Armenian News... A Topalian... Yerevan may lose a rotating leadership post

RFE/RL Report

Armenia May Lose CSTO Leadership Post

November 05, 2018

Sargis Harutyunyan

An Armenian Foreign Ministry official on Monday neither confirmed nor denied that Yerevan may lose a rotating leadership post in a Russian-led defense grouping of several post-Soviet nations.

Last Friday, Yuri Khachaturov was relieved of his duties as secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Khachaturov occupied that post since May 2017 as part of a rotating process in the multinational organization. But he was recalled by official Yerevan in July 

amid charges of overthrowing the country’s onstitutional order brought against him as part of a criminal investigation into a 2008 post-election crackdown. 

Khachaturov served as a deputy defense minister at that time.

The same charges were brought against former President Robert Kocharian, who was accused of ordering the use of the army for the violent repression of the opposition-led protests, in which eight demonstrators and two police officers were killed.

The new candidate for the post is likely to be discussed at a CSTO summit to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on November 8.

Citing its diplomatic sources in three CSTO-member countries the Russian Kommersant daily reported on Sunday that a Belarus representative may become 

the new secretary-general of the organization.

The newspaper suggested that the candidate is Stanislav Zas, who currently serves as the state secretary of the Belarus’s Security Council.

Asked on Monday whether Zas’s candidacy is indeed being discussed, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalian said: “The issue of the new CSTO secretary-general is at the stage of consultations. These discussions have some confidential character and are not conducted in the public domain. Respecting this principle, we cannot provide any additional information not to harm these discussions.”

 

Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire

November 6, 2018

Azerbaijan's military power is key factor in Karabakh settlement - Aliyev

Azerbaijan will continue to build up its military power and sees this as one of the critical factors in the settlement of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, as international law continues to be fully ignored,

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said during a working visit to Azerbaijan's Agdam district.

"We will continue to build up our military power, and I believe this is one of the most important factors in negotiations. Because, unfortunately, norms of international law are being fully ignored. Wewill achieve what we want. We demand justice. We demand that our

historical lands be liberated from the invaders, and they will be liberated," Aliyev said.

Baku stands ready for any developments in the settlement of theconflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, he said.

"I hope that after correctly analyzing the situation in the region,the Armenian leadership will withdraw its occupational forces from ourlands. Otherwise, any option is possible, and we stand ready for any

option," Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan showed two years ago that it can liberate its lands in a legal way, he said.

The events taking place in Armenia show that the policy pursued by Azerbaijan is producing results, he said.

"I have said repeatedly, and I want to say today as well, there is no need to conceal this - we will continue to isolate Armenia from all regional projects using all means available, and we will restore ourterritorial integrity," Aliyev said.

"The new Armenian leadership must not repeat the mistakes of the previous regime. It must withdraw the occupying forces from the seized lands in the near future through negotiations, and it should give Azerbaijani citizens the chance to return to their native, historical,

ancestral lands," he said.

"The sooner they understand this, the better for them and for the region. I'd like to say once again that we are not going to resign ourselves to this situation. The norms of international law fully support our position, and historical justice is on our side," Aliyev said.

Foreign Policy Magazine

Nov 7 2018

ARGUMENT

Armenia’s Democratic Dreams

The country’s Velvet Revolution took its cues from democratic movements in Latin America rather than from other revolutions in the post-Soviet world. Here’s why that’s a good thing.

By Anna Ohanyan

At a time when authoritarianism seems resurgent, Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution has set the country on a path toward sustained democracy. And the movement did so not by following the courses charted by closer neighbors in the post-Soviet world but by following a trail blazed somewhat farther away in Latin America nearly 40 years ago.

Before this year, Armenia was ruled by Serzh Sargsyan, who assumed power through a highly controversial—and much protested—presidential election in 2008. 

Sargsyan was re-elected in 2013, and then, as the end of his second term drew near, he announced that he would step in as the country’s first prime minister within a newly configured parliamentary system. Anger about his power grab quickly boiled over, and soon calls for Sargsyan’s resignation echoed in Armenia’s streets. The protests spread when Nikol Pashinyan, an opposition leader in parliament, was detained for his role in organizing and leading the initial marches. He was soon released, and Sargsyan announced his resignation on April 23. Only 11 days of peaceful protests and civil disobedience had passed. After a few rounds of votes in parliament, Pashinyan was elected as prime minister.

