Author: Kalantarian Kevo

                                        Friday, 
Ter-Petrosian Ally Critical Of Armenian Government
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Aram Manukian, a senior member of the Armenian National Congress, at 
a news conference in Yerevan, .
A senior member of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National 
Congress (HAK) party on Friday criticized the current government’s domestic and 
foreign policies, saying that they are not “clear” enough.
Aram Manukian also claimed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s administration 
is too slow in implementing major reforms promised by it.
“The current authorities do not clearly express their positions on the Karabakh 
issue, foreign policy, and relations with Russia,” Manukian told a news 
conference. “[Their policies] are not clear.”
“That may have been justified during the first few months [of Pashinian’s] rule 
when there was a revolutionary euphoria,” he said. “That was only natural. But 
that wave has gone away and the authorities must their express their position 
on these issues in a clear and understandable way and without tricky terms.”
Pashinian ruled out any changes in Armenia’s traditional foreign policy and, in 
particular, close relationship with Russia when he swept to power in last 
year’s “Velvet Revolution.” Ter-Petrosian and his party, which is not 
represented in the current Armenian parliament, also support the alliance with 
Russia.
Manukian also complained he sees no “revolutionary steps” in the Pashinian 
government’s handling of the domestic economy and justice system. “The longer 
they delay reforms, especially painful reforms, the fewer possibilities of 
implementing those reforms they will have,” he said.
Pashinian played a prominent role in Ter-Petrosian’s opposition movement that 
nearly brought the latter back to power after a disputed presidential election 
held in February 2008. The former journalist spent about two years in prison as 
a result of a post-election government crackdown on the Ter-Petrosian-led 
opposition.
Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian (L) and Nikol Pashinian greet 
supporters at a rally in Yerevan, May 31, 2011.
Pashinian fell out with Ter-Petrosian after being released from prison in 2011. 
In February 2018, the HAK’s deputy chairman, Levon Zurabian, scoffed at 
Pashinian’s plans to try to stop then President Serzh Sarkisian from extending 
his decade-long rule.
Even so, the HAK welcomed the subsequent Pashinian-led protests that led to 
Sarkisian’s resignation. Ter-Petrosian, who had served as Armenia’s first 
president from 1991-1998, and Pashinian met in July 2018 for the first time in 
years.
Senior HAK representatives also hailed criminal charges that were brought 
against former President Robert Kocharian and other former Armenian officials 
shortly after the “Velvet Revolution.” The charges stem from the March 2008 
breakup of the post-election protests in Yerevan which left eight protesters 
and two policemen dead.
In February this year, Ter-Petrosian defended Pashinian against the country’s 
former “kleptocratic regime” which he said is waging a smear campaign against 
the new government.
The 74-year-old ex-president also dismissed opposition claims that Pashinian 
has embraced his conciliatory approach to resolving the Karabakh conflict. He 
said that unlike himself and the two other former Armenian presidents, 
Pashinian has so far shed no light on his views about how to resolve the 
conflict.
Government Eyes Phased Payment Of Heavy Court Fine
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
FRANCE -- The building of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, 
January 24, 2018.
The Armenian government will pay an elderly resident of Yerevan 1.6 million 
euros ($1.8 million) worth of compensation ordered by the European Court of 
Human Rights (ECHR), a senior official said on Friday.
Yeghishe Kirakosian, Armenia’s representative to the ECHR, said the government 
at the same time hopes that the massive payment resulting from a property 
dispute can be made in several installments.
The ECHR set the amount of “just satisfaction” for the 83-year-old Yuri 
Vartanian last month nearly three years after ruling that Armenian authorities 
violated his rights to property ownership and a fair hearing in court.
Vartanian and his family used to own a house and a plot of land in an old 
district in the center of Yerevan which was slated for demolition in the early 
2000s as part of redevelopment projects initiated by then President Robert 
Kocharian. A real estate agency authorized by the state estimated the market 
value of the 1,400 square-meter property at more than $700,000 in May 2005.
A few months later, Yerevan’s municipal administration and, Vizkon, a private 
developer cooperating with it, challenged Vartanian’s land ownership rights in 
court. The claim was accepted by a district court but rejected by Armenia’s 
Court of Appeals.
