The main topics of the day in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, 15-19 May, 2023

● The son of Armenian Prime Minister Ashot Pashinyan and Gayane Hakobyan, accused of organising his “abduction”, confronted each other. Hakobyan, the mother of one of the soldiers who died in the 44-day war, has been detained. Her lawyer Ruben Melikyan said she is not pleading guilty and has gone on a hunger strike in protest.

● Parents of the dead soldiers gathered outside the courthouse in Yerevan in defence of Ganna Hakobyan. They blocked Arshakunyats Avenue and, before that, tried to go inside to get news about the detainee, but police prevented them from doing so.

● The CDI (Centrist Democratic International) general assembly called on the Armenian authorities not to use criminal cases for political purposes.

● The ban on dairy products from Armenia could have had a Russian or Iranian factor, according to the Economy Minister. We wrote about the ban in detail here

● The Yerevan cognac factory, which is owned by French company Pernod Ricard, will stop exporting its products to Russia, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan confirmed.

● In Armenia, children who grew up without parents will have more opportunities for free education. They are already entitled to a free university education until age 23, but many enlist in the army or go on maternity leave in this age bracket. This restriction will now be removed.

● The government has decided that Armenia will open a military attaché post at the embassy in India. Who will be appointed to the post is not yet known.

● Another round of talks on a draft peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be held today in Moscow between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Jayhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in attendance.

● A trilateral meeting between Aliyev-Putin-Pashinyan will be held in Moscow on 25 May.

● There is a serious unbalanced gender ratio among children in Azerbaijan. According to the United Nations Population Fund, if the imbalance persists in the country, by 2050, 15,000 more boys will be born than girls annually. Experts call selective abortions the main reason for this trend.

● The Kazakh Teachers Seminary will train personnel for Azerbaijani-speaking schools in Georgia. “I also consider it important to hold relevant trainings for teachers of Georgian-language schools in Azerbaijan,” said Emin Amrullayev, Azerbaijani Minister of Science and Education, who is on a visit to Georgia.

● The International Monetary Fund will close its office in Baku at the end of June. The reason for this decision was given as the strong economy and the availability of financial resources in Azerbaijan. Cooperation in consultations between Azerbaijan and the IMF is also not expected in the near future, the international organization added.

● Azerbaijan will create private pension funds. The chairman of the State Fund of Social Protection of Azerbaijan Himalay Mamishov said.

● Azerbaijanis will be paid compensation for salary delays. The decision was made by the country’s constitutional court. The ruling states that “for each day of delay an employee shall be paid compensation in an amount not less than 1% of his salary”.

● The sale of cars produced in Azerbaijan will be exempt from VAT. The decision will come into force on 1 May for a period of 10 years.

● A protest march against the arrival of the first Russian airline’s Russian aircraft Azimut in Georgia will start in Tbilisi today at 12:00pm, it will land at Tbilisi airport at 1:50pm. The participants will gather at the Republic Square and go to the airport. An appeal to the authorities to stop direct flights to Russia has been signed by 108 NGOs.

● The director and teacher of a kindergarten in Tbilisi, who abused children, were sacked.

● “President is obliged to put everything aside in order to pardon Nika Gvaramia (imprisoned director of independent TV station Mtavari arch).” – Former public defender Nino Lomjaria.

● Hungarian ambassador to Georgia: “We have been guaranteed by the ministry that Saakashvili is getting proper medical treatment.”

● Justice Minister Rati Bregadze confirmed that the Strasbourg court’s refusal to transfer jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili to Poland for treatment is final.

● The Interior Ministry has detained 55 people on drug charges, including 37 drug traffickers. Chairman of the opposition United National Movement Levan Khabeishvili: “National Security Service, the Russian Dream (which means the ruling Georgian Dream party) and Chinchaladze (one of the four judges, who are under US sanction for corruption) were in full control of the process of elections to the Supreme Council of Justice. Four members of parliament from the same party resigned after they voted for the ruling party’s candidates to the High Council of Justice. Read more here

● Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition Irakli Kobakhidze: “Our principle is simple – no representative of the United National Movement in any government body.

