The first meeting of Turkish and Armenian special envoys was held in a „promising“ atmosphere

Turkish and Armenian special envoys met in Moscow on January 14, relaunching negotiations on restoration of mutual relations 13 years after the last similar attempt.

Following the meeting, the envoys – Serdar Kilic, a senior Turkish diplomat; and Ruben Rubinyan, the deputy speaker of Armenia’s parliament, issued identical, optimistically worded statements, informed Eurasianet.org.

“During their first meeting, conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere, the Special Representatives exchanged their preliminary views regarding the normalisation process through dialogue between Armenia and Turkey,” the two foreign ministries said. “Parties agreed to continue negotiations without preconditions aiming at full normalisation.”

On the eve of the first meeting of the special representatives, the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Vahan Hunanyan, in an interview with the Armenpress agency, stated that Armenia’s expectations from this dialogue are the same as in the early 1990s.

“We expect that as a result of the process, diplomatic relations will be established between Armenia and Turkey, and the border between the two countries, which was unilaterally closed by Turkey in the early 90s, will be opened. […] In fact, this first meeting will be preliminary. It is difficult to expect that as a result of one meeting it will be possible to achieve tangible results, but the process will be launched”.

Eurasia Group director Emre Peker told Reuters in an interview that both sides were cautious. At the same time, he emphasised the dominant and key role of Russia, which acted as the host for this meeting, as well as a mediator for ending the war in Karabakh in 2020.

“Most likely, the negotiations will open the way for further discussions in the coming months. But reaching a comprehensive and long-term agreement will be difficult due to the complex nature of the negotiations and domestic political constraints in both countries. An even greater challenge will come from the theme of historic reconciliation”, said Emre Peker, as cited by JAM news. The fate of the negotiations, in his opinion, will depend on whether Ankara can “assess its ambitions correctly”.

The meeting has mobilised Armenia’s political opposition and nationalists in the global Armenian diaspora, who have been trying to portray the talks as a unilateral concession by a weak Armenian government to their enemies. And many ordinary Armenians, who might have been in favour of restoring ties with Turkey before the war, have become warier in the light of Turkey’s open, strong support of Azerbaijan’s 2020 offensive and a reawakening of anti-Armenian discourse in Turkey.

Rubinyan, in his turn, said he’s willing to listen to other perspectives on the normalisation process, but certain political forces in Armenia are manipulating the issue. “I am very open to discussions, but I regret that discussions on this topic are held in an atmosphere of extreme manipulation,” he said. Rubinyan said the National Assembly has devolved into an assemblage of meaningless parties that just make noise rather than engage in substance.

As JAM News writes, unlike politicians and experts, ordinary citizens in Turkey generally have a positive attitude towards the process of establishing relations with a neighbouring country. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the publication Gündem Ortadoğu. According to the results of the study, 67% of respondents are positive about the beginning of the process of normalising relations with Armenia, 13% have not decided on their opinion on this issue, and 20% of respondents prefer to leave everything as it was.

Sources:

• KUCERA Joshua, Eurasianet.org, “Armenian, Turkish envoys meet for first talks on normalising relations”, https://eurasianet.org/armenian-turkish-envoys-meet-for-first-talks-on-normalizing-relations
• ISMAILBEYLI Huseyn, JAM News, “Turkey anticipates the opening of borders with Armenia”, https://jam-news.net/turkey-anticipates-opening-of-borders-with-armenia/
• JAM News, „First meeting of Armenian and Turkish envoys on normalisation of ties took place in Moscow“, https://jam-news.net/first-meeting-of-armenian-and-turkish-envoys-on-normalisation-of-ties-took-place-in-moscow/
• GJUKASYAN Seda, Hetq.am, „Armenia’s Special Representative in Turkey Talks Says He’s Consulted with Former Envoys“, https://hetq.am/en/article/140177

For additional information, see:

• Crisis Group, „Turkey-Armenia Talks Hold Promise of Opening Long-Shut Border”, https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/caucasus/armenia/turkey-armenia-talks-hold-promise-opening-long-shut-border

Armenian President investigated over dual citizenship

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, who recently resigned from his post, is suspicious of ineligibility for the post due to secret second citizenship. On January 25, the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) launched an investigation following the article published by investigative outlet Hetq.am a day earlier.

