Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler Malkhas Amoyan Amoyan claimed the gold at the European Championships under way in Budapest.
Amoyan defeated Emre Basar of Turkey 4-3 in the final in the 77 kg weight category.
In the 55 kg weight category, Armenia’s Rudik Mkrtchyan won a bronze medal, with a brilliant 9-1 victory over the representative of Romania Danny Florin Miha.
Hrachya Poghosyan lost 5-6 in the fight for the bronze medal in the 63 kg weight category.
The Armenian opposition will hold a rally in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on 5 April to discuss issues concerning the defense of Artsakh and Armenia, an opposition Hayastan faction MP and deputy parliament speaker, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, announced on Friday.
“I urge all citizens to gather at the Liberty Square on April 5, at 6:30pm, to discuss together how to preserve Artsakh and to defend Armenia, to take measures to ensure the security of the countries,” he said, addressing the parliament.
The MP claims the Armenian authorities are “unable” to organize the defense of the country.
The National Assembly convened a special session to debate a bill proposing changes to the law on local self-government.
Saghatelyan stated the agenda of the parliament is not adequate to the challenges facing the country.
“The enemy troops have invaded Parukh and took control of the strategic height [Karaglukh], but what are we discussing in the parliament? What would the people living in Stepanakert, the Khramort or Karmir Shuka communities of Artsakh think of the parliament and its majority?” he said.
He accused the ruling Civil Contract faction MPs of attempting to tighten their “grip on power”, leaving aside the main responsibility for ensuring the country’s security.
ArmInfo. Israeli public figure and political analyst Avigdor Eskin often gives interviews to the Armenian media. Studying his recent statements, ArmInfo highlighted several questions which, in our opinion, need a more thorough interpretation, and turned to the analyst with a request for comments.
– Avigdor, recently in one of your interviews to the Armenian media you stated that “there is no certainty that Russia will continue to maintain its peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh”. What is your point of view based on? Do you think that Russia, having established a stronghold in Karabakh, near the border with Iran, for some reason can refuse such a strategic presence?
– The developments of the last month have not strengthened Russia’s status on the territory of the former Soviet republics. For all thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, Moscow failed to establish itself there with the help of “soft power”, and now it is completely criticized in all former Soviet territories. Belarus and, to a lesser extent, Armenia are exceptions. If the military campaign against Ukraine had culminated in a quick manifestation of force, then other scenarios would have been possible. But at this stage, Russia is losing influence. Moscow’s interest in having a presence in Armenia and Karabakh remains, but its capabilities may be called into question if it enters a crisis or depression as a result of military difficulties in Ukraine and a worsening domestic climate due to economic reasons. A scenario should be considered that in a few months Russia will not ”get time for Karabakh”. This is an attempt to point to a possible scenario, not to predict something. At the same time, I do not at all call for neglecting the role of Russia and its influence, but on the contrary. This is a vital and currently uncontested strategic asset of Armenia. Your government is behaving quite reasonably, refusing to participate in the anti-Russian campaign. This is not about supporting certain actions of Russia, but about caring for Armenian interests.
– It is clear that the security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh has been entrusted to the Russian peacekeepers. This is the logical result of the 44-day war, which was stopped exclusively due to Russia’s position regardless of the various versions of both what happened and the reasons that prompted Azerbaijan to use force to resolve the issue. It is an indisputable fact, but nevertheless, the same Russia agreed to preserve and even “reincarnate” I would call it that, the OSCE Minsk Group, as an international institute capable and responsible to find a peaceful solution to the issue within the framework of the same international principles, including the right of nations to self-determination. This narrative, for obvious reasons, is not “liked” by the West today, but “liked” by Russia. But you think that “not a single international scenario is relevant for Armenia. Nobody in the world is going to defend Armenia’s right to Karabakh.” Why? And what do you think about it?
– Not a single country in the world actively intervened in the course of your war. If not Moscow, Azerbaijan had every opportunity to regain Karabakh completely. Let’s imagine that tomorrow Russia abandons the peacekeeping mission. What will happen then? The answer to this question is clear. And the illusions about this are groundless. There is no real basis to rely on the USA, France or Iran. I would like to emphasize that we are talking exclusively about Karabakh, not an attempt to invade the territory of sovereign Armenia. As for international principles, there are several decisions of the UN Security Council on Karabakh, which give preference to the principle of “inviolability of borders” rather than “national self- determination”. In the past, the special status of Karabakh was also axiomatic for the Azerbaijani side. If during the negotiations Armenia can achieve such results even now, then no one in the UN Security Council will object.
