Author: Maghakian Mike

                                        Friday, November 26, 2021
Statement Issued After Russia-Hosted Armenian-Azerbaijani Talks
November 26, 2021
(Left to right) Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir 
Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian attend a press briefing after 
their trilateral talks in Sochi, Russia, November 26, 2021.
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to move towards starting a process 
of delimitating and demarcating their Soviet-era border and pursue unblocking of 
all economic and transport links in the region as a result of Russia-hosted 
talks on Friday.
In a trilateral statement released after their meeting in Sochi Russian 
President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, in particular, that they have agreed 
“to take steps to increase the level of stability and security on the 
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and to work towards the creation of a bilateral 
commission on the delimitation of the state border between the Republic of 
Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia with its subsequent demarcation with the 
consultative assistance of the Russian Federation at the request of the parties.”
The statement said that the parties also agreed “to intensify joint efforts 
aimed at the earliest possible resolution of the remaining tasks arising from 
the statements of November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021” that includes the 
resumption of all economic and transport links in the South Caucasus.
“We have emphasized the need to launch specific projects as soon as possible in 
order to tap the economic potential of the region. The Russian Federation will 
continue to provide all necessary assistance in the interest of normalizing 
relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, 
creating an atmosphere of trust between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples, as 
well as building good-neighborly relations in the region,” the statement added.
After their talks that, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, lasted for 
about three hours, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia also made 
statements for the press, in which all described the meeting as positive.
“We have worked very constructively today. It was a deep analysis of the current 
situation,” said Putin, adding that agreements had been reached “on a number of 
key issues.”
“The first of them is the creation of mechanisms of the delimitation and 
demarcation of the border between the two states, which we have agreed to do by 
the end of this year. I hope it will be done as soon as possible. There are no 
obstacles to the creation of these mechanisms,” the Russian leader said.
Putin said that “significant progress” was also made on issues of humanitarian 
nature. He did not elaborate.
He also said that the parties discussed in detail issues of developing economic 
ties and primarily the issue of unblocking “transport corridors.”
“It concerns both railway and road links. I think that here we should thank our 
vice-premiers who have been working over this issue for quite a long time now,” 
the Russian president said.
He said that as part of the agreements made during the November 26 talks deputy 
prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will gather in Moscow next 
week “to summarize some results and announce the decisions that we have 
coordinated today.”
In his remarks Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed a hope that the 
Sochi talks will lead to results that will make the situation in the South 
Caucasus “more secure and predictable.”
“Today we had a very detailed and I would say frank conversation on issues of 
border delimitation and demarcation and unblocking of transport arteries. We 
openly discussed our plans, we openly discussed issues that cause concern with 
both sides. The most important thing is that the decisions that we’ve made in 
the issue of settling disputes, differences will contribute to a more secure and 
predictable situation in the South Caucasus,” he said.
Aliyev said that Baku also sees willingness from the Armenian side “to create 
preconditions for the situation in the region to become more predictable.”
“I have repeatedly said that in Azerbaijan we feel like turning over the page of 
many years of confrontation with Armenia to begin a stage of normal 
interaction,” Aliyev said. “I think our meeting will lead to good results that 
won’t make us wait for too long.”
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in his remarks described the meeting as 
“very positive,” saying that “we have, in fact, discussed all issues of the 
agenda.”
“This wasn’t a meeting to hide problems. This was a meeting during which we 
openly discussed all issues. I want to point out that it is very positive that 
on many issues we clarified our positions, and it turned out that on some issues 
we have no misinterpretations as it would seem before this meeting. I want to 
say that, indeed, we stated that in regards to the issue of the opening of all 
transport and economic links in the region we have a common idea as to how these 
links will work,” Pashinian said.
The Armenian leader said that it is necessary to create mechanisms of ensuring 
security and stability along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan before 
starting the process of border delimitation and demarcation. He said 
humanitarian issues were also addressed during the talks.
“On the whole, I too assess today’s talks very positively. I think that we can 
expect concrete results if we manage to build on the dynamics of our talks,” 
Pashinian said.
