Category: 2020

                                        Monday, 
Government Panel Wants To Abolish Armenia’s Constitutional Court
        • Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia -- The Constitutional Court building in Yerevan, December 27, 2019.
A government commission on constitutional reform has recommended the abolition 
of Armenia’s Constitutional Court which has been locked in a standoff with Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s administration.
The 15-member commission voted narrowly over the weekend for a draft amendment 
that would merge the Constitutional Court with the Court of Cassation, the 
country’s highest body of criminal and administrative justice. Armenia would 
have a U.S.-style Supreme Court as a result.
Pashinian said in June that the ad commission body formed by his government in 
January should “very seriously” such a merger.
Daniel Ioannisian, one of the eight commission members who backed the idea, said 
on Monday that the Supreme Court would make it easier for Armenians to challenge 
the legality of decisions made by various state bodies.
Ioannisian also argued that many Constitutional Court rulings have been ignored 
by other Armenian courts. “We will address this problem as well,” he told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “Courts will now know that [every Supreme Court 
ruling] is the position of a court to which they are subordinate.”
But Artur Ghambarian, one of the seven other members who oppose the merger, 
insisted that the commission majority failed to substantiate the need for such a 
dramatic change. “They should come up with serious arguments and grounds in 
favor of dissolving major constitutional institutions and creating new ones in 
their place,” he wrote on Facebook.
Other critics, notably supporters of Armenia’s former leadership, claimed that 
the proposed dissolution of the Constitutional Court is part of Pashinian’s 
efforts to gain control over the judiciary.
For almost a year, Pashinian was at loggerheads with seven of the nine members 
of the Constitutional Court, accusing them of being linked to the former regime 
and impeding judicial reforms.
In June, the Armenian parliament controlled by his My Step bloc passed 
constitutional changes calling for the gradual resignation of those judges. They 
all had taken the bench before April 2018.
The amendments required two of them to resign with immediate effect. They also 
stipulated that Hrayr Tovmasian must quit as court chairman but remain a judge.
Tovmasian and the ousted judges have refused to step down, saying that their 
removal is illegal and politically motivated. They have appealed to the European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to have them reinstated.
Despite the legal action, Pashinian, President Armen Sarkissian and a nationwide 
assembly of Armenian judges have nominated candidates to replace the ousted 
judges. Under the Armenian constitution, all new members of the Constitutional 
Court must be appointed by the parliament.
The government nominee, Vahram Avetisian, last week withdrew his candidacy 
opposed by some lawmakers affiliated with Pashinian’s bloc. The government has 
yet to formally pick another candidate.
Armenian Soldier Captured By Azerbaijan
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
ARMENIA -- Armenian soldiers take their position on the front line in Tavush 
region, July 14, 2020
An Armenian army officer was taken prisoner by Azerbaijani forces over the 
weekend in disputed circumstances.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry said the junior officer, Gurgen Alaverdian, lost his 
way due to “extremely unfavorable weather conditions” as he was about to inspect 
an Armenian frontline position on Saturday evening. It did not specify whether 
the position is located on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border or the “line of 
contact” around Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani military claimed, meanwhile, that its troops deployed in the 
Goranboy district just north of Karabakh captured Alaverdian while fighting back 
an Armenian commando attack early on Sunday.
Shushan Stepanian, the spokeswoman for the Defense Ministry in Yerevan, 
dismissed the claim as “disinformation.”
“There was no [Armenian] sabotage attack,” said Stepanian. “They are just trying 
to portray the officer who lost his way as a saboteur.”
As of Monday afternoon it was not clear whether the Armenian government has 
asked representatives the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to 
visit Alaverdian in Azerbaijani custody or ascertain his whereabouts. The ICRC 
has offices in Baku and Yerevan.
Russian Firm To Modernize Armenian Warplanes
Armenia - Armenian Su-25 combat aircraft fly during a military parade in 
Yerevan, 21 September 2016.
Nine months after acquiring sophisticated fighter jets from Russia, the Armenian 
military has contracted a Russian defense company to modernize its older combat 
aircraft.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry signed on Monday a relevant agreement with Russia’s 
United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) at a ceremony in Moscow attended by Defense 
Minister Davit Tonoyan.
A ministry statement said UAC will repair and upgrade Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft that 
formed until recently the backbone of Armenia’s small Air Force. It released no 
financial or other details of the deal.
