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Category: 2022

Armenian Security Council Secretary Visits Tbilisi

Ani Basmajian
Civil Georgia
May 4 2022
04/05/2022 – 13:37

Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan met Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri in Tbilisi.

The Armenian official and the Georgian PM discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine, as well as the situation in the South Caucasus, highlighting the importance of peace and stability in the region, PM Garibashvili’s press service said.

PM Garibashvili told the Armenian official that Georgia stands ready to contribute to the dialogue between the South Caucasus countries on the economy, trade, and culture among other areas.

In this context, the sides touched upon Georgia’s Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative, a proposed platform for confidence-building in the South Caucasus with the participation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, the U.S., and the EU.

Meanwhile, the Armenian official and Interior Minister Gomelauri, who also serves as the Secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council, in their meeting highlighted the importance of deepening bilateral security cooperation.

The two officials also touched upon the security situation in the region and the war in Ukraine.

Protesters demand resignation of Armenian PM, opposition walks out

Jhanna Virabian
May 4 2022
Reuters

TBILISI, May 4 (Reuters) – Protesters demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday and opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament as pressure mounted against the embattled politician.

After blocking major roads in the capital Yerevan, demonstrators rallied outside parliament to voice their discontent while Pashinyan was speaking inside.

Protesters brandishing tricolour Armenian flags shouted “Armenia without Nikol!” and “Leave!”, according to video from the scene.

The opposition walkout came as Pashinyan was delivering a fiery speech. “You run like you always run,” he shouted at lawmakers leaving the session, while his supporters clapped.

Pashinyan has faced heavy criticism since Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan in a six-week war in 2020 and lost significant territory in and around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan said he had been compelled to accept a Russian-brokered peace deal, which prompted a wave of protests, to avoid greater human and territorial losses.

 

In regional economic turmoil, Armenian currency sharply rises

Kalashian Nyrie
Eurasianet.org
May 4 2022
Ani Mejlumyan May 4, 2022

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended economies around the region, Armenia’s currency has sharply gained in value. 

After hovering at its usual rate of just under 500 to the dollar, it dropped to about 518 to the dollar in mid-March before rising to 450 on May 4, a 15 percent gain in about six weeks.

Explanations for the dram’s rise vary. 

The Central Bank of Armenia connected it to the influx of Russians who have come to the country escaping repression and sanctions at home. 

“We have international visitors in Armenia. […] When these people spend money in our resorts or restaurants, it is considered an export growth from the perspective of the balance of payments in Armenia,” the bank’s head, Martin Galstyan, said at a May 3 press conference. “This situation led to the point that we have progressive growth of foreign currency in terms of supply to demand, which resulted in some strengthening of the dram.”

Galstyan added that the future course of the dram would depend on how long the visitors stay in Armenia and how they spend. 

Another factor: Armenia recently began paying for natural gas from Russia in rubles rather than in dollars, which was the previous practice. 

“Armenia used to transfer $35-40 million a month to Russia for natural gas alone. Now that amount is not transferred in dollars,” economist Suren Parsyan told local news site lragir.am. With excess dollars now available on the local market, there is less demand for the greenback, supporting the value of the dram. 

“Besides, economic activity in Armenia has slowed down, and people’s purchasing power has decreased,” Parsyan added.

Parsyan told Eurasianet that the Central Bank appears to be not intervening, seeing a chance to tame inflation. In May, the bank’s board met and decided to keep the refinancing rate unchanged at 9.25 percent. “They either could decrease the refinancing rate or buy dollars from the market and bring the exchange rate to what it was before. But the bank doesn’t want to do that since it would result in greater inflation,” he said. 

Core inflation has been running at 7.4 percent so far in 2022, after measuring 7.7 percent in 2021. A rise in the dram should help by making imports less expensive, though it can hurt exporters.

“From the point of view of inflation, this [the rise in the dram] is a positive phenomenon because it mitigates the situation,” Narek Karapetyan, an economist at the Yerevan think tank Amberd, told RFE/RL. “However, we cannot feel the impact immediately.” 

The Central Bank’s Galstyan said that inflation was projected to decrease to 4 percent “in the medium term.”

 

Ani Mejlumyan is a reporter based in Yerevan.

