Author: Hagop Kamalian

                                        Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Pashinian, Blinken Discuss Armenian-Azeri Summit
April 05, 2022
Algeria - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference 
at the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, March 30, 2022.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken 
by phone on Tuesday before flying to Brussels for potentially crucial talks with 
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
An Armenian government statement on the phone call said they discussed, among 
other things, “processes taking place in the South Caucasus” and “increased 
tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“The parties stressed the importance of ensuring stability and peace in the 
region, emphasizing the importance of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ format,” 
the statement said, adding that they also touched upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani 
summit that will be hosted on Wednesday by Charles Michel, the top European 
Union official.
Aliyev and Pashinian decided last week to meet in Brussels as Azerbaijan pressed 
Armenia to accept its proposals on a “peace treaty” between the two nations. 
They scheduled the trilateral meeting with Michel a week after Azerbaijani 
troops seized a village in eastern Karabakh and tried to push deeper into the 
territory, sparking deadly fighting with Karabakh Armenian forces.
Russia called for an immediate Azerbaijani withdrawal from the “zone of 
responsibility” of 2,000 Russian peacekeepers stationed in Karabakh.
The U.S. State Department likewise deplored the Azerbaijani troop movements, 
calling them “irresponsible and unnecessarily provocative.” Baku rejected the 
criticism.
Pashinian was reported to brief Blinken on “the situation in Karabakh caused by 
the actions of Azerbaijani army units.”
The two men also discussed U.S.-Armenian relations and the conflict in Ukraine, 
according to the official Armenian readout of their phone call.
Blinken and the State Department did not immediately issue any statements on the 
conversation.
Armenian Opposition Rally Rejects ‘New Concessions’ To Azerbaijan
April 05, 2022
Armenia - Opposition supporters rally in Yerevan's Liberty Square, April 5, 2022.
Armenia’s two main opposition alliances rallied thousands of supporters in 
Yerevan on Tuesday to warn Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian against agreeing to 
restore Azerbaijan’s control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Leaders of the Hayastan and Pativ Unem blocs said that Pashinian is ready to 
make this and other concessions to Baku. They also accused him of jeopardizing 
Armenia’s territorial integrity with his conciliatory policy towards Azerbaijan.
“These authorities have no mandate to lead the country to new concessions with 
false promises of peace,” Hayastan’s Ishkhan Saghatelian told the crowd that 
gathered in Yerevan’s Liberty Square.
Saghatelian claimed that instead of strengthening national defense and security 
they are preparing the ground for “new concessions” by scaring Armenians with 
the prospect of another war with Azerbaijan.
“None of us present here wants war, but we can’t surrender to the butcher,” said 
Aram Vartevanian, another senior Hayastan figure.
“We can’t lose again because we have nothing to lose anymore,” agreed Pativ 
Unem’s Hayk Mamijanian.
A resolution presented by the two opposition groups to the demonstrators says 
that Armenia must remain a guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security and avoid 
signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan that would undermine the Karabakh 
Armenians’ right to self-determination. It warns that failure to do this would 
spark a popular uprising.
Armenia - Opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelian addresses supporters during a 
rally in Yerevan's Liberty Square, April 5, 2022.
“Any government that deviates from our vital demands will be sent to hell,” 
Saghatelian declared before the protesters marched to a key street intersection 
in central Yerevan and blocked traffic through it for an hour.
The opposition warnings came on the eve of Pashinian’s talks with Azerbaijani 
President Ilham Aliyev that will be hosted by European Council President Charles 
Michel in Brussels.
The talks are expected to focus on an Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace treaty.” Baku 
wants such a deal to be based on five elements, including a mutual recognition 
of each other’s territorial integrity. Pashinian has publicly stated that they 
are acceptable to Yerevan in principle, fuelling opposition claims that he is 
ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and other political allies of Pashinian have 
said that Yerevan will also raise the issue of Karabakh’s status in upcoming 
negotiations with the Azerbaijani side.
Baku has ruled out any discussions on the status, with Aliyev repeatedly saying 
that the Azerbaijani victory in the 2020 war put an end to the Karabakh conflict.
Pashinian Ally Expects Tough Talks With Aliyev
April 05, 2022
        • Nane Sahakian
        • Naira Nalbandian
Belgium - European Council President Charles Michel hosts talks between Armenian 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Brussels, 
December 14, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will discuss “very thorny” issues with 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev when they meet in Brussels on Wednesday, a 
senior Armenian lawmaker said on Tuesday.
