Day: May 14, 2024

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Tuesday that he wants Armenia to join the European Union in 2024. He also expressed hope that the EU will provide Armenia with military aid, from the European Peace Facility.

“We are now waiting for the European Union’s decision to include Armenia in the European Peace Facility,” Pashinyan told a forum on Armenia being held as part of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. It was during this panel that Pashinyan voiced his desire for Armenia to join the EU “this year.”

Earlier this year, the EU announced that, after months of deliberation, it had decided to approve “non-lethal” aid to Armenia. Yet that allocation requires unanimous consent by all EU member states.

It was reported last month that Hungary, one of the EU states, had been blocking that decision for week, in favor of it ally, Azerbaijan.

Last week, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Budapest, where he and his Hungarian counterpart, Péter Szijjártó, announced during a joint press conference that the two countries had decided to open embassies in each other’s capitals, among other agreements that bolster the resumption of the diplomatic relations.

Mirzoyan did not publicly comment on Hungary’s blocking of EU assistance to Armenia during the press conference, instead he said that Yerevan is confident that programs launched between Armenia and the EU will progress during Hungary’s presidency.

“I am sure you are aware that we are engaged in a process that essentially brings Armenia closer to the EU and the EU closer to Armenia. At the moment, we have a new set of initiatives on our table. Here, we greatly hope and rely on Hungary’s upcoming presidency in the European Union. We are confident that the issues and planned programs will progress with tangible steps during your presidency as well,” Mirzoyan said on May 6 in Budapest.

During Tuesday’s panel in Copenhagen, Pashinyan reiterated his government’s position about diversifying its foreign relations, when asked whether Yerevan expected the West to ensure Armenia’s security.

“Our political position and policy is to diversify our external relations in all areas. We are now developing defense cooperation with India, France and other countries,” said Pashinyan.

“Now we have certain cooperation with the EU because, as I said, we are happy to have the EUMA on the border between us and Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan added, referring to the EU mission in Armenia, which he said was a civilian one.

Yet, Pashinyan said, the EU mission is “kind of new factor for the security of the region, and it is the first time that the European Union is involved in any way in the security agenda of the Republic of Armenia.”

The prime minister also said that the EU was Armenia’s “primary partner” in advancing democratic reforms.

Calls for dissolution of the Minsk Group

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan on Tuesday blasted the OSCE as “useless,” during a meeting with the organization’s chairman-in-office, Ian Borg, the foreign minister of Malta, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the group.

Aliyev also called for the dissolution on the Minsk Group, which is chaired by the United States, France and Russia and acted as a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement for almost three decades.

During his meeting with Borg, Aliyev said that, while the Karabakh conflict resolution was on the OSCE’s agenda, “neither the organization nor the OSCE Minsk-Group co-chairmanship mechanism did anything to resolve the conflict, liberate Azerbaijani territories from occupation, and ensure the return of internally displaced persons.”

In fact, he said, “during those years, the negotiation process conducted by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group contributed to perpetuating the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.”

Aliyev went on to say that the time has come for the OSCE Minsk Group, and all affiliated insinuations, to dissolve, saying that he saw no reason for Armenia to oppose such a proposal.

Borg was in Armenia Monday and met with government officials, who did not bring up such a proposal.

Aliyev boasted to Borg that, since the OSCE Mink Group did not fulfill its obligation, his government took it upon itself to use military force to end the conflict.

“Azerbaijan, through its own determination and strength, has brought an end to the occupation, ensuring territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with international law and the UN Charter,” Aliyev told Borg.

Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, blamed the OSCE for what he called the “injustices” against Azerbaijan.

“In the 1990s, Azerbaijan faced injustice and a lack of adherence to international law norms. The OSCE is also responsible for this,” Bayramov said.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—An Armenian cleric leading the weeklong antigovernment protests in Yerevan remained reluctant on Tuesday to name a candidate who he believes should replace Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

“Various names liked and disliked by you are being discussed,” Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan told reporters at the end of another day of small-scale protests staged by his supporters in and outside Yerevan.

Galstanyan said only that Arman Tatoyan, a former human rights ombudsman critical of the Armenian government, is one of the potential candidates. Tatoyan could not be reached for comment.

The issue is thought to be high on the agenda of Galstanyan’s consultations with various opposition and other groups as well as prominent public figures that have joined or voiced support for the protests sparked by Pashinyan’s controversial decision to cede territory to Azerbaijan. Galstanyan said he met with representatives of the opposition Pativ Unem bloc earlier in the day and will talk to other political actors on Wednesday.

