Author: Toneyan Mark

Newspaper: Pashinyan is PM of actually just 26.49% of Armenia voters

Toneyan Mark
News.am, Armenia
09:20, 23.06.2021

YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd daily of Armenia writes: After the end of the snap parliamentary elections, various analyzes continue on, after all, what was linked to such a picture in the elections and the reproduction of the current authorities.

Let’s talk in the language of numbers. 50.59% of registered voters did not participate in the elections. As a result of the elections, Nikol Pashinyan received 26.49% of the votes of the registered voters, the “Armenia” and “I Have Honor” blocs—12.91%, 9.69% of their votes were pulverized. These numbers speak for themselves. It turns out that only 26.49% of all voters [actually] voted for Nikol Pashinyan, but they are the majority.

The situation is deeper when you study the data by area. 675,194 people took part in the elections in Yerevan, of which 345 thousand voted for the CC [i.e., the ruling Civil Contract Party], whereas 92,940—for the “Armenia” bloc [led by second President Robert Kocharyan]. Yerevan is the only constituency where Nikol Pashinyan’s votes did not exceed 50%. Nikol Pashinyan received the largest—67.90% of—votes in Tavush Province, followed by Gegharkunik Province—with 66.26% of votes, and Shirak [Province]—with 65.11% of votes.

According to the 2019 data, 43.5% of the population is poor in Gegharkunik, and 48.4%—in Shirak. These two provinces are the areas that voted for Nikol Pashinyan the most. 14.1% of the population is poor in Yerevan, where Pashinyan did not even garner 50% of the vote. In any case, it is necessary to note that Pashinyan was [actually] elected by 26.49% [of Armenia’s voters].

At least 60% of citizens will vote for ”Civil Contract” Party – Pashinyan

Toneyan Mark

At least 60% of citizens will vote for ”Civil Contract” Party – Pashinyan

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 19:46, 16 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. The procession of the “Civil Contract” party started from Kanaker-Zeytun administrative district, which is headed by the party leader, caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan announced that the party has finished the campaign in the provinces.

‘’Based on the results of the campaign of 9 days we can record that at least 60% of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia will vote for ‘’Civil Contract’’ Party’’, Pashinyan said.

According to Pashinyan, their goal is to record the victory of the non-violent, democratic, but this time iron revolution on June 21 and immedately set to the implementation of the vital agenda.

RPA deputy head: ‘Thousands of public servants’ transported to Yerevan for Pashinyan’s rally

Toneyan Mark
Panorama, Armenia

Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Armen Ashotyan claims that “thousands of public servants” are being transported to Yerevan for caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s rally to be held in the capital later today.

In a post on his Facebook page, he said while Pashinyan “is begging” people to take part in his rally, “thousands of public servants, including employees of regional administrations, teachers and doctors” are being transported to Yerevan from different regions of the country.

“Since the morning, I have been receiving dozens of calls about the recruitment of people through the use of administrative levers,” Ashotyan said, adding those people are told to attend the rally in support of Pashinyan under threat of dismissal.

“For example, buses left Vardenis at 4pm and Alaverdi at 2pm, and so on.

“Dear compatriots, the bastard’s defeat is close, do not be afraid of anything!

“It is important that you vote according to your conscience on June 20 to restore our and our homeland’s trampled honor,” he said.

Ombudsman calls on PM to submit urgent complaint to ECHR over creating security zone on Armenia-Azerbaijan border areas

Toneyan Mark

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 16:14,

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has addressed a letter to caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, raising the issue of submitting an urgent inter-state complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the immediate removal of Azerbaijani armed forces from the vicinity of Armenian villages and the roads between communities and creation of a security zone, the Ombudsman said in a statement on Facebook.

“In the letter I have stated that the Ombudsman will provide the collected evidence to the government which confirm the violations of the European Convention and justify the urgent necessity of creation of a security zone.