●  “We are afraid that discrediting statements of the president harms the intentions of the country to get the status of an EU candidate, so it is better that she does not have a large audience,” Irakli Kobakhidze commented on the statement of Salome Zurabishvili that the government has not allowed her to travel to Brussels for over a month.

●  “Georgian authorities must ensure that Mikheil Saakashvili’s rights are protected and he receives appropriate medical care”: US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.

●  Those accused of robbing and gang-raping an elderly nun in Tskhramukhi nunnery have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

● “The Georgian government has said it supports joining NATO and has taken some small steps to do so, but we don’t see any enthusiasm”: Hudson Institute Senior Fellow, Luke Coffey.

●  The Georgian presidential administration has publicly complained that it has been waiting for Georgian government approval since April 27 for Salome Zurabishvili to travel to Brussels, where she is set to address the European Parliament on May 31.

●  “Any cooperation with a pro-occupation regime is an act against the people”: former President Mikheil Saakashvili.

●  An anti-terrorist operation has taken place in Georgia – six people have been detained on suspicion of links to the Islamic State terrorist organisation, the state security service says.

●  “Internationally, norms are being approved, sexual debauchery is being encouraged”: Rev. Shio Mujiri The Patriarchate of Georgia celebrated Family Sanctity Day yesterday – as opposed to Anti-Homophobia Day, which is celebrated all over the world

● The presidents of Russia and Iran took part in the signing ceremony of the agreement on the construction of the Resht-Astara railway. Azerbaijan thus became a key transit country on the western arm of the North-South route.

●  “The Armenian Armed Forces used combat drones against the Azerbaijani military. A survey of the area revealed the remains of improvised shells fired by the Armenian side using UAVs. There are no casualties on the Azerbaijani side and retaliatory measures are being taken,” the Azerbaijani defence ministry said in a morning report.

● The Azerbaijani defence ministry last night denied the involvement of the Azerbaijani military in the incident, in which, according to the Armenian defence ministry, a soldier and a paramedic were wounded.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has resumed the delivery of medicines and other medical supplies to medical facilities on the Lachin-Khankendi (Stepanakert) road. The information was confirmed by the ICRC Azerbaijani office.

●  Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov addressed the IV Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik. “Azerbaijan is committed to the reintegration of ethnic Armenians living in the Karabakh region into Azerbaijani society,” he said.

● The Russian side confirmed a meeting between the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow on 19 May. “The foreign ministers will hold bilateral talks on the peace treaty,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

● Azerbaijan and Armenia failed to sign a Council of Europe declaration in Reykjavik on creating a “register of damage” to Ukraine from the Russian EWS. Moldova, Georgia and the Baltic states have joined the initiative.

●  Two children are tragically killed in Baku. The 10-year-old residents of the Mashtagh settlement in Baku fell into a well filled with water, fuel oil and household waste. Rescuers retrieved the bodies of the minors.

●  In Azerbaijan, people are getting married less often and divorced more often. In the year’s first quarter, 11870 marriages and 5118 divorces were registered. Compared to the same period last year, the number of marriages per 1,000 population decreased from 5.9 to 4.7, while the number of divorces increased from 1.5 to 2.0.

●  Construction of Azerbaijan’s first toll road from Baku to the Russian border will be completed at the end of the year. The distance from Baku to the Russian border will be reduced from 208 to 192 km after the road is put into operation. The cost of the trip has not been determined yet.

●  On 17 May, on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, the LGBT flag was hoisted in front of the British Embassy in Baku.

●  Armenia’s Investigative Committee has detained the mother of a dead soldier on the trail of Ashot Pashinyan’s “kidnapping”. According to the investigation, the prime minister’s son accidentally met the parents of those killed during the 44-day war on the street. He agreed to get into the car of the mother of one of them to talk. But the car suddenly drove off, and the woman started talking about the war and the losses.

Pashinyan junior regarded her behaviour as “inadequate” and demanded to stop the car. But the woman said she had nothing to lose, she could kill him and was taking him to the “Yerablur” military pantheon.

