2021 October 27

Daily news wrap-up

News - Oct/27/2021: Pashinyan reveals details about 2020 war, efforts to avoid bigger clashes in Syunik so Armenia could continue to use the southern road, early signals, negotiation process, upcoming demarcation with Soviet maps, lifting blockade, and more __ Geopolitics __ Potato & Commissions __
by ar_david_hh

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Your 9-minute Wednesday briefing in 3349 words.

today in history

1938: American chemical giant DuPont invents the nylon, a "revolution in the textile industry, which ultimately helped Allies win WW2."

1999: a group of extremists smuggles rifles into the Armenian Parliament assembly room and murders several ranking officials, including Premier Vazgen Sargsyan and Karen Demirchyan.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066553.html https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/nylon-a-revolution-in-textiles

Parliament observes a moment of silence in honor of October 27 Parliament attack victims

https://youtu.be/J4Pz9BZuDJE

Parliament Speaker Simonyan: we will do everything possible to bring the masterminds of the 1999 attack to justice

Journalist: does your administration plan to reopen the 1999 investigation? [wasn't it reopened in 2019?]

Speaker Simonyan: our society already knows the main reasons and participants of the attack, and the issues which have been left open. I find it needless to voice names now but we will have the answers from the legal perspective also. I'm not allowed to make statements that could jeopardize future legal processes. We must understand who the true instigators were, and what their interests were. I think our society knows the interests of those people.

Journalist: do you believe the 1999 attack was linked to the possible handover of Meghri (Syunik) to Azerbaijan?

Speaker Simonyan: I won't rule that out. //

Context: Vazgen, who was Kocharyan's main opponent, was strongly against giving Meghri and Armenia's southern portion to Azerbaijan in exchange for keeping most of Karabakh. The two allegedly had an argument because of it. The conspiracy theory is that Kocharyan's people decided to "take him out". The perpetrator was a radicalized ex-ARF member Nairi Hunanyan who had once already been under the microscope of security services. People reported that they had learned about Hunanyan's intentions to attack the Parliament and informed national security agents about it, but the agents reportedly displayed inaction. The national security agency was headed by Serj Sargsyan at the time.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066600.html

Pashinyan was asked about borders during the Parliament session

MP: tell us about the Paylasar hill in Syunik.

Pashinyan: I confirm the NSS representative's testimony yesterday that our troops continue to serve in the same positions that they've held since December 2020. [Context: Armenians withdrew from some areas after November 9. Russians were deployed on this particular hill; they recently left.]

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066622.html

Parliament committee concluded closed-door session to discuss the borders

Army and NSS administrators were summoned for Q&A yesterday to brief about the current state of events. [2021 October 26|Details in yesterday's post.]] Upon completion, the opposition parties proceeded to draft a statement in which they condemn Azeri aggression but also added elements that urge the Armenian government "not to sign bad deals about borders". They wanted Parliament to approve the message officially.

The ruling party refused, stating that they weren't invited for discussions while drafting that message. "We received the draft message very late and tried to get a consensus version unsuccessfully. We don't have a problem with condemning Azerbaijan's aggression. The problem is with partisan formulations relating to internal politics."

Parliament voted 26-0-x to reject the statement.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066574.html

Foreign Minister Mirzoyan about the rumored meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev in Moscow on November 9

Some outlets recently claimed there will be a meeting around November 9, where the leaders will sign agreements to launch the demarcation process, lift the blockade, and possibly around other humanitarian issues.

MFA Mirzoyan: there is no scheduled meeting about signing such agreements. Meetings around these topics happen often, under various formats. If we come to an agreement around a topic, we will publish a joint statement. Such meetings help deescalate the situation in the region. The negotiation process obviously may contain a component of secrecy, but what we negotiate is in line with the publicly stated positions. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066630.html https://youtu.be/8ZECNe-gQcY

Tags: #3:0?

