Council of French-Armenians congratulates Pashinyan on election victory
Save
Share
10:25,
YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. The Council of French-Armenians congratulated Armenia’s caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his Civil Contract party’s victory in the June 20 snap parliamentary elections.
“International observers have recorded that the voting has taken place in the conditions of healthy democracy. The Council of French-Armenians hopes that after the end of the war and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 dedicated to the election campaign, the country will restore its normal course and will be able to ensure a prosperous future, built on political governance based on the values of freedom and republican democracy. The Council, developing in a country which has fundamental republican values and spreads them in many countries of the world, will be happy to participate in the spread of these values, as well as to the economic, educational and cultural development in Armenia”, the statement says.
Armenia held snap parliamentary elections on June 20.
21 political parties and 4 blocs were running for parliament.
Accordingly, the Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received 53.92% of the votes, the “Armenia” bloc led by 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan – 21.04%, “I Have the Honor” bloc – 5.23%, CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan said at the Committee’s extraordinary session.
1 million 282 thousand 411 citizens or 49.4% of the voters cast their ballot in the early elections.
YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government has extended the ban on imports of Turkish-made products by another 6 months.
The respective decision was adopted today at the Cabinet meeting.
“According to the Treaty of the Eurasian Economic Union, EAEU member states in trade with the third countries can unilaterally apply non-tariff regulation measures in accordance with the Appendix 7th of the Treaty. Accordingly, the temporary measure is valid for a maximum of 6 months after the date of its establishment.
The ban of imports of products of Turkish origin halts the financial flows from Armenian sources into Turkey’s state treasury, at the same time preventing the infiltration of potential dangers through the import of final goods from a hostile country,” the decision said.
Nikol Pashinyan came to power in 2018 as a revolutionary, a former journalist who led a movement on Armenia’s streets that ousted his rival, Serzh Sargsyan, after 11 years.
Sargsyan had amended Armenia’s constitution to prolong his Putin-esque run of political office under which he served as president and then prime minister in order to get around term limits on the top jobs. The amendment would have let Sargsyan effectively rule for life.
Pashinyan, now 46, had walked across Armenia in protest before organising a small demonstration in Yerevan which grew to tens of thousands. Eventually, Sargsyan resigned: “I was wrong. Nikol Pashinian was right,” he said.
On May 8, Pashinyan, who had once spent two years in jail for his political activities, was elected prime minister. In his speech to Armenians, he hailed the birth of a new Armenia.
It was not only a good story but a relatively rare one in a region so often dominated by autocrats who remain in power long beyond their mandates. Pashinyan rallied hundreds of thousands in his country of three million, which borders Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
But three years later relations with one of those neighbours has slowed the rise of Pashinian’s star over central Asia. Ahead of Sunday’s election, canvassing in Yerevan, Armenians who three years ago feted the revolutionary now refused to shake his hand.
As he walked the streets of his capital surrounded by security guards, the one-time protest leader turned prime minister had “Traitor” and “Capitulator” shouted at him.
At a campaign rally, a rival and former president, Robert Kocharian, used a Trumpian slur to describe him.
He was, Kocharian, told the crowd, “a loser”.
To many Armenians, the criticism is a valid one. Armenia’s war with its neighbour Azerbaijan lasted just six weeks before a Moscow-brokered ceasefire on November 10, 2020. Azerbaijan retained control of most of the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
A poster of Nikol Pashinyan in central YerevanKAREN MINASYAN/AFP or licensors
It had been the other way around in 1994, when ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, then under Azeri control, voted to secede from Baku.
The dispute spiralled into ethnic warfare, with brutal pogroms conducted by both sides. Armenia eventually occupied 90% of Nagorno-Karabakh and expelled over 700,000 Azeris.
In 2020, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, seized Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia eventually agreed to hand over control of the region for 25 years.
On the streets of Yerevan, Pashinyan’s role in the conflict – in which he often stresses that both his wife and his son fought – divides voters ahead of Sunday’s election.
“This capitulator, this traitor, must go,” Gedhan Hairapetian, 52, told AFP.
Sirouch Sirounian, 69, disagreed.
“We should not blame him,” she said. “Nikol is our hero. It is the old authorities who are responsible for everything, they plundered our country for decades.”