Pativ Unem and the other, bigger parliamentary opposition force, the Hayastan alliance, have pledged to try to engineer a vote of no confidence in Pashinyan. The Armenian constitution requires them to nominate a prime-ministerial candidate ahead of such a vote. Neither bloc has publicly backed any potential nominee.

Some of Galstanyan’s political allies, notably former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, have suggested that the archbishop himself aspire to the post of prime minister. However, Galstanyan is not eligible for it because of also having Canadian citizenship. The constitution bars dual citizens from serving as prime minister. Despite this legal hurdle, Galstanyan remains coy about his candidacy.

On Tuesday morning, hundreds of his supporters again marched through Yerevan and briefly blocked a dozen streets in the city center. Riot police used force to unblock them, detaining at least 63 protesters.

A crowd led by Galstanyan marched to the main building of Yerevan State University to greet YSU students boycotting classes in a show of support for the protest movement.

“I have positive expectations from the movement,” one of those students told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “I think that it can achieve success if there is consolidation.”

An YSU prorector, Elina Asriyan, emerged from the building to publicly deny reports that she ordered the deans of university departments to punish the protesting students.

Galstanyan did not set a date for his next big rally in Yerevan. Addressing supporters outside the city’s St. Anne Church in the evening, he insisted that “this movement will not die down” and pledged to expand “the scope of our actions.”

A third person has pleaded guilty in connection with a Federal investigation into Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas on charges that he accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico.

Irada Akhoundova, 67, pleaded guilty on May 1 in Houston federal court to acting as an agent for Azerbaijan without registering with federal officials. Details of her guilty plea were unsealed on May 9, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Federal authorities have charged the 68-year-old Texas Democrat and his wife Imelda Cuellar, 67, with accepting the money from 2014 to 2021 in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of the former Soviet republic and the Mexican bank in the U.S. He says they are innocent.

One of Cuellar’s top former aides, Colin Strother, and a Texas political and business consultant, Florencia Roden, struck plea deals in March on felony money laundering charges related to the Mexican bank, the AP reported.

Court records noted Akhoundova’s plea agreement comes from the same investigation, and like the other two, includes that she “fully cooperate with the United States.” The alleged bribes from Azerbaijani interests totaled more than $300,000, the AP added.

Last week, Raffi Hamparian, the National Chair of the Armenian National Committee of America, called on Rep. Frank Pallone, the co-chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, to expel Cuellar from Congress.

In his letter to Rep. Pallone, the Hamparian described the instances of bribery detailed in the indictment as “despicable and inconsistent with the transparent and accountable democracy we have the right to enjoy in the United States.” He expressed concerns that the charges are “just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and part of a broader foreign campaign that has contributed to a deeply flawed American foreign policy with respect to Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

In addition to expulsion proceedings, Hamparian is also urging the Armenian Caucus Co-Chair to call on the “House Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation into the influence activities of the Azerbaijani Government and state-affiliated entities in the U.S. Congress – particularly as it pertains to the activities of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.”

The indictment explicitly states that, “With respect to Azerbaijan, in exchange for the bribe payments, Henry Cuellar promised to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan. Henry Cuellar agreed, among other things, to influence a series of legislative measures relating to Azerbaijan’s conflict with neighboring Armenia; to insert language favored by Azerbaijan into legislation and committee reports governing certain security and economic aid programs; to deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the House of Representatives; and to consult with representatives of Azerbaijan regarding their efforts to lobby the United States government.”

In January 2013, Rep. Cuellar went on a trip to Turkey and Azerbaijan, facilitated by Azerbaijani connections, where he engaged with high-ranking Azerbaijani officials and business leaders. That trip, which was reported to cost close to $20,000, was covered by the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, chaired by Kemal Oksuz, who was subsequently convicted for concealing the fact that other trips to Azerbaijan, organized by his group later that year, were actually paid for by SOCAR, the government-funded oil company of Azerbaijan. Rep. Cuellar’s trip laid the groundwork for subsequent corrupt dealings highlighted in the charges.

The communication exchanges between Rep. Cuellar and Azerbaijani officials revealed in the indictment paint a stark picture of collusion. In response to an Azerbaijani diplomat’s request for assistance with U.S. legislation, Cuellar indicated readiness to help, stating he would “try [his] best” to influence legislative outcomes favorably for Azerbaijan. This included efforts to modify legislative language in ways that supported Azerbaijan’s geopolitical interests over Armenia’s.

The New York Times reported Monday that the indictment referred to text messages in which Cuellar and his Azerbaijani contacts sought to neutralize former Rep. Jackie Speier’s efforts to provide funding to Armenia.