Category: News

The defense of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, the diplomat of the Mother See, presented a petition to the court at the first court session in his case regarding the immediate termination of the criminal prosecution.

“The whole accusation is built on the whims of some people. A situation is created when there is no physical evidence of the crime, there is no victim, the perpetrator, but there is the person who ordered it, I am represented as the person who ordered it,” said Reverend Arshak in his address to the court.

He added that he is not engaged in political activities, but now he is being politically prosecuted, and he expects the criminal prosecution to be stopped.

“It is obvious that everything here is fake and fabricated. “If the courts were at their height until this moment, if the investigators and the prosecutor’s office were impartial, if they were not delegated, we would not be in this situation, therefore I have no other expectations and demands,” said the reverend.

According to his defense attorney Arsen Babayan, according to the accusation, Saint Arshak, with the aim of discrediting some group, ordered an unknown person to perform some action, which was qualified as a crime against the health of the population, as provided by the Criminal Code, for trafficking narcotics for sale.

“In this regard, we believe that at least there is no object of crime, so we request to stop the criminal prosecution right now,” said defense attorney Arsen Babayan.

The prosecuting prosecutor, however, petitioned to re-apply Arshak to arrest.

“The case is still at the stage of preliminary investigations, not all persons of essential importance for the case have been questioned. Moreover, there are data that the alleged crime was committed with the involvement of several people, which significantly increases the risk of interfering with the process of coordinating testimony and proof,” said prosecutor Alisa Boyajyan.

According to his claim, the freedom of Saint Arshak can not only create a risk of influencing the witnesses, distorting their testimonies, but he can take steps to destroy or falsify possible evidence.

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The next parliamentary elections in Hungary took place the other day, becoming one of the most anticipated and competitive political events in recent years in that country and on the European continent. As a result of the elections, the opposition bloc was able to register a victory, collecting about 51-53% of the votes, while the force led by Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for many years, received about 44-46% support. This result effectively ended Orbán’s long political dominance, opening a new phase in the country’s political life.

62-year-old Orban has been in power since 2010. A potential opposition candidate, 45-year-old Madyar, emerged in the current elections. Formerly a member of the Fidesz youth wing, Madyar became the leader of the Tisa party just two years ago. Citizens dissatisfied with Orban’s government point to the poor state of public infrastructure, healthcare and education, as well as the level of corruption.

Madyar, however, says he intends to fight corruption, implement “systemic changes” and introduce a new constitution. Unlike Orbán, who has built positive relations with Russia and created many problems for the EU in recent years, Madyar is also in favor of the idea of ​​removing Hungary from Russia and returning the EU member state as a reliable NATO ally. The elections were marked by high turnout and intense campaigning.

The elections held in Hungary can be considered not only as an episode of internal political reorganization, but also as an important impulse for the entire European political system. The decline or removal of the influence of Viktor Orbán, who has shaped the political face of the country for years, perhaps symbolizes the end of an entire political era. That era was characterized by enhanced executive power, Eurosceptic rhetoric, and multi-vector foreign policy experiments that often clashed with the European mainstream.

In the European context, the results of these elections are important, according to experts, because Hungary has long been a “rebellious” actor within the European Union, often inhibiting joint decisions or demanding exceptional conditions.

By the way, at the request of Azerbaijan, Orban’s government has also created difficulties regarding EU decision-making regarding Armenia. Weakening or removing Orbán could contribute to a more unified policy within the EU. However, perhaps there is no need to wait for a turnaround. a part of the Hungarian political elite continues to share the idea of ​​the priority of sovereignty in the EU.

The possible revision of Hungary’s policy towards Russia is particularly noteworthy. During the years of Orbán’s rule, Budapest maintained relatively mild and pragmatic relations with Moscow, even in the conditions of the Russia-Ukraine war. The new political situation may lead to a more cautious but not drastic anti-Russian position. it is more likely that Hungary will try to integrate into the common European line, while maintaining a certain flexibility due to energy and economic calculations.

It should be noted that these results of the Hungarian elections are important for Russia, the EU, other actors, and the South Caucasus, where Orban had especially built warm relations with the leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and for the sake of which Orban’s government has implemented a number of noisy anti-Armenian steps in the interest of Azerbaijan.

Years ago, Orban easily extradited to Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani who brutally killed Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, who was hailed as a hero upon his return to Azerbaijan and glorified for his crime. With this move, Orban received a sharp political response from the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people.

In 2012, RA severed diplomatic relations with Hungary, which Nikol Pashinyan’s government has already started taking steps to restore unconditionally.

From the photographs of the corridors of the European political community, one can remember warm contacts in the format of Pashinyan-Orban-Aliev-Erdogan. As we have already mentioned, in recent years, Hungary also blocked the provision of funds from the European Peace Fund to Armenia. Therefore, for Armenia, this change should be considered not only as a distant European process, it may change the position of the Hungarian state in relation to Armenia. By the way, several political actors noticed and analyzed these elections in Armenia.

Considering that elections are expected in Armenia in the near future, the Hungarian experience can offer a number of important consequences, especially from the point of view of the reproduction of the ruling forces.

• Long-term government, even if it provides stability, accumulates systemic dissatisfaction, which can be manifested not gradually, but in a drastic electoral change.
• Strengthening media and institutional control in the short-term process strengthens the government, but in the long-term it reduces the sense of legitimacy.
• Foreign policy “multi-vectoring” can be effective, but if it is perceived as value uncertainty, it can undermine trust in different directions.
• Strained relations with external partners (such as Hungary-EU) can become an important factor in the domestic political agenda.

