“Haykakan Zhamanak” describes as “unprecedented” Thursday’s joint declaration on Nagorno-Karabakh that was issued by the foreign ministers of Russia and France and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried. The paper says the mediating powers made clear their intention to bring the Karabakh peace process to a successful conclusion in the “coming months.” It says they also for the first time ever called for a “concrete” confidence-building measures such as a withdrawal of Armenian and Azerbaijani snipers from frontline positions.
Manvel Sargsian, a political analyst, tells “Taregir” that the Moscow declaration signed by the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan was a setback for the Armenian side. “The declaration is unacceptable to me because it distorts the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” he says. “What is important is not the content of the declaration but the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh did not take part in the signing of that declaration.”
The daily “Kapital” carries an interview with Bedros Terzian, a Paris-based energy expert. “As regards Azerbaijan, the fall in oil prices comes at a time then that country has just maximized its oil production but has yet to fully ensure returns on investments made in recent years in oil extraction,” he says. “Besides, in Azerbaijan and other countries the cost of oil extraction has gone up significantly.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” scrutinizes the Armenian opposition’s stance on the Fact-Finding Group of Experts that was formed by President Serzh Sarkisian to investigate the March 1 violence in Yerevan. The paper notes that opposition representatives initially claimed that they will not name representatives to the body because a corresponding decree signed by Sarkisian is unconstitutional. They then demanded that the group hold its meetings at the office of Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, rather than the parliament building. The paper calls this demand an “idiocy,” laughing off opposition arguments that March 1 witnesses visiting the parliament building would be exposed by security guards protecting the National Assembly.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
Manvel Sargsian, a political analyst, tells “Taregir” that the Moscow declaration signed by the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan was a setback for the Armenian side. “The declaration is unacceptable to me because it distorts the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” he says. “What is important is not the content of the declaration but the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh did not take part in the signing of that declaration.”
The daily “Kapital” carries an interview with Bedros Terzian, a Paris-based energy expert. “As regards Azerbaijan, the fall in oil prices comes at a time then that country has just maximized its oil production but has yet to fully ensure returns on investments made in recent years in oil extraction,” he says. “Besides, in Azerbaijan and other countries the cost of oil extraction has gone up significantly.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” scrutinizes the Armenian opposition’s stance on the Fact-Finding Group of Experts that was formed by President Serzh Sarkisian to investigate the March 1 violence in Yerevan. The paper notes that opposition representatives initially claimed that they will not name representatives to the body because a corresponding decree signed by Sarkisian is unconstitutional. They then demanded that the group hold its meetings at the office of Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, rather than the parliament building. The paper calls this demand an “idiocy,” laughing off opposition arguments that March 1 witnesses visiting the parliament building would be exposed by security guards protecting the National Assembly.
(Aghasi Yenokian)