According to ECHR documents, the municipality and Vizkon expressed readiness to 
settle the case when it reached the higher Court of Cassation in 2006. They 
offered to give Vartanian $390,000 in cash as well as a 160-square-meter 
apartment and 40-square-meter office premises in the city center.
Vartanian rejected the offer before a panel of three Court of Cassation judges 
ruled against him. He appealed to the ECHR in 2007.
The resulting compensation ordered by the Strasbourg-based court exceeds the 
total amount of damages awarded by the ECHR to all other Armenian plaintiffs 
combined.
Kirakosian confirmed that the current government will pay Vartanian the large 
sum when the ECHR verdict comes into force in October. “This is the kind of 
obligation which the Republic of Armenia must fulfill immediately,” he told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “It’s an unconditional obligation.”
“As it stands, various variants of easing that heavy [financial] burden on the 
state budget are being discussed in the government. Maybe it could be paid in 
parts over a certain period of time,” he said, adding that government officials 
intend to negotiate with Vartanian for that purpose.
Kirakosian admitted that the government will have no choice but to pay the sum 
at once if Vartanian refuses a phased payment.
The ECHR has previously also ruled in favor of nine other Yerevan residents who 
had lost their properties in similar circumstances. The former Armenian 
government had to pay them a total of 324,581 euros in damages.
The hefty fines have for years triggered calls in Armenia for administrative or 
financial penalties against those government officials and judges whose 
decisions fall foul of the ECHR. In Kirakosian’s words, the authorities in 
Yerevan are now “thinking” about the possibility of putting in place legal 
mechanisms for such sanctions.
“This is a complex and multi-layered issue because I don’t think that only one, 
two or three individuals are to blame [for ECHR verdicts against Armenia,]” 
said the official. “It’s a systemic problem that requires a comprehensive 
examination.”
Pashinian Tours Communities Close To Blocked Mining Site
        • Narine Ghalechian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visits Jermuk, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian sought to reassure residents of the resort town 
of Jermuk and two villages located close to the Amulsar gold deposit in 
southeastern Armenia as he visited their communities on Friday.
Pashinian told them that the British-registered company Lydian International 
will not be allowed to launch mining operations there if they are deemed to 
pose a serious threat to the environment. He also announced that he will seek 
additional explanations from the Lebanese consulting firm ELARD that has 
conducted an independent environmental audit of the Amulsar project.
ELARD’s final report submitted Armenia’s Investigative Committee was made 
public two weeks ago. According to its key conclusions presented by the 
law-enforcement body, toxic waste from the would-be mine is extremely unlikely 
to contaminate mineral water sources in Jermuk or rivers and canals flowing 
into Lake Sevan.
The 200-page report says that gold mining poses greater environmental risks for 
other rivers in the area. But it says they can be minimized if Lydian takes 16 
“mitigating measures” recommended by ELARD. Lydian has expressed readiness to 
take virtually of all those measures.
Pashinian cited these conclusions when he indicated on Monday his intention to 
enable Lydian the restart the multimillion-dollar mining project disrupted by 
protesters more than a year ago. Yerevan-based environmental activists 
denounced that statement. Some of them claimed that in fact ELARD gave a 
negative assessment of the project’s impact on the environment.
Pashinian cited the conflicting interpretations of the ELARD report when he 
addressed about 200 people who gathered in a Jermuk square to voice their 
strong opposition to gold mining at Amulsar.
“I have decided that next Thursday or Friday we will hold a video conference 
with ELARD’s team of experts during which we will say that ‘there is a big 
debate in Armenia over what you wrote [in the report] and that you yourself 
must now present your conclusions,” he said. “All that conversation will be 
filmed and made public.”
Pashinian said he will press the Lebanese environmental consultants to give 
“clear-cut answers” to lingering questions about the safety of Lydian’s project.
“If it emerges that our water, our air, our soil and our grass will indeed be 
polluted then the mine will not be allowed to operate,” he declared. “But if it 
emerges that the only problem is that one will see some rooftop from their 
window then it will be a different situation which we will discuss.”
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian talks to a woman in Jermuk, August 
23, 2019.
