Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

                                        Wednesday, 
Azeri Soldier ‘Mistreated Before Fleeing To Armenia’
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - A road sign at the entrance to the village of Bnunis, April 10, 2023.
An Azerbaijani soldier detained in Armenia on Monday deserted his unit deployed 
on the Armenian border after being systematically ill-treated by his comrades, 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday.
The young man was apprehended in Ashotavan, a village in Syunik province 
bordering Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. According to the Armenian military, 
he claimed to have crossed into Armenia together with another Azerbaijani 
serviceman.
The two Azerbaijanis were reportedly first spotted in Bnunis, another village 
located a few kilometers from Ashotavan.
“The Azerbaijani soldier simply fled their positions together with a fellow 
serviceman because of being subjected to hazing and humiliation by other 
soldiers,” Pashinian told the Armenian parliament.
Ashotavan’s mayor, Armen Beglarian, managed to talk to the soldier before the 
latter was handed over to Armenian security forces. Beglarian said the 
19-year-old told him that he and his companion fled to Armenia because of hazing.
The other fugitive soldier’s whereabouts remain unknown. The Armenian military 
and security services say they are still searching for him.
Pashinian speculated that he may have gone back to Nakhichevan. “According to 
our information, shortly after crossing the border the second soldier, who is 
still being searched for, said that he has changed his mind and wants to go 
back,” he said without elaborating.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on Monday that two of its soldiers 
serving in Nakhichevan have done missing in heavy fog. It has still not 
identified them.
Meydan TV, an independent Azerbaijani media outlet, identified the missing 
conscripts as Akshin Bebirov and Huseyn Akhundov. It quoted one of their 
relatives as saying that they went missing on April 5.
Armenia’s National Security Service, which is holding the Azerbaijani soldier in 
detention, has not released his identity so far.
The two Syunik villages are located about 20 kilometers from the nearest 
Azerbaijani army positions. This fact has left many in Armenia wondering how 
they managed to walk deep into Armenian territory undetected.
“Of course, this circumstance must be investigated and appropriated conclusions 
must be drawn with regard to ensuring border security,” said Pashinian.
Armenian Parliament Allows Prosecution Of Opposition Member
        • Anush Mkrtchian
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armeina -- Opposition deputy Mher Sahakian (right) attends a session of the 
Armenian parliament, .
Armenia’s parliament on Wednesday allowed prosecutors to bring criminal charges 
against an opposition lawmaker who punched a pro-government colleague in 
disputed circumstances.
The violence occurred during an ill-tempered meeting of the parliament committee 
on legal affairs held on March 31. It reportedly followed a shouting match 
between Vladimir Vartanian, the committee chairman, and Mher Sahakian of the 
main opposition Hayastan alliance.
Sahakian was detained by police but set free three days later. He said he hit 
Vartanian because the latter spoke disrespectfully and then stood up and walked 
menacingly towards him. Vartanian, who represents Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, denied that, saying the assault was unprovoked.
Vardapetian backed the pro-government parliamentarian’s version of events when 
she asked the National Assembly on Tuesday to lift Sahakian’s immunity from 
prosecution. The chief prosecutor insisted that there was “no necessary 
self-defense” in his violent conduct.
“I have the impression that you only read only Vladimir Vartanian’s testimony 
when drawing up the indictment,” Sahakian countered during a parliament debate.
The lawmaker affiliated with the main opposition Hayastan alliance again denied 
any wrongdoing and said the criminal case is politically motivated. He said he 
is ready to stand trial on “hooliganism” charges that will be brought against 
him.
Other opposition parliamentarians voiced support for the 35-year-old. They also 
accused the Armenian authorities of double standards, arguing that 
pro-government deputies were not prosecuted after assaulting opposition 
colleagues on the parliament floor in 2021.
As recently as last week, the authorities faced calls to launch a criminal 
investigation into parliament speaker Alen Simonian, who spat at an opposition 
heckler, and other pro-government deputies, who shouted verbal abuse and threats 
at an opposition candidate for the vacant post of Armenia’s human rights 
defender. One of those deputies publicly pledged to “cut the tongues and ears of 
anyone” who would make disparaging comments about the 2018 “velvet revolution” 
that brought Pashinian to power.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General has not ordered criminal investigations 
into either incident.
