Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Armenian Government Maintains ‘Cautious Optimism’ Over Coronavirus
April 08, 2020
• Emil Danielyan
Armenia -- A COVID-19 patient is brought to the Surp Grigor Lusavorich hospital
in Yerevan, April 8, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that Armenia may have already passed its
peak of COVID-19 infections as his government reported another relatively modest
rise in new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
Pashinian cited in the morning official statistics showing that 28 more people
tested positive for coronavirus in the past day, bringing the total number of
cases to 881. Almost as many other Armenians recovered from the disease during
the same period, he said.
He also reported another coronavirus-related fatality which raised the country’s
death toll from the epidemic to 9. The latest victim was 93 years old and also
suffered from cancer, he said.
“Overall, we are maintaining cautious optimism,” Pashinian wrote on Facebook.
“If this statistics continues it will mean that we have passed the peak of
coronavirus and that peak was on March 31.”
Armenia had only 249 confirmed coronavirus cases when its government issued
stay-at-home orders and forced the closure of nonessential businesses on March
24. The number of infections continued to rise by over 10 percent per day in the
following days, leading the authorities to impose additional restrictions on
people’s movement.
Government data suggests that the daily infection rate began falling
significantly on April 3. The Armenian Ministry of Health reported only 11
confirmed cases on Monday and 20 cases on Tuesday.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian answers questions from Facebook users,
April 6, 2020.
According to the ministry, a total of 114 people have recovered from the
potentially lethal disease to date. Pashinian said that almost 90 percent of the
still infected and hospitalized citizens “do not even have a fever.” But he
added that eight other COVID-19 patients are in a critical condition.
The prime minister stated on Tuesday that the government will consider easing
its restrictions if the downward trend continues in the coming days. In the
meantime, he said, Armenians should continue to strictly comply with the
nationwide lockdown.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian echoed that appeal on Wednesday. In a Facebook
post, he said that nearly 3,000 healthcare workers across the country are
involved in the fight against the epidemic.
“They get too little sleep, don’t eat enough and don’t get to see their loved
ones,” wrote Torosian. “They will be powerless [to stop the spread of
coronavirus] unless each of us makes his or her own contribution to this
endeavor.”
Chinae -- Boxes of medical supplies are loaded onto a transport plane bound for
Armenia, April 8, 2020.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, who coordinates the
government’s response to the epidemic, announced in the evening that a planeload
of vital medical supplies will arrive in Armenia from China in within the next
few hours.
Avinian said the consignment includes 120 lung ventilators, 60,000 coronavirus
test kits, 340,000 medical masks, 100,000 pieces of protective medical clothing
as well as medication. They were purchased by the Armenian government or donated
by Chinese authorities and private benefactors from the two countries, he said.
“We want to thank the Chinese government for helping to organize the flight,”
added Avinian.
The Armenian health authorities are planning to significantly expand COVID-19
testing in an effort to keep the epidemic under control. Pashinian said on
Monday that the daily number of such tests, which has varied from 200 to 400 in
the last two weeks, will likely reach 1,000 by the end of this week.
Ter-Petrosian Voices Support For Government
April 08, 2020
• Tatevik Lazarian
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian at his election campaign
headquarters in Yerevan, 2Apr2017.
Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has praised the Armenian government’s
efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus and condemned “fierce” attacks
launched against it by hardline opposition forces.
Some political allies of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian were unimpressed by the
show of support, however, saying that Ter-Petrosian also seemingly proposed a
dubious deal between Armenia’s current government and previous leadership
overthrown in the 2018 “Velvet Revolution.”
In an article posted on Ilur.am late on Tuesday, Ter-Petrosian said the
coronavirus pandemic has left Armenia in a “warlike situation” fraught with
potentially catastrophic consequences for its population. He insisted that for
all their “mistakes and shortcomings” the current authorities have been takin
necessary steps to deal with the unprecedented health crisis.
“But just as the authorities are working hard practically around the clock a
huge army of unappreciated geniuses, provocateurs and ill-wishers has opened a
second front against them through countless media outlets and hundreds of fake
[social media users] controlled by known forces,” he wrote.
Ter-Petrosian, who ruled Armenia from 1991-1998, pointed the finger at Serzh
Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian, two other former presidents who have been
prosecuted by the current authorities. He said media outlets controlled by them
should stop their “fierce struggle against the authorities.”
Some of Sarkisian’s aides were quick to scoff at the appeal. They said that
Ter-Petrosian glossed over what they describe as the Pashinian government’s
political persecution of his fellow ex-presidents.
Pashinian did not react to the latest statement by his former political mentor.
One of his close associates, deputy parliament speaker Alen Simonian, said on
Wednesday that he “understands” the concerns voiced by Ter-Petrosian.
“President Ter-Petrosian knows what it means to govern the country during times
of crisis,” Simonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
But another senior pro-government lawmaker, Andranik Kocharian, criticized
Ter-Petrosian’s call for a halt to an ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the
April 2016 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian (L) and Nikol Pashinian greet
supporters in Yerevan's Liberty Square, 31 May 2011.
Pashinian initiated the inquiry last year with the stated aim of assessing the
Sarkisian administration’s preparedness for the four-day fighting which nearly
escalated into an all-out Armenian-Azerbaijani war. The probe is conducted by an
ad hoc commission of the Armenian parliament headed by Andranik Kocharian.
