Category: 2022

ArmInfo.We have an unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, because of which we are in constant conflict with our neighboring country, Azerbaijan. President of  Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan stated this during his speech at the  Economic Forum in Davos within the panel discussions .”

He stressed that a year and a half ago, the 44-day war provoked by  Azerbaijan, which was stopped only after Russia’s intervention,  caused great human and material losses.

In this regard, the President stressed that Armenia is still  constantly going through crisis situations, which it is trying to  overcome in various ways, and closed borders have a significant  impact on the quality of life of people.

“We are in a new crisis now, but we are able to overcome it thanks to  the accepted democratic principles.  The most important thing is the  relationship between the authorities and society: how much society  trusts the authorities, and on the other hand, how well the  authorities understand the problems of their society. If there is a  dialogue between them, then the issue of poverty is resolved and the  likelihood of a new crisis is reduced, and the country becomes more  stable and manageable>, he said.

Khachaturyan recalled that from 2000 to 2018, Armenia abandoned  democratic values, allowing corruption to reign, which led the  country to a critically bad situation. As a result of the Velvet  Revolution that took place in 2018, according to the President, a  young government came to power, giving a new breath to all areas,  giving freedom to business and people. “People got the opportunity to  freely engage in business, no one can interfere with them, demand  money, political forces got the opportunity to participate in  elections on equal terms.

The economy grew by 7.5% in the year immediately following the  revolution. Entrepreneurs are convinced that the state does not work  with them according to the rules of a temporary game, but according  to laws that imply conscientious payment of taxes and the fulfillment  of certain social obligations>, the head of state noted, stressing  that the eradication of corruption served as a big impetus for these  changes.

ArmInfo. , former Prime Minister of Armenia, well- known economist and statesman Hrant Bagratyan wrote on his  Facebook page.

In his opinion, “the May can be considered the month of the West.”  , Bagratyan says, asking the current  politicians in power: “Why are you doing this? Do you do it on  purpose or do you not find anyone who wants to meet you? “

In this vein, the ex-premier was indignant at the actions of the  Central Bank of Armenia, which intends to sell 65% of the shares of  the Armenian Exchange (AMX) to the Warsaw Stock Exchange. According  to the ex-premier, as a result of the deal, it will be impossible to  list Russian, Chinese and Iranian companies on the Armenian stock  exchange. “Meanwhile, we have 50% of economic ties with these three  countries,” Bagratyan noted. 

ArmInfo.The ongoing opposition rallies are logistical rather than political problems. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan voiced a similar assessment during the  government hour in the Parliament.

, he said.

Pashinyan stressed that for more than a month the opposition had the  opportunity to express its voice to the public using all the  political methods and actions carried out. He noted that, as a rule,  the purpose of such events is to involve the public in the processes  and, as a result, form a political demand.

It should be noted that on April 17, the head of the “I have the  Honor” opposition parliamentary faction Artur Vanetsyan launched an  indefinite rally on Freedom Square in Yerevan in defense of Nagorno-  Karabakh and demanding the resignation of the current Prime Minister  of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and his team. He called on  everyone to join the protests. The initiative was supported by the “I  have the honor” and “Armenia”opposition factions, as well as the  “5165” party. Protest movements began on 25 April. And since May 1, a  tent camp of opposition forces has been set up on France Square,  demanding the resignation of Pashinyan and his team. Since May 1,  activists of the movement spend the night on the street, and during  the day they organize protest actions, blocking metropolitan and  regional roads. –

ArmInfo. In 2007, when Armenia adopted the “Madrid principles” as the basis for negotiations, which states that the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be decided  within the framework of future referendums, it thereby delegitimized  the referendum held in December 1991. On May 25, Prime Minister of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this from the rostrum of the National  Assembly during the government hour.

“When Armenia accepted that this future referendum should be held in  conditions of mutual understanding with Azerbaijan, it “cut off the  branch” on which we all sat,” he said.

The prime minister stressed that by accepting the “Madrid  principles”, the government, whose representatives are now holding  rallies, has granted a veto to Azerbaijan in determining the status  of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, according to the Prime Minister, the  biggest sensation was the fact that Armenia co-authored the “Madrid  Principles”.

He recalled that from this rostrum he had already stated that with  the adoption of the “Madrid principles”, Armenia accepted Karabakh as  part of Azerbaijan. , to which I replied  that first we need to understand what they mean. And when at a  meeting with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group I raised the  question whether Nagorno-Karabakh could not be part of Azerbaijan,  after a short pause they answered “yes”, but on the condition that  Azerbaijan gives its consent. Thus, it was confirmed that the “Madrid  principles” gave the Azerbaijani side a veto on the issue of  determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan said.

It should be reminded that on December 10, 1991, a nationwide  referendum on independence was held in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.  Of the 132,328 eligible to vote, 108,736 people (82.2%) took part in  the vote, 108,615 people (99.89% of those who voted) voted for  independence (99.89% of those who voted), 24 (0.02%) voted against,  96 ballots were declared invalid. The Azerbaijani population of the  NKR refused to participate in the referendum and instead supported  the aggression unleashed by the Azerbaijani authorities against  Artsakh, taking an active part in it. On the day of the referendum,  Stepanakert and other Armenian settlements were shelled, as a result  of which 10 civilians were killed and 11 were injured. 

ArmInfo.Ankara synchronizes the Armenian-Turkish process with the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated this on May 25 from the rostrum of the parliament during the government hour.

Thus, in response to the MP’s question about the role of meeting  places between the representatives of Armenia and Turkey, the  minister admitted that he does not attach importance to the place of  the meeting and did not rule out that in the future the above  meetings will be held both in Yerevan and Ankara.

“At the moment, I can only say that, unfortunately, no matter how  verbally it is asserted about the process without preconditions,  nevertheless, our Turkish partners, to a certain extent, synchronize  it with the relations developing between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They  do this as part of their narrative,” Mirzoyan said.

According to him, this, of course, does not become a precondition,  but such an approach does not give constructiveness to the process  and the environment.

“Discussions are ongoing. But, unfortunately, there is no tangible  progress yet. Armenia’s position remains the same. Armenia wants and  is ready to normalize relations and open borders. We would like to  see the same attitude from Turkey. I have already said about the  Azerbaijani narrative and various gestures of the head of the Turkish  Foreign Ministry,” Mirzoyan summed up.

It should be noted that the third meeting of the Special  Representatives of Armenia and Turkey Vice Speaker of the National  Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador  Serdar Kilic to normalize relations took place in Vienna on May 3.  The special representatives confirmed that the ultimate goal of the  talks is a full-fledged settlement between Armenia and Turkey, which  was agreed upon during their first meeting in Moscow on January 14.   The start of the normalization process was announced on December 13,  2021 by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. At the same time,  he stressed that Ankara will act in coordination with Azerbaijan  regarding steps to normalize relations with Armenia.