Author: Toneyan Mark

Artak Barseghyan
Public Radio of Armenia

NATO highly values the participation of Armenian peacekeeping units in peacekeeping operations, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai said in an Internet press conference for Armenian media.

Question – How can the aggravation of Russian- Turkish relations affect NATO‘s cooperation with the countries in South Caucasus, namely the cooperation between NATO and Armenia, and NATO and Azerbaijan? Can the acute manifestation of geopolitical interests contribute to Georgia’s actual NATO membership any time soon? On the whole, taking into account the various geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus countries, how do you see the prospects of the regional policy pursued by the Alliance?

Answer – We recognize of course that each of the three countries in the South Caucasus has chosen its own security policy, and we respect that. To be a partner of NATO is fully compatible with aspirations to seek NATO membership, but also with membership of the CSTO, with membership of the Eurasian Union, with membership in the Non-aligned Movement or with other forms of regional cooperation. Indeed, more regional cooperation seems to make a lot of sense for the South Caucasus both from an economic and strategic perspective. In this context, I am pleased to see that occasionally NATO can provide the framework for more cooperation between Armenia and Georgia, or Georgia and Azerbaijan. However, each of our partnership relations is individual in nature. In the case of Armenia, our basic document is the Individual Partnership Action Plan that anyone can find on the internet at

. It covers a two-year period. A similar plan has been agreed with Azerbaijan, whilst we have other mechanisms for Georgia in recognition of their membership perspective. All these partnerships are approved and supported by our 28 Allies, i.e. also Turkey, and they have their characteristics and logic. This also means these relationships are not a subset of our relations with Russia, and I do not see an immediate impact of the current tension between Turkey and Russia on our individual relations with the three countries of the South Caucasus

Question – Does NATO have new proposals on the expansion of Armenia’s participation in peacekeeping missions, how do you assess the participation of the Armenian military in peacekeeping missions under the auspices of NATO? What events is NATO is planning to hold in South Caucasus in 2016?

Answer – We highly value the participation of Armenian peacekeeping units in NATO operations. Armenia’s commitment is steady and substantial, both in Kosovo, where Armenian units currently serve within the US contingent, and in Afghanistan, where your units serve mostly within the German contingent. Your contributions to these operations, as well as those in Mali (with the EU) and in Lebanon (with the UN), are very tangible contributions by Armenia to international security. At the same time, working together with forces from Allies nations has been a driving force to bring the Armenian armed forces closer to Western standards. As a result of over a decade of hard work, a number of Armenian units were certified to meet the highest NATO standards this autumn (in accordance with what we call NATO Evaluation Level Two). Armenia and specifically its armed forces can be proud of this achievement. I understand that Armenia now intends to broaden the set of units that meets these criteria.

As to our broader cooperation with Armenia, we intend to continue our support to Armenia’s defense reform efforts, provide assistance to the reform of Armenia’s defense education institutions, share best practice on how to reduce corruption in the security sector, support Armenia’s efforts to develop a concept of women in the armed forces, etc. The recently adopted constitutional amendments will have far-reaching implications for the way Armenia’s security sector is organized. I believe they should also create opportunities to strengthen parliamentary oversight over the armed forces.

Looking at our engagement with the South Caucasus region as a whole, we are of course very actively engaged with Georgia in recognition of its membership aspirations. We are currently focused on the implementation of the package of measures agreed in autumn 2014, called the Substantial NATO Georgia Package. These measures include the establishment of a Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (inaugurated this summer), the conduct of regular NATO exercises in Georgia and the provision of expertise in a dozen different domains related to the defense sector with the aim to strengthen Georgia’s self-defense capabilities and to prepare it for future membership. Clearly the aim is also to make sure that these initiatives contribute to regional security, and we are frequently considering to what extent other regional partners can participate in, or benefit from, these activities.
As to our partnership with Azerbaijan, this is organized in a similar way as with Armenia through what we call an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) agreed between NATO and Azerbaijan. This Action Plan we renew roughly every two years. Although the partnerships with Armenia and with Azerbaijan are not identical, there are substantial similarities, with Azerbaijan also contributing to our operation in Afghanistan and engaged in various aspects of defense reforms.

On December 10, Edward ‪Nalbandian‬, Foreign Minister of Armenia, who pays a working visit to Vienna, had a meeting with Sebastian Kurz, the Foreign Minister of Austria, Press Service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The Ministers expressed satisfaction with the frequent mutual high-level visits, highlighting that they give a new impetus to the development of mutual collaboration in different fields.

Theatre critic Levon Mutafyan passed away today aged 61. His body was found in of the hotels in downtown Yerevan.

The Police confirmed the news to Public Radio of Armenia. Probe into the details in underway.

Kremlin spokesman has said that no possible causes of the air crash in Egypt should be ruled out, TASS reports.

“For now, no possible causes should be ruled out,” Peskov told journalists. “In fact, investigators are only starting their work. Each possible cause will be examined over the course of further investigation. We cannot say anything for now,” he said.

