Category: 2018

                                        Tuesday, 
Karapetian Quitting Leadership Post In Former Ruling Party
Armenia - Acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian holds a cabinet meeting in 
Yerevan, 3 May 2018.
Former Prime Minister Karen Karapetian has decided to resign as first deputy 
chairman of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), it was 
announced on Tuesday.
The HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, said Karapetian feels that he must 
resign from the party leadership because he is no longer “actively involved in 
political processes.”
“I find that very normal,” Sharmazanov told reporters. “Karen Karapetian is a 
mature politician. It’s up to him to decide whether or not to be the first 
deputy chairman. I respect that decision by Karen Karapetian.”
Asked whether Karapetian will also end his membership in the HHK altogether, 
Sharmazanov said: “There is no such decision at this point. There has been no 
talk of leaving the party.”
Karapetian took up the number two position in the HHK hierarchy in November 
2016 two months after then President Serzh Sarkisian appointed him as Armenia’s 
prime minister. He ran the government until Sarkisian served out his final 
presidential term and controversially became prime minister on April 17.
Karapetian remained in government as first deputy prime minister serving under 
a new, parliamentary system of government. The former business executive took 
over as acting prime minister on April 23 immediately after Sarkisian resigned 
amid mass protests against his continued rule.
The HHK-controlled parliament reluctantly chose the protest leader, Nikol 
Pashinian, as the country’s new leader on May 8. Karapetian has made no public 
statements since then. Some Armenian media outlets have claimed that he is 
considering setting up his own party.
In Sharmazanov’s words, it is not yet known whom the party, still headed by 
Sarkisian, will pick as its new first deputy chairman.
Earlier this month, the HHK lost its majority in the parliament following a 
series of defections from its ranks.
More Cash Seized From Sarkisian’s Former Security Chief
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Vachagan Ghazarian empties his bag filled with cash after being 
arrested by the National Security Service in Yerevan, .
Law-enforcement authorities confiscated a further $1 million worth of cash from 
a man who has long been former President Serzh Sarkisian’s chief bodyguard when 
they arrested him on Monday.
Vachagan Ghazarian was detained by the National Security Service (NSS) five 
days after other law-enforcement bodies raided his apartment in Yerevan and 
found $1.1 million and 230,000 euros ($267,000) in cash there. The money was at 
least deposited with the Central Bank of Armenia pending investigation into its 
origin.
Investigators said on Friday that Ghazarian and his wife failed to disclose it 
in their income and asset declarations submitted to an anti-corruption state 
commission. Such declarations are mandatory for Armenia’s high-ranking state 
officials and their close relatives. Ghazarian was among them until Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian dismissed him last month as first deputy head of a 
security agency providing bodyguards to the country’s leaders.
An NSS video released late on Monday showed masked officers arresting the 
formerly powerful general outside a commercial bank in Yerevan. He was then 
shown emptying his bag, filled with stacks of banknotes, in an interrogation 
room.
An NSS statement said the bag contained $120,000 and 436 million drams 
($900,000) in cash he withdrew from one of his bank accounts. It said Ghazarian 
claimed that he was going to give the money to its “real owner” but refused to 
identify that person.
The NSS said Ghazarian was also planning to withdraw another 1.5 billion drams 
($3.1 million) kept by him and his wife at another Armenian bank. According to 
it, he claimed that he “forgot” to add these large sums to his official income 
declarations.
Despite being placed under arrest, Ghazarian was not formally charged with any 
crime as of Tuesday afternoon. Under Armenian law, he cannot be kept in custody 
without charge for more than three days.
Ghazarian is the first person in Armenia who could be prosecuted on charges of 
“illegal enrichment” and/or false asset disclosure carrying up to six years in 
prison. He headed Sarkisian’s security detail for more than two decades.
Armenia’s new government was instrumental in a series of high-profile 
corruption inquiries launched against former officials and other individuals 
linked to the former Armenian leader. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has 
repeatedly pledged to “root out” endemic corruption in the country since taking 
office on May 8.
Pashinian discussed his anti-graft drive on Tuesday with the heads of the NSS, 
the Armenian police and other law-enforcement bodies. He told them to make sure 
that “this process continues more effectively” while “strictly” complying with 
laws and respecting human rights. According to Pashinian’s press office, they 
briefed the premier on their respective agencies’ “ongoing and upcoming works 
towards combatting corruption.”
Aliyev Again Threatens Military Action Against Karabakh, Armenia
Azerbaijan - President Ilham Aliyev speaks at a military parade in Baku, 26 
June 2018.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev talked tough at a military parade in Baku on 
Tuesday, threatening military strikes against “strategic” Armenian targets and 
saying that Azerbaijan will "reinstate its control" over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We are for the peaceful resolution of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict but 
[Armenia] has to understand that there is no military or strategic object that 
the Azerbaijani Army is unable to destroy," Aliyev said.
"The war is not over. Only its first phase has ended," he said, calling 
Karabakh "primordially Azerbaijani territory."