Prospects for Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan Have Improved: President Aliyev

Badalian Vardan
May 4 2022
By

 Rachel Avraham

 –

 3 Iyyar 5782 – May 4, 2022

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in late April delivered a speech in Shusha, in the war-tormented region of Nagorno-Karabakh, proclaiming that the issue of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization is on the agenda now. “Despite all the painful moments, despite the occupation, and despite all the atrocities committed, we believe that this is necessary for the future of the region,” Aliyev said, “So, we came up with a peace agenda.”

He explained: “We put forward a proposal consisting of five specific principles, and Armenia has accepted these five principles. Thus, the Armenian leadership has officially stated that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, has no territorial claims regarding Azerbaijan, and will not have any in the future. This is a crucial moment for the post-conflict period, and we intend to conduct further negotiations based on these five principles.”

“At present, the foreign and other ministers of both countries are setting up working groups, and I think concrete talks should be initiated soon,” the Azerbaijani president noted. “The talks should not be delayed, because a peace agreement will be signed based on these five principles. Therefore, the text of the agreement can be prepared and signed soon. Thus, diplomatic relations can be established between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijani Rabbi Shmuel Simantov commented that “for 29 years, the Armenians did not build anything. They stole gold teeth from graves. They destroyed homes and mosques. They tried to erase the history of Azerbaijanis from Karabakh.”

“Now, Azerbaijan is doing everything to return everyone to their homes,” he continued. “After all these years, Azerbaijan’s president wants to do everything through peace and not war. So far, the Armenians did not give him the opportunity to do it. He said that we have strength, but we want peace. This is our message to Armenia and the international community.”

Turkish Jewish journalist Rafael Sadi concurred that Aliyav’s speech “shows the strength of Azerbaijan versus Armenia, maybe also Iran. It shows the Azerbaijani people how strong their president is.”

Sadi also believes the timing of the speech has significance for promoting the Azerbaijani-Israeli friendship, coinciding as it was with Israeli finance minister Avigdor Liberman’s April 24 visit to Azerbaijan, as well as the anniversary of the death of Albert Agarunovich Agarunov, who was among the defenders of Shusha. Agarunov left his vehicle to remove the bodies of dead Azerbaijani soldiers and was killed by sniper fire on the road connecting Shusha to Lachin on May 8, 1992.

“Albert Aqarunov is the most important name promoting the friendship between Azerbaijan and Israel and between the entire Jewish world and Azerbaijan. And the Azerbaijanis know to honor this Jewish soldier better than many other countries in the world,” Sadi noted.

Tarlan Ahmadov, the founder of the Azerbaijan Society of Maine, declared in April: “I believe the gathering of the Azerbaijani Diaspora and the historic speech of President Aliyev will make Mr. Liberman’s visit exceptional as the State of Israel is considered a close ally in the Middle East and beyond. In my opinion, the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity changed the balance of regional power, and Azerbaijan became not only a transportation hub and a trans-Caspian energy resource hub, but also a political power that controls not only the South Caucuses but beyond. Azerbaijan has the potential to produce grain and transport it from Kazakhstan and Central Asia using the Caspian Sea corridor, and, hopefully, by soon opening a railroad via the Zangezur region to Turkey. This will play a large role in food and energy stability in Europe.”

Azerbaijani journalist Elnur Enveroglu noted that “this year marks the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Israel and Azerbaijan,” and pointed out that Liberman and Aliyev discussed expanding economic and trade relations as well as cooperation in the field of energy, and signing several important contracts.”

“Obviously, Azerbaijan has been a close partner of Israel and this partnership has emerged in many important aspects,” Enveroglu said.

As for the Armenians, he opined: “Armenia has changed a lot after the latest political developments, especially the recent signing of the agreement between Moscow and Baku in February. The agreement sent a clear message to the Armenians that it is better to improve relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey. I also think that the latest events have caught the attention of regional countries including Russia, Iran, Armenia, Turkey, and Israel.

Azerbaijani press: Infamous anti-Azerbaijani U.S. document turns 30

Arsine Chaltikian
4 May 2022 10:00 (UTC+04:00)
654

By Vafa Ismayilova

This year marks the 30th anniversary of notorious U.S. Section 907 against Azerbaijan, Consul-General to Western United States Nasimi Aghayev has said on his official Twitter page.  

“2022 marks the 30th anniversary of infamous Section 907 that was passed against Azerbaijan by Congress at the behest of the Armenian lobby. In 1993, Strobe Talbott of the State Department argued against it saying that it undercut U.S. ability to be an honest broker between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Aghayev tweeted on May 4.

