South Caucasus Weekly Review looks into major developments in Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

South Caucasus Weekly Review: 11-17 Jul 22

This project of Azernews is designed to cover major weekly developments in the South Caucasian nations

HIGHLIGHTS

Armenian and Turkish leaders stress the need for bilateral normalization for regional peace

Yerevan hails Brussels’ regional peace-building efforts

Armenian premier, US intelligence chief mull regional peace, security

Prime minister denies former PM Ivanishvili’s involvement in Georgian politics

Azerbaijan, EU working on new cooperation agreement - President Aliyev

Azerbaijani, Armenian foreign ministers hold first direct meeting in Tbilisi

ARMENIA

Armenian and Turkish leaders stress the need for normalization for regional peace

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan have emphasized the importance of normalizing ties between the two countries to bolster regional peace and stability.

In their telephone conversation on July 11, the two leaders expressed their expectations for the early implementation of the agreements reached during the meeting between the special representatives on July 1.

"I hope that the telephone conversation between President Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan will speed up the ongoing normalization process between the two countries," Garo Paylan a Turkish parliamentary of Armenian origin tweeted.

Armenia's ambassador-at-large, leader of the Bright Armenia party Edmon Marukyan recalled that the direct contact between the Armenian and Turkish leaders occurred 10 years ago and that “this is a very important step in the normalization process of the Armenian-Turkish relations”.

“We should understand that constantly having closed borders and zero diplomatic relations with Turkey will take us nowhere, especially also taking into account the realities of the recent war. It’s important for the dialogue to continue and reach its successful conclusion in the form of opening borders and establishing diplomatic relations. Armenia is continuing productive diplomacy,” he said.

Yerevan hails Brussels’s regional peace-building efforts

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan welcomed European Council President Charles Michel’s efforts aimed at strengthening mutual understanding and stability in the region, Azernews reports, citing Armenian media.

Pashinyan made the remarks during a meeting with the European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar, who arrived in Armenia “for a short visit” on July 13.

At the meeting, the sides discussed the ongoing processes in the South Caucasus, the situation around Karabakh, and the steps aimed at ensuring regional peace and stability. In particular, the sides exchanged thoughts on the results of the trilateral meetings in Sochi with the mediation of the Russian president and the Brussels meetings under the auspices of the European Council president, as well as the implementation of the trilateral agreements signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

On July 14, Mher Grigoryan, deputy prime minister of Armenia, spoke with Klaar about regional trends, as well as present issues and potential solutions.

Armenian premier, US intelligence chief mull regional peace, security

On July 15, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received CIS Director William Burns, Azernews reports, citing Armenian media.

The sides talked about topics pertaining to national and international security, as well as the war on terrorism. The developments occurring in the South Caucasus region were also covered.

During the meeting with Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, the parties discussed the future of the Armenia-US bilateral relations.

Grigoryan provided an overview of the regional security situation, current difficulties, and Armenia's strategy for bringing peace to the region. The normalization processes between Armenia and Turkey and Armenia and Azerbaijan were discussed in this context.

GEORGIA

Prime minister denies former PM Ivanishvili’s involvement in Georgian politics

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili dismissed the allegations of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s involvement in domestic politics, Azernews reports, citing Georgian media.

He ascribed claims that Ivanishvili runs and controls the Georgian government and parliament as “a complete farce and absurdity".

“As they have no evidence of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s involvement in politics, their so-called main ‘evidence’ of the oligarchic rule is the fact that I and several leading members of our political team entered politics under his leadership,” Garibashvili said.

In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president on July 18, Garibashvili asked the EU officials to refrain from “personification” a section of the European Parliament’s resolution on the de-oligarchization of Georgia.

“The above entries of the Resolution passed by the European Parliament are not based on any evidence and are aimed at discrediting the current system of governance in Georgia. Opponents have never produced any evidence of Bidzina Ivanishvili's intervention in politics or justice; besides, he no longer runs businesses in the country and no precedent of any kind exists on alleged personal or business connections with Russia. Thus, everything that was noted in the Resolution about informal governance is totally fictional,” the letter reads.

The resolution on Georgia, which was passed by the European Parliament on June 9, 2022, strictly condemned former prime minister and businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili’s “destructive role” in Georgian politics and his “exposed personal and business links to the Kremlin, which determine the position of the current government of Georgia towards sanctions on Russia”.

Georgia was denied an EU candidate status as a result of the disagreements with the organization, which sparked protests in the country.

“If Georgian Dream doesn’t understand what de-oligarchization means, which is mentioned in the proposal of the European Commission, I will help them to understand – it means “de-Bidzinization” or “de-Ivanishvilization” of Georgia,” European parliamentarian Rasa Juknevi?ien? said in her speech in the European Parliament.

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan, EU working on new cooperation deal - President Aliyev

Azerbaijan and the European Union are working on a new cooperation agreement, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting dedicated to the results of six months of 2022, Azernews reports.

“Active cooperation was maintained with the European Union. As you know, we are working on a new agreement. A greater part of the text has been agreed and the issues that have not been agreed on are being discussed. I do hope that all issues will be agreed on in the near future,” Aliyev stressed.

“Our relations with neighboring countries have always been one of our top priorities, and steps have been taken in this direction this year – my meetings with the presidents of Russia, Iran, and Georgia are further evidence of that,” he added.

Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization process

Aliyev underlined that despite the fact that significant measures toward restoration of Azerbaijan-Armenia ties were taken in the first six months of 2022, there have been no “tangible results yet”.

“Although a year and eight months have passed since the Patriotic War, unfortunately, Armenia has yet to fulfill the obligations it was forced to take upon itself,” Aliyev emphasized.

He added that Armenia refuses to fulfill its obligations defined in the trilateral statement signed between the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders on 10 November 2020.

“One of them is the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Karabakh. This issue has not been resolved to this day. We have raised this issue many times, but Armenia keeps delaying it. At the same time, we raised this issue with the Russian military leadership, and a high-ranking official of the Russian Defense Ministry, while on a visit to Azerbaijan a few months ago, promised to our Defense Ministry that Armenian armed forces would withdraw from Karabakh by June. It is the middle of July now, but this issue has not been resolved yet. Armenia does not fulfill these obligations in contravention of the 10 November Declaration,” Aliyev stressed.

Azerbaijani, Armenian foreign ministers hold first direct meeting in Tbilisi

On July 16, 2022, a bilateral meeting was held between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The ministers mulled a number of issues as well as the normalization of relations between the two countries. Both parties underlined the implementation of their commitments and exchanged views on possible future steps.

Bayramov noted that all efforts should be aimed at achieving progress in the regulation of interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia based on the post-conflict realities that arose after the resolution of the armed conflict between the two states. In this context, the need to implement all the provisions of the trilateral statements signed by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders, especially the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, was emphasized.

Touching on humanitarian issues, Bayramov drew attention to the importance of clarifying the fate of nearly 4,000 missing Azerbaijanis.

The ministers stressed the importance of maintaining direct engagement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.