Armenian
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Introduction
Hello,
and welcome to the Armenian News Network, Groong,
Week in Review. This show was recorded on Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
All our Groong links on our LinkTree page, click on that and find us on all Social Media platforms.
Here are the major topics we’ll touch on today:
● CIA Chief in Armenia
● Army Chief Appointed
● Armen Grigorian Dies
in Court
● Mourad Papazian is Denied Entry in Armenia
● Bayramov and Mirzoyan in Tbilisi
To talk about
these issues, we have with us:
Tevan
Poghosyan, who is president
of the International Center for Human Development. Mr. Poghosyan was an MP in
the National Assembly between 2012 and 2017 from the Heritage party. From 1997
to 1999 he served as the Nagorno-Karabakh Public Affairs Office Director in
Washington, D.C.
Topics This Week
CIA Chief visits Yerevan
As
a clear sign of Armenia’s tourism picking up, and this - even before there’s a
big old Jesus on top of Mount Tsarukyan, CIA chief
William Butler visited
Yerevan this past week, completely impromptu and unannounced.
Reportedly
he was in Armenia all of about a few hours, and he met with PM Pashinyan and
Armenia’s NSC chair Armen Grigoryan. Some analysts believe that Russian security officials were also in
Yerevan, to meet with the CIA director to discuss issues around Ukraine. Other
analysts believe that the agenda, driven by the US, also had to do with understanding the outcomes of the visit of Iran’s Security chief Ali
Shamkhani, as well as discussing the progress of the Turkish-Armenian
Normalization process. The topics
are believed to have included the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Nagorno-Karabakh
issue.
● It’s not at all clear why the visit of the top
CIA officer was required. Thoughts?
On
Monday we learned that PM Pashinyan met
with Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, who
happened to be in town… So apparently the heads of both world superpowers were
visiting Yerevan, possibly at the same time? We don’t know when Naryshkin arrived,
and there is no information whether Burns and Naryshkin met, or bumped into
each other at the same bed and breakfast.
● Do we know more about this? Were the two
intelligence chiefs in Armenia at the same time?
Naryshkin
denied that his visit was connected to the CIA chief’s
but said the reverse could not be discounted.
One
statement that Naryshkin made at this meeting is that
Russia has the power and resources to defend its allies. We know from our
discussions with analysts that Azerbaijan is aggressively preparing for war.
● Did Pashinyan tell Naryshkin that Armenia does
not have confidence that Russia is ready to defend it in case Azerbaijan
attacks?
We
also touch upon the trilateral summit
in Iran between Putin, Erdogan, Raisi and Ali
Khamenei.
New Chief of the General Staff
After
6 months without a chief of the armed forces, PM Pashinyan finally appointed a new Chief of the General Staff for the
Armenian armed forces: Major-General Edward Asryan.
● Who is Major-General Edward Asrian?
A
week earlier, parliament passed a bill that transformed the position of Chief
of General Staff to a political one, subordinating the position to the minister
of defense but also codifying in law that the Chief of General Staff (who is
also Deputy Defense Minister) will not be eligible to perform ministerial
duties if the defense minister is absent or unable to perform the duties.
● What is the goal, or purpose for this
legislation?
● Clearly the PM waited for this bill to become
law before appointing the army chief. What is the significance of this 1-2 step
appointment?
Asryan was among 40 signatories of wartime army chief Onik Gasparyan’s call for PM Pashinyan’s
resignation.
● What compromises may have been agreed to, in
this appointment?
Armen Grigoryan Dies in Court
Media producer
Armen Grigoryan, an opposition sympathizer who had
been jailed in May on charges of “offending the national dignity” of Armenian
citizens, collapsed and died in court on Friday.
The charges that Grigoryan is accused of make a mockery of democracy. Human
rights activists have widely criticized his jailing, and
said that the fact that he was detained for months before his trial shows that
the charges were politically motivated because Grigoryan
was a vocal critic of Pashinyan’s government.