In late September 2021, President Ilham Aliyev explained very clearly and concisely the principles standing behind Section 907 passed by the U.S. Congress.

“After all… the decisions that were made by some countries, they simply defy any logic. While it was Azerbaijani territory that was occupied, the U.S. Congress passed the notorious amendment to the Freedom Support Act, Section No. 907, which deprived Azerbaijan of direct military assistance, direct U.S. assistance, not only military. And we, the affected country, we were essentially discriminated against,” Aliyev said in an interview with Russia’s Natsionalnaya Oborona magazine.

He said that “the rationale behind it was that Azerbaijan was blocking Armenia. Just imagine – Zangilan, Gubadli, Lachin and Kalbajar districts are occupied. And this is described as a blockade of Armenia”.

He stressed that Armenia’s diaspora organizations and also the media controlled by the Armenian lobby distorted the essence of the then conflict.

“The fact that Armenia is an aggressor, an occupier which committed ethnic cleansing and an act of genocide in Khojaly, destroyed all historical and cultural buildings – all this was concealed,” Aliyev said.

In April 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a telephone conversation with Aliyev in 2021 too the waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act was extended.

On October 24, 2001, the Senate adopted an amendment to the Act that would provide the President with the ability to waiver Section 907.

Well-known expert Svante Cornell described the term “blockade” as unjustified since it ignored the fact that Armenia itself had imposed an embargo on Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave, and the closure of the border with Armenia took place due to the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands. Moreover, the use of the term “blockade” in itself is misleading, as Armenia has close economic ties with Georgia and Iran.

To recap, Azerbaijan was one of the first countries to join the global anti-terror coalition assembled by the U.S. government. Azerbaijan opened its airspace to the allied forces and assured its agencies would cooperate and provide information that would assist in American-led efforts.

Azerbaijan’s contributions to the U.S-led anti-terror campaign also included deploying a peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan. Azerbaijani peacekeepers began serving there in November 2002, and by 2021 the contingent consisted of 120 servicemen. They left the country more than a week after the Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021.

Azerbaijani press: Baku, Paris discuss Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization [PHOTO]

Emma Nadirian
4 May 2022 10:41 (UTC+04:00)
702

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and French Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador for Eastern Partnership Brice Roquefeuil have discussed Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization in Baku, the ministry has reported.

“At the meeting, the process of normalization of interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and steps taken in this direction were discussed. In particular, the sides exchanged views on the implementation of the agreements reached after the Brussels meeting,” the ministry said.

Moreover, the sides also touched on the current regional situation, as well as other international problems.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European Council President Charles Michel met in a trilateral format in Brussels on April 6.

The meeting was held for a continuation of the discussions on the situation in the South Caucasus region and the development of EU relations with both countries.

The leaders took stock of developments since their last meeting in Brussels in December 2021 and their videoconference, together with French President Emmanuel Macron, in February 2022. They reviewed progress on the implementation of undertaken commitments. The leaders discussed the recently reported tensions and reiterated the necessity of adhering fully to the provisions of the 9/10 November 2020 trilateral statement.

Both Aliyev and Pashinyan have expressed a willingness to work quickly toward a peace agreement between their countries. To that end, it was decided to instruct foreign ministers to begin work on drafting a future peace treaty that would address all of the issues.

At the same time, it was also agreed to convene a Joint Border Commission by the end of April. The Joint Border Commission’s mandate will be to: delimit the bilateral border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and ensure a stable security situation along and in the vicinity of the borderline.

—

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 

    Azerbaijani press: Armenian opposition takes to streets as Baku, Ankara aim to bring peace to wider region

    Torgomian Varazdat
    4 May 2022 17:55 (UTC+04:00)
    595

    By Fuad Muxtar-Aqbabali

    Azerbaijan’s top presidential aide Hikmat Hajiyev and Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan have met in Brussels for the second time to weigh the pros and cons ahead of the expected launch of the activities on drafting a peace deal and the border delimitation process.

    EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar again hosted the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian officials in a bid to demonstrate the EU’s determination to press ahead with the plan the leaders hammered out at the April 6 meeting in Brussels.

    In the meantime, Klaar fell short of divulging topics the two men had discussed and if any agreements were accomplished. Before visiting the May 2 meeting with Azerbaijan’s top presidential aide, Armen Grigoryan said on 29 April that the Brussels meeting would focus on a future peace deal, the unblocking of regional communications, and the border delimitation.

