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PUTIN'S DANGEROUS VISIT TO ARMENIA
Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments - 19 March 2015
During the time when the Russian president Vladimir Putin was
underground his only communication with the outer world was his
telephone conversation with Serzh Sargsyan during which Putin actually
threatened Armenia. Provided his 2 December 2013 visit to Armenia,
his announcement to visit Armenia on April 24 is but a threat.
The official press release on the telephone talk stated that Putin and
Sargsyan talked about their joint participation in the celebrations
of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide and the celebration of the
70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War and agreed
on the schedule. And Putin's press secretary Peskov announced that
Putin had told Serzh Sargsyan about visiting Armenia on April 24.
Let's hope that Sargsyan talked to the answering machine, not Putin.
April 24 and the centenary of the Armenian Genocide have created a
unique international climate. Erdogan's decision to celebrate the
anniversary of the battle in Gallipoli on the same day in Ankara has
added an intrigue to this climate, particularly in regard to Russia.
Many wondered where Putin praising the Russian-Turkish relations
since Ataturk would go, Yerevan or Ankara.
The fact that Putin will come to Yerevan on April 24 does not rule
out a trip to Ankara. Putin could leave Yerevan for Ankara or first
go to Ankara, then Yerevan. He has promised to visit Yerevan, while
his trip to Ankara remains open, at least so far.
And the question became important not only in the context that Russia
still remains Armenia's strategic partner and friend, but also in
the context of Moscow's efforts for closer strategic relations with
Turkey, the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem and has a real alliance and
agenda with these countries.
In this context, Putin's visit to Yerevan could be and most probably
will be part of that agenda. In other words, the Russian president
will not only prefer Armenia to Turkey and will visit Yerevan but
his visit will be just another step for the regional and geopolitical
interests of Russia, to assert who rules in the territory.
Last time, after a long pause Putin arrived in Armenia on 2 December
2013, and the first place he visited was not an institution symbolizing
the Armenian state but the 102nd military base located in Gyumri. Putin
announced that Russia will never leave this place, thereby establishing
that Armenia is not a partner or ally to Russia but a territory where
Russian weapons are located.
The following actions of Russia asserted Putin's position and
approach, encouraging, for example, Azerbaijan's military provocations
against Armenia and defined the price for preventing them - de jure
establishment of the Russian presence at the eastern border of Armenia
and Artsakh.
In this context, most probably, Armenia will pay a high price for
Putin's visit to Yerevan on April 24. Perhaps, it would be better if
Putin did not arrive in Yerevan at all. Lavrov of Armenian origin
could come, for example. Or let nobody come at all. It will not be
perceived as betrayal of an ally or friend, abandoning of an ally.
In this regard, Armenia has rid of illusions thanks to Russia's policy,
and nobody will notice the absence of Putin in Armenia on April 24
or will notice with evident thankfulness.
RFE/RL Report
3 Armenian Soldiers Killed In Karabakh
Emil Danielyan
19.03.2015
Three Armenian soldiers were killed and four others wounded in
Nagorno-Karabakh early on Thursday in a fierce firefight which
military authorities in Stepanakert said also left at least two
Azerbaijani servicemen dead.
According to Karabakh's Defense Army, the soldiers -- Hakob
Khachatrian, Eduard Hayrapetian and Arshak Harutiunian -- died while
fighting back an Azerbaijani commando attack on their positions in
northern Karabakh. An army statement said their unit, backed up by
reinforcements rushed to the outpost, repelled, pursued and
"destroyed" the attackers during the 2-hour gun battle.
The Karabakh Armenian army also released photographs of four
rocket-propelled grenade launchers, an assault rifle with a
night-vision scope and commando ammunition which it said were left on
the battlefield by the retreating enemy. A follow-up statement issued
by it identified two Azerbaijani soldiers allegedly killed by its
forces.
Armenian media reports citing military sources in Stepanakert spoke of
between 7 and 14 Azerbaijani servicemen killed in what was the most
serious instance of truce violation in the Karabakh conflict zone
reported since August.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry was quick to deny attacking Karabakh
Armenian positions in the area. It also claimed that its troops killed
and wounded about 20 Armenian soldiers as they thwarted armed
"provocations" organized by the Armenian side.
A ministry statement cited by Azerbaijani news agencies said nothing
about casualties suffered by Azerbaijani troops.
Later in the day, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visited a
military hospital in Baku and talked to wounded soldiers undergoing
treatment there. Hasanov's press office said the visit was connected
with a public holiday.
In Yerevan, meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran
Balayan accused Azerbaijan of again heightening tensions along "the
line of contact" around Karabakh in defiance of international
mediators' efforts to bolster the shaky ceasefire regime
there. Balayan said that Baku will bear responsibility for all
consequences of the renewed escalation.
