Category: 2022

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: After [opposition MPs] Vahe Hakobyan and Ishkhan Saghatelyan were dismissed, the opposition unanimously announced their resignation from parliamentary positions. (…).

The only oppositionist [remaining in this regard] is Taguhi Tovmasyan from the WH [(“With Honor”)] Faction, who heads the standing committee on human rights.

According to our information, for several hours yesterday the MPs of the [opposition] “Armenia” Faction were negotiating with Taguhi Tovmasyan in Vardenis, trying to convince her to join the opposition colleagues, thereby creating a political crisis. They even engaged [ex-President] Serzh Sargsyan in that matter, but Taguhi remained adamant and refused, whereas she became the chair of that committee with the quota of the “Armenia” bloc, according to the D’Hondt formula; “With Honor” did not have [enough number of MPs to have the right to chair] a committee [in parliament].

After the formation of the new parliament in 2021, National Assembly (NA) MP Tigran Abrahamyan twice sent a question to the government regarding six settlements of Kashatagh region of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)—including Berdzor town and Aghavno village —which means that the topic was raised. He was told that everything would be discussed with the public; nothing would be done in secret. Former MP, political scientist Tevan Poghosyan stated about this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“[But] now it turns out that these issues were discussed, they have done some things. Did they inform the public? Unfortunately, it turns out [that] the policy is the same, they keep everything secret, then say ‘We will be held accountable.’ And maybe you should be held accountable for not being able to show a creative approach as to what you should have done to use the issues of interpreting the text of the November 9 [2020 trilateral] statement in the right way because an ‘alternative road’ is written, it is not written [that] an alternative Lachin corridor will be opened, which means that the Lachine corridor should remain as it is; several corners, maybe bridges, tunnels can be built inside it. That is, if you set a goal for Berdzor [(Lachin)] to remain, then I’m sure they would have found a way to keep it,” said Poghosyan, again expressing his conviction that it was possible to keep Berdzor under Armenian control.

“I’m not even saying that there should have been a project within three years. Three years have passed, but we see that they are building a road from the side, and they are trying to ‘sell’ us that the quality is better. I have spoken with specialists; they say that in the case of this new road, the main heights will remain with Azerbaijan in terms of control of that road. What is safe about it? There was no intention to keep Berdzor, the goal was to hand [it] over; for that, everything was done this way. Now, whether they had agreed or did it out of fear, what difference does it make to us at this point? Only new defeats should be expected from the defeated [Armenian] authorities,” he emphasized.

Tevan Poghosyan is convinced that there will be no peace, as it has not happened in the last thousand years.

“The peace agreement is a piece of paper. Syria and Turkey have also signed agreements, as have Russia and Ukraine. Be more afraid of that ‘era of peace;’ and the example is Nakhichevan, which was completely de-Armenianized in 50 years.”

He emphasized that a statesman who is concerned about the interests of Armenia should have realized that he should step down in order not to allow others to advance their interests as they wish—because they do it through him.

“The best example of that was given by [First President] Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 1998. That person opened the door so that we could advance our interests in the international arena for 20 years.”

And when asked about the probability of a new war at this moment, Tevan Poghosyan responded: “It can start at any moment. The law, “If you want peace, prepare for war” is a law of nature. Now we [i.e., Armenians] have decided to go against the laws of nature and wonder if it will work. It won’t work!”

Conflicts will continue and, of course, Russia’s surrounding area, where Armenia is also present, will be part of the general conflict space, like the rest of the world. Timofei Bordachev, Program Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, stated about this Saturday during the discussion in Yerevan on “Russia-West conflict in Ukraine.”

According to the Russian analyst, no one is an exception in this case.

“And here we also have to realize that our international relations, the international relations of our countries will always develop in the shadow of war,” said the political scientist.

As per Bordachev, the current conflict in Ukraine is a conflict of the new times, of which there will be many.

“And we should be ethically and physically ready for it,” the analyst added, in particular.

According to Bordachev, the aforesaid applies to all countries because, ultimately, each of them is individually accountable before its citizens.

“This applies, of course, to Russia, and Armenia, and the USA, and any European power, and anyone,” the Russian political scientist emphasized.

In his opinion, the key task for Russia, Armenia, and other countries will be their own internal development, increasing their internal stability, and increasing the confidence of their citizens in the fact that—regardless of foreign relations—their life inside their country will be organized in a unique way, and their country will ensure a certain level of fairness toward their basic interests.

“And wars are inevitable, and we have to live with them,” Timofei Bordachev added.