    As part of Baku and Ankara’s joint efforts to bring Yerevan to the regional cooperation track, on May 3, the special envoys of Armenia and Turkey, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic held their third meeting in Vienna.

    The Armenian Foreign Ministry said Rubinyan and Kilic had held a “sincere and effective exchange of specific views and mulled steps that can be taken for tangible progress” towards the normalization of relations.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, for his part, added earlier that the envoys would discuss “various steps”, including the prospect of re-determining borders and establishing a “joint commission”.

    Armenian opposition efforts to derail peace process

    For all that the April 6 Brussels meeting agreed to unveil the compositions of the two commissions by late April, Armenia has not done so and the ongoing protests in Yerevan are designed to derail the whole process, experts believe.

    At the April 29 international conference on “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation”, President Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed Baku’s readiness to turn a new page in South Caucasus interstate relations.

    “We have got a positive response from Armenia just recently, and their government has accepted five basic principles, which Azerbaijan put forward, the principles which should be a foundation for a peace agreement with Armenia”, the Azerbaijani president told the international think tank forum.

    The lasting and durable peace in the region is pivotal for the two arch-enemies to start from scratch.

    “If a peace agreement is signed and those basic principles are known, then, the peace in the Caucasus will be long-lasting and sustainable. This is what we want, and I think that what we demonstrate and what we announce is a clear example of our will to contribute to the peace in the Caucasus,” the president added.

    What is behind opposition protests in Armenia?

    The Armenian opposition protests have been ongoing since May 1 and are set to go ahead in a bid to compel the prime minister to quit and prevent him from normalizing the relations with two powerful neighbors – Turkey and Azerbaijan.

    On May 4, the protesters are planning to block streets in Yerevan and then picket the parliament building, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is expected to attend a Q&A session.

    Addressing the protest on May 3 in Yerevan, opposition MP and deputy speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan, who is one of the leaders of the street protests, called on the opposition supporters to gather outside parliament on May 4 to demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation.

    He also urged protesters to follow the suit and replicate the 2018 version of Pashinyan’s protest that ousted then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan. It should be noted that the political alliance I Have Honor led by Sargsyan also joined the protests. 

    The Armenian opposition’s civil disobedience campaign is aimed at toppling Pashinyan and the protests are orchestrated by the resistance movement made up of major opposition alliances Armenia and I Have the Honor led by former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, both from Azerbaijan’s separatist Karabakh region.

    Following the ongoing protests in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to accusations by the opposition that he had derailed the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement.

    In response, the prime minister accused ex-President Serzh Sargsyan of derailing the negotiations with Azerbaijan.

    “The third president said that one should not pin hopes on a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” the prime minister recalled.

    As for the accusations that he could have stopped the war, Pashinyan recalled that on September 27, 2020, when the hostilities started, he voiced the condition under which the war would be stopped was the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh remained part of Azerbaijan.

    For his part, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan, an associate of the prime minister, lambasted the street protests that paralyzed the normal functioning of the public traffic, blaming the opposition for the lack of any proposals.

    The opposition accuses the prime minister of plotting concessions to Azerbaijan over Karabakh. Protests are blocking streets in Yerevan and the provinces, and over 400 protesters were reportedly detained on May 2-3.

    To recap, Simonyan ruled out any political crisis in the country.

    “The opposition has not formulated clearly what they want to say, and in fact, they have nothing to propose to the people of Armenia. If they have any political messages, it should be done in parliament,” Simonyan believes.

    Pashinyan came under fire from the opposition after his remarks that Yerevan had to reduce its expectations around Karabakh’s future status. His comments triggered fears that his government is preparing to compromise on the de facto independence of the part of the region under the preliminary control of the Russian peacekeepers to conclude a long-awaited peace treaty with Azerbaijan.

    Turkish press: Armenia’s opposition resumes protests over Karabakh dispute

    Antonian Lara
     ISTANBUL MAY 04, 2022 – 2:07 PM GMT+3

    Demonstrators shout slogans and hold Armenian flags as they take part in an opposition rally to protest against the Karabakh concession in Yerevan on May 4, 2022. (AFP)

    Armenia’s opposition parties on Wednesday resumed street protests in the capital Yerevan in a bid to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian over his handling of a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

    Thousands of opposition supporters have rallied daily since Sunday, briefly blocking streets in central Yerevan in a campaign to force Pashinian to resign.