"The Armenian side is prepared for any development of the situation,"
Armenia's Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian said in written comments on
the incident. "But I see no danger of large-scale hostilities."
Ohanian said that Azerbaijani incursions regularly reported by the
Armenian military are "reckless in the military sense." He also
accused Baku of hiding its combat casualties to avoid a domestic
backlash against what Yerevan claims is a deliberate policy of
escalation.
Deadly fighting along "the line of contact" and the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border intensified sharply in January, leading
President Serzh Sarkisian to threaten "asymmetric" retaliatory strikes
against Azerbaijani military targets. The U.S., Russian and French
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group seemed to hold Baku primarily
responsible for that upsurge in a joint statement issued later in
January.
The mediators urged the conflicting parties to "strictly adhere to the
ceasefire" after visiting Baku, Stepanakert and Yerevan on February
16-19. A February 20 statement by them said Sarkisian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev "agreed to consider proposals from the
Co-Chairs that could strengthen the ceasefire."
Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments - 19 March 2015
During the time when the Russian president Vladimir Putin was
underground his only communication with the outer world was his
telephone conversation with Serzh Sargsyan during which Putin actually
threatened Armenia. Provided his 2 December 2013 visit to Armenia,
his announcement to visit Armenia on April 24 is but a threat.
The official press release on the telephone talk stated that Putin and
Sargsyan talked about their joint participation in the celebrations
of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide and the celebration of the
70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War and agreed
on the schedule. And Putin's press secretary Peskov announced that
Putin had told Serzh Sargsyan about visiting Armenia on April 24.
Let's hope that Sargsyan talked to the answering machine, not Putin.
April 24 and the centenary of the Armenian Genocide have created a
unique international climate. Erdogan's decision to celebrate the
anniversary of the battle in Gallipoli on the same day in Ankara has
added an intrigue to this climate, particularly in regard to Russia.
Many wondered where Putin praising the Russian-Turkish relations
since Ataturk would go, Yerevan or Ankara.
The fact that Putin will come to Yerevan on April 24 does not rule
out a trip to Ankara. Putin could leave Yerevan for Ankara or first
go to Ankara, then Yerevan. He has promised to visit Yerevan, while
his trip to Ankara remains open, at least so far.
And the question became important not only in the context that Russia
still remains Armenia's strategic partner and friend, but also in
the context of Moscow's efforts for closer strategic relations with
Turkey, the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem and has a real alliance and
agenda with these countries.
In this context, Putin's visit to Yerevan could be and most probably
will be part of that agenda. In other words, the Russian president
will not only prefer Armenia to Turkey and will visit Yerevan but
his visit will be just another step for the regional and geopolitical
interests of Russia, to assert who rules in the territory.
Last time, after a long pause Putin arrived in Armenia on 2 December
2013, and the first place he visited was not an institution symbolizing
the Armenian state but the 102nd military base located in Gyumri. Putin
announced that Russia will never leave this place, thereby establishing
that Armenia is not a partner or ally to Russia but a territory where
Russian weapons are located.
The following actions of Russia asserted Putin's position and
approach, encouraging, for example, Azerbaijan's military provocations
against Armenia and defined the price for preventing them - de jure
establishment of the Russian presence at the eastern border of Armenia
and Artsakh.
In this context, most probably, Armenia will pay a high price for
Putin's visit to Yerevan on April 24. Perhaps, it would be better if
Putin did not arrive in Yerevan at all. Lavrov of Armenian origin
could come, for example. Or let nobody come at all. It will not be
perceived as betrayal of an ally or friend, abandoning of an ally.
In this regard, Armenia has rid of illusions thanks to Russia's policy,
and nobody will notice the absence of Putin in Armenia on April 24
or will notice with evident thankfulness.
RFE/RL Report
3 Armenian Soldiers Killed In Karabakh
Emil Danielyan
19.03.2015
Three Armenian soldiers were killed and four others wounded in
Nagorno-Karabakh early on Thursday in a fierce firefight which
military authorities in Stepanakert said also left at least two
Azerbaijani servicemen dead.
According to Karabakh's Defense Army, the soldiers -- Hakob
Khachatrian, Eduard Hayrapetian and Arshak Harutiunian -- died while
fighting back an Azerbaijani commando attack on their positions in
northern Karabakh. An army statement said their unit, backed up by
reinforcements rushed to the outpost, repelled, pursued and
"destroyed" the attackers during the 2-hour gun battle.
The Karabakh Armenian army also released photographs of four
rocket-propelled grenade launchers, an assault rifle with a
night-vision scope and commando ammunition which it said were left on
the battlefield by the retreating enemy. A follow-up statement issued
by it identified two Azerbaijani soldiers allegedly killed by its
forces.
