Monday,
Armenian FM Visits Embattled Qatar
. Emil Danielyan
Qatar - Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin
Jassim Al-Thani meets with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian
in Doha, 18Jun2017.
One month after President Serzh Sarkisian's official visit to Qatar,
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has travelled to Doha and discussed
with his Qatari counterpart the Gulf state's bitter dispute with other
Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia.
Official statements on Nalbandian's weekend talks with Qatari Foreign
Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani suggested
that he reaffirmed Armenia's intention to continue deepening ties with
Qatar.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Nalbandian handed to
Al-Thani a message from Sarkisian to Qatar's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad Al-Thani. A ministry statement said the two ministers discussed
"the course of the implementation of agreements" that were reached by
their leaders last month.
Sarkisian and Emir Tamim reportedly agreed to give "new impetus" to
bilateral cooperation when they met during the Armenian president's
May 15 visit to Doha. Sarkisian used the trip to call for Qatari
investments in the Armenian economy.
Qatar - The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, and
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian inspect a Qatari honor guard at a
welcoming ceremony in Doha, 15May2017.
The Armenian government lifted visa requirements for Qatari nationals
on June 1, four days before Saudi Arabia and its allies cut diplomatic
and other ties with the hydrocarbon-rich emirate, accusing it of
sponsoring extremist militant groups active in the region. Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian indicated on June 8 that Yerevan
will continue to seek closer links with Qatar despite the sanctions.
In a short statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said Foreign
Minister Al-Thani and Nalbandian discussed "ways of enhancing"
bilateral ties as well as "the latest developments of the Gulf
crisis." It said Nalbandian was briefed on "the siege imposed on the
State of Qatar" by Saudi Arabia and its allies.
Nalbandian was quoted by his ministry's press office as saying in that
context that "all issues should be solved through dialogue." He also
said that Armenia closely monitors "events in the Arab world" because
of its "traditionally warm relations with Arab countries." No other
details were reported.
Armenia has maintained cordial relationships with some of the other
Gulf monarchies, notably the United Arab Emirates, which has an
embassy in Yerevan. Saudi Arabia, by contrast, has refused to not only
establish diplomatic relations with Armenia but also formally
recognize its independence due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenia also has a friendly rapport with neighboring Iran, Saudi's
Arabia's arch-foe that has denounced the sanctions against
Qatar. Kocharian, Nalbandian's deputy, suggested that the sanctions
primarily result from Qatar's continuing relationship with Iran,
rather than its alleged support for Islamist terrorism.
4 Ethnic Armenians Elected To French Parliament
France -- French President Emmanuel Macron casts his ballot as he
votes at a polling station in Le Touquet, June 18, 2017
Four ethnic Armenians, all of them representing French President
Emmanuel Macron's political party, won seats in France's new
parliament elected on Sunday.
According to preliminary results of the two-round elections, Macron's
Republic on the Move (LREM) and its Modem allies will control at least
355 of the 577 seats in the French lower house of parliament. The
recently elected centrist president will thus enjoy a commanding
majority in the National Assembly.
Four of the LREM deputies -- Daniele Cazarian, Nadia Essayan,
Guillaume Kasbarian and Jacques Marilossian -- are French people of
Armenian descent elected from constituencies in various parts of the
country.
A fifth French-Armenian candidate fielded by the LREM, Pascal
Chamassian, was narrowly defeated by Valerie Boyer, a pro-Armenian
member of the outgoing French parliament. Boyer is affiliated with the
Republicans, France's leading conservative party that came in a
distant second in the polls.
A senior member of the Republicans, Patrick Devedjian, was the sole
ethnic Armenian deputy in the outgoing National Assembly.The
72-year-old former government minister did not run for reelection this
time around.
France is home to an estimated 500,000 ethnic Armenians, most of them
descendants of survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide. Macron and
other major candidates courted the influential community during
presidential elections held in April.
Macron described French-Armenian ties as "privileged" ahead of the
April 23 first round of voting in the French presidential race. He
made a point of visiting an Armenian genocide memorial in Paris on
April 24 to mark the 102nd anniversary of the start of the mass
killings and deportations. He was endorsed by leading French-Armenian
organizations three days later.
Macron's main challenger, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, also made
pro-Armenian statements during the presidential election campaign. Le
Pen paid tribute to the French Armenians and said that
Nagorno-Karabakh should be "reunified with Armenia."
France has long maintained a warm rapport with Armenia. Macron's three
predecessors -- Francois Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac
-- paid high-profile official visits to Yerevan while in office. The
Armenian government will underline these close ties when it hosts next
year a summit of La Francophonie, a grouping of over 70 mainly
French-speaking nations.
New Armenian Government Program Pledges Major Reforms
. Artak Hambardzumian
Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian (L) and Deputy Prime
Minister Vache Gabrielan (R) at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan,
19Jun2017.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet committed itself to
implementing "large-scale reforms" in Armenia in a new policy program
formally approved by it on Monday.
The Armenian parliament will debate the five-year plan of actions at a
special session on Wednesday. The program's almost certain approval by
lawmakers would amount to a vote of confidence in the government that
was slightly reshuffled as a result of the April 2 parliamentary
elections won by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia.
Presenting the more than 100-page document to fellow cabinet members,
Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielian said "large-scale reforms" are
at the heart of its key aim: to ensure Armenia's "sustainable
development" from 2017-2022. He said it lists concrete actions that
the government plans to take in the socioeconomic, security and
foreign policy areas.