Pashinyan reveals what happened 2 days before the 2020 war

HD MP Abrahamyan: when did the security apparatus inform you that Armenia was on the brink of war, or that the chances were high?

Pashinyan: it was reported very often. For example, shortly after [Aliyev's] refusal to sign the 2011 Kazan Papers. After 2018, too, I received reports that Azerbaijan was preparing for war. Serj Sargsyan stood on this podium [in April 2018 before the revolution] and announced that we should expect war at any time.

People should distinguish between two situations. The first is when you're in a totally peaceful state and out of nowhere, you're told that war is imminent. But when it's obvious that you have a conflict and a war can start at any time, when there are statements about resolving conflict with force, then news about possible war becomes more and more commonplace.

Practically, every day we had information that war was possible, but institutes have to filter things and evaluate the likelihood. We obtained very strong evidence on September 27, two days before the war, when a radiocommunication was intercepted, but prior to that we constantly received information that a war could start.

Pashinyan responds to opposition's accusations about Artsakh having lesser sovereignty now:

I'm surprised that you're the ones talking about it. You left out Artsakh as a separate negotiating party from the negotiation table.

[About criticism that 72% of Artsakh went under Azeri control, and "not accepting ceasefire offer".] You negotiated the giveaway of those lands for years, you knew about it, but you kept it secret from the public.

You knew very well what the price of the 2020 ceasefire was - we were going to close those lands. If today you complain that we gave 72% of Artsakh, then between 1998-2016 you were negotiating to give away the 70% [72]. Why didn't you ever make a public statement about it?

Why did you vote in favor of the 2010 bill that states that the border passes through Paylasar hill in Syunik? Why did you specify in the bill that the "Republic of Azerbaijan" border begins there? You could have instead stated, "Armenia ends here".

[Opposition MPs shouted from their seats and invited Pashinyan to discuss the conflict at a coffee table after Pashinyan's complaints. The atmosphere changed with MPs joking with each other.] I agree with you that we should meet and discuss the conflict now. I invite both Parliamentary opposition parties. [ruling MPs jokingly complained about not being invited] //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066635.html https://youtu.be/9z4-MSyJC6c https://youtu.be/nUmfUfAPYJw

Tags: #September27

Pashinyan about why Armenian soldiers withdrew to Soviet-era borders in Syunik, near the southern road:

[It's about the area where the border road is. Some of its parts went under Azeri control immediately after the war because they were part of the Soviet Azerbaijan map.]

Pashinyan: I gave the order to withdraw [from Artsakh's Qashatagh region back to Syunik] so we could avoid additional military actions. It was a strategic move to preserve our access to this vital southern road, at least for a while. [alternative is currently being built]

The decision was made during a government building meeting between the members of the Security Council, the governor of Syunik, the Foreign Minister -- who later pretended he wasn't aware -- and the Deputy Minister. There were 5-6 meetings. There were negotiations. There were several agreements, including in written form.

Our pullout was necessary to avoid a war. We would have had major problems in Syunik. It was also within the spirit of the negotiations about withdrawing from the 7 regions. The 2010 administrative division law also defined that these territories were [outside of Syunik boundries].

The opposition spent 8 months campaigning against us, but never once mentioned plans to withdraw Armenia's signature from the November 9 document. I want you to say it publicly if that's your plan. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066646.html https://youtu.be/vKbfKeSQboY

Tags: #SyunikRoad #Qashatagh

Pashinyan about Russia's role in border demarcation process:

There are several issues on the agenda, two of which are the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution and the AM-AZ border demarcation. I agree with Putin's recent statement about the need to resolve it with Soviet-era maps. These maps 99-100% coincide with the Armenian territories defined by Armenian law of 2010.

The administrative-division law shows what Armenia's territories are. Yes, the official state border de-jure is defined by another law but the administrative law shows where Armenia is.

