Thursday,
Azerbaijan Frees Lebanese-Armenian Woman
• Susan Badalian
Maral Najarian.
A Lebanese-Armenian woman was set free on Wednesday four months after being
detained by Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The 49-year-old woman, Maral Najarian, was flown from Baku to Beirut via
Istanbul immediately after her release demanded by the Armenian and Lebanese
governments.
The Armenian parliament speaker, Ararat Mirzoyan, on Thursday thanked the
speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Valentina Matvienko, for helping
to secure Najarian’s release. In a statement, Mirzoyan said Matvienko raised the
issue with Azerbaijani authorities after appeals from him and female members of
Armenia’s parliament.
Like hundreds of other Lebanese nationals of Armenian descent, Najarian and her
sister Ani migrated to Armenia following last August’s devastating explosion at
Beirut’s port. They decided to relocate to Karabakh just days before the
September 27 outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Najarian did travel to Karabakh together with a Lebanese-Armenian friend, Viken
Euljekian, on November 10 hours after a Russian-brokered ceasefire stopped the
six-hour war. They were detained in the Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha) and
taken to Baku.
Najarian says they did not know that Shushi was captured by the Azerbaijani army
earlier in November.
Euljekian, who lived in Shushi and worked as a taxi driver before the war, is
still held in an Azerbaijani prison, facing terrorism charges condemned by the
Armenian government and human rights groups.
Najarian risked similar accusations, with Azerbaijani media still portraying her
as an enemy combatant.
“They suspected that I’m a spy because of my knowledge of Turkish,” she told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Thursday.
“I thought I am going to die there,” she said, speaking from her Beirut home via
video link. “I wasn’t tortured there … but I suffered psychological damage.”
“We are very grateful to everyone: Armenia, Lebanon and Russia,” said her sister
remaining in Yerevan.
Najarian also said that she was held in solitary confinement in three different
Azerbaijani prisons and never saw any other Armenian prisoners.
Several other Armenians were also captured by Azerbaijan troops when they
travelled to Karabakh from Armenia on November 10.
A senior Karabakh official said in late December that at least 40 Karabakh
Armenian civilians remain unaccounted for after the war. He expressed hope that
most of them are still alive.
Azerbaijan is also believed to be holding more than 100 Armenian prisoners of
war in what the Armenian side considers a gross violation of the ceasefire
agreement brokered by Moscow.
Ruling Bloc, Opposition Party Agree To Crisis Talks
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) meets with Bright Armenia Party
leader Edmon Marukian, March 4, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team and one of the two opposition
parties represented in the Armenian parliament on Thursday agreed to take part
in talks proposed by President Armen Sarkissian.
Other, more hardline opposition groups set conditions for negotiating with
Pashinian with the aim of ending the political crisis in the country.
Sarkissian on Wednesday invited Pashinian and opposition leaders to meet at the
presidential palace on Saturday and try to find “mutually acceptable ways of
overcoming the crisis.” He said he expects them to respond to his offer by
Thursday evening.
“I have informed the president’s staff today that we accept the president’s
invitation and are going to participate in the meeting initiated by the
president,” said Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of Pashinian’s My Step
bloc.
“We accept the invitation and stand ready to take part in any discussion in
which … ways of getting the country out of the deep crisis could be found,”
Edmon Marukian, the leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK), wrote
on Facebook.
“The president’s invitation means one thing: to sit down and discuss the
situation,” said another senior LHK figure, Ani Samsonian. “It’s a very
constructive initiative.”
Unlike the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), the other parliamentary opposition
force, the LHK is not part of the Homeland Salvation Movement alliance, which
has been holding anti-government protests in Yerevan in a bid to force Pashinian
to resign.
Armenia -- Supporters of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement demonstrate
in Yerevan to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's resignation, February 20,
2021.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, the leadership of the alliance said the
talks must be held in the parliament, broadcast live and focus on Pashinian’s
resignation and formation of an interim government.
Shortly before the opposition statement, Sarkissian’s office said that since
“not all of the invitees” have responded to his invitation so far it will make a
statement about “the format of the meeting” later on.
Sarkissian offered to host multi-party talks one day after paving the way for
the sacking of Onik Gasparian, Armenia’s top army general who has demanded,
along with 40 other high-ranking officers, Pashinian’s resignation. The
president pointedly declined to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the
legality on Pashinian’s decision to fire Gasparian.
The Homeland Salvation Movement reacted furiously to Sarkissian’s stance,
accusing him of acting on the embattled prime minister’s orders.
