Today we live in a society, which can not imagine life without expressing views on social media. Probably it does have certain advantages. Nevertheless, many participants of active discussions have already forgotten or do not even know about the developments, which unfolded in Armenia 5, 10 or 15 years ago.   

To fill the gap Mediamax presents 5/10/15 project, which introduce developments in Armenia 5, 10 and 15 years ago.

•    15 YEARS AGO: FEBRUARY 8-14, 2006

“Asymmetric confederation”

On February 8, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said in Stockholm that Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh aimed for maximum possible integration.

At the meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of Sweden, he recalled that several months ago he had expressed the opinion that relations between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh could be described as “asymmetric confederation”.

Kocharyan noted that Yerevan and Stepanakert did not pursue settlement policy in the territories making up the “security belt” around Nagorno-Karabakh. According to him, such policy would create “political difficulties” for Armenia. Kocharyan pointed out that the OSCE Fact Finding Mission reiterated that there was no state land settlement policy in those territories.

The talks in Rambouillet

The extended talks between Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict started in the Paris suburb of Rambouillet on February 10. The talks involved the OSCE Minsk Group’s American, Russian and French Co-chairs, Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers, and Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

Before that, morning, Armenian and Azeri presidents held separate meetings with President of France Jacques Chirac in Paris.

Robert Kocharyan and Jacques Chirac on February 20, 2006

Photo: REUTERS

The negotiations between Kocharyan and Aliyev continued on February 11.

On February 14, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian urged to abstain from “categorical assessments” of Kocharyan-Aliyev meeting in Rambouillet. According to Oskanian, “the fact that the presidents failed to come to agreement in Rambouillet does not exclude the possibility that the progress may be achieved during this year.”

On the same day, in the interview to Mediamax, Spokesman for Armenian President Viktor Soghomonian commented on the statement by head of the International Relations Department of Azerbaijani Presidential Staff Novruz Mamedov, who said that “Robert Kocharyan left the talks in Rambouillet unfinished.”

“In fact, on February 11 in Rambouillet Armenian President proposed to generalize the talks when it became evident that no results will be achieved. President Kocharyan values his time and believes that it’s not serious to imitate the talks, even for prolonging his stay in beautiful Paris,” Soghomonyan said.

•    10 YEARS AGO: FEBRUARY 8-14, 2011

Time for “decisive action”

On February 12, the U.S., French and American Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group issued a statement following their regional visit. It read in particular:

“In their meetings in both Yerevan and Baku, the Co-Chairs stressed that the time has arrived for decisive action on behalf of peace to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Co-Chairs believe there has been positive movement as a result of the work that has been done since the October 2010 Astrakhan Summit. In that context, they urged the sides to make further progress to allow the peace process to proceed to its next phase. The Co-Chairs pledged their support for the sides as they make the necessary decisions to reach a peaceful settlement. To promote a climate conducive to peace, the Co-Chairs again urged the sides to show restraint in their public statements.”

•    5 YEARS AGO: FEBRUARY 8-14, 2016

“Turks have lost touch with the real world”

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov stated that “Turkish officials completely lost touch with the real world.”

“We paid attention to Turkey’s less and less adequate actions even before our air forces began working in Syria. Simply because we were utterly opposed the UN Security Council decisions demanding to overthrow Bashar Assad, the Turks started accusing us of all deadly sins,” Lavrov said in an interview to Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, published on February 10.

Sergey Lavrov in 2016

Photo: REUTERS

“Erdogan announced early last summer that “we can find a replacement for Russians as trading partners.” Furthermore, Turkish President allowed himself expressions that no guest would use in a respectable company at the opening of Cathedral Mosque in Moscow last September,” noted the Russian Foreign Minister.

“The Turkish side keeps talking about creating a “security zone” on Syrian territory, free from ISIS. Everyone can see that this means an area at the borders between two Kurdish enclaves, for which Turkey considers absolutely unacceptable to unite forces. There’s information that ISIS leaders continue secret contacts with Turkish government. They discuss activity options in the current circumstances, as owing to our strikes, the opportunities of traditional smuggling routes are seriously limited,” noted Sergey Lavrov.

Kutoyan replaces Hakobyan

On February 12, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed decrees relieving National Security Service Director Gorik Hakobyan of his duties and appointing him Advisor to the President.

Georgi Kutoyan

 

By another decree, Deputy Prosecutor General Georgi Kutoyan was appointed the National Security Service Director.

Former Director of NSS Kutoyan committed suicide on 17 January 2020.

Ara Tadevosyan