As a result, he managed to jump out of the car but was “hit” by another, in which he also saw the soldiers’ parents.
A case under the article on kidnapping has been opened and the woman has been detained. She became ill in the ward overnight and was admitted to a medical centre in the capital.

● During the night, many people gathered outside the police station where the parents of the dead soldiers were taken to after the incident with Pashinyan Jr. Clashes broke out periodically between them and police officers.

●  Armenia and Azerbaijan did not sign a Council of Europe agreement in Reykjavik to create a “register of damage” to Ukraine from Russian SSW. Moldova, Georgia and the Baltic states joined the initiative.

● By suggesting Armenians withdraw from the Russian base, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said the US and the West are actively trying to rock the situation in the CIS space. He named Armenia as one of the targets of the Americans.

“The Russian Foreign Ministry said he was trying to persuade Armenians to leave the territory of their country, to drive away the Russians and their border guards, and to remove the military base. We will help you to provide security.”

● Armenian Ministry of Defence: Azerbaijani military fired at Armenian posts in the Sotk area and an ambulance, killing one soldier and wounding a paramedic.

●  Moscow calls on Yerevan and Baku to refrain from provocative actions and escalating the situation on the border: Zakharova on the situation in Sotk.

● In connection with the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia celebrated today, the embassies have issued a joint statement, urging the Georgian government to protect the rights of LGBTIQI+ persons and contribute to the development of an inclusive society. The Georgian Church has declared May 17 as a ‘Day of Family Holiness’: churches will hold services, and believers are encouraged to go out with their families for a walk on the streets.

● US State Department official Vedant Patel again states that direct flights between Georgia and Russia will be “increasingly disturbing not only the United States, but also Western countries.”

●  “An open and rude attempt to change power in Georgia,” Irakli Kobakhidze called the agreement of authorities with the opposition signed on April 19, 2021, after months of discussions with the personal facilitation of President of the European Council Charles Michel. Read more about the five points of that agreement here ? https://cutt.ly/i6GY3xf

● Thousands of angry messages have appeared on Georgian Airways’ Facebook page, the authors of which condemn the airline’s decision to resume flights to Moscow and call those who work there traitors to Georgia. In response, the company shut down the comment option and issued a sharp letter on behalf of its employees. The condemnation of society in the comments was called “an assault on our patriotic feelings” and the authors of negative comments were asked to “stay away”.

“We are not a political organisation and we do not make political decisions [… Georgian Airways is an airline whose founders and employees evacuated children, women,the elderly and wounded from burning Sukhumi during the Abkhazian War at risk. We served the interests of the Georgian people even in war conditions and we will serve them in peaceful conditions.”

● Mikhail Saakashvili: “I had the worst test results back last week, but Strasbourg decided that it was normal.”

● “Russian arms really did not reach Armenia” – the Foreign Ministry confirmed the statement of the Secretary of the Soviet Union Armen Grigoryan that Yerevan did not receive arms from Moscow for which it was paid.

● The possibility of withdrawing from the Central Committee of Ukraine was discussed, but now there is no such issue on the agenda of Yerevan – Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry.

● Almost three tons of cocaine has been found in Italy in containers with bananas that were headed to Armenia from Ecuador via Batumi. Experts estimate that the party could cost about 800 million euros.

● The elections in Turkey did not meet the expectations of the Armenian community. Turkish MP of Armenian descent Karo Pailan told Armenpress that in the event of Erdogan’s victory normalization of relations with Armenia will be harder as Ankara will become more radical.

● In Italy, a collection of works by the outstanding Armenian poet Yegishe Charenz in Italian has been published.

● Two Armenian citizens who stole 58 million drams from the state budget have been arrested. In June-July 2022, the suspects falsified official documents of legal importance, and produced fake prints on the basis of which they damaged the state budget. They then transferred the money into the accounts of fictitious enterprises they had created, which allowed them to cash in a large amount of money.

