President of the Republic of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan on October 18 visited the eastern section of the Artsakh-Azerbaijan borderline where he got acquainted with the service process of soldiers and the current situation, the Presidential Office reported.
The President was accompanied by defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan, as well as other officials
Thursday,
States Bodies Warned Against Election Meddling
• Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia -- A voter is about to cast a ballot in municipal elections in Yerevan,
23Sep2018
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian warned government ministries and other state
bodies on Thursday against attempting to influence the outcome of Armenia’s
snap parliamentary elections expected in December.
Pashinian paved the way for the elections when he tendered his and his
government resignation on Tuesday. He and his cabinet members will continue to
perform their duties in the interim.
Pashinian said that “the state governance system must not be involved in
pre-election processes in any way” when he chaired a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan. The government should instead work in a “more intensive and effective”
manner in the run-up to the vote, he said.
“This is a very good period for working in tranquil conditions,” he told
ministers and other senior officials attending the meeting.
Armenia’s previous governments heavily relied on their administrative levers to
help the ruling parties and their presidential candidates win elections. That
involved strong pressure exerted on many public and even private sector
employees.
There were practically no reports of such abuses of administrative resources
during the September 23 municipal election in Yerevan which Pashinian’s My Step
alliance won by a landslide. Its official results were accepted by virtually
all other parties and blocs, another sharp contrast with past Armenian
elections.
Pashinian claimed that his government has already “rooted out” the country’s
culture of electoral fraud when he met with President Armen Sarkissian late on
Wednesday to discuss the upcoming polls.
“For us, democracy is not a slogan or method,” said the premier. “Democracy is
our political creed. Democracy is what we have fought for.”
The Armenian police promised, meanwhile, that they would act strongly against
any attempts to bribe voters or rig vote results.
“The police are prepared for the excellent conduct of the pre-term
parliamentary elections,” the police chief, Valeri Osipian, told reporters
after Thursday’s cabinet meeting. “For this purpose, we will use new
approaches, especially in the regions. I won’t specify them now.”
More Former Oppositionists Win Lawsuits Against Armenian State
• Naira Bulghadarian
FRANCE -- An exterior view of the the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg, April 18, 2018
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ordered Armenian
authorities to pay a total of 7,500 euros ($8,600) in compensation to two
former opposition activists who were arrested during 2008 post-election
protests in Yerevan.
The plaintiffs, Grigor Voskerchian and Masis Ayvazian, ran regional campaign
offices of Levon Ter-Petrosian, the main opposition candidate in the disputed
February 2008 presidential election. They also actively participated in nonstop
demonstrations staged by Ter-Petrosian in protest against alleged vote rigging.
Both men were arrested when security forces dispersed protesters camped out in
Yerevan’s Liberty Square early on March 1, 2008. Riot police and interior
troops went on to break up renewed protests that were staged by Ter-Petrosian
supporters later on that day. Eight protesters and two police servicemen were
killed as a result.
Voskerchian, who coordinated Ter-Petrosian’s election campaign in the town of
Abovian, was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison for organizing “mass
disturbances.” He denied the charges as politically motivated.
The ECHR ruled that Armenian courts did not have sufficient grounds to allow
investigators to keep Voskerchian under pre-trial arrest. The 62-year-old is to
receive 3,000 euros in damages.
Ayvazian, for his part, received a suspended two-year jail sentence at the time
for assaulting law-enforcement officers on March 1, 2008. He too strongly
denied the accusations. The ECHR said that Ayvazian must be compensated
financially because he was kept in pre-trial detention longer than was allowed
by an Armenian court.
Both former activists hailed the Strasbourg court’s rulings, while complaining
that they are long overdue.
Dozens of Ter-Petrosian loyalists, among them Armenia’s current Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian, were jailed on controversial charges stemming from the 2008
violence. Many of them filed lawsuits to the ECHR.
Pashinian ordered a renewed criminal investigation into the bloodshed shortly
after he swept to power in May. In July, the Special Investigative Service
(SIS) arrested former President Robert Kocharian widely blamed for the
post-election crackdown on the opposition. Armenia’s Court of Appeals freed
Kocharian from custody more than two weeks later, saying that the ex-president
enjoys legal immunity from prosecution.
Kocharian still stands accused of illegally using the armed forces against the
protesters. He denies the accusation, saying that Pashinian is waging a
“political vendetta” against him.
Press Review
“Aravot” says it is only natural that members of Armenia’s former ruling elite,
who “have a lot to lose,” fear losing their assets and even freedom and are
doing everything to “miraculously change the situation.” “They are in for
disappointment,” writes the paper. “It is impossible to restore the situation
that existed in Armenia before April.” It says that former officials cannot
defend themselves with claims about their “political persecution.” In
particular, they must explain how they made fortunes while in office.
