Latest news with #NikolPashinyan
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Armenia and Azerbaijan's leaders meet briefly in Tirana as peace agreement momentum continues
Armenia and Azerbaijan's leaders held a brief discussion in Tirana on Friday during the European Political Community Summit. The Armenian government then issued a statement saying that both sides 'underlined the need for continued progress towards signing' the peace agreement between the two countries. 'The parties mutually emphasised the importance of finalising the text of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement. They discussed the current situation and underlined the need for continued progress toward signing,' the Armenian government press release said. A video from the EPC summit shows Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressing Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in the corridors of the EPC summit in what appears to be an impromptu encounter. In the video, Pashinyan says, 'Let's go have a coffee,' to which Aliyev replies, 'I'll come by after the talks.' Another video shows the two leaders having a seated conversation afterwards, surrounded by officials from both countries. The meeting signals a continuing momentum after the two South Caucasus rival neighbours announced in March that they had finalised the text of a historic peace agreement to end decades of war over the Karabakh region. The timeline for the conclusion of the agreement and its signing by both countries remains to be defined.
Euronews
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Armenia and Azerbaijan's leaders meet briefly in Tirana
Armenia and Azerbaijan's leaders held a brief discussion in Tirana on Friday during the European Political Community Summit. The Armenian government then issued a statement saying that both sides 'underlined the need for continued progress towards signing' the peace agreement between the two countries. 'The parties mutually emphasised the importance of finalising the text of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement. They discussed the current situation and underlined the need for continued progress toward signing,' the Armenian government press release said. A video from the EPC summit shows Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressing Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in the corridors of the EPC summit in what appears to be an impromptu encounter. In the video, Pashinyan says, 'Let's go have a coffee,' to which Aliyev replies, 'I'll come by after the talks.' Another video shows the two leaders having a seated conversation afterwards, surrounded by officials from both countries. The meeting signals a continuing momentum after the two South Caucasus rival neighbours announced in March that they had finalised the text of a historic peace agreement to end decades of war over the Karabakh region. The timeline for the conclusion of the agreement and its signing by both countries remains to be defined.
Associated Press
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
'We Are Awake' Initiative has sent official letters to all the MPs of Armenian Parliament
05/06/2025, Yerevan, Armenia // KISS PR Brand Story PressWire // Yerevan, Armenia – May 6, 2025 — Hayk Mamijanyan, the leader of the opposition parliamentary faction 'Pativ Unem' ('I Have Honor,') has announced that he and his colleagues are prepared to initiate impeachment proceedings against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Speaking to the press, Mamijanyan emphasized that the most viable path to political change at this stage is through a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister. 'We express our full readiness, without any preconditions, to begin discussions around a candidate for Prime Minister and to initiate the process of expressing no confidence in Nikol Pashinyan,' he stated. While the faction does not currently have a specific candidate for the premiership, all six members of 'I Have Honor' have signed on to support the motion of no confidence. Mamijanyan also noted the faction's willingness to support former President Robert Kocharyan for the role of Prime Minister, should the opposition alliance 'Armenia' formally propose his candidacy. The call for impeachment follows a wave of public demonstrations in Yerevan during the summer of 2024, where protesters demanded Pashinyan's resignation and a halt to the ongoing border delimitation process with Azerbaijan. Despite the mounting pressure, Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan previously stated that the Armenian government is not considering early elections in response to opposition protests. This political development comes shortly after Prime Minister Pashinyan affirmed, during a joint appearance with the Estonian Prime Minister, that Armenia has no intention of damaging its relations with Russia. Media Contact: Narek Malyan
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For peace in the troubled Caucasus region, we must look forward not back
Since Azerbaijan's liberation in 2020 of its internationally recognised territories from three decades of Armenian occupation, our region has witnessed dramatic change. For the most part, the transformation of the South Caucasus has been towards lasting peace and deepening connectivity. Just as Azerbaijan has been championing regional cooperation and energy security, it was the Azerbaijani side that put forward the main principles for the peace agreement with Armenia shortly after hostilities ended. Let me reiterate this point: having secured a decisive military advantage, Azerbaijan offered a peace treaty and normalisation of relations with Armenia, including the reopening of transport and communications. Armenia, on the other hand, has for the last five years stalled on implementing its commitments made in writing, delaying the peace process. Indeed, the text of the agreement – only finalised recently – is based on the very same terms Azerbaijan offered earlier and to which Armenia did not agree until recently. The agreement on the final text is an important milestone in itself as it underscores the success of direct talks between the parties without external interference – the ineffectiveness of which was exemplified by the dysfunctional OSCE Minsk Group, now defunct in all but name. Hopefully, this also reflects the growing realisation in Armenia that building peaceful and mutually beneficial relations with neighbours requires a responsible approach rather than succumbing to jingoistic and ideological fantasy. Of course, the text of an agreement is not alone sufficient to engender lasting peace. Let us just recall the 1994 Budapest Memorandum signed by the U.K., among others, offering Ukraine all the things it desperately needs but cannot have today. Azerbaijan sincerely seeks normalisation with Armenia and long-term security in our region. But Armenia's own Constitution, which even now still essentially calls for the annexation of Azerbaijani lands, remains a key obstacle. Simply put, the provisions in the agreement text on mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty are in direct contradiction with Armenia's Constitution. Incidentally, vocal Armenian political forces opposed to any peace with Azerbaijan whatsoever continue to make territorial claims to our internationally recognised land – and point to their constitution as justification. Fortunately, even the most zealous Armenian nationalists seem to be finally recognising that this narrow, ethnicity-driven political agenda has been the root cause of the constant conflict and consequently, the primary impediment to their country's growth. Even the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has acknowledged that Azerbaijan's liberation of its lands has given Armenia the opportunity to now focus on its own sovereignty as well as greater room for manoeuvre on foreign policy. However, for Armenian political groups abroad, reality is just a minor obstacle in their never-ending quest to attack Azerbaijan and Türkiye, as well as to retain their own, otherwise questionable, relevance. Increasingly, in their pursuit of an ideological agenda, the state of Armenia is becoming an instrument rather than the objective. They are not alone in their pursuit of relevance at any cost: a number of Western politicians also appear unwilling to acknowledge any positive development. Take, for instance, Lord Alton, a British Peer, who spends an alarming amount of time attacking Azerbaijan and rejecting any progress on peace. In his latest offering, without naming him he speaks on behalf of one Ruben Vardanyan, the ethnic Armenian oligarch parachuted illegally into Azerbaijani territory from Moscow to act as leader of the separatists. Lord Alton conveniently omits that Mr Vardanyan has been sanctioned by Ukraine for his support of war and that he openly directed acts of violence against Azerbaijan. With no legal expertise to speak of, Alton calls Vardanyan and others facing trial in Azerbaijan 'unjustly held,' despite the recent decisions by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the International Court of Justice, which reaffirm the opposite: that the trial is not arbitrary, there is no mistreatment of defendants, and the trial is transparent and open to the public. This may not matter to Alton's view of history, but it does matter to the rest of the world. To justify his advocacy for Armenia's decades-long violation of international law, Alton invokes the cliché of Armenia being the 'first Christian nation.' Even if one disregards the questionable factual basis for such a claim, who in their right mind justifies their support for the illegal actions of a country today by the religious choices of the state that occupied the same geographical location in the fourth century AD? Do we judge modern Britain by what the Romans were doing in Londinium 1,800 years ago? Of course not. It would be absurd. Perhaps, a better option would be to heed the late Pope Francis, who praised Azerbaijan's culture of diversity and inclusivity during his visit to our country just under a decade ago. He called for a genuine peace between our two nations – a peace free from double standards and dividing narratives. Elin Suleymanov is the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UK and Ireland Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Telegraph
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