“I reaffirm the readiness of Armenia and its government that has received a 
mandate from the people of Armenia to open a peaceful era for our country and 
our region. This is what we are striving for and today’s meeting is beneficial 
for the realization of this agenda,” the Armenian leader added.
Border Delimitation, Regional Unblocking On Agenda Of Russia-Hosted 
Armenian-Azerbaijani Talks
November 26, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (left to right) attend a trilateral meeting 
in Sochi, Russia, November 26, 2021.
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan expressed their readiness to engage in the 
process of delimitating and demarcating their Soviet-era border and pursue 
regional unblocking as they began on Friday talks hosted by Russian President 
Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
At the start of the trilateral meeting Putin told Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
of Armenia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan that “a lot has been done” 
since last year’s Moscow-brokered ceasefire that stopped a 44-day 
Armenian-Azerbaijan war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Unfortunately, not all issues have been settled. I know about tragic incidents 
at the borders in which people have been killed and wounded on both sides. These 
are things that require special attention on our part. Strictly speaking, it is 
for this purpose that we’ve also gathered together today, that is, to avoid such 
incidents in the future,” Putin said, as quoted by the Kremlin.
The Russian leader said that the absence of large-scale hostilities in the 
conflict zone was positive in itself.
“It is important that conditions are being created for future normal life,” 
Putin said, expressing a hope that decisions on the unblocking of transport 
links will become possible in the near future as a result of the work of a 
relevant trilateral working group.
“The goal of all our efforts is to create conditions for the revival of the 
region, for people there to feel secure and be able to engage in economic 
activities, which will have a favorable impact on the living standards of people 
in both countries. It also has a great importance to Russia, considering the 
special nature of relations it has with Armenia and Azerbaijan. For centuries we 
lived as part of a common state. We have deep historical ties. One would not 
want these ties to be destroyed. On the contrary, we should seek to restore and 
maintain them in the future,” Putin said.
In his remarks Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the incidents in the 
conflict zone during the past year have not been of a systemic nature. He also 
said that one point of last year’s ceasefire agreement concerning unblocking in 
the region remained unimplemented. At the same time, the Azerbaijani leader 
reiterated Baku’s readiness to start the process of delimitating the Soviet-era 
border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“We have also publicly offered to Armenia to start working on a peace treaty to 
put an end to confrontation, recognize each other’s territorial integrity and 
sovereignty and learn again to live as neighbors in the future,” Aliyev said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, for his part, described the situation 
in Nagorno-Karabakh “not as stable as one would like it to be.”
“Since November 9 last year [when the ceasefire was signed] several dozen people 
have been killed on both sides. Incidents happen in Nagorno-Karabakh, and since 
May 12 we, in fact, have had a crisis at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Our 
assessment is that Azerbaijani troops have invaded Armenia’s sovereign 
territory,” Pashinian emphasized.
The Armenian leader said that despite the fact that the border between Armenia 
and Azerbaijan is neither delimitated nor demarcated, “the state frontier still 
does exist.”
Pashinian also said that the point of the ceasefire agreement concerning the 
return of all prisoners of war and other detainees has not been fully 
implemented by Azerbaijan yet. He also reiterated Yerevan’s position that 
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement should proceed within the framework of the OSCE 
Minsk Group.
At the same time, Pashinian expressed Armenia’s readiness to engage in the 
process of delimitation of borders with Azerbaijan. He said that regional 
unblocking is also very important to Armenia.
“I think that today we have gathered here not only to state about problems, but 
also to discuss ways of solving the problems that exist and reach concrete 
decisions – or decisions that will be as much concrete as possible – on 
stabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus, because peace, stability and 
people’s security are our responsibility,” Pashinian said.
Before proceeding to talks behind closed doors Putin hailed the interest of both 
Armenia and Azerbaijan in seeing “normalization and positive development of the 
situation” in their region.
Pashinian and Aliyev are also scheduled to meet in Brussels on December 15 on 
the sidelines of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership Summit. The two 
leaders agreed on the meeting following talks with European Council President 
Charles Michel last week.
