Zhamanak: Pashinyan convenes National Security Council after Turkish-Iranian-Russian summit

At the National Security Council (NSC) meeting on September 17, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the developments in Armenia “go in tune with the security expectations,” the paper says, citing an official government report.

Meantime it notes that the meeting was conducted just a day after the Turkish, Russian and Iranian leaders met in Ankara for a trilateral summit to discuss the developments in and around Syria. Though the meeting, held in the neighboring Turkey, went unnoticed amid the heated domestic political developments in Armenia (resignation of Artur Vanetsyan from the post of the National Security Service director, etc.), the topic has  multi-layer ramifications reaching the Caucasus region, says the paper. It cites the positive tone of the statements made by the three countries' leaders after the summit, admitting at the same time that the negotiations were not absolutely without disagreements.

″Moreover, the trilateral format, which by and large comes from Ankara, is more a format of managing discords rather than implying any harmony. It would be naivety, of course, to believe the meeting alone would be decisive for Syria or the Caucus, yet it is important to have the understanding of the kind of [decisions] the sides arrived at in Ankara,″ the paper says, adding that the next intestate event, the EAEU Supreme Council session, is going to be held in Yerevan.

Noting that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are attending the event scheduled for October 1, the paper predicts a high likelihood of influence by the Ankara summit. Another important moment, it says, is that the EAEU summit will follow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's upcoming visit to the United States.

Though the official list, so to speak, or the schedule does not look absolutely impressive, formal contacts with the administration officials are likely to have their impact on the Russian and Iranian leaders' agenda in Yerevan, says the paper, adding that the issue is gaining significance especially in the run-up to the Armenian-Azerbaijani ministerial summit in Washington.