Tuesday,
Armenian Opposition Lawmakers Barred From Entering Karabakh
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Karabakh flags on the empty seats of opposition members of the
Armenian parliament, .
Armenian opposition parliamentarians were barred from entering Nagorno-Karabakh
on Tuesday to continue their campaign against far-reaching Armenian concessions
to Azerbaijan.
The several dozen deputies representing Armenia’s two main opposition groups
headed to Karabakh after announcing a four-day boycott of sessions of the
National Assembly.
One of them, Gegham Manukian, said Russian peacekeepers manning a checkpoint in
the Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Karabakh gave no explanations after
checking their documents and not allowing them to proceed to Stepanakert.
Manukian blamed the Armenian authorities for the ban. He said that shortly
before reaching the Lachin checkpoint the lawmakers were stopped by Armenian
border guards and had their personal data collected by them. He suggested that
it was immediately passed on to the Russians.
The authorities effectively denied this through a statement released by the
Armenian Foreign Ministry. The statement criticized the peacekeepers’ actions,
saying that they run counter to the terms of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that
stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in November 2020.
The Russian peacekeeping contingent has previously never stopped any Armenian
politicians from travelling to Karabakh.
A Russian peacekeeper stands guard on a road in the town of Lachin on December
1, 2020.
Manukian and other opposition figures claimed that Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian engineered the unprecedented travel ban as part of his secret deals
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Aliyev and Pashinian agreed to start preparing for an Armenian-Azerbaijani
“peace treaty” and to set up a bilateral commission tasked with demarcating the
border between their countries when they met in Brussels on April 6 for talks
hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.
Pashinian reiterated afterwards that Baku’s proposals on key elements of the
treaty, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity,
are acceptable to Yerevan in principle. Armenian opposition leaders portrayed
this as a further sign that he is ready to help Azerbaijan regain control over
Karabakh.
The opposition Hayastan and Pativ Unem alliances rallied thousands of supporters
in Yerevan on April 5 to warn Yerevan against making such concessions to Baku.
As he announced the opposition boycott on the parliament floor on Tuesday
morning, Seyran Ohanian, Hayastan’s parliamentary leader and a former defense
minister, accused the Armenian government of ignoring grave security challenges
facing Armenia and Karabakh.
“We are leaving for Artsakh and Armenia’s border regions in order to continue
directly communicating with our compatriots, to visit the sites of our country’s
primary agenda,” he said before placing a Karabakh flag on the parliament
rostrum.
Armenia - Pro-government parliamentarian Vahagn Aleksanian removes a Karabakh
flag from the parliament rostrum, .
Deputies representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract party dismissed the opposition
move as populist. One of them, Vahagn Aleksanian, removed the small flag from
the podium.
“With this step the parliamentary is not defending Artsakh but aggravating the
security problems of Artsakh and the Armenians,” charged another pro-government
parliamentarian, Hayk Konjorian. “The parliamentary opposition is using the
Artsakh issue and our security problems to stage a coup and seize power in
Armenia.”
Another ‘Curb On Press Freedom’ Planned In Armenia
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia -- Photojournalists and cameramen at an official ceremony in Yerevan,
January 10, 2019.
In what Armenia’s leading media groups see as a new restriction on press
freedom, pro-government lawmakers have drafted legislation that would empower
state bodies to withdraw the accreditation of journalists.
An Armenian law on mass media currently does not allow the parliament, the prime
minister’s office and other government agencies to revoke such accreditations
that are typically valid for one year.
Amendments to the law put forward by two deputies from the ruling Civil Contract
party would empower the authorities to strip reporters of their press
credentials if they are deemed to have violated “disciplinary rules” of relevant
bodies.
One of those lawmakers, Artur Hovannisian, said on Tuesday that the proposed
amendments are first and foremost aimed at regulating the work of parliamentary
correspondents of Armenian media outlets. He claimed that they have frequently
insulted and even “threatened” members of the National Assembly.
Hovannisian insisted that each state body would set clear rules of conduct that
would not restrict journalistic activity.
“Those decisions could be very arbitrary, baseless or based on very weak
grounds,” countered Ashot Melikian of the Yerevan-based Committee to Protect
Freedom of Speech.
Melikian suggested that the authorities want to put in place a legal mechanism
for barring “undesirable” journalists from covering parliament sessions, cabinet
meetings and other major events.
Hripsime Jebejian, a parliamentary correspondent for the Aravot daily, likewise
said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political allies want to prevent
journalists from asking them tough questions.
“When a journalist asks a [tough] question they often get agitated and perceive
it as an offense,” Jebejian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“Once again they are entering the sphere of journalistic activity and
restricting our work,” she said.
Pashinian’s political team has already been condemned by Armenian press freedom
groups as well as Western watchdogs such as Freedom House and Amnesty
International for tripling maximum legal fines for “slander” and making it a
crime to insult state officials.