Of the 22 parties in four political groupings that face Pashinian’s Civil Contract party on Sunday, two of the biggest are led by representatives of those old authorities. Serzh Sargsyan governed Armenia from 2008 to 2018 and Kocharian from 1997 to 2008.
As such, Pashinyan is once again taking on the political and economic elites – and their supporters – that ran Armenia since independence from the Soviet Union. Except, this time around the legacy of the conflict with Azerbaijan is far fresher in the Armenian memory.
Friday,
Armenia’s Heated Election Campaign Ends
• Gayane Saribekian
• Robert Zargarian
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - The opposition Hayastan alliance led by former President Robert
Kocharian holds its last campaign rally in Yerevan, .
Campaigning officially ended in Armenia on Friday for Sunday’s parliamentary
elections which appear to be the most unpredictable in the country’s history.
Former President Robert Kocharian’s Hayastan (Armenia) alliance, widely seen as
the main challenger of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party,
held its last campaign rally, attended by thousands of supporters, in Yerevan’s
central Republic Square.
The sprawling square was the scene of a large demonstration held by Civil
Contract the previous night. Another major election contender, the opposition
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian, also
concluded its campaign on Thursday evening with a rally held elsewhere in the
city center.
Kocharian and his political allies again pledged to restore security in Armenia,
end the country’s post-war political crisis and kick-start its economy as they
addressed supporters demonstrating outside the prime minister’s office.
“These authorities are not capable of solving any of these problems because they
themselves created and are still fuelling these problems. We are coming to put
an end to all this,” said the 66-year-old ex-president, who had ruled Armenia
from 1998-2008.
“Trust us. Allow us to assume responsibility for the country’s future and push
country forward in all directions,” he said in a speech repeatedly interrupted
by “Kocharian!” chants from the crowd.
Kocharian again expressed confidence that his bloc will win most votes in the
snap elections meant to end a serious political crisis resulting from Armenia’s
defeat in the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We started an election campaign and are now concluding a victorious campaign,”
he declared.
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian greets supporters during an election
campaign rally in Yerevan, .
Pashinian predicted that his party will score a “crushing” victory in the polls
when he addressed supporters on Thursday.
The 12-day campaign has been marked by bitter accusations and threats traded by
Pashinian and Kocharian and another ex-president, Serzh Sarkisian, who is also
challenging the incumbent. Sarkisian leads an opposition bloc called Pativ Unem.
Other, more moderate opposition contenders, notably the Bright Armenia Party
(LHK), have sought to cast themselves as an alternative to the country’s current
and former rulers.
Campaigning in Yerevan’s northern Arabkir district on Friday, LHK leader Edmon
Marukian reiterated that he will try to form a “government of national unity”
comprising all rival factions if his party again wins seats in the National
Assembly.
“We will do everything to make this agenda prevail,” Marukian told reporters.
“This agenda reflects the people’s demand.”
Meanwhile, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who leads the opposition
Armenian National Congress (HAK), hit out at the “rival extremist forces,” in a
clear reference to Pashinian on one side and the opposition forces led by
Kocharian and Sarkisian on the other. He claimed that the political crisis will
only deepen if one of them wins the elections.
“These forces have nothing to say or to do about the country’s future,”
Ter-Petrosian said in a video appeal to Armenians.
A total of 26 parties and alliances are running for at least 101 seats in the
Armenian parliament under the system of proportional representation. The parties
need to win at least 5 percent of the vote in order to be represented in the
legislature and potentially form a new government. The vote threshold for
alliances is set at 7 percent.
ARMENIA -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian gives a speech during a
campaign rally in central Yerevan,
The tense election campaign has also been marred by mutual accusations of foul
play, arrests of opposition activists accused of bullying or bribing voters, and
at least one reportedly violent incident.
On Friday, law-enforcement authorities detained Armen Charchian, the director of
a Yerevan hospital running for the parliament on the Hayastan ticket, after a
local non-governmental organization publicized a leaked audio recording of his
meeting with hospital personnel.
Charchian can be heard telling them that they must participate in the June 20
elections. “After the elections I will take voter lists and see who went to the
polls and who didn’t,” he warns.