● The vice-president of Armenia in UNESCO announced numerous cases of destruction, vandalism and appropriation of Armenian cultural heritage since 2020 in Azerbaijani-controlled territories. Christian Ter-Stepanyan called it “a Baku policy to destroy any Armenian cultural trace in Nagorno-Karabakh” and called for the urgent sending of the UNESCO mission to Nagorno-Qarabakh and the surrounding territories.

● “President Heydar Aliyev, together with the authorities of Georgia and Turkey, made the impossible possible by restoring trade routes between Europe and Asia.” This was stated by Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili at a special meeting of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Heydar Aliyev.

● The head of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan takes part in the IV summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik. As part of the visit, Jayhun Bairamov will also hold a number of meetings.

● Azerbaijan offers to start the new school year from September 1. The Minister of Education of the country Emin Amrullayev took such an initiative. The school year in Azerbaijan currently begins on September 15.

● The 39th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship starts in Baku today. 315 athletes from 38 countries will take part in the tournament.

● A statement by the EU ambassador to Armenia, Andrea Wiktorin, made some noise. She said at a briefing that the withdrawal was not just about the Azerbaijani forces, but also about the Armenian forces. “It was clearly noted during the talks that there are 1-2 areas where Armenian troops are in the border territories,” the ambassador said.

Her statement did not please either the authorities or the opposition. ”I know that Armenian troops are where they should be at the moment, and Azerbaijani troops have invaded Armenian territory,” Andranik Kocharyan, head of the parliamentary commission, told her.

Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan said Andrea Viktorin should not “stick her nose in places where it is not asked for” and should not make statements on a topic she does not know about.

● Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is on a working visit to Iceland, where he will participate in the fourth Council of Europe summit on 16-17 May.

● Vahagn Vermishyan, former chairman of Armenia’s Urban Development Committee, was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was detained and then arrested in 2020 in a case of bribery on a particularly large scale.

● The Eurasian Development Bank will invest about $100 million in Armenia in 2023.

● Minibuses will disappear from Yerevan streets by early autumn. 363 minibuses are to be replaced by 143 buses, promises Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinyan.

● Giorgi Megrelishvili, illegally detained by the Russian military on 14 May in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, has been released, the state security service said.

● The Russian airline Azimut, which received permission from Georgia to reinstate flights and will be able to fly between Moscow and Tbilisi from 17 May, is under Ukrainian sanctions.

● Russian airline Red Wings is interested in flying to Georgia, TASS news agency reported citing the company’s press service.

● The parliamentary majority invites the opposition to submit their acceptable candidates for the High Council of Justice by the end of 16 May.

● The US Embassy supported “all the hardworking, dedicated judges who are working to strengthen the rule of law and build an independent judiciary in Georgia.” “We applaud all that you are doing for the European Union of Georgia to open the country’s way there.”

● Rescuers are searching for a missing man in the Gudamakri Gorge. Several people were rafting down the gorge when one of them fell into the river.

● The State Security Service of Azerbaijan detained and prosecuted Akhmedov Rashad Akhmed Oglu, born in 1980, who is suspected of state treason and planning to commit terrorist and subversive acts against the country. “Akhmedov was residing in a third country and was carrying out assignments of the Armenian special services,” the SSS said in a statement.

● Baku has reacted to EU Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Victorine, who said “the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh must be ensured” and pointed to the need for an “international mechanism” for this purpose. “The efforts of the Azerbaijani side to dialogue with Armenian residents in the said direction must not be obstructed and prejudice against our territorial integrity and sovereignty must be put to rest,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

● Jeyhun Bayramov and Josep Borrel met in Brussels. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister and Head of European Diplomacy discussed the prospects of cooperation between Baku and the EU. The sides also exchanged views on the process of normalisation of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the current situation in the region.

● European Commission representative for energy policy strategy Cristina Lobillo Borrero will visit Azerbaijan on 1 June. She will take part in the Baku Energy Forum. The event will be held from 31 May to 3 June in Baku.

● “Dangerous” oranges were imported from Turkey to Azerbaijan. The pest organism Citrus tristeza virus was found in 15150 kg of citrus fruit. The products have been disposed of.

