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NPR News: 03-29-2024 8PM EDT
In what can be seen as the further escalation between Yerevan and Russia, Russian foreign minister said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was connected to the Soros Foundation, with his aim being to distance Armenia from Russia-led alliances.
“When Nikol Pashinyan was in the opposition and was leading the movement he created—which everyone knew was connected to the Soros Foundation—the slogan of his movement was ‘Exit’: exit the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union. With this slogan, he brought crowds to the streets, demanded his election as prime minister (at the time the prime minister is elected by the parliament), while announcing that if he weren’t elected he will he will make the people stand up,” Lavrov said in an interview with Russian Izvestia daily newsspaer, adding that “this was democracy at its best display.”
Such an overt attack on Pashinyan is unprecedented from the Russian leaders, who have expressed dismay at Pashinyan and his government’s policies of courting the West. With an upcoming meeting between Pashinyan and the U.S. Secretary of State and the European Commission president scheduled for April 4, Moscow – and Baku – have voiced their concerns, and accused the West of sowing instability in the region.
Pashinyan and his allies have also fueled the flamed, with primarily Parliament Speaker Alan Simonyan continuously making anti-Russia declarations, including calling for the ouster of Russian border guards from Armenia. Pashinyan has also threatened to leave the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, saying the organization did not fulfill its obligations toward Armenia when Azerbaijan invaded sovereign territories in Armenia proper.
Opposition forces have accused Pashinyan of having ties to the infamous Soros Foundation, which is often seen as a force of imposing Western values on burgeoning democracies around the world.
“After becoming the Prime Minister, I remember very well, [Russian President] Vladimir Putin met with him several times, emphasizing in every way that we will not be guided by some previous [experience], but by how exactly the leadership of Armenia will build relations with Russia. In response, Nikol Pashinyan said that both the CSTO and the Eurasian Economic Union are fundamental organizations for Armenia, for the development of its economy, for preventing its isolation in the South Caucasus,” Lavrov explained to Izvestia.
He explained that relations between Yerevan and Moscow were advancing and developing based on the Pashinyan’s pledges of support for the CSTO and EEU, until 2020, when “the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared up.”
Lavrov added that Pashinyan turned to Putin, as ally and a member of the CSTO. Russia’s top diplomat said that Putin, at the time, “was negotiating—literally nightly, tirelessly,, and sparing no effort—with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop this war.”
Lavrov said that after the signing of the now-infamous November 9, 2020 agreement, the European Union was taking steps to “draw Armenians and Azerbaijanis to its side, with Pashing as the main supporter of the idea to work on a platform with the EU and the U.S.”
“They [Armenia] went there on a regular basis—to the detriment of the meetings that were planned in the territory of the Russian Federation,” Lavrov added.
According to Lavrov, when in Prague in 2022, at the European Political Community Summit, which he called an “invention” by French President Emmanuel Macron, they signed a document with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in the presence of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, “No one notified us,” Lavrov added.
“Then Putin told Pashinyan during a subsequent meeting: ‘We were surprised that you made that decision.’ There were no explanations, as Pashinyan always asked us not to forget that in parallel with the efforts of the last three years, the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be somehow resolved, and we were doing it,” the Russian foreign minister explained.
Lavrov explained that after signing the agreement in Prague to recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Pashinyan blamed Putin for abandoning the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“For God’s sake,” Lavrov exclaimed, “it was you [Pashinyan] who decided that they are not citizens or claim some kind of citizenship of Azerbaijan.”
According to the Russian foreign minister, he had gotten a sense from Pashinyan that his government was convinced that an alliance with Russia –that includes CSTO and EEU membership—was in the best interests of Armenia and the region.
“Howver, now Armenian officials, both in the Security Council and in the parliament, directly are saying that ‘we should rely more on the European Union,’ that the CSTO allegedly has not fulfilled its obligations to the republic. That is, in essence, the full circle—the leadership of Armenia has begun to express the same thought, with which Pashinyan created his ‘Exit’ movement,” Lavrov said.
“I am convinced that this does not correspond to our and Armenian people’s interests, from the point of view of historical friendly ties with Armenians, the huge Armenian diaspora living in Russia, and stability in the South Caucasus,” Lavrov said.
“The objective of those who are now luring the leadership of Armenia to the side of the West is clear: to not allow stability in the South Caucasus, to try to turn this region into a zone of their dominance, as the West is doing in Central Asia and in many other parts of our shared continent,” Lavrov concluded.
