Author: Hunanian Jack

                                        Wednesday, 
Iran Reaffirms Interest In Closer Ties With Armenia
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with Iranian Foreign 
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Yerevan, .
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Yerevan on Wednesday, 
reaffirming his country’s desire to continue seeking closer relations with 
neighboring Armenia after the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Zarif also expressed Iran’s strong support for Armenia’s territorial integrity 
as he discussed regional security and bilateral ties with his Armenian 
counterpart Ara Ayvazian.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches importance to the territorial integrity 
of all countries and strives to ensure that the religions and rights of all 
peoples are always protected. Our red line is the territorial integrity of the 
Republic of Armenia and we have made that clear,” he told Ayvazian at the start 
of their talks.
“We stand ready to deepen our relations with Armenia in the political, economic, 
cultural and security fields,” he said.
“We have many common concerns. Our concerns include the presence of terrorists 
and foreign fighters,” Zarif added, seemingly alluding to the widely documented 
participation of Middle Eastern mercenaries in the six-week war on Azerbaijan’s 
side.
Zarif also mentioned those concerns during his separate meeting with Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian held later in the day. Pashinian said he looks forward 
to discussing with Iran’s top diplomat “developing and deepening our bilateral 
relations” and other “very important issues.”
An Armenian government statement on the meeting said the two men “exchanged 
thoughts” on the aftermath of the Karabakh war stopped by a Russian-brokered 
ceasefire on November 10.
“The prime minister noted that many issues, included Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, 
remain unresolved and that Armenia is ready to continue negotiations within the 
framework of the co-presidency of the OSCE Minsk Group,” said the statement.
According to the statement, Zarif and Pashinian stressed the importance of 
“unblocking and reactivating regional transport links.”
The ceasefire agreement calls for the opening of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border 
for cargo and other traffic. It specifically commits Yerevan to opening rail and 
road links between the Nakhichevan exclave and the rest of Azerbaijan that will 
presumably pass through Armenia’s Syunik province bordering Iran. For its part, 
Armenia should be able to use Azerbaijani territory as a transit route for cargo 
shipments to and from Russia and Iran.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service after his talks with Ayvazian, Zarif said 
Iran too sees now a real chance to establish a rail link with Armenia passing 
through Nakhichevan. “
“That is one requirement for both Iran and Armenia as well as for the region, 
and we are working with both Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia,” he said.
Zarif arrived in Armenia from Moscow as part of a regional tour which he began 
in Baku on Monday. Meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, he 
congratulated Azerbaijan on its “victory” in the war and expressed Iran’s 
readiness to help rebuild areas around Karabakh retaken by Azerbaijani troops.
Pashinian Ordered To Apologize To Jailed Ex-Minister
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- Finance Minister Gagik Khachatrian attends a parliament session in 
Yerevan, November 16, 2015.
A court in Yerevan has ordered Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to apologize 
through his spokeswoman for her disparaging comments about Armenia’s jailed 
former Finance Minister Gagik Khachatrian and his fugitive sons.
Khachatrian, who served as finance minister in former President Serzh 
Sarkisian’s administration, and his nephew went on trial in August one year 
after being arrested on corruption charges denied by them.
Law-enforcement authorities brought separate corruption charges against his two 
sons earlier in 2020. The latter went into hiding in May and remain on the run.
One of the sons, Gurgen Khachatrian, is the chairman of Ucom, a leading Armenian 
telecommunication operator controlled by the ex-minister’s extended family. In 
an April 2020 statement, Gurgen claimed that “high-ranking” officials have 
threatened to arrest him if the family refuses to sell its 77 percent stake in 
Ucom at a knockdown price.
Armenia -- Mane Gevorgian, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Pashinian’s press secretary, Mane Gevorgian, responded by describing Gagik 
Khachatrian as a “corrupt” former official who had made a huge fortune while 
serving as finance minister from 2014-2016 and holding senior positions in the 
Armenian tax and customs services in the preceding decades.
“According to the Armenian government’s information, Gagik Khachatrian and his 
sons headed a corrupt mafia system that had long operated in Armenia, as a 
result of which they accumulated illegal wealth worth several hundred million 
dollars,” Gevorgian wrote on Facebook. “The prime minister’s position is that 
this loot must be returned to the state in full.”
Gevorgian said relevant authorities will allow the Khachatrians to sell their 
Ucom stake only if they agree to transfer all proceeds from such a deal to the 
government.
Armenia -- Gurgen Khachatrian, the chairman of Ucom company's board of directors.
The Khachatrian family condemned Gevorgian’s post as slanderous and demanded an 
apology in a subsequent defamation suit.
The Yerevan court of first instance ruled on Tuesday that the prime minister’s 
spokeswoman violated the Khachatrians’ “honor and dignity” and must state on her 
Facebook page that Pashinian apologizes to them. It also ordered Pashinian’s 
office to pay 508,000 drams (about $1,000) in damages to cover the plaintiffs’ 
legal expenses.
Gevorgian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday that the office will 
appeal against the ruling.
Khachatrian was dogged by corruption allegations throughout his tenure, with 
some Armenian media outlets and opposition figures accusing him of using his 
position to become one of the country’s richest men. They pointed to his 
family’s extensive business interests, which include not only Ucom but also a 
shopping mall, a car dealership and a luxury watch store in Yerevan.
Khachatrian repeatedly denied ownership of these and other businesses, saying 
that they belong to his two sons and other relatives.
Russia Lifts Entry Ban For Armenians
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia - A Rossiya Airlines passenger jet parked at Zvartnots international 
airport, Yerevan, January 15, 2021.
In a move sought by Yerevan, Russia’s government has provisionally lifted a 
coronavirus-related entry ban for Armenian nationals which has aggravated 
Armenia’s economic problems.
Moscow banned the entry of visitors from many foreign countries last spring as 
part of its efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. It subsequently allowed 
citizens of some countries, including all other members of the Russian-led 
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) except Armenia, to visit Russia.
The ban directly affected tens of thousands of Armenian migrant workers earning 
a living in Russia on a seasonal or permanent basis. Many of them had to return 
to Armenia following lockdown restrictions imposed across Russia in March.
Most migrant workers have had trouble finding jobs in Armenia. The Armenian 
economy contracted by an estimated 8.5 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic and 
the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian government has pressed Moscow to lift the ban since the summer, 
with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian repeatedly raising the matter during virtual 
EEU summits.
Pashinian announced the lifting of the ban on Wednesday at the start of a weekly 
session of his cabinet. He said that Armenian citizens testing negative for 
COVID-19 will be allowed to enter Russia by air from February 1 to March 1. He 
expressed confidence that the permission will be extended beyond March 1.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian specified that travellers will have to download 
and use a special mobile phone application certifying the negative results of 
their coronavirus tests taken shortly before their departure from Armenia.
The Russian Embassy in Yerevan confirmed the information in a statement. It also 
released a list of 20 Russian international airports that will be allowed to 
handle regular flights to and from Armenia. They include Moscow’s three main 
airports.
Russian and Armenian airlines carried out as many as a dozen flights a day 
between Moscow and Yerevan before the pandemic.
“This is a very important program and I want to thank our partners from the 
Eurasian Economic Union, the government of the Russian Federation, all 
participants of the program for their active and productive cooperation,” said 
Pashinian. “This was the initiative of the Armenian government backed our 
partners.”
Pashinian emphasized the socioeconomic significance of the provisional lifting 
of the Russian ban. “As you know, many of our compatriots went to Russia as 
migrant workers,” he said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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