Author: Garo Vardanian

‘Authorities Must be Guided by Only National Interests,’ Says President Sarkissian

Garo Vardanian

January 8,  2020



President Armen Sarkissian

President Armen Sarkissian on Friday, once again, reiterated that Armenia’s authorities must only be guided by national interests when making decision that impact the future and national security of Armenia.

The president’s statement comes ahead of an unconfirmed meeting that will take place on Monday between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, who reportedly will discuss the fine points of the November 9 agreement that ended the Karabakh war but force the surrender of territories in Armenia and Artsakh.

“The President of Armenia attaches importance to the ceasefire established under the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 and the implementation of efforts aimed at maintaining the ceasefire, particularly the urgent return of prisoners of war, hostages and other persons being kept, the processes of demarcation and delimitation and unblocking transportation routes,” said a statement from Sarkissian’s office on Friday.

“The President calls on the relevant authorities to be guided only by national interests, ensure accountability before the public and unwaveringly observe the provisions of the Constitution and laws of Armenia, as well as the norms and principles of international law for implementation of aforementioned agreements [November 9 agreement] and when reaching verbal agreements,” added the statement from Sarkissian’s office.

In a bombshell announcement immediately after the signing of the November 9 agreement, Sarkissian announced that he was not consulted before the agreement was concluded and urged holding national interests above all else when reaching agreements that impact Armenia’s citizens and its national security.

Armenia Reaches Out to Iran after Banning Turkish Imports

Garo Vardanian
TASNIM, Iran
Jan 2 2021
  • January, 02, 2021 – 17:37 
  • Economy news 

A marketing official at the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran has cited a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Armenia’s willingness to replace Turkish commodities with Iranian products.

According to Mojtaba Mousavian, the Republic of Armenia has plans to replace 2,250 Turkish items with products made in Iran.

The official described it as an opportunity for Iranian companies, considering that Armenia’s minister of economy is going to visit Tehran within the next few weeks.

He also recommended compiling a list of the items that Iranian companies can export to Armenia.

On December 31, 2020, a ban on the goods imported from Turkey took effect in Armenia. The Armenian government announced the ban in late October following Turkey’s heavy backing of the Republic Azerbaijan in the recent war in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The ban would be in effect for only six months, as that is the maximum period that member states of the Eurasian Economic Union can implement unilateral embargos of this type. But the ban can be extended indefinitely, according to eurasianet.


Turkish press: Russia clears mines in Nagorno-Karabakh, facilitates refugee returns

Garo Vardanian
 ISTANBUL EUROPE 
JAN 03, 2021 1:03 PM GMT+3

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that its peacekeeping troops have defused 16,000 explosives in the recently liberated Nagorno-Karabakh region and added that more than 130 refugees have returned to their hometowns in the region recently.

Explosives have been removed from an area larger than 400 hectares (980 acres) as well as from along 152 kilometers (95 miles) of highway and 617 buildings, including social facilities, the ministry said. Uran-6 systems were used to clear the area, which helped peacekeepers to work more easily under harsh weather conditions and in a mountainous area, the ministry said. Uran-6 mine-clearing robots are multifunctioning systems produced by JSC 766 UPTK for the Russian army.

According to the ministry's statement, quoted by Sputnik Turkey, more than 130 refugees returned to their hometowns in the region thanks to these latest efforts. So far, since the end of the conflict back in November 2019, more than 47,100 refugees have returned to Nagorno-Karabakh, the ministry added.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but was under Armenian occupation since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That conflict left the predominantly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region and substantial surrounding territories in Yerevan's hands. Heavy fighting erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan in late September in the biggest escalation of the decades-old conflict, killing more than 5,600 people on both sides. The Russia-brokered agreement last month ended the recent fighting in which the Azerbaijani army routed Armenia's forces. The cease-fire deal stipulated that Yerevan hand over some areas it held outside Nagorno-Karabakh's borders. Baku also retained control over the areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that it had taken during the armed conflict.

