Author: Emil Lazarian

                                        Friday, July 1, 2022
Armenian Military Said To Draft Scores Of Oppositionists
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Police officers detain opposition supporters during anti-government 
demonstrations in Yerevan on May 18, 2022.
The Armenian military has allegedly moved to call up dozens of opposition 
activists who have actively participated in opposition demonstrations aimed at 
toppling Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Pashinian’s cabinet approved last week a three-month call-up of more than 1,440 
army reservists which will start on August 1. It cited the need to reinforce the 
armed forces with skilled and combat-ready personnel.
Gegham Manukian, an opposition leader, said on Friday that he knows of several 
dozen opposition activists who have since received summonses from military 
commissariats dealing with mobilization.
“We are now putting together all data to see which military commissariats are 
especially active,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Manukian linked the development with an effective order which a senior 
pro-government lawmaker issued to the country’s security apparatus on May 5 five 
days after the Armenian opposition began daily antigovernment protests in 
Yerevan.
Armenia - Andranik Kocharian is interviewed by RFE/RL, January 11, 2022
Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on defense 
and security, suggested that many of the protesters detained by riot police 
evade compulsory military service or periodical call-ups of army reservists. 
Speaking at a committee meeting in Yerevan, he said law-enforcement agencies 
should “collect personal data of these citizens and pass them on to the Armenian 
Defense Ministry.”
High-ranking police and military officials attending the meeting backed the idea 
condemned by human rights activists as illegal and despicable.
Armen Avtandilian, the chief of the Defense Ministry’s mobilization service, 
claimed on Friday that Kocharian’s remarks did not affect the choice of 
military-age males who will perform the three-month service. “There is nothing 
political,” he said.
Manukian insisted, however, that Pashinian and his team are keen to punish 
active participants of the rallies and discourage other Armenians from joining 
more street protests planned by the country’s main opposition groups.
In his words, many of these reservists called up by the Defense Ministry are 
affiliated with his Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) party. 
They include his son Taron, who was recently arrested along with several other 
opposition activists on assault charges strongly denied by them.
Armenia - Opposition supporters demonstrate in Yerevan, May 6, 2022.
“Guys, are you really completely unaware of the situation?” Manukian said, 
appealing to military authorities. “My son is in prison. Go and see him in 
prison if you want to.”
Taron Ghazarian, the leader of Dashnaktsutyun’s student organization who 
participated in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, has also received his military 
call-up papers. He has pledged to show up at his local recruitment center next 
week.
“I definitely link this with Andranik Kocharian’s infamous statement,” Ghazarian 
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The young man, who has been repeatedly detained during the protests, said the 
authorities have also called up several of his friends in order to “keep us away 
from the opposition movement.”
“I believe that these people [in power] have turned the army, in addition to the 
law-enforcement system, into a political tool in their hands,” he charged.
The Armenian military has never been accused in the past of deliberately going 
after opposition supporters in its recruitment efforts.
Turkey, Armenia Agree On First Step Towards Border Opening
Turkey -- Dogu Kapi border crossing with Armenia near Kars, April 15, 2009
Turkey and Armenia on Friday agreed in principle to allow citizens of third 
countries to cross their border which Ankara has for decades kept closed.
Special envoys of the two neighboring states reported the agreement after 
holding a fourth round of Turkish-Armenian normalization talks in Vienna.
“They agreed to enable the crossing of the land border between Armenia and 
Turkey by third-country citizens visiting Armenia and Turkey respectively at the 
earliest date possible and decided to initiate the necessary process to that 
end,” the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries said in identical statements.
“They also agreed on commencing direct air cargo trade between Armenia and 
Turkey at the earliest possible date and decided to initiate the necessary 
process to that effect. Furthermore, they discussed other possible concrete 
steps that can be undertaken towards achieving the ultimate goal of full 
normalization between their respective countries,” added the statement.
It did not specify just when the two sides could take the first step towards 
opening the Turkish-Armenian border.
Austria - Turkish and Armenian envoys hold a fourth round of normalization talks 
in Vienna, July 1, 2022.
Ankara has long made the normalization of relations with Yerevan conditional on 
a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish 
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has repeatedly said that his government 
coordinates the Turkish-Armenian dialogue with Baku.
Armenian leaders have said, for their part, that they want an unconditional 
normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained in late May that Ankara is 
“synchronizing” the Turkish-Armenian normalization process with 
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
“This is certainly not making the atmosphere more constructive,” he said. 
