Author: Frangulian Shushan

                                        Monday, 
Another Armenian Lawmaker Quits Former Ruling Party
Armenia -- Parliament deputy Arman Sahakian.
Another parliament deputy defected from the parliamentary faction of Serzh 
Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) over the weekend, further 
reducing its majority in the National Assembly.
The wealthy lawmaker, Arman Sahakian, gave no clear reason for the move when he 
announced it on Facebook. He said only that he will now concentrate on problems 
facing his constituency encompassing the country’s second largest city, Gyumri, 
as well as Armenia’s broader economic development.
“I am ready to actively support all initiatives by both the current authorities 
and my opposition comrades aimed at development,” wrote Sahakian.
It was not immediately clear whether he will also formally terminate his 
membership in the HHK.
Sahakian, 40, is a businessman who has held a seat in the parliament since 
2012. He reportedly owns companies importing alcohol, tobacco and foodstuffs to 
Armenia as well as one of the country’s leading football clubs based in Gyumri.
At least two other deputies quit the HHK’s parliamentary faction just a few 
days before Sahakian announced his decision. One of them, Artur Gevorgian, is 
the son-in-law of Vladimir Gasparian, the former chief of the Armenian police. 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian fired Gasparian two days after taking office on 
May 8 following mass protests that forced Serzh Sarkisian to resign as premier.
After Sahakian’s exit, the HHK technically controls 55 of the 105 parliament 
seats. One of the remaining nominal members of its faction, Felix Tsolakian, 
twice broke ranks to vote for Pashinian’s premiership in early May.
The HHK leadership reprimanded Tsolakian but stopped short of expelling him 
from the party ranks as a result. His continued loyalty to the former ruling 
party now seems in serious doubt.
Some Armenian newspapers reported in recent days that several other wealthy 
parliamentarians are also poised to defect to from the HHK faction.
The faction leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, admitted last week that Sarkisian’s 
party now risks losing control over the parliament. He claimed at the same time 
that it is “not desperate to retain our majority.”
A loss of that majority would mean that the HHK can no longer block key 
government bills. It would also stop being in a position to thwart Pashinian’s 
plans to force fresh parliamentary elections later this year. Those plans are 
supported by the parliament’s three minority factions represented in 
Pashinian’s cabinet.
‘Violent’ Mayor Charged But Freed For Now
        • Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - Masis Mayor Davit Hambardzumian speaks to RFE/RL after being set free 
by a court in Yerevan, 2 June 2018.
The mayor of an Armenian town affiliated with the former ruling Republican 
Party (HHK) and three other men were controversially released from custody on 
Saturday one day after being charged with assaulting protesters in Yerevan in 
April.
The incident took place in the city’s southern Erebuni district just hours 
after Nikol Pashinian, the main organizer of mass protests against HHK leader 
Serzh Sarkisian’s continued rule, was detained on April 22. Hundreds of 
Pashinian supporters demonstrating there were attacked by several dozen men 
wearing medical masks and wielding sticks and even electric shock guns.
Five individuals were arrested on Thursday in connection with the violence. 
They included Davit Hambardzumian, the mayor of Masis, a small town about 10 
kilometers south of Yerevan, and his deputy Karen Ohanian.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee charged Hambardzumian with organizing the 
“mass riots” on Friday before asking a court in Yerevan to sanction his and the 
four other suspects’ pre-trial arrest. The latter stand accused of 
participating in the attack.
The court rejected all but one of those petitions, however. The presiding 
judge, Tatevik Grigorian, ordered the immediate release of Hambardzumian, 
Ohanian, the mayor’s cousin Gevorg and another suspect pending investigation.
Hambardzumian rejected the criminal case as “false” and said he will not resign 
as Masis mayor when he walked free in the courtroom. “What should I resign 
for?” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Armenia - A screenshot of a video of thugs beating up an opposition protester 
in Yerevan's Erebuni district on 22 April 2018.
The Investigative Committee insisted that it has sufficient video and other 
evidence of the mayor’s and the other freed suspects’ involvement in the 
Erebuni attack. A spokesperson for the law-enforcement body said it will ask a 
prosecutor overseeing the probe to appeal against Grigorian’s ruling.
The 30-year-old judge presided over the recent high-profile trial of Zhirayr 
Sefilian and other radical opposition figures convicted of plotting to 
overthrow former President Serzh Sarkisian. She repeatedly refused to free 
those defendants pending a verdict in the case.
Grigorian’s decision to have Mayor Hambardzumian freed for now caused outrage 
among many Armenian civil society members and other supporters of the new 
government in Yerevan. They were quick to accuse her of acting on orders issued 
by Sarkisian’s HHK or other state elements loyal to the former Armenian 
government.
