Patriarch Kirill, Armenian Church, GRU, and anti-Pashinyan plot

bne IntelliNews – Senior Armenian cleric arrested over alleged coup plot intellinews.com/senior-armenia…

Armenian Deputy FM: Armenia–Azerbaijan dialogue remains ongoing  AzerNews

Armenia remains fully committed to signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, regardless of the location, Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan told reporters following the government sitting today. “Armenia is ready to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan – regardless of which city in the world the signing takes place. What matters to us is the process of finalizing the document,” Kostanyan stated in response to questions about whether an agreement has been reached regarding the venue for the signing. According to Kostanyan, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have already communicated their positions on the peace treaty. Since then, no new positions have been expressed by either side. Asked whether Armenia expects Turkey to play a facilitating role in advancing peace between Yerevan and Baku or in encouraging a more constructive stance from Azerbaijan, Kostanyan responded: “I believe that over the past year, the Turkish side has sent rather positive public signals to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, indicating that Ankara is interested in the normalization of relations and the signing of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian film director Karen Shakhnazarov commented on how the war in the Middle East will affect Armenia. “I believe today’s ceasefire between Iran, Israel and the Americans is just a pause. And it is obvious to me that this is extremely dangerous for Armenia. It seems to me that there will still be more clashes in the future. Given that Armenia borders Iran, this threatens Armenia, firstly, with refugees, and secondly, God forbid, if there are any nuclear matters—all this could affect Armenia. Therefore, some measures must be taken here and preparations must be made very seriously. This, of course, once again shows that no one can help Armenia in this sense except Russia. And it is generally quite naive to count on help from some Western countries. Overall, I believe that Armenia’s current Western-oriented direction is not in the interests of Armenia’s future,” Shakhnazarov said. The post Armenia should be seriously concerned about security issues, taking into account situation in Middle East – Karen Shakhnazarov appeared first on Alphanews.

bne IntelliNews – Arrest of Armenian tycoon sparks outcry from opposition and church intellinews.com/arrest-of-arme…

Marat Bashirov, Professor at the Department of Theory and Practice of Interaction between Business and Government at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, commented to Alpha News on the political persecution of opposition figures and members of the clergy in Armenia. According to the professor, what is happening in Armenia closely resembles the events that unfolded in Ukraine after 2014. “What is happening in Armenia now closely resembles the events that unfolded in Ukraine after 2014. The fundamental question is the extent to which civil authorities—meaning the state’s administrative structure—interfere with the operations of law enforcement. Law enforcers are tasked with solving crimes. But the crucial point is that, first, civil authorities should not interfere in this process, and second, an adversarial process must be ensured. One cannot simply declare that someone was plotting something—this requires certain evidence. And most importantly, all this must, of course, be decided in court. That is, an investigator should present accusations and evidence, while an independent defense lawyer must be present to contest them, and a judge should make the final decision. Without this adversarial process, it is very difficult to say that the country has a system that protects citizens,” Bashirov said. According to the expert, political activity in the country should be permitted. “In this case, I have serious doubts that these individuals were involved in any attempted coup. Political activity should be permitted; that is, it is allowed to criticize the government. If this is within the law, then, excuse me, guys, you just have to tolerate it, or you have to oppose it and say, ‘We believe that we are doing the right thing’. It is important to remain within the rule of law and within the framework of political struggle,” Bashirov emphasized. The post Events in Armenia reflect Pashinyan’s desire to retain power – Marat Bashirov appeared first on Alphanews.

Elchin Amirbayov: Azerbaijan seeks lasting peace free from Armenian revanchism  AzerNews