“Zhoghovurd” reports on Wednesday’s meeting between President Armen Sarkissian
and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. “It was their first meeting since Nikol
Pashinian’s resignation,” notes the paper. “It also carried interesting
messages. Pashinian assured the president that the parliamentary forces have
worked out a common approach regarding the conduct of pre-term elections.” The
paper says it remains unclear whether Sarkissian will sign into law a
controversial parliament bill that could have made it harder for Pashinian to
dissolve the current National Assembly.
“Zhamanak” says that during his five-month tenure Pashinian has managed to
“solidify the velvet revolution,” spare the state apparatus “internal and
external shocks,” and maintain peace and stability in the country. “These are
very important factors, especially considering just how intensively the former
regime worked to hit and stop the revolution process in that regard,” writes
the paper. It says that the regime had grown so closely interconnected with the
state bureaucracy than it was not easy to separate them without damaging state
institutions. “In that sense, Nikol Pashinian and his team have carried out
complicated and successful surgery in the last five months,” concludes the
paper.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
Armenia’s Serob Abrahamyan has become a gold medalist at the World Armwrestling and World Para-Armwrestling Championship being held in Antalya, Turkey.
Abrahamyan defeated his Russian opponent in the final of the Men 85 kg para-armwrestling competition.
As reported earlier, Armenia’s Davit Dadikyan had won a gold medal in the Youth Men 90+ kg competition at this championship in Antalya.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigned, and remained to serve as prime minister. In the status of the head of the party, he intends to participate in December in early parliamentary elections in order to win them and return to the same post as the elected, legitimate head of the Armenian government.
“If on the eve of the elections, during the elections and immediately after, there is not be a coup in Armenia, and the parliamentary elections are successful for Pashinyan, then the sympathies of the international community in the Karabakh problem will shift towards the Armenians. Armenia will become a country of “democratic mentality”, “anti-corruption”, “pursuing an anti-Russian foreign policy”, “striving for civilizational values”, “an island of civilizational values in Eurasia and the South Caucasus”. Azerbaijan will remain a country “authoritarian, despotic, corrupt, alien to Western democratic values and the main conductor of Putin”s dangerous Eurasian geopolitical model. In the conditions of narrowing the field of influence of Russia and its readiness to compromise with the West, what is happening can become a legal recognition of the occupation of Karabakh,” former Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Panah Huseyn said about the opinion of the analytical group.
It is possible to prevent and compensate the scenario extremely undesirable for Azerbaijan by attempting a democratic revolution starting from the bottom or top, with fundamental democratic reforms, if only by imitating such a process. This is expected, believe the analysts of the Karabakh Committee, assuming that recent rumors indicate a possible decision by the authorities to go to extraordinary parliamentary elections, the formation of a “parliament with the participation of the opposition.”
Analyzing the events taking place, analysts should pay attention to the fact that under Pashinyan, and prior to the legitimization of his power through the December elections, a new Armenian policy was launched to disrupt negotiations with Azerbaijan and radicalize the Karabakh demands. New Armenia intends to build a third road from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia in the occupied Azerbaijani areas bordering Iran. Consequently, the return of these regions to Azerbaijan is not in the plans of Pashinyan.
The former US ambassador to this country, Richard Mills, who completed the diplomatic mission in Armenia, made a sensational statement that Yerevan is not even discussing the return of part of the occupied regions to Azerbaijan in order to achieve peace.
In an interview with the EVN Report, Mills stated that resolving the Karabakh problem without “returning certain occupied territories” is impossible.
“I was surprised when I first came here and found out that the majority of Armenians I met were against the return of the occupied territories as part of the negotiation process. I am surprised by the fact that there is practically no discussion in Armenia regarding acceptable solutions and compromises. For many years, in the views of my government, these territories were seized in order to be used later according to the formula “status in exchange for territories”. I was really amazed that this option no longer enjoys support,” said Richard Mills.
He said he understood that the April 2016 war exacerbated these perceptions. “But the cruel reality is that settlement is impossible without the return of certain occupied territories,” said the US ambassador, who is completing his mandate.
In Yerevan”s Lragir website, close to Pashinyan, the ex-ambassador”s statement was cited with displeasure, leaving the alarming message of the diplomat aside, the editorial board issued a statement to Mills as an American statement that it was impossible to return any territories to Azerbaijan. Part of this publication, dangerous for Baku, was the mention of Trump”s policy, expressed in the “keep it as it is” formula, according to which the West, according to the Pashinyan media, is ready to recognize Armenia“s right to occupy Azerbaijani territories.