"I think the government program is setting quite ambitious targets,"
Karapetian said for his part. "We have made clear which goals we want
to achieve in terms of economic growth, unemployment, the minimum
wage, export volumes as well as the tax-GDP ratio."
In Gabrielian's words, the program is based in large measure on
economic priorities which President Serzh Sarkisian laid out in his
May 18 address to the newly elected National Assembly. "In the course
of 2016-2040 we must ensure an average annual GDP growth of around 5
percent," Sarkisian declared in an extensive speech.
The government's previous, six-month program approved by the
parliament in October promised a tougher fight against corruption,
better tax administration and "equal conditions" for all
businesses. It described corruption as "the biggest obstacle to the
development of the state" and said "conventional approaches" can
longer address Armenia's socioeconomic problems. Opposition
politicians dismissed that reform agenda as a publicity stunt.
Despite mapping out its wide-ranging policies for the next five years,
Karapetian's cabinet will have to resign when Sarkisian completes his
final presidential term and Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic
in April next year. The president has yet to clarify whether he plans
to become prime minister, replace Karapetian by someone else or keep
the current premier in office.
Mediators Warn Against `Further Escalation' In Karabakh
Azerbaijan -- President Ilham Aliyev meets with OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs in Baku, 19Jun2017.
International mediators on Monday called on Azerbaijan to avoid a
"further escalation" of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh
following fresh deadly fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani
forces.
The U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group also
announced that the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are ready to
"resume political dialogue" as they completed their latest round of
regional shuttle diplomacy aimed at kick-starting the Karabakh peace
process.
In a joint statement issued after meeting Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev in Baku, they said they expressed "deep concern" over deadly
truce violations along the Karabakh "line of contact" reported late
last week. They said they "appealed to the leadership of Azerbaijan to
avoid further escalation."
"The Co-Chairs are sending the same message to the leadership of
Armenia and de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh," added the
statement. "They encouraged the Sides to consider measures that would
reduce tensions on the Line of Contact and the international border
between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
The mediating troika met with President Serzh Sarkisian in Yerevan on
June 10 before proceeding to Karabakh for similar talks with the
Armenian-populated territory's leadership.
On Friday evening, three Armenian soldiers died when Azerbaijani
forces reportedly fired anti-tank grenades at their frontline position
in eastern Karabakh. Another Armenian soldier was killed at a
different frontline section on Saturday morning.
Earlier on Friday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that one
of its soldiers was shot dead by the Armenian side. It did not specify
where the incident happened.
Reacting to the Armenian combat deaths, the Karabakh Armenian military
promised "targeted and disproportionate" retaliatory measures against
the Azerbaijani side. For its part, Armenia's Foreign Ministry accused
Baku of deliberately heightening tensions during the mediator's latest
tour of the conflict zone.
The ministry also protested against large-scale exercises which the
Azerbaijani army began on Monday. The five-day drills will involve
23,000 troops and more than 100 tanks, according to the military
authorities in Baku.
Meeting with the mediators, Aliyev blamed the Armenians for the latest
escalation. He claimed that his troops gave an "adequate response" to
Friday's shooting of the Azerbaijani soldier.
In their statement, the envoys -- Richard Hoagland of the United
States, Russia's Igor Popov and France's Stephane Visconti -- also
urged both warring sides to "re-engage in negotiations on substance,
in good faith and with political will."
"The Presidents expressed their intention to resume political dialogue
in an attempt to find a compromise solution for the most controversial
issues of the settlement," they said, adding that they will meet with
the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers soon to discuss
"modalities of the forthcoming work."
The statement did not specify whether Aliyev and Sarkisian are
prepared to hold a face-to-face meeting in the coming weeks. The
mediators have been pressing for such a meeting for the last several
months. The two presidents most recently met in Saint Petersburg,
Russia in June last year.
Press Review
Armenia -- Newspapers for press review illustration, Yerevan,
12Jul2016
(Saturday, June 17)
"Haykakan Zhamanak" says that the annual economic growth target of 5
percent set by the Armenian government is not ambitious enough and
will not lead to tangible betterment if the Armenian economy expands
at such rates in the years ahead. "For developing economies a 5
percent growth rate is much more attainable than for developed
economics," writes the paper.It claims that the government is not
really committed to ensuring Armenia's rapid development.
"Hraparak" says that unlimited loyalty to the Ruling Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK) and readiness to commit vote falsifications for the
HHK are much more important criteria than competence in the choice of
senior officials in the country. "But there is a line which must not
be crossed even in a country like ours," writes the paper. "When a
state official obviously does not correspond to their position, when
there is long-running discontent with them, when they illegally get
rich and become impudent in front of our eyes and neglect Armenia's
citizens and their interests, they must go."
"Aravot" believe that Armenian officials were wrong to react angrily
to European Union Ambassador Piotr Switalski's thinly veiled criticism
of Armenia's Central Election Commission (CEC). The paper argues that
Switalski not only criticized but also praised the conduct of the
recent elections held in the country. "Both Switalski and other
Western diplomats have made similar statements in the past," it says,
adding that the Armenian Foreign Ministry did not protest against
Switalski's remarks.
"Politicians and government officials should on the contrary continue
working with the European Union," continues "Aravot." "That can give
us nothing but benefits. One of the benefits is a substantial decrease
in electoral violations committed inside polling stations. What should
be done to reduce administrative pressure and vote buying? That is a
purely political problem. Switalski was right to point to that
problem."
(Naira Bulghadarian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org