Category: 2020

                                        Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Armenian PM Calls Nagorno-Karabakh ‘Anti-Terrorist Frontline’
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
Expressing his sympathies to Austria over the latest terrorist attacks in 
Vienna, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday argued that a new, 
“hybrid” world war has begun, with Nagorno-Karabakh being its “anti-terrorist 
frontline.”
“The more the world ignores it, the more noticeable this war will become,” 
Pashinian wrote on Facebook, stressing that this new global war is being waged 
equally against Christians, Muslims and Jews.
“Nagorno-Karabakh today is the frontline of anti-terrorist fight. Without any 
exaggeration it is here that the fate of civilization is being decided,” the 
Armenian leader wrote.
Pashinian’s remarks likely refer to Yerevan’s claims that various jihadist 
fighters recruited by Turkey from Syria are fighting on Azerbaijan’s side 
against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Such claims have been supported by 
leading world powers, including Russia and France, as well as a number of 
leading international media conducting journalistic investigations into the 
matter.
Both Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, deny the involvement of mercenaries in the 
hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Civilization must win. We are with you, Vienna,” Pashinian concluded his 
Facebook post, thus offering his sympathies to the Austrian capital where at 
least several people have been killed and over a dozen injured in a series of 
terror attacks on November 2.
The attacks have been linked to Islamic terrorists.
In a number of recent interviews with European media, including the German Bild 
newspaper, Pashinian urged European leaders to put pressure on Turkey, which is 
accused by Armenia of deploying terrorist fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh, warning 
that if Europe misjudges the situation in the South Caucasus, it “should wait 
for Turkey near Vienna.”
France To Ban Turkish Ultranationalist Gray Wolves After Anti-Armenian Activities
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin
(RFE/RL) France will ban the Turkish ultranationalist Gray Wolves group, the 
interior minister said, days after its members were linked to anti-Armenian 
demonstrations and vandalism.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin described the Gray Wolves on November 2 as a 
“particularly aggressive group.”
He said the move to ban the Gray Wolves, also known as the Idealist Hearths, 
will be put to the French cabinet on November 4.
In Turkey, the Gray Wolves are linked to the far-right Nationalist Movement 
Party (MHP) of Devlet Bahceli. The party has a political alliance with President 
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The plan to ban the Gray Wolves comes after two anti-Armenian demonstrations by 
people carrying Turkish flags in the Lyon and Grenoble areas. The demonstrations 
are believed to be tied to the Gray Wolves.
French media also reported that a monument in Lyon dedicated to the victims of 
the 1915 massacres of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was defaced with pro-Turkish 
Gray Wolves slogans and "RTE" in reference to Erdogan.
The Gray Wolves are considered the militant wing of the MHP, known for their 
pan-Turkish and far-right ideology.
In the past, they are believed to have had ties to the Turkish “deep state” and 
mafia, having been involved in street violence against leftists in Turkey during 
the 1970s and 1980s. Its members have also been involved in attacks on Kurdish 
activists and aided the state's fight against Kurdish nationalist militants.
There have been tensions in France between its large ethnic Armenian population 
and Turkish communities over the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which 
Turkey has strongly backed its ally Azerbaijan.
There have also been weeks of tensions between France and Turkey in the Eastern 
Mediterranean, Syria, and Libya.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera on November 1, President Emmanuel Macron accused 
Turkey of adopting a "bellicose" stance towards its NATO allies.
Tensions have risen further after the beheading of a French schoolteacher who 
showed his pupils cartoons mocking Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
In the wake of the killing, Macron has defended free speech, including the right 
to mock religion, triggering sharp rhetoric from Erdogan and a call to boycott 
French goods in Turkey.
France has also been taking steps to ban radical Islamist groups.
Armenia Snubs Israel Over Arms Sales To Azerbaijan
        • Karlen Aslanian
ISRAEL - Israeli Armenians are holding a rally in Jerusalem demanding that the 
Jewish state recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, October 24, 2020
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian used unusually strong terms in 
commenting on Israel’s supplies of weapons to Azerbaijan that are being applied 
against ethnic Armenians in the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Last month Israel offered humanitarian aid to both Azerbaijan and Armenia, but 
unlike Baku, Yerevan ignored that offer.
On October 1, four days after the start of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and 
only two weeks after opening its embassy in Tel Aviv, Armenia recalled its 
ambassador from Israel in protest against continuing supplies of Israeli weapons 
to Azerbaijan.
Answering the question of The Jerusalem Post on whether Armenia is interested in 
the humanitarian aid offered by Israel, Pashinian queried rhetorically: 
“Humanitarian aid from a country selling weapons to mercenaries who target 
civilians?”
“I suggest that Israel send this aid to mercenaries and terrorists as a logical 
continuation of its activities,” the Armenian prime minister said.
In an exclusive interview with the Israeli newspaper published on November 3, 
Pashinian accused Israel of lining up with Turkey, terrorists and Syrian 
mercenaries in backing Azerbaijan in the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, 
stressing that it will eventually suffer the consequence of what he described as 
an “unholy alliance.”
Pashinian also said that Azerbaijan is intent on “carrying out genocide against 
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” according to the newspaper.