Incidentally, eight senior parliamentarians representing the HHK last week sent 
a joint letter to Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian and the Investigative 
Committee head, Aghvan Hovsepian, calling for the release of Hambardzumian and 
the other suspects.
The mayor’s arrest sparked street protests by his supporters in Masis. Some of 
them also demonstrated outside the Yerevan court before the ruling.
Hambardzumian, 32, is an HHK member who was elected mayor in 2016 with the help 
of the then ruling party. He is reportedly related to the chief bodyguard of 
Vladimir Gasparian, the former head of the Armenian police sacked by Pashinian.
Law-enforcement authorities have also made at least three other arrests in 
connection with similar incidents that occurred in two other parts of Yerevan 
during the Pashinian-led protest movement. Some Armenian media outlets have 
accused Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian and Mihran Poghosian, a controversial 
parliamentarian, of orchestrating those attacks on protesters. Both men 
affiliated with the HHK deny that.
New Armenian Police Chief Claims To End Corruption
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Valeri Osipyan, chief of the Armenian police, speaks to reporters, 4 
June 2018
Less than one month after being appointed as chief of the Armenian police, 
Valeri Osipian claimed on Monday to have practically eliminated bribery and 
other corrupt practices among fellow police officers.
“I can announce with confidence that there are now no corrupt elements in the 
police,” he told reporters. “I can announce with confidence that I have taken 
concrete steps.”
“I don’t exclude that one or two of my colleagues [may be corrupt] but I can 
say for sure that corruption does not exist [as a systemic problem.]”
Nikol Pashinian named Osipian to run the national police service on May 10 two 
days after being elected Armenia’s prime minister following weeks of 
anti-government protests led by him.
Osipian was until then a deputy head of Yerevan’s police department responsible 
for public order and crowd control. He has been personally present at just 
about every major anti-government rally staged in the Armenian capital in the 
past decade. He frequently warned and argued with Pashinian during the protests 
which the former opposition leader launched on April 13 in a successful attempt 
to topple Serzh Sarkisian.
Introducing Osipian to high-ranking police officials on May 11, Pashinian said 
one of his main tasks will be to crack down on corruption in the police ranks 
which is believed to have long been endemic. Osipian replaced virtual deputy 
chiefs of the police in the following days.
Armenia To Retain Close Ties With Russia, Insists FM
        • Harry Tamrazian
Armenia - New Russian Ambassador Sergey Kopirkin (L) hands copies of his 
credentials to Armenia's Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian, Yerevan,4June 
2018.
The new Armenian government will maintain Armenia’s “very deep” ties with 
Russia while trying to “complement” them with closer cooperation with the 
European Union and other world powers, according to Foreign Minister Zohrab 
Mnatsakanian.
In a weekend interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), 
Mnatsakanian ruled out major changes in Armenia’s traditional foreign policy 
orientation. He said the recent dramatic events that led to a change of 
government in Yerevan were an “Armenian process that totally fitted into the 
Armenian reality.”
“Our foreign policy will also be the same,” Mnatsakanian added, commenting on 
some Russian commentators’ fears that Armenia may drift away from Russia under 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
“We have very deep and very important relations with Russia and they will 
continue,” stressed the recently appointed minister. “Our strategic 
cooperation, strategic relations with Russia have a very strong, logical and 
explicable basis.”
Armenia will at the same time continue to seek closer ties with the EU, 
including through the implementation of the Comprehensive Enhanced Partnership 
Agreement (CEPA) signed last November, Mnatsakanian went on.
“That agreement was not signed and is not implemented to the detriment of other 
directions [of Armenian foreign policy,]” he said. “Instead, it complements 
what we have been doing for our national interests. And if we need to give more 
explanations, then we are going to do that.”
Russia closely watched the mass protests in Armenia sparked by former President 
Serzh Sarkisian’s attempt to extend his decade-long rule. In their public 
statements, Russian officials avoided taking sides in the standoff that led to 
Sarkisian’s resignation on April 23.
Pashinian has since repeatedly stated that he will not pull Armenia out of the 
Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. He 
assured Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 14 that Armenia will remain 
allied to Russia during his tenure.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Pankin said late last month that 
regime change in Armenia has not had a negative impact on Russian-Armenian 
relations. “The vector and the dynamics [of bilateral ties] remain the same,” 
he told the TASS agency.
Incidentally, Mnatsakanian discussed those ties with Russia’s new ambassador in 
Yerevan, Sergey Kopirkin, at a meeting held on Monday. According to the 
Armenian Foreign Ministry, the minister expressed hope that the 
Russian-Armenian relationship will grow even closer.