    Opposition leaders have accused him of plotting to cede to Azerbaijan all of the long-contested Karabakh region, previously known as Nagorno-Karabakh, over which the archfoe countries fought two wars, in 2020 and in the 1990s.

    On Wednesday, protesters parked cement mixers on bridges in Yerevan, briefly disrupting traffic in the capital while small groups of opposition supporters attempted to block the city’s main thoroughfares.

    Police detained dozens of people, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist witnessed. Opposition leaders have said that more than 200 people who were detained on Tuesday were released the same day.

    Opposition leader and parliament vice-speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan said, “Protests will mount and last until Pashinian steps down.”

    He said the opposition is planning to install an “interim government of technocrats” without party affiliation.

    The ongoing protests highlight bitterness over Pashinian’s leadership since the six-week war in 2020 over Karabakh that claimed more than 6,500 lives before ending with a Russian-brokered cease-fire.

    Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the truce.

    The pact was seen in Armenia as a national humiliation and sparked weeks of anti-government protests, leading Pashinian to call snap parliamentary polls which his party, Civil Contract, won last September.

    Opposition parties have accused Pashinian of planning to give away to Baku parts of Karabakh that are still under Armenian control – after he told lawmakers last month that the “international community calls on Armenia to scale down demands on Karabakh.”

    Armenian separatists in Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflicts claimed around 30,000 lives.

    Armenpress: Joint statement issued on results of final session of Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

    Maral Takmazian

    Joint statement issued on results of final session of Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

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     10:04, 4 May, 2022

    YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. On the occasion of the final session of the Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue (May 2-3), the sides issued a joint statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

    The statement reads:

    “U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken hosted Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Washington, D.C., to launch the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue (USASD) on May 2, 2022. During the Dialogue, the United States and Armenia reiterated their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties across the breadth of the bilateral relationship.

    This round of USASD discussions coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-Armenian diplomatic relations. The delegations positively assessed the status of bilateral ties and reviewed the potential for expanding our partnership. The Armenian delegation included Deputy Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan, Deputy Central Bank Governor Nerses Yeritsyan, and Ministry of Defense officials. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Dr. Karen Donfried and several leaders from throughout the Departments of State and Defense also participated in the USASD session.

    U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy was in Washington as well, joined by Armenian Ambassador to the United States Lilit Makunts.

    Further Democratic Reforms and Promote Mutual Prosperity

    Assistant Secretary Donfried reaffirmed the United States would continue its robust assistance and cooperation to the Armenian government in building responsive democratic and economic institutions that both reflect our common values and deliver better governance and prosperity.

    The delegations had a robust dialogue on U.S. assistance to support Armenia’s positive democratic trajectory. This includes programs to support human rights, media literacy, social protection, justice sector reforms, and the new Patrol Police Service. The delegations also discussed advancing judicial impartiality and strengthening freedom of _expression_. Mechanisms to promote mutual prosperity in the economic sphere were also a key topic of discussion, including energy cooperation and workforce development to promote and deepen bilateral trade and investment.

    Towards Security, Peace, and Regional Conflict Resolution

    The two delegations discussed issues related to border security, and partnership in the defense and security sector through disaster management, defense reform, medical support, and peacekeeping. The delegations exchanged views on security matters and noted the United States’ role as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which has a mandate to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

    Looking To Tangible Results

    Minister Mirzoyan and the Armenian delegation also had constructive meetings with USAID Administrator Samantha Power, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, and many others. During their time in Washington, delegation members signed a number of documents, including a Nuclear Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding that will serve as a mechanism through which our governments can develop stronger ties between our nuclear experts, industries, and researchers. The United States and Armenia also signed two joint action plans on anti-corruption and law enforcement reforms”.

    Magnitude 3,2 earthquake recorded near Georgian-Armenian border

    Garnik Zakarian

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     10:17, 4 May, 2022

    YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. A magnitude 3,2 earthquake hit 15km north-east of the village of Bavra near the Georgian-Armenian border at 02:43, May 4, the Armenian Seismic Protection Agency said.

    The quake had a depth of 10km and was felt at an intensity of 4 on the MSK scale in the epicenter.

    The earthquake was felt at an intensity of MSK 3 in Bavra, Ashotsk, Sizavet, Ghazanchi, Tavshut and Saragyugh of Shirak Province, as well as in Paghaghbyur and Metsavan of Lori Province.