It was not clear if Charchian explicitly told his employees to vote for Hayastan.
A senior Hayastan figure condemned the prominent medic’s arrest and demanded his
release at the start of Kocharian’s rally.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) also announced the arrest of an unnamed
election candidate of Pativ Unem accused of vote buying. The opposition bloc did
not immediately react to it.
Five other individuals, all of them opposition candidates or supporters, were
arrested earlier on charges of trying to hand out vote bribes.
Also taken into custody on Thursday was the director of a cultural center in the
southeastern town of Goris run by a senior Hayastan member. He allegedly
threatened to fire one of his employees who took part in Pashinian’s rally held
there earlier this week. The Kocharian-led bloc demanded his immediate release.
Several Hayastan and Pativ Unem sympathizers holding senior positions in
schools, provincial medical centers and other public institutions have claimed
in recent days to have been fired for publicly showing support for Pashinian’s
political foes. Law-enforcement authorities have not yet reacted to their
allegations.
Hayastan also said that several of its activists in another southeastern town,
Yeghegnadzor, were detained and beaten up by local police when Pashinian held a
campaign rally there this week. Prosecutors instructed the SIS to look into
these claims.
Russia Warns Of Response To Turkish Military Base In Azerbaijan
• Aza Babayan
Armenia - Russian soldiers march during an official Armenian ceremony to mark
the 76th anniversary of Soviet victory in World War Two, Yerevan, May 9, 2021.
Russia will take steps to ensure its national security if Turkey opens a
military base in Armenia, the Kremlin said on Friday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not rule out Turkey’s permanent
military presence in Azerbaijan after visiting on Tuesday the Nagorno-Karabakh
town of Shushi (Shusha) captured by Azerbaijani forces during last year’s war.
In a joint declaration signed there, Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliyev pledged to further deepen military and other ties between their
nations. Aliyev said the declaration calls for their “mutual military
assistance” in the event of an armed conflict with third states.
Erdogan on Thursday did not exclude a Turkish military base in Azerbaijan.
“There may be development, expansion here later,” he told Turkey’s NTV channel.
Commenting on Erdogan’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The
deployment of military infrastructure by the [NATO] alliance countries near our
borders is cause for our special attention as well as a reason for us to take
steps to ensure our security and interests.”
Peskov also said Russia is “in close contact” with Turkey, Azerbaijan and
Armenia on “further stabilizing the situation” in the South Caucasus after the
Armenian-Azerbaijani war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire in November.
Regional players must not take actions containing “any elements that could cause
a rise in tensions,” Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was more dismissive of the talk of
Turkish military presence in Azerbaijan. “We have not discussed that issue and
do not comment on rumors,” he told a news conference on Friday.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev,
accompanied by their wives Emine Erdogan and Mehriban Aliyeva, visit Shusha on
June 15, 2021.
Lavrov’s remarks contrasted with concerns voiced by some Russian lawmakers and
pundits. Gazeta.ru, a major Russian news website, said Moscow’s reaction to a
possible Turkish military deployment in Azerbaijan would be “very negative.”
It quoted Alexander Sherin, the deputy chairman of a Russian parliament
committee on defense, as saying that Azerbaijan can already be considered a de
facto NATO member because its soldiers fought alongside Turkish troops against
Russia’s ally Armenia during the Karabakh war. “Its de jure membership [in NATO]
is only a matter of time,” claimed Sherin.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry has condemned Aliyev’s and Erdogan’s visit to
Shushi as a “provocation against regional peace and security.”
In a statement released on Thursday, the ministry accused Turkey and Azerbaijan
of threatening Armenia’s territorial integrity after their “joint aggression”
against Karabakh. It pointed to the Shushi declaration’s references to a
“corridor” that should connect the Nakhichevan exclave with the rest of
Azerbaijan via Armenia’s Syunik province.
Ankara lent Baku strong military and diplomatic support during the six-week
Karabakh war. Yerevan says that Turkish military personnel participated in the
hostilities on the Azerbaijani side along with thousands of mercenaries
recruited in Syria’s Turkish-controlled northern regions.