Sahakian is the third Hayastan deputy indicted in the last two months. The two 
others, Seyran Ohanian and Armen Charchian, are facing separate criminal charges 
rejected by them as politically motivated. None of them will likely go to jail 
if convicted.
Russia Seeks Explanations From Armenia Over NATO Drills
Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan (right) meets Russian Deputy 
Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko, Yerevan, .
Russia said on Wednesday that it has told Armenia to explain its participation 
in “anti-Russian” military exercises organized by NATO.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the U.S.-led alliance is seeking closer ties 
with and stronger influence on Russia’s ex-Soviet allies as part of its ongoing 
“geopolitical confrontation” with Russia.
“The United States and its allies are trying to discredit regional countries’ 
cooperation with our country and draw them into various formats of cooperation 
that have an obviously anti-Russian and at times Russophobe character,” said 
Maria Zakharova, the ministry spokeswoman. “Such actions by NATO lead to the 
destabilization of the situation in various regions, growth of their conflict 
potential and creation of new division lines.”
“We have requested official explanations from our Armenian partners with regard 
to their participation in NATO exercises. We will formulate our reaction after 
receiving a reply,” Zakharova told a news briefing.
The remarks came one week after the U.S. Department of Defense listed Armenia 
among 26 nations, most of them NATO members, that will participate in an 
upcoming U.S.-led military exercise in Europe. It removed the South Caucasus 
country from the list, posted on the Pentagon’s website, the following day.
The Armenian Defense Ministry confirmed on April 6 that will not send troops to 
the Defender 23 exercise which the Pentagon says is designed to “deter those who 
would threaten the peace of Europe.” The ministry said that Armenian soldiers 
will likely participate instead in two other, more small-scale drills that will 
be held by U.S. Army Europe and Africa later this year.
Armenia - Russian and Armenian troops hold a joint military exercise, November 
24, 2021.
Armenia has long been allied to Russia, which claims to have faced growing 
“hostility” from NATO and the United States in particular since the Russian 
invasion of Ukraine.
Armenia’s relations with Russia and the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty 
Organization (CSTO) have deteriorated in recent months due to what Yerevan sees 
as a lack of support from its allies in the conflict with Azerbaijan. Earlier 
this year, the Armenian government cancelled a CSTO military exercise which was 
due to take place in Armenia this year.
Zakharova said Moscow “regrets” the cancellation and believes that it “does not 
help to enhance regional security.”
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko met with Foreign Minister Ararat 
Mirzoyan and other senior Armenian diplomats during a visit to Yerevan on 
Tuesday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the talks focused on regional and 
international security.
EU Calls For Armenian, Azeri Troop Withdrawals
Armenia - European Union monitors patrol Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, 
February 20, 2023.
The European Union called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to withdraw their troops 
from their border on Wednesday one day after fresh fighting between them left at 
least seven soldiers from both sides dead.
“This incident yet again emphasizes that in the absence of a delimited border, 
the 1991 line must be respected and the forces of either side withdrawn to safe 
distances from this line to prevent any similar incidents from occurring,” an EU 
foreign policy spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, said in a statement.
Massrali also urged Yerevan and Baku to restart their stalled talks on the 
delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The two sides blame each other for the deadly fighting that broke out near the 
Armenian border village of Tegh. Azerbaijani army units took up new positions in 
the area on March 30 after advancing into what Yerevan regards as sovereign 
Armenian territory.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said that its troops came under fire on Tuesday 
afternoon as they fortified one of their outposts just outside Tegh. It released 
an eight-minute video that shows a large group of Azerbaijani soldiers 
approaching Armenian servicemen and then arguing and coming to blows with them. 
The scuffle degenerated into warning shots that apparently preceded the 
firefight.