Mnatsakanian is scheduled to visit Moscow and meet with Russian Foreign 
Minister Sergey Lavrov later this week.
Pashinian Urges End To Protests In Karabakh
        • Sisak Gabrielian
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian kisses a baby 
after a news conference in Stepanakert, May 9, 2018. Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Monday called for an end to 
anti-government protests in Nagorno-Karabakh sparked by a violent dispute 
between security officers and other local residents.
Pashinian made what he described as a “brotherly request” as about 200 people 
demonstrated in Stepanakert for a fourth day to demand the resignation of the 
heads of Nagorno-Karabakh’s two main law-enforcement agencies blamed for the 
violence.
The brawl broke outside a Stepanakert car wash on Friday, with two groups of 
men bitterly arguing and pushing and punching each other for still unclear 
reasons. Several of them turned out to be officers of Karabakh’s National 
Security Service (NSS). They reportedly seriously injured at least one of the 
other, civilian participants of the fight.
The incident triggered a demonstration by angry Stepanakert residents who say 
that it is symptomatic of what they see as impunity enjoyed by members of 
security forces and their relatives. They blocked the town’s main avenue, 
demanding the resignation of the NSS and police chiefs. The street section has 
since been the scene of daily anti-government rallies.
Karabakh law-enforcement authorities arrested several individuals, including 
two NSS officers, in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Karabakh’s 
political leadership pledged to ensure an objective criminal investigation.
These assurances failed to satisfy the protesters, however. Their 
representatives twice met with Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president, over the 
weekend. Sahakian is said to have told them late on Sunday that he is ready, in 
principle, to sack senior law-enforcement officials but will refrain from doing 
that now.
“The people will not leave until their demands are met,” one of the protest 
leaders said after the demonstrators decided to keep the Stepanakert street 
closed to traffic on Monday morning.
Nagorno-Karabakh - The parliament building in Stepanakert, 2Sep2016.
Meanwhile, Karabakh’s parliament set up a multi-party “investigative 
commission” at an emergency session held later in the day. The ad hoc 
commission is tasked with monitoring the probe of the brawl and other abuses 
allegedly committed by law-enforcement officials.
Pashinian appealed to the protesters late on Monday, saying that “any violence 
is unacceptable regardless of who resorts to it” and calling for “concrete 
conclusions” to be drawn from the June 1 incident. In a live Facebook 
broadcast, he praised Sahakian for meeting representatives of the protesters 
and reaching “concrete agreements” with them. He hinted that the Karabakh 
leader agreed to make personnel changes in the local security apparatus after 
the ongoing criminal inquiry is over.
The protests should therefore end, said the Armenian premier. “In a 
conversation with me, the president of Artsakh (Karabakh) reaffirmed his 
determination to implement those agreements and it is imperative to enable him 
to do that,” he added.
Pashinian’s appeal followed serious concerns voiced by some politicians and 
public figures in Armenia. They warned that a destabilization of the political 
situation in Karabakh could tempt Azerbaijan to attack Karabakh Armenian 
positions along “the line of contact” around the disputed territory.
“What happened in Armenia is inadmissible, to put it mildly, for Karabakh,” 
former President Levon Ter-Petrosian said in a weekend statement. “I mean mass 
protests and pressures on the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s authorities. They 
could have disastrous consequences for a country which is in a state of war.”
Ter-Petrosian alluded to the recent mass protests in Armenia that brought 
Pashinian to power. He said Pashinian must publicly call for an end to the 
Stepanakert protests.
The Karabakh leader’s spokesman, Davit Babayan, sought to allay such fears 
earlier on Monday. “The situation is not critical. This is a form of dialogue,” 
Babayan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Babayan also warned against attempts to “politicize” the June 1 incident and 
urged the protest leaders to drop their “ultimatums” issued to the authorities 
in Stepanakert.
More Armenian Lawmakers Quit Former Ruling Party
        • Emil Danielyan
Armenia - Parliament deputy Felix Tsolakian, 4 April 2018.
Two more parliament deputies have defected from the parliamentary faction of 
Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), putting it on the verge of 
losing its majority in the National Assembly.
One of them, Arman Sahakian, gave no clear reason for his move when he 
announced it on Facebook over the weekend. He said only that he will now 
concentrate on problems facing his constituency encompassing the country’s 
second largest city, Gyumri, as well as Armenia’s broader economic development.
“I am ready to actively support all initiatives by both the current authorities 
and my opposition comrades aimed at development,” wrote Sahakian.