For peace in the troubled Caucasus region, we must look forward not back
Since Azerbaijan's liberation in 2020 of its internationally recognised territories from three decades of Armenian occupation, our region has witnessed dramatic change. For the most part, the transformation of the South Caucasus has been towards lasting peace and deepening connectivity. Just as Azerbaijan has been championing regional cooperation and energy security, it was the Azerbaijani side that put forward the main principles for the peace agreement with Armenia shortly after hostilities ended. Let me reiterate this point: having secured a decisive military advantage, Azerbaijan offered a peace treaty and normalisation of relations with Armenia, including the reopening of transport and communications. Armenia, on the other hand, has for the last five years stalled on implementing its commitments made in writing, delaying the peace process. Indeed, the text of the agreement – only finalised recently – is based on the very same terms Azerbaijan offered earlier and to which Armenia did not agree until recently. The agreement on the final text is an important milestone in itself as it underscores the success of direct talks between the parties without external interference – the ineffectiveness of which was exemplified by the dysfunctional OSCE Minsk Group, now defunct in all but name. Hopefully, this also reflects the growing realisation in Armenia that building peaceful and mutually beneficial relations with neighbours requires a responsible approach rather than succumbing to jingoistic and ideological fantasy. Of course, the text of an agreement is not alone sufficient to engender lasting peace. Let us just recall the 1994 Budapest Memorandum signed by the U.K., among others, offering Ukraine all the things it desperately needs but cannot have today. Azerbaijan sincerely seeks normalisation with Armenia and long-term security in our region. But Armenia's own Constitution, which even now still essentially calls for the annexation of Azerbaijani lands, remains a key obstacle. Simply put, the provisions in the agreement text on mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty are in direct contradiction with Armenia's Constitution. Incidentally, vocal Armenian political forces opposed to any peace with Azerbaijan whatsoever continue to make territorial claims to our internationally recognised land – and point to their constitution as justification. Fortunately, even the most zealous Armenian nationalists seem to be finally recognising that this narrow, ethnicity-driven political agenda has been the root cause of the constant conflict and consequently, the primary impediment to their country's growth. Even the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has acknowledged that Azerbaijan's liberation of its lands has given Armenia the opportunity to now focus on its own sovereignty as well as greater room for manoeuvre on foreign policy. However, for Armenian political groups abroad, reality is just a minor obstacle in their never-ending quest to attack Azerbaijan and Türkiye, as well as to retain their own, otherwise questionable, relevance. Increasingly, in their pursuit of an ideological agenda, the state of Armenia is becoming an instrument rather than the objective. They are not alone in their pursuit of relevance at any cost: a number of Western politicians also appear unwilling to acknowledge any positive development. Take, for instance, Lord Alton, a British Peer, who spends an alarming amount of time attacking Azerbaijan and rejecting any progress on peace. In his latest offering, without naming him he speaks on behalf of one Ruben Vardanyan, the ethnic Armenian oligarch parachuted illegally into Azerbaijani territory from Moscow to act as leader of the separatists. Lord Alton conveniently omits that Mr Vardanyan has been sanctioned by Ukraine for his support of war and that he openly directed acts of violence against Azerbaijan. With no legal expertise to speak of, Alton calls Vardanyan and others facing trial in Azerbaijan 'unjustly held,' despite the recent decisions by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the International Court of Justice, which reaffirm the opposite: that the trial is not arbitrary, there is no mistreatment of defendants, and the trial is transparent and open to the public. This may not matter to Alton's view of history, but it does matter to the rest of the world. To justify his advocacy for Armenia's decades-long violation of international law, Alton invokes the cliché of Armenia being the 'first Christian nation.' Even if one disregards the questionable factual basis for such a claim, who in their right mind justifies their support for the illegal actions of a country today by the religious choices of the state that occupied the same geographical location in the fourth century AD? Do we judge modern Britain by what the Romans were doing in Londinium 1,800 years ago? Of course not. It would be absurd. Perhaps, a better option would be to heed the late Pope Francis, who praised Azerbaijan's culture of diversity and inclusivity during his visit to our country just under a decade ago. He called for a genuine peace between our two nations – a peace free from double standards and dividing narratives.