Considering the analysis of the “Karabakh” committee in this perspective, it becomes clear that the analysts’ warning was overdue. Armenia launched the process of legitimizing territorial seizure, not waiting for Pashinyan”s victory in the elections, and Baku is not going to oppose anything to it. Judging by the new arrests of objectionable politicians (Nemat Panahli, Azad Hasanov) there are no signs of an offensive in the country, even if there is no preparation for a real or imitative democratic revolution.
Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler died after a heart attack on Wednesday at the age of 90, following a five-day treatment for kidney failure at an Istanbul hospital, the Turkish media reported.
The world renowned photographer, known particularly for his iconic black-and-white pictures of Istanbul, was announced to have died after being admitted to the intensive care unit late on Wednesday night at the private Florence Nightingale hospital.
Dubbed as “the Eye of Istanbul”, Guler was named as one of the top seven photographers in the world by the British Journal of Photography Year Book 1968. Among the countless awards he received were the “Master of Leica” award, a title awarded by the camera company Leica to only 38 artists in the world, and Légion d’Honneur from France.
Guler held hundreds of exhibitions all over the world. He also carried out interviews paired with photoshoots with numerous celebrities ranging from Alfred Hitchcock, Bertrand Russell and Winston Churchill to Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.
His work was collected by prominent museums around the world such as the National Library of France, the George Eastman Museum in the U.S., University of Nebraska-Lincoln Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Museum Ludwig and Das Imaginäre Photo-Museum, both in Cologne.
Guler was born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1928 to Armenian parents. After working at film studios in his high school years and taking acting classes, he started his career as a journalist in 1950 at the Yeni Istanbul daily.
One of the most significant stories he covered was an interview series with a group of Armenian fishermen working in the Kumkapi district about their daily life. He said in an interview that it was one of his most important works at the time.
He attended Istanbul University Faculty of Economy while he worked in the media. In the 1950s, he worked for Time Life, Paris Match, Stern and the Magnum agency.
Speaking to the media, Guler had said “They call me ‘the photographer of Istanbul’, but I am a world citizen. I am a photojournalist of the world.”
Baku / 17.10.18 / Turan: Armenian media reported on plans to build a new road from Armenia to Karabakh along the Araks River, and to create a new settlement “Sydney” on the territory of the occupied Kalbajar district.
Such plans contradict bilateral agreements reached during the Dushanbe CIS summit. Illegal activities in the occupied territories undermine international efforts to resolve the conflict.
“Such actions of the Armenian authorities testify to an unconstructive position, demonstrate contradictions between their words and deeds, not interest in a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
The settlement of the occupied territories and attempts to change the demographic situation are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a commentary. -02D-
Baku / 10/17/18 / Turan: The press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed “surprise” by the _expression_ “all parties to the conflict” used by the Russian Foreign Ministry in assessing the recent visit of the deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and other Russian leaders to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The commentary of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry to the Turan agency said that, as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Russian Foreign Ministry well knows that according to the OSCE final document of 1992 – the Final Statement of the Helsinki Council of Ministers – Armenia and Azerbaijan were recognized as parties to the conflict.
At present, negotiations within the Minsk Group are also being conducted in this format.
“We believe that the reaction of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation to this provocative and not conducive to the peaceful settlement of the conflict, the visit of the Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma Svetlana Zhurova, is not effective,” the commentary noted.
A group of Russian women last week visited Nagorno-Karabakh at the invitation of the wife of Armenian Prime Minister Anna Hakobyan. The visit was announced as peacekeeping, however, provoked protests from official Baku. However, the organizers ignored the opinion of Azerbaijan, not to visit the occupied territories without the consent of Baku. Therefore, the participants of the trip were included in the “black list” and they were denied entry to Azerbaijan. -02D-
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press Wednesday New Study of Views of Population on Karabakh Conflict Baku / 10/17/18 / Turan: The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has affected the lives of people in the region so deeply that it has become an integral part of their identity. These are the findings of a research report conducted by the international non-governmental organization International Alert. The Vision of Peace project is the largest research since the so-called "April war" of 2016 - the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh after the signing of the Agreement on an Indefinite Ceasefire in 1994. As part of the study, a detailed survey of over 100 respondents was conducted in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The results of the study indicate that over time, people began to perceive the state of conflict as "normal." According to the authors of the report, this circumstance may make it difficult to resolve the conflict. Surveys were conducted among rural, urban and metropolitan residents, as well as among those living near the front line and among internally displaced persons. One of the important findings of the study was that people whose lives are more affected by the conflict are more inclined towards its peaceful resolution. This category includes those living near the contact line or at the border of states, direct participants in the conflict and witnesses of death and destruction (medical staff and former combatants), as well as young people of military age. In the case of Armenia and Azerbaijan, patriotic sentiments among respondents increase with distance from the front line. "The results of the study indicate the need to tap the peacekeeping potential of the population directly confronted with the war and having the experience of coexistence with representatives of the "other side". These people are aware of the importance of resolving the conflict and are able to take practical steps to promote peace initiatives," said Carey Cavanaugh, head of the Board of Trustees of International Alert, and in the past co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. According to the respondents, the conflict is too large to be resolved only by the population. Many believe that this task should be placed on the authorities or on external players, such as the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States or the Russian Federation. At the same time, as the authors of the report emphasize, the level of respondents' confidence in these players is low. * The report "Vision of Peace: An Analysis of Views on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict" was published on October 17 in English and Russian. The study was conducted in the framework of the EU initiative "European partnership for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". International Alert is one of the leading international organizations in the field of peacemaking. Its task is to work with people directly affected by conflicts, with the goal of building sustainable peace.
