Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Yerevan Encouraged By Second Turkish-Armenian Meeting
Armenia - Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan speaks in the parliament, Yerevan,
March 2, 2022. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday described as “positive” the second
round of Turkish-Armenian negotiations on normalizing relations between the two
neighboring states. The talks were held in Vienna last week. The Turkish and Armenian foreign
ministries said special envoys representing the two sides discussed “concrete
steps that can be mutually taken” to achieve “full normalization between Turkey
and Armenia.”
“I regard the second meeting of Armenia’s and Turkey’s representatives as
positive,” Mirzoyan told the Armenian parliament. He said they discussed “more
concrete” issues but did not elaborate. “At the same time, I think we all understand that it’s hard to expect very
tangible results even from the second meeting. “It’s a process that should
provide solutions to issues accumulated for decades and centuries,” added
Mirzoyan. He did not say when veteran Turkish diplomat Serdar Kilic and Ruben Rubinian, a
deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, will meet again. Mirzoyan last month voiced cautious optimism over the success of the
Turkish-Armenian dialogue welcomed by the United States, the European Union and
Russia. Ankara has for decades linked the establishment of diplomatic relations with
Yerevan and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border to a resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu has repeatedly made clear that his government will coordinate
the Turkish-Armenian normalization talks with Baku. Pashinian, Opposition Again Wrangle In Parliament
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian arrives for his government's
question-and-answer session in parliament, Yerevan, March 2, 2022. Opposition lawmakers stormed out of Armenia’s parliament on Wednesday after
bitterly arguing with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian enraged by a question asked
by one of them. They protested against deputy speaker Hakob Arshakian’s decision to expel
several of their colleagues from the chamber because of their “incorrect”
reactions to Pashinian’s latest diatribe against the Armenian opposition. The bitter altercation began after Hripsime Stambulian, a deputy from the main
opposition Hayastan bloc, asked Pashinian to explain what his government will do
in case of possible restrictions on Russia’s wheat exports which she said could
result from the war in Ukraine. Armenia has become even more dependent on Russian wheat since Nagorno-Karabakh
lost large swathes of territory in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan
“Since you surrendered about 75 percent of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to the
enemy and left many wheat fields [cultivated by Karabakh Armenians] in the
enemy’s hands, what steps are you taking?” Stambulian asked during the
government’s question-and-answer session in the National Assembly. Pashinian did not answer the question itself and instead raged at her claim
about “the surrender of lands.”
Armenia - Parliament deputies fromt the opposition Hayastan alliance attend a
session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, August 4, 2021. He again charged that former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian,
who now lead the country’s two parliamentary opposition forces, themselves were
ready to make territorial concessions to Azerbaijan during their rule. He
pointed to their broad support for compromise peace proposals made by the United
States, Russia and France. “Stop shedding crocodile tears here,” Pashinian said, gesticulating angrily. “I want to again warn you that every time you come here you should keep in mind
that you are an executive official and have no right to answer our questions by
waving your finger and yelling,” responded Stambulian. “To anyone who says I surrendered lands, I will talk with a finger” Pashinian
shot back. “I always did. Look at what happened during your rule.”
“I’ll wave my finger. I’ll also do other things, if necessary,” he shouted while
walking off the podium to the accompaniment of angry remarks from other
opposition deputies. Arshakian, who chaired the tense session, accused some of them of making
disrespectful and “incorrect” statements and banned them from speaking up on the
parliament floor. He did not object when Pashinian branded his political
opponents “traitors” and “plunderers” moments before. “When your colleague speaks of ‘surrendering lands,’ she creates a tense
atmosphere. Please stop using such language,” Arshakian told those
oppositionists before ordering them out. The other deputies representing Hayastan and the second parliamentary opposition
bloc, Pativ Unem, responded by walking out in protest. Armenia - Security officers remove opposition deputy Gegham Manukian from the
parliament podium, Օctober 26, 2021
Sessions of the current National Assembly elected last June have been repeatedly
marred by such arguments and even brawls. Alen Simonian, the parliament speaker and a leading member of Pashinian’s Civil
Contract party, last year routinely interrupted opposition deputies strongly
criticizing the prime minister on the parliament floor. He claimed that they
insulted Pashinian. In August, Simonian ordered security officers to forcibly remove one of them
from the chamber. Another oppositionist was hauled off the parliament’s podium
while delivering a speech in October. Hayastan and Pativ Unem accused the authorities of illegally restricting free
speech on the parliament floor for the first time in Armenia’s post-Soviet
history. Defense Minister Explains Sackings Of Top Generals
Armenia - Defense Minister Suren Papikian speaks in the Armenian parliament,
Yerevan, March 2, 2022. The chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, Artak Davtian, and several other
senior generals were dismissed late last month as part of ongoing defense
reforms, Defense Minister Suren Papikian said on Wednesday. Davtian, one of his deputies as well as the commanders of the army’s artillery
and engineer units and the head of a General Staff division dealing with army
morale were relieved of their duties on February 24 through presidential decrees
requested by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. The chiefs of Armenia’s military
intelligence and rear services were fired a few days earlier. All of them except Davtian were swiftly replaced by other senior officers. Pashinian has still not installed a new army chief of staff. An opposition lawmaker, Tigran Abrahamian, expressed concern about this fact
during the Armenian government’s question-and-answer session in the parliament. Abrahamian cited grave security challenges facing the country. Papikian assured him that the acting head of the General Staff, Kamo Kochunts,
is in a position to properly lead the armed forces for now. The minister also
indicated that he is the one who initiated the sweeping changes in the army top
brass. “We have entered a period of very important reforms,” he said. “I believe that
it’s about time the military sphere was also entrusted to many of our capable
and young cadres who went through war. I don’t want to link this with
individuals but at the same time cannot fail to say that everything depends on
individuals.”
Armenia -- The Armenian Defense Ministry building in Yerevan. “Everything is being done to make sure that we have a more motivated top brass,”
added Papikian. “And this is a signal to all military officers. All worthy
officers will be able to occupy high-level positions regardless of their
personal connections.”
Pashinian promised a major reform of the military shortly after Armenia’s defeat
in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan. He has replaced three defense ministers since a
Russian-brokered ceasefire stopped the six-week war in November 2020. Papikian
was appointed in November 2021. Davtian became Armenia’s top general in March 2021. The previous holder of the
post, Onik Gasparian, was fired after he and four dozen other high-ranking
officers accused Pashinian’s government of incompetence and misrule and demanded
its resignation. Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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