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Nagorno-Karabakh political figures condemned on Friday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s threats to crack down on Karabakh’s Yerevan-based leadership which is continuing to present itself as a government in exile.
Pashinyan on Thursday accused it of posing a threat to Armenia’s national security and ordered Armenian security services to be ready for “appropriate measures.” His warning was clearly addressed to Samvel Shahramanyan, the Karabakh president who fled Karabakh along with the region’s entire ethnic Armenian population last September.
In an interview with France’s Le Figaro daily published on Wednesday, Shahramanyan said that the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic continues to exist despite Karabakh’s recapture by Baku. He has not yet reacted to Pashinyan’s threats.
“It’s blackmail, it’s a threatening attitude and a clear message that concrete actions could be taken,” Artak Beglaryan, a former Karabakh premier and human rights ombudsman said, commenting on the threats.
Beglaryan, who now leads a non-governmental organization helping Karabakh refugees, said the Armenian authorities could now prosecute Karabakh leaders or shut down the NKR office in Yerevan.
“I don’t exclude any scenario,” Beglaryan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But I would advise Armenia’s political leadership and law-enforcement bodies to be prudent and not to exploit this subject. If there are sensitive issues they should discuss them with the Artsakh authorities and find solutions, rather than dissolve Artsakh’s state bodies.”
Metakse Hakobyan, a Karabakh lawmaker, said Pashinyan is trying to “intimidate, silence and ultimately jail” Karabakh leaders. “I think that they have already decided their further actions,” she said.
Arpi Davoyan, an Armenian parliament deputy and senior member of Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, confirmed that law-enforcement authorities “will deal with” the NKR leadership.
“Yes, this is a matter of national security, and I think that law-enforcement bodies will draw relevant conclusions,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Speaking at a weekly session of his cabinet, Pashinyan repeatedly stated that “there can be no government in Armenia apart from the government of Armenia.”
“The powers of representatives of the Artsakh government do not extend to the Republic of Armenia,” countered Beglarian. “They extend to the occupied territory of Artsakh.”
The NKR bodies, he said, remain the legitimate representatives of the Karabakh Armenians and must continue to operate with the ultimate aim of achieving their collective return to their homeland. The Armenian government must at least not hamper that despite facing pressure from Azerbaijan and Turkey, added Beglaryan.
Pashinyan publicly recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh several months before Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive. He has since repeatedly indicated that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration. His detractors say that he is scared of angering Baku.
The European Union has now joined the United States to clarify that a meeting scheduled with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels next week will focus on issues related to Armenia and will not tackle the efforts of Yerevan and Baku to reach a peace deal.
Official Baku, and later Moscow, accused the U.S. and the EU of sowing divisions in the Caucasus region and derailing the ongoing Armenia and Azerbaijan normalization process.
Pashinyan is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on April 5.
The State Department on Wednesday clarified that the meeting is meant to address Armenia’s humanitarian needs, as well as future prospects for Armenia’s economic sustainability. The State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who announced that USAID Director Samantha Power, will also attend the meeting, did not rule out that the issue of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict would not come up.
The EU’s foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano told Armenia’s Public Television on Friday that claims, presumably by Baku, that next week’s meeting will address “security guarantees” to Armenia are “not true.”
“It will not touch upon issues other than EU/US-Armenia bilateral relations,” Stano added.
He noted that the focus will be on the sustainability of Armenia’s economy and bilateral cooperation with the country.
“The EU and the US share a commitment to support a stable, peaceful, secure and prosperous future for Armenia and the region,” Stano said. “This will be an opportunity to discuss deepening co-operation with Armenia to strengthen its economy, building on the EU-Armenia bilateral partnership.”
“A stable and sustainable Armenia means a stable South Caucasus. Our efforts are not directed against anyone, but in the interests of the entire region and its stability,” Stano added.
Palestinian-Armenian Varsen Aghabegian has been appointed the new foreign minister of the the Palestinian Authority.
The Authority announced the names of the new government officials on Friday, pledging that with the help of the experts appointed the government will be able to regain control of Gaza.
Aghabegian is a noted historian in the Middle East. She has received her education in the United States and has authored numerous books, among them “The Saga of Survival,” which focuses on the presences and historical of role of Armenians in the region.