Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Pashinyan says LTP and Kocharyan opted out from visiting Moscow during war despite facilitation

 09:26,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has revealed details regarding the willingness of former presidents Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan to visit Moscow during the war in Artsakh.

“On October 20, the second and third presidents of Artsakh Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan proposed to organize a meeting between the incumbent and former leaders of Armenia and Artsakh, which would be a manifestation of national unity during the days of the war. After some discussions I agreed. We agreed that whenever they would signal that the former presidents are ready, I would organize the meeting. During our next meeting, Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan said that a nuance had added to their idea: Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan want to travel to Moscow to have high-level meetings there and that our meeting should be organized after their return and would become somewhat of an information combination, more informed discussion of the situation. I said that I am not against the idea, I said I would even provide the government aircraft, let them go and have meetings and come back. However, after my consent the former presidents of Artsakh raised another issue, they said it is necessary for me to mediate for President of Russia Vladimir Putin to receive Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan as special envoys.

I responded with the following: I am in permanent contact with the Russian president. There are days when I speak five to six times with him. Now, If he were to ask me ‘what do you have to say that you are unable to tell me directly and you want to say it through envoys’, what do I have to reply? The same question appeared in case of FM Sergey Lavrov, when the former presidents of Artsakh wanted our foreign minister to mediate for him to receive our special envoys. Our FM is in permanent contact with the Russian FM, their meeting was scheduled in Moscow. What was he supposed to answer if Lavrov was to ask him the same question?

I proposed another option: quickly organize a protocol visit of Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan to Moscow – as former presidents, where they would be the guests of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is also the Vice President of the Russian Security Council, and during the visit attempt to organize courtesy meetings with the Russian President, foreign minister and other high-ranking officials.

Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan went off, vowing to discuss this option with Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan. It turned out that the former presidents aren’t much interested in my option. To my surprise, Bako Sahakyan claimed that Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan had an agreement to meet with Sergey Lavrov. In that case, what’d they want from me? If they have an agreement, let them go and meet. It turned out, the problem was Kocharyan’s passport which was seized by the court. I told them to file a motion to court, I would ask the prosecution not to object the return of the passport. That’s exactly what happened: the court returned Kocharyan’s passport, but Ter-Petrosyan and Kocharyan didn’t go to Moscow after all,” Pashinyan said in a statement on social media.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Expert says Russia would not tolerate Turkey’s actions to populate NK territories with Syrians

 09:07,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. Turkey’s plans to populate the territories of Nagorno Karabakh, which have come under the Azerbaijani control, with Syrians will not be accepted by both Russia and Iran. Russia would not allow it or will take anti-terrorist measures later, Expert on Turkish studies Ruben Melkonyan told Armenpress, commenting on the foreign and local media reports according to which Turkey is transferring Syrians to the territories of Nagorno Karabakh currently controlled by Azerbaijan.

The expert said these reports, even they are not coming from real facts, have a very serious potential of becoming a reality.

According to him, the issue should be viewed from two important domains. “The first one is that Turkey’s open participation to the recent war [in Karabakh] made us suppose that after the war as well Turkey will continue to keep its active presence in this matter. And it’s natural that Turkey will try to take some steps in its policy priorities. Secondly, we need to take into account that the demography policy or the demographic engineering has a very important place in Turkey’s policy. It is based on a state tradition and has a history of centuries. In the occupied territories Turkey is immediately starting the policy of neutralizing the further threats and creating additional threats for the enemy countries”, the expert said.

Melkonyan reminded that before the Armenian Genocide Turkey has populated various territories of historic Armenia with different Muslim nations which later played a role in the implementation of the Armenian Genocide. He said Turkey, by occupying several territories in Syria, is populating them with people faithful to it. According to the expert, Turkey is trying the same also in the territories of Artsakh which have come under the Azerbaijani control. “My analysis is based on the principles of the Turkish demographic policy, and these principles allow to claim that populating the occupied territories of Artsakh with people faithful to Turkey is very realistic”, he said.

Melkonyan is sure that some of these people will be terrorists with their families who can turn from a ‘peaceful civilian’ to an extreme terrorist at any moment, by participating in military or terrorist operations. “In other words, by populating that territories with that people, Turkey in fact is deploying a special division of the army in the face of terrorists and their families”, the expert on Turkish studies noted.

Asked why there is no wish to populate those territories with Azerbaijanis, Melkonyan said the question should be viewed in the context of expected public developments, complaints in Azerbaijan and we should understand whether Azerbaijan’s statement that the refugees want to move to Aghdam and other territories is true or is another myth.

Melkonyan also stated that Turkey’s such plans are not in the interests of Iran and Russia.

“Russia should not allow transfer of terrorists to that region which is closer to its borders. But if we look at the issue from political perspective, the presence of terrorists in this territory would allow Russia to take certain steps at any moment under the anti-terrorist war flag or other”, he said.

Ruben Melkonyan proposed to wait for developments and understand which priority will be more influential for Russia – the humanitarian one or the anti-terrorist one. The expert, however, believes that both Russia and Iran would not accept these steps and may take some actions either now or later. “Nevertheless, we need to understand that this issue is going to be one of the key points of the Russian-Turkish or Turkish-Iranian clash”, Ruben Melkonyan said.

Interview by Anna Grigoryan

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan