Post-revolutionary developments in Armenia discussed at Carnegie Foundation

The Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace foundation has hosted public debate dedicated to the post-revolutionary and post-electoral developments in Armenia.

Keynote speakers at the event were Arsen Kharatyan, the editor in chief of the Georgian-Armenian news agency ALIQ MEDIA, and Emil Sanamyan, a journalist and a co-worker of the Armenian Studies chair at the University of the Southern California.

The discussion focused on the 2018 developments and the domestic and the foreign policies adopted by the new authorities of Armenia, the Voice of America reports.

Both speakers agreed that the non-violent “Velvet Revolution” was unprecedented in both content and character. Highlighting the absence of a foreign intervention, especially by Russia, Kharatyan noted that Moscow probably “learned lessons” from the Ukrainian crisis and the Georgian events, while Sanamyan attributed the somewhat neutral stance to the Russian authorities’ “not quite warm relations” with either the government or the opposition of Armenia, and the absence of a foreign agenda in the popular movement led by Nikol Pashinyan.

The speakers also emphasized the importance of the United States’ engagement in the post-revolutionary developments and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict.

Kharatyan said that the incumbent authorities expect particularly the United States’ assistance in the fight against corruption, state administration reforms and democracy development. He also stressed the importance of deepening the business cooperation, emphasizing the need of foreign investments in the country’s economy.

Sanamyan highlighted the Congress’ potentially important role in the deepening of the relations with Armenia. He added that the close cooperation with Washington might be important also in terms of maintaining the balance with the developing Armenian-Russian relations.

Addressing the US engagement in the Karabakh peace talks, Sanmayan stressed the need of the Armenian authorities’ active efforts towards seeking a dialogue with the Azerbaijani society. Kharatyan, for his part, called for the Washington authorities’ efforts towards raising status of the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

He also gave his positive evaluation of the recent contacts between Pashinyan and the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev. The speakers also emphasized the importance of the US and EU assistance in the non-official Track II dialogue.