Armenian
News Network / Groong
Guests
Hosts
Introduction
Hello,
and welcome to the Armenian News Network, Groong,
Week in Review. This show was recorded on Monday, March 21, 2022. This week
we’re discussing the following major topics:
● Azerbaijan’s “Peace” deal
● Artsakh without Natural Gas in Winter
● Ukraine Protests in Yerevan
● Vardenis Mayoral Election Resolved
To talk about
these issues, we have with us:
Benyamin Poghosyan, who is the Chairman of the Yerevan based think
tank Center for Political and Economic
Strategic Studies.
Topics This Week
Azerbaijan’s “Peace” Deal
In parallel to
destroying the gas pipeline from Armenia that supplies Artsakh with much needed
natural gas, Azerbaijan had announced that it submitted to Armenia a proposal
made up of 5 principles for a future peace deal.
Earlier this
week, Azerbaijani media announced the specifics of the proposal. The 5
principles are:
- Mutual
recognition of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity,
inviolability of internationally recognized borders and political
independence of each other;
- Mutual
confirmation of the absence of territorial claims against each other and
acceptance of legally binding obligations not to raise such a claim in future;
- Obligation
to refrain in their inter-State relations from undermining the security of
each other, from the threat or use of force both against political
independence and territorial integrity and in any other manner
inconsistent with the Purposes of the UN Charter;
- Delimitation
and demarcation of the state border, and establishment of the diplomatic relations;
- Unblocking
of transportation and other communications, building other communications
as appropriate, and establishment of cooperation in other fields of mutual
interest.
On Monday, the
Armenian Foreign Ministry in a statement indicated that Armenia had “responded” to the proposal and had submitted it to the
OSCE Minsk Group asking for it to mediate in the “peace talks” process.
● Is setting up a peace deal between Armenia and
Azerbaijan part of the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group? What are Armenia’s
objectives in applying to them?
● Are there elements of Russia vs. West contention
in Pashinyan’s actions?
Most of the above
discussions happened after the flurry of diplomatic activity that was set off
during and after the Antalya Diplomatic Forum. On the eve of the forum, Aliyev
was in Ankara to meet with Erdogan. At the Forum FM Mirzoyan talked with
Turkey’s Çavuşoğlu, Russia’s Lavrov met Ukraine’s Kuleba; afterwards Mirzoyan talked with Secretary Blinken, France’s Le Drian, and
Pashinyan also talked
with Putin, in a call that was reportedly initiated by Putin.
In the past 3
days, the US,
France, and Russia
have all “urged” Armenia and Azerbaijan to intensify their efforts to find a
comprehensive solution.
Is this active
phase of diplomacy yielding positive results? What signals is Armenia receiving
from the countries it is talking to?
Azerbaijan Cuts off Artsakh’s Natural Gas in
Winter
On March 9, the
natural gas pipeline providing gas to households in Artsakh exploded in a
section of territory currently under Azerbaijan’s control, which denied access to repair crews. In fact, Azerbaijan shelled
Armenian villages and nearby communities with mortar fire and tried to
intimidate the population with disinformation and #FakeNews. As a power play, the
Azeri government tweeted that if Stepanakert wants gas to resume, they should
call Azerbaijan’s SOCAR gas company to repair the damage.
After 11 days
without heat, over this past weekend, Azerbaijan repaired the pipeline.
During the
crisis, the EU expressed “deep concern” about the developing humanitarian
crisis, but did the Armenian government say anything consequential about it?
Benyamin in the
past you’ve said that Azerbaijan will aim to make life for Armenians in Artsakh
very difficult and effectively force them to leave their lands. In addition, in
this crisis they have demonstrated to Artsakh that Armenia provides them no
value. What do you think their primary objective was in this gas stoppage, and
resumption?
How should we
assess Armenia’s response? Are they truly as impotant
as Azerbaijan has shown them to be?
Ukraine: View from Yerevan
Today is day 26 of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Armenia officially has been very reserved in commenting or expressing support for one side or another.
There are sizable Armenian diasporas in both Ukraine and Russia and naturally each of those communities supports the country in which they live. In fact, both Russia and Ukraine have bestowed medals to ethnic Armenians serving on both sides of this conflict.
Meanwhile in Yerevan this week we had two protests with competing messages. On Saturday, the Communist Party of Armenia (yes, it still exists) held a protest in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, on Sunday, there was an anti-war protest. Both protests were not very big, hundreds of people max.
Ukrainian media latched on to the pro-Russia protest, however, I don’t think the anti-war protest received the same level of coverage. Anecdotally, open display and support for either side seems to be rare, based on my own observations here.
● How do we describe the public mood in Yerevan?
The Armenian government so far seems to have been able to maintain a more or less neutral stance, at least publicly. However, some say that Russia is not happy with this position. For example, there are speculations that the restriction in exports of grains and other crops to Armenia (and EAEU countries) is a tool by Russia to extract more support from its regional partners.
● Can Armenia continue this neutrality? If not, what changes do you expect?
Municipal Government News
We’d like to close by giving you an update on
the aftermath of municipal government elections in December. As of last
Saturday, Vardenis finally
has a legitimate community leader.
As a reminder, there was a crisis in Vardenis because the Civil Contract team objected to the
previous election results, which saw Aharon
Khachatryan elected as the community leader. However, the newly elected “avagani” was prevented from meeting in the city hall and
Khachatryan was sworn-in in the courtyard of the city hall. So
after a months-long conflict, including a court challenge, a new vote was held
last week.
By a vote of 14 Yes to 13 No, Aharon Khachatryan was elected as leader of the community
thanks to the Aharon Khachatryan and United Vardenis alliances. Civil Contract provided the 13 No
votes.
Topics from the Panelists
1. Benyamin
- wishing Ukraine well
2. Hovik
- The Ministry of Health’s Untimely war on Saltshakers
Wrap-up
That
was our Week in Review show, and we hope it helped you catch up with
some of the issues in and around Armenia from this past week. As always, we
invite your feedback and your suggestions. You can find us on most social media
and podcast platforms, or our website Groong.org.
Thanks
to Laura Osborn for the music on our podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to our
channel on YouTube, Like
our pages and follow us on social media. On behalf of everyone in this episode,
we wish you a good week, thanks for listening and we’ll talk to you next week.
Groong
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Keywords
Benyamin Poghosyan, Armenia, Artsakh, Azerbaijan,
Peace Deal, Natural Gas, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Vardenis,
Elections, Municipal Elections, Mayoral Elections,