Russia said on Wednesday that its soldiers and border guards deployed in nearby 
Armenian territory helped to stop the worst Armenian-Azerbaijani border clash in 
months. No further ceasefire violations have been reported from this or other 
sections of the border since Tuesday evening.
A new Azerbaijani army post near the Armenian village of Tegh, March 31, 2023.
“This provocation is another Azerbaijani attack on the territorial integrity of 
the Republic of Armenia,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry charged on Tuesday 
night. It urged the international community to stop Baku from further escalating 
the situation.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov claimed the following morning that 
the fighting was the result of an Armenian “provocation.” He said Yerevan must 
refrain from actions “whose consequences could be terrible for Armenia as they 
were yesterday.”
The EU statement did not explicitly blame either side for the escalation. But it 
did say that Armenia and Azerbaijan must respect their agreements “regarding the 
mutual recognition of territorial integrity in line with the 1991 Almaty 
Declaration.”
It is not clear whether Tuesday’s skirmishes were witnessed by any of some 100 
EU monitors who were deployed along the Armenian side of the heavily militarized 
border in late February. The monitoring mission made no public statements.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the 
latest fighting shows that Moscow was right to oppose the EU mission and warn 
that it could only heighten tensions between the two South Caucasus nations.
"We had … predicted the inevitable,” Zakharova told reporters in a clear jibe at 
the Armenian government.
Senior Prosecutor Becomes Armenia’s Rights Defender
        • Anush Mkrtchian
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Deputy Prosecutor-General Anahit Manasian addresses the arliament, 
.
The Armenian parliament has voted to appoint a candidate of the ruling Civil 
Contract party, who has served as a deputy prosecutor-general until now, as 
Armenia’s new human rights defender.
Anahit Manasian pledged to “perform my duties impartially” on Wednesday as she 
was sworn in as ombudswoman immediately after the announcement of the vote 
results. She was backed only by deputies representing Civil Contract.
Manasian’s election followed a heated debate on the parliament floor that lasted 
for three hours on Tuesday. Opposition lawmakers grilled her and rejected her 
candidacy, saying that she cannot combat human rights abuses in the country 
because of her background.
One of them, Gegham Nazarian, accused the Armenian government of turning the 
office of the human rights defender into a “subsidiary of the prosecutor’s 
office.”
Manasian’s reluctance to criticize during the question-and-answer session the 
authorities’ or the controversial behavior of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
political allies added to the opposition criticism. Gegham Manukian, another 
lawmaker from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, denounced her claim that 
there are no political prisoners in Armenia.
Civil Contract deputies defended their candidate. One of them, Vigen 
Khachatrian, said that Manasian’s work in the Office of the Prosecutor-General 
on the contrary makes her fit for the post of ombudswoman.
Manasian, 34, was appointed as a deputy prosecutor-general less than five months 
ago. She previously worked as a deputy rector of Armenia’s Justice Academy and 
an adviser to two former chairmen of the Constitutional Court. She has also 
taught constitutional law at Yerevan State University since 2015.
Armenia - Edgar Ghazarian (right) and pro-government deputy Artur Hovannisian 
attend a paliament committee meeting, April 4, 2023.
Hayastan and the second parliamentary opposition force, Pativ Unem, had nominate 
their own candidate for the vacant post, Edgar Ghazarian. The latter is a 
maverick activist highly critical of the government.
Some Civil Contract deputies shouted verbal abuse and threats at Ghazarian when 
he appeared before the parliament committee on human rights and harshly 
criticized Pashinian’s administration last week. One of them pledged to “cut the 
tongues and ears of anyone” who would make disparaging comments about the 2018 
“velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian to power.
Manasian also attended the committee meeting. Unlike the Armenian opposition and 
human rights groups, she pointedly declined to criticize those threats.
The previous ombudswoman, Kristine Grigorian, unexpectedly resigned in January 
after less than a year in office. She too had been installed by the parliament’s 
pro-government majority. Unlike her outspoken predecessor Arman Tatoyan, 
Grigorian rarely criticized the government and law-enforcement bodies.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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