There won’t be any issue of enemies, outsiders or insiders in the new times, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters today.
The acting PM was visiting the charitable Breath Of Syrian-Armenian Culture in Yerevan trade fair and was asked by reporters to comment on the appointment of Hunan Poghosyan as the new Governor of Syunik. Poghosyan is a police general who served as Armenia’s deputy police chief during the Serzh Sargsyan administration.
“We are entering a new phase. I’ve said numerously – there is a time to build barricades, and there is a time to dismantle barricades. We have now entered the phase of dismantling barricades. It’s not about the person of Hunan Poghosyan, it’s about a political message. The message is that we are not going to divide into enemies, [outsiders] and [insiders]. There are no flawless people in Armenia. I can’t recall any appointment which didn’t result in [comments]. In one case they were saying he is too young, in another case they said he is too tall, the third…..I say again, there are no flawless people, flawless appointments don’t happen. The issue is the following – we must make a clear message that we are planning to unite the entire potential,” Pashinyan said.
He noted that there is a lot of talk about the actions of officials. He said that everyone will be held to account for their actions. “Doesn’t matter if they are officials or not. The times when being an official meant privilege are long gone,” Pashinyan said.
First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan today met with the Republican Party of Armenia in parliament. The Electoral Code was discussed during the meeting.
In a conversation with journalists following the meeting, former RA Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan stated that the discussion is late, formal and imperfect since the issues related to the elections of the National Assembly are a topic for discussion in the political field and, in particular, in a republic in which the model of governance is parliamentary governance, the elections of the National Assembly are first and foremost a topic for discussion with parliamentary forces.
“I regret to state that the governmental commission that had been created to develop the Electoral Code, failed to work intensively with the task force created by the four factions in parliament. Moreover, the proposals of that task force which included the consensus recommendations drafted by the four factions, were not taken into consideration in the draft Electoral Code. The discussion on this Electoral Code is a step back from the previous discussion on the Electoral Code, which led to the emergence of the 4+4+4 format which, in its turn, led to a consensus vote in parliament and to great confidence and support of the international community in and to the electoral process in Armenia. This is also missing,” V. Sargsyan mentioned.
He also noted that the draft was just recently sent to the Venice Commission and that even the sent document was not the final version.
In this regard, during the meeting, RA First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that he was certain that the government wouldn’t manage to receive the response of the Venice Commission on time and that it is likely that someone will express an opinion in the form of an interview.
According to Vigen Sargsyan, all this is a sign of disrespect toward the Venice Commission, and it would be better, if the government didn’t send the draft to the Venice Commission this way and then justified itself by saying that new Armenia is in a state of emergency and this is why they are not sending it, etc.
“The only reason for hastiness for the snap parliamentary elections is that the current political party in power believes that the conditions for holding elections are politically favorable, and it is taking this step, which is actually causing great harm to democracy and to the functioning of political parties in Armenia, and I am sorry for this,” Sargsyan stated.
In his turn, First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan informed that the concept paper and the draft of the new Electoral Code had been sent to the Venice Commission and that the final version was also officially sent today.
According to him, the interactions with the Venice Commission will continue, but he assumes that there will not be an expert opinion.
Before this, 168.am had informed that on October 19, Ararat Mirzoyan is going to participate in the plenary session of the Venice Commission and will present the package of amendments to the RA Electoral Code. 168.am had also informed that the draft hasn’t even been sent for an opinion, and so the Venice Commission isn’t going to express any opinion. The acting authorities, under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, are simply trying to ensure at least a formal process in order to create a demonstrative illusion of cooperation with the Venice Commission.
This cooperation with the Venice Commission is not going to go any further than the visit of Ararat Mirzoyan and the other formalities that are part of the protocol because the Venice Commission isn’t going to express an opinion.
“But the authorities are rushing. They are rushing so much that the only thing that they can do is to “blow dust in the eyes” of the Venice Commission at the level of the Deputy Prime Minister,” 168.am informed prior to the statement made by Mirzoyan today.
Zvart Khachatryan