The truce accord led to the deployment of 2,000 Russian peacekeeping soldiers in
Karabakh. Russia has also deployed soldiers along some sections of Armenia’s
border with Azerbaijan.
Kocharian Endorsed By Former PM, Ex-Army Chief
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian (L) and former Prime Minister Karen
Karapetian meet at the election campaign headquarters of the opposition Hayastan
alliance, Yerevan, June 15, 2021.
Armenia’s former Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and former top army general,
Onik Gasparian, have urged voters to back an opposition alliance led by former
President Robert Kocharian in Sunday’s general elections.
In separate statements, they described Kocharian as an experienced and competent
leader who can confront grave security challenges still facing the country after
last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“I believe that in this situation we must support Armenia’s second President
Robert Kocharian and all those forces that are fighting against the current
authorities,” read the statement released by Gasparian on Friday, the last day
of campaigning for the snap elections.
Gasparian accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of trying to scapegoat the
Armenian military and dodge responsibility for Armenia’s defeat in the war in
hopes of “retaining power at any cost.”
The general was fired as chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff in early
March after he and four dozen other high-ranking officers accused Pashinian’s
government of misrule and demanded its resignation. The demand was hailed by
Armenian opposition groups but rejected as a coup attempt by Pashinian.
Gasparian challenged his sacking in court. Pashinian has repeatedly attacked him
during the election campaign.
ARMENIA -- Colonel-General Onik Gasparian.
Karapetian endorsed Kocharian on Monday. In a written statement, he said the
ex-president can “get the country out of the crisis,” “quickly restore our
security system” and make Armenia a “predictable and trustworthy partner” for
foreign powers.
“He will create an environment where our society’s potential will be realized in
full and we will have a national, modern, rational and efficient state,” added
the statement.
Kocharian and Karapetian met at the ex-president’s election campaign
headquarters in Yerevan and dined at a restaurant in Gyumri in the following
days. A short video released by Kocharian’s Hayastan (Armenia) alliance showed
the two men strolling in downtown Gyumri late on Wednesday.
Hayastan is widely seen as the main opposition challenger of Pashinian and his
Civil Contract Party. It was due to conclude its election campaign late on
Friday with a rally at Yerevan’s central Republic Square.
Karapetian was appointed as prime minister in September 2016 by then President
Serzh Sarkisian. The former business executive ceded that post to Sarkisian and
was named first deputy prime minister in April 2018 after the latter engineered
Armenia’s transition to a parliamentary system of government.
Karapetian became the country’s acting prime minister just one week later, after
Sarkisian resigned amid Pashinian-led mass protests against his continued rule.
But he too had to step down after the former Armenian parliament reluctantly
elected Pashinian prime minister in May 2018.
Sarkisian now leads another opposition bloc running in the June 20 elections.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
The election campaign with swear words and the sharp resistance are just the beginning, and there will be post-election developments, even clashes during the elections since the two main sides will take all measures. This is what first President of Armenia, leader of the Armenian National Congress political party Levon Ter-Petrosyan said during an interview aired on Armenian Public Television.
Ter-Petrosyan refuted that he had referred to his successors as Mongols and Tatars.
“I said the state that Robert Kocharyan established was a state with a Tatar-Mongol system, and I repeat it, this is an academic concept,” he added.
According to Ter-Petrosyan, there is a need to hear a third opinion and the views of intelligentsia. “The intelligentsia in Armenian isn’t doing what it needed to do, that is, balance the resistance of the authorities and the opposition. The intelligentsia was no different from the Fedayins (freedom fighters). The Institute of History is already educating the third generation of Armenian historians as people who are fighting for the Armenian Cause and will not give up lands. A few days after my resignation, academician Vladimir Barkhudaryan and told me that the intelligentsia had betrayed me, but I said the intelligentsia had betrayed the people,” Ter-Petrosyan said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov prepares to leave a joint news conference with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki following their talks in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo)
The settlement reached following the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis would not have its maximum effect without considering the interests of Turkey and Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.
Speaking at The Primakov Readings in Moscow, an international forum, Lavrov said the interests of Turkey and Iran were “unequivocally” taken into account while drafting the Nagorno-Karabakh agreement.
