Weekly update
5 March
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has stunned the world, leading many commentators to conclude that so rash an act could be committed only by an irrational autocrat, or perhaps even a madman. According to mediamax.am, others have discerned a rational strategy for exploiting the West’s current weakness to re-establish the old Soviet empire. Who is right? From the fiascos in Syria and Afghanistan to Brexit and the deepening polarization and paralysis in the United States and Europe (which is also irredeemably dependent on Russian energy), there are plenty of reasons why Russian President Vladimir Putin may have decided that this was the moment to strike. Add in Russians’ post-imperial hangover after the fall of the Soviet Union, and you can start to see why he may think he is holding a winning hand. Putin has justified his war against Ukraine with preposterous claims about a genocide being committed against Russians in the country’s eastern provinces, all of which is eerily reminiscent of Hitler’s Big Lie in 1938. After Hitler claimed that 300 Sudeten Germans had been killed by the Czech police, the West offered its wink of approval at Munich, and Hitler proceeded to invade and dismember Czechoslovakia. We all know what happened next. As Winston Churchill famously said of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain upon his return: “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.”
https://mediamax.am/en/news/foreignpolicy/46602
4 March
Armenian authorities have provided identification data for nearly 250 foreign mercenaries whom Azerbaijan deployed in the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war to the CIS Counter-Terrorism Center, the Deputy Director of the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) Samvel Hayrapetyan revealed on Friday. In line with asbarez.com, “Nearly 250 identification data were entered to their [CIS Counter-Terrorism Center] information resources in order to prevent [the mercenaries’] access to various countries in the future,” Hayrapetyan told parliament response to a question from Armen Gevorgyan, an Armenia Alliance lawmaker, during discussions on the ratification of the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, Armenpress reported. Gevorgyan inquired from the deputy chief of the NSS whether or not the ratification would give new opportunities to condemn Azerbaijan’s deployment of mercenaries during the 2020 war and address the matter more broadly with international bodies. Turkey recruited and sent foreign mercenaries to fight for Azerbaijan against Armenia in the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war. Despite continuous denials by Ankara, the Armenian authorities have presented evidence proving the participation of Syrian mercenaries fighting alongside Azerbaijani soldiers. The Russian foreign intelligence service had also gathered information on Sultan Murad mercenaries’ participation in the Karabakh war. President Emmanuel Macron of France also said that his intelligence agencies have information that Turkey was sending mercenaries to Azerbaijan to fight against Armenians in Artsakh.
https://asbarez.com/armenia-provided-data-on-250-mercenaries-deployed-by-azerbaijan/
3 March
Armenians should brace themselves for more economic hardship because of the intensifying war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday. According to azatutyun.am Pashinian and his economy minister, Vahan Kerobian, predicted further increases in food prices in Armenia, which already soared in 2021. They clearly alluded to knock-on effects of Western economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. “As we can see, there have been constant ‘inflationary earthquakes’ for the last two years,” Pashinian said at a weekly session of his cabinet. “The first one was COVID and the second one is geopolitical developments, the events taking place in Ukraine.” In this regard, nothing optimistic is expected,” he warned grimly. Kerobian likewise spoke of a “serious challenge to our food security” anticipated this year. “We can already see a substantial rise in the cost of wheat and other basic goods and commodities,” he told reporters after the cabinet meeting. “There is a big risk in the sugar market.” Armenia imports a large part of its wheat and other key foodstuffs from Russia. There are concerns that the Russian government might curb their exports in response to the severe sanctions. Food prices in Armenia went up by an average of almost 13 percent last year, reflecting a global trend. Government data shows that they continued to rise significantly in January and February this year.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31734332.html
2 March
Opposition lawmakers stormed out of Armenia’s parliament on Wednesday after bitterly arguing with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian enraged by a question asked by one of them. They protested against deputy speaker Hakob Arshakian’s decision to expel several of their colleagues from the chamber because of their “incorrect” reactions to Pashinian’s latest diatribe against the Armenian opposition. According to azatutyun.am the bitter altercation began after Hripsime Stambulian, a deputy from the main opposition Hayastan bloc, asked Pashinian to explain what his government will do in case of possible restrictions on Russia’s wheat exports which she said could result from the war in Ukraine. Armenia has become even more dependent on Russian wheat since Nagorno-Karabakh lost large swathes of territory in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan. “Since you surrendered about 75 percent of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to the enemy and left many wheat fields [cultivated by Karabakh Armenians] in the enemy’s hands, what steps are you taking?” Stambulian asked during the government’s question-and-answer session in the National Assembly. Pashinian did not answer the question itself and instead raged at her claim about “the surrender of lands.” He again charged that former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian, who now lead the country’s two parliamentary opposition forces, themselves were ready to make territorial concessions to Azerbaijan during their rule. He pointed to their broad support for compromise peace proposals made by the United States, Russia and France.