Armenian media reports citing military sources in Stepanakert spoke of
between 7 and 14 Azerbaijani servicemen killed in what was the most
serious instance of truce violation in the Karabakh conflict zone
reported since August.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry was quick to deny attacking Karabakh
Armenian positions in the area. It also claimed that its troops killed
and wounded about 20 Armenian soldiers as they thwarted armed
"provocations" organized by the Armenian side.
A ministry statement cited by Azerbaijani news agencies said nothing
about casualties suffered by Azerbaijani troops.
Later in the day, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visited a
military hospital in Baku and talked to wounded soldiers undergoing
treatment there. Hasanov's press office said the visit was connected
with a public holiday.
In Yerevan, meanwhile, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran
Balayan accused Azerbaijan of again heightening tensions along "the
line of contact" around Karabakh in defiance of international
mediators' efforts to bolster the shaky ceasefire regime
there. Balayan said that Baku will bear responsibility for all
consequences of the renewed escalation.
"The Armenian side is prepared for any development of the situation,"
Armenia's Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian said in written comments on
the incident. "But I see no danger of large-scale hostilities."
Ohanian said that Azerbaijani incursions regularly reported by the
Armenian military are "reckless in the military sense." He also
accused Baku of hiding its combat casualties to avoid a domestic
backlash against what Yerevan claims is a deliberate policy of
escalation.
Deadly fighting along "the line of contact" and the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border intensified sharply in January, leading
President Serzh Sarkisian to threaten "asymmetric" retaliatory strikes
against Azerbaijani military targets. The U.S., Russian and French
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group seemed to hold Baku primarily
responsible for that upsurge in a joint statement issued later in
January.
The mediators urged the conflicting parties to "strictly adhere to the
ceasefire" after visiting Baku, Stepanakert and Yerevan on February
16-19. A February 20 statement by them said Sarkisian and Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev "agreed to consider proposals from the
Co-Chairs that could strengthen the ceasefire."
LONDON DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ELECTIONS IN NAGORNO
-KARABAKH
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 19 2015
The British Foreign Office has announced today that it will not
recognize the parliamentary polls of Nagorno-Karabakh set for May 3.
The British government backs the OSCE Minsk Group and all parties
involved in the peace process basing on non-use of forces, respect of
territorial integrity and self-determination of nations. The British
Foreign Office approves the EU declaration made for the so-called
elections on March 12, Trend reports.
Spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Khikmet Hajiyev called
the elections a violation of Azerbaijani laws and hindrance for the
settlement process.
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 19 2015
The British Foreign Office has announced today that it will not
recognize the parliamentary polls of Nagorno-Karabakh set for May 3.
The British government backs the OSCE Minsk Group and all parties
involved in the peace process basing on non-use of forces, respect of
territorial integrity and self-determination of nations. The British
Foreign Office approves the EU declaration made for the so-called
elections on March 12, Trend reports.
Spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Khikmet Hajiyev called
the elections a violation of Azerbaijani laws and hindrance for the
settlement process.
RFE/RL Report
Aliyev Again Vows Return Of `Historic Azeri Lands' In Armenia
19 March 2015. 19.03.2015
President Ilham Aliyev again declared on Thursday that Azerbaijan
will eventual gain control over not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also
Yerevan and other "historic Azerbaijani lands" in Armenia. "The
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be settled
only within the framework of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized
territorial integrity," Aliyev said in a speech delivered during celebrations
of Nowruz, a public holiday marking the ancient Persian New Year.
"After that we will return to our ancient lands -- to Yerevan,
Geychay and Zangezur," he said. "These are our historic lands.
The young generation must know that that our lands are not
confined to the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan." "We must
and we will return to those lands. Therefore we must work hard
every day to bring that day closer," he added, according to the
APA news agency.
Aliyev has repeatedly made such public statements in the past,
most recently during a March 2014 trip to Azerbaijan's second
largest city of Gyanja. He said there that Armenia is a "fascist state"
created on "historic Azerbaijani lands" that will eventually ben won
back by Azerbaijan.
RFE/RL Report
Closer EU-Armenia Ties Mapped Out
Harry Tamrazian
19.03.2015
The European Commission and the Armenian government have identified
concrete areas where they could deepen their relations after Armenia's
recent accession to a Russian-led bloc, according to a senior official
from the European Union's executive body.
European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes
Hahn said the two sides completed earlier this week a "scoping
exercise" that paved the way for the start of official negotiations on
a new agreement between Armenia and the EU. Speaking after talks with
Armenian leaders in Yerevan late on Wednesday, Hahn said he expects
the EU member states to give the green light to those talks at a
summit that will take place in Riga in May.
The planned deal will serve as a substitute for an Association
Agreement that had been negotiated by Brussels and Yerevan. President
Serzh Sarkisian precluded its signing in 2013 with his decision to
seek Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan.