The end of the Orbán era shows that even the most stable political systems are subject to change, and these changes are often caused not only by external pressures, but also by internal accumulated demands.

The end of Viktor Orbán’s era shows that the combination of foreign policy maneuvers, domestic control and electoral technology does not guarantee endless reproduction. In the context of the upcoming elections in Armenia, this means that the fate of the ruling power may be determined by the level of public trust.

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On April 10, during a joint press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, in particular, declared.

“Unfortunately, there are still prisoners and detainees in Baku, and we think our position is the same. days ago, these people should be released, and we are sure that their release will only strengthen the established peace.

We continue our dialogue with Azerbaijan on this topic. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most important issues on our agenda. We continue to talk about this with international partners as well.

Yes, as you noticed, the end of the Red Cross activities in Azerbaijan has made the situation even more complicated in this regard, that is, we agree that the problem exists, and we continue our efforts in that direction. There is no news, this is the question that when there is news, immediately the whole society knows. The only news here might be the release of a new band.”

On April 10, the day of the 34th anniversary of the Maragha Genocide, so to speak, a 20-member delegation of Armenian civil society went to Azerbaijan through the demarcated and demarcated part of the land border (Kirants) and had a two-day discussion with Baku “civil society representatives” in Gabala, once again met Aliyev’s aide. Born in Ganja With Hikmet Hajiyev, we will refer to him later.

By the way, let us remind you that for 6 years, under the pretext of fighting against the coronavirus, Azerbaijan has been fighting with its neighbors keeps land borders closed. At the moment, there is a decision to keep it closed until July 1, 2026. Naturally, the reason is regional events, and it turns out that the Armenia-Azerbaijan land border along the Kirants section is the only one that is open, or is being opened if necessary.

And the members of the Armenian delegation that returned from Azerbaijan in Yerevan, in particular, the director of the Democracy Development Fund, Naira Sultanyan, said at the press conference that they talked about the prisoners and the people held in Baku in Azerbaijan.

“We emphasized that this issue does not fit into the logic of the peace process, that the peace process has progressed much further, and these issues must be resolved in order to guarantee the progress of the process.“, he noted.

Days after this, one of the Azerbaijani propaganda media, minval.az, published an article to publish in which, as a matter of fact, the official position of Aliyev or Baku was recalled, which was recently detailed we have touched on. 

What does Baku remind Yerevan and answer especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan?

“Their (former military-political leadership of Artsakh – M.P.) legal status is determined by court decisions based on “evidence”, not by political statements or diplomatic gestures.

Historical and international experience unequivocally confirms that “serious crimes” (quotes: MP) cannot become an object of political “trade”. Let’s remind that After the Nuremberg trials, the international community established the principle of inevitability of punishment as a basis for sustainable peace. And here it should be noted that the convicts were not released for the sake of reconciliation, but on the contrary, it was their punishment that became the cornerstone of the post-war legal system. Thus, the peace agenda cannot be built on the neglect of crimes and the release of convicted persons. It is possible only in the case of maintaining a balance between humanity and justice, where the key role belongs not to political expediency, but to the inevitability of punishment and respect for court decisions.” wrote the Azerbaijani media, noting that the release of the representatives of the former military-political leadership of Artsakh can be considered not humanism, but a refusal of the principle of justice.

Of course, Baku is lying when it does not attribute this issue to political expediency, it will be resolved according to political expediency. That is another question today the release of the former military-political leadership of Artsakh is considered as an internal political or internal issue of the country, and tries to assure that the release of non-ordinary Armenians held in Baku can undermine the faith of the citizens of Azerbaijan in the state institutions of the country, otherwise, the fabrication of accusations against the former leaders of Artsakh can come to light, which is definitely not beneficial to Aliyev at the moment, nor does he have a problem of looking “good” today. Let’s not say that the manifestations of good will in the world today do not have a serious character role, when international law is destroyed and force gives birth to law, or economic interest.

According to that, can we say that at this moment Aliyev does not see the need to show “good will” in order to maintain his own power within his country, and indirectly puts the responsibility of his “Nuremberg trial” on his own citizens as well, so that for political convenience, if he decides to release the former military and political leadership of Artsakh in exchange for something, he will condition it also on the wishes of ordinary Azerbaijanis. That is, everything is not as smooth as it is presented, including at the level of societies. On the other hand, so that ordinary Azerbaijanis stop seeing Armenians as enemies, here, of course, Pashinyan logically, the Armenian society has to do it first.

Does Aliyev put pressure on his people to become extremely peace-loving, does he force them to forget “genocide”, “ethnic cleansing”, like Nikol Pashinyan, of course not. Instead, Aliyev always has something to say to the Armenian society and Nikol Pashinyan in this context. For example, Aliyev’s assistant Hikmet Hajiyev, like him reported At the meeting with the members of the Armenian delegation that went to Azerbaijan, he again spoke about the Armenian “revanchist” forces.

“During the meeting, it was noted that the presence of “revanchist” forces in the internal political “landscape” of Armenia, along with their calls for war, creates a risk of returning the region to the turbulent state of the late 1980s and early 1990s,” Hajiyev emphasized, adding that the Armenian society wants peace, which creates a basis for them to hope that “the forces that assumed the role of “spoilers” will eventually fail to achieve peace.” in their attempts to undermine the agenda.”

It is a familiar phrase that we hear almost every day in this pre-election period, as they say, without comment.

If we return to Aliyev’s compulsion on his own people, in most cases it refers to the resettlement of Azerbaijani citizens in the occupied Artsakh territories. On one occasion, we wrote that many people return to Baku after a short time from their assigned places. This is a separate discussion topic.

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