Wednesday,
Armenia Backs Russia Over Ex-Spy’s Poisoning
NETHERLANDS -- Journalists wait outside the headquarters of the Organisation
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, April 4, 2018
Armenia reportedly joined a dozen other states on Wednesday in defending Russia
in its intensifying dispute with the West over the poisoning of a former
Russian spy in England.
Britain has accused Russia of using a nerve agent to poison Sergei Skripal, 66,
and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, who were hospitalized in critical
condition after being found collapsed on a bench in the southern city of
Salisbury on March 4. The United States, the European Union and NATO have added
their voice to the accusations strongly denied by Moscow. More than 150 Russian
diplomats have been expelled from Washington, London and other European
capitals as a result.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague
discussed the crisis on Wednesday at an emergency meeting called by Russia.
Britain's delegation to the OPCW dismissed Moscow's proposal for a joint
British-Russian investigation into the poisoning of the Skripals as "perverse."
The Russian Embassy to the Netherlands reported that Russia and 13 other
nations, including Armenia, issued a joint statement at the meeting that backed
Moscow’s demands addressed to the chemical weapons watchdog. According to it,
the signatories also included Azerbaijan, four other former Soviet republics as
well as Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela, Syria, Cuba and Nicaragua.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry did not immediately confirm the information.
Yerevan has not yet issued any official statement on the Skripal case.
In a statement read out at the OPCW session, the European Union said it is
"imperative" that Russia "responds to the British government's legitimate
questions, begins to cooperate with the OPCW Secretariat, and provides full and
complete disclosure to the OPCW."
New Vatican Statue Highlights Armenian-Catholic Rapprochement
• Emil Danielyan
Vatican - Pope Francis and the heads of the Armenian Apostolic Church hold a
joint prayer service in the Vatican, 5 April 2018.
Nearly two years after his landmark visit to Armenia, Pope Francis inaugurated
the statue of a medieval Armenian cleric in the Vatican on Thursday at a
ceremony attended by President Serzh Sarkisian and the leaders of the Armenian
Apostolic Church.
Sarkisian held separate meetings with Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the
Vatican’s secretary of state, earlier in the day.
“During the cordial discussions, keen satisfaction was expressed for the good
relations existing between the Holy See and Armenia,” read a Vatican statement
on the talks. It said the two sides also discussed “the condition of Christians
and religious minorities, especially in theatres of war.”
Vatican - Pope Francis meets with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian in the
Vatican, 5 April 2018.
According to the Armenian presidential press service, Sarkisian and Francis
“expressed readiness to continue to develop and deepen interstate relations
between the Vatican and Armenia.” The Armenian leader emphasized the fact that
it is their fifth face-to-face meeting since Francis was elected head of the
Roman Catholic Church in 2013. He praised the pontiff for his commitment to a
“sincere and warm dialogue” with Armenia.
Sarkisian also thanked him for agreeing to place the statue of St. Gregory of
Narek (Grigor Narekatsi) in the Vatican Gardens.
Venerated as a saint by the Catholic and Armenian churches, Gregory was an
Armenian monk, theologian and poet who lived in the 10-11th centuries. He is
renowned for his religious writings, notably his “Book of Lamentations.”
Francis bestowed the title of “Doctor of the Universal Church” on Gregory at an
April 2015 Vatican mass dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian genocide in
Ottoman Turkey. The pontiff described him as “an extraordinary interpreter of
the human soul.” Only 36 Christian figures have received the Catholic title to
date.
Vatican - Pope Francis blesses the statue of St. Gregory of Narek donated by
Armenia, 5 April 2018.
Gregory’s bronze statue was unveiled by Mikael Minasian, Sarkisian’s son-in-law
and the Armenian ambassador to the Holy See, during the ensuing ceremony.
Francis blessed it before in a joint prayer service with the two top Armenian
Apostolic clergymen, Catholicos Garegin (Karekin) II and Catholicos Aram I.
A copy of the statue donated by Armenia will be placed at the Echmiadzin
headquarters of the Armenian Church later this year. The Catholic News Agency
on Wednesday quoted Minasian as referring to Gregory of Narek as a “bridge
between the Armenian Church and Catholic Church.”
The rapprochement between the two ancient churches, strongly supported by
successive Armenian governments, gained momentum in 1996 when they essentially
ended their long-standing theological disputes. In 2001, John Paull II became
the first Pope to have ever set foot in Armenia.
Armenia - Armenians greet Pope Francis and Catholicos Garegin II in Yerevan's
Republic Square, 25Jun2016.
Francis was given a red-carpet reception when he visited the South Caucasus
state in June 2016. Praying at the Echmiadzin cathedral, he saluted Armenia for
making Christianity an “essential part of its identity”.
The Pope’s ecumenical liturgy with Garegin held in Yerevan’s central square
attracted thousands of people. The two religious leaders praised the “growing
closeness” between their churches in a joint declaration issued at the end of
the papal trip.
While in Armenia, Francis also reaffirmed his recognition of the 1915 Armenian
genocide, prompting a strong condemnation from Ankara.
During his April 2015 mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, the Argentine-born pontiff
said the World War One-era slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians is “widely
considered the first genocide of the twentieth century.”
Yerevan Explains Stance On Skripal Poisoning Case
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Britain - Police officers guard the cordoned off area around the home of former
Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, April 3, 2018.
A senior diplomat defended on Thursday Armenia’s decision to back Russia’s
calls for a joint investigation into the poisoning of a former Russian spy in
Britain which has further strained Moscow’s relations with Western powers.
