On 23 September, the ministers of foreign affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov respectively, met in New York to discuss and define the current situation on the talks over settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The meeting resulted without any substantial progress. The parties outlined further necessary steps in this direction including the visit of the co-chairs to the region and the conduction of a regular meeting of the foreign ministers in the near future.
“At the meeting in New York, the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia just exchanged views on the existing talks with understanding that OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs need to expand their efforts to bring peace to the region and respect to international norms, principles and orders in the region,” spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva wrote on Twitter. She also noted that the meeting to define the current situation on the talks over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict again marked by an accident and killing of the Azerbaijani serviceman (Caucasus Watch reported). “Azerbaijan by all means will follow the case and those responsible will be punished,” she stressed.
The Armenian side stressed the importance of reinforcement of the ceasefire regime and necessity of continuous efforts for reducing the tension by introducing corresponding mechanisms. The need for consistent steps for formation of an atmosphere of trust has also been underscored by the Armenian side. It also stressed the requirement of ensuring the repatriation of Armenian citizens kept in Azerbaijan. To ensure progress in the peace process, Mnatsakanyan attached significance to ensuring the balance of assumed commitments in the sidelines of the issue settlement, reaffirming Armenia’s principal position and approaches over the process.
Pashinyan in USA
Parallel to the meeting of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was also in the USA. On 22 September, Pashinyan went to Los Angeles, California, where he met with the leaders of California-based Armenian community organizations. The Prime Minister introduced his vision for a pan-Armenian agenda and the implementation of the Pan-Armenian idea. He spoke about Armenia’s economic indicators and current trends, as well as presenting economic activity and tourism growth indicators. Pashinyan spoke on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the ongoing judiciary and public administration reforms, and the fight against fake news.
Afterwards, Pashinyan held a speech in front of an estimated 10.000 people crowd that had gathered in the city’s Grand Park. “We hope that the Diaspora will stand by the economic revolution taking place in Armenia just like it stood by the political revolution in Armenia. And I want to invite all Diaspora entrepreneurs to Armenia because in today’s Armenia you won’t come across obstacles that have existed before. In Armenia, systemic corruption has been rooted out and the rule of monopolies and oligarchy eliminated,” he said. He also presented his idea of “great repatriation” which meant that every Armenian must have the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, own a business in the country, and “physically stay and live in Armenia for one or two months every year.”
On 23 September, in New York, Pashinyan held an interview where he shed more light on the resignation of Armenia’s former National Security Service Chief Artur Vanetsyan (Caucasus Watch reported). “At the moment of making his statement in the de-jure capacity of the NSS director, Vanetsyan virtually made a statement against his commander-in-chief. Being the head of a government agency adjunct to the prime minister, he made a statement against his superior; there isn’t a greater disrespect dishonouring him,” he said, describing Vanetsyan’s move as a “disrespectful attitude towards the state”.
Vanetsyan responded to this statement. “At a news conference in New York, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once again spoke about things he has little understanding of. Though after my resignation he still continues sending people to me with a request that I keep silent for a while until the situation calms down, now I see he is breaching the arrangements again, making vague populist statements factually about nothing. Obviously, Nikol Pashinyan, eager to make a short-term impact on the public opinion, does not think again about the consequences of his statements. So, I strongly believe the time will show who will find himself in the garbage bump of history,” Vanetsyan said.
Pashinyan also spoke briefly about the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in another interview with Araksya Karapetyan from the FOX news affiliate in Los Angeles. “My message is that every solution should be acceptable for the people of Armenia, the people of Karabakh and Azerbaijan. I am the first Armenian leader who says that solution should be acceptable for Azerbaijani people as well, and I was criticized for this in Armenia. Now I am waiting for [the[ Azerbaijani president to say and to adopt the same formula that every solution should be acceptable for people of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Karabakh,” he said, adding that if Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accepts this formula, “we would be very close to a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.”