Sahakian, 40, is a businessman who has held a seat in the parliament since 
2012. He reportedly owns companies importing alcohol, tobacco and foodstuffs to 
Armenia as well as one of the country’s leading football clubs based in Gyumri.
Armenia -- Parliament deputy Arman Sahakian.
The other lawmaker, Felix Tsolakian, announced his exit from the HHK faction on 
Monday. He said his affiliation with it “effectively ended” after he twice 
broke ranks to vote for Nikol Pashinian’s becoming Armenia’s prime minister in 
early May. In a Facebook post, he said he will now be acting as an independent 
deputy.
The HHK leadership reprimanded Tsolakian for voting for Pashinian but stopped 
short of expelling him from the party ranks last week.
Tsolakian, 66, was a career KGB officer in Soviet times and a deputy director 
of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) from 2007-2013. He headed the 
national tax service from 2003-2007. Tsolakian governed the northwestern Shirak 
province when he was elected to the parliament from a local constituency in 
2017.
At least two other deputies quit the HHK’s parliamentary faction last week. One 
of them, Artur Gevorgian, is a son-in-law of Vladimir Gasparian, the former 
chief of the Armenian police. Pashinian fired Gasparian two days after taking 
office on May 8 following mass protests that forced Serzh Sarkisian to resign 
as premier.
Armenia - Deputies from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia at a parliament 
session in Yerevan 28 February 2018.
After the latest defections the HHK technically controls 54 of the 105 
parliament seats. Some Armenian newspapers reported in recent days that several 
other wealthy parliamentarians are also poised to defect to from its 
parliamentary faction.
The faction leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, admitted last week that Sarkisian’s 
party now risks losing control over the parliament. He claimed at the same time 
that it is “not desperate to retain our majority.”
A loss of that majority would mean that the HHK can no longer block key 
government bills. It would also stop being in a position to thwart Pashinian’s 
plans to force fresh parliamentary elections later this year. Those plans are 
supported by the parliament’s three minority factions represented in 
Pashinian’s cabinet.
Press Review
(Saturday, June 2)
“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports that the prices of fruits, vegetables and meat sold 
in Armenian supermarkets have gone up sharply following accusations of 
large-scale tax evasion levelled against the country’s largest retail chain 
owned by parliament deputy Samvel Aleksanian. The paper close to the new 
Armenian government assures readers that there is “nothing terrible” about the 
price hikes because the cost of these foodstuffs sold in smaller shops and 
markets remains unchanged. It also argues that the government needs to put an 
end to corporate tax fraud.
“Hraparak” says that the retail “oligarchs” are retaliating against the 
crackdown launched by Nikol Pashinian’s government. “On the one hand, this is 
blackmail directed at the authorities that have breached ‘rules of the game,’” 
writes the paper. “On the hand, it’s a slap in the face of the society that has 
carried out a democratic revolution.” It hopes that the price hikes will be 
more than offset by extra tax payments to the state budget.
“Aravot” reports that the supermarket managers have sent a collective letter to 
Pashinian. The paper says their message to the prime minister can be summed up 
as follows: “If we stick only to the law we will go bankrupt and food prices 
will rise.” It says that while public anger about large businesses evading 
taxes is legitimate “government officials and experts have something to think 
about.” “Maybe relevant laws were really written in such a way that it was very 
hard not to circumvent them,” it says.
“Zhamanak” reports on a corruption scandal surrounding activities the Armenian 
Youth Fund, a state-funded structure that has long been effectively controlled 
by the youth wing of Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) headed by Karen 
Avagian, a parliament deputy. Avagian alleged on June 1 that the fund’s 
executive director has embezzled over 326 million drams ($680,000) from the 
fund. Law-enforcement authorities have launched a criminal investigation into 
the allegation. The paper wonders if Avagian’s allegation is a further 
indication of mounting friction within the HHK.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

Friday, 
New Armenian Government ‘Committed To Compromise On Karabakh’
Մայիս 25, 2018
        • Karlen Aslanian
        • Lusine Musayelian
Armenia - Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian, 21 May 2018. Armenia’s new government is committed to a compromise solution to the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and hopes that it will be achieved “very soon,” 
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian said on Friday. “We all hope that a Karabakh settlement will happen very soon,” he told 
reporters. “But the settlement must reflect our interests, aspirations and 
goals. Obviously we are talking about a compromise but at the heart of it must 
be … the right to self-determination and the security of the people of Artsakh 
(Karabakh).”
In that context, Mnatsakanian reaffirmed Yerevan’s readiness resume peace talks 
with Baku which were interrupted by a recent presidential election in 
Azerbaijan and regime change in Armenia. “The key task now is to maintain the 
dynamic of negotiations,” he said. “We are ready to get involved [in the peace 
process.]”