London has said it is "highly likely" Moscow was behind the March 4 attack with
a military-grade nerve agent on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, but
Russia has insisted it is innocent and is taking its case before world bodies.
Both sides have already suspended high-level contacts, and more than two dozen
Western countries have joined Britain in expelling over 150 diplomats in
retaliation for the poisonings, with Russia responding in kind.
On Wednesday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
turned down a Russian bid to be involved in a joint investigation of the
incident with Britain. Only 6 of the 41 countries making up the executive body
of the global chemical weapons watchdog voted for it.
Armenia is presently not part of the OPCW body. But it did join 13 other
nations, including neighboring Azerbaijan and Iran, in issuing a statement that
backed the Russian proposal.
“We are not defending Russia. We just want this case to be fully solved,” said
Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian.
“At this stage one should refrain from any judgment, evaluation or action [on
the Skripal case] until there are answers to the three following questions,”
Kocharian told reporters. “First, where was that chemical weapon manufactured?
What is its origin? Second, who carried out [the chemical attack?] And third,
who ordered it?”
Stepan Grigorian, a pro-Western political analyst, insisted that the Armenian
government has adopted a pro-Russian position on the Skripal case. He said that
could inflict more serious damage on Armenia’s relations with West than
Yerevan’s indirect endorsement of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 did.
“That attack [on the Skripals] happened on Western territory,” Grigorian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “They will take it more seriously and
I don’t exclude that it will affect the Armenia-West relationship.”
Kocharian was more sanguine about that relationship. “I don’t think that a
country that wants the truth to be established can have complications,” he said.
Outgoing Armenian Ministers Told To ‘Keep Up Tempo’
• Ruzanna Gishian
Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian chairs a cabinet meeting in Yerevan,
5 March 2018.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian on Thursday told members of his cabinet to
continue to work as usual despite having to tender their resignations
immediately after Armenia’s new president takes office on Monday.
Armen Sarkissian will replace the outgoing President Serzh Sarkisian (no
relation) but will have largely ceremonial powers due to the country’s
transition to a parliamentary system of government. The Armenian constitution
requires Karapetian and all ministers to step down on the same day. But they
will continue to perform their duties until the formation of a new cabinet.
The National Assembly controlled by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(HHK) is due to elect a new prime minister on April 17. The latter will have
five days to nominate his cabinet members who will be formally appointed by the
new president in the next two or three weeks.
“Based on the constitutional requirement, we are going to submit the
government’s resignation,” Karapetian told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
“Using this occasion, I want to thank all of you for our joint work.”
“Don’t feel happy,” he added with a smile. “We have to keep working with the
same tempo. Don’t ease the tempo.”
Serzh Sarkisian is widely expected to replace Karapetian as prime minister and
thus remain in power. Karapetian, for his part, is tipped to become first
deputy prime minister. Observers expect few ministerial changes.
The next Armenian premier will be based in a building in Yerevan that has
housed President Sarkisian and his staff for the past decade. Justice Minister
Davit Harutiunian revealed on Thursday that he will also “perform a part of his
duties” in another office which is currently occupied by Karapetian and serves
as the venue for cabinet meetings. Those duties are “directly related to the
work of the government,” he said without elaborating.
“The prime minister’s powers have been expanded to such an extent that he will
be performing a considerable part of the current president’s duties,”
Harutiunian told reporters. “In this sense, the presidential administration
building is adapted for properly exercising a number of powers.”
Under a controversial bill passed by the parliament last month, journalists
will no longer be able to watch cabinet meetings in Yerevan live from an
adjacent press room. The prime minister could only make “a part of a meeting”
open to the press.
Armenia’s leading media associations have criticized this change, saying that
it will make the government less transparent.
Harutiunian, who is the key author of the bill, again dismissed the criticism.
He said the government will continue to publicize the agendas of its weekly
meetings beforehand.Also, he said, journalists will be briefed on key decisions
made by the executive.
Harutiunian argued earlier that in virtually all countries of the world cabinet
meetings are held in closed session.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” says that the Armenian authorities may be behind the deepening rift
within the opposition Yelk alliance. “Of course, the authorities’ main motive
is not to break up Yelk,” writes the paper. It says Yelk has demonstrated that
it does not enjoy strong popular support and pose a serious threat to the
authorities. It speculates that Serzh Sarkisian is adding to Yelk’s troubles
precise because of its failure to establish itself in the Armenian political
stage.
“Hraparak” says that virtually all opposition alliances formed in Armenia in
the last two decades have fallen apart shortly after winning or not winning
parliament seats. “Within a short period of time it turned out that those
alliances -- which were formed for one, no matter how noble, goal: regime
change -- are bankrupt, short-lived and have no future,” writes the paper.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” brushes aside the argument that Sarkisian must not resign
now because Armenia remains in a de facto state of war with Azerbaijan. The
paper says that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union also cited external
threats to justify its undisputed rule. “That stability dragged on so long that
the Soviet system became rotten to the core and it took a slight wind to break
up that huge country which had huge armed forces and resources,” it says.
“Zhoghovurd” says that only a “complete regime change” can stop Sarkisian from
becoming prime minister. “This could only happen in the event of a dissolution
of the parliament and conduct of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia,” says
the paper. “But it is not quite easy to dissolve the National Assembly.” Under
the country’s amended constitution, fresh elections must be called if the
parliament twice fails to elect a prime minister or approve the government’s
policy program. “In other words, the ruling HHK’s parliamentary majority must
commit suicide by taking on the new prime minister and the government,” says
the paper.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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