work together to reach an agreement on the issues that
remain outstanding,” the U.S. State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, told
reporters on Thursday.
Dereck Hogan, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, revealed earlier this
week that Washington “put forward a number of ideas” designed to help the two
sides overcome those sticking points. He said they relate to the delimitation of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, “the distancing of Armenian and Azerbaijani
forces” deployed along the frontier, and “the rights and security of ethnic
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
During the recent talks, the sides made major progress towards the bilateral
treaty that would commit them to recognizing each other’s territorial integrity.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed on Monday that Yerevan would thus
recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh. Another senior U.S. official
hailed Pashinian’s statement condemned by the Armenian opposition and Karabakh’s
leadership.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted fresh talks between Pashinian and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Moscow on Thursday. The two leaders are
scheduled to meet again in Moldova’s capital Chisinau on June 1. They will be
joined by EU chief Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron and German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The Reuters news agency on Friday quoted Azerbaijan’s ambassador to France as
saying that the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty could be signed during the
Chisinau summit. The Foreign Ministry in Yerevan essentially denied this,
however, saying that the signing of the landmark document is “not included on
the agenda” of the summit.
“As we have noted many times, the Armenian side will be ready to sign the
agreement when the key issues are addressed,” the ministry said in written
comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “We believe that discussions on them will
continue during and after the meeting scheduled within the framework of the
European Political Community [summit] in Chisinau on June 1.”
Putin Hosts Fresh Talks Between Pashinian, Aliyev
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meet in Moscow, .
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted late on Thursday fresh talks between the
leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan which focused on the restoration of transport
links between the two South Caucasus nations.
No final agreement to that effect was reported as a result of the trilateral
meeting. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s office said deputy prime
ministers of the three countries will meet in Moscow next week to “continue
work” on opening the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to commercial traffic.
Speaking at the start of the talks, Putin said oustanding differences between
Baku and Yerevan on the issue are “purely technical” and “surmountable.” He said
the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani vice-premiers should iron out them.
“On the whole, in my opinion, despite all difficulties and problems, which still
abound, the situation is developing towards a settlement,” stated Putin. “One of
these areas is work on transport communications.”
Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev openly argued about the matter
during a Eurasian Economic Union summit held in Moscow earlier in the day.
Pashinian objected to Aliyev’s use of the term “Zangezur corridor” in reference
to planned road and rail links between Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave
that would pass through Armenia’s Syunik province. He said it runs counter to
the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stoped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh and
amounts to Azerbaijani territorial claims to Armenia.
“The word ‘corridor’ does not constitute a claim to anybody’s territory,”
countered Aliyev.
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian meet in Moscow, .
At a separate meeting with Pashinian held shortly afterwards, Putin assured the
Armenian leader that Baku unequivocally recognizes Armenian sovereignty over
Syunik and that “any dual or triple interpretation of everything related to the
possible unblocking of transport communication is baseless.”
Pashinian reiterated, for his part, that Armenia is interested in conventional
transport links with Azerbaijan.
“I want to reaffirm that both the border and services of Armenia are ready to
ensure the normal transit of all vehicles and trains through Armenian
territory,” he said.
It was not clear whether the issue of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty was
also on the agenda of the trilateral talks in Moscow. Yerevan and Baku
reportedly made significant progress towards such a deal during a series of
negotiations organized by the United States and the European Union earlier this
month.
Aliyev told Putin during their separate meeting that Pashinian’s pledge to
recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh through the treaty made things
“much easier.”
The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are scheduled to meet again in Moldova on
June 1. They will be joined by EU chief Charles Michel, French President
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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