“Zhoghovurd” reports on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s “noteworthy” visit to Baku which came ahead of Wednesday’s meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. Lavrov spoke of “possibilities of achieving a compromise” on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after holding talks with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Tuesday. Mammadyarov made a similar statement at their joint news conference. The paper also notes Lavrov’s remark that the future of Karabakh will be determined by the territory’s “entire population,” presumably including Azerbaijanis who used to live there.
“Zhamanak” speculates that the main objective of the mediating powers and Russia in particular is to help maintain the peaceful status quo in Karabakh. The paper says they realized after last year’s Armenian “Velvet Revolution” that Armenia’s new, far more legitimate government will adopt a tougher position on resolving the Karabakh conflict. It says they are therefore trying to find “mechanisms for a stable management” of the current situation in the conflict zone.
Lragir.am reacts to Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian’s allegations that Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutian showed little interest in investment projects in the Armenian capital proposed by Tsarukian’s business partners from the United Arab Emirates. The publication says that although Tsarukian has a grudge against Marutian he is now fighting not only against the mayor but also for a dominant position in the Armenian opposition camp. It says the BHK and other opposition groups are already vying for that status even though the next parliamentary elections are due in 2023. “Since the revolution the other opposition forces’ stock has depreciated so much that even four years may not be enough time for them to more or less regain their competitiveness,” it says. “In that sense, Gagik Tsarukian is in a special position because as a result of the revolution he is stuck in between the rejection of the former regime and the victory of the revolution. Tsarukian’s task is more difficult that the rejected regime’s. The latter are more uninhibited and free to form a new protest base and can very quickly gain momentum.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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