– So, on the one hand, you consider that Armenia needs to strengthen its Armed Forces and economy, on the other hand, that it is necessary to hurry with the peace treaty. Do you believe that the peace “on paper” will open “roads to different worlds” for Armenia? As the history of international relations after the fall of the Berlin Wall shows, international agreements are no longer worth anything, and will not be worth anything until a new balance of power is formed in the world, or at least in its “western part”. Only in this case any peripheral peace agreements will have a chance of success. Who, if not Israeli analysts, should know about this through the prism of more than half a century of unsuccessful experience in resolving the Middle East crisis.
– The experience of Israel is in many ways an example of success, not failure. This is due to the fact that in 73 years Israel has increased its Jewish population twelvefold, strengthened itself as a leading scientific and military power, and our GDP today is about half a trillion dollars. Therefore, we managed to come to peace agreements with the leading Arab countries, despite the fact that we have not achieved complete stability, as evidenced by the recent terrorist attacks of the Palestinian monsters. As for Armenia, two years ago and twenty years ago it could have come to a much more favorable agreement with Azerbaijan than under even the best scenario today. Your experience fully indicates that time will only work for you if a peaceful solution is reached. For now, time worked for Azerbaijan. Armenia retains the enormous intellectual and creative potential of its inhabitants and Diaspora. Economic development and the realization of one’s own talents will become more real in a peaceful environment. Therefore, you should seriously think about the prospects for a peace agreement, as well as about the prospects of life in its absence.
ArmInfo.”It is possible that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia will visit Ankara, and I will visit Yerevan.” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated.
“It is very important that Azerbaijan supports this process. You must learn from the lessons of the past. Without consultations with Azerbaijan, we cannot take radical steps, this is our precondition. On the other hand, after the end of the war, Turkey gave positive messages. If Armenia is of the same opinion as us, then they will open the borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, trade will begin, logistical issues will be resolved. Azerbaijan has already offered Armenia a comprehensive peace agreement,” Cavusoglu said, APA reports.
It should be noted that on February 24, in Vienna, the second 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, took place. 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 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.
We also note that on March 10-13, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan took part in the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya. And the day before, in an interview with Turkish Anadolu Mirzoyan said that the population of Armenia supports the process of normalizing relations with Turkey. He noted that certain groups, both in Armenian and Turkish society, are skeptical about normalization. At the same time, the head of the Foreign Ministry stressed that officials from both sides should “take on political leadership to resolve these issues.”
It is noteworthy that sociological polls conducted in Turkey and Armenia show the opposite. In both countries, the overwhelming majority of the population is not ready for the normalization of relations, moreover, they consider each other as a threat to their own security.
ArmInfo. The talks of the Armenian authorities about peace with Azerbaijan, if they are not accompanied by concrete steps towards the strengthening of Armenia, are a false category. Political scientist Robert Ghevondyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
“We certainly need to talk about peace. But we need to prepare for war. We spoke and prepared for peace back in 2019-20. As a result, the enemy prepared for war and won it. In this light, Prime Minister Pashinyan, of course, has to talk about peace, simultaneously acting towards the formation of real mechanisms for ensuring it, intensively arming the army, creating new opportunities for ensuring security, etc. As far as I understand, all this is not being done, while without it, only talks about the peace has no basis, respectively, prospects,” he said.
According to Ghevondyan, all this is especially urgent, against the backdrop of the Aliyev regime initiating more and more provocations in Artsakh. In his opinion, the situation around the village of Parukh is another, not the first and the last, provocation of Azerbaijan as part of its policy of creeping aggression. Especially against the background of the fact that Aliyev does not hide his own goals in the direction of de- Armenization and the final capture of Artsakh.
In this light, not seeing flaws in the performance of their own duties by Russian peacekeepers, the political scientist determines the current situation in Artsakh by the effective use by Azerbaijan of the opportunities that have opened up as a result of Ukraine and all related processes. In this light, Ghevondyan recalled that another Azerbaijani provocation followed the fact that a month ago the Armenian delegation abstained vote on Ukraine in the UN. The latter, in his opinion, means that Baku actively uses every opportunity, while the Armenian side, as a rule, does not.
