Category: 2022

ArmInfo.Turkey's continued policy of maneuvering between the West and Russia will force the US and EU to put up with some of Erdogan's decisions even further. A similar  opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by Victor Nadein-Raevsky, Ph.D. in  Philosophy, director of the Institute of Political and Social Studies  of the Black  Sea-Caspian region, senior researcher of IMEMO RAS  (Russia), Turkologist.

"We see how Erdogan's tactics of maneuvering not only between the  Russian Federation and the West, but also in other areas demonstrate  very definite successes. As a result, the Turkish president manages  to get the West's consent to some aspects of his own foreign policy  today and enlist their readiness to turn a blind eye to such aspects  in future," he stressed.

According to the Turkologist, tracking Erdogan's geopolitical  overtures, Moscow, in turn, does not perceive Ankara's consent to  membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO particularly painfully. And  it continues negotiations with Ankara, continuing to discuss a number  of issues. In his opinion, Erdogan knows perfectly well what and from  whom he can get. And he never takes a single step in any direction  without first calculating what he can get in return.

In the opinion of Nadein-Raevsky, against such a Turkish background,  the activation of another regional power, Iran, practically leaves no  alternative for Tehran. The recent visit to Armenia by Secretary of  the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani, his  talks with the Prime Minister, Secretary of the Security Council of  Armenia, the analyst views in this light.  " Shamkhani's statements  in Yerevan  are far from accidental. I think that, in contrast to  Turkey, Iran is thus trying to position itself today as a country for  which the territorial integrity of Armenia is a foreign policy  priority. Thus, Tehran is trying to increase its own weight in  relations with Baku and Tehran ", he remarked.  

"All this opens up additional opportunities for Yerevan, of course,  in the case of a flexible diplomatic line.  The region is still in a  geopolitical vacuum, which can instantly be replaced by threats. But  all this simultaneously gives rise to opportunities for flexible  diplomacy in the direction of confronting Armenia with the Turkic  threat.  "Certainly, Armenia has the opportunity, even in the current  unfavorable geopolitical situation for Armenia," the Turkologist  summed up.

ArmInfo.It is known that forecasting is a thankless task, but forecasting the future policy of Russia in the South Caucasus is doubly thankless, first of all,  taking into account the inconsistency of Russian expert political  thought and existing concepts in the Caucasian direction of our  policy. Russian military expert Vladimir Evseev expressed a similar  opinion to ArmInfo.

"The increased intensity of geopolitical confrontation at the  international level has naturally led to a shortage of geopolitical  containment mechanisms, increasing the level of uncertainty. Against  such a background, military and other provocations in the South  Caucasus, which is full of unresolved problems, cannot be ruled out,  especially against the backdrop of Baku's attempts to hit the jackpot  by engaging in its favor of any international instability. It's no  secret that Azerbaijan sees the situation around Ukraine as an  additional opportunity to speed up negotiations and put pressure on  Armenia," he said.

Thus, the expert by no means excludes short-term escalations of the  situation in the conflict region of a local nature. According to his  forecasts, a long-term, large-scale escalation is ruled out due to  the expected active diplomatic intervention of Russia in this case,  first of all, due to the unwillingness to get another hotbed of  hostilities on its own borders.

According to Evseev, the West is acting in a coordinated manner  against Russia today, which is periodically joined by Turkey,  Azerbaijan, and some other countries. And according to his estimates,  it is precisely the absence of an unambiguous, clear policy of  Armenia towards Russia that significantly reduces Moscow's desire and  ability to respond to certain situations and scenarios around  Armenia.

"However, at the same time, on the basis of existing experience, I  can say that the calculations of Russian diplomacy are not always  correct and far calculated. This also adds uncertainty to the process  of forecasting further impulses in the South Caucasus. It can be  stated that Ukraine, in turn, contributed to Russia's rather calm,  balanced policy at this stage, the purpose of which is to avoid  specific conflicts and problems with both Armenia and Azerbaijan,"  the military expert summed up. 

ArmInfo.The Investigative Committee of Armenia, based on the report of the Prosecutor General's Office, is investigating the incident that took place with a resident  of the village of Khachik, Areni community, Vayots Dzor region.

According to the press service of the department, during the  preliminary investigation, information was obtained that a resident  of the village of Khachik A. Kh. on June 3, at about 09:00 went alone  to the Jaghatsi Dzor territory, located on the border with Azerbaijan  for harvesting. There he was approached by three Azerbaijanis, whose  identity has not been established, and against his will they took him  to Nakhichevan. On June 12, he was again returned to the same  territory from which he returned to the village of Khachik.   Preliminary investigation of the case continues. 

ArmInfo. The ruling "Civil Contract"  faction of the Armenian Parliament changed its mind to apply to the Constitutional Court on the issue of depriving  opposition MPs of their mandates. Deputy Speaker of the Parliament  Ruben Rubinyan told journalists this on July 14 following the meeting  of the NA Council.

Earlier it was reported that Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen  Simonyan initiated the process of depriving the mandates of 33 MPs of  the "Hayastan" and "I have the Honor" opposition parliamentary  factions on the basis of their absence at more than half of the  meetings of the last session of the National Assembly of the Republic  of Armenia.  According to Rubinyan, the Council decided to postpone  the discussion of the issue for a week due to the absence of  opposition representatives at the meeting. However, this is of a  technical nature, and today it has already been decided not to  address the issue to the CC, <for a number of reasons>.  "We respect  the voice of the voters. We hope that the citizens who voted for  theseMPs will draw conclusions," he explained. The decision not to  apply to the Constitutional Court is also due to the desire to  maintain political stability and solidarity in the country.  The  representative of the ruling power emphasized that the issue of  deprivation of mandates was automatically included in the agenda of  the Council, because the number of disrespectful absences exceeded  the allowed.

In response to the journalists' remark that the opposition has always  stated that it will come to parliament only with its own agenda,  namely, the demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan, the vice speaker said that if they do not present in  parliament in the fall, the issue of applying to the CC on the basis  of missed meetings is updated again. 

The draw for Armenian Cup 2022/2023 season took place at the headquarters of the Football Federation of Armenia, according to the results of which the following pairs were determined։

Mika vs Gandzasar

West Armenia vs Alashkert

Syunik vs Shirak

Ararat vs Ararat Armenia

BKMA vs Noah

Lernayin Artsakh vs Van

The Armenian Cup will kick off in October, 2022.

Armenian champions Pyunik came back from behind twice to defeat CFR Cluj (Romania) in the first round of the Champions League qualification.

Bismark Adjei-Boateng opened the score six minutes into the game, Zoran Gajic canceled the goal in the 89th minute, moving the match into extra time.

The Armenians were once again forced to fight back after Claudiu Petrila scored in the 94th minute. Zoran Gajic found the net again close to the end of the extra time.

The Armenians finally beat Cluj in a penalty shootout. Pyunik will face Luxembourg Champions Dudelange in the second round.