Several dozen protesters have blocked all roads leading to Amulsar since June 
2018, disrupting the construction of Lydian’s mining facilities which was due 
to be completed by the end of last year. The protesters say that gold mining 
and smelting operations would severely damage the local ecosystem.
Lydian, which has invested at least $350 million in the project, dismisses 
these concerns, saying that it will use modern and safe technology. The company 
headquartered in the U.S. state of Colorado has repeatedly demanded that the 
Armenian government end what it regards as an illegal road blockade.
The government contracted ELARD early this year. Pashinian and other officials 
said then that Lydian’s renewed operations in Armenia will depend on the 
results of the ELARD audit.
While in Jermuk, Pashinian also discussed the Amulsar issue with other ordinary 
residents of Armenia’s most famous mineral water resort. In particular, we went 
into the apartment of a middle-aged woman who claimed to have lived in the 
United States for about 27 years and returned to her hometown recently. She 
urged Pashinian to pull the plug on the mining project.
“I came back to live in an ecologically clean place,” she said. “I want this 
clean and untouched nature to be really preserved. Watching this nature gives 
me great pleasure.”
Armenia -- Residents of Gorayk village meet with Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian, .
After meeting separately with a group of local activists campaigning against 
the project, Pashinian headed to the nearby villages of Gorayk and Saravan.
In Gorayk, the prime minister inspected a Lydian lab designed for water 
analysis and recycling and held an indoor meeting with village residents.
Many of the villagers voiced support for the project, saying that they trust in 
Lydian’s environment-related assurances and are eager to work for the company 
due to a lack of other employment opportunities in the area.
“Mr. Prime Minister, the mine must definitely work,” said one man. “It’s good 
for the economy. We are a country at war. Our budget needs revenues. We are all 
young and need jobs.”
Lydian and its Armenian building contractors employed more than 1,000 people 
until the start of the Amulsar blockade. Many of them were residents of the 
surrounding communities.
Press Review
Lragir.am says that the dispute over the Amulsar gold mining project marks the 
start of a “new political phase” in Armenia which will lead to realignments in 
the Armenian police scene. “There is talk of the formation of new opposition, 
including from within the authorities,” writes the publication. “How 
substantiated are these assertions? A lot depends on further developments over 
the Amulsar issue.” It says the issue is exploited not only by Armenia’s former 
leadership and its political allies.
1in.am says that although some members of the pro-government majority in the 
Armenian parliament make no secret of their opposition to the Amulsar project 
it is still too early to say whether this could cause a serious rift within 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance. “The issue has become a 
subject of courteous, polite and respectful but still public debates among 
members of that majority,” writes the publication. “They go as far to trade 
subtle accusations and rebukes. In all likelihood, it’s about time that all 
deputies from My Step’s parliamentary faction expressed a position on not only 
Amulsar but also chances of snap parliamentary elections.”
“The fact is that the people gave Nikol Pashinian and his political team a 
mandate to be guided not by personal or partisan but national interests when 
governing the country,” writes “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “It is evident that the 
reopening of Amulsar [mine] does not stem from his personal interests. Nor does 
it stem from the interests of the political force headed by him. They even 
speak about the possibility of a split within that force.” The paper linked to 
Pashinian insists that “state interests” are the most important factor behind 
his current and future decisions relating to Amulsar. It says the prime 
minister is mindful of those decisions’ negative impact on his approval ratings.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

                                        Thursday, 
Major Mining Project In Armenia Not Risky, Says Environmental Audit
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia - Gold mining facilities constructed by Lydian International company at 
Amulsar deposit, 18 May 2018.
A multimillion-dollar gold mining project launched in Armenia by an 
Anglo-American company but disrupted a year ago does not pose serious 
environmental risks, according to an independent study commissioned by the 
Armenian government.
The company, Lydian International, started building a massive gold mine at the 
Amulsar deposit in the southeastern Vayots Dzor province in August 2016 after a 
lengthy licensing process.
All roads leading to Amulsar have been blocked since June 2018 by several dozen 
people protesting against gold mining operations there which they say would 
contaminate air, soil and water resources in the mountainous area.
Lydian, which claims to have already invested $400 million in the project, has 
dismissed these concerns, saying that it will use modern and safe technology. 