In his remarks today Putin also welcomed bilateral contacts between Yerevan and 
Moscow, including the planned Pashinian-Aliyev meeting in Brussels.
Ankara Again Urges Yerevan To Mend Ties
November 26, 2021
        • Tatevik Sargsian
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (file photo).
Turkey has made more overtures to Armenia, calling on Yerevan to embrace its 
“offer of peace” to improve historically strained relations between the two 
neighbors.
Recent developments in the Black Sea and Caucasus region were discussed at a 
meeting of the Turkish National Security Council chaired by President Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.
The statement published after the meeting, which lasted for about three hours, 
in particular, reads: “The need for a speedy settlement of disputes in a 
peaceful way based on respect for international law and the territorial 
integrity of countries was emphasized. Besides, the need for Armenia to maintain 
the ceasefire and take advantage of the peace offer was emphasized.”
In the past Turkey at different levels has already offered “peace” Armenia and 
also spoke about “positive signals” coming from Yerevan.
The Turkish National Security Council made its statement on the eve of crucial 
Armenian-Azerbaijani summit talks hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 
Sochi.
In the days preceding today’s meeting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
reiterated Yerevan’s readiness to engage in a dialogue with Ankara to normalize 
historically strained relations between the two neighboring countries. He, 
however, warned Turkey against tying such a rapprochement to the creation of an 
extraterritorial corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its western Nakhichevan 
exclave via Armenia.
Unblocking regional economic and transport links is part of the Russian-brokered 
tripartite agreement that ended an Azerbaijani-Armenian war over 
Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020.
Armenia says it objects to providing extraterritorial corridors, but is ready to 
open transit roads for Azerbaijan, maintaining sovereignty over them.
Earlier this week an Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service that Yerevan had asked Moscow to act as a go-between in Armenian-Turkish 
normalization that he said should proceed without preconditions.
During a news briefing in Moscow on Thursday Russian Foreign Ministry 
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed such a request from Armenia and said that 
Moscow was ready to facilitate efforts to repair relations between Yerevan and 
Ankara.
Azerbaijan Returns Two Captives To Armenia Ahead Of Sochi Talks
November 26, 2021
Armenian POWs arriving in Yerevan (file photo)
Armenia has confirmed that Azerbaijan has released two Armenians on November 26, 
hours before the leaders of the two countries were to meet for talks in Sochi 
hosted by the Russian president.
In a statement Armenia’s Ministry of Defense said today that Azerbaijan handed 
over to the Armenian side two captives identified as 28-year-old Aren Aramian 
and 21-year-old Mihran Musayelian.
Earlier, the handover was reported by Azerbaijan’s State Commission on Captives 
and Missing Persons. It said that Aramian is a serviceman who was taken prisoner 
during November 16 clashes along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, while 
Musayelian is a civilian who had strayed into territory controlled by 
Azerbaijani soldiers.
The Azerbaijani agency said Aramian had received treatment in Baku. It did not 
elaborate.
On November 23, ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that a 
resident of the village of Ashan in the region’s Martuni district had lost his 
way and strayed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory.
Neither Azerbaijan, nor Armenia have officially tied the handover of captives to 
the talks between their leaders in Russia.
During an online press conference on Tuesday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian said that as many as 32 Armenian soldiers may have been taken prisoner 
by Azerbaijan as a result of the recent border fighting in which at least seven 
Azerbaijani and six Armenian soldiers were killed.
Over a hundred Armenian POWs and other detainees have been repatriated from 
Azerbaijan since the end of hostilities in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in 
November 2020.
Scores, however, continue to be held by Azerbaijan despite a ceasefire provision 
calling for the return of all captives and hostages.
Baku acknowledges that it continues to hold up to 40 Armenians that it says are 
being prosecuted for different alleged crimes against Azerbaijan.
Armenian Court Hears Opposition Claim Against Mandatory COVID-19 Tests
November 26, 2021
        • Narine Ghalechian
Armenia’s Constitutional Court is hearing an opposition lawsuit against 
mandatory COVID-19 tests, November 26, 2021.
Armenia’s Constitutional Court this week began hearing a claim against the 
mandate for regular COVID-19 tests for all unvaccinated workers in the country.