“Discussions are going on. Unfortunately, there are no tangible results at this 
point.”
Ruben Rubinian, the Armenian negotiator, likewise said on Thursday that the onus 
is on the Turks to bring the process to fruition.
“The success of the process depends on Turkey’s constructiveness and political 
will,” Rubinian told reporters before flying to Vienna to meet the Turkish 
envoy, Serdar Kilic.
Armenia’s Top Judicial Officer Resigns Amid Scandal
Armenia - Gagik Jahangirian, the acting head of the Supreme Judicial Council, 
speaks in the National Assembly, September 14, 2021.
Gagik Jahangirian, the controversial acting head of Armenia’s judicial watchdog, 
resigned on Friday amid a continuing scandal sparked by leaked audio of his 
conversation with his ousted predecessor.
Ruben Vartazarian, the former chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), 
publicized on June 20 a 14-minute audio clip which he secretly recorded during a 
February 2021 meeting with Jahangirian. The meeting took place two months before 
Vartazarian was controversially suspended as SJC chairman amid rising tensions 
with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
The recording suggests Jahangirian warned Vartazarian that he will face criminal 
charges unless he resigns as head of the powerful body that nominates judges and 
can also fire them.
Opposition leaders and civil society members seized upon the recording to demand 
Jahangirian’s sacking and even prosecution. Jahangirian dismissed those demands 
on June 23.
“I have never been forced by any political force, alliance to tender 
resignation,” the former prosecutor told state television. He claimed that he 
did not blackmail Vartazarian and simply used “psychological ploys” to engineer 
the latter’s resignation.
The SJC officially refused to censure Jahangirian as recently as on Thursday. It 
said the “edited recording” is not sufficient grounds for launching disciplinary 
proceedings against him. It also cited a statute of limitations applying to 
misconduct by judges or other judicial officers.
SJC spokeswoman Lilit Shaboyan said that Jahangirian decided to resign because 
of “health problems.” She did not elaborate.
The 67-year-old reportedly underwent non-urgent surgery in a Yerevan clinic 
earlier this week.
Pashinian admitted on Monday that the scandal has undermined the credibility of 
judicial reforms declared by his administration. But he did not say whether he 
believes Jahangirian should step down.
The stated goal of those reforms is to strengthen the rule of law and judicial 
independence. Pashinian’s political opponents say that they are on the contrary 
aimed at increasing government influence on courts.
Ever since Jahangirian took over the SJC in April 2021, Armenian courts have 
rarely rejected arrest warrants sought by law-enforcement authorities for 
opposition figures prosecuted on various charges rejected by them as politically 
motivated.
Independent and pro-opposition media outlets have regularly accused Jahangirian 
of pressuring judges to make such decisions. He has denied that.
Armenian Opposition Leaders Stripped Of Parliament Posts
        • Anush Mkrtchian
        • Karlen Aslanian
Armenian - Pro-government deputies attend a session of parliament boycotted by 
their opposition colleagues, Yerevan, July 1, 2022.
Armenia’s parliament controlled by the ruling Civil Contract party voted on 
Friday to dismiss one of its deputy speakers and the chairman of its economic 
committee affiliated with the main opposition Hayastan bloc.
The bloc condemned the decision and said it will give up other leadership 
positions in the National Assembly in protest.
Speaking before the vote, Civil Contract lawmakers again said that deputy 
speaker Ishkhan Saghatelian and the committee chairman, Vahe Hakobian, must be 
dismissed because of boycotting sessions of the parliament and its standing 
committees.
Civil Contract’s Arusyak Julhakian also accused Saghatelian of “provoking 
clashes” and “using hate speech” during antigovernment rallies launched by the 
Armenian opposition on May 1.
Saghatelian, Hakobian and the 33 other deputies representing Hayastan and the 
other parliamentary opposition force, Pativ Unem, began the boycott ahead of the 
daily rallies aimed toppling Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. They have said that 
they have no plans yet to return to the parliament.
Armenia - Riot police block a street leading to the parliament building in 
Yerevan, July 1, 2022.
In a joint statement, Hayastan and Pativ Unem condemned Saghatelian’s and 
Hakobian’s dismissal and portrayed it as another sign of a “deepening political 
crisis” in Armenia.
“With this behavior the current authorities once again demonstrated that they 
are concerned solely with posts, engaged in persecutions, devoid of any ability 
to confront challenges facing the country, lack legitimacy and do not represent 
Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh),” said the statement. “In these 
circumstances, their exit is inevitable.”
Parliament speaker Alen Simonian said ahead of the vote that the pro-government 
majority in the National Assembly is open to considering other opposition 
candidates for the two posts.
“We will not nominate any candidates,” Saghatelian told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service shortly after his ouster. “Moreover, our colleagues will likely give up 
the other administrative posts occupied by the opposition [in the parliament.]”
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian (center), Ishkhan Saghatelian 
(right) and Vahe Hakobian at a campaign rally, June 18, 2021.
Armen Gevorgian, a Hayastan lawmaker heading the parliament committee on 
“regional and Eurasian integration,” was quick to tender his resignation. He 
said he cannot go against “clear rules of political, public and human ethics.”
Pativ Unem’s Hayk Mamijanian similarly resigned as deputy chairman of the 
parliament committee on foreign relations.
Civil Contract has not yet carried out its threats to strip all opposition 
lawmakers of their parliament seats for absenteeism. Senior representatives of 
the ruling party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian say it has not yet made a 
final decision on that.
Saghatelian again scoffed at those threats. He said the opposition deputies 
themselves may decide to leave the parliament.
Hayastan and Pativ Unem decided to scale back the protests earlier this month 
after failing to unseat Pashinian. But they pledged to continue to fight for his 
removal from power. Their next rally was scheduled for Friday evening.
The two opposition forces accuse Pashinian of planning to make sweeping 
concessions to Azerbaijan that would place Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijani 
control and jeopardize the very existence of Armenia.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

                                        Wednesday, 
Armenian Deputy Speaker Unfazed By Impending Ouster
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Ishkhan Saghatelian (second from right) and other opposition lawmakers 
lead an anti-government rally in Yerevan, May 18, 2022.
Ishkhan Saghatelian, a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, on Wednesday 
shrugged off the ruling Civil Contract party’s decision to strip him and another 
opposition leader of their parliamentary posts.
Saghatelian also made clear that the main opposition Hayastan alliance, of which 
he is a senior member, have no plans yet to end a more than two-month boycott of 
sessions of the National Assembly and its standing committees.
“We will go back to the parliament only with our agenda,” he told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service.
Hayastan and the second parliamentary opposition force, Pativ Unem, began the 
boycott in April in advance of their daily demonstrations demanding Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation. They decided to scale back the protests 
earlier this month after failing to topple Pashinian.
Armenia - Opposition supporters demonstrate in France Square, Yerevan, May 3, 
2022.
Leaders of the parliament’s pro-government majority have threatened to strip 
lawmakers representing Hayastan and Pativ Unem of their parliament seats for 
absenteeism. They announced no decisions to that effect after a meeting of Civil 
Contract’s parliamentary group held on Tuesday.
The group said instead that it will oust Saghatelian and Hayastan’s Vahe 
Hakobian as deputy speaker and chairman of the parliament committee on economic 
issues respectively.
Artur Hovannisian, a senior Civil Contract parliamentarian, told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service on Wednesday that the two oppositionists will be formally 
relieved of their duties by September. He said they themselves stopped 
performing those duties.
“We have seen either an empty chair or a silent Ishkhan Saghatelian sitting on 
it,” said Hovannisian. “Such a deputy speaker hampers our work with his 
inactivity.”
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian (center), Ishkhan Saghatelian 
(right) and Vahe Hakobian at an election campaign rally in Yerevan, June 18, 
2021.
“They work against the Republic of Armenia,” Saghatelian shot back. “If I have 
managed to impede their work, then that’s wonderful. They must expect more 
severe blows soon.”
“Civil Contract must not talk about things like professional skills, experience 
or knowledge,” he went on. “They are so far from these things. Since their 
lifetime aim was to grab state posts they think that they can hurt me or my 
colleagues in this way. They don’t understand that it’s so secondary to us right 
now.”
The opposition forces accuse Pashinian of planning to make sweeping concessions 
to Azerbaijan that would place Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijani control and 
jeopardize the very existence of Armenia. They are scheduled to hold another 
antigovernment rally in Yerevan on Friday.
Pashinian Aide Elected Armenia’s Chief Prosecutor
        • Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia - Anna Vardapetian addresses parliament before being elected as 
Armenia's next prosecutor-general, Yerevan, .