Dozens of government critics have been prosecuted for offending Pashinian and
other officials since the corresponding amendments to the Armenian Criminal Code
took effect last September.
The ruling party has also been widely criticized for seriously restricting last
summer journalists’ freedom of movements inside the parliament building in
Yerevan. Parliament speaker Alen Simonian cited security concerns and the need
for greater media respect for parliamentarians.
Journalists and media associations rejected that explanation. They also
expressed outrage at Simonian’s attempts to block press coverage of an August 11
parliament session that descended into chaos amid bitter insults traded by
pro-government and opposition deputies. Security officers entered the press
gallery overlooking the chamber and ordered journalists present there to stop
filming or photographing the ugly scenes.
Simonian, who is a close Pashinian associate, on Tuesday defended the proposed
regulation of media accreditations while urging journalists to “gather and draw
up” rules of conduct for themselves.
“Or else, you will face rules set within [state bodies] and will have to obey
them,” warned the speaker.
Armenian Government Wants To Expand Russian-Language Education
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Education Minister Vahram Dumanian gives a press conference, Yerevan,
April 23, 2021.
Armenia is ready to open more Russian classes in its schools, Education Minister
Vahram Dumanian said on Tuesday, citing a recent influx of migrants from Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke last week of the Armenian
government’s desire to expand Russian-language education in the country.
“In response to Yerevan’s desire, Russia is helping to increase the number of
Russian schools,” Lavrov said after talks with his visiting Armenian counterpart
Ararat Mirzoyan. “We are interested in seeing the Russian language receive
continued support from the friendly government.”
Dumanian clarified that his government wants to increase the number of classes,
rather than entire schools, where courses are taught in Russian.
“The Republic of Armenia is intent on offering this opportunity to children in
both elementary and high schools,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Armenian has been the country’s sole official language ever since the break-up
of the Soviet Union. A law enacted in 1991 also made it the principal language
of instruction for Armenian children enrolled in both public and private schools.
Forty-five schools currently have Russian-language sections for Russian citizens
as well as those Armenian children who lived in Russia and only recently
returned to Armenia. The latter are allowed to study there only temporarily.
Armenia - A Russian family strolls in downtown Yerevan, March 7, 2022.
Dumanian said that more such classes should be set up now because thousands of
Russians have relocated to Armenia since the start of Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine. He declined to give any estimates of the number of school-age children
who have arrived from Russia of late.
In written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service sent on Monday, the Armenian
Ministry of Education said that the number of students in the Russian classes
has increased by only 75 in recent weeks.
Most of the Russian migrants are young professionals who are thought to have
left Russia for primarily economic reasons.
Armenia also has five schools financed and run by the Russian government. Most
of their students are children of Russian military personnel serving in the
South Caucasus state.
Opposition Lawmakers Boycott Parliament, Visit Karabakh
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Karabakh flags on the empty seats of opposition members of the
Armenian parliament, .
Armenia’s two main opposition groups said on Tuesday that their lawmakers will
not attend this week’s parliament sittings and will visit Nagorno-Karabakh
instead as part of their campaign to prevent far-reaching Armenian concessions
to Azerbaijan.
The Hayastan and Pativ Unem alliances rallied thousands of supporters in Yerevan
on April 5 the day before Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels.
Aliyev and Pashinian agreed to start preparing for an Armenian-Azerbaijani
“peace treaty” and to set up a bilateral commission tasked with demarcating the
border between their countries.
Pashinian reiterated afterwards that Baku’s proposals on key elements of the
treaty, including a mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity,
are acceptable to Yerevan in principle. Armenian opposition leaders portrayed
this as a further sign that he is ready to help Azerbaijan regain control over
Karabakh.
Seyran Ohanian, Hayastan’s parliamentary leader and a former defense minister,
announced a four-day opposition boycott of the National Assembly. Speaking on
the parliament floor, Ohanian accused the Armenian government of ignoring grave
security challenges facing Armenia and Karabakh.
“We are leaving for Artsakh and Armenia’s border regions in order to continue
directly communicating with our compatriots, to visit the sites of our country’s
primary agenda,” he said before placing a Karabakh flag on the parliament
rostrum.
Armenia - Pro-government parliamentarian Vahagn Aleksanian removes a Karabakh
flag from the parliament rostrum, .
Deputies representing Pashinian’s Civil Contract party dismissed the opposition
move as populist. One of them, Vahagn Aleksanian, removed the small flag from
the podium.
“With this step the parliamentary is not defending Artsakh but aggravating the
security problems of Artsakh and the Armenians,” charged another pro-government
parliamentarian, Hayk Konjorian. “The parliamentary opposition is using the
Artsakh issue and our security problems to stage a coup and seize power in
Armenia.”
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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