Minister Warns Of Hospital Bed Shortage As COVID-19 Cases Rise
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Medics look after a COVID-19 patient at the Nork Hospital for
Infectious Diseases, Yerevan, June 5, 2020.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian warned on Thursday that Armenian hospitals
could run out of beds for COVID-19 patients if a renewed increase in coronavirus
cases in the country continues unabated.
Avanesian issued the warning after health authorities registered the largest
single-day number of cases in more than two months.
The Armenian Ministry of Health reported in the morning that 748 people have
tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day, sharply up from an average of 183
cases a day recorded in February. The daily number of officially confirmed
infections averaged 407 in the first ten days of March.
“As we predicted last week, we have a major increase in the disease,” Avanesian
told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “Right now there are 6,772 active
cases and 901 of these people are hospitalized.”
Avanesian said that the nine Armenian hospitals treating COVID-19 patients
currently have about 100 vacant beds and the authorities are setting up more
such beds to cope with the growing number of serious cases.
“But I want to warn that the number of beds is not unlimited and everything must
be done to make sure that the number of patients does not exceed our [hospital]
capacity and that we again don’t have patients who cannot be hospitalized and
have to stay at home,” she said.
Armenia -- Health Minister Anahit Avanesian speaks during a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian expressed concern at the worsening
epidemiological situation in Armenia. He urged citizens to comply with sanitary
rules set by his government following the onset of the pandemic last year.
Pashinian did not say whether the authorities are planning to resume a strict
enforcement of those rules, which include mandatory mask-wearing in all public
areas.
The authorities largely stopped fining people not wearing masks following the
September 27 outbreak of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The daily number of new
COVID-19 cases reported by them grew rapidly as a result. It began steadily
falling in mid-November.
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.
Health experts believe that recent rallies held in Yerevan by both the Armenian
opposition and the government have also contributed to the resurgence of
coronavirus cases.
Armenian President Refuses To Confirm New Army Chief (UPDATED)
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia -- General Artak Davtian inspects Armenian troops deployed in Tavush
province.
President Armen Sarkissian refused on Thursday to appoint a new chief of the
Armenian army’s General Staff nominated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
In a short statement announcing the decision, Sarkissian’s office did not
specify his “objections” to Pashinian’s pick for the top military post:
Lieutenant-General Artak Davtian.
Davtian already headed the General Staff from May 2018 to June 2020. Pashinian
moved to reappoint him on Wednesday after completing the sacking of the previous
army commander, Colonel-General Onik Gasparian, who has demanded, along with 40
other high-ranking officers, the Armenian government’s resignation.
Gasparian condemned his removal as “unconstitutional” and said he will challenge
it in court. The army top brass voiced support for the general.
Pashinian was quick to dismiss Sarkissian’s objections and insist on Davtian’s
appointment.
In a statement issued later on Thursday, Sarkissian’s office said he decided not
to file such an appeal, meaning that Davtian will automatically replace
Gasparian later this week despite the president's second refusal to sign a
relevant decree drafted by the prime minister.
Sarkissian pointedly declined to appeal to the court after similarly refusing to
sign a decree relieving Gasparian of his duties. His stance, strongly condemned
by the Armenian opposition, paved the way for the general’s sacking.
The Armenian Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that one of Gasparian’s
deputies, Lieutenant-General Stepan Galstian, will perform the duties of the
General Staff chief pending the appointment of a new army commander.
Galstian was among the senior officers who signed the February 25 statement
accusing Pashinian and his cabinet of misrule and demanding their resignation.
The premier condemned the statement as a coup attempt. But opposition groups
trying to oust him with street protests welcomed it.
The military’s unprecedented statement came the day after the first deputy chief
of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Tiran Khachatrian, was controversially
fired in a presidential decree initiated by Pashinian.
Khachatrian lost his job just hours after a pro-opposition media outlet quoted
him as laughing off Pashinian’s claim that the Armenian army’s most advanced
Russian-made missiles seriously malfunctioned during last year’s war in
Nagorno-Karabakh. Khachatrian asked Armenia’s Administrative Court last week to
invalidate the decree and reinstate him.
Pashinian’s claim about the Iskander missile systems provoked a storm of
criticism from Russian pro-government lawmakers and pundits. Russia’s Defense
Ministry said it was “bewildered and surprised” by the remarks.
Pashinian effectively retracted them on March 1, saying through a spokeswoman
that he was misled by other Armenian officials.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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