Soviet-era maps will be used for delimitation. Our research shows that maps from various years are a reprint of each other but can also have differences. We need further examination to understand which ones have legal power.

Russia, as an OSCE member and mediator, has and should have involvement in this process. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066645.html https://youtu.be/ELzYR7l1pyo

Tags: #2010borders #demarcation

Foreign Minister Mirzoyan about Armenia's World Court lawsuit against Azerbaijan's state-sponsored racism:

[The foreign law firm hired by us and our experts] filed a strong lawsuit. The preliminary results will be available in November. This will be about whether to apply emergency measures against Azerbaijan or not, [before the lawsuit's main verdict which can take years.]

We already have one outcome: Azerbaijan has removed the mannequins and helmets of Armenian soldiers from the [Saddam Park] in Baku. It is obvious that this park is a strong example of Armenophobia. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066632.html https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/q45oh4/oct82021_armenias_lawsuit_vs_azerb_in_hague/

Ukraine uses Bayraktar drone against Russia-allied soldiers in Donbas

The drone targeted an artillery battery. Ukraine accused the operators of violating the ceasefire. Putin's spokesman said the delivery of these drones to Ukraine can lead to the destabilization in Donbas.

https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-59045045 https://factor.am/433630.html

Pashinyan about subsidized infrastructure projects in Armenia, and "keeping tabs" on mayors:

We spent ֏40.5B in communities. These programs are very important. You won't find a single merged settlement or large town that hasn't seen large-scale infrastructure work beginning in 2019.

Roads that hadn't seen any repairs for 40 years were rebuilt. Roofs are being renovated. We spent $100 million in subsidies between 2018-2020 on these capital programs. [The idea is that settlements, often those that merge with others, get subsidies from the federal government if they agree to co-invest in infrastructure.]

Half of the funds came from us, the other half from location communities. We monitor them to ensure they collect taxes and exercise budgetary discipline. We won't allow mayors to sit and do nothing.

There are many instances of mayors being caught with embezzling funds in the past. People wonder why they aren't in prison now. Our goal is not to imprison them. The enforcement of the law is changing the reality; they can no longer sell lands for pennies to relatives.

Residents should know that the ongoing large-scale construction in their settlements is a result of these subsidized programs. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066625.html

infrastructure projects complete in Sarukhan (Gegharkunik)

Several roads were asphalted and equipped with a lighting network. Irrigation pipes were renovated, and new ones were installed. A kindergarten is being rebuilt with a new heating system.

It's part of the subsidy program co-financed by federal and local authorities. Danoyan Family donated ֏13M.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066587.html

all neighborhoods of Masis settlement will have gas

That's four additional streets. Part of the federal-local program.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/224048

Parliament moves from bottle wars to potato wars

HD MP Vardanyan: product prices are increasing and you aren't doing anything substantiative to mitigate it. The public does not see the results of your mitigations while purchasing a vegetable. The prices are up 65%. Why isn't the government doing anything about it?

Central Bank candidate Manukyan: the 65% number is accurate, but when you dive into details, it's mainly because of potatoes. The price shock is observed across the world. Russia attempted to contain prices but their tools did not work; now they are discussing aid programs from the budget.

How can Armenia mitigate it? This is a budget-related topic that Central Bank, the Parliament, and Govt can discuss to find mitigation for these short-term shocks.

HD MP Vardanyan: many families rely on potatoes. Should they eat mixed greens instead? I don't see any short-term mitigation measures either. The prices are rising much faster in Armenia than elsewhere.

Central Bank candidate Manukyan: incorrect. Right now this inflation in Georgia is 12.8%. As for the food & beverage category, it's 1% higher in Georgia. This is a shock experienced by the world, and it can be addressed during the budget discussions.