The company has repeatedly demanded an end to what it considers an illegal 
blockage. It openly threatened international legal action against the Armenian 
government in March.
Around that time, the government hired a Lebanese environmental consultancy, 
ELARD, to conduct an environmental assessment of what would be one of the 
biggest foreign investment projects ever implemented in Armenia. Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian and other officials have since indicated that Lydian’s renewed 
operations depend on the findings of that audit.
ELARD was specifically tasked with looking into the project’s potential impact 
on Jermuk, a famous spa resort located around 20 kilometers from Amulsar, and 
the more remote Lake Sevan.
The Investigative Committee on Wednesday publicized a 200-page report submitted 
to it by ELARD. The head of the law-enforcement agency, Hayk Grigorian, 
presented its key findings at a cabinet meeting held in Yerevan on Thursday.
Grigorian stressed, in particular, that the audit found that underground water 
at Amulsar has no physical “connections” with mineral water sources in Jermuk 
or rivers and canals flowing into Sevan. The ecologically vital lake might only 
be contaminated with “insignificant” quantities of toxic waste from Amulsar in 
case of a powerful earthquake, he said.
Gold mining poses greater environmental risks for other rivers flowing through 
Vayots Dzor, Grigorian went on. But they can be minimized if Lydian takes 
“mitigating measures” recommended by ELARD, he said, citing the study. The 
official added that the company is ready to take virtually all of those steps.
Grigorian further made clear that based on the audit the Investigative 
Committee has no grounds to indict anyone in its criminal inquiry into a 
government agency that gave the green light to the mining project in April 
2016. The probe was launched in July 2018.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Pashinian said that the government will 
closely examine the ELARD report. He did not specify whether it will order 
law-enforcement authorities to forcibly restore Lydian’s access to the would-be 
mining site.
Armenia -- Protesters block a road leading to the Amulsar mine, July 2, 2018.
As Pashinian chaired the meeting about two dozen environmental activists 
rallied outside his office to warn the government against enabling Lydian to 
resume its operations. They insisted that mining at Amulsar would inflict 
severe damage on the country’s ecosystem.
The protesters demanded an urgent meeting with Pashinian. An aide to the prime 
minister told them that he will receive them later this month.
Meanwhile, Lydian cautiously welcomed the audit’s basic conclusions in a 
statement released on Wednesday. “We are relieved that the Audit Report has 
been made public, as the Government of Armenia has repeatedly conditioned 
Lydian’s ability to advance the Amulsar Project on its results,” the company’s 
interim chairman and chief executive, Edward Sellers, was quoted by the 
statement as saying.
“We look forward to reading the full text of the Audit Report and are confident 
it will confirm Lydian’s prudential approach to environmental stewardship,” 
added Sellers.
The Amulsar project has been supported by the U.S. and British embassies in 
Yerevan. U.S. diplomats have warned that continued disruption of Lydian’s 
operations could scare away other American investors interested in Armenia.
Lydian is registered in a British tax haven, headquartered in the U.S. state of 
Colorado and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its shareholders include 
U.S., Canadian and European investment funds as well as the European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development.
The company planned to produce 210,000 ounces of gold, worth over $315 million 
at current international prices, annually at Amulsar. It also pledged to create 
about 800 permanent jobs and pay about $50 million in annual taxes.
Pashinian Sacks Top Aides
Armenia- Arsen Gasparian, chief adviser to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, 
speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, March 6, 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian dismissed his two chief advisers and another 
aide on Thursday.
Pashinian’s executive orders posted on an Armenian government website gave no 
reasons for the sacking of the advisers, Arsen Gasparian Aram Gharibian.
Gasparian is a former diplomat who lived in Russia after resigning from the 
Armenian Foreign Ministry in the late 1990s. He joined Pashinian’s newly formed 
staff in July last year.
Gharibian has held the government position since June 2018. His dismissal will 
take effect on September 2.
Also fired was an assistant to Pashinian, Mher Sahakian. A relevant order 
signed by the prime minister said Sahakian is relieved of his duties at his own 
request.
Pashinian already fired his chief of protocol and two other senior members of 
his staff in April.
One of them, Margarit Azarian, headed the human resources department in the 
prime minister’s office. Azarian is the mother of Artur Vanetsian, the 
influential director of Armenia’s National Security Service.