Sarkissian announced his surprising resignation from the post on January 23, citing the lack of competencies of the head of the state. As OC Media writes, his resignation came, in fact, after being contacted for comment about his Saint Kitts and Nevis citizenship by journalists.

Hetq.am wrote that Sarkissian’s dual citizenship thus prevented him from assuming the presidency based on Article 124 of Armenia’s Constitution. Article 124 states that only those forty or older, who have only been citizens of the Republic of Armenia for the last six years, who have permanently resided in the Republic of Armenia for the last six years, and who have the right to vote and speak Armenian can be elected President.

According to Hetq.am, when approached for comment, Sarkissian confirmed that he had been a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis as late as 2017. He also reportedly said that he had become a citizen of the small island country and noted tax haven unwittingly through a citizenship-for-investment scheme after he invested into a hotel. “My motivation was to make investments, and I was not interested in my passport at all”, Hetq.am reports him as saying.

He also claimed that he had instructed his legal counsel to initiate a process of renouncing the citizenship in 2013, but, in 2017, when he was offered the Armenian presidency, he discovered that the process was not carried out.

Sarkissian was not in Armenia when he resigned, and his whereabouts are unknown. Armenia’s National Security Service has launched a probe into Sarkisian’s citizenship issue.

Sources:

• MARTIROSYAN Samson, BAGHDASARYAN Edik, Hetq.am, „The Pyramid of Lies Collapsed: President Armen Sarkissian Had to Resign“, https://hetq.am/en/article/140389
• MURADYAN Tirayr, Hetq.am, „Armenia’s Security Service to Investigate Armen Sarkissian’s Citizenship Issue“, https://hetq.am/en/article/140417
• AVETISYAN Ani, OC Media, „Investigation: Armenian President was ineligible for post due to secret second citizenship“, https://oc-media.org/investigation-armenian-president-was-ineligible-for-post-due-to-secret-second-citizenship/

Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office refuses to investigate the beating of prominent oppositionist

The Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan refused to launch an investigation into a criminal case in connection with a complaint filed by opposition politician Tofig Yagublu who claimed law enforcers had beaten him. The defence called the arguments of the Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan about the absence of corpus delicti as groundless writes Caucasian Knot.

Opposition leader Yagublu was detained on December 1 during a protest in defence of the activist, Saleh Rustamov. Yagublu, 60, later said police severely beat him while videoing him and demanding that he say on camera that he would stop criticising Azerbaijan’s leadership.

Sources:

• Caucasian Knot, „Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s Office refuses to investigate the beating of oppositionist Tofig“, https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/57908/

Azerbaijan to erase Armenian traces from churches in the Nagorno Karabakh

Azerbaijan’s Government has announced that it intends to erase Armenian inscriptions on religious sites in the territory that it reclaimed in the 2020 war with Armenia, writes Eurasianet.org.

The Azerbaijani minister of culture Anar Karimov said that a working group would be set up to identify what he called “Armenian forgery” from churches, putting into practice a pseudoscientific theory that denies the churches’ Armenian origin.

“We are going to inspect those places with the working group members, and after the inspection, we will consider our next steps,” Karimov said. While he did not identify who would be in the working group, the minister stated that the group would consist of “both local and international experts.”

As Eurasianet.org explains, he justified the move by arguing that the churches, in fact, were originally the heritage of “Caucasian Albania”, an ancient kingdom once located in what is now Azerbaijan. The theory, which mainstream historians do not support, has long been propagated by nationalist Azerbaijani historians and embraced by the current Government in Baku.

Sources:

• ISAYEV Heydar, Eurasianet.org, „Azerbaijan announces plans to erase Armenian traces from churches“, https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-announces-plans-to-erase-armenian-traces-from-churches

Attempt to impeach de facto South Ossetian President failed

Opposition lawmakers in de facto South Ossetia failed on January 19 to impeach Anatoly Bibilov over an alleged attempt on ceding 200 square kilometres of territory to the central Georgian Government, informs Civil.ge.

The proposal was pushed forward by 14 deputies in the 34-member legislature earlier in January, hoping to garner the support of three-quarters of sitting lawmakers. But only 13 deputies backed the motion, and one went against it, while pro-Bibilov United Ossetia party, Unity of the People and communist MPs did not participate in the voting.