Around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under the terms of the deal and are expected to stay in the region for at least five years. The Turkish Parliament also last month overwhelmingly approved the deployment of Turkish peacekeeping troops to Azerbaijan after Turkey and Russia signed an agreement for establishing a joint center to monitor the cease-fire in the region. The mandate allows Turkish forces to be stationed at a security center for one year. Azerbaijan has been pushing for its close ally Turkey to play a central role in the implementation of the agreement, as Ankara pledged full support for Baku during fighting in the region.

​Vazgen Manukyan: No elections can be held in Armenia unless Pashinyan steps down

Garo Vardanian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 28 2020
 
 
Vazgen Manukyan: No elections can be held in Armenia unless Pashinyan steps down
 
Civil disobedience actions will continue in Yerevan on a daily basis until Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan steps down, Vazgen Manukyan, the joint candidate of the opposition forces for interim prime minister, told reporters in the Republic Square on Monday.
 
After holding a rally outside the National Assembly earlier in the day, a group of opposition activists marched to the Republic Square in the city center, with Vazgen Manukyan joining them. The protest in the square did not last long.
 
The opposition leader stated every day that Pashinyan stays in power is “destructive” for Armenia.
 
Reacting to the premier’s call for snap elections, the opposition candidate expressed doubt that Pashinyan really wants to hold elections, adding he “deliberately wants to divide the arena into different groups: those who agree and those who don’t.”
 
“It’s his regular trick to divide the society into the old and the new, the black and the white, the elite and the ordinary people. We have clearly stated that no elections can be held in Armenia under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan. First of all, he must leave, a government of national accord must be formed to increase the combat readiness of our army and to hold talks for at least one year,” he said, expressing concerns over the handover of more borders to Azerbaijan as a “disgrace”.
 
“Even during the communist era, our and their central committees fought for every inch of land. And now, without negotiations and international law borders are being drawn. Holding elections in a few months means splitting the country again," Manukyan said.
 
The opposition politician noted during the elections all the parties will start fighting, adding “until we come to our senses, such a thing cannot be done.”
 
"He must step down until the snap elections. I don't even want to discuss the option that he may stay and hold elections,” he said, adding otherwise the elections will turn into confrontations inside the country.
 
 
 

Mayor of Armenia’s Goris Arush Arushanyan is at Investigative Committee, supporters gather

Garo Vardanian
Aysor, Armenia
Dec 21 2020

The mayor of the Armenian city of Goris Arush Arushanyan was brought to the building of the Investigative Committee in Yerevan.

The mayor was detained following his call to residents of Syunik to gather in front of Syunik's gates not to allow PM enter the province.

The Investigative Committee issued a press release saying that an examination is underway to find out the circumstances of organization and conduction of rally by Arushanyan with the violation of order set by the law.

 

Armenia’s PM manages to visit only Sisian during his visit to Syunik province

Garo Vardanian
Aysor, Armenia
Dec 21 2020

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan who was to spend a working day in Armenia’s Syunik province, managed to visit only Sisian.

The PM did not reach Goris, Kapan and Meghri after the residents of the province closed the roads not wanting to see him in their province.

Speaking in Sisian, the PM said that they closed the road knowing that his supporters will gather in Goris, Kapan and in Meghri.

“But I say, let it be so, we will not give in to provocations, Meghri is in its place, Kapan and Goris too. If they do not open the road for us to go to Goris, Kapan we will come next time,” the PM said.

He said he came, looked in the eyes of Syunik residents and knows that is guilty in many issues.

  

Number of tourists visiting Armenia drop by 77.5%

Garo Vardanian
Panorama, Armenia

Dec 26 2020

327,735 tourists visited Armenia during January-September of 2020, the National Statistic Service of Armenia reported, adding compared with the number of visitors in 2019, the number has dropped by 77.5%. To remind, in January-September of 2019, 1,459.152 tourists visited Armenia. 

According to the statistics, 19.9% of tourists on a visit to Armenia stayed at hotels, while 81,1% rented apartments or stayed with family members or relatives. 

286,227 people left Armenia for tourism purpose in January-September 2020. The number of tourists leaving Armenia dropped by 78.2% to compare with the data of 2019. 


Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 21-12-20

Garo Vardanian

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 17:26,

YEREVAN, 21 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 21 December, USD exchange rate down by 0.57 drams to 521.66 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 4.77 drams to 634.96 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.15 drams to 6.95 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 15.53 drams to 689.43 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 219.14 drams to 31526.71 drams. Silver price up by 0.78 drams to 432.96 drams. Platinum price down by 136.56 drams to 17409.08 drams.

Putin’s comments caution ‘foreign circles’ aiming to derail Karabakh deal, says Aliyev

Garo Vardanian
TASS, Russia
Dec 19 2020
 
 
 
According to the Azerbaijani president, the saboteurs are dissatisfied with Russia’s leading role in the ceasefire
 
 
BAKU, December 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about Nagorno-Karabakh are an important signal to those forces that seek to prevent the implementation of the trilateral statement signed by the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on Friday at an online meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council.
 
"In an interview with the media yesterday, Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] once again pointed out that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. This is not the first statement of this kind. I believe this is a very important statement. It is important for those revanchist forces in Armenia, which are trying to revise the conditions of the statement of November 10 [November 9 Moscow time – TASS]. Unfortunately, there are such forces, and this is a very important signal to those who are trying to prevent the implementation of that statement. We saw such attempts both during the war and after the statement was signed," Aliyev emphasized.
 
According to the Azerbaijani president, some "foreign circles" that are dissatisfied with Russia’s leading role in the ceasefire would similarly like to revise the terms of the deal. "We saw attempts by certain foreign circles, which were dissatisfied with the fact that they stayed on the sidelines, dissatisfied with the fact that Russia was instrumental in achieving the ceasefire. They tried to muddy the waters in every possible way, and, unfortunately, they are pushing ahead with their attempts. This is especially true of the situation in Armenia. [They are seeking] to use certain levers, various infrastructure that has been created in Armenia, including the Soros infrastructure, in order to incite unrest in Armenian society and essentially to derail that statement," he said.
 
"I would like to once again thank Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for such active participation and [his] enormous contribution to the resolution of this conflict," he concluded.
 
On Thursday, Putin said at his annual news conference that, from the viewpoint of international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. He noted that Russia adhered to that position within the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh. Referring to the status of the region, Putin noted that it should be unchanged now, while the issue of its definition should be solved in the future.
 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
 
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region announced its secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic. In the armed conflict of 1992-1994, Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining districts.
 
On November 9 (November 10 Baku time), Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region. Later on, some districts were handed over to Azerbaijan’s control.
 
 
 
After the document was made public, opposition protests erupted in Armenia. Opposition supporters believe that this statement essentially spells Armenia’s surrender, and they hold Pashinyan responsible for the country’s economic and social woes. Opposition marches are being held in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan practically on a daily basis. Given these events, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has called for holding early parliamentary elections and transferring power to the government of national accord until then.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Azerbaijan trying to justify its gross violation of trilateral statement – Armenian MFA Spox

Garo Vardanian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 16 2020

Azerbaijan is tying to justify its gross violations of the provisions of trilateral statement, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anna Naghdalyan said in comments to Aysor.am.

The statement comes after the representative of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, in his comment to the “Kommersant” newspaper, stated that “the Armenian armed forces must withdraw from Karabakh.”

“The Statement of November 9 clearly and unequivocally indicates the regions from which the Armenian armed forces have already been withdrawn,” Anna Naghdalyan said.

“It is obvious that the one-sided comments of the Azerbaijani side have an aim to justify its gross violations of the recent days on the Artsakh-Azerbaijani line of contact, which contradict the provisions of the above-mentioned statement,” she added.