Category: 2019

In accordance with a certain point and a certain sub-point of a certain law, the Federal Service for the Supervision of Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation – in short Roskomnadzor – has kept blocked on the whole territory of Russia for several days now the Russian version of the Armenian edition Aravot registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia, depriving many thousands of Armenians and non-Armenians of the opportunity to receive information in Russian from Armenia about Armenia and the world.

Russia blocks Armenian website in attempt to 'sterilise' media space

It has turned out that Aravot is not the only Armenian media outlet to have earned such "honour" from the "Roskomjailers" [Russian nadziratel – "jailer" – derived from nadzor – "surveillance"], as not only Aravot carries publications that "drive a wedge into the centuries-long friendship [between Armenian and Russian nations]". Having successfully "cleansed" the Russian media space, the Russian government are trying to "sterilise" also the segment of the post-Soviet area they can "access". (It is about the countries members of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organisation] and EEU [Eurasian economic Union].) In this regard, Armenia has always been and continues to be most "non-sterile", which cannot fail to make "our strategic ally" nervous.

Our letters sent to the Russian agency have effectively proved to be letters to nowhere. It is necessary to draw the conclusion that the complaints by Mr Ruben Tatulyan [ethnic Armenian Russian businessman, mentioned in the publication by Aravot and other media outlets] about our alleged violation of Russian law and illegal publication of his "personal data" are a pretext to "keep away" the Russian audience from the publications that "rock the boat". And you need a relevant "reference to law" for this purpose.

Aravot's audience in Russia to bypass blockage

Of course, the agency called Roskomnadzor fortunately has no power in Armenia and Russian "laws" are not obligatory in our country. Correspondingly, we are continuing and will continue to do or normal everyday work, as we regard reporting most important events taking place in Armenia and the world in the shape of views from Armenia as our mission irrespective of whether this can be agreeable or disagreeable in Moscow or somewhere else. However, the loss of the Russian audience by our Russian version has significantly reduced the number of views.

Of course, our audience is not big compared to the Russian scale, but at the same time, every reader, who is interested in our publications, our news feed, and our analytical materials, is dear to us. All we can do is to hope that until access is restored in Russia, our readers will find ways to bypass the block, which they are doing in case of other "undesirable" websites. After all, there are no blocking methods that cannot be bypassed sooner or later and with the course of time, it will become clear that the blockage of Aravot was yet another senseless and ruthless move by the Russian government, which resulted not in what they desired, but "something usual".

We all remember that in conditions of the so-called emergency situation in 2008 [after deadly clashes between police and protesters against the results of the presidential election] that lasted 20 days, it became clear that many users in Armenia not only learned how to access all websites blocked by the regime of [former Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan, but even opened "advanced training courses" on this "subject" for their neighbours and relatives. A network for the exchange of news took shape, which then developed into a blogosphere and Kocharyan's "Internet jailers" found they were helpless against it.

Moscow trying to 'set tone' in Russian-language press in Armenia

Many Russian-language websites in Russia and outside Russia that were blocked long ago, continue to retain many thousands of their audiences thanks to precisely such methods of bypassing blockage, so sooner or later, Aravot will also manage to pave the way to its readers in Russia and vice versa. However, the problem lies elsewhere. Does it follow that the Russian supervision agency is trying to set the tone in Armenia regarding also the Russian-language press in Armenia, trying to deliver a blow to the size of the audience and "mitigate" it by means of this lever? If this is so, the only thing we can do is to express condolences to the Russian government on such backward thinking and simple unawareness of the reality in the 21 century.

In addition to extending condolences, we will not spare effort addressing relevant agencies and organisations of the Republic of Armenia, demanding that they first and foremost express their position and use their own contacts to urge their Russian counterparts to end this arbitrariness that is no way linked to any law, even if this law is the worst possible, as there are no such links.

Armenia is not Russia no matter how unpleasant this may seem to various Russian "controllers". In Armenia, unlike Russia, Internet is free and if we approach the problem from the angle of giving an example or following an example, Russia can surely serve as an example for Armenia only in showing how things should not be done in any case, while the Russian authorities can learn a lot from the Armenian authorities in this field, of course, if they are able to learn at least something.

Roskomnadzor's efforts 'senseless'

In addition, we also intend to post all of our most important publications on our Facebook page and also disseminate our information on other platforms we have not paid attention to up to now – Twitter, Telegram, and so forth. Of course, we will be powerless, if Roskomnadzor or the Kremlin decide to combat the Internet with an axe, using it to cut Internet cables in order to prevent websites from "stirring up trouble" and "undermining stability" and to expand again the waning audience of the only TV-"truth" by Kiselev, Simonyan, and Solovyev. However, such things seem to be impossible at the moment, but … who knows… [Ellipses as published]

Be sure that time will show how senseless the step [by Roskomnadzor] is and if the "Roskomjailers" have decided to "sort out the mess" in freedom of speech in such a manner, the result is going to be reverse and freedom of speech will "sort out the mess" among those "Roskomjailers" and folks up the ladder. Please wait. The day is not far away.

[Armenian] political analysts have reacted to the meeting of [Armenian Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinyan and [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev in Davos [on 23 January]. Azerbaijan has renounced the "Madrid principles", an MP of the ruling My Step party, Hovhannes Igityan believes. Azerbaijan is trying to reinforce its own positions and the Armenian government have to show toughness and readiness for negotiations at the same time, political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan noted. The USA does not want the resumption of war in [Azerbaijan's breakaway] Nagorno-Karabakh because of the Iran problem, political analyst Suren Sargsyan said.

Kavkazsky Uzel wrote that the process of settlement of the Karabakh conflict is under way on the basis of the so-called "Madrid principles" put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) [that is mediating in the settlement of the conflict] in Madrid in 2007 and revised in 2009. Russia, the USA, and France are co-chairs of the OSCE MG. Azerbaijan accepts the "Madrid principles" with the reservation that Nagorno-Karabakh can only be part of Azerbaijan, admitting that it is possible to grant it broadest possible autonomy. Armenia also recognises the fundamentals of the "Madrid principles", but under reverse conditions.

The news conference "A new stage of conflict. Expectations" was held in the Article 3 journalist club in Yerevan on 5 February, Kavkazsky Uzel correspondent, who attended the event, reports.

The approach of the new Armenian government to the settlement of the Karabakh problem differs from that of the previous government, Hovhannes Igityan, an MP of the ruling My Step bloc and deputy chairman of the Parliament Commission for External Relations, said at a news conference.

"Previously, Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan, did not have a clear formula and clear-cut objectives at the negotiations. The Armenian government spoke about the need to resolve the conflict peacefully without offering anything concrete. And it turned out now that Azerbaijan is not ready to cede anything. Therefore, the new position of the Armenian government is interpreted in Azerbaijan as an attempt to quit the negotiations," Igityan noted.

He said that Azerbaijan essentially renounced the "Madrid principles" in 2016.

"The relevance of the 'Madrid principles' is discussed only in Armenia and in addition, only by journalists," the MP said.

Armenian government have to show toughness and readiness for negotiations at the same time

Azerbaijan is trying to change the logic of the negotiating process and reinforce its own positions, political analyst and Caucasus Institute Director Alexander Iskandaryan believes.

"Up to now, the situation has looked like this: Armenia was ready for compromises and concessions, but Azerbaijan blocked all proposals by the Minsk Group. Azerbaijan had the image of a non-constructive side that thwarted all initiatives of the co-chairs. Azerbaijan is now trying to change its own image and make Armenia reject all of its proposals. The decreased level of tensions on the border, which Armenia tried to achieve for a long time, is part of Azerbaijan's strategy," he said at the news conference.

He also said that the Armenian government have to make statements on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict at four levels at the same time.

"The statements are addressed to the domestic audience, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, and the world community. The government have to demonstrate toughness and readiness to continue negotiations," the political analyst explained.

He also noted that the "Madrid principles" had not yet ceased to be relevant.

"The proposals are part of the diplomatic language, in which the co-chairs speak with parties to the conflict. Their content is that some part of the territories is to be returned and other territories are not. It is a topic for discussion what territories and of what size. Paradigms like 'we do not return anything, but you recognise the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh' or Azerbaijan's position 'everything or nothing' are not discussed," the political analyst stressed.

It is too early to speak about progress at negotiations on Karabakh

The world community and the USA in particular have effectively vetoed the settlement of the conflict by using military force, expert in international issues and political analyst Suren Sargsyan said at the news conference.

"The position of the United States is as follows: You may resolve the problem as you like, but avoid war. You may resolve it on the basis of territorial integrity or the right to self-determination. Resumption of hostilities is extremely undesirable for the United States, as the USA is aspiring to resolve its own regional problems linked to Iran. They do not need any new hot spots near the Iranian border," he thinks.

The negotiating process has become active, but it is too early to speak about progress until the Minsk group organises a meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Sargsyan believes.

"Although Pashinyan and Aliyev have met three times, … [ellipsis as published] it is possible to speak only about negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers within the frames of the Minsk Group. A familiarisation stage is under way. That is why the Armenian government is avoiding answering questions on whether the 'Madrid principles' have been removed from the agenda or not," the political analyst noted.

Despite the armistice, shooting on the line of contact [between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Karabakh] have not stopped even for 24 hours as evidenced by the infographics published on Kavkazsky Uzel – "Karabakh after the armistice – 365 days of war".