21:37,
YEREVAN, 14 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovaev will continue to work as a the Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister for supporting the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
ARMENPRESS reports Zakharova said that the preperation of the peace treaty will be in the center of Khovaev’s attention.
00:15,
YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. The United States continues to encourage further peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and stands ready to engage bilaterally and with likeminded partners, including through the role as an OSCE Minsk group co-chair to help the countries find a long-term comprehensive peace, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said at a press briefing.
“We remain committed to promoting a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future for the South Caucasus region. And we welcome, as you’ve heard from us before in the readouts from Secretary Blinken, the April 6 meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev in Brussels, including the positive momentum on preparations for peace talks and the formation of a bilateral commission on border delimitation.
As the Secretary emphasized in the calls he had with those two leaders the day before on April 5th, we continue to encourage further peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we reiterated – and the Secretary reiterated – that the United States stands ready to engage bilaterally and with likeminded partners, including through the role as an OSCE Minsk group co-chair to help the countries find a long-term comprehensive peace”, Ned Price said.
On April 12 the US Embassy in Armenia gave a similar comment to ARMENPRESS over the recent statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relating to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format.
Armenia offers Turkey to open border for diplomatic passport holders as first step, but Ankara is delaying
09:00,
YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. The next meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey for normalization could take place in Vienna, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said in response to a query from ARMENPRESS.
Hunanyan also commented on the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s remarks that the meetings ought to take place either in Armenia or Turkey, and the need for “courageous” steps.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Armenia offered Turkey to open the land border for diplomatic passport holders; however Turkey is delaying to do so.
ARMENPRESS: Where and when is the next meeting of the Special Representatives of Armenia and Turkey planned?
Hunanyan: There is a preliminary understanding between the sides that the next meeting could take place in Vienna. The public will be properly informed as soon as the timeframes and venue of the meeting get final confirmation.
ARMENPRESS: The Turkish Foreign Minister said in an interview that they would want the meeting to take place either in Armenia or Turkey. What is Armenia’s position in this regard?
Hunanyan: During the previous attempts of normalization meetings took place in Armenia and Turkey on the levels of both negotiators and even presidents, but, as you know, they didn’t lead to results. I mean, what matters is the political will to reach normalization and readiness to take clear, substantive steps. We are displaying both and we expect the same from Turkey. If there is the will, the location of the meetings will become simply a technical matter.
Moreover, the proposal to hold the meetings of the special representatives in Armenia and Turkey shows that in Turkey’s understanding the process has an entirely bilateral nature. In this case, it would have been reasonable not to hear the virtually weekly statements from Turkey’s representatives that they are advancing the process in coordination with Azerbaijan.
ARMENPRESS: Speaking about the normalization of the Armenia-Turkey relations Minister Cavusoglu mentioned the need for “courageous” steps. How would you comment this?
Hunanyan: The Armenian side fully concurs with the need for making courageous steps. We have numerously showed readiness to move forward, including with the participation of our Foreign Minister in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the lifting of the economic embargo. The restoration of flights between Armenia and Turkey was also an important bilateral step.
We are convinced that the only path for moving forward implies continuous, clear steps. For example, we offered the Turkish side, for the first phase, to open the land border for persons holding diplomatic passports, however the Turkish side is delaying. We believe that this would be a small but substantive, most importantly logical step. We are hopeful that it will be possible to achieve results in this issue.
Thursday,
Karabakh Leaders Warn Pashinian
• Susan Badalian
• Artak Khulian
Nagorno-Karabakh - The main government buildings in Stepanakert, September 7,
2019.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership on Thursday criticized Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian and warned him against helping Azerbaijan regain control over the
Armenian-populated territory.
“Any attempt to incorporate Artsakh into Azerbaijan would lead to bloodshed and
the destruction of Artsakh,” said Davit Babayan, the Karabakh foreign minister.
“And after the destruction of Artsakh there would be no Republic of Armenia.”
Pashinian said on Thursday that the international community is pressing Armenia
to “lower a bit the bar on the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status” and
recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He signaled Yerevan’s intention to
make such concessions to Baku, fuelling more opposition allegations that he has
agreed to Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.
