Category: 2021

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: In recent months, the dissatisfaction of the Western authorities and international organizations with the conduct of the RA authorities is clearly growing.

We learned that in recent times, the US ambassador is having meetings with various circles, including the civil society, the opposition [of Armenia], and is not hiding their dissatisfaction with everything that is happening in Armenia. She says almost straightforwardly that Armenia is recording a serious regression in the field of human rights and democracy.

And the concerns are in several directions. First of all, on the issues related to the freedom of speech. The US authorities are puzzled that defamation and insult have been criminalized at us, and the amount of [respective] fines has been increased. They see a problem with the [relevant] bill authored by [parliament speaker] Alen Simonyan.

The next direction is that the law on confiscation of illegal property is being arbitrarily applied—only to the targets of the authorities.

The other [concern] refers to the enlargement of [Armenia’s] communities, which, in the American view, also corresponds to the palate of the authorities.

Finally, the American government is concerned about the political prosecution being carried out against political opponents.

President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan declared that he intends to disband the army, and when I asked him who gave him the right to do that, he said it’s the Azerbaijanis’ demand. This is what board member of the Armenian Population Forcefully Displaced from Shushi NGO Ashot Harutyunyan said during today’s discussion on the main issues of compulsorily resettled Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh that was hosted by the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia.

Ashot Harutyunyan added that he was outraged by the President’s statement.

“The Azerbaijanis can say they want a lot of things, but the army needs to be maintained. Yes, the representatives of our organization demand immediate recognition of the interim status of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Yes, there are many Armenians who say this is premature. Even my friends from Europe call me on the phone and ask me not to raise this issue. Nevertheless, I always say that this issue is a very important issue for us,” the member of the NGO said, adding that it would be possible to avoid a war with Azerbaijan, if the authorities of Armenia had recognized Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence.

The public needs to understand that the aim of the bill on making amendments and supplements to the Law on Mass Media is to not only go against the presses, but also silence the voice of the public. This is what President of the Union of Journalists of Armenia Satik Seyranyan said during a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

A group of deputies of the ruling party have developed a bill on making legislative amendments that will restrict freedom of speech and will prohibit media outlets from releasing materials with a link to an anonymous source. The government has already put the bill into circulation.

“The Union of Journalists of Armenia considers bills and expresses opinions, and then the MPs present it in a way to show that there have been discussions with the heads of media outlets and media organizations. It’s clear that they sit in their cabinets and think of ways to impose penalties on the media in order for the latter to declare bankruptcy,” she stated, adding that, in her opinion, the authorities never ask the professional community for their opinions on any bill.

“This is what happens when the authorities set the goal to maintain power and restrict free speech. The bill is written illiterately. It even contradicts the Constitution. If the goal is to silence a media outlet, the head of a particular media outlet can create a domain in another country and carry out his or her activities. If the authorities think they can achieve their goal through these punitive measures, they are dead wrong. The public needs to understand that the aim is to not only go against the media, but also silence the voice of the public. The people need to know that journalists represent their interest. The media disturbs the authorities because the media shows that they are lying. The public needs to know that they won’t be able to raise their issues in the future,” she said.

The solution to the issue related to the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan requires mutual concessions, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said today.

According to him, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev showed their political wisdom by stopping the bloodshed in Nagorno-Karabakh. “In spite of the whole tragedy of the current events, the two succeeded in standing above the momentary political conjuncture and made a very responsible decision. I know that, no matter how strange it sounds, the peoples of both countries have demands from their respective leaders. There are always political forces that are discontent with certain things or think they could have done more. Nevertheless, Pashinyan and Aliyev managed to stop the bloodshed. However, there are still key factors.

In particular, it is necessary to create conditions for a long-term settlement in the whole region. The conditions can only be created when the two parties accept the reached agreements as long-term and when both parties assess the advantages, and I would like to emphasize this — the advantages of peaceful co-existence. Everyone is interested in this. Azerbaijan is interested in normal communication and unblocking of links with Nakhchivan. This is one of the first problems facing Armenia. It is necessary to create an effective economy in the region establish effective cooperation, including with Azerbaijan in the future, as well as to defreeze ties with Turkey.

Russia did everything it could to stop the bloodshed, and not only. Our peacekeepers are fulfilling their duty with dignity. More than 50,000 refugees have already returned. Overall, maintaining the situation in the conflict zone is a success. Unfortunately, incidents take place, and yes, sometimes people die. Currently, the most important thing is the ultimate settlement of the situation on the border. Here, of course, nothing will be possible without Russia’s participation. However, here we don’t need anyone else. There are simple pragmatic things such as maps, which are located at the General Staff of the Russian army. These are maps that show how the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan looked during the Soviet era.

There are things that also require mutual concessions. So, it is necessary for the two parties to acknowledge and understand this. Is this possible? Yes, it is. However, of course, Russia also supports a multilateral format, including, say, intensification of the activities of the Minsk Group. We are working in this direction. The important thing is to achieve the main goal, that is, the creation of security and further construction of ties in the positive sense. We also need to look towards the future. The problem is not that the relevant article of the statement envisaged possible extension of the period of the Russian peacekeeping contingent…The question is the improvement of relations between the two countries. This is the most important thing. I hope we are able to achieve this.”