Author: Alex Jidarian

                                        Wednesday, 
Vanadzor Election Winner Arrested
Armenia - Former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian at an election campaign meeting 
with voters in Vanadzor, November 23, 2021.
A former mayor of Vanadzor who defeated Armenia’s ruling party in this month’s 
municipal election was arrested on Wednesday on charges rejected by him and 
opposition leaders as politically motivated.
Mamikon Aslanian ran the country’s third largest city until October. A bloc led 
by him essentially won the election with about 39 percent of the vote.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party finished second with 25 
percent, the most serious of setbacks suffered by it in the local polls held in 
36 communities across Armenia on December 5.
Three other parties fared much worse but still won seats in the local council 
empowered to appoint the next head of the municipality comprising Vanadzor and 
nearby villages.
Aslanian was well placed to regain his post with the help of these parties 
despite falling short of a majority of seats in the new Vanadzor council.
The inaugural session of the council was slated for Friday. It was postponed on 
Wednesday after another party, which failed to win any seats, challenged the 
election results in court.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee said, meanwhile, that it arrested Aslanian and 
charged him with abuse of power and forgery. It claimed, in particular, that the 
former mayor illegally auctioned off two plots of municipal land during his 
five-year tenure.
Aslanian swiftly denied the accusations through his lawyers, who described the 
criminal proceedings as “political persecution.”
In a joint statement, Yervand Varosian and Lusine Sahakian, said: “After 
familiarizing ourselves with the essence of the accusations, it became obvious 
to us that Mamikon Aslanian is prosecuted for winning the election against the 
will of the current authorities.”
The lawyers also said their client is urging supporters to “stay calm” and rest 
assured that their votes “will not be squandered.”
Armenia - The Vanadzor municipality building,13Dec2021.
Senior representatives of the country’s two leading opposition groups also 
condemned the charges and linked them with the Vanadzor election. Artur 
Vanetsian of the Pativ Unem bloc visited Aslanian in custody.
Some opposition figures alleged that Aslanian’s arrest is part of Pashinian’s 
broader efforts to forcibly install his loyalists in communities where his Civil 
Contract party was defeated or failed to win outright on December 5.
In one such community comprising the town of Vartenis and surrounding villages, 
Civil Contract won 46 percent of the vote. Two local blocs challenging it got 37 
percent and 16.5 percent respectively, putting them in a position to have a 
common candidate elected as community head.
The leaders of those blocs announced such a deal last week. Law-enforcement 
authorities arrested one of them on corruption charges and searched the other’s 
home in the following days.
In another town, Talin, a similar power-sharing deal was reached by three other 
opposition groups that won 11 of the 21 seats in the local council. Pashinian’s 
party will control the remaining 10 seats.
One of those groups, the Hayk party, unexpectedly announced on Monday that it 
will not take up its 3 seats. The party’s top candidate in Talin, Karen 
Grigorian, cited the need to “defuse post-election tensions” but did not 
elaborate. Newspaper reports claimed that he made the decision under strong 
government pressure.
Pashinian Allies Move To Oust Yerevan Mayor
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (L) and his My Step bloc's mayoral 
candidate Hayk Marutian attend an election campaign rally in Yerevan, 20 
September 2018.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team confirmed on Wednesday that it 
wants to impeach Yerevan’s Mayor Hayk Marutian after months of growing friction 
between the two former allies.
A senior member of the My Step bloc, which is dominated by the ruling Civil 
Contract party and controls Yerevan’s municipal council, said it is seeking a 
vote of no confidence in Marutian.
“According to preliminary information, we already have 39 signatures [of council 
members,] more than the 33 signatures necessary [for a no confidence motion,]” 
Armen Kotolian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“The process has started, and I think that Hayk Marutian will be dismissed 
before the end of this month,” he said.
Kotolian declined to give reasons for the dramatic move, saying that My Step 
will explain it later on.