UAC is a state-owned holding company that comprises Russia’s leading civilian 
and military aircraft manufacturers.
Su-25, also known by the NATO reporting name Frogfoot, went into service with 
the Soviet Air Force in the early 1980s and has been repeatedly modernized since 
then. Russia’s official TASS news agency reported last year that the latest 
upgraded version of the low-flying warplane will be equipped with new target 
sighting and precision bombing systems.
Armenia -- A Su-30SM fighter jet of the Armenian Air Force flies over Yerevan, 
May 4, 2020.
The Armenian Air Force has 15 or so such aging jets designed for close air 
support and ground attack missions. It was significantly reinforced late last 
year by four Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets purchased from Russia.
Su-30SM can perform a much broader range of military tasks with more long-range 
and precision-guided weapons. It is a modernized version of a heavy fighter jet 
developed by the Sukhoi company in the late 1980s. The Russian military first 
commissioned Su-30SM in 2012.
Tonoyan told reporters in January that Armenia will receive more such jets 
“soon.” He had said earlier that the Armenian military plans to have 12 Su-30SMs 
in the coming years.
Russia has long been the principal source of military hardware supplied to the 
Armenian army. Membership in Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization 
(CSTO) allows Armenia to acquire Russian weapons at knockdown prices and even 
for free.
Armenian Defense Chief Visits Moscow
Russia -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) and his Armenian 
counterpart Davit Tonoyan meet in Moscow, .
Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in 
Moscow on Sunday to discuss the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone 
and Armenia’s close military ties with Russia.
The two men held talks on the sidelines of a security forum timed to coincide 
with the start of the annual International Army Games organized by the Russian 
military.
The Armenian Defense Ministry said they discussed the aftermath of last month’s 
deadly fighting on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan and the current situation 
there as well as the Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” around Karabakh.
“Davit Tonoyan emphasized that the aggressive rhetoric of some countries and 
steps of military nature taken by them are aimed at destabilizing and 
militarizing the regional situation,” read a ministry statement.
Tonoyan appeared to refer to not only Azerbaijan but also Turkey which has 
blamed Yerevan for the border clashes and voiced support for Baku in unusually 
strong terms. Ankara’s reaction, strongly condemned by the Armenian government, 
has raised the possibility of Turkish military intervention in the Karabakh 
conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against attempts to further heighten 
tensions in the conflict zone when he spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan by phone on July 27.
Russia has up to 5,000 troops stationed in Armenia. Successive Armenian 
governments have regarded the Russian military presence as a crucial deterrent 
against possible Turkish aggression.
The clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces broke out on July 12 and 
continued for several days, leaving at least 17 soldiers from both sides dead. 
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that “active Russian 
mediation” helped to stop them.
According to the Defense Ministry statement, Shoigu and Tonoyan also discussed 
bilateral ties and reached understandings on “upcoming steps towards military 
cooperation” between their countries. The statement did not elaborate.
The Russian Defense Ministry similarly gave no details of their discussion of 
“pressing issues of bilateral cooperation in the military sphere.”
Tonoyan’s press office also reported that during his latest trip to Moscow the 
Armenian defense minister will meet with top Russian defense industry executives 
and government officials overseeing Russian arms exports. Russia has long been 
the principal sources of weapons and other military hardware supplied to the 
Armenian army.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

South China Morning Post
China working with Azerbaijan on belt and road transport route even as
Baku restricts investment
By Su-Lin Tan
China is actively pursuing investment in Azerbaijan through the Belt
and Road Initiative to take advantage of its strategic position in
central Asia, experts said, even as Baku maintains rigid limits on
foreign capital inflows, thwarting Chinese efforts to invest in the
service sector.
Beijing has used the ongoing bilateral negotiations on Azerbaijan’s
prolonged World Trade Organisation (WTO)
membership process to open up access for projects under its belt and
road plan to grow global trade.
Rather than seeking a purely export-import trade deal, China has been
seeking market access commitments from other belt and road countries
seeking to join the WTO since announcing its plan to grow global trade
in 2013, according to international trade lawyer Julien Chaisse.
The Azerbaijani government is seen to be slow walking its efforts to
join the WTO so that it can maintain barriers that safeguard the
state-supported monopolies that control the country’s underdeveloped
service sector, particularly financial and business services, as well
as telecommunications.
Chaisse, who has handled some negotiations for Azerbaijan, said
China’s demands for market access were one of the stumbling blocks for
Azerbaijan, even though the requests did not go against WTO rules.