Mnatsakanian, who was appointed as foreign minister less than two weeks ago, 
said Yerevan remains “in constant touch” with the U.S., Russian and French 
mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group. He also pointed to his phone 
conversation last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the 
upcoming visit to Armenia by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. One day after taking office on May 8, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian called for 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s direct involvement in the peace process. He said Azerbaijan 
must directly negotiate with not only Armenia but also Karabakh’s ethnic 
Armenian leadership. An Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman indicated on May 22 that this is not a 
precondition for Yerevan’s renewed contacts with Baku. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Friday rejected Pashinian’s 
calls and ruled out any talks between his government and “the separatist regime 
in Karabakh.” The new Armenian leadership’s insistence on them would mean that 
it “wants to put an end to the peace process,” he warned. “I have told [the mediators] that such a proposal is ridiculous,” Mammadyarov 
said in a speech delivered at an international conference in Baku. Mammadyarov met with the Minsk Group co-chairs in Paris on May 15. The 
mediators said they discussed with him “modalities for moving the peace process 
forward.” They are expected to visit Yerevan in June. Yerevan Hails Progress Towards New Russian-Georgian Trade Routes
        • Heghine Buniatian
Georgia - Armenian and other heavy trucks are lined up on a road leading to the 
Georgian-Russian border crossing at Upper Lars, 6May2016. The Armenian government praised Georgia and Russia on Friday for moving closer 
to opening new Russian-Georgian transport corridors that would facilitate cargo 
shipments to and from Armenia. Russian and Georgian negotiators reported further progress towards the 
implementation of a 2011 agreement to that effect after a fresh round of talks 
held in Prague on Thursday. The agreement calls for reopening two roads connecting Georgia to Russia via 
the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The two sides 
have contracted a Swiss company, SGS, to set up special customs checkpoints on 
the administrative boundaries of the two territories. The chief Russian negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, said 
they agreed to set up a joint task force that will try to work out practical 
modalities of operating the new trade routes. Those include issues such as 
“where and how the customs checkpoints will be functioning,” Karasin told 
RFE/RL in Prague. “This is serious work which will probably take several months,” he said. “We are now entering the phase of the agreement’s implementation,” Karasin’s 
Georgian opposite number, Zurab Abashidze, said for his part. He said the 
Georgian government supports the launch of the new corridors. Landlocked Armenia’s trade with Russia, its leading commercial partner, is 
mainly carried out through the sole Russian-Georgian border crossing at Upper 
Lars. Traffic along that mountainous road is periodically blocked by bad 
weather, especially in winter months. Hence, Yerevan’s strong interest in 
having alternative trade routes. Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian welcomed the “positive movement” 
in the long-running Russian-Georgian talks. “We highly appreciate the parties’ 
readiness and efforts to implement that agreement extremely important to us,” 
he wrote on Facebook. Avinian also said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian discussed the matter with 
Russian President Vladimir Putin at their May 14 meeting in Sochi. Incidentally, Pashinian is scheduled to visit Tbilisi and meet with Georgia’s 
leaders next week. Parliament Majority ‘Not Gearing Up For Snap Elections’
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Deputies from the Republican Party of Armenia attend a parliament 
session in Yerevan, 22 May 2018. Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is not yet 
making contingency plans for fresh parliamentary elections sought by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian, a senior HHK figure said on Friday. Vahram Baghdasarian, who leads the HHK majority in the current Armenian 
parliament, commented evasively on Pashinian’s calls for such elections to be 
held this fall. “We will move forward along the constitutional path,” Baghdasarian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).He said the HHK will formulate its 
position only after the parliament minority allied to Pashinian formally moves 
to force snap elections. Asked whether he thinks holding them this autumn is realistic, Baghdasarian 
said: “For the moment, we are preparing for the 2022 elections of the National 
Assembly.”