The city council is empowered to appoint and dismiss mayors. My Step controls 54 
of its 65 seats.
A spokesman for Marutian said he has not been notified about the ruling team’s 
decision to oust him and will not comment on it for now.
Marutian, 45, is a former TV comedian who actively participated in the “velvet 
revolution” that brought Pashinian to power in May 2018. He was handpicked by 
Pashinian to lead My Step’s list of candidates in the last municipal elections 
held in September 2018 and won by the pro-government bloc.
Armenia - Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutian arrives for a session of the city council, 
May 8, 2019.
Marutian famously declared during the mayoral race that Armenia’s political 
landscape consists of only “whites” allied to Pashinian and “blacks” symbolizing 
darkness and challenging the prime minister.
Relations between the two men deteriorated after Armenia’s defeat in last year’s 
war with Azerbaijan that sparked anti-government protests in Yerevan. Marutian 
increasingly distanced himself from Pashinian’s team in the following months and 
pointedly declined to support it in the run-up to snap parliamentary elections 
held in June.
A top aide to Pashinian publicly criticized the mayor’s stance shortly after the 
vote. Some media outlets reported at the time that the prime minister is now 
considering replacing Marutian.
In a further sign of rising tension between the two men, the Haykakan Zhamanak 
daily belonging to Pashinian’s family claimed at the weekend that Marutian has 
defected to the Armenian opposition and even secretly met with former President 
Robert Kocharian.
Marutian’s press secretary, Hakob Karapetian, flatly denied such a meeting on 
Wednesday. Earlier this week, Karapetian referred to Pashinian’s paper as “the 
yellow press.”
According to Kotolian, Armenia’s leadership is considering several potential 
candidates for the post of Yerevan mayor, including Marutian’s deputy Hayk 
Sargsian.
Ruling Party Blocks Parliament Debate On Armenian-Azeri Talks
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Deputies from the ruling Civil Contract party boycott a session of the 
Armenian parliament demanded by their opposition colleagues, Yerevan, November 
15, 2021.
The pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament scuttled on Wednesday a 
debate on an opposition-backed resolution effectively warning Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian against recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The main opposition Hayastan alliance had forced the leadership of the National 
Assembly to call an emergency session on the issue. The session did not take 
place, however, because the deputies representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract 
party boycotted it and prevented the parliament from making a quorum.
One of those deputies, Anush Beghloyan, defended the boycott, accusing Hayastan 
and the other parliamentary opposition bloc, Pativ Unem, of exploiting the 
sensitive issue for domestic political purposes.
“As you can see, this resolution has an internal political and, I would say, 
propaganda and speculative nature,” she told reporters.
The opposition minority denied seeking to score political points and insisted 
that the proposed non-binding document reflects Armenia’s and Karabakh’s 
national interests.
“They again avoided [a debate] because they avoid tough statements or demands 
addressed to Turkey and Azerbaijan,” said Hayastan’s Ishkhan Saghatelian. “They 
would have nothing to say if they came [to the parliament floor.] So they 
boycotted [the session] to stay away from any trouble.”
Armenia - Leaders of the opposition minority in the Armenian parliament talk 
during a failed session boycotted by the ruling Civil Contract party, Yerevan, 
November 15, 2021.
The resolution drafted by Hayastan and backed by Pativ Unem sets conditions for 
the planned demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. It says that Yerevan 
must steer clear of any actions that would make it impossible for the Karabakh 
Armenians to exercise their right to self-determination.
Armenian opposition figures and some media outlets have for months speculated 
that during the demarcation process Armenia and Azerbaijan could formally 
recognize each other’s territorial integrity. This would presumably amount to 
Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.
Pashinian and his political allies have said that Yerevan will continue to 
champion Karabakh’s self-determination in further talks with Baku.
The proposed resolution also demands that Pashinian’s government reinforce the 
Armenian army and its border fortifications as well as “ascertain and upgrade 
relations with strategic partners.”