Armenia opened its embassy in Tel Aviv in September, one year after deciding to 
upgrade diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Those relations have long been frosty, reflecting differing geopolitical 
priorities of the two states. Also, Yerevan has for years expressed concern over 
billions of dollars’ worth of advanced weapons, including sophisticated drones 
and missiles, which Israeli defense companies have sold, with the Israeli 
government’s blessing, to Azerbaijan over the past decade.
On October 5, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin expressed hope that Armenia will 
send its ambassador back to Israel.
“We welcome the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Israel and hope that the 
Armenian ambassador will return soon,” Rivlin said in a reported phone call with 
Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian.
Putin Discusses Karabakh With Pashinian, Aliyev
RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting of the Valdai 
Discussion Club via a video conference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence 
outside Moscow, October 22, 2020
Russian President Vladimir Putin had telephone conversations with Armenian Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on November 1 
and November 2, respectively, according to the Kremlin.
“Issues of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were thoroughly 
discussed,” a short statement released by the Russian president’s office said.
On October 31, Pashinian sent a letter to Putin in which, invoking a 1997 treaty 
with Russia, he formally asked Moscow “to define types and amount of assistance” 
that it can provide to Armenia. Pashinian said that the fighting between ethnic 
Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan that broke out in late 
September was approaching the country’s borders and that some encroachments on 
the territory of the Republic of Armenia have already taken place.
In response to the letter the same day, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
reaffirmed Moscow’s commitment to Armenia under the 1997 Treaty on Friendship, 
Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, saying that “Russia will render all necessary 
assistance to Yerevan if military operations take place directly on the 
territory of Armenia.”
At the same time, the Russian ministry again called on the parties to the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to halt military operations immediately, deescalate 
the situation and return to “substantive negotiations” to achieve a peaceful 
settlement.
Earlier, the Armenian prime minister also signaled Yerevan’s agreement to the 
deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, but 
said that such a move would require the consent of all parties to the conflict.
Meanwhile, President Aliyev on Monday called on Russia to maintain neutrality in 
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh given its status as an 
international mediator.
According to Interfax-Azerbaijan, while receiving in Baku Secretary-General of 
the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States Baghdad Amreyev, Aliyev said: 
“The prime minister of Armenia has sent a letter to the president of the Russian 
Federation, asking for military support. This is completely unacceptable. And 
there are absolutely no grounds for that, because we are conducting actions in 
our territory, we are defeating the enemy in our lands, freeing them from the 
Armenian occupation, while we do not attack the territory of Armenia.”
Aliyev went on to say that as a co-chair of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group Russia is supposed to maintain a 
neutral position on this issue, which he said is stipulated by the mandate of 
the OSCE, whose Minsk Group co-chairmanship also includes the United States and 
France.
The war in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out on September 27, with the Armenian and 
Azerbaijani sides accusing each other of unleashing the hostilities.
Diplomatic efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries to stop the 
bloodshed have failed so far. Three humanitarian ceasefire agreements brokered 
separately by Moscow, Paris and Washington on October 10, 17 and 26 collapsed 
within hours, with both sides blaming the other for not respecting the deals.
Armenia Upbeat On 2021 Economic Growth Despite Pandemic, War
Armenia -- A textile factory in Berd
Despite the coronavirus pandemic and continuing war in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia 
expects its economy to grow by 4.8 percent in 2021, the government in Yerevan 
said in unveiling next year’s budget this week.
The document submitted to the National Assembly on November 2 calls for 1.5 
trillion drams (about $3 billion) in taxes and duties, which is higher than this 
year’s revenue pattern.
Under a revised budget for this year the Armenian government expects to raise 
only 1.32 trillion drams ($2.65 billion) in taxes and duties.
The total revenues of the state budget next year are expected to amount to 1 
trillion 569 billion drams (over $3.1 billion) and the spending pattern is 
projected at 1 trillion 843 billion drams (over $3.7 billion). The budget 
deficit is estimated at 274 billion drams or more than $551 million according to 
the current exchange rate.
In presenting the budget in parliament Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian 
expressed confidence that due to efficient work the government will be able to 
achieve success despite challenges posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and 
war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Deputy Prime Minister or Armenia Mher Grigorian
“Obviously, 2021 will be a tough year for all of us. But I am sure that as a 
result of our joint work we will be able to have a budget that will consider all 
possible risks and challenges, generate sufficient resources for their effective 
neutralization and counteraction, and also ensure the socio-economic stability 
and security of our country,” the vice-premier said.
According to the same document, Armenia will close 2020 with an economic decline 
at 6 percent.
“Of course, we cannot say that martial law has not affected the economy and 
budget in any way. Of course, it has and will continue to affect the revenue 
pattern of the budget, and we should think about the debt threshold accordingly. 
But I believe that we will find the balance that will allow us to get out of 
this situation,” Grigorian said.
For his part Finance Minister Atom Janjugazian did not exclude that this year’s 
economic decline may be even steeper – at 6.8 percent. “After making this 
6-percent decline forecast we once again revised our budget estimations, 
concluding that because of the hostilities [in Nagorno-Karabakh] we may expect 
an additional negative development of 0.8 percentage points this year,” he said.
According to the draft state budget for 2021, by the end of this year Armenia’s 
state debt will stand at $8 billion 850 million, and by the end of next year it 
will amount to $9 billion 215 million.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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