Armenian PM unveils 6-month action plan

YEREVAN: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday unveiled a six-month action plan he said was designed to ensure his country’s democratic stability even as the make-up of the government was in flux.

Pashinyan, in a Facebook post, reiterated on Wednesday that he took full responsibility for what had happened, but said he was now responsible for stabilising Armenia and ensuring its national security.

“I am completely resolved,” he wrote, before listing 15 action points he wanted to target.

He said he wanted to try to restore a formal negotiation process over Nagorno-karabakh under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk group and to prioritise the return of people to territory still controlled by ethnic Armenians.

That meant helping people restore homes and damaged infrastructure, offering financial help to the families of soldiers killed in the conflict, and caring properly for those who had been wounded.

He said he also wanted to address the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh, carry out military reform, amend election law, and focus on tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the economy.

“In June 2021 I will present a report on this road map,” Pashinyan wrote.

“Public opinion and reaction will be taken into account for deciding future actions.”

Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to monitor a cease-fire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia that aims to end the conflict in the region.

In a show of hands, legislators voted in favour of a one-year mandate allowing the government to send troops to Azerbaijan, where they would observe possible violations of the truce from a joint Turkish-russian monitoring centre.

The motion for the deployment in Azerbaijan was backed by four out of five parties in Turkey’s parliament. Erdogan’s government said the Turkish peacekeepers were crucial for the region’s peace and welfare and for Turkey’s national interests.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan who regard themselves as one state and two people, will continue to struggle together for their independence and future,” said Ismet Yilmaz, who heads the parliamentary defense commitee. “It is our historic and strategic responsibility to ensure that (Turkish troops) take up duty at the joint center to maintain the cease-fire and prevent violations.”

Putin on Tuesday defended the ceasefire deal ater France called for him to fix “ambiguities” in the text.