Meeting in Brussels late on Tuesday, Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham 
Aliyev reportedly reaffirmed their plans to start demarcation talks soon. 
European Council President Charles Michel, who hosted the talks, said the two 
leaders also agreed on the need for “further tangible steps” to ease tensions 
along the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier.
U.S. Hails Bid To Normalize Turkish-Armenian Relations
Indonesia - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks on the Biden 
administration's Indo-Pacific strategy at the Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, 
.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday welcomed Armenia’s and 
Turkey’s plans to start talks on normalizing their relations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Monday that the 
governments of the two neighboring states will soon appoint special envoys for 
that purpose. The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed that.
“We welcome and strongly support statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut 
Cavusoglu and [the Foreign Ministry] of Armenia on appointing Special Envoys to 
discuss the process of normalization,” tweeted Blinken.
The Bloomberg news agency on Monday quoted an unnamed senior Turkish official as 
saying that U.S. President Joe Biden urged his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip 
Erdogan to open Turkey’s border with Armenia during an October meeting in Rome. 
Ankara hopes that efforts to normalize Turkish-Armenian ties will help it to 
improve its strained relations with Washington, said the official.
The U.S. played a major role in a past Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. Ankara 
and Yerevan came close to normalizing bilateral relations in 2009 when their 
foreign ministers signed two relevant protocols in Zurich, Switzerland. 
Erdogan’s administration subsequently linked their ratification by the Turkish 
parliament to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to 
Azerbaijan.
Cavusoglu made clear on Monday that Ankara will continue to coordinate its 
Armenian policy with Baku.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained last month that the Turks 
are setting “new preconditions” for establishing diplomatic relations and 
opening the border with Armenia. Those include the opening of a land corridor 
connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave, he said.
A spokesman for Mirzoyan said on Tuesday that Yerevan continues to stand for 
“normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions.”
EU’s Michel Hosts Talks Between Armenian, Azeri Leaders
Armenia - European Council President Charles Michel, Armenian Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani Presiednt Ilham Aliyev meet in Brussels, 
.
European Council President Charles Michel said the leaders of Armenia and 
Azerbaijan pledged to de-escalate tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border 
and restore rail links between the two South Caucasus states during talks hosted 
by him in Brussels late on Tuesday.
Michel, who heads the European Union’s top decision-making body, said 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
assured him that they remain committed to honoring relevant agreements brokered 
by Russia over the past year.
“President Aliyev and Prime Minister Pashinian agreed that in the context of the 
planned launch of negotiations on the delimitation and demarcation of the state 
border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, further tangible steps will need to be 
taken to reduce tensions on the ground to ensure a conducive atmosphere for the 
talks,” he said in a late-night statement on the trilateral meeting.
The EU is ready to provide “technical assistance” to the demarcation process, 
added Michel.
“It was agreed to proceed with the restoration of railway lines, with 
appropriate arrangements for border and customs controls, based on the principle 
of reciprocity,” he said, indicating the EU’s readiness to finance that work.
Pashinian confirmed that he and Aliyev “reaffirmed the agreements to relaunch 
the railways.” Armenia and Azerbaijan will retain full control over railways 
passing through their territory, he said in a Facebook post.
Neither Michel nor Pashinian mentioned other transport links and, in particular, 
a road that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave via Armenia.
Speaking in Brussels earlier on Tuesday, Aliyev said people and cargo passing 
through that “Zangezur corridor” must be exempt from Armenian border controls. 
Pashinian rejected the demand shortly before the trilateral meeting, saying that 
it runs counter to understandings reached by them with Russian mediation.
Michel stressed the importance of establishing transport links between Armenia 
and Azerbaijan “while fully respecting the sovereignty of all countries.”
He said he also urged the two sides to “work towards de-escalation” and resolve 
“all outstanding humanitarian issues,” including the release of more Armenian 
soldiers held in Azerbaijan.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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