He is charged
with inciting hatred among different groups, when he publicly called residents of Shirak and Ararat plains traitors while praising residents
of mountainous regions. The only other person charged under this article, which
was introduced in 2020, is Sashik Sultanian
who has been charged with inciting hatred between Armenians and Yezidis. Sultanian has never been detained and is free to travel the
world, including the US, where he testified in US congress about Armenia’s
draconian restrictions on free speech. Western-funded media have also covered Sultanian in a
positive light, while mostly glossing over Armen Grigoryan’s
plight. The US State Department has addressed the matter in support of Sultanyan, as has Freedom House NGO. Human Rights Watch has
specifically urged the Armenian authorities to drop the case against Sultanian,
while no such call was made for Grigoryan.
The timing of the
arrest also reeks of being politically motivated. The alleged offense was
committed in April 2021, yet no case was opened against Grigoryan
until May 2022, at the height of the opposition street protests, which Grigoryan took part in.
Even the Civil
Contract appointed HR ombudswoman, Kristine Grigoryan,
said she was shocked at the death, and that he did not receive adequate care in
prison.
First of all, we
want to express our condolences to the family of Armen Grigoryan.
● Can you tell us a little more about Grigoryan?
● This law feels suspiciously like Article 300,
“Insulting Turkishness”, where prosecutors determine if someone’s speech
crossed some limits. Does such a ridiculous law belong in a so-called
democratic state? When did this law come about, and is it even constitutional?
● What do you think about this government’s use (or
some would say abuse) of pretrial detentions. Should Grigoryan
even have been in detention, and could that have contributed to worsening of
his health, and death? Do you think this power is used in a balanced manner?
● Is pretrial detention used as punishment?
● What recourse does Grigoryan’s
family have, to address this injustice?
Mourad Papazian Denied Entry
French-Armenian
community leader, and ARF Bureau member Mourad Papazian was reportedly arrested
upon arrival in Yerevan on July 15 and was denied entry to the country. According to Papazian the action was completely
unexpected and unwarranted. He demanded reasons but there was no response from
the NSS. He also applied to the French embassy without results, so he was
returned to Paris.
The last time
leading Diasporans or parties were denied entry and banned from Armenia was in
the ‘90s when Levon Ter-Petrosyan
banned the ARF from Armenia. It was only when Robert Kocharyan came to power
that these politically driven bans were lifted.
● This seems to be the first time that a prominent
Diasporan has been denied entry for allegedly political reasons. How serious of
a stepback is this for Armenia-Diaspora relations?
● Can Armenia alienate the Diaspora, even if it is
for a short time while this government flushes out of the country’s system?
● What were the reasons for banning Papazian from
entering? What could have been the nature of the announcement that Papazian had
promised to make in Armenia, that he’d written about on his Facebook page?
Bayramov and Mirzoyan Meet in Tbilisi
The Armenian and
Azerbaijani FMs met in Tbilisi over the weekend. No agreements were announced
but it’s evident that Armenia continues to affirm the need for a solution to
the Nagorno Karabakh issue, while Azerbaijan denies the existence of status for
Karabakh as an issue. Armenia highlights humanitarian issues, which Azerbaijan
then fully glosses over.
On the same day
as the meeting between the FMs was happening, Aliyev once again threatened
Armenia militarily, alleging that Armenia had not withdrawn all troops from
Artsakh, claiming this is stipulated by the Nov. 9/10 agreement. Additionally,
Aliyev said that there was a verbal agreement not to discuss the status of
Artsakh, and Armenia has violated that.
Immediately after
the meeting, Armenia updated both the US and Russian security circles.
● Except for a first bilateral face-to-face
between the foreign ministers, what was important, or what was achieved at this
meeting?
● Bairamov was quoted de-emphasizing this, saying it's going
to be a "long process". Does Azerbaijan care about border demarcation?
They seem to be more focused on "corridors".
Topics from the Panelists
1. Tevan - Support Artsakh in its demographic crisis
2. Hovik
- Silencing its critics is the signature of this government, with the diaspora
high commissioner’s office complicit.
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.
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Keywords
Tevan Poghosyan, Armenia, CIA, William Burns, Sergey
Naryshkin, Russia, Foreign Intelligence Service, Yerevan, Nikol
Pashinyan, Armen Grigoryan, Mourad Papazian, ARF,
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Dashnaktsutyun, Zareh
Sinanyan, Armenian Diaspora, DIaspora
High Commissioner,