Other senior HHK lawmakers have spoken out against the idea of snap polls in 
more explicit terms. They have also indicated their opposition to major 
amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code which are also demanded by Pashinian 
and his political allies. Baghdasarian said that the parliament majority is “ready to discuss” such 
amendments if they are put forward by the three other parliamentary forces: the 
Yelk alliance, the Tsarukian Bloc and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 
(Dashnaktsutyun). But he stressed the fact that the code was most recently amended ahead of the 
April 2017 elections by consensus. He also claimed that “everyone was happy” 
with the conduct and results of those elections which gave a landslide victory 
to the HHK. Critics say that the former ruling party won them thanks to widespread vote 
buying and abuse of administrative resources. They say its victory was also 
facilitated by a complicated and controversial system of electing the National 
Assembly. Yelk, Tsarukian and Dashnaktsutyun want to change that system so that Armenians 
vote only for political parties or blocs, rather than individuals candidates, 
in the next elections. Under the Armenian constitution, pre-term elections will have to be called if 
the prime minister resigns and the parliament twice fails to elect a new 
premier or if the government’s policy program is not approved by most lawmakers. Russian-Armenian Ties ‘Unaffected’ By Regime Change
RUSSIA -- Armenian new prime minister Nikol Pashinian (L) meets with Russian 
President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, May 14, 2018
The recent change of Armenia’s government resulting from mass protests has not 
had a negative impact on Russia’s close ties with the South Caucasus state, a 
senior Russian diplomat said on Friday. “We did not stop or slow down cooperation [with Armenia,]” Deputy Foreign 
Minister Aleksandr Pankin told the TASS news agency. “When [Russian President] 
Vladimir Putin met with the new prime minister of Armenia [Nikol Pashinian] it 
was confirmed that everything will be preserved. The vector and the dynamics 
[of bilateral relations] remain the same.”
“All projects relating to financial, commercial, investment and humanitarian 
interaction remain on the table,” he said. “So there is no deviation or scaling 
back.”
Putin and Pashinian met in the Russian city of Sochi on May 14 almost a week 
after the latter was elected prime minister following weeks of protests that 
brought down the previous premier, Serzh Sarkisian. Pashinian assured Putin that Armenia will remain allied to Russia during his 
tenure. “Nobody has cast doubt and, I think, will cast doubt on the strategic 
importance of Russian-Armenian relations,” he said. The new premier also praised Moscow’s “balanced” and “very constructive” 
reactions to the protest movement led by him. Moscow closely watched the dramatic events in Armenia sparked by Sarkisian’s 
attempt to extend his decade-long rule. In their public statements, Russian 
officials avoided taking sides in the standoff that led to Sarkisian’s 
resignation on April 23. Pashinian has since repeatedly stated that he will not pull Armenia out of the 
Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The 
42-year-old former opposition leader had previously criticized Armenia’s 
membership in both Russian-led blocs. Press Review
“Aravot” says Armenians are not quite impressed with financial abuses revealed 
by the National Security Service (NSS). “People expect former ministers, 
parliament deputies, oligarchs and the like to end up behind bars,” comments 
the paper. It disagrees with this popular sentiment and urges the new 
government to take “unpopular but necessary steps.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says the newly appointed members of the government have 
still not explained in detail what they are going to do. Instead, they are busy 
exposing abuses allegedly committed by their predecessors, says the paper. “This situation cannot last long,” it says. “Scenes are not enough. The people 
also need bread.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” comments on a substantial increase in tax revenue promised 
on Thursday by Davit Ananian, the new head of the State Revenue Committee 
(SRC). “At first glance this is a pretentious statement,” writes the paper. “What happened in Armenia was a revolution and revolutions usually cause some 
shocks which initially have a negative impact on tax collection. But such a 
prospect is unlikely in Armenia because of the nature and essence of the 
revolution.” It argues that the recent dramatic events have not led to 
“economic shocks in the country.” “In these conditions, the new government has 
adopted a clear policy of not merging with business and put in place new rules 
of the game, especially for big business. This is a guarantee of a sizable 
reduction of the shadow economy in Armenia, which will mean a certain rise in 
tax receipts.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that in a congratulatory letter to Azerbaijani President 
Ilham Aliyev released on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump spoke of an 
opportunity to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the months ahead. “It 
is evident that the developments in Armenia have somewhat delayed the process 
of the Karabakh conflict resolution,” writes the paper. “But at the moment the 
top priority for Pashinian’s government is not so much the Karabakh issue as 
the conduct of fresh elections and completion of regime change in Armenia.” 
Trump’s statement is therefore “incomprehensible,” it says. (Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

                                        Wednesday, 
Armenia Ready For Renewed Talks With Azerbaijan
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan at a news briefing 
in Yerevan, .
Armenia stands ready to resume peace talks with Azerbaijan without 
preconditions after its new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s calls for 
Nagorno-Karabakh’s direct involvement in them, the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan 
said on Tuesday.
“It’s not that we are refusing negotiations,” the ministry spokesman, Tigran 
Balayan, told reporters. “As a guarantor of Karabakh’s security, Armenia will 
continue negotiations and say at the same time that Artsakh’s direct 
participation in them is a necessary condition for achieving a lasting and 
balanced peace.”