“As for Turkey and its role, as I have already said, both Turkey’s and Iran’s interests were unequivocally taken into account in these trilateral (Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) discussions (on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement), otherwise all this unblocking will not have the maximum effect,” he said.
Lavrov recalled that the Russian-Turkish Monitoring Center observes how the cease-fire is being respected by the sides and praised it as “a very useful component of the overall agreement.”
“Within the framework of monitoring the cease-fire, the Russian-Turkish Monitoring Center operates using technical means, provides joint monitoring of what is happening on the ground from the territory of Azerbaijan. This is a very useful component of the overall agreement, and it ensures the involvement of our Turkish colleagues in this issue. This is a stabilizing factor,” he noted.
Lavrov added that the most important thing was the cease-fire being reached and the trilateral group being established for the resumption of economic relations and the restoration and unblocking of all communications.
The group is dealing with the “practical implementation” of unblocking ties, considering the interests of the neighboring countries, including Turkey and Iran, as “it would be unrealistic” to ignore their position, he stressed.
Lavrov also complimented the work of Russian peacekeepers, saying, “There are no major incidents at all (in Nagorno-Karabakh), and this is recognized both in Baku and in Yerevan.”
“Yes, there is some tension on certain sections of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, but this has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said.
Referring to sharp comments from Baku and Yerevan, Lavrov said “emotions dominate” there, calling on all sides involved “to contribute to easing tensions and establishing a normal life for those who are on the ground.”
As for the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, this will have to be finalized with the participation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs – Russia, the United States and France.
“Now many people say that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved. This will have to be finally agreed upon with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, who at this stage should not raise the issue of status, but should help strengthen mutual trust, resolve humanitarian issues, and ensure that Armenians and Azerbaijanis once again live side by side, together, in security and economic well-being. And then in a couple of years, all the problems of the status will be solved much easier,” Lavrov said.
In 1991, the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.
On Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During a subsequent 44-day conflict, which ended under a deal signed Nov. 10, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenian occupation.
Asia Times
[Turkish leader foresees 'new era' of US relations but there are still
plenty of differences, concerns and interests to keep the two sides
apart]
By MK Bhadrakumar
Expectations are soaring in Ankara over the forthcoming meeting
between US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) summit in Brussels next Monday.
Erdogan said recently, “I believe that our meeting with Biden at the
NATO summit will be the harbinger of a new era.”
Without doubt, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s remarks at
a White House briefing on Monday on Biden’s first presidential tour
abroad carried positive vibes – that Biden is looking forward to
reviewing the “full breadth” of Ankara-Washington ties and discuss
Eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Afghanistan and other regional issues as
part of an “expansive agenda” next week, while acknowledging that the
two leaders will also look at the “significant differences” between
the two NATO allies.
Most important, Sullivan transmitted a “presidential message” to
Erdogan personally: “President Biden knows Erdogan very well. The two
men have spent a good amount of time together and they’re both, I
think, looking forward to the opportunity to really have a
businesslike opportunity to review the full breadth of the
relationship.”
The conventional wisdom among analysts is that the US and Turkey are
hopelessly entangled in a messy relationship. But then, the two
countries also have a long history of sequestering their alliance from
deep differences. At the present moment, what lends enchantment to the
Turkish-American alliance is that Washington has consistently regarded
Turkey as a “swing” state that can tilt the West’s relations with
Russia.
Add to that now a further dimension, with an eye on Turkey’s unique
geography, as regards the United States’ prioritization of China’s
exclusion from the Western world. There’s no gainsaying that the
upcoming meeting in Brussels will be a high-stakes affair.
With a touch of exaggeration, perhaps, one can even say that Biden’s
meetings with Erdogan (June 14) and Russian President Vladimir Putin
(June 16) are joined at the hips. In almost all the “talking points”
that Sullivan singled out – Eastern Mediterranean, Syria and
Afghanistan – Russia is a sleeping partner.
nd more so, if we recognize that an “expansive agenda” cannot but
include the entire swath of the region where Europe and Eurasia
overlap, which is turning into a theater of contestation between the
US (NATO) and Russia – from Central Asia to the Caspian and Caucasus;
and, from the Black Sea northward across Ukraine.