The relevant lawsuit was submitted by a group of opposition lawmakers who find 
that the measure taken by Armenian authorities runs counter to the country’s 
constitution.
Against the background of a low COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country and a 
spiking number of coronavirus cases and fatalities resulting from the 
potentially deadly disease, Armenia’s Ministry of Health introduced some 
administrative measures last month in an attempt to speed up the inoculation 
campaign.
Since October 1 virtually all public- and private-sector employees refusing 
vaccination have been obliged to take coronavirus tests twice a month at their 
own expense.
During the opening of the hearings at the Constitutional Court on Thursday 
member of the opposition parliamentary Hayastan faction Aram Vardevanian said 
that the order of the health minister potentially affected 450,000 employees 
across Armenia, arguing that legal relations between employees and their 
employers should be regulated by labor laws rather than by a government 
official’s order.
“I think that issues like that must be solved at a different level, which is 
called legislation rather than an order,” Vardevanian, who is a professional 
lawyer, said.
Anna Mkrtumian, a Ministry of Health representative at the trial, objected to 
that statement, saying that “considering the pandemic and the importance of 
public health, the Ministry of Health has the right to issue corresponding 
orders.”
Mkrtumian argued that the order complies with all the norms of Armenia’s 
constitution and does not violate human rights.
The Constitutional Court adjourned the examination of the opposition’s claim as 
the hearing resumed on Friday.
Judge Arevik Petrosian submitted a motion to the court, proposing that 
information be requested from the government regarding the number of cases of 
noncompliance by workers with the minister’s order since its execution began as 
well as the number of workers fired over that noncompliance.
The defendant’s representative said that the ministry does not possess such data 
as it is not a direct supervising body. She asked for at least five working days 
to provide that information.
The Court satisfied the request, adjourning the hearing until December 16.
The Armenian government says only about 14 percent of the country’s population 
of 3 million has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to date.
Experts estimate that 70 to 85 percent of the population has to be fully 
inoculated to reach the herd immunity threshold.
More than 7,400 people have died in Armenia from COVID-19 since the start of the 
pandemic in March last year.
Invitation Of Armenia To U.S.-Initiated Summit Viewed Negatively In Moscow, 
Analyst Says
November 26, 2021
        • Astghik Bedevian
Political analyst Armen Baghdasarian being interviewed in the Yerevan studio of 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (file photo)
The Kremlin has a negative perception of Armenia’s expected participation in a 
United States-initiated democracy summit next month, a Yerevan-based political 
analyst told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service after statements about the upcoming event 
made by senior Russian officials.
The U.S. administration has invited a total of 110 participants to the “Summit 
for Democracy”, a virtual event on December 9 and 10, which aims to help stop 
democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide.
Only Armenia and Georgia have been invited from the South Caucasus region. The 
list of participants from among former Soviet nations also includes the three 
Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Ukraine and Moldova. 
Russia has not been invited to the event.
Official Yerevan has confirmed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will take 
part in the event held upon the initiative of the White House.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as 
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova have expressed Moscow’s 
negative attitude towards the U.S.-initiated event. Neither, however, mentioned 
Armenia specifically in this context.
“The United States prefers to create new dividing lines, dividing nations at its 
discretion into good and bad,” Peskov said.
Zakharova, too, said that the Summit for Democracy has a “confrontational” 
nature.
Political analyst Armen Baghdasarian sees a hidden reproach to Armenia, Russia’s 
key political and military ally in the region, behind the statements made in 
Moscow. He believes that Yerevan will have to balance its approach, reckoning 
with possible damage and benefits from the participation in the upcoming summit.
“Armenia is in a situation when one way or another it has to coordinate its 
position with Moscow. It doesn’t necessarily mean obeying Moscow’s orders. It 
only means to calculate whether or not the threats coming from Russia will be 
real in case of its participation in the U.S.-initiated summit and whether or 
not there will be support from the United States in case of its participation, 
and which is more important for Armenia. Frankly, I don’t think that Armenia’s 
current political leaders are capable of making such calculations,” the analyst 
said.