Kocharian (no relation to Robert) noted that Ter-Petrosian’s article came just
hours after Serzh Sarkisian agreed in principle to testify before the
commission. He suggested that Ter-Petrosian might be trying to prevent Sarkisian
from shedding more light on a surprise meeting held by the two ex-presidents
later in April 2016.
“A deal seems to be proposed: do not investigate the events of April 2016 and in
return for that Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian will tell their media to
sober up and stop saying bad things about the authorities,” said the influential
Pashinian ally.
In his article, Ter-Petrosian said that a freeze on the parliamentary
commission’s activities would help to ease political tensions in the country.
Pashinian played a prominent role in Ter-Petrosian’s opposition movement that
nearly brought the latter back to power after a disputed presidential election
held in February 2008. The former journalist spent about two years in prison as
a result of a post-election government crackdown on the Ter-Petrosian-led
opposition.
Pashinian fell out with Ter-Petrosian after being released from prison in 2011.
Nevertheless, Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) party welcomed
the Pashinian-led mass protests that led to Sarkisian’s resignation in April
2018.
Karabakh’s Presidential Runoff Still On Despite First Coronavirus Case
April 08, 2020
• Artak Khulian
Nagorno-Karabakh -- A polling station in Stepanakert, March 31, 2020.
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh seem determined to hold the second round of a
presidential election after reporting the first case of coronavirus on Tuesday.
The infected person is a 63-year-old woman from Mirik, a small village more than
80 kilometers south of Stepanakert. Karabakh officials say that she was
hospitalized on April 2 several days after returning from Armenia. According to
them, all village residents were put in quarantine or told to self-isolate after
she tested positive for coronavirus.
A Karabakh task force coordinating measures against the coronavirus confirmed on
Wednesday that the woman participated in the first round of voting held on March
31. But it downplayed this fact, saying that just like all other voters she wore
a protective mask and gloves and received a single-use pen at a local polling
station.
The March 31 vote went ahead despite serious concerns about the spread of
coronavirus in Karabakh.
Its official results showed Ara Harutiunian, a wealthy businessman and former
prime minister, winning over 49 percent of the vote and narrowly falling short
of an outright victory. Another major candidate, Masis Mayilian, finished second
with 26.4 percent. The two men should thus face each other in a runoff vote
scheduled for April 14.
Citing the coronavirus pandemic, Mayilian on Sunday urged supporters to boycott
the vote. But he stopped short of withdrawing from the presidential race.
Even after reporting the first coronavirus case, the authorities in Stepanakert
gave no indications that the second round will be postponed. The chairwoman of
the local Central Election Commission (CEC), Srbuhi Arzumanian, told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service on Wednesday that they are planning to take “additional safety
measures” on April 14.
Harutiunian signaled support for this stance. “I also understand the
authorities’ concerns,” said Vahram Poghosian, a spokesman for the election
frontrunner. “Fortunately, it must be noted that the situation is still
manageable.”
Karabakh Armenians also elected on March 31 their new parliament. Harutiunian’s
Free Fatherland party won more than 40 percent of those votes and will control
16 of the 33 parliament seats.
The United Homeland party of Samvel Babayan, a former Karabakh army commander,
will be the second largest parliamentary force with 9 seats. Three other
political groups will also be represented in the local legislature.
Azerbaijan strongly condemned the Karabakh elections, saying that they run
counter to Azerbaijani and international law. It also said that that the
Armenian-populated territory, which broke away from Azerbaijani rule in 1991, is
governed by an “illegal regime installed by Armenia.”
U.S., Russian and French diplomats co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group stressed, for
their part, that Karabakh is not recognized as an independent state by the
international community and that “the so-called general elections” cannot
predetermine the outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks mediated by them.
By contrast, Armenia defended the holding of the elections. Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian described the polls as democratic and said they could facilitate a
resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
Russian Military Sends Coronavirus Aid To Armenia
April 08, 2020
Armenia -- A truck carrying medical equipment is unloaded from a Russian
military transport plane at Yerevan airport, April 7, 2020.
The Russian military has sent a team of medics and special equipment to Armenia
to help it detect and prevent coronavirus cases among Armenian and Russian
military personnel serving in the country.
Two Russian military transport planes delivered the assistance to Yerevan on
Tuesday night. According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, it includes Russian
army specialists in virology and epidemics, a coronavirus testing lab and a
sample collection system for COVID-19 tests.
In a statement, the ministry said the assistance was provided in line with an
agreement reached by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his Armenian
counterpart Davit Tonoyan. It will “substantially enhance the effectiveness of
anti-epidemic measures” taken at the Armenian army units and the Russian
military base in Armenia, added the statement.
“It’s a mobile team equipped with an epidemiological laboratory and it will be
working together with our sanitary epidemiological service,” Tigran Avetisian, a
high-ranking Armenian army medic, told the Defense Ministry’s Zinuzh TV program.
Avetisian spoke as the equipment was unloaded from the Russian planes at a
Yerevan airport. He said the mobile lab will be able to process up to 100
coronavirus tests a day with secretion samples to be collected at all military
bases in the country.
In Avetisian’s words, Russian brigades of army medics dispatched to Italy and
Serbia earlier are using the same equipment.
The Armenian military has so far confirmed six coronavirus cases within its
ranks. It said that the infected and hospitalized soldiers served in a noncombat
army unit.
The Russian base in Armenia has reported no such cases among its 5,000 or so
troops.
Russia and Armenia have close military ties cemented by bilateral agreements and
their membership in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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