“There is only one way out – Armenia must actively arm itself, strengthen its own security. Only this will force Azerbaijan to fulfill its own obligations. Moreover, it will allow us to sometimes go beyond our own obligations when necessary, forcing Baku to act already in our status. A show of force is the only way out to which we resort, as happened the other day in Khramort. But we resort extremely rarely. As for Artsakh specifically, Yerevan has no actual leverage on the situation there. However, Armenia remains one of the beneficiaries of the security of Artsakh residents by Russian peacekeepers. In this light, it may moreover must turn to Moscow demanding the fulfillment of its obligations. Otherwise, for example, it can be proposed to replace the Russian contingent in Artsakh with an international one. “It is clear that in the current geopolitical realities it will be quite difficult to do that, but it does not eliminate the need for action at all,” the political scientist concluded.
ArmInfo.On March 31, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated at a government meeting that it is inadmissible to draw parallels between the Lachin corridor and the road opening between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan through the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
According to Pashinyan, Baku distorts paragraph 9 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 on the restoration of transport and economic communications in the region, the launch of a road connecting the western regions of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan. “You know that Armenia has come up with comprehensive proposals on this topic. Without going into details, I will say that the essence of our proposal is as follows: reconstruct the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway, reopen or build a highway that will connect the western regions of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, by exercising border, customs and other control at border crossings,” he recalled.
According to the prime minister, Baku accepts and rejects this position of the Armenian side at the same time. “They say they agree with any legal regime for the operation of this road, but the same regime should operate in the Lachin corridor, and in support of this position they refer to the statement of November 9,” he said.
According to Pashinyan, this statement is unfounded for two reasons. “Firstly, in the November 9 statement, there is no mention of any corridor other than Lachin. The Lachin corridor is not only a corridor, but also a 5 km wide area, which is under the control of Russian peacekeepers, and this is enshrined in a tripartite statement. There is no any clause on control over any part of Armenia by another country,” he said.
As the prime minister pointed out, it is strange to draw parallels between Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan for several reasons. “Firstly, Nakhichevan has land communication with Azerbaijan through the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey, air communication – through the airspace of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and the Republic of Armenia. And Nagorno-Karabakh has only land communication with Armenia – only through the Lachin corridor, and make the Lachin corridor in any way controlled by Azerbaijan means one thing: the expulsion of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan explained.
Thus, as the head of the RA government stressed, comparing the Lachin corridor with a road that will be opened through the territory of Armenia is unacceptable, the statement of November 9 does not envisage the existence of any corridor through the territory of Armenia, and Armenia has not accepted and will not accept any corridor logic.
At the same time, Nikol Pashinyan once again announced his readiness to open a railway and a highway within the framework of the proposals of the Armenian side. “But we consider it necessary to sign a de jure agreement with Azerbaijan. Why? Because we see a very specific risk when Armenia builds both a road and a railway, and Azerbaijan refuses to open the border. And it turns out that neither Armenia, nor Azerbaijan, nor third countries will not be able to use the infrastructure that requires investments of several hundred million dollars, and Armenia will simply lose several hundred million dollars. What do we propose today? We propose to open the railway in 2021. De jure agreements reached in Brussels on December 14 2012, coordinate the parameters of the railway and start construction, or do it in a package, including the highway, and we are ready to do it as soon as Azerbaijan responds positively to our proposals,” the prime minister said. According to him, the proposals were submitted to international partners, who considered them logical, acceptable, meeting the interests of all countries in the region.
ArmInfo. Despite the fact that the current crisis around Nagorno- Karabakh is clearly not provoked by the situation in Ukraine, and the settlement of this conflict will be within its own logic, it would be wrong to completely deny the influence of the Ukrainian factor in all this. Sergei Markedonov, Leading Researcher at the MGIMO Institute for International Studies, Editor- in-Chief of the Journal of International Analytic told Arminfo
“The Western informational narrative, one way or another, has a huge resource of influence beyond the US and Europe as well. Accordingly, the latest assessments of the campaign in Ukraine may well contribute to the formation of interpretations, according to which Moscow no longer has time for Transcaucasia. The latter may well lead, moreover, it is already leading to Baku’s attempts to push back the “red lines,” he stressed.
Noting the growing criticism of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan regarding the actions of the Russian Federation in Karabakh, the analyst expressed an opinion that similar criticism could be heard in Yerevan as well. In this light, he singled out the demands voiced by Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan during his last conversation with Russian President Putin for greater toughness of peacekeepers against the Azerbaijani military. As well as the need to investigate the actions of the Russian military, which allowed the advancement of Azerbaijanis in the zone of responsibility of the Russian military.