To be sure, the Biden administration is preparing well for the
upcoming meeting with Erdogan. To borrow an expression that Sullivan
used to graphically thumb-sketch Vladimir Putin, Erdogan too is a “a
singular kind of personalized leader, and having the opportunity to
come together in a summit will allow us to manage this relationship
and stand up and defend American values most effectively.”
Much preparatory work has been undertaken. Two top US diplomats
traveled to Ankara in recent weeks for consultations – Deputy
Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and the US ambassador to the United
Nations (who carries cabinet rank), Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The State Department announced that Sherman would “underscore the
importance of the US-Turkey relationship as we work together with our
NATO ally to confront mutual challenges, and discuss areas of
concern.”
The US Mission to the UN in New York said in an announcement last week
that Thomas-Greenfield would discuss “opportunities to strengthen the
US- Turkey relationship, work with our NATO ally to address global
challenges [and] improve cooperation on Syria.” A senior US diplomat
at the New York mission called this “a moment of intense engagement”
with senior Turkish officials ahead of the Biden-Erdogan meeting.
The US diplomat added that Turkey is “a critical NATO ally, and we
have a strategic relationship that spans an enormous breadth of issues
and concerns, including global and regional security issues,
obviously, economic issues related to democracy and human rights.”
The Turkish side too began preparing for the Biden-Erdogan meeting
through past several weeks since Biden pronounced on April 24 the
taboo “Armenian genocide” – after the 1915 wartime massacres under
Ottoman Rule.
It was a red line for Turkey, and Ankara should have reacted harshly –
ranging from a closure of the Incirlik airbase to the US or even
stoping the operations of the ABM radar base in Malatya-Kurecik in
eastern Turkey, a strategic asset of the Western alliance system
encircling Russia.
But Biden’s profound experience in international diplomacy was on
display when he put a call through to Erdogan prior to making the
announcement on the Armenian genocide and offered to meet in Brussels
in June.
Interestingly, prior to that phone conversation, Sullivan made a call
(April 23) with Erdogan’s top aide Ibrahim Kalın where they reached a
“consensus” on the exact wording that Biden would use in his
announcement the next day whereby the blame for the Armenian genocide
would be placed at the doorsteps of the dying Ottoman Empire and
ensure Ankara wouldn’t be wrestling with compensation lawsuits in
American courts by the heirs of Armenians who fled to the US in 1915
or after.
Sullivan’s tactful diplomacy and Biden’s gracious gesture had a
magical effect on Erdogan. By the way, a third call also came from
Washington to Ankara to follow up on Biden’s conversation with
Erdogan: This time around, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called
his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Indeed, three top-level calls from Washington to Ankara within two
hours on April 23! They ensured that Biden’s announcement on April 24
all but became a non-event. Suffice to say, Biden’s highly
inflammatory announcement has since become a damp squib. The highly
excitable Turks have since moved on.
The episode testifies to the inherent strength and resilience of
Turkish-American alliance. This is the touchstone to apply to reassess
Turkey’s current “Islamist” ruling elite. The point is, amid the
cacophony over “neo-Ottomanism,” Turkey’s apparent obsession with
“strategic autonomy” or Erdogan’s mercurial personality traits, the
Turkish elite cannot afford a rupture in the umbilical chord that ties
them to the Western world.
Turkey’s Islamist elite are as much the inheritors of Kemal Ataturk’s
legacy that their country’s destiny lies with the West. The Americans
– Biden, in particular – would know that home truth. Therefore, the
leitmotif of the Biden-Erdogan summit is going to be the tango at a
personal level between two presidents whose genius for dealmaking is
legion.
Having said that, the differences, concerns and interests that keep
Washington and Ankara apart are not to be underestimated. That needs a
separate analysis (a second part to this article will follow). But
make no mistake, a process of reconciliation is due to commence.
Armenia’s Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan sent in his resignation on May 27
YEREVAN, May 31. /TASS/. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has signed a decree dismissing Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan, the presidential press service said in a statement on Monday.
“Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan is hereby dismissed from his position at the prime minister’s request in accordance with Article 131 of the Constitution and Article 5.1 of the Law on the Structure and Activities of the Government,” the decree reads.