A spokesman for Pashinian said at the time that the three officials were fired 
because of their “inadequate execution of the prime minister’s orders.” Azarian 
claimed, however, that she herself decided to quit.
Minister Defends Resignation Incentives For High Court Judges
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Justice Minister Rustam Badasian speaks to journalists, Yerevan, 
.
Justice Minister Rustam Badasian on Thursday defended a controversial 
government bill that offers members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court financial 
incentives to resign.
Under a bill drafted by the Armenian Justice Ministry, Constitutional Court 
judges will continue to receive their salaries and other benefits if they 
tender resignations by October 31.
One of those judges, Alvina Gyulumian, rejected the lucrative offer as 
unethical on Tuesday. She suggested that her colleagues will also decline it.
The bill has also been criticized by some legal experts and the government’s 
political opponents. They say that it amounts to a legal “bribe.”
Badasian insisted, however, that his ministry has simply devised a legal 
mechanism for voluntary “early retirement” of judges adopted in many other 
countries.
“It’s a common practice for transitional periods and that’s what our bill 
envisages,” he told reporters. “We are awaiting constructive proposals.”
“Any solution contains certain political elements,” said Badasian. “But it 
doesn’t mean it’s a partisan decision. It’s a political decision which cannot 
and does not transcend the boundaries of a rule-of-law state.”
The bill was publicized late last week following Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s harsh criticism of the Constitutional Court’s chairman, Hrayr 
Tovmasian. In a July 19 interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Pashinian 
implicitly demanded the resignation of Tovmasian and other judges appointed 
under the country’s previous governments.
Tovmasian rebutted the verbal attack, warning Pashinian’s government against 
trying to force him and his colleagues to quit.
The idea of financially encouraging resignations from the Constitutional Court 
was first floated in June by Vahe Grigorian, the court’s newest judge elected 
by Armenia’s government-controlled parliament. Grigorian suggested it after 
challenging the legitimacy of seven fellow judges installed before amendments 
to the Armenian constitution took effect in April 2018.
The court’s eight other members, including Tovmasian, dismissed Grigorian’s 
claims.
Ara Ghazarian, a lawyer and expert on international law, also denied on 
Thursday the existence of a “constitutional crisis” in the country. Still, he 
said the “early retirement” tentatively offered by the government is not a bad 
idea in principle.
“I don’t think it’s a bribe,” Ghazarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “In 
essence, it’s a deal. The practice of a deal exists in jurisprudence.”
“The question is what this would be done for,” he said. “If the idea is to get 
Constitutional Court judges to quit because [the government thinks] there is a 
crisis in the court, I don’t see such a crisis.”
The government, Ghazarian went on, would be wrong to try to get rid of some 
judges for purely political reasons. “If that is the aim of the deal I believe 
it does not reflect an objective necessity,” he said. “Political expediency is 
not an objective necessity.”
Press Review
Lragir.am comments on fresh skirmishes on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan 
which left one Armenian soldier wounded. “All this happened when Russian 
Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev was in Armenia,” writes the 
pro-Western publication. It says that during their meetings with Patrushev 
Armenian officials again expressed concern over Russian arms sales to 
Azerbaijan.
“Aravot” reports that an international economic forum will be held in Yerevan 
on September 30 during a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The 
conference will focus on ways of utilizing “the transit potential of the 
Eurasian continent.” “It is expected that the conference will discuss pressing 
issues related to transport and logistics in the continent, prospects for the 
development by regional states of new and large-scale infrastructure projects 
and the implementation of projects that are already being implemented,” writes 
the paper. It says that with this conference Pashinian hopes to make the EEU 
summit more “lively.” He has invited the president of Iran and the prime 
minister of Singapore to the summit for the same purpose, according to the 
paper. “One should now wait and see how Russia reacts to official Yerevan’s 
efforts,” it says.
“Hraparak” predicts a “heated autumn” for members of Armenia’s parliament which 
is now in summer recess. In particular, the says, the National Assembly has to 
debate and pass several dozen bills envisaged by Armenia’s Comprehensive and 
Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union. One of those bills 
calls for major structural changes within the Armenian police.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org