"There was a decision of the Armenia government and we were not happy
because everything was negotiated," Hahn told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am) and the Yerevan-based TV channel H3. "But our
doors are never closed. So we started to inquire what is possible
under the new conditions.
"And there was a scoping exercise, completed just a couple of days
ago, between the Armenian government and the European Commission to
see what is possible. It looks quite promising."
"Now we have to draw our conclusions and to report to our member
states and hope that in the course of the Riga summit we will get a
mandate for real negotiations concerning a new agreement based on the
experiences of the past," added Hahn.
Hahn explained that the discussions between Armenian and EU officials
were meant to "identify the areas and the depth of cooperation." He
did not specify those areas, saying only that the new EU-Armenia
accord will be different from the cancelled Association Agreement.
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian similarly announced the impending
start of official negotiations on the deal after his meeting with Hahn
held earlier on Wednesday.
Harry Tamrazian
19.03.2015
The European Commission and the Armenian government have identified
concrete areas where they could deepen their relations after Armenia's
recent accession to a Russian-led bloc, according to a senior official
from the European Union's executive body.
European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes
Hahn said the two sides completed earlier this week a "scoping
exercise" that paved the way for the start of official negotiations on
a new agreement between Armenia and the EU. Speaking after talks with
Armenian leaders in Yerevan late on Wednesday, Hahn said he expects
the EU member states to give the green light to those talks at a
summit that will take place in Riga in May.
The planned deal will serve as a substitute for an Association
Agreement that had been negotiated by Brussels and Yerevan. President
Serzh Sarkisian precluded its signing in 2013 with his decision to
seek Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan.
"There was a decision of the Armenia government and we were not happy
because everything was negotiated," Hahn told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am) and the Yerevan-based TV channel H3. "But our
doors are never closed. So we started to inquire what is possible
under the new conditions.
"And there was a scoping exercise, completed just a couple of days
ago, between the Armenian government and the European Commission to
see what is possible. It looks quite promising."
"Now we have to draw our conclusions and to report to our member
states and hope that in the course of the Riga summit we will get a
mandate for real negotiations concerning a new agreement based on the
experiences of the past," added Hahn.
Hahn explained that the discussions between Armenian and EU officials
were meant to "identify the areas and the depth of cooperation." He
did not specify those areas, saying only that the new EU-Armenia
accord will be different from the cancelled Association Agreement.
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian similarly announced the impending
start of official negotiations on the deal after his meeting with Hahn
held earlier on Wednesday.
arka.am
CYCLOTRON ACCELERATOR INSTALLED AT AN ONCOLOGY
CENTER IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. A cyclotron accelerator was installed in
a newly constructed oncology center in Armenia, the press office of
Armenia's ministry of health reports.
A long term two-stage program on construction of a center of oncology
excellence is under way in Armenia. Production of radioisotopes and
a molecular medicine center is to be established in the first stage.
After that, it is planned to set up an outpatient services center of
radiation therapy, as well as a surgery and chemotherapy center if
a private investor is found.
The new institution will have state-of-the-art radiology and
radionuclide diagnostics equipment, Novosti-Armenia reported.
The institution is expected to provide services both to residents of
Armenia and other countries in the region. The radioisotope production
center construction works are at their final stage.
Armenia's government signed an agreement with Global Medical Solutions
in July 2013 on start of an investment program for construction of
a center of oncology excellence in Armenia worth a total of $12-14
million. The center is built in Achapnyak community of Yerevan.
The program envisages a complex of oncology services, using loan
funds of $12.4 million from the WB to build radioisotope application
center in spring in particular. The third building will be built
for chemotherapy and outpatient services and will accommodate some
100 patients.
The program is implemented through public sector - private sector
partnership.
YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. A cyclotron accelerator was installed in
a newly constructed oncology center in Armenia, the press office of
Armenia's ministry of health reports.
A long term two-stage program on construction of a center of oncology
excellence is under way in Armenia. Production of radioisotopes and
a molecular medicine center is to be established in the first stage.
After that, it is planned to set up an outpatient services center of
radiation therapy, as well as a surgery and chemotherapy center if
a private investor is found.
The new institution will have state-of-the-art radiology and
radionuclide diagnostics equipment, Novosti-Armenia reported.
The institution is expected to provide services both to residents of
Armenia and other countries in the region. The radioisotope production
center construction works are at their final stage.
Armenia's government signed an agreement with Global Medical Solutions
in July 2013 on start of an investment program for construction of
a center of oncology excellence in Armenia worth a total of $12-14
million. The center is built in Achapnyak community of Yerevan.
The program envisages a complex of oncology services, using loan
funds of $12.4 million from the WB to build radioisotope application
center in spring in particular. The third building will be built
for chemotherapy and outpatient services and will accommodate some
100 patients.
The program is implemented through public sector - private sector
partnership.
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