● The concert of Morgenstern, declared a foreign agent in Russia, was cancelled in Baku. The Russian rapper was due to sing in the Azerbaijani capital on 20 May. “The concert was just days away and was cancelled due to technical reasons. The event will not take place,” event organisers confirmed.

● Baku will host the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in 2027. The competition will be held from September 15 to 19 at the National Gymnastics Arena.

● Azerbaijani cavalrymen on Karabakh horses performed at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in the UK. The delegation presented a special programme called ‘Land of Fire’.

● Almost the entire Azerbaijani social media segment and media in the country last night discussed the vote count in Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections. According to preliminary data, the winner of the elections is not known, and a second round will be held on 28 May. Ilham Aliyev congratulated Erdogan on winning the majority of votes in the Turkish presidential election so far.

● Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels with Nicolas Pashinyan through the mediation of European Council President Charles Michel. According to Azerbaijani experts, the main outcome of the meeting was the recognition of the country’s territorial integrity and confirmation that the territory of the former NKAO belongs to Azerbaijan.

● “The military attachés were informed of the Armenian Armed Forces’ provocation against Azerbaijan. The foreign representatives were presented with relevant video footage. After the briefing they were also shown the remnants of the Armenian UAV neutralised the day before,” the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said in a statement after a meeting with military attachés of diplomatic missions accredited in the country.

● A friendly match between football teams Sabah (Baku) and Besiktas (Istanbul) was held in Baku, the entire proceeds from which will be transferred to the fund for assistance to victims of devastating earthquakes in Turkey. The game ended in a 3-3 draw.

● A trilateral meeting between Nicola Pashinian, Ilham Aliyev and Charles Michel has concluded in Brussels. The leaders expressed unequivocal commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration and respectively the integrity of 29,800 square kilometres of Armenia and 86,600 square kilometres of Azerbaijan. “The final delimitation of the border will be agreed during the negotiations,” Charles Michel said after the meeting.

● Chairman of the European Council Charles Michels said the talks “resulted in an understanding that more detainees will be released in the coming weeks”.

● “There is no pro-Western sentiment in Nagorno-Karabakh. There is no Soros. Instead of NATO there is the PKK, the Russian peacekeeping contingent. And yet anti-Russian sentiments have emerged there. Why do you think? Because of Russia itself, not because of the West. Russia is shaping its own attitude,” Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan told Novaya Gazeta Europe.

● Yerevan State University is the leader among Armenian universities in terms of the number of applicants for 2023-2024 academic year.

● The US ambassador to Armenia met with family members of missing and captive servicemen

● Belgium is planning to open an embassy in Armenia

● Famous opera singer Anita Rakhvelishvili (pictured) criticized the government for its decision to agree to the resumption of direct flights with Russia. “They have already crossed all the limits of shame. The resumption of flights with Russia – when the whole world stopped flying with them? We are warned that all European airlines will leave the Georgian market. We will fly only to Minsk, Moscow and some Irkutsk. Welcome to USSR!The ruling party should call itself not “Georgia’s Dream”, but “Georgia’s End”.

● A petition has been created demanding to prevent the resumption of direct flights from Russia and introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens, it is here https://rb.gy/2l41l

● Georgian Dream MP Rima Beradze welcomed Russia’s decision to abolish visas for Georgian citizens and said it was “good prospects for the population”.

● Russian border guards again detained a citizen of Georgia near the village of Nikozi in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

● The Ministry of Internal Affairs detained four people who forced children to sell flowers and beg.

● On May 14-15, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loke Rasmussen will visit Georgia.

● Chairman of the ruling party Irakli Kobakhidze welcomed the decision of the Strasbourg court, which did not support the request to transfer Mikheil Saakashvili to Warsaw for treatment: “Strasbourg put an end to the campaign, which claimed that Saakashvili died in the clinic every day.”

●  Two workers died while working to strengthen the wall in Tbilisi.

The main topics of the day in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, 8-12 May, 2023