According to Markedonov, all these events and statements by the parties to the conflict do not change geopolitical realities. The West is still not ready to discriminate against the actions of the Russian Federation in Karabakh, following the example of actions in Ukraine, although the same American and French politicians are doing this in relation to Baku’s latest actions in Karabakh. This allows us to state that what is allowed to Kiev will not necessarily be allowed to Baku, which is not at all due to sympathies or antipathies towards Russia.
According to the analyst’s forecasts, another reality that is interesting from the point of view of prospects is the possibility of a tough reaction from Moscow in the event of attempts to oust it from areas of interest to it. And this is against the background of the traditional desire of the Russian Federation to avoid breaking the status quo in conflict regions as much as possible. In this light, he recalled that Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia after four years of unfreezing these conflicts as well asthe LPR and DPR after eight years of futile negotiations around the Minsk agreements.
“And finally, the last but by no means least important circumstance. The lack of any claims from all sides to the quality of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Karabakh leaves no alternative to it at all. The West, ready for total containment of Russia in Karabakh, does not offer anything. The latter means that Moscow, avoiding a hard choice, will continue the policy of careful balancing between Baku and Yerevan as a conflict moderator until, as in other “hot spots” of the former USSR, this choice is not imposed on it, leaving no elementary room for maneuvering. That is why today it is extremely important not to cross the line in Karabakh separating crisis management from conflict defrosting,” Markedonov summed up.
ArmInfo.The Office of the President of the Republic of Artsakh considers the statement of the Azerbaijani AzeriGas company about its intention to “rebuild gas infrastructure” of Stepanakert as “unserious”, therefore they do not comment on it. The Office of the President of Artsakh said in response to a query from ARMENPRESS agency.
“We find this statement to be unserious and therefore we don’t comment it,” said the source of the agency.
It should be noted that today the Azerbaijani AzeriGas company stated that it is planned to rebuild the gas infrastructure of Stepanakert, noting that “certain work has already been carried out” on the gas pipeline.
On March 8, the Azerbaijani side damaged the gas pipeline from Armenia to Artsakh. After two weeks of negotiations, Azerbaijan itself repaired the gas pipeline, and as it turned out on March 19, it installed a valve on it, with which it can now control the gas supply to the NKR.
On March 27, the Artsakh Information Center issued a message stating that natural gas is supplied to the territory of the Republic of Artsakh through only one gas pipeline from the territory of the Republic of Armenia, and the Gazprom Armenia CJSC gas supply company is a 100% subsidiary of Gazprom. “ArtsakhGAS” CJSC receives and distributes to its consumers natural gas from the specified gas pipeline. Based on this, the Azerbaijani SOCAR state oil company or its subsidiary AzeriGas cannot have any relation to the process of gas supply to the Republic of Artsakh
ArmInfo.The “Hayastan” and “I have the Honor” opposition parliamentary factions will hold a rally on April 5 at 6:30pm on Freedom Square in Yerevan, RA NA Deputy Speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan said on April 1 in the parliament.
According to him, the rally will be held under the slogan “In the name of Armenia and Artsakh.” “We will discuss how to keep Artsakh, how to protect Armenia, we will take steps and actions for the sake of the security of Armenia and Atsrakh,” he said. As the opposition MP pointed out, the current authorities are not able to organize the defense of the country.
On April 6, Brussels will host a joint meeting of European Council President Charles Michel, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Yesterday, during a government meeting, Pashinyan once again confirmed the readiness of the Republic of Armenia to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. “Armenia is ready for the immediate start of peace talks”: “And I hope that during this meeting all issues related to the start of peace talks will be discussed and agreed with the President of Azerbaijan,” the prime minister said.
I dedicate my victory to the Armenian soldiers standing on the border, Arsen Harutyunyan, twice European freestyle wrestling champion and World Championship bronze medalist, told NEWS.am Sport.
The 22-year-old Armenian wrestler won a gold medal in the 61 kg weight category at the European Championship in free-style wrestling in Budapest. In the final, Harutyunyan achieved a beautiful 15-3 victory over two-time European champion, vice world champion and European Games bronze medalist Sulaiman Atli of Turkey to become a two-time European champion.
“I was waiting for this victory, I wanted to become European champion for the second time and I succeeded,” he said.
“When I found out that the Turkish athlete was my opponent in the final, I decided to do everything I could to win. Since I defeated him in the final, I dedicate my victory to the Armenian soldiers standing on the border,” said Harutyunyan.