https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31732746.html
1 March
What is happening right now in Ukraine is the worst possible scenario for both sides, in fact all sides. In line with armenianweekly.com first of all, this is an enormous tragedy for the people of Ukraine who have fallen victim to the Russian invasion which should have been avoided at all costs. No one can justify the destruction of a country and the killing of innocent people. We should support peace, common sense and safety of all human beings. Let us ignore the unrelenting propaganda, misinformation, disinformation and hypocrisy which have inundated the media before and during the war. There’s no need to play politics or partisanship with people’s lives. Let us now move from emotional statements to the real world which can only be ignored at our own peril. Since the beginning of the world, the powerful has always imposed his will on the weak. There is no escape from this. It has always been this way and will continue to be this way. All those who believe in truth and justice are sadly mistaken and live in a make-believe world. Russia, as a powerful country, felt that it was being threatened by western powers encroaching on its sphere of influence and wanted to protect its national interests. Whether we agree or disagree with the Russian view is immaterial. This is how the Russians perceive the situation. And when you are a powerful country, right or wrong, you try to impose your will on others, one way or another. The precedent for this situation is the Russian invasion of the Republic of Georgia in 2008 when the latter flirted with the idea of joining NATO. Russia occupies large parts of Georgia to this day.
https://armenianweekly.com/2022/03/01/russia-ukraine-war-this-is-what-happens-when-compromise-is-not-achieved/
28 February
Since February 24, 2022, the world’s attention has been focused on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the US and European Union (EU) sanctions imposed on Russia. According to armenianweekly.com, politicians, experts and academicians are seeking to understand how and when the war will stop and what will be the short and midterm implications of Western sanctions on Russia and beyond. Armenia is not an exclusion, and debate is underway on the war’s potential political and economic implications on Armenia. However, the Russia-Ukraine war is not the only issue hotly debated in Armenia. On February 22, just a day after the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics’ independence and two days before the launch of the Russian special military operation, Russia and Azerbaijan signed a declaration on allied interaction in Moscow. Given the existence of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh after the 2020 Karabakh war and the alliance between Russia and Armenia, the declaration on Russia-Azerbaijan allied interaction raised questions and concerns in Armenia. Article one of the declaration states that the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan build their relations on the basis of allied interaction, mutual respect for independence, state sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of the two countries. The critical question raised by Armenian experts touches upon the implications of this wording on the future of Nagorno Karabakh.
https://armenianweekly.com/2022/02/28/russia-azerbaijan-declaration-on-allied-interaction-implications-for-armenia/
27 February
The issue of Armenian refugees and displaced persons runs like a red thread through every chapter of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, still not finding its presence on the agenda of decision makers. According to evnreport.com when the Karabakh Movement began in 1988, it met a violent response from Soviet Azerbaijani authorities. Reprisals against Armenians both within the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), the Shahumyan region, and throughout the rest of the Azerbaijani SSR took place. As a result, more than half a million ethnic Armenians were displaced from Azerbaijan; 360,000 of them found refuge in the Republic of Armenia. According to the 1997 census, the number of refugees living in Armenia was about 310,000. These are the most recent figures available as the category was not tracked in subsequent years.However, the experience of refugees who reached Armenia has not been smooth. Some of them continue to live in shelters that were meant to be temporary. Others have been uprooted once again as a result of the 2020 Artsakh War. Armenia’s 2008 Law On Refugees and Asylum defines who is considered a refugee, emphasizing the fact that they have been subjected to violence and persecution. That law is based on the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which Armenia joined in 1993. This law provides for a wide range of support measures for refugees, and guarantees their rights; however, those who have refugee status say that they have not always been extended these opportunities.
https://evnreport.com/magazine-issues/displacement-starting-overand-over/
26 February
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed on Saturday during a telephone conversation the issues of ensuring stability and security on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the Kremlin press service reported. In line with news.am, “The exchange of views continued on the practical aspects of the implementation of the agreements enshrined in the tripartite statements of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on Nagorno-Karabakh dated November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021, including issues of ensuring stability and security on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” - the message says. Some topical issues on the bilateral agenda were also touched upon.
https://news.am/eng/news/688812.html
Sources: mediamax.am, asbarez.com, azatutyun.am, armenianweekly.com, evnreport.com, news.am