The opposition lawmakers claim that the draft law submitted by Bibilov to the legislature back in 2019 that sought to approve the “state border” – that did not pass back then – would lead to the region giving up claims on 200 km2 territory to Georgia proper.

The issue came into prominence only in November 2021 after the new “State Commission on Delimitation and Demarcation of Borders with Georgia” – created under Bibilov’s decree in April — found that the boundaries proposed by Bibilov’s administration contained 200 km2 less territory compared to that envisaged in April 1922 Soviet decree that created the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

During the heated exchange in the legislature in Tskhinvali on December 30, de facto President shifted the blame to his opponents. He said Moscow recognised the region’s independence in 2008 within its current “borders,” not with the ones outlined in the 1922 Soviet decree.

Also, Bibilov noted that if the claims on the boundaries are made as per 1922 decree, the villages of Gujabauri, sandwiched between Tskhinvali and Georgia-controlled territory, as well as village Orchosani, close to Georgia’s major east-west highway, should be given to Georgia proper.

The development comes some three months before the de facto presidential elections” in the region, in which Bibilov is seeking re-election. On January 21, the de facto Parliament of South Ossetia adopted the resolution on the date of presidential elections on April 10, 2022.

Sources:

• Cvil.ge, „‘Land Ceding’ Case: Tskhinvali Leader Survives Impeachment“, https://civil.ge/archives/467693
• RES, „Pre-election campaign for the upcoming presidential elections in April has started in South Ossetia“, https://cominf.org/en/node/1166540985

Another Russian opposition leader was barred from entering Georgia

Russian opposition leader, former MP Dmitry Gudkov, was barred from entering Georgia and was deported from Tbilisi International Airport back to Kyiv on January 31.

Gudkov claimed his deportation was a “political decision” made at the level of the Georgian Government. He argued that Georgian border authorities knew his biography, did not specify reasons for the deportation and said their superiors made the decision, informed Civil.ge.

“So much for [Georgia being] the centre of the Russian emigration. So much for half soft power and half Russian World,” noted Gudkov ironically.

According to Gudkov, he was visiting Tbilisi to hold meetings with politicians, journalists and diplomats following an “official invitation.” But the Russian opposition leader did not specify who had invited him.

The Interior Ministry told Civil.ge Gudkov was refused entry under Article 11 (1i) of Georgia’s law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons. The provision envisages refusing a Georgian visa or entry into the country in “other cases provided for by the legislation of Georgia.”

Georgian Chairperson of the Parliamentary Foreign Committee, MP Nikoloz Samkharadze lashed out at Gudkov. He reminded that Gudkov is a political ally of Alexei Navalny, who — in August 2008 amid the Russo-Georgian war — likened Georgians to rodents and called on expelling all Georgian citizens from Russia.

Samkharadze also held against Gudkov for being a member of the Russian State Duma, which recognised the independence of Abkhazia and de facto South Ossetia. On October 30. 2021 Georgia refused the entry of Lyubov Sobol, another close ally of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Sources:

• Civil.ge, „Russian Opposition Leader Barred from Entering Georgia“, https://civil.ge/archives/469920
• Civil.ge, „Georgian Dream MP Lashes Out at Deported Russian Opposition Leader“, https://civil.ge/archives/470946

Georgia calls on the EU to stop using the term “South Ossetia.”

Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, appealed to the European Union to remove the term “South Ossetia” from its official use, informs Interpressnews.ge.

“You and the West are fighting Stalinist manifestations. Despite this, you use the term “South Ossetia” in all your documents, which is also a Stalinist term and was coined in 1922. Before that, it did not exist. Georgian constitution does not recognise such formation as “South Ossetia”. So my request, a call, is to discuss together how we can remove this term altogether from your official documents. It is not pleasant when the European Union or even any other state use the term of Stalin’s time. If we need to make an official appeal, we will do it,” said Samkharadze at the joint sitting of the Committees on European Integration and Foreign Relations in the legislature, where the European Parliament rapporteur on Georgia Sven Mikser was present.

In this regard, Mikser claimed that the issue would be noted and taken into account in the future when the European documents will be worked out.

Source:

• Interpressnews.ge, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs appeals to EU to remove the term “South Ossetia” from official usage, https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/118078-chairman-of-parliamentary-committee-on-foreign-affairs-appeals-to-eu-to-remove-the-term-south-ossetia-from-official-usage