In particular, in my several previous statements I have already stated that the presence of Azerbaijani armed forces near the villages of Armenia’s Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces, as well as on the roads between the communities of Syunik, their actions violate the following rights of the Armenian citizens guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights:

-Right to life, Article 2 of the Convention

-Right to liberty and security, Article 5

-Right to respect for private and family life, Article 8

-Protection of property, Protocol 1, Article 1

-Freedom of movement, Protocol 4, Article 2, etc.

The same applies to the Azerbaijani flags and banners, any equipment of their armed forces”, the Ombudsman said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Pashinyan criticized for using POWs as campaign tool | Eurasianet

Toneyan Mark
EurasiaNet.org
Karine Ghazaryan Jun 16, 2021

The return of 15 detainees to Armenia, following the handover of Armenian landmine maps to Azerbaijan, was one of the few pieces of good news to come out of the conflict in recent weeks. 

But coming as it did just a week before critical elections, many are asking: Was it a campaign ploy?

Azerbaijan has been demanding the mine maps from Armenia for months. In a surprise deal on the evening of June 12, the two sides announced an agreement: Armenia handed over maps from the Aghdam region in exchange for 15 of the detainees that Azerbaijan continues to hold (out of close to 200, according to Yerevan). 

The ongoing plight of the Armenians being held in Azerbaijan has been one of the most sensitive issues in Armenia, and has weakened the position of acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of the June 20 elections. 

On the day the deal was announced Pashinyan celebrated it at a campaign rally in the Gegharkunik region, reading the names of the detainees one by one. He has continued to highlight the exchange at campaign events, calling it a “wonderful event.” 

In turn, opposition figures lined up to criticize Pashinyan for using the sensitive issue of detainees to gain electoral points. Former President Serzh Sargsyan, who supports one opposition coalition, “I have honor,” said the maps were too valuable to get only 15 detainees in return. “And if it was possible to bring back the detainees in exchange for the maps, why weren’t they doing it during these eight months [since the end of the war]?” Sargsyan asked, “Were they holding it for the pre-election show?” 

Artur Vanetsyan, the former head of the National Security Service and the prime minister candidate from the “I have honor” coalition, blamed Pashinyan for “cheap PR.” And Artur Ghazinyan, one candidate on the list of the “Armenia” coalition, led by former president Robert Kocharyan, wrote on Facebook that the handover of the maps amounted to treason: “The person who gave the maps to nikol [sic] committed a crime according to RA criminal code, article 299 (treason).”

Some analysts also were critical of the government’s deal-making abilities, for giving up the maps for relatively little in exchange. Political analyst Hrant Mikaelyan told local media that the maps indicated the location of about 97,000 mines: “Much more could have been obtained in exchange for these maps […]. Azerbaijan saved $100 million with these, and we received 15 detainees whom we would have received regardless.” 

Military analyst Leonid Nersisyan called the deal “insane”: “These maps were one of the main bargaining chips in the negotiations. But whatever it takes to win the elections,” Nersisyan wrote on Facebook.

The fact that the deal was brokered by the United States and Georgia, and not Russia – which usually mediates between Armenia and Azerbaijan – also was the source of some sniping.

At the Gegharkunik rally, Pashinyan said he received the offer to work on releasing the detainees from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and also thanked Georgian and EU partners for their efforts. Although he also pointed out Russia’s role as a mediator on other issues over the last months, some accused him of lying to the Russians about this deal. 

Some anti-Pashinyan activists suggested conspiracy theories about the PM flirting with the U.S. Boris Avagyan, a notorious former senior official in the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh government with a reputation for spreading disinformation, said that the Armenian government had lied to the Russian peacekeeping forces about the maps and claimed – without presenting evidence – that the maps could have gained more detainees than Pashinyan managed. 

But Pashinyan blamed the opposition for manipulating the topic: “It seems like there are forces which not only aren’t very happy, but are sad on this occasion,” he said during a rally in Ararat province. 

Pashinyan acknowledged that some mine maps had previously been given to Azerbaijan – Armenian officials had previously been coy about whether the maps even existed – and that other exchanges had been mediated by Russians.