During a May 9 visit to Stepanakert, Pashinian criticized Baku’s refusal to 
directly negotiate with Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership. “This 
negotiation format cannot be considered full-fledged until one of the parties 
to the conflict, the leadership of Artsakh (Karabakh), participates in it,” he 
said.
The Azerbaijani government rejected Pashinian’s calls, accusing Yerevan of 
creating an additional hurdle to reviving the peace process.
Balayan insisted that the premier’s statement is not a precondition for 
Yerevan’s renewed contacts with Baku.“Our insistence on Artsakh’s participation 
[in Armenian-Azerbaijani talks] is not something new,” he said. “We have for 
years said and will continue to say that. It’s just that the realities have now 
changed … which presupposes Artsakh’s greater involvement in the negotiation 
process.”
“Karabakh is involved in negotiations in one way or another … The problem is 
that Azerbaijan has for years refused to directly negotiate with Karabakh,” 
added the official.
Balayan also said that the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the 
OSCE Minsk Group may visit Yerevan next month for what will be their first 
meeting with Pashinian.
The mediators met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Paris 
on May 15. In a joint statement, they said they discussed with him “modalities 
for moving the peace process forward.”
“Minister Mammadyarov expressed Azerbaijan's readiness to resume active 
negotiations as soon as possible,” read the statement. “The Co-Chairs expect to 
meet with the new Armenian leadership in June.”
Deputy PM Vague On Possible Election Dates
        • Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan speaks at a cabinet 
meeting in Yerevan, .
First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Tuesday refused to speculate 
about possible dates for fresh parliamentary elections sought by Armenia’s new 
government.
“I won’t give any dates now,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). 
“We have said that we are going to prepare the country for pre-term elections. 
Pre-term elections are one of our priorities.”
“But we have to prepare for that,” Mirzoyan said, citing the need to enact the 
kind of amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code that would facilitate the 
proper conduct of the vote.
“We are working day and night to put those conditions in place as soon as 
possible because we realize that having a new political picture in the 
parliament through elections must be the final episode of the systemic change,” 
he said, referring to the Pashinian-led popular uprising that has led to regime 
change in the country.
Pashinian and his political allies control a minority of seats in the current 
National Assembly. The parliament majority remains loyal to former President 
Serzh Sarkisian and his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). The latter is 
therefore in a position to block the holding of snap elections.
Pashinian said last week that he thinks the polls will be held this year. 
Mirzoyan was more cautious on that score.
“We are now consulting with many experts in order to understand when we may be 
… sufficiently prepared for [the elections,]” said the vice-premier. “Different 
views [on election time frames] are being voiced: from six month to one year. 
But we obviously have deadlines and those elections must not be held in two 
years’ time.”
New Armenian Government To Continue IMF-Backed Reforms
Armenia - Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian (R) meets with Yulia Ustyugova, 
the IMF's resident representative to Armenia, in Yerevan, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s cabinet will carry on with structural reforms 
that were launched by the previous Armenian government and approved by the 
International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian said on Tuesday.
Janjughazian met with the head of the IMF office in Yerevan, Yulia Ustyugova, 
for the first time since being appointed as minister ten days ago. The Armenian 
Finance Ministry said they reviewed ongoing IMF-approved programs relating to 
taxation and state budgeting policy.
“Atom Janjughazian assured her that the government of Armenia is committed to 
bringing all joint programs and initiatives to a logical conclusion,” read a 
ministry statement. “The minister highly appraised continuing cooperation with 
the International Monetary Fund and stressed the importance of expanding and 
strengthening it.”
The IMF has praised the previous government’s efforts to strengthen fiscal 
discipline through sizable increases in tax revenue and budgetary cost saving. 
Armenia’s state budget deficit shrank from at least 5.2 percent of GDP in 2016 
to 3.3 percent in 2017, according to the Finance Ministry.
A senior IMF official, Hossein Samiei, indicated the fund’s readiness to 
allocate a fresh loan to Armenia at the end of a two-week visit to Yerevan in 
late March. Samiei met with then Prime Minister Karen Karapetian, 
Janjughazian’s predecessor Vartan Aramian and other senior Armenian officials. 
An IMF statement said they held “productive discussions” on the government’s 
economic policies.
Janjughazian, 47, is one of the most experienced technocratic members of the 
new Armenian cabinet. He served as a deputy finance minister and head of the 
Armenian state treasury for nearly two decades preceding his ministerial 
appointment.
Pashinian’s cabinet is expected to submit a comprehensive policy program to the 
parliament next month. So far it has signaled no plans to revise the state 
budget for this year which was drafted by Karapetian’s government.
Jailed Oppositionists Warn Pashinian
Armenia - Varuzhan Avetisian (L), the leader an armed opposition group that 
seized a police station in July 2016, at the start of his trial in Yerevan, 
8Jun2017.
The jailed leaders of a radical opposition group on Tuesday urged Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian to ensure the quick release of their supporters who 
stormed a police station in 2016, warning that their continued imprisonment 
could have “severe consequences” for Armenia.
In an open letter, Zhirayr Sefilian and Varuzhan Avetisian criticized Pashinian 
for his reluctance to pressurize courts and law-enforcement bodies into freeing 
these and other “political prisoners.”
“So far one has been left with the impression that you have washed your hands 
and are urging the political prisoners and other citizens to count on a 
miraculous spiritual and moral transformation of criminal prosecutors and 
judges,” they said.
Sefilian is the top leader of the Founding Parliament movement who was arrested 
in June 2016 and subsequently sentenced to 10.5 years in prison for plotting an 
armed revolt against the government, a charge he strongly denies.
Sefilian’s arrest came less than a month before three dozen Founding Parliament 
members led by Avetisian seized a police base in Yerevan to demand his release 
and then President Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation. The armed group calling 
itself Sasna Tsrer laid down its weapons after a two-week standoff with 
security forces, which left three police officers dead. Its members are 
currently standing three separate trials.
Armenia - Opposition leader Zhirayr Sefilian waves to supporters at the end of 
his trial in Yerevan, 20 March 2018.
Pashinian pledged to seek the release of all “political prisoners” immediately 
after he swept to power in a democratic revolution earlier this month. But he 
made clear that he will use solely legal mechanisms for that purpose.
Pashinian has publicly listed Sefilian but not Avetisian and other jailed 
gunmen among the individuals who he believes were jailed for political reasons. 
He said last week that the Sasna Tsrer case is “a bit different” because of the 
three police casualties. He said it will be resolved as a result of public 
“discussions” that must involve relatives of the three slain policemen.
Avetisian condemned Pashinian’s remarks as “buffoonery” and “false humanism” on 
May 16. He again strongly defended the 2016 attack, saying that casualties are 
inevitable during such “rebellions.”
“If the political prisoners, including the Sasna Tsrer members, remain in jail, 
that will be fraught with severe consequences for our country and the 
revolution,” Avetisian and Sefilian warned in their letter to Pashinian.
“Of course, it is good that you reject in principle ‘telephone’ justice,” they 
said. “But the supremacy of law has a value and meaning only if it serves the 
supremacy of rights. Therefore, while rejecting that illegal option of direct 
control, you can and must use all available legitimate levers of indirect 
leadership to change the atmosphere in the prosecutor’s office and courts … and 
guarantee fair decisions by them.”
The 2016 attack on the Yerevan police base was condemned by the United States 
and the European Union. “We abhor the actions of Sasna Tsrer and others who use 
violence or who threaten to harm others to serve their political agenda,” 
Richard Mills, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, said as recently as in March.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” describes as unprecedented the weekend pledge by the new head of 
Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), Artur Vanetsian, to expose and hold 
accountable individuals who have embezzled large amounts of public funds. “They 
have spoken about fighting corruption for many years, including at the highest 
[government] level,” writes the paper. “But never before has an NSS chief 
announced very concrete revelations and given very clear timelines. On the 
other hand, such statements should not come as a surprise because there has 
been a revolution in Armenia.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that the Armenian government is supposed to complete 
on July 1 the gradual introduction of a new and controversial pension system 
which began four years ago. The paper notes that the new Labor and Social 
Affairs Minister Mande Tandilian was one of the leaders of a pressure group 
that campaigned against the pension reform from the outset. It believes that 
the new system is essential for Armenia given its aging and shrinking 
population. “The question is whether it must be optional or mandatory and where 
and how payments to pension funds must be accumulated,” it says.
“Aravot” says Tandilian now realizes that “state interests require the 
introduction of that system in one way or another.” The paper says her apparent 
change of heart on the issue is “very natural” and reflects “the new 
government’s sense of responsibility.”
Interviewed by “168 Zham,” Vladimir Yevseyev, a Russian military analyst, 
comments on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s threats to strike “any 
military target” in Armenia from Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. “This is 
what the joint Russian-Armenian military contingent was set up for: to secure 
that section of the [Armenian-Azerbaijani] border and deter Turkey, which has 
gained a foothold in Nakhichevan,” he says. “I can say for certain that given 
the existing Russian-Turkish relations it is hard to imagine threats to Armenia 
emanating from this border section because any provocation against Armenia 
would be regarded as a move against Russia.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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