Babayan said Pashinian’s remarks caused a “wave of discontent” in Karabakh. He
said he believes that they are also unacceptable to most residents of Armenia as
well as the worldwide Armenian Diaspora.
“We have no bars anymore, we have only red lines drawn by blood,” added the
Karabakh official. “Our red line is that we will not be part of Azerbaijan. This
is out of the question.”
Davit Babayan, the Karabakh foreign minister, is interviewed by RFE/RL in
Stepanakert, March 31, 2022.
Pashinian, he went on, is wrong to claim that “the whole international community
is against us.” “Even if the whole international community is against us … we
will still fight till the end,” said Babayan.
The Karabakh parliament debated the implications of Pashinian’s statement at an
emergency session held later on Thursday. In a resolution adopted by it
unanimously, it demanded that the Armenian authorities “abandon their current
disastrous position.”
“No government has a right to lower the negotiating bar for a status acceptable
to Artsakh and the internationally recognized right to self-determination under
the pretext of peace,” reads the resolution.
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, discussed the matter with with local
politicians and civil society members during separate meetings held in
Stepanakert on Wednesday. He stressed that the Karabakh Armenians will not give
up their right to self-determination.
Meanwhile, Pashinian defended and reaffirmed his stance when he again addressed
the Armenian parliament on Thursday.
“What I’ve been saying is all about not surrendering Karabakh … If we follow a
difference path we will surrender Karabakh,” the Armenian prime minister told
lawmakers.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses the Armenian parliament, Aprl
13, 2022.
“I have the impression that there are people who dream about seeing the
population leave Karabakh as soon as possible,” he said. “No, what we are saying
is that the people of Karabakh must not leave Karabakh, the people of Karabakh
must live in Karabakh, the people of Karabakh must have rights, freedoms and a
status.”
Pashinian again declined to specify what that status should be.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly ruled out granting Karabakh
any status of autonomy, let alone recognizing its de facto secession from
Azerbaijan. Aliyev maintains that Baku put an end to the Karabakh conflict with
its victory in the 2020 war.
Pashinian and Aliyev met in Brussels on April 6 for talks on an
Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace treaty” hosted by Charles Michel, the European
Union’s top official. Aliyev said after the talks that “Armenia is renouncing
territorial claims” to his country.
Turkish FM Expects ‘More Courageous’ Steps From Yerevan
• Tatevik Sargsian
TURKEY - Turkey's Foreign Minister Mavlut Cavusoglu (R) shakes hands with
Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum
(ADF) in Antalya, March 12, 2022.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu complained on Thursday that Armenia
remains reluctant to hold the next rounds of Turkish-Armenian negotiations on
normalizing bilateral relations in Yerevan or Ankara.
He said the Armenian side should become “more courageous” and stop insisting on
third countries being the venues of those talks.
“On one hand, you say that relations must be normalized and the
[Turkish-Armenian] border must be opened,” Cavusoglu told the Turkish NTV
channel. “On the other hand, you do not dare to meet in Turkey and Yerevan.”
“If you don’t agree to even meet in each other’s countries how are you going to
take steps on other issues?” he said, appealing to Yerevan.
Special envoys of the two neighboring states met in Moscow in January and in
Vienna in February for talks described by both sides as productive. In a related
development, Cavusoglu and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met last
month on the sidelines of an international security forum held in the Turkish
city of Antalya.
Cavusoglu said that the envoys’ next meeting will again be held in Vienna. But
he gave no date for it.
Ankara has for decades linked the establishment of diplomatic relations with
Yerevan and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border to a resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Cavusoglu has repeatedly
made clear that his government will coordinate the Turkish-Armenian
normalization talks with Baku.
The chief Turkish diplomat on Thursday stressed the importance of last week’s
meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev that took place in Brussels. He said he has discussed the
summit hosted by the European Union with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun
Bayramov.
Pashinian said on Wednesday that the Turkish-Armenian dialogue enjoys strong
international support and that his government intends to continue it.
Moscow Rejects Armenian Criticism Of Russian Peacekeepers
Russia - Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a news
briefing in Moscow, January 20, 2022.
Responding to criticism by Armenia, Russia said on Thursday that its
peacekeeping forces did not breach any agreements when they refused to allow
Armenian opposition parliamentarians to visit Nagorno-Karabakh earlier this week.
The deputies representing Armenia’s two main opposition groups headed to
Karabakh on Tuesday as part of their campaign against far-reaching Armenian
concessions to Azerbaijan. Russian peacekeepers manning a checkpoint in the
Lachin corridor connecting Armenia and Karabakh did not allow them to proceed to
Stepanakert.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the peacekeepers’ actions,
saying that they run counter to the terms of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that
stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in November 2020. Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian echoed the criticism on Wednesday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the Russian
soldiers acted “in strict conformity” with the truce accord. Claims to the
contrary “do not correspond to reality,” she said.
“We expect that given the incidents that have taken place both in the zone of
responsibility of the [Russian Peacekeeping Contingent] and at certain sections
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, both sides will refrain from steps that
could further aggravate the situation in the region,” Zakharova added in written
comments. She did not clarify the reason for the travel ban.
Armenian opposition leaders claim that they were barred from entering Karabakh
at the behest of Armenia’s government. They argue that lawmakers representing
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s party condemned the trip when it was announced
by their opposition colleagues beforehand.
The government has denied any responsibility for the unprecedented ban.
Pashinian and the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan have also criticized the
peacekeepers for not preventing Azerbaijani troops from seizing a village in
Karabakh and nearby hills late last month. They have repeatedly called on Moscow
to investigate the peacekeepers’ “inactivity.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to dismiss the criticism after
holding talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan in Moscow on April 8.
“Calls for bringing this contingent to account and conducting an internal
inquiry, which are sometimes voiced, do not reflect the real attitude of the
Armenian people and leadership towards the huge role that the Russian
peacekeeping contingent plays in maintaining stability in this region,” said
Lavrov.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has revealed that the third meeting between the special representatives of Yerevan and Ankara will be held in Vienna.
Apeaking on NTV, Cavusoglu said that concrete steps will be taken along with confidence-building measures.
“Our special representatives are in contact. The third meeting will again be in Vienna.”
Weighing in on the meetings being held in a third country, Cavusoglu said that there is no reason why they are not held in Turkey or Armenia and urged Yerevan to take more “bold steps.”
“You (Armenia) might be under pressure. This is not an easy process. We see that part of the diaspora is not supporting this normalization, especially the diaspora in France and the United States. Is there still a need to meet a third country? From one side you say relations should normalize, borders should be opened, on the other side you do not dare to meet in Turkey or Armenia,” Cavusoglu said, according to Daily Sabah.
“If you can’t come to Turkey to meet, how will we take steps on other issues?” he asked, saying that Turkey had proposed meeting in Yerevan but Armenia insisted on a third country.
He also mentioned that Turkey supports the normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Back in 1997, it was planned to divide the issue into parts, first was the Karabakh issue, then the peace agreement, and so is with the 2018 and 2016 packages. This package very clearly states that these initial principles are agreed upon, and then negotiations between the governments begin with the participation of the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This is where by saying NK representatives the Armenians and Azerbaijanis of Nagorno-Karabakh would have been meant. And it is here that with this settlement proposal the Azerbaijanis of Nagorno-Karabakh would have sat at the table of negotiations and there would not have been any settlement until the issue of Shushi, which was on the table of negotiations since 1996, was resolved.
Would Serzh Sargsyan hand over Shushi? No, he would not. A war would have broken and not only Shushi but a part of Karabakh would have been handed over. A new stage was added to the stage-by-stage option. The NK status or the ongoing status was to be determined at the Security Council session,” Pashinyan said.
He stressed that “if we wanted to hand over Karabakh and take the logic of the negotiations left by Serzh Sargsyan to the end, we would have handed over Karabakh.”
“Even if a referendum was to take place, it should have been within the timeframe agreed between the parties. Azerbaijan was very clearly saying that there would be no referendum in the next 50 years: let the Azerbaijanis return to Karabakh, live side by side for 50 years, the Azerbaijani settlements be returned, and in hundred years we will see, we do not agree to any other conditions,” Pashinyan said.
The premier said he is speaking about not handing over Karabakh.
“If we follow other path, we will hand over Karabakh. The developments over Parukh village are bright example – piece by piece. Let’s stop lying to each other.”
Commenting on his yesterday’s speech, he said that with it “he opened space for Armenia and Artsakh.”
“Through the whole negotiation process of the previous period, Armenia and Artsakh were deprived of political and diplomatic space. We open the way for Armenia and Artsakh to preserve the statehood. Armenia is a sovereign state, and we must return the right to decide something. We need to bring issues to the agenda, fill the regional agenda with content. It is enough for others to impose agendas to us all the time. We are talking about Armenia and Artsakh’s being or not being. There is a great deal of aggression around us and it is not just where we see it. We have to manage that aggression,” he said.
Toivo Klaar, the European Union’s special representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, has praised Nikol Pashinyan’s speech in the Armenian parliament on Wednesday as “important and forward-looking”.
“An important and forward-looking speech by Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan in the National Assembly today,” he said in a tweet.
“Many challenges remain on the road to a comprehensive settlement but it is important to move forward. Armenian has the EU’s support in the search for a just peace,” Klaar noted.
Armenia’s former Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan says Nikol Pashinyan’s latest statements in the parliament are “extremely dangerous” for both Armenia and Artsakh.
“Statements of the kind, which stem from narrow political interests and are baseless, simply undermine Armenia’s security system,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Addressing the parliament on Wednesday, Pashinyan said that “all friends of Armenia” were and are waiting for Armenia to “lower the bar” on the issue of Artsakh’s status. He expressed regret for not sharing details of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process with the Armenian people in 2018 and 2019.
“In order to cover up their mistakes and prevent discontent, various senior Armenian officials justified and legitimized the deployment of Azerbaijani troops near our villages and on roads,” Tatoyan said.
He accused the Armenian authorities of making statements conceding Armenia’s territorial rights to Azerbaijan, thus ignoring the security and the right to life of the Armenian and Artsakh people.
“These officials have consistently nullified the fundamental historical theses, starting from the fact that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Artsakh. They ignore the fact that Baku’s state doctrine considers a large part of Armenia as “historical territory of Azerbaijan” and a policy of hatred comparable to fascism is pursued against Armenians,” the ex-ombudsman said.
“All this has untied Baku’s hands in the international arena and provided an opportunity to strengthen its position at the expense of false theses.”
Tatoyan condemned the promotion of the so-called “peace agenda” by the Armenian government amid Azerbaijan’s threats and criminal acts against Armenians.
“As a result, it turned out to be implemented at the expense of the rights and dignity of Armenians only because there are officials in Armenia who put their political interests and positions above the security of the country,” he stressed.
“Therefore, such statements by the head of the government or any other official have no legitimacy and cannot be put at the core of protecting the interests of our people,” Tatoyan said.
Sos Hakobyan, the spokesman of the opposition Homeland Party, has reacted to the statement of ruling Civil Contract faction MP Vigen Khachatryan concerning Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
Speaking in the parliament on Thursday, Khachatryan said that first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s claim that “Karabakh has no future within Azerbaijan” was “not right”.
In a public post on Facebook, Hakobyan urged the Artsakh authorities to declare the pro-government MP persona non grata and bar him from entering Artsakh.
He also accused Nikol Pashinyan and his team of seeking Artsakh’s complete surrender to Azerbaijan.
“Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan: this is part of the political program of Nikol and his Civil Contract party,” Hakobyan said.
“Dear compatriots, don’t be surprised when your native villages and settlements slowly fall under the control of the enemy. We have to ask each other again: what do we actually want?” he added.
The office of Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan has published the first three paragraphs of the proposal package submitted by the OSCE Minsk Group to the parties negotiating over a peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in August 2016.
“Does it look like a step-by-step solution? The question is in black and white, it is clear and distinct (italics added) and is addressed to those who read and understand, and not to those who are aware of all this, but intentionally distort the NK negotiation process, who failed the negotiations,” the office said in a statement.
“History cannot be distorted,” it added.
Earlier, the Armenian authorities accused Serzh Sargsyan of negotiating a step-by-step settlement of the Karabakh conflict during his presidency.