“In any case, it is absolutely wrong to articulate any preliminary speculations, any opinions, any statements. We should wait for first results of the investigation,” the Kremlin spokesman added but refused to forecast when the first results may appear.

He reminded that the main investigation is carried out by the country where the air crash occurred. Peskov added that Moscow highly assesses the effectiveness of Egyptian authorities in investigating the accident. “In this case, we should only wait for the results of the investigation and not speculate,” he stressed.

Russian Kogalymavia’s A321 plane en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg crashed on October 31 around 30 minutes after takeoff in North Sinai, 100 kilometers to the south of Al-Arish. Flight 9268 carried 217 passengers and seven crewmembers. Most passengers were Russian nationals.

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan had a meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the sitting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Tajikistan.

The Armenian and Russian Prime Ministers discussed a number of issues on the agenda of bilateral allied partnership.

Hovik Abrahamyan and Dmitry Medvedev attached importance to the active cooperation with a view of development and expansion of commercial-economic ties and referred to joint programs and steps in different spheres.

China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy, Xinhua news agency.

All couples will now be allowed to have two children, the state-run news agency said, citing a statement from the Communist Party.

The controversial policy was introduced nationally in 1979, to reduce the country’s birth rate and slow the population growth rate.

However, the policy led to concerns over China’s ageing population.

Israel is interested in signing an agreement on the free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) as soon as possible, the country’s Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Zeev Elkin, told Russian reporters on Wednesday, TASS reports.

“We believe that this has a big potential also for Israel’s economy and there may be also the interest for the countries part of the Customs Union,” said the minister, who also co-chairs the Russian-Israeli inter-governmental commission.

“I think there is no reason to delay this,” he said.

Israel has given “high priority” to the talks on the free trade zone with the EEU, Elkin said. “We are sincerely interested in doing this efficiently to the maximum level, and we propose that the Russian side should launch talks already in early 2016 and hold at least two rounds of negotiations in 2016,” he said.

The Israeli politician said it is difficult to forecast the exact date for reaching the deal. “This depends on the number of difficult issues but as a rule if the work is normal, then it is possible to reach signing such an agreement in two years,” he said.

“For our part, we will do our utmost so that this happens as soon as possible,” the minister stressed.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is the economic bloc which came into force in January 2015 and now consists of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Spanish city of Silla officially recognized the Armenian Genocide on September 29, Press Service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Ministers reports.

The bill was tabled by Spokesman for the Left Union Valentin Matteo. Speaking at the City Council, he presented the motives behind the first genocide of the 20th century and its consequences, and stressed the need to recognize and condemn it.

The six parties represented in the City Council unanimously voted to adopt the resolution labeling the crime committed by Ottoman Turkey as genocide.

 

“The Karabakh talks suffered after Ramil Safarov’s extradition, when it became clear Azerbaijan is not an adequate partner,” says Karen Vrtanesyan, coordinator of Razm.info military-analytical website. At a meeting with reporters the expert referred to the recent escalation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the reasons behind it.

“By escalating tensions at the border, Azerbaijan pursues one goal – to grab concessions from Armenia through psychological pressure on the Armenian public,” Vrtanesyan told a press conference today.

The expert said the policy leads to a “deadlock.” “Azerbiaijan only suffers losses, while the Armenian side is not going to make concessions under the pressure of provocations,” he said.

Karen Vrtanesyan rules out the view that Azerbaijan is inciting war through border tension. According to him, Azerbaijan is afraid of war, primarily for economic reasons. “The Aliyev clan cannot be happy about the perspective of losing the successful oil business.”

Under Article 4 of the CSTO Treaty, “If an aggression is committed against one of the States Parties by any state or a group of states, it will be considered as an aggression against all the States Parties to this Treaty.” The organization never interferes with the developments at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, although Armenia is one of its founding members and has been in a military alliance with the member states since May 15, 1992.

“We see no need to apply to CSTO. We have been successfully fulfilling our tasks by now,” Karen Vrtanesyan said.

The expert believes that for more effective control and objective assessment of the border situation, the monitoring missions should be replaced by smaller and more flexible groups that will even keep watch over the frontline villages to react to any assault against the peaceful population on the ground.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been voted the player of Matchday 3. The Armenian international convinced the voters with his impressive performance in the match against Hertha BSC.

With a strong performance and impressive start series of nine points and 11: 1 goals this season Borussia Dortmund showed on Matchday 3 all that can be expected. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the most outstanding player.

With 46 percent of the ballot Mkhitaryan clearly won the first place in the voting on .

Mkhitaryan provided an assist in the team’s 3: 1 win over Hertha and was involved in five of the 15 BVB shots.

He is the player with the most targeted-participations and no one gave more shots on goal. But the Armenian is not only dangrous in the penalty box: Mkhitaryan won for being a good offensive player with 53 percent of his tackles and sprinted 22 times over the square. This was also the best result.

Luc Castaignos came second with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Thomas Müller with 10 percent.