European Council President Charles Michel will host the talks following deadly 
fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh that resulted from an Azerbaijani incursion into a 
local village and surrounding territory.
“Certainly the background preceding this meeting is not the best one, to put it 
mildly,” said Eduard Aghajanian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament 
committee on foreign relations and a senior member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract 
party.
“Very painful and thorny issues need to be raised at that meeting, and the 
parties will try to iron out those thorny points and move forward, which won’t 
be easy, to put it mildly,” Aghajanian added without elaborating.
Pashinian’s administration, he went on, remains committed to its “peace agenda.” 
“The Armenian side stands for the establishment of peace, and we are not going 
to abandon a diplomatic solution to the problem under any circumstances,” he 
said.
The Brussels talks are expected to focus on an Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace 
treaty” sought by Azerbaijan. Baku wants the treaty to be based on five 
elements, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. 
Pashinian has publicly stated that they are acceptable to Yerevan in principle.
This has been construed by Armenian opposition leaders and other critics as a 
further indication that the Armenian government is ready to recognize 
Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
The country’s two leading opposition alliances were due to rally supporters in 
Yerevan later on Tuesday to warn Pashinian against making such concessions to 
Aliyev. Gegham Manukian, a lawmaker representing the Hayastan alliance, said 
opposition speakers at the rally will draw “the red lines” on Karabakh.
“This first all means excluding Artsakh’s being part of Azerbaijan and also 
excluding this option in further negotiations,” Manukian told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.
In the words of Hayk Mamijanian of the Pativ Unem bloc, the other parliamentary 
opposition force, the rally is meant to bring together Armenians who strongly 
believe that “Artsakh (Karabakh) can never be part of Azerbaijan.”
It was also announced that former President Serzh Sarkisian will join protesters 
in Yerevan’s Liberty Square but will not deliver any speeches there. Sarkisian’s 
Republican Party makes up Pativ Unem together with another opposition party.
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.
 

                                        Monday, April 4, 2022
Vanadzor Oppositionists Decry ‘Illegal Power Grab’
        • Karine Simonian
Armenia - Former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian prepares to cast a ballot in a 
local election, December 6, 2021
Opposition groups in Vanadzor on Monday accused Armenia’s leadership of seeking 
to nullify their victory in last December’s municipal election through what they 
see as an unconstitutional bill.
The country’s third largest city has had no mayor since Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party was defeated in the election.
Civil Contract won only 25 percent of the vote there, compared with 39 percent 
polled by an opposition bloc led by former Vanadzor Mayor Mamikon Aslanian. The 
bloc teamed up with the opposition Fatherland party, giving them a majority of 
seats in the local council empowered to elect the head of the community.
Aslanian thus looked set to regain his post lost in October. But ten days after 
the ballot, he was arrested on corruption charges rejected by him as politically 
motivated.
Later in December, Armenia’s Administrative Court banned the new Vanadzor 
council from holding any sessions until July this year. It cited an appeal 
against the election results lodged by another pro-government party.
The Armenian parliament hastily passed late last week government-backed legal 
amendments allowing Pashinian to appoint an acting mayor of the city. The 
authors of the bill said it is aimed at addressing the post-election “disruption 
of normal governance” in Vanadzor and possibly other communities..
Opposition lawmakers dismissed that explanation, condemning the bill as an 
attempt to overturn local election results.
Aslanian’s Vanadzor-based political allies echoed those allegations. One of 
them, Fatherland member Vahe Dokhoyan, said that Pashinian’s administration 
violated the Armenian constitution and may now be preparing to force another 
municipal election later this year.
“Why did they push such a bill through the National Assembly? In order to 
install a person of their choice as community head,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.
Dokhoyan also claimed that the government was behind the court injunction 
blocking sessions of the Vanadzor council.
“What keeps them from allowing the court or telling it, as they always do, to 
let [the council] meet and elect a mayor?” he said.
Armenia’s Food Security Not At Risk, Says UN Agency
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Wheat harvest in Shirak province, 1Aug2012.
Armenia is unlikely to experience a serious shortage of food staples as a result 
of the war in Ukraine, a senior official from the United Nations food agency 
said on Monday.
“The situation in the country in terms of food security is not something which 
is now an immediate threat,” Raimund Jehle, the representative of the Rome-based 
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Armenia, told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.
“There are problems with access to fertilizers and other essential items,” he 
said. “But the Armenian government is making efforts to ensure that those items 
are accessible to farmers.”
The FAO said last month that international food and feed prices could rise by up 
to 20 percent following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two countries jointly 
account for around 25 percent of world wheat exports and 16 percent of world 
corn exports.
Armenia - FAO's Raimund Jehle speaks to RFE/RL, April 4, 2022
Armenia is heavily dependent on imports of Russian wheat, which met more than 
two-thirds of its domestic demand last year. Russia also accounts for 97 percent 
of cooking oil consumed by the South Caucasus country and nearly half of its 
sugar imports.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian said in early 
March that fallout from the conflict in Ukraine will push up the cost of these 
and other basic foodstuffs in Armenia.
Kerobian warned of a “serious challenge to our food security.” He urged Armenian 
farmers to cultivate more land, saying that the price hikes will make farming 
“more lucrative.”
Jehle said that the increased cost of fertilizers, seeds and fuel poses a major 
challenge to the Armenian agricultural sector. Greater government support for 
the sector could mitigate these problems, he said.
“Small and vulnerable farmers will be especially in need of assistance,” added 
the UN official.
The government decided last month to subsidize the prices of fertilizers for 
such farmers. The decision sparked protests by more affluent farmers with larger 
land holdings. They said they too should be eligible for the subsidy.
Karabakh Official Laments ‘Lack Of Support’ By Armenia
        • Artak Khulian
Nagorno Karabakh - The Karabakh president, Arayik Harutiunian , holds a session 
of his natonal security council, Stepanakert, Aprl 1, 2022
Armenia has not only stopped being the guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security 
but is also not providing the Armenian-populated territory with adequate 
diplomatic support, a senior official in Stepanakert complained on Monday.
Hayk Khanumian, the Karabakh minister for local government and public 
infrastructures, said this is what is fuelling calls by some Karabakh Armenians 
for a referendum on becoming part of Russia.
“The Republic of Armenia used to be the guarantor of our security, and in 
essence it cannot perform that function anymore,” Khanumian told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service in an interview. “The Russian peacekeeping contingent does not 
have a mandate to ensure such protection. So people are just trying to raise 
security issues. They want to be protected.”
“Defense is not just about weapons and ammunition,” he said. “It’s a whole set 
of measures. Diplomacy, diplomatic service is an important part of that, and it 
is quite dire straits these days. I’m talking about Armenia.
“Often times not only does it not carry out tasks but also does not receive 
tasks. The bodies formulating [Armenia’s] foreign policy, whose orders the 
diplomatic service is supposed to execute, are confused or do not operate 
normally on the issue of Artsakh and defense.”
Armenia -- Hayk Khanumian is interviewed by RFE/RL, Stepanakert, April 4, 2022.
Khanumian spoke two days before Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s scheduled talks 
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that will be hosted by European Council 
President Charles Michel. The talks are expected to focus on an 
Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace treaty” sought by Azerbaijan.
Baku wants the treaty to be based on five elements, including a mutual 
recognition of each other’s territorial integrity. Pashinian publicly stated on 
March 31 that Yerevan is ready to negotiate a deal along these lines.
Pashinian did not explicitly mention the question of Karabakh’s status, speaking 
instead of the need to protect “the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians.” His 
remarks were construed by Armenian opposition leaders and other critics as a 
further indication that the Armenian government is ready to recognize 
Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan insisted on April 1 that Yerevan will seek to 
include the issue of the status on the agenda of negotiations on the peace 
accord.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- Armored vehicles of Russian peacekeepers move along the road 
towards Agdam from their check point outside Askeran, November 20, 2020
On March 26, Karabakh’s leadership appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin 
to deploy more Russian soldiers in Karabakh. It said that Russia’s 2,000-strong 
peacekeeping contingent is too small to carry out its mission.
The appeal came two days after Azerbaijani forces seized a village in eastern 
Karabakh and surrounding territory before engaging in deadly fighting with 
Karabakh Armenian troops. The fighting stopped following the peacekeepers’ 
intervention.
Khanumian said that the current situation in the conflict zone leaves the 
Karabakh Armenians with no choice but to primarily rely on their military and 
other security forces.
The Russian peacekeepers were deployed in Karabakh under the terms of a 
Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war 
in November 2020.
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.