Meanwhile, a pro-government lawmaker in Yerevan said that Armenia did not take 
Russia’s reaction to the U.S.-initiated democracy summit as a hint that it 
should refuse to participate in it.
Anush Beghloyan, who sits on the Armenian parliament’s foreign relations 
committee, said that Peskov’s statement was about Russia’s relations with the 
West rather than Armenia’s participation in the event.
Asked whether Armenia has anyhow been told about Russia’s possible negative 
attitude, Beghloyan said: “I don’t have such information. I think it cannot be 
the case, since the Russian side also never conditions its relations with other 
countries with relations with its strategic partner.”
During a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Armenia last week Secretary of the 
Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigorian condemned Azerbaijan’s actions along 
its border with Armenia as a blow against Armenian democracy. His remarks came 
amid deadly border clashes on November 16 in which at least seven Azerbaijani 
and six Armenian soldiers were killed.
Yerevan and Baku accused each other of provoking the deadliest fighting since 
last year’s 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh that was also stopped through 
Russia’s mediation.
During his online press conference on Tuesday Pashinian emphasized that 
“Azerbaijan is assailing Armenia’s independence, sovereignty, statehood and 
democracy.” The Armenian leader said he will raise this issue too at the Summit 
of Democracy in December.
Azerbaijan and Turkey have not been invited to participate in the event.
Pan-Armenian Charity Raises More Money For Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh
November 26, 2021
A pan-Armenian charity has raised more than $12.3 million in fresh funds in the 
United States, France and Canada for humanitarian and economic aid to Armenia 
and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund said on Friday that it attracted the bulk of the 
donation pledges, worth over $7.8 million, during an annual telethon broadcast 
from Los Angeles. The remaining sum – nearly $4 million – was raised by the 
charity’s French branch in an annual phonethon held prior to that. Half a 
million dollars were raised in Canada, Hayastan said.
The four-hour 24th annual International Thanksgiving Day Telethon on November 25 
was held “in support of the ongoing recovery of the people of Armenia and 
Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh – ed.], including dozens of communities and close to 
100,000 persons displaced by last year’s 44-day war.”
With the theme “Empowering the Homeland’s Remote Communities,” the telethon, 
according to its organizers, would “build on the work of the past 12 months by 
securing comprehensive support for the war-ravaged populations of Armenia and 
Artsakh.”
“Telethon 2021 is as much about accountability and transparency as rallying 
global support for the recovery of the people of Armenia and Artsakh,” said 
Hayastan Fund Board Chair Maria Mehranian prior to the event. “Parallel to 
informing our supporters about how their contributions have been spent in the 
course of the past year, the upcoming Telethon will seek to raise urgent support 
for the recovery of communities and families that were devastated by the war.”
The organizers of the event said that this support will comprise emergency 
humanitarian assistance; housing construction; extensive medical relief; vital 
infrastructure repairs and development, including road repairs; and 
cultural-recovery programs including schooling and arts education for displaced 
communities.
During its 2020 Thanksgiving Day Telethon Hayastan raised over $26 million for 
humanitarian and economic aid to Nagorno-Karabakh on top of $170 million raised 
during an international fundraising campaign launched by the pan-Armenian 
charity immediately after the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in and 
around Nagorno-Karabakh in late September that year.
The charity headquartered in Yerevan redirected more than $100 million of those 
$170 million proceeds to Armenia’s government. The Armenian Finance Ministry 
said the sum would finance the government’s “infrastructure, social and 
healthcare expenditures” necessitated by the six-week war.
President Armen Sarkissian and Armenian opposition leaders criticized the 
donation, saying that it undermined donors’ trust in the Hayastan Fund. 
Sarkissian said in December that the government should consider redefining the 
hefty contribution as a “loan” and eventually reimbursing the fund.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended the donation, saying that it was used 
for purposes defined by Hayastan’s statutes. He also suggested that lawmakers 
scrutinize the donation.
Last month the Armenian National Assembly approved an opposition initiative to 
launch a parliamentary inquiry into the use of funds raised by the Hayastan Fund 
for Nagorno-Karabakh during last year’s war.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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