The National Assembly voted on Wednesday to appoint an aide to Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian as Armenia’s next chief prosecutor.
The current prosecutor-general, Artur Davtian, will complete his six-year term 
in office on September 15. He was appointed in 2016 by the country’s former 
parliament dominated by then President Serzh Sarkisian’s loyalists.
Pashinian and his political allies, who control the current parliament, decided 
not to appoint Davtian for a second term.
Their pick for the post, Anna Vardapetian, served as a deputy minister of 
justice in 2019 and became Pashinian’s assistant on legal affairs in March 2020. 
She was elected by 70 members of the 107-seat parliament. They all represent 
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
Speaking on the parliament floor before the vote, Vardapetian, pledged to ensure 
proper oversight of law-enforcement agencies combatting and investigating 
crimes. She said she will tackle favoritism within those agencies as well as 
what she called excessive delays in criminal investigations and a broader “lack 
of justice” in the country.
“If the prosecutor is consistent about a criminal case, the citizen will not 
come to the gates of the government or the National Assembly to demand a [fair] 
investigation of their case,” she said.
Armenia -- Businessman Ruben Hayrapetian speaks to journalists after being 
released by police, Yerevan, February 4, 2020.
Vartanian, 36, herself was accused of breaking the law last year after an 
Armenian media outlet published purported evidence of her interference in a 
criminal investigation into a fugitive businessman critical of Pashinian’s 
government.
The online publication, 168.am, posted what it described as screenshots of an 
e-mail sent by Vardapetian to a senior law-enforcement officer leading the 
investigation. The letter contained instructions regarding businessman Ruben 
Hayrapetian’s indictment.
Hayrapetian’s lawyers seized upon the report, saying that Vardapetian committed 
a crime and must be prosecuted. The Office of the Prosecutor-General cleared 
Pashinian’s aide of any wrongdoing, however, saying that she advised, rather 
than pressured, the investigator.
Vardapetian, who has never worked as a prosecutor before, did not comment on the 
scandal when she addressed the National Assembly on Wednesday. And she again 
declined to talk to reporters.
Nor did any of the pro-government lawmakers ask Vardapetian to comment on the 
scandal. Their opposition colleagues did not participate in the election of the 
new prosecutor-general because of a continuing opposition boycott of the 
parliament’s sessions.
Armenian Official Sees Progress In Talks On Transport Links With Azerbaijan
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian at a news conference in Yerevan, 
March 30, 2020.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have narrowed their differences on planned transport 
links between the two countries during ongoing negotiations mediated by Russia, 
according to Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian.
A Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani commission dealing with the matter met twice in 
Russia earlier this month after a six-month hiatus.
Grigorian, who co-chairs the commission along with his Azerbaijani and Russian 
counterparts, described its activities as “constructive” in an interview with 
Russia’s TASS news agency published late on Tuesday.
“It’s certainly difficult work but I must note that the parties manage to bring 
closer their positions on many issues of border and customs control as well as 
safe passage of citizens, vehicles and cargo through roads and railways in the 
territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.
Grigorian added that “expert subgroups” formed by the three governments are 
continuing to work on practical modalities of the transport links envisaged by 
the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. He 
did not say when Baku and Yerevan could reach a final agreement.
Grigorian’s remarks contrasted with what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said 
during a virtual news conference on Monday. He claimed that Baku has rejected a 
draft agreement on the construction of a railway that will connect Azerbaijan to 
its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia.
“The draft document was presented by the Russian co-chair of the trilateral 
commission, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk,” he said. “The Armenian side 
expressed readiness to sign the document while the Azerbaijani side refused that 
agreement.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly demanded an exterritorial 
“corridor” for Nakhichevan that would exempt travellers and cargo from Armenian 
border controls. On June 16, Aliyev implicitly threatened to resort to military 
action if the Armenian side continues to oppose such an overland link.
Armenian leaders maintain that Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by 
Russia and the European Union call for only conventional transport links between 
the two South Caucasus states.
Visiting Yerevan on June 9, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted that 
Armenia will control the planned road and railway that will connect Nakhichevan 
to the rest of Azerbaijan. Lavrov said the Armenian side will only simplify 
border crossing procedures. Baku, Moscow and Yerevan are now finalizing a deal 
on such a border control regime, he said.
The most recent meeting of the Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani commission took 
place in Saint Petersburg on June 20.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.