In power, Pashinyan and his administration had to work with a parliament still dominated by members of Sargsyan’s Republican Party. That party’s standing is largely viewed as illegitimate because of the systemic electoral fraud that plagued the last parliamentary and presidential elections. And so, on Oct. 16, Pashinyan resigned as a way to push for snap parliamentary elections by mid-December. His Yelk (Way Out) Alliance is widely expected to dominate that vote, which would return Pashinyan to power as prime minister—this time with a friendlier (and hopefully more trusted) legislature.

In all its twists and turns, Armenia’s Velvet Revolution shared relatively little with the post-Soviet color revolutions. Rather, similar to many Latin American shifts from military to civilian rule in 1970s and 1980s, the Armenian transition was slow in coming, driven by nonelites, and unfolded through the country’s institutions rather than against them.

First, Armenia’s Velvet Revolution represented the climax of a decade of peaceful protest centered on human rights, women’s rights, environmentalism, and labor and employment issues—all explicitly non- or minimally political causes.

Armenia’s Velvet Revolution represented the climax of a decade of peaceful protest centered on human rights, women’s rights, environmentalism, and labor and employment issues—all explicitly non- or minimally political causes.

Such activism created a model for advocating and securing tangible compromises from government figures. Small-scale protests also established nonviolence as a credible strategy. By the time Sargsyan announced his intention to become prime minister, there was already a well-known template in place for responding.

Armenia’s Velvet Revolution represented the climax of a decade of peaceful protest centered on human rights, women’s rights, environmentalism, and labor and employment issues—all explicitly non- or minimally political causes.

That progression mirrors the evolution of Latin America’s democratic transitions in the 1970s and 1980s, which stand out for their grassroots support and for being grounded in broader social issues such as the elimination of literacy requirements for voting, reductions in the voting age, and the removal of other barriers to political participation. Such advocacy saw the electorates of Brazil, Honduras, El Salvador, and Peru expand massively, which helped to consolidate democracy. In Argentina, meanwhile, slow-building protest against the deeply repressive military junta eventually weakened it until it was finally done in by the war with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands.

These cases stand in stark contrast to the post-Soviet color revolutions, which were often sudden and driven by reformist elites, who were themselves usually backed by outside players, most notably the European Union and the United States. Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution, for example, included mass protests but really resulted from the loss of faith at the top rather than a push from below. The revolution’s top-down nature allowed one of its leaders, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was quickly elected as president after the protests died down, to strengthen the executive branch of the government with little pushback from largely compliant parliamentary forces. Interelite competitions in the aftermath of the other color revolutions in Serbia and Ukraine produced paralysis within their governments, paving the way for illiberal forces to retake power later on.

The Velvet Revolution’s emphasis on consensus building also had more in common with Latin American revolutions than the color ones. Pashinyan spent his time bargaining both within parliament and the executive branch and among the mass mobilizers in the street. For example, he negotiated with various factions in parliament to hold a vote for the prime ministership as a way to reconcile the preferences of the protesters with parliamentary processes. He has likewise worked with both civil society movements and unaligned parliamentary groups to gain support for holding snap elections.

Such push and pull between the incumbent regime and the democratic opposition was central to many Latin American transitions as well. Government changes in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru all entailed some form of dialogue and, ultimately, a pact between the incoming and outgoing forces. The most notable example here is the 1985 Bolivia Pact for Democracy, which brought the authoritarian government and the leading opposition party together around a series of drastic reforms meant to address mounting economic crises. Another example is Uruguay, when opposition forces were simply incorporated into a coalition government after the 1989 election.

By contrast, during the color revolutions, the power transfer between the incumbent and the reformers tended to be total and often one-sided.

Whether in Georgia’s Rose Revolution, Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution, or Ukraine’s Orange and Euromaidan revolutions, there has been very little in the way of consensus building, with reformers generally pushing their opponents out of government entirely.

News.am, Armenia

Nov 6 2018

Armenians thank Vanuatu PM for becoming first Pacific leader to recognize Genocide 

The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has thanked the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, the Honourable Charlot Salwai for becoming the first Pacific leader to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide during a recent trip to Yerevan, Armenia.