“Whatever small mine maps we have transferred to Azerbaijan until now we did exclusively through our Russian Federation colleagues,” Pashinyan said. He added that Yerevan had informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the existence of the maps and sent examples to Baku.

 

Karine Ghazaryan is a freelance journalist covering Armenia.

Putin hopes meeting with Biden will be productive

Toneyan Mark

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 17:13,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that the talks with his US counterpart Joe Biden will be productive, TASS reports.

“Mr. President, I want to thank you for your initiative of today’s meeting”, the Russian head of state said on Wednesday in his opening remarks at the Geneva talks addressing Biden.

“I know that you had a long trip, a lot of work. Nevertheless, many issues that require top-level discussion have accumulated in Russian-American relations”, Putin noted. “I hope that our meeting will be productive”.

The talks between the Russian and US presidents are taking place in the Villa La Grange library. Top Russian and US diplomats Sergey Lavrov and Antony Blinken as well as interpreters are in the library along with the two leaders.

Putin, Biden to discuss Nagorno Karabakh conflict during Geneva summit

Toneyan Mark

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 11:38,

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden will discuss regional affairs among many other issues during their upcoming meeting in Geneva. In particular, the two leaders will discuss the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Middle East, Syria, Lebanon, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan and the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine and Belarus, Assistant to the Russian president Yuri Ushakov told reporters, Vedomosti newspaper reports.

On June 14 Ushakov had a talk to US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan during which they approved all the agreements about the agenda and format of the upcoming meeting of the two leaders.

The Putin-Biden summit will take place on June 16 in Geneva’s Villa La Grange.

This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Biden since the US president took office.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia acting PM holds march in Agarak village, surrounded by children

Toneyan Mark
News.am, Armenia
18:10, 15.06.2021

Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today held a march with a large number of security officers in Agarak village of Syunik Province.

During the entire march, Pashinyan was accompanied by children, who were chanting “there is a future”.

The acting premier greeted the residents of Agarak and apologized for the mistakes and omissions of his government.

“I also apologize for tolerating certain local riffraff mayors. We’ll definitely pursue them after the elections. I’ll personally deal with them. I promise that the riffraff mayors will be laid down on the asphalts in Agarak,” he said.

Turkish press: Turkish, Azerbaijani presidents meet in cities liberated from Armenia

Toneyan Mark
Mumin Altas   |15.06.2021

SHUSHA, Azerbaijan 

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday met his Azerbaijani counterpart in the city of Fuzuli, which was liberated by Azerbaijan during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh region late last year.

The two leaders later traveled to the Azerbaijani city of Shusha in the same car. Aliyev briefed Erdogan about reconstruction in the city on the way.

Erdogan was later welcomed with an official ceremony in Shusha by President Ilham Aliyev.

After a closed-door meeting, Erdogan and Aliyev will attend a signing ceremony, hold a joint press conference and take a tour of the city.

Azerbaijani army liberated the cities of Fuzuli, Shusha and other surrounding villages from Armenian occupation during the clashes over Karabakh that started in late last September and continued for six weeks.

Erdogan arrived early Tuesday in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to hold official talks with Aliyev.

Erdogan was received at the Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport by Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov, Deputy Foreign Minister Halef Halefov, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Turkey Hazar Ibrahim and Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Cahit Bagci.

He is accompanied by first lady Emine Erdogan, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman Omer Celik and head of the Turkish delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Osman Askin Bak.

Bright Armenia party sees withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia’s territory through negotiations

Toneyan Mark

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 14:30, 8 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 8, ARMENPRESS. The Bright Armenia party, in case of succeeding in the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, is going to withdraw the Azerbaijani troops from Armenia’s territory via negotiations and will introduce a balanced approach regarding the foreign policy, party president Edmon Marukyan said during the pre-election campaign in Yerevan’s Malatia-Sebastia administrative district.

He stated that their theses of national solidarity, unity, acting jointly against the enemy are becoming more and more relevant. Marukyan says their party’s message is alternative.

Marukyan is confident that the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia’s territory should be carried out via negotiations. According to him, their party can bring a major contribution in the diplomatic front.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

25 political forces – 21 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan