Category: 2020

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated today with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in discussion over Nagorno Karabakh conflict on the margins of Munich Security Conference.

Russian Kommersant journalist asked the parties about Russia’s proposals addressed to the conflict settlement, in particular, leaving the NK status for future discussion and do something to which the parties will agree easier like for instance the creation of corridor, finding mid-term solution.

“It is possible. This proposal was seriously viewed by us,” Azerbaijani president said.

“In general we gave our consent. It is clear that the conflict must be solved stage by stage. The first stage must be the liberation of part of occupied territories and this point exists in Russia’s proposal. This must follow the return of displaced Azerbaijanis, resettlement of the territories, in the same period the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia will regulate and the NK status will be discussed in future, after the parties express readiness,” Azerbaijani president said, adding that without liberation of the territories it is impossible to agree over the status.

“The status must not impede the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” he said.

In his turn, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that after the first meeting in Dushanbe together with President Aliyev they made a “little revolution.”

“After this meeting the tension in general reduced unprecedentedly, and we managed to establish direct contact. I must admit that President Aliyev is the co-author of this step,” Armenia’s PM said.

“President Aliyev is speaking about the territories. From the Azerbaijani viewpoint they are territories but from the Karabakh viewpoint it is security. It is necessary to understand how today’s status quo has formed because when Nagorno Karabakh tried to apply its right to self-determination military actions launched against the Armenians of the Nagorno Karabakh forcing them to organize self-defense. For years Stepanakert was shelled. It is impossible for anyone to compromise the security, in case of Karabakh it is impossible too,” Pashinyan stressed.

The head of the government also stressed that though Aliyev claims that Nagorno Karabakh is not conflicting party, Azerbaijan has twice signed treaties with NK.

A regular public hearing was held in Azatek community of Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province on possible exploitation of Azatek gold-polymetallic mine on Friday, February 14. The hearing was initiated by Vayk-Invest LLC.

"The discussion took place in haste, with around 100 residents from the village of Azatek in attendance," Ruzan Ghazaryan, President of Vayk's Work and Motherland NGO, told Panorama.am in an interview.

The village has a population of 450-500, which makes it one of the largest villages in the enlarged Vayk community. Ghazaryan, who also attended the public hearing, said she noticed guidance during the hearing.

“There were people under the influence of the community head who voiced support for the exploitation. There was even an old man who had been holding a pen in his hand for a long time, but when he saw the village head looking closely at him, he voted in favor [of the exploitation], he blushed a bit,” she said.

The previous discussions, which were then hosted by Vayk Gold LLC, took place in Vayk town. Some residents of the town had struggled and twice failed the public hearings on the matter. The company had also organized a secret discussion in Azatek, with some residents not opposing the mine exploitation at that time as well. However, after the hearing in Vayk failed, the company's powers were suspended. Instead a new company, Vayk-Invest LLC, emerged. The company also held a public hearing in Zaritap community, but was rejected by the public. But in Azatek, the public hearing was held after a vote of 44 to 42. According to Ruzan Ghazaryan, the company is not interested in how many people had voted for or against the debates, but the fact that a public hearing took place.

However, the whole public hearing was marked by one interesting incident. Vayk Gold's representative also attended the discussion. The attendees thought that those behind the new company were the same people, simply the company’s name had changed.

“At the beginning we thought, in fact, the companies are the same, they have only changed their name and present themselves with a new name. But it turned out to be a completely different situation. During the discussion, a representative of Vayk Gold asked Vayk Invest whether he had worked with them.

The answer was positive. Then Vayk Gold’s representative said that, ‘You have worked with us, stolen our documents and transferred the secrets of our business to Vayk-Invest, now you have come here to represent yourself as a director.’ He also said that the case was not complete and that they had filed a lawsuit in the court. Besides, he said the hearings were totally illegal,” Ghazaryan said.

According to an NGO representative, representatives of the two businesses started arguing. In any case, two more public hearings are still pending and whether the legal process will be a turning point for the new company or not will become clear during the further developments.

As for the Azatek residents who voted in favor of public hearings, they were interested only in job openings and some social promises made by the company, Ghazaryan said. However, there are a number of factors that neutralize the potential for mine development in the area.

Ruzan Ghazaryan first shared her concerns that the mine has a significant supply of uranium in addition to precious metals. "During the Soviet era, uranium was probably the reason that the mine was not exploited," she said.

In addition, Azatek fossil flora is listed among natural monuments. That is, the site itself is of great value. There are also more than ten plant species included in the Red Book of Plants.

According to the Vayk resident, Arpa River flows directly beneath the mine. It is not ruled out that the wastewater will be dumped into the river. Meanwhile, agricultural lands of a whole province are located in the valley of Arpa River. This means that it may cause major problems for agricultural workers, whereas Vayots Dzor is famous for its agriculture and winemaking.

A villager’s job is the land and the land must be preserved for a village to continue surviving.

On the margins of the Munich Security Conference, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met on Friday with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, the Foreign Ministry's press service reported.

The FM noted that Armenia attaches great importance to strengthening and expanding effective partnership established with the OSCE executive structures through new targeted programs and initiatives. In this regard, the sides discussed collaboration in the framework of the OSCE's Armenian Co-operation Program and ways to enhance its efficiency.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Thomas Greminger touched upon the process of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict and the recent meetings held within its framework

The Armenian foreign policy chief stressed the importance of direct engagement of Artsakh authorities in the peace process, especially on the issues related to the security and status of Artsakh.

The two officials highlighted the consistent steps aimed at strengthening the environment conducive to peace and preparing the peoples for peace, as well as the importance of OSCE’s role in that process.