QP MP Vladimir to opposition: I'm under the impression that we've been in charge of policies for 30 years. You should ask some of those questions to yourself because, for a very long time, you conducted inefficient management. As for the potato topic, I remember the difficult times Armenias went through after the independence. Everyone did their part to pull through and shape our independence. Also, let's be respectful towards those who can only afford potatoes. //

Opposition MP: we could restrict potato exports. The prices that exporters paid to farmers don't differ from the price that we had last year. They bought for low, sold for high, leading to a deficit. //

Ruling MP: the consumer protection agency should analyze which product prices rose sharply and investigate them. Regarding potatoes, it became more expensive because the demand rose while the exports also rose. There are times when the market decides prices; no need for political manipulations. //

Potato prices rose by 30% in Russia within one week, in early October.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066592.html https://factor.am/433535.html https://factor.am/433543.html https://factor.am/433606.html https://youtu.be/P5J2TtY8HCA https://youtu.be/60aH9qZKp2w https://www.potatopro.com/news/2021/russian-potato-market-prices-are-steadily-increasing

Parliament will examine the use of All Armenia Fund resources

Read yesterday's report for context. An internal audit found no misuse of Himnadram funds. Another audit by an international firm is still pending.

Opposition parties want Parliament to have a commission to discuss topics relating to Fund's resources. Before the elections, they circulated claims that the money was "stolen by the government". The Fund director called the claims a "smear campaign". The ruling party accused the opposition of "scoundrelism" and gaining political points at the expense of Fund's reputation.

Today Parliament voted 83-0-1 to approve the formation of the commission, headed by opposition HD Artsvik Minasyan (ARF). "Our goal is to reveal whether they were illegalities, bring those responsible to justice, recover resources, and restore trust," said Artsvik Minasyan. He reassured that the investigation will be "objective and comprehensive".

The ruling party, which voted in favor of the commission, said "any issue that concerns the public deserves a transparent investigation. It should be done without emotions, without political contexts, through an objective investigation."

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066577.html

Parliament discussed the formation of a commission to investigate "handpicking" of judges for trials, and the Justice Ministry's ethics complaints against judges

Years ago, the judicial system installed software that was supposed to randomly pick judges and assign them to trials. Acting Supreme Court president Gagik Jhangiryan recently announced that an intentional backdoor was found in this software, that had allowed judges to be handpicked remotely. Authorities launched a felony investigation and said they found instances of intentional tampering. They suspended the software.

Currently, the chief judges in each court are required to publicly handpick judges for trials before a new backdoor-free software can be installed. Jhangiryan revealed that they are working with the U.S. to install new software as part of the ongoing judicial reforms. The backdoor issue did not impact the Cassations Court and all courts in provinces.

Today the opposition parties complained about the suspension of the software. They formed a Parliamentary committee to investigate the selection of judges, and the practice of the Justice Ministry filing ethics complaints against judges, to find out if there is bias.

The ruling party is against the commission. They believe it violates the law and is considered a direct interference in judicial affairs.

https://youtu.be/9mQj0c4Zt_k https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066608.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1059657.html https://factor.am/400313.html https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/owmfqr/news_aug22021_new_syunik_road_tunnel_bridge/

Tags: #JudicialReform

Jeff Flake appointed as U.S. ambassador to Turkey

Flake had voted against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on four occasions in the past, but during the recent nomination process, he recognized the Genocide when pressed by Sen. Bob Menendez.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066562.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1064368.html

COVID stats

13.7k tested. 2.1k infected. 0.7k healed. 39 deaths. 29k active.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066581.html

coming October 31 is declared "vaccine day" in Gyumri

The initiative by Healthcare Ministry and Red Cross aims to promote vaccinations. Residents can get a jab at the "October" theater building. Passersby will receive booklets and free masks. A similar event was held near Yerevan's Opera building last week, resulting in 900 vaccinations.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066575.html

the number of Armenian migrants who went to Russia in the January-July period is...

20,000, according to the Russian government. Statista.com shows that it was 56,000 in all of 2020.