Talks with China are not believed to have stopped entirely, although
there are obstacles around “how much” market access is suitable.
“The basic idea is that China is using the WTO accession process to
leverage interest towards the Belt and Road Initiative to obtain
greater commitments from existing and potential [belt and road]
nations. China is not offering any [trade deal] as part of WTO
accession but … on the contrary China is requesting market access
commitments from candidate countries such as Azerbaijan,” Chaisse
said.
“China’s trade commitments from potential accession countries are
becoming more pronounced since the [Belt and Road Initiative] launch
in 2013, with increasing and sometimes onerous expectations of the
acceding countries.”
Belt and Road Initiative explainedBelt and Road Initiative explained
The main belt and road project involving Azerbaijan is the
Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, a land transport network
stretching from China and Southeast Asia to Europe, part of China’s
effort to replicate the ancient Silk Road route between China, the
Middle East, Africa and Europe.
China’s focus on Azerbaijan started with its oil and gas resources
before the launch of the belt and road strategy, Anar Valiyev, a
Baku-based public affairs researcher, said, although it was the Belt
and Road Initiative that really kicked off its interest some five
years ago.
Azerbaijan State University of Economics lecturer Bahruz Babayev said
Azerbaijan, located at the crossroads of the East and West, offers
China “an advantageous location and logistic opportunities to
accommodate Chinese exports coming through Central Asia and the
Caspian Sea”.
“And the [Belt and Road Initiative] overlaps with the strategic
interests of Azerbaijan, therefore it is perceived as a welcome
initiative,” he said.
It is seen locally as a mutual win for both countries, with the plan
enabling Azerbaijan to boost its domestic market particularly as a
“transit hub”, Babayev added.
Aside from the exports of oil and gas, Azerbaijan wants to offer
transport services such as port and rail facilities for shipments
moving between western China and Europe on the Trans-Caspian
International Transport Route.
Transport time from China to Europe along the so-called middle
corridor, one of the six official routes of the New Silk Road, is
significantly quicker than transport by sea, as well as offering an
alternative to the route through Russia.
Current government policy in Azerbaijan is therefore both a blessing
and a curse for China in that it provides support for the belt and
road strategy, but also shuts out China’s market access efforts that
would be boosted by WTO membership.
And even if Azerbaijan is willing to offer more access, its structure
of the domestic economy would complicate Chinese investment.
“It is not the case that Azerbaijan does not want to give China
[market] access. Simply, the Azerbaijani market is highly
monopolistic,” said Valiyev added. “Thus, it creates unfavourable
conditions for everyone.”
Xi sets tone for future Belt and Road development at Beijing forumXi
sets tone for future Belt and Road development at Beijing forum
For now, as it focuses on its own economy, Azerbaijan appears to be in
no hurry to join the WTO, having started the process in 1997.
“I think the time has not yet come. This is due to the fact that the
bulk of our exports is still oil and gas and you do not need to be a
member of the WTO to export these products,” Azerbaijan President
Ilham Aliyev said in December.
“Instead, our main task is to develop the non-oil sector, increase
local production, and protect our domestic market. If we become a
member of the WTO, our producers may face major problems. It is
possible that large quantities of low-quality imported products will
come to Azerbaijan and take market share, causing harm to local
producers.”
The coronavirus outbreak has also put another spanner in the works on
the WTO membership, as Azerbaijan is now focusing on deepening its oil
and gas sales to Europe, Babayev from the Azerbaijan State University
of Economics said.
“We are selling [more] oil and gas to Europe in the next three months
… we would be interested in the WTO, but it probably won’t happen in
the next five years,” Babayev said.
Azerbaijan’s business sector, though, would welcome more Chinese
investments, according to Baku-based public affairs researcher
Valiyev.
There are currently around 119 companies in Azerbaijan relying on
Chinese capital, with one of the most recent, a US$300 million
injection into a tyre factory in Azerbaijan by the China National
Electric Engineering Company, which was signed during the second Belt
and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April 2019.
“Both the Azerbaijani public and political establishment contend that
China does not have a political agenda in the region due to its
geographical distance. Chinese projects are therefore considered in
purely economic terms,” Valiyev added.
Baku-based carpet maker and distributor Murad Muradov said his main
interest was in securing more capital to expand his business.
“Of course if the [WTO membership] brings additional foreign
investment to Azerbaijan, the membership would [also] be good,” he
said.