Armenia’s Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan offered his resignation on May 27. Deputy Foreign Minister Gagik Galachyan and Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Anna Nagdalyan have also announced plans to step down.
Experts and the media don’t rule out that the wave of resignations stems from Armenia’s interaction with Azerbaijan, aimed at rectifying the border.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan addresses diplomats at a farewell meeting on May 31 following his resignation. (photo: mfa.am)
Armenia’s foreign minister and other senior diplomats have resigned amid a festering dispute over how to resolve a border crisis with Azerbaijan.
Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan announced his resignation on May 27. Four days later, he said goodbye to MFA staff with a cryptic statement that alluded to his unwillingness to carry out “ideas or initiatives that go against our statehood and national interests.” The same day, his deputy Gagik Ghalachyan and spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan also announced that they were leaving.
Signs of a rift between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan had been apparent for several days. When news first broke on May 19 of a new deal in the works with Azerbaijan that would address an ongoing border crisis, among other issues, Ayvazyan was reported to be against the draft agreement.
Naghdalyan then issued a statement about the ongoing negotiations that presented a dramatically different vision of the process than Pashinyan had, suggesting that border negotiations would only take place after Armenia retook control of territory it lost during the war and a final political agreement between the two sides was reached, conditions that are unlikely to be reached soon, if ever.
On May 31, Pashinyan’s spokesperson Mane Gevorgyantold state news agency Armenpress that she expected Ayvazyan to elaborate on his reasons for resigning. “Our state and national interests oblige Mr. Ayvazyan to publicly explain who was going to take a step or make a decision that would contradict the state and national interests of our country,” she said. “We expect Mr. Ayvazyan to clarify [the statement] publicly.”
The deputy minister and the spokesperson have not yet explained their resignations.
Ayvazyan assumed the post of foreign minister on November 18, 2020, days after Armenia’s catastrophic defeat in the war with Azerbaijan.
The immediate trigger for Ayvazyan’s resignation appeared to be Pashinyan’s surprise announcement that international observers, possibly from Russia or other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (the United States and France), could deploy to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
“That proposal, announced at an afternoon meeting of the National Security Council on May 27, stunned the Foreign Minister, who was neither consulted nor informed in advance (the Armenian president and other officials were similarly excluded from the decision-making process in this case),” said Richard Giragosian, the head of the Yerevan think tank Regional Studies Center.
There were also deeper reasons for dissatisfaction at the MFA: “His [Pashinyan’s] impulsive and at times reckless micromanagement of foreign policy was a constant and consistent source for a failed and ineffective policy process,” Giragosian said.
“Pashinyan makes his ministers into scapegoats: He doesn’t allow them freedom of action, but when there is a failure all the blame is placed exactly on them,” added analyst Armen Baghdasaryan, in an interview with Russian newspaper Kommersant.
The turmoil at the Foreign Ministry will only deepen the crisis in which Armenia finds itself, under continuing pressure from Azerbaijan and desperately seeking for international help. “The pressing challenge is not from the Foreign Minister’s resignation but his replacement, especially given the paucity of qualified candidates and the poverty of policy-making in the Pashinyan government,” Giragosian said.
With snap parliamentary elections less than three weeks away, Pashinyan on June 1 was traveling to Paris and then onward to Brussels. According to Armenpress, the agenda includes “possibilities for resolving the situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, as well as issues related to the further settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.”
YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS. In her letter addressed to the Parliament of the Netherlands, acting Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag has stated that during the discussions at the EU Foreign Ministers Council about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Netherlands has stressed the importance of the immediate release of the Armenian prisoners of war from the Azerbaijani captivity, as well as sending UNESCO cultural heritage assessment mission to the region.
The Netherlands highlighted the importance of immediate withdrawal of troops from the border between the two countries and return to the negotiation table.
“On May 28, also with the initiative of the Netherlands, the European Union came up with a new joint statement expressing its deep concerns over the ongoing developments in the border and emphasizing the importance of easing the tension. A call is made to immediately pull back troops from the border and the necessity of clarifying the demarcation issue exclusively through negotiations is outlined. The statement also contains call on Azerbaijan to immediately release the Armenian prisoners of war”, the acting FM of the Netherlands said.