(These do not appear to be "permanent" migrants. I was too lazy to find 1H2020 stats.)

https://www.mk.ru/economics/2021/10/26/rossii-sprognozirovali-rekordnyy-naplyv-migrantov.html https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/296374/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1203451/immigration-by-country-in-russia/

Vatican envoy visits Armenia

Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra laid flowers in Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial.

MFA Mirzoyan: we'd like to thank Pope for encouraging the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Very soon we will mark an important event: the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See is going to open in Armenia. I want to praise this as a new page is opening in the history of the diplomatic relations between us. //

Mirzoyan shared the latest updates about the Artsakh conflict and humanitarian efforts.

Parra expressed gratitude to the Armenian President and the government, which had urged the Holy See to open a diplomatic representation in Armenia.

Archbishop Parra: despite the lack of resources and staff, the program turned into a reality within several months, because we all believed in that. The opening of the Nunciature will become a symbol of building bridges in the region and opening new paths for fair and lasting peace for Armenia. //

Two postage stamps dedicated to "Pilgrimage to the first Christian nation" have been put into circulation. The stamps depict Pope Paul and Pope Francis who visited Armenia in 2001 and 2016 respectively.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066597.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066598.html https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1066604.html https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1066619.html

Iran declares that the public spat with Azerbaijan is over

Iranian MFA: we spoke with Azeri MFA. I believe we have ended the phase of public tensions. I assume the issues that we had will be gradually resolved.

https://factor.am/433908.html

Iran will resume nuclear talks with 6 countries next month

The European parties are France, the UK, and Germany. The goal is to revive the 2015 deal.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-ready-direct-talks-with-european-parties-2015-nuclear-deal-press-tv-2021-10-27/ https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066605.html

Azerbaijan doesn't want to exchange paintings by Armenian and Azeri artists

Artsakh Education Minister: several pieces from Armenian painters Saryan, Carzou, and Jasmine were left in Shushi. At the same time, Artsakh holds 40 pieces of artwork by Azeri painters. Azerbaijan refused to exchange them. //

https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/296365/

President Sarkissian met Prince Mohammed bin Salman during historic Saudi Arabia trip

Why it's a historic trip was covered in yesterday's post. Today Sarkissian joined prince MBS as a guest at Future Investment Initiative business forum.

The two spoke about establishing/developing relations between Armenia and Saudi Arabia. "The rich historical relations between the peoples are a good basis for building future interstate relations."

Sarkissian departed for UAE from Saudi Arabia.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066567.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066569.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1066603.html https://youtu.be/fBGSdpWS9HY

you can rent a scooter with an app for 6 cents per minute

A bunch of them were parked in front of Yerevan's Opera building. They use the Jet-e-scooter app and a QR code. The units have to be parked in specific locations; they will add more locations soon.

Jet.am representative said they launched the program earlier this month. The fleet will expand from 200 to 1,500 units soon. It's currently available in central Yerevan.

The company says Armenian users are so far more careful with the units than what they've observed in Europe. They recently caught a mini-moron who broke the GPS tracker to use the scooter in his backyard. No criminal charges.

Interview with rep.: https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/224014

Armenian soprano Mane Galoyan wins second prize at Operalia 2021 world opera competition

Operalia’s goal is to attract singers between the ages of 18and 32.

Mane Galoyan was also awarded the Pepita Embil Prize of Zarzuela and a prize for winning the Audience.

https://en.armradio.am/2021/10/25/armenian-soprano-mane-galoyan-wins-second-prize-at-operalia-2021-world-opera-competition/

PHOTO: Armenian typography is in UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Armenian art of writing and its cultural manifestations are included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/223998 https://www.1lurer.am/en/2021/10/27/Armenian-typography-in-UNESCO-list-of-Intangible-Cultural-Heritage-of-Humanity/586835

end of report

The accused are innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "appear" guilty.

News archive: http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/qh7b42/news_oct272021_pashinyan_reveals_details_about/