In a letter addressed to High Commissioner of Vanuatu in Australia, ANC-AU said: “As representatives of the largest Armenian community in the region, the Armenian National Committee of Australia would like to pass on its sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister the Honourable Charlot Salwai for becoming the first Pacific leader to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.”

During the XVII Summit of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, Prime Minister Salwai attended the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex where he laid a wreath in honour of the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. 

ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian said: “We congratulated the Prime Minister for taking this bold step, as the first among regional leaders, towards rectifying this great historic injustice. It is our hope that other Asia-Pacific nations,  including the Australian Government, will follow the precedent set by Vanuatu and acknowledge the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide.”

He added: “It is also noteworthy that due to Salwai's leadership, Vanuatu became the second Commonwealth country - after Canada - to stand on the side of truth and justice when it comes to the Armenian Genocide.”

Banks.am, Armenia

Nov 7 2018

Armenia and Artsakh participate in London World Travel Market

 

With the support of the Armenian Tourism Development Foundation, the Armenian tour operators participated in London World Travel Market on November 5-7.  

According to the Armenian MFA, Artsakh representatives participated on the first two days of the Market and returned on November 7.

“During the two days of participation of Artsakh representatives, the Azerbaijani side complained to the organizers and demanded withdrawal of Artsakh from the pavilion and the materials with references to Artsakh from the Market. However, thanks to constructive cooperation of Armenian side with the organizers of WTM, Artsakh was properly represented at the event. The booklets and leaflets about Artsakh were widely distributed and new business ties were established,” Armenian MFA’s statement reads. 

Asbarez.com

6 Nov 18

Rising Armenian Tennis Star Karen Khachanov Defeats Djokovic in Paris Masters

Armenian Karen Khachanov, a rising star in the world of Tennis from Russia, defeated incoming world champion Novak Djokovic to win his first Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters, reported the BBC.

The 22-year-old beat Djokovic 7-5 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes to end the Serb’s 22-match unbeaten run.

Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, 31, was to have still taken over Rafael Nadal at the top of the world rankings on Monday.

“It means the world to me,” said world number 18 Khachanov.

“It’s one of the biggest titles in my career so far. I couldn’t be happier to end the season like this, to win against Novak Djokovic, the number one in the world.”

Khachanov will rise to world number 11 on Monday and becomes the first Russian since Nikolay Davydenko in 2009 to win a Masters 1000 title.

Djokovic, who has been suffering from flu-like symptoms all week, added: “I don’t feel too good today but I’d like to give respect to Karen for playing a great match today and he deserves to win.

“He deserves his trophy and I am sure we will see a lot of great matches from him in the future.”

EurasiaNet.org

Nov 6 2018

Amid threats, LGBT forum is cancelled in Armenia

The political opposition used the conference as a political weapon against Pashinyan, and organizers lamented the indifference of the police after they received threats. 

Grigor Atanesian 

The organizers of a Christian LGBT forum in Armenia have canceled the event after it became a political football ahead of next month’s elections.

In a statement issued November 6, New Generation, a Yerevan-based NGO that was helping to organize the conference, cited “constant threats” and “organized intimidation.” They also said that the Armenian police had shown a “lack of sufficient readiness” to protect them. 

“I don’t consider it appropriate to hold the forum in Armenia, considering the risks and security considerations,” Armenia’s police chief Valeriy Osipyan told journalists the same day. “We advised that the forum should not be held in Armenia.”

Pashinyan’s government “fails to protect the rights of its citizens,” wrote Mika Artyan, an Armenian LGBT activist, on Twitter. “Basically they failed to carry on their duties when it comes to rights of #LGBT citizens. Unacceptable.”

The conference was announced in August, and organizers said it had been planned long before the government transition in the spring that brought to power Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. 

Having previously held thirteen similar events across the region, organizers said they expected little trouble. A Gospel verse was chosen as the event’s theme. “The spirit of our Forum is love in Christ which knows no boundaries, be it country, denomination, gender or anything else,” said the announcement.

But over the following months, the event became a subject of heated discussions around Armenia and, eventually, even on the floor of parliament. It was condemned by the Armenian church and occasioned handwringing about the destiny of Armenia’s traditional family. 