Armenia was quick to condemn the threats. “War mongering and saber rattling are 
irrelevant, deplorable, if not preposterous,” Foreign Minister Zohrab 
Mnatsakanian wrote on his Twitter page. “Inconsistency of language for internal 
consumption and at negotiations doesn’t work. Need a more responsible and 
sensible negotiating party across the table.”
Aliyev spoke at a major military parade marking what his government considers 
the 100th anniversary of Azerbaijan's armed forces. He stressed that Baku will 
continue to buy weapons abroad to strengthen its army.
Some 4,000 military personnel took part in the parade and 240 pieces of 
military equipment, including Belarusian-made Polonez and Israeli-made LORA 
missiles, were on display.
Senior military officials in Yerevan and Stepanakert say that the Azerbaijani 
military has deployed more troops along the “line of contact” around Karabakh 
since April. They have warned Baku against launching offensive operations 
there, saying that the Armenian side is prepared for any scenario.
There have been no high-level Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations since the 
recent dramatic change of Armenia’ government. U.S., Russian and French 
mediators indicated their intention to organize a meeting of Armenia’s and 
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers soon when they visited Yerevan two weeks ago.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” wonders why former President Serzh Sarkisian’s brother Aleksandr was 
freed on Monday several hours after being detained on suspicion of illegal arms 
possession. The paper suggests that law-enforcement bodies may content 
themselves with prosecuting only Sarkisian’s former chief bodyguard, Vachagan 
Ghazarian, for now. “It must be concluded that serious processes are underway 
in the country which on one hand provide answers to questions that have long 
preoccupied the public but on the other hand raise new ones,” it says. “One of 
those questions is as follows. The law-enforcement system is doing its job but 
what about the judiciary?”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports that the cost of various procurements made by the 
Armenian Defense Ministry is going down amid the ongoing crackdown on 
corruption in the country. The paper says this is particularly true for food 
supplies to the army. “This is noteworthy because the supplies are carried out 
as part of contracts signed before,” it says. “In other words, a number of 
suppliers have started delivering the same products to the Defense Ministry at 
lower prices.” Those prices have fallen by around 8 percent, it says.
Stanislav Tarasov, a Russian political analyst, tells “168 Zham” that foreign 
powers must act fast to prevent a possible escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict. “The dangerous thing is that I see no efforts by any foreign player 
to get the parties to the negotiating table,” he says. “Waiting [and seeing 
what happens] could prove more dangerous.”
“Zhoghovurd” says Armenian politicians and pundits broadly agree that any 
improvement of Turkish-Armenian relations will remain unlikely after Turkey’s 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reelected in a weekend presidential ballot. 
The paper argues that Ankara continues to make normalization of its relations 
with Yerevan contingent on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
(Tigran Avetisian)
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

Arminfo, Armenia
Expert: Without proper assessment of threats to the economy it is
pointless to talk about economic development in Armenia
Yerevan June 26
Alina Hovhannisyan. Until the threats to the economy are properly
assessed, it is not necessary to talk about economic development in
Armenia. The head of the research center Alternative, economist Tatul
Manaseryan stated on June 26 at a press conference.
"Without considering threats, it is not worth talking about a good
economic future, which is akin to a physically sick person who intends
to lead an active lifestyle," the expert said. Answering the question
of ArmInfo, T. Manaseryan stated that the key task for the Armenian
economy is to ensure food, energy, financial, investment and
demographic security. "Thanks to the revolution, we entered a
favorable environment. However, the outflow of intellectual potential
from the country continues, which will lead to the aging of the
nation, "he said. In addition, the economist raised the issue of human
capital from a professional point of view. "I do not want to offend
anyone, but we still do not know what country we live in." For whom is
the new government program being written? In the same IT area, which
is a priority for the government, we are actually not aware of the
number of specialists. Those figures that are published are not exact.
Armenia is going to become a health, educational, scientific center.
But who will serve? It is necessary to call on the new government to
address this issue in order to know who is dealing with, "T.
Manaseryan stressed.
In addition, he noted that there are no serious geologists in Armenia.
The school of geologists in Armenia, according to the expert, died
along with the old specialists. When foreign experts come to Armenia,
he continued, and they give an evaluation of this or that mining
project, there is not one Armenian specialist in state institutions
who would have expressed disagreement or would have indicated an error
in the conclusions of a foreign specialist. "Therefore, I first of all
noted the human potential, not touching the issue of production and
financial opportunities," the economist stressed.
T. Manaseryan noted that the assessment of the economy by experts is
not in demand in Armenia. He stressed that during 28 years of
independence of the RA no government had in any way formed possible
options for solving existing problems. "After all, not everything is
connected with money, there are questions for the solution of which
logic and experience are more likely. Naturally, the new government
has no experience and that's what we are here for. We should help in
this matter," he said.
The expert underlined the importance of involving Armenian Ambassadors
in the development of the economy, which, according to him, in general
terms, does not engage in anything other than organizing forums and
official meetings. "If each Ambassador once a year finds at least one
medium or small investor, let alone large investments, then imagine
how the economic situation in the country will change," he said.
T. Manaseryan added that it is impossible to assess and develop the
economy on an amateur level, calling it not just a science, but an art
where it is important to take into account all the nuances.