It was the potential for violence, however, that forced the organizers to cancel the event. In correspondence obtained by Eurasianet, Yerevan-based LGBT activists helping put on the event reported violent threats and said their cars were followed. The activists said that after reporting threats to the authorities, the police appeared willing to guarantee the event’s safety. But the organizers said that while officers were largely helpful, they privately suggested postponing the event “for after the election” and couldn’t provide the activists the protection they sought.  

Parliamentary elections are to be held on December 9. With Pashinyan enjoying sky high approval ratings, his allies are expected to win easily, cementing the political transition that began in the spring. In response, forces aligned with the former government appear to have seized on LGBT issues as a cudgel against the new regime. “It’s hard to avoid the impression that some officials are using Armenia’s pervasive homophobia to mobilize the public against … Pashinyan,” wrote Anahit Chilingaryan of Human Rights Watch. 

With so much at stake in the December vote, Pashinyan has appeared wary of taking a strong position. When he was grilled in parliament on the issue, including on the forum, he dexterously avoided giving a definitive answer. “For me as prime minister and for our government, the less this issue comes up, the better,” said Pashinyan. “It’s a headache.” 

Still, Pashinyan’s evasive answer didn’t mollify critics. A column from the local service of the Russian state news service Sputnik called out the government for “recusing itself” from dealing with what the article claims is the issue that “the Christian religion considers to be one of the gravest sins.” The column endorsed a bill, introduced by the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia, to ban “homosexual propaganda.”

On November 1, the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, the top figure in the Armenian church, condemned the plans to hold the conference, calling same-sex relations “a sin.” 

PanArmenian, Armenia

Nov 6 2018

Georgian Patriarchate appropriates Armenian church in Tbilisi 

The Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate has launched construction work at Tandoyants Armenian Church in Tbilisi and is allegedly planning to build a completely new Georgian Orthodox church on the site, an article by Caucasus analyst Neil Hauer reveals.

Tandoyants was once testimony to the significant Armenian population in Tbilisi. But after decades of neglect, first by Soviet authorities and then by Georgian ones, the church today barely exists. Last November, some in Tbilisi’s Armenian community noticed that construction work had begun on the site of the church, which the Armenian Diocese of Georgia has long claimed as its own. 

Cultural activists filed a request for information with the National Agency of State Property later that month and discovered that Tandoyants had been gifted to the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate the previous July, according to the article published on Eurasianet.org.

“The Georgian Patriarchate wants to build a completely new Georgian Orthodox church on the site,” said Eto Gvritishvili, a lawyer with the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), an NGO now engaged in a legal battle over the ownership  of Tandoyants. “They claim it is a historic Georgian site.” By way of justification, the official Georgian church claim cites 19th-century documents indicates that Tandoyants stands on the ground previously occupied by a small Georgian church, destroyed by the Persian emperor Shah Abbas in 1622.

In disputing the origins of Tandoyants, the Georgian church has placed blame on a familiar bugbear in Georgian politics. “They [the Georgian Patriarchate] admit that the current church is Armenian, but they claim that it replaced a Georgian church after Russian imperial authorities gave the land to Armenians in the 19th century,” Gvritishvili said.

The official stance of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Orthodox Church in Georgia is that Tandoyants was “illegally transferred” to the Georgian Patriarchate last year.

Tandoyants is not the only historic Armenian church the Georgian Patriarchate has targeted. In fact, there are at least six others the Patriarchate has its sights set on, according to EMC. One is Shamkoretsots in Tbilisi’s historic Armenian quarter, Avlabari. Its condition slowly deteriorated over the decades until a 1989 earthquake shattered the cupola, destroying the iconic dome. The Armenian church has been denied access to the Church of Norashen too. An Armenian attempt to clean the interior several years ago was halted by the Georgian church. But the Georgian Patriarchate has said nothing about ongoing construction adjacent to Norashen which risks damaging the building.

Perhaps the most famous case is that of Sameba Cathedral. Constructed to be the home cathedral of the Georgian Patriarchate, it was built between 1995 and 2004 on the ruins of an older site: the Khojivank Pantheon, an Armenian cemetery from the 17th century. Many gravestones were simply discarded in the process.